Just as my eyelids became too heavy to bother leaving them open, a knock on the door forced me to lift away the drowsiness.
“Our request has been granted,” said Prince Ashina. “We’ll be meeting them at the center of the island. Are you ready?”
Shaking Clarissa awake, I answered, “Yes, in a second.”
We followed the prince to the courtyard once everyone was roused. Griffins flew us out the fort and toward a large stone roof. On landing near the structure I saw that the roof was not supported by walls, but by eight thick columns. Two white tables divided the open-air room lengthwise, almost cutting through the entirety of the elongated space. Jegeru’s people had not come yet, so we waited by the tables for a few minutes.
Someone spotted numerous griffins heading our way. We stood up to greet the people that dismounted the dozen creatures. Other than two children and a pair of their caretakers, most of them were soldiers. The commander of these warriors, a somewhat brutish man no taller than me, exchanged proper introductions with Prince Ashina.
After I was announced, I bowed and said, “Commander Sadatore, you have my deepest sympathies and more. You have my word that I will continue to do my utmost to rid your kingdom of the Hoic-Dro.”
“I’m grateful, princess of Alslana. I only hope these Hoic-Dro are truly our only enemy.”
“As I’ve already assured you,” began Wuhen, “Wregor is not championing the old cult.”
Adding to that, I said, “As difficult as it is to accept, commander, the Hoic-Dro have created an elaborate system of allies that have allowed them to do much harm throughout Orda. It’s proved incredibly difficult to predict who’s been subjugated by them, but I’ve come to the conclusion that Wregor’s ability to make its own decisions, while perhaps shaken, has not been spoiled. Your homeland will need outside help if it hopes to expel the Hoic-Dro.”
“Wregor wants Jegeru,” said a timid, squeaky voice. It came from Koreteru Tokkosho, the young cousin of Jegeru’s prince. He was staring at his feet. “It’s Wregor’s fault.”
Master Jia, the elderly attendant standing behind him, told him something in their tongue. I couldn’t understand the exact words spoken, but body language and tone told me he was instructing the young lord to keep quiet.
Seeing an opportunity to treat a potential leader seriously, I sat on the bench seat in front of the youth and said, “Please, Lord Tokkosho, have a seat.”
His startled eyes met mine before going up to his attendant’s face. The elder nodded. Koreteru took a seat and looked behind me to gawk at all the armed adults from other lands.
Getting his attention back to me, I said, “I believe you’re right, Lord Tokkosho, Wregor would someday like to have Jegeru’s people as their own. However, there is an enemy in your homeland who is doing much worse than ruling over your people. They pretend to be allies for a long time, then they strike. You’re not here because of Wregor soldiers. What were you escaping from? Giants?”
“N-no, not giants. They were like fiends, but they had a human shape.”
“We don’t know what they were,” said Master Jia. “We never got close to them.”
“But one group did get close to us,” corrected the boy. “Remember? We told you. We didn’t wake you up because we didn’t want to make noise. But we saw her—me and Ujimoro. She was getting closer to our hiding spot. A few more steps and she would have found us, but she stopped moving. They all stopped, all at once. She wouldn’t even blink. Her clothes were torn and bloody. I could see her ugliness. She looked too skinny and was like a black-green color. She was a fiend summoned by Wregor.”
“Black-green?” said the scholar. “Sounds like nismerdon magic to me. I fear your theory of fiends is unlikely.”
“Yes, thank you, Ghevont,” I said. “I’ve seen it to a lesser degree in Lady Vealora. It sounds as though the giants are now able to directly control their victims on a larger scale.”
“They can have thousands of mindless servants by now if they can enthrall everyone they feed from,” said Gerard. “All of Jegeru’s armies could be on our side and it will still be quite a battle.”
“Then Mochimoto is gonna become a fiend, too?” asked Ujimoro, the second child.
“Why do you say that?” I asked him.
“Because he’s too skinny. They give him lots of water, but he only gets skinner and blacker.”
“Water?” I glanced at Wuhen, whose thin eyebrow raised up in response. To the commander, I asked, “What exactly is the sickness that has afflicted the prince?”
“Our healers say his sickness is little understood, but they believe it to be some kind of infection that saps the prince’s inner water.”
“The desiccation disease. I understand it’s naturally found in the Chiszir desert. It won’t make him an Advent thrall, but they were probably the ones who spread it to your kingdom. They’ve done it before. Depending on how many in the royal family were exposed, the Advent could threaten to do much harm by withholding treatment.”
“Yes, a treatment,” said Master Jia. “As the prince’s illness worsened, he kept asking for us to head for the palace. He wanted to acquire more of a tonic that he said helped him. But we could not go to Watawara. Everyone that came from the city told us much of it was overgrown with incarnate roots. A little later and they described those human fiends. That same day we saw them for ourselves. Still, Master Lai decided to risk everything for his ward. We even waited for him by the shore for two extra days, but he never returned. We had to leave.”
“As difficult as it was, you made the right choice. You had other children to safeguard. Commander, will you allow my scholar to examine the prince? He has experience in treating the desiccation disease. He may at least help lessen the prince’s suffering.”
