The floating city of Nexus hung suspended above the Atlantic Ocean like sothing out of a dream. Crystalline spires twisted upward into impossible spirals, connected by bridges that defied gravity and seed to be made of solidified light. At its center stood a massive amphitheater, its seats arranged in concentric circles around a central platform where representatives of each species were ant to gather.
Evon arrived by military transport, looking up at the impossible architecture with a mixture of awe and apprehension. "Well, this is definitely not sothing you see every day."
The Blade of Fate humd softly at his side, responding to the concentrated magical energy radiating from the city. Through his connection to the four sealed goddesses, he could feel their amazent.
"This place is beautiful," Naia said softly. "It feels... neutral. Like it was designed to belong to everyone and no one at the sa ti."
"Probably the safest place for this kind of eting," Veyra added pragmatically. "No one can claim ho field advantage here."
As Evon made his way to the amphitheater, he passed other delegates arriving from all directions. A group of elves materialized from what looked like a portal of pure starlight. Dwarfs erged from underground tunnels that definitely hadn’t been there monts before. Angels descended on wings of white fire, while demons rose from shadows that seed deeper than they should be.
"This is going to be interesting," he muttered.
### The Gathering Storm
The space inside was expanded, much larger than what it looked from outside. The amphitheater was designed to accommodate beings of vastly different sizes and needs. The dragon section featured platforms large enough for creatures the size of small buildings. The fairy section consisted of delicate perches that glowed with their own inner light. The demon area was wreathed in comfortable shadows, while the angel section basked in perpetual golden sunlight.
Evon took his place in what was clearly marked as the human section, a practical arrangent of chairs and tables that looked almost mundane compared to the exotic accommodations surrounding them.
The dragon representative was the first to make an impression. Quendor was even larger than the golden dragon from the Washington incident, with scales that shifted through every color of the rainbow. His voice, when he spoke, was asured and thoughtful.
"Welco, fellow representatives," Quendor said, his words causing small ripples in the air. "I am Quendor of the Ancient Brood, speaking for dragonkind in this unprecedented gathering."
The elf representative stood next. Yulia was tall and ethereal, with silver hair that seed to move in a breeze that touched nothing else. Her pointed ears were adorned with jewelry that chid softly when she moved, and her voice had the quality of wind through leaves.
"I am Yulia Starweaver, Voice of the Eternal Courts, representing the elven realms," she said with a graceful bow.
And then the shouting started.
The demon lord, Vex’thul, rose from his shadowy throne with a sound like grinding stone. His form was imposing—three ters tall, with curved horns and eyes like burning coals. When he spoke, his voice made the air itself seem to recoil.
"Demons have ruled the dark corners of reality since before your precious elves learned to sharpen sticks!" he bellowed. "We claim dominion over this rged realm by right of conquest!"
The angel representative, Seraphiel, imdiately stood in response. Her form was almost too bright to look at directly, with six wings that cast no shadow and a voice like crystal chis in a gentle breeze.
"The forces of Light have protected the innocent across countless realms while you corrupt creatures skulked in shadows!" she replied, her lodious voice sohow carrying just as much force as the demon’s roar. "If anyone has claim to leadership, it is those who have earned it through service!"
The fairy queen, Titania, who until this mont had been sitting quietly on her luminescent perch, suddenly buzzed into the air with wings that left trails of glittering dust. Her voice was high and musical, but filled with indignation.
"Service? Ha! The fae have been maintaining the balance of nature and magic while you oversized pigeons and horned bullies have been playing your eternal war gas! We understand the true mysteries of existence!"
The dwarf representative, King Thorek Ironforge, slamd his massive war hamr against the stone platform with a sound like thunder. His beard was braided with gold and gems, and his armor bore the marks of a thousand battles.
"Mysteries? Balance? You flower-winged children wouldn’t know real work if it bit you on your tiny behinds! Dwarfs have been building civilization while the rest of you were learning to walk upright! We’ve earned our place through strength and steel!"
The elental representatives—beings of pure fire, water, earth, and air—began to argue among themselves, their voices creating a cacophony that sounded like a tornado in a foundry.
