Chapter 43

The Lower Ring of Presidia

Vella

The trip from Horath back into Draeton and eventually Presidia was an uneventful one. Vella couldn’t help but be concerned by this. Given how the previous few months had gone, the quiet and peaceful trip was the calm before what would inevitably be a large storm, at least what she believed it to be. It was the first time in quite some while that Vella’s thoughts drifted back to her home and the life she had been living. She wondered if her wyrms were ok, Aren had arranged someone to look after them, but originally they thought they’d only be gone for maybe a week or so. It had been far longer than that since Vella had seen the farm. She worried if the farm was even still there or if it had been marched across by Sacrotian soldiers and destroyed. If they’d gone directly from Sacrotia to Draeton, her farm would have been in the path. As much as she had hoped for a bigger world when she left the farm with Aegis, that didn’t mean she wanted the life she’d had to be destroyed.

For most of the trip, there was an eerie silence that hung over the group. The death of Kraevos had clearly shaken each member in a different way, though none of them wanted to confront their feelings and instead tried to focus on the task ahead of them. This led to hours of each day just being filled with nothing but sad introspection, which didn’t seem to be doing any of the four any good at all. What little talk there was to break the silence was mostly focused ahead, what they would do if they ran into groups of Sacrotians, what they might see when they got to Precidia, how they’d get into the city, and then how they’d reach the castle after that. The only thing they all seemed to be very certain about was that Emeria would be in the castle. They hadn’t heard anything nor seen anything that would lead them to believe that the Sacrotians were on the move and certainly within a day or two Emeria would have gotten word about what happened in Horath.

The conversations always died down when they reached the topic of how to handle Emeria. For all the work they’d put in, the plan they had amounted to overwhelm her and rip the stone from her, not exactly tactical brilliance, but they knew she was a fierce monster when cornered and they had to hope they were strong enough to subdue her long enough for Aren to do his job. Each time this came up Vella would try and rouse her allies, pushing for optimism, though this seemed to have little effect. Moren was stoic and focused, centering himself on the conflict, Sani was trying simply to get a handle on the new power she’d gained from Kraevos and Aren seemed completely lost. It was his job to remove the stone, but his faith in himself seemed to have been shaken greatly by Kraevos’ death.

In the quiet hours, Vella would simply read Precia’s journal, hoping for answers or knowledge that might help her. It wouldn’t be the first time that the book had given her the knowledge she sought, but this time it didn’t offer anything she wanted. Instead, she kept seeing passages about how the kingdoms were governed and about diplomacy both within the kingdoms and between them. Despite this she continued to read on, hoping eventually she would hit something of use. The only thing to draw her attention from time to time would be Sani attempting to use magic. While she still had a solid hold of her original magic, the silver-flowing magic she’d gained from Kraevos and his stone was completely new to her. It was far more potent than she expected so most spells she tried turned into huge bursts of energy being let out only for Sani to yell in frustration shortly after.

That tension hung around all four as they flew, Vella on Aegis and the others on the moss dragon, until at last Presidia’s great central castle spires broke the edge of the sky and soon after it the rings and walls rose around it. As they grew closer Vella and the others decided to land, knowing that their odds of being spotted on the dragon's back were far greater than on foot. As the four took their bearings on the ground Sani began to scan around them before pointing to a small hill nearby. “That’s it,” she said. “There is an entrance to an old smuggler’s tunnel in that hill over there. I doubt Emeria has had her soldiers sent out to find things like this yet, besides, if they’d found it we would probably be able to tell, I’d expect a few guards at that point.”

Vella turned back to Aegis and wrapped her arms around the wyvern’s neck. “I promise I’ll be back,” she said, though it was more hope than belief. She grabbed her weapons from the saddlebag and turned to the others, who were doing the same. “I guess this is it, right?” She asked. “Everything we’ve done up until now comes down to this.” She looked at the other three and saw the serious and sullen looks on their faces. “I know we’re all worried, but right now we’re the best hope for all of Surren. Whether we like it or not, we need to succeed, we need to take down Emeria. So I’ve had it with this doom and gloom, we’re going to do this and make things right and that’s that.”

A smile cracked across Aren’s lips, the first one Vella had seen since they’d reached Horath. “Aye, yer right Vella,” he began. “Focusing on the odds ain’t gonna help us. We gotta make all the sacrifices that have been made worth it, make Kraevos’ death mean somethin’.”

“Yeah, the big lug is right,” Sani interjected. “I better not have gotten this stone stuck to me just to die so soon after. Besides, I want to see that smug, stuck-up queen have to thank me after we save her butt.” The other three chuckled at that and Sani started to lead the way over to the hill. She waved her hand at a small notch in the hill and it shimmered and was replaced with a stone archway leading down into the earth. As she did this she twinged with pain.

