When Mercy finally spoke, her voice dragged out as though each word pained her. “I'm sorry to do this to you, but it gets worse.”
[Doesn't seem too bad so far!] Dross said to both of them. [It's all of us against a mad, injured prisoner. I feel like we can handle it.]
Mercy searched Lindon's eyes as though checking to see if he was ready for bad news before she continued. “We didn't do well enough last round.”
That was no surprise, though it hurt to hear.
“Monarch Shen's Dreadgod teams still have eight people left,” Lindon said. He'd seen the lists. “Sophara is still ranked first, and most of the other top ten ranks are taken by the Ninecloud Court. We do not have the strongest individual, nor the most participants, nor the best team.”
As he spoke, his feelings firmed: he was still confident.
“And what does it matter?” he went on. “The only thing anyone will remember is who is still standing at the end.”
Mercy's look was full of compassion, but she and Lindon were drawn to the door at the same time as they sensed a powerful presence approaching.
“Not the only thing,” Mercy said.
Fury burst through the door a moment later, hair scraping the doorframe and chest bare from within his outer robe. Knocking must have been a courtesy he left behind in his advancement.
Lindon bowed over a salute, but Fury waved that aside. “Monarch meeting is finally over,” he announced, throwing himself down on the couch. “We're losing.”
“What was on the table?” Mercy asked quietly.
Her uncle—who, now that Lindon thought about it, was technically her older brother—raised his head to peek over a cushion. “You should come to these things, you know. If you keep it up with your advancement, you'll lead the family someday.” He let his head drop back down. “And then I wouldn't have to go.”
“I know the Dragon King must be gaining influence...” she prodded him.
“Yeah, his little snake is making the rest of us look bad. Charity thinks the dragon girl might end up a Sage, and if she makes it to the top eight, I won't be able to deal with her myself.” He let out the longest, most drawn-out sigh that Lindon had ever heard. “The cat and the snake are speaking with one voice, and thanks to little Sophara and those cults, the rest of them are listening.”
[I can guess what he means,] Dross said, [but I'm a little afraid he is actually talking about cats and snakes.]
Reigan Shen and the Dragon King are working together, Lindon explained, though in truth he didn't understand much of the situation.
Mercy looked like she did, from the way she frowned and chewed on her lip. “So it is about the Dreadgods?”
“Of course it is. You saw the teams that Shen brought, and did the other Monarchs band together and kick him out? Didn't say a word. Any more than we did when the Nineclouds put Miara as their team captain. Maybe I should slap on a wig and a veil and push around some Underlords.”
Lindon wanted to ask more questions about that, but Fury didn't slow down. “More Monarchs have died trying to kill the Dreadgods than any other way, but Reigan has the others convinced that he’s found a way.”
“How?” Lindon asked. The question came out of him so quickly that he forgot to be polite.
Fury pointed to him from the couch. “The cat has a key to crack open the western labyrinth. He claims he’ll use it as bait, drag the Dreadgods in, and the security measures on the maze will weaken them enough for us to kill them and craft their corpses into the most powerful Divine Treasures the world has ever seen. The cults, of course, think he’s just waking them up.”
The Herald sat straight up. The wind stirred, gathering him until he sat on air and drifted to face Lindon and Mercy. “Problem is, the first thing the Dreadgods will do is run straight through Akura territory to get what they're after. We take on all the risk.”
The western labyrinth.
Lindon's throat tightened. He knew where that was. His right hand curled into a fist.
It wasn't the Akura clan who would be taking on the risk, but the people in their territory. The people of Sacred Valley.
“Mother won't let them,” Mercy said confidently.
“No, she never has. But half the Monarchs feel like cities and towns are only holding us back, and most of the other half are listening because there's nothing at stake for them. If it weren't for Northstrider, we'd have been run over already.”
Lindon's spirit shivered as a massive spiritual scan passed through the whole building.
Fury tilted his face up. “Yeah, I'm talking about you. No need to show off.”
The scan passed.
“How can we help?” Mercy asked.
“Don't just win. Send a message.” He held out a fist, and red eyes blazed. “Crush Naian in two seconds, Mercy, and show them why they should be afraid of us.”
Lindon thought of the man straining against the restraints, a prisoner of the dragons and a victim of Blackflame madra. He could spend the week looking up records of Naian's techniques from the second round and training against Dross' model, but Naian Blackflame wasn't the goal. He would spend more time training against Sophara.
“Pardon,” he said, “but I have a suggestion.”
Both Akura turned to him. Mercy looked surprised, and Fury curious.
“We have two people against his one,” Lindon said. “Everyone expects us to win. And they expect Mercy to be stronger than he is. I think, with your permission, that we can send a stronger message.” For effect, Lindon let the Path of Black Flame bleed into his eyes. “Let me defeat him, Blackflame to Blackflame. We can show them that even when we play by their rules, using their Paths, we are still stronger.”
Fury's eyebrows raised, and he turned to Mercy. “Can he do it?”
Mercy responded with instant confidence. “Yes.”
The Herald shrugged. “All right, Lindon. What do you need?”
“Your guidance in picking a weapon tomorrow,” he said. “And, if it wouldn’t be too much trouble, I’d like access to a Soulsmith foundry. I have a plan.”
~~~
Information requested: Reigan Shen, Monarch of the House Shen
Beginning report…
Path: King’s Key. Reigan Shen is its creator and sole practitioner. A force Path touched by the authority of space. As a Jade cub, he was lucky enough to bond with a Sage’s Remnant that had some command over space. His Path involves control over an extra-spatial vault in which he stores weapons, techniques, and even enemies.
Reigan Shen is a creature of ambition.
He was born to a pride of regal white lions on the western plains of the Rosegold continent, a prince of this line of sacred beasts. His diplomatic victories were matched only by his impressive record in combat, and before he turned twenty years old, he had united the plains under his family name and reached Underlord on a Path of his own design. If he had been allowed to continue his life uninterrupted, he would have led his tribe to unprecedented prosperity and ushered in a new treaty between the local human cities and sacred beasts.
The Dread War disrupted his fate. When the twelve Monarchs attacked the Wandering Titan in an attempt to destroy the Dreadgods once and for all, Reigan Shen distantly sensed the battle. And when the other three Dreadgods woke to defend their brother, beginning the greatest slaughter of Monarchs since the creation of Cradle, he saw the start of that fight as well.
It was his first glimpse of true power, as such things are measured in his Iteration, and it filled him with awe. The conflict broke most of his home plains, and many of his pride lost their lives, but he led an expedition to a nearby human city. His goaclass="underline" to find out the identity of these godlike beings whose battle had broken the earth and spread across the sky.
That same year he began his search, the Dread War concluded. The two surviving Monarchs convened the handful of Heralds and great families remaining in the world. Together, they organized the Uncrowned King tournament in an effort to pool their resources and raise up a new generation of Monarchs.