Elder Forest was pissed, “What did your little Hellspawn do?”
Shadow Fist looked confused, lately the man was always confused. At least today it was hurt confused instead of fake confused. Before them stood the civil protector of the River Caldera and a being that appeared to be made of light. The issue currently was, that Elder Forest had traded his civil protector to the mine and replaced Henry with two mediocre tier threes.
It should have been sufficient, but then a civil protector and whatever the creature beside him was marched through the gates proclaiming the rise of a new champion. The worst part was, that Elder Forest was pretty sure that he was looking at a light elemental, and he had a bad hunch as to where it was sourced from.
“Nothing, the six guards I left never missed their twice-a-day check-in,” Shadow Fist, “At least not until recently.”
Forest weighed his options. The two tier three guards with Shadow Fist as backup should have been able to handle anything that walked through his doors. Even the River Caldera's new golden child Kerri would be hard pressed to fight all three off. Regis was literally the only person who posed a threat to his safety, and the walls should have been able to hold against one man. It was his companion that was the problem it was not human despite the fact that it looked vaguely feminine, he could see its skull.
The way he saw it, he only had two choices. First, run and abandon Shadow Fist to his death. It would be a noble death and had the perk of getting his unwanted brother-in-law out of his hair. Second, capitulate, which was not palatable at all, especially as there were only two of them. Elder Forest intended to crown himself king of this Caldera, he was so close to succeeding.
The reports claimed that the tower plate had allowed them to exterminate the new breed of ghost crabs with few casualties. A few of his soldiers had distinguished themselves. A low tier three warrior named Kale had fought Kerri to a standstill long enough that the child had to flee or risk capture.
Making his choice, Elder Forest narrowed his eyes. His army would have no trouble putting these two down. Even a tier nine champion could be worn down by hundreds of armored individuals. As politicians were prone to, he chose to spend other's lives to secure his position.
“I refuse to submit to the whims of some unknown being. I am an Elder and no good leader willingly gives their people away,” Elder Forest stood, scooping up his staff at the same time.
It was a tier four shadow and flame artifact, allowing him to use the hiding skills that were normally unique to dark kerns. The fire function simply kept the body from going into hypothermia and negated its need to supply its own heat. It was a coward’s ultimate tool.
The creature beside Regis spoke for the first time, “I am here as a peacemaker, is rebellion your choice?”
It was definitely feminine. Elder Forest sneered at the creature, “I can’t rebel against someone I do not serve.”
“The law of the predator forces the weak to follow the rules of the strong. Variance is not an option, only separation from the herd and eventual death. So yes, rebellion,” The creature said.
Elder Forest’s eyes flicked to the civil protector’s hands. White tongues of flame started dancing between his fingers and despite the diminutive nature of the flame, Forest could feel the heat from where he stood. He decided it was time to retreat, he was not confident in surviving a single attack from Regis despite having a fire kern too.
“Kill the intruders,” Forest said, while at the same time stepping back into the shadows.
The two guards possessed water and air kerns, as poison was the most common way to kill a leader. While it was no substitute for Henry Golden Heart and his healing, it was much better than nothing. They both attacked together, one using a crossbow, while the other used a halberd.
The bolt screeched off of Regis’s armor, leaving a long scratch in the metal. Normally, crossbows with a draw weight to match a tier three’s strength could punch through most things. The draw weight would often exceed four thousand pounds, especially as this specific crossbow was an artifact.
The marksman frantically started winching the string back into place for a second shot. He would have already died if the shining creature had seen fit to get involved. Despite the lack of interruption, he was still too late to save his partner.
Regis used his gauntlet to backhand the blade of the halberd aside and grab the shaft in the same motion. He pulled the shaft and punched forward at the same time. The guard was smart enough to release his weapon, as there was no way his tier three strength would match a tier four in a direct contest.
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Still, the man could not avoid Regis’s punch. A shockwave of white flame tore into the man, not getting through his armor, but still melting it to his body. The next blow came from the black sword, the fire covering it cauterized the beheading. Yelling obscenities, the marksman took aim.
Before he could pull the trigger, Regis threw droplets of flaming liquid at the man. The air kern exasperated the issue, and the second guard went up in white flames.
Elder Forest was only halfway to the back door when a hand fell on his shoulder. Jumping in fright, he looked back to find Shadow Fist holding him by his shoulder. The man could not stop Elder Forest, not with brute strength at least, but he had identified and found him.
“What are you doing?” Elder Forest hissed.
Shadow Fist simply grinned, “You have committed the same crimes you accused Elder River of. You have chosen to sacrifice the lives of your people for a meaningless prize.”
“I am the Elder, you let me go,” He had no idea what Shadow Fist was rambling on about, but he had to go.
