The Clutch of Sharys: Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter 38: Watch with New Eyes
Grieving its counterparts' wounds and its own neglect, Sharys contained its children in the sphere, distancing itself from them. In the three Voids left by Nephthys, it created the three afterlives to house its Children's spirits after their time was done.
"So you want a fight." Petra remarked, eyebrow cocked.
"There is no need for such brutish violence here," Adoni said lightly. "I know it's understandable that you're upset at such a suggestion, but-"
"There was a need for violence when you flooded an entire street and murdered a man." Cara snapped, her temper rising. "There's never a need for violence with you people unless the church acts in such a way, and then it's justified."
Petra put out a hand to the side, making eye contact with Cara and slightly shaking her head even as Adoni took a step forward, eyes glittering.
"Be careful of your words, Lady Myzanti, for you stray dangerously close to blasphemy." He said, turning back to Petra. "Surely you can see how this would be good for you, sister. Fane is a mad dog, Irena’s not far behind, and you've more than had enough time to play out your childhood fantasy of acting queen."
Cara scoffed, echoed closely by Bree, who stepped up into the verbal fray. "My, you're just an unpleasant person, aren't you? Do you find that talking down to others makes you feel like a bigger person? Because it doesn't make you look like one." The Countess’s words were icy, hidden under a pleasant, predatory smile.
"It's a lovely story, I'm sure. You barely escaped from the capital, desperately gathered your little clutch of dragon riders, and thought you'd just triumphantly breeze into power, ruling the kingdom with friendship and love." Adoni smiled, the gesture dripping with sardonic, saccharine energy. "You're a child, with no concept of what it means to rule."
"And I suppose you're about to tell her." Cara remarked, flattening her tones. She wished more than anything right now to wipe the condescending clergyman’s face on the ground, but the fact that they were at least doubly outnumbered made it a poor course of action.
"When you grow up, you’ll learn that a ruler has to make sacrifices personally, for whatever is best for our nation. Who better knows that than a Servant of the Godbeast themselves?" Adoni spread his arms wide, voice rising to a natural preach as he spoke."The wise decision would be to step back and let a more experienced ruler take the throne and put your power towards a better future for Netis."
Petra's lips were a thin, bloodless line as she waited for the priest to finish his speech, finger tapping atop the blade in her hand. When Adoni paused, waiting for her reply, she simply repeated her words from earlier.
"So you want a fight." The Princess stated once more.
"Of course not, little sister-"
"Don't." Petra snapped. "You orchestrated this entire thing, attacked both me and my 'clutch’ of supporters, insulted my claim to the throne, and did it all where no one could see you. You knew what you were doing and where this would end, so let's skip to the point and save our breath."
She reached into her shirt, pulling out a flat leather bag that was strung around her neck, pulling out her coronet. A few steps away, Adoni smiled as he flipped his sleeve back a few times, revealing a ring with a similar gem.
"For the grievances visited upon me and those under my care," Petra said, her eyes sparking green as she held the metal circle in her hands.
"For the good of my Kingdom and the glory of the Sharys, Godbeast Eternal," Adoni replied, raising his hand slightly, a confident smile adorning his mature face.
Cara watched in fascination as two shimmering eyes appeared in the dark sky above, shining silver-white above the gems held by the royals. She had never seen shardcombat declared in person, and it was something she did not want to miss a second of, despite the current predicament they were in.
The eyes hovered, opening wide as they scanned over the assembled riders before shimmering violently, crashing together into one giant, unblinking eye that swiveled back and forth, sweeping the area for miles around before focusing back on the two people below.
"State your terms." Petra demanded, green eyes sharp as she looked upon her half-brother.
"Upon our victory, the Favored Princess Petra of House Aspas will cede her claim to the throne, allowing her power and any other benefits she had garnered up to this point in support of my Claim. Additionally, any supporters she has brought with her will surrender themselves into the custody of the church, lending the same allowances " Adoni paused, his mouth twitching before he continued. "I will not take part in the battle, as the Church does not sanction it as one of the official matches in the succession game."
"You're not even going to fight?" Cara thought, her opinion of this man finding new depths to fall into.
