The Fusionist Book 2 -- Epilogue

(It's finished!  Woohoo!  At 172k words, this is now officially the longest solo-written book I've ever completed -- it's a monster!)

Epilogue

“Your Majesty, the reports have been trickling in over the last few weeks and—”

Duke Luttleton immediately stopped as the one he was reporting to held up his hand. Sealing his mouth shut, he watched as King Midan nodded toward one of his advisors; a moment later, the Duke saw the Archmage casting a spell that rippled through the entire throne room, the strength of the air-based spell impressive in its own right. There was a *pop* that poked at his ears as the room was now soundproofed, meaning that no one could possibly hear from outside.

Why? What’s so secretive that we need to hide what we’re speaking about?

There was only one thing that he could think of, but it was also one that he didn’t want to think about if he could help it.

“Go ahead, Duke Luttleton.”

“Thank you, your Majesty. As I was saying, reports have been coming in from all over the Kingdom from the last few weeks, and while the situation is still dire, it seems to be stabilizing somewhat.”

“It is? So the frequency and severity of Scissions has returned to normal? That’s an encouraging report, then. We’ve already lost nearly 1,200 members of the SIC and over a quarter-million commoners to towns that have been overrun by the sudden appearance of Scissions of a strength they were unable to defend against; we can’t afford to sustain those types of losses for long.”

The Duke bowed, marshalling his thoughts as he did so. “That is very true, your Majesty. Our losses have been devastating, but fortunately the brave efforts of thousands of Mages and Martials have contributed in saving millions more.” He hesitated for a moment, not sure how to proceed.

The King could see his hesitation. “Come now, don’t be afraid to tell me whatever you need to report. We’ve known each other too long to hold back now,” his Majesty said in a kindly voice.

Only somewhat relieved to hear that, the Duke continued. “Unfortunately, it’s not necessarily good news that the appearance of powerful Scissions outside of our towns and cities has tapered off. In fact, from a report I received this morning, there hasn’t been a sighting of a Scission near any populated area in the Kingdom in a few days.”

“But that’s great news! The surge of danger from what we assumed might be The Culmination is over!” the King exclaimed with enthusiasm.

With shaking breath, the Duke clasped his hands together tightly and forged ahead. He knew well the King’s temper and despite his vaunted station, knew that even he wasn’t immune to retaliation for being the bearer of bad news. “Sadly, sire, this doesn’t mean that the danger is over.”

King Midan immediately gave him a look that promised death if he said the wrong thing. “Explain.”

“The, uh, the Scissions are not gone, your Majesty. They have simply moved somewhere else.”

“Outside the Kingdom? Not our problem, then.”

Duke Luttleton shook his head. “Alas, they are still within the Kingdom. They just aren’t near any towns or cities.”

The King stared at him for a few seconds. “Are you telling me they are appearing in between populated towns and cities? That’s impossible; Scissions don’t work that way.”

“Your Majesty, the Scissions that have been appearing lately haven’t been following its accustomed patterns for months; it isn’t unreasonable to believe that something like this might happen, especially if this is The Culmination,” the Archmage acting as the King’s advisor contributed.

“No. This can’t be correct. Are you sure your sources are accurate?”

The Duke nodded reluctantly. “Yes.  A few scattered reports have been gathered from travelers who felt Scissions opening far from any town or city, and thousands of monsters have been sighted roaming around the countryside. Only a few have attacked nearby towns and cities, but a few villages without any defenses have been entirely wiped out. In addition, the commoners are beginning to abandon their farmsteads and hunting lodges for the safety of the nearby towns and cities. If that continues, we could end up seeing food shortages throughout the Kingdom in the future. I don’t have to tell you what would likely happen if that were to come to pass.”

Food riots would be the least of their worries if the population began to run out of things to eat. Revolt would soon follow as the Nobles and the SIC were blamed for not keeping everyone safe; while most of the Nobles in the Kingdom were distinguished Mages and Martials that had served at least a decade in the SIC, fighting the commoners while also attempting to kill all the monsters roaming around the countryside would be a nightmare.

The common people could put up with a lot, but famine throughout the Kingdom was something that they couldn’t and wouldn’t learn to live with. His father had always said, “Commoners are simple. Keep their bellies full and kill anything that threatens their safety, and they’ll do whatever you want; take either one of those things away, and they’ll be looking for your replacement.” The Duke had lived his life following that philosophy and it hadn’t steered him wrong yet.

