1857-1858 eng

1857 Missing Invitation

Lightslayer was sitting at the head of the table. Bestmaster was to her right, while Lady Seishan was to her left. Since Rain and Tamar were escorting the latter, they were standing behind her chair.

The former, meanwhile, used enthralled Nightmare Creatures as her escorts. Two ethereal, ghostly figures were drifting in the air behind her, almost invisible in the pale light of the command pavilion — even knowing that they were subdued by one of the queen's daughters, Rain couldn't help but feel uneasy in their presence.

She was usually in the company of a sinister wraith of her own. Today, however, her teacher had left her alone — no doubt to avoid being sensed by the plethora of Saints gathered here.

...Dark Dancer Revel had come alone.

She gazed at the champions of the Song Army, remained silent for a while, and then spoke in her subtle, husky voice:

"Brothers and sisters, all of you should know the situation. Godgrave is a cruel place, and we have suffered from its cruelty. In the days and months to come, we will suffer more, and we will suffer greatly. There is no mercy to be found under this ruthless sky, and no salvation from the perils that besiege us."

Rain expected that Lightslayer would continue with a "but", but to her surprise, the princess made no attempt to lift the spirits of her comrades. Her rather bleak proclamation simply hung in the air, and the faces of the gathered Saints slowly turned somber.

Rain and Tamar were just close enough to see Revel sparing a short, almost imperceptible glance at Lady Seishan. After receiving a similarly subtle nod, she smiled coldly.

"What most of you might not know is how the enemy is faring on the other side of the Collarbone Plain. Let me inform you... the enemy is faring well. They have entered Godgrave and established a fortified encampment without suffering any significant losses. Their fortress is impregnable, and they have no shortage of supplies. They are already moving their forces to carve a path south, aiming to claim a second — or maybe even a third — Citadel."

She paused for a moment, and then added indifferently:

"The reason for the enviable progress of the Sword Army is rather simple. It is because they are protected by their Sovereign, while we are not. The tyrant, King of Swords, is already here in Godgrave. But my mother is still waiting for us to extend her an invitation."

Lightslayer gazed at the Saints and finished in an even tone:

"So, we will dedicate ourselves to conquering a Citadel of our own immediately." There was a wave of whispers, followed by a tense silence. In that silence, a deep voice resounded, forcing Rain to look at the far end of the table.

"Forgive me for speaking out, my lady..."

The speaker was a man that looked relatively young, but nevertheless made quite an impression. He was tall and had an incredibly powerful build, with muscles so robust that they strained the fabric of his lavish pangolin coat. His skin had a darker hue, and he emanated a feeling of dire physical might.

Rain recognized him easily — the young Saint was rather famous these days, albeit not for a good reason.

He was Dar. of the Maharana clan, who had just returned from conquering the Third Nightmare. As such, he was the youngest of all human Saints — or, at least, the most recent. A rejected demand to hand him over to Clan Valor was what had sparked this entire war.

Officially, at least.

Of course, the hypocritical justification the King of Swords had provided seemed quite flimsy even back then. Now that everyone knew that Dar of the Maharana clan had been in the depths of a Nightmare when the assassination attempt on Changing Star happened, it seemed even more preposterous.

The mighty Saint continued soberly:

"Our own situation is not entirely stable, yet. Secure supply chains have yet to be established, and our camp can barely be called a stronghold. The enemy is indeed ahead of us, but what will we achieve by rushing? Won't we just make our disadvantage more dire by plunging head first into a battle that we are not quite ready to fight?"

Rain noticed that the Saint of Sorrow looked at the younger Transcendent with a hint of curiosity... which was the first semblance of emotion that the somber man had shown thus far.

She glanced at Tamar and suppressed a smile.

It was too easy to see where the younger girl's mannerisms had all come from. In any case, Saint Dar was making a lot of sense. Since he was, Rain almost expected that he would be accused of cowardice, but luckily, none of the people gathered in the command pavilion were fools. They kept quiet, either sharing his opinion or waiting for the daughters of the queen to react.

In the ensuing silence, it was Beastmaster who smiled and said in a beguiling tone:

"You don't have to worry about the enemy's progress. Leave those worries to your queen. Trust in my mother, like you have trusted her thus far, and she shall grant you victory."

Although she was not a biological sister to the Dark Dancer, their voices were strangely alike.

Saint Dar frowned and wanted to say something, but at that moment, the fold covering the entrance to the pavilion moved, and a new figure entered.

A petite young woman walked in, wearing a dark robe. There was a hint of innocence on her lovely face, and a strange calmness in her large, glistening eyes.

In stark contrast to that innocence, however, were heavy drops of blood falling from her slick hands.

Rain tried not to stare.

'The missing princess.‘

The last of the seven Transcendent daughters of Ki Song had finally arrived. She was Hel, the Death Singer — one of the most mysterious and revered Saints of the Song Domain.

Despite how ominous she looked, that with fresh blood smeared all across her hands, the young woman was not that sinister. She was a haruspex — or rather, a haruspicina — a diviner who received revelations by inspecting the entrails of sacrificial beasts.

The gathering grew quiet when the oracle appeared and slowly made her way to where Lightslayer, Beastmaster, and Lady Seishan were seated.

Rain frowned a little.

'Come to think of it... how come I don't know Saint Seishan's True Name?‘

She had to have one. But, to Rain's knowledge, no one had ever spoken it aloud. Death Singer, meanwhile, reached the head of the table, leaned down, and whispered something into her sister's ear.

