Chapter 505: Militant Horizon (Patreon)

Argrave, Anneliese, and Elenore sat in a private room within Blackgard. On his way in, Argrave had seen the first arrival of dwarven craftsmen. As Elenore said, they seemed to be taking stock of everything around them. Mostly they were surprised by the sheer space of everything—they stared into the distance as though it wasn’t real, and looked out across the ocean of Blackgard as trading vessels came and went with childlike wonder.

But Argrave was undergoing just as shocking a shift as the dwarves were, potentially. The Veidimen were intending to seize upon this opportunity to invade the lands of the Great Chu. That, in combination with Sataistador’s intent for the region, made a complicated mess that gained new variables and ways it might go wrong by the day.

“Why does everybody have to think like this?” Argrave wondered quietly as the two waited for his opinion.

“Given the complexity of the situation, it’s becoming impossible to predict how things will play out. Perhaps the Veidimen will not be able to carry out the invasion after we repel the invaders,” Anneliese posed hopefully.

“But that means their losses would be bad enough to the point that this would become an impossibility,” Elenore reminded Anneliese. “And I think that’s a rather unideal outcome all the same.”

Argrave rose from the couch he sat on and paced around the room. “Here’s the problem, as I see it. We need to stay near Vysenn at this juncture. I can’t say how long the crafting of the pumping station will take. Once it’s complete, though, Sandelabara will become available to us in a matter of seconds. And what Dario said weighs on my mind.”

“And what is that?” Anneliese asked.

“He’s worried about how someone like the Alchemist or the other gods might handle what we find there,” Argrave focused on her, then looked to Elenore. “Whatever Sandelabara is, whatever it has within it, has the capability to overturn a great many lives. And I want us to be the first to get our hands on it for that reason.”

“Even barring who’ll find it, we neglect considering that others might also be vying to reach Sandelabara,” Elenore reminded them. “Traugott, Mozzahr, and Dario all. Durran retrieved that information, nearly dying in the process. Let us not forget it.”

Argrave tightened his jaw and walked to the window, where the busy port of Blackgard bustled with people. “Sataistador tells me that the first wave we’ll deal with will be humans, largely. Fodder to wear us down before the truly powerful gods swoop in to reap the benefits of all their warfare. He proposed helping me establish contact with their emperor, Ji Meng. Through him, we might turn the Great Chu against their puppet masters.”

Elenore came to stand beside Argrave at the window. “Do you think that’s feasible?”

“The Great Chu’s army is different than ours. We have learning orders for magic—they have military orders designed to make frighteningly effective troops for the emperor. Born there, trained in sword and spell there—and Ji Meng has brought his honor guard. These will be the best troops he can muster, and I’ve little doubt that they’ll be armed with divine weaponry. They won’t be as well-equipped as me, but they’re numerous and have lifetimes of experience. They can, and did, kill gods.” He looked at Elenore. “Sataistador volunteered to help. Yet I’m still nervous about facing these people. An arrow from their archers, anything… and even if I do get past them, it doesn’t solve our issues with the Veidimen.”

“Is that an issue?” Elenore asked him quietly. “Can you control a foreign nation’s armies? Can you decide a people’s culture, and their choices through life?”

Argrave didn’t answer her, and instead turned around to look at Anneliese still sitting there. “What do you think? They placed you at the center of all of this.”

“I have thought of a way to stop this.” Anneliese looked at him, sadness in her eyes. “We would have to assassinate Dras. Without his leadership, they would lack the capability to conduct this invasion. At the same time, they might lack the capability to properly defend Vasquer… and whoever assumes the role of leader, if anyone, might not be so positively predisposed toward us. Doubly so if his death is suspicious.”

Silence grasped the room. Elenore broke its hold by affirming, “She’s right. Dras’ death would send them into chaos. But that might create a worse result for all involved.”

“Sometimes, I think Gerechtigkeit’s greatest power is this. He’s got us into seriously considering assassinating another allied nation’s leader.” Argrave took a deep breath and looked outside the window. “And it’s not even his power. It’s just people, ambition, greed, all battling against each other as they do his bidding. Somehow, his descent has led us to this.”

No one answered him.

Argrave continued when his thoughts became too loud in the silence. “We can’t afford to get too far away from Sandelabara. We can’t afford to interfere with the Veidimen, because the enemy we’re facing isn’t something we can afford to meet with disunity.” He looked at Anneliese, but had some trouble meeting her eyes. “I think we should do our best to turn Ji Meng against the Qircassian Coalition. And then… however the battles should end… we won’t interfere with Veiden.”

Anneliese walked up to Argrave. “I apologize I didn’t notice this sooner. I could not see through it. What they were planning, these ridiculous…”

“Don’t apologize.” Argrave wrapped one arm around her. “This wasn’t your failing.”

“…for what it’s worth, I think that this is the right decision,” Elenore contributed.

“If only my stomach would listen.” Argrave released Anneliese and stepped away. “Let’s deal with the dwarves. Rowe, Dras, Veid—forget all of them. We have our own people to be responsible for.”

