The preparations had been made. A hundred of the most powerful immortals in the Celestial Court had been mobilized. They had made strategies on how to best approach the Living Mountain with minimal casualties. They had made contingencies in case Xinglong was not quite as dead as the empress had made it seem. Even while weakened the great dragon would be a terrible foe, and even without the master present the mountain itself was dangerous. That’s why they brought along so many immortals; to overwhelm any resistance.

Due to how long the Living Mountain had existed and resided in the first circle taking in the ambient mana, the mountain had gained a certain amount of sentience and was one of the most powerful locations in the first circle. Just the materials one could pick up by doing nothing but bending down would make anyone’s mouth water. Many of the communities, even those that held more power than Xinglong, had desired to own the mountain, but as the mountain was fully capable of defending itself and picking its owner…

The immortals of the Celestial Court were not here for the mountain though. They were here to confirm Xinglong’s death and retrieve his corpse. And if they managed to snag the famous Living Mountain in the process, then that would be a nice bonus. The immortals had taken many precautions as they didn’t feel like throwing away their lives against the defenses of the mountain, arming themselves with powerful defensive artifacts and mighty spells and charms. They had approached the mountain in three columns of thirty, surrounding the mountain from all sides, with the Celestial Emperor himself leading ten of his most powerful subordinates to attack from the air. They had reached the place where the Living Mountain had resided for millennia without running into trouble. There was just one problem.

“So…” The Celestial emperor started saying with a deadpan voice. He was staring at the rather sizeable empty space in the middle of the forest surrounding the place.

“So?” The supreme general of the Celestial Court’s forces asked with trepidation.

“So.” Laughed another man. He was dressed in gaudy red clothing filled with images of flying phoenixes. The man himself had a fiery red hair and had feathers made of flame sticking out of his hair and clothing. He was the most powerful subordinate serving under the emperor and the ruler of the Phoenix race. His current human form was taken mostly for convenience, as his normal appearance would dwarf everyone else present and make any stealthy approach impossible. To him the whole situation was hilarious.

“So, would anyone care to explain to me how we seem to have misplaced a mountain? Please tell me we’re not lost. The forest here is a bit confusing, but we’ll be a laughing stock for a century if we actually get lost with a group of hundred immortals. You’d think at least one would have a sense of direction.” The emperor spoke his voice keeping an even tone.

“No, we’re not lost. This is the right place.” The general stated rather weakly. There was very little he could do about the situation, but that would not matter. He would be the one blamed for this fiasco.

“Then why is the bloody mountain gone!? Where is my damn mountain!? It didn’t grow feet and walk away now did it!? I think we’d also have noticed a flying mountain. So where the hells is it!?” The emperor raised his voice in anger. He was not one to anger easily but this made him unreasonably angry. His moment of glory was being denied, and the well-earned prize was not forthcoming.

“I have no explanation, your majesty, beyond someone taking it away somehow.” The general replied feebly. He was not having a good day.

“And why is this the first time we hear about it? Did no one check? And how did someone transport a mountain away in the first place? You can’t just slip it into a spatial bag and we would have gotten a word about someone lugging around a mountain! And why is this forest filled with nothing but…whatever the hells this is?” The emperor kicked away a small animal that looked like a crossbreed between a piglet and a rabbit.

“Nug.” The Phoenix suddenly supplied between his laughing fits. “They are actually really delicious. I’m guessing Xinglong had placed them here because he liked the taste. I’m taking a bunch of them home to eat later by the way. They are hard to raise since they are perhaps the most useless and weakest beings ever created in any world. They just keel over and die if you try domesticating them.”

“Not the bloody point!” The emperor yelled at the Phoenix, who in turn didn’t seem to care.

“Your majesty, we didn’t dare to scout the location before we came in force. The mountain is capable of dealing with small parties of immortals even if they try to stay hidden. Only I or one of your most powerful servants could approach the place without worry and we didn’t want to reveal our approach. That’s why we came here with so many immortals so that we wouldn’t lose any of them to the mountain’s defenses.” The general pointed out.

