"Father, the council awaited you for hours. " She urged him as she stood under the shade of the crooked tree.

  "They will wait as long as I desire, them and the imperial envoy." Roegan answered, he was seated besides her on his knees, his feet imbedded in the warm golden sands as his onyx hand cupped a handful of water from the bucket near him, and with it he washed his arms and face.

  "You are acting strange, father" Malynn noted. "Since the arrival of the imperials to our court, you've been ignoring them, day and night, despite the fact that they brought us nothing but warnings of a looming danger...why this treatment towards them? "

  Roegan chuckled in response, his daughter was only in her seventeen cycles, she did not witness what he had saw, she would not understand, yet he responded as he stood back up and slipped his feet into his sandals." You call it poor treatment, but you do not know what kind of men they are, if I was at the gates of their palaces, they would have not welcomed me as I welcomed them into my walls, gave them food and shelter, though it would not been my first choice if it was not for our customs."

  She huffed and crossed her arms, her long silky hair hanging over her shoulder towards her waist, with a frown she replied. "Still, they are our guests, and they would take offense to your delay,"

  "I care not." Roegan replied. "But I would rather soon have them leave our city and lands, lest they would grow accustomed to trespassing, and the next we would know, they would bring in their murderers and scum to our lands and my hands would be forced to burn them at the stake."

  He paused for a moment, looking up and down his daughter, she wore a colorful narrow apron of clear red and gold, tattered with tapestries of hunters and prey and silver buttons, her arms were naked, showcasing the many bracelets she wore on each arm, she had grown too fast and resembled her mother, carrying the same look of disapproval but her amethyst eyes were of his tribe, the eyes of a feline, sharp under the light be it sun or moon and wide in the dark.

  He sighed and admitted. "But, I suppose no harm will come in seeing what news they bring, and the warden is not an imperial after all."

  "Thank you." She smiled. "Shall we get going?"

  He nodded and the pair paced back through the sands, around them it stretched to endless measures, a golden canvas of a shinning land under a burning star, yet it was not the only thing that stood in the land he ruled, the land which they called Asaroth, for ahead of them where was the very few places of dry soil amongst sands, and upon it was the city of bones, Zark was the name his ancestors bestowed upon it, after they slain the hundred beasts of old and from their bones they forged its materials, its walls were massive rib bones dug deep into the soil with their pointy ends stabbing into the sky almost at a meters, they wrapped around the city neatly in a circle, and at its four corners were towers built of beastly bones and ancient leathers protecting the guards from the sun.

  After passing the caravans and tents of the roaming Erkor whom shouted their sales and bartered with whomever came by, Roegan and Malynn stood in front of the gates, monstrous upper Jaw dipped into the ground with chains of dark crimson meteriod steel wrapped around it, and on each side stood a shielded spearmen, the tip of their weapons was bone and their armor was of tanned dotted leathers, they did not speak as it was expected of them, they merely bowed their heads, and with a short whistle, the jaw opened and the path was clear to pass.

  Once they made it through the jaw, it quickly closed behind them before the Erkor would attempt to enter in hopes of trading their ware, and the spearmen would be forced to put them down, not that Roegan cares for them, they were strangers from the eastern Tatarian lands, sea fearers, explorers and traders, and Roegan knew that the soil of his city do not devour blood, and their blood would be a nuisance to clean.

  However the dwellers of his city were the same as he was, onyx flesh of different shades, gorgeous eyes of many colors, they wore colorful robes of different shapes and sizes and decorated themselves with leathers, earrings and bracelets of many sizes, and around the gentle golden soil they walked upon were buildings made of bones, massive and ancient, with each entrance adorned with a skull above it, be it of the three horned elephant that are long gone, or the preying predatory creatures that still roamed Asaroth day and night and further into the city small as it was compared to the many wonders of Osward continent, was the hall of Serha, Roegan and his daughter stood side by side, though they were pebbles compared to this hall.

  Spanning through a quarter of the city, it was the skeleton of Qun, one of the beasts whom was slain and said to be the most cunning of all, the bones were forged with meteriod steel to fill the gaps, leaving behind some for air and light to slip through, no weapon could break through those bones, no matter the ore it was crafted with or the size, for once the Jaws of Qun closed, no man or woman could enter or exit the hall of Serha.

