Serial
76: Clouded distance
March 18th, 33 S.D. 14:38 Capital City, Henron
“This simply makes no sense,” Liveta muttered with a hand over her mouth. “I just do not see how this can be.” The Core Lead, Losha, Tibil, and Albolt occupied a room to themselves in one of the city’s military offices. As the others stood around, the old former minister scratched the bottom of his chin, leaning back deeply in his chair.
“A most puzzling discovery indeed...” he said with a slight frown. A moment later, his eyes shot up at Losha, Liveta, and Tibil. “And we are certain it is him?”
“All the loyalists willing to talk say the third floor was where he was last seen. Though the body had decayed extensively, there is no doubt in my mind,” Tibil said. “That was my father. That corpse is all that remains of Heigon Henron.
Liveta sighed, folding her arms as she propped herself against the wall. “And, as we can all see, that is a very large problem. Heigon was alive before our attack. His own forces confirmed this overwhelmingly. Then, after we win, we suddenly find him a dead man, as if he had been that way for a long time. Even if we assume someone somehow perpetrated a great scheme, keeping Heigon’s demise a secret, it does not add up. Heigon still had numerous appearances in public, up to one week ago. I met with him personally before the incident at the Ganglan Pass...”
“Perhaps someone was taking his place?” Losha suggested. “An elaborate actor?”
“Impossible,” Tibil said, shaking his head. “I may not have had the best relationship with him, but I certainly would have been able to discern something like that. I too saw him shortly before he ordered me killed. That was Heigon, without a question.”
“So then we have a mystery on our hands, it seems,” Albolt thought out loud. “You said the corpse had already started to break apart?”
“Sa,” Liveta replied. “Most of Heigon is recognizable, thanks to the lack of exposure. Even so, from what I myself saw, he must have been that way for a while. We are doing an autopsy at this very moment. The results will take a few days, but they will probably confirm our suspicions.”
“I do not like this,” Losha said, staring intently off to the side. “Something about all of this feels wrong...”
“Well, if you look at the evidence, it is pretty clear something is very much amiss here,” Tibil said.
“No, I meant... Hmm, never mind... I do not want to say anything about it now.” Everyone looked up at her for a moment.
“What is it, Losha?” Liveta wondered.
“No, nothing. Just a dark feeling. I cannot help but think this means something ominous, though whatever it is, I am entirely uncertain. Please, pay it no mind, not until we know more about this situation.”
Tibil shifted about on his feet before speaking. “Sa. What do we tell everyone though? We knew father’s death was a possibility when we launched the assault, but we never expected to find something like this.”
“So far,” Albolt said, “only a handful of us knows the details. Unfortunately, the facts as we understand them appear a little too farfetched for the public to believe. How can we reconcile such differing accounts of Heigon being alive, then suddenly long passed from the world? It would be audacious to ask others to accept our findings, especially when we can make little sense of them ourselves. We want this movement to seem legitimate among the people, after all. The story we have right now looks dubiously suspect.”
“Are you proposing we lie to the public?” Liveta asked.
“How strange,” Losha murmured. “The truth would be taken as a lie, but whatever fiction we concoct will readily be seen as true. That is quite the predicament.”
“Hear me out,” Albolt cleared his throat. “We simply omit key points of today’s narrative, until we can properly investigate these discrepancies and obtain some thorough answers. We need only tell our clan that we found Heigon dead shortly after the takeover of Capital Court. That much is a fact. The state of his body will not be mentioned. The autopsy will be sealed, and his burial must be quick and closed.”
“Albolt is probably right,” Liveta spoke. “Unless we can ascertain the real events surrounding Heigon’s death, we can only give out limited information at this time. The most pertinent bits will be released, but the other, more confounding ones ought to stay within our control.”
“I do not disagree,” Tibil said. “But I cannot say this strikes me the right way. Nevertheless, I do not think we have a better option presently. Let us hope that we do indeed find out just what really happened, and soon.” They all nodded silently in agreement before their conversation hit a lull.
“You know,” Liveta said, biting the lower left side of her lip. “Govan is not going to take this well at all. He and Heigon were very close. He is fiercely loyal; any news of Heigon’s demise will only fuel his contempt for us. It may push him to go that much farther when he decides to take up arms against our new order.”
“You say that as if conflict were an unavoidable outcome,” Losha said wryly. “Surely, with all that has happened, he will be amendable to some form of resolution.”
