Spellheart 9: Chapter 63 (Patreon)

It was nighttime back in the Hearthwood. A perfect time to watch shooting stars. We were in for quite a show tonight.

The real stars sparkled with an ethereal beauty, but the objects of my interest were harder to see, especially past the glowing matrix of the Planetary Defense Array overhead.

“You did it!” I congratulated Jade Sava. “A job well done.”

Dean nodded in approval. “That she did. You should have seen her taunting the old goat there. Ha! It was hilarious when he realized he’d been tricked. She had him for a good five minutes, though!”

“And she pulled a good trick when she bought time for you to get away, Theo,” Sam added.

“Seems like you’ve earned any reward you want,” I smiled at Jade Sava. “Ask, and I will provide.”

I expected her to ask me to fix her up and give her money and cultivation supplies to make her powerful enough to make her own way in the world, after which she’d leave the Hearthwood for good. That was pretty much what my doppelganger had done, at least at first.

Instead, she frowned. She must have sensed something in the expectant look in her eyes because she looked to the ground and then glanced away.

“I’ll... think about things a bit. Where do you think the original me is?” Jade Sava asked.

I shrugged. “Somewhere in The Wanderer, no doubt. She’ll be helping with either the elves we saved or the alchemical reagents we looted. It really depends on whether she was able to grab any Satyr alchemists.”

Jade Sava nodded, then quickly scurried off. Soon, it was just me and my old friends.

“Well, gents, what do you say we grab some beers to celebrate a job well done?” I asked.

“Amen to that!” Dean grinned. “Too bad that brewery of yours got smashed.”

I chuckled and produced one of my recent acquisitions. The Satyr King’s personal liquor cabinet, complete with some of the fanciest glassware I’d ever seen.

“Don’t worry about that. I have drinks fit for royalty right here.” I patted the liquor cabinet after pulling it out of my Dimensional Storage, then heaved it over my shoulder. “I think my balcony has been rebuilt. Let’s camp out there.”

I jumped up to my balcony, liquor cabinet still balanced over my shoulder. Sam and Dean followed close behind me.

It had indeed been rebuilt. The room behind it had been mostly restored as well, though it was still missing a roof. I ran into Yavilla on the way there, who was aghast that we had important guests in the Hearthwood and were forcing them to pour their drinks. At her insistence, I handed her the Satyr King’s liquor cabinet, and she poured the drinks for us. The rest of the Whitewood Clan set up chairs and tables to make us comfortable.

“We were prepared to sit on a pile of rubble, Yavilla. You really don’t have to go through so much trouble,” I waved her fussy hands off. But she insisted.

“Nonsense! You should never be in discomfort, Patriarch! And even if you were to order me to allow it, I could never sully the name of the Hearthwood by allowing such important personage to be forced to pour their own drinks!”

She must have also spread the word of where we were and what we were doing because, one by one, my matriarchs made the trip up the partially rebuilt Castle Mac and settled in to watch the stars.

“Tivana! You’re just in time. The show should be starting any moment now. Oh, and any luck on your end?” I turned my head to her curiously.

“Yes. We saved a lot of people. Lots of Wizards and a few Sorcerers. Many thousands of wisps, too. I fear for the future for all of them, though,” Tivana gave me a tight-lipped and tense look.

“And why’s that?” I furrowed my brows.

“It’s just... they’ve lived as servants for so long. Years and years of just doing what they were told and never anything else. The elves in the Hearthwood are industrious and self-directed. I’m not sure they’ll fit in.” Tivana gave me a shrug.

I ran my hand through my hair. “You’re right, Tivana. That’ll be a problem. But it’s one we can solve at a later date. Today, I just want to celebrate our victory. Come, have a seat!”

I pulled her into my lap, and we drank from the same glass as we sampled the Satyr King’s booze.

“Not bad, right? Fit for royalty?” I asked curiously.

“Indeed, though not as sweet as I prefer.” Tivana pushed the glass back to my lips.

“Hey, I think I see the first one. Look!” Dean pointed toward the sky.

Sure enough, the barrier overhead lit brilliant white as one of those first two Satyrs I threw crashed into it after a very long and cold flight through empty space. The second was impacted a moment later. The golems of the Planetary Defense Array sensed their collision. They collected their remains to be bottled up and used to fill the soul quota.

“That’s two down. A hell of a lot more to go.”

But there were plenty more where the first two came from. There had been an entire planet full of Satyrs, after all. Funny how I hadn’t met a single one I liked.

“There’s a big one coming right after this.” I took a sip from my glass. Sure enough, a few moments later, the sky lit up with a flash of bright white light as a big chunk of rock struck the Planetary Defense Array. That would have been a rough one had it struck the actual planet.

No wonder Grognak was stuck on his planet catching all the world-destroying meteors headed to the World of Struggle and Strife.

For once, I was glad to have made my home in the World of Sanctuary and Serenity. That the elves had automated the tedious task of planetary defense meant that, in this one respect, the planet lived up to its name.

Sam must have had the same realization I had because a moment later, he said, “Ah... I’m feeling rather serene, letting the Planetary Defense Array save the day for once.”

“Boom! Big explosion!” Dean polished off the glass he was holding, then grabbed the nearest bottle and started drinking directly from that, despite Yavilla’s attempts to intervene and make him civilized.

I chuckled at that. She shouldn’t bother. Dean was a lost cause.

We prepared to raise our glasses in a toast as the biggest shooting star struck the sky. That would be the Satyr King’s palace, containing his most loyal Demigods.

