Asheron's Fall: The Power of Ten, Book Six - AF Chapter 279 – A Mighty Fortress is Our Candeth
Ebook the Power of Ten 6: The First Month Part 2, is finally released on Amazon!
EBOOK SIX IS NOW OUT ON AMAZON! The First Month, Part Two!
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There was silence and stillness, eventually broken by the twangs of a dozen Bows thrumming as they picked off a trio of Wisps coming this way.
“Interesting.” Candeth Martine reached out and stroked a ripple in the air in front of himself. “Formless and completely resistant to attempts to manipulate it, yet incredibly pure in all aspects. You are a very curious being, Warlord Briggs.”
Briggs just grunted. “Curious about your intentions, Candeth Martine. Indulge this magic-less idiot and his companions, if you will.”
“Very well. I first intend to return to Rithwic and re-establish my base of power there. I originally left it only to investigate the final fate of Gaerlan, which led me into the situation that you released me from. I will invite the surviving Isparians to join under my banner and complete the their return to the mainland of Osteth under my protection.”
“So you seek to divide our power at the very time it should stay united, Martine,” King Borelean stated with a grim frown. “Great power does not a great leader make, Martine, as even Asheron knew, and so many of the mighty beings we have met on Dereth have proved over and over. You seek to follow an unwise road, Candeth Martine!”
Perhaps at another time he would have laughed, but a monstrous warrior who was radiating a field of magic that blew aside all his attempts to pull at it was glowering down at him with the conviction of a true threat.
And he still could not sense the Princess Kristie Rantha, who had fought her way up a mountain of Elementals, and then survived the wild bombardment of the Harbinger with flare and style.
With help from the white-haired Gharu’n woman now watching him from the top of their floating Wagon. A woman whose magic was able to tear apart the magic of the Harbinger, and furthermore feed it directly back into the monstrous thing launching the most powerful Elemental Magic attacks known to Martine.
If she could similarly disrupt his own magic, while he was trying to Cast through what would be horrible interference from this… Source field, then he could truly be in a great deal of danger from these people.
Oswald the Green Hunter was known to be able to kill people through a Lifestone’s protection. If he said the Princess could kill him, she probably could… and if she was responsible for Gaerlan’s death and the Harbinger’s violent banishment, she was likely a dire threat as well!
“Do you expect me to retire to some reclusive area and only come trotting out when called on to deal with something you cannot?” he rasped at them in a half-laugh of scorn. “I will not repeat Asheron’s mistakes!”
“Indeed, you are definitely making mistakes he did not,” Briggs rumbled by way of assessing reply, making Martine bridle. “We have indeed had discussions and plans for what to do with a man of your power, Candeth Martine. You cannot fail to realize that a being like you have become has little place as a monarch of normal humans anymore. It does not mean you cannot be a member of human society, but you have advanced far beyond the wants and needs of normal humans, and that makes you an unsuitable leader of them,” Briggs stated firmly in his deep and so-strangely eloquent voice. “Are the changes to you so extensive that you cannot even reveal your face now?” he asked morbidly.
Martine actually tensed up at the direct questions, purple-red energies flaring around him and dying… and notably dissolving into a sphere of nothingness around the Warlord confronting him. “There have been… changes since my return. Reclaiming my sanity demanded some sacrifices.”
Briggs’ face was unmoved. “As expected. The virindi are not kind to body or soul,” he said, nodding once. “That said, we do not wish to see you exiled, as you clearly desire human contact, and you have earned that consideration, of all things. However, the ones who deal with you should be those who can understand and empathize with you most, and you need to be given something to do to occupy yourself productively.
“Thus, we have a task for you.”
Martine paused, tilting his head slightly, almost in disbelief. “You… have a task for me?” he repeated, as the situation turned on its head. “Something you can’t handle and need me for?” he almost jeered.
“No,” was the curt denial. “It is something we can and would handle, just not right now. But it is ideal for you NOW, and into the future. Are you willing to listen, or should we get to the fighting?”
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Martine made a dismissive gesture. “I can listen,” he rasped curtly. “Tell me of this… task,” he almost sneered.
Briggs nodded, unperturbed. “All Isparian holdings in the Direlands are gone. Almost all of those who lived there died during the Fall, or if not then, to the creatures which rapidly overwhelmed them after much of their Gear was destroyed. The mines they oversaw and the fortresses they held are in other hands now.”
He continued on before Martine could comment, “The newest, best defended, and most productive settlement in the Direlands was home to many, many paramounts in its heyday, staffed by powerful and skilled experts, and a busy and lively place for both exploration and mining.
“It is now in the hands of the undead, according to Master Oswald, who seem to take a grim delight in occupying it.
“We would see to it that the place is rebuilt, eventually restaffed, and held against the creatures and forces native to the Direlands, a job that will require power and persistence.
“The name of that holding in the south of the Direlands was Candeth Keep.”
