Aramellianna enjoys a relaxing cruise on the massive airship the Grand Duchy engineers and artisans completed work on recently. She had two of the futuristic vessels built in relative secrecy, though she knows that Rikuto is aware of their existence. It’s hard to conceal such massive constructions, and so she told him that she was building additional defensive measures to protect both the kingdom and the Grand Duchy’s interests, but the Grand Duchy would maintain proprietary control of the vessels.
She’s fairly confident Rikuto is suspicious, since she deflected more than one royal summons of Wenlianna and has been making her own moves in regards to the Grand Duchy’s military readiness. But, because he needed enhanced magic crystals -diamonds- in humongous quantities for his weapons, he couldn’t afford to make accusations without solid evidence.
And, technically, Aramellianna is simply double-dealing, not committing outright treason. Of course, a tribunal wouldn’t agree with her, but she has the Kingdom of Mornistae’s best interests at heart with everything she does.
She’s just smart enough to know that allying themselves with Daniel, rather than making him an enemy, is the more prudent and practical course of action. Daniel has weapons that can surpass even the most powerful magic spells, tireless soldiers in the form of golems that can fight endlessly and in humongous numbers without fear of sickness, starvation, dehydration, or a need for sleep. And, he also has the dragons allied with him.
Rikuto has the same Kingdom of Mornistae that existed before his and Daniel’s divine magical summoning, except that he has likely bankrupted them once more in his efforts to make Daniel an enemy.
This trip is in part to tell Daniel that the weapons Rikuto has prepared are complete, as well as to visit her daughter and celebrate.
After a few months, it seems Wenlianna has succeeded in her noble duty as the unofficial consort to an emperor. And, even if he wasn’t an emperor, Aramellianna would be content that Wenlianna is with the child of the man she loves. Aramellianna came to love her husband, the Grand Duke, after marriage. Wenlianna simply fell in love before.
And as far as the message of the weapons, Aramellianna has been sending letters via Stalvaltan riders through Fort Peony to communicate with Daniel, and she had a letter sent that should arrive any moment informing Daniel of the risks of Rikuto’s weapons. Even Aramellianna struggled to gather what little information she did gain, but it was a small price to pay in order to protect her eldest daughter and newest son in law and future grandchildren. Rikuto has become singularly obsessed with his fear of Daniel, though even Aramellianna can’t fully grasp what is so terrifying about Daniel’s most powerful weapons Rikuto referred to as ‘atomic bombs’, which has no meaning to Aramellianna by name alone. Given what she does know, though, it is very likely true what Rikuto says about the bombs being responsible for the wave of weakness and mana deficiency that swept across the world that fateful day.
Rikuto seems to believe his own new weapon can counter Daniel’s atomic bombs, and he’ll likely deploy them as soon as possible.
The Grand Duchess observes the mountains as the airship is passing over them at a comfortable cruising speed. What used to take weeks of travel now takes a couple of days, and the Stalvaltan soldiers tasked with operating the airship have become proficient at navigating and piloting the vessel.
The mountains are hardly an obstacle any longer for the Grand Duchy of Stalvaltan, an irony since it was the mountains that held the war at a stalemate for so long. She listens to Bunnrimae exclaim to Yanidere, “Big Sister Yani! Look! I can see the flower fort! There! There!” She is pointing east, where the relatively small Fort Peony is tucked into a valley near an even deeper cut through the mountains where the river flows.
Yanidere nods, petting her younger sister’s head. “Yes, Bunnri. Fort Peony, the Flower Garden. If you look at the other side, Fort Twilight is even bigger.” The two move to the other side of the airship, looking out to the west along the mountains. There, the towers of the fortress are peeking over high points in the mountains, much more easily visible from the high altitude of the airship.
“Wow! I see it! There it is! It’s so big, even though it’s so far away, right?”
“Mm-hmm. Fort Twilight is much bigger than Peony.”
