Chapter 1 – The Ashen Expanse (Revised)
Julius keeps his true knowledge secret.
A blast of golden light swallowed everything—earth, sky, army, horses. Julius blinked once, and the Balkan mountains were gone.
In their place stood a dead, broken wasteland.
Black stone cracked under the hooves of horses. Obsidian spires jutted out like the ribs of a fallen titan. The air was heavy—hot, toxic, and shaking with distant rumbling.
The Smoking Sea whispered all around.
Julius inhaled slowly.
He knew exactly where they were.
Planetos. Old Valyria.
Year 110 AC, before the Dance of the Dragons.
But he did not say that aloud.
Behind him, panic rippled through the army.
"Your Majesty, the sky—what is this place?"
"My lord, this isn't Europe!"
"Is this a curse from the Ottomans?"
"No city… no roads… only ash!"
The 18,000 elite soldiers of Europe faced the ruins of the greatest magical empire ever known—and they were terrified.
Julius raised one gloved hand.
"Silence."
The command spread instantly. The Teutonic Knights locked their shield wall, Hospitallers formed defensive circles, and the French knights tightened formation around the banners.
His generals rode up:
Siegfried von Wolffhart, Teutonic Marshal
Raymond d'Anjou, Hospitaller Commander
Louis de Fontainebleau, French Marshal
Karl von Achen, Chief Strategist
All bowed.
"Your Majesty," Siegfried said quietly, "this is no land of Christendom."
Raymond added, "The air burns the lungs. The ground is cursed. Horses are frightened. We need direction."
Julius stared into the shifting ash clouds.
He already knew the truth.
But revealing he knew everything would only cause chaos.
So he said the safe version.
"We are not in Europe anymore. Something tore us from our world."
The generals stiffened.
"Another… world?" Karl whispered.
"Impossible," Louis muttered. "Madness."
Julius pointed at the twisted obsidian ruins.
"Look around you. Have any of you seen architecture like this in Europe? Can any of you explain that glow in the stones? Or the heat pouring from cracks in the earth?"
None of them could.
Julius continued, voice calm and controlled.
"We were in the Balkans. Now we stand in a land that is not on any map of our world.
Accept that reality, and we survive. Deny it, and we die."
The words hit harder than any battlefield order.
Siegfried knelt.
"Then command us, Sire. Tell us what we must do."
Julius turned to the horizon where the ash clouds thinned, revealing faint sunlight—eastward.
"We find civilization. Water. Food. Information.
We march east."
The commanders nodded and issued orders.
Teutonic Knights → Frontline shield formation
Hospitallers → Center with medics and priests
Knights of Fontainebleau → Rear heavy cavalry
Engineers & crossbowmen → Flanks
Scouts → One hundred men ahead, in rotating groups
The army reorganized with trained precision.
Then the ground beneath them shook.
A deep, scraping roar echoed across the ruins.
Obsidian dust fell like black snow.
A shape moved in the distance—long, serpentine… glowing red.
A firewyrm.
Julius's eyes narrowed.
The army panicked, but he spoke coldly:
"Stand firm. Do not break. This is only a creature of this world."
Raymond whispered, "Sire… how do you know what it is?"
Julius didn't even look at him.
"I don't," he lied smoothly. "But I know fear makes men weak. And I will not allow weakness."
He raised his sword.
"Move out! Form rotating lines! Stay close and stay disciplined!"
As the firewyrm's roar shook the stone, 18,000 knights marched behind Julius Octavius—
a teenage king with the mind of a modern strategist and the knowledge of Planetos' entire fate…
And a secret he would not share with anyone.