Chapter 464: Eve of War
At the western wall of Hollow Shade sat crouched the Lord of the Great House of Noir. White magic flowed through Elzri’s hands and into Loh’s leg. The quiet sound of flesh and bone knitting back together was drowned out by the clanging footsteps of soldiers rushing past. The healing spell weaved into Loh’s wounds and it felt as if liquid fire was being poured into her broken shin. She grimaced and bore the pain in silence.
“What were you thinking!?” Elzri chastised quietly while keeping his attention on her leg.
“The Bulwark Commander was going to bombard the docks. How many countless innocents do you think— agh!” Loh’s expression scrunched up in pain.
“Stay still, I don’t have time to do a proper long and careful healing session. The less you move the less it’ll hurt,” Elzri warned her.
Loh scowled, “How many countless innocents do you think would die if Commander Octavia fired those trebuchets?”
“In the end, she didn’t fire.”
“Only because that damn dragon did the job for her.”
“Exactly. The docks are in ruins and the enemy retreated back into the river, probably thanks to that elemental water mage you spoke of.”
Loh bit her trembling lip and looked away. “...You’re right,” she said quietly. “We failed. I tried to save them, but in the end, they all died anyway… Cornelius died for nothing.”
Elzri’s gaze softened. “Cornelius Rotrusk died the way he wanted to, a hero. And if it wasn’t for the both of you, Kassian Ashe would be dead. Lady Calantha will be very grateful that you risked everything to save her younger brother. That sort of blood-debt is not easily forgotten.”
“You think House Rotrusk will be satisfied with such an answer?” she said bitterly.
“No. No, I do not think so,” he said softly. “Still, you cannot risk yourself so recklessly again. …I cannot lose another grandchild.”
Loh looked at him in surprise. “Grandfather…?”
The magic in Elzri’s hands faded away and he stood up. “I’ve done what I can for your leg, you’ll need a longer proper healing session for a full recovery.”
She nodded slowly, “Can I walk?”
“Mm. Fortunately, the break was clean. Still, I wouldn’t push it by running, especially with any agility spells.”
“Thank you.” She slowly pushed herself to her feet and grimaced. “It still hurts.”
“As it should. Chromatic healing magic can only do so much, your body needs time to heal.”
“We don’t have time…” Loh stared out at the tens of thousands of soldiers marching around the hills beyond the city. They marched just out of reach of the trebuchets’ range. Though most congregated at the southwest of the city, many were encircling the wall, at this rate they would soon have the entire city surrounded.
“Lady Holo was right.” Loh swallowed, “Their numbers have only kept growing.”
The sound of hooves clacking on the black magestone floor resounded behind them. Soldiers stumbled backwards as the largest centaur they had ever seen strode past. The beastman was armored from head to hoof in dark plates of armor and a 2-meter ax hung at his side.
Maximus stopped in front of the Noirs and bowed, “Lord Elzri, you called for me.”
Loh smiled in relief at the hulking beastman’s appearance. “Maximus! You came!”
“Of course, what would make you think otherwise?” he asked.
“W-Well, I didn’t see you this morning,” Loh looked away abashedly, “I thought you may have run away. Some of the other beastmen of the city have. I don’t blame them…”
Maximus shook his head, “There is nowhere to run that someone like me will be free. If I am to die, I will die fighting for my home.”
Loh felt a pang of guilt pierced her heart. I don’t deserve you.
She was reminded of Rhian and Stryg. She’d never have that kind of relationship between Maximus and herself, but she could at least try and make amends. “You are free, Maximus.”
The centaur looked down at her with a frown of confusion. “My lady?”
“I’m sorry. I should have done this sooner, like Stryg. If we survive this battle, I swear on my life I will do everything in my power to ensure your freedom in this realm.”
Maximus stared at her in silence for a long moment. “I will hold you to it, my lady.”
“Yes, well, until then,” Elzri said dryly, “I need you to keep my granddaughter safe. She is still recovering from a leg injury. You must be her legs.”
“As you wish, Lord Noir,” Maximus bowed.
“Riri,” Una called out.
Elzri glanced back at his sister walking towards them. “What is it? Did something happen?”
“Lady Holo requests your presence,” Una said.
He narrowed his eyes, “For what?”
“The dialogue of negotiations.”
~~~
Una walked down to the Western Gate with her brother in tow. Four centaurs stood in front of the gate. Three already had riders. The first was, as Elzri expected, Lady Holo herself. The second was his old friend and the city’s War Master, Lord Krall Katag. Both of them seemed on the verge of exasperation from listening to the last rider.
