BOOK 2/63 - Domain Thief

Ring - 1st
Realm - Sol

Stryder looked up from her meditation, the waves of essence that rolled off her formed a pool of essence so thick everyone was sure they could touch it. It filled the entire room and maybe leaked out as well.

“Did you succeed?" Hellion queried. She nodded and pointed to her left.

“That's inside the city." Mera nodded. “That's good."

“Do you need to rest or catch your breath?" Stryder shook her head to Thorin's question. “Let us get going then. The sooner we get the final domains, the sooner we can move for the Monolith.”

The group exited the little room Blaze had paid for. It had opened their eyes to just how huge they actually were. Walking amongst the Cinderii didn't help them realize it. It wasn't like they didn't notice they were taller or larger. It just didn't click.

Having their heads touching the ceiling of the room and having little space to maneuver amongst themselves cleared that delusion from their brains.
Watching Blaze move to tell the innkeeper that they were leaving highlighted the difference between them and the normal folks of this realm.

It made them wonder if things like racism were present in this game world. Thorin glanced at everyone from his position closest to the door. He was sure everyone here were definitely of different skin color or atleast one of them was. He pondered how'd they go about things if such a thing popped up.

“Let's go." Blaze returned, nodding to the door.

Shuffling outside everyone gathered around Stryder, following as she led them to whatever she was sensing.

“So what are we deciding on how to handle this?” Mera asked, looking at Thorin then at Hellion to her left.

“Didn't we already talk about this yesterday?" Hellion sighed then paused. “Wait, is it yesterday or days ago. How do we personally calculate time? In game terms or real life terms?"

“That's not the issue now. Besides it's obviously in game calculations when in game matters." She smacked his head.

Thorin scoffed as Hellion rubbed his head. Everyone knew it would take more than a smack for them to be hurt.

“I still say we let Stryder decide".

The Titaness in question glared back at Thorin.

“Sorry but it's the best thing. You have a Title for it already and it's best if you're allowed to make the decisions."

“I think she's worried about having so much responsibility," Mera sighed. Thorin paused and then nodded.

"I guess that makes sense. How about we all vote on things when it's needed. Stryder here will be the final vote. That way she uses her skill and our advice to judge fairly.”

"That's a good idea, but it doesn't solve the main problem here." Everyone looked at Hellion. “We're after someone who stole the domain. What if there's no other way to retrieve it but killing them. What then?" He glanced at everyone. “Will it matter then if they're innocent or guilty of whatever we are charging them with?"

“Not just that," everyone turned to Stryder. “We've been acting all this while like these domains belong to us. I mean technically they do, but, do they really. Belong to us. I'd think we should have been given these domains like our weapons and gear. The essence we have now is ours because we slew beasts for them. In that sense doesn't that make the domain the property of whoever stole it."

Silence.

"Are we seriously debating morality here?” Mera chuckled then stopped on seeing Stryder give her a glare. "Oh, we are. But it's a game?"

“Yes. It is. One with no script. You could say we're choosing what we wish to act as, or being ourselves. The game has no direction for us to go. We could choose to not kill monsters the same way we spared the Denners. We could choose to be civil line to Halkirk, Ishtra, and the other guardians or to be violent as we were to the Colossus cause it ‘lacked’ reason. Don't you get it. Everything we do here is our choice.” Hellion glared at Mera.

Thorin placed a hand on Hellion's shoulder. “You're right. We make our choices here. We're here to play and have adventures…”

"I can't believe you both,” Mera interrupted with a contemptuous glare at Hellion. "This is a game. Zeros and ones. Sure it's really realistic, but that's why we love it. It doesn't make any of this real. It doesn't make him real.” She pointed at Horkirk who blinked as he was hearing gibberish. "It doesn't make these bodies real. It's just advanced technology.”

Thorin sighed. Stryder glared and Hellion frowned.

