Reina's arm twitched incessantly, wanting desperately to take her phone out to check for any messages from Marie. Her last one said she was dealing with a problem and couldn't say more than that for now. Almost right after she'd received that message, an emergency meeting of the Assembly had been declared by Patriarch Keeper. The timing was too close for Reina to consider it a coincidence.
It was a full house today, with every matriarch having just about all of their matrons with them in their booths, even those from the countryside. Nobody seemed entirely sure what was going to happen but Reina had a strong suspicion Keeper was going to try moving the schedule up.
Forcing her hand to remain in her lap, she glanced up at the Monarch's seat. Orvenii, though officially resigned, was still obligated to maintain her duties until the next monarch was chosen. Seeing her without her golden robes on, however, she looked very diminished, and her golden mantle seemed to have lost its lustre. Despite that, her eyes remained sharp and focused. Though obviously weary, she didn't look like someone who had been defeated.
But she will if Keeper's put in charge, I bet.
Keeper himself didn't show any signs of smugness, but then he wasn't the smug type; instead, he exuded a quiet determination, resolute in whatever he was about to do.
The Moderator General assumed his seat and banged his gavel ceremoniously.
"This Emergency Meeting of the Assembly will now come to order. A reminder to all that any and all items on the official agenda are postponed unless they pertain to the emergency. Patriarch Keeper, as the one who called the emergency, you will brief the Assembly."
Reina repressed a scowl. Normally, only the monarch could call an emergency meeting of the Assembly but with Orvenii no longer officially Monarch, any member of the Assembly could call one, and honestly, Reina was afraid to find out just what had prompted Keeper to do it.
The Patriarch stood, his expression grave. "Fellow Assembly members, I'm sure you are all sick and tired of the constant debating in this time of crisis, as am I. Therefore, I am prepared to put it all on the line right now, by calling for an immediate vote for the next monarch."
Reina winced. So he was trying to call an early vote before she and her supporters could wrestle more away from him.
The Moderator General asked. "Are you then petitioning for a crisis vote, Patriarch?"
"I am, Moderator General. I believe it is the most prudent course of action."
"Very well." The Moderator General then stood. "A crisis vote has officially been called. Just to remind the Assembly of the rules, as they are a bit obscure, a crisis election requires only sixty percent confidence in the Assembly."
Reina swallowed a curse. So that's what he was going for. He already had around that much of the Assembly in his corner, and while she'd stirred the waters quite a bit, people still saw his boat as the one to ride on.
"The vote must be cast within an eight-hour period of the crisis vote being called," the Moderator General went on. "During that eight-hour period, however, time must be granted for debate. However, because this is a crisis vote, another election must be called after thirty days, either another crisis election or a formal election."
Reina hissed under her breath. So if he got in now he could not be removed for at least thirty days. He could ruin everything in far less time than that. Well, she wasn't about to let that happen, not without a fight.
"Patriarch Keeper has been nominated to the position of an emergency monarch. Does anyone stand opposed to him or wish to nominate themselves to the position?"
Reina stood almost without thinking. After all, who else would oppose him?
"Matriarch Sansea, you stand opposed?"
"I do," she replied. "I have doubts in Patriarch Keeper's leadership on the grounds that his obsession with the Octarians has clouded his judgement and regards the rest of us as fools for disagreeing with him that Peace is actually possible."
Keeper glared at her and was ready to retort when the Moderator General interrupted.
"Very well, then debate shall officially begin. We will have an hour break for lunch in the middle. Be aware, however, Matriarch Sansea that I will not tolerate filibustering during a crisis debate."
"I don't need to ramble to come up with counterpoints," Reina assured him. "So all of you better sit down because I have quite a list to work through."
—-
Foame raised her arm to block the splashes of toxic ooze as the flyfish missiles rained around them. Her comrades screamed as they splatted around her, and even through her clothes she felt the acidic sting on her skin.
Fighting through the pain, she got back up and resumed firing, splatting several chums before she had to refill her ink tank. Behind her, others were covering the ground with ink, rescuing those who had just been splatted and pulling them away to the aid station for recovery.
