Drake stared at her. “You think I’m that much of a monster?”
“I promised your mother I would never allow it to happen,” Viktoria said. “All who made that grim decision promised each other that we would do whatever was necessary to ensure that you, once born, were never placed in a position where you could do what Galen wished.”
“Which was summon a demon, absorb its mind control rarity, and rule the world.” Drake sighed. “Well, rest easy. I’m not doing that. Only a fucking idiot would try that.”
“Which, if I understand the conditions that led to your arrival here, means Lord Crow was a... fucking idiot, as you put it?”
“Of course it all makes sense now.” Drake sighed. “It’s the reason he spent all that time abducting people from other worlds. He was looking for me.”
“He visited other worlds?”
“He sent Samuel as his scout. I imagine he was opening up portals and sending Samuel through to check what world they were, like dialing a bunch of numbers at random.”
Viktoria watched him without comment.
“The point is, he was flailing about blind.” Drake grimaced. “But he found me.”
“In your world.”
“Yes.” Drake considered. “This also explains why he put that obedience fetish on me, and why he tried to force me to kill Westin and summon a demon. He must have thought that once I had the ability to control minds, he could control me.”
“But how did he find out that you could absorb rarities?” Viktoria asked. “Your mother and I were the only two people alive who knew the truth of your rarity. How did he learn that?”
The last piece of the puzzle fell into place. “The silverwood.”
“How was it involved?” Viktoria asked.
“Samuel told me Lord Crow asked the silverwood a question about two years ago, when its twenty-three year cycle finished. Crow must have asked the silverwood how he could take over the realm. It told him about me. It knew because Mom asked it about me.”
“That does seem plausible,” Viktoria agreed. “It would explain why he sought you out, why he sought to dominate you, and why he attempted that leviathan summoning.”
“So I’m here because some dumbass had a dumb ass plan to seize power, and he fucked it up when I knifed him instead of going along. That’s great.”
“So what assurance can you give me that you will never attempt what he attempted?”
Drake considered her and, more importantly, remembered how easy it would be for her to murder him. “You’d really kill me if you thought I would absorb a demon’s rarity?”
“I swore to your mother I would.”
Drake wasn’t sure if cleavage, Viktoria’s rarity which allowed her to open stone, would allow her to drop him into a pit and crush him in his own manor. He wasn’t keen to test it, but he also doubted she’d do it. She simply wanted him to set her mind at ease... and he was tired of lying to people he needed to trust.
“If I had any plan to dominate people with mind control or some other evil magic, I wouldn’t have changed my blood pact. I did that the first day I arrived and took over. I removed Lydia’s compulsion, and then I removed everyone else’s.”
“So you—”
“I fucking hate slavery,” Drake said. “I ended mine the day I arrived. That should be all the proof you need that I’m not going to use mind control to start dominating people.”
Viktoria nodded. “That is a relief. Thank you.”
“And thanks for not killing me. I guess.”
“No, I must thank you,” Viktoria said. “The thought that I might be forced to harm you saddened me. Sky might never forgive me, but more importantly, I was not sure I could forgive myself, even though your mother demanded it. So... I am glad to put this behind us.”
“Me too.” Drake took a breath. “Is that all you came here to tell me?”
She observed him for a moment as if mentally debating... something. “You may wish to speak to Sky about your decision to alter the blood pact.”
“Because she altered hers?”
“So she did tell you.” Viktoria barely missed a beat. “After you’d altered your own?”
“Yes, and only because we were brainstorming ways to protect our people from being abused by another Lord Crow. Is that what you two were arguing about in the capital? The night Sky walked out and started chugging mead?”
“No. We were discussing another matter. In the matter of how we have changed the blood pact, my daughter and I are in full agreement.”
“That’s good to hear,” Drake said. “So... anything else you want to tell me?”
Viktoria shook her head. “My only other request is that you escort me to your mother’s ashes. Marissa was one of my dearest friends. Before I leave, I would like—”
A loud, demanding knock interrupted them.
“Hold that thought,” Drake said. “My people only knock like that when it’s important.” He walked to the door and called out. “Nicole?”
“Here, lord!” she called back. “Valentia has bad news!”
“Of course she does,” Drake muttered. He opened the door. “What’s happened now?”
Valentia, grim-faced, stood outside his door with Nicole. “We have a report from the vero, lord. Kromians have entered the silverwood, and not just kromians. They have multiple giant octopi. Those monsters are ripping a path through the silverwood for the army.”
“So they’re coming for us,” Drake said calmly. “Good. Let’s go kill them.”
“Not us,” Valentia corrected. “That is why this matter could not wait. From what the vero reported, the octopi are not tearing a path toward Gloomwood Manor. In fact, if they continue in the direction they now proceed, they will avoid the manor entirely.”
As Viktoria joined him, Drake frowned. “Are they trying to get us from behind?”
