"Who Will Judge Them for Someone Like You?"
Starshadow Castle
Ludvig was unceremoniously deposited into a cell of the dungeon and Sonja left him to stew for a while. She and Zane went to the warden's office, and someone was already waiting for them there.
Dahlia Blackheart was Zane's half-sister. They had the same Dragon mother. Zane's parents were in an arranged marriage. They were together long enough to give birth to him, and then they split up. Later, his mother married Dahlia's father, an Eoduun/Hwaesek from Undirheim. They had two children, Dante and Dahlia. Zane didn't hate or blame his mother. He didn't disdain his younger siblings or his stepfather. His father seemed perfectly happy being single, not in a hurry to remarry.
Dahlia had an unusual skill inherited from her Hwaesek grandparent. She was able to control her humanoid form. Dragons could affect their humanoid forms, but it took a lot of energy, so they usually didn't bother. Dahlia was different. She had the ability of metamorphosis. She could change her body shape at will, features, colors, etc. She had naturally white hair, black eyes, and slightly dark tan skin. She usually kept these features, but seemingly on a whim, she could switch between male or female, masculine or feminine.
Usually, she dressed quite androgynously, in leather and light armor pieces. She kept her white hair long but pulled in a ponytail at her nape with bangs framing her face. She was female presenting at the moment, with her boots on the warden's desk as she reclined in the chair.
Dahlia wasn't part of the military corps. She tried when she came of age during the early part of the Hunter Wars. She didn't like the rigid command structure, so she quit and became a freelancer, a mercenary. Her main client was her brother, but instead of following orders, now it was just fulfilling requests.
Sonja glanced at her. Her presence explained where the evidence came from. With her skill at metamorphosis, she was a master of disguise. She'd been helping with this investigation for over twenty years.
Dahlia was unusually solemn. "I'm sorry," she said. She didn't need to explain what she was sorry about. Everyone in the room understood.
Sonja shook her head. "Don't worry about me. I just don't know how to tell the children," she said. She then dismissed the subject mentally. "Did you send for a Truthcaller?" she said to Zane.
Zane nodded. "I sent for one when I sent the report," he explained. He knew Sonja. He had no doubt that she would sit on this report and ignore it. She was a woman of action and would get things done soon.
Sonja nodded. Even as fast as a Dragon could fly, it would still take a while for a Sapphire Dragon to make it to Myrkir from Isaz. Isaz was the northernmost continent and Myrkir was the westernmost continent. She took a deep breath. "I'll go talk to him," she decided. "Stay here," she told them.
Dahlia held up her hands, expressing silently she had no desire to get in the middle of that conversation. Zane frowned but he didn't argue.
Sonja made her way back to the cells. Ludvig was pacing and yelling every now and then in his cell. He snarled when he saw her enter the outer cell on the other side of the bars. "Sonja Starshadow! Why have you locked me up? What will the children think when they learn you locked their father in the dungeon," he said. He knew her weakness. That was her children. The tough as nails Duchess of Starshadow was a softy when it came to children, especially her own.
Sonja's face became even colder. "What will your children think when they learn you've been plotting to kidnap the Grand Duchess's children? Was Chrystianna your next target? I've been over it a thousand times in my head and I cannot figure out how you benefit from this," she said.
Ludvig made an ugly face. "Even if I did any of that, why is it bad for me? If there are no Silvermoons, who is next in line? You! Then you're in charge and I'm the Grand Duke consort!" he declared.
Sonja paused in utter bewilderment. She rubbed her forehead. "Dunderhead. Absolute dunderhead," she grumbled. "That's not how it works, idiot!" she shouted.
Ludvig flinched. "No. If there are no more Silvermoons, who will be Grand Duchess?" he asked. He blinked a few times.
Sonja shook her head. She knew he wasn't the brightest, but did he really not know how their society works? "Firstly, like what happened during the Plague in Isaz, a child from another branch of the family will be found and brought up to renew the role. Secondly, even if that is how it worked, Elektra Sunfyre is the same rank as me. Thirdly, even if the ranking changed, the entire Conclave would have to vote on it," she explained impatiently.
Looking at his confounded face, it seems as though he really never realized that. She narrowed her eyes. If her husband really was this ignorant, there was no way he masterminded a kidnapping plot in order to overthrow the Grand Duchess.
"Who told you that would happen if something were to happen to Chrystianna?" she asked. She crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow at him.