A cohok whacked one of their officers in the side of the head with a frying pan, but she quickly recovered and kicked the pan out of its feeble, finny grasp before someone behind her splatted the cohok, which only made room for a half dozen more behind it.
There were more screams as a maw further down the line came up underneath someone and swallowed them whole, disrupting the line and allowing some crabs to get over the barricades, before a rush from the third rank advanced with hammers and fought ferociously to close the breach.
Foame panted, her body protesting further movement. Even her ink sac was starting to hurt. She was dehydrated already. This was worse than any training, turf war match, or even anything she had imagined in her worst nightmares.
The ground in front of her barricade was littered with the corpses of hundreds of crabs driven to a kind of madness by that mysterious smoke that was filling the bottom of the cavern. Between that and her position, Salmonids and crabs of almost every description kept swarming in her general direction.
There were more cries as another flyfish barrage blew another hole in the line and they had to struggle to contain the breach. A part of her brain told her to be wary of the giant crabs advancing towards them but she was more concerned with the Salmonids directly in front of her and the flyfish that kept hammering their positions.
"Keep up the barrage!" Septain Stormrider called out. "We have to cover the Altern until she gets back."
Altern Highwater was actually in greater danger than anyone else. She was out in the middle of the battlefield again, this time targeting the flyfish that were giving them so much trouble, using splat bombs to take out their launchers while fighting off and through the horde of enemies surrounding her and deftly dodging the scrappers driving back and forth, trying to eliminate her.
Foame wished she had time to admire her skill, but she was too busy trying to stay alive. At least eliminating the flyfish was helping.
"Above!" Someone called
Foame looked up and saw a squad of chinooks flying overhead. Chinooks were effectively chums with helicopter hats. Almost as soon as the giant crabs and Salmonids appeared, they'd started duelling in the sky with the Octarian's octocopters, creating a whole other layer to an already complex battlefield.
Occasionally, the chinooks would get low enough that Guard's ink rifles could reach them and after they'd started dropping rocks on their heads, they made it a priority to shoot them down when possible.
Ink blasts soared upwards and they managed to claim three of the eight that passed above them and dodged their whirling hats as they fell to the ground. Immediately, everyone focused back on what was in front of them again, splatting the chums that battered their heads against the barricades, inching them back.
"I don't know how much more ink I can make," Revil gasped. "Even if I get some water I think I'll seriously need a break. When's our turn to rotate out?"
"It comes when it comes!" Mia shouted back. "Everyone else is feeling the same as you."
"You're girls! You have better ink capacity than we do!"
"At our age? I don't think–."
Mia's retort died as a maw suddenly burst up from underneath her. Mia tried to jump out but was caught in the beast's jaws.
"Mia!"
Foame and the rest of their squad fired into the creature's flanks but it dove back down into the puddle of ooze that had seeped in under the barricades, under which it slipped.
Just as Foame felt her heart sink, there was a large explosion of friendly ink, splatting all of the chums banging against the barricades. Foame looked over the other side and saw Mia lying on the ground, gasping.
"Cover me!" Foame vaulted the barricade and knelt next to Mia, trying to bring her to her feet.
"Hey, Mia! Get up!"
Mia was covered in slime from being inside the maw and short of breath. Her eyes were wide with shrunken pupils. She looked to be in shock.
Half a dozen chums splatted nearby and Altern Highwater came towards them, firing both splattlings at the approaching Salmonids. A few soldier crabs snuck in under the barrage and went right for Mia.
Highwater jumped in the way of one of them, caving its head in with the heel of her boot. Foame put herself between Mia and the other one. A few shots from her comrades tried to dissuade it but not enough.
It tried to feint right to get past her but Foame was ready, and brought the butt of her ink rifle down on its head before stomping on it for good measure.
Highwater took out another batch of chums and laid covering fire while Foame picked Mia up and carried her back over the barricade.
"What happened?"
"She got eaten by a maw but then it just exploded. I don't know what happened."
Mia's mouth started flapping but Foame couldn't hear anything. She lifted her right arm and showed a clawed hand.
"She popped a splatbomb in its belly." Highwater realised and she turned green approvingly. "Not easy since it's stomach constricts you a lot."
