Cloud and shade
Mercury POV(a month and a half into the invasion)
Mercury was sitting in his office in Teirm, as he worked out the last details of his overall campaign in Alagaësia, before he would then later go join up with the rest of the three Swords that he had brought with him, which he had tasked with setting up and defending the only clear cut way through the Spine.
The Alagaësian rulers were doing exactly as he wanted them to; gathering the large majority of their forces outside of Ilirea in preparation to take on his forces head on in an attempt to reclaim their homeland.
It had not exactly been hard for Mercury to orchestrate events as he wanted them to play out, not after he had learned of the Second Osilon Treaty, which almost made it far too easy for him to gather all of his opponents' forces in one spot, thereby leaving their homelands virtually undefended.
They would soon learn the error of their ways, as the Eight and Eleventh Swords were scheduled to land in Reavsten a week from now, where they would then make quick work of the city, before they were ordered to move northeast to take Aberon and then further east to take all of the Beor-mountains.
While the Eight and Eleventh Swords were busy taking southern Alagaësia, the Third and Ninth Swords were to invade Du Weldenvarden from their northern stronghold of Coldharbour, which was both a city on the northernmost coast of Alagaësia that Mercury had originally had built specifically to house his northern invasion force, as well as the name of the province that covered all of the lands north of Du Weldenvarden.
It was not a particularly inhabited province, as the large majority of its population was actually the Third and Ninth Swords, but some settlers from The Northern Wastes had begun to immigrate into the province. It was also not a coincidence that it was the Third and Ninth Swords that had been stationed there, as the two of them were commonly referred to as two of the three Winter Swords of the Alliance, as they both specialized in waging war in artic provinces.
To be honest, Mercury had found the soldiers' naming of the city, and the entire province in general, to be rather bland, though he supposed that it was what he should expect when asking soldiers to name a harbour in a province that largely consisted of a frozen tundra.
Mercury certainly could not claim that he had always been imaginative when it came to naming conquered provinces, though most of his unoriginal names were at the least not completely transparent to anyone that would lay eyes on them.
It was one of the reasons why Mercury preferred to negotiate a peaceful admittance into the Alliance, as only newly settled or conquered provinces were to be given new names, while nations that voluntarily joined were allowed to keep their original names.
When a nation had been conquered, it was usually the prerogative of the officer that had commanded the campaign to name the province, though it was not stipulated as such by law, and since many of the supreme commanders only ever got the chance to name a single province, they would more often put more thought into the name than a veteran at it, like Mercury, would. For instance, Mercury's last renaming had mostly been done on a whim the moment that the topic had come up, with no thought before or after as to whether the name suited the place or not.
A knock on the door shook him out of his reverie, and after quickly covering up some sensitive documents on the desk, Mercury bade the unknown person to enter. As it turned out, the unknown person was simply his aide de camp, Ilumëo Uluth, and seeing as he did not need to hide his plans from her, he removed the covering from the documents immediately after seeing that she was alone.
"Status?", Mercury asked her as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"As per your orders, your forces have occupied the pass and according to my latest reports, the SEC report that with the commandeered manpower from the Second and Fifth Swords, they should be ready for when the enemy forces are expected to have massed in Ilirea", Ilumëo reported.
The SEC, or the Special Engineering Corps, were the best trained engineers in the entire Alliance, and it was them that made seemingly impossible project suddenly become possible, which Mercury would readily testify to, as he had on more than one occasion sent the SEC to help his forces cross seemingly insurmountable obstacles that had blocked their path.
Every Sword technically had its own engineers in order to take care of smaller issues and obstacles, but the SEC members were far more valuable than any of those, which reflected in their pay and the near ludicrous efforts that it took just to get accepted into the training program for the SEC, which lasted for a minimum of five whole years, before they even got a chance to graduate and become full-fledged members.
"Understood", Mercury nodded at the information, "what about Supreme Commander Rowannon and his further objectives?"
"The supreme commander has reported that the entrance has been located and that the cargo is being secured and is expected to be ready to move out in a little under a month", Ilumëo stated, "he furthermore added that after learning what exactly it was that he was dealing with, he ordered his men to cease restoration efforts on all targets above 25 cm in diameter, as he deemed those above that threshold to be too dangerous to approach, even with your suggested precautions".
"I see", Mercury murmured, "inform the supreme commander that I will personally take care of the targets above the threshold once they arrive, and remind him that he is to use the utmost of discretion when handling this subject, as the entire Alliance could be in jeopardy if the wrong people found out about it".
