“Good. Proceed with the plan. On the side of the elves?” Yakish asked.
Heads turned toward Inras.
“The elves seem to be doing something. It looks like something stirred them up a couple of weeks ago. It was along the path of the enigma that we have been tracking from Laisa to Skalafell. We don’t know what they are doing but I have drawn in some forces from the north. Once the fighting begins, I can use these groups to move into the Deepwood, pillaging and robbing the elves, ignite their fury and start drawing more of them toward our organization. It has always been harder to gain elven assistants.” Inras looked over to Nura.
“That enigma is an issue that needs to be cleaned up,” Nura said.
Yakish’s emotions became chaotic, thinking about the enigma. “Nura, what have you found out about the enigma?”
Nura was the center of attention. She felt surprised and unsure, which made them focus more. She was uncaring and callous; dealing with the beast kin for so long, she had taken on a brute force approach: anything that couldn’t be solved at first would be destroyed and never be dealt with again.
“Signs point to a Guardian or a group of Guardians.”
The moving chaotic power stilled.
“They were wiped out by us hundreds of years ago, though,” Inras said.
“Well, it looks like someone might have found a Guardian heritage or been brought up by the pantheon of Dena. We still don’t know how Guardians came to be, their inner workings and such. We knew it was possible that they might come back,” Nura said.
“Based on the reports from Laisa, it looks as if it was a Guardian there. They must have gone through the elven Deepwood and then come out in Selenus, heading to Skalafell,” Yakish said. “The commander assigned to the village was turned into a beast kin apparently and disappeared. There are now goblins controlling the town.”
“Goblins?” Szante spoke up, his voice trembling. He was the oldest and senior commander among them. It might seem as though he dealt with the weakest group—Nura overlooked the beast kin, Yakish the humans, Inras the elves, and he dealt with the other races, Epan, and Ilsal. The other races had a smaller population, but there was a lot more going on. It showed how resilient they were, with only getting involved in the conflicts of the beast kin occasionally.
“They are simple creatures,” Nura said dismissively.
“Goblins might look simple, but their hob leadership is legendary. Generals Ect, Hior, Phos, Chah, and Phaou are the leaders of the five united armies. There has always been tensions with the other races. Each of them looked to outdo one another and prove that they were stronger. Do you remember the battle of Drador? We were able to convince the human leader that the humans needed to prove themselves. Instead of sending out the combined fighting force, he sent out the humans to show off their power and they were slaughtered. It created division in the army and the general needed to be replaced as he was cursed as a failure of humanity and Dena. The army sustained critical losses as the other commanders thought the other races were looking to take power and position from them. We had a chance to do that within the different armies that were run with other races.
“Not with the goblins. The goblins, when they take over leadership positions, they treat everyone as if they are a part of their family. What they need to do is learn what the strength of everyone is. They are true leaders. Once they know the strength of people, they use that strength to guide them forward. It does not matter their race or their background. It was why we had to use the Church of Light and the beast kin to take power from the goblins. We destroyed the goblins’ efforts through political maneuvering. They are not savvy at politics as they want the best for everyone, even if it isn’t the best for themselves. We need to remove them from power immediately,” Szante said.
“With time, my memories have become faded,” Yakish said as he thought back. “Laisa has been quiet. There have not been complaints from the military in the large part that are stationed there. They have asked for new orders but they held off, moving it up the chain of command. There is a newly promoted Major Rae who has pushed for changes within his command. General Hugo Fysher has denied any movement from the military as he is preparing to fight the beast kin. He has taken a wait-and-see approach to Laisa at this time. I believe we can use this as an opportunity to gain Major Rae as a saint. He is formidable on the battlefield and brutal toward the other races. If we give him power and position as well as the tools to do as he wishes, he will be a powerful force of chaos to unleash upon Dena.”
“I will move up my attacks on the elves, probing attacks and draw the elven sleepers that we have to form up and destroy Laisa,” Inras said.
“No. If we have Major Rae come over as a saint and then go against General Hugo Fysher, that will complicate things within the ranks. Attacking their own city and destroying it will also make people disturbed, trusting their military less than they do. If we use the elves within Deepwood to increase the friction with the beast kin and the humans, then we can draw them into the war more,” Yakish said.
Inras signaled his agreement with a movement of his chaotic power.
“Szante, you are the oldest and most knowledgeable of us. If you and Nura work together to search out this person who might be a Guardian, hunt them down to remove that threat from our path, that should help our aims. They have not appeared for hundreds of years. Now, when we are so close to connecting back to the rest of our race, the Guardians can start to pull the people together and stabilize Dena,” Yakish said.
Nura and Szante moved to agree with his words.
“They were good fighters and we know that many of them died after the war, being wiped out in ways most foul, though there are a number who died but were not recovered,” Szante said. “I always thought that there might come a time that we would need to eliminate them. What of the forces of Ilsal and Epan?”