“Woooow…”
Aramellianna remarks as she relaxes in her luxurious seat in the main-deck lounge, “There has been a surprising lack of movement on trying to recapture Fort Twilight. I was surprised that Sundenelle surrendered it so easily.”
Yormollett asks in reply from her seat across from the Grand Duchess, “Is it possible that the Empress is trying to pull Daniel into her camp, Mother?”
Aramellianna nods. “Yes, she did express interest in Daniel’s Earthly advancements, though it’s strange to go the route she has gone. I can’t imagine ceding a key defensive fortress was popular among her court nobles.”
Junvask, Yormollett’s husband sitting along one of the window seats, asks, “Your Grace, is it possible Daniel threatened to assassinate key figures and demonstrated it? We know his golems can move rather freely without being noticed.”
“Also possible. Daniel isn’t interested in actually conquering the continent, so Twilight alone would likely be satisfactory to cut off future attacks directly on the Citadel, which would be his goal. The time it would take to deploy a full field army or more through Peony or Reeffjord would be impractical. Especially considering logistics and supplies.”
“Mother! What’s that!?” calls out Bunnrimae as Haldestania gasps. The youngest daughter has a view of the window Bunnrimae is looking through from her seat next to Aramellianna, and everyone turns to look towards Fort Twilight.
Seemingly cruising at a lax pace towards the fortress are two points of darkness so purely lacking color, it looks unnatural to the eyes. It is a more pure and lifeless black than anything Aramellianna has ever seen, and where their forms overlap, they are indistinguishable from each other.
During the flight of the mysterious black orbs, a dragon large enough to be seen attempts to intercept the orbs, first with dragon breath.
All of the onlookers gasp in surprise from the intensity of the flames emitted by the dragon. But, even with such raw power, the orbs are unfazed, and the dragon tries other powerful spells that noticeably sweep across the ground and disrupt the trees. Still, the orbs continue towards the fortress as the dragon exhausts itself.
Then, with a single bright halo of light that flashes out, the most terrifying thing Aramellianna has ever seen fills their field of view. It causes her to stand up, though there is nothing to be done about it.
Spanning almost two miles across and engulfing the entirety of Fort Twilight is an immense monolith of pure black, and great bolts of lightning changing colors before their eyes crackle and flash around the surface of the dark sphere. It’s similar to an explosion spell, but without any flames or fire, and swirling more than burning.
When the terrifying black orb collapses in on itself, the true terror of its power is revealed.
A crater as wide as the orb has been hollowed out in the mountain face, leaving nothing behind. Not a speck of dust nor a wisp of smoke rises into the air where once the most heavily defended fortress of the Eastern Alliance stood.
Bunnrimae almost instinctively hugs her elder sister Yanidere, who is stunned speechless, while Haldestania does the same to Aramellianna. The Grand Duchess can’t take her eyes off of the sight. Even the dragon is nowhere to be seen.
She finally mutters in horror, “I completely underestimated his Majesty…” She turns to the deck officer who is standing guard, ordering, “Tell the pilots to increase our speed to maximum. We’ll recharge at the Citadel.”
“At once, your Grace!” The deck officer descends the ladder to the main deck, where the command bridge is. The airship they’re on is the Grand Duchess’s personal luxury cruise ship, as opposed to the more war-oriented vessel now defending the Grand Duchy of Stalvaltan from the skies.
Of course, the goal of this pleasure cruise, in addition to visiting her eldest daughter and beginning mother training, was to also arm the Grand Duchess’s personal airship with Daniel’s weapons, if he can be so convinced.
Now, her goal is to protect Wenlianna and Daniel at all costs.
***
Daniel sits with two princesses and two princes on his lap, all four of which are young goblins. Jieka and Tekten can speak and feed themselves, though they are messy eaters. The two goblin princes, born just the evening prior, are named Daugli and Pomiel, and Daniel carefully takes turns feeding them.
Intense stares are studying the five of them, with Hekate, Ryuogriar, and Geirahoel the most obviously passionate about trying to get his attention.
