Author's Note: As of June 27th, 2016, the entire fanfic has been rewritten. That means this chapter, all that came before it, and all that follow it now contain different content that they did previously. You are strongly encouraged to go back and reread the entire fanfic from the beginning, as the revised continuity may confuse you if you jump in part of the way through.
Torchlight flashes off of steel swords. The smell of the hairy men hangs heavy in the air. Men and boys are dragged out into the streets. A mother shields her two sons against the horrors of war. A soldier begins to yell at her. There is a struggle. The woman pulls out a concealed knife. She is cut down. Her sons are dragged away from her corpse, screaming. They are thrown down in front of a soldier, lined up next to dozens of their fellow townsmen. The soldier talks about honor and duty to the Chief. About the draft. The price their town must pay for defying the Hooded One. Another man is dragged into the group. It is the brothers' father. They look to him for comfort. He meets their gazes, and they see only defeat and shame in his eyes. They begin to weep.
"Rankyne!" Shouted Caydmar as he tried to wake his brother out of his trance. "Can you hear me? Rankyne?" Rankyne snapped out of his daydream.
"Yeah. I can hear you." He said coldly as he got up from his bed. "What do you want?"
"The meeting is about to resume. Would you care to grace us with your presence?" Caydmar asked sardonically.
"Why the hell not? Sure, let's go." The two of them left the tent. They walked in silence, and a minute later arrived in the central tent for the meeting. Sitting around the table with a map of the valley on it were Sybron Brook, President Phoncible, Jigafta Utenki, X'lish Trenya, Fone Bone, and Queen Thorn. In the corner of the room sat an unconscious bone captive guarded by the rat creature Bartleby. Caydmar and Rankyne took their seats, and Phoney started talking again.
"Thank you for joining us, Prince Rankyne. Now that everyone is present, we can resume the meeting. As you've probably all already heard, that APC we intercepted about two hours ago was no enemy. It was my cousin. Which puts the question of how much Glaian actually knows about our location back on the table." He walked over to the prisoner. "And based on the information this man gave us, we think Glaian is as of yet unaware of our present location. That having been said, six of his squads going missing in the same area at the same time won't go unnoticed. We probably only have a day, two at most, before he finds out exactly where we are and smokes us out. Which means we've got to make our move now." He walked back to the head of the table.
"But how does this change our options any? We still don't have a way of getting past his defenses, not to mention the fact that we're still outnumbered four thousand to one. Are you suggesting that we just blindly rush to our deaths?" Caydmar asked.
"No. We intercepted a transmission recently that drastically changes our options." Jigafta responded. "Only about half an hour ago, we hacked into an encrypted navy communications satellite and caught some fragments of a conversation between someone in Glaian's camp and someone in the UHF headquarters in Wadralia."
"The what?" Rankyne asked confused and slightly angry.
"The United Human Federation, based out of the country of Wadralia. If you had bothered to come to our meeting last week, you would know that." Caydmar retorted. Rankyne fumed, but didn't say anything.
"Anyway, we only know one person in the UHF with access to that communications network: Admiral Satranik Haenkos." Continued Phoney. "And from what we gathered from her transmission, she's planning a strike on Glaian's forces back home in the middle of some sort of ceremony Glaian will be hosting in Atheia at midnight, tomorrow night."
"Isn't that a Harvest Moon?" Asked Thorn.
"Yes it is. Which means that Glaian might try to use the Harvest Moon's ritualistic pull to free the "Crystal Councilman" the Council warned us about. Or, more probably, he knows that Harvest Moons hold a superstitious significance with the Valley people, so he might try something extravagant to show off his power and frighten everyone further. Whatever the case, he's likely to have the weakest defenses he'll have from now until his men are on our doorstep during whatever he's planning tomorrow night, so we'll strike him then. We've put together somewhat of a plan for-"
"Mr. Phoney!" Shouted a human as he burst through the tent flap. "There's a bug at the door that wants to see you!" Phoney glanced at Fone, who just shrugged.
"Send him in." He ordered the man. The guard left and a few moments later Ted leapt through the door.
"Ted, good to see you!" Fone shouted. He, Phoney and Thorn all got up to greet the new arrival.
"Hiyas Bone." He cheered back. "How've ya'll been holdin' up?"
"Good. We haven't heard from you since the invasion. What happened to the villagers?" Thorn asked.