“Here’s to saving our own asses!” I raised my glass.

“I’ll drink to that!” Dean grinned.

“As if you hadn’t drunk to every flash of light so far.” Sam shook his head.

We clanked our glasses together as the sky lit up. The Planetary Defense Array trembled and shook as it sensed several Demigod-level entities and even an Immortal Ascendant.

One of those massive interdimensional tentacle eyeball spider golems we’d fought over Deania appeared to join the feast. As helpless as the Satyrs were, it was over as soon as it had begun. The massive golem vanished, along with all the others.

I sensed a change in the air immediately, and Sam met my smile with a wide grin.

“I feel it. The shift in fate. Your plan worked, Theo! The Planetary Defense Array has been satisfied, at least at the high levels. It’s eaten all the Demigods it needs. That means whatever’s left of the apocalypse and the end of the Seventh Golden Age will be far milder than usual. Normally, the hunt for Demigod souls causes the most destruction.”

Dean shot me a glance. “But hey, just because this is a milder Golden Age, don’t think you can shirk your responsibilities! Keeping our home politically stable is a huge pain in the ass, and I can’t wait to go back to managing just a clan. That’s it, I’m declaring it here, and now, you’re the king of the region! Send all the paperwork Theo’s way! I’m going to relax.”

I chuckled. I was pretty sure Dean had been doing nothing other than relaxing since he handed the throne off to his daughter.

“Won’t Lyanva have something to say about you handing control of the region off to somebody else?” I raised a brow.

Dean shrugged and took a sip of his glass. “Mate, half of Deania is in ruins. Most of the clans never recovered from the orc invasion, let alone the golem attacks. Lyanva got the job of the queen because she was the only one of my kids who hung around after she reached the Sorcerer realm, and I needed to hand the gig off to somebody so I could look for Sam. What’s coming after this is going to be a colossal pain in the ass, and I doubt she wants any part of it. Besides, you can make a nation whenever you want when you’re a Demigod. It’s no big deal. The lives of ordinary people are so short it’s hardly worth the effort to most of us.”

Sam nodded. “The only reason we still keep up with it is because we didn’t want the Cult of the Unblinking Eye at our doorstep. Nor did we want to have to constantly get caught up in the feuds of a bunch of True Mages who’ve forgotten what the word Demigod means after the last Golden Age.”

I shook my head. Sam and Dean had so much power and so much time to use it. They could have built something truly great over all these years, but neither of them had the patience or inclination to try.

“So basically, the two of you want me to keep the region stable and ensure everyone knows not to mess with your personal projects. That sounds about right?” I asked.

Dean shrugged. “Pretty much!”

I shrugged, unsure of how serious the two of them were. Plus, it seemed like Lyanva liked bossing people around a lot. I doubted she’d give that up just because rebuilding Deania was too much work.

Then again, without Tivana at the helm, maybe she would. My understanding was that most of the actual work of running the kingdom had been done by Tivana, Baroness Jynna, and the younger cultivators of her generation. Their mothers and aunts didn’t care so much about a nation that came and went every few golden ages.

The last of the shooting stars finally stopped, interrupting my thoughts as the barrier overhead flickered and then faded to near-invisibility.

“I think that’s all. A damn impressive show, Theo.” Dean patted me on the shoulder. “It’s a big weight off our shoulders, that’s to be sure. You’re going to make one hell of a stir when we introduce you at the next Demigod convention! You and my daughter are both due to make your entrances.”

“You guys have conventions?” I raised an eyebrow.

Dean shrugged. “Sure. We have a big one at the start of every new Golden Age. Gotta update treaties, exchange secret techniques, go raiding and attack other worlds, and play ping pong. That kind of thing. It’s a decent party. Not sure who’s hosting this year, but it’ll be the place to introduce you to all the other Demigods.”

I stood, taking down one last swig. The Satyr King really did keep an excellent brew. Fortunately, the cabinet I produced hadn’t been his only one. At least I had enough supply to taunt Sam and Dean for a few decades.

“Sounds like a grand time,” I replied. I glanced toward the sky one last time, watching the shield overhead and wondering what I’d do the next time it flared to life. I doubted I could pull something like this a second time.

Would the elves of this world always have to look up at their own sky and the creation of their ancestors with fear?

I shook my head. Something within me didn’t like that, and I embraced it. Where there were enemies to slay, I was ready to fight.

But I kept all that to myself as Sam and Dean raised their glasses.

“To a swift end to this Golden Age and a brilliant next one!” Sam announced.

“To hot babes and badass adventures!” Dean added.

“To the beginning of a new era for this world. And perhaps all the Ten Thousand Worlds.” I raised my glass.

Dean raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you mean the nine hundred and ninety-nine worlds?”

I rolled my eyes. “I knew you were going to say that.”

We all laughed, but the words I spoke were true. This would be a new beginning.

<Note>

Thanks for reading! Spellheart 10 starts as soon as I finish/nearly finished with Amazon Apocalypse 2!

I really, really need to make my Amazon Apocalypse 2 deadline (End of December for me. I need to finish at least 1 month ahead of time, because it needs to be edited and beta'd for release.)

But once I'm certain I'll make that deadline, I'll start Spellheart 10! It may be a bit before I'm finished with Amazon Apocalypse 2 once I know I'll hit my goal.

Normally I take a bit of a break or write a side story when I finish several novels in a row like this, but not today, we're going right back into more main novel content. See you guys again tomorrow!