The way he felt after all of the success that he achieved today, was quite strange and confusing. He thought that he would feel relief and happiness after it all. How could he not feel that way after avenging Della and emboldening the coalition? Why do I feel so conflicted?
The mind was a rather confusing thing. He thought of how he ought to feel yet felt the opposite. He did achieve his goals and yet, he felt a sense of hollowness continually settling within himself.
To keep his mind distracted and preoccupied he thought to strike up a conversation as he walked beside Abigail and Frederek. Noreko wasn’t with them since he had walked off in another direction a little earlier since their arrival to the surface of Liall. He had to immediately begin his preparations to power the pillar. As for the rest of them, they were to instead regroup at Yorais’s place to meet with the rest of the faction leaders to assess everything that had happened today.
“I must admit Abigail,” Kiran said, “I’m a bit impressed by your combat abilities.”
She squinted her eyes at him. “What, did you assume I wasn’t capable of fighting well? It’s because I’m short isn’t it.” She blew hot air out of her nostrils. “It figures that you would also discriminate against me. All humans truly are the same.”
He lifted his hands in the air. “No, no. I truly meant it when I said I was impressed. You helped me a lot back there.”
“Abigail,” Frederek said, “learn to take a compliment.”
Since she seemed to have some feelings towards Frederek, she wasn’t so unwilling to hear him out. She let out a sigh as they walked down a darkened alley. “Fine.”
“Where’d you get those red-bladed swords?”
“I’d rather not tell you.” Well, alright then.
Those swords were quite strong from what he could tell. Her technique did a lot of the work, but it was undeniable that it aided her ability to fight to a large degree. Instead of summoning the swords as he did, she instead used actual physical swords with magic infused into the blades themselves. If he could summon swords like that, he’d be even more strong and capable at fighting. He knew that summoning more complex swords or weapons than the ones he summoned were quite a bit harder making him think it might not be worth the time investment to achieve such a thing.
They managed to wander through Liall’s streets avoiding any patrolling guards. The city was locked down since the queen’s death. That meant they had to be careful traversing through it. These two knew what routes to take to keep them from running into any trouble thankfully. All he had to do was follow them and he was quite pleased about that.
Since Yorais’s mansion was in one of the more wealthy districts of the city, it took them a bit of time to reach it from where they were. They however did eventually enter the district finding it almost entirely empty much like the rest of the city they wandered through up to this point.
They carefully reached Yorais’s mansion entering it through some back streets. They found themselves in the small snow-covered yard behind her mansion after hopping over a somewhat tall wall surrounding her property. Several coalition members nodded their heads pleased to see their return.
Abigail thrust the back doors to Yorais’s residence open and the three of them entered one of the back rooms. It was empty so they found themselves going more towards the meeting chamber he had been in before.
Voices could be heard inside. He couldn’t tell what they were saying however.
Since Abigail liked to lead the charge, she once more thrust the doors open loudly enough that it got everyone inside the meeting chamber’s immediate attention. Everyone at the long rectangular table stood up appearing relieved to see their return.
“Is it done?” Rinas said with a serious expression on his face.
She put her hands on her hips. “Uh-huh. We have successfully formed a link to the central pillar.”
A look of relief washed over all of their faces. Those who stood by their seats in the meeting chamber were Zorge, Temos, Yorais, Hoghdar, and Rinas. And now the three of them were there making it a total of eight inside.
“Temos,” Rinas said. “Go ahead and lead your team to secure those chambers beneath the pillar. Take a few sorcerers with you as well to keep any potential assailants from getting through their barriers. I doubt you’ll see any trouble, but we cannot take any risks. If there’s any trouble you know what to do to alert us to come to your aid.”
“I’ll go at once,” Temos the smallish man said. He was a gray-haired familiar in their human form quickly strolling out of the meeting chamber.
“Congratulations,” Rinas said towards them. “With the queen’s reign over and our seizing of the central pillar, our ability to influence the city will be secured.”
Hoghdar clasped his hands together in his lap as they were all now seated together at the long table. “Are you certain that the queen’s most loyal devotees won’t simply wage an all-out war against us?”
“Doing so would lead to their ruin,” Rinas said. “We have accomplished a great deal in a short time. It will take them a while to figure things out. They won’t know what exactly to do because we’ve achieved so much. In the meantime, we will exploit the chaos and continue to seize every bit of influence and power that we can. And if I were to surmise, they wouldn’t dare attack us once they realize who is in control of the pillar.”
“You are quite the optimist, Rinas,” Hoghdar replied, “but we have slain the queen. I’d expect retribution from them regardless of whether we have the central pillar or not. We ought to assume the worst just to be safe.”
“And we will.” Rinas eyed Kiran. “You’ve done us well today. I cannot begin to describe to you how pleased I am to have you as a part of our organization. I give you my utmost thanks and gratitude.”
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Kiran nodded his head. He had done what he thought was right whether it mattered for the coalition or not. The queen had taken action against him forcing him to take action against her. If she hadn’t targeted him specifically and those he cares so much about, he honestly wouldn’t have had any interest in eliminating her. “I wanted to make a request if I may,” Kiran said.
Rinas gestured for him to make his request.
“I believe Silvy ought to be given a position within the coalition. Without her, I would not have been granted a chance to confront the queen.”
Abigail didn’t appear convinced. “She may have helped us, but her willingness to betray her sacred oath and devotion to her queen and order is concerning. What’s to say she doesn’t betray us as well in the future?”
“And yet,” Frederek said, “it is undeniable that her actions have done immense good for us. She need not be given our full trust or immediate admission into our coalition but we can provide our protection for now.”
