Jackal Among Snakes

“You don’t want to stay with your mother?” Argrave asked Svetlana.

“Of course I do,” the woman responded at once. “But this is work. And work isn’t doing what you want, Your Majesty. My mother wants me to stay by your side and help you where I can.”

Argrave held his hand out to stop her from talking, then pointed to the white pile of hair atop his head. “I’ve got the wig on. Call me Silvaden,” he reminded her. “Well… alright. I can think of some things I could use you for. But you, Ganbaatar. You’re coming too?”

“I intend to depart shortly after we head back south. I think it would be best to travel with you for a brief while longer,” the elf nodded.

Argrave nodded. In truth, he did want to enlist the elf. Well, the journey was to be a long one… and doubly so when they first needed to find a way to transport a bear and over four hundred men and women. He turned away from Svetlana and looked out across his large force of spellcasters, newly acquired. They were a mismatched bunch, and uncoordinated… but nothing could be done. Each was potent enough to kill hundreds on their own, provided no other spellcaster interfered.

All these new spellcasters heeded Diana’s words, which in turn meant Vasilisa’s. The prospect of gaining access to the Flame of the Tenebrous Star was too appealing for them to show any disobedience. It was a relic of the legendary Queendom of Quadreign, a nation which only fell to Vasquer because of a betrayal. Some had benefitted personally from the flame in the past, yet others only knew legends. All knew it was returned, and all knew that Argrave had facilitated it. Still, none knew that he travelled among them. And he intended to keep it that way.

“Let’s move, then,” Argrave declared. “I’d like to get there quickly.”

#####

Bringing the spellcasters into First Hope was meant to intimidate the Drawnwaters into obedience to the new regime, yet it had other purposes as well. Argrave checked in with progress there, ensuring everything advanced as he wished. After, they secured passage on a boat, cutting through the North Sea to a settlement further south. As Argrave suspected, it was troublesome getting passage for a giant bear and four hundred men. They had to wait a day for a suitable vessel—a day which Anneliese reported slight changes to her body on account of her passive A-rank ascension. Still, they found a grand passenger ship, and with a high fare, they even allowed the bear on.

The voyage through the mild North Sea passed without trouble. Argrave had first considered walking, but sailing was faster by a large degree. Regardless, their destination was deep inland, and they made harbor at a small village which seemed miniscule before the ship they rode on. Nonetheless, travelling by boat for a small distance had saved them some days of marching.

After resting for a night at this village, they moved onward by Vasilisa’s order—in truth, Argrave was giving her these directions. Their destination was the hills of Vysenn. There, Argrave would finally make good on many promises—healing Elenore, healing Durran, and if it was possible, securing future healing for Elias and his sister. Vysenn was a little beyond where Elenore had reported their army made camp. It wasn’t the same inhospitable taiga that constituted most of Atrus—instead, it was extremely inhospitable, and almost impossible to enter in large numbers.

Vysenn was an extremely deceptive place. At its edges, one would see extreme vegetation—thriving plants, flowers, all in a great circle. The soil seemed fertile and rich, and able to house life in abundance. Yet deeper within, beyond the verdant hillsides, there was a stark black formation billowing smoke: a cinder cone, the remnants of a prior eruption from the active volcano beneath the ground. This volcano had not erupted for some time, though Gerechtigkeit would poke it with a stick and make it blow sometime later. As of now, it still emitted deadly gases that stagnated in the hills surrounding it, making traversing there all but impossible.

The active volcano did not make Vysenn so unique, though—Argrave had read about Cerro Negro and Kikhpinych, the two volcanoes that inspired this place. Such a geological formation was not so far diverged from that on earth. Its animals, on the other hand, had diverged far from normal evolutionary paths. And so had its people, Argrave might note.

Once the gigantic cinder cone was in sight, Argrave went to find Vasilisa at once. As soon as they were out of earshot, Argrave told her, “We should camp here.”

“Here?” Vasilisa looked to him as they walked and narrowed her eyes. “Everyone knows about this place, Ar—Silvaden. Barbarians roam the hills, the air itself kills you… I had hoped to give this place a wide berth. Food tastes worse drenched in poison gas.”

