I lounged in a luxurious bath enjoying lavender soap, the of smell burning essence and soothing sound of a woman playing a lyre. Landing outside Duchess Shorecast’s capitol caused a large amount of drama, but her guards were well trained and had the common sense to know who I was. In short order, I was escorted through the city into her massive stone keep and offered every luxury that I could desire.

  The duchess herself was in an important trade dispute and would be joining me for an evening meal. I wasn't offended in the slightest since I had been so thoroughly taken care of. And besides, I needed a bit of pampering after being forced to sleep on the ground. Her servants were oddly detached, they didn't speak amongst themselves at all and behaved as if even my slightest disapproval of their actions would mean their certain deaths. Which with what I remember from my old enchanting teacher’s impression of Shorecast’s personality; It could very well be the case.

  As efficient as they were, their machine-like movement and mannerisms wasn't something I would look for in my own staff. One of the girls even offered what she referred to as ’sexual services,’ in such a business-like manner, that it killed any interest I would have had in her otherwise. In the end I didn't actually care how she ran her dutchy. One of the girls brought over a glass of my favorite spiced wine in a literal gold and diamond studded chalice. The ridiculous display of wealth amused me until I saw the blank expression on the woman who offered the drink. It's like they were taught to never smile.

  I shook my head abandoning any prospects and closed my eyes determined to finish the entire bottle before I dared to leave the bath.

  Sitting at a table an hour later, I marveled at the massive amount of food on display, it was a feast really. I spent well over an hour sampling dish after dish, freely stuffing my face with actual food. I abandoned any sense of noble decorum since my only audience was more machine than men. Finally, after another hour of stuffing my face a liveried servant in blue and reds came over to me, “The duchess will see you now Lord Solaris,”

  “Lead me to her,” I said, not sparing the man a second glance.

  He led me to a smoking room, richly decorated with plush gilded furniture, a crackling fireplace, racks upon racks of wine against a wall, and of course in the center of the room were tobacco pipes. I lounged on one of the couches and not a minute later entered Duchess Shorecast in all her glory. The formerly old woman was now the picture of youth, with vibrant red hair, green eyes, and spotless skin. The blue dress she wore was on the more conservative end but still complimented her figure nicely. She gave me a soft smile before her servants, who were following close behind whispered something to her and left the room.

  “Moon, how do you do, Or should I call you King Solaris, you worked faster than I had expected,” she said as she sat down across from me.

  “I suppose it would be king Solaris, but my kingdom is little more than a broken down keep with a watchtower and fifty peasants. And please, we’re allies, call me Moon when we’re alone.”

  She raised a well-manicured eyebrow and said with a smile, “Very well, you must call me Sonya then. So, you are onto your next step and need the resources. Denerif, Hearthaven and Halloway have long delivered on their promises. The resources are being held within a safehouse with my trusted guards. It is a good thing you have arrived so quickly,”

  “Why is that? something amiss?”

  “No, but the pressure from the capitol has increased along with the probes being sent about our connection with you. Our spies inform me that it's all but confirmed that we are in allegiance, the only question is how deep and what are our intentions. I was speaking in respect to the wyverns you requested, they have not been doing well in captivity and two of the seven have died.”

  “That's fine, I only need three at the moment, what about our allies, anything new,” I asked.

  “A few, Denerif has made headway with the Braken nobility and has allied himself with the house of Tares. An old and respected faction that over the centuries has lost power and influence, we have been ensuring their rise, no doubt in the coming months he will wed their eldest daughter. Imports of food have increased by 250% to their lands, slowly driving down prices. Hearthaven has been facing tariffs from the imperial throne on her export over the Stormveil Sea. I recommend you visit her in the coming weeks to reassure her citizens that the fiction of your bond is still strong. Still, with increased trade to Braken, she has not faced significant losses.”

  I nodded along, “Have you started sabotaging the rest of the noble families?”