“No, you do not. What steps do you believe should be taken?” the King asked him.

Knowing that the question was coming, he spread his hands in helplessness. “My contacts within the SIC say that Corps leadership is hesitant to diminish their established defenses in the towns and cities, as they are worried about the reappearance of Scissions outside of the walls. It will take a direct order from the King to mobilize them into searching teams to hunt down the monsters that have already escaped into the Kingdom as well as establish a system to comb through the countryside to identify where these Scissions are most prevalent and set up some sort of defenses to combat them before they can spread too far.”

The King cursed, his anger spilling out of him to the point where it was almost a tangible force, though Duke was relieved to see that it wasn’t directed toward him. “Useless cowards. Can’t they make these sensible decisions on their own?”

Duke Luttleton knew that they literally couldn’t make decision like this on their own; not because they feared the King’s wrath, but because they were forbidden from changing the established defenses in any significant way.

“I was afraid of this. You know what this means, don’t you?” the King asked the throne room, though only Duke Luttleton and his advisor were present.

The latter two just bowed their heads, acknowledging what the King was referring to.

“I haven’t had to deal with the Great Ones in over a year, and it was for something minor last time; I don’t relish going to them with something like this,” King Midan admitted, the tremble in his voice barely noticeable. The Duke could commiserate with his liege, because the few times he’d had to meet with one of the Great Ones were experiences that he never wanted to repeat. There was just something about having one’s mind squashed like a bug, then have it rebuilt so that all they could do was obey the orders of the one that squashed their mind that tended to leave an imprint on a person.

At the mention of the Great Ones, he remembered something else he thought might be important. “I’ve always admired your ability to handle the Great Ones without breaking, your Majesty. I could never survive doing what you are able to—”

“Enough flattery. What do you want?”

The Duke hesitated only a second before he passed on the information he had remembered. “I received notice of a rumor the other day that I believe should be passed on to the Great Ones if you are already going to see them.”

“A rumor? I can’t be bothering the Great Ones with a rumor!”

“Perfectly understandable, sire. Unfortunately, this rumor pertains indirectly to the Great Ones.”

“Oh? What do you mean by ‘indirectly’?”

“Just that the rumor mentions the presence of a half-breed somewhere in the Kingdom. I know that this is impossible—”

The King suddenly leaned forward on his throne, all his attention on the Duke, causing him to swallow nervously. “Where? Where is this half-breed?”

“Uh, well, unfortunately I have been unable to determine that. As I said, it was a passing rumor, but if you want, I can see if I can find out any more information.”

“You do that; as soon as you hear something, let me know.”

The Duke nodded. “I will do that.” He paused a second before asking, “Do you know something about a half—”

“Do not finish that question, my good Duke. It would be a shame to have to find a replacement for your position.”

He snapped his mouth shut immediately before bowing his head.

“Go. Find out what you can about the location of this potential half-breed, and I’ll be meeting with the Great Ones later today.”

The dismissal was welcome, and Duke Luttleton didn’t hesitate before turning on his heel and departing, barely able to maintain his steady pace as he passed through the throne room doors. Sound rushed back to his ears as he walked past the range of the soundproofing spell the Archmage advisor had created, and he sighed in relief as the guards closed the doors behind him with a dull *thud*.

Phew.  As much as it would be nice to be the King, I don’t envy his requirement to consult with the Great Ones on matters of import. The few times I’ve been required to attend them was bad enough.

After a few seconds of collecting himself outside the throne room, Duke Luttleton hurried away, following up on what he was asked to do. Of course, he wasn’t the one who would be sifting through every collected rumor in the Kingdom; he just happened to be in charge of the ones who did. Unfortunately, with the chaos running through the countryside due to the Scissions appearing where they shouldn’t and thousands of monsters threatening travelers and even SIC transport carriages, getting information from distant areas of the Kingdom was a bit more difficult than it normally would be.

However, given that this was an order direct from the King, which in turn was effectively direct from the Great Ones in which he was enslaved, Duke Derge Luttleton would do everything in his power to discover the whereabouts of this half-breed individual, if they even existed at all.

The End

Book 2 Final Stats: https://www.patreon.com/posts/fusionist-book-2-84976656