Ludvig blanched but tried to hide his expression. "What are you saying? I thought that was how it works! I planned it. It's not my fault the Gods intervened," he said stubbornly. "Nothing happened to her or her brats. You have no reason to lock me up. Let's just divorce and I'll go home to my sisters," he suggested, regaining some of his young master's arrogance. He had no doubt his sisters would take him in.
"You are a Justice. You should know the laws better than me," she stated.
Ludvig scoffed. "If you make this public, what about the children?" he asked, trying to pry her weakness again.
Sonja shook her head. "The children will be hurt by your actions, but they are Starshadows. Who will dare judge them for someone like you?" she sneered.
Disappointment came upon her. "A Truthcaller is coming. Your official interrogation will begin soon. Someone will bring you breakfast and clothes," she said. She turned sharply on her heel and left the cell. She just could not deal with him any longer.
--
Thelessia
Delaney stepped into the other side of the passage created by the shadows via the Shadow Dimension. She cloaked herself once more and walked toward the village. She traveled around hearing snippets of conversation, including conversation between two greasy male villagers.
"Yew reckon them soljers ate the food? Should we send word to them fellers in the mountins?" one asked the other as they warily watched a small, decrepit house set apart from the other village houses.
"Ont know," the other said and then spat a wad of something brown on the ground at his feet. "Them fellers scare the ghost outta me. I also ont wanner make them soljer fellers upset if they ain't eat the food yet," he said warily.
The conversation happened as they shuffled through the village.
The mountains, huh? She gathered some shadows in front of her and stepped through them again, coming out closer to the mountains. This time she just did a basic Shadowwalk. She then shifted her shape, turning into a black mist before coalescing into a large black cat with sharp green eyes. She ran through the mountains, using her animal senses to follow the traces of mountain trolls. From what she overheard, the mountain trolls were mixed up with the Dragon Hunters.
It wasn't long before she found where the Dragon Hunters were hidden. Cloaking herself in shadows she went through their camp, counting them. They were laughing and talking amongst themselves. She couldn't understand their language. She headed toward what she realized was a spacecraft. It was rugged, strangely brown, and about the size of a large house. After memorizing the layout of their camp and observing the behavior for a bit, she ran back down the mountains. She jumped into the shadows and popped out near the house.
The house was protected by wards. They were powerful, but not powerful enough for her. She ran up to the door, scratched on it, and meowed.
Inside the house, Britiana had taken about half an hour to finish her drawing. She said a word in Emphyralian Draconic, and the writing glowed brightly before disappearing. She smiled and rubbed her hands as if dusting them off.
Guennit and Darius had finished their discussion and were now including the entire company in how to deal with the mountain trolls and the Hunters. Darius was trying to dissuade them from confronting the Hunters themselves, trying to describe their technology that was beyond anything they could even imagine.
Sariya was half listening, but she wasn't a soldier. While they were talking, she was using some supplies in her dimensional storage pouch to make new arrows. When Chrystianna saw what she was doing, she provided some better materials than what she could find on Thelessia.
She looked over when Britiana finished her work and smiled. "Done?" she asked.
"Yep!" Britiana said.
Sariya looked over, observing her quiver. "What did you do to it?" she asked. It didn't look any different.
"It's very simple. Put an arrow in and never run out again! It's an infinite dimensional pocket spell combined with an infinite copying spell. It will also copy and provide other things, but I mainly made it for your arrows," she explained. She stood and stretched her tired muscles. Afterwards, she handed the quiver over to Sariya.
"I also strengthened it, and your blood bonded it to you so even if you accidentally misplaced it, it'll eventually return to you. If you ever get tired of it and want to replace it, a strong enough mage can break the bond, or just find me," she explained with a bright expression.
She stopped suddenly and turned her head with a light gasp. Then she heard scratching at the door.
Darius and the soldiers became alert again. Britiana held up a hand and opened the door. A large beautiful black cat waltzed into the room nonchalantly. Its body turned into black mist and coalesced into a woman in a cloak with her hands up. "I come in peace with intelligence," she said.
Britiana nodded. "It's true," she assured the others. She could tell that the newcomer meant no harm to them. She could sense her trepidation, but there were no negative emotions toward them.
