– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 219, Season of the Rising Sun, Day 36 –
“Seriously, what is that?!” Rafael squinted and leaned closer to Terry.
“I guess that answers my question,” muttered Terry.
“Well, how about mine?!” Rafael leaned back and stared at him. “That definitely wasn’t there when we fought together in Thanatos.”
“Is it dangerous?” interjected Guillermo with a concerned glance towards his battle brother. “We have some seers in the sect. I could petition them for help now that they’ve allowed me to return.”
“I don’t know about dangerous, but it doesn’t look like any soul I’ve ever seen.” Rafael pointed at Terry. “As if it’s there but also not. Connected but not like a proper soul should be. It doesn’t look like possession but something about it seems unnatural. That soul itself looks strange too.”
“Perhaps Chalita knows more about it,” said Guillermo. “Apparently, she’s quite well-versed in souls.” He shrugged. “I’ve contacted the Shadowed Forest Sect in case they want to lend a hand, but I haven’t received a reply yet.”
Terry was not surprised that there was no reply, but he was surprised that Guillermo had even bothered to ask. After they had escaped from the trial tomb, Chalita and her sect had backed his side, but that could be chalked up to their desire to go against Shen, who had been responsible for Chalita’s death and forced her to switch bodies.
“The Princess of Icy Dew Mountain has sent word that it might take a while,” continued Guillermo. “Barnes wants to repay you for saving his martial brother and sister, but Zhang is chewing his ear off that they cannot drag the sect into such a large-scale conflict for such a reason and he refuses to let his junior go without sect backing.” He snorted. “More like he refuses to let Barnes go while Chun is following him.”
Terry furrowed his brow. He had not expected that the Icy Dew Mountain would continue to back him to such a degree. The fact that they’re even considering it was already surprising.
“The others that my sect can spare will arrive over the next few days,” finished Guillermo.
“Others?” Terry had never seen Guillermo interact much with his Ironbark Fist Sect. He figured that the elf’s moniker as the Outcast had something to do with it.
“The sect has allowed me to return,” said Guillermo with a confident smile. “Since we’ve come out of the trial realm, a lot has changed.” He looked at Terry with respect. “I don’t only have to thank you for getting us out, but also for the Ironbark Scripture you’ve offered me. It has done wonders for my cultivation since then.”
Terry vaguely remembered that he had handed one of the jade tokens from the Hall of Knowledge to the elven martialist before. If the technique had allowed his allies to rise in power, then all the better. He looked at Rafael whose jump in power he had already witnessed when the white wolf had raged in the shadow plane – faster and more agile than ever before.
“I don’t have a sect to bring, but I brought something much better…” Rafael smirked smugly. “The great me!” He wiggled his eyebrows before pointing with a thumb at Guillermo. “And him, I guess. So technically whatever he’s bringing is actually my present. Much better than a creepy chained up smoothskin. Perhaps you can use your connections in the city to get me some proper recompensation. Oy, are you listening?”
“No.” Terry had already tuned out the ramblings of his feline friend. When they came into view of the city, he remembered something he should probably bring up. “Rafael, don’t start shit with the Soaring Mountain Sect when we get there. I know you hated Xuan, but they’re not him. Please behave yourself.”
“That damned wall’s sect is here? I’ll—!” Rafael stopped himself under Terry’s glare and his lip twitched. “I’ll naturally act like the sensible adult that I am. As you would expect of the great magnanimous me.”
“Uh-huh.” Terry would believe it when he saw it.
“You two had dealings with the Scaled Mountain of the Soaring Mountain Sect?” Guillermo looked from Terry to Rafael.
“Dealings? Pah!” Rafael scoffed. “That damned lizard would not be able to deal with my feet. We beat him into a whimpering mess of sobs and tears. He’s only alive because of our magnanimous natures.”
Terry felt the questioning glance of Guillermo on himself and added. “Fought him in the Thanatos Proving Grounds. He beat us until he didn’t.” He looked ahead and he was sure that the dwarven woman dressed in crimson, who was walking in front of them, had perked up her ears again.
“Xuan somehow escaped there just when we did too.” Terry smirked at the scowling Ruby who had turned around to indicate that she did not buy the coincidence. The fact that Terry was already looking at her when she turned did not help to make his story more believable and instead made it seem as if he was reciting a story while he knew he was being overheard.
“Where to?” asked Rafael.
“Flower House,” replied Terry.
Rafael stared at him. “After staring at that soulless paleskin for days, that’s your first stop? I’m not one to judge, but okay.”
