[XASTOL CITY, DRAGONS BREATH TOWER, TOP FLOOR — FOUR MONTHS AGO]
"What do you mean, no?!" Ivan roared.
He stomped hard onto the floor once he'd said it and glared at his family, the Counselors of Xastol. "You must be a fool," he growled. "Either that or you're as blind as you are stubborn, father!"
Stirred by the words, Dwygrand shot to his feet and narrowed his eyes. Standing near the doors and balcony windows were a few guards, ready to interfere should anything happen. The newly appointed captain of the sentries — Upo Phizar — was amongst them, his hand by his waist, eager to prove himself to the Council.
Ivan's brothers, Banderd, Gido, and Huin, remained silent as Dwygrand raised his voice:
"Do not call me your father! You are no son of mine!"
Ruo alone smirked at the situation, his lips soaked with liquor.
"Do you honestly believe I will allow a half-breed to join our ranks as a Sanctum-Smith?!" Dwygrand asked. Ivan could tell his father was on the verge of scoffing. He'd always been so hard-headed.
"I've already had to banish a dozen dwarves because they had aligned themselves with you! I've done everything I can to punish you — to make you see the error of your ways, and yet you still insult me with your lies?! Your half-breed is no Sanctum-Smith! Nor can he or any child his age weld Twinkling Pleoritite!"
A sickly chuckle emerged from his throat. "You must think me to have been born yesterday!"
Ivan's lungs surged with anger. "It is the tru—"
The guards moved forward, ready to intercept him, but Dwygrand's voice stopped everyone in their tracks. "—It is a lie!" he snapped.
He came down the platform steps and balled his hand into a fist. "For eleven years, we've allowed you to keep that mutt in our city. Eleven years," he repeated, "We've allowed you to feed it, keep it amongst our children, and raise it in your pitiful seclusion. But now, your eleventh hour has passed! That Menark of yours has no place with us!"
A fury unlike anything Ivan had ever felt before shot through his veins and twisted his face until it was redder than fire. "What are you—" he began, stepping forward.
"Don't you get it yet, dumbass?!" Ruo finally yelled. All eyes turned to him as he jumped to his feet. Banderd noticed his shaky footsteps and covered his face with shame. He knew the situation would soon escalate.
"Xastol values results above all else, Ivan!" Ruo said. "Any male dwarf unable to go into Sanctum-Smithing or Architecture is a shame to the family who brought them up! With no need for them in the city, they'll be sent off to the mines as Colliers instead!"
Ruo watched Ivan's heart sink into his stomach and smiled.
"And we know how attached you are to that mutt of yours, little brother. We know you wouldn't stand for it! So if you don't like it, you are your boy can just leave the city!"
Ivan gritted his teeth and lunged forward. "You sadistic piece of—"
His fist struck Ruo's mouth with so much power that they were both sent tumbling over and fell on the floor. Ivan pinned him down, ready to strike again, but Ruo pushed him back hard. Banderd flinched at the display of hostility and froze.
"W-What are you fools doing?!" Huin shouted, shooting to his feet.
Gido's head spun to the Sentries, screaming, "Stop them!", before they could go any further.
The men were frozen for a second. Never before had they seen a fight take place between two dwarves, much less Councelors. But Captain Upo knew he couldn't allow violence to take place under his administration. With a quick whistle, the guards immediately sprang into action and flung Ivan off of Ruo before he could injure him further.
"Hold him!" Upo barked as he tended to Ruo.
He helped him up and let out a shaky breath as Ruo wiped his bleeding lip.
"Y-You punched me!" he whined. The sight of blood quickened his breathing even more. "He punched me!"
"And I'll do it again, you son of a—" Ivan bellowed with a lunge over the guards' arms. They pushed him back and hesitated. Were they allowed to use extreme force against the former Speaker of Xastol without orders?
The sound of a Cuiong unbuckling caused all their heads to turn. They watched in horror as their captain unholstered his gun-blade and pointed it at Ivan's head.
