The king wanted to see them, or at least that was what the guard had told them. For whatever reason, the majesty would be blessing them with his presence; he couldn't have known. After all, they weren't the only human prisoners; heck, there were more humans than any other species in that place.

At least he got to see the many species in this world; he saw dwarfs, lizardmen, and even elves, though they didn't seem so beautiful as he had heard about, maybe because it wasn't a place where being pretty helped.

'I do regret not saving the elf princess of a great elf kingdom when I was a child, so later we became childhood friends... It's something unheard of before. I would have been the first to do so.'

He chuckled to himself, which made the guard leading them to the throne room look back at him as if he were crazy.

"What?" Aether asked, quickly changing his whole mood and frowning.

The guard scoffed before turning away. "Bipolar crazy freak."

Aether stuck his tongue out at the man before Kade leaned forward.

"Why do you think we got called up for?"

Aether thought for a good second before answering with all his knowledge. "No idea."

...

...

Soon they arrived at the room where the king was seated.

The doors opened slowly, the wood thick enough that it felt like they were pushing through a wall rather than something meant to move. But to protect your king, you have to give him the highest and strongest protection.

Aether glanced at it for a second.

'Yeah… not breaking through that.' He smiled. Though if he had to say, no reader would be able to get through it, it was too wide...

'Maybe Lilith, I don't know how strong he was as a Reader, but with his shocks, maybe he could have pushed it open.'

Inside, the space opened up, and for a moment, he didn't even step forward.

It wasn't really a room.

Or at least, not one built like the others he had seen.

The walls curved, uneven, not carved into shape but left as they were, like the tree had grown around the idea of a throne room instead of someone forcing one into it.

'Interesting... you see new things every day in this place. Maybe Stormfell isn't that bad. It would have been a great place to explore if you had infinite resources and if there were no monsters.

There were gaps in between, wide openings where light slipped through layers of leaves, turning everything into that strange green shade.

Aether put his hand in front of his eyes to try to block some of the light.

The ceiling went higher than he expected, branches twisting together above, thick enough to hold the entire structure. Some looked shaped, others didn't. Hard to tell where nature ended and where they started interfering.

Though he wasn't going to rule out that this place was just built entirely on his own, with how magical this forest has been until now, another trick wouldn't surprise him.

'They really just built inside the tree… almost like little kids... well, most are probably just one, two, or three years of age, in animal years or however that worked, never got a pet when I was a child.'

The floor wasn't flat either, which was annoying.

It rose slightly toward the center, where the throne was.

And that one… yeah, that one stood out.

Not placed there. Not carried in.

It was part of the tree itself.

Carved straight into it, like whoever made it just decided that the tree would become the throne instead of building one.

'Show off, we get it, you're cool, big thing.' Aether stuck out his tongue before putting it back in after a glance from Kade that said one thing. 'Are you serious right now?' What had he even done? He was only in the throne room.

Steps led up to it, uneven, worn down just enough to show they were used, but not enough to look clean.

...' How long do beast humans live? I wonder, was this the process of just one king, or more?'

Then his eyes shifted.

And he stopped caring about the throne.

…Because of them.

Both sides of the room were filled.

Lined up perfectly, from the entrance all the way forward.

On the left, mages.

He could tell. Not because of anything obvious, after all, if you didn't have a Will, how careless could you be to protect the king without even a blade?

Some had those long robes, others didn't, as if the robe did anything; it didn't make them seem more professional, in his opinion, a robe only lowered the movement. He knew this because his cloak also got slightly in the way.

Patting his mantle, he smiled. 'Thanks, Kael.'

On the right, knights.

That one was easier.

Armor, weapons, the usual boring stuff you would see any knight wearing, it was as if you took all the personality out of someone; that was how becoming a knight felt like, in his opinion, one should be able to choose their own equipment, after all, not all favour this kind of armor. Some like lighter, or heck, even heavier

...

Though… not really usual, when it came to the material they used.

Some of the armor didn't even look like metal. More like bone. Or something grown.

The helmets of some he saw were the cranium of a dead being, and if he had to guess, it looked like a human. What a good thing to show a human.

'Yeah… I'm not touching that.' He chuckled, and with the side of his eyes, he could see the guard who had led them scoff again.

But back to the knights and Will users, since it would be an insult if he kept naming them mages, for the mages he read about, of course.

None of them moved.

None of them spoke.

And for some reason, that made it worse.

Aether clicked his tongue quietly.

'Yeah… this is definitely going to be annoying.'

The most important person the king himself.

A beautiful lion.

'The King of the Jungle himself, eh? In the trees... this world really makes no sense, a lion leading a civilization set in the trees and not a savanna.'

The King's thick mane is a beautiful red color deserving of the throne. A big crown rested on his head, as if his posture and gaze didn't already scream who he was.

Their guard stepped in front of them, kneeling on the ground in front of them.

"Your majesty, I have escorted the prisoners you asked for."

The King nodded, then spoke out in a deep voice. "Very well, stand to the size, I shall speak to them, and after you will take them back."

The guards didn't hesitate, imediatly getting out of the way, leaving them alone in the middle of the room. They were surrounded from every side, so they had better act in their best behaviour. After all, there was no way they would even survive getting out of this room if they tried doing something funny.

"Aether Moirai... that's what I heard your name was, is it right?" The king said look directly into his eyes.

Aether looked back, a smile appearing on his face.

"In the flesh."

The King's eyes widened at his response. "You don't seem to be nervous at all, unlike your companions." He said, glancing at Kade and Lucien, who seemed frightened, Kade was handling himself, but he was spooked; meanwhile, Lucien was out right scared, but this was the first time he had faced death, or something close to death.

While Kade had been second away from losing his life before.

"Why should I be nervous? It's not like you will kill us."

He said, stepping closer to the throne, while not breaking eye contact.

"Am I wrong, your majesty?" But as he continued to get closer, someone stopped him. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

..."You are right... Our civilization has been in an extremely destructive war against the orcs for a while now. We have lost too many men and resources... that is why I called you here, even if I don't know your strength, one of my mages sensed that two of you have Wills, which is helpful no matter who wields it.

...

And yet, the one who figures this out is the one without a Will. What kind of creature are you, Aether... for some reason, you're different from your companions... your fire, it's burning bright, but at the same time it's different from anything I have seen... so tell me, how did you know?"

There was really one answer for all of his questions. He was a Reader, that was why he was different from Kade and Lucien, why his will was different, after all, even his soul was not the same; he was this in that dream of his, where he had become his own shadow.

Aether smiled.

"I think I will have to decline your offer for now. How about I tell you later, if this place is still standing?"

...

A big silence corrupted the air around him; no one spoke, as if they couldn't believe what they had just heard.

"Do you not have any respect to say that in front of the-" A guard tried speaking, but was interrupted by a burst of laughter from the king.

Who, unlike everyone else, seemed to find Aether's comment.

Amusing.

...

"Very well, then I shall see you after the war.

If you are still alive, of course."