Alexander Nesterov could not deny feeling some excitement, now traveling for the first time to one of the few corners of the world he had never been to. Neither had most people for that matter, and for good reason.

  The island of Avalon had once been linked to the continent at large, inhabited by countless people who made it one of the mightiest societies of its time; a colonial empire threatening to spread even beyond the sea. That, of course, did not end up happening.

  Right when Avalon appeared to reach the peak of its power, with any territories able to match it not willing to risk terrible damage to themselves, the dragon lords arrived. Red and white, some called them Vortigern and Cerdic, albeit no one could confirm whether those were their real names or if they had any.

  Their reason for battling each other was just as mysterious, as they arrived at Avalon already engaged in one of the fiercest brawls Tellus had ever seen. So fearsome in fact, that the empire perished as mere happenstance, perhaps without the dragon lords even noticing its presence.

  Some managed to escape the seemingly boundless destruction, but most of Avalon’s people became casualties when as a result of the battle, the territory itself was torn apart from the continent. Having become a mere island, imprisoned by the ocean from every direction, the empire of Avalon was reduced to minuscule remnants absorbed into other societies.

  Roughly five centuries had passed since then, and besides the still-feuding dragon lords who had taken to it as their own apparent territory, all that remained in Avalon was whatever scarce wildlife could withstand their clashes, as well as the ruins of a once terrifying civilization.

  Alexander was very interested in what those ruins might have to offer, if only from curiosity rather than any pragmatic reasons, but he was no fool. Even for a knight captain of his stature, intruding upon the battlefield of the red and white dragon lords was little more than a fancy suicide.

  And yet, that was exactly what he was doing now, finally stepping foot on Avalon’s nearly immaculate white sands. More ridiculous was his method of transport, that being a rental airship with a ten-meter wingspan; the cheapest option he could find.

  Regardless of the many advancements in technology and sorcery since those days, no one would expect such a flimsy vehicle to even come close to Avalon. It would be erased from the sky by the ancient force that had razed one of humanity’s mightiest societies, taking Alexander with it.

  He was alive and well though, unhesitatingly walking deeper into the rocky, desolate expanse of a near-lifeless Avalon. Vortigern and Cerdic were nowhere to be seen or even heard, which meant there was nothing for Alexander to fear.

  Sensing them was still easy, as they made no attempt to hide the truly massive amounts of prana they generated by their mere existence, but that only let Alexander know they did not intend to move from their places at opposite ends of the island.

  Two dragon lords who had continued a brutal battle with no victor for centuries now remained nearly motionless for several minutes, perhaps even an hour when adding Alexander’s time in the airship. The reason for it? She had just come into his view, a woman even taller than himself.

  “Hey there! Sorry for being late, I had some issues getting the airship to start up. These older models are cheap, but so inconvenient otherwise…”

  “Mm. I am not upset, I did not even notice your tardiness.”

  Her response may have been awkward and blunt, but Alexander was plenty used to her mannerisms. As he was to her… still baffling sense of fashion.

  Navy blue slacks and a royal blue dress shirt, covered by a midnight blue coat that almost reached her knees, ending in ultramarine fur trimmings on its sleeves, bottom and neck area. Her heeled boots, gloves and beret did not break the pattern and were colored in other shades of blue Alexander could not hope to identify, though only her waist-length hair and slit-pupiled eyes were uniformly azure without any difference he could notice.

  Luckily, her darker olive skin served as a much-needed visual cleanser, even if only her face showed any of it. If there was something Alexander would probably never get used to when meeting Shamkat, her choice in clothing was definitely a top contender.

  But that was on him, of course. Why would anyone expect a dragon to share a human’s sense of style?

  “Got it, boss.”

  “When will you call me by name? I still believe a partnership would work best in our situation.”

  How many times had she said something similar? Being realistic, probably three tops, but Alexander was not a fan of repetition.

  “And I still disagree. Hierarchy has worked until now; there’s no need to change it.”

