The Kingdom of Unden

Akyrimos stood in the dim red glow of his forge, musing as he looked over another crown. It had cracked, yet again. He was using the strongest gold, the best the world had to offer, yet he still could not figure out how to keep the shape together without it falling to pieces on him. Although there weren't any terribly pressing orders he couldn't fill, he wondered how long he could delay the inevitable, when he would have to turn down work in shame. Akyrimos took off his metalworking gloves and turned off the forge for the day. He felt weary and dejected, and the urge to sleep was overwhelming.

"Sire. May I take a moment to give you the monthly report?" The chief advisor stopped Akyrimos.

"Walk with me to my chambers," Akyrimos replied. "And no figures this time. Just say what you mean."

"Of course, my lord. Well, in this month alone, mining production has dropped to 24.2--I mean, half of what it was last month, which was much less than what it was before. Precious stones and gems have also found a significant decrease. Many smithies are facing trouble if there isn't enough iron, and that'll be a sizable amount of the city out of business. And as always, my lord, no news of your father's where abouts."

Akyrimos' day just got considerably worse. "I'll sleep on it," he muttered as he closed the door to his room.

The right to rule until proven otherwise. If most of the blacksmiths in the city had nothing to do but ponder on that one sentence, he was in for a load of trouble.

Scarlet awoke with a start, her red eyes darting around her surroundings. She didn't recognize this place, but it was hot. The silver haired girl jumped to her feet, but immediately regretted that decision as the blood rushed to her head in a pounding head ache. She stumbled around almost drunkenly for a few moments before she regained her composure.

"Hello?" she called, her soft voice seemed to echo in the silence around her.

"Human girl. There's a human girl..."

The voice of the castle watch echoed softly in Akyrimos' head. Humans were not allowed past the bridge, even more so inside the city. Any demon would tear the creature apart in the interest of protecting his trade. To have made it into his palace would take skill and stealth. An assassin. Akyrimos reached for his father's sword, Azazel and held it at the ready. To allow the human to come to him would give her the upper hand. He would have to bring the fight to the assassin in a preemptive attack.

Akyrimos followed the voice of the castle watch to his father's old bedroom. His heart began to beat faster. Perhaps this was the same assassin who had taken the blade to his father. Perhaps he could extract some information out of her before he killed her...

Akyrimos burst into the room, blade at the ready. The assassin, he observed, could almost pass for a demon, had she been several feet taller. Perhaps that was how she managed to sneak in.

"Where and what have you done to my father?" Akyrimos demanded.