Fell Champions

Otter was about to ask Liaru to pause so she could get everyone in attendance, but Vex, sleepy-eyed and yawning, shuffled into the room, followed by Reyna. 

“Do you just live here now?” Otter asked.

“That’s hilarious coming from the person who’s only here because you were the only one willing to dick down the owner,” Reyna replied with a smile.

“Every time I turn around, you seem to be here. Who keeps letting your thick ass in?”

Reyna paused, and then cast an eye over her shoulder. “It is kind of big, isn’t it?”

Liaru cleared her throat. “In the wake of the assassination of Juala on the premises, I saw fit to hire additional security. As she witnessed the assassin firsthand, and is aware of what he is capable of, she seemed a good fit. So she does, in fact, live here now.”

“I needed the work,” Reyna said. “Old boss died.”

Vex stumbled to a couch and flopped down to sit. “What happened to mama? I… felt her earlier.”

Otter shrugged. “She’s not answering calls. But her mood seems to have improved, and she’s in no physical harm.”

Everyone gave a confused look, although Sami seemed to piece it together given her limited knowledge of their link.

Otter explained, “I have a Pact that lets me and Vex know Rua’s mental and physical state. It’s complicated. Oh right, I supposed I should introduce everyone.”

Otter tried being quick about it, but Sami was having none of it. She insisted on standing, bowing, and shaking everyone’s hands. Everett was not to be outdone, and when introduced to Vex as ‘Otter’s kind-of-sort-of kid’, he picked her up in a great big bear hug and twirled her about the room. Vex laughed infectiously, reminding Otter than in some ways, she was still a child, despite having an adult body and the combined life experience of two twenty-somethings.

“Now that that is out of the way,” Liaru said coolly, “we can begin.

“The political climate between the Silayans and the Mikovians is unstable. We’ve been allied since the Final Push in the last years of the Occupation, but–”

“Can you explain that?” Everett asked.

“Explain what? The Final Push?”

“No. All of it. The Occupation, the Final Push, why the Mikovians got involved, all of it.”

Liaru sighed. “This is all common knowledge, and I’m not a scholar.”

“Perhaps,” Sami said. “But every side has a different telling. I am not Silayan, so I’d like to hear that perspective.”

That seemed to mollify Liaru. “Very well. Approximately twenty-three years ago, Lunara Hyleah, Seat of House Hyleah, Admiral of the Hunt, father of Rua, and now known as Lunara of the False Promises, returned from Oloawei. It was an adequate haul that season, but hardly our best. Instead, Lunara brought the Islands an opportunity.

“She brought a Criobani Company Captain named Aevah. Aevah claimed ambassadorial status, and promised a union between the Islands and the Criobani Empire, asking that we protect their mercantile ships in exchange for a cut of the profits. They also asked for us to stop raiding their coastlines, begging for peace, as well as access to our Histories.

“The Sunsel Council deliberated. Some, like Sureya, had no desire to allow foreigners onto our soil, but the promised reward was too great. She and others like her were out-voted. 

“The arrangement worked well at first. The Criobani were generous with their wealth, and shortly after the treaty was signed, Aevah began to show signs of late pregnancy. She and Lunara had been involved with one another for some time beforehand, and while it was odd, no one questioned it.”

“Interbreeding is rare?” Sami asked.

“By command of the Dreamers,” Liaru said, as if she’d been asked a particularly stupid question.

“As I said, just verifying the Silayan perspective. Treat me as if you think I know nothing on the topic.”

Liaru tapped her fingers along the rim of her mug, and then nodded. “Interbreeding is… rare here, but not completely unheard of. Prior to the Occupation, there were perhaps a dozen family lines of mixed stock.”

“And now?”

“Of note? Just one.”

Poor Rua. A family of one, all alone in its uniqueness.

“What happened to the others?” Otter asked, feeling sick. She already knew the answer.

“Purged by zealots, following the Final Push. Many of them didn’t even have Crib… Crio blood. There are some full-blooded Criobani still on the Islands, abandoned as children, but many of those have had a difficult time of it. Most are beggars, and no one is surprised when one turns up dead under the shame of someone’s house.”

Though Liaru’s words were clinical, even academic, her fingers beating along the rim of her cup went faster, angrier. 

Sami, ever observant, caught the shift in mood. “What caused the Criobani to turn against the Silayans?”

“No one knows. At least, no one who remains on the Islands. One day, they traded merchandise on our beaches, caroused in our drinking houses, sang songs with our women… Then command changed hands inexplicably. Rovarra came to the Islands. Roving bands of soldiers suddenly appeared and seized members of the Sunset Council. They took over the docks, and burned our Waveriders. It’s believed that Lunara had received reports of their fleet’s activity, and kept it from leaking. We had no warning, no foreknowledge that there were more of them than we’d come to expect. We had no chance to mount a defense.

“What followed is now referred to as the Occupation. Resources were stripped from our lands, our people were enslaved, and in many cases butchered if they failed to meet quotas imposed upon them by Rovarra. The Faceless Oppressor, an unnatural disease which only strikes down pelanoa, was unleashed upon us. 

