Toward the East of the Grenitian Kingdom, close to the borders of Parv.

A long stretch of flat desert lay as far as one could see. The blistering heat poured down on the landscape and ensured that very little organic life would survive if they didn’t have a way to counter it. The people of Parv had rarely a reason to travel to the Grenitian Kingdom and vice versa. So the desert was rarely observed by humans. Recently, the source of the earthquakes could be traced to the middle of the empty desert, and with them came massive sinkholes that prevented investigation.

If one were to stand in the desert at that moment they would see one such sinkhole. The sand slowly poured into a small chasm and oddly enough there was a dim light at the bottom of it.

Deep below the source of the light was revealed. A humongous glowing red eye with black x-shaped pupils.

The eye itself looked to be at least 10 feet, in terms height and width. The lethargic eye stared out into space before it another quake occurred which caused it to blink. The quakes continued in a steady rhythm that resembled a heartbeat.The eye continued to blink every several minutes, and each time the eye seemed to regain some sense of clarity. A semblance of awareness appeared in its eye while a fierce tremor erupted, forcing more sand into the cavern. It finally seemed to be awake as it scanned the surroundings. The rest of its body was buried under thousands of pounds of sand and it seemed to realize that fact. As to how it got in such a place? The creature possessed enough intelligence to remember.

A woman. A woman with wings and dark purple hair. The creature had fought with such a woman and was injured heavily, but what happened to the woman was unknown. The creature had no way of knowing that a thousand years had passed since then, but even if it did its anger wouldn’t subside. After all, it could still feel the woman’s sword in its body.

A low groan echoed throughout the cavern. The sand over the creature shook, and a huge earthquake followed, but that wasn’t enough to break free at the moment. Still, compared to its forced 1000 year hibernation, it wouldn’t be that much longer until it was free.

….

“Please wait just a moment, Sir.” A man bowed politely in front Ira before leaving.

Ira’s arrival at the Thynne Manor was completely unexpected and there wasn’t anyone who didn’t realize how important Ira was to the Matriarch, especially after the wedding. After arriving, Ira was escorted to a guest room while someone attempted to reach out to the Valkyries.

“Uh...Ok.” Ira shrugged as he picked through a bowl of fruit.

After a few moments, a very familiar person appeared in the room.

“Ira.” Aldis said in a somewhat excited tone.

“Aldis.” Ira responded as he peeled an orange.

“It’s been a while.” Aldis said as he took a seat.

“Yeah, what’ve you been up to.” Ira asked while chewing.

“I’ve been waiting to get my mother’s approval to join the Mercenaries Union.” Aldis explained before he realized something. “Have you seen Amy by any chance?” Aldis asked.

“No. I thought she would’ve been with you.” Ira said without much worry.

“I thought it was good for her to go ahead and join the union before me. I don’t know how long it’ll take for my mother to approve it. I’ll probably have to fight a few of my cousins to prove that I’m capable.” Aldis said with a determined look. He had practiced dual-wielding for the exact moment he could show his mother and grandmother.

“Hey, you get any abilities from that Golden Aurora thing?” Ira asked.

Aldis took some time to think before responding.“...I felt slightly different after, but I suspect it’s more of me being too hopeful. Other than that slight feeling, I haven’t gained anything. Have you?”

Ira chuckled while shaking his head. “I learned some stuff, but I had to take it from someone.”

Aldis was at a loss for words due to Ira’s cryptic words but knew Ira was...eccentric to begin with. “What do you mean?” He asked.

“I’ll tell you later, I think someone is here for me.” Ira said before standing up. Then as if on cue, someone knocked at the door and then entered.

“Sir, if you would follow me.” The man who attended to Ira earlier bowed.

“I’ll see you later, Aldis. Oh, and I’ll ask about that Mercenary stuff if I get a chance.” Ira said.

“Wait--Ira, there’s no need to do that, but I’d appreciate it if you could check up on Amy.” Aldis responded.

“No problem,” Ira said with a casual assurance. After all, it wouldn’t be hard to find Amy if he really tried.

Ira was then escorted to the familiar courtyard and spotted a Valkyrie he had seen a few times before. Compared to the other ones he knew, the particular Valkyrie in front of him was a bit more in touch with her emotions, the most prominent being anger. In fact, most of his interactions with her all dealt with her swinging her hammer at him.

“Judith.” Ira greeted her lazily before sitting down. “I don’t have to call you my aunt-in-law or anything, right?”

“I’d prefer if you didn’t,” Judith said.

“Good. Between you and me, I don’t think my brother would like it. After all, he wasn't even invited to the wedding.” Ira whispered before patting his sword.

“What did you come here for?” Judith ignored his words and got directly to the point.

Although her temperament could be misleading, she approved of Ira greatly. His abilities and bloodline were beyond impressive and his mental state was tolerable, to say the least. The only thing she could say he was unsatisfied with was his lack of willingness to take on a second or third wife from within her family. In the end, she couldn’t press the topic as it wasn’t within her right to and then there was the fact that Ira and Avery had yet to produce a child.

Ira leaned back into the chair while glancing at the mountain far off in the distance. “I have an index.”

Judith showed an unamused expression. “If it’s just that, you should know we already have one.”

“Yeah, but this came from before the collapse,” Ira said with a grin.

“Before the…” Judith looked at Ira as she trailed off. “Is it with you?” She asked.

“Yup.” Ira nodded.

“Then I’ll have to inform my mother.” Judith responded.