The Eye above pulsed, cracks appearing through its pupil and leaking light through as Petra spoke, seemingly as surprised by her sibling’s refusal to fight. "Upon our victory, Adoni of the Servants and any person associated with him, the church, or its service will leave Corfu for the day, flying towards Cebrene and not looking back, nor sparing any magic, time, breath or resources to prevent, harm, or track me and my companions."
She continued. "Before the match will take place, he will dissipate the darkness summoned by his people and return our weapons and missing companion."
Cara glanced around in confusion and realized that the princess must have been referring to the tawny-haired young man they had seen earlier, who had tried to warn them about the attack.
"I do not accept these terms. The Aspas employee will be retained for questioning, as his companion had heretical pamphlets on him." Adoni said firmly.
"Then I cannot accept yours. The price is unbalanced." Petra shot back, raising her chin.
A tense, tactile moment of silence passed by before Adoni let out a sigh, gesturing behind himself.
"Seeing as you'll throw a tantrum should I continue to refuse, we will return the boy, but an inquiry will still be made into how such materials came to be in the possession of a member of the Aspas household." His eyes glittered over an insincere smile, telling the group exactly how fair that inquiry was liable to be.
"I accept these terms." Petra replied, gripping the coronet tightly.
"As do I." Adoni said.
Voices as one, the two heirs proclaimed. "By rite of Blood and Seal may your differences be settled under the Eye of Sharys." The statement was accompanied by a shattering sound that filled the air as light poured from the shards held in their hands, perching the pupil of the lidless eye above them, the iris spilling down into a silver pool.
Petra and Adoni turned and walked back to their respective groups, the darkness surrounding the city of Corfu disappearing as though wiped away by a giant cloth. Daylight filled the streets as the sounds of confused life emerged, slowly returning to its original pattern. Despite the need being gone, Cara's sphere of light remained, shining cruelly down onto the Servant's group across from them.
"Lady Myzanti." Ahnn said. "You may want to drop your orb so as to not further incite the Church."
"Why?" Cara responded, her voice horrible and mocking as she spoke loud enough for Adoni to hear. "There's no harm being done in the magic, merely in accidents caused by the aftereffects."
Ahnn's lips twitched in an unusual smile at the irritation that quickly flashed across the clergyman’s face, her face quickly resuming its regular mask as she turned back to those assembled. Despite this, Cara looked up at her light, holding out her hands until it floated down and flowed back into her chest, its shimmering rebellion filling her heart. A slow, achy burn came over her body as though she had just finished running for a while, but Cara still felt plenty energetic and ready to deal some damage out to the people that had hurt them.
"So what is the plan?" She asked, turning to where Petra, Ahnn, and Cheska were accepting their lost weapons that the Servants had somehow located and brought forward. Petra's eyes flicked down to the ground, looking at the stone of the street for a moment before she spoke. "The plan is that Luca, myself, and the others will play the field for our cause. Cara will stay here."
"What? Why?" Cara said, outraged as she looked over at Petra, whose face was unyielding.
"Because this isn't an official match. Adoni is testing the waters to see what he's up against, and he decided I was an easier target than Fane. I'll not tip my hand so easily and with half of our fighters already mildly incapacitated," The Princess’s eyes flicked towards Fatimi and Cheska. "We have little room for error or time to be spent worrying about an unsecured rider in combat."
"I can still fight! I'm not defenseless!" Cara burst out before meeting Bree’s eyes, which silently told her she was wrong. "What am I saying? Of course, I wouldn't be of any use."
The Church's purple-robed servants walked forward, escorting the tawny-headed young man in front of them, his hands secured in a prison of ice. Once they reached the group, one of the Servants released him, pushing him forward before they turned to go.
By this point, the bleeding silver iris had almost reached the ground, a reflective mirror of light and some unknown, metallic substance that hung in the air, waiting for the participants to enter.
"Of course, they wait till the last second." Bree muttered, swinging her hammer back and forth with a meaningful glare shot towards Adoni's curly head.
"I expected nothing less," Petra said crisply, turning to the young man, who was massaging warmth into his now freed hands. "Hello Luca, I'd ask about your journey, but we don't have time. Do you have weapons on you?"
