2565 Poisoned Chalices (Part 3)

"If we waited too long, the monsters would have culled their numbers and delivered the Harmonizers to the Courts. At that point, we would have been forced to call in the Council. Rather than let such precious artifacts fall into the undead's hands it's better to destroy them." The Drake sighed.

"I think that you are both right." Lith said. "That's why I think Syrah and her court will accept our offer. Yet unless we tell them the whole truth, it's bound to backfire to the point that things might get ugly in the near future."

"Are you really suggesting to tell them that we massacred hundreds of their people just to get an audience with the Queen?" Ajatar asked, obtaining a nod in reply. "Pray tell, how can that do us any good?"

"For starters, don't forget that the children of Glemos are nothing like us. They are used to throwing away their lives to get food and to limit the number of mouths to feed so even a massacre won't ruffle their feathers if it's for a good reason.

"We could even argue that they have massacred hundreds of "our" people during both raids, yet we aren't holding them accountable for that. The least they can do is return us the favor."

"Also, you have to consider that Syrah and her court have long unveiled the truth about Glemos and the fall of their respective races. The only reason they kept with the façade was because their people needed hope.

"This wouldn't be any different. We'd tell the truth only to the senate in order to garner their trust and give them the tools to spin together a lie that their people can accept.

"Otherwise there would always be the risk of an internal struggle between those loyal to the Queen and those who follow the high priestess/Warlord. Last, but not least, our ruse worked because Glemos kept the monsters isolated.

"Once they start living on the surface and discover that there are no demons aside from those I conjure, how long do you think will take them to understand the truth?"

"There's also the issue of Tista's... whatever it's called." Faluel said. "Unless she hides under a rock or never uses her new form in public, sooner or later Syrah and the others will see her picture in the interlink, connect the dots,and get royally pissed off.

"At that point, things are bound to go south and the only question will be how badly it's going to end. If the monsters refuse to cooperate, they will be massacred or turned into unwillingly test subjects.

"The situation in Jiera would become much worse, with the children of Glemos added to the already numerous threats the local Council has to deal with. As for Syrah and the others, they might rather die and destroy their Harmonizers than submit to someone they consider another Glemos.

"We have already seen it happen with Echidna and unless we want to let history repeat itself, we have to play our cards better this time."

"I agree with Faluel and I want to add one more thing" Morok said. "For their whole lives, those people have been victims of my father's manipulations and lies. We can't expect to be treated any different from Glemos if we act the same way as him."

***

City of Zelex, Queen Syrah's private quarters, right after Morok and his group left.

"I think their offer is really good." Br'ey said. "Much better than the Undead Court's. I think we should accept it."

"It's too good. That's why I didn't accept it Syrah shook her head. "We've killed the gods know how many humans and razed their cities, yet the woman in the group acted as if it was none of her business."

"Also, there's the matter of the timing. Our people spent centuries in here without seeing a single demon. Months have passed since Glemos' disappearance and the very same day we get swarmed by demons his heir finds us. It smells fishy."

"Just because you fail to recognize god Glemos greater plan doesn't mean there isn't one." Ryla said with her best holier-than-thou attitude. "We were in crisis and ready to spill the blood of our kin so he delivered the answer to our prayers.

"Like the late King Ikara said, he sacrificed his life to buy time for the return of our god and we got the next best thing. Refusing the deal would be spitting on his valiant sacrifice."

"Don't drag my husband into this, you wench!" Syrah growled, her eyes lit with the power of hundreds of warg. "There's no one here to listen to your sermons but us four and if you weren't the new Warlord, I wouldn't have even brought you along.

"So drop your sanctimonious act and say something that actually makes sense."

"Fine." The high priestess unfurled her wings charging them to the brim with world energy and activating her six eyes to match the threat of the Queen to the best of her abilities.

"Let's say that everything you suspect is right. What are you going to do? Take the offer of the undead? At least we suspect that Lord Morok is lying whereas we know that the Undead Courts are lying.

"Whatever we do, we'll end up at the mercy of one faction or another. Both of them can turn on us and slaughter us at any moment and you know it. Yet while the undead are only interested in the Harmonizers, the Awakened also need our help.

"They need us and in numbers whereas dealing with the Courts will require us to kill three-quarters of our population. The Courts ask us to cut our own limbs and to step out of our house right when we are going to be at our weakest.

"The Awakened are asking us to die for their cause, true, but most of us are bound to die anyway, and for what? To hole ourselves deep below the ground until we are forced to move again.

"Even if the undead actually uphold their word and study the Harmonizers for us, how are we going to pay for their help the next time we are forced to run away from the people we've robbed and murdered?"

"If we follow the Awakened, we'll earn our spot under the sun a place to call home. A place where our children can happily grow with their parents instead of living in fear of the day when they will be robbed of their youth."

"Your words would hold a great allure if not for the fact that you are overlooking a fatal flaw of Morok's offer due to your zealotry." Syrah said with a snarl, her open hostility aimed to curb the hopes of her court before they became unable of distinguishing dreams from reality.

She needed them to keep their feet grounded and their minds open to all possibilities, not to be so enraptured by the utopia painted by Lyra that their vote would be just an extension of the Warlord's.

"If you are wrong and this is just a trap, we'll allow ourselves to be split into dozens of smaller groups that will be sent to another continent where they will be much more easily exterminated."