Misty jumped slightly as Lyn inhaled deeply and sat up. She looked around before her eyes landed on Misty, and the disc atop the table. Where's the mana core? Misty thought as she darted her eyes around. It's not here! She turned back to Lyn with horror, "She's gone..."
Lyn stood up, "I am Lyn. Just like I am Raevan and Yheron. I am the Destroyer. This world will bow to me, and I will make it the best place I can for every person." She pushed the chair in and gave Misty a firm nod. "You can help me and be rewarded, or you can stay here and be alone."
Alone...the word echoed through Misty's mind. She had gained functional immortality since Thomas had recovered the spell for transferring a mana core to a new body. She also had a different form of immortality, by stopping her body's aging by simply halting certain functions. She would live forever if she so chose. But what is life without other people? Just solitude in a lonely tower? There was nowhere for her craft to go. No higher levels she could attain. The thought of being alone...forever...
Safe space safe space safe space, she thought as she got up and ran to the closet nearby, slamming the door behind her. She huddled on the ground in the fetal position, holding her head with her hands, repeating her mantra. Safe space safe space.
There were footsteps outside of the door. "I know it's not what you wanted to hear," Lyn's muffled voice said. "I still want to be your friend. But I have a goal. I have to free the heroes trapped inside of their mana cores. Then, I'll unite this whole world under a single banner...I want you to help me. Please...just think it over." There were footsteps that left before returning once more, "I will always value your friendship," Lyn's voice said through the door once more. "I love you like a sister, and I'm sorry I can't give you what you want...you have the inscribed emblem, so feel free to reach out. You'll always have a home with me...I have to go."
Misty heard the footsteps recede, and then the loud grinding of the statue re-engaging into the closed position. Lyn's not there anymore. Just this new Lyn. Misty nodded to herself as the welcoming darkness pushed in around her. Safe space safe space no one can hurt you in your safe space.
"Tevol! Give that to your brother. It's his turn," Maria shouted.
The older of the two twins begrudgingly gave the 'battle standard' – a pole with a cloth tied on it the kids had painted – to Tovol. The younger of the twins ran off to join his 'side', hiding in the bushes with Felej and Gerod – Zebed's children who he left in James' care to foster diplomatic relationships.
Maria smiled as she leaned back in the chair under the awning at the center of the inner courtyard. She had never imagined that she would be in this situation.
She was a child of the streets; her mother was a cutpurse, and she never knew her father. By all rights, she should have died on the streets years ago. But when she was fifteen, begging on the streets for food, the most unlikely of people spotted her and reached a hand out to help her up. A man dressed in resplendent white armor with gold and blue inlay – the Paragon hero.
He was on a tour of the city, having recently arrived from his world. She was sitting in the gutter, holding her sign up...and he stopped the whole tour, got out of the carriage that was conveying him and several of the summoned heroes. "No lady should be in the gutter," he had said as he offered his hand.
There was tumult among the various nobles that the Paragon was touching a filthy beggar, but the Paragon silenced them with a single look. His soft, gentle eyes told Maria that she would be safe with him. "Thank you," she had said.
He had turned to one of the advisors and arranged housing for Maria. It was a small room in a house, but it was better than the streets. And he visited her consistently when he was in Kor's Hold. She taught him about the customs of Ghomar and Khrelardia, and he in turn regaled her with stories of his adventures. She swooned for and was smitten with the man who had saved her.
And when the Demonic Dragon was slain, James returned and proposed. He bought them a house in the market district, and she had no want for anything in life. He was the perfect man in her eyes. Sure, he had the occasional mental break from the horrible acts he witnessed, but Maria understood entirely. She, too, had nightmares of her childhood on the streets.
"Ah, Queen Maria," a familiar voice said next to her. Zebed sat down in the chair nearby.
"You return!" Maria said as she was pulled out of her reverie. "How was your trip?"
"Fruitful, very, very fruitful." Zebed poured himself a cup from the nearby pitcher. "I will be staying until James returns, as I have much to discuss with him." He chuckled and gestured to the courtyard, "The boys seem to be getting along famously."
Maria nodded, "My boys and your boys are becoming quite fast friends."
"Imagine," Zebed muttered, "If one of us had a daughter instead. We could bring the Free City even closer to Khrelardia."
