Sitting in his office and checking his daily reports, Archon Eros calls out to his servant with a bell. A servant enters the office as he immediately tells him what he had in mind without making eye contact;
“Hmm, this is new. His majesty is late our lesson, ever mind telling where he might be?”
The servant looks puzzled;
“Uh… Sir, you don’t know about it already?”
The senile Griff slowly raises his head:
“…I don’t know about what?”
“That his majesty is in a diplomatic meeting-”
The wide-eyed Archon couldn’t believe his ears:
“A what?! How in the- With whom?!”
The embarrassed servant replies in a timid tone:
“Sir- His Majesty is currently discussing to Wingfried von Katerinburg of Hellquill-”
Realizing the threat that is in the air even before the Servant finishes his sentence, Archon completely forgets about his age and hurries in a way he hasn’t in years.
Meanwhile, in a modestly-sized dining room ‘Führer’ Von Katerinburg and the (very) young Emperor Grover VI is having a joyful dinner chat filled with ‘tales’, jokes and laughter. As Katerinburg tells his ‘hilarious’ childhood stories, the naïve young Emperor cries out laughter every time Wingfried cracks up a joke, as he accompanies the emperor with a chuckle. As Grover VI tries to recover from another laughter:
“Mr. Wingfried, you’re so fun! I wish we had more people like you here!”
Wingfried gives a comical and childishly perplexed face:
“What do you mean your majesty? I thought the Imperial Palace was filled with wonders!”
The emperor replies in a sad tone while looking down:
“Yes, it is, but Archon Eros tells me I shouldn’t disturb my studies with childish things…”
Wingfried gives out an exaggerated gasp:
“*Gasp*! I can’t believe what I hear! Nobody should be allowed to tell the Emperor of all Griffons to not have fun! Don’t they know that the Great Grover II held parties that lasted entire days?”,
The thrilled Emperor fills with excitement to see some else agreeing with him:
“Yeah! You are right Mister Wingfried! They just don’t know fun…”
“Well, your majesty, at least surely they let you go hunting right?”
“No… Archon tells me I’m too young for that.”
Wingfried makes another humorously shocked face which makes the emperor giggle.
“How dare they! How dare that they don’t allow the Emperor of Griffonia to hunt!”
“Yeah!”
“Let me tell you this, your majesty; one needs studies to become a ruler, but one also needs to go hunting to become a Griff. Or how else would we ever live up to our great hunter ancestors?”
“You are right Mister Wingfried! I must ask others to take me to hunt.”
“Why ‘ask’ your Majesty? When you can ‘order’ them to do so?”
“I… Can I do that?”
Wingfried gives a respectful pose to the emperor;
“Your majesty, trust me, you’re much more powerful than you think. You can order any Griff to do what you want them to do, no matter who they are.”
Grover VI thinks for a while, before saying:
“Wingfried von Katerinburg, I order you to take me to hunt!”
Wingfried laughs:
“Your majesty, not only I can take you to hunt, but I can also even teach you to how to hunt.”
Grover VI goes wide-eyed:
“You would do that for me?”
“No majesty, I MUST do that for you, since you ordered me to do that.”
Realizing the amount of power, he has in his claws; the young emperor is completely astonished.
“Can I order… to others too? Other than Griff? Like can I order to a Pony?”
Wingfried smirks:
“Perhaps one day… why not?”
Emperor looks puzzled:
“What do you mean Mister Wingfried?”
Wingfried gives a thoughtful look:
“Well, your majesty, in order to command someone, you need to... conquer… them first.”
“Are you conquered Mister Wingfried?”
Wingfried laughs:
“Well, your majesty, that’s not exactly how that works. But I still can say I am very loyal to you.”
Emperor replies in a gloomy tone:
“I’m sorry Mister Wingfried but Archon Eros told me that you are a traitor, and you weren’t loyal to my father...”
