The young Great Mage stood tall, dressed in his armor, wielding his spear-wand in his right hand. He was looking straight, gazing at a structure that many would call simply weird.

The helmet

The armor

He stood before a portal that normally would lead to a world remnant, called as such, because they were parts ripped away from the continents of Ardania. Many use other names, some prefer the term "world shard", but by most, it was called just "different worlds". Can't really blame them, many years of isolation and preservation by magic, perpetuated the natural conditions of the time when they were ripped away.

The portal in looks resembled its brethren. Two rings made it, one greater than the other, the bigger in front of the smaller. The structure's rim steadily became thinner, starting from the middle point, all the way to the inner edge. Triangles with runes on them, placed where normally the digits on a clock would be, pointing outwards, made the bigger ring appear like it was made to resemble the sun.

It was very easy to use, the steps necessary to be transported involved: going through a translucent barrier that distorted the shape of all that stood behind it. There one would find himself in the right conditions to step through the second ring, which would transport the person using the portal to, hopefully, a friendly environment.

Different shard-worlds “belonged” (if this even was a right way to phrase it) to different; factions, dominions, petty kingdoms and self-proclaimed duchies, or reorganized hegemonies who grew in strength in the light of recent events. Many too were colonized by refugees, who got there through traditional means with fleeing feudals and magnates accompanied by independent mages. The young Great Mage seized power in one such remnant and from there, his career began to blossom.

Yes, other Great Mages as well once again rose to power and built up their influence anew, trying to get back to Ardania, including the young Great Mage.

As a matter of fact, this world remnant where the Great Mage was on was in possession of the Dragon Queen and the Altheri Elves she ruled over. She was a renowned Great Mage, but she used her royal title instead.

Was this a diplomatic meeting? No! It would have been true three months ago. He was here to fight, not against her, but together as they faced a common enemy, and they were not alone in their struggle on this day.

Tairi Sailaar, as that was her name, was standing right next to him, ready to fight... She was an elf, a female; elven women were looked upon with disregard by elven men. She was a beacon of opposition against these foul and hurtful beliefs and through the hundreds of years she lived, she made it clear, but failed to change the culture of her kin towards her sisters. There were others before her, and maybe there will be more after her; an elven woman who was at the same time a leader was a rare sight.

Interestingly enough due to the fact human women proved to be good fighters in human history, as humans were weaker than elves and at times had to scrap the barrel, human women made a name for themselves and elven men saw them not less than elven women.

Her title has its roots in a prophecy, involving an alliance with dragons. If that really is the case, as of right now, it should be treated more like a nickname than a title. Dragons may have been less violent or more eager to cooperate with her, in return, quicker has she obtained their loyalty and services. Reality and practical use are the greatest in helping to settle definitions of words and phrases and for now, this was but a mere strategic win, not an alliance. If he had enough time, he would certainly have studied the topic, however, forced by circumstances, he chose to become more powerful in order to legitimize his title of Great Mage.

She was unflashy hostile towards him. She actively spoke against him as a ruler, there would be no surprise if she stated that she hated him as a person. She never understood his ways, she found them malicious. She never came forth saying this, but the Great Mage was certain.

He understood why, and it was her murky elven morals that were at fault, that clouded her thought; she was a hypocrite. She sometimes did what he repeatedly has done.

He looked the other side, having enough of thinking about his elf companion. He shifted his attention to the left, where stood Lich the VI.

Both of them were fond of their domains, and tried to copy what the other had done, provided it was effective, without shame or acknowledging the other openly. The Young Great Mage even dared to suggest it was a sign of maturity, if done too often, a weakness showing a lack of imagination.

Yet, they didn’t like each other, they wouldn’t dare to drink together at one table, even at the happiest moment both of them could share. How would the Lich drink in the first place? This relationship was unique because of their feelings, built on admiring the other's feats, not friendly chats and aid.

King Lich was rather close to him in the style of ruling, the Undead weren't actually and physically alive, well, there can always be a debate about that ... Anyway! The Undead put next to the living were like parents next to children. Not just adults, only parents, as parents tend to forget what it meant to be a child. The Undead, the more powerful kinds the likes of Lich, did long ago forget about how it is to be alive; different ingredients, same mechanism. His rule and his approach were traumatizing to the living, but not as a result of a forcible subjectification, which was his diplomatic doctrine at all times, only from an inability to understand.

