Free Web NovelVeiranoei calls out, “There! Dame Roetta, slightly to the right! Is that a shuttle wreck?”
The rose pink dragon glances as she cruises, and she perks her head up in apparent surprise. The shuttle is actually pretty visible, especially because there are lanterns moving around from people. They are rushing to a trio of flares that they spotted after realizing Magnir and his own team already dealt with Sayrdarralouche.
Roetta banks to the right, angling straight for the site of the apparent shuttle crash. She lands swiftly, helping her passengers down to the ground to meet with the Chi’rinnis and Jeavana. The golden dragon waves to greet them, while Kera’tai approaches.
“Hey there Roetta! Ooo! And, your Graces!”
Vaergraes asks with a graceful, but serious tone, “Jeavana, what happened here?”
“This was the gloom inferno team, but they narrowly escaped the Harbinger’s calamity thanks to Magnir. There are injured, since both Neith, who was wind-shielding us at high velocity, and the shuttle lost power when the Calamity detonated.”
Kera’tai adds, “Everyone is now stable or stored in void bags, y-, um… Vaergraes. Were you headed towards the flares?”
“We were,” confirms Treia. “But, Veiranoei spotted the shuttle from the air.”
“We’re stable here if you want to go check on the flares,” offers Kera’tai. “Lady Jeavana is protecting us, and our location and situation is known by General Neith.”
“Communications are down, though,” states Veiranoei. “Even telepathy is spotty.”
“Don’t worry,” replies Jeavana dismissively. “I already informed Reignleif about our situation. Nothing we can’t solve with brute force.”
Kera’tai, Treia, and Vaergreas all let out exasperated sighs, while Djihnlierr speaks up. “Emperor Daniel was taken to the Citadel, though. From what I’ve glimpsed, and even what the woman who sent us after the Citadel said, the Dragon Empresses are the most easily distracted right now.”
The golden dragon shrugs, saying, “We won’t die unless some monster shows up that I can’t handle. And, if Rocky the Elder Dead-gon is dealt with, I doubt there will be any issues for now. That repulsive feeling Vae and Djini are feeling and not talking about is probably the residual anti-magic pushing against us. It’s like a scab, I suppose. It’s not quite strong enough to neutralize us at this range, but it’s definitely making us weaker. But, the same goes for monsters, who are born of magic power. Sayrdarrlouche was probably partially drawn to the mana fire on his own, and for whatever reason he wanted to kidnap me. But, the Calamity is the exact opposite. You wouldn’t run toward a stinky, rotting corpse, would you?”
The others are quiet, and a couple of them shake their heads, but she’s not wrong.
“Is Daniel alright?” asks Veiranoei nervously. She does have a simple fondness for him, since he is undeniably kind to his companions, and as an ‘Emperor’, he is extremely easy to talk to, never arrogant about his position, and respectful to everyone that has not yet earned his disrespect. Even Veiranoei, who brazenly challenged him as someone lesser than her Grandfather, ended up one of his most trusted companions, and technically, his fiancee and ‘Empress’. It would be fair to say that her livelihood depends on Daniel, since she would return a disgrace if she were to go back to being Kalegrynten’s knight after being elevated to Empress. This would be all the more humiliating, since the Fievegal is not yet widely accepted as a sovereign nation by many countries, so anyone seeing Veiranoei suddenly lose her status would further assume it was simply a fast-burning flame over-flaring and snuffing itself out. Veiranoei would be nothing more than a pathetic waif caught in the blaze, and politically, she would be as scarred as the marks that forever blemish her back.
Jeavana replies, “Reina, Geirahoel, and Ryuogriar aren’t here burning the world to the ground, and Hekate hasn’t killed every living thing. I’d say he’s alive, at least. And, as far as I can tell, there shouldn’t have been anyone over there…” Jeavana turns to look towards the flares that are sinking slowly towards the ground about a mile or so away from them to the east. “That said, there’s probably others there. We’re under control here, so I leave it to you guys to go check on them. If you need help, Roetta, fire off a fire jet straight into the air. I’ll rush over as fast as I can move.”
“Thank you, your Grace,” teases Roetta as she bows her large, draconic head.
“She’s not an Empress yet!” huffs Treia a little jealously. “And, I think we should wait until all of the current Empresses are with children before adding new ones! Or not at all!”
Jeavana laughs boisterously, not fitting the near-apocalypse everyone just escaped.
Veiranoei looks to the direction of the crater, which is too dark to see at present, other than the occasional lightning flash amidst the column of ash and smoke.
