Chapter 98: Sage Advice

  SENA

  The red token arrived in the middle of an important policy meeting.

  Technically, the military representatives were there only to listen. In practice, the policies that the Council decided upon often required military backing or cooperation, so Genth would frequently attend personally or send a direct subordinate in his place.

  Officially, that was what Sena was there for: being one of Genth’s top advisors. It was a convenient fiction that let her keep tabs on the Council debates and upcoming plans – not to mention keeping abreast of matters that might destabilize the lower castes. That was the real worry for Sena. The officials here were insulated from how things were going in the Domain at large, and failed to realize, of late, that though the war was years behind them, the lands outside the city were still recovering.

  Very few of Sena’s current agents knew her real responsibilities, but she always left one of her trusted agents to run things while she was busy like this. They were supposed to triage by handling minor matters, and only escalate to her in the event of a ‘red token’ or ‘black token’ occurring, if she was in a meeting like this.

  A black token would indicate something was immediately happening right now, in public, and needed addressed. Sena had never dealt with a black token. That would normally mean that the city was about to collapse into chaos if something wasn’t done immediately.

  “I need to go,” she whispered to Genth, who gave her a puzzled look before nodding. She activated Soundless Step so she wouldn’t draw attention to her departure, and followed her agent out of the room. The small attendant looked just like any of the other servants within the Hall of Voices, so he quickly vanished into the corridors, his job complete.

  Red tokens were time-sensitive, but represented something of unknown danger. Usually they meant a person of interest had been spotted and they were too dangerous – or unaware – to have Sena’s agents try to interdict and capture. It was a situation that needed Sena’s personal attention to plan and execute on the fly, keeping in mind her priorities. Each person flagged had their own unique symbol so she could plan her approach while on the move to intercept.

  Sena glanced down at the small, resin-coated rectangle in her palm and cursed under her breath. She’d forgotten she’d put this order out.

  At least she knew her agents would still report an old order, eight years out of date or not.

  She found Kenta not too far from where her agents had reported him. The young-looking man was trying to argue something with one of the city guards. She slowed as she approached, listening in for a few moments. He was animatedly talking about how he wanted to find a scholar of history, someone who knew about things from before Chall had been founded.

  The large, burly guard was having none of this. He was being quite patient, but repeated several times that such a person did not exist in the city. Not technically true, but true enough for a wandering Challenger. He was repeating it for the fourth time when Sena approached from behind Kenta, and the guard snapped to attention.

  “Counselor! What brings you here?”

  Sometimes Sena disliked how distinctive she was. Hiding in plain sight was excellent for her position, but made it almost impossible to go anywhere. That was why she relied on agents for most of her work, but none of them understood what the problem was with this man. She had to go in person… and of course every guard knew who she was.

  “Be at ease, I am not here on official business.” Sena gestured for the soldier to relax, as Kenta turned around and looked her over. In a way, she wasn’t even lying. She had yet to identify a specific threat with Kenta, but everything about him had her instincts screaming at her.

  As he took a look at her with his curious blue eyes, Sena couldn’t help but twitch her tail once. She’d thought he’d looked rather young for a Challenger when she’d last seen him. Even if he’d come to Chall right after he started to wander the first time, he’d looked young when he’d showed up six years later.

  Now the boyish youth on his face wasn’t just curious, it was disturbing. He still looked in his early twenties at the oldest, but it was eight years later. A true Challenger should have undergone so many harsh times, his skin should be weathered and his body carrying a few scars. Sena herself was approaching middle age now, but this man was the same as she remembered.

  Right down to his walking stick.

  “Sena, wasn’t it?” He asked that before she could clarify. “I remember you from the last time I was here. Thank you for showing me around, it was very helpful.”

  That casual comment made the guard tense up, eyes widening. To be arguing with a personal friend of the First Counselor wasn’t illegal or anything, but that didn’t make it a good idea. Fortunately for his sake, Sena wasn’t about to blame him for doing his job and answering questions honestly.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  She tugged her hood down to make her face more visible. “Yes, I’m surprised you remembered me. You were Kenta, were you not?” She did a thin smile, careful not to show her teeth. Her fangs made most people uneasy. “It was a pleasure. Are you looking for something in particular this time? It has been a while.”

  Kenta let out a sigh, leaning on his staff. “It’s a little odd. I’m trying to find out what I can about a certain creature. The tribe I grew up in never mentioned them before I left, so I’m not completely sure what they are called here.” He paused and looked Sena over again. “Counselor eh? I’m not familiar with the rank, but sounds important. Can you really afford to spend time with a random [Wanderer]?”

  “Watch me,” Sena chuckled. “I am somewhat well known now. Walk with me and tell me what you are looking for, I may know someone who can answer.” She gestured toward the street that ran alongside the Chosen Ward… and also into territory her people knew well. If she had to try to capture this man, she wanted to be on familiar ground.

  He accepted her offer without any apparent worry, staff tapping on the paving stones of the street in a regular, sharp report. “Thank you again. It was fun, last time. I haven’t gotten to relax like that very often, lately.”

