Shova, 20th, 10,391

“Now we return to your family.” Venisolo’s words barely reached Alyx as he carried her away from the village. The forest passing them by. She had lost. Her body was shivering in pain, her mind whimpering in fear, her soul quivering in despair.

But her pride still held true. That man was wrong, there was value in pride. In honor. In her.

She hadn’t failed the quest, the world allowed her another chance. It believed in her.

She couldn’t go back and she voiced that with a croaking, “no.”

She could feel Venisolo tense at her refusal.

“But my lady, i-”

“No!” Alyx growled.

“Alyx,” Atelier began with careful gentleness.

“WHAT?”

“That man demonstrated… five different types of magic, one of which was a higher orbital magic. Blood.”

“What are you saying?”

“He is dangerous. Such aptitude is incredibly uncommon and when left to develop unrestrained such practitioners become wildly unpredictable.”

“I do not care. Kynairos is testing me, the world is testing me. I refuse to go home.”

“We have been exiled from these lands, my lady,” Venisolo said, as if that mattered.

“We will return.”

***

Barely a week later Alyx stood in the office of High Craftsmistress Susan. Every surface gleamed with lustrous metals, was adorned with luxurious curtains, and dotted with finely crafted furniture. She contained a scoff at the hypocrisy of the church. Such wealth was to represent the glory and radiance of Kynairos but all nobles knew the truth of it.

That woman’s fine silk was evidence that all Kynairos truly cared for was your obedience.

She would never say as much. The evolved priestess of Kynairos would not hesitate to exert her position to punish such comments.

But Alyx needed her and her priests.

Also in the room were representatives of the dominant nobles houses of the city.

Kenneth of House Truemar was a solid young man with a square jaw, very handsome. Simple but devoted to gaining an alliance with her house. He wore simple clothes, a white tunic with black breeches. The jacket he wore was the deep blue of his house colour. A white winged stallion embroidered on the back, his house’s heraldry.

Obial of house Gatz was also young for her position but had more of the steely gaze Alyx thought required of a leader. Tall, lanky, pale, and more gaunt than usual. Covered in stylish enchanted leathers she looked like a hunting spider. A short black cape with an embroidered white spear hung around her shoulders.

Serenath of House Pifera, was the elder of the three. Richly dressed, she looked like Susan's only real rival. The plump old woman watched Alyx with just a hint of contempt. She looked at everyone like that. A pale yellow flower stamped across her dress in a mesmerizing pattern.

Susan herself was a human woman with the barest evidence of evolution, her skin cracked and flake periodically revealing the greenish patina of aged copper underneath. It was a link, her connection to the god Kynairos, all evolved priests received such a mark from their god and this was the true sign of Kynairos.

“Praise be Kynairos.” Susan muttered, finishing reading a report before looking at the gathered nobility. Purposefully wasting their time to establish her own importance. Alyx understood but her impatience hated this woman.

“Praise be Kynairos,” they all replied with the correct amount of respect.

Susan looked to Alyx. “You asked Lord Trumar to call this meeting, speak.

So Alyx told them the story of her defeat at the hands of Six the Mountain Lord and by the end Susan was chewing her lip contemplatively.

“This is not the first time I’m hearing of this chieftain. One of my priests has informed me as such. We are spread incredibly thin right now though. I’m sure we can all agree that there is a tenuous balance in place between the main houses here. We cannot allow the city to destabilize. That is my priority.”

“He is evil and I humbly request the aid of all those here in my quest to rid our great empire of such threats.”

Susan scoffed. Openly. “And what do you think?” she pointed at Venisolo.

He only hesitated a moment. “He is no threat to Olisrosa, Craftsmistress.” He bowed in contrition to Alyx. “I am sorry milady but we must return home.”

Alyx would punish him later for his lack of solidarity.

Susan compelled more from the man. “Explain.”

“He lacks the sheer numbers required to be a credible threat. I estimate his troops to number no more than a hundred and a half, while Olisrosa must have at least five to six thousand spread between the house and palace troops. It would be suicide to attempt.”

“Quite right, Captain.” Susan raised an eyebrow at Alyx.

“He is a blood mage,” she blurted out, searching for any leverage.

“Oh? What level of mastery do you estimate him?”

“Apprentice at most, despite him casting no moderate spells. Only simple blood darts.”

“Bloodmagic while proscribed is not enough to dedicate significant resources to. I will assign three priests to aid you in the removal of this blasphemer. The palace troops will remain here.”

“Three?” Alyx was getting less than her station deserved.

“Do you wish for none?” the priestess’ tone cutting.

“No, sorry Craftsmistress. Three is more than generous.”

“The rest of you can decide to help if you wish but now.”

Serenath shook her head. “I refuse, as you said Craftsmistress, there is a tenuous balance here. I fear turning it.”

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Kenneth laughed heroically. “Well I will go myself, Even a portion of my house troops could crush them and Craftsmistress Susan will keep you both in good behaviour while I’m gone.”

Serenath scoffed at the young Lord and his arrogance.

