Jackal Among Snakes

“He speaks the truth,” said Law, speaking from one of his Justiciars as they stayed within his realm. “If he’s sworn while bound by my power, he could not lie. It’s an impossibility.”

Argrave exhaled, looking upon Raven with a great measure of satisfaction. They had returned to Law’s Court. He had agreed to be bound by its power, and they had inquired whether or not he was still affected by the impulses that led him into becoming the Smiling Raven. And he’d claimed they’d gone, utterly.

“You should have killed me,” Raven said, leaning up against the golden walls of Law’s Court. “The risk of keeping me alive was too high.”

“Evidently not, Raven.” Argrave had been happy to return to calling him the Alchemist, but word from the man himself indicated he was no longer uncomfortable with his old name. “You overestimate yourself.”

“Or underestimate you, perhaps,” he conceded.

“You said you felt whole,” Argrave continued. “What does that mean for you?”

“Hunger drove the Smiling Raven. Hunger, compassion, and certainty. The first is gone, but enough of who I am remains that I can still claim to be alive.” He looked down at Argrave. “I couldn’t claim that, before. I was a shell, driven by an objective hammered into me. Now, I am what I said. Whole, and alive.”

Argrave held out his arms in congratulations. “Raven, back from the dead.”

“Hmm. It’s been many years,” he agreed quietly, closing his eyes.

Argrave smiled at him. “Never had the chance to thank you for saving my life. And giving me one hell of a gift, besides.”

Raven nodded, opening his eyes. “Don’t thank me. I made the assessment it would be more pragmatic for you to live, even if risking a calamity. What Erlebnis did to you was worth the risk to salvage. By nature, I suppose he couldn’t bear the idea of his knowledge dying off. Helping you… on that point, at least, I was correct. But again, I underestimated just how good that outcome would be. Another underestimation of you.”

“Maybe it was the right estimation,” Argrave dismissed humbly, though felt pride at the praise. “I can earnestly say we lucked out with Lindon. It feels luck hasn’t happened to us very often, but maybe it’s because I’m lucky often enough I’ve forgotten what unlucky looks like. But hell, better to be lucky than to be skilled.”

“To a point,” Raven agreed.

looked at him. He still retained that inhuman appearance, but Argrave thought his words were

you used to? Precise surgeries?”

green, then settled. “You seem fine. Do you

beckoned. “Perhaps it’s time I caught you up on everything that you missed. We’ve a hell of a decision ahead of

to be said.” Raven looked down at

and stowed it away. It

size. “Alright. Now that the verification is done, let’s start with how the battle ended…” Argrave

#####

the damn thing.

They sat on a table atop balcony in the imperial palace of the Great Chu. Above, the siege into Kirel Qircassia’s divine realm persisted. They could feel the power from the battle even

without the author's

we plant

even fight, and you yourself painted them as a harmonious, peace-loving species—what would a newborn do for us, then, but cause burdens?”

Lindon said. Each of them contains finite

those vagaries.” Raven

them with [Truesight], it… words cannot do them justice. Each fruit is like an unborn star, slumbering, waiting for someone to break its

The way I see it… there are only a few more battles left to fight.” Raven looked between them. “Sophia is mastering her power by healing others. It’s a fine enough way to learn of the human body. In time, I intend to show to her the diagrams I made of your body when I was searching for signs of the other realm you claimed to come from, Argrave. With that, I believe our access to where Gerechtigkeit returns to is guaranteed. As

and the Heralds,”

now, despite our efforts. The other is largely unknown and has powers unlike anything we’ve ever experienced before. They need to be dealt with. You claim that

shadows or bathed in light, none escapes their presence of mind. In their festival of will, we saw hints enough to form a robust plan of action

far, we’ve been proven lacking. Should Argrave truly hunt Gerechtigkeit to the source of his being, he

at each other, judging whether or not to say their thoughts on the matter.

the table. “It’s too limiting. We’d be pigeonholed into acting in a manner befitting whatever sphere we govern. That frightens me—I can’t be sure how it might change things up. Much better to form robust alliances with deities we can trust, as we