First off, a big thanks to my two reviewers, Sardonic Kender Smile and . You two rock. Reviews are greatly appreciated and really help me with my writing. Secondly, a big thank you to everyone who has been patient enough to hang with me through this long delay between updates. Moving will do that to you, ya know? Anywho, without any further ado, on to the story!
Chapter 4-A Farewell to Valor
The news had spread throughout the camp like a wildfire, and despite Hector and Eliwood's best efforts to keep things under control, the army was on the verge of panic. By the time they made camp the next evening, Eagle's simple message had twisted and grown like some demented flower, and wild speculation was the rule of the day. Some had the dark druid as being truly immortal, while others claimed that the Nergal they had faced was just a morph, and the real one was still out there. Still others shook in terror and whispered that the blackheart had absorbed so much quintessence that he had achieved godhood. But in Lord Pent's tent, five men and a girl sat around a table and put such rumors aside, using knowledge and logic to attempt to piece together the real story behind this eerie message.
They weren't getting very far. Guy could only sit back and be quiet as the questions, debates, and painfully few answers flew around him. He had been asked to repeat the story of their fight with Eagle over a dozen times now, grilled for details that he didn't even know he had until Grant forced them out of his skull. Thankfully, now he had a chance to rest, as the tactician had moved on to Nino and Renault, looking for more insider information on Nergal himself.
Again, he wasn't getting very far.
"Alright, in this tent, we have some of the greatest minds in magical, church and elder lore, not to mention a tactical genius and a former Fang. So can someone please explain how it is that we aren't coming up with anything?" Grant was getting tired and frustrated, and was starting to get snarky. "Renault, Nino, are you sure that's all you remember? I feel like we're on the verge of something here, but we just don't have enough information."
Renault simply hung his head in near defeat, unable to recall anything else of worth, "Sir, you know more of me than I would willingly share, were the circumstances different. There is nothing more I can tell you about Nergal, or about the power he may conceivably have."
Nino also shook her head, her eyes fighting to stay open against her exhaustion and the late hour, "I…I'm sorry. That's all."
To forestall any further interrogations, Pent stood. "It's getting late. Let us recap and retire. Perhaps sleep will bring inspiration."
Guy sighed in relief, as did Nino beside him, while Renault and Canas nodded in agreement with the Pent's wisdom. Grant let out a growl of disgust and slammed his head down on the table, but didn't object.
"Alright, so here's what we have. Canas thinks that it would be possible for a sorcerer of Nergal's caliber to have taken his knowledge of the morph process, and somehow used it to create a sort of backup body for himself, should he perish."
Canas nodded again, "Yes. It's theoretically possible, but extremely unlikely. If he managed it, I would be surprised if his mind remained his own and wasn't twisted into something else by the experience."
"What mind he had left, anyway." Taking over for Pent, Grant continued the recap, "Renault also thinks that it might be possible, but it is also just as, if not more likely, that someone else is making new morphs and pretending to be Nergal. The question then becomes who? His greatest intelligent morphs are out of the question. Ephidel died at Dragon's Gate, Sonia was killed by Jaffar's own daggers, Kishuna got torn apart by Hector and Oswin, and Canas blasted Limstella into bite-sized chunks with that ridiculous Luna spell. Who does that leave? Ursula? We didn't kill her, so maybe she got away. I doubt it though. Nergal did make a morph of her, so I'm thinking he had her quintessence harvested after she failed to kill us."
Picking up his water mug, the weary tactician took a long drink before concluding, "Nino and Renault can't think of anyone else who could do this. So what does it leave? An unknown morph maker using Nergal's methods and name, or Nergal morphed himself. Neither are particularly attractive options, though I personally prefer the first, but the second is looking a lot more likely. Creating a morph would take years of knowledge and experience. If there was someone else who could, Nergal would have used them as a resource by now."
Guy blinked in confusion. Something had been running through his own mind, but he hadn't brought it up as he was sure that Grant would have already thought of it. Clearing his throat to get the room's attention, the sword-fighter looked up at the gathered thinkers and took a deep breath to calm himself before voicing his thoughts, "Uh, what about someone like Eagle? If Nergal made a few more before he died, couldn't he have made another intelligent morph and gave it the knowledge of how to make more and left it behind on purpose? You know, so his work wouldn't die even if he did?"
Staring at Guy, Grant slowly sighed, removed his spectacles, and smacked himself in the forehead, "Yes, he could. Thank you Guy." Looking over to the others Grant picked up his mug and cloak, ready to leave, "Okay, now it's officially time to stop. We've got the warriors finding obvious conclusions that the magicians and tactician have missed. Renault, does that sound likely? Would Nergal do something like that?"
Also standing to leave, Renault shrugged, "It's definitely possible, but I'm not sure Nergal would want anyone else knowing the full process. That was the biggest secret to his power. Canas?"
The shaman had to agree, "Yes, it seems unlikely, but possible. Most wielders of elder magic get quite paranoid of others after too many years of using it, I can't see him entrusting the secret to anyone," looking back towards the battlefield, Canas remembered the way the morphs threw their lives away with such abandon, "Of course, his morphs weren't exactly 'someone' to him, were they? He could have made one as an assistant in the process and left it behind as it had no combat prowess to aid in the final battle."
