My journey began at a steady pace, riding across the frozen landscape as I tried to identify where the snow ended, and the road began. Occasionally I would stop to check the map at a crossroads, identifying the correct path to my goal. Somewhere between Yol’vastume and the coast the grove lay hidden from the rest of the world. My only hope was that it wasn’t hidden by means of magic, else I would never be able to get in without an invitation.
I could only hope that when I arrived the Warden would recognize my presence and allow me to return. Either that, or I had to find some more naderlings to pull me back to their little nest. Part of me wondered if the little lavander creatures even remembered me at this point, or were active during this time of year.
Those were all questions that flittered about in my mind while I rode through the countryside. Traveling by myself was certainly faster than being a part of an army. I made solid progress towards my search area in just the first day despite the problem with the snow.
The first night I spent sleeping by myself was... oddly unnerving. After spending the last few months in the company of thousands, if not tens of thousands of people, being alone was strange and made me feel a little exposed. My only companion was the horse, and they didn’t make for a good conversation partner.
Other than a strange and quickly developing sense of loneliness, things were progressing smoothly. There was scarcely a soul to be seen on the roads. I knew winter was hardly a time for people to be out and about, but this seemed to be even more vacant than what was to be expected. Perhaps news of the coalition army had spread through the Thrainian territories and people are simply huddling down to avoid coming into contact with any soldiers. We weren’t interested in the villages, though, but they didn’t know that. History wasn’t exactly kind to the little guys, after all.
I didn’t feel the need to change my appearance for this trip, mostly because I had a hood on that helped keep me warm and hide any of my more condemning features. Another reason was that I only saw a single cart traveling along the road on any given day. The drivers all looked extremely nervous as their eyes flittered about the landscape, trying to pick out unseen threats that might lurk within. Usually, I received little more than a passing glance from them as they quickly determined I was not a threat to their wellbeing. The quicker this siege ends, the quicker life can return to normal for these people. Well, relatively normal I suppose.
I was under no illusions that there would be some changes that came with the overthrowing of their current government head. They were necessary changes though, and if I was allowed to weigh in on them, I could help ensure that the beneficial ones receive priority for enactment. That was a topic best left for future debate, and I focused on finding my current goal as I glanced at my map again.
On the third day of my journey, I started to approach the general area that I thought the grove might be hidden in. I was glad I could at least read a map on a basic level, but a lot of this came down to a lot of guess work. The landscape was significantly different from the last time I was here, making it all the more difficult to find the correct path.
While riding up and down the road looking for some sign or familiar landmark, I did a double take. Staring into the sparce, frozen thicket, I saw a tree that had something on the bark. Once I got closer, I realized that it was one of the markings that I had made all those months ago to keep track of my path back from the glade.
Thank you past me! I was ecstatic that my little bit of forethought had saved me so much hassle. Spurring my horse onward and into the brush, I progressed slowly through the frosty woods, ducking under branches and icicles alike. Maybe it was because I knew what I was walking into, but it felt like I had eyes on me.
A few minutes later, I saw the clearing, devoid of any unicorns this time. Hitching my horse to a tree, I waded through the snow and into the open, looking around for any sign of the warden. There was no lumbering magical entity in sight, so I decided to call out for them.
“Warden! Are you there?” After a moment of silence, a reply came.
“I am. I did not expect you to return.” The rumbling voice of the warden seemed even louder than I remembered it to be. Maybe that was because there was less vegetation to absorb the sound.
The titan of stone and foliage soon revealed itself as a large snow pile several yards away shifted. The thick blanket of snow fell from the body of the giant as it stood at its full height, reminding me why I was nervous about talking to it. Their body wasn’t as lush as it was previously and seemed to reflect the current season we were in. Now standing straight, the warden asked the important question.
“Why have you returned?”
“I need to see Soro again. I want to offer him a deal that may convince him to come out of the cave, though it is a longshot.”
“Truly? From the way things ended during your last visit, I assumed that you would want nothing to do with one another.”
“Normally that would be true, but circumstances have changed, and I need his help in return for a chance to bring his species back into the light.”
It sounded like the whole of the warden’s body was rumbling as he considered what I said. “It is worth a try at the very least. Hopefully, this is what he needs to move on. I will remove the blockade for you.” The warden turned and began to walk toward the entrance to Soro’s cave.
