25 War Beckons

"Well," the man on the other side began, "this is certainly an unexpected development."

The man had smooth ash-colored skin, complimenting his deep scarlet eyes. Two horns sprouted from his black hair like an elk's antlers, the only difference was that they were shiny and black, much like the ones in Fayden's hand.

The difference between his and Uto's horns were the decorations. While Uto's horns were left bare, this man's horns had several gold and silver rings wrapped around the many prongs, and bejeweled chains traced the line of his horns.

"Bravo. You have managed to best one of the retainers." He continued, genuinely impressed at the feat. As far as he knew, the white core mages of Dicathen weren't that strong.

"Retainer?" Fayden echoed, "Was that his status?"

"Indeed, now what was his name again?" The man rubbed his chin in thought. "Ah yes, Uto. An ugly name, quite fitting if I might say so myself."

Fayden raised an eyebrow, "And you are?"

The man grinned, "Agrona of the Vritra, High Sovereign of Alacrya."

Fayden's expression fell, his seemingly perpetual calmness dropping to an accusing glare. "So you're one of the deities he mentioned. I don't suppose you're the one who's been tampering with the mana beasts here?"

"Why, yes." His grin widened. "Did you like it?"

"Considering it almost crippled my sister?" Fayden deadpanned, "I'll give you three guesses."

"Hmm." Agrona appeared to be thinking. "Is that a yes?"

"Strike one, bitch. Think again."

"I do wonder, how did it affect your relationship with your sister?" Agrona's grin turned to a smirk. "Did it bring you closer or farther? Perhaps even something more…immoral?"

Fayden looked at him, disgusted, "You're a sick fuck, you know that?"

Agrona grinned, "I'll consider that a compliment."

Fayden sighed. "Get to the point, Antlers."

"Very well." Agrona's smirk never left his face. "You realize the implications of what you have done do you not? You have killed one of our elite soldiers; that alone calls for drastic measures.

Fayden interrupted, "Cut the crap, Narcissus, you sent your soldiers here to sow chaos and tamper with our environment. One of these soldiers, Uto as you called him, even went so far as to attack one of our continent's most valuable mages."

Fayden's eyes settled into a glare. "Considering those, and your own words, your intentions are clear."

"Oh?" Agrona raised a perfectly formed eyebrow. "Do tell."

"You want war, Agrona?" Fayden said dangerously. "Then you can be damn well sure we'll put up a good fight."

Agrona grinned, "And you will lose."

Fayden narrowed his eyes, "Are you, who stands before me, a prophet, Agrona?"

"It does not take a prophet to see how hopeless your situation is." Agrona smirked. "Your continent is terribly backwards, are you sure your people are not still in the stone age still?"

Fayden, unfazed by Agrona's comments, stood tall. "I, Fayden Eralith, of the Royal Family of Elenoir, hereby declare war on Alacrya."

"Ah, you're a royal?" It seemed he hadn't known about that. "I regret to inform you that I will be slaughtering you and your families."

Fayden chuckled darkly, "I dare you. You so much as touch a hair on them and I'll make sure to send your oh-so-precious continent to the deepest depths of the ocean."

"We shall see." Agrona's voice faded away as the holographic screen disappeared. Fayden knelt beside Uto's body, digging his fingers into his chest.

As his arm reached his heart, he felt something wrong. The cardiovascular walls had been completely burnt away and a small device was fit snugly inside.

Ripping the device off his body, Fayden pocketed it. As he stared down at the dead retainer, he sighed, deciding to bring the body along. If anything, it would serve as proof.

Sealing it in a coffin of rock, Fayden turned back to face the remaining soldiers and the Lance.

He winced, noticing Alea's missing arm. "I'm sorry."

Alea laughed, she laughed, "You're sorry? Sorry for beating that thing and saving our lives?"

Fayden shook his head, "If I hadn't been so adamant about you two not using the artifact, then maybe you wouldn't have lost your arm."

Alea placed an arm on his shoulder. "Fayden, if you hadn't come, a missing arm would've been the least of my worries."

Fayden opened his mouth to protest, but thought better of it, choosing to nod instead.

'I've treated everyone I can. Some of them were just beyond help.' Zeke walked up beside him.