"I'm not one for politics," Maria replied. "I don't know enough about it to meddle in that type of thing."
"You'll have to eventually," Zebed said as he looked at her. "A Queen is, by nature, meddling in politics."
Maria shook her head, "I wouldn't even know where to begin."
Zebed nodded and leaned back in the chair as he sipped his wine, "Well, you're already doing it. You have your children making connections with my children. Politics is not just about manipulating people, you know. It has an equal reliance on relationships." He gave her a sidelong glance, "You are good with people because you have a pleasant demeanor."
"Oh, I don't know about that," Maria replied as she fiddled with the fold of her dress. "Thank you for the compliment."
"You are welcome." Zebed drained his glass and stood up, "Let me ask one thing, if I may be so bold."
Maria looked up at him, "Yes?"
"Do you desire war?"
Maria blinked a few times. "Wha-"
"It is a plain question," Zebed said as he crossed his arms and stared out at the boys playing in the courtyard. "Do you desire war?"
"No! Of course not!" Maria said as she stood up, feeling some measure of displeasure at the insinuation that she desired conflict. "War is horrible!"
"I agree." Zebed looked at her with a soft smile, "I meant no offense. The reason I ask is that your husband appears to be on that course. Valagonia has almost finished bringing their duchies to heel. Once that is done, then we will see war preparations begin in earnest. His current deal with Princess Cecily will shatter, and war will come to Khrelardia."
Maria felt her heart racing as the thought of Kor's Hold being attacked, and her family being hurt flashed through her mind. "How do we stop it?"
"There's one way I can see," Zebed said. "James has to come to terms with Lyn Rivers, the Destroyer."
Maria gasped and covered her mouth, "That...no, he won't do that. He's convinced she is evil."
Zebed sighed, "I met the woman. She has a very comprehensive council and promises to be a very profitable trade partner." He turned to face Maria fully. "I need you to try and convince James to give allegiance a chance." His eyes were filled with a mix of emotions, but Maria read one specific emotion in particular – fear. An awe-inspired type of terror.
"Is she really that powerful?"
Lyn craned her head back and saw the length of her body. "Holy shit," she said; but the voice that came out was not her own, it was that of the Demonic Dragon. She flexed her muscles and felt her body respond as she did so. How do I fly? Almost as if reading her desire, her body began to move on its own – as if she was piloting a vehicle and just at the controls. She could feel the wings rotating in their sockets as they began to flap downward, generating upward thrust.
She coiled her legs under her and leapt up as her wings continued to flap, and she ascended into the skies about a hundred feet before she glided in lazy circles to land. She felt her claws digging into the dirt under her. "How big am I?" she asked.
Thomas switched to Arinol, "A hundred feet from snout to tail tip, with a one hundred fifty-foot wingspan. Height wise, from ground to haunch, about thirty feet tall."
Vael raised her head, "You're...amazing."
Lyn chuckled, "Thank you for the compliment." She marveled at this new form; the black scales accentuated with neon-blue highlights in between the gaps. She had spines along her back that were a deeper, ocean blue in color, and a large blade on the end of her tail. "Well? Want to ride?" She lowered herself to the ground.
Thomas was practically buzzing and ran forward, clambering up her foreleg and onto her back. The twins looked at each other before standing. "Thank you, my lady," Gael said as he, too, clambered atop Lyn's form. Vael followed suit, and after all three had secured themselves to her spines with rope, she stood up and spread her wings wide.
"Let's have some fun!" She ran to the edge of the cliff and leaped over it, arcing down as she tucked her wings in. The screams of fear or excitement from behind her drove her on, and as she approached the beach and crashing waves, she pulled out of the dive and into a glide, flapping occasionally to slowly gain altitude.
"This is what I've dreamed of!" Thomas yelled out.
Lyn craned her head back and saw the slight trace of tears upon his face. "Happy to make your dream come true."
Cecily grinned as her commanders gave the most recent report. Perfect, she thought. Rist is now under control. The last piece of the puzzle, every duchy was now fully under her control. Either ruled by someone that she had thralled, or who owed their new position to her. "And on that note," she said as the report concluded, "I want us to move forward with war preparations."
One of her commanders nodded, "We have begun, your grace."
"And that's why you're one of my favorites," Cecily replied. "How is the development of our fleet?" she asked as she turned to her admirals.
