I woke up on a bed, in darkness. Figuring I was somehow back in my room, I stumbled up, a hand on my forehead in pain, and tapped the light. It quickly glowed alight, illuminating my room.

Or, actually a different room. It was very similar, but my stuff from the room I’d slept in those other two times was shoved atop of and at the base of a dresser, and the purple and blue color scheme was now green.

Before I could think about what had happened, something nagged in the back of my mind, anxiously telling me I needed to move quickly.

My dreams.

I quickly ran out of my room, still dressed from the last day, and walked into a small, five-room hallway. A door on the other side, to the left, seemed to lead further into The Bastion, so I opened it.

As I quickly moonlunged out, I saw a familiar part of The Bastion. It happened to be close to Zerith’s office, so I quickly flew to it and shook the door handle. It was locked. I didn’t hesitate to work my way through the lock with my telekinesis. It was simple to open, and I quickly walked in.

Zerith was asleep on his desk.

“Z...Zerith?” I began, surprised.

He raised his face from it and looked at me with a vague expression.

Suddenly he leaped from the chair and grabbed his sheathed sword while six stones suddenly flew toward me before I could put up my psychic defenses, jutting into me hurtfully.

He pointed the sheathed sword at me with a strange...maybe angry? expression. “Why are you...” he began, looking around. “in my room…” he finished with a sigh. Zerith looked down at the paper atop his desk. “Damn it,” he said, rolling his eyes.

I had frozen on the spot, terrified. He had easily taken me by surprise, and the stones were restricting my movement in a threatening way. Zerith’s expression had unsettled me enough to make me just quake in fear.

“So, what is it?” he asked, rubbing his eyes. “Time Tale,” he said. [Not even dusk] “Well, at least I didn’t oversleep.”

Assuming that was how he told the time, I hastily said, “I had a dream.”

He looked up at me with a much more wakeful expression. “You said a dream?”

“Uhh, I don’t know if you remember but-”

“Yes, yes, your prophetic dreams. What did you see?”

“Right. Well, apparently, something happens at a place called Hintercil today. Something about a skirmish.” My heart beat as I remembered the feelings I had in the dream when he mentioned it. Didn’t know what I would’ve done without its guidance, but...I couldn’t do it. I had to follow Zerith’s orders.

“So that’s it...” Zerith said. He quickly walked around his desk and to the door. “Alright, just what I was hoping for.” [Convenient timing, if her dreams really are random.]

“You were hoping for...” I halted, quickly realizing what he was referring to.

“No. I knew and attack would happen, but I didn’t know where,” he said as he opened the door. “Now, let’s not waste time.” He began down the hall. “There’s no saying when it will happen, and people need our help. I’ll ask Targon to send us a squad, and we’ll see what we can do in this ‘skirmish’.”

“A-alright,” I nervously said. This could be my first time in a fight against the monsters...

And...

I knew it would hurt.

Zerith led me to the teleportation room, where we were teleported to a place with a large, green and brown painted watchtower that looked like a tree and one of the artillery cannons I’d spent the last day transporting was set up, ready for use. Not far away was the other barrel, which I had failed to carry to its destination.

Maybe it was for the best.

“Could I ask how it makes any sense to set up artillery facing towards our own settlements?” I asked. “I get that it can hit the enemy, but...”

Zerith looked at me with a questioning expression. “I don’t see anything strange with it...”

I shrugged. I shouldn’t expect magic to make sense.

“Alright. Now that we’re here, do you know when the skirmish will happen?”

“Uhh...” I nervously averted my eyes. “It could be any time...”

“But it’s today?” he asked.

I nodded.

“That’s alright,” he said. [Though I had the impression it would be sooner than later...]

“Really?”

“Of course...” he said. [I can’t spend the day in that village but...] he looked at me. [I don’t trust her to handle it alone, and it’s best that I be there as quick as possible.]

I frowned sadly.

“Now, I’ll help you navigate to Hintercil. They’re one of the villages that’s chosen not to evacuate.” [Mostly because they’ve all got a death wish.]

“Evacuated?” I asked. “Did you start evacuating cities already?”

He nodded. “To a degree, though it’s slow going. That wasn’t what I was referring to, though. I mean that Hintercil isn’t in hiding.”

“Right...” I said. “Is it really that dangerous to not be hidden? It seems like a pain in the but to stay hidden.”

