wit, not might. both sides had been plotting for millennia after the war that had claimed seventy percent of the life in Airmelia.
Iselin joined them for breakfast but Arkin didn’t. he was no longer in charge of them, and as a result was being given different tasks, most of these assigned by Sydin. Iselin could see that they were all tense.
“You have nothing to fear. Barnin is your friend and supports house Evindass. he knows who you are, Legon. how could he not?”
“What house do you give your loyalty to?” Sara asked.
Iselin paused at the question. “Not every Elf claims allegiance to a great house. many may support a Great House or a Lesser House, but many are independent in a sense.”
“Are you independent?” Sara pressed; she was genuinely curious.
“Sydin and I are loyal to House Evindass. that is why I am your guide while you are here. if I weren’t loyal to Evindass then Sydin would be your guide.”
“How many of my house are here?” Legon asked.
“Two dragons, Sydin and myself, and then 500 units. the other ten dragons are from several houses and a few independents. The same goes for the other 3,500 troops here.”
“There are 4,000 in this dome?” Keither said with amazement.
“Yes there are,” Iselin said.
There wasn’t much talking after that, and Legon contented himself with his eggs.
Barnin rode up to the Precipice with the two communications in his bag. This wasn’t the first time that Parkas had sent something, but it was never good. Tradition dictated that they send a message to Elves and humans before a major invasion. in that message there would be terms for surrender and so on. He was feeling uneasy for another reason as well. Rumor held that the Everser Vald, who he knew to be Legon, had reached the dragon dome. When Arkin had helped him leave Salmont and the Iumenta occupied territory, he had told Barnin what Legon might be. Arkin had given him a message for the resistance as well.
What would his friends think of him now that he was an accomplished warrior and had moved quickly up the ranks? He reached down, stroking the neck of his black mare Poison. The dome was in sight now and he felt better. it was going to be good to catch up with Legon and Kovos. He wanted to talk to Sasha as well. when he left he had found himself feeling concerned for her. at first he thought it was from years of protecting her, but he knew better now. Magic affected people’s minds. A Venefica could nudge you in one direction or another; this was how the Iumenta stayed in control. Dragons infected areas with little notions and beliefs, and even if you didn’t buy in at first, over generations people were slowly swayed to one form of thinking. This was used in battle as well. Dragons helped those who were under them keep their morale high and, more important, helped how you felt after a battle.
The Iumenta disliked people like Sasha. they influenced people to avoid those with handicaps, thus keeping these people from having kids and tainting their workforce. It was disgusting, but many had to leave the Cona Empire to avoid going into the care. The city of Manton was an excellent example; it had the most people who had fled persecution.
Manton had been an eye opening experience. he had heard of blind and deaf people before but he had never seen one. Those people couldn’t find work in the Empire, so they were homeless and often taken into the care, never to be seen again. The thing that got him the most was all the kids in Manton. families that had kids with problems were forced to leave. the Iumenta had been sowing beliefs for decades that people with mental problems were evil. He’d felt these feelings. they were subtle, but they were definitely there. he had felt them about Sasha when he lived back home. even though she was kind, he knew she was possessed. Those feelings had assaulted him his whole life like fiery little darts, but not anymore.
He handed the message for the humans to the man next to him, telling him to make sure it got to Enrich. then he started to ride up the side of the dome. When he got to the top, Legon, Sasha, Keither, Arkin, and two Elves were there, as well as Sara. but where was Kovos? Had he been injured? He got off Poison and approached them. How did Sara end up with them?
“Hey,” Legon said, giving him an awkward half hug and half handshake.
“How was your trip?” Barnin asked.
“Hard. How have you been?” Legon asked.
“I’m fine. Where is Kovos?”
Legon and the others looked down.
“He didn’t make it,” Keither said.
Barnin felt a pit in his gut. ‘He didn’t make it.’ He had lost friends in war before; this wasn’t new to him. but this was unexpected. Keither launched into how it happened. it sounded like it wasn’t really Keither talking, just the form of Keither relaying a message. As Keither went on he felt himself feeling proud of all of his friends. all had shown incredible bravery and fortitude.
“And that’s how it happened,” Keither ended.
“It was a good death. he died a hero. For that we should not sulk. please, I want to hear the rest of your story,” Barnin said, trying not to sound upset.
“You don’t blame us?” Sasha asked.
Did he blame them? He felt anger rise from inside him. “No, how could I? The filth drove you from Salmont. it was they who pursued you. it is they who are to blame. They will pay, don’t you worry about that.” His fists where clenched. they would pay, and not just for Kovos but for everyone they enslaved and killed.
“Yes, they will,” Legon said, looking at him. Barnin believed him. Legon told the rest of their story, leaving nothing out. His fist tightened again when he heard about what they were planning on doing to Sasha and what had been done to Sara. The Elves would be irate. they viewed Sasha as one of their own, the lady of a great house. and the Iumenta were stupid to try and kill the heir of house Evindass. there would be blood for sure. He abruptly remembered what he was there to do. they could catch up later.
“We need to go over this message. It’s from Parkas. My guess is he’s telling you that he is going to invade.”
An Elf with black specks in his eyes that he knew to be called Sydin spoke. “We will go inside to discuss this. Barnin, thank you for your diligence. If you would follow us, please.”
Barnin followed them into the dome, not talking much. They went into a small room with a table and five other Elves already waiting. He, Sara, and Keither were told to wait outside. Sydin took the message and Legon and Sasha followed him inside.
“Why can’t we go in?” Keither asked as soon as the door was closed.
“Because that was a message for the Elves, not us,” Barnin said.
“But Legon and Sasha…” Keither started.
Barnin cut him off. “Legon and Sasha are heads of a great house. They are nobility, regardless of how we know them.”
Legon entered the room close behind Sydin and Iselin. there were five other Elves there that he had met already. They nodded to him and Sasha. Sydin opened the message and read it aloud.
“Greetings to the great and Noble Pawdin Empire. we write you this epistle to inform you that we will be invading the renegade province of the Cornis Mountains. Our forces will not be attacking any members of the Pawdin Empire. we apologize for any casualties that we may unintentionally inflict upon you. We ask that in order to avoid this undesirable outcome you evacuate your forces to within the Pawdin Empire’s borders. If you choose to uphold your alliance with the human faction in this section of the land, your people will be treated as hostile.”
“So what was that for? They’re letting us know that they’re going to attack?” Sasha asked. Legon shared her confusion. why would you tell your enemy that you were coming?
Iselin responded. “There are a lot of formalities between our two countries. But also, in this way the Iumenta can say that they warned us to leave, and therefore our government can’t get angry when they kill us.”
Sydin placed the message on the table. “They have six human legions along the border. we are outnumbered. defeat is inevitable unless we are able to match their strength. let us connect.” Legon knew that Elves and Iumenta ran their governments through mental networking, but it was still an odd feeling to join the minds of those that were thousands of years old.