"I will be sure to remind him of that", Ilumëo nodded and scribbled it down in the folder that she always carried with her.
When she did not immediately leave after having given her report, Mercury arched an eyebrow at her and asked, "was there anything else?"
"Yes, there is one other subject that requires your attendance", she said hesitantly, as if she would rather not deal with this at all, "my cousin's troops seized priority target three two days ago. The mercenaries sent to ambush the target suffered major casualties, but where eventually able to subdue her and bring her here. Upon her arrival, the woman asked to see you in person, and though the mercenaries laughed at her, she insisted that you would wish to see her as well".
"Oh, I see", Mercury smirked slightly, "tell them to send her in".
"But I discussed the matter with Commander Elladan as well, and he was even more opposed to having that woman in the same room as you", Ilumëo objected.
"Tell the commander that although I appreciate his efforts as the head of my Varangian Guard, I choose who I can and cannot see", Mercury overruled any objections.
"…I understand, my lord", Ilumëo obliged hesitantly.
It was a clear sign to Mercury that his aide clearly did not wish for him to risk the danger of the meeting, as it had been decades since she had stopped constantly referring to him as 'my lord' or 'Lord Mercury', but her discomfort at the meeting was a price that she had to pay, as Mercury knew that he needed to settle this matter before he left to command the battle that would no doubt soon take place.
It was only a little while after Ilumëo had mentally given the go ahead that the doors once again opened to allow entrance to Commander Elladan, Mercury's pet panther and two dökkálfar soldiers that were each holding one of the arms of the seemingly young woman between the two of them, who no doubt also had her arms bound behind her back.
Commander Elladan was a human in his late forties, who had served in Mercury's Varangian Guard for the past 22 years, and had taken over as commander of the Guard seven years ago. Despite his age, he had broad shoulders, well-trained limbs and he was oftentimes more deadly in a melee than many of the younger soldiers.
Mercury did not miss the fact that Mushu had arrived as well, which he was sure was because Ilumëo had secretly asked the panther to, as no one but he himself and her were able to order it to do anything, and nor did he miss that although he had not requested the commander of his Guard to be here, along with two of his best men, they still were.
"Was all of this really necessary?", Mercury asked amused as he studied how Commander Elladan had strategically placed himself between himself and the captive, despite her being bound and held by two of his strongest men, and that each of the three already had one hand prepared to draw their weapons at a moment's notice.
"I read the report, my lord", Elladan responded in a gravely serious tone, "I know what this...kaliri can do, and as the head of your Guard, it is my duty to ensure your safety".
Mercury arched an eyebrow at the commander's use of his home province's name for a woman that had unnatural abilities, which were more often than not associated with the devil of their particular religion, but chose not to further comment on that issue.
"Though I understand your concern, it is not needed at the moment", Mercury said nonchalantly, "untie her hands".
"But, my lord, she is too dangerous!", Commander Elladan protested.
"I do not recall asking for your permission", Mercury said with a hint of warning present in his tone, "now, untie her and wait outside until I am done with her".
Mercury could easily see through his commander's shell to witness the battle inside of him, as his duty to obey his lord's commands warred with his duty to protect his lord at all costs, but eventually, the commander grit his teeth said, "…untie her".
The two other guards hesitantly did as they were told, before the three of them made a small bow to Mercury and left the office.
"You may stay", Mercury stopped Ilumëo as she began to follow the others out with Mushu in tow, which made the two of them take up positions on his right side and slightly behind him.
"Well, that was interesting", Angela said somewhat amusedly, as she rubbed her wrists where she had been bound, "but did you really need to go to such lengths to find little old me?"
"I doubt that you would have come if I had simply asked", Mercury commented as he folded his hands in front of him.
"And now we will never know, will we", Angela commented nonchalantly, "so, how have you been since we last spoke. Have you seen any red-eyed rabbits on your journey, but oh what am I asking, of course you have, just look at you and what you have done".
"Are you implying that I might have gone mad from being bitten by a rabbit?", Mercury asked slightly irritated at the topic, as it certainly was not one that he wished to discuss right now, "because I would like to inform you that although I have seen such a creature on my way, it unfortunately dissolved before I could put it in a stew".
"Was that a joke?", Angela asked with an exasperated look, "but with a hint of truth to it as well. Oh, you always are such a boring person to talk to, though the road that you are on is far more entertaining to watch".
