Jian stared down at the volumes laid open on the table before him, his brow twitching slightly as he inspected each of them closely and confirmed Garron’s report.

Each of these volumes recorded the arts of creation of beasts, various kinds of them...from kobolds, to demon spirits, to the deadliest golems.

There was one significant record or the other held in these volumes and each of them were at this moment missing some parts.

The key parts of each record had been neatly ripped out and one would not take notice of it if one did not carefully study each process written down to realize some points were missing.

"Someone has tampered with these records... I did not realize it at first but only after going through various volumes did I understand the reason we could hardly find anything to confirm our suspicions after all this time." Garron revealed in a worried tone.

"It was because there was truly nothing left, the most important records on the creation of beasts of dark magic have all been taken away." Rodvan completed, the two dune dragons who were always at loggerhead finally in sync for once.

"This archive is as secure as a vault, it can only be opened by My Liege and the King’s guard. How could it be accessed?!" Kirgan asked in alarm.

"None of my brothers would betray me." Jian said without question or doubt.

"The volumes have collected dust and have not been touched for a long long time."

" Lord Kaideon believes they were not tampered recently, they have been for a long while. Centuries... even." Rodvan conveyed Kaideon’s stance.

"That means, it could not have been just anyone..." Kirgan began, trailing off as he passed a silent Jian a worried look.

"In the previous dynasty, King Asrig and his King’s guard..." Rodvan began but was cut off as a low growl rumbled out of Jian.

"Jian..." Kirgan began, reaching a hand to Jian’s shoulder but Jian stepped away.

"Don’t... just don’t." Jian hissed lowly, placing his hands down on the table to steady himself.

The look in the eyes of the dragon king was full of doubt and confusion, for a man such as Jian who never let his emotions reflect on his features, one look at him could tell just how hard this revelation had hit.

The revelation that the deceased King Asrig had committed a far greater crime than that which he had been convicted for and it had only now come to be known, after hundreds of years!

"You mean to tell me that my brother had unleashed the dark arts?...Asrig would never...he would..." Jian stuttered out, but he himself could hardly believe his own words.

Jian’s voice trailed off, the words he had just said sounded all too familiar to his own ears and a feeling of Deja Vu churned within him.

They were words Jian had said one too many times.

’Asrig would never...my brother would not...’

But on each of those occasions, Jian remembered it all too clearly that Asrig indeed had done it all...that Asrig had never once been the man Jian had thought him to be.

"King Asrig’s order to expunge the Signe Tribe of all crimes and grant them entrance back to society, there was more to it than we had realized..." Garron began again but was interrupted by Kirgan.

"Say no more... that is enough." Kirgan said, knowing Jian would only be more affected.

"My Liege, we cannot overlook this." Rodvan still continued, ignoring Kirgan’s warning.

Kirgan passed a dark glare to Lord Kaideon, it was clear to everyone that Rodvan would never directly defy Kirgan, but Lord Kaideon surely would.

"The severity of this is clear to us all, this means a great deal of knowledge on dark magic is somewhere out in the stronghold and that has brought to our doorstep a long extinct troll golem."

"And with this knowledge out there, one will become a hundred. This is only but the beginning." Rodvan insisted.

"And you suppose My Liege does not know this?! Kaideon... stand down." Kirgan warned again, this time his every calm tone was cold and harsh.

Lord Kaideon’s brows twitched slightly and after holding Kirgan’s gaze for a moment, Kaideon tilted his head slightly and Rodvan stepped back.

All the while, Jian had been quiet. He stared ahead blankly, his hands clenched into fists at his side.

And then without a word, he turned and strode out of the archives, heading back the way they had come.

Lord Rodrick was about to follow after but Kirgan stopped him, shaking his head slightly.

"Where is he going in that state?" Lord Rodrick asked worriedly.

"To find clarity...to seek the truth from the only one who can tell it." Kirgan replied.

"How is that possible? King Asrig is dead... and he was given no memorial." Lord Rodrick asked in confusion.

"Not amongst Kings, but Asrig’s altar lies in the hall of history of the riders academy...it was the least My Liege could do. Asrig was his brother...his own blood." Kirgan replied. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

"But King Asrig was marked a traitor to the stronghold. Never to be recognized or honored after his death. Is it okay for My Liege to have his altar in the rider’s academy?" Lord Rodrick asked in concern.

"Though Asrig was a failed King, his contribution to the founding of the rider’s academy cannot be denied. The academy would not stand today but for him hence this exception was made, the council knows of it too." Kirgan explained.

"My Liege has never spoken of it." Lord Rodrick said with a shake of his head.

"My Liege never speaks of Asrig either, why do you think?" Kirgan asked, passing a glance to Lord Rodrick.

"It is a difficult memory for him." Lord Rodrick said knowingly.

"We have asked much of Jian in these centuries, we have demanded him to execute his own blood and erase his brother’s name from his remembrance all for the good of the empire."

"To us, Jian eradicated Asrig’s evil and saved the stronghold. But in Jian’s own eyes, he is nothing more than a man...a man who killed his own brother." Kirgan said with a heavy tone.