Zerith nodded. “Yes. Though, the reason most people are in hiding has nothing to do with how many chose to be and everything to do with how few are still alive.”

“Still...alive?”

“What I mean to say,” Zerith continued, “Is that anyone who chose to stand their ground has been crushed.”

Zerith told me the general directions, then he walked onto the same platform I had used to fly Honna, and we flew off.

After carrying dozens of tons around with me for the last two days, I was happy to fly at Mach 2, which was previously an exhausting pace. My psychic abilities shouldn’t have been able to improve, but it sure felt like they had.

“Are you sure you can keep up this pace?” Zerith asked, sitting behind me. “It over an hour until we arrive, and you stressed yourself to complete exhaustion yesterday.”

“I’ll be fine,” I said. “But could I ask why we can’t just teleport there?”

“Fair question. The reason is twofold. First, it can be difficult to establish new teleporters, as only one person can physically make them, and second, it can be a security risk.”

“How so?”

“Monsters will sometimes infiltrate those places, and if they’re able to secure passage through a teleporter...well, that could put us in grave danger.”

“I see.” Given the easy to crack security measures on the teleporters, I could understand that.

Keeping the Bastion hidden seemed nearly impossible in practicality. In my own world, it was relatively easy for large organizations to be uncovered since each person was individually capable of causing a leak. To keep a place filled with as many people as The Bastion secret...it would require unprecedented levels of unity and control. I supposed that wasn’t so impossible, considering the threat was irredeemable monsters hoping to destroy humanity or something and the person keeping information in check was someone well-respected enough to be called ‘The Hero’.

“Can you read my mind from that angle?” Zerith asked suddenly.

I nodded, smirking. “Yeah. Feel free to think whatever you want, heh.”

“Ok...” he said back.

Not the chattiest person.

After a few minutes, he said, “I’m almost glad that this happened...will...happen? Whatever, you get the point. Anyway, I’m glad you’ll get some fighting experience before the major battle that’s inevitably coming tomorrow.”

“Tommorow?!” That was soon! I’d hardly ingratiated myself in the world at this point, and it all still felt strange. I wanted even a lick of time to understand it before I was thrown into a massive fight!

“Yes, tomorrow. I had prophecers search into the f-”

“Prophecers? You mean precogs?”

“People who can look into the future,” he responded annoyedly.

So precogs.

“They looked into the future, and it would seem that battle will ensue tomorrow.”

“That’s not great,” I said as though I wasn’t sure if it made me nervous or humored.

“No, I’d rather we never need to battle.”

He didn’t explain further.

Zerith didn’t talk that much, mostly because he seemed to lie in his mind. The few times I looked back to check on him, he was quickly filing through information. In fact, he thought incredibly quickly and efficiently. That wasn’t a big surprise, coming from a revered ‘leader of mankind’ or whatever you’d call him.

Eventually, as I absently flew us across the ocean, which was supposedly only a narrow sea, he began said, “I...need to ask.”

“Ask what?”

“What have you heard about the monsters?”

“Heard about them? They kill people, they’re evil, and...hmm…That’s about it, actually.”

“Yeah...I had a feeling...” he said sadly. “Then that means it’s my job to inform you about what you’re going to see.” I remained silent as he continued. “Monsters are terrifying. If you haven’t seen one before, you can’t imagine just how unsettling they can really be. I...Even I don’t ever feel comfortable encountering them.” He paused. “I understand your world has a more existential threat than our own. A battle against humans, against each other. You may already know this, but despite their appearances, monsters used to be humans.” Green mentioned it, actually. It was brief and came not long after he assured me that monsters were nothing more than...monsters, but I hadn’t forgotten it. Zerith continued, “You might see things that make you question what they are. Do you understand?”

“N-no, not really,” I said nervously. It was vague, as though Zerith was trying to avoid describing it in detail.

He sighed slowly. “Monsters...are horrifying creatures. They will seek and kill anyone they see. They will eat corpses. They will scream in pain. They will beg for mercy. But most of all, they will end humanity, no matter what the cost.”

I took a minute to process that. My heart raced as I tried to imagine what that was like. The carnage, the fear...the...

I closed my eyes. I didn’t want to think about it. I didn’t want to remember what I had done, the blood I’d splattered across the linoleum. That image had been seared into my mind. I still knew his expression just before the rock hit, I still remembered how I’d killed him out of rage, how cold I’d acted as I watched his body, seemingly slowly, get crunched and splattered under the rock.

