Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince

Two weeks after the fall of Alvora, King Zethis of Alorek met with the king of Eroa as well as the representative kings of the Five Kings Union. The meeting was set to occur within the city of Alvora as a testament to the destructive aftermath of war. It was also an intimidation tactic towards Alorek about the consequences of starting a fight they could not finish

Zethis was painfully aware of the reason for the selection of the location. It was intimidation and a reminder of Alorek's sound defeat. Even when they managed to gain ground in the enemy countries, they did not have any victories as decisive as Eroa did in the battle for Alvora.

He seethed internally and raged against the traitor general Elzha who he blamed as the cause of this defeat. Had she not lost her mind and initiated their plans ahead of schedule… He could very well be standing on the heads of the very kings he shared a room with.

King Verdayl Eroa, the Tigerking stood confidently next to Zethis with a masked figure by his side. It took a lot of his willpower to not try and wipe the person's existence from the earthen plane. According to General Pana, who surrendered Alvora, this was the man responsible for the destruction that their conference room looked over.

What was once a prosperous city full of life, trade, and people was now ruins with skeletons of buildings that had withstood the powerful blasts that Eroa bombarded them with. The loss of life stood at a staggering sixty percent of the population of civilians and soldiers. Those that remained could be seen shuffling through the rubble even now, still searching for remains and items.

The cleanup of such devastation would take months and the rebuilding would take much longer than that, even with the help of earth mages.

"King Zethis. The terms of the deal are that Eroa and the Five Kings Union will return to your nation the land that we occupied during the duration of the war. Alorek's borders will remain unchanged.

"You also agree to a ten-year non-aggression pact with our nations where you will make no moves to directly attack our borders. Finally as restitution to our lost resources, for that same period of ten years, you will pay Eroa and the Union ten percent of your annual revenue. The Union will split that ten percent evenly amongst ourselves. Do you agree?"

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Verdayl was the one who read off the terms to the group. They had been discussing the terms of the accord for a few hours and this seemed to be the agreement that they had reached. Zethis would spend ten years operating his country on only eighty percent of their usual budget, which would also make it difficult for them to rebuild their army.

It was essentially a set up to receive ten years of peace, plus however many years it took for Alorek to rebuild after the non-aggression and restitution were both over.

"I agree to these terms." Zethis said with a sigh.

"Then we shall refer to this as the Alvora Accord. All signatory nations please pen your names along the dotted line."

Zethis watched as the document moved along the table. With each person that it passed through the hands of he was got angrier and angrier. Out of the corner of his eye he caught a bit of movement. The masked individual was still standing next to King Verdayl, but his eyes were locked directly on Zethis.

He felt sweat begin to form on the back of his neck and drip down his back. Something about this warrior, aside from the backdrop of destroyed city made him extremely uncomfortable. No matter how hard Zethis tried, he could not get a read on the warrior's strength.

It was likely one of the many effects of the man's mask. As a King's Shadow, to be granted a mask was indicative of one's abilities and service to the kingdom. Though Zethis knew this much, he was unaware of all the effects of the mask. There was no way a powerless individual would be granted one, nor could he unnerve the king of Alorek without hiding something…

"King Zethis? Are you going to sign?"

Breaking the locked gaze he had with the warrior, Zethis quickly turned back to the table and quickly signed the document before returning it to Verdayl who was the first to sign.

"And with that we have struck a deal. It has been a pleasure, King Zethis. May our next meeting be under better circumstances and maybe…" Verdayl paused and gestured to the city below the balcony. "In better environs?"

The group of leaders dispersed, returning to their various nations, leaving only Zethis and his entourage within the room. Zethis roared in rage and slammed his fists down on the table, shattering it with ease.

"Someone, bring me General Pana. I will execute her for her failures myself." He growled.

No one dared defy him and rushed to bring Pana to him from the dungeons below. Though her death would bring but only a moment of peace, it would still help calm his nerves. The true target of his ire was that Shadow and King Verdayl.

"I don't know who that man is… but when I find out… I will flay him alive before his family and loved ones and feed each and every scrap to the Sand Wyrms before dragging his still conscious body across the desert until he is ground into nothing…"

A few minutes later, a gagged, bound, and blinded Pana was brought to kneel before him. Without ceremony or announcement, he walked up to the woman and lifted her from the ground by her neck. The once great general was currently dangling from his hands while wearing prisoner's rags.

"For your failures to uphold the honor of Alorek and bringing about our defeat, you will follow Elzha down in history as one of Alorek's greatest failures… but should I fail to exact my revenge, I may very well join you." He said.

A sickening crack sounded out as he squeezed his hand into a fist, snapping Pana's neck. She twitched for a second and went limp before he cast her body to the side.

"Dispose of her and leave me. We return to the capital at first light."

For the remainder of the night, all he saw in his dreams were visions of that featureless mask.