Deathseed: Chapters 23-24 (Patreon)

I have some good news combined with thanks! You remember those Indie Ink Awards I asked everyone to vote for? This week I was informed that I made finalist in both the categories I was  nominated for, which is entirely thanks to your votes. The actual winners are determined by guest blogger judges, so that's basically a crapshoot - this is the level of success I hoped to attain, so thanks for your support!

This year I only had The Brightest Shadow nominated for two weird categories. Maybe some of my more popular works can be nominated next year? I'm not sure how big this contest is, but it doesn't hurt.

Anyway, for the chapters this week... these are part of my ongoing attempt to balance the series overall. Obviously one element of progression fantasy is fighting some dudes, but I think this is best integrated with other types of obstacles and other problem solving. Did people guess the solution they were moving toward here? I want to lean into the idea of items of power being useful for more than just advancing the main characters.

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Chapter 23

If a Dominion decided they didn't like a mountain, they could throw out some cantae and there wouldn't be a mountain anymore. Not effortlessly, more like an inconvenience. Most Strongholds could deploy their most powerful techniques and destroy the offending mountain.

Authorities? They could do the job eventually, but they'd have to be smart about it.

Normally Theo would not have gone out to do something so aggressive, but the Mundhin at the school had entire reams of documents discussing the environment of the eastern plateaus and the potential effects of making a path. As far as he could tell, Eliyai's plan was solid and backed by evidence: it would be beneficial to create a faster route, it had just always been too costly to attempt.

That was why all of them were out in the blazing Arbaian sun, blasting their way through solid rock. Theo had started with a singularity and hoped that it could consume a large portion of the stone, only to be disappointed. Even created artificially by cantae, it was a black hole and not a magical vacuum that sucked in everything nearby. Almost all the stone was firmly bound in structures, so a singularity could only absorb nearby rock at a slow rate.

Direct cantae attacks, while less powerful, were more effective at breaking apart stone. Theo had been hovering in the air for a while, working with Fiyu to shatter all the rocks in the way. He also maintained a constant gravitational field keeping them in the air. Nauda stayed on the ground, directing the sublime rocks into a pile and tossing the rest into his singularity.

Over the course of hours, they'd chewed part of a canyon through the mountainous plateau. But as they proceeded, and they ran into some more durable sublime stone, Fiyu's light bursts began to flag. After one spluttered, she rose up beside him.

"I do not know how much longer I can continue," she said. "Could we take a break?"

"Sure. Actually, go down to tell Nauda to back up a bit."

Theo activated a new gravitational field to prepare and then looked after Fiyu. It was easy for him to forget, because her soulhome and style were so efficient, but she actually had substantially smaller reserves than he did. Corporeal Floors didn't store cantae as well, plus her newest floor still had an empty heart chamber. He might not have figured out his second singularity, but his first three floors put him far above average cantae recovery.

It wouldn't take much cantae for his second strategy to work. Theo's reversed gravitational field had been lifting some of the rocks higher and higher, disappearing into the sky. They might move too predictably for most combat uses, but the applied acceleration of gravity added up.

When Theo released the rocks at the top of his limit, they accelerated every second after. They plummeted as a blur even to his Authority senses and cracked into the plateau with enough force to make the earth tremble. Stone after stone impacted, creating a road of destruction toward their destination.

He was a bit disappointed that he hadn't torn apart the entire path, but sublime stone was supernaturally durable compared to the rough calculations in his head. The impacts had still shattered the plateaus in their path. Fiyu and Nauda began dismantling what remained while he provided a gravitational field to ease their work and continued bombardments further on.

It soon grew dull: using so many different techniques simultaneously was probably good training, but it didn't exactly occupy his mind. He soon looked back over his shoulder toward the school.

With the eastern path cleared, the School of Emerald Indulgence would occupy a central location. Assuming they could help a little more, it seemed that the school had an economic and scholarly future. The problem was, those resources would attract attention and they likely wouldn't be able to defend them without an Authority.

He'd abandoned the idea of using the heavenspear on Navim. Even if he could soulcraft his Ruler tier in time, Navim was skilled enough that he could probably reach Authority on his own. But leaving him as a Ruler meant that he was vulnerable to the other factions and Theo didn't see any way around that dilemma.

His thoughts were interrupted by Nauda, who had walked back to take a break and now waved to him. When he flew down beside her, she spoke in a low voice.

