Chapter Sixty-Four
The old King of Ascalon, morose and thoughtful up until this point, finally had the shift in temperament that Coran had been dreading.
"And to accomplish this grand feat of destruction, I see you banded wits with the Charr." Adelbern grumbled. "What else have you dirtied your hands with the Charr to accomplish, Coran? Like perhaps learning of a great weapon the Charr were about to use?"
Coran said nothing, silently gauging where the support in any potential conflict would lie. The King's Vanguard would to a man defend his father. Meanwhile, Devona and her guild would most likely fall behind Coran. Add to the complexity would be Pyre and his warband, who would probably swiftly move eliminate both royals if the opportunity presented itself. But even then, the Fierce clan representatives would likely quickly come under attack, possibly from both sides... even if the Charr were to do absolutely nothing.
It would be a bloodbath with no winners, and certainly not a place to escalate this confrontation.
"I did what I had to do for the good of Ascalon," was the prince's measured reply, "I'm sorry if my means anger you."
"They do more than anger me." Adelbern hissed, "You know the crime for consorting with our hated enemy."
In a bit of a surprising gesture, Pyre not only spoke up, but in Coran's defense, "As much as I like to see humans fighting amongst themselves, and on any other day would agree completely with your sentiments, 'king'..." The Charr chieftain said that title almost as if spitting it out, "I would think the circumstances required such a unconventional response."
"Silence, mangy animal." Adelbern shot back, and it was nothing but Grazz's firm hand on Pyre's shoulder that kept the Fierce clan leader from charging to an almost certain death at the hands of the King's Vanguard.
"There is only one fitting punishment for the treason you've committed." Aderbern snarled, pointing an accusing finger at his son. "From this day forth, you are not welcome in Ascalon. Neither is your wife or her guild. You are all banished." The increasingly enraged king then turned to Devona with a bile that the warrior would never have imagined could come from a man she knew literally her entire life. "I should have learned my lesson the first time I cast you out with your husband's damned fool brother. By the end of this day, if you have not left my kingdom..." He left the decree unfinished, whether that the consequences would be assumed or he didn't wish to suggest he'd have his own blood killed was known only to him.
"Now, just one Grenth-forsaken minute!" Cynn began to protest, "You didn't cast any of us out! We left of our own free will. We'll see what the Lords have to say about you banishing a Lady of Surmia..."
Coran held out his arm to stop the indignant elementalist. "This is not the time or place... and I do believe that was my father's intent. Well played. Come, friends, let us leave him to his dusty, dying land. We've learned all we need to learn here anyway."
The exiled prince made his leave, coaxing his allies rather sternly to follow, then made one not so veiled promise to his father. "This isn't over. No matter what you might think. You have no heirs... do you think you'll live forever?"
Adelbern huffed, yet had no words for his son, staring into the darkness angrily... at least until the young men and women had disappeared from sight and earshot. At that point, his eyes cast downward, and all the supposed fury in his body had vanished instantly.
"The penalty for treason is death, Adelbern." Barradin noted. "You know this."
"It makes for a nice convenient excuse to get Coran out of the kingdom though." Pyre added.
"I know I am not always of sound mind." Adelbern admitted, his voice and thoughts lucid now that his deception was no longer needed. "I know that I have little time left. I also know Ascalon as we know it, is dead. Us old men will fight the bitter fight, for this is all we have; this is all we know. But them... those young folks... they have a future. Our Ascalon may be dead, but theirs could still live; provided we don't drag them down with us."
"Make no mistake, Charr." The old king then warned Pyre, "Ascalon will never be yours for the taking. If you think me weak, if you think my forces tired and frail, come. You will learn your lesson quickly and painfully. Though we breathe our last breath, we will breathe it fighting. You will have to earn this land with your blood, sweat, and tears."
"I wouldn't have it any other way, 'king'." Pyre replied earnestly, a silent feeling bordering on respect shared between the two before the Charr chieftain barked, "Fierce clan; we will withdraw. Now!"
As they retreated back towards the surface of Tyria, Pyre beckoned Grazz to his side. "I have a very special and important mission for you. It will likely be a very long one."
The former shaman gauged Pyre carefully as he explained, "The 'king' is right. All we know is war and fighting. This is our path, and as far down it as we are... we really don't have much choice but to finish it."
