SK4 - Chapter 26 - The Bargain

[Author Note - I am still tweaking the next chapter's encounter, so if you see any discrepancies between this chapter and the next, do please point them out, but also just keep in mind I may have just shifted something. This encounter was really tough to get right, but I hope that when I'm done everyone enjoys it.]

Building out the final rafts as they loaded people on, the frogloks riding diregators then pulled the rafts to increase their speed. There were some more narrow, rocky parts of the river that required them to truly have control over both the flow and the amount of water to pass safely. This was one of the reasons Nick was sure Lord Tagron wouldn’t see this move coming at all.

A few frogloks and their diregator went with each raft, carrying roughly fifteen to twenty-five soldiers, depending on the races of those being moved. With around eight hundred soldiers, nearly fifty rafts were necessary.

There were not quite enough diregators. A few frogloks and the more talented drakan elemental shamans helped with the last few rafts, and a few of the smaller races, like the ratfolk and the moon gnoll females, joined in riding the diregators themselves with harnesses. Lastly, a few boats were brought out of storage, a few of the lords having sophisticated items like Nick’s portable cottage. 

Jasper and Ishkara froze enough ice that with Nick was able to help direct them to make a barge of frost, fitting even more people of his own and guided by Luna and the drakan shamans.

It shaved hours from their journey, making the path even more direct than the winding valleys. Without the monsters riled up in the forests, only the moon gnolls, jackalfolk, and mantisfolk could really make their way through the forest at even close to the same speed. With them, this seemed to be the only path to evade their enemy.

So with their river travel, there was no way for Lord Tagron to catch up to them. They arrived near the keep shaving several hours off of their trip and with hopefully enough time to spare, ready to hit the enemy from two locations. 

Jasmine and Sable had worked to take out a few of the enemy’s scouts on the way, as it did appear Lord Tagron did eventually have some eyes on the forest. But they likely hadn’t caught them all, and he had probably learned about their dodging of his return force but was unable to do anything to stop them.

Nick had managed to question the bandits in a forced dream and learned that Lord Tagron’s subordinate had at least been smart enough for plausible deniability; they weren’t aware of who hired them. 

It wasn’t enough for him to swear to Orion. However, it may not even matter. Attacking them on their way back or attacking the keep at the time of the Conflict was definitely going against Orion’s Will; Conflicts were sacred, and using them to take advantage of an enemy kingdom was something that sanctions could be created–drawing from their tower’s essence of those involved.

They marched until the mages and mercenaries were in clear view. There were a little over two hundred of them, no match for their army. Their coalition started lining up their ranks in the adjacent forest, and the enemy hadn’t spotted them within the trees, completely unsuspecting.

Lord Brightclaw called out to Orion.

“Orion, hear this Lord’s words. I have witnessed the enemy coalitions unsanctioned attacks on my lands during our Conflict, breaking the sanctity of the event. I ask for the right to carry out justice and that the enemy kingdoms involved in breaking the spirit of the Rules of Conflicts be heavily penalized.”

A golden ring of light emanated from Brightclaw, pulsing outward. Golden light spread across the environment and it headed over to where the keep lay, which was not fully visible through the heavily forested location they now traveled through.

[Orion hears the Lord’s plea. For breaking the spirit of the Rules of Conflict for the Proxy War, sanctions against the involved members of the opposing coalition have been increased. Your Control Radius has increased to encompass more of the surrounding lands, and theirs has been pushed back as a result of this penalty. 

However, this area was within the enemy’s Control Radius at the start of their attack, and they had used tools of their Paths to initiate their own Case for War. Lord Tagron’s Sovereign Destiny allows him to initiate attacks against non-city structures within the second ring of his Control Radius. His attacks may continue, but you can protect your land without granting the enemy additional Cases for War.]

Brightclaw was shocked. “S-Second ring? Just how did he push his Control Radius so much, and so fast?”

They had chosen this location explicitly because it was outside of that radius, and by a fair margin. But it seemed their enemy had found a way around this.

Bronzebeard grunted. “If he’s offering people like my son Ordeal Cornerstones for their success, it stands to reason he may have more than one spare. He may have established a city closer to us recently.”

Nick shook his head. “We’ve been scouting his lands daily. The only possibility is he added Ordeals to his main city.”

