Realm of Monsters - Chapter 728: Lunch with the Gods

Chapter 728: Lunch with the Gods

  Lunch at Morrigan’s castle was a strange, tense affair. The city of Murkton had fallen, most of the streets were filled with water up to the waist, with some streets much worse. Smaller Sylvan ships sailed through the flooded streets, picking off any orc soldiers that offered resistance. A few ships had docked at the castle’s gates and stormed the castle under Lunae’s orders.

  Unlike the commoners and merchant families, the Sylvan warriors did not spare a single orc that served in the castle. Corvus would have only kept people who were loyal to him in his own home and for that same reason, Lunae would not tolerate any of them in her castle.

  And so, lunch became an odd affair. Goblin warriors had to make do with what was in the kitchens and pantries. The problem was that they did not recognize most of the food, nor what to make do with them. The cuisine of Evenfall and Vulture Woods had changed drastically over the last three centuries.

  Lunae sat at the head of the dining table where Corvus had once sat. Bellum sat to her left and Stryg to her right. Belle was seated next to her mother, while Gale and Tauri sat to the left of Stryg, respectively. The rest of his companions were seated down the table, while the Lunar Elects, Silver Mother, and Arden sat past Belle.

  Seeing Arden again unnerved Tauri, a tell that Stryg did not miss. He grabbed his lover’s hand and glared at the Sylvan archmage, daring him to do something. Arden didn’t look at them, instead he shared a quiet conversation with Lumi, the Shaman Elect and daughter of his tribe. Even the Guardian of the Sylvan was on his best behavior in front of the goddesses.

  “I’m fine, Stryg,” Tauri patted his hand and gave him a reassuring smile.

  “You don’t have to be,” Stryg said.

  The dining room doors opened and a line of goblins carrying platters of food walked in. They went around the table, placing platters of food in front of each person, before leaving and coming back with more food, particularly so for the titans.

  Stryg took a bite of the pork and savoured it in his mouth. It wasn’t venison, but it still carried the flavors of home. “Tastes good,” he mumbled through a full mouth.

  Belle picked at her beef with a fork and took a bite before making a face. “It’s tough.”

  “Belle,” her mother chastised.

  “What? It’s true. And there’s hardly any seasoning,” Belle said.

  “Don’t be rude,” Bellum pinched her daughter’s arm.

  “Ow!” Belle rubbed her arm with a dour look. “All I’m saying is that I missed the old cooks. They had a bunch of different kinds of food and it was all tasty.”

  Bellum sighed. “Where did I go wrong with you?”

  “You kept me locked up in a castle for half my life, for starters,” Belle said.

  “I’ll lock you up in your room if you don’t stop,” Bellum said.

  “The cooks at this castle were pretty good,” Stryg said.

  “Now they’re pretty dead,” Belle mumbled.

  “Belle!” her mother hissed.

  “I’m just saying!” Belle threw up her arms.

  “If you two kids would like, I’ll have someone fetch a few of the cooks from the nobles’ homes and bring them over. They’ll have to be checked by our purple shamans first, but after that, it should be fine,” Lunae said.

  “Yes, please. Thank you, Auntie,” Belle grinned.

  “Thanks, Mom,” Stryg said.

  “You’re both very welcome,” Lunae said.

  “Sorry,” Bellum mouthed silently.

  Lunae gave a slight shake of the head. “It’s fine,” she whispered.

  “I’m glad to see you’re doing well, Stryg,” Virella said.

  “Thank you, Silver Mother,” he replied with a bow of the head. Aurelia had told him Virella had been her best friend and partner while training as an acolyte in Evenfall. He still had trouble understanding how such a bubbly woman could be best friends with an icy, strict individual like his mother, Aurelia.

  Virella propped her elbows on the table and rested her chin on her hands, a wide smile plastered across her face. “Hehe. Little Stryg is all grown up and so polite. I remember when you were just a wee lil baby. My, my, time flies.”

  “He is not all grown up,” Lunae said with a small growl. “In mortal terms, he is hardly an adult. In reality, he is just a baby.”

  “I’m not a baby anymore, Mom,” Stryg said.

  “Oh, really? Then show me your ‘grown-up’ teeth,” Lunae cocked her eyebrow.

  “My what?” Stryg ran a finger over his teeth. “I already lost my baby teeth.”

  “Your first set of baby teeth. What about your second? Or your third? How about your fifth?” Lunae asked.

  “I am going to lose more teeth?” Stryg asked, a trace of anxiety slipping through his voice.

  Lunae cracked a smug smile. “You are a titan. Did you think you would stay that same tiny stature forever?”

  “Um. Kinda? I was growing a lot over the last couple of years, but I stopped a few months back. Or so Feli tells me,” Stryg said.

  “Feli buys his clothes,” Tauri explained.

  “That was your first growth spurt, Little One. Your mortal side has relatively finished growing, but your immortal side has only just begun,” Lunae said. “You will continue to grow as the years pass by until you’re as tall as me, maybe even taller—your father is one of tallest among our kind. You will lose plenty of sets of teeth before you’re done.”

  “I don’t want to be that big. How am I supposed to hold Krikolm or Svartna?” Stryg clutched a spoon as if to illustrate.

  “You can always shapeshift to a smaller body,” Lunae said flatly. “And Svartna can shapeshift with you.”

  “Wait, I can shapeshift my body size?” Stryg had never really thought about it. Though he supposed it made sense. He had seen Lunae shift to the height of an ordinary petite woman plenty of times.

  “You can, hypothetically. I reckon in your current infantile state you’d struggle to shapeshift at all,” Lunae said.

