Jackal Among Snakes

In coming into this cave, Hegazar had commented about the thickness of the magic in the area. Argrave had thought nothing of it at the time, but thinking back, that had been a mistaken assumption. Onychinusa, pure-blooded ancient elf and mortal champion of Erlebnis, must have been in this area, waiting and watching. She could disperse her flesh into pure magic and stay hidden in that manner. That meant either she or the god she championed anticipated this meeting. And that bode terribly for its outcome in Argrave’s favor, he predicted.

Argrave looked around what had once been stone, wondering if each of the statues around them had become an emissary of Erlebnis individually. Hundreds of eyes the size of his head peered down, each varied in slight ways and planted atop stalks of flesh. The head in the back of the cave remained still, eyes and mouth closed. The hands carrying the books the eyes had been reading moments slid away into an abyss that betrayed nothing of what hid beyond. On top of all that, the nude elven woman standing in front of them… to say the least, she did little to settle the nerves.

Onychinusa had already demonstrated mastery of shamanic magic—namely, a magic that allowed one mastery over spirits. But as the champion of Erlebnis, that could be considered one small portion of the pie of her abilities. She was well over eight hundred years old, and all of that time of hers had been spent in service to Erlebnis. With that pool of knowledge, the support of Erlebnis’ blessings, and the sheer quantity of time in her favor… it was a formula for success that made her one of the most powerful mortal spellcasters in the entirety of Berendar.

A good person for an assassination, Argrave supposed. But sticking to his thesis that had led him to this choice, he reminded himself that if Erlebnis wanted him dead he would have bitten the dust long ago. Even still, she had not responded to his greeting just yet, and Argrave wasn’t sure where this conversation was heading.

“What is this place?” Anneliese inquired, staring around at the eyes on the wall and the giant head in the back of the room.

Her relative state of normalcy calmed Argrave greatly—it meant she gathered the woman ahead was not an active threat. The newly tamed bear, still animalistic, seemed ill at ease with the change in scenery. Galamon, too, held his Ebonice axe in his hand. Tension persisted.

“I have been tasked with one thing alone,” Onychinusa brushed past her question. Her voice, her demeanor, her body language… they were all off, and not because she was an elf of ancient lineage. She wasn’t raised around those similar to her. Since shortly after her birth, she was under Erlebnis’ wing. That sort of environment led to a very warped person, ill-suited for normal conversation or society. “Argrave must allow himself to be taken.”

“Taken where?” Argrave asked.

“To the lord’s realm,” Onychinusa said simply, frustration already seeping into her tone.

Argrave swallowed, unease returning as soon as it had left. This woman’s life—all nine hundred years of it, thereabouts—had been one twisted psychological experiment. Her parents were dead, and this fact was explained to her from an early age before she could even understand concepts like life and death. Indeed, her adoptive parents answered any question with complete candor. Her caregivers were simply elven-shaped amalgams made by Erlebnis, and thus possessed no emotions. Her needs were attended to and her purpose as Erlebnis’ champion was explained, but beyond that, her life was one of cold logic and constant insistence on betterment. No affection was given, and any she gave was disregarded. That sort of neglect made her a very stunted individual, emotionally speaking.

Like a lack of inhibition, for starters, Argrave reflected, making a point only to look at her eyes even if the party in question wouldn’t care. She didn’t want to stare at him back, he found.

“This is for the best. Once the lord’s blessing wears off, we must go,” Onychinusa continued quickly. “My spirits cannot transport you with such massive power welling from within.”

The best for whom? Argrave wanted to press, though he didn’t care to step on the dragon’s tail. He didn’t intend to be taken anywhere. He’d hoped that Erlebnis would manifest here in some manner, not that he’d be taken to the god. He needed more information.

“Since you were waiting for me here, I can assume that Erlebnis has an offer for me, personally,” Argrave guessed. “If you can tell me what this deal is about, you can save him some time explaining things.”

