Jackal Among Snakes

“I was the one before you,” Argrave stated vaguely, stopping before the king’s desk. “I’ve come to collect. Sophia will be coming with me. I shall gather the three others, and we’ll reconvene in your castle’s courtyard in two and a half hours. Then, we’ll put an end to things.”

The king nodded, but kept his dead-eyed gaze fixed on Argrave as he ran his thumb across his chin. After a time, he pointed his finger lazily. “You’re picturing me dead. I can see it in your eyes.”

Argrave stayed stone-faced. He had done this before, practicing for the final loop. Never before had the king said this.

“Many people wish me dead. Despite that, I’ve kept my head. But you…” he leaned in and set his elbows upon the desk. “You seem to know how you’d do it. It’s no mere desire; you know how it’d transpire.”

Argrave took a deep, calming breath. “I’ll have to call you a liar.”

The king smiled broadly at his continuation. “You’re darling.”

Argrave suppressed a small shiver, picturing that half-shattered jaw flapping with its loose tongue as the king muttered that last word. In his experience, that word meant the king was interested in him. The last thing that Argrave needed was the king’s interest. He could survive any ambush thanks to the Inerrant Cloak, but that didn’t mean he’d like to suffer any. He wanted this to be clean.

Feeling frustrated, Argrave decided to diverge further from the norm. At worst, he could redo things, making his companions wait five seconds.

“Were you always this strange?”

“Strange?” The king leaned back in his chair. “A king is a unique existence.”

“You weren’t always a king.”

“I was,” King Norman shook his head. “People never called me so, but it was fated, just like my meeting with your organization.”

“Were your parents like you?” Argrave sat on the desk, eyeing the king closely.

“You try and pry, but I am rather shy.” Norman’s attitude was cold, despite his nearly demure words. “Retrieve my daughter, and the others.”

“We have time,” Argrave refused. “You must’ve thought a lot about this. Why would we Heralds come to you, of all people? Why were your children our asking price? I ask again, if only for your own benefit… were your parents like you?”

“Of course not.” King Norman’s fist slammed upon his desk, cracking its hard wood. “No one is like me. I am not a man—I simply am. All the rest are lambs to be damned—my son, my daughter. And they will scream my name until they die.”

Argrave laughed a little. The man was comically evil. He’d hoped there was some source, some genesis… and perhaps there was. But did the ‘why’ of it matter, anyway? He could get no answers from this man who would fight until he became a corpse. Argrave’s focus was better put elsewhere. It was better to right a wrong than spend hours discovering why it came to be, surely.

“Two and a half hours. Remember it.” Argrave said, then left without looking back.

#####

When Argrave arrived back to Sophia’s room, people crowded around the ward that he’d made. They seemed to be testing it. Once Argrave approached, they all backed away in stunned silence. Argrave dispelled the ward. Within, Sophia waited, her bag neatly packed. She kneeled there respectfully. When Argrave arrived, she rose up with wide eyes, and grabbed her the bag as though to haul it on her own.

Argrave grabbed her bag and hefted it over his shoulder, then knelt down before Sophia. “We’re going to be walking all around the city. Could be a couple of hours. Do you want me to carry you?”

“I can walk, sir Argwa—Argrave,” she shook her head.

“But do you want me to?” Argrave held his hand up. “I’m rather tall. You can see the whole city like I do.”

Sophia looked between the servants and Argrave’s smiling face… then gave a slow nod. Argrave had some cousins, so he was used to carrying smaller children. She was old enough to walk about on her own, but he didn’t trust the people at his castle. He lifted her up delicately, then walked through the castle with his head held high. He could tell Sophia was nervous, but she seemed more concerned with making sure she wasn’t a burden than with being comfortable.

It was only once they walked free of the castle that Sophia finally looked around in wonder with her wide red eyes. With all of the windows in the castle blocked off, he wondered how long it’d been since Sophia had actually seen the outside. He was glad to show it to her.

“You excited to see the city?” Argrave questioned as he walked around.

“Umm…” Sophia fidgeted. “It has… a lot of people, doesn’t it?”

“It does.” Argrave looked at her. “But if you want, I can make sure none of them see you.”

Sophia looked at him, curiosity brimming. “How?”

“Watch.” Argrave stood still and cast a simple C-rank [Invisibility], and his body disappeared from sight. Sophia’s eyes widened and she waved her arms wildly as she thought she was going to fall, but she ended up hitting Argrave in the face. “Ow. You hit my tooth,” he complained, despite feeling no pain.

“Argwave? I-I-I’m sorry,” she stuttered nervously. “Where… what happened to you?”

Argrave started walking again, and the moment he did, the spell broke. “I’m still here. I just went invisible.” Her eyes widened adorably, and Argrave couldn’t help but laugh as they carried on into the city.

“Can you make me… invisible?” she said, pronouncing the word very deliberately so as not to mess it up.

“I can. But you won’t be able to see yourself, too. Is that okay? It might be scary.”

Sophia nodded eagerly—fear was not even entering her mind, it seemed.