Wingfried makes an overtly artificial shocked impression and starts gasping as if what Emperor said was the greatest false accusation in history. Even though he wouldn’t be fooling any griff with that attitude, it surely was enough to make a kindhearted and naïve young Emperor feel guilty about the comment he made, just as Von Katerinburg wanted it to be. Wingfried covers his eyes as he starts “crying” while looking away from the emperor. Emperor, thinking that he actually *broke* Wingfried’s heart instantaneously feels guilt, believing that he himself is the one to blame here. He starts talking as if he is about to cry any second:
“I’m so sorry Mister Wingfried, I’m so sorry! I didn’t know! I apologize! I mean it!”
Wingfried turns back to him as he replies in an extremely “sad” manner as if he just stopped mourning the loss of a beloved:
“You really mean it, sir?”
Emperor gloomily shakes his head, as Wingfried “slowly recovers” from his “grief”. Wingfried holds both claws of the young Emperor and starts “explaining” in a dramatic manner:
“Your majesty, do you think I look like a griff that is not loyal to you?”
Emperor shakes his head in a disapproving manner.
“Then your majesty, you know I am loyal to you, just as I was loyal to your father. Since I was a member of the Katerinburg dynasty, I had the honor of seeing your father on multiple occasions and talking to him once.”
Emperor is surprised:
“You met my father?”
“Of course, I have your majesty! He was one of the few Griffons on the whole continent worthy of leading the Griffon race. I remember in my youth about the speeches he gave at royal dinners… By the Gods, he truly was the wisest of all Griffons! He was the very Griff that inspired me to say; “I must dedicate my life to serve all Griffons just like him!”.”
The young emperor felt pride knowing he is the son of “the wisest of all Griffons”. But he still had a question in mind:
“But Mister Wingfried, why did Archon Eros tell me something like that even though it’s not true?”
“Well, your majesty… As I said, I am loyal to you wholeheartedly, I even supported your father during the treacherous Republican rebellion many years ago. My greatest wish as the Grandmaster of Hellquill was to declare my loyalty to your father, but sadly, shortly after I became the Grandmaster, your father passed away, and I never had the honor of visiting him personally and assuring my loyalty to him. And ever since with your father’s passing, the Empire has fallen under the control of the corrupt griffons, griffons that don’t even know you and that don’t know how to treat an Emperor!”
“But… are you telling me that Archon Eros is corrupt too?”
“Your majesty, please do not tell him about this, it might risk my life. But still, don’t be afraid to keep that fact in your mind.”
“Okay, Mister Wingfried. I trust you. I hope you remain loyal to me.”
Wingfried replies in a cheerful way, realizing that he is *successful* in his mission:
“And your majesty, what forest you’d like to go in your first hunting?”
“I… don’t really know much about those…”
“Ah! Forgive my ignorance, your majesty! I completely forget that this would be your first hunt!”
“It’s okay… what forest do you go to for hunting?”
“Have you ever been to Hellquill my emperor?”
“No…”
“It’s probably the safest and nicest place in the whole continent for good old hunting! Come to us for a visit, and I’ll you teach everything I know!”
“I’d be glad to visit Hellquill, Mister Wingfried. I’ll ask Archon- “
“But remember, your majesty… ‘why ask’?”
“Yes, you are right- “
Archon Eros storms the room with two of his guards and a servant. While the emperor gets nervous, Wingfried only responds with a smile. Archon was completely exhausted, struggling to breathe, it was obvious he is not in his prime. As he storms the room:
“*deep breath*…Your majesty… *deep breath*…this… *deep breath* …griff is…”
Archon notices Wingfried and fixates his eyes on him and points his claw to him:
“…the DEVIL!”
Wingfried completely ignores the obviously insulting line delivered by Archon Eros and replies in a calm manner:
“Ah! Archon Eros! How nice for you to join us in our diplomatic meeting with his majesty.”
“You punk! How did you even manage to get into this country let alone the royal palace!?”
“Pretty simple; I just wrote a ‘personal’ letter to his majesty by the name of Katerinburg and used a ‘personal’ deliverer. And he was kind enough to accept me, I hoped it wouldn’t make you upset.”
This, of course, didn’t calm Archon down:
“You seriously thought you can get away with something like this? I should execute you right here and invade whatever petty kingdom you have just because of your evil schemes!”
Wingfried doesn’t break his calm attitude;
“This… is not the nicest thing to be said in a diplomatic meeting Archon.”
