“Loyal citizens of Qursa. Behold your Emperor!” A tall blonde woman proclaimed from the stage.

A long wooden cart, filled with colour began down the road. It filled most of the available space and the gap between the buildings and the cart was packed with ordinary citizens. It was a day of national celebration. Newly declared of course.

Alsace stood at the back of the stage and watched the procession with disgust. She had heard the Emperor’s attendants planning this day for weeks now. They thought they could capitalise on the ‘coup’ attempt as they called it. She hated every mention of the planning of this rally over the last few weeks. It was all the consorts and the staff could talk about in the Palace. Mainly because they were forced to cope with the sheer amount of visitors.

“No matter how many times outsiders might try to take what we have away from us, we will fight back. And we will win! Glory to Qursa!”

The crowd repeated, “Glory to Qursa” repeatedly, mindlessly as they raised their fists in the air. Alsace knew there was a whole set of newly recruited Guard amongst the crowd making sure that loyalties were properly displayed. The dungeons were already full with known rabble rousers and a new prison was being constructed just next to the Slums. Though judging by the racket cascading around the city, she was surprised there was any dissenters remaining.

Alsace watched the tall woman making her announcements. She was another recent appointment of War Councillor. Dorota. She was terrifying. A Class One Archmage from one of the other cities in the Empire, though she didn’t know which one. There were whisperings of the new city, Eradinium but Alsace struggled to hear anything about it without laughing at the concept of naming a city after yourself. Eradin was truly something.

“We are one people. United against the outsiders. United against traitors. Those who want to take what is yours, what you’ve worked so hard for! And will we let them? Absolutely not!” She projected from the stage as the cart carrying the Emperor glided through the predetermined route. It was passing through the Middle now, heading close to the Slums, though it would not go in. Despite the snub, a huge crowd turned out at the various entrances of the Slums.

There were wild whoops and cheers now. The first task of Alsace’s new army was to organise and hand out drinks and refreshments to all who gathered. Horace had been running around like a blue arsed fly trying to sort out the logistics of it. It led weight to her concerns that the army wasn’t really intended to be much of an army after all.

We’re they just a means to keep the poor busy? She hoped not.

Alsace just watched and smiled politely whenever any of the royal guests looked in her general direction. What had become of her home? She thought.

“As you know, all of your power stems from your gracious Emperor. However, his gifts unlock something inside of you. Your spirit has become stronger as you have used your powers. As you know, the best way to improve your standing is by work and loyalty to the Empire.”

Dorota paused and allowed the crowd to shout their approval. They did so with aplomb.

“But now we have external threats to our prosperity. Your Emperor is going to directly sponsor a series of training and tournaments to strengthen your ability to fight and master your relationship with essence. As you may already have seen, we are recruiting a vast army to bring glory to our lands again. Your Emperor thanks those of you who have joined so far and those of you who will join in the future!”

Raucous cheers drowned out the War Councillor and the elite guests watching around Alsace nodded with approval. They grinned and slapped each other on the back.

“Our victory rests in ordinary people doing what is right! So sign up to the training and the tournaments: you never know what is around the corner.”

Horace scooted up beside Alsace, a look somewhere between love and fear plastered across his face. He was dressed in long gold and white robes, which might have suited a priest or something of that nature, if there were any left. He didn’t take his eyes off her.

“Isn’t she glorious?” He whispered.

Alsace had a different word in mind. She didn’t respond.

——

Jano and Gryff had been separated at the palace and led away. The palace soldier who was directing Jano was taller than him, with a wide sweeping back which blocked much of his sight. It made it considerably difficult to see what awaited him.

He was led to a dark small room deep within the palace. Two purple and black lamps gave out a meek light, resembling the outdoors quite accurately. He saw Dariea working at a table at the rear of the room. It was packed with books and random materials which Jano didn’t recognise.

She turned around and thanked the guard, who bowed in return and left. “Jano, thank you for coming.” She let out a big sigh and leaned back on the table.

“I know I haven’t seen you since the battle. How have you been?”

