Jackal Among Snakes

Even though Emperor Ji Meng and his honor guard were beaten, a task of similar difficulty awaited in the next step. Though the head had been cut, the great beast that was the Imperial Navy still writhed in force. Argrave would need to ensure their surrender—or more likely, a simple truce. But Argrave had two things in his possession. One was a door and the other a key, metaphorically speaking.

As Argrave’s Veidimen honor guard secured these newly-acquired prisoners, Argrave walked to the key: Admiral Tan Shu. Anneliese had taken off her helmet and held both her hands to her face. It wasn’t a caring gesture—rather, Anneliese was sapping both Tan Shu’s magic and the effects of [Subjugate] using her A-rank ascension, [Life Cycle].

Ji Meng was bound in cuffs and had a shard of Ebonice embedded into his skin. The two S-rank spellcasters, though their spirits remained, had been subdued in a more mundane way; they merely ran out of magic. They were bound much the same way that Ji Meng was. Only the admiral would remain unbound, at least for now. But each and every defeated combatant was stripped of their divine armaments. It proved a very fruitful battle, but the damage to Argrave’s Veidimen honor guard had not been small. Seventy-two of the three hundred snow elves had perished—one of the worst losses percentage-wise that Argrave had endured.

Putting aside that grim thought, Argrave looked down at the unconscious admiral. Tan Shu looked like a stern woman—with short and wispy black hair, her face showed that she’d endured hardships but hadn’t quite lost her youthful vigor. Argrave looked at Anneliese. “Will it take long for her to awaken?”

“Not very,” Anneliese assured him.

The Brumesingers appeared at Argrave’s feet, manifesting from the mist swirling all around the quiet flagship. Though they had been black before this battle began, now the foxes were snow-white. All of their power was spent, and they heaved in exhaustion as they sought Anneliese for comfort. She looked sorely tempted to remove her hand from the admiral’s face to pet the creatures, but she kept up with her task. They contented themselves by sprawling out across her lap.

After some brief time coordinating things in this ghost ship, all of the prisoners were gathered on the front deck. The rest of the Sea Dragon was dreadfully empty. Argrave’s examination of the ship through his Brumesingers showed perhaps one hundred people that hadn’t succumbed to the fog—most either officers or the six other S-rank spellcasters. The army aboard this ship had been made blind, and the majority of them now struggled on the ground while coughing blood as their insides churned. It was a horrifying sight, and doubly so when Argrave had been the cause.

But they were alive. That, at least, was something.

Argrave ended the tyranny caused by his Brumesingers. The fog slowly faded, revealing the Sea Dragon to the rest of the world once again. Argrave walked to the front deck, peering out to the coast of Veiden. The continent somehow managed to seem small aboard this gigantic ship.

“Tell Galamon to be prepared,” Argrave spoke to Elenore through their connection.

Argrave stared out across the ocean, witnessing the destruction. This had been a terribly ugly battle, but it was clear that the Veidimen had been the victors by and large. Argrave turned and looked back, where a storm waned. He saw tremendous impacts in the water as Sataistador dealt with the three gods facilitating this voyage. The god of war had kept his word, and spared them the wrath of these sea gods.

As Argrave’s thoughts wandered, Admiral Tan Shu awoke. She screamed and struggled only for a few moments before she went eerily quiet. Argrave stepped away from the railings as she thrashed, restrained by two Veidimen and the iron shackles on her wrist. Then she went still, glancing toward her bident. Vera held it. Then, she looked up at Argrave.

“Your emperor and all his guard are beaten.” Argrave gestured toward them, bound, then looked back to Tan Shu. “You came here as invaders, and as such, all your rights are forfeit. Everything that you own belongs to us. The only thing you still possess, currently, is your life. That, too, will be lost if you don’t obey. And not only yours—the emperor’s, and every one of the thousands of men on this vessel.”

Tan Shu met his gaze with her dark brown eyes. Then, she spit at Argrave. He stepped away and dodged her phlegm. Argrave was annoyed and opened his mouth to say something, but one of the Veidimen struck her in the face. Argrave grew furious, and had a reprimand on the tip of his tongue… but these men had lost many of their closest comrades, and he could not afford to appear soft after the threat he’d just made. His command officer, however, was not so merciful. Grimalt ran forward and grabbed the offender, pushing him to the ground.

“Do not act without His Majesty’s command!” Grimalt shouted. “You’ll be dealt with later, Tyrren.”

The one named Tyrren accepted that with a nod. He seemed to project a sad anger.

