Cassidy's Point of View

The Slums

“Tell me again why you were so adamant about showing the Priestess around the new project?” Greigh inquired.

“Isn’t it better for us to be working together?” Ziah answered for me. “I’m sure Cassidy just wanted things to get better between Sir Arthur and the Priestesses. They seemed to be on the mend.”

We were waiting at the base of the Lowest Rung. Right on the edge of the mountain where The Slums began, and the rest of Helmsforth was divided.

“Ah’ve got my reasons.” I told the two.

Ayda was hopefully in position. “Don’t we all.” Greigh shot back. “Are you still doing okay?”

“Better than Ah was.”

He nodded and straightened as the Priestess came into sight with Kine, Floyd, and Alwin by her side. A few other guards were escorting them, but that was no issue. It worked better for me anyway.

Priestess Arceana stopped in front of us with a smile. “I must say, I am rather excited to see this project that Sir Arthur has been developing.”

Alwin looked around, confused. “I heard Ayda was also working on the project. Is she too busy to come greet us?”

“She had more work ta do and is researching somethin ta help us.” My response was the truth but was worded how Arthur would’ve.

“Always so eager to make sure everything is running smoothly.” The High Elf said with a smile and suspected no lie from me. “Shall we?” Greigh nodded and took the lead. “So, tell me what this project is.”

Ziah was the first one to respond. “It’s a little hard to explain what it is, but I’ll do my best.” My teacher looked at her as we moved through The Slums toward The Outskirts. “Think of it as an iron chariot or wagon. The purpose is to provide consistent transportation through Lestrania-“

She continued as I stayed silent, doing my best to act normal. After all, this was for Ayda.

Thana's Point of View

Unknown Location

“Send the signal for our army to ready themselves. The Anomaly, now known as Arthur Pendragon, will be there soon.” I ordered one of my Ghouls through my connection to him. “It should be simple enough with the Dwarves already crippled.”

We were circled around one of the tables in my throne room. It wasn’t in the best condition along with the rest of the room, but given the wide range of Demons sitting at it, none of us cared. I certainly didn’t. None of this mattered to me.

I received a confirmation and broke my connection to it as Tor, along with a few of my other Generals, waited for me. “So, it is done?” Tor inquired.

“The board is set. Now, we wait for Arthur to make his way over. It shouldn’t take long.” I answered.

Why was he so confident walking into a trap? That question had been gnawing at the back of my mind since he restrained one of my Ghouls. Arthur had laid several of his own, but he seemed almost indifferent this time. What had changed?

“Once The Anomaly is taken care of, we can refocus our attention back on Fluffy.” One of my generals stated. “The Traitors are an issue, but he has been a thorn in her majesty’s side far longer than anyone.”

“That’s because he’s supposed to be.” I told them, and many of them were confused by that. “Fluffy is likely waiting to see what happens with this Arthur Pendragon. No doubt he has his own spies keeping an eye on him.”

Flare spoke up from his side of the table. “Pestilence and Credo have become far more active as well. Their group is a problem. They’ve been hitting several of our installments throughout the west.”

Another one of my Generals spoke up. “Drevas is also becoming a problem. He’s growing more aggressive towards us and is starting to ignore orders.” A familiar looking Elf stated.

“Not to mention the prisoner.”

That had caught my attention. “What about the prisoner?”

“She tried to escape again and ended up wounding herself once more from her restraints” Tor answered.

There was only one that I truly considered a prisoner. It certainly wasn’t all the breeders we had either. Although, Drevas also kind of fit in that category, he still had some freedoms. He still needed tweaked here and there.

“Her restraints, the Demon Stone, are they still holding?” I inquired.

Tor nodded. “They are.”

Flare let out a scoff. “No one can break Demon Stone.”

I was quiet for a moment as I eyed him. “Keep her under careful guard. She tries this every once in a while. Still, there is a reason she is restrained. We need her.” My gaze drifted to Tor for a moment. “If anything happens, inform me immediately.” Standing, they all did the same in turn. “Now, I must be ready for Arthur’s arrival in the Dwarven Capital.” I dismissed them and returned to my throne to wait and watch.