Lord Regios shook his head. “He risks a Tribulation? How foolish. With multiple Ordeals, all it takes is waiting too long to start a climb, a failed climb, or retreating because you couldn’t finish a floor, and then your people will be the ones who suffer. Greedy.”

Nick sweated a little about that and scratched his neck. It had been fine up to now, but he was also playing a dangerous game having many Ordeals in his city. But his people benefitted, and they needed all the advantages they could get to grow as fast as possible to be able to stand up to Blackthorne. 

It was possible to give up some of the benefits and move an Ordeal to a new location, effectively establishing a new city and reducing the risk of a Tribulation. Perhaps he would look into this after he beat Blackthorne, but for now, he’d have to stay the course. 

“Let’s wait for our scouts to return before we move.”

They waited a minute, and Shak’terra returned from her most recent scouting trip. “It’s not looking good, Young Master. We don’t have a lot of time.”

“What’s going on?”

“Lord Tagron is coming with some powerful knights on mounts–you know that. But he has a gigantic creature with his army now too. I don’t know how it obscured itself from me, but it was what riled up all the monsters in that forest. It’s not just in the third stratum, but also an immense size and has a powerful bloodline. We need to hurry, or they’ll catch us out in the open.”

“How much time do we have?”

“If you hurry, you should be able to make it in before the knights arrive. Under an hour.”

“Try to find out when the rest of his Proxy War forces will arrive.”

“I’ll do what I can. It could be that monster, but something is obscuring things from me.”  

That was ominous. “What could obscure things from you?”

“Plenty of things in the third stratum. I’m only powered by Winny right now, that limits my potential strength.” 

She left, and Nick called out to the coalition. “Alright, Broken Chains! Let’s split up and hit both forces at once. We move to capture these men ahead of us, then march double time to catch up to those heading to the keep! Do not chase the enemy into the woods if they flee. We must not get caught out from our defenses if we have a hope of winning this!””    

Nick directed the two groups, making sure his slower allies made their way to the keep first. 

Defeating the mercenaries and earth mages was simple–they did not even put up a fight when their much larger, split army of more than four hundred came from behind. The soldiers and mages quickly dropped their weapons and were chained up. The land bridge was about half-built, what was effectively a large ramp that bypassed a low point in the mountain to reach a plateau.

Of course, they had surveyed for possibilities like this when they chose where to place a keep. It wasn’t actually a great path for weaker cultivators. Only an elite team could really get that much further up the mountain pass and to a path they could use to hit the keep from behind or bypass the keep entirely.   

He wondered just what Tagron’s game was here. Was he just hedging his bets? If the mages had more time, a few days, he could bypass the keep. But maybe, despite this bridge being incomplete, some elite forces had already passed through. 

Nick could now run on air without his Cloak of Twilight, and most of his wives would have no issues leaping and climbing; Winny could have comically walked up the mountain at level 1 with no issues, and someone who mastered their essence control could easily make their feet and hands grip or stick to cliff faces the same way. Of course, they’d be incredibly vulnerable during that time, so it was not a good idea for an army to do.

Watching the men get chained up, Nick was surprised when there was a class and school of magic meant for draining the mana and essence from prisoners to make them less dangerous and less of a flight risk, but Lord Regios had people specialized in this.

Some of the special collars the slave merchants used would stop the mixture of mind and soul essence, which would prevent them from building up mana. Essence was powerful on its own, which was why special measures needed to be taken for prisoners that might attempt to overpower their captors and escape. 

The slave brand’s light mental compulsion helped with this, and this was also why control rods were necessary. For getting people to march though, the jackalfolk who used the draining curse were effective enough.

When they arrived at the keep, it seemed the opposing army had already pulled back from their siege. Despite their best efforts to eliminate scouts, word had somehow gotten to them. Only two dozen people stood in chains, the soldiers captured.

Nick noted to the other lords, “Looks like we only caught a few of them out. Let’s hurry and get into the keep.”

The soldiers marched up and into the keep, bringing the prisoners inside. About half of their forces had gotten inside already when a cloud of dust from horses could be seen in the distance. 

Nick and the other lords gathered on the top of the battlements above the gate. The fortifications with crenellations overlooked the path, and his wives all joined him above. The lords had their own personal guards standing nearby. 

