Fate of Mirithia [LitRPG, Isekai]

Meera flew towards the village as the icy wind threatened to give her frostbite. The cold was going to take a little time to get used to again, especially after the warm, soupy climes of Gethys. She was high enough to see the village from here, and they had been busy in her absence.

The entire village was surrounded by a wall of tents, with soldiers patrolling or standing guard in the woods. The numbers were so great that she was sure that if it weren't for that blasted wall, she didn't even need the archdragon. And that was not all; they had also cut down the trees around the village. No doubt to see if any enemy was approaching from the woods.

She wondered how she would be received. Technically, she wasn't supposed to be gone. If Duinith did her job and made a double of Meera, then as far as the sorceresses knew, she was still in the village.

She shrugged. It's not like I have anything to hide now, aside from the dragons until we decide to attack.

That was another thing she was worried about. If the dragon brothers decided to attack before then, they would be scrambling to keep up, but she had seen the power of the Cult. The two of them were enough to take down the Cult by themselves, or so she hoped.

The village came in sight, and the soldier below took note of her. They immediately stood at attention and had their weapons at the ready.

"Whoever you are, stop and declare yourself!" One of the soldiers called.

When Meera showed no signs of stopping, she noted the defensive stances they took. More soldiers noticed her, and they had spears at the ready. She noted that the soldiers had their Mana circling inside them. But she wasn't worried; she flew directly to the center of the village, which looked quite busy with activity.

The soldier hurled their spears, or so it looked. Their spears turned into snakelike vines, and they slithered through the air trying to catch her. She could've easily taken care of the vines, but she didn't want to announce her arrival by starting a fight and antagonizing another group of allies.

So, she deactivated Misidentify and let her aura wash over the soldiers below.

Every single man and woman stopped walking. It was almost surreal to see. Even their weapons that were about to ensnare Meera also stopped in their tracks. It was like her aura itself was holding back their weapons.

Then it happened. She wasn't expecting it, but in the back of her mind, she knew it would happen sooner or later.

The soldiers dropped to their knees and bowed their heads in reverence. There wasn't a single soldier who was standing, no matter their rank. They were out of their tents and on their knees. Even the ones in the village did the same as she came to land in the square, right outside the princess's hut.

The only people that weren't on their knees were the sorceresses. Most of whom stared at her wide-eyed. It was like they had never seen an Ascendant before.

Still, she had sent the message she needed to send. She activated Misidentify, hid her aura, and lowered her level again. The door to the princess's hut burst open, and Rehia, Vasda, and the prince who was spying on her rushed out the door.

"Meera, you're back," Rehia exclaimed as she hurried down the steps towards her.

"I am back." Meera nodded.

"And unharmed, I see." Rehia looked her up and down. "And here I half expected you to be slashed to bits. Come, let's talk inside." She snapped her head to Vasda. "Go, fetch Duinith and Firaan for me. We have lots to discuss with the Reverent Lady."

Meera couldn't tell from her tone whether it was good news or bad. She hoped it was good news, but it rarely ever was. She moved to follow the princess into the hut, but Manazhar was still standing there.

He bowed low. "It is good to see you again, safe and sound, Reverent Lady. After Rehia brought me up to speed about your mission, I must say I was worried about your well-being. I hope you were successful."

Outwardly, the prince was all manners and etiquette. There was nothing about the prince that betrayed his duplicitous nature. She still didn't know what his endgame was, but she figured it was the throne, because despite his endearing nature, he still was a contender for the throne. After all, this was all for the throne. Even if his father disliked him, he must've had a plan to end up on the throne of the greatest empire in all the worlds. No one, absolutely, no one could give up on that kind of power.

"As I said, let's talk inside," Rehia said without turning back.

Meera motioned to the prince with a smile. "After you."

The prince nodded with a smile and took off after his sister. Vasda smiled at Meera and bowed low as she passed her. Meera didn't return the smile. It almost physically hurt to be in this pit of vipers where she could trust no one. The dragons had their faults, but at least with them, she didn't have to second-guess every nod and smile. She knew exactly where she stood with them.

Speaking of the dragons, she tested her connection with Tigris, and there it was in the back of her mind. She couldn't see what he was doing, but he was excited, and if she so wished, she could call out to him. Maybe even communicate with him, but since she didn't need him right now, she didn't test that out. Besides, if he was having fun with the Glacidrak, then why stop him.

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Once they were all seated at the table in Rehia's dining room, which was also the meeting room, Meera was about to begin, but she noticed it was just the three of them.

She frowned. "Where is Garal?"

"He left to check on Sekaramal," Manazhar replied. "We felt it was only fair since we had come to support Rehia that he got to check on our brother and make sure his war is going as smoothly as Sekaramal had proclaimed."

Rehia snorted. "Our dear brother is not such a warlord as he proclaims. I'd be surprised if he hasn't tucked tail and run to father dearest, requesting more troops."

"Did Garal take some soldiers with him?" Meera asked.

Manazhar nodded. "Yes, Reverent Lady. He took the ninth army that Father had assigned him to bolster Sekaramal's ranks in case he needed them. Besides, from what Rehia has told me, it seems we can spare them."

Meera smiled. "That we can. What about your task, prince? Were you able to put down the rebellion?"

