“I am glad I woke all of you up earlier than normal.” She said that with a smirk. “Though I didn’t expect either of you to cause that much of a ruckus. Shame on you for shirking your duties to maintain your equipment,” Saida added. At the same time, Mera and Mela cast their eyes on the ground, out of shame, embarrassment, or other something else Lissa could not tell.

Lissa took in the sights around her while exiting the barracks and walking to the street. The sun shone brightly from the west over the Silver Mountains, and with that came the first whispers of winter. The chill of the morning breeze caught them all off guard, Lissa was able to suppress a shudder as it touched her skin, Saida wasn’t so lucky. She shuddered, bringing her cloak around her to try and ward off the wind. “I th..thought winter wa..was a few months away?!?” the words came from her chattering teeth, and after a few moments, she regained her composure. “That was during the spring festival, you know,” Mera stated with confidence while Mela was suppressing laughter.

“Wasn’t that a few weeks ago?” Saida quickly retorted, but Lissa could see her processing that information as she spoke it. “Oh damn it, you are right.” She said with a groan, she let the cloak loose after finally getting used to the temperature. “The more we move, the faster you will warm up.” Lissa said, passing the twins and pressing forward, “Also, I don’t think we should dawdle. We don’t know who the duty captain is today.”

“On that thought, does anyone know who the duty captain is today?” Saida asked after a moment causing them to pause in thought. “I think it might be Captain Adama or Captain Hosen,” Mera responded after a few moments eliciting a groan from Saida. “I hope it is Hosen, Adama always gives us work that makes me want to claw my eyes out.” She said this while shaking her head and miming clawing out her eyes.

As they walked along the cobblestone street. The group passed other emissaries going about their tasks. Lissa thought back to when she was younger. Never in her wildest dreams did she think that this would be possible. As a child, she believed that Imperial Emissaries were like diplomats sent to negotiate with others. In truth, Imperial Emissaries were literal agents of the Emperor or Empress. They were tasked with doing their bidding in all five kingdoms of the Dominion and beyond. They could be the blades meant to eliminate threats, agents to negotiate disputes, sent to parley with enemies and allies alike. No task was too large or too small as they were part of the reason the Dominion had lasted for centuries.

While lost in thought, she didn’t initially notice the growing shadow that was being cast on them. She looked up, expecting to see an errant cloud outlined by brilliant sunlight. Her thoughts couldn’t be further from the truth as above them was Volamire, the capital of the Dominion. Floating hundreds of meters above the ground, it was a wonder of a bygone age when the gods themselves walked the land. She could make out the hundreds of patrols that flitted through the air guarding the city, riding on the backs of their bonded wyverns.

Compared to the metropolis itself, they appeared like insects buzzing around an animal. Lissa saw the airships that brought goods as well people into the docks of the city, some were cumbersome beasts easily a hundred meters long and dozens wide. Others were the pleasure crafts of the rich and powerful, they cut through the air swiftly without the need for the balloons that the cargo and transport ships needed. The only thing keeping them afloat was their immense Aether Foci located on the starboard, port, fore, and aft.

Lissa heard the twins utter a single gasp, “It’s beautiful!” Mera and Mela, for the hundredth time, exclaimed together. “People say the city is thousands of years old if that is true, the enchantments and reinforcements necessary to do so must be so intricate and layered with redundancies. It would take ages to go through them all.” Mera gushed, clearly her head was swimming as if she were a schoolgirl talking about a crush she had.

“The Aether requirements to keep the city floating, and for it to be able to translocate must be enormous. Lissa, are you able to see the flow into the city?” Mela asked the dawning realization she may get an answer causing her to grin.

“Mela, you and I both know one of the first things that we are told not to do is attempt to look at the Aether flow from ground level,” Lissa repeated for what felt like the hundredth time to Mela. It always seemed like she could not retain that simple fact. Even though you could ask her the most outlandish question when it came to body modification, and she could give you an answer.

Mela pouted, “I know, but I can’t help it.” she strained her neck, looking upwards at the city. “You think we will be able to be in the city when it makes the next translocation?” Lissa knew better than to answer Mela’s question, it was something none of them could answer, but they all wondered. They had seen the last translocation that had put it above their heads, happening when they arrived initially at the academy in Westemir. It was the capital of the westernmost kingdom in the Dominion. Kingdom being the loosest term to describe the two dozen city-states in the Silver Alliance. Aptly named due to the incredibly high amount of silver mined from the Silver Peaks mountain range and the surrounding foothills.