Nick was happy to see Lothar, Renzou, and various other facsimiles of his subordinates ready for their defense. He had left several capable ones here to help defend, and it seemed they did a fair enough job in holding the fort by the amount of blood below. While he did not see any corpses, he could tell a few enemy soldiers had been slain. 

Eirwen had plenty of means of scouting even without Shak’terra. She was simply what made it easy mode. The sheep girl cast several spells, her eyes glowing white as she consulted the spirits, and she did frown every few minutes. “I see what Shak’terra was saying. There’s some presence obscuring my talks with the elemental spirits in the area. But there are a lot of presences coming, hundreds nearby. I cannot look further.”

Eventually, the army could be seen and counted coming down the path. Sable had eyes on the forest, and they spoke through their Soulscape.

[Looks like about four hundred, Boss. And there’s some kind of monster. It looks pretty tough.]

It seemed the army they were besieging the keep with came back along with Lord Tagron’s knights. This made the enemy’s army rather respectable, but it wasn’t all that they could bring to bear. It was only a matter of time before the armies from the Proxy War event showed up. Nick wasn’t sure why this amount would come to the gate at all. 

The knights who arrived were powerful, clearly Lord Tagron’s strongest combatants. These were people specialized in facing armies, and Nick only partially understood why some of these men were not used in the Proxy War.

His plan from the beginning was to wipe out the coalition and pay the price. The Proxy War would not allow the lords to die inside the war itself, so their plan was to intercept them on the way home. If the knights were tired or weakened from fighting, they just might not be able to do that. 

Then, the giant monster showed up.

Trees tumbled as they were shoved aside, and a monster that almost looked humanoid strode through. Its flesh was brown with spots of blue, a mixture between scaled and furred. It had a wild mane of blood red hair, with horns curled upward like a crown. Able to stand on two legs, and with a lion’s or wolf’s muzzle and deadly sharp teeth and long arms with claws closer to a human’s than not, this creature was dangerous. It had a large spiked tail, looking like that of a reptile’s.

Rebecca was shocked. “A beast king!”

Winny noted, “It’s collared.”

Nick frowned. “I guess that’s the thing that got all the beasts riled up. A pet.”

Lord Tagron and his son, Prince Tagron, arrived at the front of the army on their thoroughbred horses. 

The prince hoisted a figure up, and it made Lord Brightclaw’s eyes widen in shock. It was a ratfolk woman, holding an infant in her arms. “My wife, and my Heir! How…how could this happen?”

The elf noble grinned and using essence, spoke loud enough for them to hear them up on the battlements. “We know you’re up there, Brightclaw. You protected them well in your Crown Sanctum. But it wasn’t enough. All it took was some rumors to lure them out of their disgusting nest. Now, if you want them alive, little rat, you’ll have to join my father’s kingdom.”   

Lord Regios looked over at Lord Brightclaw, his eyes narrowing in disdain as he looked down on the shorter lord. “I thought we all agreed to defend our loved ones together here at the fortress. You already had two attacks on your life back at your city. How could you think your home was safer for them?”

Not everyone’s Crown Sanctum was built stronger than a fortress, like Nick’s. Even now, at the peak of the second stratum, he could hardly put a dent in the side of it. But everyone else’s was dependent upon their own investment. Most materials had numerous downsides that could be exploited, and no Crown Sanctum was truly a hundred percent safe. 

A determined, prepared adversary could get around most protections unless someone truly invested a ton in their own protection–something the people in his coalition did not have. Nick had Shak’terra to shore up the wards at this current location, and Regios had some interesting resources for that, but the others had to pay huge amounts of money for specialists that could not always be trusted.

Lord Brightclaw was wringing his hands. “I just… didn’t trust those we left behind to protect them! And I wasn’t necessarily wrong to–just look at what happened with Bronzebeard’s son!”

Nick was a little bothered that Lord Brightclaw hadn’t trusted them, but he understood the truth–that complaining about it now did nothing and that this was half of Lord Tagron’s goal to build distrust. 

“Brightclaw is right. While he was distrustful and he made a mistake, this just as easily could have happened to any one of us, our enemy searching and finding any weakness of ours. Still, this is a problem.” 

He considered sending Sable down there, but Prince Tagron was very close to the Lord and several of his more powerful subordinates. One was a mage of some kind and may actually be early in the third stratum as well. While he was sure Sable might be able to get in and hit someone or something hard, escaping or rescuing a wife and baby was far from a sure thing, even with Jasmine supporting.   

