“What?” Tal winced as she sat opposite me in the kitchen.

“But, knowing Chozek's history, that will only draw things out further!”

“I know, Musa, however, until this conflict reaches a scale where we are at higher levels of risk, I will not intervene. Rail gun aside, the Children of Aviyv have no weapons or Magicians that are capable of harming us. You are free to deal with the Aviyvists yourselves but I will not intervene until it is necessary.”

Musa winced and Tal’s face rapidly grew expressionless.

“Is this what it was like for you during our many wars? None of them must have even registered otherwise you would have acted. “ Musa scoffed while crossing his arms and looking away.

Tal and I stared at him for a moment and he eventually allowed his shoulders to fall with a sigh.

“I… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to speak so rude but the way you operate is… frustrating sometimes.”

“I understand and I agree. It is often difficult to choose what warrants intervention but I must also trust that you will persevere lest this all be for naught.”

Musa nodded at my words before standing.

“Mmm… I’ll talk to Chozek again and we’ll see if we can formulate an effective but… somewhat fair resolution to all this. If not...”

Tal watched silently as Musa left the Temple.

“And what will you do, my dear?” I asked with narrowed eyes.

“I… will return to school.” Tal smiled while standing up.

“The lecturer and I had a wonderful discussion wherein we discussed the possibility of transcendence.” She said while walking to the kitchen’s exit.

“Oh?” I raised a brow.

“Yes. And the main point was that if Dragons are life transcended… then what potential does the soul hold?” Tal mused before leaving.

It was a good question.

Dragons were life at its purest and grandest but what constituted a great soul?

I looked down at my massive Uyil Belts.

Was I a transcendent version of the soul?

It was definitely worth looking into but I wanted to check up on the person who had sparked all of what was happening in Y’shuah.

I turned my focus to Northern Y’shuah.

Clear to see to the far west, were the grasslands which were reserved for those magnificent horses which stood tens of meters tall and had long hairs that glowed briefly green. The grasslands and the lands that surrounded them were beautifully green and absolutely teeming with life.

Kiynah’s farm was among the many that called this place home.

His wife, Chakh’mah, hummed sweetly in the kitchen while preparing some tea for her husband.

She had aged quite gracefully with only a few wrinkles lining her face.

She eventually served the tea she’d made to Kiynah who sat in the living room on one of two of couches. His face was lined with wrinkles, he had gone bald and also had heavy bags sat beneath his eyes.

He accepted the cup of tea with shaking hands before returning his eyes to the newspaper while Chalmers sat next to him.

“It’s still going on, huh?” He wheezed.

“Yes, but I heard King Chozek was set to meet Mal’akh Musa to discuss possible solutions,” Chakh’mah said while picking up a book on different types of tea.

Theirs was a tea farm and while they sold most of their crop come harvest season, Chakh’mah proffered to research and develop new tea leaves and techniques.

“Huh… if only Mal’akh Musa is coming then I fear we are in for ten more years of strife.” Kiynah scoffed.

“What makes you say that?”

“Because if it was the Dark Mother- I mean. Sav’ta, this whole situation would already be over.” Kiynah muttered with widened eyes.

“That is the strength of her will. So powerful that I couldn’t help but flee my post as Advisor lest my gaze meet hers.”

I laughed a little upon thinking to just how true Kiynah’s words were.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

He literally ran to his wife and begged that they move to Northern Y’shuah out of the fear of some kind of divine punishment.

His wife agreed although she didn’t know that he was running from the truth of that fateful night.

None of the Aviyvists knew either and yet they fought for justice and vengeance.

I turned to the South, to the people who championed a lie.

L’vanah sat among the leaders of the Children of Aviyv in Refu’s home once again and all of their expressions were stiff.

Well, all except L’vanah whose eyes burnt with determination.

“We may very well have brought upon ourselves something I dread to even imagine.”

One of the leaders muttered.

“Tsk! For how long will you all wallow in self-pity? Do not forget that we are not only the Children of Aviyv but we are also of Chofumah blood! We survived and emerged from fires as hot as those in Giza Olam and this will simply be another obstacle for us to leap over!” L’vanah yelled.

“But how… how do we defeat a God and her demigod offspring?” Refu asked with crossed arms.

“We already managed to prove that the brats aren’t indestructible so they will not be a problem and as for the dark mother… mmm… I do not know. At least, not yet.” L’vanah muttered.

“But, we will leap over that hurdle too when the time comes. For now, I ask that you all remain vigilant for they are coming to tear apart this wonderful, God-given family of ours.” L’vanah cautioned and everyone let out silent gasps as tears began welling in her eyes.

“We fought too hard for this.” She whimpered with a voice that violently shook.

“A place to belong, a people to stand by and a loving God to worship.”

I watched as the same fire that lit up in L’vanah's eyes appeared in everyone else’s eyes.

