ULTRAMagic Eon 2 - Chapter 10
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“Just like that, Davis?” Blood-Wraith inquired. “Well, I mean sure, but you’ll need to get into shape first.”
“That shouldn’t be hard,” Dragoslava noted as the group walked to the Embassy. “My dad and Torunn have some of the best workout strategies around.”
“Really?” Davis asked. “Like, is this all for free?”
“Of course, lad,” David replied. “This is now a guild matter and The Iron City takes these matters very seriously.”
“Curiously, matey, what kind of magic do you see yourself exploring?” Jonathan wondered.
“Oh, well I’ve always envisioned myself casting lightning bolts, like my fantasy tabletop character.”
“Ah, then you should speak to Barry Boyle and Vapor 6 to see if you’re capable of learning elektromancy…”
“I could probably throw in some pointers,” Ludwig added as they entered the embassy. “There’s other means of casting lightning-based magic if you cannot perform elektromancy by the way.”
“You guys would really do that all for me?” Davis questioned. “Even after what Rick did recently?”
“Seven heading back, Susann,” Blood-Wraith said to the receptionist. “I mean you’re not Rick, Davis, so there you go…”
He chuckled as they entered the magic doorway into the city. “Yeah, no one actually likes Rick. He says he hates dude-bro culture, but he totally is one. Also he secretly has disdain for women, probably because he chases off any potential girlfriend.”
“Ha, I saw that nonsense all the time when I used to visit Earth-23,” Dragoslava remarked.
“A man who curses a woman for his faults is no better than the dirt he walks,” David asserted. “Sadly my medicine cannot treat those maladies of the soul. Those need to be handled by thyself.”
“Yup, such a waste in my opinion,” Blood-Wraith concluded. “Alright, you guys head back to the guild while I’ll take Davis to go see the Captain-General to get him all settled in.”
“Wait, the Captain-General?” Davis asked after the group parted ways.
“Of course, given that this falls under my knightly duties,” Blood-Wraith replied as they began to walk in the direction of the Knight’s Barracks. “Don’t worry, Theobold just wants me to let him know before I bring an outsider into The Iron City. You can certainly understand given what we’ve had to deal with in the past…”
“Ah, yeah, Milosh and The Eternal Church…”
“Hey, you’re pretty knowledgeable about Unlight stuff!”
Davis laughed a little, feeling a little embarrassed. “Yeah, I spend a little too much time reading instead of exercising.”
“Now if you really like reading and are interested in our history, head to The Singing Storm Tower when you get a chance and read about The Dragon Wars…”
“Dragons? A war?”
“Yes, haha.” Blood-Wraith was feeling some pride build up inside of him, as he knew he had really caught Davis’ attention. “Leif, before his passing, told me about how during the Epoch-Modernity Transition there was a vast army of Dragons led by The Dragon God who planned to take over The Unlight, then move onto The Dark Void at the behest of The Sepulcher God.”
“Wow, sounds incredible…”
“The Iron City of yore and ancient Feuerland were up against a wall, as the dragons were like colossal, immortal air ships that wrought destruction with breath like meteors. And that infernal Gudrun was one The Dragon God’s commanders; but two dragons, Leif and Erikson, stepped in to help fight back against the enemy dragons.”
“Amazing,” Davis said as they neared their destination. “What happened to the dragons though?”
“A lot of them died, but the remaining fled to a realm we haven’t found to this day, hence why you never see dragons these days outside of special circumstances. And The Dragon God? He’s still out there, but even The Madman of Old is unsure where he is.”
“And you’re sure I can just go and read about this?” Davis questioned as they walked up to the door of the main barrack.
“Well you’ve come this far, haven’t you?” Blood-Wraith pointed out. “You’ll most likely be assigned a knight to look after you due to protocol, but yeah, we’re pretty welcoming of knowledge seekers,” he answered as he opened the metal door and was hit by a wave of cool air from the building.