Lord Tagron dismounted from his horse and stepped forward. The elven man was wearing gunmetal gray armor with gold filigrees. The plates were in disconnected pieces to cover critical areas on his chest and stomach, with what looked like a brighter thin chain shirt underneath. With gauntlets and greaves not much different from Nick’s, it seemed like quite the utilitarian armor. 

But then he wore a regal red cloak and a crown on his head rather than a helmet, and his long, black, straight hair combined with his elvish looks made him look rather feminine to Nick. He had a sword at his waist, a thinner blade that looked like a rapier or dueling saber in its scabbard. 

“Greetings, Broken Chain Coalition. I had decided to make this the day that I wiped your coalition from Orion, but I am forced to admit: you performed well outside my expectations. Many know that I am a man that cannot take a loss like this just lying down. You can sate my anger by simply giving up one member of your coalition.”

“If you give over Lord Brightclaw I will back off with my army today, returning to my homeland. Thanks to the sanctions from your victory, you can even keep this fortress. In fact, nearly nothing changes–for you. You only lose this little weasel and his useless trash people, ready to fight again another day. And if not…”

He gestured to his side, and the beast king roared, its wail shaking the ground beneath them. It picked up a huge boulder and launched it through the air, the size of it nearly that of a car. It crashed into the wall, tearing apart a crenellation and nearly killing several archers who dodged out of the way at the last moment. Nick scoffed at that. They hadn’t activated the defensive formation just yet.

“Then, I’ll just have to continue today. I will destroy this fortress, and there is nothing you can do to stop me. You have relied on the fact that it would be far too costly for me to attack from the front, but that will no longer work now that you’ve angered me, and that I am now here. My remaining forces will arrive before the end of the day, and we will destroy these walls brick by brick if we must, and then you shortly after.”

The words he used tickled Nick’s Soul Sense. He said, ‘my remaining forces’ will arrive before the end of the day. This was an intentional obfuscation of the truth, and Nick took it to mean it was his forces or just not the entire coalition’s that were arriving.

Lord Tagron continued, “So what’s it going to be? The rat is going to want to bend the knee anyway; I have his wife and Heir, after all. Isn’t this the best outcome for your coalition, to let him do so? Because mark my words. Any who stand against me today will find themselves collared or slain; I will chase you to the ends of Orion to make it so. Even you, Bronzebeard.”

Brightclaw’s clawed hands were curled into fists drawing blood from his hands, and his tail was lashing in irritation. “It… was my mistake, after all. There’s…nothing that can be done. Either I stay with you lords and give up my wife and child, and we are forced to face that monster and his coalition, and all of us fall on top of that…or I go down there, and…everyone is fine for a while.”

Lord Bronzebeard frowned. “I don’t like it, my friend, but… I don’t think I can risk my people and kingdom in this way. I’m of the mind that we must offer the one to save the many in this case.”

Lord Quilbane snorted, shaking his head. “It’s only a matter of time before he’ll be after the rest of us. Without Brightclaw and his nearby city supplying it, it’ll be hard for us to hold this fort. I’d rather go down fighting with the advantage of a keep we painstakingly built than for my people to be the ones in danger.”

Lord Regios looked at the enemies arrayed in front of them. “We know they will be well over a thousand strong. Our fortress we built together is formidable, but the man has countless resources and is in the third stratum himself. Who’s to say he won’t just bypass the fortress and besiege us from both sides? Letting him have Lord Brightclaw and his people may not be a mere concession. It might be our only path to survival.”

Nick was wondering where Shak’terra was, because she had not yet returned. He wanted to know about the reinforcements, but a flash of gold light spread out across the valley, and the entire world suddenly went monochrome, everything freezing–except for Nick, and he looked around in shock. A stone archway even rose next to him from the ground, and he was given a Menu prompt. 

[Floor 20 - The Trial of the Hero King. Lord Brightclaw’s life and his kingdom hang in the balance against a tyrant who stands against your Chosen Path. Brightclaw is a denizen of the tower, and whether his people die or not, it has no influence on you or the things you value. But he represents the challenge you will face, the undeniable barrier between a Hero and a King. 