King Lich was cold when he spoke, he never feared being honest, as matter of fact he always shocked everyone with his directness, his outspokenness conflicting with his apparent timidness, making a neat surprise for fresh "partner" material. He was well-mannered but was always too brutal. Taking into account that his previous incarnation, Lich the V didn't get crossed out from the memory of the current Lich, and a glimpse of the latter now lives in the mind of the being who was standing next to him, asks the question if the Lich was even reformable in this department.

Considering the Undead have unlimited amounts of time to think over things that normally Elves, Dwarfs, Humans and Monsters don't think about in their life, in the case of the Undead - Unlife, makes the thought of him reforming attractive to idealists as it is settled deeply in the future.

He was the one who engineered this alliance. He wanted revenge and justice served through personal vendetta.

Miralbus focused on the prosperity of the people of Ardania. His legendary wand always stood by him. His wand was based on a glaive, the blade having its middle hollow, marked by old enchants around the blade. Where the staff's shaft ended and the blade began, there was a round gem, beaming with magic, a blue haze spilling out from both sides of it. His staff was his attribute.

Miralbus was one of those whom you'd call "realists" because of proficiency in succeeding. From a philosophical standpoint, he was an everyday rationalist with idealistic scoliosis. He never cared for money, for power, or for anything like that, he hated material wealth and property, he valued anything categorized as intellectual capital the most. This doesn't by any means mean, he didn't gather wealth, he did constantly, to use it as best he could and saw it less as a value, but more as a tool.

Or so, you could have described him earlier.

Miralbus was the head of the previous council of Great Mages. The tabard he wore, black with blue parts signified his old role, he wore it now to display his importance. This way he sharply reminded the Great Mage's that knew him personally of his current status as again, the head figure. For Miralbus, that would have been once a bold move. But now? It was normal for him to charge with such displays of pride.

Maybe that is why he remained the most powerful of them all? Did hatred give him power? It was likely that Miralbus held deeply to the wound he received from one of his colleagues, that he forgot of his old idealistic approach and virtuous way of life.

Miralbus was known first and foremost for his honeyed palet of words always coming from his mouth as he spoke. Even to the Young Great Mage, he showed respect, formally. Miralbus always watched his words. If the Youngest of them found Miralbus in a levite situation, he could probably learn a few things about himself.

Only by a margin was Miralbus more powerful than the Lich, but the title still went to him. Miralbus was never worse than the Lich when it came to knowledge and expertise in magic. Miralbus was well known for knowing vast amounts of spells of all categories, no doubt he knew the most.

The Lich, however, was stepping on the old human's heels. If the Lich was older, shouldn't he be the most powerful? In blunt physical and magical power, yes. Power as in; durability, flawlessness, and amounts of mana (called also magical stamina) and other different factors all together, like intelligence, no.

Following further with his eyes, King Rrat the LIV was also present, sitting on a beanbag king pillow, held by his fellow ratpeople beside Miralbus.

King Rrat wouldn’t be part of the battle, as he was too weak to fight in close combat, his kingdom provided the alliance with many expandable reinforcements, especially orcs&goblin shamans were very important in the incoming battle, as they together with the healers sent by Anna the Benign will cover for most of the damage their troops would receive.

The Young Great Mage wasn’t seen by Rrat as equal to him, this did change only partially due to what happened three months ago, where the monarchs didn’t want to look him straight in the eyes because of his young age and lack of a noble title. Even Miralbus who didn’t care about such pathetic details many years ago seemed bothered by it.

The young Great Mage found a way around it, and took pride in the cunning character of his plan. Yet, a bitter taste after these three months still plagued him.

King Rrat and Miralbus had a rough relationship, which given that they stood beside each other was even weirder. It was due to King Rrat's the XXLI doings in the past, when Miralbus together with his companion, Nicolas Frost, who was to this day in service of the Great Mage, tried to recover the Teardrop of Agrela.
Both hated to see each other and to talk with each other, Miralbus especially as he always had a lofty attitude around people he didn't like. Miralbus, was better than, Rrat, when it came to trying and actually having some respect for others, that was a golden plus.

The Young Great Mage stopped looking at them both, he shifted his thought elsewhere, not everyone was here with them.

Rjakh was not present, what they were going to do could only involve the handful of them, with the exception of King Rrat.

Nevertheless, Rjakh, was a powerful Great Mage, the alliance decided to keep him in the back to make their adversary more willing to take “brave” and bold actions. The more reckless the foe will be, the better.

Rjakh was considered one of the closest to Lunord. Lunord being the god of the Moon, is occasionally just called the god of night and wind. Lunord was a powerful god, people devoted themselves to Lunord in order to gain luck in the night, not to become prey for all the vicious evil that uses the time when Lunord reigns overall as their time to - ironically - shine. Rjakh was said to be Lunord finest priest of this time. If anything, even an emissary of the god himself, securing the god's influence and being a guardian of the god's cult.

