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.”

never in the

fragment, and even should

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

empire we’ve

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

betray him, it’s not like anyone is going to think less of us for doing so. He’s

“He fights wars like I probably would. Well, would

Alchemist to dispel the ward. Argrave walked back up to Sataistador, coming a fair bit closer

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

just betray me if you change your mind.” He turned his head to Argrave. “I prefer

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 some appetite for this sort of thing. I just hope you won’t leave me a land of ruins. I need people to build my empire,

to go the route of a god-king? Hmm. I think

the first cycle of judgment?” Argrave asked, also gazing out across the lake like the god

our goal. I think that’s fair, given how enticed you are about this invasion.” His haunting green gaze landed on Argrave’s

at his 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 to twiddle my thumbs for months while we

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

managed to dissuade him, but restrained himself from showing that outwardly.

huge scar just behind it on his stomach. “There were no gods before Gerechtigkeit descended,” he 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

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

Sataistador shook his head. “I was chief of the Drinnic tribe, having united all of our peoples under one banner. And we razed an empire that had existed for two thousand years to the ground,” he recounted somewhat joyfully. “Five years we spent dismantling 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

claim of the two-thousand-year empire, yet hearing that no gods had troubled them alleviated some doubt. Provided, of course, that Sataistador was not merely spinning

it like?” Argrave asked.

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 less difficult

retreat?” Anneliese asked.

and the passage of time. It was a place called Sandelabara—a large stone fortification. I couldn’t tell you who constructed it, but it was nothing special. Gerechtigkeit was wounded and he retreated there. Some other deities and I chased him there, put an end

Sandelabara. That was one of the few words that Argrave knew was tied to Gerechtigkeit. Mial, Mozzahr’s daughter,

the Alchemist

time is dead now, though. I killed most of them,” Sataistador admitted. “Their names are lost to me. They weren’t memorable

a real place, a real fortress? And

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