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.
"I wasn't aware that we had another supply shipment scheduled for today." The quartermaster said to Nibet as she walked off of a supply airship empty save for one large red metal container.
"Glaian requested these items from our supplier personally" Nibet replied. "Because of the recent security leaks, we're flying it in off the books. If you keep quiet about it, and everything goes smoothly, I'll make sure to put in a good word for you with Glaian. Now if you excuse me, I have a ceremony to attend." She walked off in the direction of the Temple.
"What am I supposed to do with it?" The quartermaster asked.
"Glaian will come by at some point to inspect the contents. Until then, just leave it be and make sure no one disturbs it." She continued walking.
"But I don't even know what's in it? How am I supposed to let an unmarked container with unknown contents just sit undisturbed in a loading zone?" Nibet stopped and looked back at the quartermaster with a stare that froze him solid.
"Do you want me to tell Glaian that I was late to the coronation ceremony because you couldn't do your job and take orders like everyone else, or do you want that honor for yourself?"
"No ma'am. Sorry ma'am. I'll let you get back to your work then, ma'am." He said as he scuffled away in fear. Nibet chuckled, and was about to continue on her way when she saw a commotion taking place over by another dropship. She decided to check it out.
"Did you hit your head? Dropship parking is in the vehicle storage, not in the supply storage!" Another one of the quartermasters shouted at the lone Bone standing on the dropship's ramp. "I swear none of you new recruits payed attention during the debriefing."
"Sorry, sir. I'll bring it over right away." The Bone went back into the dropship. It closed up and took off into the sky. Nibet was about to ask the quartermaster what had happened when someone tapped her on the shoulder. She whirled around to strike the person responsible, but Jigafta caught her fist.
"Relax, Nibet. That was Fone. He just dropped me off to do some damage." Jigafta said jubilantly.
"This is the first time we've spoken in over two decades." She said apprehensively.
"Yes. An astute observation. Your point?" Jigafta asked.
"And you don't hate me after everything I did?" Nibet replied, nervously awaiting his answer.
"I used to. But now that we know Faldr's death wasn't your fault, I've kind of forgiven you. I don't think the same can be said about X'lish though. You'll have to work that one out with her yourself."
"That's about what I expected. Where is she, by the way?"
"Awaiting the signal near the eastern gate."
"So Phoncible can plan a battle strategy, huh? Good for him. Well, enough chit chat, we've got things to prepare." Nibet began walking toward the temple again. "Come follow me, and I'll show you."
"Where are we, exactly?" Jigafta asked as they walked through the empty streets.
"Near the Southern gate. Glaian set up a storage and resupply area in the large courtyard. It isn't a major concern since he doesn't stash his plasma weapons here, so Rose Harvester's men should make short work of the guards, with a little assistance of course."
"I'm going to assume these men you speak of are the contents of the mystery container sitting in your supply ship back there, but if you want me to help them with the assault, why lead me in the opposite direction."
"You'll help them. Just after you fire the flare off the roof of the temple." Nibet said as she drew a small flare gun from her belt and handed it to Jigafta.
"I thought you were sending off the signal. What's this about?" Jigafta asked as he took the gun from her hands.
"Slight change of plans. Glaian want's me at his side during the ceremony, so I won't be in a good position to fire off the flare. I'll need you to do it if this is going to work."
"I'm supposed to cause damage inside the wall to draw the perimeter guards' attention. How do you expect me to do both?"
"You'll figure something out. It's what you're good at."
"Okay, assuming I shoot off the flare and start blowing things up, what then?"
"Then I'll need you to free Rose's men in the container. Meanwhile, I'll make a move on Glaian. I probably can't take him in a straight up fight thanks to all of the crazy modifications Archibald made to him, but I can stall him long enough for you to haul your ass back to the temple and help me end him." They stopped near the temple, just out of sight of the guards.
"If that's the plan, then I'm better off firing the flare from the storage area to save time."
"Suit yourself." Nibet shrugged. Jigafta began running in the direction they had come from.
"I'll get to work. Just make sure you don't get yourself killed."
"Sure thing. And good luck."
"Like I've ever needed luck. See you on the other side." dashed into the shadows of the alleyways leading back to the landing zone. Nibet walked casually inside to meet up with Glaian and begin the ceremony. As Jigafta approached the cargo area, he heard two guards conversing as they waked down a nearby alleyway. He ducked behind a small chunk of stone and began to sneak up on them
"Can you believe the amount of cigar butts that new guy keeps leaving around?" One guard said to the other.
"Yeah, it's starting to annoy me. What was his name again, some sort of facial expression?" The second one replied.
"Smile?"
"No, I'm sure it was something more sinister. Oh forget it. The ceremony's about to start anyway, let's just finish our patrol so we can get some good seats." Jigafta positioned himself right behind both of them, and with one slash from his daggers slit both of their throats. With the two of them dispatched, he headed off once again for the loading zone.
"Hey, what are you doing over here? This area's on lockdown, Nibet's orders." The quartermaster shouted as Jigafta ran up to him.
