Amelia began her trek down the mountain but that wasn't the end. With the death of Mourning the future creation of visage was eliminated.

That didn't mean that the visage already created from the population of the Far North Continent were defeated. Hunter, Forsythe, Aidan, Khiafin, Elisha, and even Raven battled desperately. They were getting slowly pushed together in what everyone had realized was their last stand.

Not Gilduirn though. Gilduirn, as Aidan would have interjected at this point in the retelling of the story, was currently dead.

The land crawled, literally, with the visage that was still pressing forward. Everyone was getting tired, mistakes were being made, and people were dying. The special type Visage had already appeared in several places and were taking a devastating toll on Resident and Transient alike.

Despite the light-hearted banter at the top, and even Elisha and her cute freakout, things were still going poorly.

That was until a certain dragon flew down from the mountain and began making long lines of fire on the visage lines. He landed and thrashed amongst the visage as if they were ants. Great claws tore at the terrible shadows. His tail swept the enemy far afield and into the mountain or the sea. When he bit down on the enemy there were crunching sounds and instant death. Keristrazly had entered the battle and immediately turned the tide. What seemed insurmountable shifted in an instant.

The Imperial Dragon, of the highest class, simply clawed and breathed and the visage died. When at last he came to the final clump of visage ten minutes later, a monument to how powerful he was, he paused in front of the defenders and took a deep breath. Everyone readied themselves. Everyone knew that this was the moment where the battle would end. A powerful dragon had appeared and was getting ready to breathe on them and they could do nothing. The ring of defenders was mostly broken, barely held together by exhausted and mostly out of mana healers.

Elisha clutched her staff stubbornly in front of her and gave a glare toward the mountian. She was preettttty sure Amelia had been kidding but...

"Shadow Fall Victory!" The dragon screamed. It's roar shook the very ice and snow as it reverberated forward.

Shock and awe appeared on the defender's faces, and an answering cry came almost seconds afterward from one particular point within the ring of defenders. "Shadow Fall Victory!"

It was Hunter! She charged out toward the dragon and took up a position in front of him, firing arrow after arrow. Forsythe who had never left her side from the beginning was there slaying the last of the visage that clambered atop each other toward her. Elisha and Raven appeared with a group of serious-looking tradesmen wielding lanterns and beginner weapons.

Aidan entered the area not long after with the remnant of Ominous, now only a 100 strong. The battle in the Far North Continent was concluded not long after. Groups of Transients spent the rest of the night walking through the field and dispatching half-dead visage, chortling at the easy experience they were accumulating.

---------------

Amelia made her way down the mountain path slowly. Her legs were jelly and she felt like at any moment she might fall into the snow on either side of the path. It was ridiculous considering that this was just a game. She was exhausted and felt like she would never reach the bottom. She prepared herself for the people at the bottom. They would most likely be mad she hadn't been around to replenish her aura spell when she arrived. She had no doubt the dragon had made short work of the army of writhing visage. The dragon, she decided, was almost as unreasonable an existence as the people she had formed a party with. They were being quiet, now that she was off the battle and had the ability to pay attention to the channel.

When she first saw Blutonsi she was pleased that she didn't see any fighting. Amelia made her way through the throngs, ignoring everyone. She wanted to see Aidan. Wanted him to hold her. More than that she wanted to log out of the game and get them all to come over. She would tell them what it was like on top that mountain, they would tell her what it was like on the fields below. Aidan would pet her hair and tell her she was amazing. She supposed she would reciprocate, but not too much.

Amelia never noticed that every Resident she walked beyond fell to a knee, she was simply too tired. As she passed, they didn't rise, simply remaining bowed in her wake. The Transients of the defender group started following her, wondering what the reaction was about. When she finally arrived in the middle and found Hunter and her group she greeted them warmly if abruptly.

"Hey." Amelia braced herself, having never been very good with social interaction at the best of times.

"Hey. She says." Hunter said, her lips curling upward into a warm smile. The tall Silf stepped past the others and hugged her gently. "I am told we have you to thank for that last little bit of amazing."

"The dragon?" Amelia asked stupidly. "Yeah. Where is he? I was sort of afraid he would go on a rampage after he came down and helped you."