Grant shook his head and turned to go, "Maybe. So we've swung back around to square one. Still, I suppose that we're better off for the journey. We have some ideas and some things to look into. My report to the lords will be that the best we can do for now is to just go home and live as normal until we have more information. Whoever this is, they have little resources left, and I doubt they'll strike again for quite some time. That last attack had an air of desperation about it, and we came through injured, but alive. Time, for once, is something we now have. Good night all, I apologize for keeping you up this late. Get what sleep you can, we leave at first light so we can reach the ship by nightfall."
In their hurry to make it to the relative safety of the ship, the army set up a forced march that morning, and didn't even break for lunch. So the typical conversations or news sharing had to be done on the go, not the most ideal circumstances for receiving bad news.
Mathew could hardly believe his ears. Guy was taking the opportunity to fill him in on what had been talked about the night before, and the spy just couldn't believe the decision that was reached. "So that's it? We just go home and wait for Nergal, or whoever, to gather power and strike again? He's made some weird calls in the past, but this time Grant's out of his bleeding mind."
Guy was sorely missing his horse as he forced himself to keep pace with the thief. It was hard enough to do during the heat of battle, but trying to stay next to him for hours on end in a forced march was almost more than he could manage. "I…don't know. It does…seem like a…bad idea…but," unfortunately, holding a conversation while keeping pace was a bit more than the Sacaen could handle. Trying desperately not to pant, he was forced to slow down and catch his breath, "But I think he knows what he's doing. He's probably got a dozen plans running, and just needs to wait until we get to the mainland to make them work."
Not getting a response, Guy looked up and found himself talking to Matthew's quickly retreating back. With a growl, the swordsman grabbed a small rock and flung it at his friend, "Slow down, will you Matt? We'll get there as fast as our slowest person, unless you were planning on making Fargus leave before everyone was aboard!"
Easily dodging the rock, Matthew let out a sigh while he stopped and waited for Guy to catch up. Once he did, the spy offered him a half-smile of apology, "Sorry. I know that, really. I just want to get away from here as fast as I can, you know? Before we get ambushed again, or before something else happens to slow us down, like bad weather rolling in."
More like you just want to get away from where you lost Leila. You'll probably stab me if I try to bring it up though. Guy nodded, "Yeah, I understand," I understand more than you want me to. "So do you really think that Grant has lost it?"
Seeing more in Guy's face than in his words, Matthew turned and resumed walking, albeit at a slower pace. Still, he kept ahead of his erstwhile partner, not wanting to have to look at anybody right now, "No, he's on top of things. There's just nothing I can do, so I'm nervous." Giving in to a sudden strong desire to be alone, the thief stopped and gestured off to the ahead-right, "Come on, let's go scout ahead. We've got a few more hours yet before we reach the boat, and I'd rather do something than talk about what someone else is doing. I'll go left, you take right." As per usual, he didn't wait for a response before jogging off ahead, leaving Guy to do whatever he wanted.
As Matthew disappeared ahead of him, Guy chunked another small rock after him, "Hey! Are you trying to work yourself to death? Come on, get back here!" With a growl of frustration, the Sacaen dashed off after his friend, leaving the right for someone else to scout. There's no way I'm leaving you alone right now. Not when you're like this.
As night fell, the army was most relived to see the Davros still awaiting them, as large and impressive as ever. Finding something amusing in the situation, Grant quietly chuckled as he slowly slid off Lyn's horse.
Sliding to the ground herself, Lyn looked back at her friend with a confused smile, "What's so funny?"
Continuing to laugh, Grant gestured towards the ship, "Oh, only that this is quite likely the first time that anyone has ever been happy to see a large, heavily armed pirate ship."
Blinking, Lyn just stared up at the ship for a moment before she started laughing as well. As the two walked up towards the ship, they just couldn't stop laughing. It wasn't so much the joke, but the fact that they had reached the ship that had them in such good humor. They were safe.
Having reached the shore before most of the others, Guy had been sitting on the beach and resting after his long, tiring, and ultimately fruitless pursuit of Matthew. Hearing laughter behind him, he turned to see the rest of the army arriving, piece by piece.
Pulling himself up, the weary swordsman made his way towards the landing boats, where some of the pirate were already waiting to take the first group aboard. As he and a few of the other early arrivals were rowed towards the ship, Guy stared at the large vessel, wondering exactly where Matthew had hidden himself aboard it. You can dodge me out here, you jerk, but you can't avoid me on the ship forever. You're my friend, and I'm going to help you with this whether you like it or not.
Author's Note: Not much of real import in chapter 4. Chapter 5 will feature the classic 'parting of ways' and it will be after that where the real story of Sword and Shadow begins. Also, that is the point where things will branch off into Right & Rulership, and Love & Loyalty, both of which I will be starting soon. Soon for me anyway. I know I'm not the world's fastest writer. Still, I hope it's good enough to entertain despite the irregular update schedual.