Jackal Among Snakes

It was the morning of the next day. They had slept in a separate tent with the Veidimen. Argrave stared at a piece of soft bread with distinct finger marks. That had been his doing—in grabbing the bread, he underestimated his strength and crushed it. There had been several other similar incidents this morning alone to the point where Orion had even given him advice. That wasn’t something he thought he’d ever be dealing with.

Fortunately, he wasn’t alone in this. Anneliese, too, wore her reforged armor. She adapted quicker, but she also broke a doorknob in Leopold’s home. The power that these enchantments granted was overwhelming. As Argrave got the ball rolling, he intended to specialize his enchantments to those relating to magic. For now, this was a welcome boon.

On top of all of that, there was what Artur had added to the armor—protection from mundane weapons and projectiles on the whole body, temperature moderation, and slow fall. Each and all would be immeasurably useful, though frankly, Argrave did debate leaving it off despite the total confidence from Anneliese and Castro both. The incident with Traugott still rung in his mind, and even today the man’s whereabouts were unknown.

In the end, Argrave’s reason won out. Artur was a very prideful person and hated being looked down upon. He was completely obsessed with personal standing. Unlike Traugott, who found no worth in what people thought of him, Artur only cared what other people thought of him. He wore flashy jewelry, showed off his enchanting prowess by hovering in the air with his mantle, and made sure that his products were far superior to anyone else’s. All that Argrave knew of him suggested that he would never deliberately sabotage some of his work.

Still, the decision was close enough Argrave brought out an old doubt-assuager, perhaps hoping it might magically have new entries.

Traits: [Black Blooded], [Intelligent], [Magic Affinity (High)], [Blessing of Supersession (MAX)]

Skills: [Elemental Magic (B)], [Blood Magic (B)], [Healing Magic (B)], [Illusion Magic (B)], [Warding Magic (B)], [Druidic Magic (B)], [Inscription (B)], [Imbuing (B)]

Argrave had the bread in his right hand, a piece of paper to his right side, and the bronze hand mirror to his left hand. It had been a long time since he looked at the mirror. It now had B’s all across the board. It reminded him of high school—all B’s, consistently below great grades.

Whatever the mirror said, he hadn’t needed it to bolster his courage in a long time. His brain adapted to this world fully… hell, he was married, even. If that wasn’t adaptation, what was? And frankly, his nightmares had all but vanished. He did wonder if that might change in short order as Gerechtigkeit started making himself known. Nightmares from beyond the void were rather adept at creating nightmares in the head.

“Hmm. It looks like Vasquer is going to be ready to move, soon,” Anneliese said, hunched over the paper to his right as she read.

Argrave chewed and swallowed, then said, “Really? That’s good news. She’ll be a lot safer in Blackgard, I think. Fewer people around. Big mountain range to hide in. Nothing really dangerous to bother her, barring the stuff that’s deeper under the mountain.”

He took another bite, and Anneliese turned her eyes away from the paper. “Would you like me to dictate Elenore’s report for you, considering you’re busy stuffing your face?”

Argrave smiled as he chewed, then swallowed. “Just give me the summary.”

Anneliese laughed and seized the paper. “Well… okay. Elenore is enlarging the parliament, giving them more official and active roles in overseeing governance. With the money from taxes and the trade from the Archduchy, she’s looking into expanding her information network a bit more, and also branching out into businesses that she was unable to as the Bat.”

He nodded as he ate.

“Vasquer will be—oh, already read that…” Anneliese listed. “The foundation for the army is being set. She hopes to have a large body of fresh troops prepared by the time we return, with basic fitness seen to. She’s establishing provision agents for purchasing supplies more efficiently—that is rather smart,” she remarked. “Repairing and building roads for faster transportation… and the first extermination and retrieval team has been sent out, with Melanie heading it.”

“Which ruin will they be exploring?” Argrave focused.

“Hmm… off the coast, near the mountains of House Parbon…”

“Leviathan Ruins, probably,” Argrave nodded. “I think… oh, I remember what’s there. Rudimentary golem knowledge, and another something far more important: the first piece to the puzzle that is the nightmarish Iron Giants.” Argrave tapped Anneliese’s hand. “We’re going to be glad we don’t have to deal with those things when the time comes. Fun to fight, though. Err, forget I said that.”

“Your knowledge…” Orion spoke up, and Argrave turned his head. “Sometimes, it overwhelms my mind.”

Argrave shrugged. “Try remembering all of it. You conflate fiction with reality, reality with fiction, all in this strange homogeneous memory porridge that makes you doubt yourself at every turn… I guess it’s an advantage in the end, but still.”

“Elenore seems to have things at hand,” Orion noted. “We head to the Bloodwoods, the land of the wood elves. Only they prevailed against my father on the field of battle. Though ancient evils reawaken on our exalted soil today, they never died in those forests. Giants and worse roam. Even the trees themselves are thousands of feet tall.” He focused on Argrave. “What might transpire there?”

Argrave blinked blankly for a few seconds—the way Orion talked caught him off guard, sometimes. He shook his head and said, “Well, I want to figure out exactly what happened. I heard about some… natural disaster… that wiped out a fortress, perfectly coinciding with a larger-scale attack from Yettles—little warriors made of wood, about ye tall,” Argrave demonstrated, holding his hand about three feet off the ground. “Pretty dangerous. They can attach to you, drain your blood. And their thorns usually have disease.” He looked to Anneliese. “You learned that B-rank [Cure Disease], though. Should be fine.”

Orion nodded, then tilted his head. “What can you learn by coming here? And depending on what you learn, what can you do?”

