“You need to be laying down and you need to have a healer look at you again, Ty. You still look exhausted.”
Typhonus offered his friend a small smile. “I appreciate the concern, Marcus. Really, I do. But I’m okay. You gave me a place to rest and recover, you’ve already had the healers look at me once, and now I need to meet with the Khans to go over the last part of the Siege Shield. It can’t wait. The Empire could be here any day.”
Marcus sighed in apparent frustration. “I think you’re worried over nothing. We’ve got weeks at least. If they were going to be here sooner, they would already be probing the border. There aren’t even any scouts being reported!”
Typhonus shook his head then resumed tying back his hair, which had grown long and white, even receding slightly. “I’ve got a feeling, Marcus. One that’s kept me going the whole way here. I can’t fully rest until I’ve settled that feeling. That means getting this shield in place. For all of us.”
Another sigh escaped his friend. “You’re impossible when you get like this.”
Typhonus grinned. “At least you learned to accept it, unlike some of our instructors.” The grin faded. “That seems like a lifetime ago.”
Marcus reached over and gripped Typhonus on the upper arm. “It was a lifetime ago. Before the world was shattered. Before the Empire.” A gentle smile came to his lips. “At least it hasn’t been all bad.”
Typhonus turned towards Hanna, who smiled and engulfed him in a hug that was just shy of crushing. She stepped back to wrap an arm around Marcus. “Just hurry back. You know he’ll fret about you the entire time you’re in the city.”
Typhonus smiled and nodded. “Of course. And I know I’ve never said it before, but you two finding each other is the best thing that’s happened in years.”
With those worlds, he turned and vanished through the doorway, heading into the city. Along the way, he marveled at the settlement the rebels had managed to put together in such a short time. In many places more permanent walls had replaced cloth and even the foundations for proper buildings were going in.
It was as if the people here weren’t worried about the response from the Empire. As if they expected to rebuild their world right here on the plains of the Majestix lands.
Typhonus hoped that he could make those expectations a reality. Reaching up, he scratched at his chest through his robes. At least the crystals had fully sunk into his flesh, which was good, given the number of hugs he’d been given lately. Sharp gems sticking from his chest would have been noticed.
Those thoughts and observations carried him through the settlement and near the city. At the gate he was greeted by a pair of familiar Panthras.
“Hello Bageera. Theron. Khan Shaka send you?”
Theron nodded while Bageera grinned. “That’s right. We’re to be your official escort. She’s looking forward to meeting you in person.”
“As am I. There is much I have to tell her and not as much time as I would like to explain my plan.”
“Then by all means, let us away.”
***
“And you are sure your spell will work?”
Typhonus nodded across the table at the cloaked Panthra, who was leaning back in her chair. “I’ll need to be as close to the center of the circle as possible and I’ll need the time to work out the spellwork in silver. But yes, I’m certain. The math works out and I’ve been preparing myself for the spell.”
Khan Shaka considered him with those emerald eyes which were so familiar to him from their earlier communications. “Do your people know what you have planned?”
Typhonus shook his head. “Not the full extent. You’re the first person I’ve trusted with this knowledge.”
She cocked her head slightly to the side. “And why is that?”
“Because I feel like you can understand the sacrifice I am making. And that you won’t try to stop me.”
“Oh?”
Typhonus leaned forward slightly. “Because you know we can’t win. Not with our current resources. They outnumber us by over ten to one in population alone, and that’s just with readily available bodies. Give them another few years and that goes up by at least twenty percent.”
Locking eyes with the Panthra, he continued, “We need a way to delay and to give us the opportunity to access new resources. This spell is the best way to do so.”
The Khan watched him for a moment before slowly nodding. “And this is the best way to cast this spell?”
Typhonus shook his head. “No. Given a few more months I could devise a better version that doesn’t require any external power, but we don’t have those months. If my feelings are any indication, we have only days.”
There was another moment of silence before the Panthra nodded again. “Then I had best find you that room.”
***
“Your Woolens are an interesting lot.”
Palcon turned from watching the training grounds, where nearly a dozen of the Woolens were practicing with sword and shield, mostly males, though there was one female in the mix.
“Are you disappointed, Mother, that more aren’t taking to your style?” As far as he knew, only two had adopted the two-sword style that he himself practiced.
Mother shook her head. “The world will always need more defenders. It says good things about your people that they are so inclined towards defense. Not to mention the number of naturalists among their ranks.”
Palcon sighed. “They’re not my people, Mother. They belong to no one.”
Mother’s lips twitched towards a smile. “And yet they look to you for guidance. And that Evalyn does fill out that dress quite nicely.”
Reaching up to rub the scar alongside his good eye, Palcon tried to fight back the blush that threatened to bloom. Not that he disagreed with his mother’s observations. Glancing to the side, he caught sight of Evalyn. She really did look lovely in that dress. He was even coming to see the beauty in the lines of her face and the gentle curves of her horns.