After having to file some expected paperwork for the actions of his group, Blood-Wraith would spend the night at the guild over worry he had for the next day for obvious reasons. He had given up on any notion that Gore was just a normal person and fully expected the typical, vindictive petulance Karnage was known for. Frustratingly he wanted to actually attend step dancing practice the next day for once, but knew deep down something was about to happen. That morning he peaked his head out of his room and saw nothing. He then stepped out into the hall and was greeted by Gummi, who was on his way to breakfast.
“What’s the matter, Blood?” he asked.
“Hmm… I’m expecting Karnage to pull something…”
Gummi chuckled a little. “You mean Gore, right?”
“Tomato-Tomahto.”
“Ha, you’re really coming around now, aren’t you?” Gummi said as they began to walk down the hall. “Better late than never I say…”
“Something you’re obviously an expert on?” This made both of them laugh. Blood-Wraith was obviously referring to the final battle for Shadowland, in which Gummi had many opportunities to kick off his sabotage of Milosh early.
“So how did yesterday go?”
“Oh, David just utterly humiliated Gore…”
“Ah, so that’s why you’re on edge?”
“Yup.” Blood-Wraith sighed a little as they entered the kitchen. “We also pulled an activist out from under Gore right in front of everyone else.”
“Not bad, Blood. Not bad at all.”
He then began taking some food from the center table. “Morning, Desislav.”
“Morning, Blood,” he replied as he flipped a pancake. “Yesterday go well?”
“Yeah, and surprisingly the activists behaved themselves during the debate…”
“You say that, despite not having stepped outside yet…” Gummi cautioned as he got his food.
Blood-Wraith sighed. “Yeah, I know…”
Desislav could tell that more had happened from that exchange. “So did anything else occur?”
“Sigeberht showed up and informed us that Tressacht wanted to speak to us today…”
“Really now? What would he want to talk about?”
“Whatever it is, it doesn’t bode well for our current situation if Sigeberht went out of his way to inform us.”
Desislav thought about it for a second as he got his food ready. “Well, Blood, we’ve been up this river before, so we’ll just have to hear the brothers out.”
“Yeah, looks like it…”
Breakfast was peaceful for the three, with Blood-Wraith mulling over the trip to The Great Uncity. They had rescued two people, but Blood-Wraith was not happy with those results as they could have done more. David did a great job in recruiting Davis, and it certainly made the guild look good, no doubt about it. Gore was not a good sport, however. He was bound to pull something petty and Blood-Wraith could sense it coming. Ludwig came running in as he finished his orange juice which pretty confirmed his suspicions. It was going to be one of those days and he was probably going to miss dance practice again.
“Blood, they’re back…” he said, catching his breath.
“Geez, like clockwork…” Gummi groaned.
“Alright, let’s see what Gore has to say,” Blood-Wraith declared as he got up. “I’ll take care of this.”
Heading outside and to the front gate, Blood-Wraith could see David, Shaye, and Ahhotep confronting a group of masked activists. Shaye was ripping into one of them and his words were sharper than any sword. “...BOY, you wouldn’t last two seconds in the army! Gunnery Sergeant Harker would have chewed you up and spit you out like yesterday’s tobacco! And you in the trenches?! HA, disease, rats, and knee deep mud as far as the eyes can see with a battalion of guns from those godforsaken Germans ready to pump you full of more lead than a drunkard full of beer! You ever seen a man with his eye blown out have to get an emergency amputation on the battlefield!? You ever had the honor of dropping hundreds of bombs on enemy soil and praying to God you don’t blow an innocent family straight to Hell!? Or how about the idea that every single damn flight could be your last, and you just end up as another meaningless name on some random monument that gets shit on by the birds?! If you saw even a fraction of what I saw in my World War II, you’d shrivel up and crawl back into your mother’s womb and never come back out! YOU’RE TRAUMATIZED!? That’s cute! That’s so cute that I’ll get you all gussied up in a frilly dress and take you to the homecoming dance!”
“Well I… you… but I…” the activist stuttered, unable to come up with any meaningful response.
“STUFF IT WHERE THE SUN DON’T SHINE,” Shaye barked as he ripped off the sunglasses and bandanna.
