Azmeritus and Bishop Skaar sat hunched over a worn oak table covered with books and  scrolls. The room shimmered in a soft orange  light created by the dozens of candles and mirrors scattered throughout. It was not a happy scene. Azmeritus was tense and  frustrated.

Skaar looked up at the mongoose.
"Your eminence, I have searched the scrolls you assigned me and there is barely a mention of a 'Secret King'."

Azmeritus said nothing at first, instead, he gently brushed his paw over the worn pages  of the tome that lay spread out before him.  Finally he let out a long sigh and closed the book to respond to his bishop.
"I feared as much, this...," he placed his paw on the  closed book, "... this magnificent revelation of prophecy is only half complete. The Deev are seeking its brother, the second book, to answer my concerns. It has been correct thus far in all things, Gadral Neure was certainly touched by the gift. We have done all the book said we would and everything has happened as it said it would. It tells, as you are well aware, of the coming of our reborn god. It prophesies the  glory of Xenophus, it tells  us how to wake him, but it also tells of his only threat, the Secret  King."

Skaar threw his hands up in frustration.
"But king of what? King of whom? Man or beast?"

"We will not know for sure until the Deev return, then we can take the necessary precautions to safeguard our lord."

"If the Deev can find the book," Skaar cautioned.

Azmeritus actually laughed. He re-opened the book of Prophecy to its final page and read.
"...and the deathless ghosts, now mortal once more, shall discover the book of secrets and be swept into the crystal dome."

"What is the crystal dome?" the bishop asked.

"I suspect it is physical representation of the glory of their deed. Neure often speaks in metaphor. In any case, the book has not been   wrong yet, so we can feel secure that Vasheron will secure the book."

"And then?" Skaar asked.

"If things go well, my dear Bishop Skaar," Azmeritus said darkly, "Vasheron will send some of his Deev to visit this secret king once he knows who he is and solve our problems once and for all." He stood and motioned Skaar to join him, "That is enough for tonight, let us adjourn to the main chapel and give our thanks to Xenophus."

Bishop Skaar rose and assisted Azmeritus in dousing the candles after which they both exited on their way to evening prayers.

When Azmeritus returned, he continued  his study of the Neure Prophecies. He shuddered, stood and walked to the window of his study,  looking out over the Cold Narrows which  separated Xenoth from the mainland. His face contorted  into a look of something approaching rage as he thought of the   countless  beasts  across the water living lives of  calm and complacency. That would end, he thought, with the coming of Xenophus.   Complacency would give way to devotion and calm would give way to Draconian order.

Xenophus would certainly exact a large   measure of revenge for the eons of imprisonment  it had suffered, but in the end, with  Azmeritus as its devoted herald, it would purge the world of contamination and the  mongoose would revel in its rebirth,   preparing the sinful world for his  god's dominion.

Azmeritus returned to his desk and  continued to study the tome. All was going well, he  thought, but there were still disturbing warnings in the writings. The Prophecies were  written as both predictions and cautions, telling not  what would happen with absolute certainty, but what would happen if certain paths were taken. The Prophecies presented several possible destinies, each incumbent upon the actions of man and beast. The  mongoose smiled grimly knowing that, step by step, he had steered destiny to the path that he had chosen, toward the world he wished to  create.

The Rubitar would  arrive shortly, then the Abitar. Arisha would be by now, eliminated, one of the significant threats to the goals of the High Priest. The only danger to his plans remained the beast or man known in the book as 'The Secret King'. Azmeritus felt confident that the Deev would secure this king's identity. Once recognized, this threat could be  eliminated and nothing would stand in the albino mongoose's way.

Azmeritus continued reading, meticulously scribing the next steps in his plan. Even  before the Rubitar and Abitar arrived, the supplicant ceremonies would need to be increased leading up to the resurrection. Three times as many souls would be required. There were still plenty of beasts on Xenoth, they would simply need to be rooted out with  larger patrols and harsher tactics. Nothing could stop the inevitable. A new world was within reach.