#####

Argrave and Elenore met with the delegate of dwarves, immersing his mind in thoughts of what to do regarding this problem to distract him from the concession that he’d made. He felt this was the first situation he’d come upon where there really was no right answer. At this critical point, they couldn’t risk anything other than total cooperation from the Veiden. They were their lifeline against the Great Chu’s navy. Anneliese, meanwhile, returned to Rowe to deliver their decision of hesitant cooperation.

The dwarves took some wrangling, and Argrave had to distract them with a veritable breadcrumb trail of dwarven metal leading to Vysenn. First, he demonstrated his army’s weaponry. The dwarves almost seemed appalled that such precious metal was being used as mere weaponry, for it had far better applications as machinery.  When he challenged that assumption, their journey toward Vysenn became these dwarves’ top priority.

Argrave used mass teleportation with [Worldstrider], wowing their people. It consumed enough spirits to make Argrave’s heart ache, but he felt time was urgent enough that it was warranted in this situation. Once on the scene, Argrave was prepared to outfit their band with something to endure the harsh volcanic conditions near the site. The dwarves, however, retrieved their own gear, putting on masks and suits that were more-than-suitable to help them traverse the land.

Once they arrived at the temple—or rather, the former temple, given the Alchemist’s extensive efforts to clear land around it—the dwarves began instituting several provisions that Argrave had promised them. There were five master craftsmen that had been sent to watch over the journeymen’s progress, and they very efficiently set up a site that was to-the-letter what Argrave had promised.

They established a perimeter where guards roamed—guards who were spellcasters, Argrave noticed, even if only at B-rank. All of Argrave’s people were forbidden from entering this place unless they asked for permission far in advance. Argrave only planned for occasional progress checks. Elenore and her people were tasked with supplying the dwarves with the raw material that they needed, something she was well prepared to do.

All in all, the setup process took up the remainder of the day. Construction was to begin tomorrow.  During this whole process, Argrave’s feet itched to head to the north that he might prepare to confront the Imperial Navy headed by Emperor Ji Meng and the fearsome Admiral Tan Shu. She was a woman in military service—rather than demonstrating Chu tolerance, her gender was a testament to her unusual talent. She had risen to her position by extreme merit. With her at sea and the emperor at land, Argrave felt he needed ample preparations.

With the dwarves established in Vysenn, Argrave gave one final visit to ensure that the dwarves were beginning their process. Then, he left, prepared to confront the Imperial Navy heading across the vast ocean between the two nations of Vasquer and the Great Chu.

#####

“In this domain, I can see distant objects perfectly,” Argrave declared, calling upon his Domain of Law as a mere telescope. At once his vision bugged out as the sheer disorientation of such a command washed over him.

Argrave stood on the cliffs of northern Vasquer. He was at the highest point in these cliffs, to better see what was beyond the horizon. It had been ten days since he came to this land of biting cold. Progress on the pumping station in Vysenn was more or less on schedule, but it would be some days before the pumping process even began.

Artur’s enchantments very nicely kept him warm despite the freezing climate, but the countless Veidimen longships in the ocean beyond did not receive the same luxurious treatment. Nor did the Brumesingers hiding in his pockets, it seemed, for they shivered fiercely.

The ships at the edge of Argrave’s vision would not be free of the cold either. He estimated, this high up, he could see around ten miles away. And that was where the first wave of the Imperial Navy rested, just at the horizon. Their bulky, iron-shielded ships travelled slowly, even with the winds somewhat favorable to them—they moved at perhaps one knot.

But the horizon was jam-packed full of these turtle ships. These heavy vessels, made for use near coastlines, were never made to cross the ocean. But Sataistador had given Argrave reports of three gods accompanying them—triplet brothers, apparently. One of tides, another of winds, and a third for storms. These brothers had been guiding the Imperial Navy impeccably from the shadows.

This battle would be harsh. Their ships were packed with soldiers and spellcasters both—Argrave could see the occasional pulse of magic within their ships. Additionally, they had a more mundane advantage: fire. They had flame-spewing weapons that could cover the surface of the ocean with a foul, reactive liquid mixture and set it aflame. That would be devastating for both sides of the battle. The Great Chu would not hesitate to overwhelm them with sheer numbers of ships.

But at the heart of the fleet, there was another ship. It was titanic, resembling a floating fortress that had been cast into the ocean and somehow managed not to sink. Great Chu imagery decorated the front and back of it. The crescent moon and eastern dragons featured most prominently, and its front and back had been decorated to make it appear as a titanic serpentine dragon. It seemed large enough to house ten thousand soldiers. It was the flagship of the Great Chu Imperial Navy, the so-called Sea Dragon. And it was there that Argrave would need to face Emperor Ji Meng and Admiral Tan Shu, alongside the most potent mortal soldiers the world had to offer.

But Argrave would not be alone in this. Already, Veidimen longships lurched in treacherous locations, prepared to sail out and push enemy vessels into treacherous, shallow waters that they might be beached. And Argrave would not be assaulting this fortress-ship alone. He looked at the naval base, nestled within a lagoon shielded from sight. There, Crystal Wind, the dragon bonded to Rowe the Righteous, stood prepared to carry Argrave’s retinue. Alongside his companions, all of the Veidimen guard gifted to him by Dras many months ago waited, equipped in the best gear that they’d gathered. Uncountable others lurked elsewhere.

Argrave had wanted peace, and so he had prepared for this war. Such was the tragic way of the world.