“As I was saying. Hellion is right. Stryder is right and you are right too.” The Titan looked like he didn't want to address this debate but went on anyway. "This is a game, an act, a roleplay for us players. Choosing to act good here doesn't make us good outside and choosing to be evil doesn't make us evil. Of course, I'd believe everyone would have certain standards and actions in these games, but it doesn't mean that’s who they are. I mean, what if there's an Elder who has the Chaos domain. Does that make them downright evil if their domains need slaughter and evil. What if someone bad gets a domain that makes them good. Does that make them good? We're all playing roles here.” Thorin turned to Stryder. “If the thief was innocent, and the only way to get the domain back was to kill them, would you deprive Blaze of his domain, of his win, because you felt it was evil?"

No one spoke again.

"Agheem.” The sound of stone grating in a loud cough few their eyes to the golem. "If I may?”

"Please, speak Horkirk,” Thorin waved.

The golem nodded in return and spoke. “I didn't catch all your words as most were weird and confusing to me," the Titans said nothing as they already knew nothing that had to do with Earth or the game being, well, a game would ever reach the realm dwellers ears in an understandable way.

“But I caught enough of your words to understand what this is all about." He paused and stared at Stryder. “You are Elder Titans. Within you flows the essence of a Primordial. Your world does domain pieces of a Primordial. Each one of you could erase this city with a wave of their hand now and before you could do it albeit with less finesse," he looked up to Thorin. “It is better to be unaccepting of power than to be ignorant of it. You are beings above any other in this realm."

He glanced at Hellion. “Stepping into water doesn't make me evil. Whether necessary or not. It is a fact of existence. That it will be affected by actions and presence.”

"Wait, there's water on Sol?” Mera asked.

“No, it rains," the golem answered before continuing.

‘I could make it rain as well,’ Mera thought.

“Your very presence has begun events that none of you have noticed. Ascending will have effects on everyone as well. This does not make you evil, or good. It is just existence.” He looked back to Stryder.

When it was obvious that Horkirk was done speaking, Thorin took up the argument. “Which one of you would pick this game of zeroes and ones over their pets or families?” He didn't wait for them to answer. "None of you. We humans love to think of ourselves as reasonable, but the fact is clear. We act, then we feel emotional for things and don't when we don't care. Like Horkirk said. We're Elders. This domain tells us better though. We're gods. Now, I'm not saying we become evil gods or cause wanton destruction or deaths. I'm saying we don't let ourselves lose because we're afraid of killing fake people.”

Stryder made to speak, argue about something but a palm rested on her shoulder. Blaze looked into her eyes as she stared up at him. “Domain is mine. Life or Death will be my choice."

Stryder glanced at Thorin then at Hellion.

“We won't go around murdering these people, Stryder. But if there was my Domain at risk I wouldn't let it go because of the choice of killing an AI or not.”

Stryder seemed to realize that she indeed was making a fuss over Blaze’s domain. ‘If it had been my domain then it would be my choice. But since it's his, it's not my right to decide this.’

"Let's go.” She turned and walked away.

"We've not heard the end of this. I just know it.” Mera sighed.

All of them knew that nothing had been decided. But it wasn't time yet. Now they had a domain to finally get.

The group admired the city as they followed Stryder. The walls made of Black stone in some cases or a motley like rock in other places. The roads were carved out of a strong gray rock that made it look like asphalt. Their leathers and silks had some sort of thermal resistance since they weren't burning up from the entire place's heat.

It made Hellion wonder just what products could be brought to this realm from other realms.

What looked to be the commercial areas of the city soon passed by as they were led up to a smaller gate where Cinderii guards stood watch, blocking their passage.

“No trespassing."

“Here we go again," Mera muttered.

Thorin stepped forward this time, standing between the Cinderii guards and giving the best smile he could.

“Greetings friends. We're Elder Titans, come here to see the King.” It was Hellion that spoke up instead of Thorin. The Titan glanced back briefly.

"Do you have an appointment?" The one to the left asked with a suspicious look.