Argrave knelt before Tan Shu where she had collapsed on the ground with a split lip. Her gaze was still strong, but there was something else in her gaze after she’d heard the words ‘His Majesty.’ Argrave couldn’t tell what she was thinking, but he stated his demands.

“You will command the Imperial Navy to surrender. Then, you will bring this ship to dock at the coast.” He stared for a few moments, then rose. “Grimalt. Unbind her hands.”

Argrave turned and walked away, coming to join Anneliese by the deck’s railing as she held one of his Brumesingers in her hand. He looked out across the ocean somberly, where the last remnants of bloodred fire on the ocean’s surface faded away. When he turned his head to the right, Admiral Tan Shu walked to the edge of the ship, shadowed by Veidimen guards. She stood at the front of the deck for a long while, looking out across the navy. Then, she bitterly gave the signal to surrender.

With that done, she headed for the sole set of stairs in the front deck. There, the complex enchantments that guided the ship forward waited. She and her escort disappeared beneath the deck, and half a minute later, the Sea Dragon began to move toward the coast. It pushed aside the turtle ships, and the Veidimen longships all parted for its advance.

The flagship and pride of the Imperial Navy, the Sea Dragon, landed on the shores of Vasquer not as an invader, but as the defeated.

#####

The Sea Dragon was a gigantic ship, and it took a tremendous amount of time to handle all of what laid within it. Its food stores alone were enough to feed a city for a week. They captured prisoners—in total, eleven thousand three hundred and thirty-four. Despite Admiral Tan Shu’s command to surrender, and the capture of the flagship, the Imperial Navy remained at sea. They didn’t attack, but they were at a total loss as to what they should do. Retreat was no option, not with Rowe watching from behind. But in their eyes, surrender might mean death. Argrave was confident he could earn their surrender in time. They couldn’t remain at sea forever.

In addition to the prisoners, the divine armaments pilfered were enough to outfit the whole of the Veidimen honor guard. The majority lacked a unique effect like Argrave’s Resonant Pillar, the Inerrant Cloak, or Melanie’s executioner’s blade, meaning they were of substantially lesser quality than those taken from Erlebnis’ vault. Even still, they provided unmatched strength to those who held them. Most of the divine armaments from Erlebnis’ vault had been given to Durran’s wyvern riders to aid them in hunting lesser gods. Now, Argrave could outfit his Veidimen honor guard. After what they’d endured, they deserved such a reward.

Among this loot was the emperor’s dadao, Admiral Tan Shu’s bident, and some divine armaments that enhanced spellcasting. Anneliese had some of these already, and Argrave’s blood echoes wouldn’t benefit from them, so he distributed them to those who’d come with in this assault. They had all proven to be ready and willing to fight for Vasquer, so Argrave didn’t view it as a loss.

By nightfall, all was prepared. In this desolate north, they didn’t have the space to store a massive amount of prisoners. After some discussion, everyone decided it was prudent to turn the Sea Dragon into a prison. Blind and lame prisoners weren’t much trouble to keep in line, but the officers and the spellcasters presented a serious threat.

Argrave stood with Durran as he walked around the inside of the training hall.

“This damned ship… gods. Imagine the collective work that went into making this thing.” Durran walked up to one of the sconces on the wall containing a magic lamp. Crescent moons jutted out as decoration, and he ran his finger along them. “It’s a shame I couldn’t have come with you during your fight here.”

“You had your own part. And because of it, I was able to do my thing.” Argrave walked closer. He held Emperor Ji Meng’s blade in his hand. It was quite the heavy weapon, and he leaned it against his shoulder. “I have to speak with the emperor, now. But here. This belongs to you, I think.” Argrave hefted it, then held the flat of the blade as he offered it to Durran.

Durran looked at the heavy blade, then at Argrave. “What is it?”

“The emperor’s weapon,” Argrave declared. “Your wyvern bone glaive… it catches spells, yeah? Well—look at this.”

Argrave stepped away, casting a spell into the blade. It lit up as it received his magic. With a swing, a slash of flame roared outward, searing the floor of the training hall.

“I imagine you’ll be able to use it best of everyone here,” Argrave noted, walking up to a wide-eyed Durran. He gave him the weapon and then left. Anneliese waited at the entrance to the training hall, watching the both of them. Even now she held the Brumesingers, spoiling them. They deserved a great deal of spoiling after what they’d achieved here.

“Are you prepared to speak with him?” Anneliese asked, petting one between its ears.