"I didn't make it in time. They all got taken behind that big fence around the capital. But I did manage to make my way over to Old Man's Cave an' met up with Queen Rose and the Great Red Dragon. At least they're still alive an' kickin'."
"We suspected as much." Sybron Brook disclosed. "Now would someone like to explain why we are wasting our time conversing with an insect?"
"Oh yeah. I came over here form Old Man's Cave to bring ya'll a message."
"From Gran'ma Ben?" Thorn asked.
"Nope. From some bone woman who showed up outa the blue an' killed all the other bones surroundin' the place an' freed everyone. I think her same was Nibet or some such. I-"
"Did you say Nibet?" X'lish inquired. The tone in her voice became instantly menacing.
"Yes." Ted responded. He suddenly very afraid that she might squash him. "Do you know her?"
"You could say that." X;lish spat out. She was about to get up when Jigafta stopped her.
"Hey, don't blame the messenger." He asserted. "Let's just hear what your sister has to say."
"Screw that! I'm not listening to another word from that bitch!" She batted his hand aside. "I need to go cool off." She muttered as she started to leave the tent.
"I don't know what your history is with her, but she seemed like a nice person." Ted chimed. X'lish stopped.
"She does that you know. Makes you trust her. Gets on your good side. Then she puts a blade in your gut. Whoever you left with her is probably dead by now."
"X'lish!" Thorn shouted. "Don't say that!"
"It's true." X'lish cajoled as she turned to face Thorn. "The Dragon, your grandmother, everyone." She drew a line with her finger across her neck.
"X'lish, just because you lost your husband doesn't give you the right to take your anger out on Thorn's emotional fragility." Jigafta retorted. Thorn gave him a mild scowl. He grabbed X'lish's arm before she could leave, and dragged her back to her seat. "Now Ted." He continued. "What were you saying about Nibet? What can you tell us about her?"
"She helped us outa' a huge bind, an' the Great Red Dragon seemed to trust her after she started talkin' 'bout how she was forced to follow that bone guy Glaian's orders, and that she actually worked for someone inside his camp trying to take him down." Ted recounted.
"Did she say anything specific, or out of the ordinary?"
"She did mention something about a small blue crystal, does that help? I'm sorry I didn't hear anythin' else. I was pretty far away from the conversation." Jigafta sat for a moment.
"It helps, sort of." He finally spoke, breaking the incredibly awkward silence. He turned to X'lish, who was sitting impatiently in her chair. "I think your sister was controlled against her will to kill your husband." X'lish looked at him with slight confusion and disappointment. "I know what you think, but I have a hunch that this is all connects back to the Order's supplier. Will you trust me?" He looked from her to Phoney after he said that, who nodded slightly.
"Okay." She answered. "I'll trust you. But you'd better explain all of this later." X'lish's anger subsided, and everyone in the room breathed a collective sigh of relief.
"Now that… whatever the hell just happened is over, we can hear the bug's message and hopefully get somewhere with all of this." Rankyne interjected.
"Right." Phoney said. "Ted, talk."
"Well, Nibet says that Glaian's gonna be holdin' some big ceremony tomorrow night durin' the Harvest Moon, and it's gonna be the biggest party even seen. A real grand spectacle. Durin' this party, Nibet, Rose, the Dragon, and some of the soldiers are all gonna sneak into Glaian's main camp in one of those flyin' things and mess it all up. And she says she wants you to attack when she shoots off the signal, which is some sort of big red smoke column."
"Are there any particular targets?" Caydmar asked.
"Three or four, I think. The big fence in front of the city needs to come down so the humans can get free, a weapon storage facility on Sinner's Rock needs to be destroyed, you've got to smash all of the vehicles parked outside the eastern gate, an' you need to send a team to help the main force attack the temple where Glaian's holdin' the big event." Phoney and Sybron pondered the news for a few minutes. Sybron looked at Phoney, and the two of them reached a tacit understanding of the situation. Then Phoney began to pour fourth their new plan.
"Ted, can you get over to the human camp by tomorrow morning?" Phoney asked.
"If I leave right now, yeah. Anything you need me to tell 'em?"
"Tell as many people as you can to gather in front of the North gate tomorrow night. We can't bring that whole fence down, but we can put a hole in it big enough to get them out."
"Gotcha." He immediately jumped out of the tent and left for the city.
"So, boss, what's the plan?" Jigafta asked. Phoney cracked his knuckled and started issuing orders.
