The Beginning After the End: Book 7: Divergence

by TurtleMe

  We had thought that their goal was to march south and join their allies coming in from the western shores, but considering the recent incursions into elven territory from the Beast Glades, the Alacryan troops up north could actually have been heading east toward Elenoir.

  Alduin’s and Merial’s main concern was, naturally, the defense of the elven kingdom, while Blaine and Priscilla continued to argue against sending troops into Elenoir, which would spread thin the already strained forces stationed around Sapin.

  Buhnd and his forces, with the assistance of General Mica, were largely focused on clearing away any surviving Alacryans within Darv and managing their own civil dispute with the radicals, and so were able to provide little in the way of additional support to either kingdom.

  Throughout the debate, I could tell Virion was trying to remain neutral and let the kings and queens work through the problem. He was silent throughout the entire meeting, which took us well into the night, and only provided his strategic guidance when discussing specific combat scenarios.

  “This is why I wanted to wait until Lord Aldir was here!” Blaine huffed. “He would know that it’s foolish to spread our forces even thinner than they already are.”

  “Commander Virion, you mentioned that Elder Camus had gone back to Elenoir after my training with him was over,” I said, ignoring the former king of Sapin.

  “Yes, his latest transmission scroll placed him in the northern city of Asyphin.”

  “Does he know about the attacks coming from the Beast Glades?”

  “He was made aware, of course,” Virion said, understanding where I was going. “Perhaps we could recruit him to assist in surveying the southern border for any suspicious movement.”

  “The Elshire Forest spans hundreds of miles. No matter how powerful Elder Camus is, he’s just one man,” Merial rebutted.

  “And General Aya,” Virion added, turning to Blaine and Priscilla. “If your two Lances remain in Sapin, is it acceptable that I keep a Lance in Elenoir? She can be pulled back if absolutely necessary—and we still have General Arthur.”

  Blaine looked like he was about to say something, but Priscilla intervened. “That’s acceptable.”

  “It’ll have to do—as a temporary solution,” Alduin stressed, catching Virion’s eye. “If these attacks on Elenoir escalate, we’ll need to send troops capable of navigating through the forest to defend it.”

  “Don’t sugarcoat it, Alduin. Just say you’ll take the elves back, because defending Elenoir is more important to you than defending all of Dicathen,” Blaine snapped.

  “Enough!” Virion barked, glaring around the table. “If that’s all, we’ll end the meeting here—”

  “Actually,” I interrupted, “there is one more topic on the agenda that we should address as soon as possible.”

  “Oh? And what is that?” Virion asked. There was an air of nervous curiosity at the table as the others waited for me to continue.

  I looked at Sylvie and she met my gaze with a resolute expression. Letting out a deep breath, I began. “It’s about the absence of Aldir and the asuras…”

  202

  Traitor's Request

  The meeting room had fallen eerily silent by the time I finished reporting what Agrona had told me—minus a few details. I spoke freely about his enmity toward the Indrath Clan for belittling him, and how he had managed to increase the ratio of mages among the Alacryans with his experiments. I withheld some information that I wasn’t ready for the Council to know, like the fact that he not only knew I was reincarnated into this world, but also knew who I was in my past life.

  Making my conversation with Agrona seem more like a unilateral declaration from the Vritra leader for us to surrender allowed me to explain that the asuras had tried using our war as a distraction and had attacked the Vritra in Alacrya… and had failed.

  Virion swore loudly, slamming his hands down on the table. The commander’s usually controlled expression was twisted into a scowl and the tips of his pointed ears turned red. “Those conceited sons of—as if it wasn’t bad enough that they used us and this war for their own purposes, they didn’t even succeed!”

  Virion rose from his seat and began pacing, muttering curses under his breath. The others, stunned into silence by either my revelation or Virion’s outburst, exchanged glances but did nothing to interrupt. Finally, he looked back at me. “Arthur. What else did Agrona say in his message?”

