Epilogue 3 - A Proud Mother (Patreon)

The darkness was absolute. Isharae commanded three elements, as was only natural for a dragon of her rank, but her first one was shadow. She had no need for light to appreciate the many treasures that graced her lair. To her eyes, they glittered as finely in the inky blackness as they would in full sun.

Nor did she need light to know that there was a delegation outside, awaiting her pleasure. Normally, she would let them wait, but she was expecting good news.

She signalled her wishes with a flicker of will, and Chrysophyalx bowed in response and entered her domain. The humans waited outside.

She looked down on Chrysophyalx. He was in his hybrid form, as was fitting. Another dragon would have balked at appearing in front of her in the form of a lesser being, but Chrysophyalx’s loyalty overrode all such concerns. That loyalty was why he was permitted entry into her lair.

“It is as you anticipated, Great Lady,” he stated. “The footage is ready for your perusal.”

“Excellent. Prepare them for my arrival.”

Chrysophyalx bowed again and strode briskly out of the inner chamber, while Isharae slowly uncoiled herself from her sleeping dais. She could move faster than lightning when she wanted to, but some of the artifacts in here were fragile. It wouldn’t do for them to be damaged by the wind of her passage.

She emerged from the darkness in her true form. The hybrid form was useful in dealing with humans and navigating their tiny passageways, but her audience chamber had been built large enough to accommodate her. And it was good for her subordinates to behold her true form from time to time. It kept the fear fresh.

She examined the two kneeling humans closely. For now, she ignored the equipment they had wheeled in. One of them was high-ranked enough in the hierarchy of the Black Dragons to be familiar to her. The other was younger, probably tasked with operating the equipment. Intense emotions swirled about them. Mostly fear, as was proper. It was balanced by greed, by the thought that if they could survive this ordeal, they would be rewarded. She addressed the senior cultist.

“What have you brought me, Omori Sogen?”

The man stiffened and raised his head slightly in order to speak. Not enough to meet her eyes, of course.

“We have the reconstructed footage from the trap facility,” he said.

“Oho? I did hear that our trap was sprung.”

“Yes, Great Lady,” Sogen said, swallowing nervously. Under other circumstances, his head might have rolled at that admission. Other heads had. “The Order agents, who were the intended targets, were joined by sufficient outside forces to overcome the ninjas we employed.”

“And have these outside forces been identified?” She already knew the answer, but she did enjoy drawing it out of him.

Sogen’s fear spiked as he came to the most dangerous part of the briefing. “The forces were comprised of… your daughter and her minions from the Aramara school.”

“How interesting.” Her lack of reaction was spurring his fear to new heights. He must think that she was concealing her anger, when the truth was very different. “And you have brought me footage of this?”

“We have, Great Lady.”

“I see. Before we proceed, where is my husband?”

The man pressed his face against the floor. “Great Lord Kharuun is overseeing the preparations at the Pacific ritual site and has been uncontactable for two weeks, Great Lady.”

“At least the fool is doing something useful,” Isharae sniffed. “He will just have to miss out, for now. Both of you may rise. Gensho, present the footage.”

Hozumi Gensho—of course she knew his name; she knew the names and faces of every member of the Black Dragons—stiffened at being addressed directly and so rudely. He couldn’t protest, so he scurried over to the equipment and started tapping on keys.

Isharae brought her head down to the level of the large flat panel that seemed to be the focus of his efforts. Coincidentally, that was close enough for Gensho to feel her breath on his back.

“Can you tell me,” she murmured, “Why it took so long for this footage to be delivered?”

Gensho’s fear spiked so high, she thought he might die of it. She listened to his heart beat three times faster than its normal rate, almost starting to spasm… but not answering a direct question was out of the question, so he was forced to live.

“T-t-the m-main s-security footage w-was wiped by the intruders, Great Lady, but the redundant backup cameras remained functional.”

His pulse started to stabilise as he grounded himself in the technical details of his work.

“Unfortunately, the isolated nature of the redundant network meant that we couldn’t access the system until we were on site, and the severe damage to the upper floors prevented us from accessing our system until now.”

“I see.”

Gensho gasped for air. He must have forgotten how to breathe.

“D-did you want to watch the entire intrusion, or just your daughter’s entrance?”

“She wasn’t the first in?”

“As p-per procedure, the building was warded. It wasn’t expected to be a factor for the Order agents, but they disabled the wards to allow your daughter and another spirit entry.”

“Let me see my daughter, then.”

She watched the recording in silence, from the moment her daughter crashed through the wall of the building to when they left. Then she told them to rewind it and watched the entire intrusion from the start.

“Well. This is quite concerning.”

“Great Lady, your daughter—” Sogen started.

“Is not what I am concerned about. Dragons do not raise our children; we shape them and send them out into the world to do as they wish. Kana-chan is free to oppose me, as is her brother.”

“Elidorious-sama has been a thorn in our side of late,” Sogen muttered.

“They are both young; they still think human lives are in some way comparable to ours. In another hundred years, when everyone they grew up with is dead, they will start to come around.”

“Well, not that fox,” Gensho blurted out. He froze when everyone looked at him. “I— I— I mean, Great Lady, that the fox spirit will still be around in a hundred years, won’t she?”

He quailed under Isharae’s pityless gaze. Darkness seemed to gather around him, and he felt the chill hand of death closing in. Then she blinked.

“True. You have potential, Gensho. The kitsune is one of my concerns. For one, foxes are always trouble, and for another…”

She used her magic to manipulate the device, bringing up a particular scene. The two humans stared in shock. It should not have come as a surprise; she had just watched the younger one do it. And yet it always did.

“You see?” she said, freezing the playback. “The fox appears to have a method of tracking the false Primal Talismans that the Order creates.”

“Why would she have it, and not the Order?” Sogen asked.

“Why indeed? Unless what she has is actually a method of tracing the real ones.”

She manipulated the footage again, bringing up another image.

Sogen swallowed nervously again. “I… uh, don’t know if you are aware, Great Lady, but the Golden Primal Talisman was recently reported stolen.”

“Rhazun-kun cannot have been pleased.” In fifteen thousand years, the talismans had been stolen more than five hundred times, so one more was of little account. It would be recovered, and stolen again.

“He is dead, Great Lady.”

“Ah. Serves him right for failing.”

Rhazun was a mere two-element dragon, strictly inferior to herself and Chrysophyalx. Or her useless husband, for that matter. She dismissed him from her thoughts.

“It seems that a pattern is emerging,” she said, staring at the screen. It was showing a man in jade armour. Armour that stirred up old memories. Very old.

“It looks like the Jade Path is finally making its move.”