Sophie

Taking the stairs up the whirlpool tavern, they reached the second floor. Sawyer… or rather; Prince Logos lead them to the front, along with two of his men walking by either side of him. Passing a waiter on the steps, the prince had stopped them before asking Sophie and Flynn if they needed anything from the kitchen below.

“They have an assortment of refreshments here. I doubt our convocation will be a brief one. To be honest, I could do with a drink.” Logos said, besides confirming that he will brief them and telling them to follow him to his quarters, this was the first thing that he said to Flynn and herself.

“I could do with a little drink myself,” Flynn said.

I won’t trade places with you when you lose balance, Sophie jabbed at Flynn.

“Then I’ll drink for the both of us,” Flynn thought back. Sophie just snorted to herself in amusement. As Logas nodded to Flynn’s request, he turned his eyes on Sophie.

“Tea please,” Sophie said. “I’m long since tired and intend to rest as soon as we’re done here.” Nodding, the waiter made way for them as they continued upwards. There they entered a large oak door bearing the number two on its face.

“Be sure nobody gets close,” Logas said. Kosumi nodded before standing by the entrance. As Logas allowed Sophie and Flynn in, Sophie could not help but notice the stark contrast of the room itself compared to the rest of the tavern. It had no windows for one and its walls were of polished wood lathered with strips of golden patterned decorations. On all sides of them were framed paintings of the local landscapes, animals, and even people. On one side laid the picture frames of Mt.Karaki, a landscape filled with snow-tipped trees and a pack of grey wolves prowling under the gaze of a much larger wolf. To its opposite side was a painted picture of the Thow river as it met with the two-pronged intersection. To the right and left of it lay two smaller pictures of carp and trout, common river fish. Logos pasted the long mapped table in the room’s centre and sat down behind the desk opposite them. As if waiting for Sophie to begin the conversation, Logos eyed her in deep contemplation for a moment. In response, Sophie gave a covert look at Emmitt, to which Logos sighed in understanding.

“Emmit is my vassal. A sworn shield from Hyperion, anointed with the knights, pledged to protect me from a young age. He knows my true identity because he’s been with me before I needed to forge a new one. I guess Kosumi is the same in that regard.”

“I heard that! “Kosumi’s voice from beyond the door. She guessed his casual way of responding to a prince was proof enough of Logos claims.

“I never saw him when we last met,” Sophie said.

“And yet I’ve seen you,” Emmit picked up, “I was present at the prince’s visit to Hallow Peak.”

“Emmit was told to stand just outside the room back then, much like how Kosumi is being told to now. Speaking of Kosumi, you wouldn’t recognise him because he’d never entered my vassal until long after that day. My father thought that two of his men were sufficient protection from a man such as your teacher. He was a guest in his presence and it would be rude to bring so much protection to visit an esteemed host such as Master Bruce.” Logos said. Sophie raised an eyebrow.

“Must have been a great shock to your father when I kidnapped you,” Sophie said with a hint of amusement. Logos snorted at that, but a jovial grin found its way on his face.

“You kidnapped him?” Flynn asked.

I called him over to the large hall of bookshelves to ask him some questions, and his father went ballistic.

“Let me guess, it was over something you discovered in a book?” Flynn thought back.

It was a profound passage; she replied defensively. In any case, when the king found me talking with his son, he eyed me like I was some poisonous snake that slithered its way into Eden.

“Charming, you know, his dad sounds like a real pain,” Flynn thought. Sophie remained silent. She thought it a far gone moment, a rough edge in the titan climb she called life. It was only now, looking at Logos’s inward stare, that she realised maybe he had to live with that how whole life.

“From as early as I could comprehend words, father warned me about many types of poisons,” Logos continued. “Toxins that can enter the bloodstream via lungs, ones consumed through the mouth, even the kind that can be absorbed through the eyes and skin. He told me everything except the most contagious poison of all.” He tapped his finger on his temple as he finished the sentence, which made Sophie frown.

“Poison of the mind,” she mumbled.

“After hearing the rambles you had after you gleaned what you did from those books, I began to ask my father questions. I did not realise it then, but I believe my father was this close to having our doctor check on my mental fortitude when we arrived home.”