  “Just that Epheotus’s attack on Alacrya failed. Agrona leveraged the failed assault to further dissuade the asuras from taking part in this war—by demanding the asuras in Epheotus cut off all communications with us,” I answered.

  Virion gnashed his teeth but remained silent.

  “At least that explains why we haven’t seen more Scythes and retainers yet,” Buhnd chimed in. The dwarven elder seemed the least shaken by my news; he had never actually met the asuras in the first place. “Agrona must’ve kept his strongest soldiers—the Scythes, retainers, and whatever the hell these basilisks are—in Alacrya in case something like this happened.”

  “That makes sense,” Merial replied, her brows furrowed in thought. “But that leads us to the next question: Are we to expect the rest of Agrona’s Scythes and their retainers to come to Dicathen now that the asuras of Epheotus have attacked them and failed?”

  The atmosphere in the room grew heavy, as if a weighted blanket had been thrown over top of us.

  “I’m sure this battle between Epheotus and Alacrya wasn’t as one-sided as Agrona led Arthur—and all of us—to believe,” Alduin responded.

  “That’s right. I’ve experienced Lord Aldir’s power firsthand! No way Alacrya turned back a full-blown assault by the asuras of Epheotus without experiencing some casualties themselves. Hell, their home might be in shambles right now!” Blaine added, speaking as if he was trying to convince himself rather than the rest of us.

  “That’s all sunshine and peaches, but from my experience, nothing good comes from expecting the best in situations like this,” Buhnd added grimly.

  “He’s right,” I agreed. “We should assume that both retainers and Scythes are headed this way.”

  “The gates the Alacryans hid down in the dungeons of the Beast Glades,” Merial suddenly exclaimed. “What if the retainers and Scythes are already here?”

  “According to Captain Trodius’s reports, there hasn’t been a teleportation gate sighting in months, not since the last one was destroyed,” Priscilla answered. “From what I gathered, the constructs were of poor design and failed after only a few Alacryan troops made it through. One soldier witnessed only half of an Alacryan mage coming through a portal before it broke, and that mage died within seconds. Right now, the Trailblazer Division is mainly wiping out corrupted beasts and their controllers before they’re able to make it up to the surface.”

  “That adds up, from what I’ve seen,” I muttered, recalling how even the Scythe, Seris Vritra, had arrived via teleportation gates within the Kingdom of Darv before traveling by land through Sapin.

  “We’ll just have to hope that’s true,” Virion said, still pacing.

  “Then are we to expect them to arrive from the western coast by ship?” Blaine asked, his face pale. “If that’s the case, no amount of wall-building is going to make a difference.”

  As the Council continued discussing the possibilities, my mind shifted to my previous life. Although it was rare that disputes between countries would escalate into wars rather than Paragon Duels, Lady Vera was very thorough in her lessons on warfare, despite the rarity of full-scale armed conflict. We went through endless rounds of strategic board games, and I was sure there were lessons to be pulled from that experience, but a loud clap drew my attention away from my thoughts.

  “While we have a lot to think about, I suggest we take time to rest. Rested minds think more clearly than those that are tired and overtaxed,” Virion said in a defeated tone. “We’ll meet back here at sunrise.”

  I looked out the wi
ndow to see that night had fallen and quickly calculated just how much time I had to finally rest.

  Not enough, I thought, walking out of the room behind Buhnd.

  The dwarven elder let out a groan as he stretched his back, muttering, “I wonder if it’s not too late to just throw myself out into the field and fight the enemy face to face instead of from behind a meeting room table.”

  Sylvie and I walked to our room in silence, not needing words to feel the tension we each carried.

  After shedding everything but my inner shirt and trousers, I sank down into the couch. My vision glazed over, hardly focusing on anything as my mind went blank. A subtle movement from Sylvie caught my eye, though, and I turned to watch as her simple black dress swirled around her as if alive. Sleeves formed while her dress elongated until it dangled loosely around her ankles. It had turned into a nightgown.

  “How’d you do that?”

