**

Chapter 42: The Enemy of My Enemy is Still My Enemy

**

“I want to thank you all for accepting my invitation to meet her, but before we begin it’s important that I make this clear,” Queen Katherine said, attempting to sound as authoritarian as possible.

When it came to diplomacy with the Midaharians, the late king was more experienced. Everything that had to do with running the empire rested on him, she never bothered to attend any formal meetings with other rulers.

As she sat across from the Midaharian general, Katherine regretted her past decisions. “The Ahrman Empire has not, and will never forget what happened to Haggard and its citizens. The passing of Emperor Taimoor does not mean Midaharia won’t answer for his brutal and unprovoked attack on our soil.”

“While unfortunate, the destruction of Haggard was necessary,” Isa rebutted. “We were targeting the Rebirth Destroyer with the only weapon we thought was capable of killing him. It’s my understanding that both of our nations consider him a threat, so...”

“Would you have dropped Catalyst on your own population?!” Sisten demanded.

Isa held a piercing gaze on the Royal Guard, recalling the burns on Tears’ body and how long it took him to numb his pain. Sisten was sporting his own burn scars across his body that didn’t look as painful as the ones he inflicted on his fellow general.

Isa adjusted his glasses on his nose and turned his attention back to the queen. “Are we here to discuss the past or the present, your highness?”

“We’re here because we have a common enemy,” Queen Katherine said. “I assume that creature cloud is over Ras Almal as we speak?”

“Regrettably.”

“It covers Parigrah as well and the man controlling has to be stopped. He was a lieutenant under the Empire but now, he’s lost touch with reality. Breuke, explain, please.”

“It’s actually quite simple,” Breuk said, leaning forward in his chair. “Alba is under the control of a new rune, called Damnation, which had him murder our king and your emperor. As far as I can tell, the Damnation rune kind of ‘gave life’ to the other runes, and now they’re controlling one of our Royal Guard and your general, Lahan.”

“Where can we find Lahan?” Badr asked, eagerly.

Sisten sat back in his chair and grinned. “You’ll find him with Alba, sucking his dick.”

Nostrils flared like a charging bull, Badr jumped out of his seat. “That vile tongue is mine, heathen!”

“Settle down, Badr,” Isa insisted as Idris kept him from jumping across the table.

“Would you hold your temper?” Idris asked Badr. “He’s not worth it.”

Queen Katherine narrowed her angry eyes at Sisten and pointed to the door. Sisten was still wearing a mischievous grin as he left the room. Badr yanked himself free of Idris and followed Sisten out of the room. “Badr!” Idris called, as the door slammed. “Just can’t take him anywhere!”

“Forget about him for now, Idris,” Isa said, returning to his seat. “This is more important than his childish temper.”

“Sisten is truly a difficult man to deal with,” the queen sighed. “I apologize for his remark.”

“I wish you wouldn’t, your highness,” said Isa. “Personally, I prefer dealing with a person's true face a mask. Now, does the Empire have a plan to stop Damnation?”

“Yes, with your help,” the queen replied, trying her hardest to make eye contact with the Midaharian. His lack of cooperation was bothersome. “Rebirths are our only defense against his horde. We need to combine our forces and strike before it's too late.”

“But, if we attack him with Rebirths, what’s stopping that rune from controlling us, too?” Idris asked.

“Keep Alba away from you,” Breuke said. “I witnessed him take Lahan and Tasha. They were both within arms reach of him.”

“Is it safe to assume that there are six Rebirths between us?” asked Isa.

“Five,” Jericha confirmed.

“We’ll need more than that.”

“Agreed, but how do we locate them?” Queen Katherine asked.

Isa and Idris shared eye contact, briefly. “Leave that to us,” Isa said.

*

“Coming here was the queen’s idea, not mine,” Sisten told Badr. “I would sooner drink poison than ask one of you for help.”

“Prove it,” Badr encouraged, looking down at the Royal Guard.

“Don’t think I’m going to let you get away with destroying Haggard. You homicidal butchers murdered my brother. You’re going to pay for that.”

“If your brother was as ugly as you are, he will not be missed.”

Sisten smirked and took a swing at Badr that landed in the general’s hand. After catching Sisten’s punch, Badr hammered him in the mouth with a tight fist followed by a kick to the floor. The Royal Guard ignited his palm as he regained his footing.

“Put that out, you coward, and fight me like the man you pretend to be!”

“What’s the matter?” Sisten said. “Afraid I’ll incinerate you like I did Tears? He really lived up to his name during our last encounter.”

Easily egged on by the Royal Guard, Badr charged Sisten eager to strangle his fire. Sisten conjured a sword of flames and batted high. Chunks of earth came together and formed a round shield, protecting Badr from Sisten’s fire. He used the same shield to send Sisten flying down the hallway.

Sisten rolled to his feet and launched a wall of fire towards Badr. A thick barrier of earth broke the flame’s advance, but once the Midaharian general lowered it, Sisten was already in his face. He staggered him with several heated fists to the belly then kicked him toward a large window.

As Badr attempted to collect himself, Sisten charged and the two men flew out of the window. It was a hundred and twenty feet to the pavement below, but a cushion of earth broke their fall several feet off the ground.

The others gathered in front of the shattered window and watched the two men continue their disagreement below. “Idris, get down there and break them up,” Isa ordered.

“Allow me,” Jericha said. Accompanied by a bright flash of light, a bolt of lightning dropped from the sky and split into two, striking the ground next to their feet. He should know better than to be picking fights in his condition!

“I hope you didn’t kill him,” Idris said as the men laid unconscious on the ground.

“I didn’t.”

“Let’s go collect our friend, Idris, and get to work.”

“You’re returning to your capital?” asked the queen.

“Unfortunately,” answered Isa. “That’s where our...guide to Rebirths is.”

“Take Jericha with you. This is a joint effort that will require us to trust each other and work together, or we all could lose everything.”

Idris took Isa aside and spoke under his breath. "I'll go with Jericha to the capital and activate the star map."

"We can't allow the Ahrman access to it, Idris."

"I know, I know," Idris said, annoyed by Isa's repetitive concern. The late emperor's strategists had already tattooed the number one rule about the star map to his brain which was 'never speak of it to anyone, including your mother, your father, your neighbor, and even your horse; those animals love to gossip'. "But we don't want to give Alba or Damnation or whoever it is any more firepower either. The fewer of us going, the better."

"I hear what you're saying, Idris, I just don't want to risk taking her with you."

"I'll keep her away from the star map. Don't worry."

"You'd better, and take Tears' Rebirth with you. You may need it."

"Okay."

"Your highness," Isa said, turning to the queen. "How soon can your Royal Guard be ready to leave?"

"I'm ready now," Jericha said.

"Meet us at the port in thirty minutes. Our chariot should be ready for departure by then. "

"I'll be there," Jericha said. She eyed them as they left the area, waiting until they started descending the stairs before saying, "They're hiding something."

"Oh, let them keep their secrets," the queen said. "I just want this nightmare to end as soon as possible." She tugged the buttons of her high collar and pulled them out of their holes one by one. Keeping her body covered with long sleeves and a flowing dress was a simple gesture of respect toward the Midaharians, but the collar felt like strangulation. "So, how did I do for my first diplomatic meeting?" she asked, unbuttoning her sleeves.

"I think you did fine, your majesty," Breuk said. "I'd better go check on Sisten."

"The queen grimaced as she rolled up her sleeves. "Do you have to?"