“That is possible, but there is another, more worrying possibility,” Valentia said. “If they proceed on their current course and do not deviate, their path has an obvious end point. The sacred clearing containing the silverwood. They could mean to assault it.”
Drake looked at Viktoria, then Valentia. “Why is everyone so interested in my tree?”
No one answered. After a moment, Drake glanced back at Viktoria. “Given the circumstances, you better stay inside the walls for now. I don’t think your daughter would be happy with me if I let a bunch of kromians kill you on the way home.”
“Of course,” Viktoria said. “And if you need my counsel—”
“Yes,” Drake said. “I could always use your counsel.” He looked back to Valentia. “You told Samuel? And Cresh? And Kel?”
“All await you in the diorama room,” Valentia said.
That was the room where Drake had asked his people to create a scale diorama of his manor to help him game out scenarios and engagements. This would be the first time he was actually going to use it to organize a defense. It would be a tight fit for Cresh.
“What about Lydia?” he asked.
“I do not feel comfortable disturbing her, lord.”
“We can handle this without her,” Drake agreed. “Let’s go right now. Lady Skybreak will also be joining us. If anyone has a problem with that, they can take it up with me.”
With Valentia and Nicole as his escorts and Viktoria following close behind, Drake hurried through the manor to his diorama room in the lower chambers. He saw no sign of Olivia, but with Lydia down, he suspected Olivia was busy giving orders. She was organizing the defense in case the kromians altered their path and came for the manor.
The doors to his diorama room remained open, and Cresh was, indeed, inside. The huge zarovian had taken a knee and bowed his head to fit inside. Drake immediately decided they’d move the diorama to a bigger room. He didn’t want to cramp Cresh’s style.
“Shall we stand guard, lord?” Valentia asked as they approached.
“Inside the room,” Drake said. “I may need your feedback as well.”
“I’ll stand guard outside,” Nicole volunteered. “Can’t have anyone sneaking up on us.”
“That seems wise,” Valentia agreed. “Lord?”
He nodded. “Thanks, Nicole.”
“Of course.” She sounded shockingly sincere.
Once inside the room, Valentia closed the doors. Besides Cresh, who barely fit, Kel stood gazing at the diorama with keen interest. Samuel stood on its other side, frowning in thought, but he smiled at the sight of Viktoria. “Lady Skybreak. How wonderful to see you.”
“And you, Samuel,” Viktoria said graciously. She walked around to join him on the side of the table opposite Cresh... the east side of Gloomwood Manor.
Drake walked around the whole table so he’d have his back to the wall and his eyes on the door. He stood now to the north of Gloomwood Manor—the diorama—which put the gates on the opposite side. Valentia took up position at the doors in easy hearing distance.
He looked around. “Let’s start with the kromians. Where are they in relation to here?”
Cresh raised a huge hand and pointed a claw at a space a good ways off the table. “The vero reported a large column in the woods to the west. There are many, but the silverwood fights them at every turn. The path their octopi now create is narrow.”
“So there’s a lot of them, but they’re strung out in a column,” Drake agreed. “They have to know that leaves them vulnerable. Are they that desperate to reach the silverwood?”
Samuel frowned. “Given what else I have seen of Prince Varnath’s tactics, I have no doubt he is fully aware of what our vero are capable of. In a case where it was impossible to disguise his approach, it would behoove him simply to move as fast as possible.”
“So how far are they into the woods? Can we intercept them?”
Cresh raised his other hand and gestured to a point to the northwest of Gloomwood Manor. “Were we to leave this moment, the head of the column would already be past us.”
“How long until they reach the silverwood?”
“If they continue at their current pace, and the silverwood continues to fight as it has, they will reach the clearing a few hours past dark,” Samuel said. “As the vero estimate.”
“Then that’s when they’ll hit them,” Drake said. “Right after nightfall. Anyone know how well kromians see in the dark?”
“Poorly,” Samuel said. “They typically make their homes in shallow waters rather than the depths, where it is too dark to see. Even so, waiting will allow them a head start.
“I didn’t say we should let them move unopposed.” Drake looked to Kel. “If I asked you to do it, could you leave and engage the kromian vanguard right now? I don’t need you to stop them, and I’m not asking you to try. Just harass them. Stay out of sight, shoot the fuckers from the trees, and make them pay for every step they take through my silverwood.”
Kel thumped a palm to his chest. “We will do this for you.”
“Great.” Drake nodded with respect. “Gather your people and let Olivia know you’ll be heading out. The Silent Pack are yours, and I’ll trust you to lead them however you see fit. Just slow those fuckers down until we figure out how to knock them out for good.”
Author's Note: Next week, Drake pets a tree, fights some fish people, and has a showdown. Have a great weekend, everyone!
