Bro, I'm not an Undead!

1412  End of Service

Ashton waited patiently in the King's throne room after dispelling his Majestic Territory. He had been here - in Pelian - ever since Philemen Royan made the castle, and when his successors renovated, extended and designed it however they saw fit for their term of leadership.

For over four thousand years, the little bird, Trueworth Bill, had called this place home, but now, he was finally ready to move on. He was open to the extraordinary things that life would give, but he was also open to the prospects death could offer.

But Ashton didn't know if he could say he was satisfied with the trade he had made.

He had wanted to learn what the Deities did to the humans, allowing them easy passage to Divinity.

Sause had laughed hard when they had discussed this within Ashton's Territory.

"So, it was you who introduced the Majestic Territories into the power system of Aigas? That's hilarious," he had said, dumbfounded.

And indeed, he had.

Back then, Philemen Royan, the man who established Pelian, had made a wager with Emeradis and Maqi that should his warriors best theirs, he would get to keep Pelian as he had established it. Knowing that he would require a miracle to actually win the wager, he had appealed to Ashton who taught his warriors how to use Majestic Territories.

Of course, Philemen being the shrewd man he was, told the secret to how he made his warriors so strong to Maqi and Emeradis. He had known that even if he won the wager, they could still attack him to learn how he got their hands on the mysterious power known as Majestic Territories.

Also as a mark of his forward thinking nature, Philemen made a deal with Asthon to protect the Royal line of Royan. This was why even till today, the Royans remained as the rulers of Pelian, even the incompetent ones.

In the present time, Ashton could only reminisce.

'It's been so long and I gained as much as I lost. My younger self truly thought that having the humans adopt Majestic Territories would hinder their growth permanently, but they persisted. Richness Royan even made it to the Beyond the Veil Stage and Fulgardt breached even that to Divinity. There was never anything stopping man from growing. I should have realized that earlier,' he thought as he sat above the throne.

Indeed, that had been his plan. Asthon had wished to go against nature. To temper with the growth of the humans by having them adopt Territories. Naturally, this inspiration only came after Philemen approached him, but he had still thought it would work.

He had to see.

He to experience it: the difference between man and beast.

Ultimately, he saw it and was humbled. The Deities were not foolish.

It was then that King Royan walked into the throne room, looking anxious.

Asthon had learned to hate this man.

Of all the incompetent Kings in the Royan line over the last 4,000 years, he was the worst. He simply enjoyed Asthon's protection without doing a single thing of note with his life. At least previous Kings attempted to apply policies, to build upon what their predecessors had created… but not this man.

Asthon did not dare grace him by calling him by name since the day he ascended the throne.

"Why have you called me?" King Royan asked shakily. "Are you done using my throne room for your leisure?" There was a tone of entitlement in his voice which the Trueworth Bill didn't like.

"Yes," said Ashton, "and I'm also done dawdling around you Royans for my leisure as well."

The colour drained from King Royan's face.

"What? No. No, no, you can't! You can't leave! You swore to protect the Royan line! You will stay!" he cried.

Ashton was more amused than offended.

"Is that right? I'll humour you. What makes you think I'd want to stay?" he said. "Do you realise that out of the 118 Kings who have sat on this throne, only you – just you – managed to net me nothing? Absolute nothing. Not wisdom. Not magical insight. Not power. Not even common, mundane, unmagical skill. Nothing. Why should I stay?"

King Royan began sweating.

He had never – never even for a moment – considered that Asthon would leave, that the bird's protection would one day flicker away.

"You swore to serve till the end of your days! What do you wish to learn when your only duty is to protect all who sit on that throne? Have you forgotten how my ancestor Philemen sacrificed the righteous lives of 100 Incandescent Stagers to buy your eternal service?!" he shrieked.

Birds seldom rolled their eyes. Most probably couldn't, but Asthon did so in that moment.

"I was the one who made those 100 souls into Incandescent Stagers in the first place. A greater price was paid to make them stronger than what was paid to secure this family line. It was in my best interest to study the kind of kin Philemen would bear. The price of 100 Incandescent Stage experts would have been far too low for an unwilling guardian beast. Believe me."

King Royan stumbled back.

"No! No! You liar! You would say anything to justify your own release!"

The records he had read were true, he believed. There was no falsehood in them. There couldn't be.

Ashton sighed.

"I nearly forgot. A human like you, born way after the Ashing of Time would believe everything the records say," he said, not caring if King Royan heard him or not. "I'm privileged to be one of the few who remembers the authentic truths." He gave one last look at the King.

"Farewell. In these dark times, I can only hope that your wit and strength will be enough to save you. You only need to survive for a few days and then you might once again find yourself in the good graces of a long, healthy life."

The guardian beast had taken flight, phasing through the roof before King Royan could protest. He heard the shrieks and cries of the man though, undignified, ugly and pathetic.

Up above, way beyond the canvas of wide, silver and ebony clouds, Asthon met with a gargantuan draconic figure suspended in the air, waiting with his eyes closed.

The mighty Jiggorrhax, the Abiding Madness had fully healed. Or rather, he had been healed in full.

When Asthon reached up to the height of his head, Jiggorrhax opened his eyes.

"When will we be going on our way?" the Trueworth Bill asked.

"Right now. The Deitess of the Skies awaits me," Jiggorrhax said and almost immediately, a crack in space opened in front of him. It was far smaller than he was, and would undoubtedly make one judge how the great dragon would fit, but it would suffice.

Dragon and bird flew in and were twisted into incomprehensible shapes that were sucked into the crack in space.