“Alright. If you move around too quickly, it’ll break, so be careful,” Argrave instructed her, then cast [Invisibility]. Sophia vanished, and Argrave walked around slowly to let her take in the sights without people staring.

Argrave headed for the first of the stops he needed to make, but Sophia stayed quiet enough Argrave would’ve thought she’d truly vanished if he didn’t feel her weight on his arm. Argrave headed for the elder, first, as he was the farthest away. Once the exited the city, and they entered a long stretch of countryside, Argrave took the initiative.

“Do you have any questions, Sophia?”

“About what?” she responded.

“Anything at all.”

“…where are we…” she mumbled.

“Where are we going?” Argrave guessed—she seemed afraid to ask questions of this nature, so he thought to encourage her. “First, I have to settle things here. Then, we’re going very far away to my home. It’s called Blackgard. It’s a big city just like this one, but it’s surrounded by mountains, and all of the people speak freely and happily.”

As Argrave thought about it, he realized they didn’t really have a proper house. Argrave and Anneliese just stayed in one of the quarters made for the members of parliament—they didn’t have a proper palace. It was hardly fit for Sophia to stay, too. For once, he regretted his frugality, and debated building a proper estate.

“…who are your friends?” Sophia asked faintly.

“Ah, them,” Argrave said enthusiastically. “I could talk about them for a while. Right now, they must be…”

#####

Though the instructions that Argrave gave came in no less than two minutes, Anneliese grasped at once the magnitude of his situation. The rapid changes in his demeanor, state—he was experiencing time on a wholly different level than they were. And she knew the moment his orders were given that they needed to execute them at once, lest he be trapped for weeks on end.

And so, the whole of them sprinted throughout the castle, heeding Argrave’s directions. They were clear and precise, and everyone had listened intently, yet even still he gave commentary to each and all. He guided them like a friendly spirit. Their destination? The castle courtyard.

While they ran, the world around them morphed and changed drastically. Obstacles came and went, people both dead and alive blocked their path, and all too often they felt the terrible power of something reverberating through the castle. It was all too powerful, whatever it was.

When they finally burst through the large doors into the castle courtyard, Argrave already awaited them. “Melanie, there,” he instructed, pointing quickly. “Orion, there, facing the door. Alchemist, there.”

He was gone again, and they scrambled to get where he’d gone. Melanie cursed beneath her breath, but heeded his words all the same. Orion was the same loyalist he ever was. The Alchemist took his place, and everyone waited with heavy breaths.

“Alright, everyone. The last loop. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but do your job and be ready.”

Everyone waited with bated breath. Then, just as Argrave had promised, three figures appeared in the courtyard, kneeling down. Orion kicked the richly-dressed man’s head in. The Alchemist bashed the white-garbed priestess. Melanie cleaved her black blade straight through a humbly-dressed old man’s head. The three bodies crumpled.

“Just like we talked about, Sophia,” Argrave said quietly, in the center of all this mayhem.

Anneliese, with her [Truesight], saw it all. Three figures rose up from the bodies, half a thousand stakes embedded into their body. And with a pull, all of the stakes whipped out, and anguished cries erupted from the already-dead corpses. The figures revealed seemed divine—resplendent and white, like angels burst free from a mortal shell. Tendrils of crimson power returned to Sophia, entering and empowering her body yet further.

Anneliese studied Argrave closely. She counted the seconds with shaky eyes… yet five finally became six, and he stood there holding the red-dressed girl with a bag by his feet.

“Did… did I do it, Argwave?” the girl asked quietly. Anneliese noticed she was wearing a blindfold.

“Yep. You did great, Sophia. But don’t look around quite yet. Things are a little messy.”

Anneliese started to walk over to Argrave, cautiously watching the girl brimming with an unknown power. But then a voice rang out over their group.

“You don’t have a clue what you’ve done,” the voice said. “But congratulations are in order. You are damned. Doomed, and damned.”

The three floating figures swirled away, and Anneliese watched them cautiously as she came to stand next to her husband. She asked firmly, “Argrave, are you okay?”

Before he could answer, they were yet again accosted by a voice. This one was sickeningly sweet, and Anneliese’s stomach churned just from hearing it.

“My, my.”

Her eyes darted up to the looming castle. King Norman stood on the edge of the wall, his foot planted on one of the parapets as he leered at them. “I wasn’t late. I’m right on time. Sublime.”

Anneliese saw Sophia shiver. But the girl wasn’t alone in being afraid—Argrave, too, exuded fear. When she looked at the king on his castle again, she saw an evil malignance that hadn’t been there before… and those three white figures swirled around him, guarding him.

“My darling has brought guests,” the king declared, staring down at Argrave. “I think introductions are in order.”

Argrave set Sophia down, whispering some instructions in her ear. Then, he created a ward around her and faced King Norman once again.

“Damn,” Argrave shook his head. “Sorry, folks. If I’d known those Heralds would head to him after, I might’ve found a better way. But there was no way I could’ve made them come if Good King Norman wasn’t guaranteeing their safety.” He looked around. “Don’t worry. He’s not nasty—he’s incredibly nasty. But I’ve done this all before, and now I have some help. So… let’s get it done.”