A Sky Asunder (Laveriel & Hikami)

[Aegis]

Searing 1, 123, immediately following Dark Diplomacy

The moment that the coronation finished in an official capacity, even if the party was expected to continue for quite some time, some people left immediately. Without so much as a word or a nod, the Imperial delegation stood from their seats at their pavilion, and took to the skies on wings natural and crafted. Their departure was noticed by many, but few were surprised.

Their diplomatic due diligence was done.

And it was time to return to their ship and head home to a land whose ruler wasn''t so easily removed. They flew at a comfortable pace for Avialae and princess alike, in a northwestern direction. The many guards, the many watchful, protective eyes of Kalzasi watched them leave the city, and every single one of them counted the delegation, finding all members present and departing, and many sighed a breath of relief. Another risk was gone and over, and the Black Wedding would not have a sequel act.

One of the winged men watching elbowed another, "I could fly faster than that." A smirk and a chuckle, "Kathar." His companion rolled his eyes, "She's the slow one on her fake wings. It will take them ten minutes to get to their ship at her pace."

Meanwhile, back in the city...

Among the many celebrating throngs of people, as banners flew, as cheers sounded, as trumpets blasted, as confetti was thrown, as wine was drunk and smiles were freely given, one man drunkenly tripped. He stumbled awkwardly, his wings stretching out to catch him. His legs danced awkwardly sought to find his balance. People laughed at and with the man, seeing no danger to himself or others. He twisted and twirled until he finally found his feet.

There was celebratory clapping by those who had watched with amusement, and the man looked up to realize that he was standing in front of the Ecithian delegation's pavilion entrance. He blinked several times, getting his bearings. Then his eyes shifted, a curiosity therein. There were no guards here. He'd heard about the Ecithians, massive men and women, covered in tattoos and beautiful, vicious, and absolutely ruthless in battle. His smile grew slowly. He reached out, peeling back the entrance flap, peering inside.

A huff and a disappointed dropping of the flap. Empty. An accepting shrug, and the man turned away, returning to the throng of people as the singing continued to grow. The party must go on, maybe he would see the Ecithians somewhere else in this city wide festival. A confident nod. Yeah, he definitely would see them later, he was sure of it.

Out above Lake Udori...

Kathar and humans alike were milling about aboard the IAF Umbra Cavea. The ship was a battle class cruiser in the Imperial Airforce, hosting a crew of two hundred trained airmen, equipped with a wide array of armaments and defenses. It was currently hovering around a hundred feet above the surface of Lake Udori. One Kathar was looking through a pair of glowing spectacles at Kalzasi, whistling in an impressed manner. "They really went all out on their shields for this party." He glanced away, over at a bored airman who was busy disassembling and reassembling his rifle. "And that's just what I can see from here." The airman nodded, but wasn't really paying attention. He hocked a loogie up into his mouth, then spat it out, watching it fall toward the lake.

"Who cares? We're just a taxi today."

The first man chuckled, "A ray of sunshine as always."

► Show Spoiler

On the map below, the red dot indicates the current position of the IAF Umbra Cavea.

The purple line indicates the diplomatic border of Kalzasi over Lake Udori. This is known by the Glyphs of Diplomacy that had been sent to the envoys prior to their arrival. The moment an envoy departs across the border, the Glyph self-erases and the diplomatic protections and privileges cease.

[Aegis]

Shortly after Hikami spoke with Yoko...

Within one of the many cabins of the IAF Umbra Cavea, a transmission was being picked up through one of the secure channels that the Imperium maintained. They spent extensive resources ensuring that they had eyes and ears everywhere, and Kalzasi was no different. In some ways, Kalzasi was more deeply penetrated by the Imperium's intelligence that they knew more of what was going on in this small kingdom than they did on the rough side of the river in Gel'Grandal.

The station tech wrote down the message she received from the transmission, and handed it to her commanding officer, who read it quickly, turned on heel, and made her way to the bridge. She handed over the note to the First Mate, who read it, then walked it over to the Captain. The man read it, nodded, and gave his orders.

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Shortly after Laveriel departed the inauguration...

The shell in Laveriel's ear vibrated as a familiar voice rang through. "Valron here, ready for some more trouble from Lady Wrath. I understand you need a ride. We'll catch you up soon. You got lucky I had the good sense to bring my whistle with me. Have you gotten eyes on the Ecithians yet?"

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Current time

Somewhere along Udori's shore, the Ecithian delegation was waiting. Senator Khijata was humming and swaying and her tune was instilling a calm ferocity in those around her, a teasing and sultry smile upon her lips as they let her strum their hearts. Senator H4R0LD was busy sitting on a log, a large iridescent gem floating and glowing between his hands as he focused intently upon.

A whistle came from the tops of the pines that towered over them. Khijata's smile grew, "It seems the Wrath is here and looking for something. She'll be here soon."

