The stars twinkled in the Iyr’s sky, but they were nothing pared to the gems which were offered to the old, white scaled man. He, eared to be a Drakken, but was undoubtedly a Dragon. The snow falling across the Front Iyr all but firmed that fact. He was offered not just a myriad of gems, but also three bdes, each holding a Basitment, and each fed with great craftsmanship.

  ‘They’re no Dwarven bdes, but they’ll do,’ the old man thought. He could smell the st against them, eated by a different Iyrman, one who was long passed, but none were of that boy.

  “I have noticed that the Iyr has made plenty of magical ons this year, though I see that none of those gifted to me were of his.”

  “ologise if they are not to your liking,” Elder Lykan said, smiling politely. “However, it is always good to be cautious.”

  The words hung in the air like a threat, but the old ma go. “Thank you for the gems and the ons, but they were not a part of the deal.”

  “sider it ood will,” Lykan said. “Our deal was fair, but the Iyr does not fet those who have shown her favour, nor those who have dared to tread lightly.”

  ‘If they’re speaking poetically…’ He accepted the sed threat, knowing that it did not e from him, but higher up. It was a warning to him, one of the two Lords who remained behind in the Iyr.

  Stokmar, too, remained within the Iyr, drinking the barrels of ale the Iyrmen had prepared for her. They had been dug up from the earth, having brewed over the course of turies, just in case.

  ‘Just how much have you prepared?’

  “You’re thinking too much,” the Lord of Earth said, having slid her way towards him, f the snow aside. “What is it that you’re thinking about, Grimraith?”

  “If yoing to ask me a question, you should at least offer me a drink,” Grimraith replied, his arms crossed behind his back. He had o defend against the Lord of Earth, the pair had barely crossed paths before, though he still o press for proper respect.

  Stokmar clicked through her teeth before tossing him a gourd of wine, which the old man snatched out of the air, before he sipped it. It was a fruit wine, one freshly made within the Iyr.

  “I was thinking about nothing important,” he admitted, but he khat Stokmar would have been annoyed with su answer. “Has there ever been a time when so many of us met in one go? Those of us who could and the title of Lord, and even her, she who rules the Iyr and stand against us by herself. Has there been a time when five of us have met together? There was a sixth, too, I could suppose.”

  Elder Story, Hadda, Lord Stokmar, Shama, Asa, and Grimraith. Any one of them could have wreaked havoc upon the nd by their lonesome, but to think they had all e here, in the nd of the Iyrmen, all at oime.

  “It doesn’t feel good to have only you as pany,” Stokmar admitted. “At least that boy, Hadda, was a det enough drinking panion.”

  ‘Asa still remains not far from here, but he won’t dare to e to the Iyr’s nds, not while I and Lord Stokmar remain,’ Grimraith thought. He, who could cim the title of Lord of Ice, could csh with the old man and force him away, especially since he had made the Iyr into his ir, like the other Dragons. The process had been hurried along by the strange magics of the Iyr, but that had dotle to dampen the effects of their presehough, his own presence overwhelmed the other pair, who wouldn’t dare to match him.

  “Why are you keeping your thoughts to yourself?” Stokmar tossed a barrel at him, but it slid across the snow beside him.

  “I remember this pce as a rock with only a bunch of savages who killed one ao send to the afterlife,” the old man said. “Now they are a terrifying force, who keep secrets between one aoo, with creatures who should in this world.”

  His thoughts fell to the creatures, who looked like Iyrmen a reeked of death, all of whom kept an eye on the pair. There were five of them total, but they were only the stro of the Iyrmen who had beeo keep an eye on them, for there were awenty Paragons who had been ordered to escort them through the Iyr whehey .

  “They made themselves like this in only a few geions,” Stokmar said. “They were already a great force by the time I decided to mess around in this nd. They cut it short, but it wasn’t so bad. There’s quite a few of them who were det, and then there was that Aswadian boy, he wasn’t too bad either.”

