Jackal Among Snakes

Argrave stood at the edge of the central courtyard of the Palace of Heaven. Whether from above or below, the tales said that this place had never been breached. Its walls could withstand the fury of gods, and apparently there were measures to prevent any entry from above. But here they stood, the first of history. Beyond was a verdant garden far removed from the stony plateau they’d come from. Considering the Stormfield still worked, there would be other enemies in here. Their silence, however, was deafening.

The small breach in the walls of the Palace of Heaven was soon blocked by their ally, Law—Erlebnis’ relentless pursuit was brought to a halt, if only for now. But if he had been able to leave, the garrison manning this place would let Erlebnis reenter just as easily. They didn’t have much time for rest, for the god of knowledge had become somewhat like Sataistador—alone, and highly mobile. Sataistador had dodged death countless time by keeping himself as little more than a man. Perhaps that had been Erlebnis’ conscious goal, or perhaps not… regardless, it was frightening.

“Where is Rook?” questioned Veid, resplendent in Veidimen-style armor. Other gods shadowed her—Raccomen, Lira, and even Almazora, who’d ceased her defense on Berendar for this fight.

“Erlebnis caught him,” Anneliese explained, looking around the courtyard warily. “I think he died, but…”

“You think?” Argrave repeated, then shook his head. “I watched him dissipate. He’s dead. But we don’t have time to think of that. We need to claim as much of this place as we can. We always planned on having Law inside the Palace, fighting Erlebnis, but he’s dealing with him on the outside instead. Roles need to change.”

“You need to take me to the Stormfield.” Governor Zen was the first to set foot on the grass ahead, and he held a strange red sword in his hand. “I can guide us there. I’ve studied this place, and the array, in great detail. I know this fortress inside and out.”

“So do I—lest you forget, all of my commanders, even myself, studied its layout. Is guiding us what Sataistador asked you to do?” Argrave said accusingly. Now that the governor had shown his hand in calling Sataistador as reinforcement, there was no need to be coy about these things.

The governor gestured to the spot where he’d torn out his ribcage. “I think I demonstrated amply I’m on your side in this battle. We made an alliance—I intend to keep it. I called him here to aid us. You’d be dead without that.” He turned his head back to the courtyard. “We can’t linger here long. Erlebnis has shown he can break free of Sataistador and Law, and lest you forget, we haven’t claimed all of the Palace of Heaven for ourselves—merely set foot inside it.”

Orion stepped forward and gripped the governor’s robes, jostling him. “What did Sataistador ask for you to do in this battle?”

“Win it. Nothing more… grandson-in-law.” Governor Zen spread his arms out, not touching Orion.

Argrave was expecting Anneliese to inform him that was a lie immediately, but looking at her face for answers told him the governor was being genuine. Argrave didn’t know what to make of that. He had anticipated the god of war to have at least one request of the governor… but none? Were they wrong? Was Sataistador not planning a betrayal of some kind? Then why had he worked with Zen in secrecy?

“Each deity needs to focus on one aspect of the fortress,” Argrave decided, then tapped his brother until he released Zen. “Almazora—accompany Zen to the Stormfield. Lira—deal with the pressure exerted by the walls, so our troops can approach. Raccomen—focus on opening the sky, so Durran can provide support from above. Veid—continue working with Galamon, commanding the troops. Everyone needs to get the hell away from me. Erlebnis is after me.”

“Meaning?” Anneliese prompted him.

“His anger surprised us. His hatred of me, his tunnel vision; we can use it to our advantage, now, if I plan something before he comes again. I’ve fought Mozzahr, Norman—I’m almost used to broken, ravenous monsters by this point.”

Almazora

to her and shook his head. “I joke

Raccomen criticized. “Veid can handle my role of

easily accepted the

cut into his head as he spoke. “She needs advice on how to deal with the lich if he hasn’t lost his mind. And,

curveballs today, and impressed himself with his ability to roll with them. Nevertheless, this one

is

#####

the most dangerous situation. Raccomen’s criticism and subsequent offer of help had been some anodyne to this development, and with his [Echo Step], he might well be the best fighter of any of them by this point. Still, this battlefield had the highest stakes they’d ever dealt with. She was tasked with

been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found

it hadn’t been at all as she’d been expected it. She’d seen gods die before, but that…? It had felt wrong, all the way from the scene itself to the fact that Rook was willing to sacrifice himself at all. It seemed contrary to his character. She didn’t know what to do with this suspicion for a time, until an

watched Argrave’s

exceptions like the Alchemist’s intervention, gods’ blessings only dissipated in one way—if the god in question

still

calm declaration sent a chill through Anneliese as the complications mounted higher and higher. The god of deception and subterfuge was deceiving everyone with some hidden stratagem—perhaps not surprising, given it was in his nature. Considering this wasn’t mentioned

she

#####

Desert. It wasn’t the region, nor the company—both were miserable. It was to get out of being on the battlefield against a bunch of gods and their servants. She’d had enough of people that could break her wrist with a flick of their finger, and didn’t much care for the spectacle of

Argrave’s assault of the Palace of Heaven began. Traugott had proven extremely adroit at preparation, and so by acting just before the time of the assault, they hoped to have both

thing that went according

half-baked traps and decrepit edifices was anything but. The moment Melanie and Dario breached the secret entrance beneath the oasis and entered into the narrow corridors leading to the palace proper, incongruities arose. The entrance was a long, winding stone maze. Argrave had told them of this, but promised it was largely useless and filled with dumb undead. But against his promises, all of it looked identically well-maintained, sleek and gray—and worse yet, southron

You have nothing to fear from me—indeed, I owe you a favor of sorts. And if you are not… then surrender is the only thing that would make your death a painless one. If you resist, you will

a necromancer could actually enact. Neither her nor Dario paid them any heed, and Melanie’s blessing from Raccomen took them both through the complex maze, seeking the place where the lich laid his bony head to rest. Dario led them, using her blessing and his impeccable sense of stealth to avoid conflict. False walls and endless illusions made a difficult maze all the more troublesome, and Melanie regretted not bringing along someone like Anneliese to see past all the falsities. Despite all

the maze. Then again, perhaps it wasn’t right to call it luck—it had taken four hours of ceaseless bumbling about, avoiding undead, sticking to the shadows, and dodging traps

a beautiful and spacious room that fit the title of palace. There were four entrances, each at the cardinal directions. From these entrances, stairs descended downward to a central platform.