Senator Firich was busy writing in a journal, looked up from over the top of the book, "Should we be concerned?"

Khijata looked up the deer path that ran toward the city, seeing Laveriel appear there, "No, not yet at least. She should find our tracks any time now, I sent them thirty minutes from our location in the opposite direction."

Firich smiled, "I've heard she can be a bit dense sometimes."

Khijata, "As are you. You know that she can't penetrate my song here. She could be standing here, right in the middle of us as we talk, and still would be none the wiser."

The man went back to his journal, "You're prettier when you're annoyed."

Meanwhile, all three of the Senators in the hidden encampment were pointedly ignoring the large iron dragon that was feasting upon a large bear corpse, shredding it and consuming fur, bone, and meat greedily.

Another bird whistle called out, "The targets are en route to the ship. When it departs, so do we. Any time now."

!	Message from: Aegis
	IAF Umbra Cavea - Holding Position Hikami Yoko and personal guard of 6 - Still at the inauguration Knight Lieutenant Corbi - Rendezvousing with gryphons, enroute toward Laveriel Knight Lieutenant Haine - Rendezvousing with gryphons, enroute toward Laveriel Knight-Lieutenant Rivalron - Rendezvousing with gryphons, enroute toward Laveriel

[Laveriel]

Once she walked into the woods that stood between the city and the lake, Veriel started moving faster. Unfortunately, finding them proved to be harder than she imagine.

Veriel cursed in her mother tongue as she scanned her surroundings, looking at the shores of the lake and the trees. No sight of the Ecithians yet. “I can’t see them. You need to get here fast. I don’t think I’ll be able to find them alone.” She trusted that Torchthief’s information was accurate so that must mean the group had his themselves, bidding their time for the attack. With Khijata having Mesmer and Masquerade, it would be a pain to try and look for them by herself. She might as well be blind.

“You brought the dragonshards, right? The pesticytes and illumites?”

“It’s hurtful that you need to even ask.”

The elf couldn’t help smiling a little bit, despite the predicament. She felt better knowing that someone so familiar would be by her side. “When you fly here, try to conceal yourselves. Once you’re in range, if you can find them, just direct me to where they are. Even if Khijata can spot you, you can at least hide them from the Imperials.”

Veriel scanned the empty woods again. Truth be told, she had almost missed the tracks entirely. She would proudly admit that she was no tracker. Her first instinct was to follow it, but she paused. Veriel had spent enough time traveling and hiding with Valron to know that she shouldn’t easily believe such obvious clues from a masquerader. How many times had her companion purposefully left misleading trails for the Imperials to follow? If the Ecithians had gone out of their way to hide from sight, they wouldn’t be stupid enough to leave obvious clues for people to follow.

Still, she veered according to the tracks. Even if Veriel could not see them, the Ecithians must be nearby somewhere. Perhaps even watching her right now. She followed it briefly before stopping, trying to find some kind of cover between the trees.

Since she would rather wait for Valron to arrive and effectively look for the senators, the siltori took the chance to get ready. Afflictionists were always stronger when they had time to prepare and considering the lack of it in this occasion, Veriel would rather use what little she had as best as she could.

The dawnmartyr summoned her dagger first. Dolorex. It was quite an eye-catching weapon with its dark blade and silvery hilt. But that would change. The blade was shrinking bit by bit, transmuted so that its entire length was smaller than the palm of her hand. She also removed any distinguishing marks and changed its coloring, turning it entirely into steel. At a glance, it could pass as a steel bolt.

She let her aether flow into it, sorting through the afflictions stored inside as she summoned Dawnstrife in her other hand. She began drawing out paralysis with aether-eater and spun it into jinxes in her own body. It was nothing too complicated, just enough to last hours. The finished products she planted in the pact sword, the weapon acting as her second totem.

Once she was done, Dolorex flew out of her hand towards the lake and dove straight into the water.

Hikami should be in the lake by now, right? After all, he left even earlier than her. “Hikami, I need a favor. I just threw a very small dagger into the lake near the shores. Can you help me get it inside of the ship without being noticed? Try to hide it from sight, but I need it inside, preferably in the room where they command or drive the ship.” If he failed, Veriel could simply recall the blade to her.

The siltori sighed and looked up at the sky, trying to see if anyone was flying above her.

Perhaps it was the fact that his name had come up so many times these past few days. Perhaps it was because whatever she had felt at the sight of Irdan reminded her of him. Veriel couldn’t help but wonder what Ryo would have thought of her if he could see her now. Hopefully, he’d be proud. This was one of the rare occasions that she took such initiative to lead.

What else can I do?

In her mind, the dawnmartyr had imagined that she would at least have time to talk to them. Now, she was starting to think that she might not have the chance. Unable to shake off the unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach, the siltori decided to contact Torchthief next. “Do you have eyes on the Imperials? Any sign that they’re leaving soon?”

