//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4 
// Story: Sealed Within 
// by Shroomkin 
//------------------------------//






Of Meetings and Interviews, Part One


When the door is opened, a loud screeching noise can be heard. On the other side of the door, a tall figure with what appears to be a deep purple hat, stands. His glowing purple eyes stand in contrast to the shadow cloak that he has. He breathed in deeply as he walked forwards. The mere sight of him made the twelve beings sitting on the chairs cower. He walked towards the empty seat, a large throne-like structure, yet he did not sit in it. He nodded at his aide, prompting the aide to speak.

"Proceed with the affairs. Make haste." The short Goblin stated. 

Silence grew as the figure walked towards the windows, looking at the moonlit sky. Two moons were in full view for everyone to see. The Goblin then prompted the messengers to continue with a flick of his hands. "By request of Lord Izerius of the Insektons, more food for the Beetlemirs of the Southern outpost." The Insekton messenger then closed his scroll, awaiting a response. Much to the dismay of the lord present in the meeting, there was no response. "By request of Lady Tigrea of the Stripedmark, more minerals for the ironworkers of her army." The Stripedmark messenger fixed his gaze on his mistress before closing his scroll. He saw his mistress filled with wrath when there was no response. "Lady M'rhea of Lamianfae requests an audience about the encroaching armies under the banner of the Light of Defiance. It is of the utmost importance." Much like the other messengers before her, there was no response. The messenger slithered next to her mistress. A messenger spoke reluctantly. "Master Tyr of the Orcrins would like an audience regarding the captured city of Mith'urn. He wants to know if he can ask for more troops to defend the captured city. After all, this city is known for its forging equipment." With silence meeting the messenger, a loud thud struck the stone table. Lord Karakk'en of the Electrocephalopods struck the table with his powerful tentacles. He was pissed. "Why bother calling us and asking us about our problems if we are not given a definite answer!" He said, glaring at the being gazing at the moons. Unbeknownst to all of them, however, the goblin was writing all about their problems and requests.

The Great Dragonkin Lord then stepped onto the stone table. "Where is our Master anyway? He should've been here hours ago!" A loud, thundering voice spoke out. "Lord Ratharos, Lord Karakk'en, please calm down. We are in the great hall of the war council. Respect the others who are present!" Lady M'rhea said, her rattlesnake-like tail shaking vigorously. Lord Izerius, a large beetle-like being, spoke in a monotoned voice. "Silence." Lord Izerius then brought down his halberd, making a loud thud in the process. "I have to ask as well, where is our Master at such a troubling time?" Lady Arachmin, Queen of the Dridereons, spoke whilst looking at her glass of wine. A loud crack of her knuckles alerted everyone of her presence. "If our Master has vanished, then I shall bring him back. It's been a while since I've cracked some skulls." A snicker came from an Alhi-Vhampiri Lord, gaining the attention of a confrontational Stripedmark General. "And what are you going to do about it? Claw at their doors?" This garnered an angry roar from Lady Tigrea, who was then hissed at by the Alhi-Vhampiri Lord. "I'd like to see this bat try and fly over their heads and bite their necks... A really great way to siege a kingdom."  Lady Tigrea snickered at the thought, much to the chagrin of the Alhi-Vhampiri lord. "Save it for a dog that cares." He rebuked, making the Deroswolf Lord shift his hands into large claws. "You feeling lucky, punk?" They both growled at each other, bearing their teeth at each other. 

