Chapter 79

Consequences

“We prayed to El’eev, bowing our heads to the Altar of Bones; El’eev was not there, though, but the Beast, Y’yvva heard. And then… and then we burned.”

Origin Myths, Vol. III

Noah was brought over to the shores of the Fort in silence, Sumnner not even appearing, merely carrying him. He wanted to meet the creature, to ask, to look for the answers, but it was fruitless. His hapless pleas went with the wind, away.

He felt miserable, inside and out. Cheated. Wronged. That sea of fire… was the most spectacular and the most terrifying sight he had ever witnessed. Even cities raging in the fire, their buildings thrust from their roots and foundations, turned upside down, with people geared up in rifles while throwing grenades waging war at one another paled in comparison. Perhaps… only having witnessed an atomic bomb exploding over a city came close.

Even that, however, was more abstract; he didn’t see anything, just a blinding flash of light and a cloud of smoke. He heard of countless deaths and witnessed the fallout that had turned the world completely. But here… he saw. He saw that fire, those giants burning, ready to inflame the world. And he was supposed to have answers for them? He didn’t. He couldn’t. Until just a few hours ago, he didn’t even know what the Kindled were. He genuinely believed it might just have been a volcanic eruption or, at worst, an army that could use fire-related magic.

He settled on the river’s bank, staring at the hollow moonlight, lost. His mind tried to wind its gears and think of ways and means of battling those things, but it lacked the information to even begin to unfurl the carpet. The most obvious one was water, but people here weren’t morons; of course that the water puts out the fire – they know that. Even still, they suffered so horribly they had to alter the annals of history just to hide it.

“… you seem decrepit.” A voice came from behind him, Asandra’s. He was so out of it that he didn’t even notice her approaching. She sat down by his side, sporting her usual, armored self even deep into the night. Her eyes… were more vivid, he thought. More pronounced. More colorful. Must be his imagination.

“… we can’t win, Asandra.” He said in a low tone.

“Of course,” she shrugged. “We aren’t here to win.”

“… no, you misunderstand,” he said, shaking his head. “We’ll get obliterated. Forget stalling, we’ll be lucky to last ten minutes.”

“… what are you talking about?” she asked with a frown.

“I crossed the river and scouted ahead,” he said. “It was a sea, Asandra. Fire… so, so much fire. Embroiled giants composing an endless swarm of the blaze. If there ever was a definition of a meaningless battle, this just might be it."

“… you’ve seen them?” she asked. “The books did say they are dangerous, but the Kindled, individually, are weak. Their only strength is in their numbers.”

"Humph," Noah scoffed, glancing at her with a bitter grin. "Tell me, oh please, how a ten-feet tall giant built entirely out of the fire is 'individually weak'."

“…” her eyes widened as her jaw slacked, lips trembling.

“The dawn of the battle,” he said, taking a deep breath. “You’ll take Olivia and run. And I mean fucking run.”

“… what about you?” she asked.

“The reason I’m in this mess is because of your shitty records and your sheer inability to be even remotely honest,” he said. “Rather than trusting the second-hand account of the few possible survivors, I’ll see it with my own eyes. What they can do. Perhaps, then, I just might stand the chance.”

“Scary, isn’t it?” another voice startled Asandra, and just as she was about to unsheathe her sword and jump, Noah put his hand on her shoulder and held her back.

“Creeping in the shadows; your image right now is a long way from the King.”

“I am not a King now, after all.” A hooded figure with yellow eyes stepped out of the shadows, causing Asandra to shudder. She failed, yet again. Noah knew he was there, but she didn’t.

“You sent us here knowing.”

“I did.”

“I hate indecisive imbeciles like you,” Asandra felt the blood in her veins freeze as she watched Noah turn his eyes toward the King himself, scorn evident in them. “If you wanted to impede us, fuckin’ grow some balls and impede us.”

“…”

“All you’ve done, now, is cost the Kingdom, and wasted my time.”

“… you sound angry.” Jovyer said.

“I’m not angry,” Noah replied. “I’m simply in awe of your stupidity. To have been led by you all these years, this Kingdom is remarkably lucky not to have folded unto itself.”

“… hey, hey…” Asandra tugged at his sleeves, her mind rattling.

“This was a lesson, from me to you,” Jovyer said. “And, this… is not on me. You chose to immediately jump into a seemingly beneficial situation. Don’t deflect the guilt.”

“Guilt?” Noah scoffed, standing up and facing him. “You just wasted six months of my life. Six fucking months. There’s going to be less than a year left before the Holy War by the time we return to Elucido. Do you even understand what you’ve done?”

“Explain, then.”

“You’ve forced my hand, Jovyer,” Noah said. “Forget the tens of thousands that will die because of your ‘oh-so-clever lesson’, you’ve just condemned all of your children to an early grave, and you don’t even realize that.”

“… I have?” Jovyer mumbled, frowning, his yellow eyes shining in a strange splendor. “What? Will you kill them as means of getting back at me?”