"Quartermaster, there' something important I've got to tell you!" Jigafta shouted. When he reached the quartermaster, he stuck a blade in his neck. "You're a dead man." He whispered into the shocked quartermaster's ear. With him dead, Jigafta ran up the supply ship's ramp and over to the container. It was magnetically sealed with a four digit passcode, which Nibet neglected to give to him.
"I guess now would be the time to splurge a little." Jigafta muttered to himself. He dug into the edge of the container's door with his fingers as far as he could, and used his bare hands to pry it off of and fling it to the side. Inside stood Gran'ma Ben, the Great Red Dragon, and almost forty human guards armed with swords and bows. Several of the guards made an attempt to attack him, but Gran'ma Ben shouted.
"Wait!" They halted, looking back at her confused. "He's a friend." She walked to the front of the container. "Where's Nibet." She asked.
"She's at the ceremony, preparing to kill Glaian" He replied.
"And what's our job?"
"I assumed Nibet would have told you, but our job is to do as much damage as possible where we are do distract the enemy forces."
"What kind of opposition are we looking at?"
"There's only about half a dozen unarmed Bones here right now, but more will show up once we begin."
"Red, I'll leave them to you." Gran'ma said to the Great Red Dragon crouched at the back of the container.
"With pleasure." He bounded over the heads of everyone in the container, jumped out of the supply ship, and tore into the few scattered Bones outside. Screams echoed for several seconds, and then everything fell silent. A moment after that the sound of metal boots on concrete began echoing from one of the alleys in the distance.
"Alright boys, we just woke the hornet's nest." Gran'ma Ben addressed her men. "They're about to hit us with everything they've got, so we're going to hit back twice as hard. Archers, get up into the buildings and cover us from the windows. The rest of you hide in preparation for some ambushes." She turned to Jigafta as her men ran out of the container to set up. "And you..."
"Don't worry about me. I can handle myself in a fight. Just get your men out of sight, especially that Dragon. He'll draw attention."
"What are you planning, exactly?"
"It's a surprise. Just do as I say." Before she could protest, Jigafta ran out of the supply ship and around the corner. She shrugged and ran off to make sure her men were out of sight. Jigafta rounded the corner of the ship and found a fuel line to one of the engines. He pulled out a small amount of plastic explosive from his pocket and attached it to the fuel line. Then he ran back around to the ramp of the supply ship and waited for approaching loud metal boots to arrive. He didn't wait long. From the alley in front of him came six heavily armed and armored bone soldiers.
"Hello there." Jigafta waved them down. They ran over to him, and one of them, presumably their squad leader, approached him.
"We heard some screaming coming form over here just a moment ago. Is everything alright?" He asked. Then the squad leader noticed the seven charred and eviscerated bodies on the ground.
"No, not really." Jigafta replied. "We had a live dragon captive this container, but as we were moving it the magnetic lock failed and the dragon broke out. It killed everyone but me. I managed to wound its snout and it fled back into the container. Could you six do me a huge favor and kill it? That'd be great." The six of them started at him stunned for a moment.
"We'll kill it for you." The squad leader said, blankly staring at the bodies around them. "But when this is over I'm dragging you in front of Glaian to make you explain yourself."
"Fine by me, just get in and kill it already." The six of them filed into the container as Jigafta drew the detonator for the explosives out of his pocket.
"There's nothing in here!" One of the men shouted. "This isn't a dragon cage!"
"No, it isn't." Jigafta said, smirking as he turned to face the men in the container. He backed of several steps. "It's your grave." He flicked the switch on the small device in his hands, and the explosives on the fuel line detonated. The craft tore in two as the pressure wave from the blast sent fire and shards of metal flying in every direction. Shouting erupted across the base, and Jigafta could see the faint shapes of snipers moving across the wall abandoning their posts in response. Smirking, he raised the flare gun above his head and fired the shot.
"… and as a celebration of our continued victory over the wretched humans, I will once again use my position as the heir to the throne of Nagratek to bring more promising individuals into my fold. Izaroth, Nemyunoi, and Wunkhani have all proven themselves more than worthy of my House. So it is with great pleasure that I consecrate these three bright individuals as new members of the ever growing Clan Nagratek." Glaian delivered his speech to a cheering crowd of soldiers in the temple. His three prospects knelt before him in robes, and Nibet stood at his side, waiting to make her move. Grimace was nowhere to be seen. As Nibet looked out at the crowd waiting for the explosion to hit, she thought she saw herself standing in the mass of people, smirking at her. She looked again, and she was gone.
"You're just tense. Relax" She whispered to herself. She eventually calmed down. Her calmness was short lived.
Nibet heard the explosion right as Glaian placed his hands on Izaroth's shoulders. Everyone in the room panicked for a moment, and in the confusion no one except Nibet noticed the red cloud of the flare plough into the sky through the small hole in the window. Nibet prayed that the others got their jobs done before Glaian's army got a change to regroup.
While the mass was still scrambling to understand what they just felt, she took the opportunity to silence Glaian once and for all. She drew a knife from her belt and approached him as he yelled at one of his attendants. She pulled back her arm to make a killing blow, but a hand caught her wrist. She was getting tired of that.