“Between losing the majority of our fleet and a significant portion of our population to disease, followed by the arrival of Vexurians on our shores, we stood little chance.”

“Until Una,” Reyna said, her voice filled with pride.

“Una Moseina was our greatest hero in those dark times,” Liaru agreed. “Mother of Juala and her siblings. At the time, she was just a common fisherwoman, widowed by the Faceless Oppressor. She did what no one else thought to do in those early days.

“She rode a soo-meng past Criobani patrols and far from our shores. She went to the Mikovians, and asked for help.”

“Asked?” Reyna said, scorn evident. “Everyone knows she found that fucker, Old Grey, famous even then for his love of killing, and challenged him to a duel.”

“A duel that she lost,” Liaru noted.

“Yeah, well, it got his attention.”

“It did. Una promised Old Grey the largest, most exciting battle of his life. Said he would be remembered in the Histories for generations to come, and that he’d be rewarded with all the ruakh he could drink.

“The old pirate was no stranger to the Islands. He’d dropped anchor in our ports many times. But he was less interested in helping us than he was in the battle itself that had been promised. He had a reputation as a warmonger so fierce that even when he was calm, Mikovian berserkers balked at his bloodlust. He returned to his capitol and received permission to lead a battalion to our shores.”

“And that’s all they got?” Sami asked. “A fight? They didn’t ask for anything else?”

Liaru snorted. “Of course not. They were richly rewarded with silks, coral lumber, and a full bar of runabashi steel.”

“One bar?”

Liaru spaced out her hands, indicating roughly a foot in length, six inches tall, and another six wide.

“That’s it?”

Liaru cocked her head. “Yes. With that much runabashi steel, you could forge two blades capable of killing any Mythwalker, regardless of age or power of their story. With a runabashi blade, you could kill even the likes of the Nightfather, or The One All Stars, or the Well Dweller, or Ashborne.”

“Didn’t need a fancy blade for that,” Otter said. “Team Ottersquad killed that old bag of twigs without a fancy weapon.”

Vex giggled, and Otter leaned across the table between them to exchange a high five. Everett shifted in his seat, coughing very loudly, and holding a hand over his chest.

“You okay over there?” Otter asked.

He coughed again and slammed a fist against his chest. “Yep. Never better. Just swallowed some tea and it went down the wrong pipe.”

Weird. She thought he’d finished his tea earlier.

“You killed Ashborne?” Reyna said in disbelief.

“Well, me and Vex and Rua. And then we torched his island.”

“You torched his island,” Vex said. “Before we killed him.”

“I distinctly remember the entire operation being a team enterprise.”

“She tried applying her ‘all problems can be solved with fire’ philosophy, didn’t she?” Sami asked.

“I did no such–”

“She burned down mama’s cabin, and nearly got herself killed.”

“Traitor! This insubordination will be remembered on your birthday.”

“Sounds like Mayumi,” Everett said with a nod.

“Is there any question?” Sami agreed.

“But… how?” Reyna asked. “Ashborne’s been alive for hundreds of years. He… how?”

“I am a mighty warrior,” Otter said sagely.

“We got lucky,” Vex said. “Also, Darth Va–”

“Copyright, say the correct name.”

“Dark Raider helped us.”

“What’s a ‘Dark Raider?’” Reyna asked.

“A Mythwalker.”

Reyna made a strangled noise. 

“He’s dead now, it’s fine.”

Reyna continued to make stunned noises. Really, some people were just easily surprised by small things.

“Getting back on track,” Liaru said. “A Mikovian force arrived on the Islands a few months later. On an open field, with room to deploy their cavalry and Vexurians, the Criobani would have easily won. But neither the Silayan resistance nor the Mikovian forces were interested in giving the Criobani a fair fight. We slaughtered them in their beds or at sea, the Mikovians fought them in the forests, or from afar using their Stormcallers.”

“What’s a Stormcaller?” Sami asked.

“Mikovian weaponry. It summons lightning using glyphs. No one but they have figured out the math to keep it from striking the user, or their allies.”

“What’s the effective range? How much damage output can it do? Does it summon one lightning bolt at a time, or multiple? Is there a recharge period, does it need reloading–”

“Sami,” Otter said patiently. “She’s just a maid.”

“Master Servant,” Liaru corrected.

“Also that.”

“Otter is correct, though,” Liaru said. “My knowledge of Mikovian weaponry is… limited. My strengths lie more in addressing the needs and desires of a household.”

“Yeah they do,” Otter said, holding up a hand for a high five that didn’t come. Stupid fantasy world. She was going to need to teach these barbarians some culture.

“Wait,” Reyna said, looking between the two of them. “You and Liaru… you never… I mean… ugh! How does this idiot have all the luck?”

“She exaggerates any relationship we may have,” Liaru said coolly. “She only provided a service.”

“Right,” Otter agreed. “I only serviced her. Speaking of, same time tonight?”