Only about a dozen soldiers remained from the original fifty, Fayden was too late to save all of them.

He told himself there was nothing he could do, but he knew if he hadn't wasted time in writing a letter, there probably would've been more mages alive.

Fayden sighed. "We should collect the bodies, they deserve a proper burial."

Alea nodded. "We took the spikes out of them when you were fighting, now it's only a matter of transportation.

Fayden nodded, looking at the pile of bodies in the corner.

"Do you know where exactly the castle is right now?" Fayden asked, a plan forming in his head.

Alea looked confused, but answered the question nonetheless, "It should be flying close to Xyrus right about now."

"Well, that's a spot as good as any. Gather round." Fayden walked over to the pile of corpses.

"Huh?"

"What for?"

His request confused the soldiers, rightfully so considering they didn't know of his Void Step ability.

Alea sighed. "Just do as he says."

Begrudgingly, the soldiers followed, huddling against each other with the corpses.

"What's your plan?" Alea whispered from beside him.

"I'm going to take them to the edge of Xyrus, and hope you can figure out the castle's location." Fayden explained, manifesting a tempest around them, obscuring them from any passerby.

Fayden inhaled deeply, spreading out his nacht to cover everyone in the dome, even the corpse of Uto.

The dome pulsed black, and the eerie silence of the dungeon was replaced with ambient noise of the city.

"Alea."

"I know." Alea brought out a device similar to an old fashioned radar from Earth. With a bit of mana, the device buzzed to life, displaying a dot not far ahead of them.

Fayden looked up, his amplified senses easily able to peer through the stormy veil. He could both feel and see the castle up ahead.

"Let's go," Fayden said, materializing a thin Nacht floor for the mages to stand on as he void stepped once again. And appeared right in front of the Council.

"WHO DARES INTERVENE-"

"Shut the fuck up Dawsid, before I rip out your tongue." Fayden spat out, dispelling the tempest around them. He never liked the dwarf king.

"Are you threatening the King?" Olfred Warend raised two earth golems beside him in a silent threat.

"Olfred, enough!" Virion barked out. "You are to stand down—immediately, none of you are a match for him as it stands."

"What happened?" Bairon demanded, his eyes stuck on the corpses behind Fayden.

"Are you alright?" Varay was more concerned about her comrade than the dead mages.

"Are you so weak that you lost your arm?" Bairon spat out vehemently, "You should have used the artifact like the rest of us."

Fayden rolled his eyes, "If you're done whining, I have news for the Council."

"You-"

"Bairon, enough." Varay warned, sheathing her sword.

"Speak." Blaine looked down, the number of corpses were concerning.

"I'm sure you know about the recent hostility of the other continent, Alacrya, they call themselves." Fayden's gaze passed across the seven rulers. "They have elite soldiers, not unlike our lances. They're called 'Retainers.'"

"Am I to assume you fought one of these retainers?" Blaine said, not entirely unbelieving, but not really believing either.

Fayden grinned as the earth surrounding Utos corpse crumbled away, "Not just fight, kill."

"Wha-?!" Blaine was left speechless.

"I don't even know what to say brat." Virion sighed, accepting the fact that his grandson had done something even a Lance had struggled with.

"Are you alright? You're not injured, are you?"

Fayden chuckled, "I'm completely fine Mother, he didn't land a hit on me."

"Impossible!" Dawsid spat in disbelief.

Fayden raised an eyebrow, "As far as I know, no one bar us knows how strong a retainer is. Why is it that you believe I cannot best a retainer?"

"It's as you said." Olfred spoke for his king. "The retainers are the Alacryan equivalent to the Lances. Is it really that surprising to think you would come out unscathed in a fight with one?"

"Not once did I say they were as strong as the Lances, I simply said they were like the lances. In fact your king seems overly confident that a retainer would be stronger than a Lance, does he know something perhaps?" Fayden let that question hang in the air, relishing in seeing the Dwarf King's face redden with anger.

"WHAT ARE YOU IMPLYING BOY!"

"Why are you getting so riled up? It only makes you more suspicious." Fayden taunted further.

"GET OUT!"

"How about no?" Fayden spat.

"Enough!" Blaine slammed his fist on the railing, "I will have no squabbling here."

