Ascending Pride

Lucian had been informed the three tailed fox was blocking the path so the carriage wouldn't be able to come to the back entrance. Leonard followed him out to see the fifteen-foot white fox laying out tail touching the trees, and her front paws just inches from the southern wall of the palace. Not even a man could walk past without touching her.

"Lady Talvi, is something the matter?" Leonard asked with a bright smile, just moments ago Amin had passed this way… if she had seen him…

Talvi was laying out for maximum coverage, "I have a message from father Caius." Talvi stated using a tail to cover her open jaw.

"Please, we are listening Lady Talvi." Leonard encouraged, please just move! Leonard didn't want the delegations to know anything before they could prepare counter measures.

"It would be unfair if the visiting humans were kept in the dark." Talvi stated as she stood up. With a flick of her tails, a wall thirty feet tall, six inches thick, from tree to wall sprouted. "You may join in in the clearing."

Leonard wanted to claim this was empire business, wanted to say that this was between the necromancer and the emperor, even that they would of course tell the delegations. But… even if Leonard did… the best case scenario is it would fall on deaf ears, the worst… could be another Monroe. Death would be preferable to the teasing and taunting, hope then despair.

"Please, please let the carriage through." Lucian stated as he stepped forward. The large black eyes peered down at him, there was even a hint of surprise.

Talvi blinked to hide her surprise as she continued to walk past them, "The death mage is not here for you anyway." She called dismissively, while father might be willing to be the bad guy, there was no reason for him to take all the blame.

Lucian closed his eyes; it would be nice if something went his way. "Have them meet Us out front, the necromancer should be arriving as we speak." Lucian sighed as he turned to walk back through the side door. Still, his mood and mind had cleared considerably since leaving the capital.

Leonard clenched his fist, then set off, there was no time to waste. Sebastian, Jaxon, and Katherine immediately followed Leonard out, the dust from the carriage visible. The delegations had all their guards, mages, and priests already waiting. If Leonard didn't know better, he would think an outdoor court had assembled. Ah, Leonard glanced at the Seibel delegation, only the three princes, the crown prince's personal mage, and personal guard were present.

Sebastian stood behind and to the left of Lucian, he was a little surprised Charles and Lyon had come out, but they remained conspicuously far back. Jaxon looked like only his body was present as he kept glancing toward the palace.

Caius smiled, then grimaced as he ate the last sour grape. Aiya, no more grapes for a while. The carriage was practically a blur, when it would have turned to follow the edge to go around back three average size foxes were sitting in its path. The mages quickly reacted, snapping the reins while pulling hard as they adjusted their course.

Novak caught Jakub who had been staring out the window for their arrival. Both priests went sprawling to the floor, "By the beast gods, what now?" Novak snarled looking out to see the three foxes.

"Find the beasts! The beasts!" Jakub roared trying to shove his face back out the window, he had no use for the imperials anymore.

Novak was relieved Jakub was at least semi coherent, though watching him step on Wilbert's face so he could look out the window was… disconcerting. Wilbert and Bodin were still in there… but… more mixed. Seeing the benevolent smile on both faces had his skin crawling, and he had seen Jakub's failures.

Caius narrowed his eyes as the mages tried to go around his kin, aiya, that would not do, not at all. Caius flicked a tail so the earth rose up around the carriage. The horses, mages, and carriage secured, Caius had the carriage placed gently so it faced them.

The mages were screaming, trying to cast spells to break the wall of earth that had engulfed them. Suddenly they were released but all their spells, wards and enchantments had all been disrupted midcast. Now they were screaming or at least trying to stifle their screams of pain.

"Approach the Beasts of Sin," Novak reminded with a smile as he climbed on top of the carriage. Half the mages had fallen off and were scrambling to hide their faces. An elite unit, right. Novak saw the human form of the seven tailed fox beast, sprawled out behind the youth. Novak wasn't sure if that was because Caius, Lord of Lust was weaker, or because he was the silent power behind the youth.

The mage snapped the reins toward the beasts after seeing his emperor also waiting.

Jakub didn't bother waiting for the carriage to come to a stop as he practically threw himself through the door. Jakub belatedly noticed both priests were still on the ground, and he'd stepped on them in his rush. They deserve far worse. Jakub thought with a snarl.

Ashton waved the platter of food away, Jakub was even more of a mess than when they'd first met. Blood had dried in his hair, on his face, hands, cloak, shoes, sleeves. The dried blood had his hair sticking out in some places, but plastered to his face in others. His already crazed expression was now overshadowed by deranged despair and a hint of hope as if he were walking toward the last light in an abyss.

The priests followed after Jakub like obedient dolls, blood and ripped clothes ignored, both with full smiles but dull eyes. If eyes were windows to the soul, no one would want to look inside. The wounds had been healed, but clearly the trauma remained. Honestly… both looked as if they had stolen clothes from beggars who had been beaten to death.

