Argrave stared at the steel docks on the southern shore of the Great Chu at the front of the Sea Dragon. He could see great silos full of the liquid fire that filled their turtle ships. He could see mounted ballistae manned by spellcasters that imbued the bolts with energy. He could see a huge garrison manning this coastal fort. Commandeered trading vessels stood like a wall of wood to block their advance with only a skeleton crew of slaves manning them.
The southernmost portion of the Great Chu was, like the north of Vasquer, cold and rugged, with sparse population. But even beyond this remote fortress, Argrave could see the first of the cities of the Great Chu. Jade and amber decorated the tops of their buildings, slender spikes ascending from the roofs of orderly homes and shops.
During the whole of their approach, Argrave felt as though he was in a trance. He was having trouble avoiding a recent memory.
Argrave couldn’t remember the words Elenore said to call Argrave back to Blackgard, but it had been enough to make him return home even on the eve of the battle. He did remember entering Sophia’s room to check on her... but within, he only found her dolls.
They had all died.
Their small size had enabled them to last a long while, yet the creatures Sophia had created lacked key parts of what made something self-sustaining. They were living—they consumed energy to live, like anything else. But the dolls she’d made lacked the ability to digest, to drink. The small child didn’t understand those systems, nor how they kept a body moving, so the dolls were born without them. Like this they withered away, performing their tasks until their death. Only Castro seemed to be spared that fate, for he was made in imitation of a real human.
Elenore told him that Sophia didn’t yet know they were dead. It fell upon Argrave to bring that news to her.
“Life, Sophia, is a very precious and complicated thing,” Argrave had said to the young girl as she sat on their bed, Anneliese on the opposite side. “You’re very special. You have the potential to create that life easier than anyone. But that creation... you can do great evil if you don’t understand what it means.”
Sophia looked at him, not quite understanding his point. And, inevitably, he told her what had happened to the dolls. And when she didn’t believe... he showed her. The dolls, once alive, now... broken. Withered. Lifeless. Decaying. Sophia had been fearful and guilty of what she’d done before, but with their deaths, true sorrow came.
They comforted her as best they could.
“Before you use your power again, Sophia, the two of us should understand what it means. Life is an important thing—a precious thing, that you should value dearly. It shouldn’t be started or stopped without considerable thought.”
“We were wrong to push you so hard,” Anneliese added. “You have no reason to fear us sending you away, ever.”
“But life, and death...” Argrave took Sophia’s small hand. “We’ll help you understand them together, as a family. Would you like that?”
Law’s power crystallized in the form of a giant sword. Argrave felt his heart thump as his patron deity revealed his power. Sword rose to meet hammer, and the world itself seemed to shake as their clash spread throughout the coastline. Raccomen’s spatial distortion faltered briefly, allowing some of the god’s power through to the mortal battlefield. The frozen ocean cracked, and wayward energy struck ships and troops alike, killing hundreds in the moment the world of the mortal intersected with that of the gods. Then both divine weapons parted, ready to meet again.
As divine sword and hammer clashed above, the people of Veiden set foot upon the shores of the Great Chu for the first time in their lives. Argrave refocused and harassed those that fired upon them with his blood echoes, tearing holes into the enemy’s defenses piece by piece. Already, Argrave saw the gate on the right side slowly open. Lira’s connections proved useful—they had a man on the inside to prevent this from being a genuine siege.
Spells rained down upon their boldly assaulting army. Ebonice displayed its use against lesser spells, while Veidimen spellcasters and enchanters displayed their prowess freely for all it could not block. Even from the isolated Sea Dragon, Argrave could hear the cries of war echo across the battlefield. He felt the effects of shamanic magic fade as the casters inside the walls of the fortress died, enabling teleportation inside the fortress. Argrave seized upon this moment to swap with one of his blood echoes, appearing in the heart of the structure instantly.
Argrave walked the ramparts, casting fire, ice, and electricity recklessly with his blood echoes. He was like a guiding spirit for the Veidimen penetrating this place, freeing space for them to pass. When he neared the center, a voice split into his mind—Elenore’s.
“Anneliese says the fortress is trapped. It’s triggering—and soon. I’ve informed Galamon. Evacuate,” she said evenly yet urgently.
Hearing her words, Argrave didn’t need long to get away. He looked to the coast, and then used [Echo Step] to move as quickly as possible. Anneliese descended nearby and created a ward around them to protect from this waning battle, allowing Argrave to turn his gaze from the fortress to the battle between divinity that raged above. As he watched, Law disarmed Tyrg more literally than usual, cutting through his weapon and arm both. The hunk of metal that was his weapon fell downwards, caught by Raccomen’s spatial distortion. Law, meanwhile, finished Tyrg with another swipe of his blade. The god of strength burst into spirits, whereupon he was consumed in a flash of gold that ate through the former divine’s essence like locusts.
As the ground shook, Argrave looked back to the fortress. As Anneliese said, its trap came to life. The walls rose upwards, twisting around each other like a flower closing on itself. The majority of the Veidimen managed to evacuate, yet some were caught up in it. When it formed a small bud, Argrave thought it was done. Yet fiery heat seared out from its core, and then in a burst of wind and fire, the steel fortress exploded.
The light of the explosion was like a third sun on the earth. Fragments of steel scattered everywhere, propelled by explosive force. Anneliese’s countless wards protected them from much of the damage, yet even many of them broke from the force. When it all died away, Argrave looked at what had once been a formidable fortress.
The large shipyard and its fortification had disappeared entirely. All that remained was a ruin of steel, fire, and flesh. Beyond the flames and the smoke, Argrave saw troops marching through the rugged hills, and a realization came to him. They hadn’t seized a fortification. They had merely pushed back the line, and only slightly.
Even now their casters melded the earth. They ruined the road that had been supplying this area, ensuring no troops could easily chase. They built yet more forts of a similar make to the one they’d just been assaulting. Doubtless it would be trapped in the same manner.
They had managed a foothold on the Great Chu. But in the distance, hundreds of horns echoed through snowy valleys. Tens of thousands of troops lurked in the mountains beyond. Argrave could see fortresses simply rise from the earth in key locations, taking shape. He saw magic weapons mounted atop walls, aimed at their forces.
Indeed—they had managed to get a foothold. And it seemed like that was all the Great Chu was liable to give them. They had not defeated the army of the Great Chu—they’d merely pushed them back slightly. To proceed further, they’d need to win hundreds of battles just like this one.
And not just here—in the skies, too, the foes that Argrave’s divine allies fought seemed to come without an end. Tyrg was formidable. But he was one of many, and all were sworn to fight the Coalition’s enemy in a pact not dissimilar to Argrave’s own Blackgard Union.
Looking around, disfigured and charred bodies lined this place. The dead and dying, sacrificing life for the first victory. So long as they were unwelcome here, they would be fought. And so long as they fought... there would be death.