Jackal Among Snakes

“Could you tell me just what happened there?” The beautiful goddess of birth inquired of Lira, goddess of connections. It looked like grandmother and daughter, almost. “Everything’s abuzz. Everyone can feel that something major happened, and the more attuned among us know there was a huge explosion of spirits in the sky above the Great Chu. But you were there, weren’t you? Some are even saying Argrave killed two ancient gods.”

Lira gave a slow, resigned nod. “To summarize… Erlebnis and Sataistador are both rendered irrelevant, now. Argrave baited Erlebnis out of the Palace of Heaven, and after doing battle with Law, Rook surprised him, killed him, and inherited the vast majority of his power. We took the Palace of Heaven, then, and while I’m not privy to specifics, Sataistador was defeated due to something Argrave did. Now, Stout Heart Swan joined the fight to hunt down the rest of him, and Kirel Qircassia is suing for peace. Most of the Qircassian Coalition was destroyed. The whole of Berendar, and all of the Great Chu, are under Argrave’s thumb.”

With this juicy information, the goddess of birth talked a long, long while, prying whatever information she could. Then, hours later, she conferred with several other gods who sought news about this strange happening in the Great Chu.

“Apparently, the King of Vasquer pulled Erlebnis out of the Palace of Heaven, where he, Rook, and Law killed him together. Minutes after, Argrave killed Sataistador on his own inside the Palace of Heaven. Apparently, Kirel Qircassia is surrendering, too. Lira showed me the sky—everything turned black after the king wiped out the Qircassian Coalition. The king’s putting down his roots in the Great Chu. I’ve heard it’s the largest empire the world’s ever seen,” she bragged.

“That can’t be right,” the gods with her expressed disbelievingly. They, too, probed for more details… and bit by bit, words changed.

“The King of Vasquer killed Erlebnis with Law and Rook, then went on to fight Sataistador after taking the Palace of Heaven. Kirel Qircassia tried to take advantage of things, but most of his coalition was destroyed. Apparently, he’s surrendering unconditionally.”

“Really?” An impish-looking creature, who was the god of mischief, smiled devilishly as the news reached his realm. “That’s quite the tale.”

“It came from Lira. It should be reliable,” the messenger told the god.

“Reliable indeed…” the impish creature stroked its chin. In a few minutes, he was before another.

“You wanted to know what happened, right? I’ve heard that Argrave taunted Erlebnis, sent him into a fury. It was something to do with the affections of a woman,” the mischief-maker said. “Thereafter, the mortal king beat the god of knowledge alone. Sataistador—who was actually Erlebnis’ brother, as it turns out—arrived to avenge him. And the king beat him, too! Now, Kirel Qircassia is whimpering with fear and begging the king to stay his wrath.”

Gaunt, the god of death who had in the distant past nearly joined the Blackgard Union, regarded the god of mischief with immense distrust. There was also a resounding sense of loss that Gaunt himself had not joined, considering this burgeoning union’s ascendency. He remembered nothing of the offer in the White Planes given that realm’s restrictions, but others inside the Blackgard Union had informed him he had been considered to join. Despite not being a member, Gaunt did have some contacts within. Gaunt called upon Rook, seeking to correct the record.

“He said all of that?” Rook laughed at Gaunt’s retelling of the tale. “Well, it wasn’t about a woman. And Sataistador’s not Erlebnis’ brother. But the rest of it… there’s a lot of truth, there.”

“You mean to say King Argrave beat Erlebnis and Sataistador alone?” Gaunt crossed his arms.

“One after the other,” Rook confirmed. “Well… that’s only partially true. Argrave destroyed the vast majority of the Qircassian Coalition and Sataistador at the same time. After all, he’d taken the Palace of Heaven by storm, and he somehow knew how to use it. Kirel Qircassia keeps sending people asking for peace, but Argrave hasn’t given him a single response yet.”

Gaunt, armed with this new information, spread the news. His serious nature gave credence to the tale—and, being that his tale was the most outlandish, it spread quickest, slowly twisting and morphing with every retelling in the slightest manner.

“A mortal king named Argrave killed both Erlebnis and Sataistador after taking the Palace of Heaven by storm. Kirel Qircassia has surrendered without a fight.”

“Argrave stormed the Palace of Heaven, which had Erlebnis and Sataistador both inside it at the time. Kirel Qircassia was meant to help the two of them, but Argrave just finished things too quickly.”

Iteration after iteration, retelling after retelling, until eventually…

in the Great Chu?” A

about it?” The goddess of magic crossed her arms. “I was there. There for part of it,

and Sataistador, then made a slave of Kirel Qircassia. This is just after he

“What do you mean, ‘everyone’s

and Rook,” the lesser god answered. “Is it true he’s still mortal? That can’t be

of

challenge of Fellhorn’s authority in the Burnt Desert, his fight against Erlebnis and Kirel Qircassia

Road. If you read it on

#####

give Kirel Qircassia a break,” Argrave insisted. “We have more than enough manpower—or godpower, as it were. Rook and

so that we could unite everyone against Gerechtigkeit. Kirel Qircassia has been very vocal about seeking peace. If we ignore that and destroy him utterly, that could send a terrible message to all of our future

just

wheezing, his sister explained calmly, “They aren’t privy to those details, and we can’t get that message to every potential ally. This is about how we’re seen, Argrave,” Elenore reminded him. “I’m not suggesting we genuinely make peace. I’m suggesting we hold off, gather more allies, and then explain this fact while we amass power. We need to be

know,” said Durran, interjecting. “Qircassia is a slippery bastard.

writhe. Let him get desperate. Meanwhile, we amass influence. In the meantime, he might make a mistake. And need I remind you we need every resource at our disposal right now? If we—” Elenore trailed off, eyes going distant as she listened to a voice in her head.

to rise off his chair, but the movement pained him. “How is

him, then went silent once more as she

eyes, swearing in a

#####

The man was unable to even meet his gaze. “I had Traugott.

what stopped you?” Argrave

own. Apparently, it wouldn’t be long. “The blast would’ve killed both of us. I did… I thought about it. Thought long and hard, but just couldn’t. Wasn’t selfless enough. Or selfish enough, I suppose, depending on

would’ve made the same choice. Consign not only his life, but Melanie’s, just so he could take out Traugott.

got his hands on the

Fellhorn, the Shadowlanders… we barely made it out alive. Had to bury those creatures with all the cores, lest they spill out onto the surface. But I plugged the hole,

In truth, without Traugott’s tip about the fortress’ vulnerability, that whole battle might’ve been drastically different. As it was, casualties were in the tens of thousands. That number might’ve been fargreater had they

clung on, parasitizing everything Argrave did. And he was getting closer and closer to things that he had no business being anywhere near. They were near the cusp of it all—both getting answers, and putting an end to this cycle of judgment once and for all. Traugott needed to disappear. They were supposedly the undisputed power in the world—there were few better times than now to make that

interrupted his thoughts. “You told me to tell you

my way,” he

#####

up high so she didn’t feel it

Argrave finished explaining things.