God Rising: The Cult of Ainz
Written by: AtheistBasementDragon
Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots
Chapter 193: Acts
...Kami Miyako...
"Please! Please not the gag! Oh god! No! It hurts! It hurts! Please stop, sir!" Enlaith shrieked under General Boabdil's eyes. Her look was hard as a shield and thoroughly defensive, and a moment later she made lots of gagging noises as the cloth was lodged in her mouth.
Then silence. She got up, went to the door and listened for movement outside. She then yanked the cloth out of her mouth and threw it onto an ornate wooden table nearby and sat down at it. She gestured to the other seat opposite herself. "There, that little show should put off any questions about why it was so quiet in here after you paid for all that time." She rolled her eyes, "Of course I'll have to have you hit me for real a few times to leave some decent bruises but... it can't be helped."
Boabdil mutely sat across from her as her expression relaxed. "Oh, so... that's what all that sudden shrieking was about. I admit that for a moment, I thought you were crazy."
Enlaith looked decidedly smug as she poured some cheap wine into a pair of cups and put one in front of him. "Crazy like a hungry fox." She said in a voice as smug as the smirking expression.
She took a deep, long drink from the cup, tilting her head back to get every drop as Boabdil drank his more slowly, setting it down several times as she finished two more. "I wouldn't sip that garbage, General." Enlaith advised, "It's not the good stuff, there's no good stuff left, and that won't sit well for long."
"I've had worse in the field." Boabdil remarked in passing as she slammed her cup down again. She went quiet for a moment, then shrieked out, "No please! That's not where that goes!"
She laughed very quietly as he turned a deep red. "Someone passing by in the hall." She tapped her ears, "These are pretty good, you know."
Boabdil shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Ah, yes, well... back to the reason I came here. I'm taking control over this 'resistance' you have going. The information networks, peace advocates, everything. Raymond informed me of your activities, but the time where those were helpful is passing. We have to consolidate, and start retracting inward."
Enlaith's eyes narrowed dangerously, "Tell me... human, how do I know this isn't some trick to get all of us together so we can be slaughtered all at once. Dominic's Agante didn't get many after he had his daughter and her mother killed, but there weren't that many to get in the first place."
"You are not what I was expecting." Boabdil said as he reappraised the slender elf prostitute, deflecting her briefly.
"Oh? What 'were' you expecting? Some waifish, half starved elf trembling in the corner?" Enlaith asked with an edge to her voice as she poured another drink for herself.
"Well, something like that?" He half asked and half admitted.
Enlaith gave a low, harsh laugh before throwing back another drink. "You wouldn't be wrong for a lot of us. But every person is different. Some of the women I knew, the ones who were first sold with me, killed themselves after some time in captivity in places like this one. Some broke and became shells of who they were, like dolls, they didn't and don't feel anything at all. Some became meek and fearful. Some flung themselves into their work to make the best of things, seeking any small happiness they could. Others... like me? Well, some of us got harder. I look for ways to 'get even' and take my revenge where I can. Killing a human here and there when I can get away with it. I do what I have to in order to survive, but I don't forget who my enemies are, not even when I kiss them as if I loved them, did I forget the urge to bite off their tongues, or anything else when I could."
"You'd have made an amazing soldier." Boabdil remarked with a respectful look as he sat up straight and stared at her, unable to blink but forced to suppress the wince at what she implied.
"Thanks, I suppose. But would you answer my question?" She asked him impatiently.
"Fine, the simple answer is that you don't, but you've heard enough rumors at least to know things are coming to a head, and you've got two choices. You can have your network scattered around everywhere when the Sorcerer King's generals break down the walls and fill the streets with more soldiers than this city has people, or, you can get them all together somewhere so that when Neia orders her soldiers to kill everything in their way, she knows where to tell them to stop. Now will you work with me, or not?" Boabdil asked bluntly.
"You're a human... but... so is Raymond, and so... mostly, was that crazy bitch from last time. Fine, I'll get the word out, have the soldiers who came with you go to these locations, I'll get the word put out to meet up with them they'll then smuggle people out of homes without being noticed. But there are two things you'll need to do." Enlaith said as she snatched a piece of paper and began to scribble down a series of locations scattered around the city.
"What's that?" Boabdil asked dubiously as she slid the paper over to him and he looked it over.