Thorin stayed silent and turned back to Hellion who obviously knew what he was doing. The Titan in question had a thoughtful look on his face before stepping forward. “Not a physical one but a phrase.”

Leaning closer to the left guard he whispered. Then he stepped back.

The guard looked quite confused but turned to his partner and nodded before stepping through the gate.

Thorin grabbed Hellion and as softly as possible led him back to the group who then surrounded him. “What did you tell him?"

“How did you know there was a king?"

"How could you be so brazen?”

Hellion chuckled but spoke up. “Look at the place, it obviously looks like some important site. It was best to go higher then come down if I was wrong and give an excuse. It'd be seen as flattering even if it was a mistake."

Everyone nodded in understanding. “But what did you tell him?" Mera pressed.

“Well, I alluded to Ishtra."

“What! Why?"Stryder hissed.

“Think about it. The feeling you had left us here. Someone who took a domain of fire. Have you seen any other race that isn't here?"

Everyone shook their heads. “Did you notice no one looked oppressed or mistreated?" He queried. They all nodded.

“Well, think about it. Would the Cinderii let another race rule them? That explains their good fortune and besides if the King was a Cinderii, it explains why the thief took Fire and not the other domain if he had the chance to.”

“Okay, that's speculative but believable. Still doesn't explain…oh, oh.” Thorin nodded. "If he's the thief he'll react”.

"Either negatively or positively. Either way we'll know and can adjust our actions." Hellion nodded.

“And if he's not the one?" Stryder asked.

“It has to be him. The thief stole the domain many Aeuses ago. Who do you think a Domain thief would become? A king, a prince or a hidden dragon?"

No one said anything.

“Either way, they're inside here." Stryder nodded.

“Then we wait?" Mera asked.

“We wait." Thorin nodded.

-

Within the palace sculpted from Solstone, with a large grand stairway that led up to a throne made from some golden metal sat a White Cinderii. His flame was duller than the other Cinderii standing guard and seated around a long table below the stairs. And only his flame was White.

Gillidad squeezed his fist. A reaction he was now used to and cared less for. There was nothing to be done about it. Nothing he knew though, many times he'd pondered if this had been his punishment. A curse from the Lofty ones for taking that which wasn't his.

The Cinderii sighed. Many times he'd wished he'd not gone there. His eyes flicked to the row of Cinderii below who were conversing about some new problem. The Cinderii with their red flame skin were different from him. His white flame skin made him stand out when more than his size did.

Then he saw it. Barely noticeable but peeking outside the hem of his Wyrm Leather shirt. A slight crack, a distortion. Gillidad gulped. Shutting his eyes he focused on himself. It was something only he could do. Actively and mentally control his very form.

His senses spread through his body till he found it. ‘Not again.’ It was getting worse. He knew it. He saw it. More than this, there was no other way to fix it. Manipulating his body had done little to fix the problem.

The White Cinderii. Mending the last of the crack in his arm he looked back at the ongoing meeting.

“Leave me!" His voice boomed, the words echoing off the walls of his palace. The six lords of the six districts gave him a look before quickly exiting the room. In some of their eyes he could see the signs of suspicion they had of his condition. It wasn't hard to detect the changes in his body.

The once Bright Flame of the Cinderii Kingdom was now a full flickering wick.

The throne room's grand doors opened and his messenger stepped in. “My King. There are guests."

Gillidad glared. “What guests? I have no meeting after the council."

“The guests say they are here on appointment." The messenger uttered.

‘What appointment? I remember my meeting list. There should be nothing after the council.’

"They say their appointment is a spoken one.”

Now Gillidad’s annoyance turned to confusion. There was nothing like a spoken appointment. Was this a joke?. “What are you talking about? There are no spoken appointments."

“My King. I will make it clear to the guests.” The messenger bowed then turned to leave. He'd reached the door when Gillidad, still confused, asked.

“What were the words exactly?" He expected some nonsense that he would then ignore, but the statement froze him.

“The Phoenix’s treasure has been found."