Smiling wryly as though this was a typical interaction, the young man shook his head no, still running at his hands. "Haron took care of any offensive needs." He said, his voice almost as quiet as Fatimi's as he spoke the name.
Cara looked down at the knife Petra had handed back to her after retrieving their armaments from the church. Grimacing, she lightly offered it to him, blade down, and he gingerly took it from her, examining the weapon with a pained expression in his eyes. "Thanks." He said, shooting Cara a quick smile before focusing on Petra, who was looking intently at Ahnn. The rider was using her magic to hide the conversation from listeners, lips moving fast as she dictated a battle plan.
The bleeding iris reached the ground, a metallic chime ringing from the air over their heads. Cara had to take a double look at the sky because flying about a hundred or so feet up in the air was the shimmering bottom of the fields of shardcombat. A circular, faithful recreation of Corfu, made entirely from slightly transparent but solid light, floated in the sky, awaiting its occupants.
"Good luck." Cheska said, clapping Fatimi on the shoulder. "You too." The Cetnan murmured, still looking off-balance and slightly unfocused.
They left then, one by one, walking into the glistening, argent smear that awaited them, disappearing into bursts of light as each person went through it, not coming out the other side.
Church and clutch entered the arena of light, faces appearing in the arena's sky as shimmering images, all of the church’s backgrounds a uniform silver and purple while many varied flags backed the pictures of Cara's friends.
Quickly realizing that she would be left with Adoni before long, Cara hugged Bree, whispering in her ear, "Bash their heads in." Before squeezing her friend and letting her go. The Countess gave her a mischievous grin before entering the mirror door, and Cara turned on her heel to find a better vantage point.
A quick drain pipe climb later, Cara found herself on the rooftop of a nearby house, shielding her eyes from the blinding sunlight as she looked up into the arena. This was not a match sanctioned by the Church, so there was no commentator or display she could watch, just the flashes of the perspective that the watchful eye over the Arena displayed beneath its translucent floor. The image flickered back and forth as its gaze turned, watching the dragons enter from their own burst of overhead light, the flames leaking down to form crowns over their horns.
Briefly, it showed Stuk's copper coronet, little spires and wisps of metallic shadow entwined together, much like the curving whorls of the same metal that now adorned Lilibet’s horns in a circlet of their own.
As the image changed, Cara watched as Lysander's golden, ornate crown formed above the dragon's reaching horns, their golden tips curving upwards towards the sky. The dragons landed in the starting area, a box that hovered part of the way up the arena’s wall as the riders approached to mount for the start of combat. She caught a brief glimpse of Bree helping boost Cheska onto Lilibet's back, the large dragon nudging its mistress to help her up as well.
The perspective shifted to the fighters that Adoni had fielded, which boasted a silver-horned dragon whose rider that Cara would have bet many, many scales was responsible for the flood in the alleyway. None of the other dragons looked like they ranked that high by the knobs in their horns, and the grey-green dragon she had seen earlier was missing, meaning that Adoni was probably the one responsible for the cover of darkness that had slid over Corfu.
In the middle of the sky, the eye flashed golden three times, signaling the start of combat and an acceleration in Cara's heart. Next to her, a silver dragon head-butted into her hand, and Cara shot her partner a quick smile of gratitude before looking back up at the fields of light above.
The battle started about as well as anyone could've expected, with the dragons taking flight, the riders clustering together. Petra drew her Sabre, slicing it through the air from top to bottom. Her black circle adorned her head, the spot where the gem usually resided now occupied by a singular, golden, staring eye. When the dragons reached the range that the archers could begin firing shots, the two sides reacted differently, adopting their various strategies in anticipation of the first clash of the match.
Fatimi got one shot off, and the perspective focused on the Cetnan archer, their dragon careening sideways through the air, propelling its rider upright. Bare shoulder glistening in the sunlight, Fatimi's taut muscles pulled the bowstring back, the bow quivering slightly as they attempted to aim at the silver crowned dragon ahead. Her heart sinking, Cara knew before the arrow of pure ice left the archer’s fingers that this shot that Fatimi could easily make on any other day would miss its mark.