Onychinusa’s eyes focused on Argrave for a moment, and then quickly darted to the side. “I was meant only to bring,” she resisted inflexibly.

“Regardless, we have to wait,” Argrave said quietly, still basking in the power of his Blessing of Supersession. “There cannot be any harm.”

The tan elf’s eyes narrowed, though she still resisted meeting Argrave’s gaze. “You will employ your considerable knowledge of unknown origin to help the lord break the cycle of judgement.”

It was Argrave’s turn to narrow his eyes. He wasn’t surprised that Erlebnis had learned of the breadth of his knowledge—wittingly or unwittingly, the ancient god has ways of learning from different people about a large variety of things all around the world. No doubt he had heard of what Argrave had done, and deduced that the things that occurred were no coincidence. Still… the fact he’d garnered attention uneased him.

“…surely he should know I already endeavor to do that?” Argrave asked.

“No. You prolong the cycle,” Onychinusa said angrily, long ears swaying as she shook her head. “Lord Erlebnis intends to break it.”

Understanding dawned on Argrave at once. What Erlebnis proposed was not defeating Gerechtigkeit, but destroying it permanently, thereby ending the cycle permanently. That notion defied all of Argrave’s knowledge, and so he rashly said, “That isn’t possible.”

“How do you know?” she asked. “The lord is capable of anything.”

“Because…” Argrave stopped himself.

“I answered your questions,” Onychinusa insisted. “You must respond in kind.”

“Argrave,” Galamon interrupted, his voice steady.

Argrave looked back, only to notice Galamon watched behind them. When Argrave followed his gaze, he saw the gigantic head behind them had come to life, somewhat. Its eyelids had opened for familiar reddish mercury portals. Argrave expected something to emerge from them—an emissary, perhaps—but instead, the eyes closed.

“It seems we’ll learn no more. Others were an unexpected variable that greatly hindered the effectiveness of this idea,” the head said, its voice that of a young woman’s. “The lord wishes you to return.”

“I see,” came Onychinusa’s response, genuine annoyance coming through in her voice.

When Argrave turned back, Onychinusa was already dissipating into magic once again. It seemed that the woman could not wait to get away from the situation.

“The lord wished to establish the goal in your actions,” the head explained as Argrave turned back. “And further… He wished for some insight as to the depths of your knowledge. Considering you brought this woman here to glean insight from His presence, such actions can be forgiven for the trade ahead, I trust.”

Argrave released his breath, not realizing he’d been holding it. “So… there is a trade in mind. And all of that… what, information gathering?”

“You no longer speak to His mortal champion. You speak to us. And in most nonessential questions asked to us… there is a price associated,” the head continued solemnly.

Argrave pushed his tongue against his cheek, choosing all of his words carefully. All of that… there was no way Onychinusa had been acting. Anneliese would have seen through it. Given her nature, Onychinusa’s acting could not be especially good, so maybe even Argrave would have seen through it.

“Hey, Anne…” Argrave said, still staring at the head. “Do you think Onychinusa was even aware of this plot?”

“Umm…” Anneliese looked at Argrave confusedly, questioning if she should respond.

“We can’t offend these emissaries. No point hiding our words,” Argrave turned his head to her. “Even if we made a ward, I imagine they could still make out our words. Reading our lips, the flow of the wind… whatever. They’ve got eyes everywhere,” he noted, gaze flitting from the eyes all about the wall and ceiling.

“Then…” she hesitated even still. “No, she wasn’t. Not in my opinion.”

“Then she’s still just another tool to him,” Argrave nodded. “Let me guess what the idea was from the beginning. Once you had written permission, you intended to bring me before Erlebnis. Maybe you thought it’d be harder to refuse if I was in his realm… and I think you’d be right on that front. Failing that, you wanted her to draw information from me, expecting I’d try to do the same for her. But that still tells me one thing—the boundary between realms has weakened enough that spirits can break through them, even transport people between them. And that means… time is running out fast. And your lord recognizes that.”