"Back off!" he warned.
Banderd, unable to watch anymore, finally slammed his fist against his desk and rose to his feet. "I think that's quite enough, gentlemen!"
He darted past Upo and forcibly lowered his weapon. "You all forget yourselves! We are dwarves! We do not fight!"
"Damn it, Banderd, you tell him that!" Ruo growled.
Ivan shoved the guard nearest him and then fixed his ruffled collar. "You know damn well you deserved it, Ruo! Don't you ever come near me again! My son has a lawful right to participate! He is a dwarf!"
"He is an abomination!" Ruo shot back.
Ivan lunged again, throwing them all in disarray. But then—
CRA~CK!
The floor split open, forcing everyone but Ivan to duck to the side before they could be swallowed by the hole. Ivan inhaled sharply just as the cleft stopped just short of his sandaled feet. He winced, his eyes following the end of the crack to its source. What he found surprised him:
His father, Dwgrand, expression furious, had released a great amount of Sanctum Energy and was causing the entire tower to tremble at his rage.
"F-Father!" Banderd said sharply. "You'll over-exert yourself!"
"'Lawful right'?" Dwygrand scoffed, ignoring him. He turned up his nose at the thought that the notion had even left Ivan's mouth and grimaced. "That right is reserved for dwarves and dwarves alone. That mutt of yours is not recognized by me as a dwarf, and he never will be!"
"So you're the only one who gets a say in what a dwarf is?!" Ivan lashed out. "You're more of a fool than I thought! You've never even met a human before! Never have you been outside these walls! You're a coward, afraid of something he's never seen a day in his life, and yet you lecture us about right?! You're a shameful man!"
Dwygrand puffed out his chest and put his hands behind his back. "You have some mouth, boy. Who was it that abandoned his station as the Speaker to help humans? Who was it that threw our people into disarray by forgoing his responsibilities? Who was it that forged weapons to end a war he had no place being involved in?! Everything you do is selfish! You form connections with humans using dwarven secrets; you become a 'Paragon' without our backing; you even established trade routes and supply our sacred minerals with men we've never even met!"
Spit flew out of his mouth as he approached his son. "What's more is that your assistance resulted in the destruction of countless lives! You're a brat who only thinks of his own desires, holding them over the collective good of your own people! And when things didn't work out, you were punished — thrown away by those you sought to help in the first place!"
He strode past Upo, Ruo, and Banderd and stood in front of his son, making sure to look in his eyes. "Now look at what that got you. Forced to spend sixteen years of your life back here in the place you never wanted to return to, surrounded by people who hate you for everything you have become! You're an affront to our clan, and your boy is a mistake that our ancestors would have never tolerated, Ivan!"
Ivan stared him down in silence for a beat. Then, finally, he said: "I will not give up on my son."
The rest didn't matter. He understood his father was trying to insult him. He even understood where he was coming from. But it didn't matter anymore; he was done arguing about the past. The future was all that mattered. Hidemi was all that mattered.
"A fate where my son isn't allowed a choice is a death sentence," Ivan said. "By law, he is a dwarf — no matter how much. And by law, he is allowed to participate in the Dwanivit. Both of our personal feelings have nothing to do with it."
He thought back to Gwentyn as Dwygrand scoffed.
"People—they hate what they don't understand," she'd said. "But you know deep, deep down that it's not entirely their fault. You have to teach Hidemi to understand that, okay?"
Ivan stood his ground and puffed out his chest, just as his father had done.
"I'm going to change that bleak, dark, dead end you've tried to force my boy into." He looked at each one of his brothers and continued: "You all might think you're slaves to what he says, but the truth is that you're free to choose whatever you want to do! I am living proof of that! I've been outside! I have seen humanity and its wonders, and I can tell you that though there are bad people, the good ones are worth fighting for and much more! Hidemi's existence should prove that to you!"
