Chapter 224 – The Art Of the Deal

Lilyth - Task Force Hammer - Day 15 - 106 Days Remain

Prince Vikker led me to his study, a small room filled with books and maps. He sat down behind a desk of black wood of some kind and motioned me to a chair on the other side.

‘Or should we perhaps switch the order?’ he asked.

‘Nah,’ I shook my head. ‘Or at least I hope not.’

‘That’s not the impression I got from your display in my throne room.’

‘Don’t tell me you’ve never done anything just for the sake of appearances, Vikker.’

‘Only every day since I took power,’ he shook his head sadly. ‘This wasn't. Not from my end at least.’

‘Oh, I know. You wouldn't publicly refuse to acknowledge my title if you just wanted to insult me. You wanted me to bend the knee. I have no idea what the master plan was, though, matey.’

‘Containment. You see, my reports say that you aren't spending much time in Ror-Bhyk. Rumours are that the fight against the Blood left you weakened, so I thought I could use that to get you more in line. Show you that you can't just walk over everyone.’

‘Ah, you wanted to prevent me from going “I’m the Witch Queen and I can really do whatever the fuck I want,”’, I laughed. ‘Don’t worry, I am well aware that there is always a bigger fish. Hell, my relationships with both Nyx and Ereshkigal alone would tremendously limit any Imperial ambitions I had, which I do not. I mostly just want to be left alone. You see, the rumours about my health aren't that far from the truth. As the Blood was dying, It afflicted me with a [Wither] curse, which would have killed me if not for intervention from Akh'ret.’

I explained what the curse would have done and what the reduced version does.

‘So, to sum up, I am not capable of much physical exertion anymore. I’m a mage so I don't need to be terribly fit, but it does cause some problems.’

‘I see,’ he nodded. ‘Why tell me this? I now know a weakness of yours.’

‘Like I just told you… My “poor health” doesn't matter all that much in the grand scheme of things. As you saw, I can fly and turn intangible. How does my not being much of a runner affect that?’

Let’s ignore the fact that using both skills at the same time drains mana like crazy and I can only levitate a meter or two from the ground, anyway, something that Persephone suspects is my natural limit.

Even my [Storm Form] was no help there. The sorceress was baffled by this, given that, and that's her words not mine, while in it I was probably the most powerful Air Mage on Andermon. She suspected my Terran upbringing and previous [Jet Jump]-related exploits were at fault since I expected something to propel me, while [Flight] was more based on ignoring the pesky thing called gravity. Needless to say, the fact that I wouldn't be committing too many crimes against the laws of physics saddened me to no end.

‘It doesn't,’ Vikker answered my question, the last remnants of hope dying in his eyes.

‘There is also another thing. You are and will remain the only person outside my inner circle aware of this. What do you think will happen if someone tries to exploit that and I survive that?’

The Prince winced.

‘Exactly,’ I smiled.

‘Allow me then to return to my original question: what is to happen to me?’

‘Nothing,’ I smiled. ‘Now that we have thoroughly established who has the longer dick here, we can figure out the terms of a long-term partnership. I never had any intention of expanding Ror-Bhyk’s borders. I still don't. We came to your city seeking information…’

I outlined the core of our mission to stop the Red Masks and what we knew so far.

‘I wish I could help, but I haven't received many reports about them. There are rumours about them maintaining a port somewhere, but that's about it. I can also give you the locations of Imperial ruins I know of in the countryside. Can't say that them going through those doesn't have me worried. Other than that… I think the Ghosts might be your best, as you have already surmised. Just please try to not damage my city or its citizens too much.’

‘That was our intention. And thank you. I will take whatever you can give. As for the relationship between Ror-Bhyk and Denyr… how does a non-aggression pact sound for now? We can perhaps work on some sort of deeper partnership later on. I have a feeling the upcoming years will not be the easiest, so some loose confederation of states that coordinates defence against common threats wouldn't be a terrible idea.’

‘Frankly, after what you told me about the Red Masks, the fact your group is leaving the area has me scared shitless,’ Vikker admitted. ‘So… Denyr stands with Ror-Bhyk, Witch Queen Lilyth.’

‘And Ror-Bhyk stands with Denyr.’

We shook on it.

‘All that talk made me want to have a drink,’ he said. ‘Wanna join me?’

‘Not today, I am afraid. We should not keep my friends or your men waiting. I’ll happily join you for a drink once things calm down though.’

He sagged at that, but nodded.

‘Of course. I forgot we left things up in the air to other people. Since, I imagine, it will be a while, should I get anything special for you?’

‘Just water or tea will be fine. I was never much of a drinker and returned to full abstinence after I discovered that the one time I got drunk I ended up getting the goddess of Death pregnant.’

‘Do I want to know?’ he asked, paling.

‘Probably not.’

Ren - Task Force Dagger - Days 15 to 16 - 105 Days Remain

I knew we were in the right area the moment people started paying more attention to me rather than Sav or Deirdee.

‘Friends,’ I whispered.