"I can't have you doing that, now can I? Not before I get my reward for killing you, that is." A voice behind her and to her right said, with more than a hint of satisfaction. She whirled around and wrenched her hand free. Staring her in the face was a ghost. Selthash Haenkos, her former partner before she met Jigafta and Milzaek. The whole left side of his body was covered in burns.
"I didn't realize you were still alive." She said coldly, and she looked around to assess how much time she still had left.
"And I didn't realize that you'd be working with Kelkaid's son as a common thug. Life's full of surprises." He replied as he unsheathed his sword and took a fighting stance.
"You aren't still mad about what I did at the Academy, are you?"
"Words cannot describe the intense, burning anger I have held for you these past twenty-five years. So I'll not attempt to use words. I'll let every cut I make in your skin, every limb I hack off of your miserable corpse speak for me." Selthash lunged at her. She prepared to defend herself, but before he reached her, Glaian stepped in between them and caught the oncoming blade with two fingers. Nibet ran at Glaian to try to silence him, but he caught her knife too.
"Now what do we have here?" He asked the two of them. "I can't have two of my best fighters at each other's throats in such a time of crisis. You two should really learn to get along better."
"Glaian, sir, you should have told me you recruited this psychopath as a member of your personal guard. He's unstable. He just tried to kill me!" Nibet tried to convince Glaian that she was still on his side.
"I recruited him, my dear, because I suspected that you might have wormed your way out of my grasp. And, judging by how you just tried to plunge a dagger in my throat, I'd say the sentiment wasn't far off the mark. Fortunately, I didn't go to such lengths to control you to let you slip away so easily. I do have one failsafe in place before I have to resort to killing you. Crystal dominion."
Those words triggered convulsions in Nibet's body. She dropped her knife and fell to her knees. Out of the crowd came her other self. The second Nibet plunged her hands straight into the first's brain. She screamed and went limp. Glaian turned to address his prospects.
"I apologize for how the ceremony turned out, but I'm concerned Satranik might make a move while we are distracted, so I would like the three of you to board a transport and take command of our troops back home posthaste." Izaroth, Nemyunoi and Wunkhani complied without a word, and a contingent of soldiers began to escort them out of the building. Glaian turned his attention back to Nibet, who began to rise from the ground.
"Are you ready to return to your post, Nibet Trenya?" Glaian asked her.
"Yes, your majesty." She replied, unaware that two minutes ago she wanted him dead.
"Do you know where Phoncible's resistance will be attacking from?" He asked her.
"My sister's target is the eastern gate's vehicle storage area."
"Head there immediately. Kill her without remorse."
"As you command, my Lord." Nibet ran out of the building to confront her sister. Glaian had one more order to issue.
"Selthash." He addressed the mercenary. "I know you agreed to join my crusade solely so you could get your revenge."
"And you just snatched it from me." Selthash replied angrily.
"Not entirely. Since her conditioning took place under the effects of a Nightmare Egg, now that it is gone her programming may be lessened as a result. In other words, there is a strong possibility that she may break free. Follow her, and if she regains control, I want you to kill her."
"I didn't understand half of what you just said, but if it means I get to kill her, then I'll comply with pleasure." Selthash smirked as he followed her out of the temple.
"If you need backup, just call and the team will be minutes away." The dropship pilot said to X'lish as she and Bartleby began walking off of the ramp and into the mountains.
"I appreciate the gesture, but I won't need backup." X'lish replied. She and Bartleby left the dropship as it went into stealth mode. In the distance the sun was just beginning to set. Ahead of them lay the imposing peaks of the mountain fortress home of the rat creatures. Half a dozen obsidian spires rising into the sky sitting atop a vast wall of rock stretching between two mountains formed the border between the land of the valley people and the domain of King Agak. The middle seventh of the over two hundred meter long wall was split down the middle, forming two doors covered with intricate carvings that served both as the entrance to this forbidden lair and as a testimony to the once great engineering might of the ancient rat kingdom.
"I haven't seen these doors in over seven years." Bartleby remarked as they approached the colossal threshold. "We're all born behind those doors, and let out into the Valley after we have our tails cut and our ears cropped up. I snuck out with a small raiding party before they got my ears, but not before they got my tail. But at least now the Jekk can't get me in my sleep. If it even exists."
"Every culture has their superstitions." X'lish replied. "Most Bones who still cling to the old clan system also subscribe to one of a handful of old clan religions. The cult I used to be a part of tried to unite the clans in secret by claiming all faiths were permutations of a single being, who represented truth itself. We systematically dismantled that cult and burned it to the ground decades ago. And from what I've heard, Jigafta personally tore their "Grand Lord's" face in half."
"That's… nice. But I don't think standing here swapping stories is going to open this door for us."
"You don't know the way back in?"
"I left when I was one, and before I could return the war hit. I'm just as clueless as you are."
"Shouldn't there be guards on watch or something? You'd think someone would have noticed us by now."
"There should be. Maybe they're on break?" He suggested. X'lish gave him a disapproving look.
