“Were you supposed to be somewhere today?” Master Tolland asked through heaving breaths, his hands on his hips in exhaustion.

“No,” Vengelis said, squinting into the horizon and breathing steadily. “Are you expecting anyone?”

“What do you think?” Master Tolland asked.

Vengelis laughed. In all his time spent on Mount Karlsbad, he had never seen Master Tolland host a guest aside from himself.

“Whoever it is, they’re certainly an Imperial First Class, and moving at top speed.”

Vengelis nodded. “If it’s someone looking to become a student of yours, I’ll certainly provide them with a lesson.”

“I don’t think it is.” Master Tolland glared uncertainly at the tiny figure in the horizon.

Hoff and Darien, seeing the spar had stopped, ascended to them as Vengelis and Master Tolland hovered freely a few thousand feet over the desolate glaciers and snow plains.

“This is something new. A draw?” Hoff called. He was hunched over slightly, still shaken from the punch he took from Vengelis.

“Someone is coming from the south.” As the words left Master Tolland, the tiny black dot grew larger in the cloudless sky.

They all simultaneously began to move in the direction of the dot. As the four great warriors drew closer, they saw the visitor was indeed an Imperial First Class soldier. Like Darien, he was armored in the raiment of a Royal Guard. The messenger came to a stop before them and wheezed violently, appearing on the verge of losing consciousness from his maximum speed flight.

“Here is someone who has made a large mistake in judgment,” Vengelis said. “I gave explicit orders not to be disturbed.”

“M-my lord Vengelis.” The man gasped for breath. “Your father Emperor Faris calls for your immediate return to Sejeroreich! The capital is under attack. Anthem is under attack!”

Vengelis’s face constricted, his lips thinning. “Explain yourself.”

The messenger coughed repeatedly and threw up his arms in exasperation. “We aren’t entirely sure. From what I understand, powerful machines have demolished Municera and the Twin Cities. My lord, millions have been killed. The machines are in Sejeroreich now. It is open war.”

Vengelis’s eyes narrowed. “Machines?”

“Yes, my lord. Machines.”

“What the hell has the army been doing?”

“The Imperial First Class has risen in Sejeroreich’s defense. The battle is underway as we speak, my lord.”

“We must go at once,” Master Tolland spoke calmly and looked to the south. “Our path will take us past Municera and the Twin Cities. Perhaps we will be able to learn something about this attack on the—”

Vengelis exploded southward, splintering through the frigid sky and accelerating out of sight into the blue almost instantly. Master Tolland was immediately after him. Hoff and Darien looked speechlessly from the southern horizon to the winded messenger.

“If this is some sort of trick, it will cost you your life,” Hoff said.

“I wish it were, Lord General Hoff. I wish it were.”