A deep yet loud booming voice then echoed. "Enough! All of you! Lord Sithenar, please refrain from provoking Lady Tigrea. As for you, Lord Talios, not everything is a challenge. We are here for urgent business!" An older being with goat-like horns spoke out. A large tail then slammed into the ground, making sure everyone paid attention. He then grunted, smoke coming out of his nostrils. The Greater Novasaurian lord then proceeded to sit back down, giving a signal to another lord. "Thank you for that, Lord Aratorias." The Greater Draen lord then clapped his hands twice. "Now, may I have all your attention, please?" He then coughed as he fixed his tie. Every lord then looked at him, with the exception of the being looking at the moons and the Greater Novasaurian lord. "Now then, about the disappearance of our Master. As you all know, he has recently told every last one of us to vacate the kingdom of Irunia." This then made a few of them grunt and mutter, especially with the small number of soldiers behind their respective banners. "Now this was all for a reason. I believe our Master has thought things through." He then looked behind and signaled two Draens to get close to the table. As the two Draens walk, the Greater Draen continued on. "According to our intelligence, the Defiance were this close to remaking a lost artifact." The two Draens then placed the parchments onto the table. The look of disgust can be seen in their eyes.

"Those insignificant fools!" Talios roared in anger. "Lord Rictos, are you sure these are accurate?" Lady M'rhea asked with worry. "I will be honest with you, my fellow Lords and Ladies, I do not know whether it is or isn't accurate." Rictos, the Greater Draen lord said in a fearful tone, for what they saw before them were the plans the old Primes made. A weapon that decimated the Elgs a few millennia ago. A weapon so powerful, it was sealed by the Primes themselves in a crypt long forgotten to eliminate any thought of any kingdom ever obtaining it. A weapon they called the "Wrathful Shard". 

"This was not the only thing that our intelligence gathered." He then called for one of his men to retrieve something. The Draen bowed and left. "Had it been true, and that weapon been unleashed on all of us within Irunia, we all would have perished." He then fixed his tie once more. "Furthermore, regarding the disappearance of our Master, it is said that the 'Champions' that were chosen to defeat our Master once and for all were supposed to be equipped with Black-Tipped weapons. Enough to kill our Lord, or so it seems. It may just hinder our Master for eons, but that is besides the point." He then noticed almost every lord was on edge. Black-Tipped weapons are heavier and deadlier. Even a monster immune to being stabbed can be killed by such a weapon. Arrows and swords are the most common weapons to ever be crafted with a Black-Tipped base. "We were lucky we managed to convince them otherwise..." The Draen then returned, accompanied by a Commonfolk man. It was a mage. The others loathed the cowering mage.

"Allow me to present the snake within the High Court of Magic. Lucas, before you are the Lords of Thalion. The one you sealed away." With this information, the rest of the Lords prepared to attack. Rictos, however, raised his hand. "Now, I know how you must feel, but this was the only logical way to protect our Master." The Lords lowered their weapons, ready to harm the Commonfolk mage should there be a need. Rictos then looked at Lucas. He dusted him off as he looked at the other Lords. "He was responsible for calling upon a different magic source, allowing our Master to be sealed and summoned in another world." 

This angered Lord Karakk'en. "You are responsible for sealing our Master?" He lunged forward to the Greater Draen, stopping a few meters in front of him with a powerful slam of his tentacles. He then grabbed the Greater Draen and wrapped him in his barbed tentacles. "You helped the enemy SEAL our MASTER? Did I hear that right?" He then turned towards the Commonfolk as he dropped the struggling Greater Draen. "And you, who dares to enter this land-" He was then stopped by Izerius, a halberd in between their faces. "Stand. Down. That is an order." Karakk'en then backed away from the now cowering mage. "If you had allowed... me... to finish..." Rictos said, standing up after the initial attack. The mage then spoke out of fear. "I-I did it under the orders of Lord Rictos! I swear they were going to try and kill your Master... Please, just let me go! I did what you asked of me!" Tigrea then snarled at the mage. "Where did you send him?" 

