Asad frowned and prepared his rebuttal, but he must have been taking too long, because Qorvass stepped in to help as Axiolis floated up behind them both.
‘The Rainlords are our allies,’ said Qorvass. ‘It is as simple as that. We may have had our difficulties with them in the past, but that was generations ago. We have moved beyond it. And now, we are confronted with a test. We should do for the Rainlords what we would want the Rainlords to do for us.’
“And if we assist them now,” Asad added, “it will solidify the bond between us more strongly than ever before. And it is a bond that all of us here--all of our fathers and grandfathers, even--have been nurturing for centuries. Consider what that would mean for our children! Consider what an unshakeable foundation of camaraderie it would establish!”
Abbas’ reaper drifted forward. Worwal was his name, and Asad was not looking forward to what he was about to say. The reaper had proved to be their most difficult obstacle in each of their previous meetings. ‘The vengeance seekers would have us believe they are instead aspiring to greatness.’ Worwal’s tone was not one of condescension or mockery. It was only flat and cold observance.
Asad couldn’t entirely refute the statement, either. So he didn’t try. “It is true that I want vengeance for the Elroy family. My friendship with Zeff is no secret.” He paused, considerate of his next words. He was abruptly reminded of what his fight with Zeff had been about. “What is a secret, however, is my proposal to join my family with his.”
That sent a ripple through his audience. Asad could already see the disapproving looks on their faces.
‘What are you doing?’ Qorvass said privately.
Asad ignored the question. “Yes, it is true. I made such an offer to him several months ago. My son Midhat with his daughter Emiliana. But perhaps you will be relieved to hear that he refused me.” He paused again to observe their expressions. “I am telling you this now because it has been my hope for many years that our two peoples be united as one.” He eyed Worwal. “So you see, while I do want vengeance, it is not instead of any aspiration. I want both.”
“‘United as one’?!” said Hamza. “Now you are just speaking nonsense!”
A dark serial novel. Set in a modern fantasy world called Eleg. Mature language. Updates every night at midnight PST by ~400 words.
it will be interesting to see how he will make them to his side
ReplyDeleteAnd if he fails what will happen next.
ReplyDeleteAnd what silly circumstances will keep that analysis from being finished. And how Hector will learn to materialize waves of molten metal.
ReplyDeleteIt's times like this that a page a day starts hurting the story. Hard to stay engaged with a debate when they say a few sentences and then stop, wait a day and repeat. :(
ReplyDeleteAnyone else get the feeling Hamza will turn out to be evil? Or at least evil in our opinions relative to our views of evil, since to himself he's probably a saint, doing what he believes to be the right thing.
Also noticed a lot of comments recently. Your awesome story seems to be getting more popular George. :)
He will bring them to his side with a heart warming tale about a boy and his dog.
ReplyDeleteIf he fails then Garovel will speak up with logic and save the day.
The silly circumstances will be that he forgot, because he found the metal to look so boring and so he decided to go find his long lost dog, who he will eventually find and discover to have found a family, with lots of little puppies, one of which he takes home with him.
Hector will then materialise molten metal later on after a kiss with Emiliana due to intense embarrassment and because the girl he likes is about to come into the door. She will come in, asking where he is, but gets no reply as everyone will be staring at the puddle of molten metal on the ground, surrounded by puppies sniffing at it.
Just in case no one read between the lines: HECTOR NEEDS A PUPPY. A SERVANT PUPPY. CAUSE CUTE LIL PUPPIES DESERVE SOULS.
Can animals become ervants or maybe they have there own animal reapers hmm.
ReplyDeleteAnyone against Hector is Evil screw right and wrong.
ReplyDeleteIs Hector going to look like one of these?
ReplyDeleteKnights
ReplyDeleteI vote for the last one.
ReplyDeleteI think, given that he has super-strength: less elaborate, more functional, and easy to repair. A solid, ridiculously thick breastplate, vambraces and bracers resembling molded piping, and simple joints. Maybe a bit of decorative ornaments if he has a moment to prepare it, but simple, functional ornaments like spikes would just get in the way, and he can make them on the fly if he needs to. He's got the helm, and he's practiced with it, so that can have more complicated things.
ReplyDeleteI mean, once he figures out how to mess with impurities and soul-strengthening, he'll be able to make almost indestructible material. Design is more an issue of conceit than anything.
I mean, look at that last one. It has a bare midriff. Come on.
so either the first or second to last one? or maybe this (without the horns)? btw I'm just speculating
ReplyDeleteAll of them look far too ornate, to me. It makes the most sense for him to start with something basic, then elaborate as the situation demands it. Even the most basic ones above are mostly done for visual effect. It's even possible that he'll go for something lighter that focuses on supporting and protecting his head more than his torso, with minimal restraint on his limbs. After all, he can regrow an arm from the elbow down in a few seconds.
ReplyDeleteI've been thinking on the Mutation ability.
ReplyDeleteSupposedly any changes made cannot be undone and from what is said on page 753 it seems that each Servant can manipulate 1 type of biological molecule (keratin for Emiliana).
So what would happen on Emergence?
Would the Servant gain the ability to manipulate an additional biological molecule or just more control over that biological molecule?
If the former does this mean that a Servant who has survived for an extremely long period of time is able to manipulate multiple biological molecules?
If the latter I'm not sure how it would work since Emiliana seems to already have extensive control over her keratin and just seems to need more practice, preferably without harming herself accidentally.
'swhy I advise folks to check back weekly instead of daily.
ReplyDeleteHector isn't the one who needs a puppy. Warrenhold is hell on pets, remember.
ReplyDeleteEventually, maybe.
ReplyDeleteany update
ReplyDelete^It said that Emiliana's keratin was a common *starting point*. As she progresses she'll get more stuff to work with and even be able to make changes to her overall morphology. Octavia (?) mentions that eventually she'll be able to grow whole new limbs, give herself super senses, and even (much, much later) modify her brain itself.
ReplyDeleteGood point, thanks for the reminder.
ReplyDeleteIf she can do that then there is no reason she can't undo everything when she isn't in a fight, once she's more experienced.
'perhaps to you will be relieved to hear' --> there seems to be a 'to' too much there.
ReplyDeleteGot it, thanks.
ReplyDeleteAnd will he achieve the molten metal before or after he learns to send spears flying through the air upon materialization.
ReplyDelete