The Lady Sebolt placed a briefcase on the table. “The Blackburns have kept to themselves in recent years, so it is possible that they have combatants we do not know about. However, it is a fairly safe assumption that our most powerful opponent will be Melchor, or Darktide, as he is sometimes called. I’m sure you have all heard of him, but here are pictures for anyone who does not know what he looks like.” She pulled out a stack of photographs and handed them around. “If nothing else, please ensure that all of your subordinates know this man’s face. His power is mercury transfiguration, but even if you believe that you have an elemental advantage over him, DO NOT attempt to engage him unless Xuan is with you.”
Garovel chose to interject. ‘Pardon my ignorance, but how old is this Melchor?’
‘It’s been 104 years since he was resurrected,’ said Xuan’s reaper. This one’s name was Duvoss, as Hector recalled.
‘Holy fuck,’ said Garovel privately, coinciding with Hector’s bulging eyes. Then publicly, the reaper asked, ‘What about you, Xuan? If you don’t mind saying, that is.’
Xuan made as if to answer, but then paused and deferred to his reaper.
Duvoss shook his skeletal head. ‘Xuan is 106.’
Xuan frowned and scratched his cheek. “Damn. Are you sure about that?”
‘Quite.’
“Shit, I’m old.” He only had a few age lines on his face that Hector could see.
Garovel had still another question for him. ‘In a straight fight, are you confident you could defeat him?’
“Not at all. It could go either way.”
Lord Abel exhaled audibly. “Xuan, please don’t be quite so candid with our troops.”
“Yeah, yeah. Morale and all that jazz. I know my role.”
Abel’s flat stare did not imply an abundance of faith in the man.
Lady Amaya picked up where she had left off. “In addition to Darktide, the Blackburns have several other combatants of which everyone should be aware. Ismael and Nere are of course quite powerful, as they are the heads of House Blackburn, but according to our information, they have no children of their own.” She started handing out folders with personal profiles. “Instead, House Blackburn’s impressive numbers are attributed to its many branches. On the battlefield, other Blackburns to watch out for include Fidel, Silvia, Pilar, Tomas, Horatio, and Sabas. Any of them could rip through our forces if we fail to keep them in check.”
A dark serial novel. Set in a modern fantasy world called Eleg. Mature language. Updates every night at midnight PST by ~400 words.
Darktide, Seadevil, the Darksteel Soldier, the Black Scourge - I'm seeing a trend in intimidating names.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly, mercury can form amalgams with almost every metal, except iron. So, any metallic materialization users are pretty much screwed if Melchor can soak enough of the stuff in to control their stuff. EXCEPT HECTOR, WOOHOO.
ReplyDeleteYay for science!
ReplyDeleteThis is the perfect way to celebrate the submission of my 3'000 word essay (that I was supposed to submit yesterday).
ReplyDeleteMelchor is particularly amusing, given that his element is mercury. He should Shinytide or something, not Darktide. At least Hector's metal really is dark. :-P
ReplyDeletelol shinytide, sounds like a dishwasher detergent.
ReplyDeleteAlrite nice ace for the rainlords.
ReplyDeletewoo hector. Surprised that the other rainlords don't know that ismael and nere have a kid that just happens to be an Abberation.
ReplyDeleteMercury is sort of darkly shining, like a mirror that's black. It looks, in fact, a lot like highly polished iron: silvery, but with dark reflections.
ReplyDeleteHaving an aberration kid isn't a fact you spread around you know.
ReplyDeleteAfter re-re-rereading this I only just realized one of the Blackburns names is *DRAMATIC PAUSE* Horatio. Damn that's scary
ReplyDeleteI have my suspicion, each one of the Blackburns will personally be there and not fight. Once every other Rainlords come into contact with Melchor will just open the doors.
ReplyDeleteThe Blackburns known as Ismael and Nere will be present with him and personally lead to the communication room that's been rearranged or the banquet hall. To personally tell that they do have a child and it happens to be a Abberation due to the cause of Parson Miles game.
Also the possible connection of the Elroy oldest child came to know one of the Vanguard's personal R&D scientist that worked on the Abberation procedure.
Lion of the Desert, Blue Bear, White Sword
ReplyDeleteJust goes to show that the other Rainlords have not been on the ball
ReplyDeleteHector isn't called darksteel because his steel is dark, to my knowledge.
ReplyDeleteJust a guess: Xuan -> Selenium!
ReplyDeleteCatching up now... I think I chose the worst possible time to stop reading (somewhere around page 800) because now I'm really confused. SO MANY new characters...
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I found a typo.
"She pulled out [of] a stack of photographs and handed them around."
Got it, thanks.
ReplyDelete