Elzri paused in his footsteps and he furrowed his brow in bewilderment. “Lady Helene? What are you doing here?”
Alessandra Helene glanced down from atop her centaur at the drow lord and her red lips twisted in a scowl. “Elzri is coming? If the Great Elzri is coming to the parley then what need do you have of me?”
“As I said before, we are in no need of your magical abilities, Lady Helene,” Holo said wearily.
“Then why am I here?” Alessandra crossed her arms.
“House Helene has a long amicable history with the Valley Tribes. It was your House that established the first treaties with the tribes back during Hollow Shade’s civil war with the Royal House of Thorn,” Krall reminded her. “If anyone should have hope of reasoning with those savages, it is you, Lady Helene.”
Alessandra glowered, “That was a long time ago, or must I remind you my twin sister was murdered by those monsters.”
“You and I both know that was an accident,” said Krall. “Your sister was never meant to be in that caravan when it was raided. It wasn’t even a Helene caravan. She was simply at the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“And that is somehow supposed to make it all better?” Alessandra glared at him.
“It might, if you choose to make it so,” said Holo. “If you come to them, not with righteous anger, but with forgiveness, it would be easier to negotiate the protection of the city’s civilians and the outlying villages that are currently being occupied.”
“So you want me to show weakness in front of our enemy? ‘Cause that will definitely work,” Alessandra rolled her eyes.
“I want you to show restraint,” Holo snapped. “The dragon rider we are going to meet is a monster, but he will honor his side of the deal. As for the warlord Marek, I know little about him, save that he hates this city. We cannot risk Marek influencing any of the negotiations out of sheer aggression. That is why you are coming. It would do good for him to see another human face.”
“Are you not human?” Alessandra asked with a frown.
Holo blinked and glanced down at herself, “Ah… No, not really.”
Alessandra stared at her cautiously. “I know the honorable Krall vouches for you, and many of us witnessed how you fought that dragon, but I don’t know you, and the more I talk with you the less I want to go along with any of this.”
“I vouch for Holo as well,” Elzri interrupted. “She is the most powerful mage in this city and if you want your House to survive this night, I suggest you listen to her.”
“...Are you certain that dragon won’t swoop down and kill us all when we go out there?” Alessandra asked.
“She won’t, I mean, the dragon won’t,” Holo said. “The dragon rider keeps his word. There will be no attacks on parley grounds.”
“I hope you're right,” Alessandra said worriedly.
Elzri and Krall shared a similar expression.
~~~
The last traces of golden light were trickling down the horizon. The orange hues of the sky were quickly turning dark. There were no clouds in the evening sky nor was there a trace of the moon. Caligo watched the sunset from a lone hill in the distance, not far from Hollow Shade and the tribal armies.
“...Everything is finally coming together,” Lin Lu whispered from atop Caligo’s shoulder.
“Yes, finally,” Caligo said softly.
Lin Lu glanced at him questioningly, “Are you certain that Bellum won’t intervene?”
“She and I made a deal. If she were to break it I would sense it immediately,” Caligo said.
“And you're certain she won’t try? What if she found out about Selyndra’s Key?” asked the fox goddess.
“Her daughter’s life would be forfeit if she tried anything. Belle is all she has left, she won’t risk her, not for this city. I commanded Zavinti to search the area in a ten-league radius with her synchrony magic. There isn’t even a hint of Bellum or her Ebon Order. They have withdrawn from the city and its territories.”
“And what about Lunae?”
“You seem anxious, Lin Lu, what’s the matter?” Caligo asked lightly.
“We’re so close. Do you really want to leave anything to chance?”
“Hm. The wolf clearly knows more than she lets on, perhaps she even found out about the Key’s fate,” Caligo said wryly.
“You think she’ll try to act?”
“If she did, it would be foolish. Tonight is a new moon, her powers are severely weakened. She is no threat to our plans.”
“You say that, but if it came down to it, would you kill her?” Lin Lu asked in a quiet, but serious voice.
“...Lunae is one of the last of her kind and the brother of Solis.”
“Even after everything she did? You’d spare her?” she growled.
Caligo broke into a smile, “It won’t come down to that.”
“Why is that? You spared her five years ago and now you’ll do it again?”
“I didn’t spare her, Lin Lu.”
“What? But—”
“Five years ago, do you remember when we came across that boy in the woods?”
