Displaced

Chapter 35

Akhustal Palebane-chos watched with glee as her warriors returned to the land of the living, their journey to rejoin Ruresni forestalled. One by one they stumbled towards an official who, once enough had assembled, would take them to a nearby room and explain to them their situation. Once they had adjusted to their sudden revivals, they left the facility through a long, newly-constructed tunnel connecting their current location with a hidden location outside the city, where they would wait until the entire army was back and ready to move.

Such an arrangement was possible only through a lucky coincidence of city planning. One of the most ironclad traditions of Stragman society was the cycle of reincarnation and rebirth. Stragmans were given life from the Mother Tree, and when they died it was imperative that they be returned to the forest so that their spirits could reunite with Ruresni and begin the cycle anew. When the death was simply a single individual, the family would hold a small ceremony, known as the Ceremony of Restoration. When the death toll was high however, such as in the case of a war, the ceremony would be communal and was led by the Chos. Such rituals couldn't happen on the spot, so the bodies would be stored in a massive tent set up on the very edge of the city. After all, the bodies smelled even after being treated to slow their deterioration.

It was this quirk that allowed Akhustal to implement her plan. It was paramount that Rudra's abilities be kept secret for as long as possible, both for his protection and for surprise. The Drayhadans would discover him eventually; one could only hide thirty thousand people for so long, after all. What mattered was striking before they found out.

With that in mind, Akhustal and her team had done everything in their power to hide their plans. The revived warriors had orders to remain in their hidden location and were forbidden from even approaching the city. Their families believed them dead, and her government made sure they continued to hold that belief, as cruel and painful as it might be. Resources posed another challenge. Thanks to their sudden early departure from Krose, Stragma was now running low on certain crucial metal goods, specifically weapons and armor. Finding replacements was not an easy task on its own, but when you added in that it needed to be done quickly and stealthily it became nearly impossible to carry out.

Fortunately, Akhustal had just the right person for the job — Tepin Silverfall. When Tepin had first assumed her current role as the Chos' assistant over fifteen years ago after the terrible accident of her predecessor, Akhustal had been skeptical to say the least. The position had never been filled by a Shell before, and no matter how qualified the woman was said to be, the Chos had trouble getting over the fact that the woman looked like she could die from a bad fart. But over the years Tepin had proven herself thousands of times over, never letting Akhustal down no matter the task given to her. It had only taken a few short years before Akhustal began to think of the little Shell as her most reliable helper. No matter the situation, Akhustal knew that she could count on Tepin.

After a little while Akhustal Palebane left the scene. Her visit could be written off by any observers simply as her preparing for the mass ceremony as long as she didn't spend too much time there. She had to be back at headquarters for the upcoming council meeting anyway.

*     *     *

"...and the Fifth and Seventh divisions will head east and then north to meet us on day eight."

"And the elves haven't figured out what we're doing yet, right?" Palebane asked as General Fernfeather-hono finished his summary of their logistical plans.

"Not as far as we can tell," Stonefist-hono replied. "Little to no troop movement."

While the thirty-two thousand revived warriors made a formidable force in most cases, only an army over twice that size could take a fully-garrisoned Astronta Keep. Add in the need to take the fortress quickly and with as many living Drayhadans as possible, and a force over a hundred thousand strong became necessary. But that meant redeploying the entire army that had just returned from the first aborted campaign, and doing so without the Drayhadans noticing until it was too late.