“For placing the Caldera in danger, you are under arrest,” Shadow Fist said.
Elder Forest took a swing with his artifact, but he was a politician, not a warrior, despite his high tier. The strike missed, though not because Shadow Fist moved. There was a bright flash of light and a burning pain in his arm. He could only watch blankly as his arm fell to the ground, cut cleanly between the elbow and shoulder.
It had been a long time since he had felt pain. Fear was a common partner, as it was with all prideful men, but pain was not. He screamed as he jerked out of his brother-in-law’s grip. Elder Forest made it one step before an armored fist clenched around his throat and slammed him against the wall. His ears rang from the impact and the plaster covering over the pinewood frame cracked and flaked.
“You wanted to be king of the Caldera?” Regis said, disgust evident from his tone, “You’re a warrior, warriors are brave, we stand in the front, we slay monsters.”
“He is a coward,” Shadow Fist said standing a few steps away with his arms folded behind his back. It was not a subservient stance, but it was also not defiant.
Elder Forest glared at the man he had just ordered to march to his death. Shadow Fist simply raised an eyebrow, like he dared Elder Forest to dispute the claim. Being suspended by one’s neck is a terrible location from which to yell at traitorous subordinates.
“Interesting. Why did you choose to abandon your own kin for the true king? It does not paint you in a good light,” The glowing creature hummed.
“Well, um,” Shadow Fist paused uncomfortably, “What do I call you?”
“I was not given a name,” The creature paused as if thinking, “My lord named himself after the mind’s original host. I shall follow his lead. Call me Hestia.”
“Hestia, you claimed to follow the law of the predator, how does that law work when raising powerful pack members? How would your lord feel if someone in his pack would grow stronger than him?” Shadow Fist asked.
“He would wait for them to challenge him for leadership, of course, this is an obvious answer, are you looking for something more specific?” Hestia asked.
Elder Forest closed his eyes, he knew what Shadow Fist was about to say and there was no way for him to refute it. He could appreciate how the man manipulated the situation and even used different language to narrow down miscommunication. His posture did not show meekness nor a threat, he was really treating this creature like some kind of territorial animal.
“This man is not just my pack leader, he is also my sworn mate’s brother. He stopped me from gaining power because I would have challenged him, so he kept me weak,” Shadow Fist said, “I am an ambitious man, who I serve does not matter so long as there is a way to grow. In your words, become a greater predator.”
“Stopped you from growing? Why would he be afraid of you if he wasn’t afraid of your brat? He made it to tier three before he got his heart ripped out,” Regis mocked.
Shadow Fist winced, but sighed, “May I demonstrate?”
Regis nodded. The man was unarmed and with darkness's crippling weakness to light, he would be completely stopped by Hestia. Her parts were a tier six hero from Hestia, a tier four body from someone down in the pit, and Henry’s tier four bones. Adding all three together gave Hestia abilities comparable to an absolute peak tier seven, Shadow Fist would not know how he even died.
Shadow Fist placed a hand on the bigger man’s exposed temple. It was the only part of Regis’s body not covered in metal. The civil protector almost dropped Elder Forest when he felt some of his essence get stolen.
“What was that?” Regis asked, more interested than concerned.
“The power of hunger,” Shadow Fist said, “Humans fear power they don’t understand, I hope the champion does not.”
“Intriguing, I will not make any decisions concerning your fate, you are too odd,” Hestia turned to the Elder, “You though, need to die.”
Elder Forest started kicking and flailing, but he could do nothing to stop the gauntlet from heating to an unbearable level. Just as it started branding his flesh, Elder Forest got a surprise from an unexpected source.
“Stop, don’t do this!” Shadow Fist yelled.
“Do you defend your oppressor?” Hestia hissed clearly displeased.
“No, I can just tell, you don’t practice politics,” Shadow Fist said.
“Explain.”
“If you kill Elder Forest this way he will simply be a martyr for your enemies to use. You claimed to already have the temple on board, so have Daphan bring his sins to light. Paint him as an enemy of the gods that your lord is championing, people will turn on him, then the action will gain you allies instead of enemies,” Shadow Fist explained.
“While my lord is a champion, he does not serve these unknown gods,” Hestia said attempting to comprehend the idea.
“That does not matter, the perception of it is what matters. People are fickle, they will support or oppose someone simply from second hand information, or a single relatively unimportant character trait,” Shadow Fist explained, “Most people think of me fondly because I remember their names, even though it is an open secret that I am an assassin.”
“That seems prudent,” Hestia said, still a little unsure of herself, “I will take this to my lord for his decision.”
Regis set the Elder down and knocked him out with a straight punch to his face, “It is true, we used to cover up killings and bad behavior all the time, reality is not what motivates the common man. Security is what they find most important.”