Author's Note: A couple people have asked this, and it occurred that I hadn't made note of it in the story like I had initially planned, so for the sake of those people (and any others who may have wondered), a belated explanation.
Yuu? Is it pronounced "You", or something else? When I had designed the character template for her, I knew she was going to be a Canthan, and decided to toy with the concept of dialects in her character.
In my interpretation, the Canthan dialect has a peculiar quirk when it comes to double vowels. In such a situation, the double vowel produces an abrupt additional unwritten vowel sound, spoken almost as if the speaker had forgotten and suddenly slapped it on the end. In the cases of "aa", "ii", and "oo", an "ă" sound is applied; while in the case of "ee" and "uu", an "ā" sound is put on the end.
So, in the case of Yuu, her name would be pronounced (yu-ā). I hope that clears up some confusion.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Devona, Cynn, Mhenlo, and Aidan all had memories of where they were standing right now. Those memories led to other memories that weren't exactly pleasant. While Devona had already made her concerns clear the night before, the other three felt the need to weigh in as they realized just exactly where they were going.
"Are you sure there isn't a better way to get to the Forgotten Academy?" Cynn asked. "The snake used a teleporter pad to help us get back here… couldn't you do the same thing?"
"Firstly, I doubt it. The technology and science used to maintain and repair those devices are well beyond even my knowledge." Coran answered, "Secondly, we aren't going to the Forgotten Academy."
"Then what are we doing here?" She asked.
"I have an audience to make with a certain Lieutenant of Grenth." The king answered, and strode confidently into the shadowy archway so resolutely that even Yuu was taken a bit by surprise, and had to dash to catch up.
"Coran…" Aiden began as the group again gathered, this time in front of the monarch, "I'm not sure if Devona informed you, but we have likely angered…"
"The Mron? Oh, I'm sure." Coran interrupted, nonplused. "But I'm not terribly worried. I suspect they won't object to me, and even if they do, Arghazaz will make sure their schemes do not get very far."
"You sound very confident of your status of importance in my eyes." The echoing growl of the Lieutenant of Grenth boomed. Its burning eyes and patchwork visage emerged from the darkness, hunched over in the tunnel.
"My, I am surprised to see you so far out of your lair." Coran responded, astonishingly staunch in the beast's intimidating presence. "Have the Mron made a significant number of escape attempts recently?"
"No more than usual." Arghazaz replied. "But they have been quite agitated over the last handful of months… mostly due to the arrival of the Ascendants behind you."
"Well, if you would care to arrange for a meeting with their senior queen and myself in your chamber, I suspect I will cure that agitation." Coran said, his voice losing its lightness.
Silence hung in the tunnel in the form of a significantly pregnant pause before finally the Lieutenant of Grenth acknowledged, "Very well… I will have some of my minions… request her presence. With any luck, she will respond willingly."
"Whether willing or not doesn't terribly concern me at the moment. I am in somewhat considerable haste."
"You aren't Mer." Coran noted as the Mron procession tentatively entered Arghazaz's grand chamber.
"Asute, human." The catwoman, a young specimen with a purring voice and rich, healthy coat said with remarkably sound Basic. "I knew you were smart, but I never knew the bounds of your intelligence."
Coran's features broke out in a welcome smile, and he said, "As vapid as ever, aren't you Arro? I assume your presence here means you have taken your mother's place as senior queen of the pride?"
"Not officially." Arro answered. "My mother simply is not fit for much unnecessary travel. These last few months have been hard on her… she honestly thought freedom was finally within our reach. I fear she is losing her will to live."
"You two… know each other?" Devona asked.
"Indeed." Coran replied. "It had taken quite a bit of effort on Sslani's part to convince Arghazaz here to allow Arro part-time study in the Forgotten Academy."
As if ignoring the king, Arro's slit eyes narrowed as she regarded Coran's companions. "While I hold no quarrel with you; I do disapprove of your nerve, Coran… bringing these people back here."
"It was not your time to be free of the mountains yet, Arro." Coran declared in defense of his company. "And it was quite duplicitous of your mother to put them in such a loaded situation. But, nonetheless, that is no longer important. I hold the key to your people's freedom, and am willing to use it right now."
Argazaz's red eyes opened just slightly wider, and Devona noted that the Lieutenant of Grenth's curiosity was piqued as Arro said warily, "While in the course of our study, I sensed you to be somewhat of an altruist… I highly suspect you have an ulterior motive for this offer."