“Perhaps in a week’s time. If at all.”

“Sidetracked again,” Sami said patiently. 

Everett refilled Liaru’s tea and handed it to her. She took it with an annoyed look, but still drank from it greedily before continuing. 

“There were Five Pushes to get the Criobani off the Islands. Each successive effort was more brutal than the last. We couldn’t beat them in a straight fight. We didn’t have the numbers or the equipment or the supplies. So, we began targeting the families of their upper echelons. Their merchant princes, military staff, and nobility. The idea was to make them panic and flee. Criobani put a lot of stock in their family line, more than anyone else. End it, and you erase them from history. It was a repeated blow to their morale, but it was only after Rovarra’s eldest son was killed that they finally broke.”

“He fled after his son died?” Everett asked. “You’d think revenge would cause him to stay.”

“It wasn’t that his son died,” Reyna said, “but rather, what we did to him. With the promise we’d do the same to his other two sons. And him, if we ever caught him.”

“What did you do?” Sami asked.

“It’s not for polite company. But… Una had one of the little shit’s testicles bronzed. Kept it as a trophy on her desk.”

“Aw man, I want to bronze my enemies’ testicles,” Otter said. “No one fucks with a person who bronzes testicles. ‘I’m Otter, and I’m here for your testicles.’ Terrifying.”

“What happened after the Criobani fled?” Sami pressed.

Everett once more refilled Liaru’s cup, even though it was not yet empty. That woman was gonna pee for days at the rate she was filling up.

“The usual promises of retribution, vengeance, and war, from both sides. But the Criobani began fighting Virtuere shortly afterwards in a border skirmish, and we were more focused on rebuilding and trying to solve our sudden population crisis.

“Old Grey felt cheated, like he didn’t get the war he was promised, even though I personally saw him rip a Vexurian in two with just his hands. He settled in to stay, with the remainder of the Sunset Council’s blessing, even though Sureya was… hesitant in her agreement. But Una wanted it, and she was so loved she’d been given a Seat of her own.

“The Mikovians have fought a few small incursions into the Islands, but none have had the weight of the Empire behind them. It’s been enough to keep the Mikovians’ bloodlust sated, though.

“Until recently, there hasn’t been a problem between our two peoples. We both like a good fight, both hate the Criobani, and love to compete against one another in friendly tournaments.

“It wasn’t until the business with Kir and Juala that things began to grow tense.”

“It’s not Juala’s fault,” Reyna protested.

Liaru’s face scrunched up in fury. “It was absolutely that selfish child’s fault. She couldn’t handle the fact that Kirhaela wouldn’t fuck her, no matter how crudely she asked, and started a series of events that have probably led us to war.”

“That’s… that’s not what happened.”

“Well, maybe you have some insight into her character as her former bodyguard, but I witnessed the damage caused firsthand. Rua returning home late at night, stained with the blood of a friend.”

“What? No, Rua didn’t–”

“Juala made up some excuse. Caught a Mikovian smuggling. Probably to the Belt, but given that it was an old Criobani weapons trove he’d found. Juala made up some ridiculous story. The soldier’s name was Enrakk. He was a drinking buddy of Rua’s. One of the few friends she had. And when Kir tried to protect him, tried to make sure he got a fair trial, Juala asked Rua to murder him.

“Rua was so excited to prove herself to her sister. To prove she was useful. Up until she learned who she had to kill. She never talked about it, not to me, and probably not to anyone else, but killing Enrakk broke her. And before she could heal, mend the wound, Kir escalated. She thought she was helping. Give Rua a chance at revenge. She found a retaliatory target. 

“But it wasn’t help. She was raw. I could hear her weeping the next day. And then Juala, fucking Juala Moseina, found her own way to retaliatory target. And on and on it went until there was barely a person left in Rua. She was just a shell, hollowed out, and if not for Leilynn, her only sister that actually gave a thought for Rua’s well-being… well, we wouldn’t need to be worrying about rescuing Rua, because she’d already be lost to us!”

“I…” Reyna stuttered, and then covered her face. Vex placed a consoling hand on her shoulder, but Reyna angrily shrugged it off. “Juala was a fuck-up. I know that better than anyone. She didn’t care about her stupid crush on Kir. All she wanted was to be loved. She just… didn’t know how to say the words.”

“And now she never will,” Liaru said acidly. “The world is a better place without Juala in it. She was never half the woman her mother was. She never would have lived up to her legacy.”

“Guess we’ll never know now.”

There was a loud bang, and everyone in the room flinched at it. Otter had a Thread of the Scourge summoned and Sami had her sword half way out of its sheath when it was followed by two more thunderous knocks against the front door, followed by a soft hymn.

“What’s that?” Sami asked.

“Perfect timing,” Reyna spat.

Liaru stood and retreated from the room. She returned a moment later with an engraved wooden box. Liaru placed it reverently on the table.

“It’s the invitation to Juala’s funeral,” Liaru said. “It’s to take place in the morning.”

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