Chapter 23 #2
"Of course, sorry my love. It's not often that I come across someone with that many runes." Cason snapped his gaze towards Pandora, offering her an affectionate look before standing and leaning forward on the table.
Wait, did anyone else catch the “my love” part? I didn't think Pandora missed it, because she was offering him a look that bordered on a scowl. Although, she somehow managed to hide her disapproval. Adrien's hand squeezed mine, and I could practically feel the amusement radiating off him.
"I'm Cason," the man casually explained, his white hair framing his face messily as he examined us with dark eyes I would recognize anywhere. He was half Reaper and half Dark Elf, then. Fascinating.
"I lead the Archery division. You won't see most of us because we work so differently than the rest of the divisions, but we all wear black uniforms. Most of my soldiers have strong Dark Elf magic because their runes allow for precision aiming and control over the bow.
My men won't bother you, if you don't bother them.
Also, it doesn't really matter if they want to do this or not—if Pandora wants it done, it's happening—but I wouldn't try to start any problems with them because the chances of you losing are pretty damned high. "
Damien let out a soft rumble at that from my other side, and I offered him a knowing look, his Hellhound not taking kindly to Cason’s challenge.
Something that seemed to make Cason way too happy.
Asshole. He sat down, and the final man stood, his red horns and warmly colored hair immediately leading me to believe he was an Incubus, but I would admit that the purple eyes and runes were throwing me just a bit because I wasn't used to seeing that combination.
"Lieutenant Riftyn," he offered, his entire attitude and appearance very edgy and dark.
"I lead the Cavalry division. All my men have assigned mounts they will be traveling with, but considering most of us have the wings of an Incubus and are wearing red, it should be fairly easy to tell us apart.
" With that, he sat down, not bothering to fill us in on how his men would feel about this, which honestly was fine because it didn't seem to matter, as long as Pandora was okay with it.
I was also curious how having the Incubus nature helped in being part of Calvary.
I assumed it was easier to spread their influence by being able to travel so fast.
"These are the men you should come to if you have a specific problem," Pandora explained simply. "I will be traveling with all of you, but I deal far more with the main strategy that we are discussing today...the main question being, how are we going to get into the Kingdom of Pura?"
Finias spoke up then, "I can tell you with near certainty that my parents would have used their abilities to construct barriers to ward each house from leaving their land, either towards the capital or away from it. If I had to guess, they’ll have done that almost immediately, so that is the first problem we are going to encounter. "
"Not the first," I pointed out, standing and looking at the map.
It was a familiar map but fairly basic, lacking some specific details and landmarks of my previous kingdom.
The capital of the Kingdom of Pura was surrounded on all sides by the lands of the six houses, like spokes on a wheel.
To the south were Tenebris and Peccatum, where Finias and Nico had traveled from.
To the east was Angelus, Colt's home, and to the west of the capital was Infernum, where Damien lived.
Mortem and Obumbratio were north of the capital, making my home one of the closest stops after traveling from over the mountains.
"We have to first make it back through the darklands and over the mountain range before we even reach the edge of mine or Adrien’s territories," I pointed out, looking back at my men, then towards Pandora. "We have zero knowledge of the darklands or how to navigate them properly."
"I do," Jace explained, causing Pandora to nod as if that didn't surprise her. My hybrid mate offered me a look that made me remember the day he’d found us and saved us.
"I have spent most of my life, on and off, taking time to explore it.
I can easily navigate us to the mountain range, but once we are there, we have to figure out a way to navigate over with an entire army. "
"Not necessary," Lieutenant Maxton pointed out. "They aren't shown on this map, but we recently discovered several passages that lead between the mountains. It will just take time because the passages are narrow—only wide enough to fit two people, or one on horse mount, at most."
"We need to make sure we get there as soon as we can, then," Lieutenant Riftyn said thoughtfully. I could see the seriousness of this conversation taking over, and it had me feeling far more hopeful that this would actually be able to occur.
"Once we are through the mountains," I looked at Finias, "assuming there is a barrier preventing our entrance into my territory, is there a way to break through it?"
"Yes." Finias nodded, then inhaled deeply, "It will take a lot of magic, but I've done it before. My parent’s abilities are good, but they’re not perfect.
" I didn't want to have to think about the other barriers that Finias' parents had forced him to break out of. I was finally managing to calm down a bit, but the thought of the mistreatment he’d suffered still had my temper flaring.
"If you can break the barrier into our lands," Drayven pointed out, "I can gather forces from the Reapers."
"Do we think they will have barriers between the lands as well?" Adrien asked suddenly.
"Without a doubt," Finias agreed.
"If you can get those down as well, then we can pull from both of our houses," Damien pointed out, and Adrien nodded.
"I have no idea what they would have told my people," Nico's voice sounded stronger than usual, and his gaze was dark in thought. "But I think we can assume for now that they are unreliable."
"My parents will have most likely told them something to keep them in line," Finias agreed.
"So, we break through Mortem's barrier, gather as many forces as we can, and then march on the capital," Pandora summarized.
Her gaze went over the map and moved to Colt, "What about Angelus?
I can assume the House of Runes and House of Sins are completely useless for help, but what about your territory? "
Colt nodded, "If I can find a way to reach them, they will raise arms, one hundred percent."
"We just need to find a way to reach them, then." Pandora nodded, "Good to know."
"If you have a moment," Drayven looked directly at the Lieutenant and Pandora, "I would love to see an updated map of the mountain range passages, so we can ensure there aren't any issues on our end that we know of.
" Pandora nodded and Cason stood, winking at her, and strode towards a door to the side I hadn't seen before.
The room began to break into smaller conversations as I examined the table in thought, feeling positive about the situation but also worried... Pandora wasn't wrong.
This was a lot for them to risk, and they were doing it for me.
My gaze moved to the windows, and I rose, walking across the space to look over the Kingdom of Impurus—a place that would accept me without a second thought.
My eyes fell to the massive gathering of soldiers that were lining a training area, clearly preparing to leave.
My heart squeezed seeing family members there, hugging them, and I wondered—not for the first time—if this was the right move.
"You look guilty," Pandora's voice had me jolting slightly as she appeared next to me.
"Because you're not wrong," I pointed out. "I am putting everyone at risk."
"Do you believe it's worth it?" she asked softly, not sounding accusatory.
"Yes."
She nodded, "Hang on to that belief. I have a feeling you're going to need it in the coming days."
I had a feeling she was right, and that was what scared me.