I followed behind them, moving through the path that they plowed in the snow as they walked. The large boulder that marked the entrance to Soro’s cave had been moved back into place after I last left. Roots sprang up from the snow-covered ground, wrapping around the boulder and rolling it to the side. Once more I stared into the mouth of the earth, though this time I knew what I was walking into.
“That is more exhausting during this time of year,” the warden complained before turning their body toward me. “I wish you luck in your negotiations. I hope to see you emerge with Soro soon.”
“Me too.” It would certainly make my life a lot easier if he would just accept my deal quickly, but I get the feeling that this will devolve into an argument.
Building up my resolve, I strode forward and into the dark once more. This descent wasn’t as nerve-wracking as the last time. I had a purpose for my being here, and that limited the amount of hesitation that I felt even when facing the titanic serpent.
My footsteps echoed from deeper in the cave, and I was certain Soro knew I was coming considering I wasn’t even attempting to be subtle about my approach. Soon enough, I crossed the threshold between tunnel and cave, entering the wide-open area that was dimly lit by the many crystals scattered about.
Seeing no reason to delay, I called out into the dark. “Soro, get out here, I need to talk to you.” My voice echoed once into the depth of the cave before fading into nothingness. No reply came. The stubborn reptile was probably ignoring me like a child throwing a tantrum.
Not deterred, I then moved to escalating the situation. “If you’re not going to come out, then I’m coming in, and I don’t care if you’re taking a shit in a hole right now, I’m still going to talk to you.”
That seemed to get a reaction as the sound of a large body moving over loose stones came from deeper in the cavern. Disgruntled hissing and murmuring echoed outward, filling the room with the booming sounds of the titan known as Soro. Eventually, the murmuring coalesced into words as the giant serpent's head emerged from the dark.
“What part of our last interaction made you think I would ever want to see you again? Your blighted presence has already soured what little peace I was hoping for in your absence. Has the warden taken to meddling where he is not wanted again, or is this the part where you change your mind and attempt to take my life?”
“Neither. I’m here on business. I have a deal for you that you may be interested in as it concerns the fate of your species. Are you willing to hear me out?”
His large head twisted slightly in what I could only assume was exasperation. “Would you even allow me to exit this conversation?”
“Good point. I’ll get right into it then. So, I would like to offer you the opportunity to reclaim any one of your previous nesting locations, should they still exist in a usable state.”
He seemed a little bit more invested in the conversation now, but still held a hefty amount of skepticism. “This deal of yours reeks of falsehoods and broken promises. Why would I trust you, of all people, to help me in such a way? That’s not even to mention the vermin out there who would balk at the idea of my kind returning to the world. They would sooner rise up to finally stamp my kind out of existence and murder the last of our children.”
“I think you’re wrong on several counts,” I countered, much to his annoyance. “You’ve been hidden away for centuries, nurturing an image of the outside world that doesn’t exist anymore and has done nothing but fester in your mind all that time. You must understand that generations have come and gone in the time that you have been down here. Your people have gone from beings of history to beings of legend and any who would have jumped at the opportunity to finish you no longer live. They may be scared at first, sure, and scared people can do stupid things, but you must recognize this opportunity to rewrite the image of your people into something far more favorable than it has been.”
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“What are you insinuating?” His voice carried a bit of an edge to it, obviously warning me to choose my words carefully. However, I wasn’t about to stop now, and he needed to hear this regardless.
“The reason for your people’s downfall, and why you find yourself on the brink of extinction, is not wholly the fault of the Thrainians or the goddess. You carry some of that blame as well due to the way you treated other races that you considered to be lesser than yourself.”
A booming slap rang out as he slammed his tail into the ground in a fit of rage. I expected it, but it still made me wince. “You DARE to claim that the genocide of my people, the deaths of thousands of children and infants was our fault!? I should bury you in the earth for even suggesting that!”
“And yet it doesn’t make it any less true!” I shot back at him, raising my own pitiful, by comparison, voice to his. “Playing the devil's advocate is never fun, but sometimes it needs to be done for a lesson to be learned. Think about how different your history might have been if you had simply decided not to torment the other races but nurture them. If you had acted the role of parent, or guide to the others, you may very well have been revered, if not downright deified in their eyes. But no, you chose the route of tyrants and breed only hatred and resentment that eventually boiled over into violence. You now have the unique opportunity of a second chance to get things right, to have a future for your people that doesn’t end in obscurity and vague stories told to children during bedtime.”