[Hikami]

龍 1st of Searing, Year 123, A.o.S 龍

---

龍 It didnt take him long to reach the lake from the venue of the coronation. Flying low he came to a stop as he surveyed the surrounding area. He couldnt feel any disturbances in the wind that were out of the ordinary, and the spirits of the elements were talking about seeing anything on this side of the lake.

He was preparing to enter the lake when Veriel's voice entered his ear. He had forgotten that thing was in his ear just that quick, but her request caused the magically altered avialae to rub the bridge of his nose. Of all the things to ask of him, she had to go and ask that. He could certainly try, but there was no guarantee it would work. From where he stood on the bank of the lake he could see the airship, floating and he had begun to contemplate his next move. He figured he would retrieve the dagger first.

Coming to the shore's edge he placed a hand into the lake and used his connection with the lake to find the aforementioned dagger. He wasn't sure where she had thrown it, she wasnt really specific in that regard, so he relied on the tug of the spirit of the lake as if it was guiding his hand as he reached deeper into the water. He was shoulder deep for quite some time, then something reached out to his hand and placed the hilt of the dagger in his hand.

Now came the hard part, getting the weapon on the ship. He pulled his arm from the lake and looked at the dagger momentarily while he contemplated his approach. As he thought to himself, he could hear a whisper.......no faint laughter at the edges of his mind. It called to him sweetly, yet he could feel a maddening danger about the voice. Use.....me....embrace.....me! thought the tone was whispered it was loud, almost deafening in his ears. He didn't see any other option. Any other approach would no doubt be spotted by their defenses. What did he have to lose? Given the current situation it was well worth the risk, and with a deep breath, he allowed himself to tap into that part of his soul.

It felt corrupted, deranged but he did his best to endure it. His body over a matter of a few moments dissipated into a fog like mist, translucent enough to go unnoticed at first glance but not completely invisible to a trained eye. The dagger floated within the mist, obscured enough not to draw attention to himself as he approached the airship, the mistform avialae looking for a way to enter the airship. Luckily for him, he found himself being sucked into an air vent. From there he would use their ventilation system to find his way to the bridge.

It was his first time on an airship, and the sheer size was exhausting he was honest, granted though he was slowly succumbing to the corroding effects of this newfound power. He knew allowing things to take free reign of his body was dangerous, but what choice did he have? The air ducts in that metal monstrosity was like a maze, but he knew the helm of the ship was at the upper part of the ship, so the higher he went the closer he knew he would be.

With each passing of a vent opening, he would look to see where he was, passing the mess hall, a training area, barracks, and showers. There were so many rooms on this thing he almost didn't think he would find it. Time was also of the essence so he couldn't take the time to retrace steps, he just had to keep going. Finally, he found it, the cockpit. Carefully he maneuvered himself and the dagger down into the bridge, finding a spot back behind everything to stop at. With a materialized hand, he set the dagger behind one of the chair.

For a moment he waited to see if anyone was paying attention, but when it was clear he was safe he went back into the vents and out the way he came in. His exit was much faster, but once out of the airship he got as far from the ship as he could, heading straight for the center of the lake. His form began to materialize as he crashed into the waters, the lake embracing him as his mind reeled with deranged laughter. Visions of maddening things filled his mind as he fought to regain his composure. "IF you can hear these thoughts, I need your help. You owe me as it is. I allowed you to wield me as a vessel, now it's time to return the favor."

He projected those thoughts to the lake with the connection he had to it. As his composure returned to normal, he began to synergize with the lake, hoping the entity or spirit that called out to him that day would agree to his demand. 龍

---

"Common Speech"
"Synskrit Speech"
"Self-Thoughts"

[Beats of Water Drops]

[Aegis]

Torchthief's words hummed in Laveriel's ears, using a language common to those who fought for Ailos, "Look two stitches northways of the sun, you'll see them. I'm guessing they're five minutes or so from reach the ship." If Laveriel cast her eyes in such a manner, and focused, she'd be able to see the specks that were flying.

Valron's voice crackled in, "Your ride is here, Lady Wrath, mind guiding us to you or sending up a signal? I've picked up the strays." The trio of Dawnmartyrs along with the four gryphons were flying along the shore, looking for Laveriel or any sign from her.

Khijata smiled at the rest of her crew, "It seems the Wrathbringer is looking for our targets as well."

Firich, "Friend or foe?"

"Not clear yet. She's Ailosian, she was there... and yet, perhaps now she's more aligned with the new Arcas than her home."

A bird whistle punched through, and Khijata shook her head, "Don't take the shot, she's not our enemy here."

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Within the bridge of the ship, a woman's screen flashed red. She nodded at a commander who walked over to study the screen. The commander then moved to the First Mate, whispered in her ear. The First Mate nodded, dismissing the commander and went and sat down at her own terminal. She touched her diplomatic rune to the dragonshard screen, and a face popped up. Grim words were exchanged. A head nod was given and responded to and the channel was closed.