“… tell me,” Noah said. “What the hell will your children be able to do… when they have the Kingdom’s entire army shouting at the Palace’s gates? Demanding their heads?”

“…”

“This recourse will tell an entirely different story than what you’re imagining,” he said. “These people, and their families, won’t blame me or Olivia. They won’t blame us who came here. We didn’t know. But others… who stayed back… did.” Both Asandra and Jovyer’s eyes lit up momentarily in a flare of understanding. “You did. The Queen did. The Princes and Princess Moria did. And us, who so foolishly charged, didn’t. You held the key knowledge back from us because you wanted us dead. This won’t even be me spinning the story – this is the story, Jovyer.”

“… my children didn’t know.” Jovyer said quickly.

"You know that doesn't matter," Noah said. "People are, across the board, as dumb as they come. They'll believe whatever benefits them the most and helps them cope the best. If it were believing in a massive cock that sprayed holy water from the sky to bless us against the Fire, they'd believe in that garbage within a heartbeat… just on the off-chance it might actually happen. The Kingdom cannot, I repeat, cannot take any more distress, Jovyer. It is already walking the fine line.”

“… I’ve miscalculated,” Jovyer sighed, lowering his head. “I expected the story to unfold the same way, in which you make martyrs of the people that died, and a selfless heroine of Olivia. I thought less of the implicit changes.”

“… I’d wager that most of them didn’t come here solely to die,” Noah said. “They have some expectations of success, of victory, however slim it might be. And what will happen when they see ten-feet tall giants of fire coming at them? They’ll feel betrayed. Lied to. And so desperate they’ll all start running away. And I… I won’t stop them. Let them run.”

"… why are you warning me of this, though?" he asked. "Wouldn't you benefit from the Kingdom falling into even deeper chaos?"

"… there is chaos," Noah said. "And then… there is just ruin. Who can benefit from the ruin? Bandits and thieves and murderers. When have I ever claimed to be any one of those things? I want to put Olivia on the throne to rule… but what worth would be the crown if it reigned over the land ashened?”

“… I’ll send her.”

“Her?”

“The Lightbringer.”

“…”

“Though her personality is a suspect,” he said, sighing. “Next to Advell and me, she might be the only one who can withstand them. Contrary to what you might think, you are also a rather good answer for them.”

“… me?”

“Fire… is different to Light,” Jovyer elaborated. “Unlike us, who seek with our senses by looking at everything the Light touches, they see through the literal fire – the warmth of our bodies. You, on the other hand, thrive in hiding that fire. Unless you are right next to them, they won’t be able to notice you.”

“… that’s fantastic, but what in the devil’s name can that help me with? Oh, let me just approach ten feet away and throw this very big rock that will probably melt before even touching them.”

“… the same way you killed Sylene,” Jovyer said as Noah’s eyebrows flinched; cat’s out of the bag now. Glancing at Asandra, she had a queer expression on her face as she stared at him, almost as though to say ‘I knew it!’. “They are weak to magic in general, not just Light. Their strength is in destruction – not so much in defense. You alone certainly won’t be able to do much in ending this war, but you can buy us some time until I convince her to come over.”

“… did I just hear you say convince—”

“You did.”

“…”

“Her personality…”

“Aren’t you a King?”

“Hey, look at how you’re treating me,” Jovyer shrugged. “How do you imagine someone equal in strength to me would behave toward me?”

“… ah, I imagine quite a few people slapping you.”

“That’s a bit harsh. It was an honest miscalculation, I’ve already admitted. I genuinely didn’t have any – well, much ill intent behind it; I’ve already told you, Outlander, my days of interfering are over. I’ve by now given my children their chance, and that was the last of it. I didn’t do this because of my indecisiveness. I was just a bit angry at how quickly and expressly you abused the living hell out of this situation.”

“… you mean you were envious.”

“That too, a bit… I suppose.”

“… huuh,” Noah sighed, rubbing his temples. “I don’t know when they will attack, but I’ll delay them at most for a day when they do. At best two.”

“Two? That’s a bit confident of you, relying solely on your daggers.”

“I wouldn’t be that confident in a god, let alone myself,” Noah shrugged. “I’ve other means.”

“… you’re a queer thing, Outlander,” Jovery said, beginning to fade back into the shadow. “I just wonder whether this little home of mine was lucky or unlucky to get you…”

“…” Noah watched him fade in silence, turning to Asandra who still maintained her ‘I knew it!’ expression. “Don’t judge.”

“I’m not,” she shrugged with a smile. “Though, it feels, the King really pushed me onto you, wouldn’t you agree? First by revealing you were an Outlander in front of me and now revealing you were the one to kill the Duchess.”

“… I’ve would have told you one day anyway,” Noah said, shrugging. “This just saves me the headache, I suppose. Anyway, go get some rest. Starting tomorrow, you and I will become temporary builders.”

“… builders?” Asandra frowned.

“Hm,” he grinned. “Of course, I’ll be the brains, and you’ll be the muscles.”

“… I’ll deeply regret ever choosing to follow you, won’t I?”

“Not if you try really, really hard not to.”

“Ugh…”