Ferenic crashed into the ground, far away from the village or his people. He felt his ribs crack and his leg bones splinter as he hit, even though there was no pain. Off in the distance, he could hear the sounds of fighting. As the corners of his vision blurred and faded to black, he saw a pair of boots land next to him.

“It seems that his plan coming true was …. inevitable…” he tried to say; the words only coming as a whisper.

Away from the Red Dragon’s prying eyes and ears, Alexander allowed some of his humanity to bubble to the surface, and he kneeled next to the fallen shaman.

“Yes, to an extent. I can’t let you live or he would suspect my true motives, but I do swear this to you: Your families will be safe, and one day, that beast of a lizard will die.”

Ferenic grinned; the new leader of all the Nords wasn’t to be a puppet of the Dragon after all.

With no more words, Alexander stood, and severed Ferenic’s head, making the shamanic legacy his own.

===== Several hours later =====

“Do you honestly think that’s what will happen?” Kalman asked as Alexander relayed what had happened to him.

“It has to,” Alexander sighed as he stepped away from the gallows that had been setup by Rauour while he made the long walk back to the Northern Capital. With a wave of his hand, his two most loyal generals, Kalman and Segito, were beheaded – on orders from the Red Dragon.

As Alexander walked to the Eastern edge of the Village, Rauour joined him.

“Now, you will kill their families.

“No, I will not!” Alexander said, using the full depth of his voice just below the point of shouting. “We killed all possible threats to my rule, but their families will be safe, whether you like it or not.”

With those final words, the women and children of the Shamanic tribes were freed, and allowed to join the rest of the Nords in the Southern Village.

After the humans left, Rauour assumed his true form and took flight, heading for his volcanic lair. It hand’t gone quite as planned, but his plan would soon move to it’s next phase, and he would be one step closer to ruling the world.