by Andur
I grin and play with the amulet around my neck. “Yes, right you are. If you are that insecure about my motives, then let me prove it to you in our bed.”
The superior expression is wiped from her face. “I need to see to Seria.” She turns and walks out of the room like a robot. When she enters the corridor, her measured steps quicken and turn to running.
Chloe pokes me from the side. “My daughter is so lucky to have you. I don't know many demons who can send a succubus running, but you should hurry to catch her. Otherwise you have to search for her the entire night.”
I grin and raise the hand with the wedding ring. “I am afraid that there is no hiding. She cut off that route herself.”
With that I leave Doreen's bedchamber and head towards where I feel Elona's presence. I guess we could have a lot of fun tonight. Tomorrow our scouts will return from the mana storm and we will finally learn more about Moonray's game. Then we have to face the cruel realities again.
59. ~Debatable.~
“The utukku were a type of spirit In Sumerian religion that had escaped the underworld, either by their own power or by being summoned forth by a priest, such as the one appearing in the Epic of Gilgamesh. They could be either benevolent or evil. The evil utukku were called Edimmu and the good lamassu or shedu.”
The Journey to the Afterlife
Dedessia, the Sea of Souls, Semper Fidelis
Elona
Our scouts searched for a few days before they finally found Moonray's hideout. Not that it is like he is trying to hide himself. No, in fact it is the complete opposite. Even if his facility is well protected against prying eyes, he practically rolled out a red carpet for us.
He has an underground facility which is awfully close to the mana storm. In fact, it is in a zone which is regularly hit by the storm.
The reason why it isn't well concealed any more, is because there is a huge magical circuit installed into the ground. Tons and tons of iron were refined and poured into creases which were carved into the lava.
Normally nobody would go anywhere close to the storm, so if we weren't searching for a hideout we would have never found it. Rusty metal isn't spotted easily, but since Moonray is pouring mana into his circuit the entire area is lit up like a Christmas tree.
I lower the sheet of paper and cast a look at the people who are gathered in the throne room. “If those reports are correct, then they are clearly trying to open some kind of portal. But why it has to be done in the vicinity of a mana storm, I have no idea. We should hurry and stop them from doing whatever they are trying to do.”
“It doesn't matter. From Moonray's behaviour I judge that they are ready to open it any time. They are just waiting for us, for whatever reason.” Shade closes his eyes and massages the bridge of his nose. “I think that Moonray wants to open a pathway to another realm.”
Ishaan shakes his head. “But why!? Why go through all that trouble? He should open the damned pathway and go if he is that keen on escaping this realm. Why does he need us? And I thought that there is no way out of Dedessia?”
Shade shakes his head. “That's not entirely true. I've had a long time to think about it and I am almost certain that the mana storms are zones in which the different realms touch each other. They grind at each others reality and therefore create static energy. The mana storms are the physical result of what happens when two realities overlap. I think that Moonray intends to poke a hole into the thin fabric between our plane and somewhere else.”
Tisha widens her eyes. “Does that mean that the spirits aren't created by the mana storms!? They slipped through from another plane of existence?”
Shade shrugs. “That remains to be seen.”
“That still doesn't explain why he needs as many higher immortals as possible in close vicinity to his portal,” I mumble.
“Isn't it obvious?” asks Doreen and crosses her arms in front of her chest. “He doesn't know what will happen when he opens the portal to another realm. He needs a distraction. And what's a better distraction than a huge army which is attacking the portal?”
I close my eyes and try to think it through. Grandmother has a point, but if she is right, there are also other implications. “That would mean that he knows what will happen as soon as he opens the portal.”
Antonius gestures at his own duplicate of the report. “I just don't get how they managed to get so much iron. The circle is huge and so much metal is worth a fortune. If anyone had known about it, they would have raided the facility for the resources. And how did they manage to conceal it for so long?”
Shade makes a dismissive gesture. “Isn't it obvious? Moonray must have gotten something in return for working with the slavers. Who knows how much information he provided to them? And Parle had a mine which ran for years. Everyone knows that it didn't yield much. But what if that wasn't true either? What if Moonray took most of the iron for himself and in exchange provided information for the slavers? The slavers certainly wouldn't care if they are working a few minor slaves to death, as long as there is a steady stream of replacements.”
Suddenly my throat feels dry. The cruel determination and long term plans of Moonray are getting worse and worse with every bit of uncovered information. Is there any chance at all to stop him from opening the portal? If all our theories are true, then he will open the portal as soon as we arrive with a mentionable fighting force. “Does that mean that our only chance is to sit it out and force him to make a move?”
We would be forced back into the role of reacting to his moves. A major setback!
The biggest problem is the mana storm. We can't use strong magic in its vicinity, so Moonray will see us coming from miles away. The area ensures that there is no way to conceal ourselves. We aren't even sure if Moonray would pay any heed to our restrictions. He holds the safe ground.
