Stormhaze

Chapter 11: Honeypot

Gillien and his son lounged on each their couch in the middle of a garden overlooking the river delta. The evening sun was as bright as ever and the clouds had withdrawn completely, leaving a pristine blue sky. True to his word, Gillien had taken Edras to the finest restaurant in Argead—a terrace within the Istendil palace itself no less. All around them were beautifully trimmed plants in a sprawling array of colors, shapes, and sizes, with the largest ones providing ample shade from the sun.

The gilded palace towered above them, the pair sitting directly beside where its foundation met the island ground. The garden was situated atop a cliff that arced like a crescent around the palace floor, accommodating the one hundred new Etherion guards under Brodd's command.

Of the five thousand Etherion guards spread across Erylon before the Stormhaze Event, roughly one thousand had made it all the way to the palace of Istendil, and only one hundred of those had been tasked with rescuing Grand Arkon Kilas. The remainders would, as their training had taught them, maintain order and protect the city and its people at any cost under the command of General Xianwei.

The palace of Istendil and a few nearby buildings seemed to have repaired some of their electric generators, allowing once more to cook and refrigerate food. Although Gillien felt the most relaxed he had been in days, it felt strangely undeserved. The warm waters stretched endlessly southwest, but further inland Gillien could still spot the black-stained edges of Argead's skyline.

Of all the soldiers, only the one hundred Etherion guards tasked with saving Kilas had been allowed to rest in the palace, waiting patiently for the go-ahead. But Gillien had not forgotten the first sight that met him when they flew over the capital, black ash and rubble surrounding the city like a poisonous wall. Even now he could see floating debris slowly drifting along the river out to sea. Following it with his eyes, he broke the silence. "I hope the outer edges of Argead are doing alright."

"It didn't look good the day it happened." Edras said dimly, gazing along the horizon.

"We've only seen the other Etherion soldiers near the city center. They should send peacekeepers throughout the city to maintain order and provide shelter, especially on the outskirts."

"They haven't sent so much as an observer," Edras said grimly, "it seems they've been ordered to focus on the city center, and slowly expand outwards, but that will only lead to more violence in the outskirts. We'll have civil war if this continues..."

Gillien recalled his own memories of seeing his fellow soldiers burn alive as their cybernetics supercharged and caught fire. It was a sight more gruesome than anything he could have imagined. The deafening screams, and then the deep silence after. Gillien could only imagine the screams that must have sounded throughout Argead as the buildings caught fire.

"I'm sorry I lied to you, son," Gillien said, "we weren't better prepared now than in the past."

"I would have said the same. Nobody knew if it would happen again."

But one person did know: Lorin. The questions had lingered in Gillien's mind like a constant unscratchable itch. How did she know? How could she have planned it so perfectly? What did she really want? Gillien had to know but didn't yet know how to find the answers. All he could was trying to piece together the blood-stained jigsaw puzzle, picking up hints and memories, but Gillien already knew he would fall short.

All he knew was that more lives would be lost in their assault against Lorin, and he immediately feared one of those could be Edras. Gillien had just gotten him back after days of fleeing from Ryken, and though he was proud his son was following his footsteps as an Etherion guard, he refused to allow him into the mouth of the beast that had already devoured so many.