He slowed down his pace and locked eyes with his father once more. "That fate of yours isn't anything but fear. Fear and injudicious belief spurred on by the past. A past that is nothing like the present."
Ivan understood. The fate the dwarven people had resigned themselves to was merely a byproduct of the secluded bubble they had been brought up to live within. If he could simply just change their perception of reality — to give them a choice and make them see things through their own lenses, then everything could change. And Hidemi had to be the first step towards that.
"I propose an idea," he said, an epiphany striking him. "Something that'll prove you wrong."
"Tah! And why should we listen to anything you say?!"
Ivan reached into his robe and pulled out a scroll of paper. "Because if I'm wrong, I will relinquish my role as Paragon and premier holder of the Xastol-Sanctefei arms treaty. With that, even though it may cause problems with the humans, you will be able to withdraw production of dwarven weapons from the continent and never have to deal with the humans again."
Muffled murmurs broke out amongst the guards and Ivan's brothers, but Banderd was the only one frozen with disbelief. Ivan, he thought. Why would you risk your freedom like that? Does that half-breed boy mean that much to you?!
By all means, all the others thought this to be an inconsequential ordeal. They could never have understood how Ivan felt, nor did they even try to. Could he have really felt this strongly about it?
Dwygrand raised his hand and stopped the chatter.
"What is your proposition?"
Ivan tucked the scroll back into his robe and sighed. "I simply ask that Hidemi be allowed to join the Dwanivit. I just want my boy to be accepted by his people."
"Ha..!" Dwygrand breathed. It was low at first, almost like a whisper, but his laugh built up slowly until it became a hearty laugh. Everyone quietly fell into unease. Their father was a proud man. For him to laugh so incredulously only meant that—
"You have yourself a deal, Ivan," Dwygrand said. He extended his arm to Ivan and shook his hand firmly. "Just know that if your brat fails to live up to our expectations, not only will he be banished, but you will have no place amongst us in our city and banished shortly after. I don't care what that Church will do to you once you leave these walls. You stand in direct opposition to all that Xastol is."
Ivan let go of his hand and spun around. "I will see you in four months."
As his silhouettes vanished into the light of the hall, Banderd watched curiously as his brother, who by all means had the odds stacked against him, walked out with his head held high, risking it all for something they all deemed worthless.
And for some reason, unknown to himself, something deep inside of him yearned for that feeling of freedom, however momentary, despite despising himself for it.
But like the door that closed behind Ivan and left only his father there, so too did the feeling in his heart become closed off once he had left.
Ivan…
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[XASTOL CITY, IVAN'S HOME, THE BACKYARD — THAT NIGHT]
Hidemi could see the tension in his father's furrowed brow. It only ever happened whenever Ivan would visit his brothers at that scary-looking tower in the center of the city. He came forward, tugged his pants, and signed, "What's the matter?" with the hope that he'd be able to do something about it.
Ivan let out a soft exhale and said, "Nothing, buddy. Go practice with your vice and clamps, alright?"
He ruffled Hidemi's hair and sent the boy off towards his workstation. But before Hidemi could take a step, Ivan grabbed his arm.
"Hey Hidemi,"
The boy turned back around and raised an eyebrow. "Mhn?"
"You're getting much better at reading lips," Ivan smiled. "Your mother would have been very proud of you."
A wide grin broke out across Hidemi's face as he threw his arms over his father. "Waah!~" he laughed, knocking them both down.
"Woah there!" Ivan chuckled. He picked his head up and hugged him back. "I love you, too."
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[LATER THAT NIGHT — XASTOL CITY, DRAGONS BREATH TOWER — TOP FLOOR — 3 MONTHS AGO]
Banderd shifted through the halls with a brisk pace and an agitated expression as he made his way toward the council's room.
I can't believe I dropped my book in the middle of that mess!
He sucked his teeth and thought back to the argument that had ensued earlier that day between Ivan and Ruo. Somehow, he'd lost the ancient text in the middle of all that commotion.