Pyre glanced about to make sure there weren't any prying ears he wouldn't want overhearing the monologue before he continued, "But... maybe... it doesn't have to be that way for our cubs."
"I have three cubs, did you know that?" Pyre asked rhetorically, "Of course you don't. As sure as Burntfur burns, I'm amazed I know that. I haven't seen them since they were barely old enough to open their eyes. I'm not supposed to care, you know. All for the clan, all for the Charr. You knowthat, at least."
"But... in these last few years... I've come to see maybe we're not all that different. Maybe some of us can get along. Maybe my cubs and the humans' cubs don't have to kill each other on sight."
Pyre slapped Grazz on the shoulder. "He trusts you, and now, so do I. Watch him... keep him safe... keep his cubs safe. The more humans on Tyria that are like him means the less Charr like me. I... I think that would be a good thing."
This was not an easy task to level on any Charr; a life duty, and to a human family at that. But Grazz understood, and that Pyre chose him for that task for that very reason. Grazz clasped Pyre's forearm, and nodded in acceptance.
"Thank you." Pyre finished, "Grazz Fiercemane."
* * * * *
"Barradin... this is madness." Devona said to her mentor. "It was madness the first time you stayed; and it's even more madness now. Come with us."
They stood at the limits of Ascalon city, towards the west exit looking out towards the road that would wind past Rin and on towards the Shiverpeaks and Kryta, where Devona made one last appeal to her teacher.
"Devona, all I've ever known was the Green Hills Country and my estate. All I've ever been and will be is here. I'm too old to start learning new ways and a new home." The Ascalonian nobleman declined. "Besides, I vowed my life to Adelbern... just like your father did. I can't abandon him, no matter how far his mind goes. You however, need to go and be happy. One day, it'll be your children, or your grand-children, or maybe even further on, that will come back to Ascalon. That's your duty; to never let the blood of Ascalon die, even if the land does."
"I'll miss you, you know." Devona admitted, "And I won't be coming back this time."
"Then let this be your last memory of me. I'm still strong and vital enough. I can still carry my hammer. There are a lot worse memories you could have." The grizzled duke replied. "I remember when your mother came to me, asking me to train you. 'It's what Mordekai would have wanted', she said. I already knew that, of course, he had said as much to me. In that time, you've become almost a daughter to me, in ways that my departed Althea hadn't been. I already have to bear the ghost of one baby girl on my conscience. Go, as far away from here as you can; I don't want to have to bear another."
"Devona..." Coran interjected, "I'd like to reach the wall by sunset."
"Your highness, yes, I used that phrase." Barradin said before Coran could protest, "You will always be your father's son, no matter what words of anger he might utter in his unraveling mind. You and Devona need to watch out for each other. Ascalon's future rests with you."
"We know." The prince said with a bow, and with a gentle arm across Devona's shoulders, turned her around and led her to where the rest of her friends were waiting further down the beaten gravel path.
King Adelbern watched them leave, grim determination forming. There would be an Ascalon for their children's children's children to return to. He would make sure of that. The defenders of the kingdom that remained would make sure of that.
Those that remained all knew of one final bit of magic that remained in the dying kingdom's heart... they all stayed because of it. Even when all flesh burned away, when all bone was ground to dust, the last magic of Ascalon would keep at least the last city from falling... Ascalon City would never fall to Charr hands.
"They're gone, sire." Barradin voice said, the duke making quick time to the king's location outside the temporary palace.
Adelbern drew his blade, the flaming sword Magdaer. Within the fire embraced steel lay the preservation of Ascalon, that would wait for the children's return.
"Are you ready to live forever, my friend?" The old king asked.
"As long as it takes." Barradin answered.
"It won't be long." Adelbern observed, "The Charr will descend upon us with all their feral might soon enough." He lifted his blade to the sky, where even the setting sun started to pale before the burning blade of Magdaer, and recited, "'Here, at the end of your lives, they will burn, and you will rise. Here, you will wait, for the return of the line'. I had lost hope of that, my friend, when Rurik died. Now, I hope again."
Barradin bowed his head at the recital of a secret prophecy, held among the line of Doric and royal family of Ascalon for generations. "So says Balthezar, so it will be done."