Aiden blinked twice at what the Grand Magus had just said to his face. "A war against Dragonhold?" he asked again to be sure of what he’d heard.
"Heh," she smiled and then said, "It is as you’ve heard, but we cannot fail to account for our greatest adversary, the Great Black Dragon, Thyrak. The only reason no kingdom has ever been able to attack and claim Dragonhold."
Aiden then realized that she didn’t know Thyrak wasn’t currently in defense of the capital kingdom anymore, and he wasn’t going to let her know this fact either.
She continued, "Which is why we’ve also waited for the right moment, the War for the Holy Grail."
Aiden listened and stared intently. He had never heard of this before.
"Once every 500 years, the gods come to banquet with men. And for their entertainment, they host Korrath Veyl—the War for the Holy Grail. A tournament that invites every kingdom, even the ones beyond the seas. The winner of this tournament is then granted the holy grail as a reward."
"What is this Holy Grail?" Aiden asked, trying to make sense of its significance.
"I was getting to that," Thamoryn quickly replied, then added, "The holy grail grants any one wish to its holder, and we believe that with its power and our mage forces, we’ll have a fighting chance against the Great Black Dragon and can claim the Kingdom of Dragonhold."
"All that for a fighting chance against the dragon?" Aiden questioned their supposed strategy.
"Heh," Thamoryn smiled. "For a hundred years, the Crowleys have sat idly on the Wyrm seat and have made its significance weak! Kings who sit idle are soon kings of nothing."
There was a brief pause before she continued, "But under the control of Lord Oberon, he will make this continent a land even the gods will envy."
"When is this Holy Grail War happening?" Aiden asked, curious to know how soon.
"In five moons," Thamoryn said, which meant that in five months, the tournament event of the gods was going to happen.
"Why aren’t you telling them these things as well? Aren’t they all part of your whole scheme?" Aiden asked, gesturing toward Laela and Kayden.
"They are young, and so are their minds. It would be too much for them to listen to all at once," she said with a smile. "All they need to do is get stronger at using magic while staying in line."
"And you don’t think I can simply portal out of here and go warn Dragonhold? It is still my home, after all," Aiden said.
Thamoryn chuckled softly at that and said, "I don’t think that would be the case, but if it ever is, you would only be warning them of what they already expect is coming."
Then she added, "And if you think Xathia is the only other kingdom waiting for the opportunity of the Holy Grail so that they may take Dragonhold for themselves, then your mind is just as young as your friends’."
Aiden may not have been in full agreement to go to war, but if Xathia’s goal was to attack Dragonhold, it meant an attack on his father Jarius, and in that, they shared a common interest.
Moreover, he also knew something they didn’t; that Thyrak wasn’t in the equation as they thought.
All he had to do now was figure out a way to navigate these situations so that if there was ever going to be an attack on Dragonhold, it would be by his own design.
"So what do you say, Aiden? Will you become our ally in this conquest?" the Grand Magus asked, sensing that they might have started getting on the same page.
He smiled, then replied, "There was never a need for tricks with body possession. All you had to do was ask."
With that, they both came to something of an alliance agreement.
"Though, I have one condition..." Aiden said.
Aiden was not going to leave there without accomplishing their original goal either, so he made a portal that connected to the room where Arianna lay.
He walked through and went toward the bed to carry the body. He exchanged acknowledging nods with his avatar, after which it disappeared, knowing its work was complete.
Then Aiden walked back through the portal with Arianna’s body cradled in his arms. He laid the body on the ground and then turned toward the Grand Magus.
She stood from her seat and walked toward the unconscious body of Arianna, then pulled out a necklace with a crystal pendant that she wore.
She placed her hand on Arianna’s body and whispered, "Return, my child."
Thamoryn undid the soul binding spell, and with that, one of the whitish-blue lights, which was Liandrin’s soul, floated out of Arianna’s body and into the pendant.
Thamoryn slid it back underneath her clothes before returning to her seat. "I undid the spell. Arianna should be awake soon, although I expect it to be with a burning fever."
"And what about them?" Aiden asked, referring to Kayden and Laela.
"About that..." she snapped her fingers again to undo the sleep spell she had used on them both.
Slowly, parts of their bodies twitched, and they both started waking from their slumber.
Kayden recovered much more quickly and walked toward Thamoryn, saying, "How dare you, Thamoryn! Do you forget I am the son of your lord and you may yet serve me one day?!"
"Accept my apologies, Young Lord, although your attention should be more valuable to Arianna, who will wake up soon. I suggest taking her to the infirmary before the burning fever takes hold." There was that amused expression on her face as she diverted Kayden’s attention away from her.
Kayden immediately turned toward the still unconscious body of Arianna. "Is she back to herself now?" he asked, then looked at Aiden, who nodded at him in affirmation.
Kayden lifted her in his arms and could feel the fever slowly burning her up. This was an aftereffect of undoing the soul binding spell. Without another word, he started stepping out of Thamoryn’s chambers.
Laela had stood up meanwhile and asked Aiden beside her, "What happened?" She had her hand over her head as she currently suffered the effects of a headache due to falling on the ground initially without warning.
"It’s all good now. Let’s leave, we got Arianna back," Aiden replied while taking her by the hand as they both proceeded to leave the chambers of the Grand Magus.
Just before Laela’s body left the door completely, she turned back and gave the Grand Magus a nasty glare.
"Heh," Thamoryn smiled, then flicked her fingers and caused an invisible force that pushed her chamber doors shut.
That was when she turned briefly to her side and realized that vines had grown to a point around her feet, then halted. She chuckled softly again.