"Yes, that is actually what I would like to discuss with you", Mercury said seriously, "you see, the road that I am on is not one that gives a lot of room for unexpected disruptions, so I am afraid that I cannot allow you to meddle with it any further".
"Pish posh, any road with no room for sidetrips is a dull road", Angela replied, "but then again, you never were one to like it when things did not go your way. Elva was proof of that".
"Come now, if you had cared at all about her, then you would have known better than to let things unfold as they did", Mercury said indifferently, "you chose not to interfere and therefore chose to let Elva continue down a path that could only lead to her death, but make no mistake in thinking that I am angry with you for doing so, as your non-interference is exactly what I wish for you to do again this time".
"Hmm? Oh, of course, now I see", Angela suddenly exclaimed, "but you should note that I have become rather attached to this particular corner of the world and would hate for it to be ruined".
"Then it is fortunate that I would like for you to become attached to the rest of the world as well", Mercury said with a hint of a smirk tugging at his lips, "I have already provided a ship and a crew for you to go see exactly what it is that these natives are fighting to not be a part of, and I expect you to be on it when it leaves tonight".
"Are you trying to exile me?", Angela asked with a frown.
"Think of it as a vacation", Mercury answered her, "you will be allowed to return here after I am done, but not a moment before. You really should use this opportunity to expand your horizon".
"And if I refuse?", Angela asked sceptically.
"You do not want to do that", Mercury answered evenly and without blinking.
Mercury could see Angela tense at the evenness of his tone and the implication that it carried. She would know from it that even though he was not wearing his signet ring, he still believed himself to be fully capable of matching and even besting her without delusions of grandeur clouding his judgement.
For a long time, the two of them did not move a single muscle as both of them continued to stare intently into the other's eyes, and to any outside viewer, it no doubt looked like a mental battle was being fought, though no such thing was actually happening at the moment.
What was happening was that both of them were sizing up their opponent and simultaneously trying to let the other know just how bad it would be for him or her to try anything. No visible displays of power were present during this, as both parties knew the futility of wasting energy on such displays when facing such a dangerous opponent.
In those tense moments, the actions of the two of them could best be compared to two wild animals that were both trying to look as frightening as possible in order to convince the other to submit without it coming to a fight, and if any of them had had the natural tendencies to do so, Mercury knew that both of them would be bristling, showing their teeth and hissing at each other.
Eventually though, Angela submitted by closing her eyes and bowing her head down in defeat, as she grit out, "FINE, my lord, I will do as you say".
"Good choice", Mercury said without sounding smug, before he raised his voice to let it be heard outside of the office, "you may come in now".
The two dökkálfar guards and Commander Elladan quickly came inside the room again, and upon noticing the tense atmosphere in it, the commander asked a simple, "my lord?"
"Please escort our guest to her vessel", Mercury requested nicely, "she has agreed to take a little trip".
"And the werecat that was with her, my lord?", Commander Elladan asked.
"If Solembum wants to join her on her journey, he may, but if not, then release him with the message that as long as the werecats do not try to hinder or sabotage our efforts, their previous arrangement with the Empire will be transferred to our provincial government when we get it up and running".
"Are you sure it would be wise to let such a character go free?", Commander Elladan questioned.
"One captured werecat hardly makes a difference", Mercury replied nonchalantly, "besides, if the cat chooses not to stay in Alagaësia, I will still need to find someone else to deliver the message".
"I understand. It shall be as you command", Commander Elladan acknowledged, as he and his men escorted Angela out, but before the herbalist was completely out of the door, she managed to shout over her shoulder, "remember, no mushrooms this time!", before the door closed.
"What did she mean by that?", Ilumëo, who had remained silent throughout the meeting, asked.
"Nothing important", Mercury answered tiredly as he reclined in the chair, "when am I scheduled to leave for the front?"
"I had originally scheduled you to leave this afternoon, but after this meeting, I am rescheduling it to be tomorrow afternoon, as I expect that you wish to remain here until you can be sure that the herbalist is dealt with", Ilumëo answered.
"Yes, that was thoughtful of you. Thank you", Mercury thanked her as he let out a sigh.
"I must admit that I am curious as to why you went to such lengths to simply be rid of that woman", Ilumëo said curiously, "if she was such a dangerous player to your plans, would it not be better for her to have simply…ceased to exist?"
