Fikre looks up. Over the horizon, see sees a large group of people riding towards them, approaching the armies of Lom from the side. Fikre squints his eyes, and he sees Inge Red Glissando riding towards them. What's she doing here!?
"Yah! Faster, Crucos! Faster!" The tribes of Howlers from the Golden Wastes ride in on scarily fast and mutated creatures. Fruitful Scholar is also distracted for a moment by the colossal army of incoming Howlers; Fikre regains his strength for a moment and takes the opportunity to quickly bite the man's head off, not even giving him time to scream. Fikre scorches the soldiers invading the village and flies over to Inge, landing right in front of her.
"What are you doing here!?" He shouts.
"I saw you and your people were in trouble! The Howlers believe in helping their friends!" She yells over the surrounding stampede of Howler riders.
"I didn't think the Howlers allied with any nation?" Fikre asks.
"When The Lich called us to his hall, I could sense that something was different about you. You were kind, and you had good intentions. Everyone else in that room was only concerned about themselves." She got all of that from a few minutes in a room with them? She's not even an adult!
"How did you get here so fast?" Fikre asks.
"One of my Words is the Word of Journeying. It makes crossing large distances trivial!"
"Gift of Beasts: Many-Skinned Mantle!" She shouts. She leaps off her mount midair and transforms into an eagle, flying above the middle of the battlefield. Fikre takes off as well, continuing to assist the citizens of the refuge with the battle. "Gift of Music: Passionate Crescendo!" She shouts. Fikre can't hear whatever she started singing after that, but nearly all of the knights of Lom cover their ears in pain and run in terror, the stragglers being picked off by Howlers or citizens of the refuge.
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The citizens cheer, both for their triumph over Lom and their new alliance with the Howlers. Fikre waves goodbye to Inge as she and the Howler army ride back over the horizon. This is the second time I've had my ass saved by another god. I need to get things under control.
"Great one!" An old man calls out to Fikre, who is still watching the Howlers ride away. "I have a matter I wish to discuss with you."
"Oh?" Fikre says.
"The sacred armor of the Toban plains was found left behind by the retreating soldiers," he says.
"I don't know what that is."
The old man strokes his beard and leans on his cane. "It's not important. What's important is that it means is that Ka-Khan Bur likely had something to do with this attack."
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Ka-Khan Bur? He's the chief of khans that reside in the Toban plains. He has absolute say in international affairs. "Are you saying that the Tobans incited the Atheocracy of Lom to attack and enslave the surviving Ancalians? Why would they do that?" Fikre asks.
"I don't know," says the old man, "but this armor is proof of it." Fikre squints his eyes in anger.
"I think I'll have a little chat with this Ka-Khan," says Fikre.
"I don't think that's a good idea," the old man warns. "You'd be better off talking to the person that manages their internal affairs. Although it seems counterintuitive, the one that mediates the clans of Toba was recently revealed to be a god as well." I'm going to talk to him, then. Right now.
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The Lich laughs in his palace as he releases the magical control theurgy from the old man. "I did not expect the Howlers to show up," The Lich says aloud to himself, "but this does not completely ruin my plans. Beelzebub has already used the Word of Madness, making him unable to even think about the armor, and used the Word of Fear to make him terrified of Fikre. The visage of hiding from confrontation and acting as if the armor does not exist will surely stir suspicion!"
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[Note: For this section, italics do not represent the thoughts of Fikre, but those of Mengu.
Mengu Oronar is awakened by a lama. "Sir! Something is at the front door!"
"What's all this, then?" Asks Mengu. He rubs his eyes and opens the front door of his temple to see a most terrifying 15-foot tall monstrosity covered in red scales standing in front of him. WHAT IS THAT!? Mengu screams in fright and slams the door shut. The lamas and nuns look at him funny. He slowly opens the door a crack, just enough so he can see the massive yellow eye of the beast staring through it.
"Mengu?" Fikre asks. Mengu shudders at his words. Why am I so scared?
"Y-Yes... that's... me," Mengu stutters.
"Why are you so scared? I haven't even said anything yet, and you screamed like a little girl" Fikre says.
"I DON'T KNOW!" Shouts Mengu.
"I'm here to ask about something I've been told you own," says Fikre. What? I don't keep any valuable artifacts on me. What could he be talking about?
Fikre waits for a moment before saying, "Does a suit of armor ring a bell?"
"...No?" What armor?
Fikre's eye dilates through the crack. "...Are you lying to me?"
Mengu's voice cracks. "No!"
"Do you mind me asking why you're so nervous?" Fikre asks.
"I-I..." Mengu feels himself slipping. Why... am I...
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Normal italicization resumes here.
Fikre hears a loud thud inside the temple. What was that?
"Mengu... he's collapsed!" Someone inside yells. What!? He was so afraid that he fainted!?
"This is a waste of time," says Fikre. He closes his eyes and travels back to his cave once again. It's night now. I should ask The Lich about Mengu tomorrow. I'm so... tired...
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Mengu awakens in his bed, a few nuns attending him.
"Mengu!" One shouts. "He's awake!" A lama runs in.
"Sir," says the lama, "someone is here to see you again. It's urgent."
"Again?" Mengu asks. "We just had a visitor."
"It's urgent," says the lama. Mengu raises his eyebrow in confusion.
Mengu holds his head in pain and gets up to open the front door of his temple. This time, however, he screams, not out of some divinely inspired terror, but out of natural, primal terror, something far more terrifying than anything Beelzebub could have inspired in him. There, outside the temple, stands an armored man, behind him a massive, looming figure.
"Hello, son of Jack."