Gillidad shivered. ‘The Phoenix. That…that creature.’ Standing up he stepped from his throne and paced for a moment. ‘Wait. Who would even know about this?’ He thought back to that day. The chaos and destruction that set upon the realm. “Impossible. None should have been there. Right?"

He turned to the door, finding the messenger still standing there. Ignoring the worried look of the Cinderii he queried. “What do these guests look like Oarim?"

“Forgive me my king. A guard brought this news. I didn't see them."

Gillidad frowned then sighed. “Summon this guard. Hurry!"

“At Once My King."

Gillidad paced, waiting for the guard. His mind filled with the fires and destruction of that day. That creature, and what he has seen as his luck back then. He shook his head. “Did this day finally come?"

Long he had feared for that creature coming to lay waste to his city. And long it had never happened.Now there was someone here for the Phoenix’s treasure. ‘The treasure can only be it. What other treasures would they mean?’

He heard the door open as it scraped against the marble floor and the two footfalls that walked in. A guard followed Oarim inside.

“Tell me, what do these guests look like?" Not even waiting for the guard to get any closer to the throne, he spat out the question.

“Uhmm…Large my King. Tall too. Their skin ignores the light of the realm and their eyes blaze brighter than even the Cinderii people.”

"How many are there?"

“Five of them, my King. But they are followed by one of the Pyroclastics, my King.”

"Those stones! Of course they'd be aware of this before I?”

"Why wasn't I made aware when such strange ones walked into our city?”

The guard and messenger looked down avoiding his eyes.

“Very well. You, guard, summon the guests in.” The guard bowed and hastened out. "Oarim, gather the guards inside. Hurry!” With a heavy and shaky heart he moved to his throne and sat.

Forcing himself to relax as the doors opened and the guards poured in. ‘I’ll soon know what all this is about.’

It took a few more minutes after the Guards arranged themselves, the door opened and Oarim stepped in. Gillidad stopped himself from leaning forward as two guards followed behind the messenger and then next came the guests. He knew it was them due to the clear difference between them and his people. It was the size that clued him in first.

The moment he first stepped through the door, Gillidad froze. The being was large, not just tall. Hair made of fire flowed down his head. Red, blazing eyes glared around the room and up at him. It had to be a glare because the intensity was just too much to be a simple stare. Golden red and yellow armor was strapped to his form with matching sandals. His eyes drifted to the next guest. This one was male as well. He was tall like the first but much more slender in build. White yellow eyes that held interest, white strands of hair, golden attire and a large sword hanging from his hip. The third guest was feminine. Her hair was a bit similar to the second guest but had a bit of yellow in it. Her eyes were the same pools of white and yellow. She too wore gold, like the rest, and wore sandals.

The next two stepped inside together, side by side. The one to the left was a female, her hair followed the theme of being made of energy. Golden, red, yellow and orange. ‘That’s…’ He mentally stuttered, ending his thoughts. Her hair made of Solar energy was quite the sight to behold. The final guest was different in a way. Where the others had hair made of energy his hair was made of ash. Grey swirling ash that formed long strands of thick hair. He stood as large as the first guest.

“Greetings." The first guest spoke.

Gillidad wasn't interested in their greetings. His mind was frozen after looking them over. His body was stiff as he sat on his throne.

‘It is really them.'

-

The skies roared their fury, the earth shook and rumbled. Rain fell in some parts of the realm and in others a storm of destruction was unleashed. The land beneath the realm dwellers feet was erased.

A Cinderii, his flame, as red and hot as the fires burning the realm ran. In the distance the ruins of a village vanished into the destruction unleashed. Pyrenees, short red skinned dwellers who were vassals to his city, had once lived there. The young Cinderii could not help but wonder if crossing through the village has brought such bad luck.

A quick glance around told him that unless he had some fate defying power, then he could not affect the realm in such a way.

“But they could.”

A dull reddish weak glare fixated on a duo of entities that stood far into the rust red skies and beyond. It was hard to see anything beyond their size. They were just that large and fast. Blurs of black and white that shook existence.