He calmed down slightly but was still obviously fuming. “I must be misunderstanding this, because it sounds like you are saying I should make peace with the vermin.”
“That is exactly what I’m saying, and it would probably be a good start if you stop referring to them as vermin.”
“What else would I call those short-lived beasts who swarm with their pitiful weapons and magics that bite and sting. Once more you ask the impossible, to give up my anger towards them for all the wrongs they have committed.”
“Don’t you think it’s pretty hard to be angry at people who are already dead?” Despite a lack of recognizable facial features, I could still pick out the confusion in his expression. “Think about it. Everyone who had committed those crimes against your people are dead now, buried and relegated to history. You are literally being angry at corpses and dirt. If you have any desire for those children you are protecting to have a life of their own, you must allow those people to die completely and stop keeping them alive in your mind. It’s time for you to move on and look toward the future.”
“You speak of things you don’t understand.”
“Don’t I?” The question came out laced with a challenge. “How bold of you to think that suffering isn’t something that others can experience. I was tortured for a month straight, and because of my unique condition, they didn’t spare me their more fatal methods. Yes, I was angry, raging even as I wanted to burn this whole world to the ground. But I changed. I learned to move on and find a new purpose in my life. Of course, I want the one who ordered my treatment to face punishment for that, among other things, but no longer do I blame the world for the actions of the few.”
A bellowing huff escaped him. “It is not simply a matter of logic or what is right and wrong. I am duty bound to safeguard the eggs. I cannot trust you, or anyone else enough to simply leave them unattended.”
“They aren’t unattended though. The warden will protect them as he has you, and if not, he owes me for the previous visit I made down here so I can have him do so. Also, are you keeping these eggs safe by doing nothing but hiding them in a hole? It seems to me that your current plan for safeguarding them is doomed to fail. I don’t imagine you’re immortal, and at this point you have to be old. What happens to these eggs once you die? Will they just be left to rot? I doubt they can remain as they are forever either.”
I wasn’t done with him yet as I continued to list reasons. “All that isn’t even accounting for the loss of culture that would come from your passing. You are a living repository of your people’s history, and even if the eggs are somehow recovered and hatched after your passing, they will be born without any connection to those who came before them. Your people will have effectively died either way as no one will be alive to remember what they were. Is that truly what you want to happen?”
There was a minute of quiet as Soro fell into a state of deep thought. Instead of taking the answer that was obvious, he frustratingly decided to change the subject. “You have yet to tell me what unreasonable demand you no doubt wish for me to do in return for this.”
I rolled my eyes a bit at his stubbornness but moved on with the conversation instead of pushing the issue. “Well, I can’t really say if it is unreasonable or not because I do not know the full extent of your power. However, I can say that it will likely be satisfying for you. I want you to help me, and the coalition army, take down the Thrainian capital of Fulvrist.”
What little I could read of his expression did show that he appeared to be interested. “You want me to destroy their city?”
“Not the city,” I was quick to clarify, “just the walls. They have a rather powerful magical barrier around their city that makes it extremely difficult to siege them. Your job would be to break through that barrier to allow the rest of our army to get into the main keep. As soon as that is done, you can consider your end of the bargain to be fulfilled and I will help you identify and claim a nesting ground for yourself. Heck, I may even be able to get a small guard force assigned to your chosen location to make sure no one interrupts the process or does anything stupid.”
Soro let out a long breath as he thought about my proposal. I patiently waited for him to respond, sure that my position was argued soundly enough that even his stubborn ass couldn’t say no on a logical level. Sure, he could shoot me down out of spite, but that bullet would ricochet back into him as well for all the reasons that I had listed previously.
After a few minutes had passed, I could feel in his eyes that he was looking at me differently. Less like some animal to be despised and more like someone who could offer something of real substance. The look didn’t last long, though, and the cold glare returned soon after.