Jano looked at her face, partially obscured by her long brown hair as always. She looked stressed and overworked. “Busy. We’ve managed to rebuild some of the damaged buildings, but there’s much more to do.”

She was staring past Jano, fatigue clearly evident in her expression. “But as you said, it’s good practice.”

That seemed to pull her out of her stare and she even smiled. “Good. The others are impressed with your skill and they have asked me to give you this.” She pulled out a small potion and handed it to Jano.

“What is it?” He asked as he twirled it in his fingers.

“It’s a vial of Meditative Elixir. It strengthens your spirit over time, a bit like a spirit stone. Take it before you meditate and you will progress faster. Though it takes about a week for the effects to start to manifest. Though I heard that you did a good job in the battle anyway. And Herat seems impressed with your work ethic.”

Jano’s heart started beating faster and he moved forward to take the vial. He was only training for an hour each day due to the sheer amount of repairs which needed to be made. He couldn’t deny the small thrill he felt from hearing praise from his teacher.

“Thank you Dariea.” He looked at the vial greedily. The spirit stone had proven useful, but was long since spent. At least he thought it had worked. He could certainly work for longer without being totally depleted than he could before.

Dariea nodded. “The stronger your spirit, the more essence you can channel and the better techniques you will be able to manage. The alchemists make it for the elite of the trainee Chaos-Shapers, but because you are doing such a wonderful job. They want you to have one.”

Jano opened the vial and drank it all in one. The cool liquid ran down his throat and he could feel it sink into him. A spicy aftertaste lingered in his mouth and he began to cough and splutter. Dariea’s mouth curled into a broad smile. Jano looked at her as if she had fed him some sort of minor poison.

“Well it’s not going to taste good if it alters your spirit now is it?” She laughed.

Jano spluttered a little more. “I suppose not.”

He looked around the room, his eyes drawn to the purple light. The aftertaste still lingered in his mouth. “What have you been doing here?” He asked, mainly to try and distract himself.

Dariea’s smile dropped a little and she looked around. “I’ve been working on research, to help draw more power from the chaos. It is what I was working on before I left. But there was something urgent which required my attention.”

She could see the confusion on Jano’s face. “Chaos essence isn’t quite like the others. It comes from an unknown place. Sort of. We have only just scraped the surface of its power. It’s how I can jump between large areas, it’s how Zabar opened up a portal. I’ve been working on better ways to control it. Research that I had been working on before I came back to Qursa.”

Jano had almost no idea what she was saying. But it sounded dangerous.

“Okay. So can I help?” He asked.

Dariea smiled and shook her head gently. “Thanks for the offer, but not really no. Unless you’ve suddenly gained mastery over chaos essence in its current form while I’ve been busy?” Jano shook his head.

“Don’t worry, I think you’re going to have plenty of practice. If I know the Emperor, and I do, that was probably only a scouting party. I saw you in the battle, you did well. Stick to the basics and learn to channel the essence. Here..” she rummaged around her desk and threw him a scroll.

‘Reflections on Destruction Chaos Crush’ the title read. Jano flicked through the relatively light scroll.

“Don’t worry, it’s a copy I had made for you. Learn those runes and practice, you’re going to need more than the basics. It’s one major attack, but it’s powerful and it will affect more than one enemy. You’ll be much more useful.”

Jano grew excited. He started to walk away, he wanted to learn and read this immediately. He didn’t know anything other than his instinctive control over stone when he arrived.

“Hold on a second.” She called him. “Don’t think I have forgotten about your wife and everyone in Qursa. We need these people on our side in order to stand any chance against Qursa. Scouting reports have indicated they are building fortifications around the old capital. Raising new armies and bringing others from across the Empire. They’re planning something big. We need to be ready.”

To hear that she had thought about it in such detail gave Jano pause. She was far more connected than he would ever be. She was formidable.

“I know. I trust you.” He managed.

“Good.” Dariea smiled. “Now go and meditate. Start to process that vial and strengthen your spirit. We’re going to need it.”