In these last few days, I've been more irritable than before. My body feels tired and strange. I guess I've been overdoing it in my wildshape. Maybe a few good nights of sleep will help.

However, to make my mood even worse, I'm bombarded with unexpected news.

"How come?"

I sit on my tail as I discover the reason why Farat was so out of his mind in Ialdai. He did indeed drink that fermented cactus juice on that occasion. But why, I couldn't imagine...

"What do you mean, a baby?"

"She'll give birth by the end of the year, Your Majesty." He speaks cheerfully.

"But... How?" I blink slowly, both my eyelids and the vertical membranes beneath them.

"Do you really want me to tell you... the details? That would be inappropriate." He jokes.

"I didn't see this coming… When did it happen? How did you meet her?" I ask, still stunned.

"It was during the time when Your Majesty was in the desert hunting sandworms. He answers."

I know I've been in a foul mood these days due to lack of sleep. But for some reason, I feel surprisingly angry with this news. 

What the hell... For some reason, I feel so... betrayed. It doesn't make any sense.

"Do you intend to leave your duties to start this family of yours?" I question. Since we met, Farat has devoted the whole of his time to me. Now will I have to share him with his wife and children?

"Quite the opposite. This gift of a new life is a symbol of my commitment to your reign." The orc shaman declares.

"You no longer rule just a city with a handful of goblinoids, Your Majesty. You are the sovereign of two kingdoms. An Emperor. Soon to be the Dragonlord of all of Dro-Ur."

He pauses for a brief moment. 

"And I won't be here forever, Akalani. Soon, I will grow old and die. May my children and their children assist you in the centuries to come. Because the next time you fall into the deep slumber of the Wyrms, I may not be here when you wake up."

I don't know what to say.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with this situation, but still, I'm freaking out. I never thought carefully about it before. In a hundred years, everyone I know now will be dead. I thought it wouldn't matter to me. But apparently, it does.

I may not be alone now, but I will be soon.

It seems that this is my fate.

"So be it." I say coldly. "Live and die like the rest of your kind. I must remain."

I speak as I take flight from my dungeon. The foundations of the castle above it are almost complete, but it will take years for it to be finished. It will take decades for the city I'm flying over now to become a metropolis. I wonder if Farat will be alive to see it. I wonder if any of them will be.

This world is not fair. Just like my previous world. I bet my classmates were reincarnated as humanoids. They probably have children or even grandchildren by now. They must be living the last four decades in peaceful and prosperous lives.

While I... I feel weak. Alone. Sad.

And sadness is an illness I cannot bear.

Only hatred.

Hatred and burning anger.

 

§ § § § § §

 

It's been almost a week since Akalani left the city after receiving the news of my upcoming child. To make matters worse, Kheldash has been constantly absent. She disappears and reappears frequently.

Elder Vara's scouts have combed all the steppes and the desert in search of the missing Emperor. When the fenekin ranger Targa came to assist in the search, we finally found a trail.

In the vicinity of the woods of Ul-Gak, we found signs of the destruction caused by Akalani.

"Here should have been a trow outpost. The fire destroyed it and then spread uncontrollably through the forest." A bugbear scout, accompanied by the fenekin ranger, states.

Several corpses are found incinerated and partially swallowed by the ground, by what appears to be remnants of the [Earhbinder] spell. The reek of death is nauseating.

"What is this? What does this cursed sight mean?" Oberyl neighs upon seeing the vast area of the forest turned to ashes.

"[Wildfire]." I answer, perplexed and worried. "A lost and forbidden spell. I don't know how or when he learned it." 

Even without sight, I can sense such destruction. 

"His actions may lead us to a full-fledged war against the trows." Bubali Umara expresses concern. Part of the Council of Folks has joined the search for the Emperor.

"If war is what the Dragonlord desires, then to war with the trows we shall march.” Priest Latharon declares, ever zealous.

"The more his flames consume these lands, the stronger he will become. If nothing is done, Akalani will set the whole continent ablaze." The unicorn Oberyl foresees.

"That won't happen!" Kheldash speaks as she appears stealthily.

"There she is." I say with a mocking tone.

"His Majesty is going through a brief moment of stress. As soon as he lets his anger burn for a while, he will regain his senses." Kheldash downplays the situation.

"If he gets too close to Stroi in this state, he will be killed by the trows." I express my concern.

"I have agents in the vicinity of Stroi. I have instructed them to warn us if His Majesty gets too close. Apparently, he is wandering aimlessly through the Ul-Gak forest, burning every settlement and outpost he comes across. The trows are having as much difficulty tracking him as we do." She concludes.

"Targa!" I call the fenekin. "You are the best ranger we have. You will lead the search for Emperor Akalani with Kheldash's aid. The rest of the Council must return to Gorkaki, as the city cannot be left without supervision for too long."

I declare as I head back to the capital. As much as I am worried about the situation and saddened that I cannot find him, I know that Kheldash is the best person to bring him back.

"May the Elder Wyrms bring the Dragonlord back to his lair." Priest Latharon preaches as we depart.

"May all the Elder Spirits of Dro-Ur bring back its Emperor." I add to his prayer.

 

§ § § § § §

 

It has been three days since Farat entrusted me and the fenekin ranger with the mission to find His Majesty. We have already encountered two villages and four outposts destroyed. 

Each trow settlement we come across is a tremendous sight to behold. Piles of burnt bodies and a vast clearing covered in ashes. I thought he would reach his limit soon, but he continues at the same pace. We will have to increase our pace if we want to intercept him at the next settlement. 

However, this is still wonderful news. He is growing stronger. The time is coming soon.

"Smoke!" The fenekin calls from the top of a tree. We finally caught up to him.

We hurry to the source of fire and find a destroyed outpost. Its watchtowers and wooden walls are collapsed and in embers. In the center of the outpost, we see him.

He is in his humanoid form, naked and dirty with ashes. The Emperor sits on a throne made from a pile of incinerated corpses and stone spikes. His long and unruly hair covers part of his face.

"You've returned." He speaks casually when he sees me.

"Your Majesty, the only one missing here is you." I reply while bowing my head. The fenekin and the other rangers following us do the same.

"I thought you had gone after your master. I thought you would leave me... too..." He speaks, now with a bitter tone in his voice.

"I'm not going anywhere. None of us are. But now it's time to go back."

"I can't." He says, his voice faltering. "I can't stop now. I need to keep moving." 

"Why?" I ask as I lift my head to confront an even more sublime sight.

The future Emperor of these lands, the great calamity that will rise in the crusades against the Saints of the West, is now sobbing like an adolescent.

And with teary eyes, he says:

 

"Because I'm sleepy. I'm so sleepy."