"Fiyu is pushing herself too hard." Nauda leaned closer to him, even while looking toward Fiyu in concern. "I don't think she wants to complain again. The problem is that the heart of the plateau is so dense that even your rocks aren't breaking some parts. She's cutting them apart with her blade and I think I saw her fingers bleeding."

Theo looked at Fiyu more carefully and realized that Nauda was right. Given enough time and a little rest, she could definitely cut her way through the rest of the plateau. But they had already been going for hours, and they still had a considerable way to go...

"It's time for me to save your worthless fumpets." Senka yawned as she sat up from behind a nearby rock. "Make way, make way."

"You mean time to stop sleeping and pull your weight for once," Theo said.

"Shut your horko hole."

When Senka walked to the end of the canyon, she floated up into the air and summoned her cantae. Not the strange energy her cursed form used, but the true power she could just barely grasp. They had only a split second of warning as the power flared around her, then a blinding beam of light shot from her. It obliterated the densest section, evaporating the stones directly touched by her blast and sending others flying.

Senka fell backward, pushed by her own beam, and slid through the dust. After a blast like that, she would be tapped for a while. But the artificial canyon in front of them had been enormously extended: not only had Senka cleared almost as much distance as they had in hours, she'd wiped out the strongest central rocks.

"Tastes icky!" Senka sat up and spat out an entire mouthful of rocks. Fiyu simply stared at her, posture tense. Nauda tried to step closer to help her up, but Senka only vomited on her and then began screaming for "yummies".

"She's not going to be good for anything else," Theo told them. "Give me a minute to wrangle her. You two can clear out the last part, right?"

Nauda shook her head at the entire situation and began trekking through the newly burned canyon to finish the work. Theo waited until they'd begun working and then turned to Senka, who was spinning in circles.

"Blargh!" She pivoted abruptly and rammed her forehead into his knee.

"Are you alright?" Theo asked as he picked her up. She somehow managed to vomit even more rocks, as if she'd been saving up for that moment.

Soon after, however, she closed her eyes and then opened them rimmed in blood. "I'll manage," Senka croaked in a pained version of her normal voice. "Let me float for a while." She reached up to touch Navim's armament around her neck, then returned to an inane expression.

Theo kept neutralized gravitational fields around her and let her float randomly over the desert. Once she recovered, she could fly back, and meanwhile she couldn't wander too far or try to steal Mundhin limbs or anything ridiculous. He felt like he should have thanked her, but it was too late for that. Hopefully she understood.

Normally Theo would have followed the others to help them finish the artificial canyon. Something tickled at the back of his leg, and he moved to brush it away before he realized that it was his gravitational sense. Someone was floating outside of his normal range.

He looked back and saw Eliyai driving one of the school's floating barges. She had been coming to join them, but now sat at the top of a sand dune, staring at the canyon in shock.

"We said we'd clear a path, didn't we?" Theo flew out to meet her, glad that his coat absorbed all sweat and made him look fresh despite their labor. "It should be done by the end of the day."

"I saw the projections... they estimated that it would take Authorities several..." Eliyai shook her gem sphere from side to side in a very human expression. "Thank you for your assistance. I had come out to investigate your progress, but perhaps I should pay you instead."

"It wouldn't hurt."

"Which one would you like?"

Eliyai spread the relevant items from the sublime legacy and Theo carefully examined them. Most were spheres of polished stone that projected a specific essence, so they all had potential uses. Unfortunately, he didn't find any easy solutions among them. He was reaching the stage in his soulcrafting where powerful enough sublime materials were simply few and far between.

Curiously, there was a rock that was rather similar to his inertialvoid. Only Ruler tier, so it was no longer useful to him, but it would have been excellent back at that tier. It seemed to manipulate inertia, which was always a good supportive option.

Suddenly Theo's thinking shifted and he looked out toward the canyon. Nauda was struggling to move some of the largest stones: her strength was more than enough, but no amount of muscle could allow her to easily balance such large objects. It left her wobbling back and forth... and gave him an idea.

"This one," Theo said. "While we finish our work, can you ask Navim to come talk to us?"

"If you insist." Eliyai didn't seem happy about taking orders, but she'd just seen them annihilate their way through a range of plateaus.

