Five days was not a long time, but Leon resolved to use it as well as he could. He’d already made most of the plans he needed to, but there were a few others that he wanted to see to, as well.
His first bit of business was to offload everything in his soul realm that he considered important yet felt he wouldn’t need in the task ahead. That meant everything from more sentimental items like the remains of his first suit of armor that had been destroyed during the campaign on the Serpentine Isles, to the vast archives he’d taken from beneath Teira, which he was still carrying around, the latter of which being far more important. Now that he had a Kingdom and a palace worthy of his title, he felt secure in arranging for the archives to be stored and maintained by his library golems.
Of all the accumulated knowledge House Raime had maintained since the fall of the Thunderbird Clan, however, only one sort seemed to truly pique the interest of his ladies.
[Where are the books on childmaking?] Maia demanded as soon as she entered the secure library Leon had chosen to store the archives, hardly sparing the other tomes a second look. She was the first to speak, though she wasn’t alone. Elise was there, looking just as driven, while Valeria and Cassandra appeared more calmer.
“We must see to the succession,” Elise rationalized.
“What else might be stored here?” Cassandra asked. “Books on magic? Long lost histories?!”
“Some fighting manuals, perhaps?” Valeria contributed with a cheeky grin.
“Unimportant, all of it!” Elise insisted.
“Not to us,” Cassandra said, annoyed.
Elise visibly cringed. “Yes, yes, I know, I’m sorry for that. But there’s time for perusing these books later. Right now, don’t we have larger priorities?”
[Yes!] Maia insisted.
Leon stepped forward, his lips curled in a genial smile and his hands raised soothingly. “The most helpful books I’ve already given you. I’m not sure what else may be here, but we can look together. And for any further information, we can always have the Librarian aid us…”
He indicated the bronze golem in question, which had been supervising the organization of the enormous archives Leon had been pulling out of his soul realm. The rest of the librarian golems were doing most of the manual labor, but a small handful of stone giants, now housed within some of Nestor’s new golem frames, were helping as well. Leon intended to use them as additional librarians once they were a little more trained in maintaining and cataloging a library. He'd also grabbed a few Harts, well-known as the Tribe was for preserving knowledge of the past, to help as well, though they were mostly cataloging what Leon had rather than doing the more laborious work of actually sorting the books.
Together with his ladies, Leon and the Librarian tracked down the books in question. House Raime had collected quite a bit of knowledge on their bloodline’s specific fertility challenges, and while Leon hadn’t lied when he said he’d already given his ladies what he felt were the most comprehensive tomes, there was still an entire section comprised of hundreds of books on the subject.
Most of them repeated or repackaged information from older books, but almost all had at least one new tidbit to share. Leon, having been mostly consumed with his other hobbies in the past twenty years, hadn’t read most of them himself, relying instead on the Librarian and its indexes to know what was in them, but once they arrived at the section—most of the books still unorganized on nearby tables and stacked on the floor—Maia and Elise dove right in.
“Come on,” Leon said to Valeria and Cassandra. “They’ll take care of this part, and once they find something, I’m sure they’ll let us know. For now, why don’t we go looking for something you two are more interested in?”
“We won’t take long!” Elise called out, her emerald eyes not wavering from an index report many pages long listing the books in that section and giving a short summary of each book’s contents.
[Your time is ours, but we’ll give you a few hours to handle mundane business,] Maia said with an arrogant smirk before joining Elise at the index.
Leon softly snorted. It seemed he was going to have less time with his ministers and Tribal elders than he’d planned… Not that he was going to complain. He knew as well as anyone that he needed heirs. It was all the more important if he was going to another plane to deal with problems that the Grave Warden himself could not…
At that thought, a shiver of ice-cold dread ran down Leon’s spine, though he controlled himself to not let it show. This was going to be an incredibly dangerous task, but he wanted to project nothing but confidence to his family.
He’d return from it alive and well. He had to.
---
With an exhausted sigh, Leon pushed himself up from the throne in his Mind Palace. Three of his five allotted days had passed, and true to their word, Elise and Maia had kept him in bed for as many hours of the day as they could get away with. He’d managed to tear himself away from their loving embrace a few hours every day to continue emptying his soul realm of needless stuff, as well as to make his final preparations for another potentially long-term absence with his ministers, but for the most part, he’d been more than happy to spend his final few days on Aeterna for the foreseeable future with his lovers…
… Even if that also meant drinking the occasional potion or, by their insistence, taking up Sunlit’s ancient yellow-lightning staff to keep him going. Thankfully, Elise and Maia at least were also on fertility treatments, so he wasn’t alone in experiencing that kind of suffering. How well it was all working, however, would only be known in time.
