Legends of the War (War of the Magi Book 3) Page 9

  More than once, Artemia contemplated calling forth Odin and riding out its horse into the plains in search of her. But that would remove her from Caia, and it would reduce the spell she had over the soldiers and the town. She found that enjoying this power gave her a high she hadn’t felt since she initially gained control over the Dragon Hunter’s Guild, and given she had a mission before her that even the presence of the monsters did not guarantee victory, she wanted to enjoy her spoils as much as she could.

  On the night of the second day, she stood at the base of the steps, right where the emperor usually spoke. Her monsters remained hidden throughout the courtyard, but not very well. She had instructed them to hide poorly on purpose. She wanted the citizens, the soldiers, and the empire to see the monsters as creatures in the shadows—visible, perhaps, but not fully revealed. Oh, the psychological control she had over Caia. She got tingling sensations just thinking about it.

  Citizens gathered, many of them whispering as they saw the glow of Ifrit, the wings of Valigarmanda and the phoenix above, the cold winds of Shiva, or the size of Odin. They saw just enough to strongly suspect the presence of the monsters but not enough to confirm it. Good. The uncertainty allows for me to control them more easily.

  Just then, the emperor came down the steps. Normally, people applauded him without reservation. A few still cheered, but many muted their applause, perhaps out of fear of drawing the monsters’ wrath. Artemia knew that her monsters would not create chaos, but that didn’t make the experience any less rewarding.

  The emperor reached the base of the steps and smiled. Artemia approached and placed her arm around his shoulders. She knew exactly what this looked like, which was the point.

  “Just remember, Rufus,” she said, faking a whisper. “You are my slave. You are my puppet. Everything that you say is being evaluated by me. Everything that you say will affect how long you live and to what degree I allow you to have the adulation of what was once your people. You are nothing but a toy for me to play with before I get bored and discard you. You are mine, and there is nothing you can do about it.”

  Rage filled the emperor’s face, and it made Artemia laugh to know he could not act upon it. She turned to the crowd and projected her voice.

  “Please give your attention to the truly great and all-powerful, Emperor Rufus Syrast!”

  Her words seemed to give false confidence to the crowd, whose cheering increased. Perhaps they saw her now as someone cracking a joke with the emperor, and it would make her less of a threat to them.

  It didn’t matter. She’d rule all the same.

  “Thank you so much, Artemia Theros,” the emperor began. She loved the tension of him trying to control his tone. “Citizens of Caia, as I am sure you have noticed, the guild master has returned with beings that look frightening upon first glance.”

  Artemia studied him carefully. How would he explain her success? In a moment like this, his comfort zone, she could easily see him glorifying himself instead of her.

  In the short term, it would make no difference. She truly had no deigns on killing him before the last legendary dragon. But every moment of self-praise would result in a more torturous one down the line.

  “While these creatures may terrify you and look threatening, rest assured that… we have control over them.”

  We. Do “we” now? It became tempting for Artemia to ask the emperor to demonstrate his control over them.

  But already, glancing at the crowd, she could see his failure to control himself and them. His voice trembled, and his bravado looked weak even in his strongest moments. The crowd paid attention to him only in spurts, choosing instead to affix their gaze on someone else.

  Her.

  If the purpose of this speech was to humiliate the emperor, perhaps it would be more fun if he didn’t even realize that she was mocking him and setting him up for failure. The greatest way to disrobe a man was not to beat him, but to shame him. All the better if he didn’t realize the shaming until much later on.

  “They will not harm you. They will not harm your property. She… we, because of… the victory over Ragnor, have control over them.”

  He chooses his words poorly. But his hesitation in choosing them belies the truth. The citizens may not have my intelligence, but they do not have Rufus’ incompetence, either.

  “I am here today to announce just that, by the way.”

  Artemia had to put her hand up to avoid laughing. As incompetent and as much of a bumbling fool as the emperor was, he could deliver a speech to the crowd well. It often contained poorly chosen words and improper grammar, but the way he held control over the audience rendered that irrelevant.

  But one of the rules of speech was to save your most relevant point for your most emotional moment. And the emperor had blown his one skill.

  “Yes, it is true, the empire, through Artemia, has defeated the second legendary dragon, Ragnor!”

  Applause came, but it did not match what applause should come for defeating such a dragon. Artemia didn’t care. She hadn’t come to receive adulation from men who couldn’t carry that title or women who couldn’t stand up to such imposters. She didn’t convene this to have the soldiers give half-hearted applause.

  She’d done it to make a point about the emperor.

  “You should know, citizens of the Syrast Empire, that through me… and through her, we have done a great job in keeping you safe. And now, Artemia goes forth to defeat one final dragon in the name of my empire. I have no doubt she will succeed. Rest assured, citizens, we are protecting you!”

  The emperor turned as some applause came up. Now that the speech had ended, Artemia saddled up next to him.

  “So,” she said, letting the word hang ominously. The emperor refused to look at her, but she could sense his nervousness all the same. “The empire has defeated Ragnor, has it? And I go forth in the name of you to defeat Bahamut, is that right?”

  The emperor paused, looked down, bit his lip, and said nothing. For the first time Artemia could ever remember, Rufus had chosen not to make it about himself.