"Or they could be hiding from Glaian's watchful eye."
"That is also a possibility. Want to try shouting up there, see if anyone's home?"
"It's not like there's much else we can do." X'lish took a step back and looked up at the top of the wall looming over them. She cupper her hands around her moth and shouted. "Hello? Is anybody home up there? We need to speak with the King. It's urgent." For a minute there was no reply. Then the head of a rat creature poked over the side and stared down at them. Then it scurried back. Another minute later, the door opened slightly, and the two of them were greeted by pair of rat creatures, one blueish purple and the other one brown. As soon as they saw Bartleby, they hissed.
"Look, the traitor has come crawling back home." The blue-purple one said. "What, did those repugnant small mammals finally forsake you?"
"Look, comrade." Said the brown one. "Standing with him is a new small mammal. This one looks even more succulent than the others. Shall we bake it into a quiche?"
"I told you we don't eat quiche anymore! The King forbade it!" The blue-purple one snapped back.
"But we haven't had quiche since the first small mammals left. And that was years ago. Can we please? Just this once?"
"Are they for real?" X'lish asked Bartleby, who was trying desperately to hold back laughter.
"They've been dimwits as long as I've know them." He replied. He cleared his throat to get their attention.
"What? Oh, you're still here." The Brown one remarked. "What is it you want?"
"We seek audience with King Agak. We have urgent business that we must discuss with him straight away." X'lish announced.
"And why should we let you in here? You'll probably tear this place apart like what you did to Atheia." The blue-purple one retorted.
"Though we both thoroughly enjoyed watching the sight." The brown one commented.
"Will you be quiet? I'm trying to have a conversation here." The blue-purple one rebuked his comrade. He was about to launch another tirade when X'lish grabbed him by the fur. She pulled him through the gate, pulled out a knife, and held it to his throat.
"You're going to let me though because I am more than capable of killing both of you right here and now, striding into your little compound, and forcing your King to hear what I have to say. But that would put a dampener on negotiations. So instead, you're going to let me in to see him and make sure no one gets in our way. If you do that, you can keep your throat intact."
"You make a convincing argument." The blue-purple one gasped out frantically. X'lish released him. "We'll take you to see the king at once."
"But-" His comrade began to argue. X'lish shot him a death stare, and his objection melted before it cleared his tongue.
"Take us to the King." Bartleby ordered. Both of them gave him their best menacing glares, but complied as X'lish idly examined the blade of her knife in their general direction. The four of them walked through the doors. Once inside, they walked the length of the gap between the two peaks, and on either side of them many caves and burrows lit with barely flickering torches were cut into the mountainsides, forming the entrances to over a mile of intricate network of tunnels that ran inside, underneath, and between the two mountains. At the end of the long trough they journeyed through, where the bases of the two mountains merged to form one solid structure of stone, was the largest of these entrances. This was the entrance to the palace of the Rat King, and it was to this entrance that the group of four walked this barren stretch of land.
"So, what are your names, if you don't mind my asking?" X'lish asked the two rat creatures. "Mine is X'lish Trenya, and I believe you already know Bartleby."
"I can't tell if she wants to kill us or be our best friend forever." The brown one said to the blue-purple one.
"Nor can I. Maybe a bit of both." The blue-purple one whispered back to his friend. He turned to X'lish to answer her question. "My name is Zel Kytusdal Fwacviralt Hexabqed. My comrade is called Yir Shadwin Ligoloth Calingorfor. But you can call us Zel and Yir." X'lish gave Bartleby a look of disbelief.
"They have comparatively short names." Bartleby replied. "Rat creatures are born with one name, and are granted more based on their accomplishments, positions, and a long list of other things in the form of the Nessen words for said accomplishments, positions, and so forth. It is actually quite rare for an individual's name to be only four units long after as long as these two have been around."
"Wait… If everyone has such long names, how long is the King's full name?" X'lish asked.
"Though we may colloquially refer to each other by only our birth names, the ruler of our people, like Agak or Kingdok, is actually the only living adult rat at any given time to possess only one name. Upon coronation, they forsake their past accomplishments and positions and take on a royal name, as a symbol of their new power."
"You are just a walking encyclopedia of facts about your people." X'lish replied.
"Not really. We are well educated about our people during infancy. Only a select few lack the capacity to retain such knowledge. We have the extreme displeasure of knowing two of them." Bartleby glared at Zel and Yir.
"I'll keep that in mind, I guess." The four of them walked in silence once again.
"Where is everyone?" X'lish asked, looking around at the empty landscape around them. "I know this is a secluded mountain fortress, but even so there's no one around."
"They're all inside." Zel replied. "Hiding from the invisible sky things or plotting new ways to hunt without attracting the metal cowless carts."
"Or baking delicious quiches? Please?" Yir interjected.
"I told you, we aren't allowed to have quiche anymore! Now stop it with the quiche!"