"Have you ever seen a drunk dragon?" Raven stepped forward, cackling. "If you haven't you should go to the north outskirt. All the Residents started pulling stashes of liquor. The General was really mad at first. CONTRABAND! He called it. Then he started drinking and then everyone started drinking. The dragon started drinking. I think he's just shooting flames off across the continent now showing off." Raven doubled over, holding her stomach. "Leave it to Amelia to find the stupid dragon."

"Amelia had a rough night." Aidan defended her. He laid a hand on her shoulder. "Maybe she'll even tell us what happened before we have to watch it on the news."

"Amelia victory." Forsythe guessed after a moment.

Elisha was quiet, simply staring at Amelia. Finally, she approached and tugged on the hem of her cloak. "Hey. What do you think about your contribution reward Amelia?"

"Reward?" Amelia didn't remember receiving anything. "What'd you guys get?"

"Well, Raven and Forsythe got weapons. Mom got a new pair of boots and a bunch of fame and reputation. Aidan got uhh…" Elisha looked toward him for help.

"Amulet." He moved his neckline aside so that everyone could see the dark green gem that glistened. "Not counting the Unfair Stick of course."

"Huh. I wonder what I got." Amelia said.

"Wow. She doesn't know." Raven was laughing again, she was laughing so hard she actually lay down on the ground and started rolling.

Forsythe looked equally shocked. This was probably the second time Amelia had ever seen clear emotion on his face.

Hunter and Aidan's faces were frozen for a moment but then pulled into tight, evil smiles.

"Oh my. What do you people say to each other?" Hunter put a finger under her chin in contemplation.

"Suffer well?" Hunter bit her lips to keep from chuckling.

"I am imagining her screaming any moment now," Aidan predicted.

"What? I didn't get anything. Just a bunch of stats and rep from the boss kill. Oh, I'm invincible now." Amelia flashed the v for victory sign with her fingers, feeling that their attitudes were disproportionate to what she'd gotten.

"Amelia." Forsythe sounded strangely pained as he looked over her head. "Look again."

Amelia frowned and looked up, calling her status and inventory. Like she had originally thought she hadn't seen any items added to her inventory. There wasn't anything like what the others had received. She was just happy with the new morale, to be honest. She pulled up her character and looked through her stats, wondering what Forsythe referred to.

"What am I looking for?"

"New… quest maybe? Title?" Aidan sounded like he could start laughing at any moment and never stop.

Now that he mentioned it she did see a tiny star pane at the bottom of her quest log. It seemed to have been added not long ago.

She selected it.

Examine:

-------------------------------------

Far North Continent Succession

With the population ruined and no clear line of succession, the people have cried out for their champion to be instated as Empress. Mourning, scourge of life and enemy of the Far North, was slain through the actions of one Transient. The Refugees returning to the Far North already speak her name, as if the power of her reputation bypasses time and distance. Her deeds of valor from the past are being talked about with wild and excited abandon. They tell of Syrxis, the Terror of the Deep, and the dread bird Airu. It is no small wonder that any such deadly foe be faced and survived, let alone Mourning. Heavenly Chronicler! Dragon Friend! The City-Leaders have already departed on ships to greet their new peer and to begin negotiations for trade and travel within the new kingdoms.

Reward: Unanimously declared Empress of the Far North Continent.

Reward: Territory Progression Option Added - The Far North Continent

Reward: Territory Gained - The Far North Continent

Decline: Unable to Decline.

------------------------------------------

Amelia closed the window and looked over her head. Instead of the usual one-word name that appeared there, a title now sprawled in glorious excess.

Empress Amelia, Hero Queen of the Far North Continent spoke her first words after she learned of her reward. "Eh?"

"My liege." Raven finally managed to get to her knees and used the opportunity to kneel before her. "That this one might be found worthy, I swear fealty to Empress Amelia, Hero Queen of the Far North Continent."

Aidan and Forsythe, swept in the moment, also took a knee. "I so swear." They declared as one.

Hunter didn't kneel, merely smiled. "Sorry, I already belong to a kingdom."

Elisha looked like she really wanted to kneel but what her mother said made sense.

"Eh?" Amelia said again. Her head swam as all the memories she had of being normal appeared as pictures and started circling a large imaginary drain.