If we approach his facility, he could simply cast strong magic and set off the mana storm. When he retreats underground he will be safe from the storm while we are caught in the open and torn to pieces. Our only hope is that a spirit takes notice of his little circle and destroys it. But that's probably too much to hope. This facility must have existed for a long time, so he surely has a way to defend against spirits.
Our tactical meeting is interrupted by one of Tisha's harem girls who enters the throne room. It's the redhead. Since this is a closed meeting with only high ranking members, all eyes focus on her expectantly. She gloats and enjoys the attention for a few moments, then she bows apologetically. “I am sorry to interrupt, but there are several representatives from the allied clans outside. They are complaining about a certain incident and since they are fairly sure that none of them was the culprit, they want to have a discussion with us.”
I raise both eyebrows. “Which incident?”
The redhead bows. “Apparently Imothep is gone, together with their whole island. The allied clans want to know if we are responsible for it.”
My head swivels slowly towards Shade. He is busily studying his staff, not looking at me.
“Honeybear, is there any chance that you would know something about this?” I ask with a smile plastered on my face.
He shrugs. “I may have paid them a visit and given them a choice. Unfortunately Ra didn't cooperate, so I had to make an example of them.”
I feel the corner of my mouth starting to twitch. “You wiped out an entire clan? Alone?”
He sighs and turns towards me, then he starts counting on his fingers. “Sugarcat, I am sorry if you think that I did something that's morally wrong. But just think about it for a moment. Their higher immortals attacked us in open battle. There is no way to tell what they would have done to our labourers if we would have been defeated.”
A pearl of sweat starts forming on his forehead.
“So we had to punish them somehow. We certainly couldn't let such individuals roam free. And if we punished only their higher immortals, we'd doom the rest of them to be wiped out by a spirit sooner or later. We certainly can't ta
ke in even more people. And I most certainly won't give them our crystal technology to use against us. Hence I decided to wipe them out in one clean blow. I promise that they didn't feel it. Just a flash of light, that's all.”
I study him for several moments just to let him sweat. “Honeybear, I don't object to your decision. But what I am concerned about is that you went there alone! What if something had happened to you!?”
He shrugs. “It wasn't like I was in any danger. I used one of my shadows as an ambassador and when they refused I wiped out the island with my chaos magic from a safe distance.”
Oh, if it's like that...
I return my attention to the people around us. “What's with the long faces? Get the representatives from the allied clans. We have a lot to talk about.”
60. ~Alliances.~
“A pantheon is an overview of a given culture's gods and goddesses and reflects not only the society's values but also its sense of itself. A pantheon directed by a thunderbolt-wielding autocrat might suggest a patriarchy and the valuing of warrior skills. A pantheon headed by a great-mother goddess could suggest a village-based agricultural society. To confront the pantheon of the Egyptians is to confront a worldview marked by a sense of death and resurrection and the agricultural importance of the cycles of nature. The Greek pantheon is a metaphor for a pragmatic view of life that values art, beauty, and the power of the individual, and that is somewhat skeptical about human nature.”
The Journey to the Afterlife
Dedessia, the Sea of Souls, Semper Fidelis
Shade
Seven people enter the throne room. From what I can see, they are clearly high ranking messengers of their respective clans, but not the actual leaders. But if Elona's description is correct then the one on the left is surely Ajax from Morpheus. And the girl who is clinging to him is Takea from Soistaat.
According to my wife, she set them up with each other. It's not surprising that they are still together. From what I remember Elona has at least some skill in that regard. When she decides that two people work well together she is almost always right.
Elona raises a hand to wink at Takea and Ajax. The new couple seems embarrassed, but acknowledges the informal greeting with a nod. I guess it would be interesting to know what they would think about the fact that Elona engineered their first contact with each other.
But the representative of the whole group seems to be another person. He is a slightly older fellow with grey hair. I will never understand why some gods choose an aged appearance instead of one with the vigilance of youth. Unless he has some special circumstances like Doreen with her diminished healing ability, there should be no reason to look like that.
The man steps forward. “We were sent to investigate the circumstances behind Imothep's demise. We-”
I decide to interrupt him. There is no reason to hide my actions. Well, I probably could, but I don't want to. “Ah, yeah. About that. I wiped them out. Who are you? I think you forgot to introduce yourself.”
Greyhairs sputters something incomprehensible and tries for several moments to regain his composure. At last he decides to introduce himself. “My name is Ganwal from the clan Fae. We are located north of the acid sea and wanted to investigate the reason why our allies perished practically overnight.” He is obviously surprised about my blatant confession.
The rest of the group shows equally surprised expressions, so I decide to give a better explanation. I let go of my staff and order it to stay still. It remains standing on its blade right next to me like a loyal pet. Then I interlock the fingers of my hands to think about a good formulation for what I have to say.
“It is simple. I am Angrod, if that name holds any meaning to you. I have decided to make the people of this clan my subjects. The slavers and Imothep engineered several attacks on the people who I decided to protect, which resulted in thousands of deaths on both sides. They even had the audacity to attack us in open battle right in front of this city. That's more than enough to be seen as a declaration of war, even if such a declaration was never officially given.