"We've only got one shot at this, so we'll need every ally and weapon we can possibly put into play."
"Please don't tell me we're going to get help from the rat creatures." Rankyne winced.
"That's exactly what we're going to do. Now I saw what the rats did to this valley almost six years ago firsthand, as did most of the rest of you, but the fact is that they live in this valley just like you. And, like Roque Ja, they could be made to see reason. So we'll be sending Bartleby, escorted by X'lish and her team, in one of the dropships to convince them to help us in the attack. Whether they can secure the rats' loyalty or not, she'll take her team and whoever they convinced to help us and meet up with my team, who will be carrying the majority of our explosives, to strike the vehicle depot at the east gate. We'll blow up the tanks and most of the APC's, and take the few that remain to the North gate to evacuate the humans."
"Who's going to be on the North gate team?" Fone asked.
"You and Thorn will take the dropship to blow a hole in the North gate fence and to defend the humans from attack until X'lish and I arrive with the evac transports. Then the four of us will move up and attack the temple with Nibet's force. That just leaves the weapons depot, which is where Glaian has most likely stashed his emergency plasma weapons. Breshet's Sky Legion and Roque Ja will clear out the cache while Caydmar and Rankyne destroy the ordinance with explosives. Then the princes and the dragons will move in to attack the city and make their way toward the temple as well."
"You're putting a lot of stock in the abilities of people that don't remotely know how to use our technology. Why can't I just do that instead?" Jigafta advanced.
"Because I need your infiltration skills for the most important job. These three groups need to be able to do their jobs for this plan to succeed, and that necessitates a huge distraction. We'll drop you off inside the walls prior to the signal flare going up. When Nibet fires it, you wreak havoc. Blow something up. Kill people. Do you. But be as loud about it as possible. Only after the defenders leave the wall will we strike our targets."
"How'll you get the dropship inside the walls without them spotting you? Don't they have ways of detecting cloaked objects?" Sybron asked.
"We managed to get a security password out of our captive. It should be viable for the next two days." X'lish responded. "So what do we do when we all get to the temple where Glaian is staying?"
"We kill him, simple as that. We'll move in from multiple directions to cut off his escape, and while the Dragons and human forces hold off his foot soldiers, you, Jigafta, Nibet and her forces, Fone, Thorn, Bartleby, Caydmar, Rankyne and I will move into the temple and take him out. Oh, and Sybron, you will be staying behind to co-ordinate our efforts and direct the strike teams. It's a long shot, but I think it can be done."
"A long shot is an understatement! How will we know how to work these explosives? Who will pilot the dropship to take Fone, Thorn and Jigafta to the gate? Does anyone on X'lish's or your team actually know how to drive an APC?" Rankyne shouted bewildered.
"Aside from you two boneheads, every human in this camp has spent every available second of the last two months learning how to work our technology. So after this meeting, Jigafta will teach you two how to arm plastic explosives and bring you up to speed on using guns. It isn't actually all that hard. Fone knows enough about flying to make it to the gate and land in one piece, and you two will be taking the Dragons to Sinner's Rock, so you don't have to worry about that. Any more questions from anyone?" No one responded.
"Good, now we move on to making preparations. X'lish, you prepare the explosives and tell the plan to Breshet. I'll tell Roque Ja to head over to Sinner's Rock when he next reports back. Jigafta, you take the princes aside and teach them how to do their jobs. Sybron, I'll be back in a few minutes to teach you how to run the communications network. Other than that, everyone go about your usual business. We'll meet again tonight during the meal to review the plan."
"Damn it!" Rankyne shouted as he threw down the handgun he was holding. "I don't understand these foul contraptions!" He and Caydmar stood on top of the temple with Jigafta, who had just finished teaching them the basics of handling a gun, and was now observing as they fired shots at cans placed along a flat rock as a makeshift firing range.
"What's not to understand? It's just point and pull. Like using a bow and arrow. But more satisfying." Caydmar jubilated as he loaded another magazine into the bottom of his gun. "Just relax and feel the shot."
"I have no idea what the hell that's supposed to mean." Rankyne complained. He bent down to pick his gun back up. "These things seem so unnatural. It's hard to believe they can propel a chunk of solid metal faster than sound. I just don't understand." He turned his gun over in his hands inquisitively.
"You don't have to understand." Jigafta retorted as he walked up to the twins. "You just have to shoot the target and kill it. Breath. Focus. Clear your head. It's easy if you put some effort into it."
