Chapter 142

Riley's mind screamed for rest, all while passionate hyperfocus drove her on, her desperation cascading down the chasms of her fears like the run away waters of a flash flood.

"Can't stop, I have to find something," with itchy, heavy eyes and a clumsy paw, she turned the thicker than she was accustomed to paper page.

Hooking her claws under it, a technique she had perfected only hours ago, it gave way with minimal noise of ripping as the magic worked to make the page legible.

Tobias snorted his head down on a table, arms wrapped around a book, fully asleep.

Riley's burning eyes narrowed, "Quitter."

As if in response, he jerked, repositioned, and then settled, his breathing becoming heavier.

Tobias had been right about one thing; it was clear from the tomes she had been pursuing, often dry material about military supplies and requisitioning, that they didn't have much time to make their fancy books.

Compared to much else in the old library, in many ways similar to what she had known on earth, the books were uniformly and professionally finished, with leather spines and proper covers... but not all.

The ones she had been finding, tucked in one particular area before the shelf sat strangely empty, were more like binders than books. Hastily assembled pages, meetings of minutes, or old forms, with holes punched through to allow for the weaving of cord.

It was clear that things had been deteriorating. The reports and concerns of the officers had become more and more dire. It was no longer about losing the war or territory but about everything they held dear and, with it, a rising bitterness, often with reference to one particular dead god.

"There it is again, Venosicipher. What a name," Riley muttered to herself as the words popped into her brain in perfect English.

Over the last eight hours or so, pushing towards the twilight hours of the morning, she had become somewhat of an expert at the ending of the Ashen Wars.

Within all the records, reports, and requestions, a type of story emerged, rising from behind those dry and dusty columns to reflect a growing desperation.

More and more, as she had progressed through the final five years, supply requisitions were being answered with apologies, and officers' reports were growing angrier, but this volume, in particular, held something special; as she turned to the last page, scanning it for all it was worth.

"This volume is dedicated to the God of Revenge and Regret. May he repay us for our devotion in vengeance by delivering the blood of the enemy's children who have destroyed us."

"Holy Shit! That's new! Chilling but new!" Riley exclaimed, leaping up and down upon the stones she had been warming for hours.

Her left leg twinged in warning of a cramp as Tobias shot up, sword appearing in his hand as he did so. "Where is it? Where's the monster?"

Riley landed, temporarily reinvigorated and giggled to herself. "No monster, soldier boy. I found something, but I want to confirm my theory. Hand me the next book, it should be next years."

Tobias yawned before closing his book, trudging over to the shelf, and laying it down after opening it to page one.

"No, silly, I want to see the dedication on the last page," she prompted.

Tobias groaned wearily, "After that, I think I need some tea."

His sword vanished back into their inventory, only to be replaced with his pocket watch. "It's half past three bells...we have to be awake in two hours to deploy."

"Some of us haven't slept at all," Riley grumbled as Tobias turned the pages.

There it was again.

"This volume is dedicated to the God of Revenge and Regret. May he repay us for our devotion in vengeance by delivering the blood of the enemy's children who have destroyed us."

"They switched Gods; up until these last two years, every volume was dedicated to Egana, Goddess of Wisdom and Direction," Riley explained.

"Interesting. I suppose that makes a kind of sense; they had lost by then. The last two years of the Ashen Wars was largely a pacification campaign. Their army was broken," Tobias said, pausing to yawn.

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"So they were angry, but they refused to quit." Riley summarized.

"Until their ritual suicide. That's about as definitive of a surrender as one can give," He replied.

"What do you think would have happened under the King of Ashes if they had surrendered?" Riley asked.

"Much the same, they'd most likely be worked to death, with those outside of the territory left to wander. Much like what happened to the Elves at the fall of the Avamari Empire," Tobias expounded with dispassion, the history distant to him.

"What is it about people? Cultures on my world did the same to others they saw as different and strange," Riley looked down at the stones, feeling lost as to her own role in all of this.

She killed monsters with impunity, after all, and other things...ostensibly for the greater good.

"And on that logic, rivers of blood and bone have flowed." She muttered to herself, her thoughts growing dark with the depth of the night.

"The Elves aren't any less guilty in their far past, nor the Fae or, I assume, the Dwarves. I know nothing about the Dracovani, but they're even more of a warrior culture than us. Maybe ask Caedmon about that one. This is what we do to each other, whether I like it or not," Tobias shrugged and stared down at the same floor.

"And so the Fae are gone, but what happened to Egana and Venosicipher when they did? Did they die? Are they dead Gods? " Riley asked.

"Dead or departed. A God cannot sustain itself in this realm without the devotion of their believers or similar anchor, so long as one exists they can hold a connection, but should that number fall to zero, and thus the flow of magic to them is disrupted, they must return to the greater astral or die. As you may realize, their power diminishes as this occurs," Tobias intoned like a professor.

"So they feed on the magic delivered via the prayers and the rituals? If it's like an exchange, what would the ritual suicide of an entire society do? Would that act like a big enough… anchor?" Riley looked up towards Tobias as all the blood drained from his face.

"Oh dear... I don't like where that line of reason is going," Tobias sat down in the chair before rubbing his temples. "Tea, there needs to be lots of tea, and soon."

"But I don't know how we'd prove it, so I have an understanding, a plausible theory, but no way to chase it, which is frustrating after so much work," She huffed, then rose up on her hindpaws, face grooming to clear the cobwebs.

"Do you feel any better about what we have to do?" Tobias asked, already knowing the answer.

"No, and I hope I never feel better about it. Necessity and morality don't always meet cleanly, and some things you should wrestle with, no matter how necessary they are. We're the secret police. I don't think I can ever be fully comfortable with that," she replied.

Tobias nodded before stroking back her ears. "You know you make me better?"

She nuzzled into the pet, pressing up against his chest, "I'm glad it's helping one of us. I just feel caught up in a current I can't escape."

" If taking out Chadrick flushes a conspiracy and saves an innocent, that's fair in my mind. The Generals filled us in on a lot of things we didn't know. We kill monsters," Tobias shrugged.

"Like how many special trips he made that lined up almost perfectly with the murders? Yeah, fair, but to me, that's a reason for a trial. Humiliate him, drag out his sins in front of the people, and let the courts render a judgment, but that wouldn't work here, would it?" Riley sighed again.

"They'd never convict royalty that close to the throne, but it's not like he'd survive long enough to go to trial. Just the hint of shame cast upon the throne would mean his end," Tobias replied.

"Which is kind of what's happening now. By the dead Gods," Riley's hindpaw drummed with anger, "Let's clean up and find breakfast. I'm dying for food even if I don't feel like eating."

"You mean me clean up." Tobias corrected with a wry smile as he stacked books and set them back on shelves.

Halfway through, alarm bells began ringing, and with it, a chilling cry in the night.

"Monsters in Camp! Monsters in camp!" Echoed in from outside.

The fur rose on Riley's neck as the surrounding wards fell.