"First, beg for some food. The Sorcerer King's agents can probably do so directly, you want to save people, you need to keep them in one place. Second, you'll need to talk the Pope into sparing human lives. She's not much for mercy when it comes to the Theocracy, and when she finds out what has been happening here? She might just lose it. Raymond has told me stories sometimes, about what he's seen, heard, and so on. About this city and about what has happened outside of it. Personally, I don't care if any humans live or not, not anymore. But..." She paused with a little frown when trying to pour another cup and found only a few drops fell from the lip of the little jug. "Damn." She said, and threw it hard against the door. It shattered, "Please! Please don't cut me!" She shrieked, and felt a twisted satisfaction as he looked down at the floor, unable to meet her eyes.
She then went back to the matter at hand, "As I was saying, 'but'... I understand there are some lives Raymond thinks are worth saving, and given how hard he's worked, I'll give him this one. He met with her once, he may be able to arrange it again. If that fails, you may be able to intercede with the Sorcerer King, but realistically speaking? I've never met him, but he's not long on mercy towards those who cross him, from what I hear. And wiping this city out might be the perfect way to say to the world that this country no longer exists."
"I see. That is... good advice." Boabdil remarked, then he snatched up the cup of cheap wine, threw back his head, and downed what was left of it.
"Yes, it is, but there is one more thing I want, and I want it now." Enlaith remarked.
"Which is?" He asked reluctantly as he threw the cup against the door, shattering upon impact.
Enlaith pursed her lips for a moment and then said, "I want you to kill me. No, not really, this little show has people out there thinking you've brutalized me, I'd planned on just having you hit me and cut me a few times just to make it realistic, but given all that you've just said, I think it's time for me to get out of here."
"Is that really necessary?" Boabdil asked distastefully, he made a sour expression that was further exacerbated by his beard as the tensing of his cheeks raised the hairs over them when he heard her request.
"Absolutely. Hit me in a few places, cut me up a bit, then smear the blood on my throat, oh and put some of it around your mouth. Then ring the bell, tell them you tenderized the meat a bit too much. They'd normally dispose of me themselves, but... tell them you'll handle it yourself, you have a use for my remains. They may charge you a little extra, maybe by the pound. But... they won't think anything of it otherwise." She said with an unnatural kind of calm as she described what she wanted him to do.
"Are you serious? He asked, aghast as he leaned back from her in his chair.
She shot to her feet and flipped the table over between them, it crashed and broke, and she shrieked out a banshee like wail once more that died in a whimper. She was breathing hard and stared at him as if he were an idiot, an idiot she despised. She then spoke in a low, savage voice that was barely a whisper as he shot to his own feet, for a moment thinking she would attack, but save for the heavy rise and fall of her breasts as she took one rapid breath after another, and the movement of her lips, she didn't move from where she stood.
"I've heard that scream many times since I first walked through doors like these. When a human went too far, by accident or by intent. I see it on your face, you know what it is, it's a death scream. You probably heard it on battlefields. I heard through the thin walls of bedrooms." She kicked the leg of the table she'd flipped over, breaking off a long stretch of it, she hefted it once, then tossed it to him. She then picked up a smaller piece, and was about to put it into her mouth, though she hesitated just one more moment to add, "Death has always been the only escape from your country for my people. So faking my death is the only way to hide until someone brings death to your walls. Come on, human. Give an elf whore a good beating." She hissed at him, and moved the side of her dress aside and pointed to her thigh before putting the piece of wood into her mouth and biting down.
Boabdil looked at the broken table leg in his hand, and at the expectant expression of the resolute woman. Her hateful eyes went vulnerable for just a moment, and she nodded encouragingly as she clenched her jaw tight enough to dig her teeth deep into the wood, then with a grim resolve not so different from her own, he lifted the improvised club, and brought it down on her flesh.
A few hours later, a carriage pulled up outside, and a pale faced General carried the bruised and battered 'body' of an elf female outside, hanging limply over his shoulder until he rudely tossed her in the seat, quietly aware of the looks his blood stained beard drew as he got in and pulled away.
...Outside of Crossroads...
Ithari brushed back his dark hair and took a long, deep breath of cold air. He scooped up a bit of snow and put it into his mouth so that even steam would not give away his position. Behind him were some bumbling idiots, but it was 'because' they were bumbling idiots. A dozen of them crouched where he told them, wrapped in the warmest clothing they could gather, these priests, priestesses, and a few followers of the gods, prepared their positions the way he instructed them to.
"H-How long now?" One of them asked through chattering teeth as the sun began to dip low on the horizon.
"Hours, I suppose." Ithari replied dismissively. "Quit asking stupid questions. It doesn't matter how long because we're not leaving till it happens. You're lucky to even get this chance."
