Chapter 493: For The Days To Come (1/2)

Chapter 493: For The Days To Coh up on the curving road that ran around the outer wall of Vildorial’s prihway connected the lowest levels, fro tunnels branched out, all the way to Lodenhold palace at the top of the cavern Dozens of roads and hundreds of ho the path The palace was atout of the bare rock, while three large portal frahway not far in front ofI had ever seen in Alacrya, but I knew they’d been developed by Scythe Nico during the final days of Agrona’s reign Based on the teleportation gates of the ancient es, these portals could create a stable connection fro to an existing portal or tempus warp receiver

It was alrona’s final assault on Dicathen would now be used by the Dicathiens to send our people horoup of Alacryans stood aroundCylrit, Uriel Frost, and Corbett The once-powerful e in their sis of their old stations

Behind us, barring the way to the palace, was a small army of dwarves They wore heavy armor and their weapons were drawn The dwarven lords stood behind the with Lance Mica Earthborn and two elves These two stood out a the dwarves just as e there Or rather, the face I had known as Cecilia’s I found e height, perhaps a bit shorter than own, but a laurel of blue flooven into her ray hair elevated her look to that of a princess Which she was, I had to remind myself She remained silent as Commander Virion spoke with Lords Earthborn and Silvershale, her gaze drifting thoughtfully around the cavern

What was the reunion between her and Arthur like? I wondered despite s toward hi ro his heart out to this silver-haired beauty…

I put the elf out of my hts Although I regretted the way things had gone, petty jealousy was beneath me Arthur was my friend, but even that was a difficult relationshi+p to maintain with someone in his position I didn’t envy anyone who atteh I did wish theIn front of us, arranged in rows behind the portals, were approximately thirty exoforms and their pilots The bestial machines were supposedly there to ensure our peaceful teleportation to Alacrya, but, alongside the army of dwarven soldiers, they seemed more like a threat than a promise of protection

There was no part of me that blamed the Dicathians for this We’d attacked theiven us a hoain to save ourselves froic If this had happened in Alacrya, the offending bloods would have been wiped out utterly, lad for the Dicathians’ mercy, I could hardly believe they were capable of it A sed the that it could be taken as a weakness

That wasn’t the part of hts to linger in the dark corners of has eate and side road was blocked off by dwarven guards The way near the bottom, below the lowest of the newly constructed prisons, was barred as well A crowd had gathered there, and even from the top of the cavern, I could hear their shouts Not the words, specifically, but the deep ru in celebration

Three figures watched everything fro black battledress, and herher aura but not hiding it There was an intentionality and protectiveness to the act, like a s The tendrils of her power seemed to extend out to wrap around all of the Alacryans still locked up in the dwarven prisons

Beside her on her left, Lance Bairon Wykes glea crimson spear was held comfortably in his left hand, its point down Outwardly, he seey to his nature that felt tense and nervous

Arthur floated to Seris’s right He was in his conjured relic ared since I last saw hiauntlets, greaves, and boots The heavy plating had an organic look to it, as if it had been carved out of bone Even froolden

He looks the part of an asura, I thought, having heard the ruhout Vildorial It wasn’t difficult to iilded table atop soh tower in the faraway land of deities At the very least, he stands out just as aze flicked to the elven princess and away again, wondering what she thought of all that

I’ about theht of esture Many seconds dragged past, then Alacryans began to stream from the lowest prison It took thehway As they walked, they shuffled into three distinct coluned with one of the portal frames

The portals were activated one at a ties under the watchful eye of Gideon Each portal huy rippled into being within the frames

“This is not ant!” Soh the cavern like falling stones

Distracted from the procession, I searched around for the source of the cry At the mouth of the closest side street, which descended to the first row of dwarven homes beneath the level of the palace—the sa onto—a couple dozen dwarves had gathered They pushed angrily against the line of guards blocking access to the highway, and it looked like a few even carried weapons

“Justice for the fallen!” a red-faced dwarven“Liars! Betrayers!”

“Justice! Justice!” Severalthe word up as a kind of chant

Corbett shuffled nervously next tothose people up?”

