A window into the past,

Brings one salvation.

To dwell on the future,

Brings one damnation...

“Get those barricades up! And will someone please inform the hunters that we need pelts and furs for the winter!!”

“Yes Sage, I’ll get the word out!”

“Thank you Dmitri. Now go, hurry. We haven’t much time until the dawn falls upon us.”

Dmitri’s eyes widened.

“The... dawn? Really ma’am? It’s that bad?”

“It is that bad Dmitri. Go. Now.”

Dmitri spared no more words. The little dwarf ran as fast as his stocky legs could take him. Getting the barricades up before the dawn was all he could think about.

Elira hoped that Dmitri wouldn’t forget the more important thing, which was to prepare their people for the long and cold nights that would soon come.

Negotiations had fallen through, and Elira had no choice but to prepare the Life clan for the worst now. She knew that the Warden wouldn’t do it, so she’d taken it upon herself to fulfil that duty.

Elira looked up at the tree, soaring through the clouds. It housed the leaders of her clan.

This was Udra’s capital. The city surrounding the Tree of Life at the top of Mount Udra.

Draconis.

Home to the dragons.

*KRRRAAAAAAAKK*

*Wooosh*

Elira held her hat down as a huge gust of wind assaulted her from behind. Her robe fluttered wildly in the wind caused by the emerald wyvern flying up the Tree of Life.

Elira scowled at it. There weren’t many draconic divines that Elira hated, but this one she despised so very much.

The only reason the Life clan was in such a torrid state was because of the Warden’s right hand advisor. Elira was considered second to only that one emerald tongue.

Had Gulmory not corrupted our dimwit Aspect, maybe we wouldn’t even be in this mess!

*Whew*

Well, no use dwelling on the past. Only thing left to do now is prepare to travel to Aurum for the Summit.

Elira noticed a soldier from the expedition earlier. The one to kill the hellhound. She stopped the soldier in their tracks.

“May I help you, Sage?” The soldier asked.

“What of the hellhound remains? Where did you store them?”

“Ah right. Gulmory insisted that we store them in the Warden’s stores for safekeeping, since they’re useful and rare resources.” They said.

Then... the soldier began fidgeting.

Elira eyed them curiously.

“What is it? What is it that you’re not telling me?”

“Well... you see ma’am... Gulmory wanted to personally request for you to hand over the spoils you obtained from the expedition...”

Elira stared at the soldier with a blank face.

“Hah. Fuck that. She has no jurisdiction over me.”

“Yes, of course! My apologies ma’am.”

“Not at all. Return to your post.”

“Seven graces ma’am!”

The soldier returned to their routine perimeter check.

As annoyed as she was at the hellhound’s remains being locked away, Elira had to get up to the Warden’s hold now. Many of her worries were eclipsed by one big worry.

Undoubtedly, he was being prepared by Gulmory to attend the Summit.

Which Elira predicted wouldn’t go very well. At this rate, the Warden would be nothing more than a pawn in Gulmory’s hands when they travelled to Aurum. Elira had little power over that specifically, but she did what she could do to prepare the clan members for the harsh days soon to come.

*Thnk thnk thnk thnk thnk... thnk thnk*

“Come in!” Came a man’s voice.

Elira opened the door.

Gulmory and the Warden looked up from the desk scattered with papers at Elira.

Elira’s eyebrow twitched.

“You’re... doing paperwork?” She asked.

“Well, yes. What else would I be doing Elly?”

“Zivot... Can you please take the Summit seriously? We don’t have much time left now!”

“Oh dear Sage, my skin would wrinkle up just like yours if I was as stressed about everything as you are! You should relax just a bit, put some work into those pores, and maybe you’ll be more fun to look at!” Gulmory said with a fake smile.

“... Zivot. Get ready, now. We’re leaving in 3 hours!”

*SLAM*

Elira left the room.

She so very much hated Gulmory, but Elira found that the best way to deal with the woman was to pretend she didn’t exist.

2 hours later...

“Sage Elira, it’s an emergency!”