"N-No, it isn't luck. The gods willed that you capture Enri's messenger to Heikeren offering a meeting. The gods willed that Kar capture his warning to her and reveal the betrayal. It was the gods, not your efforts, that made it possible to let you walk them into meeting where you could kill them both." A moderately well built young priest with a fanatical gleam in his dark eyes, admonished him.
Ithari wondered if Kar was grumbling from the other position with his own band of idiots. "Fine, luck, the gods, I don't care what it is, what matters is that we were able to get her message to him, and keep his warning from her, and prepare this place for them to die. We've done all we can, now all we can do is wait. Wait, stay hidden, and stay silent. Now here, take some of this and rub it on yourselves." He said and took out a bottle. He splashed a little over his head, and handed it to the next person, before patting the place down with the hood of his cloak.
The one he handed it took, took a whiff and recoiled, his lips scrunched up and his eyes shut tight as if he didn't even want to look in the direction of the stench. "What is this? It stinks enough to call the gods back from heaven!" he exclaimed.
"Animal piss. A mix of it, some dog, some deer, and so on. From what we know of the cunt's guard, she's a werebeast, a werewolf, to be precise. They have an extraordinary sense of smell, why do you think we are downwind?. She'd know if people were here before them, so we have to hide from her nose, animal piss wouldn't be uncommon. Stay out of sight, make no noise, hide our smells, and we can catch even that bitch off guard. Now quit asking questions like the answers will change my orders and put it on, or I will put you down." Ithari growled the threat through gritted teeth.
One by one they obeyed, and as the light faded and surrendered to the darkness, the pair of Agante prepared themselves for death. 'I doubt I'll live through this, but I will see that bitch burn to ashes, and perhaps her death, even if it doesn't result in the fall of the North, will forever put doubt into the undead's followers. After all, if even his first loyal follower is allowed to die in agony, how divine can they think him to be?' He took another mouthful of snow, and watched the twinkling stars overhead through the breaks in the many trees. The clearing was sizable, a good twenty yards in every direction, good enough for a small meeting to take place covertly. The thick trees made the darkness even greater with shadows overlapping shadows.
After a time, doubt gnawed at Ithari's gut. 'When will they get here? These few vengeful ones can't hold out forever against these conditions, if only I still had the rest of my team... but these will do, with... a little help.' He told himself again and again.
A sound hit his ears, voices, low, human, and coming from the south. 'Heikeren. Fuck knows why he turned on us, but if the gods favor, maybe I can ask him before I shove his own balls into his mouth and cut his throat.' Ithari thought with barely suppressed rage. He glanced into the low trenches, just a few inches deep, into which his 'new team' had concealed themselves. They were obeying his orders to only look at the ground.
He closed his eyes and listened.
"Yes, I'm sure she'll listen to us." Heikeren said calmly to one of his aides. "She's not a monster, she wants this over with as many people alive as possible, same as us."
'Four guards... that's good.' Ithari thought as he felt the light hit his eyelids 'With torches, even better.'
As he listened to the five from the Theocracy command take position, with their heavy booted feet crunching on the snow, he heard another series of voices.
"Lupu, Sun, you know how much I value your council, both of you, but if there's a chance I can end all this with just a conversation, then it's worth the risk. I know, I know you'd rather just rip them all apart personally, Lupu. But I owe it to our soldiers after all that to give them at least one peaceful victory that doesn't destroy any lives." Enri said confidently.
"I'll never forget this." Ira replied sincerely as the manacles clanked together in front of her.
"Better not." Lupusregina replied bluntly and issued a low growl from Enri's right hand.
Ithari felt more light in the area, 'Also torches, good, and there are only four of them. One of which is a prisoner.' He thought as his ears told him what he needed to know. 'The monster on the right, goblin on the left, prisoner in front, general in the center.'
Branches snapped and broke under the weight of snow, occasionally bits fell loose and landed with a 'fluff' like noise on the ground, but the assassins added nothing to the ambiance.
Ithari opened his eyes and watched as the two sides formed up on opposite sides of the clearing. Heikeren loosed his sword belt, and handed it to the guard behind him.
Enri began to do the same, and then handed her own to Sun at her left. One of Heikeren's soldiers walked to the center bearing a long torch, and after jabbing the sharp end into the frozen ground several times, he stepped back into position, and the two commanders walked over to where the torch stood, casting shadows over them both.
Enri spoke first, "General Heikeren." She said politely.
"General Enri." He replied with equal courtesy. "I see you've taken care of my comrade, I am... thankful. I was afraid she was lost to us."
"Well, I'm alive, thank you very much." Vice Commander Ira said in a self deprecating tone emphasized by a slightly wry smile forming at one corner of her mouth. "Even bathed and dressed in my uniform for this occasion, all in all, I could be worse off."