‘Doubt they will engage,’ Sav answered. ‘Maybe if we separate, but I obviously wouldn't recommend doing that.’

‘I guess just walking up to them and asking “take us to your leader” is not an option?’ Anika asked.

‘Not with Ren around, I am afraid’ Kart shook her head. ‘And we were all seen with her. I may have a few ideas on how to rectify that, if need be though.’

We weren't planning to make contact per se. Not that day at least. First, we wanted to get the lay of the land, then we would reconvene and identify the possible avenues of attack. And so we spent most of the afternoon just walking around, pretending to be tourists.

‘We have a tail,’ Anika noted as we were starting to head back.

‘If you are talking about the red-haired man then he is a decoy,’ Kart said. ‘Or lure perhaps is a better word. The real tail changed I think three times by now.’

‘Yeah,’ Deirdee agreed. ‘An “old” man carrying a bundle, an urchin and a drunk fat guy.’

‘Huh, I dismissed the urchin as just a pickpocket. In this case, you missed the Miss Keeps-Looking-At-Storefronts.’

‘Shit. My skills got rusty.’

‘You were dead,’ I chuckled. ‘I think you are excused.’

‘I don’t think my instructors would agree with you.’

‘So, at least five?’ I asked to confirm. ‘Shit, they are out for blood.’

‘I wouldn't exactly call five people a massive problem,’ Dee pointed out. ‘Barely an inconvenience really.’

‘Reminder, some of us are still normal mortals,’ Kart reminded us. ‘Not that I expect to stay one for long.’

‘What level are you?’ I asked out of curiosity.

‘One,’ Kart said with pain in her voice. ‘Never been much for combat.’

‘Ouch,’ Sav winced. ‘Don’t worry, stick with us and you will level in no time. I mean, what… Ren started with us at level zero and is now thirty, I think?’

‘Yes,’ I nodded. ‘Though I pale in comparison to Lilyth who made it from zero to thirty-six, despite having to learn everything on the go.’

‘THIRTY SIX?’ Kart asked in shock. ‘I knew Her Majesty was high level, but not… that high level.’

‘Being a godslayer does have its perks,’ Sav laughed. ‘Believe it or not, Her Royal Furriness is only the third highest among us level-wise. I think Persephone is level forty-two and Phosi… She is weird. Her normal level is twenty, but her acid monster schtick gives her an effective level of seventy.’

‘No wonder you guys aren't terribly bothered by, well, anything.’

‘Don’t get us wrong,’ Deirdee interjected. ‘Level isn't everything. Under the right circumstances, those five bandits can be a massive threat.’

‘For instance, I doubt we would survive if Strickland and his buddies ever got a real drop on us,’ Savri shuddered. ‘We’ve been lucky with them, so far.’

We found Hammer already waiting for us in the inn. They were sitting at our table drinking and laughing about something. Aki was the first one to notice us and waved to us with a wide smile.

I must say, I was impressed with Lilyth's outfit. It was… well… sexy. Especially when combined with pink fur.

Maybe she will agree to wear it later tonight.

‘I gather the meeting with the Prince went well?’ I asked.

‘Yes,’ the furball beamed. ‘Somehow, I didn't end up in charge of the province and we didn't kill anyone.’

Lilyth then explained the potential alliance and some other details she agreed on with the Prince like adding him to her Magic Mirror network to allow him to contact her in case of trouble or having new information. The nobleman also suggested bringing in Morragan, the other province neighbouring Ror-Bhyk, on the deals, something Lilyth tentatively okayed.

My mom was less than thrilled when she learned about it as it meant more work for her, but Lilyth told her that we would need to normalise our relations with our neighbours at some point anyway, something Ireela couldn't refute.

Truth be told, we have been postponing it long enough as it was.

‘Isn’t Morragan the place the Princess was from?’ Anika asked after the furball finished her explanation.

‘No,’ I shook my head. ‘Zaevi is from Mavigan. I get your confusion, don't worry.’

‘You have no idea how many people back home mixed Austria and Australia, ‘Lilyth sighed. ‘Or Czechia and Chechnya. I guess some issues are just universal.’

‘What’s a tschetschnya?’ Aki asked. ‘And why does it have so few… what were they called… vo… vowels?’

‘It’s the land of the dreaded TikTok Brigade. As for the other question… I come from an area of the world that declared war on those. Chechnya is part of it.’

We spent the rest of the day celebrating our first day in Denyr ending on the positive side.

The next day, after we all got dressed, or in the case of Lilyth - changed from her court outfit, we decided to return to our investigation into the Ghosts, this time in full strength. Even Her Royal Furriness decided to tag along instead of playing mission control. We didn't mind, as having an extra two people would let us cover more ground, as we now could split into five pairs.

Operation: Noble Bait

Mission Type: Recon-in-Force

Team One - Demon Furry - Lilyth and Savri

Team Two - Red and Blue - Aki and Caeileera

Team Three - United in Death - Anika and Phosi

Team Four - Sisters in White - Ren and Persephone

Team Five - Covert Angels - Deirdee and Kartyen