Can you risk your life, your kingdom, and everything you built and value just to do what is right? To uphold your promise to Lord Brightclaw and your Pact to be a protector of the weak, a beacon of heroism? Prove it to Orion, prove it to the Essence, and prove it to yourself that you can, and you will do it and succeed as many times as it is necessary. Find conviction in your Chosen Path, die trying, or flee and accept that your Chosen Path is folly.]

[Objective: Use any means within your Chosen Path to find a way to rescue Lord Brightclaw and a satisfactory number of his people from the deadly Lord Tagron. Rewards based on success levels of the objective. Failure after attempting will lead to a Tribulation, if you can escape. The exit portal, should you not use this one, is in your Crown Sanctum. 

Resuming time in thirty seconds. If you flee, your companions will be ported out. If you do not take this option now, it will not be given again.]

It was giving Nick a chance to find his own means of achieving the goal. His wives were frozen at this moment, and he was given a moment to think. 

He was a little surprised that his wives were frozen, but he understood. Nick was a Lord of Orion, and it was a simple fact that as much as he loved them and valued their opinions, they were not. Orion saw that this decision was his and his alone. 

He looked at the frozen Lord Tagron in the distance, along with the monster. The two were at least as powerful as that Devilsaur Matriarch he faced, or Thresh. Nick had come a long way in the last few months, and he was in tip-top shape, none of his resources consumed unlike when he faced the dangerous creature. Would it be enough? Could he bet his life, his kingdom, on his victory over these enemies? 

The Menu prompt was right, however. If he backed down now, he’d lose conviction in his Paths, his Chosen Path. He would not face a Tribulation if he fled while the world was frozen, but he knew it would not be far off. Only if he attempted and failed would that happen. 

Nick wasn’t being railroaded into anything. He had options on how to handle this situation, from sneaking to rescue Brightclaw after they gave him over to convincing the lords in the keep to join him in whatever plan he came up with. He could even challenge Lord Tagron to a duel of lords, if he could convince him to do so. 

There were dozens of ways for him to resist this threat, even if the hostage situation made things complicated. Though, most of them were incredibly risky, but oddly, the prompt didn’t actually say anything about the hostages. Perhaps Lord Brightclaw himself would be incredibly difficult to save if he didn’t, and it was just a cause and effect. Nick didn’t know the reason for Orion’s prompt. 

And following his Chosen Path, his two Paths as a whole, was the same as his being true to himself and what he believed in. That Lord Brightclaw wasn’t real did not actually matter–though something about that nagged at him in the back of his mind.   

He needed to find a path to victory, one that could force Lord Tagron to give over his hostages and allow him to fight on a fair, or as close to it as possible, playing field. As a Lord of Orion who walked the Path of Kings, he could never send his people and wives off to battle where there was nearly zero chance for victory, even if it was somehow the most righteous thing to do. 

It went against his Dominion of Frost and Fealty, where his subordinate’s loyalty was returned with duty and responsibility of his own. Sacrificing a bunch of people in that situation for his morality was not something he could accept. 

And because he also walked the Hero’s Path, he couldn’t give up just because the going got tough. He had to find a balance now and find a way to victory like walking a tightrope. With his Chosen Path, he would have to continue walking the razor’s edge for the rest of his life. He had to make the impossible possible and make the possible a near certainty and triumph.

Nick’s look was solemn as he came to his decision, time suddenly continuing as the archway lowered away and disappeared. His wives looked around surprised as they likely saw Nick’s prompt, gasping and making surprised sounds.

“I’m sorry, Lord Brightclaw.”

Seeing Nick’s expression and hearing his words, Lord Brightclaw’s eyes widened before his shoulders slumped in resignation, and tears streamed down his furred cheeks. His voice trembled as he spoke.  “I…  figured something like this would happen. You…were truly special, Nicholas Noblefrost. Of all the Lords I’ve ever met, you were the one I truly believed could somehow make the impossible possible, but once again… as I expected–”

“What are you on about? You think I’m giving up on you, Brightclaw? That’s some bullshit right there, my friend. I made a promise to you, and there’s no way I’m going to let that guy walk all over us without a fight.” He turned to look at each of the other lords, drawing their attention. “Let me ask you Lords a question: If he’s so strong, why’s he offering us to back down? He can win here and now, can’t he? Why wait at all?”

