Jackal Among Snakes

Orion wandered for a long, long while, much of it aimless. As a prince—now crown prince, he reflected—of Vasquer, his lone outage was something largely intolerable. His presence was noted and reported everywhere he wandered. Though he could wander as he pleased, he could not do so alone… or so his father decreed.

But Orion ignored that. He ignored them, avoided his pursuers at every turn, and simply wandered. He drank water conjured by his blessings and ate animals raw in the snow-covered forests. He wished to be alone with his own thoughts. He did not have the same success at avoiding the voices of the gods. They hounded him every waking minute, intent and instructive. At the very least, Orion was growing better at shutting them out.

Yet this relentless escape made his introspection dubious in quality. Often, he thought more about avoiding people than the problems that plagued him. Eventually, he knew he would need to get to a place that Vasquer could not reach. This conclusion gave him a destination… and the infancy of an objective.

And so, wearing an ill-fitting ratty robe given to him by a mendicant priest, Orion chose his direction and walked it relentlessly. The environment changed from the wintry forests and sprawling hills of northern Vasquer to long plains of dead grass with mountains miles off watching like guardians.

Though the royal knights seeking to persuade him to allow their accompaniment briefly redoubled their efforts once his route was more predictable, eventually… their pursuit began to taper off. They had little reach in these lands. Their number was fewer and fewer, and then soon none at all.

Orion swam with the rivers, walked through the hibernating forests, crawled through the plains, only taking pause for food and rest. He hunted stags, eating his fill and donating the remnants to local villages. He slept sparingly, as the time needed to sleep forced him to hear the whispers of the gods clearly.

The prince stepped to a hill a fair distance away from a large city, one hand held up to block the light of the early morning suns. The settlement was flat and wide, and housed innumerable people. Even now, caravans came into and out of its walls. At the foot of the mountains, miners began their day, heading into the depths while followed by an overseer earth mage. Walking opposite them were others ending their day in the mines, hauling ore and debris.

Orion’s gaze fixed on something beyond that. At the point where two mountains ended, a miles-tall wall of taupe stone bridged the gap, two keeps wrought out of the stone of each mountainside. A gargantuan metal door rested at the bottom of this manmade wall, a great golden lion emblazoned on it. Just beyond a mountain cliff, one could see a lion statue, an orange sphere clutched in its jaws.

Seeing the wall, Orion took a deep breath and smiled. With certain steps, he walked towards the Lionsun Castle.

#####

“No matter how much wind magic we cast, the smoke returns. It’s being actively piped from ports in the ceiling, I believe. It would make sense, given how long they’ve been holding this place. This must be their last-measure fortification,” Elenore noted, standing behind a large gathering of black-armored men. They were wrapped up in Argrave’s ward to block sound from leaking. “Other means to combat the smoke would just result in heavy casualties. Getting proper gear for an assault will take time—time our foes might take to better prepare, or even try and escape.”

Argrave nodded along with Elenore’s words, staring beyond into a vast dark space from which a beige smoke steadily poured out, dissipating in the vast openness of the room meant to keep Vasquer. It was difficult to imagine how much smoke would be needed to fill this room, but it would certainly take a long while.

“How’s the situation in the rest of Dirracha?” Argrave questioned, staring ahead. “Plans for Vasquer, too? The snake, not the kingdom.”

flood us out if they’re smart. Place is too big to flood, though. Doubt they realize that. Regarding moving

In ‘Heroes of Berendar,’ Vasquer was only liberated after the civil war ended.

foe remains well-hidden, annoyingly,” Elenore scratched her forehead with the bronze claw ring. “They aren’t capable

Argrave scratched at his chin. “I still have Induen’s signet ring.

that front… my appraisers came through. You can look at that gear from the Order of the Rose fortress

subject. “That’s excellent. Could be some valuable stuff in there—Rose enchantments are quite varied from what we can make today, and Archduke Regene was rich. A shame I can’t get my hands on them before we enter this little poison

her head to Argrave. “You cannot be

looked to Galamon. “We’ll go first, put an end to the smoke. Once the flow ceases, we’ll return. Your people can press in and clean

nodded along slowly, then said, “…I don’t like

agreed, looking quite dissatisfied. Durran didn’t seem to

too fond either. But it’ll work. I’ve fought vampires before—these were spellcasters,

Galamon looked

his tongue against his

busy with this. Please, talk to her. She knows all of my plans, and I trust her to make any adjustments. She can catch you up to speed on what I wanted to do—shortly put, we’re going to try and erode the north from within, then stage

don’t think I’ll be able to focus well while you’re assaulting this place alone. I’ll wait

free. After

patted Elenore on the shoulder and walked away, dispelling his ward in a fluid

called

she said,” Durran called. “Have fun,

a Humorless Mask to his face. They had used these solemn white masks to combat the plague, yet now it

old days,” Argrave mused once they stepped past all of Elenore’s men, walking alone to the dark and foreboding entrance.

terrible days,”

right,” Argrave reflected, reminded of illness and deadly fights and approaching armies. “I guess… right now is the good old days. You never know what

informed him