Depthless Hunger

Once Kai was reunited with his allies and standing in Sandflower City, he felt much more truly relaxed. He didn't want to push and look suspicious, but as far as he could tell, Zae Zin Nim and Omilaena had been given an empowering bath with no strings attached. It was rare that anyone saw his potential compared to theirs... hopefully it wouldn't happen like that in the future.

It had been good to meet Ceryyn again, but she didn't seem to be interested in what they'd done on Deadwaste aside from the fact that they were stronger. Conditions in the Elven Wilds had clearly deteriorated, so he understood why she would want to talk about their current problems.

They'd been returned to their old rooms in the city and only had one day for recovery before Ceryyn met with them. Based on her expression, there was only time for business now.

"Oh, so much has happened that I hardly know where to begin." Ceryyn shifted uncomfortably in her seat before apparently deciding. "You remember the school we had established? It was rebuilt and got under way... things might have been so different if you had been here, but... well..."

"Pick one thing at a time," Zae Zin Nim said. "What happened?"

"In one sense it was extremely successful. We built up allies who destroyed enormous numbers of obelisks, so the Commonwealth doesn't have a strong defense. However... some groups also investigated the Flaeren Dominion to check on their developments. There was nothing malicious intended, I assure you! But... well..."

"Fuck." Omilaena rubbed her eyes. "I'm guessing that they got caught and the Dominion blamed you?"

"Unfortunately that's true." Ceryyn sighed heavily. "If everyone was united against the demons in the Commonwealth, we could have held things stable, but now the Dominion is convinced we're trying to take advantage of the chaos. As soon as we turned against one another, it gave the Commonwealth openings to be more aggressive.

"Our embassy in the Coiled Empire was attacked, most likely to prevent us from building relationships with them. I understand that the Empress finally took out the demon attackers... do you think there's any chance that she'd join us to fight Matiavel?"

Kai glanced at the others and they silently acknowledged that this wasn't the place to reveal the Coiled Empire's secret, so he simply answered, "She doesn't like him either, but I don't think it's likely."

"Oh, then things are even worse." Ceryyn dropped back into her seat. "Right now the Commonwealth is pretending to be neutral, but they're pursuing a policy of destabilization. Always pushing, unsettling everything, trying to get advantages. The worst is that they just stole a royal egg from the lizardkin queen - they aren't a major power, but they're a player between the Empire and the Dominion. If they cause chaos, both will be weakened."

That was more politics than Kai could handle, so he said nothing. Zae Zin Nim had a more focused question: "You think this all comes down to Matiavel?"

"That's what the Council of Elders thinks. The Commonwealth has been ruled by lots of warlords, but they usually want wealth and power in a general sense. Matiavel cares only about his personal power and thus he's willing to destroy anything to get it."

"And what can we do about that?"

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"We certainly don't expect you to fight Matiavel!" Ceryyn said. "But a group like yours could really help keep things stable... if you're willing to go back to the Commonwealth. That's risky for you, I know. At least there's been no sign of that Cloudspire sect or any other foreign interference."

But they'd be returning to demons who had chased after them not long ago. Kai doubted that Gorutiel would care, he might even find it funny, but Lilaetiel and Troulon might have stronger feelings. Then again, some of their goals were still in the Commonwealth...

"What are you asking us to do?" Kai asked for all three of them.

"Right now the Commonwealth is too peaceful," Ceryyn said, "which means Matiavel can turn all his resources toward dominating Crescilor or smaller powers. If any of the great powers interfere, he'll retaliate, but standing by means he just keeps tightening his grip. We need someone to get in there and... disrupt things a little."

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Omilaena snorted. "Won't we be immediately tied to you?"

"No one will know while you escape detection, and even after you're identified, we can deny involvement. But ultimately... the Council of Elders is prepared to fight the Commonwealth if they retaliate. Someone has to fight the demons eventually. Let me also be perfect honest with you: because you have a history there, you could distract a lot of the demons. If they're coming after you, that will hamper Matiavel's efforts to destabilize everyone else."

