Nathan

Year 2850 | Month 12 | Day 18

After seeing that, I focus my senses in that direction as I walk. And I continue walking through the valley for a few minutes until the barons are out of sight.

Then I count down from ten and continue walking, albeit slowly.

When I get down to five, I jerk my head backwards a bit.

Then at four a loud explosion echoes out from the other end of the valley and I act like I trip, making a powerful wave of heat, humidity, and a loud ringing sound pass right by my head.

At three I hear another explosion while at the same time seeing a large cage made of metal appear in the corner of my eye.

And at two, I turn my head to see the explosion while climbing back to my feet again, giving me a clear view of the massive force sent high in the sky. Like a nuclear explosion but only going upwards and not to the sides, and with a massive metal cage at the center of it all.

Then at one I jump far backwards to land on one of the mines we placed in the valley, blasting me high in the air along with the help of my own fire magic as a massive metal cage stretches out from the ground all around the meeting point including where I was just standing. But it seals itself beneath me right before I land on top of the cage and turn back to see the barons gaping at me from far away.

All of the barons except for Baron Val Crimson.

A man who is grinning widely at me, showing his true colors once again.

Just like when we met three months ago.

Three months ago

“I think we can work together to get rid of those other pesky barons, don’t you?” Baron Val Crimson says with a grin on his face that surprises me more than a little bit. Since from what I heard of his reputation, he wasn’t the sort to do that. To show a face like that.

He’s the stoic type of person who rarely shows his emotions or thoughts on his face.

“And how exactly am I supposed to trust you?” I ask while crossing my arms and scowling at the man. But I still raise a hand to stop my forces from firing on him. It’s not really doing anything anyways, considering how his barrier – one I can’t even see – is just incinerating every bullet that gets near him. “You’re one of the five barons plotting against me, aren’t you?”

If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

“I mean,” the man says while motioning towards all of my soldiers, “I left your men alive, didn’t I? Even as they were firing upon little ol’ me. Isn’t that enough?”

“No,” I bluntly state, my scowl not changing. “Just means you’re tricky.”

“Then how about this,” he says with a smile. “Listen to my heartbeat. To my pulse. To my breathing. You should be able to tell if someone is lying as a vampire, and you know a fire magician can’t block your senses or hide anything from you. That should be enough.”

I scowl at him for several seconds before sighing and focusing on listening to his breathing and pulse. His heart.

Then he says, “I do not mean you any harm and would rather you not become captured by a bunch of idiots. Or anyone, for that matter.”

He’s… not lying.

Why…

“You’re probably wondering why, so I’ll just tell you,” he says with a shrug of his shoulders. “I’m not like those self-deluded old men and women. I know that even if we managed to shake your method of immortality out of you, there is no way we’d be able to reproduce it ourselves in the little time we have left. If it’s even possible to remake in the first place.” The man crosses his arms and smirks at me. “But I also know you’re a fire magician. And I want to see just how far your understanding and merging with the fire element can go as an immortal who will never die. Just how powerful you can become. Even if I won’t be alive to see it myself.”

That… huh.

Sounds reasonable. And he’s probably the most logical and least self-deluded magician I’ve met in the Kingdom of the Fallen thus far.

Even if he looks a little crazy with that smirk of his.

“Tell me your plan first then,” I tell him, deciding to give him a small amount of trust. “But first, let’s head inside before anyone sees you.”

He nods at that, and we head inside of the Undying Caverns towards a meeting room. Then my top officers and leaders of the Caverns join us as he begins his narration of the barons’ current plans.

“We haven’t fully finished each spell yet, but our plan begins with the usual pre-war agreements with the war occurring in the valley between the Inner and Outer Rings,” Baron Crimson begins, confusing me until Claire fills me in on what those are. Which also leads me to understand that Baron Whitmore didn’t do those despite legally being required to. “But they do not plan to uphold the two hour intermission after the agreements. Our plan is to attack you with a special spell bullet shot from our side of the valley. One that is infused with my fire magic to help suppress your own, Henry’s metal magic to seal you in a cage, and Crall’s poison magic to spread the metal through your body before it hardens, creating a cage on the inside of you as well. Then Henry plans to activate another cage beneath your feet, locking you and your monster pet inside so that we can deal with your forces while you’re attempting to escape. Likely using up all of your mana in the process.”

My eyes narrow slightly as the others in the room write down everything he says.

That doesn’t sound especially pleasant.

“So I suggest we turn things around on them,” he says, grinning like a madman. “What d’you think? You in?”

I stare at the man for several seconds, only briefly blinking when Incendia’s voice enters my ears, ‘He has not uttered a falsehood. I swear upon this with the phoenix blood that runs through my veins.’

Then I reach out my hand and state, “You have a deal.”

Trusting in Incendia’s word and her lie detection more than anything this man could ever say.