As they parted, Theo flew back to the others, hefting the polished stone in one hand. Nauda was making good progress on her soulcrafting on her own, but this might be exactly what she needed. She and Fiyu saw that he was gesturing for them to stop and came closer. Theo distributed some chilled drinks out of his soulhome - stored ever since Ruby Ericho - and then raised the sphere.

"We're going to take a break to test something. Eliyai just paid us with this, and I think you should put it in your soulhome."

"Another Arbaian stone?" Nauda raised her free hand and caught the sphere when he tossed it. "It's powerful, sure, but I'm not sure I understand its nature. Not distinct enough to fill an empty space beside the bloodglass sculpture, definitely."

"That stone controls inertia. Soulcrafted properly, I think it will let you hold your position." Theo thought about drawing up a diagram and decided that would be condescending. "I was thinking you could put it on your second death floor, alongside your other enhancements."

"It's a bit... abstract. If this is going to be part of me, I need to really feel its value. Sell me on this."

"Alright, imagine a village of innocent Tatian peasants is under attack. Monsters of unspecified origin are hurling boulders at them. One is just about to crush a group of orphan children, who are crying and holding small cute animals, who are also innocent of sin and-"

"Alright, fine." Nauda rolled her eyes, but she grinned. "And that's where I come in?"

"That's right. You jump in the way of one boulder and catch it. Not stumbling or sliding back, you just grab it, draw on your new enhancement chamber, and it stops."

Nauda raised the stone orb in front of her eye for a while, then slowly nodded. "Maybe. I'm not completely convinced it's worth an entire room, but let's try an experiment."

It turned out that she wanted Theo to throw a boulder at her. He could have done it with gravitational fields, but Theo decided to embrace his growing Corporeal rooms and just lift one with brute strength. After Nauda handed her drink to Fiyu, she gestured for him to throw.

Naturally she caught the boulder, but she slid backward for some distance. Nauda frowned and tried again, with slightly more success. 

"This isn't about strength," Theo called as he hefted another boulder. "It's physics. This much mass will always push you back, unless you've braced yourself in position... or you've soulcrafted a special trait, such as, to choose a random example, an anchoring chamber based around an Arbaian stone."

Fiyu nodded from her position while holding both drinks. "Please consider it, Nauda. It will also be very useful when you learn to fly. Instead of burning lots of cantae to remain in place, you can hold yourself in one position. I think this would be important for aerial melee combat."

"Alright, alright, you've convinced me." Nauda loped closer and took the sphere back from him. "I can see this being part of my soulhome."

After they finished the drinks, Nauda began soulcrafting and Theo joined Fiyu to clear the rest of the canyon. They could see the other side, which looked like nothing but more desert. He'd have to trust the scholars who said there was a city in the distance that could provide useful trade. It would still take considerable work to remove the remaining stones and make a navigable road, but he figured the school could handle that. Then they'd have some investment in the path, plus it would remind them what it took to create it.

"Alright, throw another one!" Nauda stood up from further down the canyon and waved a hand, so Theo hurled another boulder.

This time she caught it with both hands and didn't budge an inch. Nauda laughed and chucked the boulder over her head, just in time to see Theo's second boulder flying for her face. She surprised him by reacting fast enough to catch it one-handed. Now that she was anchored, she pushed it aside casually.

"It does take some cantae, but it's not too bad." Nauda brushed her hands off on her dress. "Maybe this can work."

"That isn't all," Theo said. "You should also be able to resist effects like gravitational fields."

He demonstrated with another field and Nauda stubbornly remained on the ground instead of falling into the sky. Her hair rose and her necklace floated up into her face, at least until she refocused. As the inertial effect expanded, every part of her remained in place. From his perspective, it felt like how demons tried to resist cantae effects.

Of course, it was just a preliminary chamber. Theo quickly proved that he could overwhelm her anchoring effect, and physical force could do the same in high enough quantities. Still, by the time he set Nauda back down, she was smiling.

"I think that room needs a lot of work," she said, "but that's a promising option. We'll have to do some training to get used to it."

"We can do so, Nauda." Fiyu mirrored her smile and looked back and forth between them. "I think this has been very successful. Do you think this will be enough for Navim to save his school?"

"It will help, but I don't know about that."

Theo glanced over his shoulder, hoping that Navim would arrive, but there was no sign. Since none of them particularly wanted to go back to physical labor, he decided to share his newest idea.