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Somewhere deep within the ship...

A low level Imperial soldier was busy mopping the same exact floor that he'd mopped the day before, and the day before that. This was his 87th straight day of mopping these floors that rarely ever got dirty in the first place. He sighed. You get drunk one time while on an intelligence mission and you get scutwork for a season. Shrugging, at least it was almost over. He wrung out his mop and hung it up in his favorite utility closet, grabbing a step stool, a rag, and some soapy water.

Time to clean the grates in his hallway, Emperor forbid a bit of dust cause a captain to sneeze in his hallway. He set up his stool, climbed atop it, and touched his dragonshard identifier to the shard embedded in the grate, deactivating the negation shield there. He smiled, remembering the shield tech who handled these explaining how these shields really weren't meant to keep things in or out. After all, ducts are meant to allow air and gases to flow. So what was the point of the shields then, the soldier had asked. To alert the bridge when someone or something was moving around in the ducts. More than once escapees tried to use the ducts in such a fashion, but usually it was just a rat.

People got in worse trouble if it was a rat.

He shook his head, the level of security on this place was insane. He unclipped the grate and something small and round fell out. He caught it in his hand. He held it between two fingers and held it up to his eye. Some sort of pearl. And then it vibrated, and he was taken aback. Strange. It vibrated again and he thought he heard a voice. He brought it closer to his ear and heard a voice more clearly. Then a smile grew on his face.

He was about to be done with scutwork ahead of schedule, and closed up the grate, reactivated the shield, and began making his way to the bridge.

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Hikami called to Lake Udori, and it answered. The body of water opened itself to the man and swallowed him. The two became one. Hikami would be able to feel every current in the salty lake, feel every fish, every seaweed. He could tell where the ice flows to the north started and where the sandy bottom lay. He would be able to feel that any elementalism that utilized the lake's water and ice would come with a near endless supply of power and aether.

The Lake was with him.

---------------------------------

Back at shore...

Twelve Avialae in Kalzasern soldier uniforms soared out from the mountains of Kalzasi, flying down low over the shore. They were making a beeline for the UAF Umbra Cavea, and flying fast.

!

Message from: Aegis

IAF Umbra Cavea - Holding Position Hikami Yoko and personal guard of 6 - Still at the inauguration Knight Lieutenant Corbi - Looking for Laveriel with gryphons Knight Lieutenant Haine - Looking for Laveriel with gryphons Knight-Lieutenant Rivalron - Looking for Laveriel with gryphons Imperial Delegation - 5 minutes from IAF Umbra Cavea via flight 12 Kalzasern Avialae Soldiers - 10 minutes from IAF Umbra Cavea via flight Ecithian Delegation - Whereabouts unknown Soldier with Hikami's Linkpearl - En route to the bridge.

[Laveriel]

“Is it done?” Veriel asked Hikami through the earpiece. There was no answer. She narrowed her eyes. “Hey?” Fuck. The avialae going silent could not be a good sign. The siltori was tempted to ask him again what the hell was going on, but a different voice came in.

Just as Torchthief finished her instructions, Veriel felt her gaze drawn to the skies. The feeling was mild, but it was enough to confirm to her that the dark spots in the sky moving fast towards the lake were indeed the Imperials. It proved that she hadn’t been imagining the odd bond earlier, but still, there was no explanation for it.

Fortunately, she wasn’t afforded the time to dwell on it when Valron’s voice sounded in her ears once again. “Just find my symphony.” Now that the Imperials were flying over the skies, she would try her best to refrain from getting out into the open.

Unsurprisingly, they found her with ease. As soon as her eyes landed on Valron, the knot inside her chest loosened and Veriel could breathe easier. She had asked him before if he subconsciously used his magic to calm her down whenever he was around - which Valron vehemently denied. Veriel believed him, but she also couldn’t deny the effect on her. “You’ll have to all of us to a meal after this, Lady Wrath. I was enjoying a nice slice of shortcake before you interrupted me.”

It was his blatant attempt to lighten the mood, so despite the sickening anticipation building in her stomach, Veriel smiled as he walked up to her. “I can tolerate everyone else, but if you call me Lady Wrath one more time, I’ll smack you.”

Unlike her, who was dressed in party attire, Valron was clad in black leather armor with his bow and arrows strapped to his back, He attended the coronation as part of the security detail rather than a guest. The golden flourishes on the armor that marked him as a dawnmartyr brought out the gold starburst that rimmed his pupils.

As soon as she finished the thought, the dark tendrils of guilt creeped out of the edges of her mind and Veriel made herself turn away. She walked up to Lieutenant Corbi, who kept shifting on the balls of her feet nervously while her brown eyes kept darting around. The girl was smart and talented - Veriel had watched her train with the other spellforgeds before - but she just lacked the confidence.

