Realm of Monsters - Chapter 645: Home

Chapter 645: Home

  Today was a beautiful day. Actually, it was somewhat cloudy, but that did not stop Stryg from thinking it was a beautiful day. He was reclining on a large leather chair in one of the manor’s patios. A dozen plates of food prepared by Veres’ chefs were lined up on the table in front of him. And Tauri was snuggled up to him, feeding him grapes one at a time. Life was beautiful.

  “Okay, I’m getting tired. It’s your turn,” Tauri wiggled the grapes and pulled her hand away. 

  “Uh-uh-uh~ You lost the bet,” said Stryg.

  “How was I supposed to know the lamia would outbeat Rhiannon in a race?” Tauri grumbled.

  “Lamias are quite fast over short distances. Had it been a race around the manor instead of a short sprint, Rhian would have won, and I’d be the one feeding you grapes,” said Stryg.

  Even now, Rhiannon was chasing Lysaila in circles around the gardens, while the latter laughed and taunted her. It seemed the loss had injured Rhiannon’s pride, if the spear in her hand was anything to go off by.

  “Wait, so you knew Lysaila would win?” Tauri frowned.

  “Why else would I have taken the bet?”

  “Ugh, I hate you.”

  “Less hate, more grapes.”

  Tauri flicked his droopy pointed-ear. It was one of the few places she could hit him without causing herself injury. After his titan awakening, his body had become several times more durable. She had already broken her hand once trying to punch him in the throat when he had sucked her blood a little too long.

  The flick didn’t hurt Stryg per se, though it did mess with his sensitive hearing. He hissed at her action, but then she stuffed a grape in his mouth, and he went back to a mollified chewing.

  “War Master!” Elayne shouted as she jogged across the grass.

  “Elayne?” Stryg sat up, curious. She had served as the leader of his honor guard in the Sylvan army. Though the honor guard had taken a step back once the Gales had come into the picture, they still visited the Veres manor from time to time. Occasionally, training with his uncle, Jahn, and some of the Gales.

  “Lady Katag,” Elayne gave Tauri a nod, then shifted her attention back to Stryg. “The Mother Moon sends for you.”

  “Right now?”

  “Yes. One of her priestesses gave me the message. It seemed urgent. If you’ll follow me,” Elayne gestured.

  Stryg and Tauri shared a glance. He had just seen Lunae earlier today in the grand hall. He thought she’d be busy speaking with Bellum for the rest of the day, but it seemed he was wrong.

  “Go,” Tauri nudged him.

  “But— The food.” Stryg stared longingly at the platters on the table.

  “Best not to keep a goddess waiting,” said Tauri.

  “Fine.” Stryg sighed dramatically and jumped to his feet. “Lead the way, Captain Elayne.”