The goblin children are Daniel’s shield from being crowded by a bunch of clingy dragons and a very clingy feldrok girl while they all share lunch. Shek and Skloe are the ones who get to sit at either side of Daniel today, and Tekten asks, “Papa, Tekten have cookie now?”
Daniel chuckles and smiles, still impressed at how quickly the goblin children grow. “What do we say, Tekten?”
Jieka blurts out excitedly with her mouth full of oatmeal, “Pweave!” She giggles, dribbling on herself, and Daniel patiently cleans her chin and chest. Tekten pouts, “Aww, Tekten want say.”
“Yes, that’s right, Jieka, but don’t talk with your mouth full.”
“Otay, Baba!” mumbles the little goblin princess excitedly through oatmeal. Daniel sighs, while Hekate asks with her mouth full, “Why no’?” Daniel rolls his eyes with an amused smirk.
Vaergraes, Wenlianna, Kera’tai, and Gwenesphia chuckle warmly at Hekate, while Ryuogriar smiles affectionately. “You may do as you please, my darling Hekate,” coos the platinum dragon as she tenderly dabs Hekate’s mouth with a napkin.
The young feldrok Empress immediately glares at Ryuogriar with a fire in her eyes, stopping her chewing. Ryuogriar grins deviously, whispering, “Give in, Hekate. You know you want to.”
“I know I want…”
Tekten doesn’t give up her original request, “Papa, Tekten have cookie pweez?”
Daniel pets Tekten’s head gently, and she gives him a happy grin. “Sure, sweet Princess. Shek, may I?”
Jieka swallows and exclaims, “Jieka too! Jieka too! Pweeze Papa!?”
Shek grins, happily -but wearily- handing over two cookies to Daniel, which he offers to the two goblin princesses. Daugli reaches for the princesses, starting to make noise. “Baa! Baaaa!” Both princesses become defensive of their treats, which they properly asked for. Shek starts to offer two more to Daniel, but he waves her off for a moment. He says gently, “Jieka, Tekten, since your brother can’t speak, would you ask for one for him?”
the two are nibbling on their cookies, and they each look at Daugli, and then at each other, and finally back to Daniel. They both say it at the same time, though at different tempos -Jieka more upbeat and quickly and Tekten more reserved and gentle-. “Papa, Baby Bruver have cookie too, pweez?” “Papa, Baby Bruver have cookie too, pweez?”
Daniel nods, and he gestures at Shek for a small piece, rather than a whole cookie. She smiles and nods, handing over a chunk of cookie, which Daniel carefully softens with milk to feed to Daugli, who eagerly eats it, holding Daniel’s hand.
Daniel looks at Geirahoel, who is fidgeting, and Ryuogriar notices as well. She says seriously to Daniel, “Mukori, you need to drink your…”
“Pardon the interruption,” states Ucahote as he appears next to Xyreko, who is seated at the table in spite of not eating.
“Ucahote?” asks Hekate.
“Your Greatness, your Graces; Fort Twilight has been annihilated.”
Daniel’s eyes go wide with horror. He nearly jumps up, but he remembers the goblin children just in time. He hesitates to barrage the golem military commander with questions in front of the children. He asks Shek and Skloe, “Shek, Skloe, can you please take the children?”
They both nod, standing up and scooping up their respective son and daughter each. The four children start to whine, but the situation is too urgent to keep them around, especially because of the shift in tone.
As soon as they are gone, Daniel stands up, facing Ucahote. “Tell us what happened.”
“Some kind of weapon from the east, your Grace. It activated a powerful magic spell. One that annihilated everything in a two point two eight mile radius.”
Daniel’s gaze goes distant, and Hekate asks urgently, “Rikuto made a god-killer?”
Erimaya gasps, and she urges, “H-He said he didn’t know how!”
Daniel asks, “The soldiers? Did everyone get out?”
Ucahote hesitates, and he shakes his head. Daniel clenches his hands into fists.
Rose speaks up. “Your Grace, send us to investigate.”