I began to cry, my whole body twitching unsteadily in fear, my stomach roiling just as it did when I’d realized what I’d done, and tucking my arms and legs in like I had after it all.

I had been on the hospital couch, balling my eyes out as Jeremy calmly hugged me.

Jeremy had always been the better person, the pillar of absolute calmness when it came down to it. He was annoying at times, a bit pushy, but...

Would I ever see him again?

I slowly shook my head. I had to remember where I was, to...

I looked back at Zerith. He was looking at me with a sad, calm expression, just as Jeremy had, his legs draped over the platform’s edge.

“I-I’m sorry,” I said.

“Sorry?” he said, raising an eyebrow. “For what?”

“For...I dunno...” I said as if it were an answer.

“Well, you don’t need to be. In fact, I’m glad you understand what you’re getting into. This isn’t a winning battle. We need all the luck, all the determination we can get.” He sighed again. “I can’t tell you how you’ll act when shit hits the fan, but I can tell you that from here on out...it won’t be a good time. This is a painful road.”

I floated to sit beside him and looked forward.

To be honest, I was hoping he would hug me or something. I needed someone to do that for me. Instead, he didn’t stop looking forward.

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I looked forward, too.

Was this really the life I wanted to lead?

We eventually made it to the shore, where Zerith asked me to stick to the treetops, where we could stay in cover. After a few more minutes of traveling over boreal forests, it became clear we were approaching a mountain in the distance.

“Why don’t they evacuate, though?” I asked as we approached the mountain.

“For no any smart reason,” Zerith said. “They just don’t feel like moving. I understand the decision, though, it is a silly choice.”

“Because this would eventually happen?” I asked,

“Yes.” After another minute, he said, “Once we get there, I’m going to ask that we try to understand what’s happening in the village before anything else. We’ll approach at first as if we’re stopping by, which will, of course, means they will do a short security check on us. Once we have an idea of what’s going on in the village and ensure there aren’t any moles who might report on our arrival, I will reveal who I am.”

“Alright...” I said. “But do you think there’s any way the monsters would realize we were...counterattacking?” I asked, not sure if I was using the right word.

“There are. If they see our approach, they might consider halting the attack, but unless we miss a mole we should be alright.”

“Well, that’s good to know,” I said.

“I’ll...make sure we don’t fly over any monsters with Recognition,” I said.

“What is that, again?” Zerith asked.

“It lets me identify people from a distance. If there are any monsters within about two kilometers of us, I’ll be able to tell.”

“Hmm...that ability is incredibly helpful. I shouldn’t have dismissed it.”

I spread out my Recognition, closing my eyes to focus on it.

“We’re approaching the village,” Zerith said.

I nodded.

“We should begin descending to remain undetected.”

I nodded again, slowing down and then lowering us into the forest. Although I needed to focus to navigate through the trees and use Recognition, our slower pace kept it manageable.

I could tell we were approaching the village through the hundreds of minds ahead of us. However, they weren’t the only minds nearby.

“There seems to be dozens of people spread through the forest,” I said.

“Monsters?” he said curiously.

I shook my head. “I wouldn’t know. I can recognize animals too, but they’re fainter than people.”

“Monsters aren’t often sentient, I can say that much,” Zerith said. “However, they aren’t far off.”

I shivered. They were fainter, for sure.

“I think we’re nearly there,” I said as the terrain quickly got rockier. “It’s just to our right.”

“Then let’s drop down here,” Zerith said. “And try to calm down. I can hear you breathing.”

My chest was tight with anxiety, and I was breathing unsteadily. He was obviously right. Still, I wondered just how idiotic it was to ask me to calm the fuck down when I was about to fight monsters. It didn’t help that I was uncertain as to when they would attack.

He dropped to the ground and started jogging into the woods before I had even landed the platform. I quickly leaped after him, veiling my psychic powers with lunges.

After a moment, he slowed down, and I did so with him. The village was right in front of us, only somewhat obscured by the woods.

The first thing I saw was fields of a long purplish-green plant that reminded me of wheat, strung between the trees haphhazzardly. Then I noticed the houses, which were incidentally camouflaged by the wood they were made of, which was a dark brown. They were spaced out significantly, though I noticed that few trees had actually been cut around the village. It explained how I hadn’t seen the village from above. I could barely see someone in the field staring at us, though I knew there were many more in the houses.