"Fire ca first! Fire is the source of all energy!" roared Pyros, the fire elental, his form crackling with barely contained flas.
"Water is the source of all life! Without us, you’re just pretty lights!" gurgled Nereid, the water elental, her voice like waves against a shore.
"Both of you ca from earth! We are the foundation!" rumbled Gaia, shaking the entire platform.
"And all of you would be nothing without air to carry sound and breath!" whistled Zephyr, creating small whirlwinds around the amphitheater.
The beast-kin representative, Alpha Fenris, a massive wolf-human hybrid, stood and howled to get attention. When the noise died down slightly, he snarled, "All of you fancy races think you’re so important, but when it cos down to survival, it’s fang and claw that matter! The strongest should lead!"
This triggered an imdiate response from the undead representative, a lich nad Morteus whose very presence made the air cold and still. "Strength fades, wolf. Only the eternal endure. We who have conquered death itself are the truly superior beings."
The plant-being representative, an enormous treant called Oakenheart, creaked ominously as his branches swayed. "All of you are young shoots compared to the ancient forests. We have grown and thrived while your civilizations rose and fell like seasons."
The argunt was getting louder and more heated by the minute. Insults flew through the air in dozens of languages, so of which seed to make physical sounds when they hit their targets.
"Bloodthirsty savages!"
"Overgrown houseplants!"
"Pretentious corpses!"
"Primitive stone-bangers!"
"Self-righteous feather dusters!"
"Glittery pest insects!"
Throughout all of this chaos, Evon noticed that only three representatives weren’t participating in the shouting match. Himself, obviously, since he was too busy trying to process the absurdity of the situation. Quendor, who watched the proceedings with the patient expression of soone who had seen this kind of thing before. And Yulia, who looked more amused than anything else.
"Is this normal for inter-species diplomacy?" Evon called out to them during a brief lull in the shouting.
Quendor’s rumbling chuckle was felt more than heard. "First contact situations tend to bring out the worst in everyone. Each species wants to establish dominance from the start."
Yulia nodded, her silver hair catching the light. "It’s like children eting on a playground. Everyone has to prove they’re the toughest before they can start playing together."
"How long does this usually last?" Evon asked, wincing as the fairy queen began a particularly creative string of insults directed at the demon lord.
"Could be hours," Quendor replied. "Could be days. Depends on how long their throats hold out."
The argunt was reaching new heights of absurdity. The centaur representative had started a philosophical debate about the superiority of having four legs versus two. The rfolk delegate was insisting that all land-dwellers were inferior because they couldn’t breathe underwater. The giant representative kept pointing out that everyone else was too small to matter, while the pixie representative argued that size was overrated and nimbleness was everything.
Through it all, accusations flew like arrows:
"Your kind started the War of Burning Skies!"
"That was three thousand years ago!"
"So wounds never heal!"
"Says the race that invented cursed swords!"
"Those weren’t cursed, they were enchanted!"
"Sa difference!"
The cacophony was reaching truly impressive levels when suddenly, without any fanfare or dramatic entrance, a figure appeared on the central platform. He simply materialized, as if he had always been there and everyone else had just failed to notice.
The newcor was humanoid in build, wearing a long black coat that seed to absorb light rather than reflect it. His golden hair caught the ambient illumination from the city’s crystals, and when he turned his head, Evon caught a glimpse of reptilian golden eyes that seed familiar.
The Arbiter.
Not a clone this ti, but the real thing.
Evon felt a chill run down his spine as those golden eyes t his briefly. The Arbiter nodded slightly in acknowledgnt, then looked at Quendor and Yulia, both of whom had also noticed his arrival and were watching him with wary respect.
But the rest of the delegates continued their increasingly ridiculous argunt, completely oblivious to the presence of one of the most powerful beings in their local multiverse.
The Arbiter stood quietly for a long mont, watching the chaos with an expression of growing annoyance. Finally, he cleared his throat. When that didn’t work, he tried a polite cough. When that was also ignored, his expression darkened.
His voice, when he finally spoke, rumbled through the amphitheater like distant thunder, carrying an authority that made the very air vibrate:
"You guys can stop now!"
________________
Reviews
All reviews (0)