When the light dimmed back down to normal, the audience discovered the origin of the scream.

Lorthrendel hovered just a bit off the ground, his arms spread wide with his head thrown back. His eyes rolled so far into the back of his head that only the whites could be seen and his mouth hung open.

Everybody stared at him in shocked and terrified silence. Even Varenyl, who had been sitting in anxious silence the entire time, raised his head to see what was happening. Many of the guards sitting by their rulers reflexively put their hands to the hilt of their weapons only to be reminded that they were unarmed.

And then, a voice.

But it wasn't the smooth, melodic and slightly arrogant sounding voice of Lorthrendel. No, the voice that came from his throat this time sounded like it came from a cold and abandoned grave that had been buried for centuries.

And it was genuinely terrifying.

"This...where am I?" the voice said in disgust. Lorthrendel's head slowly raised back up and he landed on the ground. "And this body...so frail and tiny." He looked around the room, his eyes still rolled into the back of his head. "How am I even here? What mortal has the power to bring the Ebony God onto their plane?"

"The man whose body you temporarily possess," Amnestria answered, not a hint of fear in her voice, "our lord Fibius."

He snapped his head towards the High Sorceress in such a violent manner it was a wonder it didn't break Lorthrendel's neck. "How lovely of him. Too bad he probably won't survive the ordeal....I have not been able to even see the world of late, so how nice of him to give me a chance." He smiled darkly, a smile that had never before been made by Lorthrendel's lips. "You're a brave woman, girl. I admire that. I suspect you lot are curious of what in the hell is going on?"

"Yes, my lord," Amnestria returned with a slight nod of her head. She saw, with disgust, Joseph Murphy practically quivering with terror from where he sat with the rest of the Crownguard.

"Well, that makes two of us." The god flashed her another dark smile from Lorthrendel's body. She could have sworn that she saw a hint of gold coming from Lorthrendel's teeth.

"My wonderful siblings and I recently had a Council regarding an...incident that I would prefer to not discuss," Fibius continued with sarcasm dripping from his words. "These dragons that you've undoubtedly seen are Vadrioth's three 'pets', and they were sent by him to this plane. Their names are Tysydth, Vaniris, and Demona. To mortals, they are known as Khristfire, Infernia, and Silverfrost.

"Rifts have been temporarily opening up out of nowhere, allowing these scaly monsters to swiftly enter the world and promptly exit it without trouble. Until recently, we had no idea as to why Vadrioth had suddenly decided to go rogue and ruin this nice little system we had going on." Fibius sighed in annoyance and began to run a hand through his hair, only to be reminded that this body didn't have his hair style.

"He is stealing tiny bits of our godlike powers each time we come into contact with him," the god continued, his head gently lolling side to side. "He has kidnapped Zakan from Shanir's realm, and we have heard nothing of him since. Ione has fled, fearing for her own pitiful existence, while others like Cheimon have vowed to fight against Vadrioth until the very end. And we believe that the Dragon King is also the reason that we cannot manifest our powers onto this planet. Thus our clerics are useless, and you lovely mortals are left alone in the dark for the first time since the creation of the world."

"But...why is he doing this?" Amnestria asked after a pause, her brows wrinkled in a mixture of dread and confusion. There was a feeling in her heart that, no matter the outcome, this story would not have a happy ending.

"We can only speculate. However...we have good reason to believe that his ultimate goal is to open a stable rift in the Silver Sea to enter this world himself, and destroy it. Without us being able to interfere, it is practically his for the taking, and the rift is already nearly open. As to why he's doing this...dear Vadrioth has always hated mortals. But we can't say for sure."

High King Sebastien of the Sylvari heaved out a soft, long sigh from where he sat, his gnarled and skeletal hands clasped loosely together."Well, perhaps it is time then. Time for another world to take our place."

"Well aren't you a melancholic old man," Fibius commented dryly. "Ophian said the exact same thing at the Council."

"My apologies, God of the Ebony Moon." Sebastien smiled kindly at him. "Us old men are just tired of seeing good people suffer."

"How naive." The god tilted his head at the High King. "Good men will always suffer, and the bad will always live in luxury. That is simply an effect and fact of your mortal lives.

"I've seen it all, from sweet and innocent girls murdering their mothers in cold blood for power and gaining all, to the greatest and most righteous men losing everything and dying an ignominious death for committing nothing but good deeds." At this, Fibius let his gaze drift over to the witness section, and made brief contact with Varenyl Jorana before continuing, "That is simply how things are, Sylvari. But I digress. Surely you all do not simply want Vadrioth to destroy everything, and brutally take your lives from you. Or do you? You mortals tend to fight quite viciously to save yourselves from the inevitable."

"It's human nature," Whitecomb muttered with a sigh. He shifted in his seat. "Are you saying that there is a chance to stop him? Or are these really the end days? Illnesses run unchecked, killing many each day. And what can we possibly to do against a god?"

"Very little," Fibius said, looking at Whitecomb. "However, if you really do have a desire to fight back, you must do so alone. We cannot help you. For those you choose to be your champions, they must travel to Tribesmen's Bay in the Silver Sea, for that is where the rift is forming. The knowledge of what they must do will come to them along the way. But time is running out. You must act quickly. Indeed, you are quite lucky you even got this chance to speak with me. Otherwise, your small chance of survival would have been snuffed out."

"How long do we have?" Amnestria asked slowly, her eyes cold.

Fibius turned his head towards her and somehow made eye contact with her through Lorthrendel's eyes. A chill racked her spine when she looked into Lorthrendel's possessed gaze. She could swear that she saw Fibius's void black eyes looking right at her....

"Not long enough."

At that moment, the spell was broken.

***🐉***

I feel this chapter could have gone much better than it did, so please tell me any criticism and suggestions you have! I know this chapter is a bit shorter than the other ones, but I felt this was a good place to end it. Please tell me if you think I should add more.

Also, sorry for uploading this twice, I accidentally unpublished it while trying to edit xD

Thank you so much for reading, and until next time~