Chapter 55: Diplomacy 1

Elania paced the bedroom, her mind churning with the weight of Arlois’ request.

Shadow prowled around her feet, his whines echoing her own unease. She wasn’t sure how, but somehow, he knew she was going on a trip.

Yolani sat on the bed, her brows knitted together. “Going to Hels is a bad idea, Elania.”

“I don’t like it either,” Elania admitted, her gaze drifting to the weight reduction pack on the dresser. “But it’s important to the city. If we’re going to stay, Contia needs its ally’s help.”

Yolani’s frown deepened. “Then take me with you.”

Elania shook her head. “If I brought you, it would slow things down a lot. I can’t protect both of us at maximum speed for long. The trip would take days if you came.”

“And what if we’re in danger while you’re gone?” Yolani’s voice rose, tinged with frustration.

Elania’s shoulders slumped. “It’s a risk, I know. The city might be attacked while I’m away, but Arlois has promised to protect you and the refugees with all her power. She made a contract to that effect.”

Yolani took a deep breath, her gaze drifting to Shadow. “Even he doesn’t like it.”

Elania turned away from the pack, a weak smile tugging at her lips. She crossed the room, pulling Yolani into a hug. Shadow growled as Elania reached down to pet him.

“I’ll only be gone for a few days,” Elania murmured. “I’ll be back as soon as I can, hopefully with an idea of how much help we can expect.”

Yolani’s shoulders sagged. She pulled away and moved to the pack on the dresser. “If you’re going to go, you should go prepared.”

Elania sat quietly as Yolani stuffed the pack with supplies.

Hours later, she stood on the balcony, the weight reduction pack strapped to her back.

Yolani’s lips were soft, a bittersweet farewell.

With a final glance over her shoulder, Elania took off into the air, the wind whipping through her hair as she soared towards the distant horizon.

The city of Contia shrank behind her, its towering spires and busy streets reduced to a patchwork of colors. Reaching into her flight bag, she pulled out the map Arlois had given her.

She unfolded it; the parchment crinkled in her hands and she confirmed that the glowing dot representing her position was indeed moving in the right direction.

Satisfied, she tucked the map back into the bag, trussing it tightly.

The air grew thinner, forcing her to activate her [Demonic Aura]. A compressed bubble of air formed around her, allowing her to breathe easily, but that increased her air resistance.

Arlois’ advice echoed in the back of her mind.

She drew in more compressed air, and her wings transformed into ethereal flames, propelling her even higher. The heat from the friction of her speed seared her air bubble, but she pushed on.

The glow from the shockwave ruined the view, so she couldn’t really see anything nice.

There was a slow, steady drain on her energy, her [Divine Power] ticking down at a rate of about one point per minute. She checked her reserves and confirmed that, despite the rapid depletion, she would arrive at Hels in just a few hours.

Concorde would have nothing on her flight speed.

Time seemed to stretch on endlessly, the monotony of the journey broken only by the vibration inside her [Demonic Aura], the dancing flicker of flame in front of her, and the heat haze below.

It was easy to lose herself in the flight’s rhythm, her mind wandering back to Contia, where everything she cared for remained.

Eventually, Elania slowed to a pause, protected from the heavy vortex that rushed past her inside her bubble of air. Her wings flashed back into their usual gold and white feather pattern as the flames died down.

She needed to check her map.

The glowing dot that represented her position pulsed just south of her destination. She’d made it pretty close. Now she just needed to clear the last leg.

Moving into a comparatively sedate flight, Elania traced her finger along the route, confirming that she was indeed on the right path.

Eventually, the city-state of Hels came into sight. Obsidian walls and towers sucked in the sunlight. The city was massive, sprawling out as far as the eye could see.

Elania’s brow furrowed as she recalled Arlois’ warning. She was not to fly directly over the city but instead to land outside the southern gate and wait for verification.

“Bet there will be trouble,” she muttered under her breath. She just couldn’t imagine anything else.

Elania tucked the map back into her flight bag and checked to make sure the document scroll Arlois had given her was still secure. The scroll contained whatever information Arlois wanted presented, plus her credentials as a diplomatic minister from Contia.

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It would be problematic if she were attacked before she could present it.

So, no more hypersonic flight—or any lazy scenic circles. Even if she really wanted to figure out what the giant black dome near the center of the city was. Maybe the home of another Celestial Engine?

She angled her wings and began her descent towards the southern gate. It was a slow, casual glide down to the prominent gravel thoroughfare. She regained her feet an easy mile from the wall.

Not too far to walk, and plenty of room for her to examine the people staring at her.

And even if she couldn’t see them, it felt like a million eyes were all trained on her, searching out every secret that could be gleaned from examination at a distance.

Well, the city was probably doing exactly that if they had any magical scanning abilities. It was the point of her landing so far away, after all. Rushing up to the gate was far more likely to cause an… incident.

Elania folded her wings as she walked, taking the distance at a non-casual walking speed. There wasn’t a lot of traffic, but the people going in the opposite direction gave her a wide berth and the scattered people in front of her sped up fast enough that they would be through before she reached the gate.

She only took one glance behind her—it seemed like everyone behind had suddenly decided to set up camp within sight of the city.

Her earlier gut feeling solidified in her mind. It was going to be a long day.

It was like walking toward airport security with a bag of things that were totally acceptable by their guidelines, but you just knew that they would be all over like ants, patting you down and scanning you all over.

Maybe?

This was Eladu, so perhaps they’d just try to shoot her first.