  “Not quite, we intend to fully start operations once Denerif takes hold of the Tares family and it Officially becomes the Masons,”

  “How is Moriah. It has been some time since anyone in the empire has concerned themselves with that island.” she asked,

  “Damn poor, but as we expected, ripe for the picking. It will be another few months before I start marching,”

  I took out my highly detailed map and spent some time discussing my plans.

  “Excellent, we will need a day for my men to fill the transport ship. Let us visit the warehouse. Hopefully, you can prevent the other wyverns from dying.”

  ~

  A long carriage ride later we reached a large wooden building surrounded by armed men. The duchess and I stepped out of the luxurious carriage, and we were immediately surrounded by her guards. A few minutes later we were escorted inside, and what a sight it weas.

  The duchess smiled as I stared wide eyed, “500 swords, 500 shields 100 bows 20,000 arrows, 250 sets of adjustable half plate, 500 sets of brigandine, boots, thick woolen pants, socks, everything. 20 tons of military provisions. 15 tons of supplies: knives, saws, axes forks, pots pans, flint, tents, dried spices, salt, everything an army could need. 150 bottles of your favorite wine. 50,000 gelding, 25,000 sterling. Both chests are enchanted and has only two keys,”

  “Excellent, even more than I had requested, what did it cost me?”

  She smiled slyly, “Including the hard coin everything here is close to 100,000 gelding,”

  I shrugged, “I thought it would be more, can you trust your men to deliver with discretion,”

  “Yes, they are without question the finest of my Navy, they will deliver to your specified location, though I won’t inform them until the day of departure.”

  “The Wyverns?”

  She nodded and led me to the back room. In the room there were seven cages around thigh height. In all but two were a wyvern. Small, clearly starving but I could see scraps of untouched meat inside each cage.

  “They rarely eat even then its barely scraps. Regardless of if it is fresh killed or living.” she said with some frustration.

  I walked over and stuck my finger in the cage touching the wing of a wyvern who seemed to be close to death. The emerald, green wyvern twitched as I made contact. I channeled living ether until it was near bursting and stopped. I repeated it with the other green, blue, brown, and black wyvern. They all twitched and wiggled looking up at me in fascination, then after a few moments ravenously, started consuming the food.

  “What was the problem?” she asked.

  “The black and green were sick, the brown was simply old the nothing is wrong with the rest, so I’m not sure there. But after consuming a large amount living ether most people get ravenous hungry.”

  “I see, that reminds me, your ability to enhance others and reverse the effects of aging are now known everywhere. I’ve had elderly noble after elderly noble come to me or Allyssia on occasion, begging for a few years of life. Mages all over the empire have come south looking for access. How do you want to handle this?”

  ” True enhancements are restricted to those of the imperium. But you already mentioned what you would offer for the changes I made before you evolved. If you want, feel free to take them for everything they’re worth. We'll split the coin 50/50. You can even suggest that you have enough influence to reduce the price significantly for your own creatures.”

  She smiled viciously, “That is more than acceptable, I have in mind two already in the city.”

  “Anyone of note?”

  “Gendry Duresh, a rather wealthy merchant, boasts the largest mercantile fleet. Lord Sorros, unexceptional but his lands produce the best ships in the empire.”

  “Anything you need from them in particular?”

  She shook her head, “No, they're already under my thrall. And once it gets out that can request your services the rest will line up.”

  “Ok then I have no use for Gendry until I fully take Moriah, however I would like three transport ships. What's the maximum transport weight?”

  “Around 500 tons for the biggest transport ships, they usually cost around 50,000 gelding and takes roughly half a year to build.”

  “Let that be my price for Lord Sorros, feel free to bargain hard. I'll cover whatever coin price you get him down to.”

  She chuckled, “Do you even have someone in your group that can sail a ship?”

  “No, but I have someone in mind who I think can convince, he has already proven himself to be a practical man.”

  After a small conversation about additional resources, we headed back to her keep. Allies are such an invaluable resource. With so much food and resources we can begin venturing to the neighboring villages and start recruiting. Even better is that I can begin paying my servants and soldiers. Even a few sterling a month is far more than most soldiers will ever receive. The rest of my day was spent enjoying the luxuries provided by Shorecast.

