The Fievegal inner circle has gathered around a map that was provided by the airship crew, with the captain of the Stalvaltan vessel observing to help clarify any locations. Amalaskae still hasn’t awoken, and Daniel and Gold, particularly, were lectured for how much danger Daniel, specifically, got into, even though Fal, the prematurely hatched, yet possibly-ancient feldrok infant has been floating around in the arms of the Empresses, with Ryuogriar, Reignleif, and Geirahoel anxiously watching him enviously. It’s likely the fact that Daniel managed to use his weakness as a strength to get close enough to save Fal that they went easy on him.

  Aramellianna studies the map where a small unlit candle has been placed representing the fortress. Senn is particularly distressed about the reported effect of the void artilleries disrupting each other and seemingly sparking the black fire she and Bellphine have both seen clearly, and which Vaergraes has confirmed.

  “The exclave of Centerhold isn’t heavily populated as territories go,” states Sundnelle. “The fortress precedes the cleansing war, and it’s owned by the Grand Principality of Strylaph as a reward for the assistance that was provided at that time. It’s been held by the Strylaph family for generations.”

  “Strategically, it has less value now because of Ahmpur around it,” states Byleathea. “Ahmpur has been a loyal vassal of the Empire since their founding following the fall of the territories that preceded it. There are minimal trade goods present in the exclave, so its primary role in modern times is to serve as a foothold for the Empire to keep Ahmpur in check if they have major shifts in their loyalties. While not heavily patrolled, if there’s evidence that the Kingdom is encroaching on the territory, the Empire can use it to move in and take position in the fortress.”

  “What if the kingdom or other invaders have already captured the fortress?” asks Treia. “It sounds like it’s not normally well-maintained.”

  “You’re right, your Grace,” replies Byleathea. “But,...” She glances at Sundenelle.

  “There’s a secret entrance that only the Imperial and Grand Principality families know of, leading to almost all of the major points of the fortress.”

  “The fortress has a giant hole in it now,” states Doephluev. “It won’t be useful again for a long time, from what we saw.”

  “Regardless,” interjects Senn politely. “If what you have described is true, then it seems the void artillery attacks sparked the black fire I saw in Dawnsight. We should likely begin planning how to address it.”

  Hekate repeats what Daniel effectively told Rikuto, “We want to wait until other countries formally ask us for help. Anything we can do will be extremely destructive, and we don’t want to be blamed for something else in addition to what Yaulander is likely to blame us for already.”

  “If it continues to spread, though,...” urges the elven sorceress. She looks to Daniel urgency in her eyes.

  “We’ll be sending covert scouts to keep us appraised,” replies Daniel. “But, we have to deal with the attack on the Citadel, and ensure the dragon eggs that are about to hatch are able to do so safely. But, if we are caught secretly trying to remove the fire, it will be an international incident, and I’ve got enough of those.”

  “As the Empress of the Grand Zenkon Empire, I can give you permission directly to intervene,” replies Sundenelle. “If you have a means of stopping the fire, then I would like to petition for your aid as well.”

  Everyone waits on Daniel’s answer, and he closes his eyes as he tries to think. His heart is feeling tight. He has his own people to worry about with the Hegemony still refusing to abandon the attack, and with the berserker that Sundenelle narrowly held off, a wildfire, even a magic one, several hundred miles away is a low priority for him.

  But, Bellphine warned him that this could be on par with the Devourer.

  He says seriously, “We need information before I’ll fully commit resources. According to the map, my last resort would overlap significantly with several large towns and the capital of Ahmpur…” He draws a circle with his finger over the large map, roughly copying the destroyed zone of the Devourer. He has one nuke hidden away in storage that only Xyreko and a few of the other golem ministers know about. He’s fairly certain Ryuogriar and a few others have long suspected he had one squirreled away, because it’s too important if something as powerful as the Devourer poses a threat, not least of which could be the Strylak if it decides to no longer remain passive about Daniel’s or the Fievegal’s shifting of the world’s economy and the impending move towards large-scale sea trade that Daniel is set on.

  Treia asks quietly, “Do… you actually have one? Because,...”