"No. No. I. Raven. Raven! You want to be Empress of the North right? Forsythe could you be King of the North? Aidan, Aidan take it!" Amelia looked beseechingly and was met with the cold, hard smiles of villainous mutineers.

"Already taking office well I see." King Elairdrin strode into the circle, eliciting gasps from those who had been eavesdropping. Queen Catherine and Prince Orekin were beside him.

"How did you get here?" Hunter wanted to know. She seemed to be forgetting that she was supposed to be a little bit deferential. It had been a long night and they had showed up almost like they knew beforehand the battle would be ended at this time.

"That's my fault." Gabriel sighed, throwing back his hood as he stepped up. "Vienne put me on their boat, and then she decided we were going too slow. You ever saw a ship the size of a building tilt upward and move like it's got an onboard engine? I wouldn't recommend it. The laughing was horrible too" He waved shortly. "Sorry I missed everything. I went as fast as I could."

"Ooh. God favored. How was it?" Aidan asked curiously.

"I don't want to talk about it," Gabriel admitted. "But I'm a Templar now, and have sworn my service to Vienne."

"Just give me a minute. I have to figure out a way to get rid of this." Amelia said, looking at King Elairdrin. He smiled in return and made a benevolent get on with it gesture. Amelia pulled up her window and then started exploring the Progression Option. She opened it up and discovered that it was really a map of the Far North Continent and the areas she now controlled. She could set borders, taxes, trade agreements, start buildings, and bequeath land.

Nowhere did she see an option to cede leadership. The Far North was really comprised of four parts in her territory. It extended for hundreds of kilometers in every direction and she really only controlled about a fifth. She supposed that made sense. One didn't really own the continent but the cities and the area where vendors and Residents and Transients could live in housing. Still, she grasped for any idea to get rid of this. Being a city-leader meant she might never have time to go out into the world and explore again, or when she did, she might never receive the same recognition that her fellow adventurers were given. Horrid visions of everyone kneeling to her everywhere she went started spinning in her head.

"If I might." Aidan gently placed a hand on her shoulder. She closed the window and let him lead her away. She began nodding as he talked, feeling better already. Aidan really was the devil when it came to the details.

------------------------

The three city-leaders stood waiting for her when she returned with Aidan. Her shoulders were square and she looked less terrified than she had moments before.

"Very well." She said with resignation. "If this is to be my kingdom then I am going to make this a place where I want to live. So I will make all three of you an offer, and I really hope you consider."

"Already trying to negotiate." Queen Catherine chuckled lightly. "May I see your dragon when this is done?" She looked terribly excited at the prospect and actually less concerned with whatever negotiation they were about to have.

"Uhh, he's not anyone's dragon but I bet he'd like you." Amelia guessed. "Well let me get to it then. I can see you're all eager to explore. One of the things I hate in a game. No, I'm sorry, in a world like this one, is that I start in amazing places and never seem to journey back to visit them." Raven was nodding in agreement. Beautiful starting areas that weren't worth the time to travel back and see because the content was too far beneath their level. "I think that this is an injustice. I see this Far North as a place where many will journey and from which many will not leave again for a long time. As such I am going to acknowledge the support and effort that went into this campaign in the following way. I will cede a large territory to each of the lands that helped us cast victory today. To the west, I would give the barren fields of ice and snow to the Silf. I am sorry that there are no trees. It is my fondest wish that you use your skills with nature and once again restore the splendor of forests to this land."

Queen Catherine was startled but looked intrigued. She stared out into the darkness as if she were already envisioning the task.

"To the east lay the ocean, and, I would include Blutonsi. The humans of Brack are proud, industrious, and hardy people. I do not know what I can give you other than the gift of expansion. Please continue to thrive, to spread, and to lend your hearts to the world."

King Elairdrin's face became closed as if this idea had not occurred to him and he was giving it serious thought.

"We must not forget our friends the dwarves." Amelia turned to Prince Orekin. "Do you tire of the toil of the earth? I can see you do not from the way you start to smile. Then may I give you more earth to toil in? To the north, the mountains that overlook Blutonsi are overlooked by yet larger, richer ranges. Inside of them, I can't even imagine what you will dig up nor what you will find. It would please me to know that with your cunning and curiosity those answers could someday be given."