Hopefully Ruo will be there, he prayed. He often works late. I need to get home before the snow gets any heavier.
He finally reached the entrance and froze. An immediate sense that something was wrong had overtaken him as he stared at the slightly open door. Not only were the guards who were stationed there gone, but there was no sign of Ruo anywhere.
Banderd held his breath and peered through the crack in the door.
The Counselors' tables were emptied, but heaps of parchment paper, inks, scrolls, and even the kettles had been neatly set to the side in what looked like a measured search. Someone was snooping around for something.
Once Banderd leaned in closer, he saw something on the floor that made him clasp his palm tightly over his mouth: a man, hands tied and bloodied, barely clinging to life. His own brother: Ruo.
"Good choice," a voice echoed from behind Banderd. It was baritone and dark, but the man sounded young enough for the dwarf to mistake it for a tenor.
Banderd could feel it: the simple words held at his throat like a steel knife. It was by no means hot in the councilroom, nor were the balconies obstructed, but his body became hot. So hot, his sweat felt like he'd been drenched in a pool of lukewarm water and forced to slowly dry in the scorching summer air. But no matter how hot his body felt, his senses forbade him from turning and meeting the intruder's eyes.
I've never met anyone with such frightening energy! He cannot be a dwarf! Is that why the guards were gone? He must have caught Ruo in a drunken stupor! None of this makes sense!
Though his thoughts were jumbled, Banderd thought of his brother and his unconscious eyes. Calling for help wouldn't serve either of them any good right now. Slowly, he lowered his mouth and took in a shaky breath.
"Who are you?" he gulped, whispered for fear that if he spoke any louder, his head would come flying off. "Are you here for Ivan? You must have heard of his deal to relinquish the Sanctafei-Xastol treaty, right? That's why you're here: to stop that from happening?"
He peered out of the corner of his eye and made out the intruder's lower mouth. Strangely, he was chuckling.
"Sorry for laughing. You must be scared, right?" the man smiled. He strode past Banderd and walked up the steps to Dwygrand's table. Though it was dimly lit, Banderd noticed his outfit: a dark green winter jacket styled as a trench coat that touched his ankles. Wrapped around the inside of his elbows were black chains and his face, though covered by his hood, seemed youthful and soft, with hints of green hair poking out from underneath the hood to accentuate his dark colors.
But what drew Banderd's attention most of all was the strange emblem on his back.
A ram's head… and two crossed axes, Banderd shuddered. What ferocity..!
"Please," the intruder said, "Be at ease. I don't mean to frighten you. Perhaps you can help me find what I'm searching for."
Banderd gritted his teeth and glared at him. How could he beat at ease knowing that his brother was beaten within an inch of his life and that if he were to approach, he could be struck down before he even knew he'd moved? A resentment toward his own helplessness took hold of the dwarf and grew within his heart.
He'd lost the moment he stepped foot in that room.
"Hrm, it seems you don't believe me," the man sighed. He scratched his cheek and relaxed himself. "You realized I wasn't a dwarf within seconds. You're quick on your feet. And yet you were wrong about me being here for Ivan. He's free to live as he likes. I don't have any business with him."
He glanced at Ruo and detected him stirring.
"As for who I am… You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
He reached into his coat and withdrew Banderd's black book. "Thats—" Banderd began.
"—Yours, I'm guessing," the man finished. He smiled and flipped through the pages, occasionally glancing at Banderd as he did so.
Finally, he closed it and leaned his body forward. "You were drawn to it, weren't you — to the knowledge it might possess and how it could help others? Did you feel it? The sense of destiny when you first grabbed hold of it?"
Banderd raised a suspicious eyebrow and took a daring step forward. "You sound as if you've read it."
"Read it?" the intruder laughed. "No, I haven't read it. But I once saw an object just like it. It can only be read by those truly deserving of it."
Banderd had many questions, but his primary concern was Ruo and getting him away from whoever this person was.
