Ria and Thalleous have been travelling for hours, and have stopped to rest for the night.
Thalleous lights a fire.
Ria is tired: she didn't have enough sleep last night. She lays down on a log.
' So, what happened last night?' Thalleous asks her.
Ria sits up. ' Umm...' Ria tries to think of an excuse, but didn't remember that she had walked back to her room. ' You took me back to my room, didn't you?'
' Yes... Yes, I did. I heard a Song, and knew it was you. When I got to the Song Shrine, you were unconscious.'
' I didn't expect that would happen...'
' It happens to all of us the first time. If you think that was bad, you should wait until you summon your Song for the first time.' Thalleous chuckles lightly.
He turns around. ' Speaking of which, what do you know about Songs?'
' Almost nothing. I only know that there are four orders of Songs, and each Ardoni can only wield one of each order of Songs. I also heard that wielding all Prime Songs makes us hold every Song in existence.'
' You know the basics, that's good. If you want to learn how to summon your Song, I suggest you research more about them first.'
Ria nods, and Thalleous turns back towards the woods.
' Thalleous, what brought you back to Sendaria? It's been ages since you last visited.'
Thalleous sighs. ' Events long passed, forgotten by many.'
' The Great War?'
' Yes, the Great War...' Thalleous turns to Ria as he pulls something out of his inventory. ' I came to Sendaria, for this.'
Ria looks surprised. ' A Prime Song?!'
' One of the four.'
' But my father isn't a master, how could he have had it?'
' After the masters were targeted by the Deathsinger before the Great War, it was decided the Songs were too dangerous to remain with the masters. Your father has kept the Mobilium Prime secure ever since.'
Ria can't help but look at the Prime Song. Thalleous notices this, and quickly puts it away. Ria snaps back to reality and shakes her head.
She looks back up at Thalleous. ' So, what are we going to do with it?'
' I'm taking it to a safer place. I... have reason to believe that the Voltaris clan will return. And when they do, they will hunt down the Prime Songs and destroy everything in their path. I cannot let that happen to the Ardoni,' he looks at Ria, ' not to you.'
Ria waits for Thalleous to continue, but Thalleous says no more. She lays back down on the log and falls asleep.
~*~
After a few more days, Thalleous and Ria are at the outskirts of their destination.
' Look, Ria,' Thalleous nudges her,
' We are approaching Oakendale.'
Ria leans around the side of Thalleous. ' Oakendale? Where's that?'
' We're in Conchord, the nearest kingdom to Sendaria.' They pass by the farmland just outside Conchord.
Ria turns the other way. She sees a new species. ' What are they?'
Thalleous turns to where Ria is looking. He sees the creatures, and puts him arm in front of Ria protectively. ' They are Magnorites. Do not make eye contact, Ria.'
' Are they dangerous?'
' They tend to be aggressive, so... yes.'
They put Timber at the stables and walks out.
' Stay close behind me, Ria. Even capital cities tend to be rough.'
Ria looks further in the distance, where a Magnorite walks past two humans. The humans immediately draw out their weapons and stand defensively.
Thalleous walks through the gates and into the city. Ria follows closely behind, mostly in awe at all the activity and some new species she's never seen before. An iron golem stomps pass them, almost crushing her.
After going to a customs booth, they walk up a nearby staircase.
' We are cleared for travel to Crown Peak,' Thalleous says.
' Wait, so we're traveling further?' Ria is exhausted by the long journey.
' Yes, Ardonia is a vast land. We haven't crossed a fifth of Ardonia. We haven't even left the North.'
They walk onto a platform and see a beacon casting a beam of light into the sky.
' What is that thing? What are we doing here?' Ria asks Thalleous in confusion.
Thalleous drops an iron ingot into the beacon and it lights up. He then walks over beside Ria. ' Hold on, Ria. Things might get a bit bright, and uh, loud, and uh… Oh, you'll see.'
Ria looks over curiously at the beacon. The beacon charges up, and turns louder and louder.
It suddenly turns quiet, and makes Ria confused.
Suddenly, everything erupts to life and the world around them turns bright as lights. Energy surrounds them. Ria looks up to see them both drifting between dimensions at the speed of light.