  "Your highnesses." standing near the open Jaws, was a man similar in appearance to Roegan, his own brother Azar, he had a much shorter hair, almost bald, and was blessed with the feline eyes of the ruling tribe, his however were a shade of crimson. "I see that sending the princess to persuade you into coming was the correct decision, brother. "

  "I will hear nothing of your complaints, Azar, I have plenty in waiting." Roegan replied.

  For a second, Azar crimson eyes stared coldly towards Roegan, but soon a smile surfaced with a gentle bow as he declared. "Of course, as the king commands, the chiefs and the queen... Alongside our guests await you in the throne room, after you."

  Roegan walked past his brother and into the Jaws, where torches hung into the bony walls of the long corridor that led into the main body of the hall where the throne room awaited, there the building differed from outside, for it was adorned in marbles be it pillars, floor or seats, with tapestrys on the ceilings behind the hanging chandeliers of men hunting oddly shaped animals with their spears and bows, from the entrance and all the way to the elevated steps and ground, was a red carpet unscarred and untouched, it's material brought by those who went through the barrier and into no man's land, and that is a mystery of its own.

  On each side stood the Turia Tatar, protectors of the ruling tribe court, the highest of the Tatar class in their land, warriors born and raised, in both their mind and their spirit, with nothing but tanned leather for protection, a tall narrow shield and a bone spear alongside a bow around their shoulder and arrow cap strapped to their waist, all were crafted of molded bone and other steel materials, their hair was long and braided behind their heads, yet no longer than their necks for that is an honor preserved only for the king, and their eyes looked forward and no where else, behind those same warriors were seats, two on each side, only one was empty, that until his brother Azar had taken his place upon it.

  Roegan made his way ahead, passing the two men who were standing across the four thrones of the family whom ruled, one was seated by the queen Lotara, the other was seated by his eldest daughter princess Yemna, and his was the tallest of them all, he carefully walked up the steps and took his seat, his youngest daughter Malynn took hers besides him soon after.

  "Warden, prince Valerius, my apologies for the delay, matters of my realm had taken too much of my time. " Roegan stated. "Now I am here, hoping that you had at least enjoyed the hospitality we provided, though now I would like to hear, which word have you brought?"

  Valerius was but a boy, same span of cycles as Malynn, though from his appearance one could immediately know he was a royal imperial, the long silky red hair, the snow kissed skin, the bloodied red eyes and the lean stature, he clearly was out of place in Asaroth, and his very sight disgusted Roegan to his very being, same as any other imperial would, yet Valerius was seemingly aware and unconcerned by it, or rather enjoyed it, Roegan had expected the least a frown from the boy but he got nothing but a smile, a cheeky smile.

  "Of course your highness, being a man of high status comes with many duties, my father, the emperor, taught me very well about it." Valerius answered, a crystal clear voice, but his eyes crinkled in a slight mockery. "and as much as I'd like to compliment your very generous... Hospitality, there are more urgent matters at hand, I would have sent a pigeon... But to Asaroth, it was near impossible, it is not part of Osward empire after all."

  "And it will never be." The queen declared, her tone as sharp as her face as she looked down towards the guests of their hall. "We are grateful of the trip you made to our distant and harsh land, we do not take amusement and joy in talking into circles, so I urge you young prince, do let us know of the news you bring."

  For a moment, Valerius was taken aback, not expecting to hear a word from her side, as Roegan had expected, for the many advancements the empire reached, no house of their land would accept to be ruled under an empress, though one of their provinces, Rolivia, would not mind the change.

  The confusion turned into a smile of amusement from Valerius, he cleared his throat and declared. "As the queen wishes... For starters, I would like to introduce my path companion, Lucas of Woodpit, a road warden."

  Roegan lightly hummed to himself as he gazed down at the man Valerius gestured towards, he was a tall man, lean under the grey robes he wore but the tone of his polished muscles could not be ignored, his skin was bronze and roughed unlike that of the imperial with a freshly shaved head harboring a couple of recent scars across, Roegan noted a different air about him and he would soon be the judge of his value.