"I have what may be a bad idea," he began, only to be interrupted by Nauda.

"Impossible! Does anything but genius ever fall from your lips?"

"That's why I want to run it past Navim first. But what if we gave one heavenspear to Eliyai?"

That got their attention and killed all sarcasm. Fiyu's first response was to frown, while Nauda looked thoughtful. "Sure we can trust her?"

"I was thinking that our mistrust of her might be misplaced." Truthfully, Theo felt a little guilty for arriving in a situation and immediately looking for villains. "We've seen that Eliyai views us as an enemy, but is she an enemy to the School? We have no reason to believe she doesn't have their best interest at heart."

"What's stopping her from taking over and kicking Navim out?" Nauda asked.

"The fact that she'll only be an Authority thanks to us, for a start. If we make it public, everyone will know that she ascended thanks to Navim's allies... consider it an olive branch. I've been falling for the same wrong idea I criticized Senka for: our goal is to unite the School of Emerald Indulgence and put them in a strong position for the future."

As they returned, the others raised potential objections and ideas. Before they reached the school, Navim emerged on another rock vessel to meet them, which was convenient. When Theo pitched his idea, he waited to see if he was missing something, but Navim nodded thoughtfully.

"It could work," he said carefully.

"You do not fear she would act to eliminate a rival?" Fiyu asked.

"Eliyai? No, she wept for our master more than anyone." Navim shifted all his limbs, drawing them together. "If you are truly willing to give us such a resource, we would be forever in your debt."

Truthfully, Theo had considered the same thing: an entire school of Arbaians were a more useful resource than one weak Authority. At his most cynical, he thought that it was better to limit Eliyai's growth. Perhaps he could extract a trade for the ascension. If she was dealing honestly, her rank alone could help her support the School, but if she did turn on them, she would never be a threat.

Besides, he didn't know how much longer he'd even need sublime materials like the heavenspears. As they flew back, Theo looked over his shoulder at the canyon they'd created. He wouldn't be ascending to Stronghold in the near future, but it wasn't out of sight anymore.

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Chapter 24

After their decision in the desert, Nauda felt like everything moved far too quickly. They'd barely even finished clearing out the canyon with the Arbaians when they were already making final arrangements. Theo was even talking about their specific tactics if they attacked Myufuru and Fiyu had been sent out on another intelligence-gathering mission.

Her own goals were more modest. All she needed to do was monitor the scholarly factions while she soulcrafted her newest sublime material.

She'd taken to calling it an inertiastone and it was honestly growing on her. After the bondsfungi, she was grateful that wasn't literally true. But the longer she trained with the inertiastone, the more natural it felt, adding real weight to her stances. In the future she might even be able to use it to improve her offense as well.

That would require some more soulcrafting, because the chamber wasn't acceptable. Maybe Theo was happy with a floating rock in his soul cube, but Nauda didn't like abstractions. She had covered the walls of the inertiastone room and knew that she definitely needed something more. She just didn't know what.

One of the ongoing plans was to help the School of Emerald Indulgence specialize in Tatian materials, and Nauda had disappointingly little role in it. Because the city controlled the gate, any merchant could acquire foreign materials, but the school could specialize in expertise. Nauda had expected that the guards and scholars she'd come to know might approach her for advice, only to be left to focus on herself.

Navim was already an expert, after all his time spent on Tatian, and he knew their methods better than she did. Technically that was good for the school, and she needed the soulcrafting time, it just left her displaced. Her one and only contribution to the effort had been reminding Theo that the Landguards had used petrified wood. Petrification proved a method for converting Tatian wood into forms more useful to Arbaians, so the scholars would have an edge from the start.

At least she had finished soulcrafting her ladders: her death tower now had a solid spine of metal rising up the central shaft. It definitely made her cantae flow better and she enjoyed climbing the ladders fused into the walls more than the rickety old Tatian wood.

When Navim appeared in her room, Nauda inanely thought that he must be coming to offer more advice on the ladders. She nearly asked him about it before her mind caught up to her. "Is it time?"

"Yes, it is," Navim said. "We'd be honored if you attended."

"I assume that's a rhetorical flourish, because of course I'm going to be there. I've been working toward this for weeks."

"Then let's go together."