“I’ll need you to shield me. Nothing complicated, just something enough to block off an initial attack.”

Lieutenant Corbi nodded and began focusing on creating a bulwark around the siltori. She had seen Ryo’s negation enough to know that the girl’s level, it shouldn’t take long. Veriel took the brief moment to continue feeding her aether into the pact weapon, weaving somnolence into the nets of jinxes. It would be enough to knock anyone out for a few hours.

She turned to look at Valron who had just finished setting up a web around them, an effort to hide them from sight and mask the sounds that they would make - set to last for two hours. Their eyes met and he gestured at her to come to him. She knew that look. Veriel sighed and walked together with him, distancing themselves from the two lieutenants.

“Are you alright?”

The dawnmartyr busied herself with latching Dawnstrife to her belt as she nodded. “I’m fine. Don’t worry.” It didn’t sound that convincing, even to her own ears.

His gaze bore holes into her skull, so she had no option but to look up. “How can I not worry? You have a habit of… being impulsive when something involves Commander Shiryo.”

Veriel knew what he really wanted to say was that she had a habit of going crazy. Of course, he was considerate enough not to say that out loud with other people around. “I know what I’m doing.”

He raised a dark eyebrow at her. “Do you? I saw you back there, walking towards that Kathar. If a servant didn’t crash into you, you would have walked all the way to the Imperials.”

“That was… I was just surprised,” the siltori said slowly, avoiding his scrutinizing gaze. She couldn’t tell him about the odd feeling that washed over when she looked at Irdan. The way it reminded her of Ryo. While Valron would never peek into her emotions without permission, over the years, he had become terrifyingly proficient in reading her. For some reason, Veriel couldn’t bear the thought of him knowing. Not yet anyway. Not until she knew what was going on. “I want him dead, but I’m not stupid. When I go for him, I plan to succeed, not die trying.”

“Veriel…” Valron started, clearly unconvinced.

“You’re here now. I know you’ll keep my head straight,” she said tersely, still not looking at him in the eyes. “Besides, now is not the time for us to argue about my poor decision-making abilities. Help me look for the senators.”

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“As you wish, captain,” Valron replied reluctantly, scanning the woods as his aether bloomed. There was no use in arguing with the female siltori when she was like this. Upon a quick inspection, it would seem like there was no one else but them. But he caught something odd, an unnatural emptiness that came from a specific direction. The pathfinder turned his attention there, looking, searching.

Then he felt it, the garbled symphonies that tried their damnedest to hide themselves from him. He kept his eyes straight ahead, ignoring the urge to look towards the Ecithian’s direction. “Northwest. They can’t be that far if I can feel them. Around 200 meters? Maybe less.”

The captain nodded beside him as she looked down, inspecting something on the ground. “It must be them. They made tracks heading in the opposite direction.”

There were one, two, three, four, fi- As his aether grazed the very last symphony, it reared its head at the intrusion. She had instantly recognized his presence - which could only mean that his opponent was a Mesmer who could rival his skills. And those were rare. “I found your Senator Khijata.”

“Don’t engage. I just need their lo-”

“Too late.” The two words barely left his mouth when Khijata’s assault slammed into his mind. He had expected some sort of retaliation whenever he touched a fellow Mesmer’s symphony, but this was more intense than what he had expected. He threw up his defenses, cranking up his own symphonies to block the trespasser.

It worked. Barely. It had been a while since he encountered anyone who could go toe-to-toe with him. From the corner of his eyes, Valron could see the silver-eyed siltori looking up at him with worry, her painted coral lips curved into a frown. He squeezed her arm reassuringly. “She doesn’t like that I found her, but I managed.”

That attack had left an opening and the elf seized it. There was no need for secrecy or subtlety in battle like this so Valron wrenched her symphony into his control. He held it. It was his, but she was slamming into him with everything she got. His ears were ringing, but he knew this was too precious of a chance to let go. Veriel had mentioned that Senator Khijata was a Mesmer and Masquerader - just like him. If he managed to stun her, the illusions would fall away.

Even though Veriel had told him not to engage, Valron sent a discordant note down their connection. She attacked him first, anyway. This was only fair. But this time Khijata was ready. Before he could implant his note, he had sent one his way. He could hear it coming, but there was no way to avoid it. The note crashed into his symphony and the overture was broken.

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Her eyes widened as she watched Valron stumbling over to a nearby tree, his hand shooting out to steady himself against the rough trunk. One moment he was fine, the next his eyes glossed over and he seemed dazed. He scanned their surroundings, his eyes narrowed before finally settling on her. The elf tilted his head slightly, his eyes a bit slow with focusing on her. “Veriel… What are you doing here? Aren’t we supposed to be at the coronation?”