Every decade after much preparation and magical reinforcement, the thirty square kilometer city would move between the capitals of the five kingdoms. By this time next year, the shadow would fall on one of the other capital cities of the nation. She did not bother learning which it would be, doubting that she would ever leave Alliance territory.

They passed the aspirant training yard and barracks. These modest buildings fit well into the utilitarian complex that followed the inner academy walls. No aspirants were in the yard. Which led her to believe that they were marching or in one of the sparring buildings. They continued down the main road of the academy itself towards the central administration building. It was the largest building in the complex. The stone walls had a faint blue glow. During the day, it absorbed energy from the sun, which reinforced the durability and strength of the stone walls.

Those reinforcements also made it one of the most robust and most well-protected buildings in the city. The administration building housed most of the senior academy staff, the officer’s quarters, the central library, and, most importantly, one of the few direct routes into Volamire. Each imperial academy for the emissaries varied wildly in layout, form, and size. In the heart of each administration building under heavy guard at all times were translocation pads, which allowed instantaneous travel to and from Volamire. Only those with proper permission, papers, and authorization were allowed to use them. All others used airships or permitted means of flight.

A sharp and shrill whistle sounded from their left. Lissa saw Almios, Garza, and Darvick sitting on the secondary entrance to lecture hall a few dozen meters away, eating jerky it seemed. “I told them we would be able to get food and get back in time,” Darvick said a full mouth making speech difficult but still apparent to those who had practice deciphering his speech.

Darvick was the first to start walking towards them, munching on jerky all the while. Lissa noticed that his bare face was slightly flushed, and his eyes watered, but she couldn’t tell why. She quickly did a once over on her dwarf friend out of habit. First, his long, burgundy hair was braided and fell on his back and shoulders. His crossbow was slung on his back, he preferred it to a standard bow as in his words, "I don't want my arms tired drawing a bow when I can have this beauty armed and ready at all times." His Focus and Warhammer were on his left, “Have you convinced them to have your Focus as the handle?” She asked, knowing that for the past few weeks, he had been pleading to the blacksmiths and enchanters for permission. He beamed at her, “They said yes last night!" He patted the hammer and Focus," These are loaned to me while they figure out how to incorporate them together.”

Lissa smiled. “I suspect they said yes just to shut you up,” she retorted, and he shrugged. “Maybe, but still, they said yes.” He took another large bite from the jerky. She had already turned her gaze to Almios and missed his face flushing, and his eyes watering. Almios was the lone full human in the group, which was a rarity, she noticed his cheeks were slightly flushed while he chewed the jerky.

Her once over on him found nothing worthy of further scrutiny. His stubbly brown hair was as neat as it could get and matched his slightly watery eyes. Finally, she looked at Garza, the other Blooded in their group. His heritage was more ‘appealing’ than hers but noticeable all the same. His marble-like skin, golden eyes, and black hair made him very attractive to some people. She could not fathom how it was appealing, but that was just what she thought. While looking at him, she noticed that in his hands was a bag that seemed to contain jerky.

Lissa rolled her eyes as they walked to meet each other in the middle while holding out her hand. Garza took the hint, and as soon as they were close enough to not miss her tossed her a piece. She caught it deftly and took a bite, she tasted sweetness, salt, smoke, and something else she wasn’t sure of. As Lissa swallowed, that something rose from her throat, it was fire, and it raged. She thanked the gods; her skin complexion and color hid her rapidly flushing face. She fought through the rapidly crescendoing inferno in her mouth and continued to eat. “Lissa, I am impressed you are handling that jerky so well," Garza came over and patted her on the shoulder.

"Thank you," Lissa replied with a small smirk while continuing to gnaw on the meat. The fire was turning from an inferno to a much more enjoyable sweet level. "Oddly it is sweet, is it supposed to be sweet?" Garza cocked his brow, "No, they aren't," he took another bite savoring it now. Both Garza and Lissa finally joined the rest of the group who were waiting at the door. Saida held one of the entries for them as they walked into the warm entrance and expansive hall. With a satisfying thud it shut behind them, Lissa quickly surveyed the room hoping the duty captain was not in their office.