Martine froze. It was a long and awkward moment before he finally rasped, “They named this place after me?” he finally asked in a low voice.
“We named it after a true hero who fell taking down a terrible villain, redeeming himself and his name,” King Borelean spoke up warmly. “It was made and settled in that spirit, and was our greatest holding in the Direlands, bar none.
“Candeth Martine, we would like you to take over as the Overseer of Candeth Keep, and help us rebuild the city to what it once was!” he asked formally.
The berobed man stooped slightly, as if overcome by memories. “What of Ayan Baquar, then? Fort Teth? Wei Jou?” he rasped, caught off guard by all this.
“Ayan Baquar was wiped off the map by the virindi, perhaps excising distasteful memories of their own rogues based from there once. Fort Teth was overrun by the Gotrok and the Hea, and much of it demolished. The Shades tore through Wei Jou, and there is no sign Isparians ever lived there, now, save perhaps the crater of the Deathstone that existed there,” Master Oswald spoke up in his clipped, precise manner. “Fort Candeth is the best place to reclaim and the most intact, as well as the easiest to defend once it is reclaimed, although we’ve no doubt the undead have left surprises in it that need be sussed out.”
“The Empyreans, dead or alive, have many tricks up their sleeves, that is certain,” Martine murmured absently. “Will there be issues if I move my abode from Rithwic to there?” he asked roughly.
“Some of your people chose to give up their existences as Simulacra there, but if you can relocate it and those who remain, that is certainly your right. Your Fort will need those to run it and manage it, and your personal followers would be ideal,” King Borelean agreed without hesitation.
“Fort Candeth…” Martine whispered, caressing the words. “Where can it be found?”
“Do you know where the South Dires Deathstone was, east of the Tombs of the Sand Kings? They are due east of Candeth Keep. You can see the walls easily from the Tombs,” Master Oswald replied immediately.
“West of the southern landbridge, then,” Martine mused in a low voice. “I… will investigate this fortress, Borelean,” he said, stressing the name and lack of title, talking to at best a peer, more likely a junior. “If it is amenable to my needs, then this minor task of yours is something I will avail myself of.”
“We can only hope you find some satisfaction there, Martine,” King Borelean bowed slightly. “In time people will find their way to you, and begin the rebuilding. But for now, allow us to reclaim our dignity, our honor, and our vengeance upon those who chased us away on our own. We need to know that we can do this without you, and without Asheron, as we have endured all these years without either of you.
“It is a new era, and we will claim it properly, in the face of those who thought to take it from us!”
Martine paused for a moment, then bowed slightly in return. “I trust clearing the old fool’s island is part of this process?” he asked mildly, much of the tension evaporating suddenly as his Aura receded into itself.
“It is a marvelous way to Level up our Archers with astonishing speed, and in circumstances we can recreate with some control. We plan to use it in the future for that very purpose, but for now… we’ve many, many Wisps to grind away,” Briggs replied deeply.
“And I am taking you from your task, Commander. Very well, I will leave you to it. Is there a place I can contact you if communication is necessary?”
“If you leave word with the commanders at any of the settlements we have liberated, we will know about it soon enough. If you clear Fort Candeth, alert us and we will send an attache to liaison with you,” King Borelean spoke up quickly.
“Very well, then. I leave you to your work, Warlord, Borelean, Oswald.” Candeth Martine made a somewhat awkward but nonethless polite bow of retreat and dismissal from their presence, mostly because he had to physically step away instead of float smoothly and regally away from them.
Everyone watched the proud and powerful figure retreat. A hundred yards away, his feet rose from the ground, and his stride became an energetic low flight at much higher speed, heading for the Shoreward and the open ocean beyond.
“Looks like he can’t Teleport over the water, either,” Master Oswald observed in a low voice, and then nearly jumped as Princess Kristie unfolded her cloak and rose off the ground like a shadow right in front of them, only an arm’s-length from where Martine had been standing.
There were curses and a lot of pointing figures at that. Nobody had seen her move into that position, and many of the sharp-eyed archers could scarcely believe it.
“Very smooth, Your Highness,” the master assassin said, with more respect in his voice than he’d given Candeth Martine.
“He was a fine distraction, everyone watching him and his magic so hard they ignored anything subtle going on around him, figuring it was his magic at work,” she sniffed, playing down the deed, then grinning widely to show her pleasure at the compliment. “Nice big distraction, Fuzzy!”
Briggs returned her smile with a grim one of his own. “Only the best attention-getters for you, Your Highness!” he replied easily, turning around. “Alright, show time is over! Catch a drink, grab a bite, and we are back on the grind!” his Warlord’s Voice boomed out, and all the soldiers there reflexively straightened right up at the pure command in his voice. “There’s Karma and Levels to earn, soldiers! We do this right and we walk away, setting the precedent for everyone who comes after you!”
“SIR!” all of them shouted together, and if that inspired a few Wisps wandering nearby to trundle over and investigate, they didn’t live long enough to cause any real problems.