"Incoming!"
"Get down!"
Foame instinctively covered Mia and there was a heavy-sounding burst of ink, sufficient to actually displace the barricades slightly.
"Steel heads!" Someone yelled before their voice was drowned out by more deep thuds followed by shrill screams.
"Get Mia to the rear!" Highwater ordered. "Everyone spread out!"
Foame slung one of Mia's arms over her shoulder and the two of them began to hobble away.
"Watch out!"
Foame turned around just as a steelhead was launching a bomb directly at her. It twisted its head and the large green bag arched towards her, undulating like a living organism in its own right, full of deadly, toxic ooze.
Something struck the bag mid-air and it burst, causing the ooze to rain down on everyone in a wide area. Foame felt the burn as the ooze hit her, and her body convulsed violently, just barely resisting splatting, as did Mia. Had it landed any closer they would have been splatted and maybe even killed with such a concentrated amount.
Foame picked herself up from the ground and helped Mia to her feet. She glanced to her right and her eyes lit up as she saw Wren, carrying a charger and hurrying towards her.
"Wren!"
"Go, I'll cover. Thank me later!"
Foame flashed green and hurriedly led Mia away towards the aid stations.
—-
"Line them up there, I'll get to them when I can!"
"This one's suffering bad burns and ooze on open wounds."
"Send them further back and have the junior medics clean the wounds out!"
"He'll have to wait in line. There are about two dozen ahead of him."
The aid station was chaos and fast overfilling. Tephy, despite working as fast as she could, had a lineup of casualties waiting for her treatment, as did all the other medics. Ever since the flyfish had arrived, casualties had gone up considerably.
The boy she was currently tending to had both his legs removed by a maw's jaws and passed out. Others had suffered non-lethal splats or were suffering bad burns from the flyfish missiles and simply needed a decent ink cleaning before going back to the lines.
She had just grabbed a drink, finishing off what little remained in her water bottle before she saw a soldier pulling Mia into the aid station, finding a small corner and setting her down.
Tephy ran over with her medic ink gun, effectively an ink shooter optimised to saturate people with friendly ink. She immediately used it on both of them, cleansing the ooze off their skin and helping to heal their burns. It wouldn't completely remove what their clothes had absorbed, but at least it would dilute it.
"Are you okay Mia?"
"She got swallowed by a maw," the soldier answered. "I'm fine, I just got splashed by some ooze. I'm gonna' go get some water then head back to the line."
Tephy flashed green and then knelt next to Mia to examine her. Her skin was reddened in places and she had a few minor cuts that would need cleaning, but mostly she seemed to be in shock.
She gave her a shake. "Mia? Mia, answer me."
Mia blinked and her pupils seemed to refocus. "Oh, Tephy? What are you doing here?"
"Being a medic. Did you think I would just huddle under my bed in Callie's house?" She quickly wiped the scratches with a swab, cleaning them. Unfortunately they didn't have bandages to spare so she would have to go without. Hopefully she could keep those injuries relatively clean.
"Listen, I have to take care of everyone else. Are you going to be okay?"
Mia nodded, now taking measured breaths. "Yeah, I just need to catch my breath, is all. I'll be okay."
Tephilla patted her cheek gently. "Make sure you get some water, okay?"
Mia flashed green and Tephy hurried back to her original position and began hosing the other patients with healthy ink. They needed to hurry and get them back to the line before they were overwhelmed.
"More wounded coming in! Make room."
"Where? There is no room?"
"I'll be done with this group in a minute," Tephilla called. "Bring them to me."
Tephilla quickened her pace, her ink sac aching. This battle had been going on literally for hours. How much longer would they have to endure?
—-
Callie was ankle deep in sludge, a mix of toxic ooze and the splatted remains of Salmonids. It slowed her movement considerably and was too thick even for her dual rollers to alleviate the problem as she swung them around, splatting scores of her enemies and effectively crushing any crabs that got in the way.
A flyfish diverted its attention from the front line and tried firing on her. Callie managed to jump out of the way and her tentacle whipped out, smashing into the flyfish and sending it tumbling to the ground, both its launchers mangled.
