Tyler Kimball - Lessgently
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Pallesia - Chapter 171 - Devious Minds
🕑 Added 2024-09-25 11:21:38 +0000 UTCJeremy stared into his father’s back as a gripping fear tore at his heart. His father was leading the way through their home, off towards their safe room. The last time they had to use the safe room was when he couldn’t stand shipping the destitute into slavery—The slavery of a dragon, at that.
He paid his dues for his ‘mistake.’ As that was what he had to claim it to be to stay alive, but he didn’t think any more issues with the vile green dragon would become personal once again so soon.
His father swiftly thrusted open the doors to his personal chamber and moved off to the blank stone wall beside his wardrobe. With a jolt of mana, his father caused the large false wall to lurch and rumble back, receding into the wall and sliding to the side.
“Enter.” His father commanded as he held his hand upon whatever hidden enchantment held the door open. Without pause, Jeremy brushed past his father and entered the tiny enclosed room filled with chests of wealth, deeply important records and deeds, and enough food to stay alive for several months if needed.
His father removed his hand, causing the stone doors to begin retracting back into place. He quickly entered the room and waited for the stones to click into place before he spoke.
“Jeremy, you know Dendros as well as I do. There isn’t anything the kingdom can do—With or without the healer’s help. This is a fool’s errand.” Jeremy meekly nodded as his father took an ungraceful seat upon the top of a nearby chest—filled with gold, no doubt.
As much as he’d like to argue about Lee’s capabilities, his father was right. Even if Lee had an extra hundred levels, there was nothing he could do against the might of a thousand year old dragon. Any plans he made would be sniffed out, dismantled, and counter-attacked. Time and time again, their tried small disruptions—just like his ‘mistake.’ — but time and time again they failed.
He tried to speak, but no words came out. His father just nodded and closed his eyes to gather himself for what he was about to say. “I’ve been teaching you all I know about being a Lord. The weight, responsibility, and the lack of honor to do what is right. This is one of those times, and I need you to fully understand what I am about to say.”
Jeremy straightened on the small barrel across from his father, the only light in the small room coming from the sound and security enchantments lining the stones around them. He took a deep breath, taking in the stagnant and still air. “I am listening, father.”
"Listen well, Jeremy, for these are the words of a man who has lived with the weight of a thousand tough decisions. You know there is no glory in what we do, no pure and shining honor. Those are the stories they tell to the young, to the ones who need to believe the world is simple, that good men can win without blood on their hands. But you, in the position you are now, must understand that the world does not care for our ideals, for our sense of righteousness. The world cares only for survival. Those who survive grow powerful, those that do not, rot away in ignorance." His father—No, Lord Blight looked so weary and ran down, like the weight of responsibility was crushing him.
"And that survival, Jeremy, rests on men like us—on our shoulders. The people—those faces you see every day in the streets and those you never see toiling in the fields—they rely on us in ways they cannot even imagine. They trust us, without knowing the full weight of that trust. They believe in us, without ever realizing that belief means their lives, their futures, are tied to every choice we make."
"I tell you know, not as a Lord, but as your father… I never desired to hold their lives in my hands. No, I never wanted this burden. But it is ours, yours and mine, whether we like it or not. We are not free, Jeremy. Not like others. They, the people, have the luxury of ignorance. They live their lives unaware of the nightmare that plagues us—Dendros. We have to live with the awful knowledge that sometimes, to keep a thousand safe, you may have to send fifty to their deaths. That letting a criminal free because of their connections is the best choice—No, this is not a choice; it is a necessity."
“We are not the world. We are but men in a world of monsters, slowly becoming more monstrous in our own right just to survive. Making decisions that carve out what little good we hold on the daily—just like the one I have to make now.”
“To save my city, the people who trust me with their lives… To save them, I must damn one.”
Jeremy didn’t have to think about who he was talking about, as he already knew. There was only one person who was spearheading the hunt of the Sanctum. The one with the power to topple them.
Lee.
Jeremy raised his drooped head to look into his father’s determined, but sorrowful eyes. The eyes of a man who had to make hard choices for the betterment of his people. With a voice of steel, Jeremiah said. “Tell me everything you know about Mr. Barnes.”