Finish the Book on the Patreon
Chat on the Discord
Drake stared at her. “You think I’m that much of a monster?”
“I promised your mother I would never allow it to happen,” Viktoria said. “All who made that grim decision promised each other that we would do whatever was necessary to ensure that you, once born, were never placed in a position where you could do what Galen wished.”
“Which was summon a demon, absorb its mind control rarity, and rule the world.” Drake sighed. “Well, rest easy. I’m not doing that. Only a fucking idiot would try that.”
“Which, if I understand the conditions that led to your arrival here, means Lord Crow was a... fucking idiot, as you put it?”
“Of course it all makes sense now.” Drake sighed. “It’s the reason he spent all that time abducting people from other worlds. He was looking for me.”
“He visited other worlds?”
“He sent Samuel as his scout. I imagine he was opening up portals and sending Samuel through to check what world they were, like dialing a bunch of numbers at random.”
Viktoria watched him without comment.
“The point is, he was flailing about blind.” Drake grimaced. “But he found me.”
“In your world.”
“Yes.” Drake considered. “This also explains why he put that obedience fetish on me, and why he tried to force me to kill Westin and summon a demon. He must have thought that once I had the ability to control minds, he could control me.”
“But how did he find out that you could absorb rarities?” Viktoria asked. “Your mother and I were the only two people alive who knew the truth of your rarity. How did he learn that?”
The last piece of the puzzle fell into place. “The silverwood.”
“How was it involved?” Viktoria asked.
“Samuel told me Lord Crow asked the silverwood a question about two years ago, when its twenty-three year cycle finished. Crow must have asked the silverwood how he could take over the realm. It told him about me. It knew because Mom asked it about me.”
“That does seem plausible,” Viktoria agreed. “It would explain why he sought you out, why he sought to dominate you, and why he attempted that leviathan summoning.”
“So I’m here because some dumbass had a dumb ass plan to seize power, and he fucked it up when I knifed him instead of going along. That’s great.”
“So what assurance can you give me that you will never attempt what he attempted?”
Drake considered her and, more importantly, remembered how easy it would be for her to murder him. “You’d really kill me if you thought I would absorb a demon’s rarity?”
“I swore to your mother I would.”
Drake wasn’t sure if cleavage, Viktoria’s rarity which allowed her to open stone, would allow her to drop him into a pit and crush him in his own manor. He wasn’t keen to test it, but he also doubted she’d do it. She simply wanted him to set her mind at ease... and he was tired of lying to people he needed to trust.
“If I had any plan to dominate people with mind control or some other evil magic, I wouldn’t have changed my blood pact. I did that the first day I arrived and took over. I removed Lydia’s compulsion, and then I removed everyone else’s.”
“So you—”
“I fucking hate slavery,” Drake said. “I ended mine the day I arrived. That should be all the proof you need that I’m not going to use mind control to start dominating people.”
Viktoria nodded. “That is a relief. Thank you.”
“And thanks for not killing me. I guess.”
“No, I must thank you,” Viktoria said. “The thought that I might be forced to harm you saddened me. Sky might never forgive me, but more importantly, I was not sure I could forgive myself, even though your mother demanded it. So... I am glad to put this behind us.”
“Me too.” Drake took a breath. “Is that all you came here to tell me?”
She observed him for a moment as if mentally debating... something. “You may wish to speak to Sky about your decision to alter the blood pact.”
“Because she altered hers?”
“So she did tell you.” Viktoria barely missed a beat. “After you’d altered your own?”
“Yes, and only because we were brainstorming ways to protect our people from being abused by another Lord Crow. Is that what you two were arguing about in the capital? The night Sky walked out and started chugging mead?”
“No. We were discussing another matter. In the matter of how we have changed the blood pact, my daughter and I are in full agreement.”
“That’s good to hear,” Drake said. “So... anything else you want to tell me?”
Viktoria shook her head. “My only other request is that you escort me to your mother’s ashes. Marissa was one of my dearest friends. Before I leave, I would like—”
A loud, demanding knock interrupted them.
“Hold that thought,” Drake said. “My people only knock like that when it’s important.” He walked to the door and called out. “Nicole?”
“Here, lord!” she called back. “Valentia has bad news!”
“Of course she does,” Drake muttered. He opened the door. “What’s happened now?”
Valentia, grim-faced, stood outside his door with Nicole. “We have a report from the vero, lord. Kromians have entered the silverwood, and not just kromians. They have multiple giant octopi. Those monsters are ripping a path through the silverwood for the army.”
“So they’re coming for us,” Drake said calmly. “Good. Let’s go kill them.”
“Not us,” Valentia corrected. “That is why this matter could not wait. From what the vero reported, the octopi are not tearing a path toward Gloomwood Manor. In fact, if they continue in the direction they now proceed, they will avoid the manor entirely.”
As Viktoria joined him, Drake frowned. “Are they trying to get us from behind?”