Veriel’s heart jumped to her throat. He had forgotten the whole reason they were here. She had seen Valron inducing confusion in people before, that must be it, right? It couldn’t be that bad. He still remembered her name and what he was doing before this. “Khijata did something to you. Just… Just stay here, alright?”

“What are you talking about?”

The siltori clenched her teeth as glanced at the northwest where the Ecithians supposedly were and then back to her companion. He didn’t seem in pain or injured, just disoriented. “Are you okay? Valron, tell me if you’re not okay.”

“I’m fine, but I should go back to my post,” he mumbled, sounding like he just woke up from a dream. The pathfinder began turning around, shuffling back toward the city. “They’ll be looking for me.”

Veriel jumped in front of him, blocking his way before leaning forward to grab his arm. “No,” she said firmly. She couldn’t tell how long he would be like this and she did not want the information he had gotten to become a waste. She had to go. The Ecithians would soon figure out that their location had been compromised if they hadn’t already. “You’re going to wait here for me. Promise me.”

Despite his resigned nod, she didn’t entirely trust him. Veriel turned to the other lieutenants who had paused what they were doing as they realized something was happening to Valron. “Corbi! Haine! Make sure he stays here until he comes to his senses. You need to tell me the moment he gets a hold of himself, okay?”

Not waiting for their answer, Veriel turned and began making her way to the northwest. There was still nothing to indicate that the Ecithians were there, but this might be her last chance to reach them. They had been so close, watching her from the start.

She raised both of her hands above her head. “I don’t want a fight, please. I just want to talk.” Veriel let out a heavy breath and glanced around the seemingly empty woods. It felt foolish, but what else could she do?

“Spare the boy. Please. Just the boy.” Perhaps a better woman, a better dawnmartyr would have tried bargaining for the entire convoy. But Veriel couldn’t even try to pretend like she cared about the lives of the rest of the Imperials. It was clear to her that they had no true intention for peace. She couldn’t even begin to know what Talon was thinking, having them here. Rien had hinted earlier that it was because of that silver-winged boy and perhaps Veriel could try to understand, but it was difficult. Seeing Irdan sitting there, legs crossed and sipping drinks… it was like being spat in her face. A disrespect for everyone who had suffered and died through those three years of hell.

The dawnmartyr braced herself. For all Veriel knew, she could be standing in the middle of them, surrounded by skilled warriors who might consider her a nuisance and decide to be rid of her at any moment. She was no match for them. Corbi’s shield might protect her from a single attack, but she would be fucked after that. Nonetheless, should it come down to that, the moment an attack was thrown at her, the nets she had woven would launch out of Dawnstrife in every direction, ensnaring any aether in its vicinity.

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The symphonies in Valron’s mind began to settle as the dissonance faded into nothing. He cursed under his breath as he realized he had been outplayed. Perhaps he should be grateful that it hadn’t turned out any worse. It was no use dwelling on it, he still had things to do. As she watched Veriel’s back turned on them, he reached into her symphony, ready to deflect any onslaught that might come to her mind.

[Hikami]

龍 1st of Searing, Year 123, A.o.S 龍

---

龍 The lake's response to his request was immediate, and the maddening feeling that had been creeping into his mind, slithering upon his soul receded into nothing as the power and aether of the entire lake of Udori filled him, restoring him. Moreover, he was invigorated by the new flow of power, able to sense everything that was happening within the lake sized ocean.

As he came to regain his composure he took the time as the synergy between the lake and him was complete to process all the stimuli that his mind was now flooded with. It was a jarring feeling at first. To feel the full weight of the lake as a whole was something else, reminiscent of when he first allowed the lake to take hold of him. He wasn't sure if he could handle this level of power, but given the dire circumstances, he didn't have a choice. Now that his mind, body, and soul had calmed he could go and meet with Veriel. Surfacing he looked along the shore to see if she was around but she was not. If she was anywhere near the lake he would see her through the lake's eyes.

However, as he made his way onto the shore, he was greeted by familiar faces. It wasn't what he was expecting but he was glad to see them nonetheless. His aunt's personal guard had arrived, all six individuals bowing in front of him as he walked forward. "You guys must be the advance guard, my aunt is coming with the rest of her forces soon?" he asked, the group following close at his heels as Hebi spoke for them. "Unfortunately my lord we are all that is coming. Her grace believed that given the situation it would cause alarm and attention if a Noble's forces were seen mobilizing."

As always his aunt had a point, as this was supposed to be as quiet as possible. Granted, these were her personal guards, and each of them where capable warriors, scouts, and mages in their own right, and they had years of experience working together both among themselves and under Yumeko's tutelage. "We are at your command young lord." he said with a hushed tone, nodding along with the others. "Come, we need to regroup with Veriel and the others." he said as draconic wings sprouted out of his back, a long dragon tail, and his arms and legs resembling that of a dragon's limbs.