For a few seconds, Jeremy tried to speak, but he couldn’t even utter a sound. His thoughts drifted to their time traveling to Felispar. All of the conversations, actions, mannerisms—Everything they’d done together, spoken to one another, or what he’d just observed flooded in like a wave. Then, he remembered the one thing Lee always said about himself. “I’m just a normal guy. I’d like to be treated like one.”
Oh, how he was going to wish he could change his opinion. Normal people get sacrificed for the sake of the greater good.
—--------------------------
Cats were almost as good as spiders, Em was sure of it. They could scout, sneak around, and nobody paid much attention to them. Although they couldn’t communicate like her old brood, they were fluffy, and that was enough of an upside for her.
It was a shame that they didn’t like her touch, or to lay on her, or to generally be around her… She blamed that on being covered in cold metal, not something warm and constantly bathed in the sun.
As she shifted atop her bedding—her Summit of Slumber, an apt name given its size—She reflected upon her life these past few months, or even just these past few weeks.
Never before had she been so… accepted. Those around her did stare at her in fear, she could taste it, but it was dulled. Not many rash acts of violence, threats, or anything generally untoward happened to her, and it was because of Lee. A man who’d shown up at her tower, unknowingly meeting a defender.
A man that was her friend—her first true friend. One that didn’t use her for his own machinations or for her strength. One that genuinely cared and didn’t fear her at all anymore. Even Regina, the assassin of the general, feared her still. Not much, just a trickle of it leaked through her faceless mask of emotion, but it was enough.
She’d gone on adventures, just like the ones from the books she’d lived vicariously through, and there was even more in store as long as Lee was around, she was sure. The tomes she had on the god-touched were true, no matter what Lee tried to say. Too much stuff happened around him for them to be lies and these scenarios were not mere happenstance.
But… As much as she wanted to slay she slayed a dragon like the tales of yore. Even she knew that killing a dragon was well out of their league. Was she confident? Yes. Was she suicidal? Not anymore.
Lee was strong, in his own way. Obviously not like her, but he was still strong of heart and had his own way of doing things. His strength was in healing, magic, and fame—and yes, fame was a kind of strength. She was stalwart, strong, built like a castle wall, and infamous. She was physical power, and he was the magic.
Although she knew he kept secrets from her, about his origins and his spells, that didn’t matter. What she also knew was that he was different, just like her. A one in a million—No, one in a billion kind of person. She was the monstrous, talking, weird Arachne woman, and he was the only man in existence to create healing magic. They were one of a kind—Well, he was, she was sure that there were other people Arachne around, just not on this continent… Maybe there was some from where Lee is from?
Em shook her head as she ran her gauntleted hand over an orange tabby, one who liked her Summit of Slumber.
Back to the dragon.
They weren’t going to be able to kill a dragon. They could barely kill the basilisk from before, and that was with the help of hundred and hundreds of adventurers helping out.
The dragon itself wouldn’t be stupid, it would know that an army is marching toward them and react accordingly. Enlisting the help of the Thexian military was good at first glance, but would end in disaster.
Of course, they could just leave. Leave this kingdom which she hated. The one which persecuted her and bound her with what was basically a slave contract. But, would it be the right choice?
Lee had said that he would be with her until she wanted to leave, and he meant it, she could tell. She didn’t know how she could tell, but she knew it in her core that he wasn’t going to abandon her. He also had no real stakes in the kingdom, as he wasn’t even from here. The sick and weary were his concerns, and it felt like nobody else but him actually cared about them at all. Most were concerned with power, the kind of power they both had. Levels, classes, and advancement.
Maybe she should talk to him about it… Just, leaving everything behind. Them going across the sea, on a new adventure. One that wasn’t so suicidal…
Comments
patrick n thomas
i think that the dark elf are going to be in the battle to save the kingdom
Magnuss
I think many ppl are making there calculation without some 1000 year old dark elvers or a loving uncle of him. That could be interesting.
Wintermelody
Thanks for the Chapter
Tyler Kimball
God damn it... Forgot to set schedule for 10AM again.... Enjoy it a little early... lol
