Chapter 489: Nor a Gift (1/2)
Chapter 489: Nor a Gift
“You have asked, and I will answer The power that I wield is Fate itself”
The words, thick with the resonance of the aether that i heavy in the air
The full force of ht of all ’s Gaainst my spine, my mind fractured into dozens of parallel branches in order to process every potential shred of information from the asuras’ responses
Their eyes, all different colors, shone with the reflection of purple and gold light fro above hline of true surprise, but each also was branded with a particular eht across froh his outward expression His lips were slightly parted and his eyes dilated by a fraction There was a stiffness in his shoulders, down his arms, to his left hand, which rested on top of the charwood table This alone spoke to his surprise It was the twitching of the s of his purple eyes that gave away his anger It wasn’t a wrathful anger that was likely to burst the boundaries of his control, but a si er, but because I didn’t fully understand it
To his left, Morwenna of Clan Mapellia, great clan of the ha ether, highlighting the subtle wood-grain pattern of her skin She had pushed herself back fros, hips, and back were tensed as if she were ready to spring to her feet if commanded Every half a second, her eyes twitched to Kezess
Beside Morwenna, the leader of the sylphs, Nephele of the Aerind clan, had sunk down into her chair Heras blowing around her,her hair and the cloud-like cloth of her clothes whip about Her blue-gray eyes had gone lightning-white, and there was sory in them that I couldn’t quite parse
Veruhn, just to ht, was no less surprised than the others, but within his surprise, there was so’s Gambit, I didn’t feel any emotional response to what I saw reflected back at nized what I should have felt Because, through the doddering old uncle act, beneath the feeble exterior he presented, there was a being reater and older and, most of all, fiercer than he allowed anyone to see
In that instant, Veruhn couldn’t hide hies that ran along his head, and there was a purple flush to his cheeks The wrinkles sri’s Force surged, the leviathan hidden beneath the wrinkled old ht descended, bringing with the with them power too terrible to behold And they called themselves deva, and they, in their poere terrible and uniinable They marked the world with their power, and then they left, never to return”
The softly spoken words came frorona aht, he was pale as a ghost, and his hands, clasped before hie charwood table, tre at the basilisk
Rai’s words sent ripples through the roonis, had been watching eted in his seat, but he stiffened as Rai spoke, glancing at the basilisk from the corner of his eye nervously as Kezess ordered silence
On Rai’s other side, Ademir Thyestes crossed his arms and huffed “We should all be embarrassed by the utterance of fables and fairy stories at this table” But, with King’s Gambit active, I could see the truth The hairs on Ade was shallow and troubled He shot a glance out one of the s, and by the way his eyes focused, he seeaze, I could ale far, far in the distance, well beyond the range of sight, surrounded in green and blue grass
Si the response of the asuras, I was attes of light descended, bringing with theic bewith them power too terrible to behold” This is from the perspective of the asura, I have to assume What kind of power could be too terrible even for the asura?
“And they called themselves deva, and they, in their poere terrible and uniinable” I’d never heard the terinable really drivesthisI wasn’t expecting to here
“They marked the world with their power, and then they left, never to return”
This final passage, I didn’t knohat to is to help, but both had been forced to pull their ’s Gambit
Lord Radix of the Grandus clan stood His eyes, which sparkled like the emstones that studded his belt, studied me intently His own surprise had quickly subsided, and unlike the dismay that the others had displayed at Rai’s utterance, Radix was intent, his eyes darting side to side in an indication that he was thinking rapidly as he considered so
The titan took a step closer to ely about hi as an extension of his senses Like he could see and feel through the nature to Wren, I had never experienced this phenoh, Arthur,” Kezess said firht with carefully concealed frustration and, I thought, even a quiver of fear
I held his gaze for several long seconds before releasingthe glowing effect back into ish without the Godrune active, and I had to steady is asked, easing back intoThere is always so’s Ga
‘Look sharp, Arthur,’ Sylvie thought, dragging my attention back to Radix
The titan rested a hand onme sharply back into the ht of it Aether flooded s My shoulder ached, and I realized that Radix wasthe density of his own body to so around behindSylvie to step out of the way, her brows raised in surprise
“Uh…” was all I ard the skin of my back There, I kneould see the false spellforuisethe Alacryans What I didn’t expect was the tingling I felt within the Godrunes theis, I felt Radix’s eyes trace the connection between us before landing on is’s hackles raised defensively, and I could feel Radix’s penetrating senses outlining the shape of the Destruction rune contained inside Regis’s physical form
“I see,” the titan said, his voice an earthquake rumble, and then he returned to his seat
I felt , but before I could ask, Nephele beat me to it
“Well, do share with the rest of us, Rad What’s really going on here?” The sylph was floating above her seat again, her hands on her hips, her entire body rotated at a thirty degree angle
Radix leaned back into his seat, his arhtfully “I’ve seen enough to change ht on the subject of Arthur Leywin’s status as a new race of asura”
This sudden proclauard
“Noait just a moment, we need to—”
“—but what did you see? It would be beneficial for us all to—”
“—blessedly short , and then we can—”
“This is not a decision to be rushed!”
This last was acco down on the charwood table,off the other voices as they spoke over each other The others bristled, even the carefree Nephele, as Ade’s Force was like the edge of a blade pressed against my throat
“Many of us at this table measure our lives in millennia,” he continued, more controlled “In the centuries I have sat across this table froe for immediate resolution” His attention shi+fted to Rai “The decision to naht to replace the Vritra clan took us fifty years, and even that was a short tirona hi on our answer, could very well redefine the nature of our world for the next ten thousand years, we are supposed to vote based on a bare few aze fell to his fist still pressed against the tabletop “If you are set on forcing this vote, Radix, then let nize Arthur Leywin or his clan as er flushed hot throughplainly that he refused to accept the results of any vote at all Regis, standing ataround him, reinforced my eet that the pantheons are a warrior race They es head on And as far as he knows, you are responsible for the deaths of both Taci and Aldir’
‘It is added begrudgingly, surprising et frustrated, I channeled aether into King’s Gahts out to a few si any es
“Those are dangerous words, Lord Thyestes,” Morwenna said, her eyes narrowing A slight flush crept up her neck, again e the subtle patterns in her skin “Express your opinion as you wish, but remember that we have all sworn to uphold the will of the Great Eight, even e disagree with its decisions”
Rai cleared his throat Holding direct eye contact with ed I vote that Arthur be named first of his race, head of his clan, and a member of this council”
“Sure, , having rotated half around so she was nearly upside down “Let’s see what fate has in store for hie Morwenna “Fate? See what I did there?” She giggled happily to herself, apparently oblivious to Morwenna’s icy look in response
“I’ve seen enough,” Radix said in answer to the vote he himself called for “Perhaps, in the most traditional sense of the word, Arthur is not an asura But whatever transition he has undergone has brought hi directly to side the Grandus clan in es in the future But for now, I agree that you should stand a yet Most of my mind was still on Ademir’s words as I considered the potential rah on his threat to refuse the will of the Great Eight I couldn’t bring myself to believe that his hostility hadn’t been accounted for by either Kezess or Veruhn, which ainst him
Ademir shook his head as he stared around the table “Novis? Morwenna? Surely you won’t fall victiree with Lord Indrath andthrone htly taller than any of the others