Byuresk walked slowly at the front of the group, heading through the outskirts of Tatem to where the Nether Kings were waiting. His eyes kept flicking up to the sky. All he could sense was a vague threat, which made him grit his teeth. As head of the security force for the council, how can I be so useless as to let this happen again…? If that bastard Dello makes a push to unseat me using this as an excuse, how can I-

He pressed his eyes shut. Those thoughts were selfish. He couldn’t have them dominating his mind right now, while the crisis was still ongoing. The Nether Kings would sense it. They would cleave at his weakness and bleed Tatem dry. The unfortunate truth was the other four members of the Council gave him complete freedom in responding to Nether threats. At the time he assumed his position last year, Byuresk was slightly impressed by their reasonable handling of the situation. The head of security could not function if he needed to get all of his decisions approved by several other individuals.

Now he understood it was just so all of the blame would rest solely on his shoulders. In its current state, Tatem being threatened was an inevitability.

Still, he schooled his face and kept his expression dignified as they crossed through the less sophisticated houses to reach the South gate. Especially because his adoptive daughter had finally taken an interest in his job, requesting to follow him to the meeting place and witness the transaction. For that, Byuresk felt slightly proud.

Clearly, she was moved by his heroism and constant toil.

She might not be his biological daughter, but he truly wanted the best for her. The honor she might someday obtain, due to her illustrious lineage, would reflect well back on him. Perhaps he might someday become famous for his generosity. She would thank him publicly, after coming into her own power and winning a massive victory over Nether forces. All the crowd would come to their feet, bringing their hands together-

Byuresk licked his lips, his eyes slightly glazed. At a time like this, the brief escape of a daydream was a much-needed relief.

The houses continued to degrade, the further from the plaza they moved. Faces peeped out of nearly shut windows before quickly withdrawing, radiating an intense fear. Rusted metal leaned against the propped up houses, a testament to how much wealth had been sucked out of Tatem recently by the consistent raids.

As they moved, Byuresk observed the strange Nether King Randidly Ghosthound moving behind him. The man definitely had a physical body and also released slight image reverberations. Yet within his chest clearly churned a powerful Nether Core. Byuresk found himself almost angry at the contradiction. How could one individual house both energies? How powerful would be be wielding both?

The Ghosthound’s eyes moved frequently, seeming to examine every inch of Tatem. He felt slightly uncomfortable at the intensity of his examination: the Nether King seemed to be searching for something, but he wasn’t sure what that was. Occasionally, his eyes would flick upward. He wondered what the trap looked like to this creature of Nether.

He desires information? Possibly. Just what sort of information could he find at this small outpost? Byuresk clenched his fist.

To distract himself, he sent a message to Llewella. You experienced this Nether King’s power directly. Will he be able to help us?

Her response was immediate. Perhaps. I… I am of the opinion that he must be heavily wounded after the confrontation. In our brief clash, he overwhelmed me with a single, physical palm strike. However, he didn’t mobilize Nether at all, even when my blow landed. He is perhaps teetering on collapse. Relying on him… might be unwise. Such individuals can be unpredictable.

Byuresk paused and allowed the guards and the Nether King to walk past. Randidly Ghosthound glanced sideways at him, but just moved past without comment, still examining the surroundings with such care. Pursing his lips, Byuresk began to move once more. Nothing in his gait suggested an injury. He exuded confidence, despite the strange mixture of energies he possessed.

Byuresk’s attention fixated on the strange hungry eye drawn in gold thread on his black robes. Perhaps it was the subtle motions of his back, but the few broad strokes seemed to stir. He tore his eyes away, a cold feeling in his chest; an image fragment seemed to be bleeding out of just the thread and robe to affect the surroundings. If it could even affect Byuresk, it must indeed be powerful. Next to the Nether King, the Herald continued to jabber in a low voice.

Byuresk cracked his knuckles and returned to his conversation with his subordinate. So long as he is useful against this current threat, his possible weakness will be to our advantage. Anything else of note about him? I heard he showed up in strange clothing.

Yes. He appeared genuinely confused by the requirement to show his affiliation, although obviously Nether Kings are known for their deceit. There was a brief moment before Llewella sent a follow-up message. There is one other thing. When we found him on the balcony, he was speaking to Lady Devick. She fled immediately when he was revealed as a Nether King, but we are not sure what they discussed up there, or for how long.

Byuresk faced stilled, very aware of Devick at the back of the group, hidden amongst the guards with the hood of her forest green robe pulled up to cover her features. His eyes settled on the Ghosthound’s back, his face hardening.

*****

Randidly felt the Nether Kings before he saw them. Two, standing outside the wide-open gates of the city. Behind them was a group of almost twenty Nether Beasts, with four Nether Gatekeepers glaring over at a few silver-robed guards that stood in front of the open threshold. The Nether forces began to stir as the group walked forward, excitement clear in their small movements and elbow nudges.

The figure on the left wore a ragged grey robe around her shoulders, a long braid of black hair tumbling down her back. She wore an ivory mask, smoothing the contours of her features into a bland and vaguely horrifying flatness. On the right was a hulking figure that could only be the true Nether King of the Nether Herald that had talked Randidly’s ear off on the walk over. He stood at almost three meters tall, as wide as most individuals were tall. His muscular arms held a giant club with a hunk of bone attached to the end.