“No,” replies Daniel curtly. This surprises the others, but he adds, “Not yet. Xyreko, prepare the contract removal. Ryukana, I’d appreciate your help with any interdimensional invaders.”
The goddess nods, “Absolutely.”
“Do any of you object?” asks Daniel to the other women around them. Kera’tai, Aoloan, Erimaya, Vaergraes, Thymeria, and Wenlianna shake their heads, not having any objections.
Ryuogriar replies proudly, “I was planning to ask you to do so soon myself, Mukori. Clearly, we are of one mind.”
“Me too!” exclaims Hekate quickly, shooting the platinum dragon woman a brief glare. “I was going to ask today.”
Geirahoel warns Blue and Rose, “Mukori trusts you enough to do this. You will regret betraying his trust.”
The two lesser dragons bow. “You have nothing to worry about, your Grace,” replies Blue. My life belongs to the Fievegal and its great Emperor and Empresses.”
Daniel nods. He faces Xyreko and Ucahote, “Send wing-golems to scout the area as much as possible. Locate the enemy and determine if we can isolate them. Also, identify the weapon. We’ll show them what a true superweapon looks like.” He looks at his fist as his knuckles are turning white, anger twisting his face as he grits his teeth.
Hekate puts her hand on Daniel’s arm, and the others watch nervously, especially those who know what he’s talking about.
The human mechanic looks down at Hekate, growling out of character for him. “I… have done everything in my power… not to hurt anyone. I have tried…” His breathing becomes heavier, and Hekate tries to hold his arm. Ryuogriar joins her, and soon Geirahoel and Reignleif are hugging him too. The others approach, trying to keep him from lashing out. He continues to threaten, “Rikuto wants a war, I’ll…”
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“Daniel, this isn’t you,” states Treia. “Please calm down.”
“Calm down? Calm down!? I HAVE been calm! I have done everything I can to be as peaceful as possible, even in battle. Our enemies keep multiplying. They clearly don’t fear a power greater than they can comprehend.”
“Daniel…” warns Ryukana. He glares at her, too angry to be respectful or fearful of anyone in the room, even if he can’t overpower any of the four that are currently holding him thanks to their true natures.
Reignleif says with her soft voice serious and unwavering, “Mukori, you shouldn’t use that weapon unless it’s unavoidable. Mercy has tied your hands, but the opposite is not the answer.”
Daniel stares into her glacier-blue eyes for a long time, and she never breaks eye contact, pleading with him to calm down.
Hekate, who is holding his right fist with both of her hands, feels immediate relief when his hand finally relaxes from his fist, and she intertwines her fingers with his, while Geirahoel does the same for his left hand. Daniel takes a few calming breaths and sighs. He looks around at everyone, and he says softly, “You’re right… I’m sorry… I just… Our soldiers… they trusted me to make decisions to protect them…”
“They are still soldiers,” offers Gwenesphia gently. “Even we know the risks of being close to you. As with conquering Twilight, your duty to the people is to find restitution and justice. I… only humbly ask…” Her ears fold down, and she adds softly, “Treia and I were Imperial soldiers, but we both hail from Mattarglos, which… is between us and Mornistae…”
Daniel is quiet as he thinks. Wenlianna stands by patiently, also pondering on what Gwenesphia just said. Suddenly, the young magic Artisan chimes in, “We could go through the gulf. Mornistae and the Grand Duchy conquered Bromlund to gain access to the gulf and Fort Twilight…” She looks aside sheepishly, “... wh-when we still believed you were at Fort Twilight.” She adds seriously for the others’ benefit, “Mother won’t stand in our way, but she’ll be committed if she does it, and the Empire could try her for treason. I’ll request her aid immediately, but… May I ask one of the dragons to deliver the message?”
Daniel nods. “Are you sure she’ll help? It’s a treacherous deed we’d be asking of her.”
“I… I know she won’t become our enemy for asking… at least.”