  The old men came by the next day. I did the usual, repairing organs, tissue regeneration, sight restoration and rebuilding muscles. These men who were in their sixties walked out of the room looking and feeling like men in their forties, as expected they were more than willing. The lord Sorros offered the three ships at a third of the price. And Shorecast struck some deal with the merchant that left her pleased. I took hard coin, 50,000 exactly, just enough to cover the cost of the three ships. We were in her study going over a few letters from our allies when Shorecast flinched, and an annoyed expression came over her face.

  “Are you alright?” I asked.

  She looked me in the eye debating if she should answer then after a few moments sighed and said, “It’s my moon blood, it returned a few months ago, though I distinctly remembered you saying it wouldn’t,”

  I shrugged, walked around her desk, and offered her my hand, “May I examine you?”

  “Very well do it quickly,”

  I did just that and yes, her reproductive organs were functioning as a normal healthy woman would. In fact, if I didn’t know this woman was 80, I wouldn’t be able to predict her age. I delved deeper into her cells, her DNA, nearly falling over in shock at what I saw, “Holy shit,” I said, the curse completely lost to her.

  “Something amiss?” she asked with some worry.

  I shook my head, “No, something is very right.” Her telomeres were fully regenerated, she almost looked like a newborn from a DNA standpoint. I moved on to her ovaries. To confirm my suspicion. And there it was, her oocytes were also at the levels of a newborn female.

  “For all intents and purposes, you do not have a single identifier of your age. In fact, you're similar to a newborn in certain aspects, parts of you that degrade with age have fully recovered to levels that only exist in newborn children.”

  “What do you mean exactly?” I thought about how to explain DNA to someone who has no idea what microbiology is.

  “Every living creature has a set of instruction ingrained into their soul. It governs everything; hair color, eye color, skin color and height. You inherit these instructions from your parents, which is why you share traits with them. It also controls how your body maintains itself.”

  She looked bemused but said nothing, “These instructions degrade over time and this results in ageing. The loss of hair color, atrophy of muscles sagging skin, and a myriad of health problems. Technically no one actually dies from old age, its usually disease or organ failure, but with you I see no degradation; it's as if you have the instructions of a newborn child.”

  She still looked skeptical but nodded in acceptance, “What does that mean for me?” she asked,

  “You will live a long and healthy life, though you already knew that. This also means that you can get pregnant again.”

  “Wonderful,” she said sarcastically.

  “Any other changes,”

  “Many, I don't sleep as much anymore, perhaps a few hours every other day. My moon blood is short and oftentimes I don’t notice it. A blessing I suppose. I am as strong as a trained swordsman even though I have never so much as picked up a sword in my entire life. Also, a blessing. MY senses: taste, hearing, smell, touch, are all vivid. It took some time to get used to it. I can also feel people using magic though I'm still certainly not a mage.”

  “Any negatives?” I asked.

  “None, though I am wondering how long I will live,”

  “My experience is the same. You are simply more. Better in every way. If you bothered to take up the sword then you would outclass every knight in your service. As for your life span, Another two or three centuries most likely.”

  Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

  She sat in long silence as she considered her extended life span. Then she shrugged and immediately changed the direction of the conversation, “Do tell me about your new subjects, the rest of us have been anxious for new information.”

  ~

  I spent an hour detailing the people I had found, information about Moriah and the broad strokes of my plan.

  We continued talking while we enjoyed a glass of wine. “The strangest part is their lack of ambition. One would think if one of the most powerful mages in the world turns up at your doorstep, offering the world, then you would have loftier goals than opening a tavern or starting a farm or being a servant in my family.”

  Sonya giggled almost sounding like the young woman she wasn’t, “They’re peasants who likely spent their entire lives being, destitute, hungry, and persecuted. For someone like that owning a good business is the height of accomplishment.”

  “I suppose you are correct, at least there are a few among them who have lofty ambitions that I can foster,”

  She took a deep draft of her wine savoring the rich smoky flavor before she asked, “Lira, I don’t understand why you chose her, beyond her fascination with you.”