“You have no right,” Obial murmured. “Mountain’s End lies in the Deathspire forest which is a part of my lands. At most this boogeyman is my subject. I will handle him in due time.”

“Quickly,” Serenath insisted. “I’ve been losing too many skilled non-humans to the forest boats.”

“I will handle it,” Alyx insisted, "Mountain's End is mine by right of blood.”

Obial’s eyes glinted as they regarded Alyx. “If you seek to take part of my forest for your own. It will be you I root out.”

“Oh?” Alyx mocked. “During this ‘tenuous balance?’ Please.”

The anger on the scarecrow's face told of her helplessness. She would not be able to stop Alyx from claiming what was hers. And once she stabbed her way through that army to kill that bloody man, she would be evolved or close to it.

Three classed Priests of Kynairos.

Kenneth would pull two thirds of his house guard for just over 800 combatants.

Atelier would attempt to gather additional imperial mages but almost all had been recalled to Zleen.

Alyx smiled, they would crush that little village, burn down the townhall and those trees then she would build and grow something better in its ashes.

***

“I should have fucking killed her.” said Six with narrow eyes, his hand scratching at the beard growth on his chin.

“You should have cut her throat,” hissed Aclo.

Keegan shook his head resolutely. “A man only has his honor and the strongest muscle of them all, his heart.”

“She tried to stab his face!” Aclo was apoplectic.

Keegan went to say something but after a moment of reflection nodded in agreement with the tsunken aelf.

Six sighed and brushed the attempt at murder away. “Guys, I had to let her go. I made a deal in front of our people. Even if I could sleep with my own betrayal I would not be able to taint the culture of our home with such dishonest killing.”

“Idealistic,” scoffed Tavi.

“Yes. Absolutely idealistic. Necessary in my opinion. If it was possible to do away with them I would have considered it.”

“I would have done it myself,” Aclo stated.

“I would not risk you alone against that woman and her mage and warrior companion. And if a strong enough party of you left, everyone would know what business you were about.”

“So what, you expose us to our enemies and lie to the people about what is needed to keep us safe?”

“I know it was a stupid move, adjacent optimal. Done to ensure that people believe in me. That I would uphold my end of an agreement with Alison’s sister.”

“She cares not for Alison. No human would see another with a drop of tsuken blood as anything other than a tainted slave.”

Six hardened at those words. “It doesn’t matter how that woman saw Alison. What matters is how the village saw Alison, how they see me, how they see us.”

“You expose us with your politicking,” grumbled Aclo.

“Noted,” Six accepted, nodding.

“You could have ended that far sooner. No fire waves, no Poh Doh, no Nibbler.” Charles moved the talk along.

“Fire Wave would endanger the audience, had to keep the collateral damage to zero. Nibbler is… her own thing. I feel like she would’ve been outside help. Poh Doh I was keeping as an ace to play if I had to, he was underneath our feet the entire time. I was fine. Anything else?”

Tavi jumped in. “Don’t take the pride of our village so lightly. You may not care about your own ego, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t care about ours. And before you say it, it's not stupid to care about pride!”

Six opened his mouth to argue but shut it and nodded. She had a point. Vicarious pride gave a certain confidence to one's own importance and that felt good. Strong leaders, strong communities, even sports teams could provide that sense of accomplishment and victory.

“Aight aight, I’ll try to be a little more vain… for the people.

He thanked the soldiers for having his back, waved to the watching people, and tried to continue on with his day. It was time to mass enchant a mixture of stone and fire golems, for the army’s stores.

Kathy stopped him before he could get ten feet, holding him up with a stopping gesture that instantly irritated him.

“What do you want Kathy?” he sighed in audible resignation.

“No need to be a fucking asshat. I’m only here to tell you that whatever little game you just played with that woman made her even more crazy than she already was.”

“Oh she is more crazy?”

“Yes, when that fight started she was what I would call the typical noble profile. Entitled and superior but with a small performative humanistic element. When it ended, what you did to her-”

“She fucked around a-”

“Kathy’s voice rose, fear trembling within it. “It doesn’t matter Six! It doesn’t matter what she did. Something died in her and when she comes back, and she will come back, when she comes back it won’t be under the guise and trappings of benevolence. Mercy is dead to her now.”

The true emotion in Kathy made Six consider her words carefully, there was something that must have informed her position and her surety. He fixed her with testing glare. “Mmhh, you sound very sure. How’s that?”

She deflected. “Does it matter? You need to do something!”

“I need to do something? What else can I do? I am doing everything I can. I doubt she can muster more than the retinue she came here with and if she can it is not something I can scale up to any faster than we are already. We are already devoting most extra resources to our strength. In fact, you are wasting my time right now.”

“You need to do m-”

Six shook his head, no. “You need to tell me how you know, what you know.”

She stepped back and laughed at him. “You think intimidating me will work? I know things about you too. I know you won’t exile me like you did Alyx. You’re not gonna kill me, I don’t need to tell you anything.“

“You think I can't get crazier like that lady?”

