RE: Monarch

It was impossible to say anything uplifting in the rain. The best you could hope for was inspiring, cathartic, and even that was difficult when everything looked so damn grim. Every so often, it felt like the world itself was against me. But that didn’t matter. They were all watching me now, waiting. Morthus stood at my side, lending authority I hadn’t truly earned. I looked back to where I saw my friends. Bell was buried in Jorra’s shoulder. She’d been so strong, stronger than all of us, perhaps, but it was all catching up. Everyone had a limit, and Bell had found hers. Jorra was trying to comfort her in the way those with limited experience did, gently patting her head and holding her loosely, utterly confused yet still wanting to help. Maya and Nethtari stood side-by-side, stoic beacons in the dark. Both had seen me at my most desperate.

In the back, I saw both Vogrin and Ozra. I’d been worried Ozra would be too angry about his defeat, but when I’d spoken to him during preparations, I found him almost visibly chastened, willing to listen and cooperate. I wondered how long it had been since the Arch-Fiend had lost a battle.

And Maya, in particular, was waiting for the other shoe to fall. I had wanted to warn her. To say goodbye, at the very least. But Maya was my dearest friend, and I hers. She would try to stop me, if I gave her an opening.

It was better this way.

It was most assuredly better this way.

Golden strands fell before my face and I brushed my hair back once more, pressing down, trying to make sure it stayed free. Maybe it was the rain, or the atmosphere, or the fact that they had all seen perhaps their first real battle from afar, but it was unnerving how silent my audience was. There were many I recognized among them. The Precepts that had guided us into the Sanctum that first day that felt so long ago. A few of the surviving mercenaries were there, scowling, but also quiet, any protest limited to a low muttering amongst themselves. Mostly, I saw an endless sea of young faces, frightened, afraid, and looking for hope. Trapped.

I couldn’t give them hope. It wasn’t within my power to make the world any less terrifying. But I could give them a way forward. And if I did it right, I could give them a story they would carry back with them. To the Enclave, to their families, and the world beyond.

Theros approached me from the side. “The Decarabia are moving. Slowly, but gaining ground.”

“The asmodials are staying clear?”

“They’re setting up defensively in front of The Heart. But they’re staying back. No one wants to mess around when the general’s here. There’s a thin elven-looking woman upfront. Is that really her?”

I nodded in irritation. Thoth was moving more quickly than I expected. Now, on top of everything else, there was a tight time limit.

“They’re waiting, my friend,” Morthus prompted me.

I moved forward then, approaching the edge of the podium. A young, red infernal clutching the hand of an older violet stared up at me, blinking the rain from his eyes. I gave him a small smile.

“Ready to go home?” I asked him.

He nodded vigorously.

I looked up at the crowd, amplified my voice with a bit of air magic.

“Most of you know me only by name, and the words I have spoken. I am Cairn, son of Gil. The tyrant who stripped your lands from you, enslaved your people. The twisted king who sundered the dimension gate, decimating families in the process. In exchange for entrance into the enclave, and later this very sanctum, I promised to return that which was stolen.”

I held the flame out in front of me, watching as it flickered, raindrops splattering my palm. There was a murmur in response. In the back, I saw Nethtari give me a subtle eye-roll that seemed to prod me to quit the theatrics and get to the point.

“I had every intention of fulfilling that promise. Our peoples have warred and wounded each other for the better part of a century. It only follows that mending the gap would be difficult, almost impossible, perhaps. We are so divided, so different. Yet, while I’ve been here, I’ve found so much in common. Friendship. Even love.”

I glanced at Maya, then looked away.

“At the core of all things, we are the same. And yet, unity is never easy. There will always be outside forces. Mitigating factors. Villains. You met one the day I entered the Sanctum. Thoth, a magician so powerful she can enter and leave this place at will, regardless of her age. A conqueror so twisted and powerful that even the gods are given pause. A being powerful enough to bend an arch-fiend to her side.”

A wave of terrified chittering went through the crowd. I waited for it to subside, yet it only grew louder.

“Decarabia aside, why are the rest of the demons here? These asmodials. They are not contracted, and demons do not help of their own accord.” Nethtari’s voice cut through the crowd. She’d made her way to the center, and stood head and shoulders above most of the others. The voices finally died as people leaned in, wanting to hear the answer. Nethtari gave me a subtle nod.

“They are here because I traded my soul for their support.” My words, barely more than a whisper, still amplified for all to hear. Towards the back, I saw Jorra’s jaw drop. Bellarex was visibly pale. The shock of the crowd was palpable in the growing horror of their faces. “I know what it will cost me. It was a choice made despite wise counsel otherwise. I know what I’m giving up. It was a simple decision, really, the chance to form a better world for the cost of one soul. With people like Thoth aligned against us, we need all the strength we can get.” I looked down, full of regret. “But I did not think we would need it so soon. Nor that the lien on my soul would be called so quickly.”

Maya had moved next to her mother, and I could practically see her beginning to piece it all together.