“They are a small population. Although we have only been able to carry out very few plots in their lands, we have an abundance of information on what is happening there. Their population is small and although they have a strong navy, they do not have a strong military force. Once we control the continent and pull our people across, then we can focus on defeating Ilsal and Epan. Either they stay on their islands and we consume the power from Dena, starving them and they die, or they will come and attack us and we will defeat them on land,” Yakish said.
“Giving them time to grow is dangerous,” Szante warned.
“If we leave them alone and there is no fighting going on there, then people will rush there to escape. We can work our people into their ranks that way. If they deny people coming over, then they will turn into an enemy of those trying to escape. We could even use propaganda to make it look like of course they are safe; they’re the ones attacking with the doors. We have wiped out most records in the beast kin and the human histories about the last war. With everyone fighting one another, are they going to trust their enemies or the people standing on the sidelines?” Nura’s sardonic tone gained their agreement.
“The humans have been ready for a fight for years. They’re pleased to continue it. The armies are moving and I will be sending saints and people from the Church of Light to create issues within to confuse and create issues within the military. We have famines and curses we can spread across the nation. There are threats of uprisings in the east and south along the elven border that we are instigating. With this war, we should draw in the entire country. The situation in the beast kin lands is only slightly more stable. With the actions of the chaos cults, we have created more schisms internally.”
“They are difficult pawns, but they are just pawns in the end,” Inras said.
The others made flippant agreements, looking down on the people of Dena with disdain.
“Such issues would never come with Drafeng,” Yakish said proudly.
“For survival and continuation,” the others said.
“We all have our duties to carry out,” Yakish said.
“Ahh, human skins. At least the beast kin skins are larger, to contain more,” Inras complained.
Light covered them as they transformed back into the leaders of the Church of Light. Yakish suspended the spell across the room and headed out. His four saints followed him like the good blind servants that they were.
Chapter: Resurgence
Anthony felt the power in his body. After drawing in more mana from Dena, his power had gone through a change.
He raised his left hand and sent power to Dave.
A golden light appeared in front of Anthony as Dave materialized. He was no longer in his complete dragon form but a humanoid dragon form. His golden eyes opened and his mouth pulled back into a grin, revealing his rows of razor-sharp teeth.
“Feels good to be able to manifest again.” Dave stretched out.
He looked just like he had in Anthony’s memories, with his deep gold, almost brown, scales and his golden glowing eyes. Wings folded on his back, peeking over his shoulders; his tail moved back and forth above the floor. He wore golden armor, looking like some dragon kin warrior god.
“Damn, you take up a lot of mana.” Anthony reached out his other hand. A stream of black gas seemed to come from his hand, resolving itself into Solomon’s butler form.
“Master, it is good to see that your power is returning. Being unable to speak was a bit of a drag,” Solomon said, his voice prim and proper.
“What about Wendy and Penelope?” Dave asked.
“I can barely materialize both of you and sustain it. I can’t materialize Bruce yet. With time and practice, I think that I will be able to materialize all three of you and then wake up Penelope,” Anthony said.
Claire walked into the room. Dave and Solomon turned to face her.
Her face split into a wide smile. “Well, look at you two.”
“Mistress Claire.” Solomon bowed.
Dave walked over and hugged her. “Good to see you.”
“And you two as well,” Claire said, touched by seeing them both and their reactions. “Though your master should be conserving his power. He has a Tribunal to run tonight!”
“Are we ready to go?” Anthony asked.
“Yeah, just came to get you. We can move through the underground tunnels to the chosen places the judges are gathered. Once we have completed the Tribunals here, we will board the Tenacious and head toward Radal,” Claire said. “Sorry, guys.”
“Till next time,” Solomon said.
Dave bowed his head. The two of them turned into smoke and light as they returned to Anthony’s body.
“Okay, let’s go and see what the Tribunal says.” Anthony indicated for Claire to lead.
She started to walk and his hand found hers.
He couldn’t help but smile to himself inside his helmet.
“Don’t want to let me go?” Claire asked in a sarcastic voice as she led them out of her personal quarters and then through a heavy open door with corridors behind it.
“Never!” Anthony held up her hand as if it were a war cry.
Claire laughed and shook her head at his antics. “I think that you should talk to Tommie and Aila. They’ve gone through some changes and although a skeleton in a set of armor is one thing, a lich wandering around and talking to them might freak them out more.”
“They seem okay,” Anthony said, confused.
“You’re so cute.” Claire patted his hand. “Aila just became a Guardian and she has none of the knowledge or the training that goes with it. She needs to learn how to do her tasks. Is Tommie normally that quiet? He seems to be avoiding talking to you and Aila. I don’t know if it is because he is surrounded by undead and that makes him uneasy, though.”
“Hmm. Okay, I’ll see if I can have a talk with them,” Anthony said.
“Good,” Claire said.
“Also, why are we going to Radal’s capital? Why don’t we just head to the front lines?”