She was tired. Her larger body lacked the endurance she used to have. At least she had managed to do a whole lot of damage. The army's centre was well and truly secured thanks to her presence and her advance had caused enough distraction and confusion in the enemy lines to let Delta Company venture beyond the barricades to start taking out the flyfish.
The flyfish had done plenty of damage though and the defence lines were looking a lot thinner than they had been earlier. The Salmonids and crabs were still mindlessly charging the lines in huge numbers and had taken losses that would be considered appalling by anyone's standards, even the Consortium's.
Unfortunately, their strategy was technically working. Despite rotating their forces, everyone was getting exhausted, struggling to produce ink, and people were dying faster.
She saw Gamma Company was facing a dozen Steelheads. They managed to pop their ooze bags before they could throw them thanks to the greater range of their ink rifles and the help of a few Delta Company chargers. A few managed to get through, however, and blow large holes in their ranks, and the giant crabs were close behind with their cohorts of other crabs, ready to take advantage.
The Octarian Army had put down some hurt of its own however, sending Rolonium rolls down the slopes to take out huge numbers of Salmonids. In addition, tenta missiles rained down wherever tightly clustered groups of Salmonids gathered away from the barricades.
The Guard, unfortunately, was somewhat lacking in heavy ink weapons, being primarily equipped to deal with crabs, but they did have a few inkzookas and bomb launchers wreaking havoc.
Gotta' change tactics. I have to start going after the big ones.
Callie went to the left flank where the Guard's Theta Company was being hard pressed. They were dealing with a concentration of crabs, including two giants, a of Steelheads, and one of the few remaining Flyfish.
In fact, Theta Company's ranks had pretty much merged with the Octarian Army company next to them, their members partially intertwined. The Octarians fired on the salmonids and defended with their makeshift shields while Theta used their rifles on the larger Salmonids and hammers on the crabs. Despite the pressure against them, they were holding well.
They saw Callie coming and the Flyfish retreated. Both giant crabs turned to face her while the Steelheads focused on the front.
Callie ignored the protest of her tired limbs as she charged, tearing her way through ranks of lesser Salmonids and crabs to get to them, ignoring their feeble attempts at resistance. The giant crabs faced her. They certainly seemed less threatening now that she was as big as they were, but there were still two of them and they were fresh to the fight.
The Flyfish opened fire, forcing Callie to dodge to avoid being hit. The first giant went for her then, bringing down both his claws in a dual hammerblow fashion and Callie was forced to catch them. She managed to bring her boot down on the crab's left knee, not enough to break it but sufficient to cause the leg to collapse and she used the momentum to toss him aside.
The other crab came at her from the same side, however, and swung at her with his claw. She raised her arms to block just in time, but the momentum of the strike was enough to send her falling toward the line.
The Salmonids and crabs seized their chance, ignoring the front line and swarming her, the crabs stabbing at her with their sharpened claws and the salmonids covering her with their ooze.
"No! Get off of me!"
She trashed madly, but their weight on her and the Salmonid ooze restricted her, and the giant crab loomed over her.
"Get off of her!"
The thumping of octoshots followed, splatting the Salmonids on Callie's chest. Eight, Lakshi, and the rest of her guards came wielding hammers next, smashing into the crabs stabbing at her.
"Artillery!"
The Giant crabs paused at the call and looked up from Callie at the line. One jerked as it was struck by four long, steel shafts, one after the other, piercing its chest and midsection. It fell onto its claws and Callie, now recovered, launched to her feet and kicked it in the head. It fell over, gurgled once, and expired.
The one Callie had already injured was next, Eight and her guards swarmed the creature as it tried to get up. It swung its arms, keeping them at bay, but Eight got around the side and onto its back. The crab wriggled, trying to throw her off but she successfully landed a heavy blow on its head, not enough to kill it, but enough to leave it dazed and immobile enough that everyone else was able to get within its defence and help finish it off.
"Callie!"
Three waved for her to return. Much as Callie hated to run, she had little choice right now. She was injured and she needed a chance to catch her breath.
The soldiers made space for her to get through and she stepped carefully between them, doing some self-assessment as she went.