Argrave turned around on his chair. “If you’ll notice, Gerechtigkeit has never yet had a personal hand in things. That time comes far later. Everything he’s done has been through third parties. He’s corrupting various powers, employing them to his ends in subtle ways.” Argrave scratched his chin. “Felipe was one such example.”

Orion nodded, having been told this long ago.

“Other divine parties will descend before he does… and ruin things,” he said, voice distant and eyes glazed over. He focused and continued dismissively, saying, “Anyway, I just want to find out what it is and whether or not it’s a bigger concern,” Argrave explained. “Like you mentioned, the Bloodwoods prevailed against Felipe in the past. That wasn’t a coincidence. There’s the wood elves… numerous, very deadly, and with a society that’s militarized enough that most kids say ‘kill’ instead of ‘mom’ first. Then there’s the other major group there. You fought versus a centaur, Orion—he was a hard opponent, no?”

The prince crossed his arms. “He was… hard to strike, yes.”

“They roam the bottom of the Bloodwoods in large clans—usually one hundred or more,” Argrave began. “They hunt in packs, preying upon giants, great beasts, elves… they only eat meat, you see, and they’re not particularly discriminating as to whether or not what they eat is intelligent. When their numbers were higher, they advanced out into Vasquer to capture humans.” He looked around, and both Anneliese and Orion were entranced. “They were so fierce the elves took to the trees for shelter, building homes far above the ground. The centaurs adapted to hunt with marksmanship, building great bows far taller than you or me—then, the elves adapted again, so on and so on. It’s a very brutal place with a long history of internecine warfare between the two intelligent species of the land. If they didn’t fight with each other, perhaps they’d have taken over this continent by now.”

“Is that what comes?” Orion asked seriously. “A great conqueror, born among the nomads?”

Argrave smiled. “A universal ruler, you might say. No. The centaurs have a lot of trouble doing that whole unification thing.” He turned back around to finish his meal. “And if I have it my way, we’ll approach this through diplomacy instead of hostility. Might be difficult, but what isn’t? No way we head in immediately—until those Veidimen are equipped with gear on the level of royal knights, it’s a fat chance I’d ever risk walking into the Bloodwoods. I’m liable to get sniped by an eight-foot arrow flying at the speed of sound. And even if Artur’s gear is nice, I don’t trust it to stop that.”

“Why go at all? I think you could achieve this with Elenore’s men,” Orion said, still confused.

Argrave tapped the table for a few moments. “Nikoletta’s father is still missing,” he said quietly. “She did a lot for me way back when. So did her dad. It wasn’t… prudent… for me to head here, this past month. Still, it’s been weighing on me this entire time, making me feel like dirt. But now I have more time.” He looked up. “In the grand scheme of things, she got the worst end of things. I want to try and fix that.”

Anneliese leaned in a little closer. “I remember what you said to me about this place when you thought you were dying. You mentioned steppes, dryads, malfeasance… about how I should side with the centaurs after the civil war because they are cooler.”

Argrave raised his brows, then shook his head. “I promise you that’ll make sense. I just… I never expected to be king back then, I guess. Thought we’d be here earlier.” He played with a fork. “I’m glad I have Elenore.”

Orion opened his mouth to ask more questions, but then someone pushed into the tent.

“Your Majesty, the baggage train is prepared,” Ansgar told him. “It has enough non-perishable supplies to last a group of three hundred about a month. Given the… unusual nature of your men, it might last considerably shorter, but it should suffice for the trip.”

Argrave looked back. With a decisive nod, he turned back and shoveled the last bit of food into his mouth, overstuffing himself. He rose, using gestures in way of words. It was time to depart.

#####

When Argrave departed from Relize, he did so with energy and confidence. He didn’t care to fall into laxness, but he felt confident enough in advancing to the edge of the Bloodwoods. It was a greatly foreboding place. The trees, though concealed by some mountains near Relize, towered high enough to make it seem like they moved toward a great living city.

As they grew closer, Anneliese thought she understood why Argrave had mentioned steppes—the scenery thinned a lot, all trees and shrubbery dying away until there was nothing but empty plains and a single grass-overgrown road. Argrave had to tell her that this was not actually what he had been referring to, which stoked her curiosity further.

And Argrave’s curiosity was stoked as he came upon the scene of the natural disaster. He could understand why the reports had been so vague. It resembled an earthquake, perhaps, or a terrible landslide. Thick, long roots jutted up and out of the earth from the beginnings of the redwood forest, having overturned vast portions of land until the meagre fortress Felipe had left at the edge of the Bloodwoods had been mostly consumed by dirt and root. He saw a great many bodies even from this far away. Some were human—others, the aforementioned Yettles.

A new structure stood a fair distance from the old. It was made of stone, newer, and far better manned. Argrave could spot some mages, probably at B-rank. And waiting outside on horseback was Nikoletta. She already rode towards them on horseback. A bird as large as she was trailed behind, and Argrave slowed his horse.

Nikoletta of Monticci rode a fair distance away from Argrave, slowing her horse. She wore the gray leather armor of House Monticci, a faded blue swordfish emblazoned on the front. She’d had long black hair, but it was now cut to be only a little below her head. He thought merely looking at her that her demeanor had changed greatly. A predatory brown bird that resembled an eagle soared about, circling her far above.

“I have to wait months to speak to you?” Nikoletta said first.

“Be respectful,” Orion reminded her.

“I’m talking to my cousin,” Nikoletta fixed her pink eyes on him fearlessly. “And with my father in a place only the gods know, I’m feeling quite foolish,” she said with a tense and exhausted voice as she looked at Argrave, clearly emotional. “Why even come here, now?”

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