Her ears still hurt from the shockwave, but she took some eastern healing potions, which have at least restored her hearing. Daniel truly has changed the world, and it’s terrifying to think a person could do so much devastation. Few know what go into his ‘God-smiters’, and the Empresses who have some idea refuse to discuss it, since Daniel was so afraid to use them in the first place.
Veiranoei doesn’t mind, but she often doesn’t worry about what would happen if the Fievegal collapsed.
If anything, she feels like she has to stick with Daniel, if only to try to dissuade him from ever harming her homeland and her Grandfather. She knows this is paranoid and fearful thinking, not least of which is because Daniel and Kalegrynten became fast friends, not just political allies. She can tell that her Grandfather became all but literally smitten with Daniel from his behavior, which is pretty squarely anti-pretentious. The strange otherworlder human would have been exactly the same if he was a commoner or an Emperor, because he grew up with a ‘luxurious commoner’ lifestyle, as he describes it.
But, Veiranoei doesn’t feel ‘trapped’ by her current situation. True to his word, Daniel treats her like an Empress of the most powerful nation in all but ‘bedroom duties’, even if she doesn’t know how to act like a sovereign.
Jeavana, for her part, is flirtatious with Daniel, but doesn’t seem to adore him the way Ryuo, Reina, or Geirahoel do, and she doesn’t have the affection that Treia and Gwenesphia do.
Regardless, Vaergraes stays on mission, “I’m glad Daniel is alright. So, shall we continue on then?”
“I am ready,” confirms Roetta.
Treia nods. “If you need anything, Jeavana, the same goes for you. Give us a flare in the sky, and we’ll come right back.”
The golden dragon grins, since it was Treia who was just complaining about her ‘becoming an Empress’, even though Daniel hasn’t officially accepted, as far as Veiranoei knows. Jeavana replies to Treia, “Yes, your Grace. I’ll also shout really loudly if all else fails.”
Treia nods, and the group that arrived on Roetta’s back resume their journey towards the flares that were fired off.
When they arrive, they find some of the goblins of Grendel Six, as well as Paet and Weya, who are loyal retainers for Baeka, the Mikadresselle of the majority of dattakorien tribes.
Weya and Paet greet them by kneeling, while the goblins salute. “Your Graces! Thank you for coming!”
“We saw the flares and came right away,” replies the Uhl’tall Archpriestess. “We did discover Jeavana and the Chi’rinnis on our way, so there was a slight delay.”
“Pay it no mind, your Grace. Our most severely wounded have been stowed away in void bags,”
Veiranoei asks, “Is there anyone not stowed needing healing magic? And, how did you get out here?”
Weya answers, “We are alright at present, your Grace. If you must, please leave us to tend to other, more urgent duties. We shall await on the carriages Queen Heralesse said should be signalled by the flares.”
“As for how we got here,” starts Paet. “We… uh… accompanied Daniel to deliver his, um… God-killer.”
“You knew about it? How?” asks Treia.
“Uh…” Paet and Weya glance at each other, and Treia turns her gaze on the goblins.
The gatonine Empress points at Mosko, asking sharply, “You there, Mosko, tell us how you joined Daniel’s secret mission, or I’ll have you…”
Mosko kneels, and the other goblins follow suit. “No need for threats, your Grace,” answers the goblin sincerely. “Evil-elf Doephluev gathered us with tall-cat Baeka and ordered to protect Emperor.”
Vaergraes snorts and starts laughing, doing her best to try to suppress her humor, but unable to stop the giggles.
Veiranoei understands. Goblins tend to state bluntly the ‘race’ of the person they’re talking about… from a goblin’s perspective. Given Doephluev’s appearance, she is an elf in most ways, other than her darker, caramel-colored skin. The archoneldwyn don’t have the ‘ethereal beauty’ that elves do, but otherwise look like half-blood elves, and they possess comparable natural talent in magic.
The fact that goblins, of all people, view Doephluev as the ‘evil-elf’ is totally understandable. And, the only reason Veiranoei doesn’t laugh is that she doesn’t know Doephluev well enough yet.
“How did Doephluev find out?” asks Treia quietly.
“At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s some sort of innate ability,” replies Vaergreas dryly. “She always seems to have an uncanny ability to see through Daniel and his attempts at secrecy.”
Hap offers, “If it’s possible, your Graces, Dame Roetta, it may be wise to bring the other group here. All of us will need to regroup anyways, and if others are responding to the flares, assistance will be arriving here soon.”