“What?” Terry frowned. “That’s where I live, you imbecile.”
“Lucky you,” quipped Rafael. “Perhaps you can introduce me to a nice glossy-furred felan…” He puckered his lips and narrowed his eyes at Terry. “...or do you live there because…” He seemed conflicted. “Do you need money? I mean I don’t have any, but maybe we can start a collection or something.”
Terry rolled his eyes and tuned out the ramblings of his feline companion again. He focused on his mana sense and tried to get a good grasp of everyone’s locations. Then he began transmitting messages with finger runes. He wanted to make sure that Edmund had the local leaders ready for their chat with Ruby.
Terry was so focused on his mana sense that he nearly didn’t notice the figure storming into his chest. He had to suppress his battle instincts at the sudden approach. He knew who it was but had not much time to process what was going on before Daisy was already clinging to him while sobbing frantically. “Uhm… Hi?” He stood there awkwardly, not sure if he should return the hug or not.
“...thought you left.” Daisy stammered through shaking sobs. “Or died.”
“You live here, huh?” interjected Rafael from the side with a smirk. “Uh-huh.”
Terry weakly patted Daisy on the back. He appreciated the warm welcome, but he did not have much time before the interrogation meeting would start.
“You still look like shit, Terry.” Iris’s dry remark jolted Daisy awake and she distanced herself from Terry bashfully.
Terry snorted and looked from the tattooed woman to the snickering Guillermo.
“What?” Guillermo shrugged. “You really do. I didn’t want to say anything before, but if anyone were to put you into a line-up of zombies, it would be hard to tell the difference.”
For some reason, Daisy flinched at their banter.
“Funny,” said Terry flatly.
“Not at all.” When the stern voice of Akemi reached them from behind, it was Terry’s turn to flinch. “You will rest or I’ll knock you down myself.”
“Oy, are you threatening my brother?!” Rafael squared his shoulders and stepped forward.
“I believe she’s trying to help him,” interjected Guillermo and his statement took some of the air out of the felan’s posturing. “Look at him. He needs healing and rest.”
“After the meeting,” stressed Terry. In his mind, he added: Perhaps.
***
“What can you tell us about the Lich Kingdoms’ count?” asked Edmund.
Ruby looked from Edmund to Terry and back before shrugging. “The titles can be honorary or granted for power. A count that takes part in an invasion can be expected to be the latter.”
“What aren’t you telling us?” asked Terry.
“Many things.” Ruby grinned. “You’ll have to be more specific.” She winked.
“You know about the Lich Kingdoms,” stressed Terry. “You’re here on Thanatos’s behalf. Surely, you’ve had to deal with them. There is no way that you weren’t briefed for scouting this region.”
“Naturally,” confirmed Ruby. “We’re not officially at war with the Kingdoms, but there can only be one tiger ruling the mountain.”
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Thiago sneered and then growled at the foreign soldier: “Careful that the tiger doesn’t get its teeth pulled out. This mountain is our home.”
“Easy,” calmed Edmund and then looked at Ruby again. “How do the lich kings organize their invasions? How do they operate? Where does the count fit in? What can we expect?”
Ruby exhaled air sharply and puckered her lips. “Well, this much is not a secret for those that pay attention. No harm in sharing for the sake of friendly relationships.” She pointedly glanced at Terry. “Their approach hasn’t changed much since their previous uprising.”
Ruby inhaled deeply and then explained: “First of all, the lich kings don’t bother to oversee the invasions directly. That’s the role of the dukes and duchesses. Most of them follow the same protocol. Distract, persuade, entrench, divide. Create rot from the inside. Crush from the outside. If that doesn’t suffice, crush the support pillars.”
“Meaning?” pressed Akemi.
“The Lich Kingdoms earn from their drug exports, but money is hardly the only benefit they derive from it,” elaborated Ruby. “They look for openings. If there are none, they will create some. Their drugs are just one such way. They’ll know at least as much as us about the local population. Everyone has a weakness and they know it. They know whom to flip and they will when it suits them.”
Ruby sipped from a glass of mana-imbued wine. “Often they don’t even have to. They replace leadership with their own. Simply cut off the ruling heads and take over. Turn them into pariahs and isolate them. Or simply assassinate them quietly.”
Ruby pointed the glass at some of the present Knights of Labor. “From what I’ve heard you’ve seen some of that during your city festival’s celebration. Perhaps even with your own coup against Bloodborne’s royal family.” She smirked at the offended gasps. “The Lich Kingdoms happily support all rebel factions, no matter which political values they represent, as long as they’re weakening the current government.”