"If it's money or valuables you want, it isn't here," he warned. "And if you're thinking of taking me hostage, Xastol will never negotiate. Especially with a human."
"Xastol won't, eh?" The intruder scratched his cheek and looked at the dragon figurine on Dwygrand's table. "I won't hurt you. Not if I don't have to, Banderd."
Again, Banderd felt the weight of his words press against his throat like a knife. It wasn't even a threat, and yet the sense of despair spurred on by the man's words was akin to no other.
"You said I could help you find what you were looking for," Banderd said. "If I do, will you let my brother go?"
He couldn't see it, but he sensed the man's brow raise underneath his hood, as if he were some pathological liar. "You are a stubborn one," the man mused. "But I suppose it is understandable."
He raised his gloved hand and pointed at Banderd's neck. "That is what I'm here for."
A look of bewilderment flashed across Banderd's face as he looked down at the obsidian orb hanging from his necklace; the same one all the councilmen wore.
"This? You attacked my brother for these?!"
He grew angrier as he ripped the necklace off. "These are passed down from councilperson to councilperson with every generation, but they are nothing more than paperweights! The only function they have is to amplify sound! What could you possibly need with—"
"—That," the intruder smiled, "Has more importance than you could ever know."
Banderd breathed out of his mouth. Somehow, the heat he'd felt earlier had disappeared. Now, the room felt cold — almost chilly, like he'd been submerged in snow. Sanctum Energy, he realized. It's as if the room's temperature is bending to the will of his Sanctum Energy! What a monster!
The man's eyes darted to the balcony to his right and peered past the city streets until he barely made out the vague outline of a small plateau located a small distance away from the rest of the city. Everything around it seemed empty. "Below Xastol's underground mines — in the northwestern part of the city — runs a druidic vein buried deeper than your colliers have ever gone."
"How do you know about the city's arrangement?! Who told you this?!"
The intruder shook his head. "Never mind that. No one on this continent remembers how, but that vein was exposed hundreds of years ago during the Sacred Genocide of the Druidic Races. What I seek lies below there, buried deep within the lava."
Banderd felt his skin run cold, but curiosity got the better of him. "It's an ore, isn't it? If we haven't unearthed it yet, who's to say it even exists? And if it did, such an item would be of unparalleled importance to Xastol City's history! I cannot allow a stranger like you to steal it from us!"
He thought of his father and how Dwygrand would have acted. Banderd was convinced that denying this man was the right choice. However—
"Oh, it exists," the man smiled. "And it's been down there since before Arsaes brought the dwarves to Sanctafei during the Great Hijra."
He knows of the Great Hijra? Banderd shivered. Who is this man?!
He watched the intruder drop down from the table and stand on his feet. He seemed to have read the question in Banderd's eyes, but he had no intention of answering it. "As for who the ore belongs to — that decision rests solely on who finds it first, wouldn't you agree? Either way, you have a choice here: allow the ore's unearthing, or allow your brother to die."
The man's words went beyond fear for Banderd. Everything he said not only felt as if it were a sure outcome, but it was also a completely spontaneous thought he'd given in to. A person like that went beyond the term dangerous.
"You're asking me… to choose between my brother, or the city?"
The man nodded. "I am."
"Urgh…" a voice groaned, turning both their heads. At last, Ruo had come to his senses. His left eye was nearly swollen shut, and the color in his skin looked as if it had been completely drained from his system. "B-Banderd..!"
He looked around frantically; it was all coming back to him.
"A man came," he said, "He somehow got past the guards! He ambushed me while I was working, damn it! Where is—"
His eyes finally landed on the green-hooded man. "YOU!" he screamed, lunging forward. He'd been angered, that much was apparent, but Banderd was rocked by how quickly Ruo had given in to that anger when confronted with a human. A question tugged at the back of his mind in that split second:
"Was his father correct? Were humans truly this dangerous to have this strong of an effect on dwarfs?"