  Daniel gives her a look, hoping she’ll abandon the question, and everyone grimly acknowledges that they don’t actually want to know for certain. If he has one, it means that he is worried that he’ll need one. If he doesn’t have one, then there’s nothing he can do to stop the fire if nothing else works.

  He continues his explanation, “If that is what cuts off the Dawnsight, as Bellphine fears, then it has to be long after I’ve exhausted all other possibilities. If we gather enough information and I think of something that behaves similarly, disrupting what would have to be tied to magic, then I need time, because I have nothing else.”

  Senn relaxes a little, nodding.

  However, Kera’tai decides not to let the elven sage get away with one thing; “Forgive me, Lady Senn. I’m sure I can sympathize, but it’s in effect what we’ve discussed just now. For decades, you avoided helping Vaergraes deal with the Devourer, and you’ve ignored the endless war. Is it fair of you to pressure Daniel about this thing? If it’s being fueled by mana, then it shouldn’t be able to cross the mountains in the first place. It’s even less of a threat than the Devourer, which was a living being and could presumably move if it needed to.”

  Senn sighs, nodding. “You’re right. I am a hypocrite. I had lost my way, because I spent the better part of my life slaying the enemies of one king or queen, or hegemon, or Emperor. I did it to try to find someone important to me, and when I finally lost all hope…” She grips her staff, and for once, tears fall from the stoic elf’s eyes, dripping onto the corner of the map near the sunrose, which is the precompass version of a compass rose that Zenkon uses, since starless or featureless navigation wasn’t as much of a necessity due to the lack of sea travel until Wenlianna started to stumble on the basics of a magnetic field on her own.

  Senn looks up, saying very seriously, but not with the same kind of affectionate tone that Ryuogriar or Doephluev use, but rather, a heartbroken and sorrowful tone. “I saw the black spell; the end of the future. And, I wrongfully gave up on everything. Had…” She places her forehead against her seemingly simplistic magic tool, continuing to struggle to get her thought out. “Had… I not felt the demise of the Devourer…” She sniffles, still struggling. “I… might not be here… anywhere… at all…”

  This leaves a grim silence over the table, Hekate gently elbows Daniel, prompting him to look down. She nods her head towards the elf with a serious expression, and Daniel doesn’t tease, joke, or do anything but nod once in understanding.

  Your own empathy is truly inspiring, Sweetpea, thinks the mechanic as he walks around the table to place his hand on Senn’s shoulder. He takes a deep breath and says softly, “There was a saying on Earth that I’m probably going to get a little wrong, but the only thing needed for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” Senn tilts her head to look at him, and he adds, “That said, there are two things that fools do in the situations we’re in; rush in and turn their backs on enemies. I have made many foolish mistakes, and many say I’m too soft. They’re probably right. But, because I’m soft, I won’t turn my back on your plea. Just… I need time.”

  Senn nods, but she adds, “I… I see… no alternatives in the Dawnsights. Even the world seems to be pushing… The Dawnsight ends in the same way as before. The day the Devourer perished.”

  “The world can be wrong,” states Vaergraes with a tone that is both stern and gentle, like a mother. “You were there as the future fractured before our eyes. A hard decision that waited just long enough. And, here we are,” She gestures her hand towards Veiranoei, who twitches. She had nothing directly to do with the last mission, but she is the one currently holding the second or first most dangerous being in the room alongside Yaulwembor; Fal, the infant feldrok. “Had Daniel failed, the child would have become or remained a monster, or…” She trails off, suggesting something worse than that, since Fal isn’t directly related to anyone, as far as they know.

  “Additionally, I’m not radioactive, myself, so I don’t know if I’m actually immune to intense mana, or if it’s cooking me inside out,” adds Daniel. “So, even if I’m personally unaffected by the fire, I need to spend as little time as possible.”

  “I can suggest something,” states Hekate as she leans on the table.

  Daniel nods, and the feldrok girl says, “What if we use me?”

  This doesn’t make a ton of sense right away, since it’s out of the blue, and Treia asks, “I would hope you intend to help, Hekate.”

  “Wha-!? Of course! Oh! I mean for the mana! I can try to absorb it all, and then dump it into the Citadel! It’s a win-win!”