Rjakh has sent some of his troops, but the majority stayed with him, he would teleport his troops slowly and with a steady pace. If they allowed him to be here with them, the sheer amount of magic would probably make the portal collapse on itself after Rjakh would step through it.

The same reason was why Xara wasn’t present.

She was furious at the alliance that she was rejected from being part of the striking force of the Great Mages. Especially at the young Great Mage. He was the one who opposed her taking part the most.

He had reasons, she was just as hateful and just as much she felt betrayed as Miralbus. Miralbus , with all respect to the great magician that Xara was, and to Grum-Gog, was the more intelligent.

Miralbus controlled his temper, Xara would in his opinion become savage and not control her urges as an Orc. Xara promised herself she wouldn't allow the holy grounds of Grum-Grog to be scorched with filth. If she saw anything related to Grum-Gog profaned, she would lose it.

She was known for her stubbornness which was equal to the young Great Mage’s infamous instances of tyrannical behavior others accused him of, said view was backed by their muddy, complex pseudo-intellectual arguments. So, it was very unorthodox of her, to leave the matter be, especially of such importance for her.

The youngest of them really did understand her anguish, he understood her distaste towards him, even when it was hard to believe.

At last, then there was also Anna the Bening.

She as well, could not be present, because of the same reason as the two before. Anna was a faithful woman, a priestess of Agrela, the goddess of life. Anna was a beautiful human woman, she was shy, but at the same time, she was powerful and in his own opinion, clever.

She cared about her people, and tried to be as understanding as he could have been. As a priestess of Agrela, she had her moral duties, especially when it came to the cult of Agrela.

She didn't like the young Great Mage, however, she tried to understand him. She suspected a few things about him and in some ways they were close to the truth but the verdict, in the end, wasn't a close one.

He was amused by how she tried to find a good side in him, as if he wasn't good all the time or it was covered by some shadowy blanket. Such an interpretation wasn't false, it was just cloaked away by a history of him adapting to circumstances that he had a moral duty to exploit, such moments pass quickly, therefore speed plays a key role; to be swift, you have to be ruthless and tenacious.

"Remember, Great Mages" Miralbus stepped forward and looked at them, getting their attention, snapping the young from his train of thoughts " That the United One must fall, any other reason to be divided stops mattering once we go through, we will deal with our grudges later."

His voice was fruity even when he was an old man already. Powerful, orotund even. Like that of a grandpa, that tells a story of his old times when he had to walk miles upon miles to school or back home. This one perfect lecturer knew how to get attention.

Great Mages lived on for many more years than any mortal, due to connections with magic. Nobody knew the others' age, outside from the youngest of them who’s age was known around. The oldest was the Lich the VI, then there was Miralbus, but exact numbers were unknown.

The young Great Mage nodded, he looked behind himself.

He saw an army, a united army, miles upon miles of tents spreading through the land, like flowers on a meadow, full of colors and life. From all races, only the Altheri Elves had their tents conical. The rest had their tents circular or cuboidal.

The living constructs were slowly being awakened, the bigger tents, equal in size to a circus, hosted artillery and war machines the Svarts built.

Young men and women, archers, blademasters, spearmen, master spearmen, lances, heavy and light units. People.

Monsters under Xara, the priestess of Grum-Gog (God of Pestilence) and King Rrat the LVI .

Humans under Anna the Benign.

The Altheri Elves under the Dragon Queen. Noble like the other elves, but crueler, sometimes called "Dark Elves", as they dressed in dark blues and purple were intelligent and immortal, their population growing slower than ever.

Under Rjakh and Miralbus “The Hat” were the Planetsiders, one people of all races, including the Undead and Svarts.

The Undead were led by King Lich the VI. Consisting mostly of skeleton warriors, spirits, horrors, ghosts, ghouls and bats. Vampires were enlisted into the war by Lich, although many didn't want to. Vampires, especially elder vampires were masters of necromancy and death magic, shadow and darkness. Some had abilities in other fields of magic, like fire magic that is confused at times with light magic.

And finally, starting from a human dukedom, the youngest of them, created a state composed of human, monster, undead and Svart cities. Many enclaves of other races and ethnicities of those aforementioned races found themselves in the borders of his domain as well. Making his land itself, speaking metaphorically, a giant Planestrider city with clear borders between the city's segments.

The undead under King Lich were patrolling and never sleeping, helping, carrying everything heavy, so that the physical work won’t be bothered by those who live, to let them rest before combat.

