Jackal Among Snakes

Argrave closed and opened his hand as he sat on the beach with Sophia. He wore temporary rags, his body barely responded to him, but there was no denying he was alive. There was nothing quite like losing it all to appreciate how much he had. Theorizing about the impermanence of his body’s death was all well and good, but truth be told, that had been one of the most harrowing experiences, and he’d surely remember it forevermore.

And not merely because of what’d been done to him—also because of what he’d learned.

He’d been given a glimpse of the purpose of the Hopeful truly was when his mind had been consumed by the thing. The master of the Shadowlands wasn’t a subordinate of the Heralds—he was an equal, perhaps something even beyond that. He certainly wasn’t a simple tool or slave, and nor were the Shadowlands something insignificant to the larger scheme of things. It might be said the Hopeful was at the crux of it all.

But the Heralds… their name was literal. They heralded something else—a massive change, a shift of the paradigm. The Hopeful actually knew what that change was, expected it… hoped for it, like nothing else. His anticipation of the ecstasy he’d experience in the coming change was so strong his face was permanently warped like that in voluntary enthusiasm. It was a disturbing show of faith.

Argrave had always suspected—been outright told, even—that this entire cycle was in service of something else. Confirming that suspicion did nothing to make him pause or arouse his curiosity.

With his thoughts slowing, he looked at Sophia. She looked totally exhausted. He put his hand on her head and she flinched, woken up from near-sleep.

“You did good, Sophia. You’re doing great.” He shakily rose to his feet. “Let’s get going.”

He trudged along up the sand, heading for the parliamentary hall where his sister and Anneliese would be struggling valiantly against what they were up against. Sophia tried to follow along, but she stumbled from fatigue a few times. Argrave picked her up and walked along.

“I can walk,” Sophia said quietly.

“You can,” he answered back, but didn’t put her down.

With that, nothing more needed to be said. Within Blackgard, the only evidence of the raging battle against Gerechtigkeit was the sight of it looming above in flashes of light. The city sounded serene, undisturbed. The Domain of Order Argrave had imposed using Law’s blessing still persisted, keeping the peace. Everyone was either inside their home, or had sought refuge in the various shelters they’d established.

At some point, Sophia fell asleep as Argrave steadily walked through the silent city. It was a steeling reminder to witness the beautiful city he’d helped flourished—a still image of one little picture comprising the larger one. When he finally arrived at the parliamentary hall, he saw Anneliese and Raven leaving.

“Argrave,” Anneliese called out, rushing up to greet him. “I was just about to come for you. You’re well? At least… well enough?”

“Stiff,” he said, then added, “I’m sure it’ll pass.”

“Law’s been holding his own against Gerechtigkeit, stalling,” she said in some small relief. “But it seems like nothing we do can cause significant damage to Gerechtigkeit. We’d intended to go to Hause, now.”

“Time for her to make good on her word,” Raven shook his head. “If she hadn’t been so foolishly cautious, all of this might’ve been avoided.”

“It might do nothing,” Anneliese countered.

“And it might do everything,” he answered back just as firmly.

Anneliese looked up. “Whatever the case, the situation has stabilized. The longer it stretches on, though, the more powerful he’ll get. We’re losing ground second by second. The Great Chu… I can’t even think about it.”

“No time to waste, then,” Argrave muttered beneath his breath. “Where are we going?”

“I’d intended to study you for insight on that wound.” Raven looked up to the sky—south toward Jast, where that great crack in reality persisted, visible even when one’s eyes were closed. “But you had to go and die, removing any trace it might’ve left on your body. Now you’re useless to me.”

“What, then?” Argrave pressed.

“We go to Hause,” Anneliese outlined. “We see what she can do for us. Raven, meanwhile…”

Raven ground his huge obsidian staff into the ground. “I’ve been considering taking the role I’d cast aside.”

simply. “Not

towered over him. “If what Hause gives us is insufficient, we will lose. The Smiling Raven may help us win. That sun you made—it harbors people’s souls. Potentiation may not even pose any risk to me anymore. Their minds may not overrun my own.”

argued. “And besides, Lorena said the lunar dragons could do what you do as well—and if that’s

to hunt Gerechtigkeit where he truly lives. After, though… unless I have confidence of our victory,

“Raven…!” Argrave stepped forward.

he said. Then, he turned and walked away, fading into the silent city before Argrave could say another

to say as much.” Anneliese’s words made Argrave look at her pointedly. “Instead of arguing, let’s

laughed lightly and hollowly. “Yeah. I’ll… we’ll just make him look stupid, instead. All that fretting he did over

#####

as Argrave would’ve liked to let her sleep as long as she liked, she

seems the day has finally come,” Hause said, a swell of unease and anticipation in

a trace of guilt in the way she carried herself—like she expected reprimand from them, or perhaps she more simply knew the sheer scale of the devastation that’d been caused. Argrave was in no mood to cast the blame. This

we start? I mean, what do we actually do?” Argrave looked between Hause and

on this point. Argrave embodies judgment—and you, eternity.” Her face grew

for example, Argrave might possess a power akin to Gerechtigkeit’s.

unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances

silent question. He deliberated for a time, then

used and abused. He can’t claim the role of

nodded. “But you, Anneliese. Eternity is a frightening concept. You may become something that you cannot recognize—cannot conceive of. It may be as much a trap as it is something

and more importantly the emotions that you feel warning me.” She paused, revisiting those debates she must’ve had with herself. “Nevertheless, it’s simply poor strategy to leave some weapons unused when the final day might’ve come. And should this be something that harms rather than hinders, Sophia has become

on informed

mentally preparing herself for what was

it was logically sound—he could better protect all present from unpredictable results with his blood magic. With

standing with clasped hands as if in prayer. “Then…

aging and going gray immediately. Indeed, her whole form took on a husk-like appearance that was rather jarring. This golden form opened

moment the fingers of that spectral form met Anneliese’s body, Argrave could

#####

body, something rather inexplicable took place. It was as though she, too, was divested of her body, and together they soared through a universe of endless possibilities. In brief flashes, she saw a myriad routes her life could’ve taken, and branching roads her life had yet to come to. It was impossible to

only that—she had no desire to live any

in constant flux with every movement she made. Those of past choices were gray fragments, dead and discarded. She saw her own death in many, saw her leading hosts of Veidimen, saw her expressing affection for people she’d never even seen

the things she could’ve said, from ‘we’re here,’ to ‘this is the end.’

this?” Anneliese asked, hearing her own question rephrased in

echoes of the past, nor the vaguest hints of the future. It means the totality of what you can achieve is heavy. Do you

she looked up that it came into sight. With the [Truesight] bestowed by Yinther, her eyes began to shake and burn as

rather what I feared,” Hause said, kneeling beside Anneliese and consoling her. “What

this realm of potential saw spectral forms of herself take half a thousand different actions to calm her pumping heart. In other realities, her heart wasn’t beating fast at all, or the sight had affected

saw a

and ‘superior’ danced out in

the one Sophia carries,” Anneliese said. “Yet… raw. Untapped. Untamed.

Hause’s eyes, Anneliese’s vision stung. “There’s no denying that it’s a force equal to that of creation and destruction. Forever. Infinity. Always. Never shrinking, always expanding. That which always has been, and always will be. It’s no wonder that you perceive it so intensely. Fundamentally, it’s a force outside of the cycle of judgment that Gerechtigkeit and

Hause looked. What she saw defied her preconceptions of reality—new colors, new dimensions, new sounds and new ways of being. It was everything all at once, existing forever

“Were they exposed to the forces of creation,