"Oh look, we're here." X'lish interrupted their argument as she walked into the large tunnel. "Now shut the hell up." They quieted down instantly, and the four of them walked into the dimly lit passageway. As the fading orange light of the setting sun blinked out of view behind them, the tunnel opened up into a large cavern. Inside were several dozen very large rat creatures who had all positioned themselves between the entrance and the center of the room. In the center was a large stone pyramid that plateaued at the top to form King Agak's throne.
King Agak, a gargantuan, Kingdok-esque rat lay upon this throne. His large, cold eyes watched the visitors as they entered his cavern. The small white one began to approach him, but his soldiers hissed at it, and it moved back. He noticed the anomaly and the two bumbling idiots were accompanying it. This angered him, and he rose from his throne and spoke.
"You would dare dishonor my inner chambers with your small existence, white creature? You and your meek companions have no right to bask in my grace. Leave at once, and I shall spare you from an agonizing death at the hands of my personal guard." King Agak bellowed. X'lish smirked. She drew her two foot long sword from the scabbard resting on her back and took a step forward, pointing the blade directly at King Agak.
"We're not going anywhere. I could kill every single one of your personal guard with only this sword in under five minutes. I could kill you in less." She lowered her blade. "But I'm not here to kill anyone. I'm here to make sure you listen to what my friend has to say." Bartleby strode forth.
"Great King." Bartleby spoke. The anomaly's words were a direct insult to Agak's existence, but he was morbidly intrigued by the small white thing, so he heard them all the same. "My companion and I have traveled here to seek your help. As we speak, my allies are preparing to mount an assault on the city of Atheia to free it from the control of a Bone named Glaian Nagratek, who has brought an army to this valley to hunt down and slay every inhabitant in a ritualistic fashion. My allies intend to prevent that, but they require the aid of our people if their plan is to succeed."
"Your people?" Agak stepped forward, beginning to descend from his throne. "You cannot call yourself one of us, whelp. You did not have the courage to undergo the ritual of the ear, and you have cowered behind the protection of humans and small creatures for longer than I have been in power. You understand nothing of our ways. Your allies will receive no help from us. If and when this so called Glaian comes for me I will turn back his armies with the full might of my own."
"I understand plenty of our ways, King Agak. But I have lived long enough without them to know that they are old and decrepit. The House of Mist is a broken lineage. The Locust is dead. The Nacht is dead. Our Gods are dead, and our ways should have died with them."
"You blaspheme!" Agak shouted, furious at the immense sin of this anomaly. "Guards, end his meager existence!" The guards began to rush Bartleby, but X'lish calmly unholstered a nine millimeter handgun and fired it into the air, sending the guards scattering. Moments later a small chunk of the ceiling fell to the ground.
"This is a nine millimeter semi-automatic hand gun." X'lish began talking and pacing back and forth in front of the guards, who shied away from her when she approached. "With it, I have the power to propel small metal pellets through the heads of seventeen of your guards, eviscerating their skulls into pieces and sending their brain matter flying in many directions. This small handgun is but a flea compared to the weapons at Glaian's disposal. With these superweapons, he could coat this entire fortress in a compound that burns so hot it would melt the stone into porridge. Or he could simply level the mountains themselves with high impact explosives and bury you with the ensuing rubble. My point is that fighting his armies on your own will get all of you killed. He took Atheia in twelve minutes. He could wipe your people off of the face of the earth in less time than it would take me to kill the inhabitants of this room. Your only chance is our assault. If that fails, everyone in this valley will die."
"If he is really as powerful as you say, then how can you hope to beat him? If my people have to die, I will have them die protecting something they care about, not trying to rescue a city of human garbage." The King replied, entertaining this creatures ramblings.
"We intend to catch him off guard, and before he has a chance to use any of his superweapons, we will destroy them. We will put an end to him when he least expects it. And we have some advanced technology of our own that will level the playing field a little."
"Your strange phrases have amused me, but I am confident in my people's ability to survive. We have done so in the face of adversity for generations."
"But not by being inactive pigs!" Bartleby shouted, catching the entire room by surprise. "These was a time before our people became so enchanted with the House of Mist. A time when great minds devised the most impregnable mountain fortress the world had ever seen. A time when we were more than common bandits and scavengers. When we were respected as inhabitants of this valley. But then the Locust's adherents took power, and we began to desire more and more of what we did not earn for ourselves. And in response we were crushed, again and again and again until we became nothing more than squatters in our own home. Mice living off of scraps. Your passivity didn't carve these tunnels that house you, and your directionless, half-hearted ambition did not build the obsidian wall that protects you. A prouder people did. A stronger people did, and if you want any chance at having even a shred of that glory again, you will lay down these past grievances and you will behave like the great people your ancestors knew how to be. Hating humans cut us low. Very low. Hating humans more will not build us back up. It will destroy us entirely. And I for one will not stick around to see the place where I was born drown itself in that hate." Bartleby began to leave.
"Wait!" King Agak pondered the anomaly's words for a moment. "Your words carry truth. A truth that destroyed my predecessor, and a truth I can no longer ignore. I think I speak for my people when I say that if we are to die, we would be glad to die beside one such as honorable as you. For too long I have lived in blind denial of my own weakness. I will live so not a moment more. Your allies will have our support. What would you have us do?" Bartleby was taken aback, but recovered quickly.