For the most part, he was pleasantly surprised at how well his ladies were taking his imminent absence. There was the manic need to try and monopolize his time—he was quietly just as manic to monopolize theirs, the issue of succession never too far from his mind now that he was a King compounding with his natural desire to have kids with the women he loved—but there wasn’t much anger.
He wasn’t going to question it, though he was being run a little ragged.
“You’re looking a little worse-for-wear, human,” Xaphan crackled. “What’s wrong? I thought you humans loved fucking like hares.”
“Rabbits, and yes, we do,” Leon cheekily replied. “There’s just a limit to how much even high-tier mages can handle when so pressed for time and so full of strange concoctions.”
Xaphan laughed, sparks flying out from his body with every guffaw.
“Say, Xaphan,” Leon continued without giving the demon much time to potentially capitalize on a slip of his tongue, “you’re looking a little different yourself…” Leon raised his eyebrows and indicated with his head Xaphan’s entire body. It was a subtle change, but the fire that Xaphan’s body emitted was growing lighter; it now burned a bright orange-yellow, while his eyes were more yellow-white. “If I had to speculate, I’d say you’re growing close to ascension…”
“It’s a little different for demons, but you’re not wrong in spirit,” Xaphan stated, the demon’s voice resounding with pride. “You won’t maintain your lead, human. No human can when a demon puts his mind to it. Especially not one who has tasted Lordship…”
“You say that, but you’ve been this strong for most of the time I’ve known you…” Leon responded with a provocative grin.
Xaphan waved his comment away. “See to your business, boy, and leave me to my upcoming triumph.”
Leon almost did just that, but he hesitated for a moment. “Xaphan…” he murmured, his tone turning serious. “Do you… what do you think about what I’m about to do? With the Grave Warden?”
A tense silence descended upon them, broken only by the crackling of Xaphan’s brightening flames.
“There’s… not much you can do,” Xaphan eventually neutrally stated. “The Grave Warden’s power is beyond question. His sanity… is not so, but his power… If he says you must go to another plane and get the lay of the land, then you have little choice. He’s already being more magnanimous than I would ever be.”
Leon sighed again. “What about the task itself?”
“Dangerous,” Xaphan darkly replied. “Beyond so. Do everything you can to fulfill your obligation to the letter, but always be prepared to run with whatever means you may have.”
“I’m not sure I’ll be replete with means…”
“Such are the risks when dealing with the powerful—the weaker side of the deal is at the mercy of the stronger side. Be thankful this Grave Warden has shown himself so indulgent.”
Leon nodded in agreement. “And the possibility of finding a Primal Devil?”
“You say ‘possibility’, but that’s not the word you’re thinking, is it?”
“Heh. What other potential threat could cause another Grave Warden to go missing for so long? Something’s wrong on that plane. I’d be delighted to be proven wrong, but…”
“Expect the worst. And the worst you could ever find anywhere is a Primal Devil…” Xaphan’s already grim tone took a decidedly more severe tone as he continued. “As far as depravities go, the Primal Devils were perhaps only ever outdone by the Primal Gods. You survived one’s attention by sheer luck—don’t expect such luck to hold in the future.”
“What kind of depravities are you talking about?”
“Enslavement, murder, twisting of living beings to serve twisted designs. Demonkind was created by the Primal Devils, but we have no love for our creators, and will fight to the bitter end to maintain our freedom from them. Never again shall we serve as we served in the Primal Age. But I say that comfortable in the knowledge that no Primal Devil—assuming any are still alive, which seems a fair assumption given the purpose of the Divine Graveyard—is free to interfere in our affairs. Should any escape captivity, all of existence would be under threat—the Elemental Planes most of all. Such power cannot be resisted in this day and age.”
“Are you… You’re not going to ask to be left behind, where it might be safer?” Leon asked, uncertainty staining his demeanor. What he was facing was already going to be tough, and having Xaphan there with him was one of the reasons he was able to project so much confidence to his family and friends when he secretly felt so little.
“Leon,” Xaphan sternly responded, “our covenant is one I will not break. Your enemies are my enemies. My enemies are your enemies. Such is the way of our partnership. Sun Fuckboy, Amon, they’re the same, and will be dealt with in like manner. What kind of Lord of Flame would I be if I abandoned my closest ally during a time of need?”
Xaphan’s tone was gruff, but Leon couldn’t help but smile.
“Wipe that fucking smile off your face, boy,” Xaphan growled.
“How can I not smile when you’re so clearly going soft, demon?” Leon replied.
