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She smiles back.
The fresh air agrees with her, and that’s the excuse I’ll use. I want a good climate for her health and our child to come.
But it’s more than that.
I know why the King wants our kind to mate with humans. He’s building an army, and it’s an army my child will have no part of. I hold no illusions about how well the King will take that.
Just as I hold no illusions about war.
“Come.” I help her to her feet, and take a moment to drink in the sight of her beautiful face framed by the setting sun. “I have a lot to show you.”
123
ASMODEUS
A pulse of magic shudders through my body, a heavy but subtle beat. I have become accustomed to identifying the motes of magic that run throughout Galmoleth, and I can now easily recognize the signal of a transport portal opening and closing.
My connection with Galmoleth feels like a great, bearing stone that is tethered to my body, unseen at all times, yet ever-present. I feel her heartbeat like a second set of veins overplayed on top of my own.
This contract creates a bond between my body and the continent that leaves us inseparable. Thus, I retain knowledge of everything that transpires within her domain- in short, I can feel everything that happens on this damned, floating landmass. As the portal snaps shut, that invisible lodestone I constantly carry feels marginally lighter- its burden lessened by two souls. Souls that should be present, yet they are not.
Hmm. Troublesome.
Tapping into my own magic core, I summon a soz’garoth to investigate. The sorcerer loyally obeys my whim, and shall return soon to report. During the interim, I consider strategies for my future endeavors, working to check my rising irritation, while I perch on the cliff-side I have designated my balcony.
Two beings have absconded from the realm without my leave, which only compounds my difficulties. Although I may allow my subjects a certain amount of free reign- to simply leave, without requesting permission or seeking my counsel is a flagrant show of disrespect.
The soz’garoth only has unfortunate news to report. The volvath berserker Volikan Xoz’gar, and his human pet, Anastasia Blackwell- have traveled to the surface of Protheka, beyond my field of vision. A hundred curses on their misbegotten heads!
Damn those two.
Volikan has already established himself as one of my most competent warriors. With his latest victory against that behemoth, Drir’gen Ograan- his reputation has only increased. A victory achieved alongside my own calculating son, no less.
I will need more men like him in the coming days- his ferocity and ability are unmatched. I gifted him a human concubine because I will need the strength of his blood, and one day, his progeny- for the future of our kind. They cannot simply just leave without my express understanding- and certainly not after I have shown such magnanimity.
I have had to quell my fair share of challenges during my tenure as ruler- but I cannot afford rebellion right now. Not when we are so close to the goal- not when we have barely survived so much. Our vision is on the cusp of reality- and I will not tolerate petulant mutiny.
As if sensing the turbulent direction of my thoughts, the island gives a cracking, moaning quiver. Tremors rack through the land, shifting rock and tree. Even worse, I can feel the chaos magic that powers Galmoleth give an unsteady sputter.
The threads of pandemonium wink as if pushed beyond limit, trying to strum energy that is continuously being siphoned out. This isn’t an aftereffect of the portal- no, this is something else, something far more dire.
“No Oltyx,” I growl a hushed prayer, that is swiftly swept up by the wind. “I just need a little more time, please. Just a little more time, for my people to recover.”
We cannot give up now- not when we’ve already come this far. “Please do not abandon us now.”
Taking to the air, I fear the worst trials for my people are coming to pass. The storm embraces me, pressure and electricity cackling around my form- innately perceiving the disruption of my own emotions. The air seems to buzz with impatience, while the clouds darken and thunder with the threat of an onslaught.
By now, the ever-present electric storm and I are familiar with one another. These winds control the flight of our little floating continents, while the clouds and lightning keep enemies at bay. Her sharp gusts are a welcoming embrace for me, and her thundering rage reflects my own inner torrent.
Rising up through the skies, I take in all of the horizon that I can. Landmarks fall away, and even the city of Ti’lith looks small- its people even smaller. I have done so much to protect what I could, and will be required to do much more before all is said and done.
Nothing is more tantamount than ensuring our people’s survival, no matter the cost. Because of the secret that lies in the pit of my heart- I believe the coming storm is much worse than any we have previously faced.
Giving another low growl, I streak through the skies. The island trembles and shudders again- and from what I can tell, this second tremor is much worse. There are a few sounding cracks as some buildings quake under the force, and the aftershocks draw citizens from their homes.
Their panic and confusion I have no time for- not when there may be a greater calamity on the horizon. Already I know my destination- and hurtle toward it while a growing turmoil brews inside me, like the hovering storm clouds.
As the tempest alights around me, I race toward the center of the suspended isle. Here the landscape is clearer, unburdened by structures and city walls. A great cavity in the land greets me like a massive, scarred eye- as if some great, unseen force gouged the very surface.