Roetta’s group nods in agreement, and Veiranoei replies, “Thank you, Sir Hap. Dame Roetta, do you mind?”
“Of course not, your Grace.”
“I’ll stay, with your permission, your Graces,” states Resken. Helbeit looks at him, and the shenwulf clarifies, “The other group has Lady Jeavana and Empress Kera’tai. Meaning no disrespect to Ladies Paet and Weya, nor the brave warriors of Grendel Six, but we have training and experience at crowd control, and…” The canine man takes his Dragonslayer rifle off of his back. “There are few things that can withstand the wrath of the Harbinger of Calamity.”
His long-time companion, Helbeit, finally scoffs and laughs, and the others agree.
“Very well. Sir Resken,” confirms Vaergraes. “You’ll stay with this team as additional support. We’ll retrieve Jeavana’s and Kera’tai’s team and return here. Anyone have any objections?”
No one has any counterpoints or anything further to add.
Helbeit helps Veiranoei climb back onto Roetta’s palm, and she says appreciatively, “Thank you, Sir Helbeit.”
“My pleasure.”
“Seems like a lot of running around…” murmurs Treia while Vaergraes is climbing onto Roetta’s back.
“If all our problems could be solved by mere dashing back and forth,” starts Veiranoei. “I would gladly become a champion runner.”
The others chuckle at her joke, and she braces herself for the next leg of their mission. It may seem small now, but ensuring everyone is in stable condition, or reuniting anyone stranded are important tasks in the wake of a strange and unprecedented event.
Let’s just hope we can all rest well after this, thinks the gatonine Empress to herself.
It will very much be a well-needed rest after everything that has happened.
***
Neith and Senn watch as pitch black flames with violet tones rapidly consume the more vibrant and colorful false inferno. It’s the third such small mana fire that was struggling on the rim of the crater that they’ve come across. The gloom inferno spell is efficient at this work, but it is admittedly slow. If they had started with it on the first day of the response, it’s possible the Chi’rinnis, Senn, Sundenelle, and Serrentuk could have seeded them all over, but it’s unclear if the gloom inferno would have been able to overtake the mana fire before time ran out.
“Neith, is now a good time?” Doephluev’s voice is rarely ‘soft’, especially compared to someone like Reignleif, but the ‘interference’ from the clash of anti-magic energy and mana, like a roiling maelstrom, makes it a struggle for telepathy to make it through, especially with as close as Neith and Senn are to the cause of it all.
The dragon replies audibly as well so Senn knows he’s talking to someone, “Go ahead, your Grace.”
“It seems Hekate’s hair and fur are capable of capturing embers without being consumed. If you are finding any residual mana fires, it would be helpful if we could permanently capture some for study.”
“Hekate is immune to the mana fire?” asks Neith, surprised, and Senn flinches as well.
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
“Her tail fur definitely is, it seems. She caught some briefly. I believe Zuzia and Jeavana witnessed it. But, she absorbed them directly as a result. We don’t have Nemaisol right now, and Daniel is incapacitated, but Senn’s staff…”
“Your staff…” murmurs the dragon.
The elven sage perks up and looks at the long casting instrument in her hands at present.
Neith finishes the thought, “Ah… That’s right. It was made with a small braid of her hair… But, is it enough?”
Neith answers both of them, “Lord Serrentuk will be using his Gate ability, assuming it works. There are very few mana fires remaining, it seems, though we can’t verify the depths of the crater.”
“Given what he saw for as long as he did, Ucahote is fairly certain the interior of the crater should be impossible for the mana embers to endure. Xyreko is preparing lead golems to attempt to investigate, but all the more reason to capture as many embers as possible if you can. We’re going to burn through our newly acquired mana, and… uh… Hey… So, uh… One other thing…”
“Is it something that can’t be discussed?” asks Neith.
“N-No, not… Not necessarily. I just… I think… the person who sent Djihnlierr and her army to attack… may have confronted me. She’s some sort of chimera, I think, but… something was off about her.”
Neith tenses. He wasn’t present for the attack, but from what he was told briefly, it was a vicious assault while the Citadel’s barrier was down.
“I’ll let the others know, and we’ll return right-...”
“No. The mana fire is top priority right now. I think… I think she came to spy on us while we’re vulnerable. And, she only accessed the power plant, not the Citadel interior. She followed Hekate in, and she only confronted me while everyone else was distracted with Daniel. I just… Be careful out there. I… I think she might be specifically after me, but I don’t know why.”
Neith is quiet for a moment while he thinks, and Senn asks gently, “Neith?”