Elira looked up from her desk. She’d prepared everything she needed for the trip, and was now just waiting for Zivot and Gulmory to get ready.

But here was Dmitri, the grey haired dwarf stood in her open doorway.

“What is it Dmitri? Was there something wrong with my instructions?”

“That ain’t it Sage! It’s the hunters... They’re all refusing to part with their furs for the old pricing! It’ll cost us double, and we ain’t got enough funds to reallocate and match that price!”

Elira digested the dwarf’s words, and thought quickly about what to do.

She got up from her desk and grabbed a fur coat from the rack just beside the door.

Elira donned it, and walked past the dwarf.

He was still stood in the doorway when she was halfway down the hall.

“Well? You coming?!” Elira yelled.

“Ah! Sorry Sage, on my way!”

Dmitri followed Elira’s path. He caught up with her as they left the Tree of Life.

Elira’s plan was simple. She was going to try and strongarm the hunters to stick to the old price just this one time. If Elira was right... then there wouldn’t be another time for them to have to worry about. These furs would have to last a long time... possibly even so long that they’d still be useful while the Life clan went under.

“Have the clan cooks prepped the rations?” Elira asked Dmitri.

“Yes ma’am. When I mentioned the dawn, the head of the group gathered as much stock as he could. We’ve enough rations to last up to 10 years if the population ain’t gonna rise by much.”

“Good... we’ll be lucky to avoid using all of it, but at least it’s there and ready. Udra will be cold and desolate this time next year. Aspect’s Hold in Highborn Keep is busy dealing with all of this, but our civilians know little about it yet. When we give the emergency order, I need you to organise the civilians into an orderly flow while we evacuate... I believe in your ability to do that Dmitri.”

Elira turned a corner rapidly, electing to take a shortcut to the hunters’ huts to save time. She had to leave soon, and the furs needed to be secured before then.

“Of course Sage. I’ll ensure the safety of our people!”

“Good... good.”

Elira sped up a touch, causing the stocky little dwarf’s legs to work overtime. She sped through the tight alleyways with an agility that Dmitri hadn’t seen from her before. Though, he hadn’t seen much of her doing anything pertaining to her actual job much, which might have explained it.

Elira was clearly focused on the job at hand, ironically. She had to be if she didn’t want her clan to fall apart at its seams.

The buildings around her slowly became more and more downtrodden. They were moving away from Highborn Keep, and further into the capital. Draconis was considered a rich capital compared to many other regions’ capitals, but that was simply due to the concentration of wealth in the area. It also hogged up most of the wealth in the entire region. Elira hated how it worked, but Highborn Keep was where many of the nobles in her clan lived. The rest of Draconis was full of commoners who lived their lives as just that.

The lavish buildings and houses, even the infrastructure afforded to Highborn Keep, it was all lacking in the rest of the city. Draconis could be considered two separate cities.

One part for the nobles, and one part for the commoners.

The hunters’ huts were on the far edge of the city. Elira knew the city like the back of her hand, since her and Reiki used to play around it when they were teenagers. She followed the fastest path to where she needed to be.

And within 15 minutes of flowing down winding alleyways, they arrived.

The hunters’ huts were very simple buildings. On the outside of each was a stall where the resident hunting family would sell their wares.

In the middle was where they all convened to sell pelts and furs as part of a single market.

The huts were closed at this time of day, but the main people in charge would still be around.

Elira stormed to the central hut.

She pushed aside the curtain in the doorway, causing a *clickety clackety* sound to come from the adornments on the curtains.

“Chief.” Elira called out to the sole person in the hut.

“Sage...” The chief snarled. “Why’re ye down ‘ere? Fuck off back tae yer Keep wit’ de other fucks.”

*Ptooey*

*Dong*

The chief spat into a nearby pot.

“The furs, we need them. The clan needs them. Why are you jacking the prices up?” Elira asked.

The chief grinned wide.

“We need som’o’dose coins ye Highborns been keepin’ stashed away in yer pretty lil’ coffers. How ‘bout it? 12 silver a pop! Works out per de richest keepin’ us all down! KAkakakaka!” He cackled.