"Trying to have her killed would have been too much of waste of resources in comparison with what I would get out of it", Mercury answered, "sending her away with nothing but a hurt pride was the less demanding option".
"I see…", Ilumëo murmured thoughtfully, "is she immortal?"
"No!", Mercury answered firmly, "she is simply hard to be rid of".
It was true that Mercury did not believe in immortality, not real immortality anyway, as he fully believed that no matter how tough someone or something was to kill, and how it could potentially live forever if left undisturbed, it was still possible to kill anything and anyone with the right amount of effort and ingenuity.
Though he still maintained this belief, he did have more than a few creatures locked away in the hidden cellars deep down in the mountain upon which his ice fortress, Winter's Crown, was built, which were beginning to test his patience on what it took to finally kill them once and for all.
It simply was inevitable for someone in Mercury's position, and with the amount of years that he had lived, not to meet creatures that were too dangerous to everything around them to be allowed to roam free, but which were unfortunately also oftentimes very hard to kill with conventional methods.
Just a few years ago, Mercury had had to add another creature to his collection, as the scouts from Coldharbour had accidentally awoken something that had been hibernating in some ruins northwest of Du Weldenvarden. It had taken significant effort from the Third Sword, under Mercury's direct command, to subdue it after its awakening.
The creatures were simply another reason why Mercury had chosen to have his fortress built where he had, as even if they somehow managed to escape captivity, there would be nothing but frozen tundra around them, and since most of them were used to warmer climates, they would most likely either choose to simply go back into hibernation or simply freeze to a still living clump of ice in the middle of nowhere.
Though if all went well with his plans, then such mundane issues would soon enough no longer be of any concern to him.
Loivissa POV
Loivissa did not know how long she had been incarcerated in here, as the days flew by without any changes and the only indication to the passage of time was the changing of the guards and her own sleep rhythm.
She had started eating again shortly after His first visit, as she had been able to see that although He had clearly gone mad since Kilgharrah had died, His sense of pragmatism, twisted as it was, had not dulled and there truly was no need for her food to be drugged, thanks to those foul amethyst and their dark magic.
He had visited her again a few times after the first one, and although He tried to hide it, Loivissa knew that His goal was to once again manipulate her into doing His bidding, or at the very least, try to figure out her True Name, so that He could use that against her as well.
The rustling sounds of a lock being unlocked met her ears, and since she was the only occupant of this particular wing of the cells, she knew that it was most likely Him that had come down to try and ensnare her again, as her limited sense of time told her that it was not yet time for the guards to go their rounds.
Loivissa crept up into the darkest corner in her cell and tugged her legs up to her chest and used her crossed arms atop of them to hide her head from view, not that she expected Him to not be able to see her right away, but she simply wanted to show Him that she did not want Him to.
She could hear soft footsteps echo down the hall, before they stopped before her cell and waited there, as if searching for something. The footsteps had not sounded like His had, but Loivissa nonetheless kept her head down.
"What he sees in you, I clearly cannot", a female voice said, and in her surprise at it, Loivissa lifted her head to see His aide, Ilumëo, stand before her cell's door with a key visible in her hand.
"What do you want?", Loivissa growled at the woman.
"You. Gone", the woman said unkindly, as she unlocked the cell door and stepped inside, "hold still, I will unlock your chains right away".
"Do you think me stupid? I know that He is close by and is merely toying with me", Loivissa said and hissed at the intruder that had ventured into her little cell, which made Ilumëo stop dead in her tracks near the entrance.
"My lord does not know about this", Ilumëo sneered at Loivissa but kept her position.
"And I am supposed to believe that?", Loivissa laughed at the aide's pathetic attempt to assure her.
"Very well", Ilumëo grumbled, now in the Ancient language, which made Loivissa's eyes widen, "my lord, Lord Commander Mercury of House Iridium, left to direct the battle against your brother's army a few days ago, and neither before nor after he left did he order me to set you free".
"Set me free..?", Loivissa murmured uncomprehendingly, "you truly intend to set me free and not just lead me into an ambush of some kind?"
"Yes, I intend to free you, and I swear that I have no knowledge of any ambushes or traps waiting for you during your escape", Ilumëo promised, "now, will you let me free you or not? My window for doing this is closing swiftly and if it does, then I would rather leave you here than risk it simply to set you free".
