Imperius

“There weren’t always dragons in the Valley,” she mumbled reading through the first several pages of the dusty, barley legible scrolls. The section of the library in the Imperial City which Elstrial had found herself was rarely visited. Most of the library’s visitors were all concerned with the recent events of the Esoteric Order of Dagon and the fallout of the assassination of the emperor, however Elstrial Astarte was more concerned with the appearance of dragons, or at least what the travelers coming from Old Town said were dragons. She flipped the scroll over extremely carefully, making sure to not allow it to crumble. The vast majority of the texts in the section where she located were all of pre-imperial origin, which made the texts here at the most conservative level twelve thousand years old. During that time ancient humanity and the ancient elves had banded together to defeat the tyranny of the Dragon Lords and hunted them to extension, or so every one was led to believe.

She added the scroll to the pile of texts which she was planning on taking home, attempting to be as reverent as she could with the fragile artifacts. “I hope those are staying here,” an elderly voice said from behind her. Elstrial sighed in resignation as her research was being hampered.

“Look, you know…,” she stopped mid-sentence while turning around to face the voice. “Lucas, I’m sorry I should have known it was you.” She stood up embracing the elderly gentleman.

“Elstrial, it is always good to see you my young friend,” he said as a large smile was attempting to beam through his normally expressionless face. Lucas Hammer-fallen was the library chief administrator. A man of about sixty years old, he was thirty years Elstrial’s senior. “What brings you back to this rarely visited and dusty section of the Imperial City?”

“Oh, nothing really, just doing some research for my thesis at the Imperial College,” she said wrapping her arms around Lucas in an embrace. She held the embrace for several seconds before letting go. The smile on his face faded back to his expressionless form as he knew she wasn’t telling the truth.

“Don’t lie to me Elstrial. I know you aren’t a member of the Imperial College.” He was correct. She was neither conventionally attractive nor was she magically gifted like the rest of her family. “So tell me,” he continued, “what are you doing here?” She shifted uncomfortably.

“What if I told you I was going to the Dying Isles to train under a great priestess named Vados?” He shook his head seeing straight through her.

“Look, you know these documents are not allowed to leave the archive. I know the incident with the dragons and the late emperor’s demise are concerning to everyone, especially your family. But you are not a member of the Imperial Court. The Imperial Senate is set to confirm the new leader of the Imperium later this year. IF you want to add your name to the list of candidates, then take it up with the Procurator of the Imperial Senate.”

“But the Procurator won’t even see me,” she said. “I’ve gone to see her over a dozen times in the last fortnight. She says the Imperium doesn’t need another Astarte on the throne, let alone the fourth daughter who’s only claim to fame is that she is of the Astarte household.” A hint a pain came through those last words. She was correct though. The Imperium didn’t need another Astarte on the throne. The last several emperor’s and empresses were of her family lineage. Her family had a long and storied history which was intertwined with the Imperium. Her ancestor, Elstrial Astarte the First, for whom she was named, founded the Imperium after defeating the last of the Dragon Lords atop the peak of Mount Kaio Yet ever since that fateful day, her lineage never seemed to do anything more than maintain the status quo.

“You should consider going to Crossroads and becoming a member of Lady Andurial’s court. She is after all, the most powerful leader in the Imperium after the Emperor or Empress, and she was the guiding hand during this last trying time,” Lucas said while gathering up the ancient scrolls. “I hear”, he continued, “She is in need of a Court Magician.”

“You forget though Lucas, I have no magical ability. That’s why I was denied entry into the Imperial College.” Before she was able to say anything else, Lucas cut her off while still gathering all of the ancient scrolls.

“There is another way. Not everyone is able to be born with the gift of magic. Now, you must leave this place. There are too many listening ears to continue this conversation.” He leaned in and whispered into her ear. Something which she couldn’t make heads or tails of. A puff of wind swept through the dusty archives. Both Lucas and Esltrial looked at each other, He had a concerned expression on his face. “There shouldn’t be any wind here,” he whispered. “There are no windows nor any doors to the outside this deep in the library.” He waved his hands in a pattern which formed a series of rotating squares in the air. They eventually formed a translucent shield with an orange fiery outline. The interior of the shield was rotating in clock work geometric patterns. In his other hand a sword appeared, with the same sort of strange outline as the shield.

“What is this?” she asked. He shot her a look conveying the message of be quiet. Lucas turned around to face one of the many walls of scrolls and books. He was obviously looking for something, however he was not sure of what it was he looking for. A soft breeze wafted through the archives yet again. Out of the corner of her eye, Elstrial saw some kind of movement. She turned and pointed a finger towards the area she saw. Lucas motioned for her to stay absolutely motionless. He stepped forward with a grace she had never seen before from him. It was almost as if he had been trained in the arts of war with the way he moved. She even saw the heavy pistol hidden under his robes. The pistol had the Imperial Aquilla on the hilt signifying him as a member of the Imperial Battlemages. He swung his sword, if it could be called that, at a figure that she couldn’t see. She heard an agonizing scream and a THUD as a body hit the ground.

He spun around; his robes extended to the fullest. Lucas thrust at another hidden figure, with his blade. He found is mark but the blade was ripped from his hand and clattered on the stone floor before dissipating back into nothingness. Elstrial tried to run towards the entrance of the archives so she could leave the library but something, no someone was blocking her escape path. A large pair of scaly hands grabbed her, violently restraining her. “Lucas!” she screamed. She tried to fight back as best as she could but the cloaked individual was to strong for her. Out of nowhere a loud crack was heard and the person holding Elstrial slumped to the ground. A large entry and exit wound could be seen under the hood. Lucas ran up, took her arm and with a strength she though he could not have possessed, threw her several feet into the air.

She fell for what she though was minutes before she slammed back into the ground. But it was not the cold uncaring stone floor she expected. Instead, it was sand along a river bank, She rolled over and looked up into the sky. Not but a few feet above her was a shimmering portal into the archives where she previously was. “Go to Mount Kaio!” Lucas yelled as he blocked yet another unseen attacker. He let loose another volley of shots from his pistol. “I’ll hold them off as long as I can!”

“Lucas!” She screamed. As he was reloading a figured tried to jump through the portal, but before it could go all the way through, the portal was closed. Elstrial bolted from her position, not caring about the direction she was heading. Anywhere was better than here she thought.