Touch of Fate

Chapter 162: The Old Standoff

The man dressed in an elaborate demon costume howled with sadistic laughter, "Mwhahahah! Give up! You cannot solve my riddle. Never again will you see your children!"

Wearing a simple white dress and looking far too young and fit to be a mother, the pretty heroine despaired. "Alas! Though I have succeeded thrice before, to stumble at this point! Is this truly the end?"

The 'demon' laughed again, and held up an hourglass up for the audience to see. "Surrender! A mere handful of sand is all that remains. Soon it will have fallen, and the lives of your progeny will remain in my hands."

The woman's face twisted in grief for a second, before slackened in sudden realization. "Timethe answer is time!"

Reeling back in overly dramatic agony, the 'demon' hissed, "How?! How could you figure it out?"

"The answer was in your hand the whole time," The woman replied triumphantly, pointing at the hourglass.

Sera felt a surge of excitement at the heroine's latest victory. The play had been as clichd and ridiculously overdone as she'd heard, but it was hard not to root for the protagonist. Seeing her defeating a series of challenges using only her wit and the strength of her will, was invigorating. However, not everyone seemed to feel the same.

"Oh come on! The demon pretty much gave the answer away with how often he waved the hourglass in front of her face. Anyone with half a brain could have seen the answer immediately." Brenden complained from the seat next to her. He'd been a vocal critic of nearly every aspect of the play throughout the performance, earning him several scowls from the nearby nobles.

"That's because the third's demon's weakness was pride. He was so convinced in the difficulty of his riddle, that he assumed it unsolvable, and wanted to gloat over his assured victory. The kindly mage explained all this before she started the trials." Sera hissed back.

"That's another thing. I still don't see why the mage couldn't help her during the trials, or just destroy the demons for that matter. He was supposed to be some Tier 4 badass right? Why can he only give oddly specific advice?"

"Because it wouldn't be an interesting story if the mage did everything! This is supposed to be about a normal woman besting demons in battles of wits." She growled quietly, having to resist the urge to yell at the infuriating beastman.

Brenden rolled his eyes, "Yeah, some normal woman. She just lives in a mansion surrounded by servants and piles of money. Anyway, why even include the mage character, if you aren't going to use him properly? It just doesn't make sense."

Sera opened her mouth to respond, despite the dirty looks she was getting from their neighbors, but was interrupted by an explosion of thunder, which vibrated through the room. Distant screams could be heard from outside.

With a sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach, she stood and walked to the exit with Brenden. They'd moved without needing to communicate, both completely aware of what must have happened, and who was responsible.

[Maybe I'll get a chance to watch the rest another time.]

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Moving quickly, Mike and Tal headed back to the ball room and grabbed Audra, offering a quick explanation to Broderick and Elaine. "Sorry about leaving early, but we need to be going. I think we've overstayed our welcome."

Broderick looked anxious, "Is everything alright?"

"For now, but there are a few loose ends we need to take care of before the night is through." Mike replied casually, trying to not look at the sources of hostile intent which had been following them since they'd left the gardens. "Let's get together again, sometime, perhaps in a less formal setting."

Mike's easy confidence seemed to convince him. "That would be excellent. I'll see about getting something organized in the future. I'm sorry that you had to suffer through all that while guests of my House."

Smiling, he replied calmly, "Don't worry. Believe it or not, but this is not exactly an uncommon occurrence for us."

Leaving a now confused looking Broderick and a forlorn Elaine they made their way back to the entrance hall, meeting Sera and Brenden in the process. A quick summary of events was all it took to direct them out the door and into a waiting carriage.

"So what's the plan?" Brenden asked when they were underway.

"If they make a move, I'm going to try intimidation to prevent them from doing this ever again. Failing that, we'll crush them." Mike answered grimly.

"Are you sure they'd be willing to negotiate at all? From the sounds of it, they have a rather intense dislike for Tal. No offense." Sera spoke up.

"None taken." The elf replied calmly. Her earlier storm of emotions had largely passed, but she still seemed to be forcing herself. Mike figured she was holding herself together for the time being, until she had a chance to process.

"Unless I judged the ambassadorial party incorrectly, they aren't fully in support of Tal's brother, and will be willing to seek a peaceful solution to the issue, especially if I can demonstrate the cost of the alternative."

She blinked at him, before frowning in thought. "I know the headmaster has caught on, but are you willing to play that card? There is still a chance that we can keep your connection to Red a secret for a while longer."

He fixed her with a stare, "He called Tal an abomination. I'm not going to let him get away with it."

Brenden nodded in agreement, before throwing his hands behind his head with a confident grin. "Alright then. When do we get started? It's been awhile since I fought an elf."

Taking a moment to send a quick mental message, and search out the hostile presences that were still hovering around the edge of his detection radius, Mike stood up. "No time like the present. Let's get this taken care of."

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Aerin clenched her jaw as she maintained her pace through the nighttime streets of Almirn. Her team had been told to trail the target, and nothing more, but it was hard to control her emotions, and the need for revenge.

Turindinal, a comrade that she'd served with for centuries was now fighting for his life in a hospital bed, and the perpetrator of his injuries was allowed to go unpunished. A part of her recognized that these feelings were unjustified, considering the nature of the duel that had been fought, but it was difficult to reign the instinctual need to avenge her fallen friend.