“If we go to the front lines, we will be treating the wound and not the cause. The Church of Light is a destabilizing force in the world, filled with greed, matched with power and lack of control. It is held by Agents of Chaos, and their headquarters is the Guardian headquarters.” Claire’s tone changed.
Anthony could feel the anger but also the sickly sweet pleasure she took in revealing her plan.
“We were there for the construction of the headquarters. We both know how many ways are into the building and out of it. We need to strike into the heart of the Drafeng’s strength. If we can judge those in the Church of Light headquarters, we deal with the corruption there; we remove the Drafeng—then you increase your power from consuming them. With their sentences, to redeem themselves, we get a group of highly trained and powerful people from the Church of Light. We turn the infection into the cure.”
“And you want to kick people out of our home,” Anthony said.
“That might have something to do with it.” Claire shrugged.
Anthony squeezed her hand more.
“The Guardian facilities weren’t destroyed. The Drafeng took them over and they have used their power of Light, which is their chaotic power, to alter the fountains of tribulation. Now they use these fountains to convert regular people into sources of chaotic power, seeding them across the land. That way, when the Drafeng come, if they slaughter the population, then that stored-up chaotic power within their bodies becomes their fuel.”
Anthony couldn’t help but sigh.
“They were meant to be a beacon of hope, a way for people to undergo the trials of the Guardian and be selected to train as a Guardian. When there wasn’t a Guardian, then the people of the community could take the accused there to have judgment rendered by the spirits of Dena and stabilize our rear.”
Anthony felt tired from it all.
“You okay?” Claire asked.
“I need a vacation,” Anthony complained. “Look at how pale my bones are—need to get some sun.”
“I’m pretty sure that is not how tanning your bones work,” Claire said.
“Bit of sun, some sand...”
“You hate sand.”
“Well, that was when I got sand in my clothes. Now it just goes right through me!”
Claire rolled her eyes.
“We can get some of those really colorful fruity potions that you like—see the sunrise and sunset. Well, don’t really need sleep, so kind of makes it easy to see both. I have to say, this undead night vision is pretty sweet!”
“I feel like we’re getting further and further away from any point that you might be attempting to make,” Claire said dryly.
“Ah, there’s at least one out there!” Anthony pointed to the ceiling to exemplify his point.
“He still not making sense?” Aila asked as they reached a larger room.
“Never did,” Claire said.
“That’s insubordination!” Anthony declared, pointing at Aila.
She crossed her arms, cocked her hip and lowered one eyebrow.
“Or not! Umm, where are the judges?” Anthony said.
Claire snorted and shook her head.
Tamarra, Aila, Damien, and Tommie were there. To the right, there was a set of stairs and straight ahead there was a door.
“This way.” Damien opened the only door in the room and went through it. Anthony went through right behind him.
Claire removed her hand from his grip.
He looked at her.
“Let Tamarra lead. They don’t know about me or my situation. If they were to find out, it might derail everything,” Claire said.
Anthony felt her heart twisting in his chest. He pulled her into a hug. “I love you.”
“Dolt.” She pouted but put her hands around him. “I love you too.” Her voice was barely audible.
He felt her heart squirming in joy now and all his worries faded away.
“Go on, you have a Tribunal to summon.” Claire pushed him away.
“I never want to leave your side!” Anthony squeezed har
der.
“Duty takes us down different paths.” Claire squeezed him harder before pulling back and away. “Go on, you slacker,” she chastised.
Anthony would have rolled his eyes if he had any still and walked away as she smacked his armored ass, making him jump a few feet.
Tommie coughed and looked away.
Anthony saw the mirth in her eyes as she smiled up at him happily. He raised his hand, prepared to say something, but no words came to him. He stood there like a guppy fish for a few seconds.
“Tribunal?” Claire asked.
“Tribunal, right.” Anthony cleared his throat and turned to the doorway. Damien, Aila, and Tamarra were there already.
Anthony walked through the doorway, finding himself on a balcony. He looked out onto a massive cavern with hanging stalactites bedecked with a glowing moss that lit up the scene below.
The cavern had been turned into a training area at some point in the past. Buildings lined the walls and training areas met in the middle.
The ground had been cleaned and smoothed, a large open space was directly below the balcony.
Two to three hundred men and women—gnome, human, beast kin, elven, dwarf, and hobgoblin—stood in a mixed formation in that large open space.
They were all silent as they looked up at Anthony and the others.
“You have come from across Dena, from all different walks of life to learn and to train together, cultivating skills and abilities to try to make Dena a better place. Today, you will be given an opportunity and a test. You may have heard of the Guardians—figures of legends that crossed Dena, seeking to protect the people, create stability, punishing the wicked and giving the innocent a fair chance to live their lives to the fullest. Imbued with the powers of Dena and blessed by the ancient powers that protect and watch over Dena. Guardians are their agents to protect and nurture all of Dena.” Tamarra’s words struck a chord as the eyes from below looked at the three new people they had never seen before.
A Skeleton and a Lich Page 7