“Hey, you ok?” Aren asked her.

Shaking her hand as the twining green and silver magic faded, Sani replied. “Yeah, I'm fine. It’s just this stone. This is so much more power than I’m used to. It’s gonna take me a while before I’m really comfortable with it, wish I had time to practice,” she said with a smirk and a shrug.

“I’m sorry Sani, if there were any other way I wouldn’t have put that thing on you, but you saw what happened when it wasn’t with Kraevos for even a few seconds after he passed,” Aren replied.

“Don’t apologize Aren,” Sani said, turning to him. “I get it, you did what had to be done. I was the one who could handle it, so it had to be that way, not a choice you had big guy. Besides, much as I hate to admit it, you were right not to tell me, I absolutely would have fought with Kraevos and turned it into a mess. I can be just a little bit stubborn sometimes.”

Aren gave Sani a look and then rolled his eyes at her, “News ta me,” he said sarcastically.

“Anyways, like I was saying about the magic,” Sani continued, “it’s just a lot. Like before I could control it easily, like a water pump, but now there’s this whole river of power I have access to and it’s like I’m the dam holding it back. I have to concentrate on doing little things with magic because if I don’t they get way too much juice and go too big. The big stuff seems a little easier though, so I’ll take that for what it’s worth. When we see Emeria I’ll just let all the power flow out and hit her with as much as I can, that’ll make every bit of this worth it.” She stopped in the archway and motioned for the others to follow her, “Just keep up, it gets a little windy and there are some offshoot tunnels. If the transit cart is still intact it’s actually a pretty quick trip.”

The other three Followed Sani inside. The cavern didn’t have any light, so Sani conjured a small flicker of light to carry along. After a short while and a few other passages, they reached a cart sitting along rails in the middle of the tunnel. It looked large enough to hold a few people, though not much more.“Excellent,” Sani said. “Hop in and we can get moving.” Moren, Aren, and Vella climbed into the cart. Vella felt a little cramped as the two large men took up well over half the space. “Hold on tightly, this thing is a little reckless,” Sani said as she waved her hand over the cart. A shimmer of magic flashed over the cart and it launched forwards at a frightening pace. Through twists and turns the cart darted around, Moren and Aren slammed into each other constantly as Vella tried to avoid being caught in between them. The cart came to a sudden halt and Aren was flung out, Moren barely managed to grab the side and stay in. Sani hopped out of the cart, chuckling at Aren who was in a lump of dirt on the floor. “Sorry,” she said, “Like I was saying, I’ve got a little more power than I’m used to, that was about twice as fast as it normally goes.”

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Aren pushed himself out of the mound of dirt while muttering a few unsavory things under his breath. By the time he had regained his bearings, the others were standing at a nearby door waiting for him. “So this opens up to the basement of a Wild Order tavern. There’s a mirage enchantment on the other side that makes it look like a wall, that said, let’s be careful,” Sani said. She slowly opened the door, peering out into a rather empty basement. “It looks like at least this part is clear,” Sani said as she fully opened the door and walked to the middle of the room, listening for any sounds from above. “Sounds like nobody is home,” she said continuing up the stairs and looking out into the rest of the tavern, “Yeah, not a soul in this place, then again, anybody here would likely have evacuated out the tunnel once Emeria’s army got here.” They all looked around, the dust had begun to gather in the booths, and the windows were slatted shut, clearly, no one had been inside in a while.

Moren pried one of the slats away from the window and looked outside. “Doesn’t appear to be anyone around the building either,” he said. “Still best to be ready for a fight though,” he said as he turned back around. Vella unsheathed her sword and put the book back into her bag. Aren’s runes began to glow and the silver steeling of his skin began. He put on the gauntlets from Kraevos so that he would be ready to remove the bloodstone when the chance came about. Around Sani, the air began to crackle with silver and green energy with a slightly visible aura appearing.

“Well that’s new,” Aren said, looking over at Sani.

“I have no clue what this is or what it’s going to do, but we’ll all have to find out fast,” Sani replied.

Slowly Moren opened the door to the tavern and leaned out, ready to attack at a moment’s notice. The others followed him, forming a tight group at the ready. They gazed up and down the street, seeing not a single soul either way. “Ain’t right to see the streets o’ Presidia so empty,” Aren said. “This time o’ day this place should be full with lowlifes and traders.”

“You mean my kind of people,” Sani said with a chuckle.

