Jackal Among Snakes

To say that the wood elves in the Bloodwoods were an army with a country rather than a country with an army would not be an exaggeration. It would also be a stolen phrase, but Argrave supposed such things didn’t matter if one crossed over to another world. Still, he kept this thought to himself as the Supreme Myriarch led the royalty of the party to meet with the myriarchs. Nikoletta joined them, too, to officiate surrendering the ‘hostage.’

They walked across the open clearing of the elven city. The children watched with distrust, but their parents watched with caution or outright contempt. Even still, there were no incidents. The Veidimen were fitting in well, assisting with disassembly of creatures or eating or any number of the thousand tasks to do in the city. The Magisters, however, ate alone with a quiet caution of just about everything near them.

Finally, the Supreme Myriarch dipped below, heading into one of the large buildings below. Once inside, Argrave recognized this place as the commander’s room. Here, the myriarch of a Tumen would communicate with his officers. Now it served the same purpose, though the Supreme Myriarch would instead communicate with his myriarchs. As Argrave made way for Anneliese, Orion, and Nikoletta, he sized all of the elven commanders up.

Of the three myriarchs here, two of them were S-rank spellcasters. One they had seen coming in—Myriarch Batbayar, Ganbaatar’s mentor. He had dropped that tree on them. The other S-rank was Myriarch Otgon. Argrave’s eyes lingered on this one for half a heartbeat—this elf was the source of the malfeasance in the elven army, the one rotten egg in a batch of flawless discipline. His main sin was nepotism, but that sin made him puppet to another far rottener egg: namely, one of his officers.

The last, Myriarch Purev, was as magically mundane as the Supreme Myriarch. Still, none of those present could be discounted. Even Otgon, corrupt as he was, had tremendous intellect and leadership capability. Theirs was truly a meritocratic society. With golden hair and red eyes all, they seemed a completely unified clan, gathered around a rough square table as if to judge Argrave.

The Supreme Myriarch took his place at the head. “These are the commanders able to attend this meeting,” he explained. “All of the others are direly needed at the north to hold back the tide of winged demons advancing day by day. Myriarch Batbayar engaged with you as you entered… and Myriarch Otgon was responsible for carrying out my order to block off the centaurs’ holy land. The last is Myriarch Purev, responsible for the Army of the Wire.”

“I hope you do not mean to say the white-haired one is your cousin,” Myriarch Otgon began with some disdain. “Even we can tell an impure elf from a human.”

“Anneliese is my queen,” Argrave said with some pride, then put his hand atop Nikoletta’s shoulder. “Nikoletta of Monticci is my cousin. And hearing your arrogance, I question if you’re capable of holding your side of the bargain,” he shot back with equal aplomb.

“She will be safe,” Myriarch Purev assured—he was a grim and hard man, but exuded trustworthiness. “And her… father, is it? We will make our best effort. But humans do not live long in this forest.”

“That’s all I can ask for,” Nikoletta answered solemnly, seeming resolved to confront her father’s corpse if it came to that.

“Myriarch Purev—handle the king’s cousin,” the Supreme Myriarch delegated at once, sensing there would be the least problems there. The man stood and walked to Nikoletta, ready to move her along. “Once you have men on this, you may return.”

gave one final farewell to Nikoletta, saying,

Nikoletta only gave him a brief hug, and then they parted. Argrave turned back to face Otgon, Batbayar, and the Supreme

we spoke, you mentioned seeking to learn of

“Supreme Myriarch, if I may… can such a thing be surrendered

said levelly, though with a force behind his words that was impossible to ignore. “Now

enough,” Otgon conceded, crossing his

in contentment, pleased he did not need to intervene. Argrave stepped to the end of the table opposite him and said, “I don’t need to learn the lay of the land fully. What I need are portions of the land where it might be vulnerable to collapse—places with caverns, caves, or perhaps even abandoned mines from the days of the ancient elves. Without roots in place to hold

were not fresh enough on his mind to pull together a plan of this caliber on short notice. To lure the centaurs into, or force, a landslide would be the perfect way to slow the centaurs’ assault. Broken legs and crippling falls

you need?”

location?” Argrave looked to Orion, and the prince gave him a

laughed, but neither Batbayar or the Supreme Myriarch joined

ground with his bare hands, and no matter how hard he was struck he continued rampaging.” Batbayar rose, then

am faster, stronger,

on his feet, looking impressed. “That’s a generous offer… but one man alone might not draw their attention.

leader. “…and what of your safety, sir? What of our

gods walk among us once again,” he responded. “Behold their forms as they spread their

that can work the earth are best suited for surveying the underground. I can gather a suitable force. Still… I cannot promise it will be quick.

not cause problems for the forest?” Anneliese asked. “For

answered. “It will damage the forest greatly, but the elven city in the area has already begun its

with Batbayar, Argrave. But beyond that, we must refine our plan of assault on this breach by

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