  Daniel is quiet, since he doesn’t especially like asking Hekate to go into dangers that he doesn’t fully understand. If it were Chernobyl all over again, he would easily volunteer himself. Especially if he could walk in, ‘scoop up’ the mana, and then dump it into the Citadel. Likewise, while it seems to have been relatively minimal for his companions, the illness they felt in the presence of Kernuules and the out-of-control Fal indicates that they are experiencing some kind of damage from the strange mana. To Daniel, who knows a moderate amount about radiation, and far more than anyone on Zenkon, he can’t keep being reckless with who is exposed to it if it is in fact causing harm. For Chernobyl, they drafted thousands of people and restricted them to 90 seconds or so to run out onto a roof and throw as much of the radioactive material back into the core just so they could try to bury it all. And, that was during some of the more immediate response, let alone all of the further ‘Liquidators’ who helped bury contamination and construct the Sarcophagus.

  ‘Sorceranium’ and the resultant ‘strange mana’ have all the hallmarks of being magical versions of degenerate neutron material without the gravitational pull of a neutron star keeping it as such, and intense gamma radiation coming from short-halflife materials like fission products or even an active fissioning, or ‘critical’ reactor. When shutdown, a reactor compartment can be entered and worked in due to most of the fission products decaying away and the low reactivity of uranium alone due to its long halflife. But, when it is up and running and comfortably critical, there would be so much gamma and neutron radiation, that a person would not survive more than a handful of seconds.

  If Senn, Bellphine, and Vaergraes are correct, and Daniel has every reason to trust them on this matter, the fire is akin to Chernobyl during the earliest moments, when it was dumping radiation and contamination, and being near it was similar to being near a microwave with the door left off… amplified a billion times or so.

  “From this moment forward, I’m implementing the principle of ‘ALARA’,” states Daniel. “We don’t understand the strange mana enough, and we know magically-sensitive individuals have an adverse reaction to high doses of short term exposure, which parallels high levels of radiation, and we’ve probably been extremely lucky no one seems to have permanent damage.”

  “What’s ALARA?” asks Wenlianna, already holding her notebook with pencil in hand.

  The mechanic replies sincerely, “In English, it means ‘As low as reasonably achievable’. We have to have a full plan and hard time limits on exposure to sorceranium or other strange mana sources until we understand it better. To facilitate that, I’d like to ask everyone here with no other immediate need of mana to deposit as much as you can comfortably give to the Citadel. We’ll deploy a shuttle piloted by non-sentient golems and rigged with the most robust mana detector possible. Wenlianna, I’ll leave that part to you and Ahok, so ask for anything at all. Our goal is to see if we can make it fill magic crystals and observe the rate meaningfully to use it as a reference of Hekate’s tolerance. Geira-Mukori, Reina-Mukori, I need you to form lead into a tube large enough for ten crystals, and with a cap that has a small, thumb-sized hole should be plenty. You may use anyone and anything you need, including unused prison cells if you need more lead.”

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

  “You can use anti-magic material as well, can’t you?” asks Doephluev. “You said that mana intensity is directly proportional to a hastened halflife, right?”

  “A good idea, but it’ll likely disable the shuttle, even if we try to position the opening.”

  Treia suggests trying anyways, saying, “We can try it before the shuttle takes off. If the shuttle can fly, then there’s no reason not to, right?”

  Daniel nods in agreement. “You’re right. Mukoris, please make two of these containers, one for magic crystals, and one for anti magic plates. We’ll have to improvise, but there’s a lot of mined uranium, which is less pure, but still relatively easy to calculate the halflife for it, I think.”

  “We should send Neith to assist Roeta with the battle,” states Ryuogriar. “With your permission, we should end the battle swiftly.”

  Daniel nods with a little disappointment. “Neith, you have my permission not to hold back. Hekate, if you can convince Yaulwembor to help him annihilate our enemies…”

  “We have allies in their midst,” interjects Aoloan. “It’ll take a lot of time to elaborate a proper plan for her and to identify all of the friends from foes. Neith already knows.”