As they walked through the tunnels that had become so familiar, Nauda glanced over at Navim. "This is for the best, right? You and Eliyai can work together? The school will be able to support itself?"

"I expect us to flourish." Navim's sphere shifted over to regard her. "Whether it will flourish enough is another question. We are not the only school to report more demon attacks, and unlike on Fithe, there appears to be no artifact behind the change. This may simply be our new reality."

"That beam of yours blasted a third stage beast. They don't get much worse than that."

Except for the terrible demon Theo claimed had killed him, of course. That thought soured Nauda and she didn't have time to recover before they arrived. They were two of the last inhabitants of the school to enter the central debate chamber.

Nauda had spent more than a few hours there, sitting or soulcrafting while all the Arbaians debated what would happen to their community. If all went well, that decision would be finally decided today. Instead of asking to take part in the ceremony, Nauda had given every role to Theo. She was happy with the simpler bonds she'd forged within the school.

Once everyone settled down, Eliyai walked to the center of the chamber.

"You all know how much I loved Master Uvvah Ulim." As she spoke, she turned slowly, always facing a new section of the audience. "I loved his curiosity, his drive, and above all his approach to scholarship. What I have always wanted is to find some way for the School of Emerald Indulgence to survive. Today, I hope that we will settle the debate to the satisfaction of all."

Nauda mostly ignored the speech and scanned the crowds. She should have been able to spot her friends instantly, but they were mostly obscured by several Arbaians, so she only saw Theo when he rose into the air. Fiyu had been sitting nearby and it was too late to go sit with her.

"Thank you all for your hospitality." Theo normally just slouched around the air, taking the most efficient paths, but now he flew in a grand arc, making his cloak flare. "Your master once saved our lives, and his wisdom enriched the life I led from that point onward. Today, we offer something that we hope will ensure your school continues forever."

Instead of extending a hand soul-ward, as he usually did, Theo dramatically reached into his chest and then pulled out a heavenspear. He didn't just pluck it out, either, instead revealing it like a sword rising from a pool. When he wanted to, he could have an absurd flair for the dramatic. Despite her ironic thought, Nauda had to admit that he had everyone's attention.

Theo gave a brief explanation of the heavenspear, avoiding the fact that it halted further advancement. They'd told Eliyai about that before, naturally, and she hadn't been concerned. For most of the Arbaians here, reaching Authority was an impossibility.

Eventually the ceremony was complete and Theo handed over the heavenspear. He remained hovering in the air and the symbolism was obvious: the foreign Authorities were generously acting as benefactors for the school. Once Nauda might have been annoyed, but now she understood that it had nothing to do with Theo's ego. He truly did want to make everything clear so that Navim would retain his influence and lead the school in the right direction.

Eliyai grasped the spear and, just as they must have practiced, drove it into her gemstone core. All her rubies lit on fire and Nauda eagerly grasped her soulhome's telescope to watch the process.

Raw force shot upward from the Arbaian soulhome, as if willpower had been condensed into a column. It easily pierced the clouds and cantae came rushing down, making the soulhome tremble. But unlike Theo's ascension, with the unending pressure and acid rain and tearing flesh, this one ended surprisingly quickly.

As the column of force dissipated, raw cantae flowed down it. The power filled the air of Eliyai's soulhome and there was no question she had an Authority's cantae now. But it didn't push inside her sublime materials, and if it didn't threaten anything she'd built, it didn't reinforce it either. Nauda wondered if that threat was a challenge that reality placed in their way or if the threat itself was actually what led to the strengthening.

"Let us all welcome Authority Eliyai Ulim," Navim said as he rose to his feet. They had planned for him to make the announcement, to make it clear that their factions were unified. "The new master of the School of Emerald Indulgence!"

Everyone in the debate chamber signaled their approval, from calls of praise to stone limbs thumping the floor. Nauda clapped her hands, but her smile was bitter.

Cheated ascension or no, this was one more Ruler who had become an Authority ahead of her. At this rate, it would be no surprise if Krikree ascended first.

Nauda glanced to the side and saw Krikree peering at everything with absolute focus. Her only movement was her antennae twitching and she watched with a predator's eyes.

Alright, maybe there was no shame in being behind Krikree.

If Nauda was still a Ruler when Senka became a soulcrafter again, then she'd be furious.