It was a testament, however, to Fatimi's marksmanship that although the arrow flew a few feet wide of its intended mark, it pierced through the eye of the rider behind them, bursting them into sparks of light. Overhead, a plum background faded out, quickly flashing to a young woman in Sharys's Hold. The Servant took a deep breath before the perspective turned back to the battle, where the church had tightly clustered. Out of the group came two dragons, a small bustle of activity atop their backs as their riders worked their magic.
One, kneeling in the Kitisalian riding fashion, wove their hands in front of them as though winding a skein of invisible yarn. A churning wall of air appeared, which a host of fine snow quickly joined, pulled from a nearby cloud by the other Servant of Sharys, who raised their hands towards the clouds, sharply clawing them downwards to summon the fine powder.
The image suddenly changed to Petra, tossing out a gem, thrusting her blade forward towards the shield as though bored by the effort. A twisted spiral of light green crystal shot towards the snowy pocket of air, followed by the perspective of the image below. The purple-robed Servant immediately hardened the snow into ice, stopping the spire as the Servants took a neat evasive maneuver, leaving the piece of ice behind.
Zooming back to Petra's group, the image above Cara showed the princess giving Ahnn a tight-lipped smile and nod as if she had expected something of this sort to happen. More shots were fired off and evaded by both sides, but then the watery Queen on the Church's side reared her deep red head back, a geyser of water shooting from within her throat and towards her opponents.
As it shot towards the center of Petra's group, the Servant atop the Queen's back spread their hands apart, widening the stream midair into a towering wave of water that now bore down on them. The group was forced to split apart, with Cheska, Bree, and Fatimi yanking their dragons away and to the side, the remainder of the clutch and Luca taking their escape upwards.
Luca clipped his reins onto the saddle as the image shifted to briefly focus on him. The Aspas rider pulled his hands apart, white mists slowly leaking between his fingers. Morphing once more, the light showed a glimpse of Cheska summoning a similar fog around them when an idea suddenly struck Cara.
Using her hand to help block off the harsh light of the overhead sun, Cara looked at the two clouds of steam drifting across the battlefield, dodging a hail of boulders and fire rained down on them from above. She was inspired by the shield she had seen the Servants of Sharys use earlier, and as she focused, she could see opportunities for Petra's side to do the same, if not better. If Fatimi just froze the water in the fog that the church now dodged through, also taking advantage of its cover, the Cetnan archer could easily immobilize several of them.
As Cara tried to get a closer look at the image, the light of the sun flared bright, blinding her in its intensity. A voice, not heard since a forgotten dream that seemed so long ago, sounded in her head, its reverberating echo so loud that it was all she could hear. "Watch, child." The sun demanded, feverish light blinding her eyes. "WATCH."
Her eyes snapped open, the light bright but fading, slight ripples of prismatic beams fading away as her vision cleared. When she looked upon the fields above, the flashes of light focused, and what she saw was the image above, filtered through a lens through which she had never dreamt of looking at the world through.
Cara could see images of shifting, transparent ghosts in the exact likeness of her friends, moving and acting in ways unlike what their counterparts currently did as they danced about the battlefield, unseen to all but her. Instead of shooting into the wing of one of a Servant's dragon with another hazard shot, the Ghost-Fatimi shot a frozen lance of ice from their bow into Cheska’s cloud of steam, freezing those within just like Cara had seen within her mind.
Confused, Cara watched as the perspective switched to the conflict overhead, dragons clawing and gnashing at each other as Petra forcefully disengaged from the church with a spinning disc of crystal aimed at the dragon still spitting water.
Luca's steam was doing a good job of obscuring his group from overhead as they flew, but to Cara's eyes, his phantom instead directed the cloud towards the oncoming Queen, clouding its vision as the clone of Petra speared its eye with a spear of ghostly crystal.
She could see it the more she looked, the diversity of their riding and fighting styles melding together into a harmonious, terrifying force. Different strategies and combinations of magic and prowess if they just acted out what was shown to Cara in these lights. She could envision the possibilities of what they could be with the proper cooperation. Even outnumbered, she could see a plausible way to win, but unfortunately for them all, she stood stuck on the ground with no one around to speak to except the sky and a dragon too small to bear her up into it.