The Grandmaster of Sarthas - Chapter 27
#26 of The Grandmaster of Sarthas
Insight into the enemy and a ghostly visitor.
Aboard a nearby airship during the attack...
"Stand down your gunners captain. There will be no raining of iron and lead upon the camp." The familiar phoenix commander said. "But Kado-sama, they are vulnerable...." The ship's captain started to argue. "Then let me enlighten you to how wrong you are captain. Watch that black furred wolf there in camp. Watch how he moves. See that cloak of shadow that seems to flow with him?" he asked, the captain watched through his spyglass. "I do, but what does that have to do with...?" "That, my dear captain, is a Void defense. It works by warning the practitioner of impending danger. The more dire the threat, the more lead time he gets. Right now if even one of your gunners has an itchy trigger finger, that wolf knows we are here and will be able to mitigate or ignore most of the damage we could to do to him and his forces. Assuming we could catch him by surprise and actually decimate his forces and wound him, we would never make it to the coastal resupply camp. Do not forget we are on Vulpacha estate land. The druids here are VERY protective of their land. We open fire and bombard that forest with shells, every druid from here to the coast will make it their personal mission to bring this airship down and kill every single member of this crew in as brutal a fashion as you can think of captain. I may not be captain of this vessel sir, but I currently have the best advice for you survival wise. Turn this ship towards the coast and make best speed to remove us from this estate. If you feel the need to ignore my advice, I request permission to disembark and take my chances with the strike force below. I have a better chance of surviving the day that way." He interrupted with barely veiled scorn. Grudgingly the mangy gryphon captain turned and gave the order to withdraw. "Soon we will meet on the field of battle grand master..." The phoenix said to himself. "Then we can truly see who the better warrior is..." he said with a smirk as the airship started to pick up speed towards the coast.
Three days later back at the Estate Proper.
"I am not to be disturbed under any circumstances until I leave this room again." A tired Ceberune stated flatly as he trudged past a worried Nadia into his quarters. She made to follow him in but was brought up short by both a closed door and a worried rabbit princess. "Is he hurt?" she asked starting to panic. The bunny led her off to the mess, which was not calming her down. Once she sat down the somber looking princess smiled. "He is fine Nadia, just tired and needing time to cope with what happened." She said. Nadia's anger smoldered. "And what exactly happened?" she asked with mounting anger and annoyance in her voice. "Mission accomplished foxling. The camp is no more and there will be no more slave selling from this estate." Said Bomani as he walked around behind her, placing a plate of food in front of her. Nadia sighed. "And why is Ceberune so tired?" Bianca smiled. "Leadership is a rare gift Nadia. Those who have talent with it are rarely well practiced with the art of it. Ceberune is one of the most charismatic and naturally gifted leaders of this generation. He is trained in the sciences of this gift, but this is his first time in truly practicing the art of it. He was very bold, and yet managed to accomplish our mission with only a handful of casualties. The casualties, although saddening is not what tires you out with this life however. Ordering those you love and care for to their deaths is something the wolf is used to. He is hardened against that drawback of his gift. It is the wholesale slaughter of the camp that got to him." Said Bianca. Nadia shrugged. "They were criminals..." She said. Bomani chuckled. "True, but a quarter of the camp were male amarok. None of them had a choice in their lot in life. They were slaves serving their masters." Nadia reflected a moment on that. Bianca smiled as the fox mulled it over for a few moments before she came back with. "Mercy killings. Ceberune knew what kind of life they had lived and would live even if he had spared their lives." She said. Bianca smiled proudly. "Excellent rationalization. One the wolf will likely accept soon enough, but he needs time to think, to meditate on what happened. A good leader wins the day and moves on. A legendary leader wins, learns, changes tactics to be more efficient and take less losses. What you are witnessing are the habits of a legendary leader in the making. The next time the wolf takes the field as a general, he will be even more shrewd and tricky. His tactics were near flawless on the field Nadia. His plan went off frighteningly well, which I think he was not expecting. The way he was trained was to make a general outline of a plan quickly and spend most of your planning time on contingencies. So about the only way you can take him by surprise is to allow his plan to go smoothly. This also means that you lose as he plans to win. Assuming he actually shows surprise, it is likely the last thing you see as you die or are being led away for execution." Bianca said proudly. Bomani chuckled. "Considering the oral servicing you just gave him, I would be surprised to find out that the wolf isn't in the middle of a good cum." He teased. Bianca smiled sweetly as she slid a paw into the tiger's trousers. "He might get oral, but you get more..." she said with a nearly bsani purr. Their foreplay was interrupted by the bright and avian giggle of Chiko as she sat at the table. "You two and your public displays of debauchery..." she teased. Nadia chuckled and Bianca smiled evilly before she went down on the tiger, sliding his member into her muzzle without a second thought. Chiko chuckled. "You do know you have desensitized me to that now Bianca." She said matter of factly. Bianca chuckled as she got Bomani purring deeply in pleasure. "Please do not goad Bianca on Chiko-san. She already has my toes curling..." He said through gritted fangs. Chiko smirked evilly. "And why not? I could use a show with my meal." She teased as the tiger's back was beginning to arch. The well practiced bunny having him right on the edge.