“Surely you jest,” Sophie waved a hand and shook her head jovially. When she turned and realised that he looked longingly at the table, as if reliving a strange but vivid memory, she paused.

“It certainly put a dent in my sheltered ego. No matter how big you think you are, reality seldom cares. To it, we are quite small in the grand scheme of things.” Logos said. With a half-smile on her lip, Sophie nodded. Although she remembered the early days of tutelage under Master Bruce on expanding her mind and exposing her to vast sweeping concepts and universal observations, she’d almost forgotten the existential dread that swallowed her as preconceptions of the world were defined and broken over and over. But she could not let up, was forbidden to leave Bruce’s great room filled with his personal selection of books until she was ready for what comes next. Before that ordeal, Sophie remembered the awed way people spoke of learning under master Bruce, how thousands of nobles and wealthy men came with their heirs and prodigies, all in the vain hope that Master Bruce would select one of their blood to take under his wing. The man was one of the remaining founders of the four poles temple, a legend in the flesh. The knowledge he held in his mind was immense. In a scholar’s eyes, it was perhaps the greatest treasure in the world. The only thing second to that was his room of study, where he kept all his books on the subjects that built him to the man he was. The things some people would have given just to spend a day there. “Thankfully, that experience helped me to better broaden my knowledge beyond what they gave in normal lessons. I’m proud of the event now.”

“And because of that, your father banished you. Logos I’m-“

“-refer to me as Sawyer from now on,” Logos-no, Sawyer said. When Sophie nodded, Sawyer shrugged as he continued. “And there is nothing to be sorry for. It was a long time coming,”

“But your father’s dynasty? Surely he can’t just cut you out of it!”

“’I am dead to him,’ His own words,” Sawyer said. Sophie felt a pang at those words. They cut too close to her own experience with her parents for comfort.

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled, but Swayer hardly seemed to respond. “Is there no way you can make amends?”

“If I were to show back up, he would not hesitate to kill me. I’ve known my father long enough to know he meant it,”

“But why!?”

“I questioned the soundness of his goals. For as long as I’ve known him, he had always been fixated on building an army of giants. I tried to get a satisfactory answer about it all, but he never gave me anything.”

“Every new unanswered question asked validated his ignorance,” Sophie said. Sawyer nodded to himself, eyes looking troubled he sighed.

“I made the mistake of sounding those unanswered questions publicly in the presence of the nobles. A king cannot have a father’s mercy when sitting on the throne. I get its meaning now.” He said it all matter-of-factly, but Sophie could tell the event weighed on him. “After that, I left the capital and went under my current alias, I took inventory of myself and created the band soon after.” Sophie nodded in understanding. She saw Sawyer was not only telling the truth but seemed somewhat relieved to do so, still… for a while now Sophie could not help but feel like Sawyer was slowly prepping her up for something. Like gingerly picking bruised apples that fell from a tree whilst blatantly ignoring the ready prepped ladder that leads to the unblemished ones on the tree itself. A knock at the door broke Sophie’s troubled thoughts from such things. It was Kosumi who came in with a tray of refreshments. After sending the waiter away, he placed the tray on the table. Thanking him, Sophie took up her teacup and walked methodically around the large table where the maps lay.

So, the Hyperion kingdom is in a more desperate state than we thought.

“They are the kingdom closest to the old eastern city, right? It’s admirable they held onto their power for as long as they have with the Dragon’s main empire breathing so close over there necks.” Flynn thought back. Growing pressures from the Dragon empire were in no doubt at play here, but how much were his acts from self-preservation and how much of it was from pride? Sophie saw enough reports of Hyperion’s king to know that he was far from humble. Even in the short time that she’d seen him, it was apparent to her he was going to boast of the privilege he had in being invited to take a seat with Master Bruce in his chamber of knowledge. He might have gone on about it a lot more had he not seen a snake in the garden. He was a good enough king to his people-kind most would say, but his outlook on life fell in line with many of the nobles that littered the halls of Hallow temple academy. People who believe that the cloth one was born in determine the mandate they are destined to. They think of themselves as the pinnacle of humankind, or at the very least, the closest thing to the pinnacle that can be managed in today’s world. To them, rank and bloodlines were everything. They despise people like herself. People who stepped out of their ‘predestined path’, Sophie knew that if Sawyer’s father was her age and attended the temple academy when she had then he would have been the ringleader of all the other men and women who ridiculed her for being the odd one out among them.