Zerith put a hand out to halt me as we approached. [Looks like they follow a diurnal schedule.] “Just stay quiet and try not to stand out. I’ll say I’m an emissary sent by The Hero and that you’re my escort. Our priority is to visit their leader in private, but they might not let that happen easily.”

I nodded. “I got it,” I said. “Just communicate with your mind.”

“My...yes, I’ll do that. Cold Wave, Light Shroud.”

Zerith began walking toward the person in the field.

As he did, the person seemed to whisper something. [Message. Tell Anae we have visitors.] “Don’t come any closer,” they said, still quite far away. “Why are you here?”

Zerith nodded his head, then said, “I’ve been sent here by Zerith, The Hero.”

[They say they’ve been sent by The Hero,] they thought. “Alright, why?” they asked.

“We’ve come to speak to you about...the food you grow here.”

“We have hardly enough to provide for ourselves,” they said, glancing to the field. It wasn’t very well tended to, admittedly. Between the lack of real farmland and rocky terrain, the plants weren’t holding up well. They were spaced out a little too much and seemed to have seen better times.

Zerith rolled his eyes but didn’t lose composure. “Perhaps, but that’s for the leader to decide.”

“Really now?” the person said. “Then do you know who our leader i-”

“Zaaka, Leader of Purple.” Zerith said quickly. [You think you’re sooo smart, huh? Two can play at that game.] “I understand you use daylight times on this side of Ninjaak, so we will wait until until the dawn breaks if we must.” [Not that we really have that much time.]

The person rolled their eyes and then approached us. “I guess a monster wouldn’t have that much to say, huh.” It seemed to be a girl in dirty jeans and a sweater, holding a large pole.

“I would disagree,” Zerith said, his tone changed. “You shouldn’t trust someone after so little prodding.”

“You think?” she asked. “What would monsters want with us?” [What, food?]

[That’s exactly what I’m wondering,] Zerith thought. He simply shrugged. “That’s beyond me, but Zerith insists you’re an important region. Apparently, the monsters might approach this place soon,” he said. What an actor. He’s even dissing himself!

“Ridiculous. I doubt they even realize we’re here.” [I mean, plenty of other places got away with it.]

“Well, regardless,” Zerith said, “I would like to see Zaaka. Can you take me to him, or must I wait?”

She nodded. “I’m just waiting for my friend to get here, then they can do a few checks on you, alrigh’?”

“Good enough.” Zerith glanced at me. [Any monsters approaching?]

I shook my head.

[And is someone actually coming?]

No need to be impatient, man. I nodded. Someone seemed to be coming toward us from further in the upward-rising village.

He let out a slow sigh. As a minute passed, he seemed to become more agitated and started tapping his foot.

“Are you alright?” I whispered, before quickly adding, in a smug tone, “You need to calm down.”

He glanced at me with a frown. “Please. I just don’t like waiting,” he whispered back. “I have a busy schedule, you know.”

It was another half-minute before I actually saw the person jogging down the hill. They quickly made their way to their comrade’s side. The person had long black hair and a rather androgynous figure and wore a very long red cloak.

“Hello,” I quickly said.

They whispered to the girl for a moment. [Why are they here again?]

[About food, apparently. He was sent by The Hero.]

[Oh, ok. That’s...annoying.] I couldn’t easily tell the difference between their thoughts and whispers, and it was difficult to swap my perception between the two to follow their conversation.

The newcomer then turned and walked toward us, stopping a comfortable distance away. “Why are you two-”

“I’m here to discuss food. Let’s get the protocols over with.” Zerith said impatiently. Apparently, for as much as he disliked when his own guards disregarded protocol, it was annoying when it actually bothered him.

Well, I, for one, liked meeting new people.

The person rolled their eyes. “Alright, then,” they said, “I guess you can come up first.” [If you’re so insistant.]

Zerith cautiously walked up to them with a slow sigh. [I shouldn’t lose my nerves. We probably have time.]

The person then put a hand on his chest and said, “Detect Spells.” [...Cold Wave...I’m a bit insulted he’d think we would attack a diplomat, but I’ll just take it as a compliment to my strength.]

“Am I alright?” Zerith asked. [Well...Am I in the clear?] He briefly glanced back at me.

I nodded in affirmation.