“Clark Smithy again I see,” Ahhotep announced. “Have nothing to say to me once more?” She scolded as the other activists started to get nervous.
“No no, I’ll speak this time…” he blurted out, clearly scared as he could sense something ominous emanating from her that terrified him to his core. It was almost like insects were crawling up his body…
“Only slightly less disrespectful this time,” she mocked.
Just as Clark was about to speak, David pulled out his Webley revolver and aimed above the front gate. “Cover your ears, everyone…” Six shots rang out with a dead, juggernaut-class shadow construct falling to the ground with a thud. “I’d say clever, but I will not give you that courtesy. I didn’t survive Portenoy and Treasure Island only to be shown up by a lack of good form…” He then blew the smoke from the barrel.
“WHO BROUGHT THAT?!” Ludwig roared in his demon voice, startling everyone.
“I did!” a man with a buzzcut said as he took off his bandanna and glasses. “I have a shadow orb and…”
“Oh really now?!” Tressacht said as he walked up and grabbed the man by the shirt, holding him up to his face. “You have a shadow orb? A man who couldn’t even succeed at presdigitation?”
Blood-Wraith also walked up with a smug smile. “Nice try, Corey, but I’ve met The Shadow God. There is no way in Abaddon you have one…”
Corey was quietly panicking as the ruse had failed before it had even begun. He looked to Clark as Tressacht dropped him. “Fall back!” he called out. The activists scrambled back to their truck, but some were also trying to hit Corey upside the head for failing. After a pathetic excuse for a fist fight in the vehicle, it tore out of there with an ear-grating roar of the engines.
“Source, they are a joke…” Blood-Wraith groaned.
“Rotten sons of…” Shaye started to say. “I need a smoke,” he said as he got out a cigarette and lit it. “I’m going to guess that was all Gore’s doing?”
“Most certainly,” David agreed as he looked at the crumbling construct. “And no doubt it was his magic that snuck all of it in just now.”
“You all alright, your majesty?” Blood-Wraith asked Ahhotep.
“Yes, thank you for your concern, Sir Raynot,” she replied.
“Dr. Livesey?”
“Right as rain, Blood,” he answered.
Shaye took a long drag. “Christ, Gore gets his ass handed to him and handles it like a big baby? That's how a bully would react, not a soldier or knight.”
“A bully we must suspect is Karnage Dethgrave without a shadow of a doubt, if he has access to shadow constructs,” Ahhotep deduced. “Someone amongst their band of rogues surely has a shadow orb…”
“Way ahead of you on that one, your majesty,” stated Blood-Wraith. “Tressacht, hey. Sigeberht, said you wanted to speak to us yesterday?”
“Indeed, Blood-Wraith, and it is a matter of utmost importance in relation to Gore. May we head inside to discuss?”
“Of course, right this way…” he replied as he led the group back inside. To his surprise, Deimos and Valerie were waiting in the main hall alongside The Fear and Hunger of Old. “Hey, what’s all this?”
The Fear hurried over to Blood-Wraith to give him a welcoming hug. “Hey, Blood. Sorry to pop in so suddenly, but we have something really important to discuss.”
“It’s about Operation Brutus, Blood,” Valerie replied, a great deal of concern in her voice.
Blood-Wraith paused, then exhaled. “So we can finally tell the rest of the guild about that?”
“Englehart and Theobold have decided it is time to start elucidating the guild on what we know about Gore,” Deimos answered. “Given your recent convictions it only makes sense.”
“Hold up, you’re keeping secrets from us, Blood?” Ludwig questioned.
“Well, yes, given who I am and how much I’ve interacted with the Crown of The Iron City. I mean, didn’t you do that at the PMRDO, Ludwig?”
He tried to rack his foggy memories for a second. “Ah… okay, fair enough.”
The Hunger adjusted his steel and leather armor a little and cleared his throat. “Have a seat, everyone, as this may take a bit. Also, Tressacht, what brings you here?”
“The same thing as you, no doubt-important information about our shared and secret enemy.”
