“I remember my home, those verdant plains filled with all manner of flora and fauna,” the old saurkin began in a smooth and surprisingly deep voice that wavered ever so slightly. “I remember my family, the many generations that I have spawned, and those that my children have spawned. I remember the great cities, the splendor of magic that we harnessed, the wonders we have built. It was not perfect, but it was glorious. Now, it is but bone and ash, scattered to the winds and trampled underneath the feet of those who invaded my world.

  “I remember all of these things, and yet, I cannot remember my god, even though I am the [High Priest] of my faith. I cannot remember my god’s name, nor what Domains were in my god’s Portfolio. I cannot remember the hymns, prayers, and rituals that I performed thousands of times. I cannot remember my oaths, the secrets of my faith, nor even the day I swore myself into service to my god.

  “But I remember my love for my god, that I served faithfully my entire life. And I remember my god’s love for my people, how my god provided for us and protected us, even if I cannot remember how. The gods of my world are dying, and while they may cling to the hope that you and yours may somehow save them, my god made the ultimate sacrifice; an immortal life in payment for an answer to a question: how to save this world and those few of my people who have escaped such a dark fate and now kneel at the generosity of your mercy.

  “I do not know if the sacrifice of my god will be enough. I do not know if you will be able to succeed at whatever tasks that must be performed to fend off this enemy. I do know that I will not be around to see it, for I will join my god in the oblivion that awaits us when a god perishes. I have come to offer you a hope of salvation, and so I implore you to heed the words of my god.”

  The old saurkin coughed as he leaned on his staff, his body cracking in places as white and golden light poured out of his wounds, clear indicators that his mortal coil found the limits of how long it could entertain the attention of divinity. Yet, not one to fall at the finish line, he stood straight, his body somehow vigorous for a moment as his voice changed to become commanding, for the final words of a god supplanted those of the mortal host.

  “Seek the tower, ascend to the summit, and initiate the ‘isolation protocol’.”

  And here I thought we would get some fancy prophecy in the form of a rhyme. It still retained a touch of cryptic flare, but I would have felt decidedly more comfortable if the saurkin hadn’t turned his gaze and pointed directly at me as he provided us with the great revelation. My hopes for additional details were smothered in the crib as the saurkin’s body crumpled to pieces, including all his personal effects. The heads of all present swiveled to look at me, and I admit I felt a tad apprehensive at having the salvation of the entire world dropped in my lap.

  “That will require a slight adjustment to my plans,” Bonpricha commented as her button-eyes glowed for a moment, perhaps in contemplation or communication to her real form, before she continued. “Right, moving right along then, I have decided to assign the following tasks to each flight.”

  Everyone appeared to be pointedly ignoring the dead saurkin in the proverbial room, and given the motes of divinity leaking out of his corpse, I came to the conclusion that such was a prudent course of action. I imagine that whoever or whatever handles the corpse will need to be incinerated and thrown into The Void, never seen or talked about ever again, for such unbound divinity in mortal worlds would be about as welcome as radioactive substances in a nursery. I could see several different signatures of different magical wards and barriers placed around the corpse, each potent enough to be from one Emperor or another. I added my own as an additional layer just to be safe.

  “Starting with the easiest choice, The Bone Wardens will continue to maintain the army of skeletons that will be the fodder for our troops. Focus on retrieving the fallen of both allied and enemy forces so that they cannot claim the biomass or our weaponry.”

  Ossimandias gave the puppet a thumbs up as he continued to patiently wait and see who would be stuck with the bitch work.

  “The Crypt Lords will be on information warfare and jamming enemy communications while also keeping our own up and running. We cannot afford for our own troops to receive false orders, fall prey to illusions, or to turn against us via mind-control.”

  Encrodecro gave the puppet a polite smile and a nod. I remained uncertain if his task was easy or difficult.

  “The Star Harbingers will maintain our aerial perimeter. We cannot let the enemy punch a hole through the shields and escape containment. I expect the fighting in the sky to be at least as fierce as on the ground, if not more contested of a front. As the third oldest flight, I expect you to be capable of success, especially considering the mortals will provide you with elite champions as auxiliaries. Take care to protect them, as they will not be replaceable on any timeframe that will be of use to your flight.”

  Ejnarri looked up to the stars as if consulting them for insight, and then nodded to Bonpricha that they agreed with that plan.

  “The Blood Keepers and The Pact Sealers will provide support to the mortal forces. I know that your children, Karlenstein, see mortals as expendable, but do try to reign them in for once. Both of you are capable of providing power-augmenting Abilities to turn the chaff into useful tools, but do not assume that they have infinite morale or bodies to stay in the fight. This will be a war of attrition, so every mortal life matters.”

  The puppet did its best to level a stern look at Karlenstein, and she huffed and turned her head up and away but ultimately replied with a, “yeah, whatever”.

  “The pact is sealed” responded Synsinac in turn, and so that left only two of us left.