  "Your highnesses." Lucas bobbed his head down but not too low, a road warden served no king and no emperor. "I will keep this short as I understand that the Tatarians have no love for idle speech... But to understood the severity of what I bear and what I have seen, you need to understand what happened a month and a half ago."

  Thus Lucas began retelling what had happened in the province of Northliem, his hunt of the creature Umir, how he had tracked and how strange it was acting compared to its usual behaviors, though Roegan did not care much of he was saying, until he heard about the Frostbanes, and what came of Yuri Frostbane during the battle, the chaos they found left by the beast.

  "Yuri Frostbane... " It did not surprise him that a man of his blood would kill a lowly beast such as Umir, had he known about the cunning nature of its head, the former Northliem high lord would have killed it three times over to showcase his prowess, if memory did not fail Roegan he recalled a tale his grandfather told him of their tribe forgotten relation with the Frostbanes, but those were things he would dwell on another day, for now more pressing issues awaited.

  "So if the celestial beasts are moving down here, how come we never heard any news of them?" Roegan questioned but allowed no answer. "Perhaps they would rather wreck havock in the west or east of the Tatarian lands, and as far we are concerned, those are parts of the empire."

  "You are right, your highness." Valerius jumped in, interrupting Lucas from further speaking. "But as Lucas said, the effects are not felt directly, the celestial beast do not live like mortal men, they do not eat nor sleep, thus they will not plunder... The problem lays with their presence, it causes disturbances felt only by beastly creatures of... Somewhat similar intellect."

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  "Our land, despite being small, have sheltered three celestial beasts for centuries." Lotara responded. "You claim disturbances, but those same three beasts did not act on any impulses."

  "Yet, north of your borders however... The beast folk who already went mad." Valerius stated. " They are crossing from your deserts to our land, killing anyone in their way, pillaging and stealing, attempting to force their ways into our mines to hide... Now it would not be very appropriate that you do not take some level of accountability and help us solve this matter, your highness, after all, your tribe are the only living relatives of the nameless men, and beast hunters by both blood and trade."

  Foreigners called them the beast folk, but Tatarians called them the Gahar, wild creatures capable of copying humans to disturbing measures, but that did not bother Roegan at all, what bothered him most was what Valerius said.

  Roegan hands gripped tightly against the arms of his throne, his head boiling but he would not show any of it, instead he exclaimed orderly. "As much as I empathize with you caring about your land, I find it very difficult to find a reason to assist you in handling those beasts. The last I recall, the land you call yours was ours, mines of gold and steel spread across all of that desert... Your great grandfather came, with an army from all five provinces, and took it by force... And here you are, asking me to help you protect it."

  Although Lucas was stunned by the exchange, the boy prince did not budge, instead he lightly bowed his head with a soft smile."Your highness, I meant no offense by the words I said... But I should remind you of a few things, that while you are right of not being concerned on matters that goes on beyond your borders... This issue would eventually force your hand, like it or not, not to mention that you speak of quarrels that happened ages ago, I believe not even my uncle Cassius was born at the time, so you can imagine how it would be... Irrelevant to me."

  The queen almost laughed, her words did find their way through her lips."Irrelevant? The gold and steel you took from us could have saved countless of lives, many tribes were killed and starved by the Gahar."

  Valerius nodded. "I understand that, and the empire is ready to pay for its part provided you help us rid of the pest and solve the issue with the beasts... The warden here suggested we would wait until they are calm or disturb them and force them away, however the imperial council urge you to... Kill the beasts, they will bring nothing but trouble. "

  Roegan, and the ones who carried the same blood and feline eyes as he did, were capable of killing highly beasts, even celestial beasts, and while the road wardens were proficient at handling them, to Roegan they were the same as a child, he did not feel persuaded, the presence of the celestial beasts as far as he knew by Valerius words, had driven off the Gahar from Asaroth, and are plundering the imperials at the same time, for every second Roegan wasted, an imperial would die and a hundred golden coins would be stolen, thus as questionable as it was, Roegan was glad and content with the time he wasted delaying Valerius.