“Good enough for me. Vaergraes, are any of your subordinates skilled wyvern riders? We’ll have them ride under our banners.”
“I don’t think that will be necessary,” states Xyreko suddenly.
Everyone looks to her, and she adds, “An airship belonging to the Stalvaltan Grand Duchy has arrived. Flag signalers are requesting to dock. Stealth golems guarding the Grand Duchess and her family confirm Aramellianna’s intentions. They witnessed the destruction of Fort Twilight.”
“Grant them permission to land at the control room flyway and invite them in. It seems they have business with us as much as we have with them. Let’s go meet with them. Xyreko, if the weapon is moving this way, let me know immediately.”
“Of course, Daniel. As you wish.”
Everyone heads to the control room to meet with Aramellianna. They have a lot of information to exchange.
***
Ahok sniffles as she lays on her side, curled in a ball. Her whole body hurts. After witnessing the void artillery’s terrifying power from much too close, she tried to flee, and she was promptly captured by the soldiers.
They have not treated her well, proving that it was all a lie. Her effort was wasted, and she was a Court Artisan only because she was skilled.
Now, a terrible weapon exists because of her efforts. Seeing it in action, she no longer cares if credit is stolen. It is a weapon of atrocity, and she should have seen that before hand.
Now, she doesn’t even have the strength or willpower to try to end her own suffering. Her cheeks are swollen and cut, her arms and neck are bruised, and her once-tidy and comfortable lab clothes are in tatters.
“How long do we have to sit around waiting?” asks one of the soldiers nearby. She doesn’t care who it is.
“Long enough for the demon-kin to show up to investigate, or until we’re sure there are no survivors,” replies another.
A third voice scoffs as he appears to sit with the first two. Ahok can barely focus in her apathetic stupor. All resistance and hope has been driven out of her, and she can only lie on the ground in the dirt waiting and hoping for death to find her.
She has heard that some of the goblin tribes have their own religions and spirit figures, but she is more familiar with the belief systems of Mornistae, having lived there for more of her educated life.
She’s not sure if Death has a spiritual form, but it takes a form she would never normally expect.
“What do we do with her?” asks the second voice. She isn’t able to look or respond. She has no willpower left. She just wants it to end.
the third voice answers, “If she lives long enough to become boring, we finish her off and dump her in the crater.”
The other two chuckle. The first one remarks with audible disgust in his tone, “Pathetic goblin. Look at her. So high and mighty when she was a Court Artisan, now nothing more than a disgusting demon-kin wretch.”
“Should’a never left your kind, ‘Lady’ Ahok.” One of the three spits on her, and she doesn’t even have the presence of mind or willpower to flinch.
All three of them laugh together.
Then, a fourth voice growls, halting the jovial mood of the soldiers. “I might’ve guessed, but you people are just obsessed with ‘kinds’, aren’t you?”
All three soldiers scuffle to their feet, as the second snaps, “Who the hell are you!?”
Ahok finally tilts her eyes, seeing the fourth figure with a bit of blur. She can’t make out his form, but she believes she is looking upon Death itself. The three soldiers draw their swords, but they aren’t close enough to the figure.
“Me?” asks the fourth voice. “I’m surprised you don’t recognize the Harbinger of Calamity.”
“Ha! ‘Harbinger of Calamity’?” sneers the third soldier. “That’s a myth. It’s just a name for that idiot… Daniel…”
“Smarter than you look…” replies ‘the Harbinger of Calamity’. There’s a metallic click, and he adds, “If only just.”
BOOM! BOOM! BOOBOOBOOM!
Ahok is startled by a chorus of thunderous sounds and flashing lights that come from the mysterious figure, and she falls unconscious from the sudden surprise.
***
Shortly before, Daniel slides off of Ryuogriar’s back as she lands on the ground, and he stumbles from the drop. It’s difficult to believe. It wasn’t very long ago that he, himself, laid his own eyes on Fort Twilight and harassed the soldiers present to try to return the attacking force. Seeing it truly puts into perspective what happened, and it makes his anger push its way back in.
