Undestined: Fight your Fate

Chapter 12: Blood Magic, Pt. 3

“A letter from the City of Sojan to the distributed peoples, cities, and townships of Ohicink. Greetings! In this time of great uncertainty and fear, we believe powerful action is now necessary. The plague that threatens our land, while less severe than once believed, has served as a terrible reminder of the precarious nature of our beloved country’s disparate systems of governance. 

“Though many seers saw the onset of the plague, and though the Seers’ Council and the Healers’ Guild worked together to determine a course of action in limiting its effect, there was no such consensus among the various cities and townships. Instead, each governing entity chose to handle the news of the plague in it’s own way. This resulted in unnecessary panic, spread in part by rogue, would-be Heroes, and a complete halt in trade, travel and commerce. Had the multiplicity of governments in Ohicink worked together, such disasters may have been avoided. 

“But now there is a second threat facing our country, granting us an opportunity to right our previous errors and handle the situation correctly. You have already received our warning about the four would-be Heroes. We need to elaborate and explain. There are now five people we believe to be in conspiracy against the State.  They are Silay and Talis, of Dagrosa, Jarlen, an Alchemist from Welis, and Riya, a thief known to have been responsible for the theft of our own Wardstone. Finally, the newest member of the conspiracy is Edo, a powerful magician and a former member of Sojan’s Council. While on their own these five would not be a threat, we have evidence that they are working with a man called Kahoz, a spy from S'vael sent to learn of our weaknesses and vulnerabilities. 

“As the strongest city in Ohicink, we humbly offer our services in the capture and containment of these five and their S’vaelian conspirator. Furthermore, we would offer to host a Grand Council. This would be a meeting of all the Heads of State in Ohincink, designed to determine if our current system of governance is best, or if there is a need to develop a more centralized government in order to better address the external threats that we currently face, and those we might face in the future. 

“Please send a response to this letter within a month.”

Silay had stopped eating while Jarlen had read, shocked by the letter’s content. “But that’s ridiculous!” she exclaimed. “Kahoz attacked us. We’ve been trying to stop him.”

“We know we aren’t working with the S’vaelians.” Edo too had stopped eating during the reading. “But that doesn’t mean they aren’t planning an attack. The seers have been seeing signs of war.”

“Yes, but war with whom?” Olivia looked at the gathered group. “Who is it we are going to be fighting?”

The older man who had been sitting next to Olivia spoke up now. “Nothing that specific has been seen yet. War is a possibility that is becoming stronger, but who will be involved in such a war is still unclear.” 

Olivia pushed her chair away from the table and stood. She paced in silence across the room, and it seemed to Silay that something was bothering her. Finally, Olivia sighed and stopped at the head of the table. She looked at each person in turn.

“I think…” Olivia paused and took a deep breath. “I think we need to consider the possibility that S’vael might not be the real threat here.”

Talis shook his head. “I know S’vael is a threat. Kahoz implied as much when I was working with him.”

Olivia held up her hand again, and Silay decided that was her preferred way of asking for silence. “Please, let me finish. I did not mean S’vael was not a threat, but that they might not be the most immediate threat.” She paused and Silay saw her gaze drift towards Edo and his mother. “I think it is possible that Sojan is behind this.”