“You’ll die in fire, human.”
“Sure, sure, sure.” Leon turned around and began sauntering toward his storage building which had, until these past few days, stored his family’s archives and most of his accumulated hoard. However, as he was about to leave the main square of his Mind Palace, he paused and said just loudly enough that he knew Xaphan could hear, “Thanks, partner.”
He felt the weight of Xaphan’s eyes fall upon him, though he didn’t turn around to check.
The demon didn’t verbally respond, but Leon didn’t expect him to. He could feel some measure of embarrassment and resolve through the connection their contract had forged between them. So, he didn’t wait around for a response and simply continued to the massive domed storage building.
He didn’t feel Xaphan’s gaze shift from him until he closed the storage room’s massive front doors behind him.
Turning his attention to the matter at hand, Leon marveled at just how empty the place now seemed. The seemingly innumerable stacks of books had been emptied, the librarian golems were now back in the physical world, and much of the raw materials and tools he usually carried in his soul realm had joined them. Sentimental items were gone, though he kept more than enough changes of clothes. His armor and weapons weren’t going anywhere, and he still had plenty of tools and materials for enchanting and blacksmithing should the need arise. He also had his portable villa, ensuring he wouldn’t lack for shelter should he have need of it. On top of all that was a healthy supply of silver and gold, though it was only a small fortune he kept, only one he could classify as an emergency fund that he and his family would consider a rounding error.
It was still more money than he’d claimed in his family’s vault when he first arrived in the Bull Kingdom, but even that was just a small emergency fund for House Raime, and this one was more reflective of his higher status.
None of what remained was particularly unique, though, unless it was something like his armor or Iron Pride, which he was going to use on Arkhnavi.
Or such was his thought until his inspection took him to a quiet corner of the storage building, one he’d essentially put out of his mind after its creation. It was about as deep inside his vaults as he could be, with plenty of winding corridors and secure doors between himself and the exit. Should anyone invade his soul realm like Nestor had done back in his lab in the Forest of Black and White, then they’d have quite the time just finding his vaults, let alone this nearly-forgotten corner of it.
This corner held only a single item: a box, simple in design but robust in its security. For Leon, though, it was quite simple to open the box, allowing him to lay his eyes upon the box’s contents for the first time in many years.
A small black seed lay within, a cold, dark aura radiating from it just as strongly as the day he’d taken possession of it. It was one of a pair of Heartwood seeds. Its other pair had been golden in color and emanated a much warmer aura. That was the seed that he’d used in his father’s burial rite. This seed he’d kept.
The Thunderbird had once crowed about the importance of Heartwood trees to him and impressed upon him the need to keep this seed safe and secure. Leon had done so, keeping it here in the deepest and most secure recess of his soul realm. Even his family’s sword was kept a little closer to the surface than this seed was.
And now he had the option of leaving it behind.
But Leon never once considered removing that Heartwood seed from his soul realm. Even the thought seemed profane and unworthy of serious consideration. As far as he was concerned, this seed would stay with him until the day he died.
Leon closed and resealed the box, then returned it to its small, dark corner of his vaults, to be almost forgotten again.
---
The day had come. Five days he’d been given and almost five days had passed. Leon was down to less than an hour.
He now stood at the top of the stairs leading into his palace from his largest courtyard. It seemed like half of Stormhollow had come out to pay him their respects before he departed on this next journey. Iron-Striker, the Jaguar, Ipatameni, Singer-in-Caves, and hundreds of other elders and Chiefs had come, as well as many other high-tiered mages and high-ranking bureaucrats. Many thousands of citizens of Stormhollow had come out, too, to see off their King. Even Emilie, Cristina, and Asiya had come out to this departure ceremony.
Seeing all who had come out to see him off, Leon couldn’t help but feel reassured that even with him gone, his Kingdom was being left in good hands. Iron-Striker and all the rest of his ministers were competent, capable, and knew his mind when it came to matters of state. He’d started the ball on building out the bureaucracy, army, and judiciary, and all were growing at a steady pace. He could leave the Kingdom with them, at least for a while. And if he were gone for longer than a while, they had contingencies.
So, reassured, Leon’s eyes were captivated most by his family and friends.
“Don’t get into too much trouble without us, got it, Boss?” Alix playfully stated.
“We won’t be around to crush your enemies for you, so a little caution will be warranted,” Alcander added.
“Keep a level head and you’ll have no problems over there,” Gaius confidently stated.
“A strong sword arm and the will to use it will aid you just as much,” Marcus responded.
