Cataclysm War | Chapter 61: Army of the Nightlands (First Draft)

Thursday, August 4, 4 S.E.

“[You are certain that Xarina did not see through your misdirection?]”

“[I am certain, Matriarch,]” Yarilla replied dutifully, her gaze locked onto the imposing features of Yvrain. “[She was informed to await an update in two weeks following our meeting, with no indication that an attack would occur.]”

“[Good,]” the Matriarch replied steadily, while her lambent red eyes watched the ranks of Starhold forces advancing steadily across the land. “[If she is compromised and interrogated, our timeline will not be exposed.]”

Yarilla turned to join the Matriarch in her watch and ran her eyes over the forces arrayed. Ten thousand forces from the Starhold were in evidence, marching across the lands of Terra in an inexorable wave of steely-armored discipline. Truthguard Testaments marched alongside Maidenguards, joined by full cadres from the Ebon Hounds and Veil Warden societies. Almost every combat discipline from the Starhold was represented, with only the Heartwardens left behind with a backing force of Truthguard and Maidenguard to defend the Starhold.

Yvrain had almost called up those as well, but the vague threat of a possible enemy force had been enough to forestall her doing so. The Starhold was highly defensible, but they could not afford a mistake at such a critical juncture.

Still, the force on display was awe-inspiring. Not a single Cultivator below Adept, and several Elites and even a few Ascendants were present among the highest levels of the represented societies. The assault on ‘Dawnhaven’ would be the largest they’d undertaken in the years since arriving on Terra, and Yarilla felt the excitement burning within her as she contemplated smashing the lightlander settlement to dust.

The riches, supplies, and eventual populace they’d absorb from the Haelfenn bastion would fuel the Starhold for the next decade or more.

“[What of the native forces we have compacted with, Matriarch?]” Yarilla asked after a moment, turning her orange gaze to the Scion-blooded Matriarch.

“[They will be expended as needed. The goal is the [Aetherium] from the Quest they told us of; the rest is merely a prize atop that bounty. By all estimates, Xarina’s intelligence has yielded the foreshadowing of a great victory for the Starhold.]”

Yarilla frowned at the Matriarch’s words and chewed her cheek in thought before she spoke again.

“[Are you not concerned the natives might betray us?]”

“[Of course,]” the Matriarch said with a mirthless smile. “[But betrayal is inevitable. What matters is how we answer it. By your own reports, the Haelfenn settlement is secured by a single gate, close to their main center of commerce. Once it is breached, the settlement will fall swiftly before the superior might of Svartfenn mettle. These lightlanders have not been steeled by the trials of the evernight, Yarilla. They will be a meek rabble before our strength.]”

Yarilla hesitated to speak against the Matriarch’s wisdom, but her duty as a Blade of Nocturne would tolerate no cowardice, not even when it came to incurring the wrath of an Ascendant near-Venerate like Yvrain.

“[These Alterans, Matriarch, are not like the lightlander Haelfenn we know,]” she said cautiously. “[Xarina believes they are a very martial incarnation of—]”

“[Xarina’s insights have been weighed, Yarilla,]” Yvrain said with finality, her voice as firm and unyielding as wytchsteel. “[It is the decision of the Matriarchs that the risk does not outweigh the prize. We will incur losses, that is certain, but there are only two Venerates in that settlement, and we have ten Ascendants—five for each. All astrological portents show a great triumph in this battle. Nocturne is with us. We will not doubt ourselves now.]”

Yarilla bowed her head to the Matriarch’s words and turned her gaze back to the Starhold’s forces, marching with steady discipline toward their prize. They were still a week or more away from the rendezvous with the native forces, but that was not a point of concern. There were several small settlements and outliers in their path that would prove a fine source of supplies and, more importantly, future denizens for the Starhold.

They needed more soldiers, and for that, they needed more people to encourage into creating them. Assimilated natives were one thing, but soldiers born and raised in the Starhold’s superior mindset were a priceless advantage. With the fecundity of the native Terrans, it would prove a simple task to raise many legions in the years to come, as reckoned by the timescales of their new homeworld.

Yarilla’s gaze flitted across the dark plate of her people, and then danced back to the Matriarch at her side, standing tall upon the outcropping from which they observed the advance.

“[I only have one more question, Matriarch, if I may,]” Yarilla said carefully.

“[Proceed,]” Yvrain intoned with an echo of forced patience.

“[The rumors from the natives about the Cataclysm in the settlement’s surrounds… what about that?]”

Yvrain’s features flickered with what Yarilla might have almost called uncertainty at the question, but the red-eyed Matriarch firmed her expression a second later, and Yarilla decided she must have imagined it. Yvrain and uncertainty were as antithetical as sunlight and the evernight.

“[If the Cataclysm were truly active there, the land would already be devastated. I do not discount the possibility, but if a Cataclysm exists in that sector, then it is either too weak or has already left. Otherwise, the settlement would already have fallen—we have seen the results of a Cataclysm’s ire on Talrinar. The evernight would be a gentle fate compared to what a Terran Cataclysm might unleash.]”

Yarilla nodded to the Matriarch’s logic, and though part of her continued to worry, she accepted the rationale. Talrinar had learned the hard way what a Cataclysm’s true nature was, and if indeed one did exist near Dawnhaven, it stood to reason that the entire settlement would already be decimated or razed. Cataclysms were all mad, based on the small amounts of information they’d managed to glean from across the System Worlds Nexus through the [Aetherium Store].

Yarilla’s ruminations were cut short a moment later when a messenger arrived for the Matriarch, and she turned with respectful silence as Yvrain shifted her attention to the woman.

“[Report,]” the Matriarch said flatly.