Then a particularly large explosion rocked the realm. He gasped as the land broke and tore. Hills rose, mountains ascended, old ones fell or splintered and the land below split into several valleys.

One such split ran right below his leg. The Cinderii yelped as he spun and blasted off the ground with fire shooting out his feet. It was meaningless. Cinderii were hot but couldn't fly. The burst of force spluttered and he fell.

Ashes, magma, fire and storms fell in with him. It was then. Just as the tip of the valley lip was about to pass and block his view of the beautiful skies that the entity turned in his general direction. White eyes, as bright and even brighter than the realm, flashed through the area. A jagged mark down its enormous chest. Then the valley swallowed him.

“Aaaahh!" He gasped awake with a scream, his dull red body suddenly burst into brightness with a pulse. The shaking and trembling reminded him of his danger and alerted him to how long he'd been knocked out.

‘Not too long or those beings have been fighting all through…’ it didn't matter to him, finding a way out and as far from them as he could manage was the plan. The valley should have been darker but it was even brighter down there.

‘The stories must be true then. The farther down you go, the hotter and brighter the realm gets.’ There was no other path but the path that was the valley. Dusting his clothes off he took it.

The journey wasn't as safe as he hoped. Safer than struggling against those entities but still dangerous nonetheless. A drip of golden fiery sweat dripped down his forehead and down to the ground as he exerted himself to form an Emberblade. The sweat sizzled and dried off the moment it touched the ground.

He has his eyes on the Sword he made though, checking it for any imperfections. Any could spell his doom in a fight against beasts of the Realm Touched. Finding it good enough he pushed forward.

His fighting was hard but victorious as he cut through his predators. It was hard to properly check the passage of time from down here without the records.

Wincing at seeing that over three hours had passed down here he hurried up his pace. That was when he found it. While the valley wasn't dark it surely wasn't as dazzlingly bright as the cave entrance he saw on his passing.

Curiosity took hold of the Cinderii, dragging him like a puppet into the hole in the valley wall. The cave was large and tall. Noticing that the light wasn't coming from the walls or ground itself he followed the rays.

“Oh my flame!" Crawling around with a croak was a bright golden bird. It spat fire from its beak and pulled itself around with its wings. The Cinderii though was drawn to something else.

Lying next to the shells of what was definitely the creature's egg were two pulsing orbs. “What are you?" Stepping closer he admired them. One was a bright green and the other a piercing red and gold that called to him.

There was a screech to the side that was warning but the Cinder ignored it. He was more interested in this beauty. The moment his palms closed around it, an unbelievable pain seared up his arm.

His mind shook and a solid presence invaded his head. Then he felt his mind catch fire. Then his body. Then all he could see was a white so bright it was blinding.

The Cinderii worked for the second time that day and muttered to himself. Standing he looked around, finding the bird, the other green jem and the eggshells gone. There was no evidence of anything. Nothing but the white tone of a fiery body.

“Now how do I explain this to my father?”

-

Gillidad stumbled off his throne and walked down the stairs as fast as he could. His feet touched the warm marble of his throne room and then he sank to his knees.

“Please. Save me!" He cried.

His head bowed missed the cry of surprise and hesitation on his guests faces as they stared at each other. Yet his ears didn't miss the words of one of them. He couldn't miss it as it echoed like a storm on a fine fiery morning.

“Now what is going on?" Glancing up he could see that the guests didn't look pleased for some reason. A reaction that frightened him. For if they were anything like the entity that had stared in his direction that day, then he and all his people could⁵ surely be dead.

“Please Messengers of the Destroyer. Save me. Spare us."

He'd known from the very first day he noticed the cracks along his now white form that he'd made an erroneous blunder. Through the Aeuses he'd watched with rising fear and panic. Wondering what would come first. His death or the being's wrath.

Now he could only hope that him being alive to meet them was a good and not a bad thing. He really hoped.