"Why?", Loivissa asked uncomprehendingly, as she had been sure that this woman was fiercely loyal to Him, "why do this behind your master's back?"
"I am certainly not doing it for your sake", Ilumëo growled as she moved closer and knelt at Loivissa's feet, where the chain was secured, "I am doing this for my lord's sake. Though he cannot afford to show it to anyone, he cares about you and I know that he does not wish for you to be locked up in here until all his attempts at convincing you to simply let things be have failed and he will be forced to execute you. It would be far better for him to know that you are still alive somewhere out there, even though he can never see you again, which is why you must promise me not to in any way join the battle or he would be forced to have you killed on sight. Promise me this and I will let you go".
So that is why she is doing this, Loivissa realized, not because she believes her master to be wrong, but because of some twisted sense of loyalty for Him.
"I promise not to join the upcoming battle between my brother and your master in any conceivable way", Loivissa promised, though the promise did not restrict her from going after Him afterwards, and if she was to be honest, she knew that she could not affect the battle on her own.
Quickly enough, the chain came off, and although Loivissa had the distinct urge to knock out her unexpected rescuer, she knew that she was still trapped inside a city under His control and therefore needed her help to get out.
Ilumëo had apparently considered that possibility as well, as Loivissa saw her tense for a moment before it became clear that Loivissa had no intention of knocking her out.
"Follow me and keep quiet", Ilumëo said briskly and stood up, which was quickly copied by Loivissa, before the two of them began to sneak out of the dungeons.
As they walked through the halls, Loivissa noted that all of the guards were asleep, and she had a very distinct suspicion as to why that was, but chose not to comment on it, as it helped her own case at the moment.
"Where are you taking me?", Loivissa whispered after they had made a number of turns into hallways that were completely unlit and unguarded.
"To a tunnel that leads outside the city gates", Ilumëo whispered back, "from there, you will be able to go wherever you like, though I would advise against any settlements west of the Spine".
"And what of my possessions?", Loivissa asked as she realized that she did not even have a dagger to protect herself with, much less her own sword, though she supposed that Adûn would be more than enough to protect her until she got a new one.
"My lord added them to his personal collection, and I will not risk my position trying to retrieve them for you", Ilumëo sneered back. If it had not been so before, it was now perfectly clear that the aide cared nothing for Loivissa personally.
They continued to walk in almost complete darkness for another while, before Ilumëo finally stopped and whispered, "we are here. Go through the trapdoor a little further ahead and you will be free".
"Where have you asked Adûn to meet me once I am out?", Loivissa asked as she walked past the aide to find the wooden ladder leading up to the trapdoor.
"The dragon stays here", Ilumëo simply stated.
"What!?", Loivissa exclaimed, completely forgetting to be silent, "no, we are going back to get him as well! I will not leave him behind! I cannot leave him behind!"
"Shhh, woman", Ilumëo hushed, "there is no way that I could manage to sneak something so large out of here unnoticed, and I will not risk it all simply so that you do not have to separate from your pet".
Loivissa bristled at the aide's reference to Adûn as a pet, but calmed herself by telling herself that no foreigner could ever hope to understand what a dragon and its rider meant for each other.
"I figured that you might get upset about this, so I talked to the sea-blue dragon and after some convincing, he agreed that it was better that one of you were free than that both of you were captured", Ilumëo tried to calm her down, "he told me to tell you that he would endure until you come for him, and that the morning star shines brightest in the darkest of nights".
Those words…had definitely come from her Adûn, as there was no way that this woman before her would understand what he meant by it. It meant that he, her most beloved partner-of-heart-and-mind was willing to endure until the darkness that was His Alliance, had passed.
"I…I understand", Loivissa said saddened, and she could feel the tears threaten to spill as she moved past the woman and began her ascent of the ladder.
She had never before willingly separated herself from Adûn for such a long time as this was going to be if her brother did not win the upcoming battle, and as she heard Ilumëo take the first step back towards where they had come from, she began to weep openly at the thought of it, which was only made slightly more bearable by her having to have adjusted to the lack of his presence during her confinement.
It was with her tears streaming freely down her cheeks that she opened the trap door with some difficulty to usher in a fresh breeze of the cool night air.
So...Loivissa is free again and Angela have been exiled to prevent her from interfering in Mercury's business. Is it now that I am supposed to reveal that, when I wrote the script for this series, I had a list of all the characters that might be of concern or could interfere in any way, and one way or the other, I checked all the names off of that list.