A Few Days Before The War Began
Alexis and her son were holed up in Mane's room. Mane and Abelard had just returned from the Eastern Empire and had informed Alexis of everything that had happened.
"A Possessed?" Alexis rubbed her temples in worry.
"Yes. And it was only in its infantile stage. Luckily we killed it before it could grow" Mane had no idea that the creature he thought he had killed was alive and well. But he was bound to find out sooner than later.
"We have to prepare for war" Alexis informed her son
"War? Isn't it a bit too soon to make such assumptions" Mane was doubtful that the war would be upon them so quickly.
"They wouldn't want to waste any more time" Alexis shook her head to indicate that the battle was much closer than Mane thought.
"How can you be so confident that their next step would be to initiate an attack? After all, we just discovered that they are developing their soldiers, so they have lost their element of surprise. Attacking now wouldn't do them any good. It would be better for them to wait it out until everyone thinks they are safe – until the empires conclude that it was nothing but a hoax – so that they can deal with us relatively easily. It is only by doing that, that their element of surprise would be returned to them" Mane reasoned.
"That is what a many would do" Alexis agreed. But before Mane could ask anything else she continued, "But I am not one of those people".
Mane looked at his mother, perplexed and wondering what exactly it was she wanted to tell him. Alexis didn't test his patience. Seeing the look of confusion on his face she explained what she was thinking to her son.
"They are going to make us believe that they do not have the resources to wage a war yet. And their display of power when you were in the Eastern Empire had its benefits. Although they sought to kill you to hide their intentions, you still escaped. Yet they didn't send anyone after you. Didn't you find that odd?" Alexis questioned her son, keen on allowing the boy figure this out on his own.
"They needed me to escape" Mane finally realized. "But why?" he wondered. Alexis smiled in response and said, "Because you are an earth wielder".
Mane was enlightened. Although Alexis didn't explicitly tell him the reason, she had given him enough clues to figure it out. "If someone could kill several profound wielders and a few earth wielders, that means they are powerful enough to influence the forces of Zandor!" Mane exclaimed.
"Exactly" Alexis nodded her head. As far as the Eastern Empire was concerned, if someone was capable of denting their forces, that person wasn't an ordinary Zandorian. Zandorians didn't have any knowledge of the universe. Their power levels were trash, and they hadn't been able to break past the strength barrier of the world. The Master of the Eastern Empire was the first person to promote several wielders to higher levels on such a large scale. Excluding the Dark Kingdom, he was the only one to have several wielders beyond the mortal level at his command. Bu none of the two – whether it was the Dark Sword or the Master – had to worry about betrayals. Their methods made it such that none of their men would ever betray them even if they wanted to. Which meant that if there was someone else – or another force – that could oppose the Eastern Empire, he/she would be an influential person. This person or this force would be capable of convincing the several empires that there was a war coming – a war none of them could avoid. If they were able to deal with the force the Eastern Empire had sent after them, then they were powerful enough to use an iron fist to force the other empires to take them seriously. And there was only one group of people – or rather gods- who could do this. The Dark God knew that if there were any other people who had broken past the wielding barrier, they would belong to the faction of the gods who wanted him dead.
"They used us to get their way. In the end, the results would have been the same" Mane swiped the sweat off his forehead when he realized that he had been played. If not for his mother, he would have acted out his part brilliantly for the sake of the Dark God.
"What a cunning fellow" Mane praised. But what Mane didn't know was that although the Dark God was the true mastermind behind everything, it was the Master who had decided to use Mane's hand for his benefit.
"There are several spies in Neces right now. They are waiting to see if we will disperse to the other empires" Alexis informed Mane.
"The Dark God wouldn't be so stupid right?" Mane questioned. It was stupid to ask people to spy on a Scholar Empress. They would be easily found out even if they weren't in close proximity.
"He isn't. But his pawns are" Alexis smirked. She didn't know who this so-called Master was, but he was a fool. He had stationed spies at the entrance to the Kingdom of Neces to see if they would leave the kingdom, and go elsewhere. Dominic had underestimated her power. He treated her like an ordinary wielder with vast power, and not as a scholar. If he knew her strengths, he wouldn't have sent spies after her.
"The others are in" Alexis smiled. She could feel the presence of Mane's teammates since she had marked them. No matter where they were in the world, she would be able to find them. They had just entered the residence and were speeding towards Mane's room.
Mane quickly opened the door and ushered them in. Abelard, the twins – Jake and John – Frederick, and Selina. All of them were here. They greeted Alexis and gathered around Mane's bed.
"I will escort the twins to the Northern Empire. It shouldn't take long since I am with them. Fred and Selina will return to their families. You two need to spread the rumor that war is coming, and push your families to take action."
"Yes Auntie Alexis"
"Yes Ma'am"
With the exception of Frederick who called Alexis Ma'am, the others were comfortable addressing her the way she had asked to be addressed. Alexis smile wryly and looked at Frederick. The boy scratched his head in embarrassment before correcting himself and calling her Aunt.
"Abelard, your mission is the same as theirs. Get the nobles in order. Use your power to make them submit" Alexis continued dishing out orders.
"Yes Master" Abelard acknowledged the words of his teacher without any complaints. He didn't know if they had the time to be coaxing the nobles. If his teacher deemed that using force was the better option – even at the risk of betrayal – he would obey.
"What about me Mom" Mane wondered. The others had been given similar roles, but he had no need to convince anyone"
"Be on the lookout. If there are any disturbances within the empire, then my guess is most likely correct" Alexis advised.
"And if it is?" Mane questioned.
"Then I need you to go on a little field trip – all of you"
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"In the end you were right Mom" Mane thought. "I'm finally here. It was more difficult than I thought" Mane was hidden within the trees, camouflaged perfectly with the leaves. It was a lease he had studied and recently mastered: Una Cum Natura. It was a lease that allowed him to blend with anything that wasn't manmade.
Not long after his mother left the Dark Kingdom caused several disturbances. He followed his mother's orders and asked his father to erect a barrier. Alexis said that as long as there were disturbances, it was highly likely that her guess was true. And since the Dark God and the Dark Sword were companions, it wasn't strange that they would help each other. Plus they regarded everyone as pawns so losing a few of their men wouldn't hurt them in any way.
Mane smiled bitterly when he remembered what his mom said when he asked her why she didn't tell Ray or Indra: "Ray is a blabbermouth and rarely listens to anything involving strategy. I'd only be wasting my breath. And we don't know enough about Indra to trust him yet. We need his help, and he needs ours. It's as simple as that"
"There's no one here. I guess it time to summon the rest." Mane mumbled and undid the lease. He fell from the trees and went a bit deeper into the forest. Once he had chosen his spot he mumbled, "This is good enough" and retrieved a piece of paper from his coat.
The paper had no significant features except for a mysterious looking drawing on it. It was something Alexis had given him.
"You cannot infiltrate with such large numbers. You would be spotted. So Mane would do it. He would summon the rest when he gets there." That's right. Their goal was to infiltrate the core of the Eastern Empire when their army set off. Although their entire army wasn't deployed, those that remained would have an unconscious feeling of relief and would be reckless with their scouting.
"Activate rune" Mane sent his inner energy into the paper, causing it to light up dully. With a poof, five figures appeared before him. All of them were well dressed and equipped with their weapons.
"That was quick" Abelard smiled.
"Hehe" Mane smirked. "Let's get to it then"