Oberon watched the mages practice, with Thamoryn at his side. Neither wore their usual regalia or any formal robes, None of that which marked them as king and queen.
Oberon had opted for a simple tunic and pants, and Thamoryn wore a flowing dress that allowed for easy movent.
Their conversation was animated, while making gestures toward particular mages who caught their attention.
This continued like this for several minutes, critiquing and comnting. Then Oberon diverted to another question. "Have you confird which kingdom Katherine will be representing? Or if she’ll be participating at all?"
Thamoryn glanced at him. "I asked Elena the other day to pass the ssage across, but I am yet to get any response."
Oberon nodded thoughtfully, then after a brief pause, he said, "I am also drafting you as part of Dragonhold’s champions. I want you to join this."
Thamoryn was taken aback for a bit. "Who then will stay back with Ayan to watch over the kingdom?"
"As a matter of fact, intend to leave that to Ayan solely. Your strength is required here. I will not lose this war." He replied.
Thamoryn studied his face for a mont before asking quietly, "Do you speak as my king or my husband?"
Oberon turned toward her then, reached up and placed one hand gently on her cheek, although his expression remained unreadable when he said, "As both."
Thamoryn gave a small smile and nodded in acceptance.
He retracted his hand and they resud their conversation.
At a certain point, Oberon nodded at Thamoryn, then stepped forward and raised his voice to address the gathered mages.
Attention imdiately turned toward him.
"I have decided," Oberon began, "that I want to see for myself the current strength of my guild masters."
He paused, letting that sink in before continuing. "Given they will be the ones I think of first when the ti cos to appoint champions."
The guild masters scattered throughout the camp, with each standing among their own guild mbers, looked visibly surprised..
Soon after, the stage was set.
Everyone moved out of the encampnt and into a much wider field just beyond.
The guild masters had been divided equally into two teams.
Team A consisted of:
Elena, guild master of Ravens Grave
Azam, guild master of Silver Pegasus
Ursula, who had been reinstated as guild master of Starry Maidens
And Greyfus, reinstated as guild master of Tainted Bears
Team B consisted of:
Elian, who in the recent years was made the guild master of Grey Demons.
lisende, the reinstated guild master of Red Orcas
Veron, guild master of Crimson Dawn
And finally, Daegal. He was the forr captain of the disbanded White Vortex, and now had been reinstated as guild master for the newly reford Fractured Stars guild
Fractured Stars had initially been disbanded after what happened with Cassian and the Demons three years ago.
But after Talen beca Grand Magus, he had petitioned Oberon to reform it. With the king’s permission, Daegal had been appointed as its new guild master.
Behind each team, Thamoryn created a line using light magic.
These lines hovered a few inches above the ground, stretching horizontally across the field like glowing boundaries.
The rules were simple: any guild master from either team who crossed the enemy’s line would win for their team.
And Oberon made it clear they could use any ans necessary to win.
——
The guild masters on each side ca together briefly to discuss strategy, and it didn’t take long for both teams to co to similar conclusions.
That one person would stay back to guard their line. The other three would push forward and attempt to breach the enemy’s defenses.
For Team A, Elena was chosen to guard their line.
For Team B, Daegal was selected as their defender.
In the crowd of onlookers standing at a safe distance from the field, a younger male mage from Ravens Grave leaned closer to Oliver and spoke confidently.
"Guild Master Elena’s team will win this easily," he said. "If anything, they have Captain Azam. His velocity magic makes him the fastest guild master in all of Dragonhold. He can simply zoom off to the finish line before anyone can stop him."
Oliver smiled a bit and said nothing at first.
Instead, he pointed toward where Azam stood with his teammates on Team A’s side of the field.
"Take a look at him," Oliver said calmly. "Tell what you notice about his face."
The younger mage narrowed his eyes and studied Azam for a mont before responding. "He looks very serious... I don’t know if that’s a frown or not."
"Exactly," Oliver said. "If Captain Azam was certain he would win this easily, he’d probably be smiling right now. You would notice his confidence all too easily."
He gestured toward Azam again as he continued. "But he recognizes he’s facing off against other guild masters, people on the sa level as he is, which is why even he isn’t certain he’ll win."
The younger mage’s eyes widened slightly as understanding dawned on him.
He turned back toward the field and simply stared on in silence, genuinely curious about how this would unfold.
——
In their room within the castle, Piers and Katherine were on each other, half naked and barely covered by the sheets of their bed.
Piers gently stroked Katherine’s hair, as she rested on him.
"Have you decided if you’ll fight on Dragonhold’s behalf?" he asked.
Katherine had her fingers tracing across his chest where her head was placed. She sighed. "That’s the hard part. My sister wants to be part of those fighting for Zahka."
"And now you don’t know which to choose, Piers said with a light smile.
Katherine sat up, which made the sheet fall from her body, revealing her nicely curved breasts.
She turned to look at him. "What should I do?"
Piers made an exaggerated look of surprise, with his eyes widening comically. "Well, would you look at that? My wife is flustered for the first ti and actually needs my help coming to a decision."
"I will hit you hard, son of Lechner," Katherine said, raising a fist threateningly.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Slow down!" Piers raised both hands in surrender while laughing.
When his laughter subsided, he looked at her more seriously. "Try not to think about it too much, my love. I say let it be until the day itself, right when you’re staring at both Elena and Selene in the eyes, then decide."
Katherine stared at him for a mont, then shook her head as she chuckled. "Piers... that is the worst advice."
Piers laughed along with her. "It’s what I’d do myself."
Katherine shoved him playfully before settling back against his chest. Neither of them spoke for a while after that, simply enjoying the comfort of each other’s presence.
——
On another part of the castle, within in the grand dining hall, the usual crowd was absent.
The massive table had only four people gathered near its head.
Aiden sat at the head of the table with Laela to his right and Arianna to his left. While Uriel sat beside Laela.
Tristan was sitting on Aiden’s head.
The baby was perfectly balanced there, with his tiny dragon wings spread out for stability. He grabbed his father’s hair with his whole fist and tugged playfully.
His little fangs showed in a wide grin as he babbled sothing incomprehensible.
Aiden didn’t seem bothered by it in the slightest. In fact, he looked perfectly content despite the fact that his son was treating his head like a perch.
In Aiden’s arms, Andrea squird and cooed while her red eyes blinked up at him curiously. She tugged at his shirt with tiny hands, making baby sounds.
"You’re going to stretch this shirt out," Aiden said fondly, looking down at her.
Andrea responded by tugging harder and giggling.
Laela smiled at the sight before returning her attention to the conversation they’d been having. "How far have the others gone?"
"As of right now, just green dinsion has concluded. Kang ca out as champion" Aiden said.
This dinsion was nad after the color because factually, most things there appeared Green. Even the skies were light green.
The habitants of the said dinsion were also humungous green skinned giants. They were atleast twice the height of regular humans and their muscles were thick and bulky.
The topic Aiden and his won were discussing revolved around the other dinsions within their universe.
Over the past three years, the dinsions of the Seventh Universe had no longer been ignored as they once were.
Aiden had stationed avatars across each of them, and in those that contained life, he commanded his avatars to interact with their inhabitants while also establishing himself as their ruler.
In most of these other dinsions, contests similar to the Holy Grail War were currently taking place. Competitions designed to test strength or skill.
Aiden had decided that if what he feared ca to pass. That is if the Herrschers of other universes truly intended to invade, the Earth dinsion wouldn’t be able to handle it alone.
This ti, every capable life form in the universe would need to be ready.
And on his part as one who watched over the Seventh Universe, it was his responsibility to prepare them all.
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