She was bleeding, her sides and legs worst of all, and she had a small nick in her neck. Her tentacles had also been badly scratched up with small chunks taken out of it, revealing milky-white flesh underneath, flesh which was bleeding in a few places.
The crews of the harpoon cannons gave her a thumbs up as she passed and she gave them a smile of thanks in return. She sat behind them and let the tension out from her limbs. Her guards appeared a moment later and began looking over her injuries.
"I'm fine," Callie insisted. "My tentacles have been through worse than this."
They didn't seem to believe her or they felt it was no excuse. Maybe it was both.
I was careless. Those giant crabs were clearly trained, much more so than the two they fought during the Liberation, and she had never really fought since she'd grown, nor had she kept up all of her usual exercises. She'd gotten rusty and sloppy, and almost paid with her life for being overconfident.
She looked around. "Where's Three?"
Lakshi replied. "I believe she went to the other side of the line."
The harpoon cannons coughed again, hurling their deadly lances at the enemy. This time they felled a pair of Steelheads. Though their armoured heads deflected a few shots, those harpoons ended up spearing others before they hit the ground, and their scales, though tough, were not enough to prevent a direct hit from penetrating.
Further down the line, a giant crab suffered a direct hit to the head and fell immediately while another crab had been pierced about ten times and stubbornly refused to fall. It lurched and roared its way forward and crashed into the barricades, knocking them aside with its powerful claws, then picking them up and hurling them at the ranks of inklings and octolings behind them.
"We've been breached!" Someone yelled.
The giant crab finally fell to another barrage of harpoons, but its mission was done. Salmonids and crabs poured into the gap, and it wasn't the only place. Though over half a dozen giant crabs had fallen to the harpoon cannons, a pair managed to reach the same part of the line together, bulldozing their way into Epsilon Company in the centre and the neighbouring Octarian company, a splatoon's worth of coconut crabs right behind them.
An eerie screeching sound echoed from the bottom of the cavern and Callie half stood to look down the gentle slope to the smoke-filled bottom. The clouds of smoke seemed to glow like fire for a second, before something golden began streaming out.
"Goldies!" Someone on the cannons screamed. "I see goldies coming!"
Callie's throat tightened. Goldies were Salmonids the same size as chums, but they were faster, stronger, and even more relentless. They pursued their enemies with a fanatical zeal and intensity that made them feared by salmon runners more than most other greater Salmonids, because in addition to everything else, they always came in swarms.
Hundreds of Goldies streamed forth, splitting into two streams as they focused on the two breaches in the line.
Callie forced herself to her feet, grabbing her rollers.
"Callie, you're exhausted." Lakshi insisted.
"I have no choice! If they break through they'll circle around and attack everyone from behind and the whole line will collapse. We have to fight with all we've got now or we lose!" Not willing to waste time with more protests, Callie banished all her discomfort from her mind and drew on every last bit of strength she had left. She couldn't hold anything back, she had to go all out, or they were doomed.
—-
Everyone in the Grand Temple had retreated to the sanctuary. All of the councillors of the Ravalda mixed with the clerics of the Ministry of Providence. It was a situation that Glittermine doubted had ever happened before in Octarian history.
Some sat along the walls with their knees tucked to their chests, others paced about the room, bleeding off nervous energy, but everyone in the room stayed well away from the temple maiden with the blue-ringed tentacles, save for the Exarch, of course, and Octavia, who fearlessly stroked the girl's tentacles with tender affection. Glittermine wondered if she was doing it as a show of strength while everyone else was nervously fidgeting and worried into silence.
The Exarch let out a disappointed sigh. "Come, come now, everyone, we shouldn't all be looking so glum. The dark days are nearing their end. We will be victorious this day. It is tragic that some will not live to see it, but that only makes it more important that we ensure a bright future for our people, to make their sacrifice worthwhile."
"It won't be over, even if we win this battle," Protor said. She was one of the pacers. "Depending on the outcome of the election, Calachora could become an enemy."
Glittermine expected Stonefeller to chime in there, but the Lord of Public Security seemed oddly quiet and distracted. Hardly surprising when an army of inklings had arrived to help defend the domes. His entire worldview may have just been broken, if not shattered. Hopefully, it would calm him down after this was over.