“Yeah, well, I have to meet some people,” Argrave nodded, slowing his pace. “I have to bring Elenore here, anyway. I figure, while we pass, I might… ingratiate myself with the locals. I can’t exactly roam as I please in this place, and there’s a culinary masterpiece that might raise my Michelin star rating if I put it on the menu. It’d be best if I get this out of the way now.”

Vasilisa stared up at him, somewhat flabbergasted. “It seems you are loathe to lead from the front. You would rather lead in the enemy’s heart, at all times. You leave Relize to handle things personally in the north, leave Quadreign to go exploring, and now this…? If you crave excitement, why not gamble? Dice, perhaps. I never thought I’d say this, but it’s less risky and equally thrilling.”

Argrave laughed. “It’s not like that, but…” Argrave trailed off when he realized Anneliese was staring at him. “Well, maybe it is like that. You can rest assured—please, lead these people far, far and away from Vysenn. We’ll rejoin when we’re done. Don’t worry. Elenore knows this group is coming, and with a word to Anneliese I can find you anywhere.”

“And the bear?” Vasilisa looked at it, stopping her trek for a moment.

Galamon was feeding the bear slices of meat from a moose that he’d hunted. Argrave’s Brumesingers nestled atop its back, enjoying the warmth of its fur. Maybe it was Argrave’s imagination, but he felt both Galamon and the bear seemed somewhat happier in recent days. There were cat people, dog people, and then… bear people, he supposed. And rather unlike nature documentarists in over their head ‘bear whispering,’ Argrave felt Galamon could take the bear in a fight.

Without looking away from the black beast, Galamon vouched, “The bear will be fine,”

“I trust him,” Argrave decided at once, though still looked to Anneliese for confirmation. She, too, nodded decisively. “Who knows? Maybe having a big bear at our side will help with the barbarians.”

#####

A man and a woman sat in a dark stone chamber. The woman was Georgina. She was heavily dressed, even more so than usual, and wore a mask over her face. The man across from her was unusual in appearance. His skin was like alabaster—white and glossy, it didn’t even appear to have the texture of skin. This made the paint he bore on his body especially noticeable. Threadbare clothes of primitive make covered him.

“The burden upon your people might be a bit heavier,” Georgina said. “The force I talked that might be supporting you… that’s off the table, now.”

“The burden?” the man flashed a smile. His teeth were almost less white than his skin. “Iron and steel have been greater seeds than wheat, and you’ve delivered them to us. My people do not die easily, yet these weapons facilitate injury to a far greater degree than we thought possible. If we are armed, foes that enter our sight will become corpses by the time they leave it.” He waved his hand in Georgina’s direction. “You have helped build our homes, restore our strength, ward off disease, and establish our position amongst the other tribes. To repay is not a burden, Georgina.”

“…they number twenty-five thousand,” Georgina continued, quiet voice further subdued by the mask about her face. Seeing as the number brought on no reaction, Georgina elaborated, “For every one of your able men, they have ten.”

“And decades ago, when we were last strong enough to try and come into the richer, fertile lands… we were outnumbered even greater,” the alabaster-skinned man said. “If I have the opportunity to go far ahead of our rivals and seize this opportunity, do you think I should take it?”

“Alright,” Georgina nodded. “I simply thought it’d be best to tell you, in the interest of full disclosure.”

The alabaster-skinned man scoffed. “Interest of full disclosure? We call that sort of speech Brightrat tongue. Sweet, but the body stays empty.”

Georgina stared blankly for three seconds, then rose to her feet. “I’ll be heading out now. We’ll get things ready on our end.”

The alabaster skinned man leaned back. “Alright. Impatient as ever. Do you still need help with the door?”

Her face flushed slightly as she rose. “I don’t think so.”

Georgina walked to what seemed to be a sheer rock of basalt. She fit her fingers into slots that seemed a little too big, and with both her strength and the full weight of her body, shifted it forward. Like a fridge opening, white gas came into the room slightly. Beyond, a vast verdant landscape of rising steam and infinite green waited, in stark contrast to the blackness of the ground just before them. Georgina held the mask tight to her face and walked out, leaving the alabaster-skinned man to his home.