Blood-Wraith snickered a little. “Secret…” he said with finger quotes. “As an aside, I’m not fully privy to everything about Operation Brutus, so my denial at the beginning of the year was genuine.”
“Well I’d dare say we can drop the pretense that Gore is any kind of good samaritan after that little incident,” David asserted with some of the others nodding as they all sat down.
The Hunger shook his head with a remorseful smile. “Do you know how badly I want to go and get rid of Gore myself? Let’s get down to brass tacks on this one, as obviously I am also speaking for The Madman himself…”
“So what’s the scoop, Hunger?” Blood-Wraith inquired as he finally sat down.
“I suppose I should start with the fact that we have spies on the inside…”
Blood-Wraith took a breath. “Adalwin and The Golem?”
“Indeed,” he answered with a nod. “To answer the burning question, yes, it is safe to say that Gore is Karnage.”
“And if he wasn’t, we’d be in even bigger trouble,” The Fear added.
“And Fran and Volf?” Blood-Wraith inquired, even though he did not need to. Rather he wanted to hear it officially confirmed.
“Anne and The Running God.”
“You know? I was hoping Volf was just The Running’s God lackey or son, and not the god himself,” he admitted as he scratched his head. “So why wait to start telling us?”
“Well obviously we were waiting for the guild to start truly confronting Gore,” Valerie answered. “It goes without saying that this is a very delicate situation.”
Deimos could not help but smile a little as Blood-Wraith looked at him. “Your actions haven’t been for naught. Obviously your back and forth with Morrigan played to our advantage, allowing us to collect all sorts of information on Gore and what he’s planning.”
“It’s par for the course in the military, Blood,” Shaye clarified.
“Yeah, it makes sense,” he conceded. “So what of the stuff you can’t tell us?”
“Apologies again, Blood,” The Fear replied. “But what we can tell you will help a great deal. I’m scared, but this info legitimately warrants the freight…”
“Fear, you’re always scared.”
That made him laugh. “True true…”
Blood-Wraith leaned back in his chair and stretched a little. “Alright, guys, lay on us what you can and we’ll see what we can do from there…”
Next: Chapter 11
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
Master Post - Patreon
“Just like that, Davis?” Blood-Wraith inquired. “Well, I mean sure, but you’ll need to get into shape first.”
“That shouldn’t be hard,” Dragoslava noted as the group walked to the Embassy. “My dad and Torunn have some of the best workout strategies around.”
“Really?” Davis asked. “Like, is this all for free?”
“Of course, lad,” David replied. “This is now a guild matter and The Iron City takes these matters very seriously.”
“Curiously, matey, what kind of magic do you see yourself exploring?” Jonathan wondered.
“Oh, well I’ve always envisioned myself casting lightning bolts, like my fantasy tabletop character.”
“Ah, then you should speak to Barry Boyle and Vapor 6 to see if you’re capable of learning elektromancy…”
“I could probably throw in some pointers,” Ludwig added as they entered the embassy. “There’s other means of casting lightning-based magic if you cannot perform elektromancy by the way.”
“You guys would really do that all for me?” Davis questioned. “Even after what Rick did recently?”
“Seven heading back, Susann,” Blood-Wraith said to the receptionist. “I mean you’re not Rick, Davis, so there you go…”
He chuckled as they entered the magic doorway into the city. “Yeah, no one actually likes Rick. He says he hates dude-bro culture, but he totally is one. Also he secretly has disdain for women, probably because he chases off any potential girlfriend.”
“Ha, I saw that nonsense all the time when I used to visit Earth-23,” Dragoslava remarked.
“A man who curses a woman for his faults is no better than the dirt he walks,” David asserted. “Sadly my medicine cannot treat those maladies of the soul. Those need to be handled by thyself.”
“Yup, such a waste in my opinion,” Blood-Wraith concluded. “Alright, you guys head back to the guild while I’ll take Davis to go see the Captain-General to get him all settled in.”
“Wait, the Captain-General?” Davis asked after the group parted ways.