“I don’t like you, and I despise your patron even more. The fact that I am humoring you at this moment is nothing short of baffling for me. Though, I cannot seem to find the resolve in myself to simply throw you out as I did last time.” He turned his head up and sneered down at me. “Congratulations, you have successfully backed me into a corner. I can imagine that bitch watching through your eyes is practically wriggling with glee to see me so conflicted.”
He sighed heavily, his breath kicking up some dust that had settled on the ground. “I need to think. I will not enter into this contract with you so lightly as I have not considered all the angles yet. Give me time, or the answer is no.”
I shrugged. “Fair enough, I’ll give you a few hours alone to think this through.” He said nothing else and simply turned his body around and slithered back into the darkness. I figured I would rather spend this time waiting outside than in this dank hole that may soon became a crypt without intervention.
After a short uphill climb through the tunnel, I emerged into the light, squinting as the snow blinded me with its reflective glare. The warden was there, seemingly waiting eagerly for news. “Welcome back, James. Were you successful in your endeavor?”
“I’m not sure. Soro said he needed time to think.”
The warden’s body shifted slightly. “That sounds promising. Normally he would be quick to dismiss any suggestions from a second party. What did you say to him, exactly?”
I shook my head, feeling a little unsure. “Hopefully, what he needed to hear. I gave the best pitch I could, and now it’s time for him to decide the future of his species.”
Silence prevailed over conversation after that. I was feeling anxious, and maybe a little bored. If, for some reason, Soro didn’t accept, I had no back up plan short of leveling the entire city with powers beyond this world. Not only was I not going to do that for fear of starting something I could never undo, but the weight of all those souls upon my shoulders would break me.
The hours passed as I listened to the silence all around me. It was almost frightening how different it was from being in a siege, surrounded by an army. Winter was a time of stillness for the world, and contrasting the chaos of a battle to this was almost enough to make me consider not returning. Though, my obligations and the people who were depending on me outweighed that desire.
I had used the shadow of a nearby tree to get an estimate of the time, and after a decent period had passed, I decided it was time to get my answer. Standing from the stone I rested on, I walked by the warden as I entered the mouth of the cave again. “Wish me luck,” I casually said as I disappeared into the gloom.
Once in the main chamber, I took a bracing breath before calling out. “Soro? Have you reached an answer?” My voice carried on into the dark for a moment before I heard the massive serpent moving.
His large head emerged from the dark, and the first thing I took note of was that his eyes did not hold hostility or dismissiveness as was the norm with our interactions. That was a good sign, but not a definitive one. He coiled his body around into a relaxed position, though he took his sweet time about it.
After he was finally comfortable, he began to speak. “Never did I imagine I would speak more than a handful of words to a chosen of that she devil of a goddess. Most of those words would be along the lines of a curse or wishing for their true death. Now, I find myself making deals with one and speaking of a future for my people.”
Making deals? The wording he chose made me think for a moment before it struck me. “Hold on, are you saying that... you accept?”
Soro made a strange rumbling sound in his throat, maybe as a sign of defeat or exasperation. “As much as it annoys me to think about, the logic in your argument was too sound for me to deny. It came down to a choice between my species dying quietly in the dark or having a slim chance at survival under threat from the vermin. The last of my people entrusted me with ensuring that we survive, and I have regrettably concluded that I cannot do that without aid. I will assist you in destroying this barrier, and I hope that you will uphold your end of the bargain once this is over.”
“Of course! I know you don’t like the goddess, and believe me, I’m with you on that, but I have no grudge against you or any desire to see you disappear from the world. If I can help you reintroduce your species to the world on peaceful terms, I’d consider that a point of pride for myself. However, if I could offer a word of advice, don’t go around calling everyone else vermin or some other derogatory name. The less people you aggravate, the more likely this is to succeed. We can talk more about the specifics later, but for now, I’m happy to have you onboard with my plan.”
“I do this out of necessity. That does not make us friends and I will not debase myself in front of-”
“Yeah, figured. Like I said, we’ll have to talk about that later. If you really can’t play nice, then just do me a favor and don’t speak to anyone unless it’s a direct answer to a question.”
He hissed threateningly at me but didn’t rebuke my request which was good enough for me. I was ecstatic. We now had a chance of bringing this whole bloody affair to a close without a massive sacrifice of life. This was the end game, and Alathos was now within reach.