“I look out amongst you, and see we are not so different. Some of you are younger, but most of you are adolescents on the edge of adulthood. You came here to learn. Test yourself. To flex your magic against very real threats. You didn’t come here to hide behind barricades, to build defenses. You didn’t come here to fight a war.”

Maya mouthed a single word. ”No.”

“And that is why I can’t ask you to fight for me.” I said, with a sad smile.

There was a humming of confusion as the infernals glanced at each other, the atmosphere suddenly shifting. They had been preparing to fight. Were ready for it. Morthus had told them tales of an encroaching corruption, demonic insurgents, and an unfathomable enemy. But Infaris was right. I had to give them a choice. It didn’t, however, mean my enemy would.”

“When Thoth placed the barrier, she made a simple request. Kill the human, and be free. But that won’t be the end of it.” I shook my head, my voice hard. “Thoth doesn’t care about you, or your people, or how young you are. After I’m gone, she’ll leverage the families lost in the dimensional plane. Leverage King Gil against you. You killed his son after all, and the flame died with him. Yet, this is what happens if you join her.”

I glanced towards Ozra. He reached a gauntleted hand out, projecting memories from the orb I’d given him so long ago in an illusory image. Infernals, slaughtering and being slaughtered in Whitefall. The image of Annette, my sister, set aflame with violet fire. My panicked voice, as I tried desperately to crack through the ice.

“Thoth means to unite you in hatred. She will turn you into monsters solely to suit her purposes, and discard you the moment you step out of line.”

Whispers of anger grew, not directed inward but outward. Towards the person who had so callously tried to manipulate them.

“A dear friend once told me,” I looked towards Nethtari, then back over the crowd, “That the Sanctum is where you discover the person you really are. So, I won’t ask you to fight Thoth. Instead, I want you to watch, and see for yourself who she is. And decide for yourselves what side you want to be on.”

I paused, as the ringing in my ears grew louder. Then, I wiped a sleeve across my face and bowed deeply, trying to bite back the emotion. “The demons will protect you after I’m gone. The choice is solely yours. I’m sorry, that I couldn’t return that which was stolen. And that at the end of all things, this small respite was all I could offer you.”

I looked up at them, not sure what to expect. There was some confusion, and fear, but more than anything else, there was sadness. They understood what I intended to do.

The ringing in my ears grew louder. I could see the Decarabia now, a mock heavenly host assembled in military lines down the hill from the camp. I turned to Morthus and embraced him. He grumbled at me, but there was kindness in it.

“Thank you for everything, Elder,” I said.

“You were laying it on thick.” Morthus chuckled.

“Any chance I can talk you into getting yourself somewhere safe?”

“Not a one.”

I left him, then, and the crowd parted as I stepped down from the front of the podium, intending to walk straight out of the camp and down the hill. Jorra and Maya met me halfway. The younger infernal had clearly been crying and didn’t bother trying to hide it. “We can take her, Cairn. It’s not too late to change plans.”

I pulled Jorra to me. “Take care of Maya for me, brother.”

Jorra sobbed. “I will. And I’ll never join Thoth, Cairn. Even if everyone else does.”

Maya stepped in my path, her eyes red. “What are you doing? All this melodrama for nothing when we both know you’ll just reset.” Several people next to us slowed, their faces glazed over.

“Not this time.” I let my gaze slide to where Ozra stood, and Maya followed it then returned to mine, her face a mask of terror.

“What have you done?”

I pressed my forehead to hers. “Goodbye, Ni’lend.”

Maya shook her head violently. “No. No. Find another way.”

“There is no other way.”

“I’ll never forgive you for this.”

It broke my heart. “I know.”

Nethtari pulled Maya away, and it was suddenly obvious I still had an audience. The other infernals still followed, and I realized why. They’d taken me seriously, when I asked them to keep watch. I caught one more glimpse of Maya weeping into her mother's robe.

”There will be no second chance.” Thoth’s voice, cold, amplified. ”Send the human out or kill him yourselves.”

I shivered, and nearly slipped in the mud. Jorra caught my arm, steadying me. “Easy.”

“Feeling real regal right now.” I muttered.

“You got this. Just stick the landing.” Jorra followed behind me as we approached the gate. The infernals followed behind us, surprising me as the left the gates themselves behind, piling out onto the hill and forming into natural lines.

Thoth was at the bottom of the hill, her golden eye glinting wickedly, daggers held in both her hands. Her golden arch-fiend stood motionless behind her like a statue, his face tilted slightly towards Ozra.

Thoth growled, deep in her throat. “So you’ve finally accepted the inevitability of it all. Did our spat at the leyline knock it into you?”

I had nothing to say. Her aura bared down on me, invisible wraiths of rage and anger threatening to press me into the ground. Thoth’s mouth turned downward. “I dislike being ignored.”

“I learned much of your strength,” I said.

“So this is a surrender, then.”

“Not exactly,” I drew my sword. Moisture bounced off my blade, raindrops incinerating with a hiss as I held it at my side, letting the blade touch grass and race backwards, trailing a large circle around us.

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