“We’ll finish up here as quickly as possible. If this chimera woman touched anything of yours, isolate it immediately, and I’ll try to track her by smell.”
“U-Understood! Thank you, Neith. Daniel is going to live, but… Well, you’ll see when you get back. Like I said, if you can do so safely, try to capture some embers. Wenlianna will work on a containment device in the meantime with what we have, but she and Ahok are still recovering from their own near-brush down in the core room.”
Neith is stunned by what he’s hearing, since he had no idea the core came into danger as well. There’s a lot for him to be caught up on, and it’s frustrating that he has so little information right now.
“Let me know if any emergencies come up. We’ll find a way to return as quickly as possible.”
“Thank you again, Neith. Will do.”
He can feel the connection fade. Strange. She must be hiding something else. She was unusually polite. Too polite. I need to move quickly and figure out what our status is overall.
“Lady Senn, from now on, we’re not going to wait for each fire to burn out. Is that alright?”
“I don’t object, but… If my staff burns up…” ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom
“If your staff burns up, I’ll give you one of my fingers,” replies Neith with a slight bit of humor. The elf flinches, naturally, since she almost certainly knows the story. While few knew that Djihnlierr was the one to receive a dragon-digit wand, most have heard the story of a dragon being so impressed with an opponent, that she severed her own finger to bestow on that brave sorceress.
I wonder why Djihnlierr’s name didn’t linger with the legend, thinks the grey dragon to himself. Either way, I imagine Senn would have no trouble. Hopefully, though, it won’t come to that.
“You’re tempting me to break my staff myself,” jokes Senn. “Let’s not waste time, then. With luck, there won’t be many more to deal with.”
“Agreed,” replies the dragon as he stretches his wings. The current mana fire is already surrounded by the black flames of the gloom inferno she just cast, and it’s quickly shrinking in size.
Regardless, Neith is careful not to disrupt or extinguish the gloom inferno as he takes off, continuing his counterclockwise flight around the crater. The city is directly east towards the mountains from where they’re currently at, and though the city appears to be largely unharmed, the columns of smoke and fire in the distance suggest the nuke delivered at least some level of destruction to the buildings.
And, given how the clouds directly above the crater were evaporated away by the initial flash, it’s probably for the best that the cause of that flash was entirely below the rim of the crater. The anti-magic wave didn’t seem to be hindered, but the bulk of the actual blast itself, the blinding light, and searing heat were mostly blocked.
We definitely need to make sure he never needs to use one of those again… thinks the dragon.
That said, he can’t resist thoughts of the Strylak, the rumored roaming Empire mentioned on other continents, and a ‘sky titan’ Neith read about in Lorih’nimbael, which he assumes is just an ancient dragon like Sayrdarralouche or Shiaulvolgarro, though if so, it’s odd that he or she would have refrained from conquering that entire continent, since none of the dragons there or their dragonslayers would pose a threat to a typical ancient dragon.
No, thinks Neith with a slight shake of his head and a gentle smile. If given enough time, perhaps my peculiar brother from another world will tailor-make weapons that don’t cause this level of collateral.
The grey dragon looks up at the sky for a moment. Even now, the terrible cloud of anti-magic poison blocks out even the feeling of magic within the unreachable heights.
A world free from the need to fear any monster… I look forward to that day.
***
Sundenelle wipes sweat from her dirtied brow. Her soldiers and lords are working fervently to try to clear rubble away and reach people who are trapped in the city of Urflasdat. Her magic is good for carving through stone and wood, since she can use her light blade to easily break through, but she has a finite amount of mana. Her head is pounding, her limbs are sore. But, she is getting a sort of urgent rush, a morbid satisfaction, working in the dirt and doing what she can.
Daniel’s weapon was as devastating as the rumors say, considering the edge of the mana fire was around three miles away from the city, and presumably, it was detonated somewhere near the center of the crater, which is a total of around thirty miles across. This means the destructive force of the weapon reached eighteen miles, and given the highest points of the city igniting in flames in an instant after the initial flash, they were spared an even worse fate by the depth of the crater.
The real problem was the ground quake, which ripped across the landscape and toppled portions of the wall and a large number of the buildings. Fabrics began to instantly combust when the fireball rose into the sky, and people have suffered various levels of burns. Magic was naturally suppressed, but what was most peculiar was the three noticeable waves of magic suppression that were a short while apart.
Ecklevon approaches Sundenelle wearily, reporting, “Your Imperial Majesty, we’re running out of mana, and the men are growing exhausted.”