“Running down, perhaps,” the emissary confirmed—in a rare show, it was frank. “The being you call Gerechtigkeit comes, yes. The lord sees and admires your efforts on that front… and He sees your knowledge, too. In the face of the cycle of judgement, collaboration is necessary.”

“Collaboration?” Argrave’s eyes brightened. “I’m hoping that means you’re amenable to a trade. Or rather… Erlebnis is.”

“An offer,” the head shook. “You have attracted the eyes of many gods, young and old, Argrave. The gods of Vasquer pay attention to you for corrupting their champion and jeopardizing fragments of their being. Fellhorn, even in his perennial haze, has not been blind to how you harmed his endeavors in the Burnt Desert. And the words you speak… there are ears to listen everywhere, and the gods pay greater attention to the continent soon to become their battlefield. Greater gods of magic, of life and death, of natural order… many eyes fall upon you. If you think the eyes surrounding you now are many… they pale in comparison to the watching gods.”

“Is that really an offer?” Argrave questioned. If the emissary was trying to unsettle him, it was working. Underhanded or deceptive they might be… but liars they were not. Their word was gold. He’d caught some attention.

“Our lord Erlebnis does not wish to receive scraps of knowledge whenever you should need Him,” the head shook. “He is loath to give away his secrets and blessings so freely.”

“You can’t put that aside?” Argrave raised a brow.

“If you are as knowledgeable as we think, Argrave, you know that is not the case,” the head shook, slowly this time. “The gods define the mortal world as much as the mortal world defines the gods. To act against His nature and reputation is to fade away.”

Argrave put one hand on his hip, then gave a resigned nod. “…alright, I’m following.”

“Become Erlebnis’ second champion,” the emissary suggested. “Give your knowledge—all of your knowledge—freely, and you will be similarly rewarded and blessed.”

“If you’ve been paying attention to me as I think, I imagine you’ve predicted my response to that,” Argrave guessed.

“All of you and yours would be protected. Anneliese. Your sister. Durran. Galamon. Elias of Parbon. Nikoletta of Monticci. Any name you mention can be sheltered within His realm. He is not the sole power there, but He is the dominant one. No harm could ever come to them, and the whole of you could work towards delaying the cycle of judgement for yet another round. The lord wants what you want,” the head continued, voice as level as it always was.

“I…” Argrave did hesitate a beat. “I don’t think that can happen. Couldn’t convince the people in question to fall in line with that idea. And I can do much better here than at Erlebnis’ side.”

“Then herald our lord,” the head continued. “Bring His name to your people. Supplant the half-spirits that would play at being gods of Vasquer. Build shrines in His name. You know well the value of reverence of knowledge: you cannot lose in this. In return, you would be suitably compensated.”

Argrave looked off to the side, but only watching eyes awaited his answer.

“Diligence, wisdom, and intent,” Argrave said, looking back. “If you’ve got all three, you can be a good ruler. But if you have the first two, and not the third… well. That’s a recipe for disaster, in my opinion.”

“Meaning?” the head pressed.

Argrave turned his head around, looking to be sure something was still present—or rather, someone. He was beginning to see the way this was going, but he thought there might be one thing he could do to come out ahead in this.

“Let’s take an example: your current champion,” Argrave began. “Her parents gave her to you in return for two things—preservation of elven knowledge, and preservation of the elven bloodline. Even though you could have saved more of the ancient elves, you kept her alone and isolated, raising her as your ageless champion and keeping the knowledge of the elven ancients to yourself.”

“Are you implying our lord Erlebnis deceived, did not keep His promise?” the head asked. Its utter lack of fury was even more terrifying than if had howled with anger.

“You kept your promise,” Argrave nodded. “And a finger on the monkey’s paw curled.” Argrave let some silence hang as he thought of the Burnt Desert under Fellhorn, then said decisively, “I greatly appreciate your lord for his consideration, but I don’t think I’ll take either of the offers.”