288: Interlude

Huling couldn’t remember the last time she travelled in a carriage, if at all. It had been a strange two days of travel.

She had spent the journey so far trying to work out what exactly the soul food had done. It was subtle and it didn’t directly tell her anything, but she was stronger, that much was certain.

Not by much, but as Sylverith pointed out, it could be an accumulating effect from Trevor’s food, and this might have only healed a tiny portion of some damage she never knew about.

“Do you think Trevor would mind making me a bunch of food?” Huling asked, staring out the window.

“No dear, he makes snacks for Lily all the time. I can’t see that boy telling you no,” Sylverith said.

Huling sighed, “I don’t trust humans, and I don’t want to rely on them.”

Sylverith sighed, “I agree. I often remind myself that growing comfortable around humans is how many of my kin died. I don’t intend to do the same.”

“So we should be cautious of Trevor then?” Huling said, surprised to hear this from Sylverith.

She shook her head, “No, I don’t think Trevor is a concern, but as he grows, the orbit of people around him will grow and they are the ones we need to be concerned about. Trevor himself is too connected to the threads of this world right now, I suspect.”

Huling looked from the window to Sylverith, “Threads of the world?”

“Yes dear, you can feel it, can’t you? The world is already changing. I can feel the mana now,” Sylverith said.

Huling agreed, “What does it mean, though?”

“I’ve not worked that out yet. I want to say the world is healing, but I don’t want to get my hopes up. The idea that my species will live once more gives me hope, but at some point we’re going to come to blows with the humanoid races again,” Sylverith said sadly.

“We have our own ambassador now, though, to try and speak reason,” Huling said.

Sylverith raised an eyebrow. Generally, this fox spirit was aloof at best.

Huling immediately defended herself, “What? Trevor has already started telling towns to leave the dark forest alone, and they are listening, so far.”

Sylverith appeared to be in deep thought, “Though I don’t entirely like a human speaking on behalf of us dragons, I suppose for minor problems and when accompanied by Lily it could work.”

Huling had a grin, “Also he may be young now, but if Lily gets her way, he’ll be around for a long time.”

Sylverith laughed at this, “That poor boy doesn’t know what he’s in for.”

As the evening set in, and still half a day’s travel away, Huling started to get nervous. She’d heard rumours about this tree, that it would hurt creatures who have killed people.

She’d never really seen a need to test the theory; the only relief was she was sure if it really did hurt, Lily would have come to warn them by now as she wouldn’t have joined Trev in the city.

Unless he didn’t enter either?

“Do you think we should check the towns close by for them first?” Huling asked.

Sylverith, who had been reading, looked up. “No, dear, they are in the city; they arrived today if Lily’s location is with Trevor.”

“She’s there?” Huling double-checked.

“Yes.” Sylverith smiled.

Huling let out a sigh; she knew for a fact Lily had attacked some people who ventured too deep into the forest or were caught damaging it.

“The rumours are just that, dear, rumours. Nothing will stop you entering the city itself; however, if you were to attack the tree or the temple, the tree itself does have ways of defending itself, even against a dragon, as one of my kin once discovered.” Sylverith said.

“A dragon tried?” Huling asked, surprised.

Sylverith let out a laugh. “Foolish whelp, he let pride get the better of him when the humans and demons were destroying sources of mana and attempted to seek revenge on their tree.”

Huling eagerly awaited to find out what happened. When Sylverith didn’t continue, she pushed, “Well?”

“His body sat encased in amber for several centuries as the tree slowly took the nutrients from him. It was both a warning and a show of power.” Sylverith said.

Huling was stunned. “How is that possible? It’s just a tree.”

“Never underestimate the power of the divine, not even as a tree.” Sylverith said very seriously.

Huling nodded, taking this advice to heart.

Not even a minute had passed when they both felt it at the same time: a surge of mana rushing through the earth below the carriage.

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As Huling looked around, something caught her eye outside the carriage window. Sylverith obviously spotted the same thing, the night not giving her vision any problems.

It appeared like grain was growing rapidly for as far as the eye could see, and Huling could feel the mana surging through the stalks.

In only seconds, the grain was fully grown, and a burst of mana, like a fountain, came surging from the ground below, going into the air before crashing back down almost like water.

“Huh, what is happening?” Huling asked, turning to Sylverith.

“Trevor is happening.” Sylverith added, now looking to the front of the wagon.

“And we need to hurry up and reach him now. Clearly, the temple of life has accepted an offering, and I don’t know if I have the power to stop Banawa again if he comes.” Sylverith said, almost in a growl.

Huling didn’t see anything change, but the wagon sped up considerably as she felt a surge of mana going towards the four Drakhals pulling the carriage.

***

King Marcus had been hosted by the demonic forces for several weeks now, and was pleasantly surprised with the hospitality he was offered.