“Does it look like I care?” The emperor growled. “Find the bloody mountain and don’t bother returning until you do!”

After the general went off to organize the search, the emperor turned to the Phoenix. “Do you think Xinglong is really dead?”

“The empress said she was.” The Phoenix replied with a meaningful tone. “She’s not one to make mistakes.” He was one of the few people aware of the situation with the empress and the relationship, or lack thereof, between her and the emperor.

“No she isn’t, but she’s also not one to pack her things and disappear with her most loyal servants. Yet here we are.” The emperor considered for a while. “You don’t think she took the mountain away? She knows how much I want to get my hands on Xinglong’s body, so that would give her a good leverage.”

The Phoenix gave the suggestion some thought. Truth be told he would have gone with the empress had she asked. While he appreciated the Celestial Emperor’s strength, he wasn’t fond of being under someone’s thumb. There were plenty of powerful beings, but the empress had unmatched foresight and was the true power behind the throne. Something the emperor didn’t quite appreciate as much as he should. “I can’t say for certain either way. She is one of the few people that might be able to come up with a way to do it without being noticed and convince the mountain to go along with it. That doesn’t mean she did it though. Often the unknown threat is the deadliest and it might blind you to other threats to focus solely on her.”

“Look into it. You are one of the few beings capable of finding her when she doesn’t want to be found.” The emperor turned towards the Phoenix. “And do remember that your family is still within my grasp in case you decide supporting her might be a better idea.” He was aware of the Phoenix’s divided loyalties and had taken certain measures just in case. He wasn’t stupid.

----------

“You do have a mountain.” The old man said a little shocked. Dee was allowing him to see the mountain inside her Domain. “Why is the Living Mountain inside your Domain?”

“It didn’t want to be left behind when Xinglong died. Apparently, it didn’t want to become spoils of war. So it decided to take residence inside my Domain instead, for now at least.” Dee gave a short explanation. The mountain seemed to radiate happiness and the feeling of contentment. It seemed to be rather pleased with its current whereabouts.

“Why does it look like it’s polishing the skulls of your totem?” He finally asked the question he really wanted the answer to. One of the skulls from Dee’s totem was floating in front of the mountain and a small piece of cloth gently moved against it, essentially cleaning the surface and making it shiny. Many of the other skulls were already gleaming.

“I don’t know. Your guess is as good as mine. When it got here it started cleaning. For a mountain, it feels very homey. I don’t think it’s very appropriate, but I would feel bad if I forced it to stop. I mean it seems so happy despite the recent loss. How the hells should I know how the mind of a mountain works?” Dee explained with a weird look on her face. The whole existence and behavior of the mountain broke her sense of how things should work. So she had adopted the “none of my business” approach.

She turned to the old man. “Besides, I don’t think you get to judge, oh great Ashur-bel-nisheshu.”

“I didn’t pick the name.” The old man stated a little defensively. “There’s a reason I don’t go sharing it with everyone who comes by.”

“I knew there was a reason you kept it hidden, but I did not expect this. I thought your name was something silly like ‘Moonlight Touching the Small Lake at Night’, or Bob.” There were, in fact, two reasons why the old man hid his name. One was because it was long and hard to say in conversation. The other reason was more serious. “So the great hunter and defender of lesser circles is someone I know. I know we call you old man, but your legends go back thousands of years.”

Ashur-bel-nisheshu was one of the most famous and almost mythical figures of Pantheon. The world of Pantheon was where the legends of other worlds coalesced into Authorities, but there weren’t that many legends native to this world for many reasons. One of the main ones was the concentration of powerful beings all worthy of legends when measuring pure strength. Another was that the world was so divided that it was hard for a single name to reach the necessary level of reverence. The old man was one of the few exceptions, and even Dee was aware of some of the stories surrounding him.