Hobber, who was sitting along the left wall, tapped his foot. "Unfortunately, the older generation we fought in the Great Turf War are the ones in charge. They hold the same prejudices we did. Those who want peace are of the younger generation, and while they're obviously willing to show their support and save us as we did them, they aren't the ones in charge."
"Let's focus on one problem at a time," Octavia interrupted. "Having so many of their youth participating in the defence of the domes might force some of them to change their point of view, but I am more concerned about what will be left of us when this battle is over."
She glanced over at Stonefeller and her eyes narrowed. Glittermine followed her gaze and he caught Stonefeller with his finger lightly brushing at the communicator attached to his ear.
"I assume you're getting updates on the battle."
Octavia addressing him snapped Stonefeller out of wherever his mind was and drew him to their present surroundings. It also brought all the attention in the room to him when he had clearly been trying to be discreet.
"Uh, y-yes, Lady Octavia. The battle has officially begun, though the inklings are already wavering, as expected."
Glittermine didn't bother hiding his grimace. It was as if Stonefeller's mind was programmed to deprecate the inklings at every opportunity. However, he didn't think that disapproval of that tendency was the reason Octavia's eyes narrowed still further.
"And what is Lady Cuttlefish's status?"
"Ah… um…" he hesitated. The way he shifted his eyes to the left and slightly raised his hand as if to bring it to his ear gave Glittermine the impression he was still listening to something.
Octavia suddenly rose and the blue-ring hid behind the Exarch's chair as she crossed the floor with a few quick strides. Stonefeller gaped in surprise as Octavia reached down and yanked the communicator off his ear.
"Wait! That's classified info–."
Octavia planted her foot on his chest and shoved him back down. She brought the communicator to her own ear and listened.
Everyone in the room remained still, watching with sudden anxiousness as Octavia listened, and Glittermine felt his own blood chill as her expression morphed from horrified to righteous fury.
She angrily tossed the communicator aside. "You idiot! Our people are facing annihilation and you sent a whole splatoon of your best to free my father and help him attack Inkopolis?"
A ripple of shock passed through the room and Glittermine was at a loss for words. Was he really going to do something to antagonise the inklings when they had a whole army within their domes? When they were besieged by a whole new enemy? He truly had gone mad.
Stonefeller, despite his naturally darker complexion, turned white as death, backing against the wall as he struggled to his feet.
"Octavio will lead us to victory," he babbled. "He kept our people whole and together. You've done nothing but tear it apart."
Octavia bared her beak and her glare intensified. "You're a fool! You are the one who's been trying to tear us apart. Do you think our people are so weak that Callie's influence would make them forget they were Octarian? Do you believe that accepting help somehow makes us weaker? Is your petty pride and hatred of the inklings more important than the welfare and prosperity of our nation?"
"How can we be prosperous and Octarian living under the inkling's thumb? Even now they are antagonistic to us!"
Octavia hissed. "Yes, you've made sure of that now. The whole point of the peace efforts was so we wouldn't have to surrender, that we could achieve peace without losing our pride and dignity. You've ruined everything for everyone!" She stomped towards him. "Maybe Calachora will be placated if we give them a prisoner."
Stonefeller looked like he might run, but Octavia grabbed big handfuls of his cloak and held him firmly, glaring directly into his eyes. "You talk a lot about sacrifice. Maybe it's time you put words into actions."
Something in Stonefeller's eyes changed, as if something left him. His right hand reached down and brought a small object from a concealed pocket under his robes. Glittermine's mouth fell open. He tried to yell a warning, but he was too late.
Stonefeller pointed his compact ink pistol into Octavia's abdomen and fired. Octavia staggered backwards and let out a single scream before her body burst, scattering her remains all over the floor.
Several of the temple maidens screamed, everyone else either gasped or was too overcome with shock to do more than stare in disbelief.
Stonefeller wobbled uncertainly for a moment, as if only realising then what he had done. His pupils were shrunken and he was breathing heavily. He waved his small pistol shakily and urged everyone away from him, save for the Exarch, whom he took as hostage.