  “I can mold my scales into clothes in this form,” she said quietly, transforming the bottom half of her gown into pants to prove her point.

  “What else can you do?” I asked, leaning forward in my seat.

  Sylvie sat down on the couch across from me. “So far, I’ve been focusing mostly on how to function in this bipedal form. Apart from the lack of stability these silly legs provide, though, I have to admit that I’ve begun to understand why the asuras choose to stay in this form.”

  “Oh? Do tell,” I said, leaning back into the couch and getting comfortable. It felt good to be chatting with my bond like the weight of our entire continent’s future wasn’t resting on our shoulders.

  “Mana manipulation—and even using aether—is easier in this form,” she acknowledged, curling and uncurling her fingers.

  “Interesting,” I replied. “So, what are your magic capabilities like now that the seal is broken?”

  “Because the Indrath Clan are aether users, most of my mana manipulation abilities focus on strengthening my body,” she answered. “But I am able to dispel a large amount of my mana at once.”

  Suddenly, mana began gathering into her open palm, casting a bright light all around the room. The light artifacts hanging from the walls and ceiling flickered and dimmed.

  My eyes widened as the orb of concentrated mana grew in size. “Sylvie? Please don’t destroy this room—or this castle.”

  My bond’s stoic face broke into a smile as she looked at me. “Is the mighty Lance scared of a little girl now?”

  “Those jagged horns kind of negate the ‘little girl’ thing,” I said uneasily, scooting farther into my seat as the charged sphere of mana pulsed with power. “But seriously—you still stumble over your own feet, Sylv. Let’s not endanger everyone in the castle.”

  The glowing orb slowly faded, dissolving into tiny particles. Sylvie let out a deep breath. “I’m glad that I was able to break the seal since I’ll be more useful out in the field, but there’s a part of me that feels foreign now.”

  “Well, you are still getting used to your human form,” I said, trying to comfort her.

  Sylvie shook her head. “It’s not like that. It’s more… internal, like there’s much more to my abilities than I thought before.”

  “Well. You’ll have a lot of opportunity for self-discovery. You heard what they said in the meeting; things are only going to get more hectic.”

  “At least we’ll have one another to count on,” she said resolutely. “Once I have better control of this form, I feel that the two of us defeating a Scythe isn’t impossible.”

  “‘Isn’t impossible,’” I echoed with a laugh. “Not the best of odds, but much better than before.”

  “Maybe we’ll have some time to spar before going on a mission,” Sylvie said hopefully. “I’d like to test out the extent of my control over aether in this form.”

  “We’ll be lucky if we can actually get a good night’s sleep without being disturbed,” I said with a yawn. Dragging myself up off the couch, I crossed the room and flopped into bed.

  I would have liked to stay up and talked with my bond more. Sylvie attaining a human form made it seem as if I’d just gotten another younger sister—albeit one with large, intimidating horns. But I could already feel sleep overtaking me—

  ‘Speaking of sisters,’ Sylvie chimed in, reading my thoughts, ‘wasn’t Ellie waiting for us?’

  “She’s probably asleep by now,” I mumbled, slurring my words as my drowsiness began taking hold of me.

  ‘I’m not so sure about that, Arthur. Ellie’s been looking forward to having you back… however briefly that might be.’

  “I’ll—try to spend time with her—tomorrow,” I replied, about to fall asleep. My eyes snapped open a moment later when a firm knock on my door startled me awake.

  “What?” I snapped, annoyance practically oozing out of my voice.

  “I apologize for the disturbance, General Arthur, but I have a message from Commander Virion to meet him in the dungeon,” a deep voice recited from behind the door.

  I shut my eyes, refusing to part ways with the fluffy, feather-stuffed pillow molding to the shape of my head. This is just a dream, Arthur. No need to get back up.

  “General Arthur?”

  With a growl, I rolled out of bed and put on a robe. “Come on, Sylv. Let’s go.”

  ‘Must I?’ she sent back, not even bothering to speak. ‘I just made myself comfortable, and the guard only asked for you.’