  He was not so arrogant as to believe they were equal, after so much. Maybe it was weird for beings who did not live in societies, but Alexander was not willing to take advantage of that in the slightest.

  Shamkat deserved all the respect he could give, even if her mostly impassive expression still showed some confusion.

  “Very well. Before we discuss important matters, is there anything you wish to bring up?”

  Implying whatever Alexander wanted to say would not be important. Knowing such awkwardness did not hold any genuine condescension, Alexander needed quite an effort to restrain his chuckling.

  She still probably noticed though, narrowing her eyes as if urging him to hurry up.

  “Nothing that would be of your interest.”

  It was not his intention to keep her waiting, however.

  “We are fighting the same enemy, Alexander. Any struggles of yours are well within my interests.”

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  But her insistence was strong. Whenever Shamkat set her mind to something, dissuading her was all but impossible through human reasoning alone.

  Alexander sighed, unsure as to whether he was more annoyed or more relieved, then finally acquiesced.

  “It’s just… it took me until very recently to realize how much time we’ve spent on this, both Alyssa and me. I got really chewed out over it, and couldn’t really say anything meaningful back…”

  “You want to rest? Like… vacation?”

  She said such things, and yet did not want to be called ‘boss’? He almost laughed again.

  “Not at all. I’m committed to seeing this through to the end, it’s just… how close are we? Please be as honest as you can.”

  Four years had passed since he and Alyssa became Shamkat’s subordinates, four years since they had joined her secret battle against the most slippery foe one could face. No matter what she requested of them, regardless of the difficulty of any assignment, Alexander had not dared to act as selfishly as he was now.

  How did things change so much? Of course, only that headstrong sister of his was to blame. Impudent, rude, out of her depth… and yet able to see things so much more clearly.

  Without realizing it, he had truly become a useless older brother. Asking this question of Shamkat was the least he owed to Tatyana… and to Edmond.

  “… Very well.” She replied dryly, then brought a hand up. “I believe by addressing what I summoned you for, your doubts will be answered as well.”

  Straight to the point as soon as she got the chance. That much was to be expected, so Alexander’s surprise came only from the apparent relation between both topics.

  Did that mean this was not simply a ‘catch-up’ meeting? Had Shamkat made some sort of breakthrough in their silent war, allowing her to finally see the finish line? Alexander wished he could feel even the slightest excitement for such a possibility, but after so many disappointments…

  “Recently, I managed to reason out one more of Kala’s glyphs, allowing me to properly interpret several of the writings that once eluded me as far as two eras ago.”

  Unconcerned with his doubts though, Shamkat’s prana began to swirl around her raised hand. Not the singularly rich prana that coated the land of Avalon after the dragon lords’ long clash, but rather that which only she possessed.

  Truly unrivalled prana that even in a quantity that was not particularly large, just enough to realize the phenomenon she wished to manifest, made everything around them, everything that Alexander had ever felt, seem third-rate.

  But that was merely the first step, with the next one being what Alexander could still not fully wrap his mind around. For this prana was shaped in a manner as unique as its quality, forming a flow much like a stream of twisting, bubbling, living water.

  Only on a second, more attentive look would its composition become clear to the eyes of a very experienced, talented sorcerer. What looked like water was actually a mass of symbols that Alexander himself could not hope to understand, unsure of whether they were letters, numbers or anything else.

  All he knew was that their structure was purposeful down to the most minuscule link, without leaving a single uncertain element.

  Depending on one’s outlook on existence itself, they may be called laws, principles or even design, but it was a fact that every phenomenon within reality acted and reacted in specific ways. It was that certainty that made scientific research a worthwhile pursuit, and even that which seemed completely nonsensical would be found to be perfectly reasonable once enough time passed.

  Without a reason yet to believe reality could behave any differently, this group of principles had been termed the ‘fundamental field’ by increasingly more researchers, though ironically enough, such fundamentals were among the most challenging mysteries any scientist or sorcerer had dared study.