“So is it true you hunted all those beasts to prove yourself to the woman you loved?” Dee asked. One of the legends surrounding Ashur-bel-nisheshu was how he went around challenging the most powerful beings and monsters of Pantheon and beat them, just so he could prove his worthiness to his lover. That excluded the first circle of course, as no one was stupid enough to pick a fight with them by himself.

“Well, it’s not complete hogwash. I did do it to prove myself, but not to a lover. As you probably figured out by now, I’m only part Titan, while my father was Alpyran. The Titans look down on half-breeds and I wanted to prove how wrong they were to scorn me and my father. They thought of us as lesser beings. It wasn’t like I wanted to become like them either. It was more that I wanted to show I was better than them, and that they had made a mistake in their arrogance. They weren’t too fond of that. Partially also because they really don’t like half-breeds using their style of trying to become like their progenitor. It’s not like I could help it, as I am still part Titan. Anyway, that’s another reason why I keep my name a secret nowadays. I don’t want them coming after me. They have long memories.” The old man explained.

“Also explains your obsession with mountains.” Dee mumbled to herself, half wanting him to hear just to tease him.

“What was that again? Do we need to go back to dummy disciple?” He asked threateningly. “Also like you’re one to talk, dragon.”

“Nothing at all. Besides, I’d kick your ass again if you tried.” Dee replied with a small smirk.

“Don’t get too confident Dee. You and I both know that if we fought ten times, you would not win all ten fights. I'd guess we would go almost even.” The old man pointed out. His words were rather accurate as there was a fair bit of element of surprise in the previous fight they’d had. Then again Dee had been unused to her powers and now had a better handle on them, so things were not simple. Still, the old man now had the chance to come up with actual strategies to deal with Dee. Some would work, some would not.

“I’m aware. Returning to the previous subject, how about the legends about you defending lesser circles?” Dee asked with curiosity. According to the stories, he had stood against several communities from the inner circles that had tried dominating the lesser circles for one reason or another.

“Well, part of it was me being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Once I did it once though, I felt obliged doing it again. At that time the Radiant Sun and the other big communities were busy fighting each other so someone had to step up. I had the means and the will. Besides, I enjoyed the challenge, standing alone against many. I think you should be familiar with the feeling. Or you will be at least. It was less about helping the lesser circles and more about my own satisfaction and once again proving myself. Still, I made enemies back then, hence another reason why I hide all the way out here.” The old man explained with a tired voice. Part of the reason he was so against Razark joining the Radiant Sun was because of the time when the order failed at their job and he had to pick up the slack.

They were both quiet for a long time as the old man reminisced and Dee thought about the implications. Suddenly the old man looked at the mountain again. “Is the mountain humming while polishing the skulls?” The shock didn’t come from the fact that the mountain was humming. It was more because the song was horribly out of tune version of a silly children’s song. Not that one could expect a mountain to keep a tune.

“Don’t know, don’t care.” Dee stated and closed the connection that allowed the old man to see inside. Not her problem anymore.

------

“So I’m guessing the next thing on the menu is revenge for the Four Winds?” Razark asked as the two used the normal gates to reach the Night city. Dee needed some information and portaling in as a dragon might draw a bit too much attention. Her current appearance as a tiny fox on Razark’s shoulder was much more discreet. Finally some use for him coming along!

“That’s the plan at least. Are you sure you want to come along? You just got done with your own revenge.” Dee pointed out. She had kind of expected him to return to the Four Winds to rest now that their business with the ‘old Ashur’, as she now thought of the old man, was done.

“I think I’ll stick around. You might need some help after all.” He stated. In truth, he still felt a little like a stranger among the Four Winds. He was only really familiar with Moirai and Nessera and tried to befriend Faylen. Two out of the three were notably not members of the Four Winds and the third was also Dee’s master so they had something else in common. And counting Nessera as someone he was familiar with was kind of generous, so in reality it was two people.

Dee’s thoughts were interrupted as Croestia let her know that the Orb of Secrets given to her by the Zabaniya was once again signaling. She gave a small sigh and found a place where she could respond in peace while Razark kept watch. She found herself once again in the luxurious room decorated with silken curtains and pillows, facing a serpent this time. “That form looks much more appropriate for you.” Dee commented.