The Nether King on the left was weaker but had better patterns knitting themselves into existence around her. Little fish seemed to swim through the energy flows, sending ripples out that generated additional small fishes in every direction. Meanwhile, the one on the left didn’t have much of a pattern at all; energy simply swirled around his massive body. Yet what he lacked in sophistication, he made up for in energy density.

The thickness of his significance was only slightly less than Randidly’s own, albeit much less smooth. In all ways, he was heavy and potent.

“My liege!” Suddenly, the Nether Herald scrambled forward, abandoning Randidly entirely. The intense-eyed Byuresk watched him go without comment, allowing him to pass through the gate and rejoined the Nether representatives. “What a coincidence to find you here! Or perhaps did you miss-”

“Quiet, coward,” The massive Nether King grunted. He raised his free hand, his pointer finger as thick as a bratwurst. Then he jerked a thumb over to the side. “Sit silently until business is done. Then there will be an accounting.”

The massive Nether King turned then to look at Randidly. His eyes were quite tiny for his massive sides, tiny amber beads within the grey folds of his face. He sniffed. “So it is true. A young Nether King has been caught in our web. Ioot, how would you rate his potential?”

“Highly,” The woman whispered. She tilted her head to the side, studying Randidly with her black features. They didn’t even bother to acknowledge Byuresk or his guards. “The patterns he releases subconsciously are firmer and more aggressive than mine, the energy more domineering than yours. Without even condensing his Penance-”

“More domineering than mine? Pah,” The massive Nether King waved an arm and unleashed a wave of pure Nether. The air sizzled with its passage and the nearby guards began gagging and collapsing as their images corroded. Byuresk stiffened but did not move as Randidly stepped forward to take the brunt of the attack.

The hostile Nether washed over him, compounding with the lingering pain of the woman’s saber image. It hadn’t yet been completely extinguished, so it took this opportunity as his base defenses were distracted to ravage across his shoulders. Yet after a few seconds of being dipped in pure agony, Randidly’s natural patterns began to eat their way out of the offending wave. His Nether was more robust and insistent. Soon, the Nether King’s attack was devoured by his nature aura, without him having to lift a finger.

Randidly relaxed his shoulders as his Nether then came back and began cleaning up the remnants of the woman’s image. His Nether Core revved slightly. The longer I stay here, the more acclimated I become, just the pace is a bit… hah. At this point, maybe three pinches of Nether? Aether is a bit easier to shift… Maybe a single moment of manifesting a single image?

The right Nether King loudly sucked on his large and flat teeth. “Unbelievable. How much do you offer to ransom yourself, boy? Out of respect, it will not be expensive.”

After scanning the environment one more time, Randidly shook his head. “I don’t think your Ritual can hold me. I won’t need to ransom myself. I’m just here to speak on behalf of the town of Tatem.”

Into this space, Byuresk stepped forward to stand next to Randidly. “Most of our forces were attending to the needs of Nether King… Hungry Eye. You struck while we were in peaceful discussions with another of your representatives. Therefore-”

“Shut your useless mouth,” The big Nether King looked at Byuresk in irritation. “Your shitty town wouldn’t even be such a weakling if you would simply acknowledge the usability of Engravings. Amongst the tribes, you are a joke.”

The saber-wielding woman stepped angrily forward. “Why the hell would we utilize filthy methods based on the insanity of the rival faction? Their fanaticism will be the death of us all. Power that does not come from an experience in the present-”

With another tsk, the massive Nether King casually whipped his arm sideways. A casual movement for Randidly, but the limb was probably invisible to everyone else. Randidly hand flicked out, a dense spike of Nether impacting his palm and ricocheting off. The woman yelped and scrambled backward.

“You really mean to protect them, King Hungry Eye?” The smaller Nether King Ioot asked. Her fingers thoughtfully tapped the edge of her mask, as though ascertaining its material.

Randidly winced inwardly at the name but nodded. “I have some business with them. I would appreciate if you withdrew, as a favor to me.”

Both Nether Kings just looked at Randidly for several seconds. He forced himself to relax, which became easier as the saber-woman’s image was finally eliminated from his shoulder. His Nether Core revved a little more. Yet obviously he was worried. Because he had no idea about the context of these attacks, how often they occurred, how important they would be to the Nether forces. He had been dropped into the middle of this memory and had wandered around, but now he brushed up against some serious forces.

Yet to his surprise, the right Nether King ended the silence by smiling at Randidly like he was an old friend. “...alright, have it your way. However, two points about this agreement. One, you will owe both of us a favor in the future. And second, we still need a single, symbolic captive to leave with our pride.”

From the surge of relief that came from Byuresk, Randidly knew that this was a good deal. Even if the fate of that individual would likely not be kind.

“If I might have a suggestion,” Ioot said. She raised a long hand and pointed back amongst the guards. “There is no need to look too far, any would suffice, really. Amongst the guards is a girl-child, without any power about her. She will be our captive. The one with the gorgeous red hair. Even if she possesses little fighting acumen, she has… an auspicious spirit.”

Randidly stiffened. Even when Ioot began speaking, he felt Nether beginning to move. His Nether Core revved slightly. There was only one individual who they could be talking about. He barely resisted the urge to look back. Why… is she here?

“Is there a problem?” Ioot probed. Her eyes gleamed.

Next to him, Byuresk lowered his head and looked at the ground. Randidly could feel the muscles along the man’s jaw working. His mustache trembled slightly. Yet when he raised his head again, the man nodded. “This is acceptable.”