“Of course.”
“May I speak with you, Princess Astor?” asked Prince Ashina in a non-asking manner.
I smiled at the young lord and stood up to oblige Wuhen.
After taking a couple of steps away from the table and toward Ghevont, the imperial prince said, “I don’t wish to sound too heartless, but if your scholar senses that he can do nothing more than offer a few extra hours of life, instruct him not to commit too much of his nismerdon prana to the task. It would be a shame if another life was lost because the crystal was needlessly wasted on someone who could not be saved.”
“And if he can be saved? Will you allow that, my lord?”
“Only if the scholar is absolutely certain he can be. Is this acceptable?”
“Despite the emotional bias of your appeal, it does seem the pragmatic thing to do. Very well…” I sighed. “Ghevont, if Prince Tokkosho is too far gone, then follow Prince Ashina’s wishes, understand?”
“Perfectly.”
Turning back to the commander, I said, “He can leave immediately. My knight shall also accompany him. Can you take them now?”
“Yes, they can ride on our griffins.”
“Is the prince properly isolated?” asked Ghevont.
“He’s always behind a ward, and we burn the air around him when someone has to go through it.”
“Sounds proper enough. Which griffin shall I ride?”
Commander Sadatore used his the language of his homeland to order two of his men to escort Ghevont and Gerard to their whiptails. As they flew away, the commander said, “Speaking of griffins, I believe those are Jegeru riders behind you, princess.”
“They are indeed. They were instrumental in getting my companions out of danger on multiple occasions. As much as I would like to keep them by my side, they will not be able to fulfill their oaths under Wregor’s skies. They are yours now. I was wary about letting them go anywhere in Jegeru, but I’m heartened by the fact that you’ve kept those under your command on the island. It tells me you’re not panicking and wisely waiting for dependable information before dedicating your men to a battle you do not yet understand.”
“Thank you for your praise, but as my main charge is keepi
ng a close eye on Wregor, it’s duty that keeps me here, not wisdom.”
“Nevertheless, if you can, you should begin to make this fortress a larger command post. It may make for a good staging area for both Jegeru and Wregor forces once we start organizing en masse. The Advent have yet to display a mastery over the sea, so an island could become one of our more defensible positions.”
“An attainable goal if we can gain Wregor support. My ability to communicate quickly from here was not vast to begin with, and it will take more than my voice to convince my superiors or naval captains to gather here.”
“We have to start somewhere.” Gazing at Prince Ashina, I said, “And I don’t think it will strain Wregor too much if they choose to lend you a little communication support.”
“We can certainly negotiate it,” responded the prince.
From here on the commander and Wuhen slipped more and more into tongues I did not comprehend. They presumably discussed people and places I held no knowledge in. My exclusion from their conversation would have bothered me more if not for the children. They clearly needed a distraction from serious talk. I wish I could get Elisa to speak with them. She had a knack for instantly connecting with people around her age. I had to be a bit more conscientious as I prodded their interests.
Clarissa helped me socialize with the youths. As an orphan herself, she could identify with them better than I ever could. We were able to pull additional information about their last few days in the mainland, such as the fact that a band of marauders was what led to an early split between their smaller group and a group that included many of their relatives. It seemed bandits were taking advantage of the largely absent Jegeru army to add their own form of depravity to the chaotic situation. In any case, much of our conversation veered toward the less traumatic.
Two hours since they left, Gerard and Ghevont returned. The scholar and a man in white healer’s robes went to speak with the commander while Gerard came back to me.
Stepping away from the children, I asked Gerard, “How did the prince look?”
“They did not allow me to get too close, and I was glad to keep the distance. He already looked like a skeleton made of cracked clay from where I stood. All the poor boy did was make a hoarse, groaning noise the entire time.”
“Did Ghevont do anything to help him?”
“He told me he tried clearing his throat a little, but he can’t do much more without replenishing his nismerdon prana, and he said it within earshot of the healer. I suspect that’s what he and the healer are discussing with the commander right about now.”
Confirming Gerard’s suspicions, the commander called over Prince Ashina and I a minute later. Keeping Ghevont at his side, the commander said, “Princess Astor, your scholar tells me there’s a chance the prince can be saved if his staff’s crystal can reclaim some of its lost prana.”
“How much of a chance, Ghevont?”
“Um, it’s low. I say there’s almost no chance at all of curing his condition all at once, but there is a fair possibility I can manage it to the point his life is no longer in immediate danger. Treatment can continue from there until he’s reached a state of near normalcy.”
“Good news if we had the prana, prana that is only on Jegeru’s mainland.”
The commander said, “I understand that we need the prana of the giants or one of their worshipers, but if those human thralls are somehow being controlled by the giants, then it’s possible they carry some of their prana, no? They would be easier targets to obtain this special prana from.”
“Assuming you only face a few at a time,” said Wuhen.
“I’m prepared to dispatch every rider I have to the mainland if it will save my prince. He could very well be the rightful king. I will not sit still as he lays dying. Would either of you, Prince Ashina, Princess Astor, expect your vassals to leave you to die when they’re told they could save you?”
