Nix didn't bat an eye as the foxes made themselves at home in the eastern palace. Caius went around setting up her own territorial markers. Despite the lack of chains, the Adarian delegation had been effectively isolated from everyone.
Nix sat on the peak of the Eastern palace. Pushing his mask up so he could overlook the capital city. Riots in the streets, half destroyed buildings, revealed bone enchantments, bodies hung from the palace walls. The Empire was on the verge of a coup d'etat. Even the guards were barely keeping their wits about them.
The song of the capital was at a boiling point. Nix closed his eyes, listening. The few threads of hope were being drowned out. If Lucian did not stabilize the populace soon, there wouldn't be an empire left to save.
Caius leapt from the ground to the roof of the palace. "Aiya¸ Pretty Birdie! Were you hiding?"
Nix lowered his mask, "So much pain, so much destruction, so much chaos, so much corruption. It is a wonder there is not more obstruction."
Caius settled herself behind her Pretty Birdie. These masks were incredibly convenient. Thankfully she could only see the souls, if she had to hear them… well she wasn't sure she wouldn't go mad herself. After burning a few, they'd learned to keep their distance.
Nix leaned back into Caius's fur. The capital was so… suffocating. Peeking over his shoulder, Nix grinned as he laid one hand on the large fox.
Caius blinked… suddenly the world was so big! "Aiya!!! Yip!" Caius barked in alarm as she found herself in her Pretty Birdie's lap.
Nix chuckled as he cuddled Caius. She was now even smaller than Littlest. If one didn't know better, they might mistake her for an adolescent fox. Even with her seven tails he could hold her in his arms.
Caius blinked… she could of course make herself look smaller, but her weight didn't change.
Nix nuzzled his chin over her head. She was now the perfect size to carry around. This would also keep the souls from trying to attach themselves to her. Nix glanced over the capital again… the last two pieces were about to move into place. Then everything would depend on Lucian's decision.
Charmaine sent her personal maid Sandra through the secret passageways. Only the imperial family were supposed to know of them… but desperate times called for desperate measures.
Sandra clutched a fake missive to her chest as she sped through the passageways. If she failed… she couldn't fail. The crown prince and young princess's lives depended on her.
Sebastian closed his eyes as he leaned back. The emperor's war council had been explaining all that had happened since they'd left. The bodies hanging from the palace walls were public examples of those who had defied martial law, were found to be damaging the bone enchantments, or were found to be in league with the Lindorm church.
Randal rolled his shoulders as the old coots demanded answers. He should have skipped this meeting. So far Kokono was still in her silver egg. Randal half wished he could also enjoy a nap.
"Duke Hammer!" Marquis Luthiger bellowed for the third time.
Randal lifted his lids to eye the irate marquis. "Aye heard ye the first time. Me answer willna change. Any who try snoopen around me men will find the sharp side of an arrow."
Marquis Luthiger barely held the sneer from his voice as he turned to the emperor. "Your Majesty, Duke Hammer oversteps."
Lucian pinched the bridge of his nose. "There are other enchantments we can unearth and study for now." A burst of silver fire interrupted his thoughts. Glancing up he saw Ashton perched on the mountain man's head.
Nix leaned over to look the Mountain man in the eyes. Caius held in his arms as all three blinked at each other.
The Mountain man stiffened as he forced a smile. "Ye be needed me then?" He asked when everyone stopped to stare at them.
Nix blinked, "Not really."
The Mountain man blinked back. "Oh, then, aye be… stayin right here then?" He asked uncertainly. Maybe the birds just found him an ideal perch…
Nix glanced around the room as he tilted his head, "There are imposters, roaming your halls, tempting the kin, heralding the fall." Nix hopped so he could sit on the Mountain Man's shoulders. "I won't interfere, I will not sway either side, just here to watch, until Lucian decides."
Randal glanced up, "On what will his majesty be deciden?"
Nix cuddled Caius close. "The decision the same, where to give, or to take."
"Give what?" Jaxon demanded staring down the disgruntled nobles. Many were openly showing hostility toward both beasts.
Nix tilted his head so the feather bounced, "To give the light." Nix was sure he'd already told them… hadn't he? He thought back, yes, he had told them several times.