"Have your men position themselves in the mountains just outside of Atheia's eastern gate. When you see the column of red smoke, attack the city with all of your might. But don't harm the humans or their allies."
"It shall be done." Agak turned to one of his guards. "You there, put out the general call to arms. Have the men follow the young one's instructions to the letter." The guards bounded out of the room. King Agak began walking towards another exit at the back of the room. "Now if you'll excuse me, I must take my men and prepare for war." He pointed at Zel and Yir. "And that means you two as well. I can't have you bothering our honorable friend with your annoying presences."
"Yes, my King." Both of them replied in unison. They bounded off after him, relieved to get away from X'lish and her knife. X'lish and Bartleby meanwhile walked back out of the fortress in the direction they came in, and eventually made it back to the cloaked dropship. X'lish banged on the side, and the pilot dropped the stealth mode. The two climbed inside, and X'lish made her way to the pilot's compartment.
"I told you I didn't need backup." She said as she slid into the copilot's chair.
"So, how'd the meeting go?" The pilot asked.
"They'll help. Now get us in position over the gate. We're on a tight schedule."
"Yes ma'am." The pilot lifted the craft off of the ground and flew into position hovering above the eastern gate's vehicle depot. They were parked there for nearly an hour before an explosion went off inside the city, followed closely by the signal flare. Instantly several things happened. A tiny ball of fire erupted at the North gate's fence, a small force of humans came rushing out of their concealed positions in the plains, and a massive army of rat creatures rushed down from the mountains. This mass of shuffling bodies swarmed over the vehicle depot and smashed the gate to the city with its sheer might. At the front, leading the charge, was King Agak, wielding one of the war clubs of his predecessor. The dropship touched down on the ground just as the humans, led by Phoney, reached the vehicle depot.
"It looks like negotiations panned out." He said as X'lish's team offloaded from the dropship. "Everyone else is in position, so we need to get to work fast planting these explosives."
"Roger that, boss man." X'lish said casually, itching to get to some actual fighting. It took over time, but they eventually laid waste to the vehicles in the depot that were still functioning after the massive tidal wave of rat creatures tore it apart, save for a convoy of nine APCs to transport the human prisoners to safety. Just as X'lish was about to climb into the one Phoney and Bartleby were already in, a gunshot sounded off and a bullet landed near her feet, kicking up a tuft of dirt. X'lish scanned the top of the wall, and locked eyes with the shooter just as she began speaking.
"Hello dear sister!" Nibet shouted down at X'lish. "It appears we still have some issues to resolve! I've come to challenge you to one last sparing match! Winner takes the loser's life!" X'lish knew Nibet's sudden turnaround was too good to be true.
"I accept!" She shouted back up at Nibet. Phoney was about to speak, but X'lish cut him off. "Listen, something's obviously gone wrong. Just get these APCs to the north gate and evacuate the humans. I'll find out what's gotten into my sister." She slammed the door in his face, and the APCs drove off. X'lish turned back to the wall and saw her sister leap backward off of it and into the city below. X'lish walked through the gates, chasing after her sister one last time.
"Sorry, sir. I'll bring it over right away." Fone said to the quartermaster. He locked eyes with Jigafta momentarily before he walked back onto the dropship to the pilot's chair and raising the ramp behind him. He then lifted the dropship into the air and, after flying for a few moments, seamlessly activated the stealth drive. The whole ship vanished into the night sky. He landed the dropship in the middle of the decayed village, about fifty yards or so from the north gate, and just in front of the fence that cut its way through the middle of the village. After he landed, he walked through the main compartment of the dropship back to the entrance ramp. As he let down the ramp, he shouted behind him.
"All clear! Let's get this show on the road!" In response, one of the two large storage compartments in the false floor opened up, and Thorn pulled herself out.
"Do you know how stuffy it is in there?" She asked as she stood up, pulling their gear up after her. She slung her sniper rifle and her scabbard over her shoulder and handed Fone his bag.
"No, and I don't want to find out." Fone responded as he took the bag from her outstretched hand. From it he pulled the explosive charge they were going to use to knock down the fence. "We should probably get everyone to move back before we arm the charges. Otherwise things might get messy."
"Who's everyone?" Thorn asked as the ramp finished lowering.
"The human refugees. Don't tell me you forgot-" Fone stopped mid-sentence as he noticed that, despite the message Ted supposedly delivered, no one had gathered at the north gate. "Well, that complicates things a bit." Fone walked up to the fence and placed the detonation charge in the wire frame.
"I wonder if Ted is okay." Thorn stared out at the empty camp. There was no one around, but the myriad of tents scattered throughout the camp gave the impression that the prison camp should have been bustling with activity, even without directions from Ted.
"I'm sure he's fine. We can figure out what made everyone vanish after we see the signal." Fone walked back inside the dropship and stood beside Thorn.
"Well I'm not so sure he's fine. There can't be a good reason a prisoner camp full of tents would be completely deserted."