It was a good thing that public relations were not her field since that minor fact alone might have spoiled more of the west’s alliances than anyone else would have. With as many smaller towns and villages being seduced to the dragon empire’s side, Hallow peak could not afford to lose its sway on any of the five kingdoms, otherwise, their already shaky peace between them could crumble.

“What are you thinking, runesmith?” Sawyer said. Sophie blinked back to the now, perhaps she’d fallen too deep into thought. She’ll worry about political ramifications later. Right now, she had more pressing issues to puzzle out. Seeing little point in holding off on the questions no longer, Sophie moved her tea away from her lips.

“So how is it you ended up in this position?” Sophie asked as she pointed to the room.

“Would you believe me if I said that my competent and civilised charms had them elevate a mercenary to this possession?” Sawyer said.

“Of Course, no one would believe that!” Sophie huffed. Sawyer’s face, however, did not let up its smile and soon Sophie found he was likely not lying. “Not with royal charms alone. No humble village is that humble.”

“True enough, the main reason I got this possession of lead tactician is because I have the most combat experience, that along with my men outnumbers their two-to-one means it was best I took more control. The most elegant way to unite both my man and the villages fighters was to have me take this mantel. It’s a temporary deal, of course. Once my job is done I will drop out of this role instantly.”

“The wolves do complicate things I’ll admit, but for the village to be so hasty in accepting outsiders into their council is-”

“-There is a famine fisher here,” Sawyer whispered, his tone a swan song as he mumbled it. Sophie felt like she just had the wind punched out of her. She could practically feel Flynn’s solid and constant mood darken. For a second, she just stood there, dumbfounded. In disbelief, she asked him to repeat the question. She didn’t miss hear.

“Are you certain?” she strained herself for self-control, which to her surprise she found.

“A gigantic, looking creature. A skeleton-like dragon carved from obsidian and ruby, able to fly and has two glowing antenna-like tails that exude gas-like poison that affects all-natural life-forms it touches. These all line up with records I’ve read accounts of,” Sawyer said.

“But there’s a fair number of demons with that description!” Sophie snapped. “Unless it can summon other demons at will, you cannot entertain such a claim so lightly!” Sawyer just smiled faintly as he gazed at her. This baffled Sophie until she recollected what she just said.

“That’s the reason why you’re still dealing with infestations. The demons continued to appear whenever it’s threatened. Cycles above.” Sophie said in disbelief.

“I was hoping against hope that you’d disprove my intel. After it almost killed us in our last battle, I did a little digging and, well…”

“And how did it escape you?” Sophie asked. Sawyer groaned to himself as he strummed his fingers on the table.

“It hid in the dammed lake.” He said. That grabbed Sophie’s attention, seeing that Sawyer continued."The river Thow leads to a nearby lake. It retreated into the river on its first escape. We were still able to damage it when it entered the river, but once it swam into the lake, we lost sight of it. The lake is too deep to penetrate the bottom of with the weapons we have. Diving in the lake is suicide and so we gather our strength in order to lure it out and kill it. In the meantime, it consumes the fish of both the rivers and lake to grow in power.”

‘Encounters,? Sophie thought with dread.

“How many times have you fought it?” she asked.

“This would be the second time. I came to understand what it likely is after our second battle, but by then it had already grown double in size and three times in strength. The number of demons it could summon to our plane tested even some of my very best men.” Sawyer said, Able to summon demons and grow insanely fast in power. All the signs point to being the Famine Fisher. She could no longer deny what he’d told her. It was a real parasite of a demon able to summon legions to its side with its power. When faced with a powerful foe, it will pit its strength against it. If it starts to lose, however, Famine Fishers make for a quick retreat where they recover and replenish. They do not show themselves again until they feel they are strong enough to avenge themselves against the opponent that had them flee. If the village’s knight and the Wandering Willows failed to kill it the first time and barely made it retreat the second time, then… then Sawyer must know that their chances of coming out of this next battle alive were all but non-existent.