Rinas made sure to consider everyone’s thoughts. He wasn’t one to make a decision without hearing the thoughts of all of those who worked beside him. “I will consider her admission into our coalition at a future time. For now, we will loosen our constraints on her and offer her the same protection we offer everyone else. She will undoubtedly be sought after by the green cloaks after her involvement in the queen’s death. Will that satisfy your request Kiran?”
“It will,” he said. While Silvy wasn’t going to just be immediately given a position or full trust by them, she at least wouldn’t be at the mercy of those who wanted her dead more than anything. The two of them were undoubtedly the top two subjects they would want to torture or kill over anyone else.
“For now at least,” Rinas continued to say redirecting the conversation, “the regular citizenry are not yet aware of the queen’s fate. But they will know soon enough. Our reputation is poor amongst them due to the propaganda being utilized to smear us. We must work towards spreading the word about our noble actions. They must know that we have freed them from the queen’s tyranny and her monopolizing of the central pillar for herself so that she could abuse her position. They must also know that we will work towards ensuring that whoever ends up as the ruler of Liall, they must abide by the citizen’s ultimate will. No longer may they rule without considering us for once.”
One of the top issues the coalition would push for was undoubtedly a push towards more friendly attitudes and relations towards familiars. Familiars were truly hated within Liall. They were seen as a blight and an abomination, particularly from the upper classes. The lower classes, as far as he could tell, were rather mixed on the issue.
Familiars deserved to be treated better and not be forced into hiding their existence. They had little other choice than to survive in this place since everywhere else besides Liall was a toxic wasteland. Familiars—in particular—could survive out there or at least manage it better than humans, but it was not a pleasant experience. Kiran certainly knew that since he experienced it himself. Lar was but one such familiar that traversed that toxic terrain only to find him one day. He wondered how many other familiars like her just traversed those terrifying lands knowing that the only thriving location full of life wanted nothing more than for them to either remain as outcasts or to simply die. If Liall could instead be welcoming towards familiars, the ones out there could live a much better life if they ever decided to come here.
That was what he wanted; he wanted Liall to be welcoming to not just humanity but to familiars as well.
Their discussions began to wander and eventually, Rinas decided that rather than keep things dry, they ought to celebrate a bit more with some beverages.
Eventually, they all left the meeting chamber and gathered whatever other coalition members gathered at Yorais’s mansion. Alcohol and food were eagerly distributed to everyone who desired it.
Kiran found himself standing near the fireplace listening to the variety of conversations, laughter, and cheers being promulgated by many within the enlarged lounge full of lush furniture and ornate art strewn on the walls.
Those dark thoughts that lingered in the back of his mind however that bothered him before returned as he stood alone. Those tiny little doubts that nagged at him just didn’t want to fully disappear. Though he drank some alcoholic beverage, it did little to stifle those thoughts that swarm around in his mind making him doubt himself and his actions.
Yorias approached him and brushed her white hair behind one ear. She looked at him with a sideways glance due to her stance towards his left. “You’ve done quite well for yourself in such a short while. The queen’s dead and the central pillar is seized by us. I must admit, I was a bit skeptical that you would be able to confront her directly and accomplish such a feat. Yet here you are despite that accomplishment—which I might add, saved us all a whole lot of our own troubles—and here you are despite all of that with a dismayed look on your face. Why is that?”
Why is that indeed. Why am I feeling so doubtful of my actions? He didn’t fully understand it. It was an unsightly thing to see or cause death by his own hands. “I am not all that fond of killing it would seem,” he said. Kiran kept looking forward at the others gathered in here drinking themselves blind.
Since the thought briefly crossed his mind and she was a knowledgeable sorceress, he pulled out the dead arcane root he kept wrapped in his pocket and showed it to her. “Do you know what this is?”
She picked up the object finagling it in her hands. She lifted it to her eye to get an even closer look at it. “Any mildly knowledgeable sorcerer or sorceress knows what this thing is. I must ask, how did you get your hands on an arcane root, let alone a dead one?”
“That was the queen’s heart before she turned into a pile of dust before my eyes.”
Yorais put a hand on her hip and let out a curious moan. “So that explains her abnormally long life and power. Tis’ a shame it is no longer active. Had you extracted it from her before it was drained of all of its energy, that could’ve been a major boon for us.”
“Should we really be using such things?”
“We would be foolish to not use them. Are you perhaps fearful of them?”
“I just have my concerns.” His uncle had warned him about them, yet at the same time, his uncle had used it to save his life. Although he had failed to save his sister.
“You are not alone.” She handed it back to him. “They’re quite tempting admittedly, but with restraint, they’re undoubtedly useful by all accounts.” She must’ve noticed how tense he still appeared. She walked more behind him gripping his shoulders. She was taller than the average woman. He could feel her hair touching his shoulders as she raised her head more towards the back of his left ear. “You are so tense Kiran. After all of your successes today, you deserve to relax and enjoy yourself a little. The day is not yet over so try to enjoy it while it lasts. You never know whether such another glorious day such as today will come again in your own life.” Her words made him relax a little. She had the kind of voice that strangely worked towards making him feel more at ease. “Revel in your achievements and have a bit of fun with everyone else. I’m sure it’ll make you feel better and wash away any doubts in your mind.”
I’m just overthinking things, aren’t I? He tried relaxing his shoulders while she kept gripping them. Although he couldn’t see her face, he imagined her grinning and being pleased.
“In case you wish for any further questions or just wish to talk, don’t hesitate to come find me.” She plucked her hands off his shoulders leaving him there by the lit fireplace. Alright Yorais. I’ll certainly try to enjoy myself a little more if that is at all possible for someone such as me.