"I saw figures atop griffins not too far from here, I believe that may be where Lady Veriel is." Hashin spoke, his rabbit ears pointing in the direction he spoke of. With a nod, the group made haste to meet up with Veriel and whatever backup she seemed to have gained. It wasn't till this moment that he realized his pearl was missing. If he had dropped it within the lake he would have found it by now. Which meant it was only in one place. "Fuck." he hissed, knowing it was far too late to go back for it.

He would need to reach Veriel quickly in order to have her disable it, less the Imperial catch wind of the attempt the Ecithians have planned. 龍

---

"Common Speech"
"Synskrit Speech"
"Self-Thoughts"

[Beats of Water Drops]

[Aegis]

As Laveriel made her way down the path, she had unknowingly stumbled right into the middle of the impromptu camp the Ecithian Senators had shrouded in illusion. Khijata was standing right in front of her, staring at the woman, listening as she pleaded for them to spare the boy. They all knew to whom she was referring, the wildcard in this entire venture.

Taryn, son of Talon.

Senator Firich moved to start to stand, but a small twitch of Khijata's hand sent him back to relaxing in his seat. With a nod, Khijata removed herself from her illusory construct, while leaving the others safely within. She stood far taller than Laveriel, her hands were empty, and folded before her. Her blue skin shown brightly against the dark wooded backdrop of the forest.

Her eyes were studying Laveriel and she remained silent. There was no attempt to reach into Laveriel's or anyone else's symphonies, no attacks came. "You do not understand what it is you ask."

The Senator cast her eyes further up the path, seeing Laveriel's companions back there, looking on nervously. "That is no boy, no child. That is an adult son of Arcas, uncollared, sitting among Imperial royalty." A few tears began to stream from the corners of her eyes, "It seems that your God-Prince has been in alliance with the Imperium since they razed Ailos to the ground."

She wiped away her tears, "If we allow him to live, thousands of Ecithians will die at his hands when the Imperium returns. For they will return." She looked off to the side, out into the forest, "And if this alliance is allowed to continue, we will have to fight Kalzasi as well. Killing him should break the alliance and prevent the deaths of so many. He's made his choice, every Imperial citizen has made their choice."

A harshness grew in her gaze as her eyes sidled back to find Laveriel's gaze, "A choice our people did not have when they came for us. When they came for you."

A long pause, "Tell me why we should spare him. We are not a heartless people, but we do not tolerate slaughter without a fight. If you can give me one good, genuine reason to spare him, we will do so."

-----------------------------------------------

Aboard the IAF Umbra Cavea...

As the Imperial delegation approached the ship, several Kathar flew out from the deck to meet them, to escort them the rest of the way. Princess Evina was met by the ship's captain, who stepped forward, giving her a warm welcome back befitting her station. They spoke at length for a while, with Taryn listening in intently. Irdan, meanwhile, had walked over to the edge of the craft, looking out over the rail and down into the lake, a curious look in his eye.

After the captain and the princess finished speaking, an order was relayed through the ship, and the IAF Umbra Cavea began to rise in altitude, stopping to hover at five hundred feet above the lake. The squad of Kathar that had escorted the Princess to the ship now departed, heading out to meet with the contingent sent from Kalzasi. The Captain, Princess, and Taryn all turned to return to the bridge, when a low ranking soldier was escorted to the captain by his first mate. The man handed something to the captain who looked at it suspiciously, before slipping it into his ear.

!

Message from: Aegis

IAF Umbra Cavea - Holding Position Hikami Yoko and personal guard of 6 - With Hikami, enroute to Laveriel and the knights. Knight Lieutenant Corbi - With Laveriel, with gryphons Knight Lieutenant Haine - With Laveriel, with gryphons Knight-Lieutenant Rivalron - With Laveriel, with gryphons Imperial Delegation - Arrived at the IAF Umbra Cavea 12 Kalzasern Avialae Soldiers - 5 minutes from IAF Umbra Cavea via flight Ecithian Delegation - at Laveriel's location

[Laveriel]

The dawnmartyr thought she would feel relieved once the Ecithians seemed willing to talk, but once Khijata revealed herself in front of her the dread in her stomach only felt heavier. She looked up at the blue-skinned orkhan, slowly lowering her arms. A battle would have made her feel more at ease probably. She was no diplomat or negotiator. For most of her life, all she knew were blood and magic. What if she said the wrong thing and ruined everything?

“I won’t pretend like I know politics or even Kalzasi, but do you truly believe Kalzasi would ally themselves with the Imperium? The very people that their ancestors fought against and escaped from? The one that enslaved them?” She sighed and looked up into the skies, to the city the Ryo had dreamed of living. The one he never had the chance to see. Veriel had spoken to her about Kalzasi and the Synnekar countless times. It was a beacon of hope to him, proving that one day all of his kind might be free. She didn’t want to believe that these people would ever betray that.