The fox cocked her head to the side, “Stryg?”
“When I met him I had my suspicions, but I wasn’t certain. After all, Lunae, caring for that child as if it were her own? It didn’t make sense. Still, I was willing to take the chance. I went into the dreamscape that night, to ascertain who the boy really was to her, and do you know what I found?”
“A boy unrelated to the wolf,” Lin Lu said.
“Yes… or so he seemed. If he really was unrelated in any shape or form then no matter, but if he only seemed ordinary, then that meant Lunae had done something irreparable.” Caligo laughed to himself, “In an attempt to save him from me, she had left him a broken husk. That was a sweeter revenge than any I could have done. How it must have tormented her every night, to have lost her child by her own hand.”
Lin Lu frowned. “Back then you told me the boy wasn’t hers.”
“I admit at the time I wasn’t certain. If Lunae actually had made such a drastic move on her part to her own child, well, I didn’t know what to make of it. So I left the two of them be. I wasn’t certain of their relationship until two years ago when Lunae made a mistake at Widow’s Crag.”
Lin Lu’s eyes widened in understanding, “The full blood moon.”
“Out of sheer rage for the boy’s wounds, Lunae confronted me. It was all I needed to know the truth. That she would do anything for him. Even try to kill me.”
“So you played nice,” Lin Lu noted.
“It was a full moon after all.”
“If I were you, I would have hunted her down on a new moon night like this when she is weak and killed her.”
“She is still Solis’ sister.”
“And Bellum Solis’ daughter. That didn’t stop you from leaving her half-dead and killing all her children but one. We should kill Lunae before she becomes a problem.”
“If Lunae interferes with my plans I’ll kill her only child too.”
“And what if that boy is more special than he seems…?” Lin Lu whispered.
“What are you getting at?”
“Didn’t you hear? They say he is a prime mage, an Ebon Aspirant. If that’s true then… What if… what if he’s not just—”
“It's not possible. Not in any real sense.”
“But if he is—”
“He’s not.” Caligo rose to his feet, “The parley will soon begin. Shall we?”
Frostbird https://discord.gg/uYqw7R6SKz
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Chapter 464: Eve of War
At the western wall of Hollow Shade sat crouched the Lord of the Great House of Noir. White magic flowed through Elzri’s hands and into Loh’s leg. The quiet sound of flesh and bone knitting back together was drowned out by the clanging footsteps of soldiers rushing past. The healing spell weaved into Loh’s wounds and it felt as if liquid fire was being poured into her broken shin. She grimaced and bore the pain in silence.
“What were you thinking!?” Elzri chastised quietly while keeping his attention on her leg.
“The Bulwark Commander was going to bombard the docks. How many countless innocents do you think— agh!” Loh’s expression scrunched up in pain.
“Stay still, I don’t have time to do a proper long and careful healing session. The less you move the less it’ll hurt,” Elzri warned her.
Loh scowled, “How many countless innocents do you think would die if Commander Octavia fired those trebuchets?”
“In the end, she didn’t fire.”
“Only because that damn dragon did the job for her.”
“Exactly. The docks are in ruins and the enemy retreated back into the river, probably thanks to that elemental water mage you spoke of.”
Loh bit her trembling lip and looked away. “...You’re right,” she said quietly. “We failed. I tried to save them, but in the end, they all died anyway… Cornelius died for nothing.”
Elzri’s gaze softened. “Cornelius Rotrusk died the way he wanted to, a hero. And if it wasn’t for the both of you, Kassian Ashe would be dead. Lady Calantha will be very grateful that you risked everything to save her younger brother. That sort of blood-debt is not easily forgotten.”
“You think House Rotrusk will be satisfied with such an answer?” she said bitterly.
“No. No, I do not think so,” he said softly. “Still, you cannot risk yourself so recklessly again. …I cannot lose another grandchild.”
Loh looked at him in surprise. “Grandfather…?”
The magic in Elzri’s hands faded away and he stood up. “I’ve done what I can for your leg, you’ll need a longer proper healing session for a full recovery.”
She nodded slowly, “Can I walk?”
“Mm. Fortunately, the break was clean. Still, I wouldn’t push it by running, especially with any agility spells.”
“Thank you.” She slowly pushed herself to her feet and grimaced. “It still hurts.”
“As it should. Chromatic healing magic can only do so much, your body needs time to heal.”