"This seems so laughably insane. How do you expect me to master handling a weapon I don't understand in just over a day?"
"Caydmar seems to have gotten the hang of it pretty well." Jigafta motioned to Caydmar, who was knocking down cans left and right with his shots. "I'm sure you just need to focus a little more."
"Of course he can use a gun well, he's proficient at being empty headed. Someone seems to have finally invented a weapon that utilizes my brother's lack of thought. I'm quite charmed." Rankyne cajoled.
"I heard that!" Caydmar shouted back at Rankyne.
"Come on, just try it again." Mused Jigafta. "You've got nothing to lose, after all."
"Fine!" Rankyne shouted down at him. He walked back over to where Caydmar was standing and attempted once again to line up his sights. He pointed them at a can. He slowed his breathing and calmed his heartbeat. He closed his eyes to focus. He saw against the back of his eyelids the face of his father, eyes downcast, defeated. Rankyne's face twitched.
He was sitting with his brother in the middle of a tent. Their father sat slumped in a corner. A large table stood in between them and his father's brother, the second in command of the Pawan army. He was pacing back and forth, his face contorted in an expression of mock sympathy.
"Once again, I must express my deepest regret at the loss of your mother. I know how hard it must be to go through such an ordeal, but you must understand the importance of the mantle you are about to take up. The House of Mists needs fine warriors. Your father should be proud of what you are about to do."
Their father suddenly sprung to his feet and began shouting.
"You damn coward!" He rushed his brother and slammed him to the ground, pinning him with his body weight. "You're nothing but a bloodthirsty warmonger, hiding behind old traditions and taking pleasure in the suffering of others." He raise his fists to beat his brother senseless.
Guards rushed into the tent and dragged their father away. The guards threw him to the ground outside and beat him senseless as the boys watched. Their uncle stood up calmly and approached the brothers from behind.
"Such is the fate of traitors." He declared jauntily. Rankyne's rage boiled over.
He screamed in a burst of animalistic rage as he flicked open his eyes. Spinning around to strike his uncle, he fired a single round from his gun wildly in front of him, drawing him back into reality. He froze as he noticed that the few people on the rooftop preparing for the assault had all stopped what they were doing to stare at him. Even Caydmar had stopped his steady rhythm of shooting to look at his brother inquisitively.
"Hey look, you fired a shot. Lucky for us, you can't hit anything worth a damn." Jigafta Joked. "Maybe if you tried shooting your gun at the target instead of me, you'd achieve some sort of result."
"I'm done for today." Rankyne muttered as he walked past Jigafta. After a few moments, everyone resumed their work.
"I do not understand him in the slightest." Jigafta remarked as he walked over to where Caydmar was standing. "Well, since your brother quit on us and both of you seemed to have grasped the explosives well enough, I think you deserve a break."
"Thank you kindly, sir." Caydmar said as he began to follow after his brother. He turned back to face Jigafta briefly. "Don't worry about trying to understand Rankyne, no one can. I gave up trying to years ago."
"Well maybe it's time you start trying again. We don't want to be going into battle with loose emotions like his hanging around."
"I'll take that under advisement. See you at dinner." Caydmar left the roof and Jigafta alone. Jigafta began to follow after him when he heard a voice from behind him.
"Rough day with the kids, huh?" He turned around to see X'lish standing behind him.
"Sorry, didn't see you there. Lost in my own world I guess." He apologized.
"No, it's alright. Actually, I was looking for you. You said you'd explain about Nibet later. Well now is later. Explain." Jigafta looked around for a brief instant.
"Alright, fine. Do you remember the raid on the Order's proxy organization, the Boneville Explorers' Society?"
"How could I forget?"
"In their last expedition into the desert before we blew the place to bits, they brought back a lot of small blue crystals. I took one with me on a whim, and I managed to give it to Daniel for analysis before they caught us and shipped us away. It took him decades to figure it out, but right before his death he learned that the crystals had the ability to capture and alter a person's memories"
"I don't see what this has to do with my sister."
"Daniel also learned that the people who funded the Boneville Explorers' Society and the Order were backing Glaian's efforts, and sent Nibet into Glaian's camp to investigate. Then she turned to his side."
"So, are you saying Glaian stole her memories and make her think she worshiped him using a crystal? Do you know how insane that sounds?"
"It would also explain Daniel's sudden betrayal."
"How would Glaian have even gotten his hands on these things?"