Ruby placed the glass back on the table. “After the preparation, the real invasion starts. They first send the dead as their infantry. I’m actually surprised that they used their undead hellspawn here. I don’t see what kind of strategic angle they’re looking for in this location, to be honest.” She shrugged. “But if they’re really insistent on conquering this place, then it makes sense. Given the strong presence of your local whisperers…” She nodded at Thiago and his hunters. “...the raised hellspawns seem justifiable.”
Ruby traced the rim of the wine glass with her index finger. “Next, they ramp up the pressure and if that still doesn’t establish satisfactory results, they’ll send a Hound for some cruel but precise intervention. If precision doesn’t suffice…” She returned her gaze to Edmund. “...they’ll send a count.”
Ruby sipped again from her wine. “The fact that they already dispatched a count while the first Hound was still active shows that they’re displeased with their pace of progress. That’s definitely not the standard procedure.”
“The count,” prompted Edmund.
“If you can think of the Hounds as the Kingdoms’ poisoned dagger, then the counts are their bloody warhammers,” said Ruby. “Less cruel perhaps but also more brutal. The logic is sound. If a territory can withstand the first phases, then it means it has some strong pillars in the local community.” She moved her gaze to Thiago and then to Terry. “A count or countess only has one job. To crush those pillars for all to see. They’ll demand unconditional surrender afterwards.”
“I’m flattered,” growled Thiago. “We’ll see who crushes whom.”
“I don’t believe you’ll be their first target at this point.” Ruby pointed her glass at Terry. “They’ll focus on the Whetstone Arcanian first. On Freedom’s Guardian. The most stinging thorn in their approaching feet.” She placed her glass back on the table. “You can expect someone individually stronger than the Hound. A trailbreaker of the Kingdoms. Used to battle while making a spectacle of it.”
Ruby started tracing the rim of the glass again with her finger while focusing her gaze on Terry. “An enemy that will rampage through the city if you refuse a duel. Publicly blaming you for every death. I wonder how you’ll face someone like that without a surprise ambush.” She grinned with anticipation. “And without utilizing the forbidden zone to finish them off. Unless I’m mistaken, you’ll definitely be forced to reveal more of your abilities.”
Ruby leaned back. “After that, things really start going.” Her voice left a shudder on the backs of the local defenders. “Another wave led by a commander sent directly by a duke or duchess. Someone whose approach is more idiosyncratic than generalizable.
“According to the closest fiefdom, this invasion is probably supervised by the Five Unholy Duchesses. If you somehow manage to last until here, then a duchess will eventually make an appearance.” She shrugged. “I don’t see how you’re going to survive that, but I’m willing to be pleasantly surprised.” Her anticipatory eyes rested on Terry.
Terry closed his eyes, rubbed the bridge of his nose, and took a deep breath.
Waste it.
He half-regretted asking for intel. He had received what he had wished for, but this knowledge was more than he had bargained for. He did not have to open his eyes to know the gazes resting on him at this moment.
Unbearably hopeful.
***
“Is it true?” Daisy asked with a face drained from blood. She and the other friends that Terry had made in the Flower House were looking anxiously at their Flower Protector.
“Yeah.” Terry shrugged while continuing his parallel wand imprinting, much to the chagrin of the healers watching over him.
“But why does it have to be you again?” asked Daisy with trembling lips.
“Who else?” asked Iris. She moved her eyes over her body inscriptions. “I wish I was stronger.”
Lavender silently stepped forward and offered Terry a piece of expensive chocolate before offering the same to the others.
“Thanks.” Terry lost himself for a moment in the sweet blissful taste. “Anyway, that means I can’t stay here until we’ve dealt with the count.” He looked apologetically at the boy hiding behind the counter next to Jasmine. “Sorry, Brandon. Story-time will have to be books-only again. Don’t forget to practice.”
Brandon hurriedly nodded and clung to the imprinted Blinding Flash glove that Terry had given him.
Terry sighed. He knew that his own battered appearance made the boy wince, but he tried to act normal. He could not stand all those pitiful and downcast gazes around him. He had enough trouble keeping his own intrusive thoughts at bay and those external reminders of his current situation did not help his focus. He was almost glad to hear the ruckus from outside.
A ruckus involving some familiar mana signatures.