  “You should also probably address the agreement Hekate made with her,” remarks Kera’tai. “I don’t think she’ll care how you do it, but…”

  “Aoloan, do you have any spells to be able to communicate with her while she’s awake?” asks Treia.

  “I… can try some things,” replies the succubus. “A sleeping mind is generally easier to tap into with the void element, but if she won’t resist, I might be able to use a similar spell while she’s meditating.”

  “Until then, Hekate, you’ll make sure she knows what we’re trying to do. Your mana language seems to be the only way we have right now until she goes to sleep.”

  “Daniel!” calls out a new voice as three more individuals jog up. The kobold women are just ahead of Xyreko, who is approaching. “Xyreko used spell, so we’ll speak,” states Tulztame, the eldest of the three who aren’t incapacitated.

  “Tulztame, Glizumi, Sodenizia. Welcome.”

  “We’re discussing major Fievegal affairs, your Grace,” reminds Aramellianna. “If the young ladies will be helping us, we should finish the major points first.”

  “Kobolds are skilled with our hands,” replies Glizumi. “Please allow help somehow.”

  Doephluev warns, “We know you’re smarter than you let on. Goblins speak in a different pattern, but your language is more uniform, so the spell wouldn’t dumb down your speech.”

  The kobolds glance at each other after a moment, and Tulztame replies softly, “Apologies. We have to be cautious around larger races, since many tend to let their guard down based on our size and apparent level of intelligence. But, Glizumi is right. We may not be the most skilled with so many fancy items as are here, but our hands are steady, and we regularly make our own traps, tools, and improvised weapons.”

  Sodenizia and Glizumi nod in agreement with her.

  Daniel confirms, “They are crafty on the spot. Wenlianna, I think they’ll be of use to you and Ahok, but if either of you object, then they may be helpful with you two, Mukoris.”

  Wenlianna replies, “As long as they're careful, more hands will be quite welcome. Ahok and I would be able to prepare more individual crystals if the Lady Kobolds can work on assembling the devices.”

  “Leave it to us!” declares Sodenizia proudly. She does turn to Daniel, asking, “But,... Daniel?”

  “Levvikami and Moelka will remain safe in the void bag. As soon as we’re done debriefing, I’m headed to the triage center with Xyreko to begin reviving everyone, so long as we can detox them as quickly as possible. I’d like to retrieve one of the Selkethia and make a proper antitoxin that way, but that will take a long time, and we need all hands on deck.” He crouches to their level, feeling soreness in his body from all of the exertion he has had to endure, and injuries that haven’t fully healed exacerbated by adrenaline.

  “I’d like to ask you to head straight to work with Wenlianna and follow her instructions. No games. As soon as I can, I’ll send Moelka and Levvikami to join you.”

  The three kobolds nod. “Please don’t leave them like that for long.”

  “That’s the goal.”

  “Daniel,” starts Sundenelle. He looks to the albino Empress, and she asks, “If I may, your sword disables magic, doesn’t it? Would it be possible to use it against this mana fire before it grows too large?”

  Daniel shakes his head grimly. “No. She… Its… power went quiet because of Fal and the curse beast that wounded Lady Amalaskae.” He wants to believe that Kaeralegier won’t vanish so easily, but he hasn’t heard from her since encountering Fal and the eldritch being bound to his curse.

  “I see. Then, if possible, I would like to return to the Empire and begin coordinating evacuations and preparations to fight it from our side. I can also try to sway Ahmpur and the exclave’s other neighbors to formally request the Fievegal’s help. Though…” She looks at the map, which has a lot of space between the Fievegal and the capital of the Empire. “It will be challenging to relay the results quickly…”

  Reignleif offers, “Our best bet is to send someone capable of telepathy to communicate with the rest of us. Unless, of course…”

  “We can’t afford to send a radio,” replies Aramellianna. “Even if we accepted the compromise of allowing outsiders to hear our military communications, Empress Sundenelle, Lady Byleathea, and Sir Ecklevon are only three people, and the technology is extremely valuable. Even if we extend trust to three, hundreds will stop at nothing to copy it.”

  “If that’s the argument, shouldn’t we worry about the ones our soldiers have?” argues Vaergraes respectfully.