Her eyes traced from the left side to the right, stopping on each of the four hallways. Each went further into the heart of the building, the left-most passage was by far the busiest. The dozens of doors down it went into the specialist training rooms and the offices for the instructors. With her glance, she did not spot the duty captain, who would be wearing a white cape over their armor. She did see a few dozen trainees going between rooms, while instructors entered and left their offices and lecture halls. “Now I know this may seem daunting,” Lissa turned her gaze to one of the nearest doorways down that hall. She saw roughly eight or nine students who looked as if they were going to be ill file out of a lecture room. “But this is a crucial step in understanding your next lesson!” a diminutive, greying professor followed them out his robes covered in what looked like blood.

“Oh no, that must be the newest batch of medical trainees,” Mera said while looking at each of the students, her Focus was already in hand as she strode towards them. “Mera, what are……?” Saida asked as she strode by, the question dying in her throat as a pair of students vomited onto the bare stone floor of the hall. This action started a chain reaction, and soon all but one of the students was either expelling what little food they had or dry heaving. Professor Liwit ignored them all dancing around them, his Focus gathering everything into a transparent bubble above him.

“I see that most of you have not witnessed anything like that before, that is good.” Liwit was finally to the head of the group. “If none of you reacted like this, then I wasn’t doing my duty.” As he reached the end without missing a beat, the bubble of bile quickly transferred to Mera. Slowly the liquid and solid combination changed into a uniform dark brown paste.

Mera deposited into a nearby receptacle explicitly meant for it, “Now, as you can see with Mera’s helpful demonstration, you can change the state of bodily fluids.” Liwit continued with his back to Mera, who was returning to the group. “One can not change it rapidly. If you attempt to do so without extensive practice and training, otherwise the results may be somewhat explosive.” Lissa saw the professor gesture with his focus as all the blood and viscera pooled into a smaller orb, which hovered a few centimeters from his body.

One female student, who was finished heaving looked at him, “I..I assume you could have done it?” She asked while composing herself; tears had pooled near her eyes as further evidence of the violent purge that just occurred. “Yes, I could have done just that,” Liwit started with a gesture as the orb of viscera appeared to evaporate. Wisps of vapor drifted upwards as he continued, “But I have had the pleasure of teaching many beings. In all of my experience, each time I have not done this, do you know what happens?” He put his hands behind his back and did not have to wait long for an answer.

“Someone tried to rush and caused that to happen?” The same girl responded, unsure of her response. He nodded, “That is correct; it has proved rather fatal to the patient each time.” Lissa finally noticed that a few stragglers stumbled out of the classroom, obviously shocked by what they had seen. A few appeared to be covered in viscera, a handful of passing professors and emissaries started assisting them.

“Does he always do something like that?” Saida asked as they were all enraptured by this, along with a dozen others. Mera and Mela nodded in unison, “Yep, though he does wait a while before doing it lately. He used to do it when showing the class healing a cut.” Mela and Mera shuddered. “Now he does it when showing the process of healing a fracture or broken bone.”

“That will be all for today. I have taken the liberty of excusing you from your next lessons and training.” Liwit spoke while making his way back to his class. “I will have your books and belongings brought to you after I clean them.” All of the nearby students looked at him in confusion, “Did I stutter? You should be happy to have the rest of the day off. Some of you will need to, or want to, bathe after this as the smell may linger.” Professor Liwit made a shooing gesture.

Lissa felt a tug on her right arm, she turned and saw Mela walking down the hallway behind them. “Yes, we need to get our assignments, no point in dallying,” Saida said while catching up to the twins. The rightmost passageway from the entrance hall contained the Duty Captain’s office as well as the offices of other higher ranked Emissaries. It was rather unassuming, but looks could be deceiving. As they all entered the passage, they also passed wards. These wards had many purposes; one was to keep out anyone not being accompanied by an Emissary, another speculated use was to dispel unauthorized enchantments.

Several dozen emissaries passed them as they continued down the deceptively vast hallway. “Do you happen to know who the duty captain is today?” Saida asked a random passerby, “It’s Captain Hosen today, and she was actually looking for you all,” They all stopped and looked at the male emissary. “Did she say why?” Darvick mumbled, his mouth still swollen with jerky. The other emissaries shook their heads, “No, but I wouldn’t think it is for something good. I also wouldn’t keep them waiting,” Another chimed in. “Damn it all,” Saida cursed while starting to jog down the hall, everyone following quickly behind her.

