Chapter 1502: Pulling Strings

Caelion had never felt this anxious before. As the Governor of Skyhold Bastion, anxiety was nothing new to him. His position demanded constant attention. There were military matters to oversee, disputes between settlements and nobles to resolve, supply routes to maintain, reports to review, and countless other responsibilities that came with governing one of the most strategically important territories in Elyndor.

But none of those responsibilities compared to the situation he was dealing with now.

Four extraordinarily powerful beings from another world had appeared within his territory. They were not ordinary travelers, soldiers, or even foreign dignitaries. And they had come to Elyndor searching for information about the Sky Tyrant.

That was enough to make Caelion deeply uncomfortable.

The Sky Tyrant was a subject that most people in Elyndor were better off knowing nothing about. Even Caelion had never actively sought the deeper truth behind the ancient catastrophe.

What purpose would it serve? Digging into forbidden history would only create problems that he had no desire to handle. Some knowledge was dangerous exactly because knowing it could change everything.

Unfortunately, he no longer had the luxury of ignoring it.

The four beings had already made their intentions clear. They wanted information, and Caelion had promised to obtain it for them.

In exchange, they had gone into the Shattered Expanse and taken care of a monster problem that had threatened Skyhold Bastion and the trade routes for years.

Caelion knew exactly what he had done. He had used them.

As the governor responsible for the territory closest to the Shattered Expanse, he had been expected to deal with the monsters himself.

His soldiers had suffered losses every time they attempted to push deeper into the region, while the threat continued to grow.

When the four Dragonborn appeared, Caelion had immediately recognized an opportunity.

Instead of sending his own people into a dangerous battle, he had asked four beings vastly more powerful than his soldiers to do the work for him.

It had been an excellent decision from a political and military perspective.

But now he had to make sure the other half of the bargain was fulfilled.

If the Dragonborn returned and Caelion had nothing substantial to show them, he could not imagine how they would react.

Would they become angry? Would they consider his promise a deception? Would they... destroy his territory.

Caelion did not know. And he had no intention of finding out.

That was why he had spent the past several hours pulling strings he usually would never have touched.

He had contacted restricted archivists. He had summoned scholars who were normally forbidden from discussing the Sky Tyrant outside official channels. He had ordered sealed archives to be opened and sent his trusted messengers toward several officials who possessed access to older records than the current alliance.

Some of those people had questioned his orders. Caelion had simply reminded them of his authority and the greater good.

Others had demanded to know why he suddenly needed information about the Sky Tyrant after spending his entire career avoiding the subject. He had given them no answer.

He had even used favors accumulated over decades of military service and political negotiations. Some of those favors had been owed to him for years. Others had required him to promise future assistance in return.

He had pulled every string available to him.

By now, documents were being copied, ancient records were being retrieved, and confidential reports were being carried toward his office from different parts of Skyhold Bastion.

Some of them had been written by historians who had lived centuries ago. Some of them were fragments preserved through generations by noble families, military institutions, and scholars trusted with forbidden knowledge.

Caelion had ordered everything potentially relevant to be collected.

The problem was that he still didn’t know whether any of it would be enough.

He stood alone inside his office, staring at the growing pile of documents on his desk.

His fingers slowly tapped against the wooden surface.

"I hope this is worth it..."

Something in his instincts told him that it would be.

But until the four beings were truly satisfied, Caelion couldn’t allow himself to relax.

—

Meanwhile, far beyond Skyhold Bastion, Erend, Eccar, Aesa, and Sylven continued exploring another floating island within the Shattered Expanse.

They had already completed the main task Caelion had given them. The worst concentration of monsters around the frontier nearest to their border had been reduced significantly.

But returning immediately felt like it was too soon.

They had only been away from Skyhold Bastion for a short time and Caelion may have not gathered everything they needed so quickly.

If they returned now, they would probably spend most of their time waiting for him to finish his research.

So, the four Dragonborn decided there was little reason to waste that time. They might as well continue cleansing the surrounding islands while they were there.

The new island looked similar to the island they had already visited. Dark forests covered most of its surface, enormous roots stretched across the ground like the veins of some gigantic living organism, blackened trees rose toward the dim sky, and strange mist drifted between the trunks.

The moment the four Dragonborn landed, several creatures noticed them. Some immediately attacked. Those creatures were killed without hesitation.

The monsters that attacked them aggressively were killed. The creatures that just watched from a distance were left alone.

There was no reason to exterminate every living thing in the forest. Their objective was to reduce the dangerous population that threatened travelers and settlements rather than destroy the entire ecosystem.

After several hours of moving across the island, they encountered another enormous tree.

Sylven immediately recognized the opportunity. He approached the ancient plant and placed his palm against its bark.

Once again, his consciousness descended into the memories stored within the tree.

And once again, he saw the same story. The forest had once been healthy, the floating islands had drifted peacefully through a bright sky, then the black Dragon appeared.

The ancient tree witnessed the same immense battle that had been recorded by the other trees. The Dragon fought against an unknown entity while the sky burned around them.

Floating islands collapsed, Magic tore through the land, and the battle left behind the corruption that eventually transformed the region into the Shattered Expanse.

Sylven searched carefully through the memories. He looked for anything different. But there was nothing.

The tree had witnessed the same fragments as the others. Nothing beyond that.

Sylven eventually withdrew his hand and opened his eyes.

He looked toward his companions.

"Nothing new," he said.

Eccar sighed.

"The trees all remember the same event. The Dragon fought something powerful here, and their battle created this region. But none of them saw what happened after that."

Erend glanced toward the dark horizon. He said, "So we’re still missing the most important part."

"Yes," Sylven replied.

"Then we continue." Aesa said, crossed her arms and looked deeper into the forest.

There was no reason to stop.

The four Dragonborn would continue exploring the Shattered Expanse, island after island, eliminating the monsters that threatened the frontier and searching for any remaining traces of the Dragon’s existence.

Perhaps somewhere deeper within this endless corrupted territory, another witness still remembered what had truly happened.

—