The End of the Dynasty of Dine

[Leo Fenrir]

9 months after Dominion Ruling 1

Undisclosed Location in Ketsire Region

Leo Dine sat in a room lit by a single candle flame which had the annoying tendency to flicker in the draft, casting shadows in a chaotic dance. He felt utterly drained, and joy seemed a distant memory. In the last few months it had become increasingly evident that he had made a mistake. Several mistakes...

Control was slowly slipping through his fingers - he chuckled at the thought - had long ago slipped through his fingers. The future had been so bright: Ministry positions, influential allies, several counties to his name. Not to mention of course the backing of the Infinite Space Initiative. That had been blown to smithereens leaving the organization crippled and without leadership.

But none of that seemed to compare to his latest mistakes. What had brought him to write that ruling? At the time it had been so clear! It had been to protect his people from a growing threat. All he had managed though was to spark a full scale war! He frowned and kneaded his brow. Nothing was working out the way he had planned.

The ISI had gone silent after the attacks on the Ouroboros. Presumably Lucard had taken control and was up to the Great Sheep knows what. Leo had realized that the sudden disappearance of ISI support was in part to blame for the uprising that had taken the county by surprise. Had the generators been in place at the right time the R.I. would have been able to isolate all the major cities of Wintergleam from fantastic entities in one fell swoop. Three of the generators had failed to be activated though and upon hearing about the deaths of their fellow Entities the cities of Grendvald, Prague, and Durow fell quickly.

After that there had been reports of the Alliance slaughtering humans in compensation for the deaths of their brethren. Leo had desperately wished for those be nothing more then rumors, but the Great Sheep had not smiled on him. She hadn't even cast a glance in his direction as of late it would seem.

The situation had been been hard to salvage, with R.I. forces slowly advancing into the northern regions. Leo's fist tightened. They had been winning until the Illumination dragons had intervened. Once they had though the course of the war had changed drastically. With their new forces, Frostpoint was quick to fall to the Alliance. Not only were they gaining territory, but the Alliance was comprised of a large number of Elfinshi who were able to enter the Narativity barriers and sabotage the generators. They were fighting a losing war.

Which was why he was here. Leo was shaken from his reveries by a distant explosion and he suddenly felt an urgent tugging at his wrist. The stone that was set into a bracelet had just stopped obeying the laws of gravity and was straining to fly upwards. After several seconds it seemed to give up and go silent. So the Ketsire barriers had been destroyed. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small device which he set on the table. The mini generator would keep a 2 meter radius safe from Entities for 24 hours.

The peace talks had obviously turned to fighting, which meant that Leo's guard was probably captured or dead. So much for atoning for my sins. he thought quietly. His phone began to buzz urgently. Near's voice sounded too loud for the small space of the room and he pulled it away from his ear. Near feverishly related the events at the peace meetings. He then proceeded to confirmed Leo's location for an Airlift. After the call the room seemed even more opressingly silent then before.

Half an hour passed before the door was violently kicked open, sending the wood sliding across the floor. Leo stood in shock but didn't dare move outside of the radius of the field. A Grigori stepped into the room, wings closely folded to his back and stepped towards him. Leo recognized him as Mikale, leader of the largest faction of the Free People's Alliance. He was about to ask how they had found him when the question died on his lips. Near stepped through the gaping door frame behind the Grigori.

"Not you too..." he whispered. He felt felt his strength drain from him as Near crossed the room never breaking eye contact. He stopped inches from Leo's face and reached down to pick up the generator from the table. Leo didn't even attempt to stop Near as he locked the mechanism and disabled it.

The Grigori stepped forwards but was halted by Near's outstretched hand. "Remember the deal Mikale. He dies, but by my hands alone." The angle nodded and stepped back.

"Why Near."

"Its is high time you payed for your sins Leo."

"I can still fix this Near."

"Leo you caused the death of thousands of people across Shireroth. Elwynnese, Yardistani, beings that are not as real as us... Do you realize the impact of your actions? Your pride!"

"It was for my people Near! I thought You understood that!"

"I thought I did too..."

"Then why?"

"Because I now understand what it means to not be one of your people." At this point Near reached for his headband and pulled it off. He shook his hair back and stared at Leo.

"If I'd had known Near-" The pointed tips of his ears seemed unreal on Near's head.

"Its too late. You condemned my people to death Leo. Now I avenge them. I will do you the single grace of not using this magic you so despise and do it, the 'natural' way." He pulled out his handgun and aimed it squarely at Leo's head. "It was an honor serving you Leo."

Leo stood rooted to the spot, rendered to stone by his roiling emotions. He watched in fascination as Near's finger curled around the trigger. His last word was a desperate whisper of hope. The name of the one who would right his wrongs and set his soul to rest.

"Fenrir"

[Andreas the Wise]

Ooh, exciting. Rather like my retirement; 'cept I left before things got bad.