“Basically said the same thing,” Aren replied. The wind swept through the streets and carried dust along. It was clear that if anyone had been in this part of the city, it hadn’t been for a long and likely hadn’t been for days. “Much as this makes me uncomfortable, we need to get to the castle,” Aren said. They walked down the streets, to the castle rail system. They didn’t cross a single person, soldier, or anything else along the way. “Well, if I didn’t already feel like it, I can say it now for sure, this is a trap” Aren grumbled. “Ain’t no way that the rail system shouldn’t be guarded.”

“Unfortunately I agree,” Moren replied. “The hunter awaits with hungry jaws for its prey. We just have to be more savage and cunning than our hunter. After all, there is nothing more dangerous than a cornered animal.”

“Whoever said that never met Emeria,” Aren said grimly.

“As one who has spent far too much time with her, I can tell you, it applies. Emeria is something completely different than a human or beast. She sits somewhere between, all the instinct and brutality of the wild with the arrogance and ego of humans. She is the worst of both and that makes her all the more dangerous. So if this is a trap, then we must meet it as such. We can only hope that her hubris has led her to make a mistake. Besides, better to know it is a trap and be prepared than to step into the trap unaware.”

“If you say so,” Aren replied.

They all got into the cart and it hummed to life. It took them up to the castle quietly and easily. Vella couldn’t help but think of the first time she had taken the cart system to the castle. That experience was completely different. Back then she had been filled with wonder by the tiniest sight of magic, by every sound and feeling of the royal city. Now it looked dark and grim, little life and certainly no vigor inside. The castle itself even seemed overcast by the events that had transpired. All the little things that had amazed Vella before seemed so insignificant. Now she could use magic, she had seen so much and the very world itself had changed so much. She knew the severity of what was about to happen and it colored everything that had once been bright and lively about the city and the castle.

“A lot has changed since our last ride in this, right Aren?” Vella said with a little smile.

With a grim chuckle, Aren replied, “Aye, quite the understatement even. The whole world has changed since our last time here.”

They talked in small bits as they watched the city below, noticing what had happened. There were large stones sticking from spots in the streets, Sacrotian banners everywhere, but not a soul to be seen outside. From the very highest view, they could spot some parts of the Sacrotian military in the lowest ring of the city toward the main gate and many more outside. At least this was a positive note as it meant they weren’t inside the city and more importantly that they wouldn’t be with Emeria.

The cart came to a halt as the door opened. The magical barrier dissolved and the cart kept going through into the castle. Sani raised her hands ready to cast a spell, expecting to be met at the entrance by soldiers. Once again they were met by no one. They all climbed out of the cart and looked around. There were spots of dried blood on the stone around the cart, marks of the battle that had occurred. Two massive Sacrotian banners hung in front of the platform the cart finished on, marking who held domain over the castle and all of Presidia.

“Safe to say Emeria knew we were coming,” Moren said. “It looks like she would prefer to handle us on her own. Otherwise, this would have been the most opportune place for her forces to try and take care of us.”

“Yeah, she’s either stupid or arrogant or both,” Sani replied.

“Stupid she is not, arrogant and stubborn sure, but not stupid. That said, she clearly is treating this like a game like we are just pawns to be played. We know we are far more than that and we know what is at stake, that is an edge she does not have with how much she underestimates us,” Moren said, trying to raise the morale of the four.

“Well she’s taken over more than half the continent, so I think there may be a little more than just that,” Aren said. “I’m figurin’ with all this set up she must be in the throne room, so follow me.” Aren trudged down the halls leading the others. He continued to mutter under his breath, his anger radiating off of him. Vella fought the urge to try and calm her friend, understanding how justified his anger was and more importantly that it was soon to be needed.

Vella looked at all the torn tapestries on the walls. There were tatters where they used to hang, some had even been replaced by the banner of Sacrotia or images of Emeria herself. She remembered the paintings and tapestries that used to hang there, the great works of Draeton, the history of Surren, and now it was all gone, replaced by Emeril’s vanity and Sacrotian pride. After a few twists and turns, Vella recognized the halls and knew they were getting close. She gripped her sword tighter, feeling the leather of the handle tightly against her hands.

“This is it,” Aren said, coming to a stop. In front of them stood the doors to the throne room. “We passed the point o’ no return a long time ago, so I ain’t gonna say anything like that, but once we open these doors I doubt all of us live. You all ready?” He looked back to Sani, Vella, and Moren, “Been nice knowing each and every one of you.” With that, he pushed open the doors to the throne room.

As Aren began to push open the door, laughter filled the air. The same cruel laughter that they had heard several times before from magic images, the cold callous laughter of the sanguine empress. Aren looked to see Dracyr, shackled and hanging from a wall, her golden form hanging without resistance. Across the room Graclose sat in a heap, blankly looking at the door as it opened. In the center of the room, sitting atop the throne of Draeton was Emeria, laughing madly and smiling from ear to ear.