Jackal Among Snakes

Argrave rode back on the ivory whale for the island where the rest of his companions resided. He was ferrying back and forth often enough it felt like a waste of time, somewhat… but then, this would be the last time they’d step on its back, he supposed.

“Argrave… I want you to know that whatever happens in this place, this damnable forest… I’ll always be your woman,” Nikoletta said as they neared the island.

Argrave narrowed his eyes and turned his head slowly. “I thought we had this talk.”

“No, not ‘your woman’ like…” she sighed and rubbed her face. “I want to be of use to you, to the crown. I live to serve.”

“Commendable,” Orion praised.

The whale set upon the shore, and once they crossed back to the island Argrave grabbed Nikoletta’s shoulder and walked to the door that led to the exit of this realm. “If that’s true…”

Nikoletta, led by Argrave, did not have time to be surprised as they passed through the door’s threshold. In a very smooth fashion, they were once again back at the underground altar, their feet sinking deep into messy blood.

“I can think of something for you to do very soon,” he finished telling her.

She looked greatly off balance by the sudden shift of scenery and the abrupt request, yet the words still made some eagerness light up on her face. Before she could voice a response, the others that had been waiting back on the mortal realm stirred in surprise.

“Nicky!” Mina said, rushing over to her.

Artur greeted, “You made it. Had a little doubt, I’ll admit. I guess I need to learn to squash that.”

“Hello, Artur. You’re missing a nice tropical vacation,” he greeted the Magister as the two girls reunited.

“Am I now?” he tilted his head, eyes gleaming. “So… did you succeed?”

In response, Argrave projected the hands of one of his blood echoes out, and Artur cocked his head back in surprise.

“It’s… filled to the brim with magic,” he said in wonder. “You seem… your movements are strange, almost floaty. And you seem… fuller.”

“Yep,” Argrave nodded. “But we can talk later. Things are still in motion. Nicky—let’s talk.”

Nikoletta glanced at him, then walked closer as Argrave finished casting a ward. “What do you need me to do?” she questioned while watching Mina who stared into the ward in suspicious annoyance like a cat might watch fish inside a fishtank.

“If I’m right, Chiteng is going to bring all of us to a certain place where he and his family gather. There, my tongue is going to be flapping enough to put a hummingbird to shame.” Argrave pointed at her face. “I need you to steal something for me while that’s happening.”

Nikoletta’s pink eyes went blank, and she blinked a few times in quiet ponderance. “That’s why you stepped outside. Aren’t we… I mean, you intend to make an alliance. Do you often steal from allies?”

Argrave thought about Margrave Reinhardt. “Well… it’s not stealing, exactly… it won’t be missed…” He sighed. “Look, I know that the prospect is intimidating,” Argrave said slowly. “But I’m going to be attracting all of their attention, and this place lacks the omniscience that these gods have in their respective territories. I can understand why you might be intimidated after seeing that giant on his throne, seeing the teleportation, hearing the eerie damned whales, and—”

“I’ll do it,” Nikoletta nodded. “I trust you wouldn’t do something to get me killed.”

Argrave looked surprised. “Are you sure? I mean, if you feel it’s unsafe, Orion can take—”

“I will do it,” she repeated. “What did I say? I’m your woman.”

Argrave frowned. “Well, I wish you’d stop saying it.”

“Come on,” she raised her hands up. “How many times have you heard someone say, ‘I’m your man’? Don’t make it weird.”

Argrave laughed. “Yeah, fine.” He spared a glance to Mina, who still peered into the ward ominously. “Let me take some time to tell you what you’re stealing. I’ll be talking quickly, but stop me if you have questions. I want to get back inside… and test things out,” Argrave held his hand up, willing one of the many blood echoes blooming inside his body move past his skin. “Remember not to breathe a word of what I’m about to say inside that realm. Betray nothing.”

#####

Argrave held his arm up in the air. Alongside him, three echoes of identical stature raised theirs up with his. He cast a spell, held it… and then released. In tandem, the blood echoes cast the same spell. Four spiral bolts of blood magic rocketed outwards, tearing through the trees on the small island. It carried on for dozens of yards, and trees fell down one after the other.

“You won’t… get in trouble?” Mina asked cautiously.

Argrave looked down at her. She’d come to this side, too, after hearing what Nikoletta was asked to do. Only Artur remained behind, unwilling to pass through the door of the elven god’s making. He supposed he couldn’t fault him for that. Besides, it made Argrave comfortable having someone on the other side. Artur had proven himself reliable. Besides… who would even come down into that altar?

“I don’t think so,” Argrave shook his head. “Elsewise, it would have happened a long while ago.”

Still, her cautious words did make Argrave change his method a bit for the next task. He projected out the blood echo over the roiling red ocean, where Chiteng’s figure still sat with eyes closed. He made the echo cast [Bloodfeud Bow] while he himself did not. These echoes were easier to use when they were mimicking something that he did—if he cast a spell, it was easier to make them cast a spell. To make them act independently, however, was a trying thing. He pointed its arrow up to the sky.

As the arrow of the bow grew larger and larger, consuming the blood echo, Mina noted of Chiteng, “He’s just sitting there… watching.”