"All of you stay quiet and none of you move," he said hastily.
Glittermine and the others raised their hands. "Just what are you planning to do?"
Stonefeller glared at him, betrayal in his eyes. "You should know more than anyone. You're all staying here until Lord Octavio returns, victorious, and then he will decide what to do with you."
"You're a fool," Protor snarled. "Octavio won't succeed now anymore than he did before. All you'll do is create another needless conflict. How many more of our people will you insist on killing before there's nobody left?"
"Lord Octavio will know what to do! He has brought us back from the brink before and he will do so again! I will be there to help him!"
"You really think he'll be pleased with you?" Skywatcher growled, her face flushed with emotion. "You just murdered his daughter!"
"The people won't follow you or him either," Ida chimed in. His expression was a mix of panic and scorn. "And there's Lady Cuttlefish. Do you think she will simply stand by and let Octavio come and ruin things? Dhe'll kill him before he even gets here."
"Lord Octavio will understand! He knows what's necessary and his daughter was a traitor! He'll be glad to be rid of her and so will the people. Once he is back and that cursed inkling is out of the way, we will have strong leadership again, strong Octarian leadership again. We will be strong, conquerors like we once were and Octavia will just be a terrible memory, an object lesson for the history books."
A horrible, agony-filled scream filled the room and stunned everyone. Something leapt at Stonefeller from behind. Arms wrapped around him and a head of glowing blue rings and eyes appeared over his shoulder. The next scream came from Stonefeller himself as his attacker opened her beak and bit down on his neck, hard. Blood spurted out from the wound and she held onto him firmly as he thrashed around, trying to throw her off.
Glittermine moved almost before he could think. He crossed the floor and grabbed the ink pistol, wrenching it from Stonefeller's hand and sending it clattering into the wall.
Stonefeller jammed his elbow into his attacker's gut, causing her to fall off his back and onto the floor, gasping for breath. He tried to make a run for his pistol but the Exarch grabbed him from behind and tackled him to the floor.
He struggled to get back up but even the Exarch was able to hold him down until Glittermine and several of the other councillors came to help.
"You'll pay for this!" He screamed, holding his neck painfully. His skin was turning a sikly pallour and his breathing was becoming laboured "If you hold me for trial… Octavio will see me… vindicated! You will all be… declared traitors… for this!"
The Exarch withdrew and shook his head sadly. "No, Councillor. I am afraid you are already dead."
He and everyone else looked over to the other side of the room. The young temple maiden had recovered and was on her hands and knees in front of Octavia's splattered remains, sobbing relentlessly, her blue rings burning brightly, as though Octavia's soul was passing through them.
"What do we do?" Ida asked. "Should we warn Lady Cuttlefish and the Ambassador?"
"I imagine they'll be occupied for a while," Protor said mournfully. "Telling them would just give them something else to occupy their mind when they need to stay focused on the defence of the domes."
"Right after the battle then," Glittermine said. "The instant we are let out of here we have to tell them what happened."
He expected a few raised eyebrows or questionable looks, but he got none, only quiet agreement.
Stonefeller gasped his last breaths as the temple maiden's deadly venom did its work. At least one good thing had come of this terrible tragedy: the Ravalda was finally united.
Author's Notes:
A lot of death and near death in this chapter, and the walls have been breached! How can things get any worse for our heroes? Stay tuned to find out ;) Seriously though, Mansia's role in the story was expanded thanks to that last scene. A person with nothing left to lose is very dangerous indeed. She was originally just a nameless background character in one of the earlier drafts, but her role gradually expanded as I realized that Octavia hadn't really been appearing to do much of anything, so for this draft I tried to have her be more involved, even if most of it was off-screen, and to hopefully show another side of her and hint towards the reasons for her choices. So how about it? We almost lost Mia, almost lost her again when the maw blew up on the wrong side of the barricades. Tephy's working hard at the aid station, everyone's been fighting for hours, they're at their limit and their grip has finally slipped. Can they recover? Then there's Reina who's probably feeling like one of the few sane people left the in world right now. Can she really stall the election long enough for something to change? So many questions and much still left to be answered. The climax is far from over.
