Unveiled

The central cavern of Deeproot Sanctum was the most spacious of all, and for that reason it was often used as a gathering place. This time was no exception.

Most of the inhabitants had been summoned that day, as the Veilkeeper apparently had something to announce. Yet not even the best-informed among the greater spirits could have imagined they would hear such words.

"From this moment forth, I shall no longer be the Veilkeeper, for the land to which we journey has no need of a veil. It is under the protection of our new lord!"

Even the most playful spirits, who usually paid little attention at such events, turned their eyes to the stone platform at that moment.

Standing there was not only Lirilien, but also a young man with long silver hair, who had stepped onto it to take his place beside the princess of the spirits.

The young man looked distinctly uncomfortable, and matters only grew worse when many of the greater spirits in the front row cried out that the princess must be under some kind of spell or curse, nearly lunging at him.

But before Lirilien could stop them, it was the immense presence of the young man that brought them to a halt.

Until then he had gone unnoticed, but once all attention shifted to him, an aura unfurled that intimidated even the bravest of the greater spirits and made both normal and lesser spirits recoil in horror.

While a high spirit of fire and another of water tried to calm those on the edges of the crowd, the princess of the spirits began to explain that the young man bore the same name as the First Emperor, and that he had arrived at the sanctum from beyond the sacred gates. That he was the one the Primeval Spirits had been waiting for all along.

Many of the greater spirits still weren’t convinced by their leader’s words. Some protested, while others challenged the newcomer to duels in order to prove his aura wasn’t some kind of deception.

But instead of accepting the duels, the young man only let out a resigned sigh, and beneath Lirilien’s radiant smile he raised his hand toward a massive rock, more than ten meters tall and just as thick, which was being guarded by a group of Stellas to prevent the other spirits from approaching it.

Only Lirilien and the oldest and wisest among the greater spirits understood the meaning of the words that left the young man’s lips in the following moments, while the rest didn’t even have time to ponder them.

The rock had been encircled by three rings of energy, etched with strange and incomprehensible symbols, and as it began to tremble, a small quake spread around it.

Before anyone could utter a sound, the rock was pulverized, startling even the Stellas who had been guarding it and sending some of them falling to the ground or knocked several meters back.

The one who seemed most shaken was the young man himself, though fortunately none of the Stellas suffered any serious injury.

After the spectacle, many of the voices that had clamored for duels faded away.

That did not mean, however, that they had accepted a new lord, no matter if it was proclaimed by the daughter of the former queen of the Spirit Realm, the current leader of the sanctum.

But those voices too fell silent when the young man caused a massive portal to open in the air, through which a pristine land brimming with magical energy could be seen.

"This is the realm of our lord, the new god descended upon Ameritia!" cried the princess of the spirits.

At those words, it was the young man who now wore a horrified expression.

"Praised be our lord!"
"You stand in the presence of a god himself!"

The cries came from the high spirits of fire and water at the edge of the gathering, prompting the newly declared divinity to press a hand to his temple in exasperation.

Not long after, and following a few words from Lirilien, all the spirits of Deeproot Sanctum were prostrate before him. Not kneeling as they would before a king, but bowed to the ground before their new god.

***

"A god?!... It’s true you kept your promise and guarded my secret… but a god?" I reclined on the chair in Lirilien’s chamber, mentally drained.

"There is nothing strange about it, my lord. The dimension we now know as the Spirit Realm was also created by a god, and your world is in no way lesser, mostly in magic!" Lirilien smiled, delighted with the outcome. "Besides, there are plenty of spirits and other mythological beings that humans worship as gods. For us to worship you is only the natural order of things."

I have no idea what order this scheming princess is talking about, but what I am certain of is that she has planned this situation from the start…

"At this very moment, Coletto and Merite are beginning to guide the migration to the new world, my lord. But we still lack something important."

"Common sense?"

"Of course not," Lirilien laughed. "What’s missing is that you give it a name."

"A name…" I said, resigned to being swept along by my overly cheerful strategist. "How about Orb? It is the world inside the sphere, after all…"

"Orb?! It’s simple, but perfect, I love it!" Lirilien exclaimed, clasping her hands beneath her smile. "I promise you the spirits will build a city worthy of Orb!"

Her words made me think of Endalor. If it had once been on the surface, then there must be a way to move it… though I wasn’t sure it would even fit inside Orb.

We were calling it a world, but in truth it was nothing more than a vast island, and that capital was immense. Even the Citadel of Dawn alone was the size of a small city…

Click-clack!

"Mmm, Lirilien?"

The sound of the lock on the chamber doors pulled me from my thoughts.

"My lord, night is already falling, and you promised I could sleep with you…"

Lirilien, who had gone to lock the doors, now began walking toward me. Her sky-blue eyes seemed to glisten, and a faint blush had appeared on her cheeks.

"Locking the doors… was that really necessary? What about the Stellas on guard…?"

"My lord, I don’t mind sharing your bed with them. I understand, they’re beautiful women after all," Lirilien said, her slender fingers moving to the clasps of her dress. "But if it isn’t too much to ask, I would love it if, for my very first time, you focused only on me…"

"No… that’s not what I meant… your first time? First time for what?!"

"Besides, Coletto and Merite would be hurt if they found out they had been passed over in favor of mere guards outside your chamber. I’m certain they would want to be next…"

Her words mingled with the sound of her clothes slipping to the floor.