"In... in another world! I made sure that he could be summoned there... Please! Have mercy..." Talios, ever confident, spoke out of line. "Then, perhaps we should find a new Master. It seems our old one is gone." He then snickered. "Since Izerius has the most soldiers, perhaps he should be the new leader!" Izerius looked at him, but before he could speak, Ratharos roared. "As the ONLY Great Dragonkin Lord present, would I not be the most logical choice?!" He slammed his tail as he said that. Aratorias, however, saw this and decided to stand up. "We have pledged our allegiance to our Master. Do not forsake our leader." He grunted, this time a bit more smoke coming out. Almost everyone seemed to love being the ruler if it meant subjugating the others. Then, Karakk'en did the unthinkable. He spat at the throne of their Master, saying that having him as a Master would be a disgrace as he had been sealed away. Ratharos, despite being in a heated argument with Karakk'en prior to the meeting, laughed as he did so. It was noisy as it almost became a brawl.

Then, everyone felt immense fear. One they felt when they angered their Master. 

Everyone became silent. Everyone who partook in the claiming of the role realized their mistake, for now they find themselves in the glare of the being near the windows. He slowly turned around and walked towards the mage. Rictos, who was standing in his way, bowed and backed away. "Please, sir, have mercy on me!" The being then grabbed him by the shoulder. Then the being spoke in a deep and raspy voice. "Where did you send him?" It was a rare and eerie occurrence for the Lords. "In..." the mage gulped. "In a place filled with magic... I made sure that there was a being powerful enough to notice and summon him... Please sir, I weakened the ritual for you. For you all!" The being then grabbed the mage and gently made him stand. "Do you have your papers with you?" The mage nodded and hurriedly gave him the notes. The being seemed... pleased. 

The being then looked upon the cowering yet relieved mage. And at that moment, the being decided what to do. With a grab on the mage's head, his very life is drained before him. The mage screamed and struggled, with the rest of the Lords watching in terror as the mage slowly turned into bones. The paste of what was once muscle now fills the floor. Entrails spew downward, blood dripping and drying at a rapid rate. His eyes were bulging as his skull was being crushed. The mage that helped with the sealing of their Master is no more. Blood dripped from the right hand of the being. 

He then spoke as he flicked the blood away. "Phalanx." He commanded the Lord of the Shapeshifters, "See to it that you copy the mage and infiltrate their rankings. Gather information and send it all to Sithenar." With a bow, Phalanx made haste to leave and prepare for his mission.

The being then turned and walked towards the throne. He then spoke.

"In the absence of our Master, I am in command." He then glared at those who caused a scene, making them sit back down without orders as he walked back to the windows. All except the Greater Dragonkin. Foolish, was he as he dared to stand his ground. The being calmly turned around and looked at him. Ratharos then charged at him, swiping his claws at him, but none of them landed. The being calmly blocked all incoming attacks. He then proceeded to grab Ratharos by the throat, and with a swift motion, pinned him to the ground. As Ratharos lay down on the ground, the being placed his foot on the back of his head. He then whispered loud enough for everyone to hear. "If you ever interfere again... I will kill you." 

He then let go and proceeded to go back to the windows. Then he spoke once more. "Izerius, gather your troops for a hunting party at Strumroad. There is a Galvaraan Common Drake who nests there." Izerius bows and leaves to gather his messengers, knowing full well that Strumroad is near the borders of the Southern Outpost. "M'rhea, if I recall correctly, your merchants bought 500 crates of metal. See to it that your merchants reach the borders of Morokon. Request escorts from anyone here if necessary. As per your request of aid towards the encroaching enemy, it appears that they are travelling to Fort Lalfirn. One of the capitals of the Dwarves in terms of mining. See to it that you gather enough information before charging with someone else's army alongside yours. Capture it at all costs to secure more mining resources." With the issues solved, Tigrea and M'rhea bowed. "As for you, Tyr, an additional army shall be dispatched, led by our Elder Lich. Soon, he shall be promoted in order to partake in the war council." Tyr bowed to the being and thanked him. 

As for the rest, it seemed as if only a few had problems they wanted to speak about. As punishment for their insolence, their requests were denied.

Rictos then spoke. "Lord Second, no, Master Carrion, what are your orders?" The being now known as Carrion then turned around. He walked towards a bowing Rictos and answered him. "The rest of you, gather your armies and secure the Dwarvish city of Moldruin. They thought of victory when the war had not yet ended. Make that their last mistake." Everyone bowed and accepted the order. Rictos then asked once more. "Master, what do you plan to do?"

