The fire genasi had retired for the night, laying back to the group a dozen or so feet away. Sat around the fire were four figures, three of which were known as the Elthari. Taugrek Talonsworn, a half-orc of considerable stature and might, sat facing the genasi, sharpening his beared greataxe as his cohorts spoke and argued. He was the youngest of the group, beaten by Helena by just a decade, but he was easily the most cool-headed. His cool grey eyes blended in to his ashy grey skin, the only contrast being his tight black hair and facial hair. He had seen his fair share of fighting as a Corsair in Falian, fighting Keltainen and Talons on the front lines and bullies and drunks within the city walls. It hadn’t taken much for Thanquel to convince him to his side, not after Warden Fellheart caught Taugrek beating a new recruit for “having the cheek to talk back”. Taugrek was a bully but he was a loyal one. He believed that the strong overpower the meek and therefore should have control over them, therefore he protects his weaker allies until they’re worthy of being allies as opposed to sheep. He was the first and last thing between a potential threat and Thanquel, besides Thanquel himself.
Currently in the midst of an argument with his halfing acquaintance was Kalazar Basim, Thanquel’s mystic expert and advisor.. Kalazar had lived in Amalur for a few decades before it was taken to Fiáin Nua, working as a professor in Amalur’s Scoil Arcanum. He lost many of his coworkers and students to the onslaught from the Far Realm and even more in the earliest days of Fiáin Nua thanks to panicking common people and cruel soldiers. The Radiant Host were especially cruel, targeting him due to his fondness of Unseelie and small folk students. Those few Host soldiers were punished, of course, but one captain managed to skirt by thanks to "the importance of veteran soldiers in such trying times” and was simply assigned to patrolling the neighborhoods he once terrorized. She was found dead in her home, her spirit wrenched from her body and bound to a wrought-iron hammer and cast into her fireplace. The screams haunted those who found the scene as Kalazar quickly fled and became one of Thanquel’s most loyal followers. It was he who informed Thanquel of the Tomb’s discovery and had scouted ahead to see how much was uncovered.
Shouting obscenities at Kalazar was Helena Quickwind, the self-named ‘Headhunter’. The halfing had a simple motive for joining the Talons. Her family ran much of the underground in Thandia, her father commanding the black market like the troops he did in the earliest battles of Thanquel’s rebellion. Lahdia Swiftshot had other plans once the criminals began rivaling the law in influence and much of the Quickwind line was silenced by the headsman’s blade. Now, using her connections to the various guilds of Fiáin Nua and her exceptional skills, she was Thanquel’s ear in taverns, his eye in the dark and his arrow to a target’s heart. Right now though, she was the rage of her father.
“The GUARDS aren’t READY for us! They’re fuckin recruits straight from the bleedin’ farms!”
“But guards they are! The Comet Blade’s aren’t to be trifled with, Helena. They are green yes, but-”
“bUt They CaN uSE Magic- Yeah cool, can’t cast spells with an arrow between the eyes, can you?”
“But they are easily capable of alerting their cohorts! A simple Alarm or Sending spell is easily within their repertoire.”
“Okay, you silence the cunts, I’ll find the biggest, most magic one and slice his throat and then Talonsworn can start cutting heads from shoulders.”
Thanquel Sorrowsblade was currently reading through his tome, sat one leg over the other on a chair he had conjured. His mask was attached at his hip, hood down to reveal the full damage done to him by Chulán all those years ago. He looked up as the argument reached a fever pitch and with a simple ‘ahem’, both Kalazar and Helena stopped and turned.
“Taugrek. Would you mind telling your brethren what you learned?”
Taugrek’s deep bass of a voice would send shivers down the spine of lesser men and his soft-spoken eloquence surprised numerous higher-ranking soldiers.
“The Comet Blades rotate shifts every 8 hours, allowing overlaps for a period of 30 minutes. There is a 15 minute window where those guards leaving and their replacements get distracted mingling. That’s our cue to enter, simply act like we have an important task and the idiots won’t have the stones to question us. “
Helena’s voice wasn’t as piercing as her daggers but it cut through the air all the same.