"Yes, Neia probably would have killed you." Enri said pointedly, ignoring her otherwise as she focused her look on Heikeren.
Enri didn't smile, her eyes looked hard at him, ignoring the expression of gratitude. "Were you involved in the uprising?"
"No." He said coldly. "That was a stupid waste, perpetrated by the Agante."
"I don't trust you, any of you people." Enri said bluntly, "I am only taking this chance to give you the opportunity to surrender and save your lives, if I walk out of here without your sword, your entire army will never walk anywhere else again."
Heikeren did a double take, "That is... not the statement I was expecting."
"Come on, Heikeren, you can't be surprised, that insurrection did a lot of damage, more than you realize, and I don't mean to her army. It hurt us." Ira said sadly.
"It did, enough that I question my presence here." Enri said with deadly quiet in her normally gentle voice.
Heikeren tugged on his face in frustrated exhaustion. The fire of the torch licked at the frozen air and cast shadows around them both, "Look, General Boabdil himself told me to take this path, I already know what's going to happen, there's no Slane Theocracy left. If I had a chance at winning this, I would fight to the death, but I don't. There are just a few things I want, give me those, and I give you my sword, and my army with it."
"You're in no position to negotiate." Enri replied sharply. "After all, how can I trust you to do anything?"
"I was hoping that our respectful interactions had bred some measure of trust between us?" Heikeren remarked optimistically.
"Enough that you would swear an oath in Eostre's name to keep your word, even if it kills you to do so?" Enri asked sharply.
Heikeren's eyes snapped to the hanging face of Vice Commander Ira. "You told her?"
"Not everything, just that you'd keep an oath in that name no matter what. Forgive me." Ira said sadly as she saw his wounded expression and the flame reflected in his widening eyes.
"Too much to ask?" Enri asked coldly.
"If he cannot make this oath in the gravest of names to him, we cannot trust him at all." Sun said from his position, he tapped his cane lightly. "This, General Enri, is an all or nothing moment."
"Fine." Heikeren said resentfully. "I have a few minor requests, if you do your best to keep them, then I surrender, my army will surrender their weapons down to the last spear. I swear it in Eostre's name."
He then went down to his knees and lowered his head. "The Army of the Northern Theocracy surrenders." He said gravely.
"You're going to leave it to me to decide if your terms are reasonable?" Enri asked in surprise.
Heikeren raised his head without being asked, though he did not rise from his knees. "We have been enemies, but not personal enemies. You treated our soldiers well when they were taken captive. We did the same with yours. I've got to trust that you have not lost yourself to hatred or bloodlust. I don't think you have, or we wouldn't be here. And... I'm hoping the fact that I sent a warning about the assassins, helps persuade you of my good intentions."
Enri looked over her shoulder to where Lupusregina and Sun stood, just a few feet away. "Assassins? What assassins?"
'Everything or nothing? No. Just nothing.' Ithari thought from his hidden position as he finally finished piling the little alcohol soaked tinder over the ending point where the line of pitch ended. 'I wish we could have coated the whole clearing with this stuff but... oh well.' He struck the flint and the spark flew immediately with the little 'clack' noise of stone striking stone.
"Look out!" Lupusregina shouted in alarm as from both sides of the clearing, the two teams sprang to their feet and threw spears at the figures lit up by the flames.
Heikeren and Ira reacted immediately. She snatched her hands up and grabbed the general's cloak and yanked her back, as Heikeren, still on his knees, dove forward, grabbed her by the legs, and pulled her down.
Enri felt the wind get knocked out of her as she landed on the hard snow, she felt something sticky clinging to her clothing, and a moment of horror came over her as her brain instantly made the connection between the clack of stone and the substance she felt and managed to get a glimpse of.
She was not wrong, a few clacks and sparks hit the pitch, flame roared to life and raced along the criss crossed pattern of pitch lines all over the clearing beneath the snow. Two of Heikeren's soldiers screamed as they were standing in exactly the worst position. Another fell when a thrown spear went through his neck. The would be assassins ran screaming into the walls of fire. To finish off their prey.
A howl split the winter sky, [Summon Pack] Lupusregina said, and direwolves dashed out of nothingness to attack the attackers, heedless of the flames. She felt her fur burning as she rushed through the flames and began tearing out throats.
She heard a faint gurgling cry behind her, but paid it no mind. She heard Enri scream in agony, and shouting voices as Heikeren's last defender fell, followed by a shout of defiance from the man himself.