“We don’t have time…” Loh stared out at the tens of thousands of soldiers marching around the hills beyond the city. They marched just out of reach of the trebuchets’ range. Though most congregated at the southwest of the city, many were encircling the wall, at this rate they would soon have the entire city surrounded.
“Lady Holo was right.” Loh swallowed, “Their numbers have only kept growing.”
The sound of hooves clacking on the black magestone floor resounded behind them. Soldiers stumbled backwards as the largest centaur they had ever seen strode past. The beastman was armored from head to hoof in dark plates of armor and a 2-meter ax hung at his side.
Maximus stopped in front of the Noirs and bowed, “Lord Elzri, you called for me.”
Loh smiled in relief at the hulking beastman’s appearance. “Maximus! You came!”
“Of course, what would make you think otherwise?” he asked.
“W-Well, I didn’t see you this morning,” Loh looked away abashedly, “I thought you may have run away. Some of the other beastmen of the city have. I don’t blame them…”
Maximus shook his head, “There is nowhere to run that someone like me will be free. If I am to die, I will die fighting for my home.”
Loh felt a pang of guilt pierced her heart. I don’t deserve you.
She was reminded of Rhian and Stryg. She’d never have that kind of relationship between Maximus and herself, but she could at least try and make amends. “You are free, Maximus.”
The centaur looked down at her with a frown of confusion. “My lady?”
“I’m sorry. I should have done this sooner, like Stryg. If we survive this battle, I swear on my life I will do everything in my power to ensure your freedom in this realm.”
Maximus stared at her in silence for a long moment. “I will hold you to it, my lady.”
“Yes, well, until then,” Elzri said dryly, “I need you to keep my granddaughter safe. She is still recovering from a leg injury. You must be her legs.”
“As you wish, Lord Noir,” Maximus bowed.
“Riri,” Una called out.
Elzri glanced back at his sister walking towards them. “What is it? Did something happen?”
“Lady Holo requests your presence,” Una said.
He narrowed his eyes, “For what?”
“The dialogue of negotiations.”
~~~
Una walked down to the Western Gate with her brother in tow. Four centaurs stood in front of the gate. Three already had riders. The first was, as Elzri expected, Lady Holo herself. The second was his old friend and the city’s War Master, Lord Krall Katag. Both of them seemed on the verge of exasperation from listening to the last rider.
Elzri paused in his footsteps and he furrowed his brow in bewilderment. “Lady Helene? What are you doing here?”
Alessandra Helene glanced down from atop her centaur at the drow lord and her red lips twisted in a scowl. “Elzri is coming? If the Great Elzri is coming to the parley then what need do you have of me?”
“As I said before, we are in no need of your magical abilities, Lady Helene,” Holo said wearily.
“Then why am I here?” Alessandra crossed her arms.
“House Helene has a long amicable history with the Valley Tribes. It was your House that established the first treaties with the tribes back during Hollow Shade’s civil war with the Royal House of Thorn,” Krall reminded her. “If anyone should have hope of reasoning with those savages, it is you, Lady Helene.”
Alessandra glowered, “That was a long time ago, or must I remind you my twin sister was murdered by those monsters.”
“You and I both know that was an accident,” said Krall. “Your sister was never meant to be in that caravan when it was raided. It wasn’t even a Helene caravan. She was simply at the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“And that is somehow supposed to make it all better?” Alessandra glared at him.
“It might, if you choose to make it so,” said Holo. “If you come to them, not with righteous anger, but with forgiveness, it would be easier to negotiate the protection of the city’s civilians and the outlying villages that are currently being occupied.”
“So you want me to show weakness in front of our enemy? ‘Cause that will definitely work,” Alessandra rolled her eyes.
“I want you to show restraint,” Holo snapped. “The dragon rider we are going to meet is a monster, but he will honor his side of the deal. As for the warlord Marek, I know little about him, save that he hates this city. We cannot risk Marek influencing any of the negotiations out of sheer aggression. That is why you are coming. It would do good for him to see another human face.”
“Are you not human?” Alessandra asked with a frown.
Holo blinked and glanced down at herself, “Ah… No, not really.”
Alessandra stared at her cautiously. “I know the honorable Krall vouches for you, and many of us witnessed how you fought that dragon, but I don’t know you, and the more I talk with you the less I want to go along with any of this.”
“I vouch for Holo as well,” Elzri interrupted. “She is the most powerful mage in this city and if you want your House to survive this night, I suggest you listen to her.”
“...Are you certain that dragon won’t swoop down and kill us all when we go out there?” Alessandra asked.