The siltori shook her head when the senator said killing the silver-winged boy would destroy this so-called alliance. A light breeze blew past them, snatching the ends of her white dress. “If you do this, if you try to harm his son… do you really think he will not intervene? What would happen then? Everyone will die, his son will still live, and we just gave those Imperial bastards a chance to feed the world their narrative: The Great Arcas defended the Imperium against their Ecithian attackers. That is how the world will see it. You’re giving them what they want. You will be the one to push the Imperium and Kalzasi closer together.”

“If what you truly want is to break whatever connection Kalzasi has with Imperium, we take that trump card from them. Not destroy it, but use it. We find a way to get him out. Maybe his son is a hostage, maybe he is not. It doesn’t matter. We make a plan to take him.”

Veriel let out a sigh and told the senator the truth. “I’ve been waiting, you know. With Arcas returning to us in the flesh, I have been waiting for him to finally lead us against the Imperium.” She looked out to the lake, where the Imperial airship was, where Irdan was. “I thought it would be inevitable. After what they had done to us, to this city, to Arcas himself. But as far as I can tell, nothing is happening. Still, I hope. Maybe it’s stupid, maybe it’s cowardly.”

“When I saw someone who can be nothing else but Arcas’s son, I felt a little better,” she admitted, resisting the urge to rest her hand on the hilt of her sword for comfort. “Perhaps this would explain why he hadn’t made his move. Of course, he wouldn’t do anything to risk his son’s life. I can understand that.

“So, I want to change that. I need to know what Arcas, what Talon, truly intends to do with the Imperium when they have nothing to hold over him. Honestly, I think, the world needs to know too.” Everyone then could decide what to do, once and for all.

This was her leap of faith. One last jump.

She still believed that Arcas would never ally himself with the Imperium, never turn a blind eye to the deaths of thousands of Ailosians. He had come to her that one fateful night in Gel’Grandal and gave her a purpose, entrusted the Dawnblade to her. If he had no plans to move against the Imperium, he wouldn’t have chosen her as his Wrath.

“Whatever the case is, I’m praying with all of my heart that once the boy is out of Imperium hands, Arcas will finally make his move.”

Nonetheless, living for this long had at least taught her one thing: never put all of your eggs in one basket. Even though she still wanted to believe, Veriel would prepare herself for the fall.

“But if you’re right and nothing changes…” Veriel let the silence hang briefly between them - more for herself than anything else. She looked at the group that had gathered with Valron, they were too far away to hear the conversation but she could feel their gaze. The weight of what she was saying settled onto her shoulders. It seemed like Veriel had stayed unmoving far too long, watching and waiting for something to happen. These past few days fate was trying to shake some sense into her - reminding her of what she had lost, what was at stake, who were her enemies.

How could she ever dare to face Ryo in the afterlife if she did nothing? How could she mourn the dead while the Imperium still thrived and prospered even with the blood that stained everything they built? “It’s about time for me to stop waiting for divine intervention.”

Whether it was from the dark touch of mistlords that were left inside all siltori or her ire fueling the dawnfire in her veins… her eyes flared with silver flames as she locked eyes with the orkhan woman. A part of her realized that Arcas might not have approved of what she was planning. A fail-safe should his son prove to be an enemy - because Khijata wasn’t wrong. If his son was truly aligned with the Imperium, he could do unimaginable damage with divine blood in his veins. “But to do that, I’ll need your help.”

[Hikami]

龍 1st of Searing, Year 123, A.o.S 龍

---

龍 He could only wonder what awaited ahead for them as they got closer to the rendevous point. He was contemplating his next move. Trying to plot out the best course of action the task ahead. He was also concerned now that he could see the Airship had gained some altitude, but more importantly, he could feel the piercing gaze of someone looking down at the lake. It sent a shiver up his spine but he shook it off to focus.

Finally, Himaki and his group found the others that Veriel had rallied for this endeavor. From the looks of them they were definitely Dawnmartyrs. Takami tapped the tower avialae on his arm, pointing in the direction of a woman. It was Veriel, and he was about to call out to her, to warn her he had dropped his pearl when delivering her dagger onto the airship, but Takami halted him with her bow. It seemed the mute woman could see that Veriel wasn't alone, and that had to be one of the senators from Ecith.

Curious eyes looked on as he watched intently as the elven woman and the blue Ecithian spoke. He wondered just what Veriel was up to, but he knew he would support her no matter what she chose to do. He knew that if the Ecithian woman attacked, he and his elite guard would leap into action to defend her. As such Aoi Ryu materialized into his his hand as he waited to see what happened next, listening as the lake spoke to him in his head.

"Ready yourselves, it may get rough from here on out." he commanded, as the six other warriors got into a fighting stance, every one of them watching intently from the distance. 龍

---

"Common Speech"
"Synskrit Speech"
"Self-Thoughts"

[Beats of Water Drops]