The fortress that was an impressive feat of human construction, especially given the technology level of the world of Zenkon, is now instead a crater that spans deeper and wider than the fortress was tall or wide, with virtually nothing left behind resembling a shadow of the fortress or the mountain faces that were present.
A stain of red draws Daniel’s attention at the edge of the crater, and Daniel approaches.
There, he finds a small pool of blood at the end of a forearm with a light green-ish blue coloring to the skin; a goblin’s forearm where it was cleanly separated from the owner at the threshold of the nightmarish attack.
Every fiber of Daniel’s being wants to return to the Citadel and deploy an even more devastating weapon against Rikuto. He clenches his fists at first, and Hekate, who has followed him without saying anything yet, speaks softly, “Daniel…”
The human mechanic-turned-emperor catches himself losing himself to anger, thanks in big part to Hekate and the situation they just came from at the Citadel. He takes a knee to reach down, and he gently holds the hand of the fallen goblin with his own, calming himself down. His failure to understand the threat Rikuto poses, Daniel’s complacency with the strength of the Citadel and his allies, and the clearly unearned trust Daniel has gained by the citizens of the Fievegal.
He squeezes the hand gently, making a silent vow to do better as a leader, to stop holding back to protect enemies of the Fievegal, and to look after the citizens of the Fievegal that this particular goblin and the other fallen died to protect.
Daniel murmurs softly, “I don’t know who you are specifically, but your sacrifice will not be forgotten. None of you will be forgotten. I promise you that. I’m… sorry I failed you…”
Hekate and Ryuogriar both kneel beside Daniel and place theirs on his. Hekate adds, “I second that… It’s no excuse, but I clearly have a lot to learn, and I promise to preserve your names in the history of the Fievegal for as long as I shall live. I’m sorry, too.”
“I as well,” adds Ryuogriar gently. “You all bravely defended the Fievegal. We’ll take care of the rest from here.”
After a moment of silence, the three stand up together, and Hekate’s ears perk up. She states, “Blue and Rose have found soldiers. They’re holding stealth.” She points across the crater, and Daniel looks at Ryuogriar. “You don’t have to transform, but would you?”
She nods once, her wings appearing through magic.
Hekate draws her sidearm pistol and says, “Daniel, carry me, and Ryuo can carry you. I’ll provide covering fire with magic and my pistol if we need it.”
Daniel agrees. “Don’t hold back anymore. Rikuto and his forces are our undeniable enemies.”
She nods, and the three assume the position to allow Ryuogriar to carry them across the crater. They land on the ground, and Daniel leads the way ahead under Hekate’s cautious instructions while he draws his rifle and keeps it at the ready.
Hekate whispers, “Daniel…”
“I hear them.”
While Hekate probably heard them a lot sooner than Daniel did, even he can now hear, “Pathetic goblin. Look at her. So high and mighty when she was a Court Artisan, now nothing more than a disgusting demon-kin wretch.”
“Should’a never left your kind, ‘Lady’ Ahok.”
Daniel can hear the distinct sound of someone spitting, and he’s had enough. He licks his own teeth in irritation, and he nods at Hekate and Ryuogriar. They nod in turn, and he emerges from their secluded area.
Daniel doesn’t need much more than what he sees immediately to become profoundly disgusted with the three soldiers that are seated around a small makeshift camp. They have a goblin beaten and tied up on the ground against a tree, and her physical state is absolutely atrocious. In effect, Daniel doesn’t even really process who they specifically said she is, as he just lost too many of his own goblin soldiers, as well as others, who were attacked by these soldiers and the weapon they escorted.
Daniel growls as he lifts his rifle to aim at them, “I might’ve guessed, but you people are just obsessed with ‘kinds’, aren’t you?”
“Who the hell are you!?” screams one of the three soldiers as all three scramble to their feet, drawing their swords.
“Me? I’m surprised you don’t recognize the Harbinger of Calamity.” Daniel’s tone is cold and merciless. He has no more hesitation about what he needs to do.