“Of course, given that this falls under my knightly duties,” Blood-Wraith replied as they began to walk in the direction of the Knight’s Barracks. “Don’t worry, Theobold just wants me to let him know before I bring an outsider into The Iron City. You can certainly understand given what we’ve had to deal with in the past…”
“Ah, yeah, Milosh and The Eternal Church…”
“Hey, you’re pretty knowledgeable about Unlight stuff!”
Davis laughed a little, feeling a little embarrassed. “Yeah, I spend a little too much time reading instead of exercising.”
“Now if you really like reading and are interested in our history, head to The Singing Storm Tower when you get a chance and read about The Dragon Wars…”
“Dragons? A war?”
“Yes, haha.” Blood-Wraith was feeling some pride build up inside of him, as he knew he had really caught Davis’ attention. “Leif, before his passing, told me about how during the Epoch-Modernity Transition there was a vast army of Dragons led by The Dragon God who planned to take over The Unlight, then move onto The Dark Void at the behest of The Sepulcher God.”
“Wow, sounds incredible…”
“The Iron City of yore and ancient Feuerland were up against a wall, as the dragons were like colossal, immortal air ships that wrought destruction with breath like meteors. And that infernal Gudrun was one The Dragon God’s commanders; but two dragons, Leif and Erikson, stepped in to help fight back against the enemy dragons.”
“Amazing,” Davis said as they neared their destination. “What happened to the dragons though?”
“A lot of them died, but the remaining fled to a realm we haven’t found to this day, hence why you never see dragons these days outside of special circumstances. And The Dragon God? He’s still out there, but even The Madman of Old is unsure where he is.”
“And you’re sure I can just go and read about this?” Davis questioned as they walked up to the door of the main barrack.
“Well you’ve come this far, haven’t you?” Blood-Wraith pointed out. “You’ll most likely be assigned a knight to look after you due to protocol, but yeah, we’re pretty welcoming of knowledge seekers,” he answered as he opened the metal door and was hit by a wave of cool air from the building.
After having to file some expected paperwork for the actions of his group, Blood-Wraith would spend the night at the guild over worry he had for the next day for obvious reasons. He had given up on any notion that Gore was just a normal person and fully expected the typical, vindictive petulance Karnage was known for. Frustratingly he wanted to actually attend step dancing practice the next day for once, but knew deep down something was about to happen. That morning he peaked his head out of his room and saw nothing. He then stepped out into the hall and was greeted by Gummi, who was on his way to breakfast.
“What’s the matter, Blood?” he asked.
“Hmm… I’m expecting Karnage to pull something…”
Gummi chuckled a little. “You mean Gore, right?”
“Tomato-Tomahto.”
“Ha, you’re really coming around now, aren’t you?” Gummi said as they began to walk down the hall. “Better late than never I say…”
“Something you’re obviously an expert on?” This made both of them laugh. Blood-Wraith was obviously referring to the final battle for Shadowland, in which Gummi had many opportunities to kick off his sabotage of Milosh early.
“So how did yesterday go?”
“Oh, David just utterly humiliated Gore…”
“Ah, so that’s why you’re on edge?”
“Yup.” Blood-Wraith sighed a little as they entered the kitchen. “We also pulled an activist out from under Gore right in front of everyone else.”
“Not bad, Blood. Not bad at all.”
He then began taking some food from the center table. “Morning, Desislav.”
“Morning, Blood,” he replied as he flipped a pancake. “Yesterday go well?”
“Yeah, and surprisingly the activists behaved themselves during the debate…”
“You say that, despite not having stepped outside yet…” Gummi cautioned as he got his food.
Blood-Wraith sighed. “Yeah, I know…”
Desislav could tell that more had happened from that exchange. “So did anything else occur?”
“Sigeberht showed up and informed us that Tressacht wanted to speak to us today…”
“Really now? What would he want to talk about?”
“Whatever it is, it doesn’t bode well for our current situation if Sigeberht went out of his way to inform us.”
Desislav thought about it for a second as he got his food ready. “Well, Blood, we’ve been up this river before, so we’ll just have to hear the brothers out.”