“From my time in this realm I understood that it is something like a question of honour to raid other clans for resources and slaves. Of course it is far from my interests to interfere in your traditions. But you see, I also have well-kept traditions. And if I have to respect the traditions of others, they also have to respect mine. My traditions include wiping out everyone who attacks me or the ones under my protection. So I followed Ra and his goons to their hideout. I was even kind enough to give them the chance to surrender completely. They refused, so I wiped out their island.”
Ganwal's face shows a strange collection of different emotions until he finally decides on an answer. “I hope you realise that the Alliance was created exactly for situations like this one. No clan should have the power to obliterate another one.”
I snort. “My mother was one of the founders of the alliance and according to her, the alliance was created for an entirely different reason. It was supposed to stop the hostilities between the clans, and abolish slave trade. But the alliance's purpose was twisted by various factions. Instead of stopping the hostilities, the alliance turned into an instrument to uphold the status quo.”
Then I decide to show my true colours and smile viciously at Ganwal. “And if you don't want any clan to have enough power to wipe out another, then I suggest you give up now and swear fealty to me. Because as long as I am alive, no matter with which clan I decide to stay, that clan has the power to wipe out another one with a single spell. Much the same way I wiped out the spirit who attacked us. I am sure that you have heard of it. It caused quite an uproar if I am to believe my family.”
When I am done, Ganwal finds himself awkwardly alone in front of the throne. The other members of his group backed away during the conversation. Ajax and Takea were the first ones who slowly floated away from the group of representatives and silently joined the members of my family.
The simple, but unmistakable act clearly suggests that they and their clans are on our side. It isn't surprising. They saw us in battle and even assisted us in our fight against Imothep. They are the last ones who would complain that Imothep is gone.
The other representatives didn't abandon their spokesperson in such an obvious manner. Instead they slowly backed away from him, as if to say that they don't want to have anything to do with this idiot. Three of them simply backed off to form their own little group, clearly distancing themselves. A fourth representative gestured that he doesn't want to have anything to do with this, then he simply turned and left. I didn't mention his departure to Ganwal, whose entire concentration was focused on me. It was clear that the runaway didn't want to disturb Ganwal's single-mindedness.
Suddenly Ganwal decides to seek assistance from his comrades. He already glared daggers at Ajax and Takea when they switched sides in such a blatant manner. When he turns around, he finds himself completely alone in front of my throne.
It is exactly as I suspected. Moonray didn't make his plans without reason. He knew exactly that the alliance would simply fall apart when there is someone or something which is able to oppose them. Imothep already offended a large part of the alliance when they caused violence at the gathering. But all that happened in response were some measly trade restrictions. If the alliance had any backbone, they would have gathered a suitable force and subdued Imothep.
That's why Moonray had to create a force which is actually able to perform a role in his plan. Obviously that includes having someone near the portal who actually wants to put up a fight.
Ganwal turns back towards me, ever so slowly and without haste. At least he shows some dignity in defeat. “I suppose that your reaction to the attack on your clan was justifiable.”
I nod and smile without answering.
In the end Elona decides to free Ganwal from the awkward silence. “If that's everything you wanted to know, then I guess you can return to your people and inform them of your success in solving the m
ystery behind Imothep's demise. It's always nice when a mission is easily solved.”
Ganwal bows. “Exactly, I will do that. Have a nice day and I hope that you find the rest of your enemies soon enough. I will tell my people that there is no reason for animosity between our groups.” He turns around and leaves the room with a deliberate gait which is close to running but not quite there. The remaining representatives also excuse themselves with a bow and hurry to make themselves scarce.
I smile and turn my attention to Elona. “That wasn't so bad, Sugar cat. It went exactly as I expected it to happen. Now we can finally concentrate on the important stuff, like how to punish Moonray. Unfortunately invoking high class magic so close to a mana storm isn't a smart idea, or I would have blasted his facility already.”
61. ~Additions.~
“The Vila are the Slavic versions of nymphs, who have power over wind, with which they delight in causing storms of high winds. They live around hills, mountains, and high mounds. (cf. Leimakids, Limnades, Oceanids, Dryads, Nephele). They can appear as a ghost-like figure with a long billowing cloak wrapped around them.”
The Journey to the Afterlife
Dedessia, the Sea of Souls, Semper Fidelis
Elona
I guess that Shade's diplomacy wasn't all that bad. Yes, he alienated some of the allied clans, but most of them never had any mentionable ties to us anyway. The only two clans which are close enough to have a reasonable diplomatic relationship with us are Equilibrium and Soistaat. And their representatives are clearly on our side.
My eyes wander to Ajax and Takea who practically ditched their comrades during the negotiations. Now they are talking to Tisha and Doreen.
The recent months slowly led to the eradication of every major power in this area, which resulted in one big clan at the centre of it. Us. Was that Moonray's goal all along? Or did he also plan for various other outcomes?