TDE Book 6 Chapter 13 - Interlude 1

“It’s been years, and how is it possible that all traces of him have vanished completely?”

A low voice stated slowly in a cold tone. His aged voice contained seething rage, but there was also a hint of melancholy hidden within.

The whole room stayed still in silence as the old man slammed his fist against the wall, sparks of yellow lightning colliding against the hard concrete. Multiple shadows stood standing across the corners of the room, while a few robed figures were seated around a massive oak table. All the men appeared to be older than forty years. Their bodies hardened through decades of training, while the calluses on their knuckles portrayed the countless battles they had undergone.

None of the men dared to voice their objection to the raging old man. It was evident that everyone in the room was equally frustrated by the latest news from their clan’s scouts.

Scion of Raizel was still missing.

“Patriarch, should we wipe out Selior city?”

One of the seated elders raised his voice, his eyes burning with vengeance. Several of the shadows in the room nodded their heads in approval.

“Stop this foolishness, you imbecile. If there is any evidence of Selior city’s involvement in Calron’s disappearance, then that would give us a plausible cause; however, without that, the Gods are not going to sit back as we annihilate an entire human city.”

The Grand Elder said in a tired voice. Ever since the boy abruptly vanished from within the clan’s territory, all the elders have been in a volatile mood. It would be one thing if they knew who the enemy was, but in this case, none of them knew where to direct their rage at.

“Father, we all know only two organizations could have kidnapped Calron from our home.”

A stoic voice spoke out, as a familiar man approached the Patriarch from the side. It was Kail. His face now had more wrinkles than before. But it was his eyes that had the biggest change over the years. They were dull and devoid of emotion. Yet, anyone within the room could sense the raging storm imprisoned inside those stoic eyes.

An audible sigh came from the Grand Elder. It was obvious at this point that none of the other kingdoms or their forces had a hand in this matter. It was secret to the world, but the Raizel clan had the most Shackle Lords in the mortal realm, making it impossible for anyone to encroach on their territory without them finding out.

The only exception to this rule were the immortals. The Gods and the Ancients. Only those two organizations had the capability to enter their courtyard and kidnap Calron without anyone finding out. At the start of their search, none of the clan members wanted to accept that the immortals were involved and hoped it was one of their neighboring enemies.

Now, all the evidence pointed to the immortals having a hand in Calron’s disappearance.

“Do you think the Gods found out about Calron’s Divine Element?”

The Patriarch turned around, shadows hiding the expression on his face. If the immortals were the perpetrators, then it was most likely the Gods from the Divine Realm. The old man doubted the Ancients would have any interest in a cultivator. The Archaic council was too busy with their infighting.

Kail shook his head in response.

“I don’t think so. If they discovered his connection to ‘Him’, the whole realm would be in disarray. The most likely circumstance is that some passing immortal found something curious inside Calron and decided to capture him. The Divine Element is smart. It wouldn’t expose itself to an immortal, knowing the danger associated with that information.”

The other elders nodded as Kail spoke. As the head of their clan’s military affairs, Kail was well-versed in matters related to the war between the Gods and the Ancients.

“That means the immortal is from the path walker lineage. Any God would have easily discovered the discrepancies with Calron’s lightning. Since there hasn’t been any news from the Divine Realm, the immortal should be an Ancient of the Archaic Council.”

Kail finished, his icy voice echoing within the clan’s hall.

“The Ancients…”

Grand Elder muttered under his breath. They were a force that even the Gods hesitated to clash against. Why would they be interested in Calron?

“Say what you want to say, son.”

The Patriarch could see that Kail wasn’t done yet. There was something else his oldest son wanted to add.

“We need to put aside our differences with the other cultivator kingdoms and join the war against the path walkers.”

The moment Kail ended his sentence, a clamor rang through the hall as the elders let out their disgruntled opinion.

“Why do we need to join the cultivators? Let’s send a batch of our most powerful Shackle Lords into the path walkers’ territory and retrieve Calron. Besides the Ancients themselves, none of the path walkers pose a threat to our clan.”

One of the younger elders raised his voice. The Raizel clan had been following a stringent code of neutrality when it came to the cultivators for centuries. They didn’t want to break it now, especially when the situation between the two sides was starting to simmer once again.