“Yeah, looks like it…”
Breakfast was peaceful for the three, with Blood-Wraith mulling over the trip to The Great Uncity. They had rescued two people, but Blood-Wraith was not happy with those results as they could have done more. David did a great job in recruiting Davis, and it certainly made the guild look good, no doubt about it. Gore was not a good sport, however. He was bound to pull something petty and Blood-Wraith could sense it coming. Ludwig came running in as he finished his orange juice which pretty confirmed his suspicions. It was going to be one of those days and he was probably going to miss dance practice again.
“Blood, they’re back…” he said, catching his breath.
“Geez, like clockwork…” Gummi groaned.
“Alright, let’s see what Gore has to say,” Blood-Wraith declared as he got up. “I’ll take care of this.”
Heading outside and to the front gate, Blood-Wraith could see David, Shaye, and Ahhotep confronting a group of masked activists. Shaye was ripping into one of them and his words were sharper than any sword. “...BOY, you wouldn’t last two seconds in the army! Gunnery Sergeant Harker would have chewed you up and spit you out like yesterday’s tobacco! And you in the trenches?! HA, disease, rats, and knee deep mud as far as the eyes can see with a battalion of guns from those godforsaken Germans ready to pump you full of more lead than a drunkard full of beer! You ever seen a man with his eye blown out have to get an emergency amputation on the battlefield!? You ever had the honor of dropping hundreds of bombs on enemy soil and praying to God you don’t blow an innocent family straight to Hell!? Or how about the idea that every single damn flight could be your last, and you just end up as another meaningless name on some random monument that gets shit on by the birds?! If you saw even a fraction of what I saw in my World War II, you’d shrivel up and crawl back into your mother’s womb and never come back out! YOU’RE TRAUMATIZED!? That’s cute! That’s so cute that I’ll get you all gussied up in a frilly dress and take you to the homecoming dance!”
“Well I… you… but I…” the activist stuttered, unable to come up with any meaningful response.
“STUFF IT WHERE THE SUN DON’T SHINE,” Shaye barked as he ripped off the sunglasses and bandanna.
“Clark Smithy again I see,” Ahhotep announced. “Have nothing to say to me once more?” She scolded as the other activists started to get nervous.
“No no, I’ll speak this time…” he blurted out, clearly scared as he could sense something ominous emanating from her that terrified him to his core. It was almost like insects were crawling up his body…
“Only slightly less disrespectful this time,” she mocked.
Just as Clark was about to speak, David pulled out his Webley revolver and aimed above the front gate. “Cover your ears, everyone…” Six shots rang out with a dead, juggernaut-class shadow construct falling to the ground with a thud. “I’d say clever, but I will not give you that courtesy. I didn’t survive Portenoy and Treasure Island only to be shown up by a lack of good form…” He then blew the smoke from the barrel.
“WHO BROUGHT THAT?!” Ludwig roared in his demon voice, startling everyone.
“I did!” a man with a buzzcut said as he took off his bandanna and glasses. “I have a shadow orb and…”
“Oh really now?!” Tressacht said as he walked up and grabbed the man by the shirt, holding him up to his face. “You have a shadow orb? A man who couldn’t even succeed at presdigitation?”
Blood-Wraith also walked up with a smug smile. “Nice try, Corey, but I’ve met The Shadow God. There is no way in Abaddon you have one…”
Corey was quietly panicking as the ruse had failed before it had even begun. He looked to Clark as Tressacht dropped him. “Fall back!” he called out. The activists scrambled back to their truck, but some were also trying to hit Corey upside the head for failing. After a pathetic excuse for a fist fight in the vehicle, it tore out of there with an ear-grating roar of the engines.
“Source, they are a joke…” Blood-Wraith groaned.
“Rotten sons of…” Shaye started to say. “I need a smoke,” he said as he got out a cigarette and lit it. “I’m going to guess that was all Gore’s doing?”
“Most certainly,” David agreed as he looked at the crumbling construct. “And no doubt it was his magic that snuck all of it in just now.”
“You all alright, your majesty?” Blood-Wraith asked Ahhotep.
“Yes, thank you for your concern, Sir Raynot,” she replied.