“Listen...Since I’m here already, it wouldn’t be too much to see Avery would it?” Ira asked as he pretended to be nonchalant.

“You brought an index just to see her? They would’ve made an exception and let you on the peak if you just asked.” Judith shook her head with some slight amusement. She could see why Lauren liked Ira more than her own blood-related grandchildren.

“No one told me that.” Ira responded.

“Come on. I’ll take you up myself.” Judith said as she stood up. Ira moved next to her and she grabbed his arm before summoning her wings and flying off without saying another word.

…

Juliana Fairfax once was felt as if her family didn’t cater to her enough, but it all had changed recently. Ever since the incident, it felt as if her family was paying too much attention to her and the Temple was even getting involved. She even had overheard maids calling her an oracle or prophet of some sort. No matter where she went there would always be someone nearby usually gazing in fervor, but there was no one around at the moment because she had simply run away.

The pressure and anxiety had been building for some time, while others attempted to assure her it was a great thing, she could only recall being fearful of losing control of her body.

That was why at that moment, the youngest daughter of the Fairfax Family sat alone in a corner hidden from the world. No jewelry or expensive clothing was present, only a plain dress and a pitiful looking face stained with tears. She planned to sit there and collect her thoughts alone, but there seemed to be other plans for her.

“Hey...uh, are you ok?” A male voice laced with awkwardness took her focus.

“Are you in trouble? Do you need help?” Another voice asked.

Juliana looked up to see two boys that weren’t much older than her. One of them was tall and the other was comparatively shorter but seemed to carry a lot of confidence for some reason.

“N-No thank you.” Juliana responded. She realized it was dangerous to be without guards especially after all the recent incidents, but she didn’t think anything bad would happen.

“Did someone hurt you?” The shorter boy asked as he flashed his Mercenary card.

“No…” After seeing his card, Juliana felt a bit safer and continued, “It’s just...everyone is saying that the Golden Aurora was a sign of the gods. That it’s going to help us...but...I don’t want any power from it...I don’t…” Juliana began crying.

“Woah. Woah. Woah. Please just calm down.” The boy panicked as he tried to calm her as the scene could be interpreted differently from possible spectators.

“It’s weird to hear people say it’s the Gods way of helping us. My younger brother was killed by some bandits a year ago and they weren’t there to help at all. If I had the same abilities I have now...then maybe…” The taller boy spoke quietly to himself before realizing he was speaking aloud. He turned to see two faces looking at him with pity.

“Sorry.” He said as he smiled bitterly.

Seeing that Juliana calmed down, the shorter more confident boy began to speak, “My name is Randolph and this is my friend Clark.”

“...Hi.” Juliana greeted.

“H-Hello,” Clark responded.

“That’s much better.” Randolph nodded with a friendly smile. “Hey, if you’re hungry you can get some food with us.” He offered.

“Um...Ok.” Juliana stood up and dusted herself off. She had looked at common people with disdain previously, but it she met two people who turned out to be nice and more caring than those she lived with.

…

Far below a stretch of barren land, a city stood. Crystals lined the ceiling and simulated daylight for those who lived in the city. Along the streets, thousands of its citizens could be seen moving about their day. There was some diversity among those who lived in the city, but the most prominent races were those with greyish skin, red eyes, pointy ears, and white hair. They were none other than the Dark Elves. Beast people and even what appeared to be humans could be seen walking along the streets, but it would be wrong to assume they were human. Those who looked like humans fell into two categories, Vampires or Lycanthropes. Either way, they one thing in common and that was they suffered from a curse. In theory, it would be hard to think that those different races could live together, but it worked well under the leadership of the Dark Elves.

Dark Elves lived under a matriarchy, unlike the Elves which were ruled by Clan Keepers who were usually male. From an outside viewpoint, it seemed like the Dark Elves and Elves lived in a way completely opposite of each other.

In the center of the underground city stood a palace. A common trait of those who ruled over others. Inside a Dark Elf woman sat on a throne, while a male kneeled in front of her.

“Please allow me to accompany you to the Summit, Mother.” The Dark Elf man pleaded. He was the son of Queen Sylun Meldara, the oldest and most powerful living Dark Elf in its entire civilization.

While all Elves were known for their longevity, it didn’t really include the entire race. Since the collapse, only certain lineages were able to live for more than hundreds of years, and of course, the birth rate was incredibly low for those who could. Sylun had lived for a little over 700 years and was lucky enough to have twins, a boy, and a girl, less than 100 years ago.

Instead of responding, the Queen spoke quietly to herself. “Will that Valkyrie be attending?”

Sylun was familiar with the Valkyries or more specifically Lauren. At that time they had met, the Dark Elves were small in number and still looking for a place to permanently settle. Luckily enough they had managed to receive some assistance from Lauren and she could be considered directly responsible for setting the foundation that the Dark Elf civilization was built on.

“Mother?” The prince raised his head in confusion.

“I’ll allow it, Saren.” Sylun responded. Their purpose in attending the summit was to gain as much information as they could on the Red Moon. While Dark Elves did stay underground, they sometimes went to the surface during the night.

Putting away her thoughts the Queen continued, “I hope your sister will lead well during my absence. Seeing as you’ve decided you want to accompany me to that summit.”

“I only want to find out more about the Red Moon so we can ensure our prosperity,” Saren explained.

“I know. I just hope you avoid trouble with an old friend of mine. If she even appears.” Sylun mused with a smile.

...