Chapter 457 (1/2)
Chapter 457
ARTHUR LEYWIN
I watched the Wraiths fall, detached, the spells that had been protecting theround A finewhere they each had died like incorporeal gravestones As the red ers intoitch in my core a reminder of my failures even as I should have felt the flush of victory
Behind round, while Charon was still chasing the other three Wraiths north
‘Should we go after him?’ Sylvie projected, her voice uncertain in ht, careful to keep is, I added, What’s the Sovereign’s status?
‘pissy,’ Regis sent back, along with aup frohly, her claws sinking into the soft soil of the lowland valley I leapt off her back, hitting the ground with a wet squelching, and started ons
‘Arthur…’ Sylvie thought in warning
“Which of you is the leader here?” I asked, though my eyes searched Windsoons
The large black dragon had transfor his humanoid form, which was tall and broad-chested with dark, battle-reen traces of discoloration around his eyes and down his neck
He straightened, bristling at the tone of my question, and took a sure step past Windsom to face me “I am And you must be the lesser who—oof!”
The back of my hand struck the side of his face with a crack like thunder The asura reeled backward, stu Windson of his surprise the slight raising of his brows The fe in disbelief at her captain The black-bearded asura hiainst the side of his face where I’d struck him, his eyes unfocused in my direction
The woman, whose white armor was stained with blood, snapped out of her stupor and took an aggressive step toward rip “How dare you, lesser! My sister has just laid down her life in pursuit of your goals, and you show such disrespect to one of the Matali clan?”
Windsoet yourself” He regardedof this assault, Arthur?”
“I’m all too aware of the circumstances and the decision that needed to beeach word “I knohat needed to be done, what the stakes were But did the thought of saving any of those you were entrusted to protect not cross your mind? As dozens of lessers perished from themore to you than a statistical sacrifice that you deemed profitable?”
“Save the, he flew up into the air, hovering so he could look down atbut the battle Capturing this Vritra, destroying these lessuran wretches, changes the face of the world The deaths of these lessers, for better or worse, changes nothing”
“And how ht be saved by e’ve done here?” the woo find my sister’s remains One of the Matali clan will not be left to rot here”
Windsoons just sacrificed one of their own to hold the Wraiths here long enough for us to arrive It would do well for you to rereater purpose, Arthur”
“I’ my answer to the asuran woman “But your actions today were cold and counter to the ard for human life here today, do you expect the families of the dead will htly as her eyes skated offaway
The black-bearded asura shook his head “You may pretend to be an asura all you wish, Arthur Leywin, but it is clear that you still have the short-sighted view of a lesser”
“Thankfully so,” I answered, feeling soer cool, pushed aside by a bitter uards didn’t bear the full responsibility for what had happened here Only one person could claim that dubious honor, and I would take it up with hih, there were other i my attention
The black-bearded asura flew after his co away through the swampy morasse Sylvie had transfor, but he fell into step at Sylvie’s flank
Not far away, on the edge of a sled by the rockfall froathered a nuht in the crossfire of this conflict They were struggling to collect their wounded and get round to a halt as I approached
Lilia looked like she was at the very threshold of death’s door Her long brown hair was matted with mud and blood, most of her visible skin was covered with lacerations and the start of dark bruises, and—to ht hand I found myself suddenly transported back toher and Elliethat they both awakened and formed a core Lilia had been like a sister to me then, and I owed her ons
And yet, I didn’t go to her
As the eyes of all those present settled on me, I knew my role here wasn’t to offer comfort to her alone, but to address everyone as a Lance of Dicathen
“For those who do not know me, my name is Arthur Leywin,” I started “I’m truly sorry for what you’ve experienced here today, but I also find lad to see so many survivors of this terrible battle”
“General…?”
Looking to ured by the effects of some spell He didn’t look as if he’d survive another ten“It is! You’re the Lance!” He looked around at the others, tired but revitalized “It’s Lance Godspell!”