What he should have been doing all along.
“Ha! ‘Harbinger of Calamity’?” sneers one of the soldiers. “That’s a myth. It’s just a name for that idiot… Daniel…”
“Smarter than you look…” replies ‘the Harbinger of Calamity’. He flips the rifle’s switch to full auto. “If only just.”
Daniel fires carefully, snapping his rifle to each of the three and firing before they can even take a step towards him.
All three soldiers drop unceremoniously, and only one of them has time to scream as he clutches his wound.
The goblin flinches, which relieves Daniel a little. She’s still alive, which means she can be helped. Maybe not ‘saved’, per se, but helped as much as possible.
Daniel approaches the soldier who is still alive, his rifle trained on the soldier’s chest. “P-P-Please! M-M-Me-Mercy!”
“I sincerely apologize,” replies Daniel without a hint of empathy or sympathy. “I didn’t intend to make you suffer like you did to her.” Before the man can add anything, Daniel finishes him with one more clean shot to the head.
Daniel stares down at his work, letting it sink in what he has done. With the attack on Fort Peony, it was easy at the time to dissociate himself from the act of killing because he could rationalize all of his enemies as being monsters in his mind, since they mostly fit the fantasy monsters of Earth. Now, it’s different, but at the time, that’s why he was able to keep it together.
Now, however, he feels an emptiness. He isn’t happy about what he just did, but he also doesn’t feel any sort of guilt. It could be the adrenaline, though.
Regardless, he doesn’t have time for or care about these soldiers any longer. He murmurs, “Hekate, keep on lookout for any others. They’ll surely come to investigate.”
“Of course,” replies Hekate softly. Her helmet hides her expression, but she is sympathetic to Daniel and the pain he’s feeling. She grew up in a more cruel part of this world, so she’s not as affected by the notion of death. But, she can tell Daniel isn’t used to it, and even as much as he criticizes the easterners for being so obessed with ‘kind’, this is his first time actually killing a human with his own hands -or at least a weapon in his own hands-. Even if Brosjak was close enough, his cruelty made it easier to do. In theory, these soldiers were just following orders up to a point, and thus hold less guilt than the one who ordered the cratering weapon’s use.
Suddenly, wind gusts and foliage scuffles, but the three don’t panic. Daniel isn’t in a combat-ready state anymore, and Ryuogriar and Hekate clearly knew they were coming.
“My Liege!” calls out Rose. “W-We found Sir Choul!”
Daniel whirls to look at them, and she and Blue are carrying…
… what remains of Choul by their shoulders.
Daniel sucks his teeth, clenching his fists. Choul is in his dragon form, and his body ends at the lower torso, without a single breath entering or leaving his lungs.
Ryuogriar glances at Daniel briefly, and she orders, “Put him into a storage bag.”
“H-He’s too…”
Ryuogriar doesn’t hesitate to cast the transformation spell on Choul, turning him back into his human form, which similarly ends at near the waist, cleanly cut by the weapon’s attack, which is nothing like the blast of an atom bomb.
Several more bodies fall from Choul’s dragon hands when he shrinks, and Rose and Blue react quickly, catching them as gently as they can, including the newly-shrunken Choul.
Hekate adds, “Do it for all of them. If you need more space, we’ll use our bags, too.”
Blue and Rose nod, carefully using their massive forms to place the fallen into each other’s storage bags, which are fastened on their wrists.
Daniel asks, knowing Xyreko is monitoring them, “Xyreko, when will the new revival potations be complete?”
“Soon, Daniel. We’ll be able to finish a batch of ten, but it will be a long time before we can make more.”
Daniel looks at the group. “Ten is better than zero. I’ll decide who to revive when we return. Send a golem to swap bags with Blue and Rose. Remember to use the airlocking method for teleporting.”
“Of course, Daniel. Retrieval en route.” A golem appears near Rose, who, thanks to the armor made for her by Xyreko, has a tracking glyph like Ryuogriar and Geirahoel did, as do everyone wearing Xyreko’s armor now.