The target's carriage was still in sight. From what little information she'd been able to gather during their hasty departure, it was likely that the Pact Mage and her protector were headed back to the University.

Despite recent events, the compound was well known for its security. Once they'd passed through its walls, the elves would be unable to continue their surveillance. That they'd also be safe from whatever revenge the Eternal Blades could muster did not escape Aerin. As a captain, and the leader of the squad assigned to the Ambassador's party, she was aware that any action she took now could result in a diplomatic incident. Assuming they were the ones to initiate it, anyway.

[Just give me an excuse. That's all I need.]

The carriage stopped, as if answering Aerin's silent plea, and the human mage descended from its opened door, quickly followed by the rest of his party. After signaling the driver to continue, they took up a loose formation in the middle of the street.

Aerin halted and motioned for the rest of her team to keep their positions before stepping forward, glaive at the ready. Part of her mind bent to planning contingencies. She wasn't sure how her team was detected, but it was unlikely the cohort of Night Blades that had accompanied them from the manor had been discovered.

She felt a grim satisfaction at the coming confrontation, but also a hint of trepidation at the thought of facing the mage in outright battle. She'd witnessed the duel he'd fought against Turindinal, and it was clear to her that he'd been holding back.

The Eternal Blades had dealt with powerful mages before, and she was confident that if it came to battle, they would prevail, especially with the assistance of their compatriots from the Night Blades. However, she couldn't dismiss that slight inkling of concern at the back of her mind. What was his angle? Why confront them now?

"What this? You've been following us since the manor, all but wearing your hostility on your sleeves, but now that we've stopped, you stay hidden? Are the famed Eternal Blades so cowardly? " The golden-eyed mage yelled into the night.

Gritting her teeth once more Aerin stepped fully into view. The arrogance of the human was aggravating her. "What is your goal, mage? You can't believe that we'd allow you disrespect our nation in such a manner and get away with it. You must know that there will be consequences to your actions."

She gave a quick hand signal, and her team of Eternal Blades revealed themselves. All twenty of them, forming a semi-circle across the length of the street.

The mage fixed her with a cold stare. "Is that a threat?"

Anger flaring, Aerin responded vehemently, "You maimed a good friend of mine tonight. Someone I was serving alongside of before your grandparents were even born. Plainly speaking, I am pissed, and if you didn't know, elven grudges are deep and long. You've earned yourself a legion of enemies, and it is only a matter of time before we destroy you alongside your pet abomination."

The mage's eyes narrowed, and Aerin felt a wave of killing intent roll off of him, causing the surrounding Eternal Blades to snap their weapons into the ready position. She could tell without looking, that each of them were prepared to flare their aura in an attempt to close the distance as quickly as possible.

"It seems that you have forgotten the fate of your comrade. If you think that simply increasing the number of warriors will even the score, you are sadly mistaken. Even your group still in hiding will not bring you closer to victory."

She felt a chill. Was it a bluff? Or had he somehow detected the Night Blades in hiding? There were a few high tier skills that might be able to accomplish that feat, but they were rarely available to individuals with magic focused classes. Could he have used some kind of sensor spell? Surely the Night Blade's Magehunter would have noticed.

Despite her qualms, she maintained a brave front. "You may have caught Turindinal off guard, but that will not be the case now. The four of you won't be able to resist us."

"Five." The man replied simply, "Well, if you want to get technical, six."

What was he-

A massive object slammed into the ground behind the mage, shattering the cobblestone street with a terrific impact. For a second, Aerin couldn't believe what she was seeing. Especially when the fallen object drew itself up to its full height, lifting a reptilian head into the air.

Two molten orbs stared down at her balefully, sweeping the assembled elves with a disdainful glance. With the sound of rushing air, the creature took a deep breath and unleashed a primal roar.

It took every ounce of Aerin's willpower to remain standing in the face of the instinctual terror that wracked her being in the face of that monster, but she bore through it. When the last echoes of the roar faded, she was still standing, something that could not be said of all of her comrades.

Staring up at the powerful creature, Aerin couldn't help but shiver. It had been decades since she'd felt this overwhelmed by an opponent, and no blow had even been struck yet. She was beginning to remember why the Dragonknights had been so respected...and so feared.

"Tell your master that the elf Talitha...." There was an inexplicable pause as the mage glanced back at the Pact Mage, "Valikenateil Lorethenica is under our protection. Any further attempts to harm her, and I can promise you the consequences will be dire for your city."

Aerin gulped dryly. While a single dragon was not a real threat to Nirethial, if he represented the Dragonknights....

"I will deliver your message." She gave the only response appropriate.

"Good." And with a sweep of draconic wings the creature lifted off into the air, carrying the mage's group with it.

She sighed in a mixture of relief and fatigue. They were lucky that things ended peacefully. It would have been quite hard to explain to the Council that they were at war due to her actions. With any luck this whole situation would be blamed on the junior envoy Farin, and the Eternal Blades themselves could escape blame.

A part of her still burned with the need for vengeance, but her blood had cooled significantly. For now, she decided to take the prudent course. After all, the Sun Elves were a patient people, as could be expected of ones with such long lifespans. She could afford to wait.