Liveta looked up idly at the ceiling. “I wish that were so, but I of all people know that man too well. It is a given he will take his half of the Henron army and use it to bring back the old ways before we can ever hope to change our clan. He will do it, out of honor for his friend, even if it means assuming Heigon’s place himself.”
“Wait a moment, Liveta,” Losha said as she smiled. “There are - or were, rather - four Core Leads serving under Govan, correct? Ano, Lisk, Vitna, and yourself. Ano is no more, Lisk is loyal to Govan as I hear, but Vitna and I have an understanding.”
“An... understanding?” Albolt blinked.
“Sa. You recall the battle of Lake Lada, my debut? As a condition of his surrender, he vowed never to meet me on the battlefield as my opponent. If I am around, he shall not fight.”
“What?” Tibil exclaimed. “How does that work out? He could easily betray any agreement like that.”
“No, no,” Liveta said, considering the matter. “Ano, definitely, but Govan prides himself on loyalty, to one’s leader, to one’s clan, and to one’s word. That is part of the Ordinal Oath after all. He expects his men and women to do the same. Lisk and Vitna are a different breed from Ano. Govan had respect for the fool, but outside of Ano’s favor with Heigon and his careful plotting, that old b*****d gained no love from the Prime Lead. Govan never thought too highly of anyone who abandoned their oath. I suspect the only reason I was ever imprisoned was due to Heigon’s direct orders, otherwise Govan would have done away with Ano. At least, that is what I hope he would have done. I hope the Govan I know has not changed.”
“After Vitna’s last defeat, I doubt he has any inclination to face me again, even if he were not bound by his word,” stated Losha. “On the subject of the Prime Lead, I am aware that he was to launch an offensive against Sventa today. As you can imagine, this greatly concerns me. I have fulfilled my role here, but if there is still conflict elsewhere, I must go and end it.”
Albolt raised a hand up to her. “You need not worry, Losha. As I have calculated, Govan should do little if anything against your people.”
Losha and Liveta looked at elderly man in confusion. “What do you mean, Albolt?” questioned the serialist.
“Ah,” Tibil started. “Since you came straightaway from Navaran, you would not know of some operations we staged late last night. We sent a team of some 150 of our soldiers to catch up with Govan, non-stop travel of course. They played the part of fleeing loyalists, come to warn Govan that Capital City had been seized and that the Wolf was on the loose. Obviously, by the time they made it to Prevati, none of that had happened yet, but Govan does not need to know the truth. We simply need him to know that a coup had taken place. The sooner, the better. The group we sent should have made contact with him this morning. Such a large number should serve to get his attention.”
“With such a pressing matter as our upheaval,” Albolt picked up, “he has no choice but to cancel his current campaign. He will forfeit Sventa outright, or at least significantly scale back his forces. Regardless, we do not have to wait for him to find out what we have done; he already knows.”
“That was exceedingly risky,” Liveta noted. “If any part had failed, we would be in trouble. If Losha had not escaped Navaran, or if we had not been able to fully oust Ano, or if Capital Court were still resisting, it would have caused delays for us. Govan could have returned in the meantime, leaving us with a mess on our hands. If something had happened to our soldiers on the way to Prevati... And they are now essentially undercover, maintaining a guise... Who would come up with such a bold and reckless plan?”
“Who do you think? Albolt laughed as he cracked a smile. Liveta stood there perplexed for a moment before she sighed and ran a hand through her hair. “That boy...” she trailed off. “At least I can rest easy knowing what side he is on.”
“Who are you all talking about?” Losha asked.
“Our lips are sealed for the time being,” Albolt explained. “When all is said and done, you shall know, but now he must not be mentioned. We need to guard his identity, even among ourselves, at least until things have settled. Nonetheless, you are already acquainted with this particular fellow.”
“Well, I still cannot say for sure whom you speak of...” Losha admitted. “But I will put my faith in this person. What are we to do next, anyway?”
“No doubt the residents are anxious to find out what just happened. We will have to address this shortly,” Albolt said. “We have to inform them and reassure their confidence in us. I do not suppose this will be hard; Heigon never garnered much affection from the clan as a whole. After that, we must prepare ourselves for Govan’s return. We will approach him and demand that he stand down and abort all hostilities, internal and external. Should he refuse, we will have to go to war with him. Losha, I know with your support alone we could win any battle. Despite that, I would like to get the Sventa army involved. If he sees such an array of ranks against him, he may quit promptly, minimizing casualties. We have no formal contacts with Sventa, but I was hoping you could act on our behalf before your clan.”