Meanwhile, in the Grand Master's quarters...
When his sensei had said that the dead would come to you in your own time, this was one soul he was hoping to never have to see ever again. "I bring greetings from the Plane of Air Grand Master" The ghostly amarokine form said. "Mother..." the wolf intoned coldly as he sat on his meditation pedestal. She made to approach but could not, two elemental dragons blocked her path and she found she could not advance past them. "I wished to speak with you." _ The wolf sighed. "Then speak. You never had any trouble speaking to...or at me before." He said. The spirit winced. _"In those days I was also still alive and trying to keep a flagging bloodline from dying off," she said. "that is off topic however as I am here as both a warning and a teacher of history for you my son. My warning to you is this. I am one of the last pure souls leaving the mortal coil from the Matriarchy. Others have been sent away to avoid the coming harvest of souls that you will bring. Few have escaped. Watch for them my son. For they are the last hopes of keeping our race alive." _ She said. The wolf scoffed at this. "What makes you think that I care about the Amarokine race, spirit? The matriarchs have isolated our nation for thousands of years. They have dabbled in forbidden magics with the hopes of being able to finally kill the Grand Dragon. I would be doing our world a favor by letting the Amarokine race become a footnote, and the Matriarchy little more than a fetish club that happened to be in a swamp." He said with barely controlled rage. "_You would sentence an entire race to extinction because of my treatment of you?" she ask forlornly. "No, I would sentence a race to extinction for their hubris and outright stupidity. Like it has nearly done twice in recent and not so recent history. Or need I remind you of how your mother, father and all of your siblings perished?" He said evenly. "You do not my son. And that was not a test of new poisons. That was an attempt to wipe out our family once and for all." He snorted. "Of course it was. The Matriarch could not be bothered to try and talk to the most well known and marginally loved Amarokine family to find out what their grievances are with the system. We will just kill them instead." The wolf said with dripping sarcasm. "They were not trying to kill our family off because of a minor disagreement. They wanted to kill our family because of you my son." He sighed. "Explain. Even the insane do not kill off their biggest asset and most powerful bloodline just to get at a single possible threat." He said. The ghost wavered but relented. _"I came here as warning and as a historian, so it is only fitting that I server my full purpose. After all I am dead and should not fear repercussions of disobedience now." _ The female ghost said. _"When you were born my son, your eyes were just like Suzujomei's. Our bloodline has never had reptilian slitted eyes, much less the deep blue you possessed. Your eyes only remained slitted for about an hour before they became normal, but it was long enough for rumors to start. At five years old. The Matriarch wanted you executed. I refused. The payment for that refusal was the lives of the rest of our blood line. They died so that you may live my son. I am proud of what you have become, and your potential is limitless. Continue our line and never stop fighting for that which you love most." _ she said as he for shimmered away as a slight brezze blew through the room. The wolf took in a single cleansing breath before he spoke. "Yes Nadia?" he queried. She stepped in and bowed respectfully. "My lord. Bianca has caused an orgy to break out in the mess." She said. He chuckled. "Very well. I will let it wind down before I go and get my meal." He said, dismissing her.She bowed and sighed. Hoping he would invite her to a more private orgy.