Bronzebeard frowned. “Well, it’s because the cost in–”

Nick was incredulous. “Really? We just got some amazing, majestic canyon from Orion by beating him, didn’t we? All of our kingdoms have value, and if he could win today and take over our kingdoms in days or weeks rather than months or years, you better believe he would. But he has seen our strength. He has doubts. With his hostage, he probably planned on forcing Brightclaw to open the gates for him or to otherwise turn on us when we met on the field of battle, but that just didn’t work out–he didn’t intercept our army.” 

Recognition touched the Lord’s eyes, and they nodded in understanding. 

Nick continued, “We were too fast, always one step ahead of him, just like how we thwarted nearly every single one of his plots and made him pay for them for the last few months. I know it–he doesn’t want to fight us inside this keep today. He wants us to fight one another, to build distrust and go against that which we believe, and crumble our resolve. So that the next time, we make another compromise. Another concession. Until eventually, there are none of us left to stand together.”

Lord Regios shook his head. “Even if what you say is true, that doesn’t solve the issue of the hostage, and that it is not a risk I am able to take. We–”

Lord Brightclaw frowned, shaking his head, and interrupting. “Wait a minute, why the hell did you apologize to me? You’re making it sound like you want to fight for me!”

“Because…to do that, and keep my promise…Jasmine, now.”

Light-imbued webbing was shot from the side, wrapping around and covering Lord Brightclaw’s arms and covering his entire body in a steady spray from neck to toe. Nick’s wives positioned themselves in front of the guards and lords, stopping them from rushing in as Jasmine went forward and kept Lord Brightclaw from falling flat on his face.

The guards shouted, “You! What are you doing!”

“Stop them! They’re attacking our lord!”

Nick turned to the other lords, and the ratfolk soldiers preparing to fight for their lord. “I swear that no harm will come to Lord Brightclaw, and I am doing this with the intention of saving his wife and child and protecting you and the kingdom he stands for. Will you stand against those who seek to protect your Lord?”

They froze and hesitated–which was all that Nick really needed. 

Nick grasped Brightclaw’s shoulder, meeting his eyes with determination in his gaze. The man was filled with shock, his eyes going wild. “I’m keeping my promise, my friend. I promise your trust and belief in me was not misplaced. I have a plan, and I am nearly able to guarantee your wife and child’s safety. I’m so certain, that I will take responsibility if it does not.”

Lord Brightclaw’s eyes widened, but Nick didn’t want to give him much more time to think about it. Ever ready with odd paraphernalia, his maid put a blindfold around his eyes, and earplugs were stuffed in his ears.

It wasn’t that you needed to speak to call upon Orion as a Lord. It was entirely possible to swear an oath from within the Menu, so Nick needed Brightclaw’s trust.

Lord Tagron’s voice was heard, “What’s taking you lords so long to answer? If you do not answer in–What’s the meaning of this!” 

And there it was. This was the reason why Nick did what he did–he didn’t have the time to explain his full plan and get buy-in, and he didn’t want Lord Tagron to hear what he had in mind as that would hurt his bargaining power. 

It was only moments before Lord Tagron would try to force a resolution. To use expediency as a bargaining tactic. He didn’t doubt that Lord Tagron could hear them or had someone who could from the battlements at all; things just moved too quickly for him to really call out to them. If he shouted out that Brightclaw had a minute to agree or they would die, or something like this, then Nick would have had no time at all. He had a lot of convincing to do.

In his Soulscape, he had done his best to outline his plan to his wives. It was difficult for him to nearly talk in two places at once, so he froze mid-sentence in his Soulscape a couple of times, but he got most of his messages across.

Following Nick’s thoughts, Jasmine had placed a chair from Winny’s pack next to where Nick would stand. Then, she placed Brightclaw onto it gently as Nick leaped up and stood on the battlement crenulation next to him, interrupting Lord Tagron’s tirade.  

“Lord Tagron. Sorry for the wait, Lord Brightclaw is a bit indisposed. He cannot see or hear you.”

The shocked look on Lord Tagron’s face was quickly smoothed out. “Ah, Lord Noblefrost. I’d say it’s a pleasure to finally meet you, but that would be a lie. You’re the one who’s been a thorn in my side.” He frowned before he chuckled and shook his head. “So you’re taking away some of the power of my hostages. It seems I underestimate you at every turn.”