Carrion then looked at the waxing moons. "I will find our Master and bring him back." 





"SPIKE! Wake up!" Twilight said in a hurry. Today was the day she could meet an ancient being. "Uhh... Twilight, can I sleep for 5 more minutes?" The young dragon yawned. "No time for that, Spike! We might be late!" Twilight said as she dashed back and forth preparing and double-checking her stuff. It was at this point that Spike just decided to get up and help. No use trying to sleep in all that racket. Spike then looked at the clock. "Twilight... It's 6 in the morning!" Twilight then looked at Spike. "Oh... Well, we still have lots of work to do! Come on, Spike! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity!"

Spike then rolled his eyes. "Fine..." Twilight then hugged the young dragon. "Thank you, Spike!" As Spike went downstairs, he noticed a pink blur moving to the kitchen. "MORNING SPIKE!" This made Spike jump. Pinkie Pie is now in front of the young dragon. She giggled and bounced around. "So there I was sleeping when all of a sudden I remembered that today is the day that I meet a really old creature, who was probably sucked from another world and, thanks to Discord, got placed here, and now he saved Apple Bloom from being trapped in his tomb, and oh my gosh I can't wait!" She said it without a hint of pause. And then she gasped. "I FORGOT THE CAKE!" Pinkie Pie then zoomed out of the Golden Oak Library. Spike shook his head. "Well, at least someone else is excited." He donned his apron and began to cook breakfast for the two. He then pondered, "If he is a dragon, can he eat gems too?" 

Meanwhile, at Sweet Apple Acres, the Apple family is having breakfast. Apple Bloom, however, decided to pay her new friend a visit before having breakfast. Thalion would probably be sad if they didn't eat together, or at least, that was what she was thinking. As such, she went and checked on Thalion, who was busy looking at the rising sun. "Thaly!" She called out enthusiastically. She then galloped towards him, stopping mere moments before crashing into him. "Good mornin' Thaly! What are ya doin'?" She asked as Thalion continued to stare at the sun. "My uncle used to tell me that the sun contained the answers we sought." He then glanced at Apple Bloom. "Why seek my company at such an early morning?" To which Apple Bloom responded. "Ah reckon' that ya'd want to eat breakfast with company. Come on! Follow me!" She said, as she galloped away as fast as she could. Shaking his head, Thalion then got up and walked to the barn. It was a short walk for him, but a grand marathon for Apple Bloom. Seeing the little filly tired, he picked her up using his jaws and placed her on his back.

"Applejack wanted to meet ya', and since we are havin' breakfast, it would be the best time to get to know ya'!" She said as she climbed the neck of Thalion, allowing herself to lie down and rest on his head. Thalion then hummed. "Ah, I get to meet an Element first thing in the morning. What a great way to start the day." Thalion thought silently, and then answered Apple Bloom to discard suspicion. "It would also be nice to know her as well." Once they reached their destination, Thalion crouched down, allowing the filly to get down from him safely. "Applejack! I brought Thalion with me!" Suddenly, a loud crash can be heard. "Whoa, nelly!" 

Applejack did not know what to expect. Apple Bloom told her a bit about this Thalion fellow, but knowing her sister, she might have just exaggerated things. She donned her Stetson and went in to greet the new visitor. "H-hello there... uhh... partner!" She then opened the door and saw a dragon as tall as Princess Celestia. Apple Bloom wasn't kidding... Thalion then bowed. "Greetings, dear Applejack." He paused for a moment. "Your sister has told me all about your deeds. Truly, you are most remarkable, and seeing you face to-face, she has clearly failed to glorify your presence." Applejack blushed as he said that. He then bowed once again. "I am in your care as a humble guest." For a being who got sealed away, this dragon has got some manners. As such, Applejack bowed and opened the door, allowing the tall guest to enter.

This is a start of a good day.