“Excuse me,” said Terry and left the Flower House’s reception room perhaps a bit faster than necessary. Outside, he saw a familiar felan engaged in a boisterous shouting match with people from the Soaring Mountain Sect.
“Liar!”
“There is no way that a little pussy cat defeated our senior brother!”
“As if!”
“Who here dares to call the great me a little pussy cat, I’ll strip that furless skin from your backs!”
For once, Terry appreciated that martialists never changed. Their craziness was better than the doom and gloom attitude he encountered elsewhere in this besieged city.
***
“What news do you bring?” The mountain of dark scales that was Xuan opened his eyes to focus on the blue gaze of the lizan woman that had become his guiding light.
Fate pushed back her hood with her free hand while the other carefully ceased the mana flow into her mage staff. As so often, she felt respect and a hint of fear for the magic that revealed the paths to her. What the mages of this realm had created in the form of such masterful spellwork was truly awe-inspiring. Beyond masterful even. Efficiency that allowed a single mage to read a multitude of competing paths.
Too much to control, especially now that everything had changed.
But a guiding nudge?
Perhaps.
It would depend on the choice of their prince. Fate moved her blue eyes over the hundreds of gathered lizans whom they had rescued from the Initiates’ grasp and liberated from their diaspora.
Only the beginning. They still required guidance. Leadership. She could always offer the former, but the latter had to rest on heavier shoulders in the long run. She had her own role to fulfill. Her own mission. She had to gather those that could succeed in the impossible. She must. Otherwise, her realm would remain lost.
“I’ve located…” Fate frowned. After the incident with their benefactor, she had redoubled her efforts to learn the local common language, but it remained difficult at times. She understood when listening but when speaking, the words sometimes still fled from her forked tongue. “...your sect members.”
“Good, can you take us?” Xuan stood up.
“Hear me out.” Fate raised a palm. “Some would join our cause.”
“Naturally, they’re my second family.” Xuan spoke with the pride of someone that had earned his place in the sect and proven his worth.
“They’re already fighting their own battle,” explained Fate. “I’ve scryed the present and they’re battling the kingdom of death from the southeast.”
Xuan lowered his head and clenched his scaled fists. “They’re avenging our sect, I…” Conflicted feelings welled up in his chest. Ever since learning the truth, he had more than one family to honor.
“Some would join our cause, but the marks of death would strengthen further,” stressed Fate. “The dead twist the hearts, turn love into death. A treacherous path. Betraying self and ally alike. Divided they will fall. Not enough time.” She searched the eyes of their prince. “Too far away. We cannot split.”
When Fate had reached this point, she could not help but smile slightly. “They’re not alone though. They’re gathering around our benefactor.”
“What?” Xuan stared with wide red eyes at her. “Terry? What does he have to do with the Lich Kingdoms?” In the back, a part of the lizans raised their right fists to their chests out of respect for the one that had liberated their minds near the Elusive Fog of Frost.
“That I will have to scry,” said Fate. “But does it matter? He’s fighting on their behalf.”
“More reasons why we should go.” Xuan still remembered the debt he had to settle. He had not thought about it in nearly a year, but he had not forgotten. Now it appeared that more debts were being added to his account without him even being aware.
“If we go, we’ll stay to fight,” stressed Fate. “But for how long? That battle is beyond our abilities, Prince. No matter how I read it, we’re not enough to turn the tides.”
“We can get them out,” said Xuan.
“Some would come,” admitted Fate. “Many will not.” She looked intently at the Lost Prince. “The Benefactor won’t.” Her voice wavered. The fate of their benefactor had become increasingly difficult to read, but it revolved around the besieged city in all his paths until…
Until the end.
That revelation still unnerved her. Such a cut in fate? Dead or gone. No matter which path she followed.
A year ago, Fate believed their benefactor would eventually play another role in the liberation of their native realm. It was a feeling more than a revelation, because the revealing magic only barely stretched beyond the borders of a realm. However, that feeling represented a strong premonition nonetheless. What would such a cut in the Benefactor’s fate signify for their own impossible aspirations?
Fate took a deep breath. She could not control. She could only guide. “Another way. Some on the right path but the track is muddled. Not enough time. Not for all.” She held out her hand. The decision was Xuan’s, but she could offer guidance. The Benefactor’s possessions were still with her first chosen. She could not split. Neither she nor they could be everywhere at once.
But with the right nudge?
Others could walk where they couldn’t. A guiding nudge might be enough to pull the tides by a few days. The fates were always in flux but some bonds remained ever unchanging. Just like the cut in the Benefactor’s fate.
***