  Unfortunately, that decision had come too late.

  “You live tonight,” Artemia said. “And in fact, you live tomorrow. You live for many more days. But when I return, I can promise you one thing. If your physical life won’t end, your life as emperor will. You will not remain a puppet. You will remain a prisoner of mine. And don’t even think about killing me tonight. I know you’re smarter than that.”

  The emperor fumed, and Artemia just laughed. There was nothing he could do about anything that had just happened.

  ***

  At noon the next day, Artemia examined the four ships she had. Each one contained about three dozen soldiers, all forced into service for her. The ships still contained that hideous imperial crest, but symbols meant nothing when someone had sapped their representative power.

  Truthfully, she didn’t need the soldiers. But like many things that she had done since coming to Caia, she enjoyed flexing her power over the emperor, if for no other reason than the sadistic joy she extracted from it.

  “Madam,” a soldier said as he approached. He had fear in his eyes, perhaps in no small part because of the monsters flying above and the ones by Artemia’s side. “The boats are prepared. We move on your command.”

  “It took you long enough,” she said.

  She knew if she left, it would take her weeks before she found Kara. But even if she stayed, it might also take weeks. Even with her knowledge of the Shadows of the Empire, she had not found their base before the empire had. It had taken the sheer force of the soldiers to find it and burn it down, and she was just one person. Finding a single person from a former operation of a dozen or so magi would take too long. She had become too hungry for Bahamut. And she felt she had enough power to defeat the king of kings.

  “Let us depart, then.”

  She boarded the largest ship, with Ifrit and Shiva by her side. She had Odin join her on board, causing the sh
ip to sink just a bit further. Above, Valigarmanda and the phoenix still searched for Kara, but Artemia put no faith in their chances for success.

  “There are too many of you here,” she said to the guards around her. “All but about ten of you are to remain.”

  “You’re sure?”

  The man’s voice could not sound more hopeful.

  “Do I need to repeat myself?” she said ominously.

  But she really had no intentions of killing anyone. That would just waste time, space, and energy, not only to kill but to get their bodies off the boat.

  The guards hurried off, their movements as quick and their feet as light as any moment since Artemia had arrived. They competed for the chance to get off the boat, and when ten remained, Odin stood in place, blocking further exit.

  “Let us go,” Ifrit growled. “I thirst for the blood of Bahamut.”

  “As do I, and its essence,” Artemia said. “Let’s not waste any more time.”

  The boats pushed away. Artemia watched as the ships set sail, departing the harbor without any resistance at all.

  She turned back to look at Caia. About two dozen soldiers stood, some of them having just left the boat Artemia had taken over, some of them just in awe at the majestic beasts she controlled. Several citizens, a few wearing full-body robes, came to watch as well.

  Artemia’s only disappointment from her trip stemmed from her inability to find Kara. Now, instead of having the majority of Indica’s power, not only did she not have a sliver of it, she had none of it. Eric had died to take that crystal with him.

  A shame. How much more powerful would she be with him here?

  Not much at all. Just as the empire’s greatest soldier cannot compare to the greatest magi, the greatest magi cannot compare to my greatest beast.

  She would return. And when she did so, she would combine the essence of Ragnor with the essence of Bahamut and then the essence of Indica.

  Not only would she become the empress of Hydor, she would become its goddess.

  CHAPTER 7: TETRA

  After the fall of her beloved Garo, Tetra had not imagined that her rapidly withering physical state would ever bog her down as it did. Every day that passed aged her in appearance by at least a decade as wrinkles developed in plain sight, hair grayed over the course of the day, and bones became brittle by evening.

  It didn’t help matters that, one night, some indeterminate amount of miles and days away from Caia, a horde of monsters stampeded through the fields. Their auras made them visible from several miles away and thus easy to dodge by hiding in the plains, but the sight aged Tetra and surely struck some level of fear in Yeva as well. She did not see any human with those monsters, though she mostly kept her eyes down, fearful of making eye contact. Tetra could only hope the monsters wouldn’t destroy Caia—she wanted that job for herself.

  When she and Yeva got to Caia early one morning and she witnessed what had transpired, she could not have felt more relieved. The city still stood. The town crawled with nervous guards, but Tetra had no problems avoiding those.

  The monsters from that one night moved about the city, but rather than seeking to destroy, they sought to patrol and observe. They watched from the skies with unerring eyes, glancing down at everyone and everything who moved. They moved through the streets, intimidating at will anyone who so much as made eye contact with them.

  She kept Yeva close, nervous that at any moment, they would need to combine their powers just to survive. And while Tetra did not so much mind if she perished in battle, the young mage had much to live for. And if I’m going to die, I need to take Rufus with me first.

  She had not known such monsters had ever existed even just a few days ago, but she had a feeling she knew where they came from. Garo and the teachings of the magi had always spoken of monsters of hell, beings of Iblis that once roamed Hydor. They had sounded more like myth, the kind of tales mothers tell their children to control them in moments of impetuousness, but now Tetra could see that mothers had a point.