“And listening. So keep your lips sealed,” Argrave told her, and she flashed him an annoyed look before turning back to watch Chiteng, immobile yet with eyes open. Argrave felt the god was like a tired adult watching his child in the playground.

Chiteng and Argrave waited for the elven gods to rouse. Argrave had jumpstarted him with an offering of divinity, but the other members of his family were different. It would take some time to wake them up. Not too long, but enough they needed to wait. Argrave was extremely glad to have the opportunity to generate blood echoes. He kept that to himself, though, as all his companions hated this place.

As Argrave watched, the blood echo grew from solid to transparent in a matter of perhaps half a minute. When it finally vanished into nothingness, the arrow of [Bloodfeud Bow] released. It soared up into the sky like a rocket, and Argrave smiled as the gale it generated whipped against his cheeks.

Not nearly as strong as the one I used at Margrave Ivan’s tower… and maybe a little weaker than the one I used on the Shadowlander. Still, that’s easily as powerful as an S-rank spell.

Every ounce of that agony felt worth it just to see that. Argrave thought that coming to this realm would be a boon, but he severely underestimated just how important it was. If he hadn’t come here, practicing using these blood echoes would be impossible. They built up over time—very slowly, unless stimulated. If he’d gone into battle without proper practice, he’d have no idea how to make use of them efficiently. And now when he left this area, he’d have both experience and numbers. That was invaluable.

Vasilisa, Ganbaatar, and Orion watched Argrave like he was putting on a show. Vasilisa looked greatly uneased by his displays of power. She had seen [Bloodfeud Bow] firsthand and knew well its power. Ganbaatar and Orion didn’t understand the magnitude, but they looked at Argrave differently nonetheless.

It was extremely powerful. Argrave was proud of that fact. But things were scaling up very quickly… and when thinking of what he’d fight in the next weeks alone, that power seemed like the bare minimum he needed. Even with these echoes on hand, there was no way in hell he could defeat even one Shadowlander unless he ambushed it or got lucky. He simply didn’t have the skill or finesse necessary to combat something so fast, durable, and powerful. It’d toss a rock or something at the speed of sound, and his head would turn into a fine red mist before he could react. He was a glass cannon even with warding magic or fancy armor included.

Reminding himself that the Shadowlander had been an endgame threat, Argrave refocused. He next tried casting normal spells—elemental spells. Fire, lightning, ice—it worked, all. It depleted the blackness of his blood, however, and once that was gone the spells failed to cast. Once the echoes were depleted of magic, he could only cast blood magic. And if they were depleted, they drew from his personal pool of magic to cast the actual spell. These spells were weakened.

It was a very intricate way of fighting, and Argrave questioned if he had the mental capacity to do all of this in battle. He supposed that all things would come with time.

As he looked at his Brumesingers sleeping on the rocks, an idea came to him. Using his blood echo, he conjured a C-rank weapon of blood magic, the common spell [Putrid Paramerion]. The curved blade manifested in the blood echo’s hand, and Argrave made it swing its arm… but the blade passed through, dropping onto the sandy shore harmlessly.

Argrave sighed and stared at the persisting blade in disappointment. The blood echoes were intangible—they could interact with nothing physical, conjured blood weaponry included. Then, he frowned.

“Orion… pick that up, will you?” he asked eagerly.

The prince came to attention then rose to his feet. He stepped to the blade cautiously, eyeing Argrave’s floating echo, then bent down and grabbed it by the handle. He straightened his back and looked at Argrave.

“And now, Your Majesty?” Orion brandished the blade.

Argrave smiled broadly. “I’m feeling rather glad I didn’t ask Elenore to make enchanted weaponry for the Veidimen. Would’ve been… redundant, maybe.”

#####

Argrave tested things with his blood echoes until he was blue in the face—whether that was from exertion or blood loss, he wasn’t certain. If only the mortal realm could be as forgiving as these realms of the elven gods… but alas, it couldn’t be so.

There was one thing he couldn’t test, and that was whether or not these echoes could cast spells higher than B-rank. What he had was already fantastic—it decreased his reliance on Erlebnis’ blessing to a tremendous degree, which was something that had been weighing at him especially hard since their last interaction and doubly so since Chiteng thought him a puppet for the god of knowledge.

He was so immersed in his testing he failed to notice one of the ivory whales set its broad head up against the shore, one of the red-robed servants of the elven god of flesh and blood on its back.

“The lord believes it prudent to head to the mainland, that we might arrive just as the others do,” the statuesque woman told them.

“Is there no safer ride?” Mina questioned nervously.

“Don’t answer that,” Argrave told Chiteng’s servant, then moved towards the whale. Orion, Nikoletta, and Ganbaatar were quick followers. Mina looked trepidatious, but still swallowed her fear and stepped aboard. She clung to Nikoletta sheepishly and redoubled that reliance when the whale sailed away.

“…I may say that the lord’s family reacted rather… poorly, to your suggestion,” the servant disclosed. “The lord thought you should know.”

Good, Argrave thought.

“Unfortunate,” Argrave said.

He had to get them on his side. He needed both their might and the might of the elves that would heed their word. Failure was no option. and if they were unconvinced, all that meant was that there was more time for the duo of Mina and Nikoletta to carry out their mission impossible. Long-term, what they were going to get might be more important than Argrave’s A-rank ascension… not for him, but rather for the entire kingdom.