“It isn’t their way, to govern with an iron fist,” I pointed out distractedly

The lines of Alacryans reached a level with the screah, I realized that all of the side streets that I could see were likewise thronging with protesters The dwarven guards at the very botto pushed back, forced to slowly follow the lines of Alacryans as an angry crowd drove thehway, apparently going to reinforce them

“Vritra, there are hundreds of the the front lines of the Alacryans, I caught sight of Justus Denoir, Corbett’s uncle, and my pulse quickened When I’d last seen hi to kill Corbett and Lenora He had killed Taegan,the altercation as well

I understood the dwarves’ anger They were not the only ones who had suffered and been betrayed But then, was Melitta’s rage any less justified? Her husband, her children, had been slaughtered in retribution for our defiance No, her rage was justified…but it was also misplaced Justus and his faction of the Denoir blood had bla us into this folly when they should have blan who had butchered sweet little Arlo and Cole would be endless Every reaction, every death in the name of “justice,” would only spawn another in response In the end, though, the true originator of these crione It didn’t feel like justice, but it was as close as any of us would ever get

I knew, though, that the protestors couldn’t see it that way I had lived my entire life in the shadow of the Vritra, but these Dicathians saw us as the aggressors, the backstabbers To the but that: a shadow, distant and indistinct

I kneould take a strong leader to bring the two sides together

Glancing up at Seris, I considered what caround

Two of the exofor, burning orange weapons were drawn, and swift blows fell against the leftmost portal frame

The fra stone and shearing metal The opaque surface inside it tore andthe other once-highbloods, not quite believing my eyes

At nearly the same time, explosions of stone and fire struck the cordons, and suddenly spells were raining down on the unarmed Alacryan lines A few shi+elds flickered into existence to defend thees were still too weak to use rona’s defeat

“How dare they!” Uriel shouted, and his voice snappedI lunged to follow, heedless of Corbett yelling behindtheir blade around toward the second portal There was a purple flash, and the blade halted as Arthur caught it on his own “Stand down,” he ordered, his voice vibrating with command

Well ahead of me, Cylrit struck the hand from the second exofor into the stone at its feet The machine stumbled back a step

The rest of the exoforive theriffon leapt high into the air only to dive atop the back of the first exofor in at Arthur’s feet “Positions, damn you!” Claire Bladeheart’s distorted voice boomed

Behind them, further down the road, a blackthe spellfire before it could reach the Alacryans Beneath the cloud, many bodies lay still Several flashes lit up the cavern, and the sharp crack of thunder in the distance cut across all other noise

As I sprinted through the lines of shocked exoform pilots, the silver spikes released from my relic bracer and flew into the air ahead ofa protective barrier around those Alacryans leading the way

Behind an to e of the highway, using their bodies or shi+elds to fend off hurled spells and weapons

Violet lightning struck group after group, and pulses of what I knew to be Arthur’s aetheric intent drove the dwarves to their feet

My orbitals followed along with the Alacryans, covering them from spells or projectiles that the mists couldn’t, until they reached the portals The process was supposed to be regulated by Gideon and his staff, not letting too h at once, but they’d all fallen back after the first attack There was also supposed to be a test, with predeter to ensure the connection was stable and the teleportation didn’t go awry Now, there was no tiht at the front—plunged into the portals without a second’s hesitation

This was not how I’d iined our return to Alacrya, nor the role I would take on in this neorld now that the as over

Over? The word echoed bitterly in ht out Seris or Arthur, the two touchstones of strength and sanity amidst the chaos What could these people have hoped to accoreat powers? I couldn’t see Arthur or Seris, but nothrown by the protestors The brief conflict had already been quelled

The dwarven lines that had guarded the palace and their lords were in disarray, I noticed belatedly Soround, most had their weapons drawn Corbett, Uriel, and a couple of the others atching the dwarves with distaste

Seeing no more need for my protective barrier, I released it and started back toward the others Gideon’s voice was echoing through so order and calm or “you’re all likely to end up in Alacrya in pieces, damn it” I didn’t think the words had quite the effect he was looking for as a cry went down the lines of Alacryans

“Peace,” I said to no one in particular “Peace, friends The threat is gone”

I passed the portals, pausing only aCorbett, who had stayed behind a conjured shi+eld until the violence had passed

“That seems to be settled, then,” Uriel said as I approached, his ar down his bushy blond goatee “It seems to me this attack could have been ended sooner had our defenders acted arded hi Dicathian lives to defend Alacryans is the obvious choice here We are lucky this wasn’tto see how many bodies had been left behind in the wake of the attack, but a hundred orand shoving to be the next through “No, our people don’t need Dicathian protection They need Alacryan leadershi+p”

“Well said, Caera” Corbett patted my back just once, a soft, supportive touch