Jackal Among Snakes

Argrave examined the portal of Lira’s making. Raccomen’s was grandiose, yet the goddess of connections merely made one place seem to bleed into another without any pomp. It was a humble door into the side of the mountain, and when open, one could see the interior of the Sea Dragon. It had already been thoroughly tested. All of the prisoners taken during the fight against the Imperial Navy of the Great Chu had walked through these doors, whereupon they were taken to more suitable grounds.

“Argrave…” Sophia, standing at Argrave’s side while holding his hand, sounded worried. He looked to her. “This place doesn’t have any windows.”

“Don’t worry. What you’re seeing now isn’t where you’ll be,” he told her. “Just trust me, Sophia.”

Her small hand clenched his own tightly, and he walked through the doorway with short, slow strides to let her keep up. The moment they passed through, the temperature was noticeably colder. Sophia looked a little surprised at this, and when she looked around, she was surprised to see exactly what he’d promised—windows. Specifically, windows just overlooking the sea. Her head whipped about everywhere, taking in her surroundings with the utmost curiosity. When her brain seemed liable to explode, she looked up at Argrave with wide eyes, pleading for answers.

Argrave laughed and scooped Sophia up. “This place is going to be our home away from home, for a little while,” he explained as he walked through the room. They were in an unused storage room near the bottom of the Sea Dragon. Argrave would be sure this place was impeccably guarded in the future, but for now, it sufficed as was.

Argrave headed through the gargantuan ship-fortress for the front deck. Along the way, he explained, “We’re on a ship right now. The Sea Dragon, it’s called. That door teleported us here.”

“A ship?” Sophia sounded even more confused. “But ships aren’t this big. And don’t ships… don’t they go wibble-wobble, ‘cause of the tides?” She emulated the rocking of a ship.

“This ship is very special,” Argrave said in summary.

Sophia was entranced by the foreign architecture and landscape near the Sea Dragon, and it allowed Argrave to take her to the front deck without sparing another word. When he arrived, Anneliese stood there waiting. She had something new in hand—Rowe’s weapon. She looked like a right proper wizard, staff and all. She gave him a strangely lonely smile. Argrave had already heard the news from Elenore that she’d breached S-rank.

“Want to look around on your own?” Argrave asked Sophia, setting her down upon her own two feet. She cautiously walked to the edge of the deck while Argrave joined Anneliese.

“Congratulations,” he told Anneliese quietly as they watched Sophia peek over the edge of the railing.

Anneliese only silently took his hand, clutching it tightly. He didn’t quite know what she was thinking, and it appeared she lacked the words to express it at present. After a moment of each other’s company, the both of them walked forward to speak to Sophia at around the same time.

“Sophia,” Argrave called out. She ran back up to him.

“Why doesn’t the ship wibble-wobble?” She asked.

the

Argrave. She looked between them like they were going to

beside her, then said to Sophia, “Argrave and I

was all it was. “But… you’ve already helped

very special about you,” Argrave explained. “We want to help you understand that special something all the better. Do you remember when I had you pull upon that

her head. Argrave was taken

were in that courtyard, and those three people gathered there, and

confused. Argrave looked to Anneliese. She indicated to him that Sophia wasn’t lying—she genuinely didn’t remember, despite how short the time had been

disguise his concern. “The point is, we’re going to help you understand something about yourself. Every day, we’ll come to this place and work on it a bit more. It might be scary, hard, but it’s

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help you?”

smiled, somewhat touched.

quickly, declaring, “Okay. I’ll do my very, very

you, Sophia.” Argrave rose to his feet, then helped Anneliese up. “This ship is going

Sea Dragon, making to take their place in the countless vessels. By midday, everyone was settled in their place. People walked to the uppermost levels of the Sea Dragon, and then blew the great horn atop it. The colossal vessel started to cut through the sea, its deck still as steady as any building on the

through endless cold blue. Behind, their vast armada began its voyage in hot pursuit. Hundreds of Veidimen longships and Great Chu turtle ships followed the bow wave left behind by their vessel. It would be a long time before the vast

Argrave said to no

clinging to the

this,” Argrave answered, watching

#####

“They’ve disembarked.”

eunuch stood idle in one of the gardens of the Great Chu. His soft hand played with a fruit dangling from a tree, pulling it down enough to bend the branch before letting

ago?” The eunuch answered back. “Should I expect

ago,” the emissary answered

the emissary. “Considering how ineffectual the emperor’s army was because of our disadvantage in information,

gathered information, as was his domain, Emperor Ji Meng might’ve known what to expect. His navy would have at least done actual damage to King Argrave’s forces. Now, he was captured. That was perhaps the