  ” It’s a solution to the same problem of lack of ambition. None of those peasant women are likely to consider themselves to be great warriors. But if one amongst them can achieve such lofty goals,”

  Sonya finished for me, “Then others would rise up and seek it for themselves.” she shrugged, “A decent solution, though you are unlikely to receive dividends for some time.”

  I raised an eyebrow, amused at the irony, “With people like us, all we have is time.”

  She grinned maliciously, “That is true, but for some reason I feel all the more impatient,”

  “I understand your feelings. So much I can accomplish with the time I have. I just can't wait to get started.”

  She nodded, affirming that I was mirroring her thoughts. “You need a flag. Symbols are important things. It reminds everyone from peasant to noble who is in power,”

  “Anyone in your city that can provide that service,”

  “I have one on retainer. most noble families choose beasts for their heraldry. I recommend the Wyvern. It's one that no one else has used. You can create an impressive flag, coat of arms, heraldry, and the like,” She offered helpfully, though there was an undercurrent of slyness about her suggestion. Though for the life of me I couldn't figure out what it was. I shrugged resolving to deal with that later. For now, I have things to do and a kingdom to build.

  ~

  I landed on the shores of my kingdom almost two days later, it was the early evening and before I could even hop off Baelathor’s back eleven people rushed to greet me. My inner circle as I had begun to refer to them. Solar knights, my First General, Vice Regent and my Arch Magus along with 5 others. Including Talis, the tall woman as well as Annie, and Lut the only people in the camp who were teens. Garna and finally Russ, one of Jallen’s good friends. Garna was an old woman but strong in body. I raised my eyes at their choices.

  “Your Majesty,” they bowed and said in unison. I couldn’t stop a smile from stretching across my face. Raising my hand, I bid them to rise. I could see Loresse licking her lips at the cages attached to Baelathor’s saddle.

  “How was your journey?” Jallen asked, as I approached the group.

  “Fruitful, in the coming weeks we will be drowning in resources. Arms, armor, everything we would need for the next several months. I see you have decided who will be the first flyers.”

  Jallen nodded at Devon and started, “Yes, you have emphasized the importance of loyalty and eagerness in people. Russ is a man of unquestionable honor and our best scout,” Loresse scoffed, “Other than Lady Dumarn of course.”

  “Annie and Lut may be young, but they are eager and more than willing to learn.” I nodded at the two brown haired teens. “Talis refused at first but she, like Russ, can be trusted since she saved my life once. Garna’s life experience will temper their youthful exuberance,”

  Their reasons were sound, even if they were not perfect, they could be molded. “Excellent choices. Anything new on your end Cassia?”

  “My magic has plateaued; the crops are being harvested, and we don't have to worry about food. But we are getting some complaints about the lack of variety. No injuries or sickness that need your immediate attention.”

  “Training,” I said looking at Devon.

  “Progressing, the training is difficult for the women, but they have shown no small amount of commitment. Lira has been something of an inspiration. Some minor disciplinary problems but I’ve sorted it out.”

  I looked to Jallen, and he nodded, “The camp is stable, everyone has a task, and they are committed to them. Though we should work out a system of payment soon. A noble cause is a good motivator, but coin is coin.”

  I spent a few moments processing that before I asked, “Have you gathered the birds?”

  “Indeed, their tied up in the camp. We have already sorted out who gets which bird?” Jallen said.

  I smiled, “Excellent, we well sort that out in the hour. For now, return to your duties. Russ, Talis, Germa, Lut and Annie I will speak to you all later.”

  A few minutes later they left me with my solar knights.

  “So those are the beauties,” Loresse said as she helped me carry down the five cages.

  “Indeed, now you may choose. Be warned this is a bond that lasts forever and not even I can break it.” I was reasonably sure I could break it with enough effort but why tell them that?

  “The black one is mine,” Loresse said without preamble. No one else voiced objections.

  Lira spoke up next, “I think I want the blue one. Its scales are pretty.”

  “I’ll take one of the greens I suppose,” Silica said.