Sophie wanted to say that this was foolish, that they should have called for a retreat and abandoned the village, but the logical part of her knew better. This demon was one of the worst kinds mankind had ever encountered. Like a serpentine dragon sharpening its talons on the weak, if nobody came to challenge it, then it would simply wander off and find another that will. But if it were to kill all here, then it will move further inland. Emboldened by its power, and victory it will kill, consume, and grow until a very slim few hunters could even stand up to it. Running now will only allow it to keep consuming and growing to its prime power sooner. The only approach they had at their disposal now was to face it whilst they were still in a favourable possession. To delay with anything else was not only to doom yourself but to make the demon your neighbour’s problem. This explained a lot, the intense looks in all the leaders’ eyes, the shaken but hopeful look of the men who’d seen events first hand. They had opted to keep the name of the demon they were dealing with as silent as possible. It was a wise choice given the circumstance. Even still…

“Have you at least prepared the people to evacuate on short notice?” Sophie said. Sawyer nodded, which allowed Sophie to sigh in relief.

“It’s been done under the pretence of a routine demon’s defensive protocol. Most here are accustomed to such a standby happening from time to time, so it’s hard to say how urgent most will take in readying themselves, but it’s better than spreading mass panic with the utterance of that demon’s name.” According to records of this demon, such a retreat may prove more fruitless than not bothering, that barely any survived an attack from a Famine fisher who had dealt with a person’s fighting men. But even salvaged grape seeds were better preferred over losing both fruit and seeds to the glutton’s consumption of the Famine Fisher. With these thoughts permeating her mind, Sophie deliberately took another sip of tea. She just needed a moment longer to think.

“You’ve at least attempted to send a messenger of warning and back up to the nearest settlements over,” Sophie asked. Sawyer looked deeply troubled at that.

“Several attempts were made to reach the local towns, Aqua Falls included. But none of them come back.” Sawyer said.

“As in, you get no response from these messengers?” Sophie said.

“As in the messengers, once gone, never return.” Silence filled the room soon after. Sophie deliberately took another draft of her beverage.

Calm Sophie… calm. The rest of her mind was in complete panic. One of the most insidious demons known to man at their doorstep, wolves whose long allegiance was now put to question and something out there intentionally disposing of their messengers and silencing any cries for help they have from reaching beyond this village. Just what dark design has she walked into?

“You think that the Famine Fisher could be that calculating?” Sophie asked carefully. Though she knew it was impossible, they were quick learners.

“I’d like to say that this is the doing of the wolves, but that even I have to admit that it’s a baseless statement.” He sighed. “In either case, we are isolated here with this issue.”

“Indeed, worrying about the why of things will do us little good right now. If we’re to get out of this, we need to unify our efforts.” Sophie said. She really didn’t like her chances with this. “I’ll try my best to get everyone who came with me on board.” Sophie knew Sawyer would get her meaning. There was only one among them that showed any signs of not involving themselves in this coming battle. She thought it a token gesture, a means of saying in not so many words that she fully understood the gravity of the situation and could express that to Natalie, who was clearly ignorant. So it came as a slight surprise by her suggestion of her had Sawyer not only pause in a long silence but look deeply troubled.

“Is… something the matter?”

“That girl you’re travelling with, is she your disciple?”

“Are you saying that I seem wise enough to have a disciple, or that I now look old enough that it would be strange not to have one?”

“Don’t swerve questions with japes, runesmith. What she’d done with the weather back there. I’ve never seen anyone pull off something so miraculous except-,”

“-She is an apprentice.” Sophie blurted the words before she had time to contemplate them.