"Surely you don't want us to go there just as a distraction," Kai said.

"Of course not!" Ceryyn unrolled a map and set it on the table with a bit of her old cheerfulness. "You remember the lizardkin queen's egg I mentioned? Our spies have discovered that it's going to be exchanged exactly here. We don't know who the demons are exchanging it with... not the lizardkin. That means it's probably one of their enemies, or even a group they intend to frame for stealing it. We need someone to stop that exchange from happening."

"You can't do that yourselves?"

"We were debating whether or not it was worth the risk when we heard you'd returned. Fortunately, it's still a few weeks until the time of the exchange because the demons are involved in some sort of internal struggle. But you'd need to make the decision soon, because you need time to prepare and get into position."

They all glanced at one another and Ceryyn quickly took her map and stood.

"I know we're asking a lot. I'll give you time to discuss it."

Once she had stepped out, the three of them moved closer together. Sitting like this to discuss strategy, Kai had absolutely no doubts about their goals or alliance. If only everything between the three of them was equally united.

"It's a hell of a risk," Omilaena began. "We'll be in enemy territory and painting a target on our backs."

"But not for Matiavel or other great powers," Zae Zin Nim pointed out. "We're specifically trying to deal with the distractions."

"Assuming that politics don't escalate the way they did before. It'd be very easy to get pulled into a larger conflict and it might not go as well this time."

"Even I wouldn't argue we do this solely to help the elves," Kai said. "The question is: do we have good reasons to go back to the Commonwealth? I'd like more training with the Savage Creed, sure, but that doesn't seem possible if we're being pursued. I'm not saying I'm opposed to going, either, but will it be worth the risk?"

"We need to go to the Kama Altar," Zae Zin Nim said insistently. "That will allow me to use the chakra I've spent so long building."

"There are other altars and other options," Omilaena pointed out, strangely reserved. "But if you have your heart set on that, this might be our best chance. It's not like we can get into the Commonwealth easily without allies to get us there."

There seemed to be something odd between the two women and Kai wasn't going to be the one to figure it out. "I'd support you if you wanted to go," he said. "But it doesn't sound like we have a lot of time. What can we do to prepare?"

"We absolutely need to visit the Primal Loom. That's the single easiest boost available to us."

"What about the Inverted Oasis?" Zae Zin Nim asked. "Do you want to go back and talk to them?"

The question made him hesitate, since it brought up a lot of old thoughts. There had been no way to capture the techniques of the great wall to bring to the local elites, but he thought that the phase training might be enough to get their interest. Assuming they didn't know about them, he could teach them the basics of power compression and earn their favor. The problem was just how long it might take...

Eventually Kai sighed and ran his hands through his hair. "If we had more time, I'd love to go there, train with them, maybe even explore the abyss. But the truth is that we can't guarantee we can impress them and I don't know that we can justify taking the time. Things are getting pretty complex and it sounds like they're only going to get worse."

"Then I guess it's settled." Omilaena stood up with an air of finality. "It's best not to leave enemies alive behind us, anyway. We'll do the elves' dirty work and maybe finish off some of the demons at the same time. The risk is real, but if we make it out alive together we'll be stronger for it."

They went to find Ceryyn, but she turned out to be waiting nervously outside. When they told her they'd accepted, she hugged them all before running off to tell the local council. It only took the elves another day after that to confirm intelligence, make final arrangements, and brief them on the overall situation in the Commonwealth.

Kai tried to memorize everything just in case he needed to make critical decisions or lead the group, but he was mostly depending on Omilaena to grasp all the nuances. He spent more time thinking about the elven glamours, particularly at Earth tier or higher. After all his training at the Frontier, he recognized that they were something called a "presence phase" that compressed soul forces into a form so powerful that it could be weaponized. His half-phase left him with a more neutral perspective: they were all attractive, but not transcendent.

But no matter the details, there was one thing they knew they had to do before they left: visit the Primal Loom and gather the power that had been building there for nearly a year. Kai was wary of discovering what fate had in store for him, but his heart still sped up as they descended into the depths.