“I know,” replies the albino Empress, looking at her own filthy hands, which are scraped and cut from trying to dig through rubble to retrieve survivors. The majority of the city did successfully evacuate, at least enough not to be buried in the buildings that collapsed or suffered structural damage. Glass isn’t yet in heavy use in Ahmpur, so the majority of the shrapnel was from wooden splinters or crumbled stone and plaster.
“Have we received any word from the Imperial Army?”
“Not yet, your Majesty. I’ll send a rider to try to find out where they are.”
“Good. And, keep an eye on the men. I know we’re all flirting with our absolute limits as it is, but the people of this city are counting on us.”
“Of course, your Majesty.”
She nods and takes a breath, stretching a little as she prepares to aid the next group of soldiers attempting to disassemble a building.
“One more thing, your Majesty, if I may…”
She turns back to her loyal gatonine knight, asking, “Yes?”
“I… have been overhearing talk, even among our own…”
“About Daniel’s weapon?” asks Sundenelle cautiously. “Or, the threat the Fievegal poses with it?”
The gatonine knight shakes his head, his expression somewhat grim, as if he’s about to reveal a terrible secret or insult someone that could have him killed. The fact that it’s the latter, but more specifically, what it’s about, almost makes Sundenelle laugh.
“I’m afraid… there are rumors spreading that this was the work of the gods.”
“Beg pardon?” asks Sundenelle, so stupefied by the ‘reveal’, that it takes a second for her to really process. But, as soon as Ecklevon’s knee hits the dirt in the beginning of an apology, she looks towards the dreadfully-obscured distance. For hundreds of miles, it seems, not a single star is visible in the sky. Even the Mother Moon has been swallowed by darkness, unable to shine her light upon the world beneath the terrible aftereffects of Daniel’s most powerful weapon.
It’s then that she realizes it is the more logical conclusion. No person; human, gatonine, Uhl’tall, or otherwise should conceivably be so powerful. Even the greater dragons would take longer to do as much damage as the collateral of Daniel’s weapon at the very fringes of its range. She can picture even the entire Imperial Capital being erased in an instant if one were to be used in the heart of the castle, and nothing would be able to withstand it. Their defenses are almost exclusively magic-reliant, and magic is the first thing erased before stone-breaking quakes and ‘wind’ slam everything.
To try to credit it to a person on this world is a terrifying prospect, even if that person is a ‘Divine Summons’ brought from another world.
The story gets even more unbelievable once one understands that Earth had no monsters to speak of. Certainly nothing to justify such a terrible weapon. Daniel has said that it was used to shatter the fighting spirit of an Empire, and it apparently worked. But, once other rival nations had them, they didn’t become weapons to be used in battle. They became a mutual stand off of the superpowered rival nations holding guns to each others’ heads to keep each other in line.
It is unthinkable for someone like Sundenelle to imagine creating a weapon to use against an entire city, but she understands why it would be effective. It is surprising any other nation was able to get similar weapons in time to prevent global conquest by Daniel’s nation. Just thinking about what someone like Yaulander would do…
Sundenelle flinches. “Sir Ecklevon, how many people know the origins of the mana fire, truly?”
“I truly don’t know, your Majesty. We can confirm that anyone present at Centerhold when it started could likely deduce the cause, but it was the Fievegal that actually recognized it as an anomaly from the unprecedented use of the void attack spells simultaneously, They would also know whether or not they had used a counterattack that could have triggered it, but I am only guessing this myself as a lowly knight who has had the unique privilege of seeing behind the veil of the Fievegal’s power.”
Sundenelle nods. Yaulander would likely figure it out with ease, and his soldiers might have guessed. The mages in his company would possibly have recognized it as well. This means a very large people have known the cause of the mana fire for a very long time. But, without an ‘antidote’ in one’s own power, it is a poison no one, not even an overly ambitious Grand Prince, would intentionally use…
Would he? thinks Sundenelle to herself.
Grand Prince Yaulander certainly is ambitious, and he would be very quick to adopt a new means of combat if it means superiority for the Grand Principality. He might even do so if it meant it gave him an edge over the Empire as a whole. She has always known him to be a self-serving individual, and his ‘immature’ act has always been a farce to hide his actual intelligence. Since the Strylaph name is such an old line within the Empire, his stability is all but assured. In general, if a faction were to oppose the Lindemorg’s, the Imperial family, they would try to use the Strylaph family to do so. In fact, it’s safe to say that no rebellion in the Empire would succeed in any meaningful manner without the support of the Strylaph family. And, even during Sundenelle’s own succession crisis, Yaulander himself came through to help ensure she rightfully received the throne as the only true-blood heir.