"The first action I believe our school should take," Eliyai began, "is to reassemble all of our scholarship. We have lost books, projects, and compatriots. We must show everyone that the School of Emerald Indulgence has lost not a whit of its intellectual integrity."

That was the unobjectionable first step, according to Arbaian custom. It also bought them more time to avoid getting into new trade relationships. Because as much as they needed to begin trade with Tatian, that was a bad idea so long as there were Deuxans squatting in Myufuru.

Once the speech was over, Nauda slipped away. Theo stayed to talk to the new Authority a while longer, first for the sake of appearances and then for some further deal. She hesitated a moment longer than she'd planned, listening in.

"I confess, my visceral belief had not caught up to my intellectual understanding," Eliyai was saying. "This is remarkable."

"You ascended well," Theo said, "but do you have what we agreed?"

"Yes, yes... one final item from our master's legacy. This is the rigidcelerity... I concluded this deal begrudgingly, but now I wonder if he wouldn't be happier giving it to you. Use it well."

The rigidcelerity proved to be another Authority-tier material, a spiky crystal object that Theo accepted graciously. He pretended to smile politely but Nauda could guess how much he wanted the material and presumed that this was another step on his path forward, something that would forge a bond with the school while also giving him what he'd wanted.

She'd leave that manipulation to him. All at once, Nauda was tired of the burning air and her dried out skin. As soon as she had said her farewells, she was done with Arbai for a long time.

Navim met them in one of the lowest corridors, the one sloping back out to the entrance. Fiyu stood beside him, speaking in a low voice, and beyond them Nauda could see their sleigh waiting. It had already been filled with supplies and Senka lounged in the front seat.

"Nauda, pleased to see you before you go." Navim turned to her as soon as she approached. "Fiyu and I were just discussing your battle. Unfortunately I cannot go with you, as I would only be a liability. Presuming you are successful in Myufuru, can we expect a message?"

"We likely won't be able to send one directly," Nauda said. "We discussed it, but didn't come up with a solution. However, with their oppressors gone, I hope the Tatians will venture through to trade. Hopefully you can get all the information you need from them."

"And if we encounter trouble with the Landguard?"

"Send Eliyai." Theo strode up beside the group, arms clasped sharply behind him, still in presentation mode. "I just spoke with her about some of the details, but I think the strategy is unquestionable. If the Landguard is willing to tolerate Authorities who enslave their own people, how can they object to a peaceful ally? I think if you pledge mutual support, you can handle them with almost nothing committed. It's not like they can ask you for food."

"I'm grateful for everything you have arranged." Navim lowered his gemstone sphere toward Theo, then toward Fiyu and Nauda in turn. "It is clear that I could not have done this without you. Words fail to express my gratitude."

"We don't need it." Theo smiled at Navim and his false front began to dissolve. "Just take care of the school, will you? I've left enough messes behind me that I don't want to come back and find out we somehow ruined everything here."

"I rather doubt you need to fear such a thing. I hope that you are able to return before your final battle. At that time, I will have completed all the elationmortar I can mix, and I hope that I will have more offerings for you."

Navim trailed off and Nauda realized that she knew what he was feeling: he was sending his friends away to a battle and could do little for them. He nodded toward Fiyu, who nodded back. It seemed that they had already said their farewells. That left Nauda, but she was interrupted by a scurrying green blur.

"Navim-thinkrock!" Krikree crouched in front of him, peering up at his gems. "Krikree go with Theo-sister."

"I had expected as much, little one." Navim reached down and touched her hair with surprising gentleness. "We will meet again one day."

"Navim-thinkrock scout ideas! Krikree scout worlds!" That said, she pulled back and turned away before beginning to clean off her antenna.

Now it was really just Nauda left. She thought about making some fancy speech and tried to come up with some final piece of advice, but nothing came to her. In the end she surrendered to her impulse and just stepped forward to embrace Navim around his central sphere. After a brief pause, one rocky limb came up to rest on her back.

"Good luck," she said as she pulled back. Navim responded with a stony chuckle.

"If such a thing exists, you should conserve your supply. After many travels, I have returned to my home. We wish you all the best as you return to yours."

He didn't need to say anything more than that. As soon as the words were spoken, their thoughts inevitably turned toward what they faced. It might end horribly tomorrow or they might begin a longer struggle. Either way, she would finally be striking the first blow in a war that had been too long deferred.