“That easy? What about the wards they gotta have up? That shit was annoying as Hells to get past in Amalur.”
Kalazar spoke with the patience and authority of a teacher, allowing room for questions but none for ignorance.
“I have bypassed these wards before. For five of us, it might be tricky but Thanquel’s more than capable of hiding us from them with my guidance. A solid plan, Talonsworn.”
Taugrek nodded and returned to sharpening his ax.
Helena threw her hands up in defeat and sat crossed legged on a tree stump.
“Right so. When do I get to gut the genasi?”
Thanquel closed his tome and looked to Helena. “My dear Headhunter, I know you wish to spill some traitor’s blood and I truly empathize. But Niaran Keahi is the daughter of a goddess. We can hide her, yes, but her death isn’t as easily hidden. She is much more useful to us alive than dead at this time. Her friends in Amalur must realize her departure was a willing one and the alarm hasn’t been fully raised, therefore we have time to make this trip and allow Niaran to return, the seed of doubt sown and the truth revealed to her.”
Kalazar spoke. “I will say, my liege, that to allow her to return is an interesting decision. I agree that she’s much potential and I appreciate her as an ally-
Taugrek grunted “I like her. She fights well”
“She does! I’d like her in the way of any more demon’s that try to burn me alive. But how can you be so sure she won’t simply return to fight us with more knowledge than is safe?”
“Kalazar, I appreciate your concern. It is your work that has guided us thus far. This plan, however, is more of a long con than anything. The Trinity tend to fall into archetypes in both capability and philosophy. Take you three, for instance. Taugrek, our loyal warrior, a man who I trust with my life every day and know will make the right decisions when his back is to the wall”
“Thank you, General.”
Thanquel gave a curt nod to his executioner.
“Helena, you are our skirmisher and assassin, our blade in the dark to inspire fear in our enemies.”
“Thanks boss, I-
“But you also have a habit of going against the plan. Your impulsiveness has been an issue before and I appreciate the work you’ve done to rectify it but it is still a part of who you are, for better and worse.”
Helena took a deep breath and gave a reluctant nod, as easily read by Thanquel as his tome.
“Finally, Kalazar. My trusted friend, my advisor and equal in all things arcane. You will follow this path to the very end, no matter the hardships. A true believer in our cause, as it is planned”
Kalazar gave a deep bow.
Thanquel pointed to each of his Elthari in turn.
“Faithful, Fatal and Fated. One of brawn, one of agility and one of arcanum. These are the traits I saw in each of you when I plucked you from our ranks and named you my Elthari. My Chosen. You are destined for great things. Great things are not accomplished by those such as those in Amalur, content hiding behind walls. They are accomplished by those who run towards the fire. Those who can realize we aren’t bound to binary right and wrong”
“We live in the maelstrom”
“Exactly Taugrek. The Maelstrom. The walls people throw up to protect themselves, laws and social acceptance and morality, from the true chaos of the world. We can sit at the lever and decide which track the train may travel down, decide whose life the train may take but that is a lie. We don’t have the time to choose, we simply do. The Maelstrom tears the tracks apart and you can only survive by standing in its eye. Embracing that all our self-imposed rules and morals are exactly that. Self-imposed. The only true evil in this world is to let the Maelstrom take you and do nothing. Inaction, my Elthari, is the villain of every story. So tomorrow, we take our fiery friend into the Maelstrom. Tomorrow, we see if she can stand at its eye and embrace the truth.”
The group turned to look at the genasi. If any of them knew she was awake, they didn’t make it apparent. Thanquel spoke once more before they retired to sleep.
“Have hope, my friends. Hope is the most durable thing in the multiverse. She rises from the most brutal of injuries again and again. She will guide us unto Amalur and when we burn their Spire and crush their traitorous skulls beneath our feet, the last thing to die before them will be their hope. It will be you who breaks that most durable of beliefs. That is what I offer Niaran. That is what I offer each of you. Hope strong enough to withstand the Maelstrom and crush those you know should not.”
Comments