  “Bylo’selhi, your flight is too young and small to provide much of use in terms of raw combat potential here on the main front.” That got a few snickers from the rest present, sans me, since he was largely my ally. “However,” Bonpricha stressed with a tone that demanded everyone else cease poking fun at the Emperor of The Equivalent Scales, “the finances to secure supplies and see them delivered here at World’s Hope will be staggering in scale. We cannot allow our supply lines to be sabotaged through greed, incompetence, or malice. It is imperative that your flight keeps the flow of supplies steady, or we find ourselves starving before long. I trust you to handle this, but know that this role is critical.”

  Bylo’selhi sat a little straighter in his chair as he bowed his head slightly to Bonpricha. A small smile of satisfaction and perhaps relief crested his face for a moment before fading away.

  “And as for our newest Emperor,” she continued as she turned her head to me. “Your flight provides even less than his, and I would be surprised if it were otherwise. Your flight has only just begun, but I see it is progressing well. You have accumulated many mortal allies, and I want you to continue building up the infrastructure this world needs to get supplies here to World’s Hope. The roads of this world are of poor condition, and I have seen armies be defeated because one wagon wheel broke at an inopportune time and failed to deliver its cargo.

  “Your flight will cooperate closely with The Equivalent Scales. Play nice, you two, for now is a time for unity and not to corner the market. I expect both of you to be swift and decisive when dealing with anyone who fails to contribute appropriately to the war effort. I’m not talking about squeezing peasant villages for even more food when it will starve them, but of rich and greedy bastards. I don’t care if it is an entire kingdom or an entire faith that skimps on pitching in, bring them to heel or make an example of them as required, but do not let the power go to your heads.”

  It did not escape me that I was basically an enforcer for the flights and the gods when it came to mortal affairs. Unsavory business, but needs must when the world is at stake. The question was not ‘if’ it would happen, but rather how long it would take for people to slack off or send inferior troops and supplies than what was mandated.

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  “Additionally,” she continued before I even got a chance to agree to her terms. “There is a certain tower that you need to climb. It probably does not exist in this world yet, but as soon as it appears, I expect you to handle it promptly. I believe I know what was being referenced, and I will confer with you later as to my knowledge on the topic.”

  I nodded my head once as I looked right at her, the puppet somehow conveying emotion and tone far beyond what I thought cloth could. I could not detect a hint of magic from it, but that certainly did not mean that it wasn’t loaded to the gills with any number of enchantments. Bonpricha had a large head start on me to accumulate all manner of wonders and Abilities, so it would not stretch the imagination to believe that I was not even on her level yet.

  “All of you will be present for the opening day. I will inform you when you are released to your duties. The opening push is projected to be the most difficult, for they will try to overwhelm us initially. If that fails, then they will ease up as they prepare for a sudden push at some future point in time. Do what you can, but don’t die on me, as that would be terribly inconvenient. We, along with Titans and Demons, are the strongest things around, but make no mistake, it is the mortals who will ultimately be holding the line. Foster their growth, inspire them, and above all, do not fail in the execution of your duties.

  “Now, on to specifics.”

  Bonpricha continued to rattle off details, but eventually, the meeting was opened to everyone to pitch in ideas so that we would represent both a unified front and have a sound strategy to actually survive. While flights as a whole were assigned tasks, the members of each would be intermixed for the effect of combined arms.

  We sorted out the details of who would be stationed where and what rotations people would be on. That was a tedious and tricky task, for even though we were told to play nice, too many of our children held grudges or were embroiled in feuds with one another, and so stationing them far apart from their adversaries would be prudent.

  Overall, the meeting was much more civil than I had anticipated. The most noteworthy exception being when Encrodecro gave a “go fuck yourself!” to Karlenstein, the latter of which formed a clone out of blood that, while naked and otherwise appearing to be a beautiful woman in most respects, possessed the generously sized anatomical bits and bobs to fulfill that suggestion. The Karlensteins began to indulge in such a pastime, but Bonpricha put a stop to it before things devolved further.

  Contracts were exchanged, schemes were laid bare, threats of assassination were declared, and many tasks were delegated to the underlings behind us. Hours passed one after another, but by dawn of the following day, we had formulated a solid plan to defend ourselves and leverage the full usefulness of the mortals. Said mortals looking at this meeting must have been confused, for they would have only witnessed the privacy barrier that presumably Bonpricha had erected around us so that no one could peek at what the Emperors looked like.

  With our strategy meeting more or less concluded, Bonpricha released us to do as we pleased while also inviting me to walk with her for a while. Little kobold feet could be seen sticking out of the puppet as it “walked” over to me, and together, we made our way on a little stroll away from everyone else.

  The puppet opened its mouth and projected a beam of light that coalesced into a figure of flesh and blood, the illusion so convincing that even I could not discern with my senses that it was not real. She took the form of a beautiful woman, one about the same height as Chooka, but the race seemed to be a mix of everything. She likewise had a tail, wings, and horns, which certainly made her appear more draconic. Her outfit was form-fitting and had a theme of nature and leaves, mostly made of leather and cloth, the likes of which I had never seen before, seeming to be more of solid magic than any material I knew of.