But, he hates Daniel because of their confrontation at our first meeting. Would he be so reckless as to try to create another mana fire?
Sundenelle decides to put it out of her mind for now. If dozens or hundreds of people potentially know the ‘key’ to triggering a mana fire, then preparation is more viable than prevention in this case. She can’t just murder a bunch of mages and soldiers, since it’s unknowable how many people they might’ve told about what they saw. One person getting second-hand information and piecing it together, especially if the Empire’s hand of justice tries to come down too hard on the matter, means the information will only spread faster, not slower.
That is the utter truth about information.
The best way to ensure it survives is to spread it amongst the lowest level possible, letting them spread it further.
No one bats an eye at the thought of a single commoner disappearing over what they know. But, an empire suddenly making ten commoners disappear for ‘no reason’ raises questions, and it raises the guards of the survivors who have the information as well.
It only takes one person to spread a rumor, true or false.
The power of that rumor is often given weight by how believable it is.
“Sir Ecklevon…” starts Sundenelle as a thought comes across her.
“Yes, your Majesty?”
“You didn’t actually think this all happened because of a human with no magic, did you?”
The gatonine knight stares at her as his tail sags and his expressive ears flatten in confusion. He’s genuinely lost for words as Sundenelle smirks.
“This is obviously the work of the gods. It seems ‘Divine’ summons aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. We had three of them working on this situation, and it still took a direct intervention from the gods.” ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com
“Y-Your Majesty…” murmurs Ecklevon.
She looks at him, lowering her voice as she stares into his eyes. “You and I know the truth only because the claims we’ve heard match what we have now seen. Few others know these claims.”
“But… if… uh, his Grace…”
“Daniel will do what I, or rather, Aramellianna advises him to do. I don’t care what it takes, find out where she is and put me in touch with Grand Duchess Senior Aramellianna kos S-, no, kos Phenglegorn. If not her, then Empress Ryuogriar gur Lawson. My fellow consort will undoubtedly understand.”
Ecklevon bows his head, replying loyally, “As you command, your Grace. Though…” With his head still bowed, he looks at her with his eyes. “This could be a useful position for you, your Majesty…”
Sundenelle smiles at her loyal knight. “Remember who is the power of the Fievegal, Sir Ecklevon. It is not the man who can supposedly vaporize a city. It is the girl who will destroy the world to protect him. Condemning Daniel will gain us very little more than political points with the rivals and enemies of the Fievegal. They can and would be flattened swiftly if they oppose the Fievegal directly. I would rather be included in the alliance recognized for its ability to flatten everyone else and the security that provides than to sabotage a man who tried desperately to avoid using this power. Good men are few and far between, Sir Ecklevon. Especially those on the level ‘fit’ to marry me.”
The gatonine knight lowers his gaze and closes his eyes respectfully. “Then, I shall ensure your marriage is swift, safe, and fruitful, your Majesty. And, if I may be so bold, I will happily welcome the dual-Imperial heir as soon as possible.”
Sundenelle scoffs and snickers. It’s a fast flip from one side to the other, but it’s what she expects of Ecklevon. His loyalty is not just pointing his sword at whomever Sundenelle orders him to do so, but something far more important.
He asks the right questions at the right time, never undermining her authority, but always doing his best to ensure that, if he sees what looks to be a bump in the road, he at least mentions it for Sundenelle to consider and either flatten or roll right over and take the jolt.
Daniel made a very tough call to swallow, but no one will ever be able to verify whether he truly made the right decision or not. Could he have waited until everyone was safely away? Could he have tried more weapons or abilities? Could he have found a way to protect Urflasdat?
These questions are far easier to ask than the most obvious one.
What would have happened if he didn’t do it?
Sundenelle doesn’t like any of the questions. She knows that sometimes a hard decision must be made. She, herself, burned her own father’s body with gloom inferno to ensure her relatives couldn’t use his body as a political setpiece, which was all the more important as he made his deathbed confession about Sundenelle’s true status.
It doesn’t compare at all, but Daniel spoke of his weapon absolutely destroying all of Urflasdat and killing everyone.
They managed to evacuate most of the population, narrowly, and the damage to the city is bad, but recoverable.
She’s not sure what the right answer is, but letting people believe that it was the work of the gods is certainly looking like the easiest.
For now, she just wants to focus on what’s right in front of her.
***