  “Very well let’s begin,”

  I had already explained the process and half an hour later we were watching the creatures twitch and writhe within the cages as their bodies changed.

  “That was terrible,” Lira said, her voice filled with sympathy.

  “Indeed, now they are yours, no one else will command them,” I walked over to the blue one’s cage since it was the first that had woken up after the transformation.

  “Go on Lira, call her over. Don’t use your voice, just feel it.” I said,

  With saucers for eyes, she sent a request to the creature. The small blue wyvern shook herself off. And in a single leap took to the air enjoying the freedom before landing on Lira’s shoulder. It was little larger than a cat. It stuck its long serpentine tongue out and licked her face. Lira let out a girlish giggle and said, “She’s amazing. I’ll call you iris, after my favorite flower.”

  I repeated the process with the next two wyverns. As with Lira, Loresse and Silica called them over.

  “Draxus, the black wing, that will be your name,” Loresse said as she commanded the black wyvern to breathe a small amount of fire. They were little more than small tufts of flame.

  “Fenre, come,” Silica said. The small emerald wyvern crawled out of the cage, made a single flap, and landed on her head. Silica smiled.

  “Remember, they are not pets, they’re connected to your very soul and they will have their own personalities. for the most part they can be independent of you. Make sure to reinforce the behaviors you want. And send them out to eat as much as possible. They will grow fast, and we will have to do this at least one more time.”

  “How long before they grow large enough to fly?” Loresse asked.

  “A month if they get all the food they want. Fortunately, the ocean is rich with fish and these hills have a lot of fauna.”

  “And the last two?” Silica asked, nodding to the brown and green wyverns.

  “They will remain for now; I can keep them alive and maybe even breed them since the brown one is a male and the other is female. But for the most part they will remain in reserve for others I find worthy. How is everything else?”

  “We’ve decided to split Lira's training between us and Devon. She’ll be a terror once were done.” Loresse said, nodding to herself.

  “Excellent, now there is one last thing you all will need to become official Solar Knights.”

  “What’s that?” Silica asked.

  “Remember I know how to create etheric knights?” I asked.

  “Right, you know how to do it. How could I forget.” silica said.

  “Indeed, the tattooing process takes time, around six hours, but after that you will be able to use spell circuits embedded in armor. For example.”

  After a brief explanation I cast an overcharged strengthen on Lira. she shivered as the spell took hold.

  “Wow, I feel powerful.” She said in amazement.

  “Care to give it a test Loresse? Your skill versus my magic?”

  She grinned and cracked her knuckles, “Let’s see to it then,”

  Lira lost but not without putting up a good fight. Loresse was simply too skilled for her. Though Lira did manage to toss the woman through the air like a sack of potatoes when she got overconfident. After healing their wounds, we sat on the beach as I discussed my business in Vendalia.

  “That reminds me,” I said, hopping up and climbing onto Baelathor. I pulled out Xalia’s armor. It took several minutes since it was in at least a dozen pieces. The elven armor plate sat on the beach. It was much too slender for any of them to wear.

  “You just had this sitting in those bags.” Silica asked, shaking her head.

  “Indeed, I rather like the design, especially the interlocking scale armor beneath the plate. I think this base design would be quite appropriate for you.” The scale armor covered the chest arms and legs. Above the scale was a plate just enough to protect the upper chest, should upper and lower arms, as well as having gauntlets. The helmet had a closed face with ear holes. The lower part of the armor had a waist, thigh, and shin guards as well thick steel plate boots.

  “Elven armor can’t say I’ve ever seen it before,” Silica said.

  “They’ve fallen out of use. But it can have a new life and a new purpose with the solar knights, I just need to find a smith to make them. Not to mention this.” I said pulling out Xalia’s mithrite sword.

  “An enchanted set of this armor, a mithrite sword, spell circuits embedded beneath each piece, and a wyvern. This will be the standard loadout of a Solar knight. I'll have to have someone design a kite shield with my heraldry.”

  Lira tore her gaze away from the armor and weapon and asked. “Heraldry?”