“Well,” Losha thought. “I do hold considerable political sway at home, thanks to my family, and my status as a serialist should grant me any ear I desire. Although, I have no experience in dealing with large-scale Sventa affairs and politics.”
“We just need you to convince your people what you already believe. This is the quickest route to peace. The new government we are forming will be a tempered one, nothing so belligerent as what we once were. We will end the war by our declaration. That, however, cannot happen if Govan fights us for power. Please, we ask that you reason with your clan to align with us.”
“And if I cannot, what will you do then? I too want our clans to join hands, however, the reality is that many minds will be against it.”
Albolt frowned a bit. “I guess we will weep, pray, then hope we are ready for the next phase.”
“Do not sound so glum,” she said. “Remember, I can replace any amount of soldiers you need in combat. Even if my people refuse to come to your aid, I will see to it that Henron changes for the better.”
“We are hoping to change more than just that, mainly our overall relationship with Sventa. If we could unite our forces for this struggle, it might well set the foundation for deeper cooperation in the future.”
“Sa...” Losha pondered. “Sa, it is important that our ties grow more amicable. This is something I would very much like to bring about too. I suppose I have no choice but to persuade everyone at home.”
“I know this is going to sound rather sudden, but we would like you to journey back to Sventa as soon as possible,” Tibil said. “Time is of the essence. Govan is bound to have started backtracking already. It will take him a few days to reach us, assuming he intends to fight. That should give you a bit to rally anyone you can.”
“I can set out tomorrow morning and be in Sevia in the late afternoon that same day. I just need a good horse and some rest.
“Really?” Albolt asked as his eyebrows jumped quickly but once. “Can you travel so fast?”
“You should have seen how swiftly we came to the capital,” Liveta said, grinning. “With serialization, she can sweep across the plains like the wind she is named after.”
“It appears I have to get used to that sort of thing when talking about the Wolf. Normal limitations do not apply to her,” Albolt chuckled lightheartedly.
“In any case” Liveta said. “We will need to discuss the specifics of Losha’s return, but perhaps after a break. We have done quite a bit in only a day, all without stopping.”
“Sa, we did skip breakfast in Navaran. The events of this afternoon have postponed lunch as well. Eating helps me recover seras, it seems,” Losha noted.
“Very well,” Albolt decided. “Let us adjourn for now.”
Later that evening, as clouds gathered upon themselves, the darkening sky rumbled lowly. A storm approached, as foretold by distant flashes. Spring was yet to fully come, but the Central Plains had emerged from winter early after all. Scattered sprinklings of rain fell over Capital City, a preview of the greater downpour on its way. Dimly, daylight faded as the night began with sounds of far-flung thunder. High above the city streets, suspended on an invisible platform, Duke stood by his lonesome. For an accomplished serialist such as himself, it was trivial to create a thin force-field beneath him that acted like a solid surface. Duke looked down past his feet at the lands below.
“Well done, Losha. As I ever expected.” He turned his gaze up towards the heavens as droplets gently struck his face. “It is time I left here. My work is complete. Or, perhaps there is still some business that requires my attention...”
He pulled his head down, staring straight ahead. All at once, two figures blitzed onto the scene; their images raced before Duke in an instant, as if they’d always been there. They stopped some meters away from Duke, standing in the air just like him. He smiled to himself as two men appeared.
“Ah, yes. There you two are. I didn’t expect to have to wait so long for you to reveal yourselves,” Duke said. Einer and Laven, two of Nabel’s serialists, cast wary glances at him. For a while, no one said anything. Einer sneered before talking to Laven.
“Tch. What the hell is this?”
“Your guess is as good as mine,” Laven said, adjusting his hat. “He’s the one we’ve been sensing on and off though.”
“Who the f**k are you?” Einer demanded, leaning forward with his hands in his pockets. “Ain’t never seen you before, but you’re obviously a serialist. You’re also obviously not one of us,” he said, narrowing his eyes.”
“You don’t think he’s number ten, do you? Sambur’s replacement?” Laven whispered.
“Course not!” Einer hissed. “We ain’t seen ten yet, but from what I heard, he can’t even serialize yet. He’s a work in progress. Not like this guy. I know Allon keeps us in the dark a lot, but we’d know about someone like him on this mission.”
“Splendid,” Duke said. “It is good to see Nabel surrounding himself with such lively characters.”