“He has you there,” whispered Gerard.
“What are you proposing, then?” I asked the commander.
“Simple, princess. I want my riders to take your scholar to the mainland so he can see whether the thralls will give him the prana he needs to heal the prince. They can reach the coast by evening if they leave now.”
“Invading in the dark may not be the best strategy if we wish to avoid settling near a group of thralls large enough to overwhelm us.”
“But time is of the essence. The prince does not have long.”
“I understand your impatience, but I will not send my people into greater danger than already present. We will have to leave somewhere between midnight and dawn.”
“We?” noted Wuhen.
“Aye. If I do agree to this mission, it will mean taking me along as well.”
“Is that necessary?”
“It is. I will not be comfortable without knowing my shield is protecting both a friend and one of our most valuable allies against the Advent.”
“Hmm, interesting,” said a retrospective Ghevont. “I suddenly feel big-headed.”
“Besides,” I continued, “I don’t want to help just the prince. Commander Sadatore, if we can secure a position at the coast, we can help some of your people escape the chaos.”
“That will require ships to escape to. I currently have none under my command.”
“Wregor has a ship docked here, and if I remember correctly, two others within sight of the island. Prince Ashina, will you be willing to part with at least one of them? Or will you need your father’s permission?”
“There’s no need to tease, princess. I can part with the ship here. It can be at Jegeru’s coast by tomorrow evening if it sails now. The only question will be exactly where I send it to. Watawara will surely have an abundance of thralls to choose from, but I doubt ‘abundance’ is what you’re looking for.”
“No, we’ll have to choose a settlement well north of the city, yet not so far away that neither victims nor thralls are too scarce.”
“What about Seopo?” said Master Jia. “Or at least somewhere nearby. That’s where we held out for two days, in its lighthouse. A large mudslide buried much of the fortress years ago, so the land is rough, but perhaps because of that we only saw a trickle of thralls in our time there.”
“And what about people?”
“A few more of those. Most passed on or tried climbing the muddy hills.”
“Does Seopo sound acceptable to you, Prince Ashina?”
“In theory. Is all this planning more than mere theory?”
“As long as the planning doesn’t hit a snag. So far I think it’s coming along fine. What do you think, commander?”
“I would prefer leaving earlier, but if your personal aid and a Wregor ship comes with your terms, then I will gratefully accept them.”
“Then I believe we have a plan without a snag. It hopefully won’t take more than a day to learn how much prana the thralls carry. That will go a long way in determining our primary goals on the mainland.”
Wuhen patted down some hairs that were coming loose from the unrelenting wind. “I’ll have the ship set sail immediately. The warrior in me wants nothing more than to lend you his blade, but I fear Wregor’s prince can’t risk his blood on another land just yet.”
“And the warrior in me wants to see what a Wregor prince can do with spell and sword, but the princess understands where your obligations currently lie. The princess is also glad to hear you are not forbidding her from taking action.”
“It’s not my business to instruct another royal valkrean what to do. However, it will be a bad look on the empire if you die, so I highly recommend you avoid such a fate.”
“How your empire is perceived is my number one priority, Prince Ashina. I will therefore do my utmost to treat death as undesirable. Will you please order your ship to set sail?” As the prince walked over to his men, I told the commander, “My people will try to rest as much as possible before we go. I assume you’ll order your riders to do the same. We’ll find few opportunitie
s to sleep once we leave the island. We’ll meet here again shortly after midnight. Agreed?”
“Agreed.”
Chapter Twenty-One
We met in the open-air room again with rested bodies and full stomachs. Since they were as eager as I was to do something meaningful with their skills, neither Gerard nor Clarissa ever said anything unfavorable about the plan. No mission was going to be risk-free when it came to anything having to do with the Advent, so there was little point arguing for the only safe option—doing nothing.
Per my request, Eu-Sook’s squad would be responsible for flying my group over the mainland. Until then, Eu-Sook and her comrades joined us and half of the Jegeru troops as passengers over the sea. Not counting the four warrior women I was already friendly with, my Jegeru allies amounted to five squads total, each comprising six riders. When I estimated that we would reach the mainland around daybreak, our feathered carriages flapped their living cargo off the ground.
Our journey went well. No stout winds or heavy rain disrupted our flight. Nevertheless, an overcast sky kept the night darker than normal. A light fog curling over the water added to the decreased visibility as we neared the shoreline. In any case, the faraway dawn helped to outline the undulant hill peaks we searched for. Finding the buried Seopo was simply a matter of flying to their southernmost point.
Finally, with the fog breaking apart and the sunbeams extending their reach to the surface, we saw the end of the hill range. Our aloft transports were steered toward the last of their peaks. On closer inspection, I could see that the hill consisted of a loose pile of large rocks held together by sodden soil and the roots of small shrubs. Nothing alive appeared to be moving anywhere. Not even a bird or moth fluttered about. Thank Radosis for her breeze or I would have assumed we were about to fly into a vast painting.
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