  “Yes, I had an official flag, crest and a few banners made. It was a rush order, but Duchess Shorecast’s man was talented. It only took him a day to finalize my design. I think a deep purple and white cape with my sigil will be quite fetching.”

  “I’m sure you can guess what I chose,” I said pulling out a rolled-up flag, and small squares of cloth out of Baelathor’s bag. I unfurled it for them to see.

  “Beautiful and a bit garish, it fits you perfectly” Silica said, shaking her head.

  “I think it’s pretty,” Lira added.

  “You do know purple die cost a lot of coin?” Loresse asked rhetorically.

  The flag was a rich slightly dark purple. Dominating the center was a white wyvern with a purple eye breathing golden fire. Int its left talon it held the sun in the other the moon. Next, I showed them my coat of arms. It featured two white wyverns parched on a shield breathing golden fire that coalesced into the gem of my staff, Eclipse. Inside the shield was the sun and moon in a stylized depiction of a solar eclipse. Underneath, in English, were the words, “The sun shall burn eternal,”

  “Now that's a proper coat of arms,”

  “I had livery commissioned as well. My colors are white and purple with accented gold. I'm going to give these out for people to sew into their clothes, it should do for now,”

  “Didn't think you would go this far so soon,” Silica said.

  “Symbols are important, and people need to see these everywhere as a constant reminder of who is in power.” I said repeating Sonya’s words.

  Two weeks Later.

  “Remember, saving his life is all that will matter, pain is temporary. If not properly set a broken bone could cause further injury. This could lead to improper healing, infection, sepsis, and death,” I lectured the four young women who I had been training in medicine. We were standing around a man who had broken his leg while training. It was a clean break of his tibia. I took this as the perfect opportunity for them to learn how to set a bone beyond theory.

  “Yes, your majesty,” they said simultaneously. The man was in pain but grit his teeth as they worked together to adjust the broken bone in place. The brace was crude, little more than sturdy planks of wood wrapped tightly around his leg to hold the bone in place. It took them several tries, but they succeeded. I could numb his pain, but they needed to be able to do this while I’m not around.

  “How’s this your majesty,” Sivis asked, while Hanna Norn and Calin looked on with nervous anticipation. Sivis was the oldest and fastest learner.

  “Good, slightly too tight but not enough to cut off blood flow, he will just have to deal with discomfort for a time.” After a quick healing light and bone mending. The man limped off. My magic was powerful enough to heal it fully, but they needed to learn restraint. If it got around that they could injure themselves with leisure and I would simply put them back together, then recklessness would take hold and with that would come undecided deaths.

  “Umm, your majesty are we ready to move on to suturing,” Calin asked, the young blonde girl was perhaps the smartest but overly timid.

  “Yes, even better we should have proper supplies soon.”

  “What will we learn after that,” Norn asked.

  “Diseases, how to diagnose and treat. Bedside decorum. By the time I'm done you will all know every organ by name and its function. Every bone, muscle, types of tissues, different kinds of surgeries, soon enough we will perform an amputation, c-section, and appendectomy.” They looked confused.

  “What are those your majesty? Sivis asked.

  “A c-section is a method of extracting a child from the mother’s uterus without her dying. An appendectomy is he process of removing the appendix a simple treatment for appendicitis,” They looked confused, but I gave them a wave which they knew meant. ‘I will explain it in detail later,’

  “I didn’t think we would learn that much,” Sivis asked.

  “What you know has barely touched the surface, perhaps in another five years you will have enough skill to call yourself a doctor,” I said.

  “Dok-tor,” Calin said, sounding out the strange word.

  “Yes, you four will be the single most talented medicants in the world. I found the term Medicant to be inappropriate for the level of skill I will foster in you. This is a lifelong journey for you. Are you ready for it?” I asked.

  “Yes, your majesty,” they said in unison, their faces filled with determination.

  It's such a simple thing. Once someone has a purpose, a goal; they will follow that path to the ends of the world. I saw it in their eyes, the devotion, the eagerness. They will be incredibly valuable to me in the future.

