Of Gods and Warriors ✓

Chapter 50

He looked up, her words sinking in his mind, the setting sun painting his face in a russet glow. "Yet sorcery is what brought the Great War in the first place. It is better to get rid of such power that corrupts."

Captain looked at him for a long moment before swinging her gaze back on the trail, fingers clasping her pendant. "That's idealistic talk. Giving up power only works if all of us do it. Reality doesn't work like that. Here, Midaelian soldiers abide by the law and most don't touch a single spellbook all their lives. O'er the hills in Drisia, it's a different tale. Unspeakable acts of foul sorcery go on there. So who is ever at a disadvantage?"

"Midaelians." As they were during the Apocalypse. And so I took their side.

During the Great War, a similar conversation had taken place with Dresius, when Xenro had decided to form the Chosen Warriors to fight against Drisia.

"Shouldn't a god remain neutral in matters such as this? See all folk as equals? Be they Midaelian, Velan or Drisian, they're still your worshippers," Dresius had said.

"Or has your sense of equality shattered because of ...me?" he'd added with a crooked smile. Xenro was ever fascinated by how he'd laugh even in the direst of situations.

"Well, Father has a better way to uphold equality. He intends to obliterate all equally to end this nightmare, and thus takes no sides," said Xenro, "do you want that? Or would you follow with me my principle of rooting out the source of the problem? Enough lives have been lost because of this illusion of equality."

Xenro must have become passionate with his words, for warm, calloused hands held his face and Dresius drew closer. "Oh, you don't need such justifications to convince me. Mine was a question of curiosity. You know I'll follow you nonetheless," he said in his soothing voice, "till the day I--"

His next words remained unspoken as Xenro closed what little of the gap was left between them, lips pressed against his.

A futile attempt, no doubt, for he could only stop him from uttering those words, but not the inevitable fate that would befall him.

The vision of the forest trail blurred before Xenro, and he wiped his face with the tattered end of his chlamys.

"We're here," said the captain finally. She went ahead to lift a boulder from beneath a tree with surprising ease.

Xenro looked up to find himself before a hollowed out tree trunk, the gap large enough for a fairly tall person to crawl through. The hole looked neatly carved out by hand, not caused by decay that comes with time.

"What are you waiting for?" Captain Walric said, "go on in. We haven't got all day."

Sorcery hovered in the surrounding air. Frowning, he peered in. Instead of the gnarled surface of the inside of a tree, he found himself looking into a stairwell leading below ground.

This obsolete branch of magic...it is still alive?

"This...this is Space Manipulation! Joining two different places together, creating a portal..."

"We've got a lad who's excellent at that. This is his handiwork." Captain gave him a grin before descending. "Renowned alchemist fresh from the academy of Byton. A good boy too, helps out all the folk of this village."

✦✧✦✧

Farren, of course, cursed as he entered the main hall and stepped into the chaos.

Eyes wide like saucers, she stared at him. "Who's gonna waltz in next, eh? Lord Rhilio himself? Captain Walric and the battlemages? Throw everything at me, folks, for nothing surprises me nowadays!"