Titan King: Ascension of the Giant

Haven of the Clans—it was the honorific given to Stoneheart by all the southern races. And the city lived up to it. The outer city was a vibrant tapestry of commerce, its streets teeming with the sounds of a thousand different voices, the air thick with the smell of exotic spices and smithy smoke. It was a bustling crossroads where the myriad clans were as common as cobblestones. The inner city was a testament to power and prosperity, its architecture a magnificent and orderly blend of styles, where the elite of all races had gathered to make their homes.

Tonight, even the King of the Giants himself, Orion, had emerged from his castle.

In the brightly lit plaza, a grand bonfire roared, casting a warm glow on the faces of those who had returned from the Dragon Crucible in the Emerald Dream Realm. At the center of it all was Lilith, hosting the celebration in honor of a momentous occasion.

The theme of the night: to celebrate her ascension to the Legendary level. It was a milestone for the stoneheart horde, and a joyous event for all.

"Bright eyes, strong limbs… not bad. A couple of pups with good potential."

At a large round table, Orion held Anubis and Wepwawet aloft, one in each hand, dangling by the scruff of their necks. The two little ones trembled but made no sound, their sharp eyes darting cautiously around the table, sizing up the formidable Clan Elders seated there. They were Dirtclaw's sons, and in the entire horde, only Orion would dare handle them so casually. Their father, now a Lord and a Warden of the realm, had been dispatched on a mission. So, upon their return from the Dragon Crucible, Anubis and Wepwawet had been placed in Lilith's care, alongside Pallas and Elara.

"Look at those shifty eyes," Rendall chuckled from his seat beside Orion. "Just like Dirtclaw. No doubt they're his pups." He took a long drink of ale, his gaze approving. He had no objection to them becoming protectors for Pallas and Elara. He respected Dirtclaw, and he respected the sons he had personally trained.

"From now on, we'll have to call him Warden Dirtclaw," Onyx added with a grin from the other side. Only the old guard who'd mentored him had the right to give Dirtclaw such a hard time.

"Daddy, Anubis is scared!"

At some point, Elara had snuck up behind Orion, her small hands tugging on the hem of his tunic as she tried to peer around him, gesturing for him to put down her little protectors.

"Daddy, Wepwawet is scared too!" Pallas, ever her sister's shadow, popped out from Orion's other side, echoing Elara's plea.

"Mr. Rendall, Mr. Onyx, you just keep drinking! I'll go get you some of Daddy's special reserve wine in a little bit!" Elara's big eyes twinkled. The clever little imp knew exactly how to get what she wanted.

Hahaha! "Such a good girl, Elara!"

"That's our clever Elara!"

Rendall reached out and gently patted Elara's head.

"Alright, alright. Go on and play," Orion said, a rare, warm smile spreading across his face as he set Anubis and Wepwawet down. He had only been testing them, checking to see how their talents had developed. They were to be lifelong companions to his daughters, and he would accept nothing but the best.

Hee hee, "Thank you, Daddy!" Elara giggled. She shot Anubis a playful wink, then turned and scampered off toward a corner of the plaza where a gaggle of other younglings were playing. It was clear she and Pallas had come to show off their first official protectors.

Pallas ran a short distance, then doubled back. "Thank you, Daddy! Thank you, Mr. Onyall! Thank you, Mr. Onyx!"

After receiving nods from the three elders, she took Wepwawet's paw and trotted off to catch up with her brother.

"The future is bright… yes, the future is bright," Rendall mused, watching them go.

Orion smiled and raised his goblet, his gaze sweeping over the others gathered at the table—Onyx, Ursa, Thundar, Fergus, Earthshaker, Rockwell, and the other elders.

"My friends! To the horde, and to the bright future ahead of us! Let us drain our goblets!"

"To the horde! To the future!"

"To the horde! To the future!"

A chorus of voices rose as one. They raised their cups, cheered, and drank deep.

"The Dragon Crucible may have closed," Orion announced after the toast, "but our own Heroic Altar has yet to open. For those who did not achieve their goals this time, there is still much to look forward to!"

The altar was ready, and the slots had already been assigned. The elders who heard this beamed with delight, for they too were about to receive a powerful inheritance. Earthshaker, Onyx, Rendall, and Delilah were living proof of its power—all four were now at the Alpha peak, with the potential to ascend to the rank of Lord. The other elders had long coveted a chance to enter.

Laughter and cheer filled the air as they feasted and drank deep, their spirits high.

After three rounds of drinks, Rendall's expression grew more serious. "Lord, how fares the War of North and South?" he asked. He had been sequestered in the Emerald Dream Realm, tending to the giant tribe's population growth, and was out of touch with the recent conflicts in the Titanion Realm.

"Under the leadership of Lorelia, Aldous, and Xalathar, we achieved a great victory and secured a vast swathe of new territory," Orion reported, his tone calm and measured as he shared the results of the recent summit in the human kingdom's Soaring Bird City. "Our borders to both the north and south have expanded."

He continued, "The blood elf race ceded a portion of their southern territory to us. In exchange, we granted the ogres a corridor of our land, allowing them to connect their holdings with their new northern conquests. The land east of the ogre territory, bordering the human kingdom—Prince Theodore's former domain—is also ours now. As for the half-dragons to the north, their territory is now ours as well; they have become our vassals."

In exchange for these gains, the stoneheart horde had relinquished its claims on the dwarven lands to the east and other tribal territories to the north. In the great carving up of the spoils of war, the biggest winners were the human kingdom and the dragons, whose lands bordered those of the dwarves. The humans had annexed eighty percent of the dwarven tribe's lands. The dragons, for their part, had claimed a number of islands and a stretch of coastline, establishing a new northern domain.

Without an arch lord to back their claim, the blood elf race had to settle for a smaller slice of the pie. They had acquired a respectable piece of land, but it was disconnected from their main territory. It took a great deal of diplomacy and negotiation with both the horde and the humans for them to finally secure a small corridor to link their domains.