“Alright,” the person said, taking a step back. “Next, the girl.”

Zerith stepped back, and I walked forward. “What’s your name,” I asked as I did. Most of the names in this world...Ninjaak, were quite interesting.

“Steph,” they said, placing a hand on my chest. They quickly said, “Detect Spells.” [...And the spells are...] Their eyes widened. [What the heck is this?!] they thought. [Stabilize? I’ve never heard of that before...ehh, it doesn’t sound very threatening.] Eventually, they shrugged. “Alright,” they said. “You two look alright.”

Zerith gazed at the person with an unamused glare. [And they don’t even bother with Badgenment...why do I ever try.]

This hero really couldn’t make up his mind, huh. Besides, that was for the best, considering checking our badges would result in being found out.

The hero in question glanced back at me again, and I once more nodded as he asked if we had time before the monsters approached.

“You two, follow behind me. I’ll escort you to Zaaka. Let’s get this over with quickly.” [Of course, they need to come here at night. Or...aren’t they nocturnal in other cities, now? Weird people.]

We began walking up the slope with them, the girl staying behind.

“So,” I began, “Are you a boy or girl? Sorry, I can’t really tell,” I added quickly.

They shrugged. “I’m a boy, duh.”

“Alright.”

Zerith glared at me. [Just focus on your mission.]

My mission? What was he being all snotty about? The monsters weren’t approaching, clearly, and speaking did no harm. It was just a little distraction.

“Well, your outfit is cool,” I said. Well, it was alright, but buttery language never hurt.

“Thanks, I guess. To be honest, I don’t get where you people get off on wearing robes all the time,” they said before looking back at Zerith and me. “Well, not that you’re wearing one.”

“Yeah, I don’t get it either.”

Zerith continued to glare at me. [Just let me handle this. Now isn’t the time for-]

I continued speaking to him. “So what’s it like, up here in the mountains?” I asked, just to annoy Zerith. I wouldn’t let him act like speaking to someone was some big problem.

“Oh, quite nice. The monster armies aren’t a problem here, so we can enjoy our lives while they’re distracted with everything else.”

“That’s...a bit...” A bit apathetic, considering the havoc they were wreaking. I knew what it was like to be blamed for trying to live your life to the fullest, so I tried to approach my next question more tactfully. “Shouldn’t you try to help fight them off?”

He glared up at me. He didn’t look angry, per se, but boredly annoyed with the question. [Typical, they’re so deluded that they don’t even get it.] “I mean, what’s the point? You people outside the village always talk about fighting the monsters, but we aren’t like you. Your nonsense is always either about ‘hope’ or ‘dignity’, but never about truth. Truth is, we’re all going to die. So, to be frank, I -we- want nothing to do with you. Believe that hero’s propaganda all you want, but he’s not The Hero, and there never will be one.”

My mouth was agape. He talked down on me as she said it, as though doing anything but lying down and waiting to die was idiotic.

I glanced at Zerith by my side, and he shrugged. [What? That’s the way things are. Some people are too...pathetic to even bother trying.] He then sighed, looking to the side with a rueful expression. [It’s frustrating.]

“Well,” I said, “I...” I didn’t really know what to say. I didn’t really know what to think either. It was as if he were a cancer patient, waiting to die. And, I mean, what was I supposed to say to a person like that? I looked back at Zerith. If he was the person who had told people to keep hope...It was difficult enough to talk to one person destined to die, but leading a nation of people who have already accepted their fates...

I shivered. I also said nothing more, which prompted the boy to scoff at me and look forward.

We eventually entered what seemed to be a windowed building built into the stone of the mountain. A light shone from the windows, and it was set at the end of the treeline, draping it in the two moons’ light.

When we walked in we were in a hallway, similar to the ruins I had been originally transported to. It was much smaller, though, and I could only sense about six people in the entire place.

Right in front of the door was an archway that led to a cozily built room. There was a large fireplace at the other end of the room, and we kneeled at a low table not far from the flames.

“I’ll go get Zaaka. Sit tight,” Steph said before walking away.

Banners were draped on the left and right sides of the room. They were more like tapestries, though, as they had colorful illustrations on them.

Zerith sighed once she left. “So, have you been keeping track of their movement?” he asked.

I nodded, rolling my eyes. “They’ve been shuffling about, but nobody is approaching.”