"Maybe, since it's the middle of the night, they all went to sleep?" Fone proposed.
"Maybe. But probably not. None of this feels right. I feel like I'm being watched. It'd help to have my Veni-Yan-Cari abilities back right about now."
"Any idea why you can't use them?" Fone asked.
"Nope. The good news is I no longer get headaches when I try to use them, but I still can't resonate with the Dreaming. It's all out of balance, and on a whole other level from when the Locust woke up. And more than that, it's fuzzy. Muted, almost. I can't make heads or tails of it, much less draw power form it."
"Do you know what's causing it?"
"No idea. It could be Glaian's invasion force, but that seems extremely unlikely."
"Don't sweat it so much. We'll get an explanation eventually. We just might not like it."
"I wish I shared your optimism." Thorn sighed. In the distance a column of red smoke launched into the sky.
"Well, here goes nothing." Fone withdrew the detonator for the charge from his bag. He flicked the small switch, setting off the charge. The charge's small but powerful explosion ripped the fence to shreds, and nearly knocked the pair of their feet. After they recovered, Fone fished yet another item out of his bag: a small handgun.
"Do you know how to use that thing?" Thorn asked as the two of them proceeded slowly through the wreckage of the fence.
"Shooting was one of the hobbies I picked up after I left to occupy my time when I was having trouble writing. So, yes, I know how to use it." Their conversation was interrupted when a human stumbled out of the tent to their right before collapsing to the ground. It was Wendell, and he looked very malnourished, almost near starving.
"Wendell!" Thorn and Fone shouted in tandem as they ran over to help him onto his feet.
"Where is everyone? What happened here?" Fone asked as Wendell regained his footing.
"Hell. That's what happened here." Wendell spat. "Most of the Venu guards had their legs broken the first day. We've barely been given any food, and for the first few weeks, Glaian's soldiers used to beat people at random. Those of us who could still walk anyway. After a while, Glaian pulled his soldiers out and left Gabriel in charge."
"Wait, Gabriel? What is he doing out of his cell?" Thorn asked.
"Glaian let him out. From what I understand, Gabriel volunteered to "govern" us until Glaian finished whatever he came here to do. Glaian gave him one of the Bones' weapons and he's been living like a king in the only solid structure in the whole camp, a complex made out of the shell of a burnt-out housing block near the wall."
"What about Ted? Did he deliver his message?"
"Yeah. He showed up this morning and told me and Euclid to gather everyone by the gate come nightfall. Unfortunately, Gabriel overheard us. He shot Euclid in the leg and dragged him and some of the others his complex. He said he'd shoot anyone who attempted to leave their tents."
"Where is this complex?"
"That way." Wendell pointed directly east. "It's not far."
"Can you walk okay?" Fone asked. Wendell looked shaky just standing on his own. Fone wasn't confident in his friend's ability to ambulate.
"I'll manage." Wendell winced and clutched his side, but remained upright.
"If you say so. We'll go take care of Gabriel. You get into our dropship and wait for Phoney to come with the rescue team. If we aren't back by the time he arrives, tell him everything you told us." Wendell nodded and began walking in the direction they had come from. Fone and Thorn meanwhile ran east. It didn't take them long to find the complex Wendell spoke of.
"Gabriel's probably expecting us. We should proceed with caution." Thorn heeded. She pressed her ear to the door, and could hear unintelligible chatter on the other side. All she could make out was "shadows of… pierce the world, the... is forever unfurled." She pulled her head away. "Well, someone's in there alright."
"He's one old guy who can probably barely even use a gun. We'll be fine." Fone said as he opened the door and stuck his head through the door to survey the empty room. "There's no one here." he announced prematurely. Almost immediately, the door slammed against his temple, and he fell to the floor, winded. Gabriel stepped out from behind the door and grabbed Fone by the neck before Thorn could react, and held his gun up to the back of Fone's head. Thorn took a step forward as she leveled her sniper rifle.
"Don't move." He spat at Thorn through gritted teeth. "If you do anything I don't like, I'll put one straight through the back of his head."
"Put him down, Gabriel." Thorn commanded, locking eyes with the old man.
"Not happening, girl. Lower your gun, and maybe I'll think about it." She was on the verge of pulling the trigger.
"I'm a crack shot with this rifle, and you're a sad, withered old fool. I could put a bullet between your eyes before you could attempt to kill him. But I'm willing to give you one last chance. Put him down."
"Not until you hear what I have to say. Things are not as they appear."
"They never were with you. Now put him down or I kill you."
"I told you it won't happen!" He shouted. Thorn pulled the trigger three times, and put two bullets in Gabriel: one in the hand holding the gun and one in his shoulder. The third one was intended for his face, but it missed by a hair's breadth. His gun fired a single shot. Thorn's heart skipped a beat, but Fone stood up from the encounter without a scratch. Thorn breathed a sigh of relief.
"That wasn't like you. You're usually more careful than that." Thorn admonished Fone as he walked to her side rubbing his temple.
"Sorry. The excitement must be getting to me. I'll try not to be an idiot in the future." He replied sheepishly.
