Rain cascaded down the obscure sky as the world stood in total despair. We were encompassed within a desolate field of dirt, where the atmosphere was like a barren dust bowl sweeping through the air. Among the despair, were trampled footprints which seemingly belonged to the mode of transportation at the time: horses.
Yet, the most excruciating view was the copious amounts of bodies belonging to soldiers whose souls and livelihoods had forsaken them. It was obvious that the scene in which we were brought into was a battlefield. Not just a battlefield, but a massacre. It was the war that Khaleesi had mentioned, and I was reluctantly living through it.
In the near distance, a hill stood pridefully in the sorrows. And on top of that hill was Sovereign Teague, accompanied by his army of men. He had a smirk on his face as if silently saying to never doubt his word. The triumphant sovereign grasped his sword and raised it from his sheath to the dreary sky.
It was truly horrid.
His sword. His wicked smile.
His sword, drenched in crimson was a statement itself. Crimson dripping, his men started to cheer. The sky began to sob more as a lighting storm entered to escort its dreary companion.
Even if it was a scene from a mere book - history absorbed into these pages - it was still so lifelike, making my stomach drop in distraught.
Almost like a strike of hope, seven more of the Sovereigns of Cocoronous glimmered into view. They stood below the hill, sternly facing Sovereign Teague. Though, the sternness wasn't able to mask their faces of immense regret and unease.
"You should've expressed your bias towards our decisions by telling us maturely. Not by any means of unnecessary violence," said Lord Acesdut, projecting his voice while approaching the hill calmly.
"No. You wouldn't listen at all," Sovereign Teague replied, putting his bloodstained sword in its sheath. "'It's all about the people.' Such a ridiculous statement. There's no choice but to go to war with these lowlives who crave violence and power. They should be stopped and put in their places for questioning our authority."
"Not in such a way where death is brought upon our people," Sovereign Mahina spoke. "You brought both the Altum and Humulis tiers into war and for what?"
"You've betrayed us. Not just the Sovereign but everyone in Cocoronous who had faith in us," said Empress Elodea, holding back sorrowful tears. "And you put shame to our name." She put her trembling hand over her heart. "You put elves on the frontline of this necessary war. You made us look like the villains."
"From now on," started Lord Acesdut, "you are no longer a part of the Sovereign of Cocoronous. And you shall be held captive in the prison of the moon, Dazoust."
"And how do you plan to do that? I am one of the most powerful Altum Tiers. I am unstoppable, especially with my army by my side."
"Your army will only listen to the Sovereign of Cocoronous if they know what's good for them. And since you are no longer a sovereign, Teague, they will no longer obey your word," said Lord Acesdut.
The army of men that stood behind Teague began to back away from him. Teague yelled for them to stay by his side, but whatever he did, they did not listen. This only strengthened Lord Acesdut's influence as a Sovereign and Altum Tier onto the men.
My eyes only stayed glued onto Sovereign Teague as I watched him struggling desperately to catch the attention of his men. He turned to them, eyes dried of patience. He stretched his arms out to them like a child reaching for a toy that was stolen from him. But he was only yanked back by four noble men.
The noble men were dressed head to toe in white and gold. Golden tunics and trousers underneath a layer of a white toga. They each had dual swords on their backs, but the most prominent feature were their golden and white fox masks.
"The Halcyon Elitists. Personal guards and assassins to the Sovereign of Cocoronous. Highest ranking warriors out there," Khaleesi explained. I had almost forgotten that she stood with me, experiencing the same scenes.
Teague was resisting his arrest, thrusting himself away from The Halcyon Elitists, yet it was almost impossible for him to escape. He began to yell, but no one did a thing to aid him. He kept resisting, and as the scene progressed, his screams became muffled and the world started to go from a yellowish tint to a darker brown, before another pagestorm engulfed us.
<>*<>
It was completely bland. All senses had shut down. No taste, smell, noise, vision, feeling. Was it a prisoners cell? Or a poorly made insane asylum?
We were in a room. Or was it even a room? It was like an infinite universe purely of white. A white space filled with pure silence and a feeling of distress.
In what I had thought to be the center of the space, was the formerly sovereign Teague. He looked up as if he could see us. His face, drenched of all color and hope. His lips were dry and cracked and his eye bags drooped lower than the bottom of the ocean. He had been stripped of his wealthy attire and now wore a white collared shirt and brown trousers.
In front of him, Empress Elodea glimmered into sight. Her hands were clasped together in front of her, and she wore a sorrowful frown. Before Teague could speak, a Halcyon Elitist glimmered into the space next to Empress Elodea. She held a picnic basket, which had glass bottles of water and food wrapped in napkins.
"I see you brought one of your little Halcyons to provide me with my meal. I wonder which meal of the day this is. Could it be breakfast? Or perhaps my dinner? Although I doubt a few egg sandwiches could fulfill my poor malnourished stomach," Teague remarked snarkily while clutching his stomach. It was quite obvious that he had lost a few pounds for who knows how long he had been laying here.
Through the magnificent fox mask, you could see the Halcyon Elitist roll her eyes. Nevertheless, she approached him and placed the basket in front of him.
Teague muttered something under his breath that was inaudible as the girl walked away.
"They're not egg sandwiches this time," the empress said. "And for further information, it is currently lunch time."
"Oh, I couldn't tell, being in this prison and all. No sense of time at all on Dazoust. Isn't it wonderful?" Teague knocked over the basket in sheer disgust.
He began to steadily rise on his feet, yet stumbling before gaining full balance. Once he stood, his height towered over the elf empress.
"No need to draw your weapon," Empress Elodea assured the Halcyon Elitist. "He can't hurt us within this prison, especially with those cuffs."
Around Teague's wrists, ankles, and neck were white rings that glowed. They looked like halos, yet had a far less harmonious nature. I hadn't noticed the cuffs until the empress had pointed them out. Were they always there?
"I have been stripped of my very being. I despise those who restrict my enchants." Teague spit at Elodea's leaf green heels.
"It saddens me to witness how lowly and disrespectful you've become," the empress stated before glimmering out of sight along with her personal guard.
The white and dull world around us began to deteriorate and dissolve as if we were just in a room that was burning down to ashes. And Khaleesi and I were again seated on the couch of her humble living room.
<>*<>
Khaleesi tapped the edge of the leatherbound book with her thumb before closing it. "Well that basically sums up the beginning of the war."
"That's only the beginning?" I asked.
She nodded in response. "We don't have to read the rest today if you don't want to. It's actually quite a handful of information."
"I'd assume so." I sighed. "Are you sure I can't find a normal copy? I just feel like it's a waste of time to just relive it when I can just read through."
"It's hard to find a written copy anywhere," Kaheelsi said. After seeing me frown she went on, "but, if you're truly interested in learning more about the war, I guess I could just write small summaries for you."
"Yeah, that works too."
But in the meantime, I had to figure out what I would do with my time if I didn't want to waste it. Since my priority had changed from trying to find my way back home to figuring out Lola's will. And even if I did go home like I originally planned, I didn't know how I would live everyday knowing that there was another world and that Lola had something to do with it. That I had something to do with it.
I had to latch onto as much information I could. Find out what she meant. And at the time being the war was my only option and Khaleesi was actually willing to help.
"I guess you just want a brain break, so I'll hold off of the war summaries until tomorrow," Khalessi said. She pushed herself up and stretched her arms.
"Sounds good to me."
But instead of taking a brain break, I continued to sit there and process all that I had learned.