  Principles that eluded not only the insight of humanity, but that of all other beings Tellus had produced. All beings aside from Shamkat, of course.

  The ‘code’ that gave form to her powerful prana was one only she understood, and not because she made much of an effort to hoard it. It just so happened that as its creator, she was still the only one in the whole world with the capacity to wield it.

  Code Sephiroth. A language stripped of anything superfluous, optimized beyond Alexander’s very imagination, and the only way to effectively interpret the fundamental field. A cipher that in tandem with her extraordinary prana was capable of manipulating the principles of existence itself.

  Such was the power that kept even the feuding dragon lords, Vortigern and Cerdeic at bay. The law that determined the apex of this world since eons ago, and the privilege that had led many to even call her a god.

  Dragon Lord Shamkat. The One Who Rules All.

  And yet…

  Her enemy has survived for this long…

  … this battle was still ongoing. That fact alone made Alexander fear their foe even more than Shamkat herself.

  “The relevant ruins were obliterated before I could check them again, but my memories will suffice for something so small.”

  Small, she said, but what her ‘prana spring’ had recreated around them was larger than most houses.

  A crypt with a diamond-shaped sectioned floor, made of stone that had probably looked quite pale and beautifully marbled once upon a time, but was now marred by cracks, dirt and weathering.

  Off to his left, around twenty meters and three pairs of pillars away, Alexander saw an enormous, ornate gate that had been torn off its hinges. The darkness within made him ponder if Shamkat had gone ahead and manifested the entirety of those ruins, rather than just the chamber they now stood in.

  “This part is the most important, and what I could not understand for the longest time.”

  Shamkat said as her steps echoed into the shadows, leaving a small piece of her prana out by her right shoulder to serve as much-needed light.

  Following her across the chamber, Alexander noticed the extensive writings across the walls. Unlike with Code Sephiroth, his time under the employ of Shamkat had led to him learning quite a lot about these; not to the extent that he could read through their entirety, but just about a third was doable, and he knew what the majority of the individual symbols meant.

  He knew these were logs from their enemy. A journal of sorts, documenting not the conflict with Shamkat, but their plans spanning beyond that. Milestones, setbacks, as well as potential courses of action; what little Alexander could read was enough to get the general gist of things, even if any meaningful detail eluded him.

  That is, until they reached the end of the writings. All of a sudden, he found himself wholly perplexed the… gibberish engraved on the stone.

  “What the hell…?”

  “Indeed.” Shamkat interjected. “My reaction was quite similar to yours when I first encountered this note, for I do not believe this glyph has been used in any other of Kala’s ruins so far.”

  She raised her hand again, and with it, the aqueous Code Sephiroth also rose.

  “It took me a long time for that same reason, but I have finally deciphered it. And what it says is…”

  Shamkat stopped talking as a fluid layer covered the mysterious writing, gradually shaping the utterly incomprehensible message into something that Alexander could grasp, mixing in his knowledge of Kala’s strange tongue with the human languages he had mastered.

  It was surprising enough that such a haphazard process was necessary, with his native language being insufficient to the extent of needing several others just to make a barely understandable patchwork of letters. But why had Shamkat fallen silent? A woman without any need for human social awareness, as straight-forward in her disposition as one could imagine whether it was useful or not…

  “… This… This can’t be…”

  … It all made sense once he actually read the log in its entirety, from top to bottom… over and over and over…

  “It seems to be.”

  Shamkat’s confirmation after showing doubt so uncharacteristic to her was the last straw, the last thread cut to drop Alexander’s mind into a bottomless abyss.

  “Six years…”

  “We could also have as much as ten, but that would be it. How much we have left; our deadline, if that answers your question.”

  As the recreated ruins around them gradually came undone, allowing Avalon’s sunlight to reach them once more, Shamkat finally revealed the reason for their meeting.

  “According to Kala, the Sixth God: between six and ten years from now, the world will end.”