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~~~Azrael Jaesyrian, Fourth Moon, 277 AC~~~
~~~Bazar~~~
The fighting was over. The remaining Jhogos Nhai had surrendered, along with the stone giants, who remained static after I sounded the horn.
However, the cost of lives on both sides was unacceptable. Thousands of Jhogos Nhai had died from Endoxes' breath or in the battle against the Horde, and although the Horde also lost members, that number did not exceed forty. This still meant defeat since every Horde member was essential.
As for the stone giants, I learned from my Blood Riders that they were known in their legends by the name of Jhogwins, ancient giants who lived to the north in the Bone Mountains, specifically in the Kingdom of Jhogwins, and which had become extinct thousands of years ago.
"Well, now it seems that's not the case," I said out loud, getting a strange look from Isabella, sitting a few meters away from me. " You're strange sometimes, you know that?"
"Well, that's part of my personality, don't you think?" I said, playing along, causing her to snort, "What do you plan to do about the Jhogos Nhai?" Isabella changed the subject, and while I had no business telling her things involving Xandar, I didn't see a problem with it, especially since she would find out sooner or later.
"They will cross the Bone Mountains with my army. They answer to me now. I became what they call Jhattar, so they will follow me." I told him usually, without giving any more specifics.
"What will your next move be?" Isabella asked effusively, not wanting to get into that topic but being forced to. "What do you mean?" I asked back, not understanding what she meant.
Isabella gritted her teeth as if what I asked had put her in a great predicament, "I, I want to know if you can offer help to my father," she said at last, taking me by surprise. I knew that her hometown was at war with the city of the Winged Men moons ago, but she did not speak on the subject.
"How, why would I interfere in a conflict that doesn't belong to me?" I asked quizzically, I didn't know the cause of the Hidden Sea War, only that it was a two-front struggle that had been going on for years, in which the witch emperor of Carcosa, apparently Isabella's father, was at the spearhead. But beyond that, I knew no more, partly because that conflict did not concern me in the least. I was too far from Xandar to affect it to any possible extent.
"I wish for your help," Isabella said suddenly, catching my attention. In your city's war? Isabella, I don't see something like this as feasible," I told her at once, finding no benefit from this, not when I had to coordinate with the witches to use the books of enchantment on the Jhogos Nhai warriors before they entered Xandar.
Isabella became more desperate when she heard my answer, which caused me to react strangely: "Then don't do it for me; do it for personal reasons, but please help me. My people need help, and I don't know how much longer they can last."
Shaking my mind from the strange feeling, I focused on her, "And what motives would those be that would drive me to get involved in your people's war?"
"Power," was Isabella's simple reply, leaving me stunned momentarily.
"Hahaha," I laughed, thinking it was a joke, "power? Have you not seen Xandar's power? Nothing in the world can stand up to him, power I don't lack."
"Can you summon shadows?" Isabella asked, making me pause in my mockery as I remembered the ability she had shown before I allowed her to come with me. "No, but you don't need to," in the end, it was still a lost cause. Such a power did not represent attraction to me. To me, the chants in the books gave far greater power than shown in the series or the books than the summoning of shadows.
"I am one," Isabella said quietly, causing me to look at her quizzically, "a what?"
"A shadow summoning," Isabella commented, placing her palm up and letting a dark, thick smoke billow from her palm, "my mother cannot have children. Her years of life no longer allowed her to procreate, so my father and she devised another method. It consisted of a ritual for her to achieve a shadow summoning using her womb, only with blood samples from both of them." As she recounted, her words grew darker. "At first, it didn't work, and several were sacrificed to the Lord of Light as a token offering, until in the end, it all paid off. My mother became pregnant with the shadow, which used the blood of both of them and the sacrifices to materialize fully."
I didn't know what to think. Such a method used so much by that warlock and Kinvara sounded terrifying, but at the same time, it led me to think about Valka and her sisters, both of whom could not conceive, and maybe this could provide a window of opportunity to fix that: "How true is this? Are there records of what your parents did?"
"Yes, all of that is in my father's vaults in Carcosa, and I am sure that if you give me help, he will give them to you without protest," Isabella assured, and without realizing it, made me decide to support Carcosa in their war.
"Get your things, prepare whatever you think is necessary. We will travel to Carcosa today," I told her, and her reaction was beautiful. Her eyes lit up, and a genuine and spontaneous smile appeared for the first time. Perhaps acting on instinct, she moved closer to me and planted a kiss on my cheek. "Oops, sorry," she apologized once she realized what she had done, covering her mouth with one hand and widening her eyes.
"No problem. Go do what I told you," I said, patting her twice on her shoulder, causing her to blush. It's okay; I won't be long!" she shouted excitedly. She walked out of our tent, almost crashing face-first into Valka the moment she exited.
"Careful, girl," Valka hissed moodily, poking holes in Isabella's head with her gaze until the latter came out, "what was she so excited about? She was more excited than Valery when she killed an enemy." Valka said, smiling, reaching up to me and kissing me.
"I told you that we will be leaving for Carcosa soon, and I offered to help you win her war," I said. Just as I expected, I soon felt her withering gaze on me. " Are you serious?" Valka's full voice was not long in coming.
"I'm serious. I will help her, and you will go with me," I replied, counting the seconds Valka took to speak.
'Three,' the count didn't take long, and soon, Valka exploded, "And what possessed you to get involved in that abandoned mine? Carcosa is far from Xandar. Trade is nil. We have no contact with that city; we only know this girl, their self-exiled princess."
"I do it for you," I cut her off, looking her straight in the eyes, noticing how her black eyes were waiting for clarification. Isabella was conceived using some magic involving rituals and blood magic. That's how she was born, and her mother was able to get pregnant even if she couldn't before.
Judging by how he rested his hand on her belly, he seemed to understand what I was referring to. " Those records are in Carcosa. I intend to help Isabella's father win his war against the city of the Winged Men and get those grimoires, or whatever explains how they managed to conceive Isabella."
"That means..."
"Yes," I finished for her, "you will be able to conceive, get pregnant, and have the children we discussed. Your status as a witch will no longer impede our plans to have a future together."
Valka smiled as her eyes became teary. " Then we are delaying," she expressed, hardening her gaze and kissing me. She was willing to do anything to grow life inside her.