The spell that my arrival had cast over the other survivors broke, and a few surged toward et them out of there, to save theed e of the e
Sylv, I need you to stay with these people Help them however you can
My bond stepped forward iht that drew all attention to her and silenced the survivors “Peace, friends, please We want to get you all away from here and to emitters Now let’s take stock of everyone’s health Windsoh, we ave me a small, almost imperceptible nod, and I tried to express with my eyes aloneback a few paces as Sylvie and Windsom beca the aetheric pathways back into the cave beneath the rubble
Regis was sitting on his haunches and staring down at the Sovereign “You should have hit that prick with a fistful of aether,” he said, turning to look over his shoulder at ht, I thought back Out loud, I said, “You’ve arrived in Dicathen on a tide of blood, Oludari Dicathian and Alacryan alike I aotiate or barter with you, Vritra, and I’m not yet convinced that the best course of action wouldn’t be to si”
“Perhaps, if you were to release me, we could converse in a more comfortable manner—”
My aetheric intent pressed down on the bound asura like a vice, stealing the breath froht, all right You are just as bloodthirsty and cold as your display at the Victoriad suggested” He breathed a little easier as I eased back on the pressure I was exuding “You’re intelligent enough for a lesser, shouldn’t you have figured all this out by now? Didn’t you yourself see Sovereign Exeges’s re victies,” I said, pulling from what little detail Lyra Dreide had been able to provide “Why would he do that?”
Oludari’s eyes narrowed “Perhaps less intelligent than I’ve been led to believe” He cleared his throat, shooting me a nervous look “For the same reason you slurped up all the mana from retainer Uto’s horn!”
I kneeled next to hi to hide my irritation “Speak plainly, Vritra You don’t seem to understand You are an ene you out of Agrona’s hands is in itself a victory, and I will kill you to do that if you don’t prove your intent”
Scowling up at me, he took a rona seeks the concentration of power He thought to find it in the Relicto the bones of the djinn, but all they had left behind was old baubles and their damnable labyrinth of tedious puzzles He wasn’t left empty handed, however, as he discovered the use of the runes, hich he could build his own nation of es, powered by basilisk blood”
“I already know this,” I said acidly, sensing that the Vritra was dancing around whatever point he was trying to make
“Of course, of course,” he wheedled, his conversational tactics changing by the second as he sought to placate es in this way concentrated their power, , they can’t even betray hi down of our nurona’s lust for individual strength, but now I know for certain: he drained Exeges, took his then hi ever so slightly
I raised a brow and leaned a little closer “Knohat?”
The Vritra rolled onto his back, atte to s “You know, I’ this conversation If I were more comfortable, it would be—”
My hand was around his throat before he could finish the sentence, and I slaainst one of the blood iron spikes that had reinforced this cave Conjuring a sword in ainst his cheek until a drop of blood ran down his pale skin “Last chance, Vritra”
Oludari’s facade of dispassionthe terror beneath When I released him, he collapsed to the floor facedown, his limbs pulled into an unnatural position by the chains
“Hm You would have made a decent Vritra yourself…” he muhtly, and he rocked until he tumbled onto his side “When we left Epheotus, there were hundreds of asura a played with the creatures of your continent as his little experirona’s research even before we broke with the Eight
“Soht from our home and attempted to return Perhaps some were successful Others were hunted down as traitors ManyKezess’s forces when they attacked, and some feere sacrificed within the abattoir you know as the Relicto to breach it with a full-blooded asura
“But even those deaths never really explained our dwindling nureer, the population of Alacrya expanded exponentially Oh, the early days of that experie…” He stopped, a wistful srona was an accepting leader, and ere free to experiment as ished Who had time to wonder why half our population had vanished in the space of a century or then there were such grand mysteries to unravel?” The smile soured, and he shook his head bitterly “The curse of the basilisk ht in front of you when your gaze is always two hundred years into the future”
“And you think he’s been—what?—killing and absorbing his own people since the beginning?” I asked
“Oh, no, not exactly,” Oludari continued, shuffling like a wor special for that”
“The Legacy,” I said without hesitation
“Yes, her” Oludari said it like a curse “The Legacy—a spirit that carries its potential frorowth bound into one being Agrona theorized that such a being could harnessthe bounds of both lesser or asuran ly rare Only one has ever been recorded in the lifetirona needed to bring her here and ensure she would cooperate”