Then again, perhaps not. Elania was fairly certain they’d know she was a demi-divine, even if they had no idea about anything else.

Pissing off someone like her but much more powerful might give a lot of pauses to anyone not wanting to start random wars—or be obliterated. So maybe her worry was her reaching a bit.

Like Arlois said, don’t give them a reason to start shooting before she presented herself.

It seemed to work because as she stepped up below the now locked and secured gate, they started shouting at her instead of shooting.

“Identify yourself and state your purpose,” a man shouted from above.

Elania took a deep breath and shouted back. “I am Elania, a demi-divine from Contia. I bear the Towers’ seal and am Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary Presumptive!”

There wasn’t an immediate response.

Through the shut gate, she could feel the clink of metal and the fall of footsteps thanks to her heightened senses.

Eventually, the small wicket door in the main gate opened.

A man in deep purple plate armor stepped out, his helmet closed. He approached her without hesitation.

[Obsidian - Human - Level 503]

“Explain yourself, demi-divine,” the woman ordered.

Elania felt her wings bristle, but she held back her annoyance and surprise.

The shape and voice didn’t match at all. There was no feminine hint to the purple-hued steel the “Obsidian” was encased in.

Elania cleared her throat. “As I said, I am envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary presumptive from Contia.”

“We haven’t had a mission from Contia in a decade,” the woman stated.

Anger pricked at Elania. She forced it down.

It would have been nice if Arlois had mentioned they hadn’t talked to their “ally” in ten years!

“Still, you must have heard of the Sun Emperor’s movements and the Lightbringers?” Elania asked.

“Your papers, envoy?” the woman demanded.

Elania reached into her flight pack and retrieved the gilded scroll that Arlois had given her. It shimmered slightly, and she passed it to the guard.

“Wait here. Do not attempt to enter the city,” the obsidian said.

“Not much for niceties, I guess?” Elania blurted out.

The guard paused and looked back at her. “You were not impaled on the city’s artillery.”

Elania shifted awkwardly. She wasn’t sure whether Arlois had known they wouldn’t fire, or if the Tower would have expected her to just survive it.

When the woman reached the gate, there was a frustrated hiss. “What are you doing, Daelar?”

“I want to speak with her!” another voice replied.

Elania tilted her head, trying to hear better. Her darkwalker enhanced-senses did a pretty good job, but this was at the edge of her limits. She wasn’t sure how visible pushing [Power] into her abilities would be, but she suspected that would be easily noticed considering how many people were monitoring her from the walls.

And she didn’t want her idle eavesdropping to be considered an attack.

Even if she was very interested.

The two argued in hushed tones she couldn’t make out.

Whoever Daelar was, he won.

“You can’t stop me, Eira,” the man said. “The Obsidians do not trump the Arcane Academy in precedence!”

There was an angry grunt, then a heavy clank of armor from what she assumed was an angry “Eira” stomping off.

A man in the most garish wizard outfit she could ever imagine at an anime con appeared, complete with a pointy hat and crystal-tipped staff. A thick tome was chained to his belt.

Elania pulled up [System Analysis] and scanned him as well.

[High Mage - Human - Level 433]

His gaze was more serious than the conversation alluded to, and he seemed to assess her.

“Greetings. I am Daelar Rynor, leader of Hels’ Arcane Academy for Magecraft,” he said. “I understand you are an envoy from the City of Spires?”

Elania tilted her head. “From Contia, yes.”

“I have some questions for you,” he asked.

“Being forced to stand outside the gate and be questioned isn’t a great welcome,” Elania replied. A frown appeared on her face. “Maybe it could even be considered an insult to Contia?”

Maybe that wasn’t the right tack to take, considering that apparently Contia hadn’t been in contact with Hels in over a decade, but she was a bit unhappy. With Arlois, with the welcome, with, well…

Fuck, there were so many things to make her unhappy it was impossible to pick one.

Why couldn’t things be simple for once?

“Lady Lyrion is taking your missive to Councilor Isara Dayne for verification,” Rynor said. “The questions I’d like to ask you aren’t exactly related to your visit, or that. I just wanted to ask you about your trip here…”

Elania raised an eyebrow. “Uh, sure? But I’m not sure how much I can tell you.”

Rynor nodded. “Right. Right. Well…”

He started rummaging around in his pouch.

For some reason, he gave her the same kind of vibe that she got from Yolani when she was lost in some project or another.

He finally pulled out a scroll, then unfurled it. He tapped it and uttered an incomprehensible word, then turned it to show her.

It was a map, remarkably similar to the one Arlois had given her.

Except, about halfway between Contia and Hels was a gradient line of yellow and blues, the white part making a straight section nearly to the city before disappearing.

“Well, I wanted to know if this was your flight plan. We have been experimenting with new detection devices for such things. We’ve seen promising signs, but this is our first chance to actually ask a demi-divine if it was accurate or not!” Rynor’s words escaped with a rapid clip that was distinctly excited-scientist-driven.

What he was showing her was some sort of early warning radar for demi-divine? No, maybe not that, but one that detected hot objects flying through the upper atmosphere?

Elania looked closer. Sure enough, the line ended near the city, not at it, the same as when she had paused, then flown in slowly.

She eyed the metalworks on the wall above. Maybe Hels’ artillery was a bigger threat than Arlois knew?

What if the guess had ended with her a bloody evaporating spatter in the sky?

“It looks accurate,” she said. “Since I answered your question, do you mind answering a few of mine while I wait?”

Elania offered her best diplomatic smile.