Ruo tumbled over his bound feet and snarled like a rabid dog. "Banderd, you have to get help! Call the Sentries! The full weight of Xastol will crush this monster into oblivion!"
"R-Ruo, calm yourself!" Banderd said. He rushed forward but was cut off as the intruder squatted down behind Ruo and grabbed his neck. Once again, the sickly-cold Sanctum Energy returned and dropped the temperature of the room. Ruo could feel something numbing his neck, shooting a prickly pain through his spine and immobilizing him.
"What… What have you done to me..?"
"I'm sorry, but I can't have anyone knowing that I was here. Unlike your brother, you weren't as understanding as I'd hoped you would be."
"What are you—!"
The intruder lightly pressed down on Ruo's nape and forced his clenched fist to open before the Counselor had realized he'd even done it.
He lifted his head and stared at Banderd. "You haven't given me your answer yet, Counselor."
Banderd felt his heart skip a beat. Save Ruo or betray Xastol..?... I….
He winced as Ruo's eyes started to roll back into his head. He would die if an answer wasn't made soon.
"I AGREE!" Banderd bellowed. "...I agree, so let him go!"
The intruder's smile returned as he let go of Ruo. The Counselor hacked hard and coughed up small shards of what looked like ice. It was as if the air in his lungs had been frozen over.
"What are you…" Ruo groaned, his head slowly rising. Banderd could see the gears whirring in his mind as his brother glared at him. "Are you working with him, Banderd?! You traitor!"
"It's not what you think, Ruo! It was the only way to save your life!"
"What are you talking about?!"
Banderd balled his fist so hard his fingers dug into his palm. "I don't know all the details, but he wants something — a mineral located underneath the city. He wants it in exchange for your life!" Ruo glowered even harder. He turned his head and slowly rose to his feet to meet so he'd meet the intruder's gaze.
"Oh," the green-hooded man whistled. The possibility that Ruo would be resistant to his proposition had crossed his mind, but this new complication for Banderd proved very interesting.
"Xastol will not buckle!" Ruo spat with a deranged yell. "We are dwarves, damn you! Our customs are the law; our people are unparalleled! No human-born can ever make demands of the mighty Murong — descendants of the great Arsaes!"
He quickly looked at Banderd with disappointment and spat on the ground. "A dwarf's value lies in his ability! You choose to forgo your responsibility to the clan to save one life?! You're no true dwarf, Banderd! You're nothing at all!"
"N-No! You don't understand—" Banderd began.
"—I understand perfectly, brother!" Ruo snarled back. He raised his head proudly and looked back at the intruder, finally able to make out his piercing eyes underneath the shadow of his hood. They were muti-colored; one green, and one red.
"I said it before: Xastol will not buckle! I stand happily between you and what you seek!"
The man stepped closer to Ruo and let out his Sanctum Energy yet again. This time, the chilly air remained around him and materialized into a great longsword made of ice. It hovered over the intruder's shoulder and pointed at Ruo's chest.
"Is that your final answer, Counselor?"
"No!" Banderd screamed. He pushed hard against the floor with his legs and leaned forward, hoping to save Ruo. "We had a deal!"
Ruo gritted his teeth and sneered proudly, just as his father, Dwygrand, would have. "Do your worst—"
KKRRRRT!!!!!!
The greatsword instantaneously rushed through Ruo's chest, came out of his back, and dematerialized before it could hit the ground. Ice scattered along the floorboard at Banderd's feet as Ruo collapsed.
Banderd felt a deep pain in his stomach; Something he'd never felt before given life in the most horrible way possible. It felt like cold venom had been filled in the very air and was slowly killing him with every breath he took.
"Ruo…" he whispered. He forced himself to peer through the hole in his brother's chest. His ribs, which could no longer connect, stared back at him like bent forks as they pierced his brother's lungs. His heart had been crushed and splattered along the walls of his mediastinum, and the juices flowed down into what was left of his liver and stomach.
