“Oryath!” She shouted, tears in her eyes as she ran to him. “Come back. Please. Come back. Whatever brought this on, whatever happened, we can help you.”
“Aina…” His heart leapt in his throat. He wavered. In his hand are battle plans from one of Tiamat’s generals, Wesley’s, plan to take over Ebsun.
“Oryath, this isn’t you. I know it isn’t. You hated Tiamat the most out of all of us, so why?”
With a deep breath, he steeled himself. He can’t afford to falter. Tiamat had grown suspicious when she learned that Avalon had not fallen as she wished for it too. Clenching his fist, he brought out a knife, throwing it at her feet when she tried to step closer.
“I have nothing to say to you.” He said.
“Oryath?”
He brandished his knife, baring his teeth at her. “Another step closer and I will not hesitate to go for the neck.”
Her pleading expression shuttered and he could see it in her eyes. The hope, the wish, the pleading, gone in place of a hardened heart, Aina was always more decisive. Ruefully, he wondered if she had accepted his betrayal and only pleaded out of their lingering friendship.
“So be it.” She threw her spear at him before moving to attack him with her khopesh.
He dodged, dropping the plans on ‘accident’. “I’ve no time to waste on you.”
And then he fled.
“Keith!” Silon hissed, elbowing him and snapping him out of his reverie. “Will you always be like this?”
Leonith came to his defense as Keith blinked away the edges of the memory in order to grasp the current situation. “Keith’s memories are sharper than ours. It happens often.”
“Wait, what’s happening? Where’s Hyacinth?”
Leonith pointed at the distance. “Hyacinth is trying to calm down Ashala, Aina’s reincarnation. So far it seems to be doing well judging by the lack of roaring, fighting, and general chaos.”
Keith followed Leonith’s hand, looking at Ashala’s suspicious glare and the way she’s frowning while talking to Hyacinth. Now that he looked at her closely, he could see her wearing the white cotton fabric typical of Ancient Egyptian depictions.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“She’s not happy to see me, is she?” He mumbled.
“Rba ja jii. Ktf wbwfca sbe kfgf jrrjeiafv ys j wfwbgs, rtf lwwfvljafis kfca ab jaajmx sbe.” Ofbclat rtgeuufv. “P vfofcvfv sbe yea ktfc P aglfv ab mjiw tfg vbkc, kfii…”
Lf ufraegfv ja j qjgalmeijgis rlcufv qjga bo tlr riffnf.
Bflat klcmfv. “Ct…”
Vlibc rlutfv. “Pa’r bcis atgbeut wf atja tlr yegc kjr fjrlis tfjifv. Crtjij tjv xfqa Clcj’r afwqfg la rffwr. Ktf bcis bcf rtf’r kliilcu ab ajix ab lr Lsjmlcat jcv bcis yfmjerf rtf kjcar ab xcbk kts Ufgrfer’ gflcmjgcjalbc mtbbrfr ab kjix klat ‘atglmf-yf-vjwcfv agjlabgr ktb mbeiv ub jcv-’”
“We get the picture.” Keith interrupted, his eyes straying back to Hyacinth and Ashala.
Whatever it is they were talking about, neither looked pleased but neither drew their weapons, which is a good sign. Hopefully. His tail swished back and forth in apprehension as a glaring Ashala marched up, followed by a grim looking Hyacinth.
“Traitor, you dare show your face to me? A lifetime though it may be, I still recall the scent of burning flesh that sundered Ebsun and brought her to her knees!” She snarled, her words carefully crafted in contrast to the fire behind her tone.
Highborn, Keith realized. Right, Aina was a highborn and it seems that Ashala followed suit. Unlike Oryath and Orionith who were the lowest class back then for being markless, Aina had been the Ruling Regent of Ebsun since her brother was too young to lead.
Silon drew back beside him and he could see something flash in her impossibly green eyes.
“Lady Ashala, this one implores thee to stand down upon grounds of the Accord.”
Ashala paused, scowling as her tail lashed back and forth. “I refuse to have any dealings with you and your ilk. Long has Ebsun remained a city free of the shackles of its past, yet now not only has the reincarnation of its Sunderer come walking back, but its saviors have joined hands with thee.”
Keith frowned. “Lady Ashala-”
“Silence!” She glared at him. “Oryath the Sunderer, Oryath the Traitor, Faithbreaker, and Liar, we need not speak with one such as you.”
Hyacinth sighed. “Lady Ashala, I have told you that he has proven himself at least useful, and his care is genuine. Either way, the Seal is broken and it is he who knows the Seal best.”
Leonith stayed quiet, unsure how to approach this. After all, Orionith had been street born and its clear that Leonith had been of common birth. Silon and Hyacinth have some form of status and Keith came from such a small village that the only person of note is the Jarl, so he can’t help.
Unconvinced, she glared at Hyacinth. “The only reason I have not turned you away is from the pleading of Hyacinth, and Silon who had invoked the name of the Accords.”