Laven frowned, briefly taking off his top to smooth over his hair. “So it seems you know about King, and us apparently. Are you perhaps a former acquaintance of his? Someone who learned the art but escaped his purge?”
Duke laughed aloud. “Which purge are you referring to?” he smirked subtly, to which Einer and Laven threw knowing looks at one another.
“He... remembers then. So it’s happening like King suspected,” Laven mumbled. “Damn. And to reach such a level.”
“Yeah. He sure doesn’t look Asten to me. He must have memories from before. That’s the only real conclusion,” Einer said. “You still ain’t told us who you are.”
“Oh, yes...” Duke said, tapping the side of his head. “If you call that man ‘King’, I suppose you should call me ‘Duke’.”
“Hmmph,” Laven huffed slightly. “An alias, is it?”
“In a manner of speaking...” Duke said. Laven trained his eyes carefully on him.
“Tell me then, Duke, why exactly are you here? It doesn’t look like you’re merely sight-seeing today. What purpose brings you here?”
“The same as you: to watch, to observe, and to wait.” Duke’s smile tugged upward slyly. “Well, perhaps a bit more than that.”
“You talking about Losha?” Einer asked loudly, stamping his foot forward. “The hell you want with her anyway?”
“If I must admit, my... aspirations for that girl are a bit different from Nabel’s.”
Einer growled to himself as he spoke quietly to his partner. “I don’t like this, Laven. He knows way too much about King’s plans. Also... you can feel it too, can’t you?”
Laven nodded a bit. “Indeed. He’s incredibly strong, almost frightening. Even with that, you know what our task is. We can’t let anyone interfere with Losha in any way.”
Duke chuckled for a moment as he cocked his head to the side. “Aren’t you a little late for that? I have already set in motion quite a number of my designs.”
“It’s not as if we ignored you,” Laven explained. “We couldn’t really pick up your seras frequency until just now. However, with your connection to serastone and your presence in Capital City, it’s clear you pose a significant threat to King’s experiment. Whoever you are, Duke, I’m afraid we can’t very well let you go. Your being an advanced serialist alone is cause to terminate you.”
“Hmm...” Duke mused. “You must understand that Losha is my chosen as well. My current goals do in fact oppose Nabel’s, but in the end, he and I share the same vision.”
“What do you mean?” Laven wondered, however, Einer grew tired of talk.
“Shut it, Laven! He’s just messing with our heads, delaying us all the while. You can’t pry anything more out of him, nothing useful anyway. Our orders are clear: eliminate anything that would endanger King’s plan.”
“Oh?” Duke said. “So where were you when Losha was in trouble?”
“Same place as you, probably, none too far away. There wasn’t anything she couldn’t and didn’t handle herself, hence no need for us to step out of the shadows. You’re a different sort of problem though. We’ll have to get rid of you ourselves.”
“I suppose you simply couldn’t tell me to stop, now could you?”
“Heh! Like hell we could. Besides, I’m already riled up,” Einer said, suddenly drawing his hands from his pockets. His fingers curled like claws as they flexed open and shut.
“I don’t think we have much of a choice,” Laven sighed, taking off his coat and hat; he held them frozen in the air with a series.
“Yes, the gentlemen and the brute, a very fitting pair. I would ask that we take out fight elsewhere. If we release our full potential here, Losha is bound to notice us. Let us go somewhere more remote, so that our seras does not affect anyone else.”
“Fine,” Einer said with a glare.
“Very well,” Laven agreed.
“If you will,” Duke said as he soared upwards rapidly. In a matter of instants, his body rushed up to the clouds.
“Come on,” Einer said, jumping after Duke. The two of them likewise sailed up the sky, flying until they reached a certain level. At this new height, Duke stood across from them as if expectant. Einer and Laven came to a rest, planting themselves on kinetic footholds. Here the wind billowed fiercely, whirling around in great gales. The rain was but a constant stream within the air itself. To every side of them, the din of thunder deafened. A single bolt cut through the night, highlighting all three serialists. Duke had opened his dark coat and loosened its straps in preparation for the battle. His attire flapped wildly along with the weather.
“Wonderful. Perfect,” he said; his voice triumphed over the elements, reaching their ears clearly even in the depths of the storm.
“Our seras will not reach the ground. What’s more, our attacks will easily be mistaken for lightning. We have no reason to hold back. So please,” Duke smiled, showing all of his teeth. “Do not hesitate. Strike me down. Go all out. Annihilate me.”
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