Randal clenched his jaw as he glared at Jaxon. "And, what would he be taken?" So help him, if he had to beat Lucian into submission, he wouldn't let Lucian be stupid enough to take from the birds.
Nix's eyes crinkled into a smile as he raised a finger over his lips, "To take, oh to take, what can a dragon kin take?"
"Can… any of the dragon kin take it? Or only His majesty?" Jaxon asked as Ashton's legs swung. If the fox didn't have seven tails he wouldn't believe it was Caius.
Nix blinked, "Eh? Who is taking? Why would they want? Does them no good, not if they wish to survive."
Caius's fox laugh echoed around the now silent conference room. "Aiya! Pretty Birdie! They are so silly! Trying to take from beasts? Don't they know not to steal?"
Nix hopped down from the Mountain Man's shoulder. "I've said my piece, I've laid down the law, the only change now, dragons rise… or they fall." Nix deliberately looked from Lucian, to Jaxon, then briefly over Randal. Of course, Jaxon was not one of the three, but Monroe wasn't present.
Caius whined, swaying her tails as she lifted her head to lick her Pretty Birdie's chin. "This place is boring, aiya is there anything fun to do in this dreary palace?"
Nix glanced around, "The darkness a boon, as I hide from more than just Wu, but we can still sing, what do you think?" Nix asked as he started walking toward the door.
Caius hesitated… had she heard her Pretty Birdie wrong? Did he say Ru… or Wu?
Nix darted into the hallways still holding Caius in his arms. Grinning as he avoided all the bursts of sun light. "This is our game, we hide, sun seeks, just until he's not so mad at me." Nix informed as he leapt over a shifting patch of light.
Caius watched as the light stretched around pillars, under trees, over doors. Caius must have misheard. "Aiya! Angry sun! We should definitely hide!" Caius swayed her tails in time with her Pretty Birdie's song. He sounded… younger. As if all the melancholy had just been an illusion.
Talvi glanced over the giant crystals the Inago were charging. Despite their best efforts, hiding anything from foxes was a futile endeavor. The real question… why bother with the crystals now that the human consciousness was laid to rest?
Neolani swept her gaze around the room. Something was off… but none of her wards were broken. Turning her attention back to the mages she barked her orders for them to hurry up.
Talvi recorded everything she saw, every fluctuation of mana, and made a record of each human who passed into Neolani's barrier. She had no doubt she wasn't the only one who'd found this place.
Caius happily played with her Pretty Birdie for over a week. The humans and dragon kin had been hard at work. Caius even felt a bit, just a teeny, tiny, itsty bit bad for the Adarian's.
Nix was brushing Caius out. The Adarian's were almost as reviled as the Smyrnaean's. Reports were coming from all the surrounding nations, big and small. Beasts were being captured, countries preparing for war, and unusual sea patterns.
Rommel sighed as they were once again excluded from conversation. Correspondence from Adar hadn't been promising either. King Cecil had ordered every available guard, mercenary, and beast hunter capture any and all beasts they could bring back to the capital within a month's time.
Worse, the beasts that usually inhabited the waters around Adar were not only sparce, but the ones they could find were unusually aggressive. There were more than 300 casualties in a week.
Tania stared at her tea. Her mother's personal mage had arrived in Smyrna this morning. Added protection as the beasts continued to act unnaturally. They'd also been informed that five cities on the other side of the Cerulean forest had been evacuated as beasts attempted to besiege the forest.
Noelle glanced over her tense cousins. Lamont's aunt had also sent her personal battle mage. The only reason they hadn't returned to their countries was because everyone agreed… the safest place was under Nix's wings.
Everyone flinched when Nix leapt out of his nest, carrying Caius in his arms as he ran away…
Rommel shared a glance around the clearing. With a shared understanding everyone leapt up after the clearly panicked Nix. Even the Inago looked bewildered.
Before Neolani could order a defensive formation a flash of light blinded her.
Alexei tried to raise his hand to see what was going on only for something to hit the ground hard enough that the garden was now a smoking crater. Looking past the dust he saw a heavily armored figure standing.
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