Leaping into the flames in the last stretch of an arm's length, she found Enri rolling with fire stuck to her arm, and with a howl of bloodlust, orgasmic bliss as she saw her best friend in agony, with fire dancing off her cheek and limbs, she grabbed the Grand Matriarch by her arm and flung her out of the chaos, sending her bouncing free of the flames to roll in the snow as she put out the burning herself.
Half his men were down, Ithari could tell that much, his lightning quick senses told the story of the attempt as it happened, he saw Kar fall not six feet away when Heikeren drew a spear from his calf and shoved it through Kar's throat. A direwolf dove through the flames and hit one of the priests hard enough to knock him down, it tore at the human throat with knife-like teeth, leaving the human gurgling out his screams as he was pinned down to the burning flames amidst the freezing snow.
From there, he spotted Enri flailing with her hair catching fire, as if it ached to be the wick that would burn her to nothing. 'There she is, there's the cunt that caused so many problems, kill you, and at least one thing will be solved.' He thought as he ran at her with the Agante knife raised over head, only to find Ira's rage filled face in the way as she tried to thrust a broken spearhead into his face.
"Bitch! Treacherous bitch!" He shouted and avoided the strike, his knife flipped position at the handle and flew back and forth in front of him in slashes at her throat. Ira avoided them as their martial arts activated one for one, but fury drove him on even harder when he saw the werewolf yank Enri and fling her out of the chaos.
"You don't matter!" He snarled and he managed a good, hard kick into her chest, sending her falling onto her back, he turned and ran through the fire to finish the General where she fell.
'Ten more feet...' he said as he saw her struggling to rise, he howled with hate as he raised his knife, his cloak flying behind him, he saw the look of sudden fear on Enri's face as she looked up at the noise and saw the fire and hatred reflected on the blade above her.
The knife fell, but not in a killing blow.
Ithari felt his grip go limp before he understood why it was happening, the knife fell from nerveless fingers to land upright, it's tip buried inches in the ground, he felt his feet rise from the earth and looked down to see a claw sticking through his chest.
He coughed, hard, blood came out, he reached out with his free hand to touch the bloodsoaked, red claw protruding from his chest, not understanding how it got there. 'So soft...' He thought stupidly at the feel of the fur.
The growl however, he understood the growl as he was brought back toward the owner of the claw, and he understood the meaning of the terrible maw as he was forced to bend painfully far back, and the jaws came down to his jugular.
He did not understand the pain of the bite, because he was dead as soon as his throat was torn out.
Enri was still yowling in pain when Lupusregina crouched down next to her and, hovering her hand over the burn marked peasant General, she cast [Cure Moderate Wounds]. The pain faded almost instantly along with the vanishing burns.
"You looked like shit. General Enri." Lupusregina said as she returned to her human shape and held her bloody hand out.
"That... hurt... a lot. I've never felt anything... anything like that. Not even when I was injured in that fight at my village." Enri said fearfully as she touched her cheek and looked anxiously down at her arms.
"Doesn't now though, right?" Lupusregina said with her big, toothy grin. "I know, I'm an amazing cleric, you can spare me your gratitude."
Enri spat some loose blood out of her mouth and into the snow. "I think you should be the one thanking me, and apologizing to me, too." She said sardonically.
"Why's that?" Lupusregina asked as she folded her arms in front of herself defensively.
"First because I 'know' you just had the hardest orgasm of your life, so... you're welcome. And you should apologize to me for making me 'see' that happen." Enri shuddered mockingly, but Lupusregina didn't even blush.
"If you hadn't been on fire at the time, you'd have loved it and you know it." She said with a smirk as the fires began to fade behind them.
"No, definitely no. Now where's Sun? Usually he'd be the first to come up to me now and say something wise." Enri said as she looked around, and then saw the little lump sprawled out in the snow.
"Sun!" Enri shrieked and rushed over to the limp body of the Goblin Strategist. "Lupu! Heal! I need your magic!" She cried out as she looked down at his body, he lay on his side, the pool of blood saying he had not moved from where he fell. A blood tipped spear and the open throat told her what had happened. His body had already lost it's warmth, and Lupusregina put her hand on Enri's shoulder as she shook the little goblin, and he began to turn into tiny motes of light and vanish as the last bit of life fled his flesh.
"Enri... he's gone." Lupusregina said as Enri hunched over the body and continued shaking him.
"Sun! Sun! Come on! Get up! Get up!" She urged the corpse that was already half vanished. "Come on! You're my strategist!" She looked up over her shoulder, "Lupu Please! Try! Just try!"