"You killed him…" Banderd cried. He doubled over and threw up at the sight of blood. His first real sight of it. What a horrible thing it was, he thought. To witness the death of a sibling and think you could have stopped it.
He grabbed onto what remained of Ruo's hanfu and buried his face into it with an anguished wail. "WHY?!?!"
"Your brother would have never allowed you to take my deal. If I had let him go, everything would have been for nothing. He would have seen this city and its people burn if it meant he upheld dwarven law." The intruder squatted down beside Banderd and gently placed his hand over the Counselor's clenched knuckles.
"I despise that."
Banderd offered no response. He just continued to cry in his brother's robe.
"Do not weep for him," the man said. "He made a proud choice and died a proud death. Regardless of how you or I feel, a choice is the greatest power any of us will ever have in this life. Ruo's made his."
"DON'T SAY HIS NAME!" Banderd lunged. He tackled the man and pinned him to the ground with a heavy THUNK. "I'll kill you, you bastard! I'll kill you!"
His Sanctum Energy surged forward and caused the tower to rumble in response to his grief.
"You're upset," the intruder said, his eyes scanning Banderd's face. "But don't let anger cloud your judgement. You know you cannot beat me, Counselor. You know the power I possess and what it could do to all those you love. Are you truly ready to risk that now?"
Banderd's eyes stayed unflinching. Nothing the man could say would get through to him. Nothing except—
"Like Ruo did?"
The intruder's words snapped Banderd out of his funk in seconds. His eyes traveled from him to Ruo and back to the intruder. The man was not smiling, nor was he attempting to egg the dwarf on in any way. Despite what he'd just done, Banderd couldn't help but feel a sense of honesty in this man's words. It was as if he didn't want to see the dwarves come to any harm either. At least not if he didn't have to.
The intruder watched Banderd tear himself apart as he fought to do the right thing. The Councilman grabbed his own arm and steadied it so as to not strike him. He recalled his Sanctum Energy and gave way to a tremble that took over his entire body. After a moment, Banderd moved over and sat next to Ruo's body, his head in his hands and his eyes reddened from crying.
"It's too late now," he sniffled. "Ruo's dead. When morning comes and the guards find his body, they will know someone came."
The intruder sat upright and positioned himself parallel to Banderd. "Not if they don't know it was me."
Banderd furrowed his brow and brushed aside his falling bangs. "What are you…"
"You're a rational man, Banderd. If a human were to have been discovered within Xastol's impenetrable walls, pandemonium would ensue before the night comes. Especially if that human managed to kill one of their own and escape the Council's wrath untouched. But if it were to be a dwarf — someone who came from their own—"
Understanding dawned on Banderd. "...Then it would be easier to control the outrage and protect the people."
Another idea struck the dwarf then, like hot iron. Banderd nearly gagged at the idea.
"Ivan," he muttered with disgust. He hung his head back into his hands and shuddered at the thought that he'd even proposed it. "Ruo and Ivan had a heated exchange earlier today. It was… physical. And it's no secret that Ruo has always hated Ivan's guts since he left Xastol."
The intruder's eyes softened with pity. "I see. It's a shame, but he will have to do. Consider it done."
Banderd's jaw clenched as he said that: Consider it done, as if he were doing him a favor. He hated that.
The intruder then glanced at the orb around Banderd's neck.
"And the Jidan?" he said, pointing at the bead. "How do you propose getting it to me in the midst of all of this?"
Banderd raised his head and looked at him. The ore had somehow simultaneously become the least of his concerns and the biggest of them in the span of minutes.
"I need time." Banderd rose to his feet and looked out of the balcony to the northwestern part of the city. "A mining party… the appropriate resources—"
"How long?" the intruder asked. His tone was serious. Not demanding, but it was clear that he wanted an answer that would justify the time wasted.
Banderd threw his shoulders up in frustration. "Five months? Six? Who knows!"
