Jackal Among Snakes

“Your gift?” Argrave repeated, staring at the towering god of war. “I think it must’ve been lost. Maybe the ship crashed, or the caravan was robbed by bandits. I’ve been in a place where it’s been rather difficult to deliver gifts.”

Sataistador shook his head. “You couldn’t have missed it. You’re wearing it right now.” He raised a hand and pointed. “Your head. Your skin. Your heartbeat. I gave you life, Argrave.”

Argrave bit his lips, but couldn’t restrain himself from joking, “You’re my dad?”

Durran snorted and suppressed his laughter silently, but Sataistador crossed his arms and sighed. “I kept Erlebnis off your back. I couldn’t tell him about the heist per our arrangement made in the White Planes. But that didn’t prevent me from getting involved in other ways. I distracted him while you plundered his vault.”

Argrave blinked, processing that quietly. Anneliese stepped up to stand beside him and asked, “How could you have known when we began the heist? It all took place inside Erlebnis’ realm.”

“I made other deals in the White Planes. Someone informed me where Erlebnis had decided to manifest after his failure in the Bloodwoods. I went there, and watched for suspicious movement. When I saw it… I pounced on the opportunity. His location was strategically unassailable, but only if Erlebnis himself defended,” Sataistador illustrated clearly. “You used the master of the centaurs—Sarikiz—to fragment Kirel Qircassia’s realm. You know, then, what my entry would mean. Erlebnis dared not risk the same fate for his realm, so he chose to fight and repel me. In so doing, you were given the freedom to succeed.” He raised his hands up, gesturing at them. “Even if you look like fops, I can’t deny those are divine artifacts you bear. So, to repeat myself, congratulations.”

Argrave spared a glance toward Anneliese. She gave a nod of confirmation, even though it was still up in the air whether or not she could read gods as well as she could people. Even without her confirmation, Argrave could see that what Sataistador put forth was reasonable. It had struck him as odd that Erlebnis had taken so long to arrive.

Argrave held his arms out. “So, what, did you come seeking payment for that?”

“I think you should know what the word ‘gift’ means. Unless the meaning has changed the years I’ve been in my own realm,” Sataistador shook his head. “Our business, I suspect, regards something else entirely. Perhaps you aim to kill me—I doubt it. Perhaps you seek to ally with me. I’ll take payment if you wish for me to do something, but given you don’t lack for forces…” he looked at the Alchemist. “…it must be something else. I have my own reason to be here, too.”

Argrave didn’t deny it, but something still pulled at his mind. “Why would you give us a gift?”

“Because I suspect you would be a better acquaintance than Erlebnis,” Sataistador looked around contemptuously. “He’s content waiting millennia to make deals. He rarely takes losses when he trades. Your life, by comparison, is rather short. You’re more likely to give and take more freely. All that matters is what you want.”

“Information,” Argrave said plainly.

raised his brows.

lot from Erlebnis’ vault, but I can’t see how any of this stuff is of

Argrave could hear the dim hum of power in the air. Those weapons of his weren’t ordinary. He fixed Argrave with his deranged green eyes. “Do you know why gods fear me, Argrave, even when

to tell

possessions, all these trivialities tying them down. Cities. Towns. Worshippers. Money. Artifacts. Books.” He focused back on them “I don’t. I have the weapons at my side, and nothing more. That makes me the most dangerous god of them all. I am my only, and greatest,

point,” Argrave nodded slowly. “What could

countless fortresses and settlements. I walked within them, sometimes, and though they stared, pointed, and noticed me… I could’ve torn them apart. It’s what I’ve always done. Emperors build these vast empires, enriching themselves until they think they’re on top of the world. But I come alone, picking away at their sprawling cities one by one. They don’t know where I’ll be. They can’t react in time. I tear out their roots piece by piece until they starve like wild dogs, feasting on each other,” Sataistador said with enthusiastic venom.

nothing in response, but Sataistador had poked at an issue Argrave knew existed. Vasquer was a vast territory. Even with [Worldstrider], even with Elenore’s connections… their power could not be everywhere at once. It was why he had built Blackgard, to concentrate the population and make it easier to defend. Having a madman like Sataistador as their enemy, whose only objective

not implying anything,” Argrave said after a

out to the lake. “You claimed that I was inferior to another. I thought it foolish, provoking bullshit meant to entice me to play into your hands. But when I was watching where Erlebnis had claimed this mortal realm… I saw the man named Mozzahr emerge.” Sataistador slammed a fist against his palm, and Argrave felt a wave of power. “He had just endured Erlebnis’ full strength. It was clear from the artifacts he carried

Castellan of the Empty had endured the full brunt of Erlebnis’ power within his vault. Under that pressure, he succeeded in both robbing him of the artifacts their group had missed and

“All of his wealth vanished overnight. The web of intrigue that he wove found itself with nothing to cling to but air. He lost informants, valuable contacts, and many allies,

“The bastard

yes. For you, not so much,” Sataistador shook

wish to speak. She divulged, “Erlebnis sends

doesn’t hold grudges. But he is cornered, and you’ve made it abundantly clear that you are his enemy.” Sataistador crouched in the sand, drawing a diagram in the sand. “He brokered peace with the Qircassian Coalition. The price? Control over the Great Chu.” The

of the Chu had been spotted landing on the coast. “But the Great Chu have inherited a vast wealth of artifacts just like the ones we wear,” Argrave protested. “And their knowledge of magic is equal to ours. How could

like bamboo,” Sataistador wiped the sand off his hands and rose. “It was a largely bloodless usurpation. The same ruler that sat the

wasn’t what he’d hoped to deal with—though he knew the retaliation from the coalition would come, he had expected his allies to be sufficient deterrent to prevent it from happening immediately. He’d hoped for

that a loner like Sataistador benefitted from chaos—hell, it was one of his three aspects.