Kathy shrugged. “I know you haven’t yet. Nothing about you has changed since the day we met. You have the same amounts of crazy, just letting more show everyday.”

Six was done being indirect. “Is this your gift?”

“Gift? You mean like, was I a gifted child?” She asked with what Six believed was genuine confusion.

He wasn’t sure if she was lying. “You’re lying. ”

She rolled her eyes. “You can believe that. It doesn’t mean it’s true.”

“What I believe matters here.”

She spat on the ground. “Yes. You are a fucking dictator.”

Six began to lose his cool. “Could you have stopped her, Kathy? As a, what,” he analyzed her again. “A LEVEL FUCKING 1?! STILL?! She would have stuck you like a pincushion and popped you like a fucking water balloon.”

Kathy began to shout as well. “Beating some poor woman to death isn’t justification for monarchy. You didn’t need to stop her! Even if you did, does that mean your little military junta gets to make all the rules? Democracy is the only ethical way to proceed here.”

“That's not how I'm running this place.”

“Because you're a tyrant and these people are stupid!”

Six pointed to the crowd that were watching them shout. “You’re lucky they can’t understand English. Also, you’re wrong! They ain't stupid! Show some fucking respect for your community.”

“Fine, they’re not stupid. But there can be no real mutual respect between lord and peasant.”

Six was silent. Thinking of all the people that came together to create this place. Himself included. He was a part of something great, just a single part. That thought centered him. He was wasting time.

“I’m done arguing. Now if you have anything actually helpful to say, say it cause I have work to do.”

Kathy was speechless, trying to find the right words she let out a disconnected series of jumbled syllables.

It took everything Six had to not mock her.

Then Ravna was there, a hand on Six’s chest, speaking to him softly in Zleenish. “What's going on my love? I don’t like seeing you so angry. Especially after a victory.”

Six rubbed his face, finally feeling a twinge of shame at his conduct. “I, ah-”

Ravna sported a questioning eyebrow and she spoke with cold venom. “And you, Teacher. Why do you provoke our lord so?”

“He isn’t listening!” Kathy hissed.

Ravna put on a shocked look and swung to stare at Six. “He is thick headed but you overstep yourself.” She made a shooing gesture at Kathy. “Leave him alone.”

“Don’t think that your special just because your fucking him.”

Ravna winced and looked at Kathy with distaste.

Seeing Ravna’s hurt clicked over something violent in Six and for the barest of moments logic and ideals didn’t rule him.

Kathy stepped back, spooked. Looking at Six with true fear. “I’m sorry. That was rude and uncalled for.”

“Something’s changed now, eh?” he asked with contempt.

“I’m sorry,” Kathy repeated before bowing her head and turning away into the crowds of the square.

Six watched her go before meeting Ravna’s concern.

“What’s going on Six?”

“Nothing, I just… she was worried about that Alyx lady and wanted to be heard. She didn’t like my answers.”

“She should learn to respect you. Most lords would flog her across the town.”

“Disagreement is not disrespect.”

“I know. But she clearly does not respect you.”

“Bah,” Six waved it away. “I don’t care what she thinks about me. She is currently falling into line and that's enough.”

“For you maybe but I don’t like seeing you riled up like that or disrespected.”

He kissed her forehead gently. “Well I’m better now. Where’d you come from anyways?”

“I was watching the duel. One of my apprentices was returning from the Gunnbjorn yard and told me. I arrived as the officers did. I saw the whole thing, I don’t like it.”

Six thought back to his blood covered form. “Yea, I can imagine it's not nice seeing me like that. Stressful. You ok? How are you feeling?” Six asked looking at her very slight belly bump with clear meaning.

“I’m fine and our baby is fine.”

“Are you fine?” Six asked skeptically.

Ravna smiled and batted her eyelashes sweetly. “I have a constant stomach ache and my nose is stuffy most of the time.”

“Is that normal or are you sick? Should I get Kali to check you out?”

Ravna held up a calming hand. “Kali has already checked, nothing to worry about. All very normal.”

“Ok… Great. When did Kali say we should expect the little one?”

Ravna sighed. “Sometime in the early new year.”

Six did the simple math in his head. Zarmul’s yearly cycle was similar to earth’s and the new year was still, “five more months away, eh?”

Ravna smiled. “I can’t wait.”

“Same but we’re gonna have to.” He gave her another kiss. “You’re gonna have to wait until tonight to tell me more. I need to get back to work, ok?”

She grabbed his hand. “No, not ok. You need to take a break. Come home with me, we can both rest.”

“Aaaah, there’s so much to do though.”

“It can wait. Please, you need to take a break.”

Six drew in a deep breath and centered himself, releasing it along with the unending feeling of not doing enough. “Aight, I’ll take the rest of the day off.” He called over to Elara who was standing a discrete distance away. “Please cancel my appointments, get Jebbedo to send food to Ravna’s forge, and take the rest of the day off. Thank you, Elara.”

The scribe nodded before hurrying off, eager to leave the two lovers alone.

The warmth Six felt towards Ravna infected his smile. “I’m all yours.”