Nick chuckled, looking down on the Lord beneath them. It was a bit of an awkward conversation, with Lord Tagron and his son holding the hostage about thirty yards away, but it was easy with essence to enhance one’s voice to where it could be heard a distance away.

“Well, I have a feeling you’re not going to like me even more in a moment. You see, I want those hostages back, and I don’t want to give up Brightclaw either. So how about a trade?”

“Are you referring to the Canyon that should be mine any–”

“No, not that–we’ll be keeping that. I was hoping to trade those hostages for me.”

“For you?”

“Yes. Return the hostages, and I will face you here and now on the field of battle with my army, immediately, outside of our keep. Before whatever reinforcements you might have arrive.”

The man was silent for a moment. In all, the numbers were close to even, Nick imagined. Just, their enemy had people who were, on average, a higher level, and then they had that big monster and Lord Tagron himself. Anyone would see that Lord Tagron had a significant advantage, and that wasn’t including whatever other plots the man had lying in wait. 

Lord Tagron replied, “The army in front of you versus your army? How did you think this offer would interest me?” 

“Because. If you don’t take it, we will fight you from inside the keep, and just when you’re about to break through…we’ll leave, after costing you hundreds of men. You think I’m not prepared for your army, even that beast? This keep has protective formations and siege equipment inside. We’ll rain hell down on you, and you won’t get your revenge on any of us today, and we’ll fight you on another. Maybe we’ll even just rebuild it again the moment you leave. Your coalition’s army can’t chase after us forever; they cannot actually attack our cities without a Case for War and you won’t be able to hold this fortress. This little mountain is a problem for your army to cross, but it is not for mine. Without Brightclaw, you have nothing.”

Nick grinned at that and continued, “Those sanctions on you led by Orion will only grow greater after today. I bet your allies are not happy about this, and it’s costing you a lot of political capital with them. In fact, they’re not all coming this way at all, are they? I bet your allies are not as close as our coalition is, and your loss has them pretty pissed. How many of your coalition members are actually coming? Let’s hear it. Say it, and swear it.”

Lord Tagron’s eye twitched, and despite him being pretty impassive up to now, his face twisted for a moment in anger before it was smoothed out. “I see. You have what you think is a compelling argument. But can you really deliver on this scenario that just played out in that delusional mind of yours? Will Lord Bronzebeard and Lord Regios side with you and face me, even if I slay the hostages? I know Lord Regios is on the fence. Any that stay in that keep will be the targets of my ire. Will they stand against me knowing they become my sworn enemy?”

Thankfully, Shak’terra had come back. She didn’t interrupt the conversation, but she confirmed with Winny that only two of the four contingents from the Proxy War continued to the keep. It’d still be a difficult challenge, especially with that monster, but Nick knew they could make them pay quite the price in blood in a siege, if not outright fighting them off completely.

Nick shook his head. “Ignoring my question? Your silence affirms the truth of my words. If your whole coalition was coming you’d happily agree and swear it.” He turned back to the lords, looking over them. “What do you think, Lord Regios? You’ve heard it, and I’ve confirmed it with my scout; only one army of his coalition comes. Will you go with my plan now? We can win here and now. Swear that if he kills the hostages, you’ll stand against him with me and make this keep a pain in the ass to take. Believe in me and my ability to win, or believe in Lord Tagron. Which will it be?”  

He added, “You have very little to lose today. If I lose, you guys can just leave the keep, because there’s no way that he’ll have enough forces to do anything significant after my fight is over with. Anything this man in front of us says is a lie in regards to him chasing you down. His Sovereign Destiny means you will never be safe from him without an Oath and even with it…he used those mercenaries today. He will use them again. And don’t forget his mindset. He sees that canyon we won today as his. The one your men just fought and bled for. It’s Orion’s Will that it is ours.”

Lord Regios was frowning in thought, but Lord Bronzebeard chuckled as he stroked his beard. “I’ve gained a lot from this coalition, and I still think I have a lot to gain. I don’t think enough to stick my peoples’ necks out for others when there’s no chance of victory, but after hearing Lord Noblefrost’s words, I think we do have a chance–a chance to become even more. I think Lord Regios had it backwards. Fighting and winning is likely our only chance for survival. Maybe not today for me, but tomorrow. The bigger the fat lip I give him today, the longer it will take him to heal up and arrive on my doorstep.”

He leaped up onto the battlement next to Nick.  