Archon’s temper has come to a boiling point:
“ENOUGH OF THIS! GUARDS, ARREST THIS TRAITOR!”
As the guards approach Wingfried, he turns his head towards the somewhat bewildered Emperor, who is also looking at Wingfried. He calmly whispers to the emperor:
“…Don’t ‘ask’…”
And winks an eye.
Emperor, now grasping his surroundings, calls out to the guards:
“Guards!... please stop.”
It wasn’t the answer Wingfried anticipated but was better than nothing. He thinks to himself: “Ah whatever, that’ll do”.
Guards are shocked, not sure if they have to follow the orders of the Regent or the very young Emperor. With Archon Eros himself confused:
“My… Emperor, what are you doing? This griff is a traitor, I told you already!”
Emperor Grover was thrilled by the scene, realizing the power he has in his claws. He continues in a bold but still unsure manner:
“Archon Eros, Mister Wingfried has been very kind to me. I order you to not arrest him!”
Shocked Archon didn’t know what to say and only looked at Wingfried with eyes of contempt as Wingfried looked back at him with a prideful smugness. Archon:
“Your Majesty- “
Emperor interrupts him ‘boldly’:
“Archon Eros! I order you, to…”
Not sure what to say, Emperor looks back at Wingfried. Wingfried silently points at the dinner on the table with his eyes as a hint. Emperor then declares:
“… sit down and have dinner with us… please.”
Archon, realizing what is going on in here, orders his two guards to stand back as he approaches the table and sits down, still looking at Wingfried with nothing but contempt. And as if the last couple of seconds did not happen, Von Katerinburg turns back to the emperor and continues in a cheerful fashion:
“Say, your majesty; did you know that Archon Eros and I go way back?”
“No way!”
“Yes, way! *Turns to Archon* Do you recall that one-time Reverent Archon Eros?”
Archon replies in a despising voice:
“I prefer not to remember...”
Wingfried turns back to the emperor:
“So, it was my new hatched cousins baptizing, and I was a very young griff back then. My parents wanted me to assist Archon Eros on that certain occasion and I did take my duty very seriously indeed. But as we were approaching the altar the young me accidentally-”
Archon interrupts:
“-Accidently?”
Wingfried ignores and continues:
“-tripped down and spilled the whole vase filled with holy water on Archon Eros’s-”
Archon interrupts again:
“ENOUGH!”
Wingfried looks at Archon for a moment before continuing:
“So, the long story short, it was just a one big ‘wet incident’ with Reverent Archon Eros.”
As the emperor was losing himself over laughter, Archon Eros was trying to calm down amid this intense test of patience. He tries to *kindly* ask a question to Wingfried while struggling to keep a low voice tone:
“Well then, “Mister Wingfried”. Would you mind telling how in the HELL this ‘messenger’ of yours managed to bypass all of our personnel?!”
Wingfried answers in an arrogant voice:
“Ah, Reverent Father Archon, I explicitly told my messenger to not disturb you by any means possible. Since I assumed you’d be preoccupied with all the wars and internal affairs of our glorious Empire! I also wanted to tell you how deeply saddened I am by the treacherous attitude of the nobles of the East, especially those of the Strawberry Duchy. Abandon the Empire in its darkest hour? Unforgivable.”
Wingfried himself is aware of the amount of irony his sentences carry, so that’s why he couldn’t help but chuckle at a low voice before continuing:
“And who would benefit from such betrayal exactly? Ponies. After all, wasn’t Princess Celestia was the one who ordered the collapse of our Empire in the first place?”
Emperor was surprised:
“She did?!”
Wingfried answers in a flattering attitude:
“Of course, your majesty! She even-”
Archon Eros hits the table with all of his strength in the loudest way possible, while talking in a fuming manner:
“SILENCE! I might turn a blind eye to you having a chat with our Emperor, I might ignore that you have dinner with our Emperor without the approval of myself, I might even ignore the fact that you insulted me in front of the emperor, but, by the Gods, I’ll never allow you to corrupt the mind of our Emperor with your godless “Pony did this, Pony did that” nonsense! I might, just *might*, allow you to leave this palace alive if you kindly shut your beak up and leave NOW!”
