Chapter 8 Part 5 of 5 (Patreon)

Eli’keen and Weebla were silent, left in the vacuum of Clive’s anger.

Eli’keen waved his hand, mana shutting the door and a sound cancelling spell covering them both.

“Well looks like we are both out of a job.”

“And when has that stopped us?” Weebla raised an eyebrow.

Eli’keen sighed and rubbed his temples.

“He has held off attacking the ninth for as long as possible to drive hold the point to the people in the lower realms that the Imperium is strong and it has come to bite him in the ass.”

“It is covered in tears and there are devourers everywhere, I haven’t seen anything like it before.” The tremor in Weebla’s voice stilled Eli’keen’s hand a shiver running down his spine.

“He left the tap running and now it is a flood. Question is can we shut off the tap?” Weebla asked.

“Akran is trying to ascend.”

“What?!” Weebla’s eyes widened.

“He is at the ascension platform and ascending.” Eli’keen took out platforms linked formation, the number of lights had increased and there was only three lights left.

“Why the hell didn’t you tell me?”

“It is the head’s decision to make.”

“not all heads are made equally Eli’keen, Xun Liang was a great man and there are few like him. The only reason that our people weren’t slaughtered in the ninth is because I called the old generals and admirals together to fight at the admission hall. He didn’t have a plan he had a propaganda mission. He doesn’t know the scourge of the shattered, he has only had a taste!”

“I know that now,” Eli’keen ground out.

Weebla started pacing.“If we call on the Gnomes and Elves we can pull a fighting force together, has he moved his sworn out from around the platform since they arrived?”

“No, they have opened tears, so there are more shattered moving around and going to the lower realms, it has one of the largest concentrations of shattered in the tenth, acts like a way station into the ninth realm.”

“You got a map?”

Eli’keen pulled out his map and put it on the table. Weebla looked over it, moving it around.

“Nasty business, that’s a lot of Shattered and Devourers, even with out people that’s too much for us to handle. We can ask the Alvans for their support.”

“Alvans, they’re new as can be, what about the Imperium?”

“we can call on our friends, but the head is against anything Alvan, he’s not been hiding his anger towards them, or holding back the blame.”

“Yes but he does have a point about them being new.”

“New, yes, dumb, no. They fight like our armies of old and you can’t deny their weapons are powerful, have they yet taken on a mission that they didn’t complete?”

“No.”

“Erik and Rugrat are not like other people in the realms.”

“Are you sure, we have been slighting them this entire time.”

“Oh, they’re not saints and they must not be liking that, but if they have a mission, one that has a clear goal and a good reason, they’ll fight tooth and nail beside us.”

“it’s a dangerous precedent.”

“I’ve already had the Gnomes and Elves fighting side by side, we were the only group that took ground, held it and advanced. I don’t care what the head says. I care about the ten realms being free for my granddaughter and my great grandchildren. Isn’t that why you are, were the advisor to the head of the Imperium? Hmm Major?”

“That was a long time ago.”

“It is for me to remember if I remember it. You have been a tailor for much longer than you were a soldier, it is time that you came back to the fold.”

“If the Elves and the gnomes united then the rest of the realms.”

“Eli’keen, you underestimate yourself and the people of the Imperium. He might be the head, but we are the blood and bones of the Imperium.” She held his eyes. “So, get over your damn feelings and pull yourself together.”

A smile spread across Eli’keen’s face as he stood up straight, the meek tailor seemed to melt away, a fire in his eyes.

“Yes general Battle axe, what do you need?”

“You talk to your Elven Conclave and I’ll go smack some Gnome heads together, reach out to our allies in the Imperium. We come up with a plan and take it to the Alvans, should get enough skeletons out of the closet to put up something of a fight and we go to the tenth realm and kick Akran’s ass back into elemental energy. Not cause it’s the pretty thing, or the thing that will get us position, because its what we need to do.”

Eli’keen sighed, closing his eyes, when he opened them he felt the change, like putting on an old set of armor, his expression slackened and his eyes grew cold.

“There’s my major Eli’keen. Time to go raise your hell riders.”

“They’re a little out of practice now.”

“Well there are plenty of Shattered to fight in the seventh realm to warm them up.”