She then dismissed them I watched as the fire spread throughout the tunnels.

The Children of Aviyv knelt to pray and all they asked for from their Father was that he protect them during the coming storm.

I turned to Musa for some reason was back in the Elephantine Forest alongside a visibly frightened Chozek.

Musa glared into the woods all while squeezing the gravitational fields around his body until light began bending towards him.

The two stood by the large memorial sword and surrounding the clearing in the forest was a force of fifty guards.

“Have you figured out how they were able to get so close?”

“N- no!” Chozek squealed while frantically eyeing the forest.

“I see. Continue looking into it but, in the meantime, gather a force of about twenty thousand men and surround the main hub. Then collapse all the branching tunnels. I will personally… handle them but not before offering them a chance to surrender. Any among them who willingly hands themselves over will be impressed.”

“And those who don’t?”

Musa bit his teeth as the sun set over the Elephantine Forest, filling it with deep shadows.

“If we send any men inside, the bloodshed will be twofold and so I will go alone.”

“What if you get hurt? I cannot imagine what Our Lady will do if you are harmed again.”

“Don’t worry. I was careless last time. This time, not a single one of their weapons will touch the flesh given to me by her.”

“Ma’am?” Cheche called bringing me back to the Temple of Tablets.

“Yes?” I asked a visibly tired Cheche.

“Have you seen Tal? She didn’t come to school.”

“Mmm… no. I thought- don’t worry, I’ll look for her. Return home for now. I’ll update you as soon as I find her.”

Cheche nodded with eyes full of concern before leaving.

I sighed before closing my eyes and widening my perspective.

Under normal circumstances, I would have left Tal to do as she pleased but the timing made this anything but normal.

I found her flying towards the HDA.

It seemed as though the building had already been notified about her approach because several guards awaited her on the roof.

She landed and walked past them.

It seemed as though her destination was General Tuko’s office and, upon reaching it, she knocked on it.

“Enter!” The old warrior yelled prompting Tal to open the door and upon seeing my daughter, he stood up.

“Good afternoon, Mal’akh Tal. How may I help you?”

“I want you to help me end the conflict in Y’shuah.”

Tuko’s eyes widened.

“Oh? Does Our Lady know-“

“This is a request directly from me,” Tal said while walking towards the wide-eyed general.

“Oh- then what do you need? I can mobilize as many men as you-“

“I just want one thing.” Tal snapped softly.

“My brother gave you a few of his suits, no?”

Tuko’s eyes somehow widened further.

“Y-yes?”

“I know that he didn’t want them to be used for combat but a certain group of worms insulted Our Lady and for that I want them to receive the highest form of punishment. One I know my brother will not give them… a painful death.”

Tuko's eyes narrowed for a moment.

His face then twisted into a grin.

“May I speak to you freely, Mal’akh Tal?”

“We are both equals as children of Our Lady.” Tal nodded.

“Mal’akh Musa, wise and caring as he is, made the mistake of delivering unto us the perfect war machines.” He said while standing up.

“Would you kindly follow me?”

Tal nodded before following Tuko out of the building.

He then lead her to a large, unmarked building which was just down the street from the HDA but was sealed by a barrier of warped gravity.

This barrier was held up by several Magicians who stood on the roof.

Tuko and Tal entered it to find several of Musa’s suits moving about in what appeared to be a testing facility.

Some ran back and forth along designated paths and while it took the fastest human nine seconds to cover a distance of one hundred meters, the men could cover that distance in a single powerful step.

Other carried iron filled bags in rooms where the gravitational force was increased and a few were doing mundane tasks like performing push-ups and sparring lightly.

“One thousand times.” Tuko smiled while looking at the twenty suits he had been sent.

“That’s how many times stronger a person becomes when inside one. Pāttiram technology allows us to exceed our limits but several folds without sacrificing even a bit of our humanity, although overexertion can lead to the wearing of Uyil Belts but that’s only under extreme circumstances.” He explained.

“Good. I want you to send at least ten of these to Y’shuah and exterminate the pests that call the Hypogean Passages home.” Tal instructed with narrowed eyes and a flat, hiss of a voice.

Tuko’s smile widened but a frown quickly followed.

“Mmm… Madam Saidia definitely won’t approve. But that’s fine. I’ll apologize afterwards although I don’t think my undeniable charm will work on Mal’akh Musa.” He nervously chuckled.

“Don’t worry. I will speak for you when the time comes.”

Tuko nodded before returning his gaze to the men in suits.

“It seems as though it has come.” He muttered while glancing at Tal who had her eyes on the suits.

“Mmm?” Tal sounded.

“These may be the delusions of an old war dog but I have felt the coming of a great cataclysm for a while and I think it's foot may very well touch the soil with beneath our feet leaving nothing but destruction in its wake."