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“I want them to become their own people. Not what others would have of them. All they’ve known is the cages and whims of a madman.”
“And they’ve chosen to follow your leadership, son. Like it or not, you have a responsibility to these people. I’ve worked with them. As have your father, Alaina, and the rest of the household. It may have been a short time but it feels as if they’ve become part of the household.”
Mother’s eyes bored into his. “Your part of the household. You need to accept that and fully embrace it so that your people can become the best versions of themselves. Talk to your father about it. He knows a thing or two about leading a household.” There was an emotion he couldn’t quite read sparkling in those eyes.
Turning back to the Woolens in the training grounds, Palcon tried to picture them elsewhere, under someone else’s care and guidance. There was a tug at his heart, and he sighed. Leaning over, he gave Mother a hug.
“You’d think by this age I’d have learned not to doubt you.”
Mother chuckled and returned the hug. “Nonsense. Sons always think they know better. It is a universal truth of life.”
Stepping back, she smiled. “You’ll do fine, son. And now I need to find your father and Alaina, then meet with your council. They want to talk about forming a formal government. Should be exciting.”
There was something in his mother’s voice that tickled at his senses, but she was gone before he could make sense of it.
“You are a natural leader.”
Palcon turned to see Evalyn standing next to him, watching the training grounds. Her staff had flowers blooming among the branches, their sweet scent drifting to his nostrils.
“You’ve said that before.”
Evalyn turned to level her steady gaze at him. “Yes. Now though, you have chosen to lead. That will make you stronger.”
Tracing his scar, he slowly nodded. “Yes. I suppose I have. Evalyn, why do the Woolens follow me?”
She was quiet for a moment, her expression unchanging. “You are a natural leader. It took them longer to realize that than I, for I could read your heart the first time we met.” She paused a brief moment before adding. “They follow you, not because you freed them, as you fear, but because they can see into your heart and see the leader that you are.”
Palcon lost his fight against his earlier blush. “Thank you, Evalyn. I will try my best to live up to those expectations.”
Evalyn gave a brief nod. “Of course. That is what your heart has always said.” There was a moment’s hesitation, then she reached out and pressed a hand to his chest. “You have a beautiful heart. I will forever follow that heart.” Her touch lingered another moment then withdrew.
Palcon bowed his head with another thank you. Once he was sure he had full control of his emotions, he straightened.
“What say we go check on our people?”
“Of course.”
***
“The Beast Callers all say something is coming, something that has animals to the north all stirred up.”
Khan Kubla grinned, slamming a paw on the council table. “It is the Empire, finally come to play! I’ll lead a group of warriors out to flank and slow them down. We’ll be faster than any humans could be.”
Xhere leaned back, steepled claws on the table. “Would it not be wiser to wait until we know what we face? What resources the Empire deems sufficient to combat the Majestix?”
While Shaka nodded, Kubla scoffed. “Nothing the humans have can harm my warriors. You’ve seen what the humans here can do, with those exhibitions. I only wish we’d had time for the mixed competitions.”
He waved a paw at the scale armor he’d taken to wearing everywhere. “The Shartha have provided my warriors with fantastic armor that blunts the effects of human blades. I have enough of this armor for an entire hunting party. We can be in among the humans, sowing chaos, and out again before their blades clear their scabbards, and resist them should they swing.
“Even those lumbering berserkers rely on slashing weapons. They’ll be no match for an armored Lyonin.”
Xhere was slow to nod, but he did nod. “If you think it best. You are the defender of the Majestix. In this, we will follow your judgment.”
Kubla grinned, fangs gleaming. “Excellent! My warriors and I will depart within the hour.” He stood from the table, gave a brief nod, then left.
Finally he was going to get straight up fight he’d been craving since The Shattering made the world a different place and broke the stranglehold that Central had on the world, with their outdated beliefs and morals.
The time for blood had finally arrived.
***
“Can we trust our security to one whose clan is already abandoning the city?”
Khan Xhere continued to lean back in his chair. “Can we trust him in the city when our mage friend pulls off his new trick?” He unsteepled his claws, turning one over paw up. “There is the chance he will be left behind when the dust settles.”
Emerald eyes blinked then narrowed. “You want him out of the city, don’t you?”
Xhere leaned forward. “I have learned a few things over the years about our fellow Khan. He thinks of himself first, then his clan. No other beings matter to him. Not you or I, nor the rest of the Majestix.”
Turning his other paw upwards, he continued, “Knowing those things, one can predict and guide our impetuous fellow Khan. It is an extension of knowing oneself and one’s foe. And when the time comes.” He brought his pawns together. “That foe can be crushed.”
Khan Shaka lowered her hood, a grin on her lips. “I have been waiting years for you to finally say that.” She shrugged. “Though I still would have enjoyed you calling him out. He gave you plenty of reasons.”
Xhere shook his head. “To do so would jeopardize the stability of the Majestix. With the loss of Central, it was even more important to maintain our unity. We are now prepared as a people to move forward into the void left by The Shattering.”