Lupusregina crouched down next to the vanishing corpse, [Cure Critical Wounds] she said with a hand over the now almost faded wound. Nothing happened.
"Please! Try it again! Try it again!" Enri urged desperately, her lower lip quivered and her entire body shook as grief already began to rise even before she was ready to admit the loss. She reached out and grabbed the red headed beauty at the shoulder with her bloody hands.
"It won't work, I can heal folks at the brink of death, but for a dead summon, there's nothing I can do. When the spark died, he was lost forever." Lupusregina said patiently, "I'm sorry."
"Could His Majesty bring him back...?" Enri asked with a sniffle.
"No... he was spawned from an item, once he's gone, he's gone forever. Like I said, I can't do anything."
Enri wiped her nose, and a hard look came into her eyes, "Are you actually sorry, or are you just going to get off on how much this hurts?"
Lupusregina didn't miss a beat, "Both. But we can talk about that later." She said, and pointed behind Enri to General Heikeren and Vice Commander Ira, who were slowly walking over, though in Heikeren's case, he was held up by having an arm over Ira's shoulder, as she kept one wrapped around behind his back. Hobbled or not however, they approached.
"Ah... I could use healing, if you don't mind." Heikeren asked, chastened as Ira slowly let him slip to the ground.
He flopped down with an audible grunt of pain, Lupusregina looked to Enri questioningly, and the General nodded, and put her hands into the snow where the Goblin Strategist's body had fallen and vanished. As Lupusregina tended the pair, Enri whispered comforting words to the empty space.
Enri choked out gentle words as she looked down into the ground. "You'll go down in history as one of the greatest strategists in history, books will teach your words of wisdom, and the fate of nations will echo your counsel for thousands of generations. Rest, my friend, I'll finish the rest with you in my memory, instead of at my side." Her shaking hand went to where his face had been, and with heartfelt wail, she punched the snow and dirt beneath her hand.
She wiped her face when she ran out of breath, sniffled one more time and looked down at the pair of Theocracy officers as she thought of Sun and focused on her duty, as he would have advised her to do. "I suppose that eliminates the question of whether or not I can trust you, doesn't it." It was not a question, not with that tone.
They said nothing in response, unsurprising to her as none of them considered a response needed.
"You saved my life, I think. I won't forget that." Enri added. "As to terms... how are these?" She asked, then took a deep breath and spoke with the swiftness of a boat going downstream and as firmly as a sword against a shield.
"I will house your soldiers in Crossroads instead of sending them North. They will bear no weapons or armor, but they will remain under your officers' authority to discipline, and your officers will answer only to those I leave in command. When the war ends, they will be released and I will let them keep their horses so that they can take up farming. Weapons and armor will be sold and used to buy them the means to rebuild peaceful lives, the conditions will be that you appoint a small corps of code enforcers, and both work to rebuild Crossroads, and enforce our laws as if they were issued by your Cardinals themselves. We will feed you as we would our own, and after the war I will help your soldiers resettle. With further understanding that all of them forswear resistance to myself and to the Sorcerer King now and forever."
She stopped and folded her arms in front of her chest as she looked down at them with eyes of stone. "Sun died for this, and I won't do half measures. Every single one of your soldiers accepts these generous terms, or every single one of your soldiers dies." The pair was quiet and solemn as they stood.
"There is one more thing I want to ask for. Without it, all this was meaningless." Heikeren replied.
"What?" Enri asked as coldly as the corpses around them.
Heikeren swallowed hard before he spoke, "I want you to stop General Baraja from slaughtering Kami Miyako. I know what she'll do, but my General is there, General Boabdil is almost certainly trying to find some way to either force a surrender or at least to save those he thinks she'd be willing to spare if there were a way to do it." Heikeren said urgently, "Please, I know what your Pope says, I know... some of the things my country has done, but there are still people worth protecting, besides... I think you'd want to show General Baraja that hers isn't the only way."
"Fine. Look, His Majesty has handed her control over four armies, not officially, but she'll almost certainly have it before she moves out. She's got a chip on her shoulder for you all, there's no letter I can write to make her change her mind. Besides that, other than the Sorcerer King, there are only four people that she listens to anymore. One of them can't talk, one of them is almost as bloodthirsty as she is, one of them doesn't give a damn about bloodshed, and the last..." Enri drifted off, "actually might help us. Alright, I'll ask for Lakyus to broker a short meeting, a chance for you to beg for the lives of your city's people. That's the best I can do. I can't do anything else. Accepted?" She asked and held out her hand.