With a loud boom, all the lights go away. Plasma discharges across the platform and dissipates.
' Welcome to Crown Peak.'
Ria looks around. They're in a much larger city, rich with stone, quartz and modern colours.
' Back when the Enderknights uses to rule Ardonia, Crown Peak was the Enderking's seat of power. But the last king, Rendor, split the world into six kingdoms after the people rebelled.'
They pass by the ancient throne room. Six large flag poles were in front of it. Five had flags on them, but one was missing.
Ria looks at the empty pole in confusion.
Thalleous notices this. ' Not so long ago, K'arthen attacked their neighbouring kingdom, Cydonia, and withdrew from the union. I can tell you all about it later. Now, keep up, Ria. We're almost there.'
Ria realises she's falling behind and hurries to catch up.
On top of the mountain overlooking Crown Peak, there were a few very rich and expensive houses with great views of the capital.
Thalleous knocks on one of the houses' door. They wait a moment, and a human male opens the door.
The human male looks at them, and recognizes Thalleous.
' Thalleous Sendaris…'
Thalleous nods. ' Sulliman.'
The doors slam back closed.
Ria is mad. ' Hey! That's rude!'
Thalleous motions for Ria to quiet.
The door flies open. ' What are you going to do about that, girl?
' You...'
Thalleous stops Ria from arguing with Sulliman further. ' Ria, stop.' he turns back to Sulliman. ' Sorry about her, it's her first time outside of her home.'
Ria pouts as Thalleous didn't defend her.
' What do you want, Thalleous?' Sulliman asks the old Ardoni.
' This is a conversation best held in private.'
Sulliman waits a moment, and smiles.
' Thalleous, what kind of trouble are you brewing, my friend? Well, quit standing there with a dumb look on your face and come on in.'
They head inside and lock the door.
~*~
' The mines are running dry, the undead have been increasing in numbers, and there is even word of a Necromancer group on the rise. Out of all this madness, you are worried about an army that disappeared 150 years ago.' Sulliman shakes his head.
' If you fought the Voltaris as I once did, you would know that they are more dangerous than all these other threats combined.'
' Yeah, yeah, the Great War,' Sulliman rolls his eyes, ' The war's over Thalleous.'
As they talk, Ria wanders towards a doorway and peers in, catching a glimpse of a room full of brewing stands and nether wart.
Curious, she goes in. But before she can enter, the iron door shuts in front of her.
She turns around to see Sulliman.
' Keep your nose out of trouble, girl.'
Ria opens her mouth to say something, but Thalleous comes in and stands between them before an argument can break out. ' Okay, okay, let's go outside, shall we?'
Ria glares at Sulliman, who glares back.
They walk onto the back deck behind the house.
Sulliman looks at the view. ' This here is the greatest house in Crown Peak, most expensive too. Frankly, I deserve it, considering all I've had to deal with keeping my business alive. Only thing is, you gotta mind the drop, 25 meters straight down.'
Ria looks down over the edge. The ground was far below, falling down from there would definitely break all your bones, or possibly, kill you.
Sulliman slouches on a chair and puts his feet on a table. ' There was a time where the Enderknights rules the land, and their dragons soared the skies. The Nether clashed in battles of unimaginable force. The undead were a menacing threat to be feared, even the Ardoni wielded great Songs of power… That time is over.'
Thalleous remains serious. ' I believe that time is coming again.'
Sulliman looks at Thalleous, who pulls out the Mobilium Prime Song. Sulliman raises his eyebrows.
' I need you to safeguard a Prime Song. Can you do that for me, Sulliman?'
Sulliman takes the Prime Song and looks at it.
' Can you safeguard this…'
' Yes, yes, I got it!' Sulliman cuts Thalleous off. ' Will that be all, Thalleous?'
Thalleous gets up. ' That will be all, Sulliman. Thank you for your help.'
' Yeah, that's what I do,' Sulliman says.
~*~
They leave the house. Ria turns to Thalleous. ' Why would you ask this guy, of all people, to safeguard the Prime Song, Thalleous?'
' He may seem difficult, but he is good at what he does. Nearly all his life, he has run a black market potion business without being discovered, a skill which I am counting on. Come on, Ria,' Thalleous urges her, ' We have a long journey back home.'