NOVEL NEXT 12.2 Unfold
"My men will infiltrate the camp using stealth. Their guard is lax and inexperienced, filled with soldiers who have no chance against any real threats. They are just like any other branch of the Dragon, with the exception of the Carmine, of course. They will be sitting ducks."
Val ducked under the doorway and gave a grunt of shock at who she was walking into. Dorius and Elias had one side of the room, Sylus and Gustave to the other. The desk had been dragged into the middle of the space and a collection of cutlery and bread rolls assembled into a mock scene before them.
Gustave was on his feet, positioning the diorama with care, comically adjusting a bread roll that refused to stay in position and kept on tipping. Sylus was bent close, hands leaning on the table as to cast a shadow across the scene. Elias had his brows furrowed in concern, hand raised and clawed around his staff. Only Dorius sat back slightly from the table, his mouth buried into his hand and rings, his pale crystal eyes tense with thought.
"You are this confident?" asked Dorius, a hint of challenge in his voice.
Gustave inclined his head, response mild as if he had not heard it. "Our men are trained for urban areas, where there are windows and roofs and back alleys to hide. But shadows are shadows, and silence is silence anywhere. It will be trivial."
"Val!" Dorius burst to his feet, his grim expression discarded in an instant. Val remained in the doorway, suspiciously watching Gustave who narrowed his eyes at the sight of her and took a step back from the table. She sniffed, and let her axe slip in her hand, the butt of the handle slamming against the floor with a dull thud.
"You may drop some of the act, we have a tentative truce with Sylus, and much to catch you up on," explained Dorius, stepping close to approach her.
"The act?" questioned Sylus slowly, a dawning realization blooming across his features that was quickly smothered by a hand smoothing his moustache.
Val grunted, gave him icy glance, then leant her axe against the wall, sweeping her wolf cloak off her shoulders and hanging it over her arm. "Is this safe?" she replied slowly, tipping her head in the general direction of Sylus and Gustave.
"It speaks?" asked Sylus, his eyes wide with shock.
"She has always spoken," replied Dorius. "It is safe enough for now. Come sit, I need your thoughts. It is likely Gustave could use your strength?" Dorius raised an eyebrow at her, his eyes pleading with her to follow along. She shut her mouth, and turned her attention to the display on the desk, skimming the bread rolls she assumed were buildings… no tents.
"You plan something with the second," she concluded, drawing a little closer to study the layout. The central tent was composed of the largest bun, and the rest of the camp was largely unchanged in layout from what she remembered of the other side of the wall.
Val patted the wolf cloak in her arms thoughtfully as she paused, "and your target?"
"It is our suspicion that the Snake may soon be having an unfortunate accident," replied Sylus carefully, watching her with a calculating arch of his eyebrows.
Val flicked her eyes towards Dorius, and his gaze remained steady with neither a blink nor flinch. So she turned back to the map and sniffed in thought.
I need you to go with them.
It took all of Val's steadiness not to jump as Dorius spoke the words into her mind. He had picked up a trick she had not then. She rubbed her thumb against her chin in thought, and flipped her wolf pelt over her shoulder.
"His men are like yours Viridian, untrained in real combat," she began, glancing in the direction of Gustave, "It would take fewer men that you think to take the encampment by force, and give you the chance to speak with him, compared to a stealth approach. Especially if I were to go as well."
"Nonsense, Gustave's men are trained to operate effectively on their own, your brute would get in the way," snapped Sylus.
Val grunted a warning, Dorius speaking over her, "She has a name, Val is my retainer. You will address her as a brute no longer. And how am I to trust your word and your men? Our alliance is uneasy at best until trust has been earnt. Surely one of my own is not a large impediment, and no threat to your own operatives?"
Gustave rubbed one gloved hand back through his hair, "It would make the decision for us, an approach via force then? If we can seize the Snake alive I will not deny that the chance for information is tempting given our need to rapidly expand upon the lands of the Second?"
"It is decided," declared Dorius loudly, glaring at his cousin in challenge.
Sylus drew back into his chair, "I do not like it. We have men who make it their business to kill, and we are not using them to their full potential."
"Val will come with you or this will not happen at all."
Sylus almost barked with laughter, "And what puts you in the position to make such a demand?"
"The fact that she is here and armed, and you both are not. She will accompany you and see the operation through as my hand. This is a condition of my cooperation."
"You over play your hand!" hissed Sylus.
"You do not have any clue what my hand holds!" declared Dorius, rising to his feet for the final word, "You want my cooperation, this is how you will have it."
Val leaned against a wall, already feeling her neck ache after so much time under open skies. She stretched her head sideways then and gave Dorius a nod, and Gustave continued to detail his plan.
