Jackal Among Snakes

“Before you leave, let me give you a definitive answer, so there’s no misunderstanding,” Argrave asked of Sataistador. “After all, I need to hear your information now.”

“Now?” Sataistador repeated, looking somewhat annoyed. “Must it be now?”

“If it’s not now, I can hardly act on it,” Argrave insisted. “Wait a few moments. Let me consult my people.”

“Very well,” Sataistador nodded.

Reality was far too complicated to have everything go perfect one hundred percent of the time. Sataistador stood before them now like a reminder of that fact. Argrave and his companions put some distance between the two. The god of war waited patiently.

He had just spoken about his method of war—brutal, senseless massacres that served no purpose beyond victory. As befit the god of war, he wanted war for nothing more than the sake of itself. He didn’t want land, nor personal wealth—he just wanted to triumph over a foe. That sort of mentality could put even Genghis Khan to shame. And given his talk about ‘indulging in the honest debauchery of war,’ perhaps he intended to hear the lamentations of their goddesses. A grim thought, to be sure.

Argrave and his party stood beneath a ward, talking things over.

“If we take his deal, he’d cause unimaginable damage to the people of the Chu,” Argrave summarized. “He’d target farmlands, pastures, and all that kept their cities fed until the sheer size of the empire caused it to fragment. He basically told us as much.”

“But if we refuse him, he’d likely do the same thing here,” Melanie pointed out.

Durran shook his head. “I doubt it. He’d do damage, sure, but we’d catch up to him, end him. Here, now… this would be the perfect time. We could kill him.”

“He’s not stupid. He’d run,” Argrave mimed the action with his fingers.

“I can run as well, Your Majesty,” Orion pointed out, glaring at the god of war from beyond the ward. Galamon gave a nod of agreement.

The Alchemist reprimanded, “You have Erlebnis, the Qircassian Coalition, the Chu, and even Fellhorn as your enemies, lest you forget. We cannot afford to add one other. Do not forget he’s indicated he’s entirely willing to dishonor the deal. In that case, we ought to prepare to do the same,” he argued prudently. “There should be no discussion. You should take the deal. Use him for as much as he is worth, then toss him aside.”

Anneliese crossed her arms. “I have grown to utterly detest how these elder gods play nations against each other as though lives matter not. Even still, I am inclined to agree with the Alchemist. This god of war will disclose information that may greatly aid your research into Gerechtigkeit, and we need not fret about betraying such a despicable being.”

“Alright. Let me consult the last of us,” Argrave nodded, then grasped at his connection to Elenore inside his head. “Hey, sis. We’ve talked. I’m leaning toward taking the deal, but I’d like to hear your thoughts.”

No reply came in Argrave’s head for some time, then her voice came clear and decisively. “Pragmatically, it’s the best option. I’m furthermore greedy at the prospect of securing good relations with the Chu if we should aid them in overthrowing the yoke of the Qircassian Coalition. I think that’s… overoptimistic. Still, unlike Sataistador’s dreams of our shared glory, an invasion would be impossible on our end. We lack the manpower to occupy a foreign continent, and I’m already overburdened incorporating both the Burnt Desert and the underground dwarven cities into this already ridiculously large nation.”

in the cards,”

their empire will fragment, and even should Gerechtigkeit be beaten, they will endure countless wars as petty kingdoms vie to reunite the empire for

time like this, a centralized state was the best way for progress, and the Chu were even more heavily slanted toward hereditary despots than Vasquer was. The term ‘warring states’ came to mind to summarize the aftermath. But the culture of the Chu was foreign to those of Vasquer, and they would

of an empire we’ve never even seen,” Argrave

true. Let us remind ourselves that we don’t know how honest Sataistador was being about their situation. I can make effort to look into it, but it’ll be tremendously hard,” Elenore sighed. “No matter. I’m in favor of taking it. We can always

we betray him, it’s not like anyone is going to think less of us for

cunning one,” Elenore reminded him. “He fights wars like I probably would. Well, would have,” she

Argrave gestured toward the Alchemist to dispel the ward. Argrave walked back up to Sataistador, coming a fair bit closer this time. The giant god knelt

with your suggestion. When the time comes, we’ll counterattack Erlebnis and the Qircassian Coalition,”

to—you can just betray me if you change your mind.” He turned

does entice me,” Argrave lied through his teeth. “I very nearly doubled the size of our territory by incorporating the Burnt Desert and the underground. You don’t get to that point without having

of a god-king? Hmm. I

tell me about the first cycle of judgment?” Argrave asked, also gazing out across

as we get closer to our goal. I think that’s fair, given how enticed you are about this invasion.” His haunting green gaze landed on Argrave’s face. “You’d certainly never

lip—that was a dangerous proposal. He didn’t care to get this in drops—he needed it all, now. “We’re looking for ways to most efficiently end Gerechtigkeit. If you do that, it’ll be absolutely useless for us. I don’t want

nodded. “It’s not as though it’s exceptionally important. It’ll give

was elated he managed to dissuade him, but restrained himself from showing that outwardly. “Better understanding our foe is an advantage in itself,” Argrave

said with eerie calm. “That is the key detail none of my peers remember, probably because there are no gods as old as I am. My generation of gods all died, you see, mostly at my own hand. Back then we had religions, yet there were no true gods. It was only men, elves, dwarves, subterranean humanoids, and a few types of beast-men. Most of those beasts went extinct… eight or

can you be sure there weren’t other gods? You were mortal, and he may have erased memory of his presence as he had

it. We killed many, but kept virtually the same number as slaves. But when Gerechtigkeit came, no one—not the emperor, whom I’d kept as a pet, nor the various scholars we kept alive knew of this occurrence. The oldest of the elves did not recall a bit

yet hearing that no gods had troubled them alleviated some doubt. Provided, of course, that Sataistador was not

it like?” Argrave asked.

world. When I encountered another, I was the first to kill another and consume them. The day Gerechtigkeit finally came to us, he was desperate, angry, and clumsy. A far easier, and less clever, foe than he has become today. He also had a place that he retreated to, making him

a retreat?”

stone fortification. I couldn’t tell you who constructed it, but

was shocked to hear the truth about Sandelabara. That was one of the few words that Argrave knew was tied

deities?” the

like I said, everyone from my time is dead now, though. I killed most of them,” Sataistador admitted.

a real place, a real fortress? And Gerechtigkeit had some

traces of him everywhere.” Sataistador looked at him intently, and Argrave leaned in. “After all, he bled all over the place.” He broke off into laughter. “What do you expect of me? At the time, we thought him nothing more than another god like us, set on destroying anything and everything. It was only after he perished and we were cast away to our own realms in