Jakub was half stumbling, half jogging forward until he tripped over his own feet. Rather than get up he just started crawling the last few feet, tears already pouring down his eyes. "Save them, please, save them…"

Novak had already jumped down from the carriage as the mages started leading the horses away. Novak stilled seeing Jakub crawl… there was fresh blood on the soil as Jakub moved forward. For the first time, Novak was scared to learn the truth behind those sacrifices and bone enchantments…

Sebastian stood behind Lucian watching the necromancer crawl forward, his speculations had been all over the place but clearly… nothing he had imagined could have been as awful as the truth. No mage who used death mana had clean hands, necromancers weren't just slain because they could raise undead armies. But many death spells second tier and higher required living sacrifices, not just any kind of sacrifice. Sebastian was glad he was wearing white gloves today, otherwise his sweat might cause the cane to slip out of his grip.

Jaxon was looking at the necromancer, but his thoughts were back with Monroe. Whatever the truth was, wasn't something he could do anything about. If Ashton wanted to play savior, or push them into hell, they had no control.

Lucian watched the necromancer, then raised his gaze to the stunned assassin, looks like they would all learn the truth at the same time. Lucian really looked at Caius for the first time, smiling as if this was some great show for his entertainment. For being over nine feet tall, he wasn't drawing attention away from Ashton, but highlighting the much smaller youth perched in front. Even with Lucian trying to focus on the seven tailed beast, his eyes kept being drawn to the serene blue eyes that were watching as if Ashton had expected this all along.

Ashton didn't move as Jakub approached, clearly the revelation had left Jakub devastated. Unfortunately there wasn't a perfect resolution. There was only the best of the worst at this stage.

"You can do it, I saw! Through Promise, you can save them!" Jakub continued to mutter and plead as he finally reached the young beast. Jakub reached for the foot that was dangling only inches from the ground.

"Jakub, I am not the empire's salvation." Ashton stated firmly, when he looked up as if his faith had been shattered Ashton gave him a wry smile.

Jakub paused as tears continued to fall, making his vision blurry, "You did it, you did it here for this place…"

"Jakub, this was but the first successful experiment. They endured alone." Ashton explained, unlike the others who were damned, the cardinals had been willing sacrifices with enough holy power to rival the current pope. While four had not been able to endure, the rest had supported each other to protect the dragonkin children who had been unwillingly sacrificed.

"The hunting palace enchantment consisted of less than twenty drops of water in a separate cup compared to the lake the empire is bound to. You can evaporate a few drops of water without batting an eye, but a lake? At the same time?" Ashton added as Jakub continued to stare piteously, uncomprehending of the difference.

Jakub gripped his hair… a lake… even with mana… "We can separate the lake into sections! There has to be a way… they don't deserve this… we don't deserve this!"

Zane wanted to run up and shake the mage, could he be anymore cryptic? What? What? WHAT? What didn't they deserve? What were they enduring???

Ashton sighed, "Perhaps a lake was not the appropriate analogy because fish cannot survive without water. You want me to eliminate grass down the root on a mountain, without harming the trees, weeds, or wildlife. If even a single blade or seed of grass is missed, all the weeds, trees, flowers, and wildlife will be forced to absorb all the poison the grass has been syphoning from the ground."

Jakub sat back on his feet, just staring, yes… that would be exactly what they needed… to reset the empire. To finish everything, to completely remove the source of poison someone needed to release the dragon. If all they did was remove the syphons of poison at best this would be a temporary reprieve.

Caius remained silent, Aiya, he had been hoping the mage would come in ranting and raving. With how obsessed with the truth the mage had been, he should be spilling the empire's secrets like a fountain without end. Caius stifled a yawn, waiting as he kept an eye on the Adarians, Aiya, when would the truth be revealed?

Novak was growing tenser as a few foxes wandered closer, he also noticed the near naked men kneeling just off to the side. For the foxes to abandon their captives to surround them was not a welcome sight. Not to mention all this cryptic talk about poisons and grass, clearly removing the source of poison should be the priority, then eliminating the grass.

Sebastian stepped forward as Jakub sat on his heels, in just complete despair, "Lord Reece, please forgive my ignorance but the grass in this scenario are the souls bound by the enchantments, correct?"

Ashton titled his head, then glanced down to Jakub before answering, "Yes." Letting the distraught necromancer regain his wits wouldn't hurt, and with the empire staging the questions the big fox could enjoy the chaos.

Sebastian glanced over the mountain… "Then the poison in this analogy, where is it coming from?" For only the "grass" to be affected by this poison, meant the syphons were a matter of design, if the poison could just be removed, then the syphons could be taken care of at a later date. While the souls would be bound longer, it might be the safer solution for the trees and flowers.

Ashton glanced to Jakub, he was not so gracious as to just hand over all the answers, "Mage Jakub, you were the one to learn the truth, it is your choice to reveal it."

Jakub felt another hot tear run down his face, but inside he felt as if he were crumbling away, "Ha. Haha, the dragon, no… its not a poison… his blessings ha haha."