  "Your highness." Valerius repeated, his tone changing and his bloodied eyes turning colder behind his ghostly face. "Being a man of responsibility there are certain things that I cannot share with you... But I'm one who believes that to earn trust, one must offer it first, then I will tell you this. The empire is planning to flood the mines with as many Gahar as possible, truly our mines would lost if that is done, but if we will not have that gold, the council prefers that no one else does... That leaves one issue."

  The boy prince paused, studying the faces on the thrones then added with a much more clear tone." Where will the panicked Gahar go? To the north of mines is the barrier, they cannot pass through it, to the east and west are hundred miles of deserts they are not accustomed to... They will be forced to return south, unhappy, disturbed and starving... What will happen then? Not to mention, if the situation gets out of hand when they return here, and the empire feels threatened... Our imperial army would be involved, in full force, you could imagine... How things would go wrong."

  "Mind your tongue boy!" One of the chieftains shouted from the side but was quickly silenced as Roegan raised his hand, as a man and a warrior he was impressed by the boy's boldness, almost as bold as his uncle Cassius, yet as king he took great offense.

  Roegan lowered his hand and asked. "Would that be a threat, Valerius Maximus son of Julius Maximus the fifth?"

  "No your highness. " The boy responded. "Only a friendly reminder that in this age, we would all be better off by seeking friends and helping one another, instead of gaining enemies... Whether by accident or in purpose."

  "Your highness." The queen whispered from Roegan side, he turned and she added. "Perhaps we should consult with the chieftains before making a decision... It is not a matter to be taken lightly."

  Lotara was not wrong, Roegan thought to himself, he already made the mistake of delaying, which could complicate their future endeavors, and he would not make the same mistakes again, he would plan ahead, and listen to all voices of reason, even if he did not like what he heard, it was his duty as king, the good of Asaroth comes before his urges and comforts no matter big or small.

  Roegan turned his head back to the imperial prince and announced. "This matter shall be discussed in my council, guards, escort our guests outside the doors whilst we decide amongst ourselves what our answer would be."

  The guards who once stood on the side, quickly assembled in a square around the two guests, not giving them a moment to answer, but the two were smart not to protest, they quietly followed them through the bone forged doors, and once it closed behind them, a portion of the guards remained outside while another portion remained in the center where they could observe both the doors and the court.

  With a deep sigh, Roegan asked. "What do you all make of it?"

  "They sounded desperate, I do not believe that the imperials would flood their own mines, too greedy for such measures." The younger brother of the queen, Qudor, was the first to speak, he had the same copper eyes as her, but was young and naive unlike her.

  Azar whom was seated besides him, shrugged his shoulders and exclaimed. "And even if they do so, flooding their gold mines? They would not be able to supply half of their forces, they would need to cut their numbers down to match what they can afford... They are bluffing."

  "What if they aren't bluffing? " the voice of the older princess Yemna pierced through the hall, she sat tall and mighty, her hair tied closely behind her head and her feline amthesyt eyes glaring down towards Azar and Qudor. "We know the imperials, we know what they are like, opportunists to their very core and childish as a toddler, they will break their toys so no one else would be able to play, and would hurt themselves trying."

  "If that is the case, would we able to handle them if they decide to blame their problems at us? " Malynn voiced peeked up. "What about the Gahar? How would we fare against them?"

  "A difficult question, it is hard to estimate numbers when it comes to the Gahar or the empire... " Farot replied from his seat across of Azar and Qudor. "We will not survive any conflict with the empire, us Tatarians are divided after all, I would more be willing to test our strength against the Gahar, away from our homes, than begin a war we cannot finish."

  The man next to him, old and stubborn, Talim, began laughing then mocked. "Bah ! Imperials are all talk as the brother of the king said, and even if they dare battle us, one Tatar is worth a hundred imperial guard, if they want to fight us that much, I say let them come!"

  With those words, the four chieftains began arguing back and forth, their bickering and splattering of words caused Roegan to sigh heavily and shake his head, while each one made a reasonable point, except for Talim, Roegan found himself conflicted on what should come of their final decision, he hated the imperials and did not trust them as much as they did, but he had a vision for his land, a vision for Asaroth, a vision for a united Tatarian land, but it would not come to truth unless he bit his tongue and walked forward into what is to come, and to do such a thing, Asaroth needed to stay united under one purpose, be it good or bad.

