What she wanted was to maintain order and figure out what was happening to their kingdom and capital.
“There seems to be more and more danger arising with each passing day,” Katryna continued. “We must prepare now for any future events; be they monsters or madmen, until we figure out what is happening.”
“An admirable objective, my lady,” Arthus said with a supportive thump of his fist against the sturdy tabletop.
Daren Wood lent forward and spoke. “Ravenrock is currently secure. I have the soldiers helping the city guard to aid those affected by the attack at the harbour.”
“The people are coming together to accommodate those made homeless in the attack. I have some of my best physicians taking care of the critically injured,” Jerrem said.
“Very good,” Katryna said. “Do we know how many people were lost?”
“Current estimates point to twenty fatalities, many dozens more wounded, my lady,” Arthus said, reading from a rolled piece of parchment.
Katryna bowed her head solemnly. It was a hard thing to hear, especially having witnessed it firsthand. Twenty people killed.
Could we have done more? Could I have saved more?
“Do we know what that… thing was?” Katryna said.
Her three councillors shared uncertain glances between them, shaking their heads and shrugging.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Arthus said.
“Nor have I, or my men,” Daren added.
“Jerrem, I’d like for you to find me the top minds in the city to study the creature’s corpse once the area is safe and the people have been cleared. We need to know what we are dealing with,” Katryna said.
“Actually, my lady,” Jerrem began. He turned around in his seat before clapping to signal for a servant to enter.
A young boy came into the dining hall with a letter, handing it to the old physician before promptly leaving.
“I received this letter several days ago by messenger hawk from King Ulmer of the Broken Coast. Given the events these last few days that have kept us rather preoccupied, I did not see its relevance until now.”
Katryna appeared intrigued, her eyes fixating on the broken seal of the letter.
“What does it say?”
Jerrem read the letter out to the councillors in his dull, monotone voice. It was written by a one of Ulmer Stoneheart’s scribes from Shadowshore.
The letter had apparently been sent to every capital and contained detailed reports of not only the events of the ongoing invasion along the northern coastline by the Akurai Empire, but also descriptions of an attack at the Grand Repository, where the Magister’s Imperium were located.
Other strange writings mentioned “unnatural assaults” upon not only the Broken Coast, but the other northern kingdoms.
Fishermen claiming the sea turned to blood, and that those who fell overboard were pulled beneath the waves by “ghostly hands”.
Villagers fleeing their homes after vicious attacks by creatures unfamiliar to all. “Monsters”, they wrote.
Deadly rainfalls of rock, fire, and ice.
It was unbelievable. Without the attack by the giant hunchback on their city, anyone would have found such writing preposterous. However, Katryna realised that the strange attack may not be an isolated incident after all.
“Write back to the Stonehearts and the other royal families at once. Tell them what occurred in Ravenrock today,” Katryna ordered. “It seems we aren’t alone in this.”
“Is that supposed to comfort us?” Daren Wood said sarcastically.
Katryna smirked, brushing her hair back behind her ears as if to accentuate her bright smile.
She turned her attention back to the attack and how the Emberian ship in the bay had fired some form of projectile at the giant to kill it.
“And do we have an explanation on the Emberian ship?” Katryna asked Ser Arthus.
The High Sword nodded. “The vessel belonged to the two diplomats from Aurora, my lady. They were exiting the harbour, under your orders, when the attack occurred.”
“They saved the city.”
“And probably our lives,” Arthus added.
Katryna regretted sending J’rillo N’va and Siah R’no, the two diplomats, away, despite their reasons for being in Ravenrock. Her words and actions may have harmed Camridia’s relations with Ember permanently; something she did not want to admit, yet could not deny.
In spite of their last heated meeting in the throne room, the Emberians had killed the monstrous hunchback when no one else could.
“The weapon they used…?” Katryna began, drifting off from still being shaken by the event, and unable to describe what she had witnessed.
“I have only heard rumours about it, my lady,” Arthus said. “It is a chemical called blast powder; an Emberian technology involving using a controlled explosion to launch iron projectiles at great speeds and distance.”
“Fascinating,” Jerrem gasped with intrigue.
“Sounds dangerous,” Daren said cautiously.
“It is,” Katryna responded. “It took out that behemoth in just a few strikes. They could have levelled the block with such a weapon if they wanted to.”
“A show of strength, I wonder?”
“Let us not be too quick to jump to conclusion,” Arthus warned. “They made it clear by only firing three shots that it was to help kill the creature.”
“That is true. They could have caused a lot more destruction,” Katryna said. “Nonetheless, it is something we must keep in mind.”
“What do you propose?”
Katryna rubbed her chin. She suddenly recalled the conversation she had had with her Aunt Risha days earlier when they had eaten breakfast together, back before everything had fallen into chaos.
Aunt Risha had told her all about the food in Ember and how diverse and different it was compared to Camridia.
“Perhaps we can travel together to Ember, when all this is over. I would love to see the capital and the red deserts again.”
She could practically hear her aunt’s comforting voice and the excitement in her words at the prospect of travelling together.
A dream that had all but been shattered.
“We have many affairs with the