His glare softened, "And what about the corpses behind you?"

Fayden sighed, "I was a bit late in arriving there, Your Majesty."

Blaine nodded, seeing good mages dead always put him in a bad mood.

"Tell us what happened, all of it."

Dawsid protested, "Wha-?! Glayder you can't possibly be considering-"

"That is enough from you Greysunder! If you do not have anything productive to add, then I suggest you leave."

"Before that, Your Majesty, I wish to try something." Fayden stepped forward.

"Hm? What is it?"

Faydens eyes glowed silver as he connected himself, the Glayder's, the Eralith's, and their Lances.

'Some of my powers include mental transmissions, so I've linked myself with you, my family, and the three Lances currently present.'

The Glayder's and their Lances jumped in surprise when Fayden's voice echoed through their heads.

'I have a suspicion I wish to confirm. To do this, I'll have to build a one sided connection with the Greysunders.'

Blaine nodded, 'Go ahead.'

As the connection was made, the thoughts of Dawsid and Glaudera Greysunders were laid out for all to hear.

'What is the boy planning? How could he beat a retainer? Even most Lances would struggle against those godlings. No matter, our place is guaranteed among the Vritra's rule.'

Fayden narrowed his eyes, his suspicions were right.

Blaine looked at Dawsid in disgust, but the Dwarf King was too occupied by his thoughts to notice.

'With what the Vritra promised, our lives will be so much better once they win. I can finally get rid of the Council.'

'Bairon, Varay, keep Olfred occupied.' Fayden ordered.

'I don't take orders from you!'

'Bairon,' Blaine warned. 'Do as he says.'

'Tch.'

"What are you doing?" Olfred eyed the two Lances warily.

Fayden void stepped in front of the Greysunders, "Sorry, but your free trial for living has expired."

"Your Majesties!" Olfred thrashed around in his ice cage, the lava he conjured unable to make even a dent.

"Foolish boy, do you think you can-" Glaudera Greysunder shut up real fast when faced with the edge of a Nacht blade.

"Now, I'm sure we can come to an agreement. Agrona has a place for everyone in his reign."

"Not interested." Fayden nonchalantly stabbed her through her mouth, splitting her spine and killing her instantly.

"NOOOOOO! GLAUDERA!" Dawsid, in a fit of rage, charged at him, expecting to take him by surprise and shatter his mana core.

Fayden simply raised his arm, unfazed by his outburst.

Dawsid ran into his arm, the silver eyed boy picking him up effortlessly.

"Traitors aren't welcome here." Fayden's words echoed through his mind as he felt something tingle in the center of his head.

Fayden's hand glowed brown as he willed earthen mana to the middle of Dawsid's brain.

"Wai-!"

"Compress."

SQUELCH!

His head imploded, the gravity magic making sure not to spill any blood or brain matter.

Tendrils of shadow arose from the ground and fished out the artifacts they had on their person.

He knew they were bound to the Greysunder family, but he was certain Nico could come up with a way to bypass that.

CRACK!

Varay's ice prison cracked just a bit as Olfred's most recent hit produced a spider web of cracks on one of the rods.

'Father, read his mind.'

Fayden narrowed his eyes, connecting all of them together once more.

'...mmit, how were they exposed so easily? I need to salvage this situation as much as I can.'

"..."

Fayden sighed, turning away from the three lances "Do with him as you will."

The sound of thunder crackling and ice shattering nearly drowned out the blood curdling screams of the man that used to be Olfred.

The atmosphere was somber as the traitors were dealt with. Could they not even trust their own?

"Before I go, there's something else you need to know." Fayden spoke, gaining their attention.

"What is it?" Blaine said tiredly, the day was already the worse it could be and it had barely begun.

"After I killed Uto, the retainer, a device bussed to life inside of him." Fayden brought out the small projection device.

He had everyone's attention now, "Apparently when you kill a retainer, the leader of the Alacryans personally decides to talk to you."

"You talked with their leader?" Blaine said, stupefied. "And what did he say?"

"He was looking for excuses to declare war, among other things. So I did us all a favor," Fayden's gaze passed across everyone present in the room. "I declared war on them."

"What?!"