"Good. I can't have you dying on me again before we have a chance to sort out our relationship." She let the comment hang nonchalantly in the air. Fone froze for half a second, still not entirely used to her newfound affections for him, but decided to not purse the topic. The door standing opposite of them had a crude lock on it. Thorn broke it off while Fone took Gabriel's gun and made sure he didn't pose a threat. Inside the door was a mass of humans all huddled around Euclid, who was lying on the floor. His legs were bleeding.
"Gabriel's been dealt with. If you head to the north gate, there should be people there waiting to bring you to safety. Hurry." Thorn said to her subjects. They all picked up Euclid and hurriedly shuffled their way out of the complex.
"Thank you." Euclid muttered as he was carried out of the room. Thorn and Fone were about to leave as well when Gabriel propped up his torso in the doorway and began speaking.
"Have you ever heard the tale of the first human queen?" He asked the pair. They stared at each other, confused by the reasoning behind his statement. He continued talking regardless. "After Mim was defeated and the Valley cooled, there were comparatively few humans left who had survived. Those that did needed leadership. The Pawans formed isolated chiefdoms that eventually congregated very loosely under one flag. And the Morudagni began following occult priests who lead them on a vicious warpath. But the people of the southern valley saw truth in how Mim ruled, and therefore placed their strongest, most charismatic, most skilled warrior at the head of their people as an absolute sovereign. Her name was Ven, and she was the first human queen. Now, how much of that did you already know?" Fone rolled his eyes.
"Come on Thorn, let's go. It's not healthy to entertain the crazy ranting of an old fool." He turned to leave, but Thorn stayed, interested in Gabriel's words.
"What's a Morudagni?" She asked. The term was new to her, as it would have been to all but the oldest or most cryptic of the Valley's denizens.
"I'm glad you asked." Gabriel said matter-of-factly. "I didn't know myself until I joined the Vedu. They were a clan of humans that the dragons and the Atheians turned their backs on after Mim's imprisonment, and in response this clan waged a massive war against the people of the Valley. This war lasted thirty years, from just after Ven's birth to just before her death. The Morudagni lost, and as a result were cast out into the wilderness. This has all been stricken from all but the oldest of the oldest of tomes, but I can assure you it happened." He pointed at Fone, who was leaning against the side of the house impatiently. "They are also his people." Fone was taken aback.
"What do you mean, my people? You think the bones somehow came from this valley? That we were once human? That's preposterous." He asked, now too interested in Gabriel's words.
"Give it some thought, will you? Your people came out of the desert. The only other thing that desert touches is this valley. Did you think your people just sprang up from the desert sand?"
"But bones and humans are too completely different species." Thorn said. "There's no way they could have once been the same."
"They were. And I'll prove it to you. I met with Glaian after he first took over, and he told me that he came from the clan Nagratek. It is, after all, his last name. That name interested me because, almost ten years ago, when I first joined the Vedu, Tarsil showed me the oldest scroll in his collection of tomes. It was one of the first every written by our ancestors. It was about the origins of the Venu order of monks. Ven, as you know, was a Veni-Yan-Cari, and trained with a group of monks that later devoted themselves to the training of more of her kind. What you don't know is that the order wasn't founded by her or by the dragons, it was founded by the captain of her personal guard. He was a gifted warrior, and was instrumental in helping Ven band together the Southern tribes under the Atheian flag. He also led many battles against the Morudagni during the latter half of the war. And after it, he was tasked with leading the conquered Morudagni out into the wilderness to die, as penance for an unstated crime. Somewhere along that journey, he must have changed his mind however, because now there exists today, among these "Bone" people, a clan named after him. Can you guess what his name was?" Thorn and Fone didn't speak, but they both knew. "Nagratek. His name was Nagratek."
"You were right, Fone." Thorn said as she stood up. "It's not healthy to indulge him any longer." The two of them began walking back to the dropship. Gabriel frantically yelled after them.
"Wait! I have more to tell you! You don't know what you're getting into! He'll betray you! He'll use you! He'll leave you! It's what his kind does! That's what all nightmares do! They were built to make you suffer! All of you!" The shouting faded behind them as they approached the north gate. By the time they got back, Phoney and his men had already shown up and were loading people onto the APCs for evacuation. Fone locked eyes with Wendell among the crowd of refugees, and the look of relief on his face gave Fone renewed vigor.
"Where's X'lish?" Thorn asked as the two of them met up with Phoney, Bartleby, and three humans standing just inside the gate.
"Nibet showed up. On Glaian's side again, I think. X'lish is back at the east gate dealing with her. My men can handle the evacuation. For now, we proceed as planned. We have to meet up with the rest of the team first." Confident, the group walked into the city to face whatever Glaian could muster. On a nearby rooftop, two Bones stood out of sight. One was tall and lanky, cover in crystal, smoking a cigar, and admiring the starlight. The other was made of pure shadow, with a faint glowing scar imprinted upon the essence of his left eye. He laughed internally at the genius of his design.
"All according to plan." He muttered. Then the two of them walked back into the shadows to make their final preparations for the Councilman's release.