Archon then turns to the emperor:
“Your majesty, I don’t know what he told you in my absence, but I only know that they’re all lies. Now please, allow me to kick this faithless traitor off this holy palace!”
Emperor had *enough*:
“Archon Eros! Please, you don’t know how nice he was to me while you were not here, he even gifted me a sword!”
Confusion replaces hatred:
“He- he gave you a WHAT??”
Emperor replies cheerfully:
“Yeah! It’s even huge! It needs to be cleaned still…”
The emperor forces his whole body to pull up an oversized ancient sword from under the table. The emperor asks in excitement as Wingfried looks at the emperor with delight:
“It’s so cool, isn’t it?”
Archon immediately recognizes the sword and gets shocked:
“Th- Th- That’s the Avalerion! The sword of Grover I!”
Emperor is astonished:
“Wow really? Thanks again Mister Wingfried!”
Wingfried nods:
“You are welcome, your majesty.”
Archon Eros disrupts the mood:
“You- Your Majesty be careful! It is powerful enough to slaughter a grown dragon with a single strike!”
“Oh really? That’s so cool!”
Emperor starts swinging the sword in the air. Archon:
“Your Majesty! I said be careful! You might accidentally…”
Emperor accidentally drops the sword on the table as it hits the corner of a plate with cake on it, making the cake fly right to Archon Eros’s face in the process. As the cake falls off Archon’s face, the young emperor holds his beak with his claws as he struggles not to laugh. After an awkward silence, Wingfried breaks the silence:
“Well, it was powerful enough to slaughter the mood alright.”
Emperor couldn’t help but starts laughing, while Wingfried accompanies him with a chuckle. Archon Eros sighs and picks up a tissue from the table as he cleans his face with it. He then tries to ask a question to Von Katerinburg while struggling to keep a calm voice:
“Would you mind telling me how you have gotten this artifact “Mr. Wingfried”?”
Wingfried makes a confused look:
“I beg your pardon Archon Eros, but I thought you wanted me off the building.”
“Don’t test my patience Katerinburg, answer what I said.”
Wingfried puts his claws together, leans back, and answers in a conceited way:
“Well, I was wondering recently; why are we treating the Griffonstone, a place which has been the historic capital of all Griffons since ancient times, as if it’s not filled to the brim with countless historical artifacts? Why don’t we just send some of our griffons to recover some of these artifacts for us? I swear it's all simple as that.”
Archon goes wide-eyed:
“You looted the tombs of our ancestors?!”
“Oh, no, no, dear Archon Eros. We weren’t stealing, we’ve been just excavating these fine historical artifacts with tremendous historical values.”
“Wait, you have more of these?”
“Of course, we have dozens of artifacts like this. Including one… particularly strange one.”
Archon sighs and responds in a depressing manner:
“You fools really have no idea why we don’t “excavate” these artifacts right? We don’t dig up these things because of what they might awake.”
“You are being melodramatic, Archon Eros.”
“And you are completely forgetting the fact that there are literal Necromancers on this continent right now. Where do you think freaks like that come from?”
“Please Reverent Father Archon Eros… we know exactly what we are doing…”
…
Archon Eros sighs and thinks to himself for a moment:
“Wait, this “particularly strange” artifact you said, what is it?”
Wingfried leans over to the table, and answers while giving the most devious smirk possible:
“Well, well… Let’s just say; we found someone who has long suffered unfair treatment… by some three others, who are also just like it… And he was very happy to be *released* and we simply brought him to the Hellquill, and... heh… that gentlemen sure was eager to share his wisdom with us.”
Wingfried smiles. Archon Eros freezes for a moment while talking hesitantly:
“You- you said, that- you found this *someone* IN the artifact…?”
Wingfried continues smirking as he takes a sip from the cup of drink in front of him, and answers in a cocky tone:
“Yes… yes, it surely must be uncomfortable for him, to be trapped in such a way for such a long time… Hah! You’d be amazed by the number of common interests we have!”