Delaney pushed her hood back revealing a light umber face with warm undertones, piercing green eyes, a smattering of freckles across her nose, and long red hair in a neat braid. She appeared to be human, but her shifting seemed to say otherwise. "My name is Delaney Crowley. I came to Thelessia looking for a new home for my family. I was about to return when I discovered a house protected by high level magic beyond what this world should have.
"While I was waiting for the owner to return, I discovered this lady arriving through a tear in the Void," she nodded toward Chrystianna. "Through the Void I could feel more residual magic spill through. I was more than I've ever felt before.
"My apologies, I've been following you all for a while," she explained. She had a sheepish tone to her voice.
"Being cautious isn't anything to apologize for," Chrystianna said with a soft smile. "My name is Chrystianna Silvermoon," she then introduced Britiana, Darius, and Sariya. "I'm sorry, I'm not familiar with my son's colleagues," she added regretfully. She realized again there was so much about her children she didn't know.
"I'm Guennit, these are my men. We're the Hawk Talon Company," Guennit said simply.
Delaney nodded at them in greeting.
"You said you had intelligence?" Darius asked, getting down to business.
Delaney became serious again. She walked to the table. "May I eat while I talk?" she asked. There was still food left, and she realized she was starving.
One of the young soldiers in the company quickly vacated his seat. "Please, sit here ma'am," he said bashfully with a red face under his dusky skin.
"Thank you," Delaney said and wasn't polite. She sat, and began to fill a plate with food. The young soldier poured her some water to drink. After she began eating, she began telling them about everything she saw, both outside Tarrytown and when she arrived there.
Everyone listened to her, only interrupting to clarify occasionally.
Britiana was almost bouncing. Her eyes were glowing. "They actually have a spaceship? An intact spaceship?" she asked.
Delaney looked at her curiously. "You know what a spaceship is?" she asked. She didn't mean it as an insult. A lot of planets with low technology had no concept of space travel. Even planets with higher level magic would rarely contemplate traveling to the stars.
Britiana giggled. "Of course! We even built one," she said.
"I don't," Sariya said. The soldiers nodded. "But from the description, I assume a ship that can sail in space," she added. The soldiers didn't know how to react.
Chrystianna nodded. "We always knew the Hunters had space crafts, but we were never able to find one intact. They would set them to self-destruct when hunting. If they didn't return after a set period of time, they would explode, leaving nothing behind," she explained.
Delaney was quiet. She didn't know the situation on their planet. "I have an idea," she said and glanced at Sariya. "I need to ask you some questions, but perhaps not in front of so many strangers," she said.
Guennit stood. "Come lads. Let's make our presence known. Do a patrol. Gleck, Tolin, keep out of sight and watch for villagers who try to head toward the mountains. No need to treat them kindly," he said. He did not appreciate being lied to schemed.
The soldiers agreed and stood, leaving the house in a bold way.
"Should we also leave?" Britiana asked Sariya.
"No need. Please say whatever you need to say," Sariya said to Delaney.
"I want to know about the person who gave you the shadowbane. Like you said, it's an herb that comes from the Shadow Dimension. Only Shadow Demons can fully access the Shadow Dimension," she said in a level voice.
"So can half Shadow Demons. My husband was half Eoduun," Sariya said plainly.
Delaney frowned slightly. "Half-breeds can only access the periphery," she said.
Sariya frowned slightly as well. "Maybe because my husband grew up in the Shadow Dimension. He told me that when he was young, his father showed up and took him from his mother," she explained.
Delaney nodded. She took a deep breath and let it out slightly. "Do you know the name of the Shadow Demon?" she asked
"Alizabab," Sariya answered. She didn't mind answering these questions.
"Alizabab," Delaney repeated in a low voice. "You are pregnant, right? May I cast a blood resonance?" she asked.
This request surprised everyone. Sariya nodded slightly. She didn't know where this was going but she was open minded.
Delaney stood and approached her. With a twist of her wrist, a white wisp of light floated above her palm. It moved to hover near Sariya's abdomen. The light began to pulse lightly. The room was deathly quiet as they watched. The light began to change color and began to glow red.
Delaney took a shaking breath and flicked her hand, disengaging the spell. She sat back down. "Now it's my turn to share about me," she said. "My world is called Terranthea. It's mostly made up of humans. Modern humans have only existed for about fifteen thousand years. Starting from a hunter-gatherer society, we became a sprawling civilization with massive cities and towering buildings. Technology is advancing every year.
