Revin sat in the imperial compound of the capital of Ateya. It had been three days since Narazoth had been beaten, and Revin was still dizzy from how it had played out. Narazoth’s mind had split , and he had made himself his own master! One had to be truly delusional for it to work. But it had. Narazoth had been the strongest beastspeaker in known history. Mind tricks or not, he was powerful. But what was Narazoth capable of now ? He was broken.

Despite all he had done, Revin pitied him.

Narazoth and many of his Almerian minions had been captured, though many had escaped east with the surviving ships. Likely headed back to their own lands with their new weapons in tow.

Narazoth was very forthcoming about what he knew. He revealed he’d captured most of the nations’ leaders, and Omrai had dispatched men to rescue them and return them to their lands. Hopefully, that would earn him a little goodwill among the other nation’s leaders.

After meeting with their general, the Sendevalians had left with orders to retreat from the lands of Ateya. Omrai thanked them for their help but said he would not let them keep what land they’d taken. The Sendevalians had agreed quickly, not wanting to challenge the man who commanded giganotos and defeated Jebuthar the Conqueror.

Revin thought of how he should tell the King of Sendeval what happened to his daughter, Densal Valen. He did not look forward to that conversation. He would do it soon.

The leader of the armies of Fornar made no attempt for peace and had left quickly after the fighting. Omrai said he hoped they would head back to their own lands. Apparently Fornar had a deep-rooted hatred for Ateya.

The recently woken monks of the Hiriv were also resting. Narazoth had kept them locked up, with just enough food to live, until they gave in. As time went on, he had gotten more and more intense. He’d taken to whipping those who resisted. The monks, who came from a peaceful island and were unfamiliar with pain, didn’t need much to break.

Except for Revin’s father. He had resisted the longest. He also had the severest of wounds. Narazoth had let out a lot of anger on him. But he never broke. And, oddly enough, Narazoth had let Revin’s mother stay with him in his captivity. A glimmer of mercy in a sea of ruthlessness. Revin’s parents rested in a side tent, seen to by Ateya’s greatest medicine men.

✦✦✦

Revin, Omrai, Prince Siroki, Kaiato, his sister Johuto, several of Omrai’s generals, and Beadoróf all stood or sat in the command tent.

“I’m sorry Omrai,” Beadoróf said, “There’s no way to restore the saurians to life, their bodies are gone. They’re as good as dead.”

“This is unfortunate,” Omrai said, frowning.

Revin frowned as well. He didn’t want to admit that there was no way to fix it.

“Hundreds of thousands of saurians are dead,” Omrai said, “I’m sure certain species will never recover from this.”

“It is the way of life, there was a time when a great many more species existed, and they’re gone now,” Beadoróf said.

“He only took from Ateya, right?” Prince Siroki said.

“No,” Beadoróf said, “He took some from the other nations. None were hit as hard as Ateya, however.”

“He wanted warriors, fast,” Omrai said, “Now those who weren’t destroyed are running around, like wild saurians but far more dangerous.”

“Many of their minds came from herbivores,” Revin said, “So they shouldn’t be attacking people too much, right?”

“We don’t understand all the trauma they’ve been through,” Omrai said with a sigh. “I think we should assume nothing. We’ll need to capture or destroy them.”

Revin nodded with a frown.

So many saurians, dead and gone. More than half had been destroyed in the final battle, but what others did Narazoth have around the world? How many were scattered? How many did he still control?

Too many questions.

“We need to decide what we’re going to do with all of Jebuthar’s technology,” Omrai said, looking at the group. He could tell the topic of the saurians was bothering Revin. It bothered Omrai himself too.

“We have the Almerians in custody,” General Arbolt said, “They know how it works.”

“Not quite,” Beadoróf said, “they know many of the basics, enough to imitate design, whenever they tried new things, they had many failures.”

“Perhaps you could help us?” Omrai said. “You said you specialized in the ancient history of the north.”

Beadoróf shook his head, “No, I only know the stories. The tech is unknown to me.”

