“For reasons unknown, night spawns always appear one rank above the highest rank in an area. For instance, a Master mage facing off against a night spawn goblin would find that goblin has an apparent rank of S.”— A Scientific Treatise on Mages, Volume One
Cross-Borders Army Administrative Wing, Castera, Kingdom of Ilsylvania. Day -21.
Kronos and an aide were already waiting for Tyree, Caleb, and Shai in the main lobby of the command hall. The aide led them into a large conference room where seven other people, each engaged in their own conversations, sat around a large table which formed a C with a podium in the middle of the gap.
Though she didn’t keep up with Ilsylvania’s politics, Tyree knew the seven people in the room were the heads of the six Great Houses; Commander Leon Maraketh and his wife, Lianna; Tomas Drakhan; Elias Ilvari; and Valeria Areth were those people she recognized.
The Great Houses were the direct advisors to the king and leaders of their own sectors of the kingdom’s economy. Tyree wondered what had brought them all the way out here.
King Isaias Hael was a handsome and slim, yet muscular man with sepia skin and a short, neatly trimmed dark red beard. Everyone stood when he entered.
“Please! Sit! I’ve dragged you from your lives and I’m late. The least I could do is have you be comfortable after what has surely been a long day for many of you.” His tone held the genuine warmth of friendliness. He took his own seat and gestured to Commander Leon. “You have the floor, Commander.”
Leon stood and moved to the center podium. “I will be brief and to the point. The rumors you’ve no doubt heard are true: The Guardians have disappeared. Not just from Castera, but scouts across the countryside report the same grim fact.”
So the scuttlebutt was true? Tyree thought as hushed conversations picked up around the room.
A man whose placard read Laurence Trellianora, raised a hand. “All of them? What does that mean for the trade routes between cities? We’re already stretched thin trying to fight this damned plague!”
Lianna answered him. “Castera’s military will begin posting more guards along key routes and general patrols are being increased. The current three-month schedule has been suspended as we work to meet this increased need for manpower. Additionally, recruitment efforts have been increased to train new guards.”
“And we’re increasing arms production across the board to arm those new guards. Do not worry, Laurence, your merchants will be as safe as they have always been,” Tomas Drakhan added.
As the people in the room talked, Tyree wondered what her role played in this.
“Those are good places to start with, but ultimately it won’t matter.” A gravelly voice said. A tall, thin man with pointed elven ears stood in the doorway. His Serethi agelessness was beginning to show signs of cracking, his hair was wiry and thinning and he stood with a slightly hunched back.
“And who are you to make that claim?” Tomas Drakhan scoffed.
“Perhaps I shouldn’t have spoken so bluntly. I apologize, there are many new faces here. New House leaders, I presume.” The man’s eyes swept across the room without lingering on anyone in particular. “I wish we could have met under better circumstances. My name is Treyvon, and it was I who petitioned for this meeting.”
If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
King Hael stood. “Treyvon has served as advisor to four generations of kings before I and is the only person here old enough to remember a time before the Guardians. I believe he is the best expert on this unprecedented issue before us.”
“The issue is that the monsters today are a lot stronger than they were in the past. The enhanced strength of night spawns wasn’t a thing hundreds of years ago. If the Guardians don’t return, it won’t be as simple as increasing patrols. You’d be lucky if the army could hold any territory beyond Castera’s walls for any length of time if the monster population grows unchecked.”
Tyree felt a cold chill that was shared by everyone in the room. She had fought night spawns before. They were monsters that had been enhanced by the ambient mana in an area. They were always ten levels higher than the highest leveled combatant in the area, which made fighting them even harder in a group whose levels varied as much as the army’s did.
Lianna finished writing something in a notebook and looked up. “Then what do you propose we do?”
“I propose Ilsylvania acquire the same defensive barriers that protect Araedi and the other Serethi city-states,” Treyvon answered as though that were a trivial thing to do.
Lianna’s short laugh held very little mirth. “The Serethi Queen, as well as her predecessor, and her predecessor, have all made it clear they will not share that with us.”
“The treaty of peace between the Serethi, Ilsylvania, and Rielle was built upon an imbalance of power, the gulf of which has only grown in the centuries since it was adopted. That is the chief reason why I left my people behind over three hundred years ago. I disagreed with the original treaty because I believe Ilsylvania and Rielle entered into it under duress.” Treyvon stood straighter and continued with passion in his words. “But that changed with this epidemic. It was only a few days ago that I returned from Delphianna and I can tell you the city-state has been hit hard by this disease. House Ilvari’s proposal to increase spending on medical care within the kingdom proved well timed. And I believe that foresight has not only put us in a position to weather it, but has also given us significant leverage to discuss a new treaty between the three parties…”
Whatever else Treyvon had been about to say, Tyree hadn’t heard it. She’d begun seething the moment he implied his intentions to use the deaths of thousands for political gain.
A strong tap on her leg made Tyree turn to Kronos. He leaned over and whispered, “You should leave the room.”
A firm, but whispered “now!” headed off Tyree’s response. Nodding, she stood and excused herself, saying she was beginning to feel unwell.
“Best wishes to your health, Captain,” Treyvon said after eying Tyree’s new rank insignia. “You come highly recommended. I sincerely hope you won’t be indisposed long before your assignment. Which I think actually makes a good segue into the next thing I wanted to discuss…”
***
Kronos stopped Tyree on the stairway outside the command hall. “If I hadn’t told you to leave, would you have spoken up and ruined your career?”
“I wasn’t—”
“You were scowling from the moment Treyvon started speaking. I understand your sympathies with the Serethi and Treyvon may have his own demons, but when Commander Leon came to me personally with this assignment, there was no question in my mind that you three were the best for this job. You in particular have a well known history with the Guardians. Which is why you are our subject matter expert.”
Tyree suddenly wished she’d stayed in the room to find out what this mission was.
Kronos gave her that knowledge as he continued. “I was going to leave this as a surprise for you, but you will be stationed in Pella as an advisor to General Neemo. I know your connection to the area and while this is a temporary assignment, when you return is entirely up to you. But while you are there, you will share your knowledge in dealing with the monsters you’ve faced during your time as an adventurer. With the Guardians always around, Ilsylvania’s soldiers haven’t exactly been tried under the same fires as previous generations. You will be the next best thing. And when you're done training them, you'll be picking two of them to be your third and fourth companies’ leaders.”
“I… I don’t know what to say…” Tyree’s anger had cooled the moment he said she’d be going to Pella. While he hadn’t explicitly said it, stationing her in Pella would give her time to spend with her family and friends.
“You will have to clear your quarters by the end of day tomorrow as we leave the next day. Now go home, they expect you to be sick.” Kronos turned to go back inside but stopped and turned, a half smile on his face. “Enjoy your evening, Captain.”
With a full smile on her face, Tyree fast-walked, then ran back to her quarters.