Manazhar's face fell for just a moment before the smile was back up. "Unfortunately, the Harastai kingdom was prepared for us, so it would seem it would take more time to deal with them. But when we realized Rehia needed help, well, nothing comes before family. Especially since Father had given her no support at all, she was always in my thoughts. Besides, I've left some good men to harrow the rebellious kingdom, and I can always return once the Cult has been dealt with."

Even Rehia smiled at that. There it was. He is endearing and caring, but why is he spying on me? That was the question that was chief on her mind. It was like he had two sides to himself.

Right then, the door opened, and a moment later, the sorceresses arrived. Thankfully, it was only three this time, Duinith, Firaan, and the ever-feral, especially to Meera, Kithra.

"Ah, Meera, you've returned," Firaan cooed. "How lovely to see that the dragons didn't harm you."

Meera sighed. "Can we begin now?"

"We most certainly can," Rehia replied.

"Actually, what is she doing here?" Meera pointed to Kithra. "I thought we were keeping things close to our chest until the traitor could be found."

"Ah, the search is still ongoing, Reverent Lady," Firaan replied. "In the hubbub of the soldiers arriving and setting up encampment and then half their ranks leaving, it's been a little difficult to conduct searches. Rest assured, I've gone through half of the sorceresses and no traitors yet."

"So, what news do you bring?" Rehia asked again, a little impatience in her tone. "And for our sake, I hope it is god."

Meera smiled. "I did it. I got us an archdragon."

She told them just about everything that had happened. However, she kept the details about the archdragon ritual out of the story. For some reason, she didn't want the royal siblings or the sorceresses to know that all they needed was an Ascendant to create an archdragon. She didn't want them to have that sort of knowledge. As she was telling the story, she remembered that she had promised Dara that she would return the scroll to him, so she would have to visit him once the business with the Cult was over.

Once she was done, the sorceresses were throwing nervous glances at each other. The way Firaan held the other two's gaze, Meera was almost certain that they were talking amongst each other. Meera didn't know the sorceress had that ability, but she also didn't know that she didn't have telepathy.

"What is it?" Rehia finally asked, as she must've noticed it as well.

"It's the archdragon that she's brought," Duinith said. "We don't have a good history with him. He's the one who hunted us the most and attacked the dragon keep almost vehemently. He's vowed to wipe us off the face of the worlds on multiple occasions. If he learns that we're here, then it might reinvigorate his passion, and he might even forget the real reason he's here."

"And your solution is…"

"We're going to have to sit out the rest of this war," Duinith said without hesitation.

"I'm sorry I didn't hear that right," Rehia said.

Meera barked a laugh. "Of course. Now you show your real faces. A bunch of cowards."

Duinith's expression immediately hardened, and her nostrils flared. "And what would you do in our place?"

"I've been in your place. Ignis explicitly warned me never to return to Wiryar forest, and yet I did. Even knowing that they could incinerate me on the spot, I still went to their very home and turned one into an archdragon."

"You don't have a four-hundred-year-old blood feud with them," Duinith snapped. "We do."

"That feud should've been settled with Veridiana's death."

"And Tigris is the most reasonable of dragons who would care about that sort of thing. Did you even tell him that we're here? Did you get his word not to harm us?"

"It skipped my mind, because I was, you know, busy trying to convince them that I'm not there to trick them."

"By the way, how did you do that?" Rehia asked.

"You don't want to know. I had to go through the worst psychedelic trip and then had to drink Canterworm juice twice."

Firaan and Kithra gasped.

"Okay, seriously, what the fuck is in that thing that I keep getting those reactions?" Meera nearly snapped.

"Trust me, lass, you don't want to know," Firaan replied. "But I thank you for your sacrifice. Lady Duinith is right, I fear that if we go in front of this new archdragon, the Sorceresses of Akhessai will be no more."

Kithra stood abruptly. "I should reinforce the barrier in case Tigris finds his way here."

"Relax, I sent him to hunt one of Elrasil's beasts up on the White Ember wastelands, along with his brother."

"And you can guarantee that they won't come here?" Kithra seethed. Her voice was as cold as ever whenever she addressed her.

Then, without anyone's permission, she turned and left the room. Firaan frowned at her back for a long moment, and when she turned, she caught Meera staring at her. She shook her head and smiled, as if everything was okay.

The next hour was spent quarrelling with the sorceresses. It was mostly Rehia and the sorceresses, with Manazhar jumping in from time to time, making promises while his sister mostly made threats. Meera sat through it all to spite the sorceresses from time to time. She could never give up a chance to rile them up.

Then something drew her attention. It was shouting from outside. It started slowly at first, but then gradually grew louder until it was near frantic. She frowned as she stood to investigate, making the conversation in the room come to an abrupt stop.

"What is it, Meera?" Rehia asked.

Before she could answer, the door to the hut burst open, and Jephena came running into the room. Her clothes were bloody, but it wasn't her blood; that much was certain. The woman had no visible wounds on her, though her eyes were numb.

"Kithra…"

"Is she alright?" Duinith was out of her chair. "Are the dragons here?"

"No…" Firaan dropped her head.

"What happened?" Duinith barked.

"Kithra killed Ilona. She burned all of her notes into the Cosmarian's language, took the ice dragon's heart, and fled."

It didn't need to be said, but Jephena still did.

"She was the traitor all along."