Omrai frowned. “We’ll have to figure it out on our own.”

Beadoróf got up from his seat and gave a nod, “Well, Omrai Speartip, Revin Henrir, it has been a pleasure fighting with you. But I must leave.”

“So soon?” Revin said, standing up, “I’ve got so many questions.”

“Your parents will likely know most of the answers. Give them my regards,” he frowned. “Sephitaro smiles on your efforts.”

“Where will you go?” Omrai said.

“I’ll offer my services to the son of my former master.” Beadoróf let out a sigh. “Jebuthar, er, Narazoth took away a dear friend of mine. His son may need my help.”

With a final bow, Beadoróf left.

“Beastspeakers...” Omrai said. “Most people aren’t going to believe what they’ve done for us, good or ill.”

“Most people aren’t going to believe what you’ve done,” Prince Siroki said, “You’re now something of a beastspeaker yourself.”

“That would still be Revin,” Omrai said, pointing, “My direct connection with them has faded. Now my mind is tied to Revin’s alone.”

“How did you control them, anyway?” Prince Siroki said.

Omrai looked to Revin, they hadn’t told anyone the specifics, and they weren’t about to start now.

“I don’t know, some sort of quirk in the magic,” Revin said.

“Or perhaps the hand of God,” Omrai said, smiling.

“However you did it, the saurians fought as one,” Prince Siroki said with a nod, “I would have us remain allies.”

“As would I,” Omrai said, “Your engineers will be needed if we are to understand this new technology.”

Prince Siroki raised an eyebrow, “You’re offering me access to these inventions?”

“What better way to cement relations between two contentious neighbors than by having a common goal?”

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Prince Siroki nodded again, more slowly.

“It will give us a greater advantage over the other nations, should they choose to attack us,” Prince Siroki said, smiling.

“An advantage we won’t share with Fornar nor Sendeval,” Omrai said, returning the smile. “May it bring us greater peace.”

“Well,” Prince Siroki said, “I might be inclined to share some. Eventually. And for a great sum.”

Omrai chuckled at Prince Siroki’s shrewdness.

“A very , great sum,” Omrai said.

✦✦✦

A nurse led Revin through the hospital’s long hallways. The moans of the injured hung in the air like a fog. They had won the battle, but there were a great many injuries and deaths. Many of Revin’s saurian received their own medical treatment elsewhere.

But he was here for something else.

The nurse, an elderly man with stark white hair, showed Revin great respect and appreciation. Many within the city were refugees from the east. Others were soldiers who’d fled their posts on seeing the ships in the sky. By now, they knew Narazoth’s tactics. Drop on top of every military facility and kill every soldier, then take the city with little to no civilian casualties. Omrai had spoken to them with forgiveness and understanding. Not a man was court-marshalled for their fear.

But the soldiers gave Revin a special deference. He was the stranger, come from afar, who brought down the might of the enemy. Omrai still held a high place in their hearts as a mighty leader and an example. They expected this kind of victory from him. But Revin had been the catalyst for restoring their faith in Omrai these last few weeks. The commands to evacuate had done much damage to Omrai’s reputation that now as beginning to mend.

Revin couldn’t believe it had only been a few weeks since he’d arrived. It seemed only days ago he was running through the forests of the Hiriv with Blackfire, off to master a great serpent.

The nurse came to an open door, and motioned Revin in. Revin thanked him, and the nurse left Revin standing at the door.

Revin paused.

His father lay in a bed with the back half lifted at an angle. He wore no shirt but was covered in bandages half-soaked in blood. His eyes were closed, and his chest rose and fell in long, deep breaths.

To the side, in a bed of her own, was his mother. She was in far better shape. She wore a pale green dress the hospital had given her and had a few bandages on her arms. She was awake, and was reading a copy of the Shevidaron, the altered religious book of the Ateyans. She closed it when she saw him.

Her hair was brushed, and the dirt had been cleaned from her face. She smiled at Revin, tears slowly falling.