“Nothing will ever beat fire,” Red retorted. “Burn your obstacles until none stand before you. Raze your enemies until they are but ash, then devour their young to take all their destined strength.”
Leon had to fight the urge to laugh. He looked to his oldest retainers and asked, “Why does all of your advice pale in comparison to Red’s?”
“I’m older, wiser, and right,” Red preened as the others laughed, face-palmed, or shrugged.
“Leon,” Helen said, drawing his attention, “if you find any unusual alchemical materials, please bring them back. And, yeah, be safe and all that.”
“I can feel your concern from here,” Leon sarcastically quipped.
Tikos standing next to her said nothing, but its leafy hair rustled and Leon could smell something bitter, yet sweet—a somewhat unpleasant aroma of unwillingly parting ways, yet lightened with the certainty of seeing each other again.
Leon grinned and nodded to the tree sprite.
Anna didn’t have much to say, but she gave him a stoic nod in turn, which he responded to in kind.
Finally, he came to his family.
Anzu was holding himself together remarkably well, though Leon could see his lower lip trembling. Leon clapped his brother’s shoulder, then pulled him into a brief hug.
“Keep an eye on the house, little brother,” Leon whispered into Anzu’s ear. “I trust no one to do this more than you.”
Anzu’s red eyes glittered with determination, and as Leon released him, he clenched his fingers in determination and declared, “I’ll do it, big brother! I’ll make you proud!”
“You’ve already succeeded on that front,” Leon replied, eliciting a massive and unabashed smile from Anzu before he turned to his ladies.
Elise was the first to take his attention, and she did so by taking his face into her hands and pulling his head down until their foreheads touched. She locked her emerald eyes onto his and said quietly but seriously, “Come back to us, husband. Come back to me. I don’t care how. Just… don’t leave me…”
“I’ll never leave you,” Leon whispered back, certainty, love, and absolute seriousness inundating his voice. “I’ll always love you, more than words can express.”
Elise smiled, rubbed her forehead against his for a second more, and then released him.
Maia was next, though instead of speaking, she just sent waves of love, anxiety, and fear through their connection, letting him know exactly how she felt. Love for him, anxiety for their future that wouldn’t be secure until they had children, and deep, unbridled fear that he wouldn’t return.
He returned all her love with his own, and then projected as much confidence and certainty in his return to her as he could. A smile graced her bronze features, and soon all he felt through their connection was her love.
Next was Valeria. His silver-haired lover didn’t make a show of her affection—she’d made her love known physically more than enough during these past few days—and simply smiled lovingly at him. Realizing that she wasn’t going to make a move, Leon stepped forward, took her by the waist, and brought her in for a long kiss, to which the watching crowd roared in approval. When Leon released Valeria, her face was bright red, she could barely hide the smile on her lips, and she seemed unable to look him in the eye.
“Love you,” Leon whispered to her.
Her face somehow grew even redder, and she said back, “I love you, too.”
And then it was Cassandra’s turn.
“Saving the best for last, I see,” she stated with a confident grin. She sashayed over, pushed herself up onto her toes, and then pressed her lips against his while she grabbed his shirt to pull him against her body. Again, the crowd went wild.
But Leon hardly noticed the crowd in that moment; his mind was captured by his golden blond-again wife.
When they parted, Cassandra stayed pressed against him, and she said with deadly seriousness, “If you haven’t gotten at least one of us pregnant after all we did this past week, I’m going to be very upset, and when you come back, I’ll be tying you down to the bed and ravishing you until the job is done.”
Leon gave her a challenging half-smile. “You’ll try,” he whispered. “But I think I’d rather have you be the one tied down…” He leaned in to whisper exactly what he intended to do to her on his return, and when he pulled back, her ruby-red eyes were gleaming with intense desire.
“If you weren’t about to leave for gods-knows-how-long, I’d be dragging you right back to bed for that,” she said.
“You’d try,” Leon repeated with his cheeky smile.
And then his smile faded and he slowly, reluctantly, pulled away from his second wife. He spared his family and friends one last look, imprinting in his mind the image of them all here, together, smiling at him. Some had tears in their eyes, all were concerned.
“I love all of you,” he said. “In different ways, but you’re all the most important people in the world to me.”
Tears immediately began pouring down Elise’s face while the smiles on many others began to slip.
“I’ll see you all again,” Leon promised. “I’ll return as quickly as I can.” He turned to the crowd and repeated his words, though with a more Royal flair, and as the people cheered, he stole another look at his friends and family, and then retrieved the silver twig Ambrose had given him from his soul realm.
And before his resolve could waver, Leon snapped the twig and was gone from Stormhollow.
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