Rise Of Pandora

Rise Of Pandora : XLIV. Become A Wolf

"Sometimes it takes losing your mind just to stay sane."

-Genesis

IV. Stoic

The room was startled. Their expressions showed they had not realized how bad the current state of the world was with most of their eyes stealing glances at three noblemen, for these three men were important figures of Kaoacien, the imperium to the south. 

"I believe you are right, Dinos. The state of affairs in the south is not propitious to our agenda. They are perpetuating a terrible habit. It is a sad truth but a real one: humans will always justify and explore the violent paths regardless of who is victimized, butchered and killed." Atlas sunk his head low and ogled at the hardwood floor and then whispered something to only himself. 

He reared his head back up and looked at the group.

"However, it is still our fidelity to defend and preserve human existence no matter the consequence, no matter the enemy. We will never stop." 

Maddard, curious and speaking out of turn, asked, "And just what is this agenda of yours?"

Atlas slowly oscillated his eyeballs towards Maddard's direction. He then turned back to Dinos, ignoring Maddard's question.

"Continue, Dinos," he commanded authoritatively. It was clear Atlas was frustrated, the way his agitation seeped through his voice. 

Dinos continued. 

"Although we cannot yet prove who is removing these figures in the south, we may actually have a more pressing issue. The toxic fetor from the Shadowlands is spreading increasingly in the south. Kaoacien is just less than twenty miles from those lands. In the past year, it has spread at least a mile from where it resided originally. The people nearby have long since been evacuated, we made sure of it. However, this is just so chaotic. And one thing I cannot seem to understand is why is this all happening now."

"First, the governing bodies across the world, specifically in the southern region of the continent, are crumbling and are growing radical. It's unsettling. Then there is the issue of Deathknights and Shadowbirds. The spreading fetor across the South. The Leviathan finally revealing itself to us. And now potentially billions wandering beings could be wandering somewhere in the continent."

"Gods know what else is happening, possibly the East and Western imperiums are in danger as well. Another thing, I have reason to believe they have intercepted communication to their targets and their families. Every month, I wrote to London under an alias. However, when we met with his wife some days past, she claimed they were not written to once from Michael Hines. That is the alias I used. I wrote to both of them. I believe certain people are marked for death, and London, sadly, was one of the marked many. But that is just a theory."

"My siblings and I initially speculated that this was the moment they planned to take control. However, they could have done this long ago, and not much is different so why would they do this now. Then Olympia introduced an unusual theory. Olympia, and as do I, believes they are planning a total government invasion. So rather than revealing themselves, we believe they are taking over completely from the shadows all while reducing human population. It does not stop there. I speculate after the crisis, assuming we overcome it, the world as we know it may be under a new rule."

Atlas appeared more deeply troubled than previous. His jaw was tightly pressed together, his hands were clasped and burly. 

"Another question I have is how did the Deathknights enter the imperium? The rumors stated they were sightings of a few hundred Deathknights dozens of miles south riding northbound. These numbers did not match the report, they far exceed them. And if they were riding north, they would have had trouble reaching all the way to the capital. Personally, Father, I believe the appearance of the Deathknights is meant to distract us from this new leadership takeover."