  Grimraith kept up with only the mais of what had occurred over the past two millennia, only keeping tabs once every tury or so. He paid special attention when anythiioned his family, and then any of the legendary figures which had still existed from back then, though many had gone quiet. He wondered if they were hiding away, as he had when the Demons had ihe nd.

  “Why didn’t you step up during the time of the Demons?” Grimraith asked.

  “It was too annoying, and they didn’t do anything to the good Dwarven folk,” she replied, simply. “I thought about ing up to help the Iyrmen, but…”

  Of all the nds which had been affected by su event, it was the Iyr which had made out like bandits. They had lost many of their warriors, but they had recovered swiftly, and no doubt their treasury had grown at least twofold.

  However, evehey hadn’t called in as many favours as they had done so in the previous year. The Giants, the Dragons, and the two Lords, such a force would have id waste to even the capital of Aldnd. Only one of the Lords would o keep that old woman at bay, and the rest could have their way to sughter tens of thousands freely.

  Grimraith’s eyes wao Lord Stokmar. She, who had been born from the Salt Mother and the Earth Father, erhaps the greatest of all the Lords. She erhaps the only one who could make a mess within the Iyr and flee with her life, though she’d find the rest of her life difficult sihe Iyr would want to hunt her until Baktu stepped off his throne.

  “What?” Stokmar asked.

  Grimraith sighed. “How long do you think the war will st?”

  “The war in the Upper Realm, or here?”

  “Here.”

  “A year, maybe two.”

  “Who will win?”

  “her.”

  Grimraith nodded. “I wonder why Soza has never-,”

  She was older than time, her face wrinkles like ripples within a ke. She wore thick clothing, bck as the starless sky, and wore a medallion which was made of a bck wood, shaped in the symbol of Baktu, the God of Death. She wielded a staff made of the same wood as her medallion too, but that was not the most notable thing about her.

  Her tattoos were small, hollow circles, also a deep bck. They were notable because an Iyrman’s tattoos were usually filled or hollow, and the tral shape was usually the rgest. However, her tattoos were all uniform, and were smaller than any other Iyrman’s. The tral circle held the symbol of Baktu too.

  She stepped up to approach the pair of Lords, smiling warmly, like a grandmother would. Yet, the pair of Lords both straightened up. It wasn’t that she possessed greater strength thaher of them, and though she had the back of up of four others like her, the stench of death g to her deeply.

  Baktu had no Champions, but if he had, these five would have been good enough to cim themselves as his.

  “It is my honour to be with you,” the old Iyrman said, bowing her head. “I have e to thank you for your assistance.”

  “The Iyr has thanked me enough,” Grimraith said, with Stokmar nodding to agree.

  “If there es a time to fight, I hope it will be side by side,” the old Iyrman said, gng between the pair. She had hoped to speak with them, but seeing the way they looked at her, she bowed her head areated. She couldn’t bme them, for their senses were greater than a typical person’s, and she was an abomination, one made for the Iyr, but an abomination he less. ‘I ot even speak with one of my own.’

  Stokmar and Grimraith rexed together for some time, both thinking about the uping year. Stokmar uood why Grimraith was thinking about the meeting of all the great powers, for there was no way that they could meet like this without the world reag.

  Then, there was that young man. That young man who called for Chaos no matter where he was. That young man, who had just bee a father, a held the powers which, as Hadda had warhe Lords, had the potential to destroy the world.

  Woo! Beyond Chaos Year 2 has ended! I'll be taking a short break before bringing Year 3.

  Thank you to everyone for your support and I hope you'll tio enjoy the series.

  I aowledge Year 2 was a little awkward, because someone decided to absolutely body our protagonist, and then, somehoatiurned, I mean Adam became a father. There wasn't a lot of a but, Year 3 is very exg imo. It's far more a packed than Year 2, and way more insane. Hopefully it reveals more about the world in general. There are a lot of seeds people have noticed iory and I hope the pay off for those seeds are enjoyable. There are a lot of seeds which probably wont be paid off until Year 10+ (if Adam lives that long) and some won't be paid off until Year 50+ (if Adam lives that long) and some even at Year 100+ (if I live that long).

  Thank you all again for all your support!