“An apprentice?” Sawyer asked. Sophie nodded, but her heart was not fully in it. Truth be told, Sophie knew what their relationship really was. Where they were just good travel partners. It was the only thing that made the most sense to her on the surface. Then there was the question about her powers. Stories of thunder and lightning seemed to follow most accounts of the dark angel Natalie. Those were just stories until she met her. Now Sophie has seen her throw around lightning bolts without a weapon, along with her purple eyes. There was a lot about Natalie that left Sophie mystified.

“We’ve only been travelling together recently,” Sophie said. “We get along just fine, but I’m unsure how long our current course of business will keep us together. She’d shown some interest in my ways, so I offered to teach what I can to her-which she pays back in knowledge.” She watched Sawyer over the rim of her teacup soon after. It was mostly the truth with some context taken out. She offered to know more about the western temple, but that had nothing to do with her powers. She thought it was a good enough answer until Sophie got a read on Sawyer’s face.

“You’ve avoided my question again. You know what I ask.”

“If you’re asking about the limits of her power, then I do not know,” she frowned down at her teacup. There was only one person she knew of who had a similar colour pupil, but it only showed up in one of their eyes. “All I can say with some certainty is that whatever means she gained her abilities is not from natural birth. I’m sure I don’t have to elaborate.”

“And what of this talk of ‘current course’ you speak of? Care to elaborate?” Sawyer asked. Sophie just looked at him a while as her mind weighed out the benefits of talking him through the long and bizarre path she’s been on that led them to this moment. Opting against it, she gave a weak smile and shrug, which made Sawyer snort.

“Fine, keep your secrets.” He pushed the words in a huff as if he lost interest in the whole thing. Something in the way he glanced at the painting of Mt.Karaki, however, betrayed his troubled mind. It made Sophie tilt her head at him in confusion. and Natalie bothered him. Not necessarily from the power that she displayed. That part of Natalie he was already calculating into his battle plans. It was more from something that Natalie had said.

“Is there something I’m missing?” Sophie asked.

“I’m also entitled to keep my counsel,” Sawyer said. Sophie raised an eyebrow at that, not making any effort to hide her interest. “Ask her what they said to me. It won’t gleam you much. Her rambles were not what concerned me,”

“Fair enough. Forget I said anything.” Sophie said. Cycles, Natalie really got to him somehow. She’ll have to talk to Natalie to see what she’d said. To leave the well-spoken prince troubled by mere words was no small feat.

“I don’t care if her powers are drawn from the pits themselves, if her command over the weather turns the tides in this battle then I’ll extend an olive branch I have to see her in our ranks..” He stood up and walked his way over to the long table with the map as he spoke. Sophie could see the gears of tactics moving in his mind’s eye as he picked up a sword in a stone-carved from wood and swirled it around his finger. He was back in his last battle, Sophie knew that thousand-mile stare. “We have no time for squabbling among ourselves.” He whispered to himself before he blinked back to the present. “If you could have her retract her statement to not involve herself…”

“I’ll try to convince her,” Sophie said. Sawyer bowed his head in thanks. “So, you’ve seen what the Famine Fisher is capable of. You know how it readies itself for its vengeance bout. I take it you’ve got a plan to combat this?” She nodded to the map as she also glanced at it on the other side.

“I do,” Sawyer said, “But you intend to challenge my stratagem,” he said carefully. Although he was cautious, his tone was a fair bit lighter than it sounded a moment before. Despite his defensiveness of his plan, Sawyer was truly grateful to have someone else to shoulder this burden on. Smiling to herself, Sophie put down her teacup and picked up a wooded piece carved into a bow and arrow to better observe its detail.

“A true diamond is made under great heat and pressure, crushed in an inferno on all sides until it becomes the unbreakable gem we know. Anything less than that and then it will crack under scrutiny.” Sophie said.

“Then it’s a good thing that I deal in men and steel,” Sawyer said. “If my plan was as rigid as a diamond, then it would crack, regardless of strength.”

“Depending on how you lay out a plan, making a rigid plan for all in the campaign would be a disaster. But having a few solid plans made simple and separate different parties…”

“Sounds to me like you’ve already picked up what I’ve put down,” Sawyer said.

“Perhaps I have. But, just to be certain, I’ll need to see what’s on the table first.”