  “Traitor,” I grumbled, heading toward the door.

  I followed the guard along the dim hallway, going down several flights of stairs until we reached the lower levels of the castle.

  “Did Commander Virion provide any details about why he wanted to see me?” I asked.

  “My apologies, but no sir. I’m afraid not.”

  We continued in silence until we reached the reinforced doors leading down into the dungeon. The members of the Council, still in their sleepwear, were standing before the door looking as if they, too, had been pulled from their beds with no notice and no explanation.

  Another figure, which stood right in front of the door, was a hulking man a head taller than Blaine and twice as wide. It took me a moment to recognize him as the assistant to the old man who was in charge of interrogating the prisoners.

  “Arthur, do you know what this is about?” Buhnd asked as the guard and I approached, not trying to hide his annoyance.

  I jerked a thumb toward the guard. “I came here because this guy told me Virion called for me.”

  “We just arrived as well. What is going on?” Alduin asked nervously.

  “I called for you all because this man”—Virion turned back to face Gentry’s assistant—“What was your name again?”

  “Duve,” the burly man grunted.

  “Because Duve said that Gentry finally got one of the prisoners to talk,” Virion finished.

  “Who? The retainer?” Priscilla asked, her arms crossed.

  “I’m not sure,” Virion replied, glaring at the burly man.

  “And where’s Gentry now?” I asked, looking behind the interrogator’s assistant as if the old man might be hiding in his shadow. “Shouldn’t we go inside instead of waiting out here?”

  “Master Gentry will be here soon,” Duve replied, standing his ground.

  Hardly a minute passed, but my patience was growing dangerously thin when the dungeon door slid open and the hooked-nose elder trudged out.

  “Gentry!” Blaine barked. “What exactly is going on?”

  “My apologies to the Council and General Arthur. I was just finishing up the maintenance on the retainer’s restraining system when he called for me. Still, I didn’t want to take even the smallest of chances of my beloved prisoner breaking free while we were all down there,” Gentry said, cleaning his wrinkled hands on a cloth.

  Virion’s eyes widened, and he eagerly pressed the interrogator for details. “What did the retainer say? Did you finally break him? Tell us!”

  “Unfortunately, no,” Gentry rasped.

>   “Then why did you feel the need to drag us down here at this godforsaken hour?” Merial demanded, her eyes narrowed.

  Gentry let out an uncomfortable cough before speaking again. “I have yet to break the retainer, but the traitor, Rahdeas—I think that was his name—has finally spoken.”

  “What did he say?” I asked, stepping forward through the Council members. “Did he give you any information?”

  “Well, no, not exactly.”

  “On with it, you tittering old corpse!” Buhnd snapped. “Stop speaking in circles and spit it out.”

  “Tittering old cor—”

  “Gentry,” Virion growled in warning.

  Gentry winced but took a step forward, puffing his chest out. “Thanks to yours truly, the traitor has finally spoken and he has requested to speak”—his crooked finger pointed toward me—“but only to General Arthur.”

  203

  A Poem

  The hallway was quiet as everyone’s gaze followed the long crooked finger to me.

  I furrowed my brows. “Me?”

  My mind spun. Why would Rahdeas want to speak to me, and what he could possibly say to me in this situation?

  “That traitor has cleft the dwarven kingdom in two and shit on our reputation, then left me to clean up his unwiped ass—who is he to make demands?” Buhnd growled.

  “Do you think he’s aiming to make some sort of deal with General Arthur?” Blaine asked.

  “If he wanted to strike a deal, he’d have a much better chance of doing so with Commander Virion or anyone else in the Council,” Merial answered.

  “Perhaps it’s because of your ties to Elijah?” Virion wondered.

  “That’s… what I’m afraid of,” I sighed.

  Gentry coughed dramatically, drawing our attention. “Councilmembers and Lance. It would be an understatement to say it has been difficult for me to get the traitor to talk. Perhaps it’s best we capitalize on my—this achievement, and talk to him while he’s still able?”