One of the older women stood up, "We have one-hundred ships that are outfitted for war, your grace. They are slower than those of the Free City of Bashinol and Khrelardia, but thanks to your ingenious suggestions, their weaponry and armor vastly out-scale them. We are having issues with boarders in training runs, as the sailors are not skilled at hand-to-hand combat."
Cecily sighed and looked at one of her commanders, "Very well, then we must send some of the training sergeants to drill the sailors. I expect you to have a trained navy and marine corps before the year's end."
"Your will be done," the commanders replied in almost perfect synchronization.
Cecily looked to her Chancellor, "And what of our diplomatic negotiations with Trisk?"
"Your grace..." The older man sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Our diplomats were rejected and escorted from Skir's Retreat."
Cecily stood up and slammed her hands on the table, "He dares?!" She shouted at the man. "That fucking little pissant dares to risk affront to me?"
"Y-y-your grace," the man stuttered out of fear. "I-I-I believe t-that they are...neg-negotiating with others."
"Don't you fucking tell me that Khrelardia is making alliance!"
"N-no, your grace. An...unknown party."
Cecily stared at the man with a merciless gaze filled with ire. "And we don't have any clue who this party is?"
Her Spymaster stood up, "I have been led to believe that it is this Lady Rivers, your grace."
This bullshit again. "The same bitch who supposedly saved the Ari?"
"Yes, your grace."
There was a knock on the council chamber door, and one of the chamberlains went over and opened it before standing aside, "Your highness, Vinic Lancet sends missive."
A messenger entered the room, bowed deeply as he knelt, and held up a rolled-up piece of parchment with a wax seal. "Princess Cecily, I come from Knight Lancet with a report on the actions in the duchy of Ishtok."
Cecily grabbed the parchment and handed it to her servant. The servant walked off a few feet and gingerly opened the parchment all the way before returning and handing it to her. A precaution in case it was trapped in some way. Cecily read through the document and slammed it down. "Fuck!" She screamed as she swept the cups and wine bottle onto the floor, the glass smashing.
Her Spymaster reached over and picked up the document, reading it aloud for the rest of the council as Cecily fumed silently in her chair. "Vinic Lancet reports several items. One, the mountains surrounding the Valley of the Volcano have been transformed into walls, sheer cliff faces. Two, there is a fortress at the place where The Rill spills out from. Three, an enormous fortification has been erected along the whole of The Rill, on the opposite side of Valagonia's territory – but it is not patrolled or manned. He was unable to do as you wished, as the Ari have seemingly fled the Arin Isle and sailed upriver, vanishing into that fortress." She put the scroll down, "And a woman, the same who took his hand, Lyn Rivers – this Destroyer – routed the army with a display of spellcraft that defied all logic. She sundered the land to prevent assault on that fort. Almost all of the men were lost."
The rest of the council spoke in hushed tones amongst themselves. But one of Cecily's commanders stood up, "My Lady! We must act at once!"
Cecily looked up from her brooding state, "Oh? And what do you suggest?"
"An alliance, your grace! We should send a messenger and ask for terms!"
"You idiot," Cecily stated bluntly as she stared the man down. "She has aligned with the Ari. We will not work alongside the enemy." She sat up straighter in her chair, "In fact, words like that make you sound like a sympathizer with the non-Humans..." she let the implied threat linger in the air.
The man sat down immediately, "Forgive me, your grace. How can we hope to fight someone who can change the land itself?"
Cecily smirked and leaned back, "We don't. This report," she grabbed it from the Spymaster and crumpled it in her fist, "Is a hoax, nothing more. No one has the power to terraform an entire mountain. It is simply a large group of Ari who are working in concerted spellcraft, combining their power on inscriptions." She stood up and snapped her fingers as servants swept aside the clattered glass and pushed in her chair. "It is of no concern to us. Just leave them inside their little Valley."
She walked out of the council chamber and headed down the hallway. It won't matter, she thought. I have enough mana to terraform as well. If it comes down to it...I will go to the battlefield myself and put this...fraudulent Lyn in the dirt where she belongs. She snapped her fingers, and a servant ran up to her. "Fetch the captain of the guard and the keeper of law; I need to make some changes." I am so close. Just a bit more mana...and then Valagonia will be mine forever.