The initial meetings went better than he had expected. Apparently, the show of strength was widely regarded as the best way to earn respect among the demons, and his showing up alone to face them had earned him the highest amount of respect a human could have.

Though it wouldn’t stop them from trying to cut him down if their Eminence demanded it.

That was another thing that came as a surprise: the Eminence was a younger Demon, only one hundred and fifty years old, but was deemed to be the most powerful.

Marcus got on well with Taren’Sol. He was also secretly relieved to find out they didn’t all have two or three-letter names.

He was currently waiting in a manor they had built for him in only two days, as the Eminence Taren’Sol was considering his latest proposal, which was to turn the island that had hosted the war into neutral ground, where a site would be built to remember the fallen of both sides in this misguided war, but also to continue talks with proper representation from both sides.

It had come as a shock to everyone, when he informed them about why the war started, and that no one knew the real reason it began anymore, with Archon Zev’Tor pointing out he’d tried to find his own historical documents on how it began, but to no avail, simply stating that it continued as a forced training excursion for young recruits.

Marcus had also learned that what he had seen as the Demonic planes of another world was no more than a magical device they once had that opened a permanent link between places on the same world.

This device was now lost to time, though they told him they did not know where the device was, or where it had gone.

Marcus remained sceptical, though so far he had no reason to distrust them, outside the generations of war.

A knock on his door sounded as Archon Zev’Tor entered, followed by General Ko’Tar.

Marcus instantly spotted a familiar cup in Ko’Tar’s hand, reminding him of the tea he had shared with him on arrival, bringing a smile to his face.

He missed home now and wondered how his family went with their own missions.

Zev’Tor bowed, saying, “His Eminence will see you now as he wants to personally deliver the news of our decision.”

“Very well, lead the way.” Marcus gestured.

Ko’Tar stepped forward, kneeling, “I apologise for keeping your cup so long. I wish to return it to you.”

Marcus waved it off, “It’s fine, keep it as a gift for sharing tea with me on arrival.”

Ko’Tar kept his composure, only looking up for a moment.

“It was an honour meeting a warrior of your skill,” He said.

Zev’Tor led the way into the tent, where all the Archons of the clans sat at a circular table, with Eminence Taren’Sol at the head.

His own chair, a carved throne of black stone, sat opposite Taren. It was another item made for him in only a day after they discovered he was the King, as Taren wouldn’t stand for him not using furniture to suit his station.

There was a smile on Taren’Sol’s face, which he hoped would be good news, though it could also mean a fight. They prided themselves on proving their power through battle and duels, though importantly, it was never to the death, as that would bring great shame upon your family to kill a warrior in a duel.

“I am pleased to announce this to you today, King Marcus of Ashivar,” Taren began.

All the Archons bowed their heads as he spoke, while Marcus looked him in the eye.

“We have discussed your proposal and spoken with our best scholars. Your story holds true, we respect your strength, and as such, we will agree to help build a neutral city between our two nations, as well as a memorial that you insisted upon for the souls lost,” Taren said.

Marcus couldn’t help but smile; he couldn’t believe this was all it took to end a war that had been going for generations.

“In two months, we will meet in this city with our delegations and broker an official end to our disagreements. Until then, we both agree there will be no more war; we will both work together to build this city,” Taren finished.

There was a chorus of agreement from all the Archons at the table.

“This pleases me greatly to hear. I will withdraw my army to the port in Lands End and send builders to begin this city immediately,” Marcus responded.

For the second time in his life, Marcus stepped through the portal, arriving back into his kingdom, surprised to see several formations of troops standing there facing the portal, all with weapons raised.

Just how long had his own general had the soldiers standing at attention waiting? He’d been there for weeks.

One such general was approaching him on horseback.

“Your Majesty, you’ve returned. We didn’t know if we needed to send a rescue or wait when you didn’t return,” the general said.

Marcus felt anger; he’d requested they stay back, and now seeing this, he was reminded of the incompetence he’d allowed to corrupt his forces.

This was his doing, and he’d fix this next.

“Have everyone stand down and return to Lands End. We have a truce. If any man attacks a demon, or enters this portal, they will answer to me directly and pay for their crimes,” Marcus announced loud enough that his voice would carry.

He even added the Voice of Power skill to it, to make sure they all understood he was serious.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” the General said.

“I need your horse,” Marcus said before he could ride away. “I will leave it in Lands End for you, but I need to return to the mainland as soon as possible.”

The General surprisingly didn’t put up a fight, dismounting immediately.

“If I may, Your Grace, if you require a fast horse, this old girl is likely not the one. She’s courageous and will never back down from a fight, but fast she is not. We do, however, have several messenger horses built for speed if those would serve you better?” He bowed slightly as he said it, still offering the horse.

“That would probably be better, thank you,” Marcus said.