—
Val watched from the doorway as Sylus and Gustave departed from the guest wing of the Vigil Chapel, not failing to notice the sweeping shadow of a goshawk that followed them as they left. Dorius stood at her side, his hands tucked within his robes, and as their carriage rattled into the distance, shrunk with palpable exhaustion.
"I am so glad you are back," he admitted, "Come, before Bastian returns, we must speak quickly."
"What is the matter," asked Val, concern entering her voice at his unusual manner.
"Inside, quickly."
Dorius paced rapidly back to his room, shutting the door behind her as she followed. Then he slumped into his chaise, massaging his forehead with his long hands. "Elias, can you go find Lee'to and bring some tea?"
Elias slowly leaned forward on his staff, furrowed brows giving Val one glance as he exited the room.
"You cannot let the second die, no matter what happens."
Val raised her eyebrows, and slowly drew a chair back from the desk turned war table to listen. "Is that so?" she responded mildly.
"Listen to me Val, we can discuss other matters soon, but what I am to say must be said now and only between us. You must do whatever is necessary to ensure the Second's survival. I cannot emphasize enough, I truly mean whatever."
Val grimly wrapped her hands in the wolf pelt, feeling the gentle warmth of the hairs, "I see."
"You have my explicit permission to kill my cousin in law, any operatives of my cousin, and even Sylus himself to achieve this goal Val."
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Val felt a tightness in her heart, of all the conversations she expected to have on her return this was not it. Death was a necessary part of her life at Phoenix Company, but never execution.
And yet… here she was, she had returned to him and chosen this path despite Fenris' challenges and her own species' warnings. Whatever context she was missing to make logical sense of the order, whatever decisions she might make for herself about whether this was right or wrong, it was all irrelevant. She had only trust, and she gave it always and willingly, just as he had given her when he saved her life and freed her on the mountain.
She tucked a hand within her pocket and withdrew Dorius' signet ring and Phoenix badge, batting away the bread rolls from the desk, and returned them to her Prince and brother. "I trust you," she said slowly, and Dorius gave a ragged, shaking sigh at her words.
"I know. Oh how I know. I am sorry Val. I truly am. I saw no path except to fake an alliance with my cousin, and I see no path away from war except for betraying him."
"And your family? If they find out?" she asked.
"My family is complicit. Whatever details my uncle fully knows, he is allied with Sylus and Synthias in a goal of war. I will not allow it, I will stand against my family to prevent chaos if I must."
"And Bastian?"
Dorius gave a dark, self-deprecating smile, "I have learnt my lesson there as well. He knows that we will betray Sylus, he does not know that I will give you this order. I…" he rubbed his head, "I don't know what to tell him."
"He will figure it all out, best speak plainly when you can? Elias?"
"I hope to tell him after the deed is done. He has served my family for too long, while loyal, I do not know what he would think of a betrayal such as this…Although I suspect he has his guesses."
"It is a dangerous plan, how long do we have to plan for it,"
"Not long. There is more you must know. Synthias sends a mage, soon. I am hoping to encourage Sylus to make this move before they arrive, stroke his ego a little. Gustave seems unlikely to rise to a challenge. A mage will undoubtedly complicate this plan."
Val hummed, and thoughtfully lowered her hands to look at her fingers.
"Enough of this matter, we will have to contemplate it plenty in the next hours and days. Your timing is fortuitous, as if the weave itself has arranged this, it gives me hope that this is the correct path. Did you find what you seek?" asked Dorius, sitting forward and shaking his hands to adjust his sleeves, almost as if he wished to shake his current thoughts from his mind.
"I found the Laon colony, yes," Val suddenly felt a little shy, scratching at the base of her broken horn and feeling the beads the Laons had tied there.
"I can see. What else?"
"And it seems, like you, I did not return alone…"
—
The flutter of wings and a quiet croak let Val know Bastian was at her window. She stood quickly and un-shuttered the wooden covers, letting him come hopping in with his wings half spread to balance. He dropped down to the floor, taking high steps to clear the ground with his curled talons and turned to face her in the middle of the floor, neck craning upwards. She sat on the bed frame she had stripped of its mattress to make their conversation a little easier.
You have caught up on everything then? Asked Bastian.
Val nodded, and distracted herself from having to give a real answer by listening to the harmonics around him.
And you supported his plan?
There was only one 'his' he could mean. "That is not really for me to decide?"
I was there when Sylus confronted him, Dorius was not exactly in a position to negotiate an alliance from a position of strength. Subterfuge has always been our game, and so it remains, as much as the prospect sickens me. But, it is not as much as the thought of remaining in this blasted form! Can you do it? Can you change me back?