Lightslayer smiled.

"Responding to your question, Saint Dar. There is indeed no much sense in rushing into battle. That is why we will split our forces and rush into two battles, instead..."

1858 Precipice

Princess Hel had not spoken after whispering something in Lightslayer's ear. She took her seat and remained silent, the blood continuing to drip from her hands to the floor.

The war council continued for a while, since there were a lot of minor issues that had to be relayed, considered, and ironed out. Rain listened with rapt attention, knowing that what was being discussed in the command pavilion would directly impact, and maybe even decide, her fate.

And, in a way, it did.

It really seemed like the Sword Army was on a sure path to overwhelming the forces of Song — the aggressor that had initiated this vile conflict was far ahead, and widening the gap with each day. Which hardly seemed fair.

However, the queen's daughters were strangely calm about the entire situation. Instead of maintaining caution and employing a conservative strategy, like one would when dealing with a superior enemy, they chose to act with an unsettling boldness.

Eventually, the meeting was over, and everyone who had gathered in the command pavilion hurried outside. There was a lot for them to do.

Dar of the Maharana clan left with a dark smile on his lips. The Saint of Sorrow spared his daughter a glance, nodded curtly, and walked outside with the same bleak expression. The daughters of Ki Song soon followed.

However, Lady Seishan remained motionless. So did Beastmaster and Lightslayer.

Eventually, the three sisters were the only ones left in the command pavilion — not counting Rain, Tamar, and the wraiths hovering behind Beastmaster.

It seemed like they wanted to discuss something in private.

Tamar cleared her throat.

"Should we give you privacy, Lady Seishan?"

Their commander looked back and smiled.

"No need, young Tamar. just make sure to stay quiet."

She didn't specify whether they were meant to stay quiet during the following discussion or about it. In any case, Rain wasn't going to talk.

She had already been forced to flee Ravenheart because of knowing too much. Lightslayer looked at Tamar, then reached back and pulled up the hood of her dark mantle. A moment later, her eyes were hidden in deep shadow, and a small sigh escaped from her lips.

"Will you two be able to handle what needs to be done?"

The three sisters would soon be in command of the split army.

Beastmaster would remain in the warcamp with a part of Song forces. I-Ier task was to finish the construction of the fortress while defending it from the onslaught of Nightmare Creatures.

Saint Seishan, meanwhile, would lead an expedition force toward the location where one of the Citadels of Godgrave was supposedly located. Death Singer, the diviner, would lead them across the surface of the ancient bone until they reached a broad area above their target.

From there, the elites of the expedition force would venture into the Hollows and conquer the Citadel. The task seemed absolutely lethal, and victory was not certain. However, Lady Seishan remained calm and poised, not showing even the smallest hint of hesitation.

It was as if there was no question whether she would take the Citadel, only how soon, and at what cost.

If she did prevail, however... Queen Song would be able to manifest her Domain in Godgrave, and their position would not seem so hopeless anymore.

The last sister, Lightslayer, would neither remain in the camp nor join the expedition force. Instead, she would attempt to do... something.

Rain wasn't quite sure what, because the details had not been shared with anyone. All that the Dark Dancer had said was that she would venture to slow down the enemy's progress. She was not going to command any troops, but she would take a few Saints with her.

As Rain was wondering what, exactly, Lightslayer was planning to do, Saint Seishan answered her question:

"It's alright, Revel. We'll be fine. You don't have to worry."

The raven—haired beauty looked at her and smiled darkly.

"when have I ever worried? Ask anyone. In the ten years that you were missing, I haven't worried once."

Beastmaster laughed.

"How callous."

Lady Seishan shook her head.

"If you want to be worried about someone, worry about yourself. Out of the three of us, your task is the most uncertain."

Lightslayer looked at her from beneath her hood.

"What's uncertain about it? Howl, Silence, and Moon are coming with. So is the Saint of Sorrow. You know that we are prepared."

Lady Seishan lingered for a moment.

"Everything else is fine, but the Lord of Shadows is an unknown. We don't know much about him. There are no traces... it is as if he conjured himself out of thin air, like a daemon."

Her sister smiled darkly.

"Then he can disappear into thin air as well."

Rain was staring forward, pretending to be. a dutiful guard.

There was a lot on her mind, though.

'Appeared out of thin air...‘

Wasn't that how her teacher had appeared a few years ago?

She tried not to frown.

She did not know a lot about the Lord of Shadows, but he and her teacher were strangely alike. They both commanded shadows, for one... there were other similarities, too. She was half-convinced that they were the same person, even. However, her teacher had been by her side every day for the last four years, while the Lord of Shadows had been in Godgrave all that time. Well, at least he had been there for two winter solstices in a row, rescuing stray Sleepers. Her teacher had never left her side, and they had been together on those solstices as well.

So... what?

Was the Lord of Shadows a similar existence to her teacher? A disembodied shadow that possessed great and strange powers, pursuing mysterious goals? Were they, perhaps, comrades? Or at least had come from the same source? 'I should ask Teacher.'

He would probably answer with some ridiculous nonsense, though.

At that moment, Beastmaster shifted, looked at Lady Seishan, and asked somberly:

"What about the other? Has the Prince of Nothing sent any news?"

Lady Seishan lingered for a while, then smiled elegantly.

"Oh, yes."

For some reason, her elegant smile suddenly looked rather sinister.

Her pleasant, velvet voice resounded softly in the empty command pavilion:

 "...He is about to start."