Everything moved quite swiftly after that.
There were no more Fire Monks, aside from the prelate. However, the demigod Rykard had been a rare breed of sorcerer. Instead of gazing at the stars, he looked at the earth beneath his feet – the raw magmic power of Mt. Gelmir. The servants of the Volcano Manor possessed weapons of flame, and their bodies were proof against it. Born in the bowels of the mountain, they were old hands at fighting in narrow passages. There could be no better soldiers to fight against the melding of Rot and Frenzy.
They were, of course, serpents.
I am no great investigator. Nor was I informed by my patron the archdragon. The lady told me the truth as the final details of our alliance were settled. Things may not end cleanly, she said, but she would not deceive those who ate at her table. She believed that to have been her mother's greatest mistake.
We introduced the concept slowly. First to the scholars who would only be curious, then to the knights who would swear by the man-serpents' valor. In the end, no one would resent the bulwark who stood against the creeping bugs below, scales or otherwise.
The man-serpents, for their part, soon came to enjoy the Academy. It was colder than they liked, but it had a different warmth. They no longer had to gather in the red light and wonder what the outside world was like. They could ask. They could make friends who were not blood-kin.
The lady was overjoyed, and the Volcano Manor itself swiftly fell to disuse, save as outpost and storehouse.
We established caravans to gather the rich black soil of Gelmir and bring it to Liurnia. We uncovered the torn ground and pushed the ash away. At last, we began planting the seed samples from the Academy archives.
With the man-serpents' heating magic, we built a water recycling system so we needed not always brave the caves.
The prelate would have outranked a mere monk, to say nothing of the lady, a granddaughter to Rennala and Marika both. Not once did they even imply I was a lesser partner. The lady seemed glad I had experience already. Her mother had kept much of the darkness in rulership from her, and she had never known Rykard, already consumed by his obsession.
She observed me carefully and asked questions after meetings' end. She became more comfortable and confident as time ran on. Yet still she often wished to discuss more. More abstract things, philosophy and reasoning. It became understood that we would discuss most matters jointly. We came to know and to keep secret each other's weaknesses.
Such as my predilection for blindness.
She had said before that she would never deceive. She would keep secrets for me but never from me. It was not long before she admitted she wished to be more than allies.