Heikeren took it and clasped it tight. "Yes, that's as good as we can ask for, and better than I'd hoped for. Tomorrow morning I'll march my entire army to Crossroads and we'll lay down our arms and armor."
As the handshake broke, Enri took out a key and tossed it to Ira. "Go back with him, come back without the chains on."
Ira looked at her with gratitude, "I will, Grand Matriarch."
Enri looked over her shoulder at the place where the goblin vanished from. "I think we did it, Sun. Wherever you are, I think we did it." She whispered.
...Kami Miyako...Home of Raymond...
"You're sure about this?" Boabdil asked uncomfortably as they pulled up to Raymond's home.
"Yes, not happy about it, but sure of it." Enlaith remarked as she rubbed some of her bruises. "Just drag me into the house, no suspicion will fall on him if you do that. Then after you do so, head out to the places I've told you, use your entourage, there are only a few thousand of us, but word can be spread quickly. The only problem will be, where to keep us?"
"That depends on how many of you there are, but... I do have an idea." Boabdil said to her calmly. 'It's like... it's so strange, talking to an elf as an equal.' He thought to himself as he looked over the many bruises, cuts, and bloodstains he put on her. 'Hard to deny her that status though, I've known soldiers who couldn't cope with this.'
"Fine, I'll leave it to you then, for now, let's get this over with, I'd like to get a heal spell cast on me quickly, this hurts like hell." She said brusquely and went limp as she laid down on the floor of the carriage.
"As you wish." He grumbled unhappily as he got down from the carriage, grabbed her limp arm, and dragged her out and across the snow covered stone. If any of Raymond's neighbors saw, they gave no sign.
He knocked three times, and hurried in as soon as the door opened, past a shocked human butler and over to a couch. As soon as the door closed, Enlaith's eyes flew open, and her limp hand grabbed his arm and he helped her up into a seated position.
She looked over to the human servant, "Relax, this..." she waved her hand over the bruises and cuts, "was how he got me out, just go get someone who can heal it all, it hurts as much as you think it does." She said through gritted teeth.
"Also, go get my escort from the guest quarters, I have some places for them to visit, it's going to be a very long, very busy day." Boabdil remarked wearily to the butler.
...Kami Miyako...Home of Yvon...
Yvon sat at his desk across from the unit commander. "Good, that should give me enough support to bring him down. Strike the head, and the body will die. With no more Dominic, the others will have no choice but to fall into line."
"What about the Agante?" The commander asked uncomfortably.
Yvon shrugged, "Worst case scenario, we exterminate the ones in the city, I'm sure Dominic has kept the records locked up tight, last time Raymond brought up their records suggesting we go over them for mission selection together, Dominic said he kept those hidden and we didn't need to see them. Once we behead that one, we'll search his house, find the records, and put them down if they don't submit, and if they do, well there are a lot of dangerous missions we can send the untrustworthy out to die on."
"I can't argue with that." The commander replied calmly, licking his fingers and still savoring the taste of meat that Yvon had just served to him. "So when do we strike?"
"Evening, during dinner, they'll be hungriest then, and tired from the long day." Yvon remarked, confidently, "and as for the animals, harvest them immediately. I'll need a lot of meat to get more of our soldiers on board."
"It will be done, we'll be ready in time." The officer said confidently.
...Raymond's Home...later that day...
Yarvin stood outside the door. 'She's there, the bitch, the cunt, the trash, that vile disgusting girl... how long I've dreamt of killing her, making her pay, now here she is and I can't touch her. How cruel fate is.' He groused to himself, standing there in front of the ornate door. It felt like forever before he could bring himself to knock.
The beautiful blonde powerhouse from before was the one to open the door. "Oh, it's you, the one who was following me before, what do you want?" She asked with a dangerous smile on her face.
Yarvin stepped back from the shock, "Y-You knew?"
"Of course, I'm Master Raymond's personal bodyguard, what kind of guard would I be if I didn't take note of someone with their eyes glued to me without a hint of..." She put her finger to his chest and uttered in a dusky voice, "lust."
He swallowed, "I'm the slave of Cardinal Dominic, I need to see Cardinal Raymond, it is urgent, please..." He folded his hands behind his back and stood rigidly straight save for his bowed head.
"Want to explain why you were following us, first?" Solution asked dangerously.
"The girl, the one with you. I thought I knew her." He answered stiffly, and watched the maid guard relax visibly.
"Wait here, slave." Solution said coldly, and closed the door in his face.
"So much for the story about him being soft on elves." Yarvin muttered as the cold bit into his flesh in spite of the warm garment of his master.