  “A calculated risk, true,” replies the Grand Duchess Senior. “But, each is assigned to a team that can be held accountable, and who are incentivized to hold each other accountable. The individuals likely to betray us are outnumbered, in theory. The reverse is true with our esteemed Imperial Fiancee.”

  “Mukori,” starts Ryuogriar with her serious and stern voice as she looks at Daniel.

  He looks at her, still not having decided.

  “I notice that you have yet to task me, Mukori.”

  “Maybe you’re the only one in the world I have no control over,” jokes Daniel in reply.

  This causes her to give him a skeptical frown, since it’s the opposite of what she wants, and he adds sincerely, “I’m joking, Mukori. I actually… don’t want to request it, but you’re probably the best choice. I would like you to look after Fal during all of this and coordinate the operations between all of us.”

  She is genuinely surprised by this, glancing at the tiny feldrok, who is still being held by Veiranoei, who is listening patiently.

  Daniel adds, “If Fal starts to lose control of his mana,...”

  “I can withstand it long enough to find you,” states the dragon confidently, which Daniel nods. “And, if he’s hungry…”

  The well-endowed dragon smiles with a little more of a devious smirk. It was mere coincidence that the dragons learned something about themselves conceiving half-human children with their so-named Mukori. “It will be my genuine pl-honor.”

  Daniel smiles, and Doephluev shifts her face in disappointment.

  “Doephluev, a factor for why I reluctantly chose Ryuo-Mukori is the fact that she’s not currently carrying children. I don’t want to further expose any children to strange mana until we understand it better. I should have made this call a long time ago, but…” He clenches his fists. He’s making excuses, since he should have known better and taken precautions much earlier.

  “No one here blames you, Mukori,” urges Reignleif. “I wish we knew enough to help you through these dilemmas.”

  “I can go,” offers Hekate. “Since I’m not good at much else, I can at least return in a hurry if you need me.”

  “You’re not very good at telepathy,” retorts Doephluev. “You still need to speak everything out loud.”

  “Everyone does it!”

  “Because we’re normally not surrounded by enemies. I can go. I can probably use the return spell on myself, and at least some of the Imperials will recognize me as a high ranking Empress with the authority to make decisions on the spot.”

  “I think that undermines the point, though,” replies Gwenesphia respectfully. “Our stance needs to be that we had nothing to do with Yaulander’s attack, right? Assuming our newest Empress doesn’t reveal anything.”

  “It will be difficult to hide your involvement forever,” replies Sundenelle. “There were a lot of Imperial soldiers, and I’m sure many of Yaulander’s allies will lend their voices to his.”

  “Mukori,” starts Geirahoel. “Send Onii-chan to the Empire. Reina and I will deal with the Hegemony swiftly. Senn and Gold will assist us defensively, and once they’ve been repelled, we’ll work on the lead canisters.”

  Xyreko adds to this, “I’ll have some of the civilian workers gather lead and other components. It’ll be slower, but I won’t have to expend mana to do so.”

  “Thank you.” Daniel looks at Neith, and the grey dragon bows his head. “Leave the Empire to me, my Liege. Your Grace, it will be my honor to escort you home.”

  Sundenelle smiles. “I am honored to have a dragon guard, Sir Neith. And, that all being said, I have a request.”

  “If it is within my power, your Grace.”

  “Would… it be out of line for me to ask… to ride you?”

  This catches the dragon and everyone else off guard. Byleathea exclaims, “Absolutely not!”

  “Mother, when else will I have an excuse to make this request?”

  “It’s reckless and dangerous! I worry enough with the strange flying carriages, but a dragon!? Forgive us, your Graces. But, I must step in as a mother instead of a vassal.”

  “I do not mind,” replies Neith. “I will cast magic that will shield her Grace. It will be virtually impossible to fall, unless we are attacked. A risk that will be true of the shuttle as well.”

  Byleathea turns pale, and Neith adds, “I can also use stealth spells, and it will have minimal drawback on my abilities. Especially if these operations draw out over several days.”

  “It’ll also be faster than the shuttle,” adds Treia, trying to be helpful.