He glared at Ruo's body and willed himself to be calm yet again. He needed to be reasonable. Too long, and he risked angering the man; too short, and he'd look like a liar if it wasn't done on time.
He rubbed his brow and felt a twinge of discomfort assault his temple; The first of many headaches that would soon visit him. He didn't think of his father. Dwygrand would be too abrasive in his approach. He didn't think of Gido or Huin either. They would have different views, but in the end, he knew they'd just agree with their father. Banderd knew he needed to think like someone who disagreed with the very way Xastol was run. Someone who would be capable of keeping this man at bay and saving the city in the process.
That person was Ivan.
"Four months," Banderd finally said. He looked at the green-hooded man, who'd already begun standing, and took in a sharp breath. "In four months, the Dwanivit will take place. You seem to know much about Xastol, so I will forgo the explanation, but it will be the perfect time to collect this Jidan ore. Everyone will be too caught up in the celebration to notice by the time you're gone."
The intruder smiled softly and held out his arm to Banderd. Banderd scowled but ultimately did the same. Instead of grabbing his hand, the man grabbed the Counselor's arm and gripped it tightly. "You had the freedom to choose how to act here tonight. Unlike your brother, you swallowed your people's pride for the sake of your people and saved many lives. You turned your back on laws that would have destroyed innocents. That takes strength and courage, Counselor. I admire you for that."
Banderd lowered his gaze and bit down hard on his lip. What would you know? he thought. You're no dwarf — you're a murderer!
The intruder released Banderd's arm from his grasp and walked back towards Ruo. With a silent heave, he raised the deceased Councilman's stocky body and hung him over his shoulder. "In four months, I will return for what you've promised. You have my word that I will not harm anyone once that day comes."
Banderd scoffed. What good will your word do me? I hardly know you, you monster.
He watched the man make his way towards the balcony and noticed that the blood that had been pouring from Ruo's body had frozen over and stopped spilling. The rest that had stained the floor had been washed away by the melting ice cubes that had shattered earlier and also frosted over, slowly disintegrating into the air like a whisky fog.
The man put his leg on the balcony's guard and leaned forward. Before he jumped, he looked once more at Banderd, a newfound respect and interest in his eyes shining ever so slightly.
"Restricting yourself to another's values… hindering your own freedom… — that shouldn't be the way to live life. But the choice on how you continue will always belong to you, Counselor. When I return, I expect you will have changed greatly."
FSSH!
And just like that, he was gone: as eerie and suddenly as he'd arrived.
Banderd made his way towards the balcony railing and looked into the distance: at a modest home separated slightly from a chain of other houses in the western part of the city. Ivan's home.
For a moment, Banderd considered throwing himself from the tower. It'd be the easiest way to end the torment he felt in his heart. But he knew he couldn't. He had to be there for his people, regardless of his sins. And that felt like a form of torture in and of itself.
"Damn it!" he stomped, barely able to contain himself. His body shook, and his legs felt like they'd give way if he took another step. So, Banderd placed his arms on the railings and hung his head in shame that he couldn't do what his father and Ruo would have done.
Ruo's final words haunted him: "You're no true dwarf, Banderd! You're nothing at all!"
Banderd was under the impression that he had no more tears left to give. Somehow, he was wrong. With every droplet, he hiccuped and moaned and sniveled like a child. It was a tormenting thing: to watch your younger brother die and having to move on like nothing had happened. What was more agonizing than even that, however, was that another one of his brothers was to be damned for something he blamed himself for.
Then, after a time, Banderd's crying subsided, and his jaw went slack. His eyebrows furrowed with silent resignation, and dark bags began forming underneath his eyes. Once again, he looked at Ivan's house. This time, a dark figure had quickly dashed away from the house. Banderd assumed it to be the intruder and knew then that the deed had been done.
Ivan would stumble across the body soon and he would forever be hated by the people of Xastol. Banderd breathed in and out and then spun around for the doors.
It was time to mobilize the Sentries for his brother's arrest.
[THE RAM]