"If he had access to the Order's old networks, then it wouldn't be impossible."
"But how would he have access? You just keep leading me on, get to the point already." X'lish began taping her foot impatiently.
"Well, the most likely way I can think of is if he was somehow related to someone who used to work in the Order."
"You aren't implying…"
"I am. I think Glaian might actually be Kelkaid Nagratek's son."
"How can you be certain? I thought we killed everyone in the raid twenty-five years ago?"
"We don't know for certain we killed everyone. Someone could have slipped past us. And, beyond that, Glaian said some very telling things during our fight that pointed to his relationship with Kelkaid."
"That's a wild theory." X'lish pondered it for a moment. "It's hardly believable, but I'm impressed that you put together all of those details in a few seconds."
"Oh come on. You met with a dragon just ten minutes ago to tell her the details of a plan to blow up a stockpile of plasma missiles with the help of twin human medieval princes and a giant talking cat. What's so hard to believe about a crystal that can alter memories? Or Glaian's relationship with another person named Nagratek?"
"I guess you have a point, but still… to think that my sister might be innocent. I can't say that I'm relieved, just more confused at who I should be angry at. And that doesn't sit well with me. You know how I deal with anger."
"At least take my words into consideration when you put a gun up to your sister's head. That's all I ask. She might not be as bad a person as you think." The two of them stood in silence for a minute.
"Well, I've got to get going. All of the explosives we'll need for the assault won't go prepare themselves. See you at dinner, I guess." Jigafta walked off, leaving X'lish standing on the roof of the temple by herself. Everyone else had moved onto other places to prepare other equipment. X'lish stared out at the setting sun.
"We shared our first kiss under a sunset like this one, didn't we Faldr." She muttered to herself. "Our last one to." She stared off at the city of Atheia in the distance. "It'd be just like you to leave me to clean up your mess." As she turned away from the scenery and back toward the work ahead of her, she shot one last glance at the horizon and shed a single tear.
Fone stared at his outstretched hand. During the meeting, he thought he saw his skin pulsing a faint golden glow. But when the meeting ended, it seemed to go away. It hadn't come back since.
"Fone, are you listening?" Thorn asked him. The two of them were sitting outside Thorn's tent waiting for dinner to start.
"Huh?" Fone snapped back out of his observational trance and realized he had spaced out in the middle of their conversation.
"We were talking, and you just started staring at your forearm. Are you okay?"
"Yeah, sorry. I can't place my finger on it, but Ever since I got back I've felt different somehow. Oh well. I'm probably just excited or on edge or something. What were you saying?"
"Before you got spacey on me, I was talking about our relationship. And, like I was saying, I don't really feel comfortable committing to a relationship right now. Emotions are running high all around the camp, and I'd hate to do something now that I'll regret later."
"But that's exactly why we need to resolve things now. We're going to be fighting for our lives and the future of the entire Valley tomorrow. We need to figure our relationship out before then or else something might happen and… I don't want either of us to have any regrets, that's all I'm saying."
"I don't really see how we can work things out though. I'm human. You're a bone. We're two completely different people from two completely different species."
"I fail to see how that factors into anything at this point."
"You might be right, this is all very new and very strange to me." She paused for a moment. "I guess the heart of the matter is I don't really know what I'm feeling right now. Yesterday, almost everyone I knew was dead, including you. Now your back and my grandmother is okay and all of these emotions keep confusing me and I don't know what to do and I don't want to do something now that when I've calmed down I'll regret and-"
"You keep using that word." Fone interrupted.
"What word?"
"Regret. You keep saying that you don't want to do anything that you'd regret." He looked her straight in the eyes. The light reflected in his pupils glowed like golden honey. "Do you regret anything that's happened between us so far?"
"I don't think I-"
"Let me rephrase the question. I love you. Do you love me?"
"I… well, I don't really know right now."
"That's fine." Fone said nonchalantly as he broke eye contact. "You need time, I get that. Just let me know when you have an answer." He stood up to leave. "Dinner will probably be ready soon. See you then." He walked away, leaving Thorn confused and slightly exhilarated behind him.
After he was out of Thorn's eyesight, he walked around a corner and practically collapsed on the ground. He sat up and leaned his head against the wall with a sigh.
"Good job not losing your shit back there." A voice said standing above him. Fone looked up to see Jigafta looming over him with a smirk on his face. "Most guys I know would have thrown up by now." Jigafta reached out his hand.