“I thought you might find it ironic.” A deep voice replied with slight amusement. “I have a proposition for you.”

“And exactly why would I go along with the proposition?” Dee asked, making it clear she was not enthusiastic at the idea.

“Well, first of all, because it doesn’t really conflict with what I assume to be your current goals in the Night city. Yes, you were already noticed by one of our eyes and ears. Your new form is really rather striking and you only changed forms after coming to the Night city. I’m guessing you’re there to find information on the community that attacked the Four Winds, yes? Probably also seeking revenge? Yes, I thought as much. I can provide that information you’re seeking right now.” The snake suggested.

“I can find the information out myself.” Dee argued back. “With fewer strings attached.”

“I’m sure you could, but the validity of that information would be questionable at best. I’m sure the Four Winds already figured out that they would be marching into a trap if they retaliated directly, hence why you’re here and why they haven’t done so already. As it happens, they’re right. The trap is well laid and the community you’re looking for has spread around a lot of false information. The place everyone thinks to be their lair is nothing but a shell. A shell filled with traps and deadly magic to be sure, but a shell just the same. I can point you in the right direction, and all I ask is that you make sure their leader Vritra dies.” The snake’s words made sense and coincided with Dee’s own assumptions.

“Like you said, your request isn’t exactly in conflict with my interests, but your offering is a little thin. I’m looking for revenge and to send a message, not necessarily to destroy the community as a whole. Killing their leader is a bit of a tall order if all you offer is a bit of information in return.” Dee raised another point.

“A fair point, which is why that is not the only thing I’m offering in exchange. I have two other things you should like. First has to do with the allies of your current prey. As you might have guessed, your enemy is not working alone. To be more exact, the community that the Four Winds defeated to gain their current position is carrying a grudge. They are working together with your prey. As it happens, the current position of that community is on the path of the raging Saurians that have caused such havoc lately. I could make sure those Saurians don’t go around that community. I can’t guarantee the community will be destroyed, but I can guarantee they will be too busy elsewhere to get in your way at the very least. Besides, I think the Four Winds might prefer dealing with them personally anyway.” The snake gave a nasty looking smile, appropriately for a snake and for an assassin.

“And the other thing?” Dee asked.

“Well, as it happens, your prey has enslaved some other races. One of those races might be amenable to turning against their slavers if given the right push. I could tell you where to give that push. It should work as a distraction at the very least. You might also end up making new allies.” The snake seemed amused for some reason.

“Why do I think there’s more to this?” Dee asked noting the amusement.

“Well, the race I’m talking about might be especially willing to rebel if they were set free by one of their own, even if only a mixed breed. Especially so if you release some of their old leaders first. You might also find it rather interesting to run into some of your own kind for a change.” The snake laughed.

“Rakshasa?” Dee asked, confirming her suspicions.

“Indeed. I should point out that setting them free might be a bit challenging considering how thick the chains binding them are, but I’m sure you can manage. That said, I think you’ll like the enemy you’re up against. It’s like you were designed to kill their kind after all. I won’t tell you more as I don’t want to spoil the surprise, but you’ll like it.” The snake replied.

That surprised Dee a bit. She was really designed to fight angels, but that seemed really unlikely as their kind was not allowed to make a foothold in Pantheon. Some sort of race relying heavily on magic then? “You’ve got a deal.” She agreed to the terms.

“How wonderful! It’s pleasure doing business with you again. You will find your enemy already in Day city. They have taken position in the third circle just outside the Four Winds territory. Strictly speaking, that area belongs to another community neighboring Four Winds, but they are much weaker than either your prey or the Four Winds so they’re staying out of this.” The snake provided several sets of coordinates for both the enemy and places where Dee would find some old Rakshasa royalty she might want to set free.

As Dee came back to full consciousness she looked at Razark. “We’re returning back to Four Winds. Things just got interesting in a whole new way.” She replied to Razark’s questioning look.