“Dr. Livesey?”
“Right as rain, Blood,” he answered.
Shaye took a long drag. “Christ, Gore gets his ass handed to him and handles it like a big baby? That's how a bully would react, not a soldier or knight.”
“A bully we must suspect is Karnage Dethgrave without a shadow of a doubt, if he has access to shadow constructs,” Ahhotep deduced. “Someone amongst their band of rogues surely has a shadow orb…”
“Way ahead of you on that one, your majesty,” stated Blood-Wraith. “Tressacht, hey. Sigeberht, said you wanted to speak to us yesterday?”
“Indeed, Blood-Wraith, and it is a matter of utmost importance in relation to Gore. May we head inside to discuss?”
“Of course, right this way…” he replied as he led the group back inside. To his surprise, Deimos and Valerie were waiting in the main hall alongside The Fear and Hunger of Old. “Hey, what’s all this?”
The Fear hurried over to Blood-Wraith to give him a welcoming hug. “Hey, Blood. Sorry to pop in so suddenly, but we have something really important to discuss.”
“It’s about Operation Brutus, Blood,” Valerie replied, a great deal of concern in her voice.
Blood-Wraith paused, then exhaled. “So we can finally tell the rest of the guild about that?”
“Englehart and Theobold have decided it is time to start elucidating the guild on what we know about Gore,” Deimos answered. “Given your recent convictions it only makes sense.”
“Hold up, you’re keeping secrets from us, Blood?” Ludwig questioned.
“Well, yes, given who I am and how much I’ve interacted with the Crown of The Iron City. I mean, didn’t you do that at the PMRDO, Ludwig?”
He tried to rack his foggy memories for a second. “Ah… okay, fair enough.”
The Hunger adjusted his steel and leather armor a little and cleared his throat. “Have a seat, everyone, as this may take a bit. Also, Tressacht, what brings you here?”
“The same thing as you, no doubt-important information about our shared and secret enemy.”
Blood-Wraith snickered a little. “Secret…” he said with finger quotes. “As an aside, I’m not fully privy to everything about Operation Brutus, so my denial at the beginning of the year was genuine.”
“Well I’d dare say we can drop the pretense that Gore is any kind of good samaritan after that little incident,” David asserted with some of the others nodding as they all sat down.
The Hunger shook his head with a remorseful smile. “Do you know how badly I want to go and get rid of Gore myself? Let’s get down to brass tacks on this one, as obviously I am also speaking for The Madman himself…”
“So what’s the scoop, Hunger?” Blood-Wraith inquired as he finally sat down.
“I suppose I should start with the fact that we have spies on the inside…”
Blood-Wraith took a breath. “Adalwin and The Golem?”
“Indeed,” he answered with a nod. “To answer the burning question, yes, it is safe to say that Gore is Karnage.”
“And if he wasn’t, we’d be in even bigger trouble,” The Fear added.
“And Fran and Volf?” Blood-Wraith inquired, even though he did not need to. Rather he wanted to hear it officially confirmed.
“Anne and The Running God.”
“You know? I was hoping Volf was just The Running’s God lackey or son, and not the god himself,” he admitted as he scratched his head. “So why wait to start telling us?”
“Well obviously we were waiting for the guild to start truly confronting Gore,” Valerie answered. “It goes without saying that this is a very delicate situation.”
Deimos could not help but smile a little as Blood-Wraith looked at him. “Your actions haven’t been for naught. Obviously your back and forth with Morrigan played to our advantage, allowing us to collect all sorts of information on Gore and what he’s planning.”
“It’s par for the course in the military, Blood,” Shaye clarified.
“Yeah, it makes sense,” he conceded. “So what of the stuff you can’t tell us?”
“Apologies again, Blood,” The Fear replied. “But what we can tell you will help a great deal. I’m scared, but this info legitimately warrants the freight…”
“Fear, you’re always scared.”
That made him laugh. “True true…”
Blood-Wraith leaned back in his chair and stretched a little. “Alright, guys, lay on us what you can and we’ll see what we can do from there…”
Next: Chapter 11
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
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