"As manipulative as it sounds, I do… and I'm afraid I cannot allow the Mron to go free unless you agree to that stipulation." Coran affirmed, his face twisting apologetic.
"Considering the squalor my people have lived in, I highly doubt that whatever you would ask of us would be considerably worse."
"My kingdom is about to be besieged by an army of Charr in numbers almost beyond comprehension. I'm certain Ascalon can be victorious nonetheless, but we need all the manpower we can muster in its defense. If we turn back the invading force, freedom will at last be yours."
"Why did you even bother to summon me? You know almost as well as I how desiring my kind is to roam free beneath the sun rather than stuffed in these caves. For a man who claimed to be in haste from the message given to me, you certainly have no issues squandering my time. So, whatever it is you have to convince this monstrosity to finally leave my people in peace, do so that I can confirm it and have the Mron mobilized as quickly as possible."
"Yes… do…" Arghazaz said, leaning forward in his massive throne. He seemed almost… hopeful, yet wary… as if Coran wasn't the first to try and beseech the Mron's freedom.
"Aidan, may I have the horn?" Coran asked, holding out his hand while keeping his eyes fixed upward on the Lieutenant of Grenth.
Aidan nodded, almost reverently parting the fine silk that had been wrapped around the object before gently putting it in square in Coran's palm. The king's fingers clenched around the rough, discolored ivory, then raised it up for Arghazaz's scrutiny. "This is the Horn of King Doric, my ancestor, and bound guardian of the Bloodstones."
"While perhaps remotely enthralling to mortal lives, I fail to see how that matters to anything." The Lieutenant of Grenth said with a tired sigh.
"On its own, nothing. But this horn actually is the mouthpiece of a larger horn perched on the plateau outside of Rin… a horn called Stormcaller." Coran's cheeks turned upward slightly as he noted Arghazaz's interest return. "And, perhaps more appropriately, in the tongue of the ancient forgotten, King Doric's full name is occasionally translated as 'Stormlord'."
"So you are contending…"
"I am the Heir of Storms, Arghazaz… and I am taking responsibility of the Mron as per the prophecy."
Arghazaz rapped his hands on the rests of his throne anxiously, "There is more than just some quaint tricks of translation and a pithy name of an oversized instrument that was to herald the Heir of Storms."
"I'm aware, and I assure you, and I've already done it. I'd go into further explanation, but I fear the lecture would possibly soar over even your head. I've identified the Hand of the Gods… I'd show you, but I fear the lecture might be even above your head. Sslani will know what I'm talking about."
"Thank my dark master… I was growing tired of this constant sentinel." The Lieutenant of Grenth said. "I won't burden myself with checking your claim; if you wish to be the Heir of Storms, so be it. At last, I can return to my god's side, and leave this dirty world of mortals to themselves."
The gigantic monstrosity stood, and with a startling burst of bright orange fire, disappeared with a plume of black, pungent smoke that caused the mortal audience to cough violently. Cynn had turned away to find some fresh air in order to see the Lieutenant's undead constructs collapse in rotting heaps just as the smoke vanished into nothing.
Arro blinked twice, patted down the sides of her fur to lay flat some tufts that had stood on end, then with her same reserved, aristocratic tone, declared, "I shall return to my people, and inform them of the wonderful news. I suspect it won't even be an hour before we are ready to leave this damnable hole."
She and her escorts left hastily, and their bright, energized footsteps belayed the joy that Arro's tone of voice did not.
"Now, while this may seem like a little late to ask… this is not the first time many of us have heard the name 'Heir of Storms'." Mhenlo said. "I believe the Lieutenant of Grenth mentioned it was one of Glint's prophecies…"
"It is." Coran said. "Glint had, and I believe still has, many prophecies… but the one that got the most attention among the Forgotten people were the Elements Quatrain. Four prophecies that weren't so much related except that Glint prescribed an element to each of them. I suspect the four of you are already familiar with the Flameseeker, otherwise known as the lich formerly Vizier Khilbron. But there is also the Seascourge, which is popularly believed to be Shiro Tagachi of Cantha; the Holder of Earth, who is yet to be defined, and finally the Heir of Storms… myself."
"You sound rather certain of your place in prophecy." Devona said.
Coran stared vacantly down the tunnel that Arro and her escorts had nearly charged down, and he said with surprising grimness, "I fear there's no doubt about it anymore. But come along, I'd rather not waste time just in case Arro's claims of the Mron's quick preparations prove accurate."