Wingfried takes another sip from his drink, as the puzzled Emperor asks Wingfried:
“Mister Wingfried, who is this person exactly? Can I meet him?”
Wingfried looks at the emperor in a confident way:
“Oh, your majesty, there’s no point in spoiling the surprise here. When you visit us at Hellquill, you can meet him in person. And let me tell you, he is the single most sophisticated individual I’ve ever known... After your father, of course!”
Emperor smiles:
“I’d be glad to!”
Archon does or says nothing in the process other than stare at Wingfried completely blankly and emotionless. As Wingfried continues his prideful attitude and turns to Archon for another question:
“By the way Archon Eros, there was a… strange seal, on top of the artifact I just told you about: a three-pointed sword, surrounded by a circle… and that said circle is surrounded by pointy spikes… Now I am asking a Griff of tremendous knowledge like you Archon, does that symbol mean anything to you? Because let me tell you, sir, he sure is quite ‘obsessed’ with it. And if you know about it, tell me. Because… believe me, he and I are much, much closer than you’d think…”
Archon Eros drops the tissue he had in his claw, he was completely appalled, he couldn’t even blink an eye, and could do nothing but continue to stare at Wingfried with an open beak. Wingfried grins and realizes his job is done here. He stood up from his chair, picks up his hat, and turns toward the emperor:
“Your majesty, I am afraid, but I have to go now.”
“Do you have to go too soon?”
Wingfried holds the emperor’s small claw with his both claws and gives a respectful nod:
“Your majesty, I hope you understand that I have important duties to take care of back at Hellquill, which definitely includes the preparation for your arrival.”
Emperor smiles:
“And that person you talked about; will I be able to meet him too?”
“Heh. Your majesty, if you are lucky, you might even meet with “him” even before you come to Hellquill. And I must say again; he really is an amazing individual.”
“I’d be glad to. I wish happy travels to you Mister Wingfried!”
“Have a good day your majesty. Oh, and have a good one to you, Archon Eros.”
Wingfried wears his hat while smirking at Archon, he turns his back and exits through the door Archon stormed in, amid the perplexed faces of the guards and the servant.
Archon Eros continues to look point blank with no emotion. After a while confused emperor asks:
“Archon Eros, are you okay? You are not angry with me about the cake thing, right?”
Archon continues to look at the emptiness, he then looks at the historic sword in front of the emperor, which he dropped after swinging it for a while. Concerned about the health of the old griff, his servant approaches him. But before he could ask anything him, Archon abruptly orders him:
“Help me get to my office.”
His servant raises him up, as he looks at the emperor, he says whatever comes to his mind:
“Sorry… your majesty… But I must- look after my… duties and you… study…”
The old griff starts walking towards the exit with the help of his servant, leaving the confused young emperor alone.
After a while, Archon and his servant reach his office. Before he enters the office, he orders his assistant to leave him alone for a while. He enters his office alone and closes the door. He immediately starts looking at the old books he had on his bookshelves. After minutes of searching, he finally finds the book he was looking for: “The relics of Maar and their studies”.
He starts turning pages in a careful manner, and after a couple of minutes, he finds the title he was searching for; “The three-pointed sword of Maar”. As he reads through the paragraph below it, his heart was filled with fear on a level he never experienced before. Every line he read was a blow to him;
“…A sign of Maar’s physical arrival…”, “… Proceed with extreme caution…”, “…Danger on untold levels…”
After a couple of minutes, he turns a couple of pages again to see the title describing the very thing he was afraid of; “Maar’s sword possession spell”. And as he read the lines below it, he felt like he could collapse any moment; “…This spell might be cast by one the “Maar’s chosen” on a sword, and it is unknown if it works on other weapons or objects… Just a mere touching of the said cursed sword may well be enough to get physically and spiritually possessed by the blasphemed god of death, fear, and war; Maar. The possession might reveal itself at any moment Maar wills it…”
The book fell from Archon Eros’s claws as he feels like he was about to collapse from fatigue any second. He manages to throw himself into a nearby chair.
He starts thinking about the horror or maybe the horrors that might occur in the near future. Filled with uncertainty and nightmares, he merely whispers;
“…May Gods help us…”.