  “It’s settled, then,” states Sundenelle. “We should make haste back to the Imperial Capital anyways. Ideally, we can turn public and aristocratic sentiment against Yaulander beforehand, though the Grand Principality is a very old, and very respected family in the Empire, so I won’t be able to depose him or strip him of his nobility without substantial evidence of his crimes.”

  “I’m more worried about retrieving Zuzia, the artifact, and if possible, destroying the Void Artilleries,” replies Daniel. “Like you said, dealing with Yaulander without making enemies out of the rest of the world will be a war of attrition on its own, but if we can isolate him enough to draw him into a trap, it’ll be easier to deal with him. Neith, I won’t blame you if you must act, but you absolutely must be cautious of Zuzia. If Yaulander has seized control of her, or worse, persuaded her to take his side, you should assume she has the ability to kill you. I don’t know how yet, but someone ruptured the tunnel in the fortress and killed all of those creatures. One of them was a dragon.”

  “A particularly ancient dragon,” retorts Doephluev. “Unless my eyes deceived me, since he was headless, I’m fairly certain that was Sayrdarralouche.”

  “Sayrdarra-who?” asks Hekate curiously, but Daniel notices the elven sage, who he’s still standing next to, suddenly perk up after the name sinks in.

  “Say that again…” orders the elf distantly, as if she just heard the most unbelievable phrase she never once thought she would hear.

  “Like I said, he was missing his head, but I’d recognize the tail any day. If it wasn’t him, it had to be a blood-relative, because he had the same splotchy patterns that I’ve only ever seen on him.”

  “How do you know him?” asks Gwenesphia gently.

  However, everyone is startled when Senn screams, “Say it again!”

  “Sayrdarralouche! I’m almost certain the headless dragon was Sayrdarralouche!” replies Doephluev desperately when the only thing that stops Senn from rushing to her is Daniel catching her shoulders to try to calm her down.

  Before he can even say anything, the elf drops her staff and turns into Daniel, gripping his chest. “Daniel, I am begging you. I must go there and see it for myself. Please! I have to see it!”

  “Help me safely awaken Arachne, Magnir, Moelka, and Levvikami, and we’ll go immediately after.”

  She is noticeably anxious, but Daniel replies, “We have to minimize who goes, but if we waste time, the fire is going to reach the fortress, which is where he was. I can’t keep putting off reviving them, though. So… give me at least that long.”

  Senn leans against his chest, and she places her forehead on his sternum. “I must confirm he’s dead. There’s… There’s something… I need to know.”

  “I understand.” Daniel requests, “Everyone who can spare extra mana, please donate it to the Citadel right away. Xyreko, I’d like a shuttle separate from the one that will scout out the flame’s mana signature, and however many golems you can spare.”

  “It’ll be ready and waiting for you.”

  “Thank you. Does anyone have anything else pressing or any questions?”

  There is a moment of quiet as everyone glances around. Ryuogriar replies, “Nothing that requires you or Senn, specifically, Mukori. Please, tend to our allies.”

  “Thank you. If anyone needs me…”

  “Excuse me, Daniel?” asks Ryukana’s voice.

  “Yes?” asks Daniel, turning to face the goddess.

  “Amalaskae has awakened.”

  Daniel deflates a little. It’s not that he doesn’t want to speak to her. He needs to hear what happened before they arrived. But, he needs time.

  “Can you ask her to meet us at the triage center?”

  The goddess nods, and Daniel says, “Hekate, you have the most expendable mana of everyone, so…”

  “I’ll give as much as I can without feeling sleepy, then. But, I gave Amalaskae most of it already.”

  “That’s fine. Inform Yaulwembor of everything quickly, and ask her to give mana as well, if she can.”

  Hekate nods, immediately signalling the Faormyr, who watches the magic signalling system Hekate uses. It’s a one-way communication method, but because of Yaulwembor’s uncanny ability to comprehend any spell, it seems to be effective.

  “Alright, please excuse us.”

  Everyone bids farewell to Daniel and Senn, and then the others with immediate tasks begin to leave.

  It’s getting late in a day that was already exhausting, and it’s not over yet.

  That said, Ryukana’s replacement World Managing Goddess has a few surprises for them that will shift everything.

  ***