The red in his hair had faded with time, but his power had only waxed. A rainbow shimmer spread from him as his royal madra took control over the space.
Intricate turquoise doors swung outward as Wei Shi Lindon strode out.
He looked different than the last time Relliar had seen him, at the Uncrowned King tournament. He had always been a powerful young man, but now his right arm was dense enough to warp spiritual senses, made as it was of true Dreadgod flesh. His eyes, once darkening only with Blackflame, were now black orbs with white circles, and a Wintersteel badge with one character in the old language hung on his chest.
More important than how he looked was how he felt.
The second his perception made contact with Lindon’s spirit, Relliar drew his spear on instinct.
He had expected a Sage. He had not expected vitality that almost matched a Herald, spiritual power that made his perception tremble, and the hunger…such hunger. If Relliar had been told that Lindon was the son of a Dreadgod, he would have believed it.
Those black-and-white eyes sought out Relliar alone, ignoring the formation of the other Ninecloud legions.
“If you’ll pardon my rudeness,” Lindon said, “I’d like to suggest you retreat.”
Sha Relliar spread his spear out to the side and condensed royal madra into his right hand. “You invaded our lands. And with no enmity between us.”
Lindon glanced to his feet. “Apologies, but this looks like my land.”
Relliar hurled the bolt of royal madra. It was just a probe. Against someone of Lindon’s power, a Striker technique like this one wouldn’t count as too much aggression, and it would give him a sense of Lindon’s true strength. Battles between powerful sacred artists often started like this, as both sides were unwilling to devastate the landscape with their full power in the first instant.
The Striker technique passed through Lindon’s body, and terror flickered through Relliar’s soul.
“Ambush!” he shouted.
Then the illusion of Lindon’s body faded and Relliar felt the presence of the Void Sage behind him.
He let his arms drop to his sides. “The illusions of the Silent King. I let my guard down.”
“Gratitude for holding back.”
A terrifying hand seized the back of Relliar’s neck, but he didn’t resist. He was at the young man’s mercy anyway.
“I won’t take anything permanent,” Lindon said. “But you know I can’t leave you behind me with your cores full.”
Resisting would be pointless at this point. Sha Relliar was surrounded by his legion, but the collected Lords were afraid to move.
The Uncrowned Queen had appeared in their midst.
Her Broken Crown hovered over her head, the same color as her sword. Yerin clapped a nearby Overlady on the shoulder, and the older woman shuddered.
“We’re playing all nice and friendly today, aren’t we?” Yerin asked.
One word Lindon said caught Relliar’s attention, and as a force began devouring his madra, he repeated it. “Cores?” Like virtually everyone, Relliar only had one core.
Lindon hesitated. “Apologies. Slip of the tongue.”
[This condensed gem is one of the few Divine Treasures of royal madra, known as the Queen’s Gift!] Dross recited. [It’s like a crystallized command that the Luminous Queen can leave behind, allowing others to borrow her authority both political and conceptual.]
The guardian constructs fell to pieces around Lindon, and he placed a shimmering rainbow gem the size of his head back into its case. Then he slid the chest of treasure through the floor and into his open void key.
“I picked this one,” Lindon said. “Shouldn’t you be telling all this to Yerin?”
She had stayed behind with the Ninecloud troops to make sure no one tried to ambush Lindon from behind or to fly off for more help.
[Don’t worry! I left a copy of myself behind so that she will never be without the benefit of my instruction.]
“She must be grateful.”
[She has tried to destroy the copy several times, but I predicted that. There are thirty-seven more of me waiting to continue.]
Lindon swept a pile of royal scales out of their preservation script and into a sack. He hesitated and turned to Dross.
“That explanation wasn’t long. What are you telling Yerin?”
[Right now? The history of the Sha family and the Ninecloud Court. It’s really fascinating, you see…]
Lindon listened with interest to the story of the Ninecloud continent’s ruling family even as he robbed them.
Sha Miara hosted the meeting with the Monarchs this time, though not everyone showed up. The nine-colored space shook with her anger.