  “I shapeshifted into a giant wolf,” Stryg said proudly. “Oh, and I grew wings too!”

  Lunae held up a finger, “You mean you could only grow wings instead of taking on a true owl form. You were able to take on a wolf form because you were drawing upon my power through your unique bond with me, which is no small feat. Honestly, I’m quite proud of you, as expected of my son—ahem. What I mean to say is you have a lot of training ahead of you before you can truly begin to master your abilities.”

  “I won’t fail you, Mother,” Stryg said.

  “Oh, darling, you never have,” Lunae said.

  Stryg beamed at the compliment as a warm feeling filled his chest.

  “Wow, look at you. So precious. I almost want to cry,” Virella wiped an invisible tear from her eye. “I wonder what Aurelia would think if she saw you fly and do battle with the gods in the sky. She’d be so proud of you, too.”

  Lunae frowned. “Speaking of which, why are you children here instead of back at Holo’s Shade with Aurelia?”

  “That’s um, an excellent question… Belle, care to explain it to them?” Stryg said.

  “Me? Wha–? I followed you here,” Belle pointed her fork at him.

  “If I may, your divine eminence,” Gale spoke up.

  “Go on,” Lunae nodded.

  “Stryg wanted to rescue his soon-to-be-brother-in-law from Murkton before your armies decimated the city,” Gale explained.

  “Is that so?” Lunae shifted an accusing gaze on Tauri, who shrank back in dismay.

  Stryg leaned forward in his chair and blocked Lunae’s view of his fiancé.

  “I have divine sight, child. I can still see her quivering,” Lunae said.

  “Then stop. If you have a problem, it’s with me, not her,” Stryg said.

  “…Very well.” Lunae tapped the table, “Tauri.”

  “Yes!” Tauri sat up.

  “You are very fortunate that you make my son happy and that he is prone to never listening to his mothers’ orders,” Lunae said. “Gale, continue.”

  “Stryg wanted to rescue Lucas Katag,” Gale pointed at the end of the table where Lucas was trying to make himself invisible. 

  Lucas winced and gave a small wave. “He-Hello.”

  “I, of course, advised against the venture,” Gale said.

  “Of course,” Lunae nodded.

  “However, when every titan in Hollow Shade was attacked by assassins, Stryg thought it best if we left the city for the meantime,” Gale said.

  “You— WHAT!?” Lunae leaped to her feet. “You were attacked? By assassins!? When were you going to tell me this!?”

  Bellum turned on her daughter, “You didn’t think to mention this either?”

  Stryg blinked. “Um…”

  Belle played with her food. “I forgot…”

  “That’s it.” Bellum stood and yanked her daughter from her chair.

  “Wait, wait, wait! Stop, please!” Belle thrashed helplessly as her mother threw her on her shoulder.

  “Excuse me, Lunae. It seems I need to discipline my child.” Bellum turned and walked out of the room.

  Belle squirmed and tried to escape to no avail. “Wait. No! I’m sorrryyyyyy—!”

  The door slammed shut behind them.

  “Well, that’s terrifying,” Virella noted.

  “Stryg!” Lunae turned on him.

  “Huh?! What? Yes!” He sat up a little straighter.

  “Tell me what happened,” Lunae growled. “Gale, you stay. The rest of you out.”

~~~

  “So you were targeted by assassins who carried enchanted cloaks made from no one other than Agony? And one of the assassins was also a son of Agony? Am I getting that right?” Lunae asked.

  “Pretty much, yeah,” Stryg nodded. “Aunt Agony sent assassins after us. We don’t know why, though.”

  “No. Agony would not have done that. She can be distant, but she would never harm her family. She despises inflicting pain on any of her family, she loves them too dearly,” Lunae said.

  “So Agony didn’t try to kill us?” Stryg asked.

  “No. But if one of her sons was with the assassins, it does not bode well either. It implies an enemy I had hoped we would not have to fight,” Lunae said.

  “What enemy?” Stryg asked.

  “I can only think of one enemy who has ever wanted the extermination of all our kind. Dragons. Why a son of Agony would be working with what is most likely a dragon lord or several of them, I do not know. Such a brazen act will only lead to another all-out war between our species.”

  “Against all dragons? They couldn’t all have tried to kill us. What about Syleth? He would never have hurt us,” Stryg said.

  “Yes, but you have to understand. The dragons are creations of the Primordial Drakith. They came to this planet to weaken the World Soul and prepare the way for their master. Aleirune has grown weak. This may be the dragons’ attempt to exterminate our species once and for all. If you were attacked in Holo’s Shade, then I can only imagine what other titans might have been targeted elsewhere.”

  “How many of us are there?” Stryg asked.

  “There are few of us left. The mortal titans died out long ago. Only a few gods remain, spread out through the realms. Excluding the Calamities, if any of the rest were to be isolated, the dragons could slay them.”

  “And if Agony’s son is working with them…” Gale said.

  “Then the dragons could know the locations of the few titans still alive,” Lunae frowned.

  “So what do we do?” Stryg asked.

  “You stay out of this. I will speak with your father. If need be, he can summon the council of Calamities,” Lunae said.

  “Is that safe? I’ve seen what they can do when gathered,” Stryg said. He could still vividly remember the ruined sight of the battlefield left in his great-grandmother’s memories.

  “The Calamities’ title is well deserved,” Lunae admitted. “But they are still the children of Aleirune and like their elder sister, Love, they have always been our people’s greatest protectors. If the dragons want war, then they will remember why they should fear us.”