  Something about that statement made Sena’s ear twitch. It was like the tenses were wrong, but she didn’t have much time to puzzle out what he’d actually meant.

  “As for what I am looking for…” Kenta looked up, making a vague gesture at the sky. “Your people here in Chall have domesticated the flark, haven’t they? A furred, flying beast large enough to use as a mount?”

  Another ear twitched at that, before Sena answered quietly, “It is… something we have been known to do, yes. They are rare, but they gave us an undeniable edge in the war ten years ago.”

  “Ten years,” he mused. “Has it been that long? I guess it has. I was really hoping there would be no war at all, but I guess it was inevitable once the dungeon was discovered.” His free hand scratched under his chin thoughtfully. “A pity.”

  Sena glanced to the side again. “Hoping there would be no war? Did you know the dungeon was there before we did?” His attitude looked so thoughtful and absent, but when she looked at him, the sigh he’d heaved had seemed genuine. She already knew her lie detection powers didn’t work on him, but her instincts picked up actual regret.

  Kenta didn’t even try to lie, though. “Yes.” Then he inclined his head toward her. “I knew its location shortly after my first visit here. Fighting over it I expected. I admit I did not expect the Academy so soon afterwards, but life is full of surprises, isn’t it?”

  He didn’t give her a chance to reply to that, and instead continued what he’d been saying before. “Anyway, there is a larger cousin to it. Richer fur, and a longer tail… long enough that it uses the tail to move, so its feet can be used like hands. Larger wings, as well. I believe you call them dragons.”

  Sena halted, eyes narrowed at Kenta. “You are using a translation spell, aren’t you. I finally picked up on it. A very good one. I can usually tell when one is active.”

  The younger-looking vaskan laughed, scratching the back of his head. “It’s an ability, not a spell, but yes. I mostly know your language and dialect by now, but a few words give me trouble. It probably makes me sound weird, but better that than fumbling the wrong word, right?”

  A little snort, and Sena resumed walking. “I suppose.” Then, she frowned deeply, her tail starting to lash back and forth. As much as she preferred to keep her emotions from showing normally, this was a rare moment when her ‘cover identity’ would have the same reaction as she did.

  “As for your question, I do know what dragons are, though we have little to do with them.” She lifted one eyebrow. “I’m surprised the Challengers can’t answer whatever question you have. Hunting strange creatures is your kind’s speciality, and I’m sure a few have tried to break the taboo.”

  Instead of the knowing nod she expected, Kenta’s face scrunched up in confusion. “Taboo?”

  Sena stopped and stared. “Yes. Taboo. It isn’t told as much, nowadays, but it’s an old story. They say the dragons stay away from us after one of our kind killed their own. He tried to perform an Apotheosis with a dragon core, but it drove him insane and his body tore itself apart.”

  She shrugged. “Since then, they have kept their distance, and we rarely see them at all. At least, that is how the story goes, but it is true that they never approach us when we see them.”

  “Hmm…” Kenta went quiet for a few moments, leaning back against the district wall. “Makes sense, but the story is rather interesting. I wonder how much of it is truth?”

  A flicker of irritation washed over Sena as she watched the wanderer mumble. “What does this have to do with you looking for a scholar or… whatever it is you were looking for?”

  He looked up and blinked. “Oh, yes. A scholar is probably right. I was looking for anything you knew on these creatures, especially if you knew of any nearby, or if anyone had tried to speak to them. Or even if you thought they could be spoken to.”

  Sena released a heavy sigh now, shaking her head. She’d hoped for something more substantial, but perhaps this wanderer was merely someone with strange abilities and ideas passing through. Except… that staff. It was still the same staff and eight years later looked none the worse for wear – despite being used daily, she presumed. If anything, it looked newer and fresher than the one she had in storage, kept carefully preserved.

  “It is not something I ever considered,” she admitted. “With more dungeons appearing in lands outside of ours, Chall has been thinking of other things. I presume you have heard about the other dungeons?”

  Kenta blinked, looking up as if tugged from a distracting thought. “Hmm? Oh, the other dungeons? Yes, there are a few more now. I expect we’ll see a lot more in a few centuries, but I guess you aren’t worried about that.” He smiled and swerved the subject away again. “Say, you would not happen to be able to take a short trip with me, would you?”

  The question was so sudden and so unexpected that Sena actually had to struggle to keep her reaction normal. Fortunately, normal included raised eyebrows and ears and a stilled tail, because some surprise was normal.

  Going somewhere alone with a mysterious nightsleek Totem Challenger would be stupid, of course.

  But not going with him would mean it could be years before she had a chance to get any of her real questions answered.

  “Where would we be going?” The question came out more quickly than Sena would have liked, but the wariness in her voice was real.

  Kenta grinned at her, and didn’t bother hiding how his teeth were now fangs thanks to his Totem attributes. It looked feral… yet also giddy and excited, like a child eager to talk about their newest discovery.

  “To meet a dragon, of course!”

  Flark Trip