"You are giving away your land?" Prince Orekin said, somewhat disquieted at the prospect of bringing clans of dwarves to work the frozen mountains of the north. From what Amelia understood the dwarves had always been stuck in one spot and had nearly charted the underground in every direction of their domain.

"Yes. Though I will be the ruler of this Far North Continent you will have jurisdiction within your boundaries, and sovereignty within your borders. We will agree to mutually beneficial rules and sanctions but you will pay no tax to live there. Instead, let this place become a place where Transients enter the world and are able to know the greatness of the three races." Amelia really needed to thank Aidan later. This made her seem benevolent and she got out of monitoring three-quarters of her territory.

"What will you do with the remainder?" King Elairdrin asked suddenly. "It may seem impetuous to you, and I apologize if it does, but we have maps drawn up of the continent and the area with which you describe there is a large sum of territory to the Far North over the mountain you have not ceded. Will the Refugees once again build a city there and spread out?"

"No." Amelia shook her head. "The Refugees will go to your domain and territories. There is nothing but death for them here. The memory of loss and memory of that which is no longer possible."

"You're asking to be an Empress without a people." Catherine scolded her gently. "Do you think that they will stand for this?"

"They will," Amelia predicted. She and Aidan hadn't talked about this but a crazy idea had already formed in her head as an alternative. "In that place, I will rebuild the Half empire, and should they choose to live under my rule I would welcome them."

"The Halves are extinct lass." Prince Orekin reminded her gently.

"No. They are waiting to be saved." Amelia answered. On top of the mountain that overlooked Blutonsi, before she had come down, Amelia had read the last testament of the hero Half Victoria. Her Chronicle of the Heavens job had given her a new ability after she read it, and now she was sure that she and her friends could do anything they wanted. Even if that meant saving an extinct people. AA was that type of game.

The three city-leaders stared at her warily now. They were obviously trying to decide if she was a lunatic or to be feared because she could really bring to pass what she claimed.

"If I rule, I will not rule a kingdom of corpses." Amelia decreed cruelly. She was proud of herself and the way her voice didn't shake as she told the three most influential Residents in the world she didn't care for their attitude.

"Long life to Empress Amelia." King Elairdrin said at last. Queen Catherine and Prince Orekin echoed his sentiments and a great cry of Residents and Transients erupted as news spread that the three kingdoms would be seeded in the north. New players would be allowed to start in this area but they wouldn't miss out on any of the long histories that players who started on the older continents received.

"Long life to Empress Amelia!" It was actually changed for a while and Amelia backed away and fled post haste.

--------------

Amelia took off her visor, hands trembling. The surge of adrenaline and emotion had faded and now all that was left was the shakes. Some of her old friends had told her about the shakes. You got them, they told her, when you did something really exciting and your heart was pounding and your blood was pumping. When it was over there were only the shakes. Her door chimed moments later.

It was Aidan. The door slid aside and he entered the room quietly. He moved to her bed and sat down beside her. After a long moment, he put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. "Pretty good." He praised.

"I don't want to be Empress," Amelia admitted. She put her face in his shirt and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"I don't know any other Empresses or Queens but I bet that's what the best ones say." Aidan wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. "Going to tell me about the last bit?"

"The Halves thing?" Amelia asked, her voice muffled by his chest and shirt.

"Yes." He answered. There really hadn't been more than that. They had discussed the territory ceding at length though she hadn't done what he suggested and just given it away.

"When I read the entry on the mountain I received a new option from my Chronicler." Amelia began to explain. "A special ability for special stories. [Live Entry]."

"That sounds interesting. I'm always amazed at what that job is throwing at you." Aidan admitted, petting her hair softly.

"What did the description say?"

"It said that I could view certain, specific, and special events in history and take people back with me to those events. That our actions might change the history and future of the world." Amelia said.

"So it had to do with the Halves?" Aidan guessed.

Amelia pulled away from him, and the smile that crept across her face gave him pause. It was the smile she always gave when she was about to see something truly amazing. The smile of a junky who knew her next fix was coming. Her creepy smile. "Hey, wanna be a time-traveler?"

Aidan's face pinched. "Who are you? Raven?"

The End of Volume I.