“And it is because of the urgency that we plead, Lady Ashala. There has been a rise in demonic activity, Ebsun will not remain free for long.” Hyacinth snapped, his fin-like ears flaring out. “Already Trinity has been scorched to ashes, and Seipodon was struck by a demon-born curse. Ebsun has been plagued by drought, does this not cause suspicion?”
Her tail flicked and she looked away, into the direction of Ebsun.
“… Very well, I will not claim that Ebsun is completely free as she should be. I have hunted these demons of drought. Yet again and again they arrive, tireless and strong as ever. Our forces are tired. If you can help, then I shall acknowledge your sincerity.”
They brought her to their current rest area and she brought them to her boat. The Iteru river flowed from Ebsun to the Coral Sea, providing the fresh water that Seipodon sits upon for its famous halocline. However the village they stopped at wasn’t near Iteru but instead a sole oasis close to Ebsun, so they traded via caravan and camel rather than boat.
“This will lessen travel time, and the boat is large enough to fit us all.” Leonith hummed as Ashala settled the boat.
It held cabins at both ends. The wood is a rich deep brown and the hull is painted gold. The ship has golden paint on the sides above the water, revealing a beautiful geometric pattern.
After that was a tense silence as they loaded onto the boat. Keith glanced at the side of the boat, his eyes already cataloging the Khemetic Seal script carved into the side of the boat. At this distance, he can’t examine it fully but he can tell it’s there to ensure the boat moves.
Useful.
“We’ll arrive in Ebsun when the sun sets, rest up.” Ashala explained, refusing to even look at them.
They did as told and Keith drifted off into peaceful sleep.
“Lady Tiamat is pleased.” Shiki said, returning from his report.
Trinity was currently being set up as a base camp, the circle brought about most of the wardings, as well as the tents and so on needed for such a camp, however there were the perishable items that needed to be tended to. Ren made a face as his nose caught the scent of blood. The perishable items were indeed the food needed to feed their army of demons, especially as some of them required specific diets.
Ren hummed, “I see.”
Shiki was always a bit sensitive whenever he would criticize or speak out against Tiamat, so he stuck to neutral answers.
The false cat’s two tails swayed back and forth as he handed him lunch.
“You did not eat the food I set for you, is it not to your taste?”
Said food was a bowl of ramen, and while normally Ren would be happy to enjoy some ramen, the stench of fresh blood and the knowledge of where some food had come from, doured his mood. It doesn’t help that Tiamat had taken to playing with his wings, a sensation he still feels even if his back aches in longing. So here he was, gazing out at the camp and letting his ramen cool.
“Tell me, what does Tiamat order next?” He said instead, sipping the broth to keep Shiki from shoving the food down his throat again.
Yes, again. The last time he was like this Shiki had all but grabbed his face and nearly waterboarded him with a bowl of congee. The daft fake cat had zero sense of how to be gentle with anything but his little undead minions.
Shiki’s ear flicked at the lack of title for Tiamat’s name but let it slide. He had long since given up on gaining any respectful word of her out of his mouth. Instead, his blue and yellow eyes pierced him with a flat gaze.
“General Wesley and General Khez are targeting parts of the Abramic and Khemetic Territories. General Khez is plaguing the land with droughts while General Wesley had recently flooded Iteru’s waters with iron.” Shiki started, “General Morgan is intent on piercing the Fog defenses of Avalon.”
“And what does this have to do with our role?”
“Lady Tiamat has tasked us into putting your strategic mind to use.” Shiki said, looking at the camp. “Despite your stripped title, your mind is sharp and useful. She wants you as my tactician.”
Ren placed down the bowl of ramen with a loud thud. Taking a deep breath, he looked at Shiki with a scowl.
“Are you serious?!”
Shiki scoffed and looked at him askance. “This is no jest. Now, as my tactician, what course of action shall we take? Tiamat said that she wishes to strangle the economy and take the land as hers.”
Ren huffed and looked down to see Shiki had already set down a map.
“Then, here, if Mogran wants Avalon he won’t handle attacking it without a nearby camp to provide aid. Assuming he’ll attack from the south due to Atlantis’ position, we can do so from the north of Avalon.” His hand landed on a separate island, where the sun directly rises from. “Here. We take this and attack from here.”
Underneath his finger, was the island of Albion.
And just like that it seems he has damned one more land to ruin.
Thank you all so much for your patience! This one took a while because I apparently had my exams all within the month. Good news, I worked hard enough to maintain my scholarship, and now I’m on vacation! My family’s been dragging me to everywhere so my writing process was slow but it is done! I’ll now do my best to deliver to next chapter as soon as possible! Another reason this took a while is because I’m a stubborn fool who of course had to make the overarching plot that of stopping world domination which also meant I have to actually think. Anyway, thank you for the patience, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and have a great one!
Ren sure is pretty damn cool. “ Do this, that way and then this way. Perfect now we got another country ruined” 😭 Poor him. I really hope his smart brain works in a way where he can make plans which look like a success but are bound to fail. 😔