“That is possible, but there is another, more worrying possibility,” Valentia said. “If they proceed on their current course and do not deviate, their path has an obvious end point. The sacred clearing containing the silverwood. They could mean to assault it.”
Drake looked at Viktoria, then Valentia. “Why is everyone so interested in my tree?”
No one answered. After a moment, Drake glanced back at Viktoria. “Given the circumstances, you better stay inside the walls for now. I don’t think your daughter would be happy with me if I let a bunch of kromians kill you on the way home.”
“Of course,” Viktoria said. “And if you need my counsel—”
“Yes,” Drake said. “I could always use your counsel.” He looked back to Valentia. “You told Samuel? And Cresh? And Kel?”
“All await you in the diorama room,” Valentia said.
That was the room where Drake had asked his people to create a scale diorama of his manor to help him game out scenarios and engagements. This would be the first time he was actually going to use it to organize a defense. It would be a tight fit for Cresh.
“What about Lydia?” he asked.
“I do not feel comfortable disturbing her, lord.”
“We can handle this without her,” Drake agreed. “Let’s go right now. Lady Skybreak will also be joining us. If anyone has a problem with that, they can take it up with me.”
With Valentia and Nicole as his escorts and Viktoria following close behind, Drake hurried through the manor to his diorama room in the lower chambers. He saw no sign of Olivia, but with Lydia down, he suspected Olivia was busy giving orders. She was organizing the defense in case the kromians altered their path and came for the manor.
The doors to his diorama room remained open, and Cresh was, indeed, inside. The huge zarovian had taken a knee and bowed his head to fit inside. Drake immediately decided they’d move the diorama to a bigger room. He didn’t want to cramp Cresh’s style.
“Shall we stand guard, lord?” Valentia asked as they approached.
“Inside the room,” Drake said. “I may need your feedback as well.”
“I’ll stand guard outside,” Nicole volunteered. “Can’t have anyone sneaking up on us.”
“That seems wise,” Valentia agreed. “Lord?”
He nodded. “Thanks, Nicole.”
“Of course.” She sounded shockingly sincere.
Once inside the room, Valentia closed the doors. Besides Cresh, who barely fit, Kel stood gazing at the diorama with keen interest. Samuel stood on its other side, frowning in thought, but he smiled at the sight of Viktoria. “Lady Skybreak. How wonderful to see you.”
“And you, Samuel,” Viktoria said graciously. She walked around to join him on the side of the table opposite Cresh... the east side of Gloomwood Manor.
Drake walked around the whole table so he’d have his back to the wall and his eyes on the door. He stood now to the north of Gloomwood Manor—the diorama—which put the gates on the opposite side. Valentia took up position at the doors in easy hearing distance.
He looked around. “Let’s start with the kromians. Where are they in relation to here?”
Cresh raised a huge hand and pointed a claw at a space a good ways off the table. “The vero reported a large column in the woods to the west. There are many, but the silverwood fights them at every turn. The path their octopi now create is narrow.”
“So there’s a lot of them, but they’re strung out in a column,” Drake agreed. “They have to know that leaves them vulnerable. Are they that desperate to reach the silverwood?”
Samuel frowned. “Given what else I have seen of Prince Varnath’s tactics, I have no doubt he is fully aware of what our vero are capable of. In a case where it was impossible to disguise his approach, it would behoove him simply to move as fast as possible.”
“So how far are they into the woods? Can we intercept them?”
Cresh raised his other hand and gestured to a point to the northwest of Gloomwood Manor. “Were we to leave this moment, the head of the column would already be past us.”
“How long until they reach the silverwood?”
“If they continue at their current pace, and the silverwood continues to fight as it has, they will reach the clearing a few hours past dark,” Samuel said. “As the vero estimate.”
“Then that’s when they’ll hit them,” Drake said. “Right after nightfall. Anyone know how well kromians see in the dark?”
“Poorly,” Samuel said. “They typically make their homes in shallow waters rather than the depths, where it is too dark to see. Even so, waiting will allow them a head start.
“I didn’t say we should let them move unopposed.” Drake looked to Kel. “If I asked you to do it, could you leave and engage the kromian vanguard right now? I don’t need you to stop them, and I’m not asking you to try. Just harass them. Stay out of sight, shoot the fuckers from the trees, and make them pay for every step they take through my silverwood.”
Kel thumped a palm to his chest. “We will do this for you.”
“Great.” Drake nodded with respect. “Gather your people and let Olivia know you’ll be heading out. The Silent Pack are yours, and I’ll trust you to lead them however you see fit. Just slow those fuckers down until we figure out how to knock them out for good.”
Author's Note: Next week, Drake pets a tree, fights some fish people, and has a showdown. Have a great weekend, everyone!
Finish the Book on the Patreon
Chat on the Discord