Dwarves who were conscripted, were happy to join, even if their mines weren’t now used, gold waiting with gems to be mined and made into jewelry.

Minotaurs which left their mazes, oiled their axes to cut through the legions of the United One.

Koatle priests who never left their villages, all in one place, making sure no plague was spreading or had the chance to appear, examined every living creature with care.

Common elves, not to be mistaken with Altheri Elves, took their bows and joined the military as well.

In the Sky was a fleet, a fleet of flying line galleons and regular flying galleons King Lich provided. About sixteen flying Line galleons were in the sky, carried by a purple mist, behaving like water in the seas, clashing against ships front and sides. They had their sails all withered and old. For each line galleon, there were three regular galleons, making it sixty-four ships. These galleons were similar in shape and look, but green like mold on fruit.

The amount of Magic King Lich had to spend in order to sustain these ships was astronomical, therefore, since the formation of the alliance, he gathered and conserved mana, both in himself and as a resource.

A Great Mage had his own mana limit, but he could draw it and regenerate from special mana farms. The very farms were connected to both the mages through special links and stones that redirected the magic to them. While in the case of King Lich and his fleet, also the ships. King Lich could take it all, and then from himself redirect it to the ships, however, he discarded that option, as doing so would risk crippling him for life.

The Young Mage had also his own flying force, Rainbow Dragons to be precise, the same dragons who were suspected to have been extinct. He was ordered by the alliance to leave them out of the fight until needed. They were supposed to act as reinforcements if the situation turns out to be worse than suspected. Still, he brought seven with himself and hid them behind the short mountain range in the far eastern corner of this world remnant. These mountains could be seen climbing far, touching and breaking through the cloud layers, these formed circles around the peaks, as if the mountains themselves wore them as crowns. The dragons were ordered to wait.

The United One's influence diminished with the mage’s strength growing, and he didn’t know of all his dragons or of the alliance's strength. Most of the dragons were conjured, therefore were entirely magical. Making it very easy for the United One to see them if the United One focused entirely on only trying to reinforce his already very weak influence.

That is why the alliance also ordered him to keep them away, because nearer Ardania they were, the United One's influence grew stronger.

Not to mention the great and powerful spells in his roster. Not for nothing were the mages called “great”. The United One could do everything they could, but quicker and with more detail. Even the Gods had trouble with the United One's influence, and that alone was enough of a reason to fear him.

The armies were preparing to depart, homesick, waiting to return and see the beautiful lands of Ardania their parents left when they were young. Some elders to this day remembered how the people evacuated.

For many, the long years of preparing and fighting were finally going to be paid off, only after one final struggle. One more obstacle.

The attitude many showed, the fire in their eyes. This pleased the mages, fanaticism, radicalism for a good cause is not bad, but desired and mandatory.

Together, the alliance had suspected they will be able to mobilize about enough troops to win the invasion very quickly. The exact numbers of their united force were unknown, none did provide information on how much he or she provided for the alliance.

They could have brought more, but then the heroes under them would have trouble managing their dominions alone when they will be gone. Someone must take care of what they built. Many will try to rise up, when they disappear for the war. The heroes of each Great Mage were ordered to secure their Mage's homeland and it was told that they won’t be needed in battle, as the Great Mages will fight personally.

The Great Mages stood on a hill, as the portal was there located, a rock ramp was built quickly leading straight to the portal. Made for the armies to march once the portal was opened, giving their posture elegance and power, showing that they were organized and ready.

That this wasn’t just a quick setup. This was all planned, and their efforts would soon give them what each one desired.

But did they really desire the same thing?

The young Great Mage turned back to the portal. The portal…it was modified. The runes that normally were set on a portal have gleamed with blue, now they were glowing green, and the usual blue mist around it, magic itself so dense that it could have been touched and seen, turned yellow rather than have its natural light blue color.

Ainadra. The mirror world of Ardania. It was the last bastion that needed to be captured and then the way to Ardania would be clear.

However, the Dragon Queen has found an error in a portal that led to Ainadra. The portal she found seemed to spit someone either in Ainadra or the fourth world remnant in her possession.

With that information, she could start her work.

She called for Tal Kalessil, the primordial Dragon honored her call, but only because he lacked behind the other Great Mages and his journey throughout the world was not as fruitful as the scholars suspected. He saw this as an opportunity for himself.

Sharing the information, she gained his favour.