“[Honored Matriarch,]” the woman, a Maidenguard Veteran, began deferentially. “[Our scouts have reported a suspected lightlander watch post two days ahead of the advance. It is believed that they will raise the alert if not properly handled prior to the Starhold’s host arriving.]”

“[Of course they will,]” Yvrain said flatly, though she was already speaking before Yarilla could do more than smile faintly. “[Send a force of Shadestriders with a Night Sister and destroy the outpost. Make it clear they are not to leave a single survivor, lest they alert the lightlanders of our approach.]”

The Maidenguard salute, hand-to-heart, and loped away as Yvrain turned back to watch the army’s steady advance.

“[I expected more than just a single outpost, but I suppose we’ll see greater concentrations of early warning as we get closer,]” Yvrain said, glancing at Yarilla. “[You did not mention these lookouts in your reports.]”

Yarilla grimaced faintly, but accepted the light chastisement gracefully.

“[I took a very roundabout route, Matriarch. My goal was to avoid any possibility of detection. I only spotted two such locations, but both of them were far afield of our projected advance.]”

Yvrain stared at her for a moment, then nodded once in tacit acceptance.

“[I had feared the sense had left the Blades of Nocturne following my departure from leadership, but it appears Taroya maintains the lessons I taught her. Evasion is always your best tool, unless the mission specifies intelligence gathering. You did well, in this case, though I am troubled that Xarina did not report these emplacements.]”

“[It is likely she did as I did, Matriarch,]” Yarilla said carefully, instinctively protecting her sister’s honor. “[Xarina is a talented Night Sister. She is a student of your own legacy.]”

That seemed like the right tactic to take, for the Matriarch nodded after a moment, and the terse set of her lips melted somewhat in acceptance of that statement.

“[She is talented, despite her obstinacy toward continuing her Matriline,]” Yvrain conceded finally. “[A matter that will be corrected when she is returned to the Starhold.]”

Yarilla hesitated at the statement and eyed the Matriarch warily, choosing her words with caution when she next spoke.

“[Xarina has been very vocal about her objections toward seed-givers, Matriarch,]” Yarilla said carefully. “[It may not go over well if the matter is forced before she—]”

“[Xarina is of an age to be beyond such idiocy,]” Yvrain cut across her firmly, her voice unyielding as ever. “[She is only half the age I was when I bore my daughter-heir. The woman has been coddled for too long because of her bloodline and not properly corralled. I empathize with her desire to remain with the sisterhood, Yarilla, but there is a duty in her blood that transcends her illusions of endless glory. We cannot afford to lose the Blood of Lyrin.]”

Yarilla paused again, thinking carefully once more before she spoke again.

If nothing else, Xarina had saved her life enough times to earn some defense.

“[It will not go over well with the sisterhood if she is compelled, Matriarch. Xarina is a treasured asset for the Blades of Nocturne. Her [Starshadow Core] is—]”

“[An excellent addition to the Starhold’s power,]” Yvrain cut in again, her voice edging toward cold disapproval now. “[I understand your bond with your sisters, Yarilla, as any former sister would—but this is not Talrinar. Were Xarina not alone, I could overlook her reticence, but she is the sole Scion of her Matriline. If she foolishly finds herself dead before she reproduces, we will lose her Matriline and all of its impressive Alphas.]”

Yvrain’s crimson eyes brightened in the night as she turned to Yarilla, and the Night Sister knew immediately that the Matriarch was beyond convincing when she did. There was steely certainty in Yvrain’s gaze.

“[No, Yarilla. Xarina will do her duty, and if she wishes to return to the sisterhood once she has daughters, instead of becoming a Matriarch as her bloodline entitles her, then I will entertain the notion thereafter. It is not unheard of for that choice to be made, though Nocturne knows it would make her a distinct outlier among her foremothers and every other Matriarch in the Starhold.]”

Yarilla fell silent at that, recognizing a losing battle when she saw one, and sighed quietly.

“[I heard you were close to her Matriar, my lady. Perhaps she will listen, if it is you saying it, then.]”

Yvrain grunted at that.

“[Close indeed. Were it not for her love for her seed-giver, we’d have been life-bonded. Her mother was far more than close to me, Yarilla, though Xarina has inherited every one of her Matriar’s most stubborn qualities.]”

Yarilla smiled faintly.

“[You almost sound proud of her, Matriarch.]”

“[Of course I am proud,]” Yvrain grumbled with a shake of her austere head. “[The girl is a prodigy, even for the Matriline of Lyrin, but that comes with its own dangers. If we lose Xarina, Yarilla, the Starhold will be poorer for it—no matter her personal grievances. I have arranged suitable seed-givers myself. When she returns to the Starhold, she will do her duty, as every Matriar before her has done, myself included.]”

Yarilla sighed quietly at the insistence and bowed her head.

“[She will rail against it, Matriarch.]”

“[Let her,]” Yvrain said with a disapproving sniff. “[She will come around in time. We cannot force her to copulate, but we can remove all other options. If she sees a path back to the sisterhood after producing daughters, she will see sense. I have already made my designs clear to Taroya. She will help me make Xarina understand her duties. The Blood of Lyrin is too precious to waste on childish refusals.]”

Unspoken, of course, was the chance that Xarina could simply choose to flee the Starhold entirely. Yarilla doubted it would come to that, knowing her sister as she did, but the potential remained an unspoken risk. Xarina was as headstrong and as bullheaded as any Scion she’d ever met, and if the cycles fighting alongside her had taught Yarilla anything, it was that underestimating the pride of the Scion was a recipe for unexpected disaster.

Her eyes returned to the advancing host of the Starhold’s forces, and she set her lips into a thin line.

Enjoy your glories while they come, my sister, she thought into the security of her own mind. I fear they will be the last you may revel in for many years hereafter.