The golem swaps the bags once everyone that was rescued -in big part thanks to Choul without anyone knowing it,- have been put into them. The golem then is returned by teleportation, which will arrive at a special check-in station to prevent another Brosjak from following directly into the Citadel.
Daniel then looks to Blue and Rose, who are covered in Choul’s blood. “Blue, Rose. I promised you I would remove your contract, and I will do so. I no longer fear you.”
Rose bows, “My Liege, pay it no mind. That you modified it so suddenly to allow us to better protect you and our Empresses is an honor.”
Blue nods in agreement, “Contract magic is tricky, and time is of the essence. Command us, and we would have obeyed with or without the contract.”
The two dragons are referring to the fact that, since removing the contract would risk bringing the contract demons and eat up additional time to try to rescue anyone, Xyreko suggested a contract modification, which, for the caster, is significantly safer and faster. They opted to do so, making them the bare minimum definition of magic slaves to Daniel; as in, they have to obey every order he gives them, but there are no restrictions on them, save killing Daniel themselves.
Daniel states, “I won’t order you. You may object if you so desire without fear of retaliation from me. Do you know where the bulk of the forces are?”
“Yes, my Liege,” replies Blue. “They are directly northwest of here. Of course, they’ll be closing in on us soon. The other scouts likely have regrouped with the main force. It seems the weapon is gone, but soldiers were stationed to ambush us when we came to investigate.”
“Good work, both of you. Then, I ask you to fly behind them and angle your dragon breath towards the crater. The more flush with the crater you can make the slag flow when they connect, the better.”
“Why is that?” asks Hekate, which is the question all four of the others want to ask.
Daniel looks directly at each of them for a moment. He states coldly, “Rikuto and the Kingdom of Mornistae obliterated Fort Twilight with a weapon they don’t understand.” He then looks at Blue, stating in no uncertain terms, “If you agree to do this, and only under the condition that you agree, then I, Daniel, as the Emperor of the Fievegal, order you to give no quarter. Leave no survivors to refute what happened here.”
Blue and Rose look to each other, just to make sure that they both agree, and they both nod. “We both agree, your Grace,” replies Rose. “We will remain low and out of sight from range.”
“My Empress Ryuogriar,” starts Blue. “If you would spare us your magic to transform us into our smaller forms, that will make our mission to remain unseen all the more likely to succeed.”
The dragon empress nods. “You are correct.” She casts the spell without any objections, and she declares, “You have heard your Emperor. Pay no mind to us, as we will be out of the way by the time you are in position.”
They look to Hekate, who adds, “I agree. Even if they do figure it out, let this serve as a message of what happens to those who betray our mercy and kindness.” She looks at Daniel. “When it comes to leading, it seems the only way IS to be feared. At least by our enemies.”
Daniel nods, adding with disappointment, “Seems that way.” He then says more seriously to Rose and Blue, “Here IS an order, though. If you meet any resistance that threatens you harm, retreat at once. If you even suspect firearms are present, retreat at once. We’re not taking chances this time, and Earth had lots of ways of annihilating humans. I’ll just have to work a little harder.”
“Yes, my Liege,” reply both dragons in unison. Now in their human forms, they race off into the sky, flying northeast to get behind the enemy forces without being seen.
Daniel finally looks at Ahok, kneeling to her level. She seems to be trying to look at him, but she is unable to speak. Hekate remarks softly, “She doesn’t look or smell like one of ours…”
“She’s not,” replies Daniel. “But, I don’t think she’s an enemy.”
“Let us take her and figure it out later. The enemy is drawing closer.”
Daniel nods. He scoops up Ahok, saying as he looks one last time over the massive gulf-like crater in the mountains, “Xyreko, please send pickup for myself and the Empresses. Monitor Rose and Blue’s status.”
“At once, Daniel.”
It’s going to be a long time before Daniel gets any solid sleep.
***