Tal Kalessil was one of the few who could single-handedly defeat the United One in battle as great scholars and even Miralbus have theorized when they heard he came back. The Young Mage never studied up close Tal Kalessil, nor did he read about him, he only knew him from spell books and ancient text. He was an important figure in the arcane, a very important, magnificent creature.

This story, however, is not about the primordial dragon.

Tal Kallesil taught her how to manipulate the portal’s magical waves according to her own will. Portal manipulation was hard and could only be done with proper spells that had specified results. Cutting the odd portal off from one of the exit portals, and reversing the power to the portal which led to Ainadra seemed to work just fine. This gave her the chance to study up close the rhythm of that exit portal. No one tested it, as it was dangerous and could have killed someone, if he or she tried to do it from the sheer magical pressure during the teleportation.

She then did the same thing, but with the other. With ease, she got to know their magical waves, their inscriptions and have studied these portals and their behavior in both scenarios. She managed to redirect the special portal'ss full attention at the portals in Ardania, making it seek the second exit in that direction.

It was a blazing success.

It was only possible after connecting the previous exit portal with a portal of her own world to each other, basically creating one of the biggest logistic problems ever documented. This way, the special portal was not any more attracted to it. It was only natural for the portal, before which they stood, to seek for itself another partner portal, and since she controlled the portal's waves, she helped it direct its gaze towards Ardania.

She then disconnected the portal with Ainadra, and focused the portal entirely on Ardania, preventing any chance of appearing in Ainadra.

She, with the help of Tal Kalessil, managed to create a spell that was designed for this portal alone. It would allow them to pass through undamaged, it would last for three days, and three days are more than enough to get a large portion of their united army on the other side. Then, she would have to recast the spell.

Tal Kalessil didn’t join them, he went to Ainadra before the procedure, what for? Nobody knew what for, however, he promised to arrive one day after they arrived in Ardania, exactly one day after. How exactly would he manage to do that wasn’t answered.

The young Great Mage fought with himself to be better, always having in mind Tal Kalessil. In order to be a better leader, he had to try and fight his deviations, like getting easily distracted when studying natural sciences.

"Alright then," Miralbus said, taking in a heavy breath.

The Dragon Queen nodded in response, she stepped forward. Her eyes and hair started to glow, and the color was lively beaming, pulsating. From the middle of her hands, magical energy covered her arms all the way to her body.

Her eyes shone with bright orange light. The magic gathered around her, swirling like a tornado, making a coat of orange particles.

The portal let out a low humming noise, like a machine, similar in tone to that of iron doors sliding open, rusty and heavy, the kind that was leading to a vault in which riches were supposed to lie, but was hiding nothing more than death on the other side.

She made a cross sign with her hands and retreated them back to herself in a circular motion, the action was swift. The portal then activated, sending a gust of wind, lighting itself up, at first blinding the mages. The magic it released was bearable for them, as they were Great Mages, and to them the experience was pleasant.

Only King Rrat was taken back a little, he flinched when he felt the power wash over him, but he was fine. His ratmen under him, they were blinded, their fur changed to white and their eyes became blue.

The portal was opened...

Each one of them would go in separately, after two hours the armies were supposed to march in.

The portal made it so that they could see their reflections, only the image was wavy and in very low resolution, but the outlines were seen clearly. King Lich the VI was the biggest of them all, clad in his ancient heavy cuirass. The youngest of them, was the second tallest, almost equal in height to the dragon queen, who was an elf, a female elf, but still an elf.

What most don't know in his own land, was that he was slightly arched forward, due to one of his conditions, making him stand in a way a Satyr would or Imp if one would guess. His armor hid it well.

Then there was Miralbus, and at the end, it was of course King Rrat.

First went the Dragon Queen, right after her, Miralbus, then King Lich the VI. They stepped into the portal, and disappeared right after passing the barrier which reflected their image.

Now was his turn.

He kept his spear-wand tight in his grip, looking back at the army, he got once again a glimpse of the power they had when united, and what they could do together, in cooperation, rather than divided.

If only they also shared one viewpoint...

He took his first few steps. His heart rate increased, as he was stressed, everyone was, he didn’t look back, there was no point in doing so. Anxious he extended his hand, she trembled, behind his the helmet he wore, a drop of sweat ran down his forehead and ended up on one of his eyebrows.

He walked through.

Author's Note

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, some things you saw were different then what the game actually offers, as I have said in the first AU.

I didn't want to reveal too much. The interaction between the main six and other characters with our protagonist will reveal everything with time.

Please have in mind that things in the official book written by John Helfers was read by me, I'll use it as a reference to many things. Green text means that the following part is true about Ardania and can be found in the book.