“Chief, I’ll say it again and again until you get it. These furs are for EVERYONE... There’s a storm coming, and you’ll be holding out on the rest of the clan if you refuse to sell at the old prices!”

“Be straight wit me Sage. Wot ye reckon’ll get me tae sell tae ye? Cos it ain’t nuffin to do wit de clan I tell ye what!”

“6 silver a piece. You’ll be helping everyone prepare for the dawn.”

“PAH! Dat fuckin prophecy shite?! Now ye’re losin’ me. Fuck right out ye cunt. I ain’t hearin’ none of it!”

Elira sighed.

“Fine then. We’ll have to do this the hard way. Dmitri, barricade the entrance.”

“Yes ma’am.”

Dmitri instantly created a barrier in the doorway. It was thick and hard. Whatever translucency a normal barrier would’ve had wasn’t present here.

The chief frowned at Elira.

“Come now Sage... don’t be too hasty now... business is business after all!”

“Right... business...” Elira whispered.

“Wha... what was dat Sage? I ain’t... hear ye...”

The air in the hut thinned. Vines ripped up from the ground, bursting through the shoddy wooden floorboards. They held the chief tightly in place.

“Sage... Dis ain’t fair! Ye can’t be doin’ dis!”

“Dmitri. You didn’t see any of this.” Elira said in a voice laced by rich and powerful mana.

“Of course Sage.”

“HEY! What... GET YOUR HAND AWAY! WHAT’RE YE PLANNIN’ YE WITCH?!?!”

Elira placed her hand against the chief’s face. A bright light shone from her palm, then subsided instantly.

“Quiet.” She whispered.

“MmmmMMMMmMMHHMHMMHM!”

His lips were sealed.

“Now, you only have one option. The furs and pelts, all for free. Or, I take everything you find value in and... well... I’ll destroy it all. How about that?” She looked down at the chief’s crotch.

His eyes widened.

“MMM?!?! MHMHMHMHMH!!!!!”

“What was that? Was that an... ‘I’m sorry Sage’?”

The chief nodded profusely.

“Very well. You guarantee that you’ll provide all of your furs and pelts, including all of the hunters’ spoils, to the clan on your own dime?”

Tears flew out of the chief’s wide eyes as he nodded harshly.

“Good. Then, I’ll be taking some insurance with me.”

Elira walked over to the chief’s prized bear rug on the ground.

His eyes somehow widened even more than they were. The chief was panicking, struggling to wriggle free of the vines.

But he couldn’t.

Elira lifted the rug from the ground, revealing a small latch underneath. It was expertly blended in with the wooden floorboards, but a latch was still a latch. By finding the ridges in the wood, Elira found it quickly.

She opened it, and pulled out the lonesome locked box within.

“Your personal treasure. I kept this knowledge in case it came in handy one day... and thankfully it did. I’ll hold onto this until you fulfil your promise. All of it will be expensed by you, understand?”

The chief had given up. His energy was spent, and his spirit thoroughly battered. He nodded solemnly.

“Wonderful. Those furs, get them to the city guard outpost just outside Highborn Keep by the end of the week. And, if anyone hears of this then I assume you know what’ll happen. Pleasure doing business with you, chief.”

Elira stored the chief’s treasure in her spatial storage, and walked through the doorway as Dmitri lowered the barrier.

Only once they’d left the vicinity of the hunters’ huts, did the vines and lip sealing spell dissipate.

“Sage... was that really the only way?”

“You’re new to this Dmitri. If it’s for the betterment of our people, then I’ll do whatever needs to be done.”

“I... see. I’ll endeavour to learn from you Sage.”

Elira didn’t respond. As much as she felt like she wasn’t a good influence for someone green like Dmitri to learn from, he’d probably learn a good lesson in doing what needs to be done.

She rushed back to the Keep having secured the furs and pelts for the clan.

Now, Elira had to travel to Aurum. She imagined a frustrating journey awaiting her, having to travel alongside Gulmory and Zivot for so long.

Elira’s instincts had never failed her before, and she didn’t expect them to now.