  What had become of Eric or Artemia that would’ve led to this moment? It had to have something to do with Ragnor, but given the lack of their presence, Tetra had to assume that in their defeat, they had unlocked a devil that would not so easily return to its home in the underworld. She had hoped Artemia had lived so she could kill her, too, but that barely mattered in comparison to the emperor.

  No more than a couple of hours passed when she noticed a mass surge of guards heading to the docks. So, too, did all of the monsters make their way in that direction. Given that no one had recognized her or Yeva—even in the few instances when someone caught their eyes—Tetra grabbed the young girl by the hand and led her to the docks, curious as to what would draw all the danger toward one single area.

  “Keep your hood up and your eyes low,” Tetra warned. “All it takes is one person to recognize us. And I don’t think the monsters are on our side.”

  “I know,” Yeva said. Thank heavens you haven’t turned on me yet for my mood swings, Yeva. You have far more patience than I would.

  When they reached the docks, they saw four ships about to set sail. On one of them, a large, demonic, humanoid shape with brown skin and horns stood hunched over next to a massive knight—probably about ten feet tall—with its equally proportionately large horse next to it. Tetra vaguely recognized both monsters from that one night. A single human woman stood between the monsters and those on the dock.

  Suddenly, a group of soldiers hurried off the ship. Most of them wore relieved smiles as they returned to the decks. They fear the monsters as much as we do. Whoever that woman…

  Artemia?

  Tetra would not believe it was her until she saw it with her own eyes, but just because she didn’t believe it didn’t mean she felt all but certain the former guild master was the one standing on that boat. She recalled her meeting with her in the former base of the Shadows, and how she’d promised to help overthrow the empire.

  And then how she abandoned them just before the ceremony.

  I suppose in a way, with the power you’ve got, you’ve overthrown the empire, if not literally.

  She began to despair. What if Artemia had gotten to the emperor already? What if she had no death to avenge? What if, with Artemia leaving, she wouldn’t have revenge of any kind?

  Then I will kill the person who killed the man I have sought to end for so long when she returns. If Rufus Syrast no longer controls the empire, then I will kill Artemia eventually.

  It was for the best, anyways. Artemia had set them up for failure at the ceremony, leading to the death of several magi. She deserved to suffer just as the magi had that fateful day. If Tetra knew for certain Artemia had killed the emperor, she would have used her magic to ground the ship.

  But until possibilities became facts, she had to maintain her place in the shadows.

  A few moments later, Artemia turned. Tetra confirmed it was her. But confirming her identity was the least curious of realizations. She noticed a thick red crystal hanging from Artemia’s neck. The essence of Ragnor.

  But something about what she saw didn’t make sense. For one, she had Indica’s essence, and while it would shift size depending on who held it, even at its smallest, its cumbersome and bulky shape would’ve made it a strain to wear it around her neck. And all of the legends said Ragnor possessed size that would make Indica look like a child’s dragon. Maybe the crystal wouldn’t proportionately shift in size, but it made sense that it would’ve had greater weight than Indica’s.

  Regardless, the presence of the monsters made sense now. If Indica had the power of elemental magic, and Bahamut had the power of physically enhancing spells, then the legend would’ve stated that Ragnor had the power of summoning. Some had doubted the existence of such magic, given that no human had access to it, not even Garo, but humans did not have a monopoly on magic.

  She didn’t see Eric anywhere. Not on the boat, not on the docks, not in the surrounding areas. Artemia must’ve kil
led him after killing Ragnor.

  Cold, Artemia. Cold and evil. You will pay. You will suffer as my comrades have.

  She never gave chasing Artemia at that moment serious thought, though. She knew only one reason compelled the Dragon Hunter’s Guild leader to cross the sea to Mathos—she would go beyond the small town. She’d go north until she ran into the king of kings, the god of gods, the greatest dragon of them all.

  And for as powerful as Artemia would now be, with her piece of Indica’s essence and the full essence of Ragnor, nothing would take down Bahamut. If Garo could only wound the beast but not destroy it, then a woman born without the power of magic would stand no chance.

  Even the defeat of Ragnor seemed unlikely. She almost didn’t want to kill Artemia immediately. She wanted answers on the nature of defeating a monster as large as mountains.

  But that would wait. For now, her focus shifted back to the emperor. Did he still live? She couldn’t exactly walk up to the townsfolk and ask. Even with her shifting voice and drastically changed physical appearance, in spots like this, the townsfolk would default to suspecting them of being a magi than they did a friend.

  She would have to wait until the evening. Under the shroud of darkness, she would unburden herself of her heaviest, blackest weight yet.

  “Come,” she said to Yeva when she had space to speak freely. “While we wait for night to come, we can spend time in the library. Remember, Garo said to go there to find his journals and meditations.”

  “Agreed,” Yeva said. “Just let me know what you want done, Tetra. I’m not here to make this my new home.”

  “Neither am I,” Tetra said. “But the timing isn’t right for our purpose. When it is, I will let you know what needs to be done.”

  Tetra wished that she would execute her actions in reverse order. Even when she examined the journals of her deceased husband, she would spend most of her time thinking about the emperor and how to kill him. If she could kill him. If Artemia had not beaten her to the punch.