Argrave rubbed at the fox’s neck right alongside her. “I hope he hasn’t recovered all of his memories. If he remembers that he crushed my windpipe, might make the whole tough-guy route a little hard.”

Anneliese looked at his neck in sympathy, then met his gaze with her amber eyes. “I don’t think Ji Meng is a man that can be intimidated.”

Argrave took one of the Brumesingers from her arms. “We’ll see what he is.”

Argrave and Anneliese walked through the Sea Dragon, heading to where the emperor was kept imprisoned. They were shadowed by many Veidimen guards doing their best to keep them safe in this fortress-ship. They kept the emperor imprisoned in his own quarters, heavily guarded yet given some degree of liberty.

Argrave arrived at the sliding doors leading to the emperor’s room and gently pushed them aside. He crouched there, totally divested of magic, of divine armaments, and of all his power. Ji Meng looked forty, though for an S-rank spellcaster that meant little. The days of voyage to Vasquer had given him a small goatee and scruff on his face. He had hard eyes, and now that he was out of his armor, an evidently robust—if quite skinny—physique. He wore a white robe and sat atop a pillow before a low-lying table, legs spread out casually. Four Veidimen guards stood behind him as he drank from a white ceramic cup.

“So comes the cat again, to kill the mouse it’s been toying with,” Ji Meng said, then held up his cup. “This drink… it’s draining our vital force. What is it?”

“Our vital force?” Argrave stepped within the room as Anneliese shut the sliding doors behind.

“…my vital force,” he corrected begrudgingly, dropping the royal we.

“Powdered Ebonice,” explained Argrave as he walked closer. “Rather extravagantly wasteful. But it’ll keep you subdued for a long while. You’ll never regenerate magic so long as it’s in your system.”

Ji Meng pursed his lips, then drained the entire cup and set it down. He sat up on his pillow, corrected his posture, and sat respectfully. “So, emperor of barbarians… what do you seek from me to make such a subdual necessary?”

“Emperor of barbarians…” Argrave sat down at the low-lying table, and then Anneliese joined him. “You invade, then deem us barbarians?”

“Do you seek ransom? You will get none. My imperial court… I reason it is far different from yours. When I was still a lowly peasant tending the rice terraces, nomadic barbarians in the Yue highlands captured an emperor. Within a tenday, the imperial court named another emperor. The Great Chu’s bureaucratic apparatus is as much a slave to the emperor as the other way around, and my sole regret was not dismantling it when I rebelled against the Zhu dynasty.” The emperor sighed in deep lament, then focused on Argrave.

“They will name me dead, and pick and choose among my sons. I left my empire knowing I might never again see my palace.” He jammed his thumb into his palm until it drew blood, then displayed it to Argrave. “And I would sooner disembowel myself than beg to keep my life. Content yourself with the gold on these walls and the blade pried from my hand. You earned it.” He closed his bloody palm into a fist, as though to demonstrate his resolve.

“We understand most of that,” Anneliese nodded. “Argrave has told me about the Great Chu. I am very interested in the eunuchs, but I could find none aboard this ship.”

“So, disembowelment.” Argrave placed both hands on his knees. “Are you thinking you’ll use your bare hands, or am I supposed to get you some kind of knife?”

Emperor Ji Meng did not appreciate being made light of. He stared at Argrave without saying a word.

“What do you think your legacy will be?” Argrave moved on.

Ji Meng brought his hand up and ran his finger atop the short stubble. “I dethroned the treacherous Zhu dynasty, who had lost much of our lands to invaders from the highlands, the steppes, and the jungles. I reclaimed all of what was lost on the field of battle. I restored the administration throughout the vast expanse of the Great Chu, and in so doing ensured decades of prosperity during my reign and those after it. At best, I will be remembered as a great ruler. And at worst, I will be remembered as a conqueror who grew soft from the luxuries of the imperial palace. I am ninety-seven. I have lived well.”

Argrave looked at him, then leaned in slightly. “And what if you are remembered as the feeble-minded warrior who allowed his position to be usurped not by man, but by gods? What if you’re remembered as the last ruler of the Great Chu, who allowed your empire to succumb to divinity while you lost yourself in concubines, lavish food, and mindless battle in lands you couldn’t possibly afford to hold?”

Ji Meng’s attention on Argrave was absolute, and in his mien, the conqueror Argrave had faced earlier today reared its head once again. At the very least, Argrave could say he’d drawn the emperor’s attention.

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