  “Your majesty,” Kelin shouted from the opening of the medical tent. She was one of my assistants.

  “Yes,” I said.

  “Urgent message from Silica, a large ship has been spotted off the coast. Devon and his people are already at the shore,”

  I grinned and nodded eagerly. They were ahead of schedule. I walked through the camp and people bowed in deference as I passed. Every one of them had some form of livery. Simple images of wyverns were sewed into clothes, and my flag hung from the center of the camp. They were becoming my people and now I could hear them calling themselves solarians.

  I sent a message to Stone and a few minutes later I hopped on the horse joined by Kelin. In short order we were at the beach. Everyone was there. MY solar knights were off to one side with their wyverns, who had grown significantly.

  Iris’s blue scale now resembled sapphires, her wing membrane was a deep blue almost purple, she had almost no spines, of all the wyverns She was the least intimidating, that was however, until she breathed fire, the bright blue flames were stunning and deadly. Draxus loomed over Loresse. The black wyvern was ferocious, absolutely covered in sharp spines that ended in blood red tips. Its eyes were a blood red, and its wing was as dark as ink. It was the largest at around 35 feet.

  He had double rows of backwards facing hooklike teeth and a face that could only be described as being in a permanent hateful snarl. Fenre was the second largest at around 27 feet. He was by far the fastest of the wyverns. His wings were thinner and swept back, he also had a second set of small wings near the base of his tail that further increased his maneuverability. They had gone through their second evolution this very morning.

  They were impressive but none could hold a candle to baelathor, that monster was beyond anything else in the world. Baelathor could kill any of them without much difficulty even if they attacked all at once. Every one of them knew that if there ever was a betrayal, then they would face him.

  The birds chosen for the flyers were called Osturaies. Predator birds that hunted in the forest as well as in the ocean. Most were white with a much larger wing to body ratio than Noire. With large talons, designed to capture and carry prey long distances. My bird, I named Asure, due to her blue eyes. She had grown rapidly to only slightly smaller than Noire with a wingspan of 100 feet. She was probably still hunting since she was in the final stages of growing. Everyone that was bonded to an animal had fostered a strong connection treating them like beloved pets. No one had taken flight yet at my command, but they were anxious.

  Once the wyverns were introduced to the population no one had any doubt that I would take the throne. They were increasingly motivated to prove themselves since there were two unclaimed wyverns.

  I smiled as I spotted the trade ship in the distance.

  “Your majesty,” Devon called out when I arrived.

  “That's the ship isn't it.” He said. I nodded.

  “Three months everyone, three months until we begin our conquest. You have all done well in your training and dedication so far. Now it is time we accelerate the process. First General, are my soldiers ready to train?” I asked. They knew that once the supplies arrived that their training would be increased dramatically.

  Devon stood up, straightened, then turned to the small army. He shouted, “Soldiers, are you ready to train? To become the light that banishes the darkness. Blades in our glorious king's army.”

  Every man and woman stood straight, pressed a fist against their heart, and shouted back, “We are ready,”

  I looked into their eyes. I had been working with them closely for the last few weeks carefully monitoring their training. With my assistance their growth was steady, and quickly, even the oldest woman could complete the drills. But I needed more.

  “Vice Regent, are the people ready,”

  “Yes, they are dedicated. Most believe that it's only a matter of when you take the throne, not if,” Jallen said and Cassia added, “They practice their letters and numbers daily. In the coming months everyone will be able to read and write. All are prepared, you only need to give the order, and we will follow,”

  “My solar knights, the world will soon learn of your existence. Why don't you give these men an introduction and have your wyverns guide them to our location.”

  Loresse and Silica grinned. Without even a word the black, green, and blue wyverns flew off towards the ship eager to take to the sky.

  “I can't wait to fly,” Lira said, watching Iris's beautiful wings. Loressse had a vicious smile and Silica looked determined. Their tattoos were finished. I only needed to start creating the tools. For now, a shield and enchanted sword would be enough. I should pay my dear Allyssia a visit since there was a particular horse master who would no doubt be eager to create the saddles.