  “Can’t hide them after you reach 1,000 years old, give or take,” she started suddenly as she pointed to her horns. Perhaps I was staring, for I found her to be quite captivating. “The wings and tail can be hidden, but after around 1,500 years old or so, it becomes such a part of your identity that it would be like losing a hand not to have them.”

  “Interesting,” I responded with a fair degree of honesty. Not even Nanu knew of these facts. “Any wisdom that you could impart, such that I may live long enough to find out for myself, would be greatly appreciated.”

  “I see you have invested some Skills in [Leadership] to be smooth and charming,” she replied with a smile as we slowly plodded along, our destination unknown and unimportant. “Furthermore, I see you have divested yourself of power,” she continued with a slight frown on her face. “I don’t know how or why you have the Ability to bond companions to you, but do not delude yourself into thinking that such power was free. You will continue to hamstring your personal power if you continue that trend. Perhaps, the only way out is through, and there may be merit in having a small team of powerful and devoted allies, even if you personally are weaker than you should be.

  “That may have something to do with your Blessing, [Greater Elder Dragon Emperor].” She turned her head to look at me, and perhaps she caught the hint of surprise on my face that she could see my Blessing. “Don’t be alarmed, for many are the tricks an Emperor can acquire over time. I know the Blessings of all the Emperors, and I know that none are ‘Greater’ or ‘Elder’, except for me, and only for the second modifier. Curious, then, how you ended up with such modifiers despite being so young.

  “Perhaps it has something to do with the man that looks a lot like you that I have seen from time to time over the past several centuries. You know, the one with the spiraling triangle symbol. Last I saw of him, he had what was probably supposed to be a private meeting with Mehczeczi of The Secret Stalkers, which was just before Mehczeczi started working on his ritual that went awry.”

  She continued to look at me knowingly, her smile suggesting that I confess my thoughts and unburden my soul to her, but I honestly did not know what she wanted out of me, so I just smiled back.

  “You seem to be the center of attention, and making yourself publicly known to the world is a bold and dangerous strategy, but that ship has sailed. You also have more than a few gods looking at you more intensely than they do others, and if my predictions are right, I believe a few demigods will soon make introductions with you. I have formulated my own theories as to why this is happening, but you will need to figure out the answer to that yourself. If I am correct, then there is little in the way of coincidence that you always find yourself as the one everyone pins their hopes on to solve problems.”

  We continued on for a time in silence, Bonpricha providing me time to consider her words before I replied. “I guess everyone likes to think they are special without shouldering the burden of having to do special things. It looks like I got saddled with a heap of both.”

  She beamed me a knowing smile accompanied by a wink, her expression conveying an air of excitement and anticipation.

  “Things are about to get spicy for everyone, and for you, I don’t think you will be catching a break any time soon. Like it or not, you are indeed special, and everyone, mortal and divine alike, will want one favor or another from you. It is unavoidable that you will not be able to please them all, so choose your friends and enemies wisely.

  “As for the tower, I suspect it to be a sort of installation left behind by The Makers in case the gods became unreliable, or perhaps as a limit of what gods could or could not change. Most likely, it contains the means to modify this world on a fundamental level. I am certain you are familiar with the trope in tales about Adventurers climbing the tower, clearing the floors and defeating bosses until they reach the top, where they unlock unimaginable power. I would guess that a grain of truth can be extracted from those tales in terms of what you will face.

  “The tower, which we can just call ‘The Tower’ until we have a better name for it, most likely exists in The Void. The Void is seemingly infinite, and it is a transitory plane that connects the others together, such as this material world to the Shadow Path or the Fallen World, which is home to the fae and one of my primary duties to ward off. The Void is where summoned creatures linger or traverse through, where souls go when they die until they are routed to whatever god or afterlife they deserve. I doubt you will need to patrol The Void in search of The Tower, for it will almost certainly materialize in this world somewhere at some future point. Beyond that, I cannot say when or where it will appear, but if I catch sight of it, I will let you know.”

  “Gratitude, Bonpricha, for your directness and wisdom. Conversing with you is much easier than with the other Emperors.”

  Bonpricha let out a pleasant laugh at that, one that felt genuine and inspired me to trust her a little more.

  “I know precisely what you mean. They are, in my opinion, still immature, for I was like them at their ages. Arrogance is a vice that dragons fall prey to, but the older one gets, the less of a hold it has. I am not as cryptic as they are because I am powerful enough to be direct. This body you see here is but an illusion. Granted, it is so strong that the World Heart believes it to be real, and even by using it, I could box their ears without issue. Hold on to that spark of humanity you have learned in your youth, for losing your empathy or becoming jaded to the affairs of mortals will only lead to suffering.”

  She turned fully to look at me, and in the moment that we shared, she did that which I had not expected, something that seemed that Emperors simply would not do. She hugged me, her arms embracing me and her wings enfolding me as she whispered a promise into my ear.