He furrowed his eyebrows. “What do you mean? The monsters are simply standing still?” [That seems...]

“Suspicious?” I said, reading his mind as he wavered.

“Yes, suspicious,” he said quietly, repeating what he just thought. “Monsters are agitated quite easily, so they must have a good reason to wait.”

“Well, clearly, they serve a master, so they’re probably just waiting on some other master’s command,” I said with a shrug.

Zerith leaned across the table toward me, making himself comfortable as he often did. “Most likely, but if they have a master, I wonder why they would send a high-ranking monster on this mission.”

“I dunno. Is that not normal?”

“High-ranking monsters can control other monsters, but they almost exclusively follow the direct orders of The King, unlike roaming monsters. If that’s the case…this skirmish is certainly related to the upcoming battle.

“I’m not sure what that means, but okay. Is that a problem?” I asked.

He clicked his tongue. [I’m worried about why they would attack this town with such a force. Why would they send such an organized force to a pacified town? These are the questions I need to ask in times like these.]

“Sorry,” I said, rubbing my neck. “I’ll trust you on this.”

[Not sure what she’s talking about but...] “Either way, just keep focusing on your...” Someone walked into the room. “...your Recognition. You should be able to recognize people.”

I nodded.

The person who entered was a white-haired, bearded old man who wore a purple cloak that draped down to his ankles. As he walked in, accompanied by that boy, he greeted us with a stony, “Hello.”

Zerith stood and began talking to him while I focused more attention on the perimeter of monsters outside. There were only three hundred and ten monsters, but that was a shit ton more than the village’s population, which counted at a hundred and nine. I could only think it was incredibly overwhelming odds.

With that in mind, Zerith was entirely correct. It was strange that they would bring such a large force. As I said, they still moved subtly, but they remained in their positions. It was very suspicious...and I would have known that earlier if I hadn’t been distracted with my talk with Steph.

“Thus, we want to offer you the means to grow more crops and sell the surplus to us,” Zerith continued. He was standing quite straight and polite compared to his normal relaxed yet strangely imposing posture.

Zaaka shook his head almost immediately. “We aren’t interested. No deals will be made.” [There isn’t any other option, I must make sure we make no ties to The Hero’s domains.]

Not only did this reaction cause Zerith to frown, but the boy who had led us here seemed skeptical as well.

“Why?” Zerith asked. “I understand you don’t see a need on your part, but-”

“Doing that will only attract the monster’s attention,” Zaaka said sternly. “Unlike in other ages, the monsters are only prioritizing areas of resistance. Making such a deal with you is paramount to suicide, and only makes us a target.”

The boy quickly nodded his head, quickly following what their leader said. It made sense, to be fair.

Zerith’s expression remained calm, but inside, he was absolutely indignant. [This piece of shit! You decide to ignore the call to action because you don’t feel like living, then talk about suicide like it’s any different from what you’re already doing? I hate people like these.] “Please, reconsider,” he said slowly. “We heard that your village has been struggling to grow crops. Surely you understand that people will die either way. Not everyone in your village can live off what you’re growing.”

The purple-cloaked man rolled his head and said nothing. [It’s for them. Even if it’s squalid, we can’t afford to let the monsters attack us.]

Zerith sighed. [Maybe now is the time to break the news...] he looked to me. [Are they approaching?]

I rolled my eyes, shaking my head. Did he seriously think I wouldn’t alert him if there were more enemy movement?

[Then maybe I should test them a little...] Zerith thought. “Truth be told, I had one other prerogative for coming here today.” That seemed to get the two concerned.

“Some other reason? What could you possibly want with our town?” Zaaka said, worried. [Don’t tell me they’re going to draft us or the likes?]

Did Zerith have the means to do that? Drafting unwilling soldiers didn’t seem very practical...Or, wait, it totally was. There was plenty of historical precedence for it. Some psychics, for one, were required in Canada and most other countries to serve in the army for at least a few years once they reached eighteen, and it wasn’t as if authoritarian countries didn’t often force others to fight for them with the threat of death and the like.

Zerith, so far as I could tell, had the power to do it if he wanted to. Nobody questioned him, not even his ‘equals’, so...he had about the power of a dictator, but would he use it?

Ehh, clearly, I was thinking too hard about it, anyway, considering that the thought didn’t even pass by Zerith’s mind as he said, “We have reason to believe your village is being targeted by the monsters.”