  "silence... " Roegan ordered but hearing no response as the chattering and arguing continued, he yelled. "Silence! "

  The voices ceased and all gazes were on him, they were familiar faces of the same shade, but they felt like strangers to him once he was forced to yell, a king should not show uncertainty nor weakness, and so he would speak what he thought to be right, and would declare his decision, knowing that the queen would not argue, nor his daughters.

  Roegan stood from his throne, with slow steps he paced down the stairs and his voice rose. "My father, and his father before him, they always had a vision since their dynasty began here in Asaroth, that one day all Tatarians would be united once more, under a single rule, and their resources would be shared throughout the deserts from the east to west, away from the imperials preying hands."

  He paused as he reached the bottom, and stood equally with the rest of the chieftains then continued."I believed in their vision, I adopted it as my own, and I will continue to do so, until my daughter Yemna becomes queen, and she shall take on my vision and pass to her children and so on, but that idea, that dream, will not come to life unless we make sacrifices, unless we give up other things that we seek, unless we shed blood and tears... To unite Tatarians, I would gladly sacrifice a thousands imperials, I am certain you would do the same, after all they took from us, would you not?"

  The chieftains muttered and nodded in agreement, Roegan nodded as well and added. "Today we are presented with a different choice, we can save a thousand imperial, for our vision to continue, a united Tatarian land."

  "Your highness. " Talim huffed and said. "Your people will think you are weak, they would think you would hand over your throne to the imperials."

  "Is that what you think? " Roegan asked.

  "No, I —" Talim stuttered but he was shortly interrupted.

  "Would you like my throne?" Roegan grinned and gestured for his seat. "Perhaps you would like my wife as well, and my seat? "

  "Your highness I—" Talim was interrupted once more.

  "If I was you, I would think wisely before calling my king a weakling, for the only way to take my throne is clear as a day..." Roegan spoke. "And any Tatarian is allowed to do it, single combat... And begin your dynasty. Say chieftain Talim, would you like to challenge me? Or would it be one of your sons or grandsons?"

  "I... Did not mean to offend you, your highness, I merely would not like to see my people die for the enemy, I would rather have them die fighting the enemy." Talim admitted, his gaze breaking from Roegan's direction, of either fear or shame.

  Farot cleared his throat."Your highness, I must admit that I agree with him... I understand what you said earlier but it would be wiser to not throw our people at matters outside our borders."

  "Then what do you suggest? " Azar questioned. "We sit idly, and wait for the Gahar to attack us?"

  "I know what we should do, guards, bring in the guests once more." Roegan demanded as he walked back up to his throne, and in a matter of moments, the guests stood ahead of him once more.

  "I hope you bring good news, your kingship." Valerius muttered with a smile.

  "Say warden, do you have any information on the whereabouts of the celestial beasts, and the movement of the Gahar? " Roegan asked.

  The warden nodded. "I could give you an estimation of where the celestial beasts, but you would have to find them yourselves, as for the Gahar, I would have to be there myself to be able to track and predict their movements... As a road warden, I find myself inclined to provide my services, so long bread and water is provided, I serve no lord or king, but I do serve the people of Osward. "

  "Good... Good indeed. Then let my decision be heard. " Roegan answered, he stood from his throne and announced. "By my decree as king of Asaroth, Roegan son of Limiliar of the Guthmahrok tribe, I will not sacrifice my people for any ordeal while I sit on my throne and eat away at a table of pork and wine into a shameful death, no, I will do what a king must do, I will fight for my people no matter the foe, and no matter if they would know it or not, I myself, same as my ancestors before me, would seek out those celestial beasts, I will slay them all and bring trophies of bone, flesh and leather to my hall."

  Except for Azar, the chieftains were taken by surprise, even the boy prince, but Roegan was not finished, he pointed towards Yemna and added." and as for the Gahar, the heir to my throne herself, princess Yemna, would accompany the road warden with a handful of my men, and see to it that they would remove your pest permanently with the assistance of your stationed imperial guards at the mine, now say imperial prince, is that a good enough answer for you?"

  Valerius eyes widened, though after a second he chuckled lightly and shrugged his shoulders in amusement as he commented. "I could not have said it any better, King Roegan. "