“She won’t, I mean, the dragon won’t,” Holo said. “The dragon rider keeps his word. There will be no attacks on parley grounds.”
“I hope you're right,” Alessandra said worriedly.
Elzri and Krall shared a similar expression.
~~~
The last traces of golden light were trickling down the horizon. The orange hues of the sky were quickly turning dark. There were no clouds in the evening sky nor was there a trace of the moon. Caligo watched the sunset from a lone hill in the distance, not far from Hollow Shade and the tribal armies.
“...Everything is finally coming together,” Lin Lu whispered from atop Caligo’s shoulder.
“Yes, finally,” Caligo said softly.
Lin Lu glanced at him questioningly, “Are you certain that Bellum won’t intervene?”
“She and I made a deal. If she were to break it I would sense it immediately,” Caligo said.
“And you're certain she won’t try? What if she found out about Selyndra’s Key?” asked the fox goddess.
“Her daughter’s life would be forfeit if she tried anything. Belle is all she has left, she won’t risk her, not for this city. I commanded Zavinti to search the area in a ten-league radius with her synchrony magic. There isn’t even a hint of Bellum or her Ebon Order. They have withdrawn from the city and its territories.”
“And what about Lunae?”
“You seem anxious, Lin Lu, what’s the matter?” Caligo asked lightly.
“We’re so close. Do you really want to leave anything to chance?”
“Hm. The wolf clearly knows more than she lets on, perhaps she even found out about the Key’s fate,” Caligo said wryly.
“You think she’ll try to act?”
“If she did, it would be foolish. Tonight is a new moon, her powers are severely weakened. She is no threat to our plans.”
“You say that, but if it came down to it, would you kill her?” Lin Lu asked in a quiet, but serious voice.
“...Lunae is one of the last of her kind and the brother of Solis.”
“Even after everything she did? You’d spare her?” she growled.
Caligo broke into a smile, “It won’t come down to that.”
“Why is that? You spared her five years ago and now you’ll do it again?”
“I didn’t spare her, Lin Lu.”
“What? But—”
“Five years ago, do you remember when we came across that boy in the woods?”
The fox cocked her head to the side, “Stryg?”
“When I met him I had my suspicions, but I wasn’t certain. After all, Lunae, caring for that child as if it were her own? It didn’t make sense. Still, I was willing to take the chance. I went into the dreamscape that night, to ascertain who the boy really was to her, and do you know what I found?”
“A boy unrelated to the wolf,” Lin Lu said.
“Yes… or so he seemed. If he really was unrelated in any shape or form then no matter, but if he only seemed ordinary, then that meant Lunae had done something irreparable.” Caligo laughed to himself, “In an attempt to save him from me, she had left him a broken husk. That was a sweeter revenge than any I could have done. How it must have tormented her every night, to have lost her child by her own hand.”
Lin Lu frowned. “Back then you told me the boy wasn’t hers.”
“I admit at the time I wasn’t certain. If Lunae actually had made such a drastic move on her part to her own child, well, I didn’t know what to make of it. So I left the two of them be. I wasn’t certain of their relationship until two years ago when Lunae made a mistake at Widow’s Crag.”
Lin Lu’s eyes widened in understanding, “The full blood moon.”
“Out of sheer rage for the boy’s wounds, Lunae confronted me. It was all I needed to know the truth. That she would do anything for him. Even try to kill me.”
“So you played nice,” Lin Lu noted.
“It was a full moon after all.”
“If I were you, I would have hunted her down on a new moon night like this when she is weak and killed her.”
“She is still Solis’ sister.”
“And Bellum Solis’ daughter. That didn’t stop you from leaving her half-dead and killing all her children but one. We should kill Lunae before she becomes a problem.”
“If Lunae interferes with my plans I’ll kill her only child too.”
“And what if that boy is more special than he seems…?” Lin Lu whispered.
“What are you getting at?”
“Didn’t you hear? They say he is a prime mage, an Ebon Aspirant. If that’s true then… What if… what if he’s not just—”
“It's not possible. Not in any real sense.”
“But if he is—”
“He’s not.” Caligo rose to his feet, “The parley will soon begin. Shall we?”
Frostbird https://discord.gg/uYqw7R6SKz
If you liked the chapter please leave a like, if there is something else you are interested in knowing about the lore, or if you have any questions, remarks, or just want to say hi drop a comment below!
Check out the glossary for more info on characters, lore, magic, and more!