"Just give it a few minutes." Fone said as he accepted the hand and stood himself up. "Were you watching the whole time?" Fone asked sheepishly.
"Not all of it, just at the important part. The species line is a tough one to cross, but know you aren't the first one to try. I was in love with a human once too."
"Really? How'd that work out?"
"It didn't. I'm a professional killer. My occupation doesn't exactly lend itself to attachments outside the field. And besides that, she died of some disease or something years ago."
"That isn't exactly the most encouraging thing you could have told me. In fact, it was mildly depressing."
"Well what I meant to say was don't hesitate. I did. Don't be me, and everything should work out fine."
"Well, thanks for that I guess. I'm going to head over to the mess tent and grab some dinner. Are you coming?"
"In a second. I've got some stuff to do. See you in a few." They parted ways, and Fone walked off toward the mess hall with a wildly enthusiastic grin on his face. Jigafta rolled his eyes and made his way through a series of winding hallways to the end of a small, obscure passageway that lead to the far end of the mountain where he awaited Breshet's arrival. He leaned against the entrance and stared up at the sky.
"The kid's got heart, huh." Breshet said sarcastically as she swooped down to their secluded meeting spot.
"I only hope he works his relationship with the Queen out better than I did with Ven."
"A traitor like you doesn't have the right to pronounce her name after what you did to her. What you're still doing to her."
"I didn't choose any of this, Breshet, I was forced into it. You should know that pain better than most, seeing how your father was the Nacht."
"I'd advise you not to bring that topic up here. I don't handle well when provoked." She snorted. Tongues of flame spurted out from her nostrils.
"Point taken, I'll back off. So what did you want?"
"The creature you call Fone is losing control. Surely you've seen the Spark pulse at the surface as I have?"
"I know we're running out of time, but what do you want me to do? I don't have enough energy stored yet to perform an operation difficult enough to dislodge it. I think we're going to have to use the Cipher."
"You can't be serious. It isn't ready yet, and if the Councilman breaks free, we'll need the stored energy. You need to act now, before we lose control of the situation."
"I don't think we have a choice at this point. Tell the others to prepare the Cipher for use, and pray we don't have to. I've got to get back." He turned and entered back through the entrance.
"I don't think you're telling me everything. Something has you spooked. What is it?"
"There's been a Nightmare Entity behind recent events."
"Last time I checked in with Shard, they were all imprisoned."
"I know, he told me the same thing. I think Deyavara might our culprit."
"I thought he was dead."
"In light of recent events, such as the convenient reemergence of nightmare eggs in more than one location, and Phoney's mentor being directly involved in Glaian's rise to power, I'm not so sure he's really gone. There are pieces moving around in the shadows. Things I can almost grasp and make sense of. And If I'm right, we're also going to need Shard's help. Tell him to get his ass down here as fast as he can." He walked back through the entrance and disappeared down the hall. Breshet sighed and took off to do as he asked.
On a mountain peak in the distance, feline eyes watched the meeting. Roque Ja lay on his perch, watching the entertainment laid out before him. Standing beside him was a bone with a large scar running down his dead left eye.
"So he figured out that I'm alive already. Did I make it that obvious?" The Scarred Bone muttered to himself.
"You could hear that conversation from this distance? I guess I shouldn't be surprised, you are a member of the House of Mists."
"I've never understood this local obsession with linking the Nightmare Entities to the Locust. We never existed at the same time and certainly never worked toward his ends."
"The old legends say you were made from his essence. That should be enough to grant you status as a member of the House even without your numerable inadvertent contributions to the Locust's cause."
"Enough idle conversation. I'm just here to re-affirm that you are aware of your orders."
"Why wouldn't I be?"
"Your people have a history of disappointing us."
"I'm not my ancestors. I know when I'm outclassed."
"Good. Then I shall return to Atheia. All of the pieces seem to be falling into place. This might be easier than we thought."
"If you would indulge me for a moment before you go, may I ask why you do not just kill them now?"
"Because I need despair to free my master. And despair is at its most potent when born from the highest zenith of hope. You need only plant the seed at the proper time, and it will all come crashing down. Now I must go. Remember to do your job." The scarred bone disappeared into one of the shadows cast upon the ground by the fading light. Roque Ja turned his eyes back to the temple and licked his lips hungrily. He could barely contain himself, for tomorrow night he would feast upon royal flesh.