“What will you do if an Ancient discovered our presence within their borders? There is only one group within the mortal realm that can use the power of lightning without the restriction imposed by the Primordials. Very quickly, they’d find the link between us and Calron, and ponder why a squad of our most elite Shackle Lords were doing trying to free a Saint stage cultivator.”

Kail’s dull eyes bore into the elder.

“Dammit, Kail, I care for the boy as well. But joining with the cultivators is madness. Have you forgotten what the Gods did to our ancestors?”

The young elder saw the pain slumbering inside Kail’s eyes. None of the elders were scared of dying. They were all worried about one thing. If they joined the cultivators, would their leaders force their children to fight their wars? The young ones weren’t ready yet.

“If we lose Calron, it’s only a matter of time until the cultivators start preying on us. Selior city’s royal family would jump at the chance to eliminate us. Our only path of prosperity is the day when Calron becomes an immortal, and to achieve that, we need to enter the path walkers’ territory without suspicion.”

The Patriarch intervened, understanding what Kail’s plan was. They needed to join the cultivators until Calron matured and could contend against other immortals. This would give the clan enough time to thwart their enemies from laying siege to their lands.

The young elder scanned the rest of the room. They seemed to have made up their mind.

“You’ve never let us down in the past. I’m counting on you, brother.”

The young elder scratched his nose in defeat before smiling at Kail as he extended his hand.

Kail’s lips turned up slightly as he nodded and clasped the elder’s hand firmly.

The Patriarch glanced at the Grand Elder. His rumbling voice reverberated through the large hall.

“Ring the bell, Grand Elder. The Raizel clan is going to war.”

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A lone armored man stood atop a hill overlooking the bustling Raizel city. In the few short years since it was established, the newborn city had rapidly grown to become one of the powerhouses of the area.

When news that the city was founded by a union of ex-slaves and a mighty clan, all the poor and dredges of society flocked to the city, hoping to find work and be treated with dignity and respect that other kingdoms snatched from them. There were even escaped slaves that came to find refuge, and eventually joined the Raizel clan’s external army, bolstering their armed forces.

The armored man towered at nearly two meters high, exceptional among the human race. His icy blue eyes gazed at the trail of people coming in and out of the city.

“Where are you, big brother?”

The tall man whispered to the passing gale.

It was Roran.

Over the years, the teen had grown into a young man, with the power of a peak Saint stage expert. The shimmering gleam from his dark blue armor glinted against the sun’s rays. The colors were reminiscent of his family, the Axiers, but without the emblem.

The day Calron vanished, Roran was shocked that someone had tried to kidnap his big brother. But he was confident that the Raizel clan would eventually find the intruder. After all, he’d seen the Patriarch transform into a colossal golden bird with razor-sharp talons.

Instead, something happened that tore Roran’s heart into pieces.

Calron’s presence from the Blood Legacy dissipated as his bridge got demolished in the source pool. Which made Roran the new Prime Inheritor.

Roran didn’t believe for a single second that Calron was dead. He refused to acknowledge that possibility. That’s why he didn’t tell others about his status as the new Prime Inheritor. He’d been training non-stop since that day until he finally broke into the peak Saint stage yesterday.

“It’s time.”

Right then, a massive shadow hovered over Roran, disrupting his reverie. Turning around, he came to face the hulking body of a white lion that stood over three meters tall. A pair of mesmerizing wings made of light flapped above the beast as it waited for the armored man.

“Took you long, Rebran.”

Roran nodded at his fellow legacy inheritor and saddled up on the white lion.

“Hey, it was hard to sneak away from Ellie. You know, she’s going to be pissed when she finds that both of us left the city. That’s why I wrote in the letter that you were forcing me to do this.”

Rebran groaned as Roran’s heavy frame settled on top of him.

“She’ll be safer with others here.”

Roran chuckled at the thought of how Calron would react at seeing the gangly young girl today.

“You need to go on a diet, man.”

Rebran grunted as his thick claws coiled on the ground and he leaped into the air, his elemental wings thrusting with the strong air currents.

Roran felt the wind envelop him as he tightly clutched Rebran’s sides.

“I’m coming, big brother.”