"The Vigil is right, you will have to change yourself. Can you hear the magic now? Like a hum, in the back of your head? The mountain constantly sings."
Bastian took a step sideways, cocking his bird eyes upwards at her. Is that what it is? I have had a feeling like a headache in the front of my head but mostly thought it was confusion from these strange eyes.
"When the wolf god changed shape it was like a folding. Everything that was always there is still somewhere, but crumpled up, more compact. You need to unfold, it will take the correct form all on itself, like a paper flattened again after being crushed," explained Val hopefully.
A paper once crumpled is forever crinkled. Said Bastian distastefully.
"It is not quite a perfect metaphor. Just stop and listen, and hear. It is like music playing, like a web of vibrations, and feel your own and see if you can see for yourself what I mean."
Bastian cocked his head and shut his eyes, remaining still for a moment. Val felt a hush on the web around him, an anticipation. There was a pregnant silence, a pause, a moment of tension like the knot of his being was tugged taut and would not quite unravel, then something gave, and the mesh unfurled.
The rush of air shimmered, a wave of energy far gentler than Fenris or the Dragon God swept through the room, and Bastian finally emerged a man again, sitting on the floor on his naked bottom, his eyes shut tight in concentration. He paused, squinting tentatively at the back of his hand, then slowly opened one eye and looked down at himself.
His bark of joyous laughter followed immediately, and he stretched his legs and arms, looking down his limbs with satisfied joy.
"Man again! No more bloody hearts! 'Bout fucking time!" he laughed, "You have no idea how good it is to feel my own hands and feet again!"
Val turned her head, holding him a pair of his own pants. He snatched them up with an infectious laugh, golden eyes glinting with cheeky amusement, "Come now, I was naked as a bird. It's not so different."
"It is when you have feathers," croaked Val, surprised at how hard it was to find her voice, then with a grin as she kept her eyes averted added, "You have no idea how much the Wolf God thought similarly?"
Bastian pulled the pants up about his middle and tied the cord at his waist, "Dorius said he was something of a character. Gods, hands! It is a miracle to have hands! You cannot imagine my fear I would be forever stuck as a bird. I planned a lifetime of revenge on the Vigil, every one of them would be bald and bleeding by the end of it."
"It seems you put the form to some use?" asked Val, leaning forward on her hands, still sitting. He was taller than her while she sat, rotating his arms and seeming to explore all his human muscles again. The shape of his shoulders seemed more sharply defined than they were when she last remembered him, maybe the bird rubbed off on the human as well?
"What else was I to do? Ah, I could do with a drink, and a celebration to be a man again!"
"Could you change back?" asked Val curiously.
That thought seemed to give him pause, and he tapped his nose thoughtfully bouncing on the balls of his feet, "I think so, I imagine I just 'fold' again?"
"Could you take another form?"
"Did the Wolf God?"
Val sat a little straighter, cocking her head in thought, "No. The Dragon didn't either."
"Maybe you only get one," at the mention of the Dragon his expression softened and his gaze turned towards her broken horn. Slowly he reached a hand, then the pad of his thumb brushed the sanded tip. "How did it happen?"
Val sighed, unconsciously leaning into his hand slightly, "Broke off in the Dragon, not much for fighting something that large except to climb it. I am told I was 'splattered', crushed by a paw, and that she healed me after. Dorius saved my life," her voice lowered as she spoke. Her eyes slowly meandered to her hand where the white scars from her bite remained, just another white mark upon her skin.
Bastian's eyes narrowed, his gaze darkening, "And you returned?"
"Yes."
There was a long pause, and all Val felt was his hand, beginning to twine his fingers through the beads tied to her broken horn.
He sighed, and took a step closer, then drew her head into his chest and hugged her, tucking his chin onto her head between her horns. "I am glad you are not dead by some Dragon on a mountain."
The wave of nervous longing that washed over her was almost overwhelming, and she wrapped her arms around his waist, drawing him between her legs as she let her forehead rest on his chest, smelling his reassuring humanity. He had a familiar smell of leather and sweat, touched now with the metallic edge of blood and flesh. His chestnut chest hairs tickled her nose, and she allowed her eyes to shut if only for a moment.
"Hmm," she hummed in reply.
In the rush of activity since her return, she had not told anyone of the dragon, and the topic had reminded her of its slaughter. But somehow, in this moment, it felt like a thought so far away she didn't want to linger on it. When Bastian drew breath, she felt his chest rise, and the air blew across her skin as he exhaled.
She felt like she had come home for the first time in a very long time.