The Lord of the Dead waited for news from Morris until the Lord of Death's gaze fell upon him. Morris stepped forward and bowed to the Lord of the Dead.
"My greetings, Lord of the Dead. I see you did not take long — you gathered the information quickly."
"Sir, there is no trace of those forces you spoke of. During my surveillance I found nothing of what you described. When the bears attacked he used a weapon powered by an energy core and almost killed us, if not for the Ice Vice-Commander."
"Is that what you see in that man? You don't yet understand his capabilities, Morris."
"Capabilities?"
"Yes. As I recall, I asked you only to observe, but instead you set a trap for him that nearly killed him without my command. Suddenly the place filled with oxygen turned into a pressure so hard to breathe in that it made the leaders — my commanders and the spirits — vanish in fear. Morris could not move; his limbs were being crushed by the pressure. He tried to speak but could not, except to utter one word with difficulty: 'Forgive me.'"
The Lord of the Dead withdrew his power and restored the place to what it was. Then he spoke calmly: "From now on, every breath, every movement is at my command. Do you understand, Morris?"
"I understand, my lord."
"Good. I want you to continue watching that man, and set traps for him that may lead him to death."
"I don't understand — you want him alive?"
"A person does not know his true power until death comes to him, Morris. He will not unleash his power except through the experience of death. So prepare for him whatever you can."
"I understand, but he is under the protection of the Ice Lord, so this will be difficult."
"And who is this Ice Lord?"
"My lord, he is a very powerful man. Enough that he tamed the legendary sea monster alone."
"You say a human went down to the depths of the Ice Sea alone and domesticated one of the ancient guardian beasts? Then prepare for him, and watch the Ice Lord as well."
While the Lord of the Dead spoke, the chair he sat on — shaped like a dragon — ignited with blue flames and the dragon's head turned toward the Lord of the Dead as if awakened by the conversation.
"Nivron," the Lord addressed it. "The time has not come." The dragon did not heed him; the flames on its body grew until the dragon became a blazing inferno. "If you disobey me — if you insist — then, if you wish, you may fly wherever you like, but before you take wing you will leave your head here. I have no need for a rebellious dragon, Nivron."
When the dragon heard that, its flames calmed and it returned to its normal form and fell silent.
"Morris, you may go now."
"My orders?"
"I am going."
"Nivron, know that your old rival was tamed by a human — you will wake like that and disobey me. Even though you know the consequences…" Nivron refused to believe what he heard. "If you disobey me I will make your flames consume you until you become ashes." The Ice Lord seemed to wake up to an amusing generation. "Anderia, do not make me wait. Activate that power and my dream will come true."
"Which one of you heroes did this to our house? Tell me. Do you know how difficult it is to rebuild?"
"The blame falls on William for stealing my protein; he ate half of it."
"Half? There were only two bites."
"Two bites? You greedy muscle-lover."
"What's wrong with you two? You ruined the house — you and your dragon, Daemon."
"Stop it."
"To whoever did this: you will return and rebuild the house. No food until it is finished. But I have a meal schedule."
"You say something, Henry?"
"No — nothing at all. Very well. Now we have a new member. Introduce yourself."
"Hello, my name is Anderia. Pleasure to meet you."
"A new member of the team at last. I'm tired of seeing Henry's face all the time."
"What are you saying? Calm down and introduce yourselves."
"Hello, I am William. My power is water."
"My name is Henry; my power is earth."
"I am Harold, and this is my dragon, Daemon — fire."
"As for me, Henry — I can travel between dimensions."
"And I am Iris, element of wind."
"Wait — where are the rest? Don't you remember? They went to look for the Dymas."
"When they return I'll introduce them. For now, welcome to the team."
"Knights, go out now and return that pendant — now! Or else — "
"Do they know the commander is absent?"
"It seems so."
"Anderia, we'll talk later."
"Let's go, team."
"Wait — I'm coming with you."
"No, your wounds are still bleeding, so not today."
Finally you went out, heroes. "Lord of the Crimson Bear Tribe, you honor us with your arrival. Please, come in and speak."
"Entering and speaking — you already know what we want: that pendant that belongs to my granddaughter Rose. I want it, and I want it now."
"Sorry, but it is not with us."
"I know that when the Ice Lord goes to that place the pendant is not with him, so do not insult me."
"I am sorry, but he is the one who will return it if he wishes. It's none of our business."
"Move aside and let us find it and take it. This is our headquarters and we cannot allow otherwise. You cannot — then it is war!" The tribe's members attacked.
"O team, anyone who harms them even with a scratch will be punished by me personally!"
Without speaking further, "we understand them," they said. "Come on."
Anderia watched the battle with wonder. The Ice squad did nothing but avoid the attacks — they simply took hits, rose, and continued dodging. "They didn't do that — why don't they attack?" The fight went on until a blow struck Henry. He did not move. "What? Henry isn't moving."
"Don't worry, he's not dead; he's just paralyzed for a moment."
The fight continued and none of the heroes could move. "If you had fought seriously you would have won, but you kept avoiding attacks — that is your weakness." Now only the newcomer remained. "Tell me, boy, do you also keep avoiding our attacks?"
"No," said the deputy commander. "We were ordered to remove you unharmed."
"So what will you do? The simplest thing: beat you until you retreat."
"Then fight properly — attack!"
Amid all this and the calm of the atmosphere, the weather suddenly changed violently: ice storms shot into the sky, making the clouds swirl like a vortex; winds rose and everyone was terrified. When the tribe leader saw this he shouted, "Drop your weapons into the ground! We have no chance to defeat him." There was a tremendous pressure coming from someone approaching; Anderia felt it and did the same. Who was this person whose pressure was enormous?
That person stepped forward until he stood beside Anderia. "O Crimson Bear Tribe, you take advantage of my absence and attack my team, relying on the fact that they will not retaliate. We have come to take what is rightfully ours."
"Do you mean that pendant? Its owner is the one who gave it to me."
"I beg you, that pendant is all that remains of my granddaughter Rose. I beg you — I want it; it is the last piece of her memory. Will you not spare an old woman who is between life and death?"
"My lord, I am sorry but the time to return it has not come."
"You say you are protectors of this kingdom, yet you are the cause of everything that happens to this land. I know I will not give up that pendant."
They understood. The Ice Lord remained silent; he could not speak. Morris watched them, delighted. "It seems I have found something interesting here."
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Hello, readers! If I gave you the choice, would you be more excited to discover one of the story's secrets, or to decide which upcoming event should happen? What would you choose?
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