A few minutes later, he was walking in and being guided upstairs, the house felt 'empty' save for a handful of anxious looking elf slaves wearing heavy collars around their necks and moving... scurrying about their many little chores.
The steps creaked under him as he followed the perfect shapely maid in silence, he said nothing as it was not his place to speak, but he could not restrain himself from enjoying the view. If she was aware, she ignored it, leading him to an office door, which she opened and gestured for him to enter. "Master Raymond will see you now, slave. Displease him, and I will send your head back to your master without the rest of you."
Yarvin bowed his head, entered, and went down to his knees a few feet from Cardinal Raymond's desk as the door shut behind him.
"What do you want?" Raymond asked bluntly. "Raise your head, I don't like talking to the top of a skull, now get on with it, I'm busy."
"Cardinal Raymond," Yarvin said as he raised his eyes, "My master is in danger. Cardinal Yvon is planning a coup. He's slaughtered all the elves in his house, cooked them as meat, and bribed the military units stationed here to support him, not 'all' but many, many."
Raymond's eyes went wide with horror, "You can't be serious?!"
Yarvin nodded his head frantically, "I am, Sir. A slave survived the massacre and escaped due to the kindness of a human servant, she fled to my master's house and warned him, we don't have long, please... I know you have had your disagreements with my master, but this? I don't deny our place, but to be... that? No, please, help him."
Raymond's mind raced his eyes went dark and he stood slowly to his feet. 'Yvon wants to use elf meat to bribe the soldiers to fight for him and take power for himself. He used up all of his own... that leaves... no. Oh no...' he raised the fist that had once been a member of the Black Scripture, and brought it down violently on his desk. It splintered in half and collapsed. He growled with fury and glared down at Yarvin. "Go back to your master, tell him I will help him. Yvon will pay for his treachery."
Solution flung the door open to see Yarvin prostrate with his head to the floor, "Master Raymond?" She asked urgently.
"Go, we've got a lot to do and no time to waste." Raymond said to the elf slave.
"Thank you, Cardinal Raymond!" Yarvin said with desperate hope in his voice as he shot to his feet and rushed out.
"Did the others already leave? And are we ready for... later?" Raymond asked as he calmed down.
"Yes," Solution said calmly, "The twenty went out shortly before the slave got here, but she and I will take care of the other one tonight, sounds like there'll be plenty of chaos."
"She?" Raymond asked.
"Nua. I caught her about to sneak into Illal's room with this." Solution said, and drew Raymond's knife out of her body and tossed it to him, he caught it easily and held it as if he couldn't understand what he was seeing.
"She... went to kill Illal?" He said as his eyes went slowly to the maid demon and away from the knife.
"Yes, I offered her the one responsible for serving the meal instead, so we'll handle that, and don't worry, I'll bring Nua back alive. For now, what's next?" Solution asked and began to tap her foot impatiently.
Raymond nodded numbly, "Granted, that target is yours and hers. For now, I need to send word to the Sorcerer King, Yvon is going to raid the work camps, I need to get those empty immediately, and I'd like my house to be emptied as well of everyone I can."
"How did you conclude that?" Solution asked with a suddenly respectful look in her eyes.
"Because it's what I would do if I were him." Raymond said with a grim and thin lipped expression. "He's going to use elves to feed his supporters and win over the city, the report featuring isolated incidents of elf cannibalism would be almost a footnote since it was being punished here already but... as a policy? One that will undercut his work? Yes, he needs to know. Can you get word to him immediately and ask for one of those 'gate' spells to be used to get them all out of there, and maybe those who are here as well?"
"You know she'll find out, right?" Solution asked him with her inhuman smile.
Raymond swallowed, "I know. I still think about it." He looked down at his broken desk. "Do you know how many monsters I've killed over the years?" He asked her as he idly kicked a broken piece of desk, sending it flying past Solution and embedding it in the wall.
"A lot?" Solution shrugged indifferently.
He put his hand to his chest and looked into Solution's monstrous and sadistic eyes, "Yes, many. Monsters so grotesque and vile that even you would retch to look at them." Raymond said in a deadpan voice, "But she's the face in my nightmares. I felt no hatred from the impossible power of the Sorcerer King, so from him I felt only awe, like I was before a god, a supreme being. But from that... little monster? I felt enough hate and rage that it was like ten thousand undead were looking into my soul and tearing at it through my flesh."
Solution shivered with pleasure and brought her hands together, "I wish I could be there when she finds out."
"You would." Raymond groused in exasperation. "Just… add it to the notes and send it urgently, would you?"
"Of course… 'master Raymond." She said with a cruel smile on her face and a sardonic bow of her head.