  “Gladly, War Master.”

~~~

  Elayne led Stryg back to the Commoner District, where the Sylvan armies had taken as their own residence for the time being. Usually, there were Sylvan patrols in the neighborhoods the Sylvan tribes resided in, but there were far more warriors garbed in leather armor than usual today.

  This wasn’t some patrol. Lines of warriors were pooling into the large plaza where Lunae’s temple stood. When the goblins spotted Stryg and Elayne, they quickly parted and bowed their heads in acknowledgement, whispering his name, almost as if it were a prayer. Stryg didn’t know how to feel about it, but soon enough, they were at the front pillars of the temple. 

  “I’ll wait out here, War Master.” Elayne stood at attention, arms folded behind her back.

  “Thanks for the escort, Captain.” Stryg headed inside and was met with priestesses in white garments bustling to and fro. He maneuvered around them and walked into the main hall, where Lunae and Bellum were having a somewhat heated conversation. The roof had been torn off to give a clear view of the night sky and the moon. Right now it was a bright, cloudy grey.

  As soon as Stryg walked in, they stopped talking. Lunae turned to him with a smile. “Little One, just on time.” 

  “For what?” he asked.

  “My big announcement.” She scooped him up into her arms and leaped through the hole in the roof. She landed softly on the clay tiles and put Stryg down. He was surprised to see Gale, his mother, and the Shaman and Warrior Elects on the roof as well.

  “What are you all doing here?” asked Stryg.

  “The Mother Moon wanted her Elects, Favoured, and Chosen present for her big announcement,” said Aurelia.

  Gale hurried to his side. “I would have come and found you, but she dragged Lady Aurelia and me with her when she left the manor.”

  “War Master, good to see you,” the Warrior Elect grinned.

  The Shaman Elect, Lumi, gave Stryg a subtle nod, but kept her distance. She was clearly still not a fan of his presence among the higher echelons of Sylvan society. Not that Stryg was much of a fan of her either.

  “So what’s this announcement?” asked Stryg.

  “No one knows,” replied Gale.

  “You’re about to find out,” Lunae winked. She strode to the edge of the temple’s roof, where all the gathered goblins could see her. “My children!” her voice boomed across the plaza.

  Every eye turned to her majestic presence, their yellow eyes wide in awe. Rare was the day their goddess graced them with her presence.

  Lunae opened her arms wide. “These last few weeks have been a journey like none you have ever experienced. But that did stop you? Did you turn away when the call for war came to your doorstep? No! You all rushed to the aid of your lost kin of Holo’s Shade. You fought against the drows of Undergrowth and the Tribes of the Valley. And through it all did you stumble and falter? No! My children fought on until the end. Everyone of you. I am proud to call you mine.”

  The crowd stood a little taller at her words, some with glistening eyes.

  “Since then,” Lunae went on. “We have stayed in this city, helping your lost kin in what ways we can. Food, shelter, supplies, medical aid… We even began to teach them our ways. But the truth is, there is only so much we can do to help them from here.” She paused and glanced at the people below, “I understand you all yearn for home. So, after much contemplation, I have decided it is time we go home.”

  The goblins all perked up at her words. Stryg understood the feeling. Even for all its dangers, Stryg felt homesick for Vulture Woods many times. Even now, some part of him longed to see the scarlet forest.

  “Long have you waited, but your wait will soon be over. Soon, we will leave this city and we will march home. In three days’ time, we march to Lunis!”

  Stryg did a double-take at Lunae’s words. “What did she say?”

  Aurelia gave him a subtle jab in the ribs. “Be quiet.”

  The crowd eyed Lunae with expressions of uncertainty, but hope tinged their eyes.

  “For too long, have we let our home rot as the orcs of ‘Murkton’ stand on the ruins of Lunis. When our home fell, I was weak, torn apart by the loss of my brother, Solis. I failed the children of Lunis. I failed you as your Mother Moon.

  “But now I stand here before you, ready to make amends, to right the wrongs that have been done to our people. The strength of Lunis still lives strong within each one of you. You have seen the fate of our lost kin in this wretched city. They do not have a future here, nor can we sustain all of them back in Vulture Woods. 

  “In Lunis, a bright future is possible for all of us. A fertile land, where our young can grow old, and our people can prosper once more. The orcs of Murkton stole that future from your ancestors. It is time we take it back, my children. Prepare the tribes, gather your steel, and sharpen your claws! Lunis marches to war!”

  The crowd of goblins had begun shouting in agreement as Lunae spoke and now their voices reverberated across the plaza. They slammed the butt of their spears in the ground and bellowed war cries. Frost Wolves and their smaller cousins howled into the sky. Stryg could feel the temple shake underneath him.

  Lunae spun around in a wave of frost-mist, disappearing from the view of the crowd, and leaped back down into the temple. The two Elects stepped forward and began to address the crowd. Stryg leaped after Lunae. Gale and Aurelia followed.

  “What is going on? Did you know about this?” Stryg asked Gale.

  “I had no idea,” she replied.

  “Shh,” Aurelia glared at them both and gestured to the two goddesses in the room.

  “You’re really going to do this?” said Bellum grimly. 

  “Do what?” asked Lunae as she settled back down on her throne of ice.

  “Declare war on Murkton.” Bellum glared at her.

  Lunae met her gaze without flinching. “Yes.”

  “Do you have any idea what will happen if you go through with this?”

  “I’m quite certain I do.”

  “Countless people will die.”

  “Countless people did die, Bellum. My people. And I will not let more generations of goblins die as they scrape for survival in Vulture Woods. It is time Lunis steps back into the world. And for that to happen, Murkton must fall.”

  “I cannot let you do this.”

  Lunae narrowed her silver eyes. “Cannot? What will you do? Fight me? Even on a new moon, at my weakest, you’ve only ever achieved a standstill. How do you think you will fare this close to the full moon?”

  “You sound like my father,” Bellum spat.

  Lunae pulled back as if she had been slapped. Her expression darkened, but then she exhaled slowly and the moment was gone. “…Well, we are twins.”

  Bellum frowned and changed tactics. “As gods, it is not our place to interfere in the disputes of mortals. We are above such things. The age of Lunis is long gone. Let Murkton be.”

  Stryg and Aurelia both clenched their jaws at Bellum’s words, but they held their tongue. No one spoke of Lunis like that, not even a goddess. Lunae’s face was a mask of cold anger. Bellum realized her mistake but before she had a chance to amend her words, Lunae spoke. “It’s funny, Bellum, you mentioned how I sounded like your father. Now, you sound like your mother.”

  “What is that supposed to mean?” Bellum bristled at the mention of her mother.

  “You’ve always followed her example. Giants spend their whole lives trying to commune with nature and the World Soul’s Song, even going as far as isolating themselves from other mortals.”

  “What’s your point?”

  “My point is that for all their isolation, your mother and her kin never managed to hear the World Soul’s voice, for if they did, they would understand one crucial thing about her. She is not forgiving.”

  Bellum’s scarlet wolfen ears flickered up and she bared her fangs in a low growl. “How would you know? You’ve never heard Aleirune’s Song either.”

  “I have no need to,” Lunae laughed. “We are talking about a being who birthed the Calamities to destroy her enemies. I thought a goddess of war like you would understand the implications of such an act, but clearly not. I, however, will follow in the ways of our Progenitor, even if you do not.”

  “I may be a goddess of war, but I am also this Realm’s Guardian. I will not just sit back and do nothing while you destroy a Great City.”

  Lunae scoffed. “You seemed awfully inclined to sit back and watch when Lunis fell.”

  “That was different and you know it. My father had just been sealed away. Neither of us was in any shape to fight.”

  “Yet you could have sent your Ebon Order to help. You did not.”

  “Our duty is to protect the fate of this world, not to pick mortal sides.”

  “My duty is to my people.”

  Bellum laughed bitterly. “Is that what this is? Duty? Or is it just revenge? For all that you’ve lost?”

  Lunae rose to her feet and looked down at her niece. “You have no idea what I’ve lost.”

  “You are speaking to a woman who has lost all but one of her children to a monster. I have some inclination.”

  “Then you understand why nothing you say will stop me.”

  “I understand that if you do this, you will cause a tragedy as great as the Fall of Lunis.”

  “Good. It is time to put an end to the orcs that have grown fat and comfortable on the corpses of my people.”

  “They are not their ancestors. The orcs living in Murkton are innocent.”

  “The people of Lunis were innocent.”

  Bellum sighed. “I hope you reconsider your decision.” She turned and walked out of the chamber.

  Lunae glanced at Stryg, Aurelia, and Gale; they were as frozen as deer caught by a predator in the woods.