“I, Lord Bronzebeard swear that if those hostages die, my people and I will defend this keep as the coalition had planned. I will do everything in my power to make you suffer a great cost, Lord Tagron.”

Lord Tagron’s face took on a look of both anger and shock, and Nick couldn’t help but smile. Bronzebeard was probably the one he thought would never swear, having too little to gain. While some dwarves were greedy, many tempered this with honor. They built deep partnerships based on their gains, and Nick understood it almost like they had a connection to karma, even if they never worded it as such. 

The benefits Nick’s coalition provided to Bronzebeard up to now, including thwarting his son’s betrayal, were weighed against the cost of resisting Lord Tagron as if on a scale, and Bronzebeard decided to side with the coalition. If anything, Lord Tagron’s action to win the Proxy War had hurt him here.    

Lord Regios hesitated, but he jumped up to the battlements and spoke. “Let Orion hear me, that I swear the same. If either of those hostages die I will make sure you pay for it, Lord Tagron.”

Lord Quilbane snorted and did the same, as Nick had expected. Lord Quilbane and his people hated Lord Tagron the most because of the many mercenary raids in his lands. He knew Tagron was the cause, and the fortress had finally brought that down to an absolute minimum and allowed his people to thrive. He knew if this fortress fell, he would likely be next.  

Lord Tagron frowned at that. “You really are the one, aren’t you, Lord Noblefrost? The one who has defeated me and my efforts at every turn. Who defies expectation. And this is my chance to wipe you out for good.” He smirked. “I see that my hostage does have considerable value then, since it forces you to fight me today. Very well, I would much rather have you than that rat. We could settle this as lords, but I think that would be rather boring. I want you to see your people suffer for your choices, the cost for following this lord who went against my Sovereign Destiny. That way your weak coalition will see that joining me is inevitable.”

Nick nearly rolled his eyes. What happened next was an infuriating back and forth, but eventually, Nick swore if the hostages arrived back to Brightclaw within the fort unharmed and not tampered with, they would meet on the field of battle a distance away from the base of the keep in under fifteen minutes. And that only the forces of the Noblefrost Kingdom would participate; no members of the coalition could interfere with the battle, lest Nick himself would pay the price in blood.

The hostages were let go. While Nick did have a plan waiting in the wings for Jasmine and Sable to attempt a rescue, but as he originally had thought, it was way too much of a long shot. Most importantly, Lord Tagron had seen Sable and knew what she did as she stole that flag, so that meant it was that much more likely he would have been able to handle her or was otherwise somehow ready for her. 

Shak’terra checked the wife and Heir out, along with the angels of Litiana and even some specialists from Lord Regios’ army, finding that thankfully, they had not been tampered with. Their souls looked healthy too. 

As they uncovered Lord Brightclaw’s eyes and removed his earplugs and bindings, the man saw his wife and child in front of him. 

He cried as he wrapped his arms around them, and the woman’s sobbing, whimpering apologies were almost unintelligible. Nick gave them a minute for their tearful reunion as his men marched out the front gate and headed to the base of the keep, but eventually it was time.

“I must go, Lord Brightclaw. I’ll be back in under an hour, so watch for it.”   

Lord Brightclaw chuckled incredulously, then it built into a laugh. “You…you did it. You really did it when nobody ever could. But…at what cost? You can’t beat him!”

Nick frowned at Lord Brightclaw’s wording. It was strange, but his breaths came in short gasps, his face covered in tears and mucus. His head was probably in a strange place, as Nick’s would be if such a thing happened to his wife and kid and his kingdom was hanging in the balance.

“It was me who talked everyone into standing up to him, and now, I must settle it. I cannot stand for tyrants, and I am fighting for my people’s future. I am risking them and myself, true, but make no mistake: I intend to win, to defeat this evil threat to all of our peoples.” 

Nick wanted to rant a lot more about what he didn’t like about Lord Tagron and how he was a failure of a lord, but he really did not have the time. Also, one of the angels was looking over, and he did not want to spark another debate. 

Lord Brightclaw hesitated. “Wait. What…what was the oath you gave?”

He shared the Lord’s Oath he had from Orion and said goodbye before he jumped down from the parapet. It was time for battle, and the keeper had made sure that it wouldn’t be easy. But there was a path to victory, and Nick would come through as the hero for his coalition.