It did not take them long to get to the Duty Captain’s office, the door was closed. After they all stopped, Saida nervously knocked on the door. It opened without a sound. Behind the desk, Captain Hosen sat, her greying red hair was neatly in a bun, and her eyes seemed to pierce their souls. “I was wondering when you would arrive,” She quickly glanced out the window behind her, “At least you are early.” Everyone filed in and stood silently waiting, Hosen with her sharp gaze inspected them all. “Garza, please close the door,” Garza did as she asked, and they felt Aether pass by them Lissa noticed the door shimmer slightly.

“How much do you know of the Silver Shields?” Hosen asked while scanning all of them. After a few moments of silence, Saida replied, “I think I am speaking for all of us about this. The Silver Shields is an independent organization dedicated to problem-solving that falls outside the scope and strength of rural Guard detachments.” Hosen put her elbows on the table as if in contemplation, her eyes locked with Saida. Saida continued after a few awkward moments of silence. “Normally they take up contracts to deal with beasts that the local militia is unable to deal with. Hunting monsters, dealing with bandits, and on occasion escorting Seekers.”

“You have an adequate amount of knowledge on this, though something you missed is when they have a task they cannot complete, they come to us for assistance.” Hosen stood and picked up a letter off her desk before handing it to Mera, who was positioned closest to her. “That arrived earlier this morning by priority courier from their headquarters in this region.” Lissa could see Mera quickly scan the letter before starting to pass it around to all of them. “Several of their groups have been repulsed by some sort of ‘Troll,’ or so they claim.”

Finally, the letter reached Lissa, and while she read over the letter, Hosen continued. “Their reports that came with the message, five groups have been dispatched and driven away by this beast.” Lissa continued reading, her mind focusing solely on what she was reading, “Wait, this beast killed some of the group and left others alive? A troll would have killed all of them and not let anyone report back.” Hosen nodded as Lissa looked up at her “Astute observation, which is another reason they sent this to us. They simply don’t have the equipment or training to deal with this threat.” “But why us?” Mela asked, looking confused, “I mean we aren’t the most seasoned Emissaries or even the largest group, surely others could do it better.”

“You are correct, Mela, a handful of others could deal with this. The reason you were chosen is that both Adama and I can trust you.” Hosen swept her hand across them all. “You see, a second missive arrived earlier this morning along with this.” Hosen knelt down and picked up a brown satchel. She placed it on the desk and opened it, they all gazed inside and saw what looked like a horn or tusk of some kind. “Initially, both Adama and I did not know what this was. I would like you all to take a guess.” Hosen then let them all inspect it, the twins were the first to reply, “A dire boar?”

Hosen shook her head, “Mountain Mole?” Almios and Garza replied. Again a negative, “I would wager some sort of Troll not native to the area?” Darvick replied while mimicking an attachment to his jaw. Once it reached Saida and Lissa, they both gasped. They could feel residual Aether in the object. “A mountain drake?” Hosen smiled while nodding, “Good presumptions based on the little information that was given. Though I regret to inform you all that it is not a drake.” She reached for the horn-tusk and placed it in the center of her desk. “This type of horn-tusk is typically found on the elusive Mountain Dragons.”

They all blanched, while Hosen nodded. “I see all of you are aware of this ramification, we cannot determine the age size or sex of the dragon with this,” She said while gesturing to the horn-tusk. “Fight, Run, Talk, or Hide,” they repeated the mantra everyone was given during their childhood. When asked, some children would say, “Talk,” others “Fight, Run, or Hide.” No option gave you the certainty to live, but they all knew it took armies to kill a fully grown dragon regardless of size. Dragons fear nothing, but their mother, legends, and myths say that she is a firstborn. A being created before the Gods progenitor of all dragons and drakes.

“Because of your varied skill set as well as the almost preternatural ability to read each other. No one else would do.” Hosen sat back into her chair, studying her subordinates, “Finally, before you leave, and an Adjutant has been assigned to go with you.” Before they all could protest, she gestured for silence, “Yes, I know they may not be best suited for this, but it is a necessity given the circumstances. I can assure you they will not interfere with your work and that you all know them.” Hosen smiled, waving her hand, “You are dismissed. Arrive at the West Gate within the hour, the Adjutant will be waiting. They have all the necessary information that you will need.”