“Come here,” she said.

He ran forward, embracing her. She let out a slight grunt and he lessened the tightness of his embrace. He found himself crying too. His mother was here. She was alive. He held her for a long time, feeling warmth and relief.

“What happened?” he said, releasing his mother. “How did he get you?”

His mother took a few deep breaths. “He came quickly, him with a team of those metal monsters. They grabbed whoever they could get ahold of. Your father told them to stop, and I went with him. Then he took us both.”

“Did you know it was Narazoth?”

She shook her head. “He wore a mask, and those swords.”

“Was anyone hurt by the gravity weapons?”

She shook her head. “I didn’t even know about them until after you rescued us. We didn’t know how his ships flew.”

Revin cocked his head in confusion. That was odd. He remembered that the automatons that had attacked Ismander didn’t have those weapons either.

“Is that my son, finally coming to visit his wounded father?”

Revin turned. His father gave him a weak smile.

The silence stretched on. Revin shifted uneasily.

“So, you broke my window; stole my sword…”

Revin shrugged, “I did.”

“Did you use it?”

Revin nodded.

“In ways you wouldn’t believe,” Revin said. He thought of the sword protecting him against Narazoth. And that dream… on the hill…

His father gave him a discerning look. “You’ve been through much. Felt… much?”

Revin nodded again.

“And Ismander truly is dead?” he said with a frown

“She is,” Revin said, “Also, Beadoróf sends his regards.” He looked at his father and then at his mother.

His father frowned. “And he is well?”

“He just left. He’s free from Narazoth’s hold.”

“Narazoth told me Beadoróf was one of his prisoners.”

His father and mother went quiet.

“Who is he?”

“He’s my brother,” his mother said. She looked sad.

Revin’s eyes went wide. “What happened?”

“Narazoth,” his father said.

Revin cocked his head.

“When Narazoth was younger, he mastered a great many beasts, like you, back on the island.” His father shifted in his bed, then let out a breath of relief. “He came to the Holy House, demanding the right to ordain. I turned him away, but Narazoth threatened to attack, moved into the forest. Stayed to himself.”

“Beadoróf had been teaching him, worried for his mental state. How he obsessed over finding a master. At being someone important. I was only recently made the prophet. Beadoróf said we had to act.”

He looked to his wife. She urged him to continue.

“When I felt to do nothing, Beadoróf took matters into his own hands. He attacked Narazoth, drove him out. He’d taken the holy blade and drove him away.”

Revin’s eyes widened. “That’s… crazy.”

“We didn’t like it…” he looked to Revin’s mother.

“It led to a great argument,” his mother said, “Beadoróf arguing for greater action, and Alrin arguing for patience. Eventually, he and a handful of those who agreed with him, who thought we were being complacent, left. Ismander was one of them.”

“I… was in the wrong. I overreacted. The chastisement Father God gave me after… was quite sobering. But it was far too late. He had left. Gone west.”

“Ismander was one of them?”

His father nodded.

The revelation was too much for Revin. He pondered over it.

“I’m sorry he left, I wished to apologize,” his father said.

“I… I think he did too,” Revin said.

His father cleared his throat to break the silence, sitting up higher in his bed.

“I think it’s time we began sending monks to the east again,” he said. “We’ve ignored this continent for far too long.”

Revin sat up straight, “Really?”

“Yes,” his father said with a smile, “Apparently they have their own version of Sephitarism.” His father looked to his mother’s bed, to the copy of the Shevidaron sitting there. “Your mother has been doing an analysis.”

Revin let out a half-sarcastic laugh. “That’ll take a long time.” Revin then explained the taxes, the tithes, and the immense political power of the Church. His father frowned. “It does sound extreme. I’ll have to send missionaries. This disregard for agency is concerning. It seems Yishai might need to learn that.”

“Who will you send?” Revin said.

“I’ve already sent one of my best,” he said, smiling at Revin.

Revin smiled back.