"As technology took over human lives, magic and magical creatures became the things of myths and legends. We, the witchborn have always existed from the earliest days. Religions have persecuted witchborn periodically over the years until collectively the majority just no longer believe in magic.
"Even in our darkest times, the witchborn protected the world from demons from the Lower Realm. But the demons were getting stronger and smarter. About fifty years ago, demons began amassing followers, influencing politicians. The witchborn became exposed. Now we're hunted down, arrested. The landscape of our world is no longer within the power of the witchborn to protect. So, I've been looking for a new home for my family. We, the Crowleys, are the enemies of the people according to the anti-witch laws," she said the last part wryly.
Her audience was rapt. "Why? Is your family special? How are you connected to Qazim?" Darius asked.
"The Crowleys were always a powerful family. Our powers were always strongly connected to nature. But my mother and her sisters are even more special. My grandmother met a fallen god. Lowercase god from the Upper Realm connected to our world. He was a Cat deity. He had six daughters with my grandmother before he was hunted down by others from the Upper Realm and killed. From what I understand, the existence of my grandmother and her daughters was a secret that the Upper Realm never knew about.
"The Crowleys continued to fight demons. When my mother was a young woman, they came across a Shadow Demon. It was recorded in our family grimoire that Shadow Demons weren't from the Lower Realm. They could use the Shadow Dimension to travel anywhere in the universe and cause havoc. This Shadow Demon took a liking to my mother. They finally managed to combine their power to send him back to the Shadow Dimension and restrict him from appearing again. But it was too late. I was already cooking."
"That Shadow Demon was Alizabab?" Sariya asked. She wasn't sure what exactly the results of the blood resonance were.
Delaney shook her head slightly. "My mother and aunts didn't know his true name. He was a strange character and just went by 'Babs'. But the blood resonance proves that I have a direct blood relation with your child. You seem to be carrying my nibling," she said with a soft smile.
She became serious again. "Things were still okay then. Things got better for a while. Demon appearances weren't as frequent. However, my mother and aunts were getting older but not aging. I was getting older and not aging. My grandmother died from old age, and we all were paused. This was not a major problem, it just meant we could protect the world for longer."
"The demons were already working on humans behind the scenes, right?" Darius asked. The Hunter Wars lasted less than a century, but it seemed as though Terranthea had been fighting demons for as long as humans existed.
Delaney nodded. "About thirty years ago, one of my aunts fell in love with a male witchborn, and wanted to have a family. Things were still more or less fine then. We noticed the uptick of demon activity, but didn't notice the things humans were doing." She smiled sadly. "Five years ago, anti-witch laws were passed worldwide. Every major country passed them at almost the same time. Our neighbors turned against us. My uncle was killed not by demons, but a mob of people, his neighbors and co-workers.
"We can't hurt humans. His hands were tied with what he could do to fight back, but our house was burned. Things like that began happening everywhere. Innocent people were persecuted. It was another era of witch trials, but worse. We've been hiding ever since, while still trying to fight demons. Therefore, we need a safe place. I hope to find a haven for all witchborn so that we can amass power, return one day, and seal up the Lower Realm forever." She clenched her fists and sniffed as she fought to control her emotions.
"Since I can use the Shadow Dimension to travel, I've been looking for years. I was beginning to give up hope that we would ever find a haven," she smiled again finally, "Then y'all walked through the void."
Chrystianna smiled as well. "It was fate for you to discover Emphyralis. You are welcome to come and see if it's suitable for your family," she said.
Delaney felt relief. "Thank you. Thank you very much," she said and almost teared up again.
They let her have a moment to collect herself, before Darius spoke. "What idea do you have for dealing with the Hunters?"
Once composed, Delaney answered. "They have a camp in the mountains. If you give me some shadowbane, I can deal with them easily. Then all you have to worry about are the mountain trolls and the ones that are coming from Tarrytown," she said. "I can use shadow magic to cloak myself, almost the same way your other companion uses the void to hide himself. I use the Shadow Dimension to hide myself," she explained.
"Can you cloak other people?" Darius asked.
Delaney nodded. "I can. Why?" she wondered.
"Take Britiana. Her dimensional magic is strong enough to steal a spaceship," Darius answered. "Mom can contain the villagers, and Guennit will sneak attack the mountain trolls. Sariya and I should be able to handle the other Hunters," he said.
Having made a game plan, they called Guennit back in and began to hammer out the details.