𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐀 𝐒𝐔𝐂𝐂𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘. 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐒 𝐀 𝐑𝐔𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍.
It's the beginning of a new age when Jaylah Imperatrix seemingly returns from the dead to reclaim her throne. And in perfect timing.
In her absence, evil has be...
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Act 3 Chapter 111 JAYLAH
Warm rain toppled from the sky in sheets as Jaylah ducked under the overhang of Fotelis's roof while waiting for him to permit her inside. Thyros stamped his hoof behind her, upset at not being permitted to run free in the rain as he wished. When the door opened, Jaylah left her soldiers behind. She did not completely trust Fotelis, but at least if this information prematurely slipped out, he was her sole suspect. One man was easy to kill. Traitors within her ranks, inevitable as they were, would be messy to eliminate.
"I have some new designs drawn up, if you would like to see them," Fotelis said as she followed him to the study. "I must warn you that they are rough approximations and cannot—"
"I have something better than rough approximations. I have our salvation."
At that, he turned to face her with lowered brows. Pulling back her cloak, Jaylah revealed Alexander's borrowed pistol at her hip. Fotelis's lips parted. "Is that...?"
"It is." She handed it to him. "Be careful. We only have one shell inside."
Sinking into the chair behind his desk as if his legs had given out, Fotelis popped it open to check if she was correct. He handled it so lightly, as if still not sure it was real. "This must have been near-impossible to get your hands on." He eyed the barrel's edge from a centimeter away. "I've never held a real firearm before. Tilana holds these things so tightly to their chest. Only the Ironhearts have access to them, and even then, they barely have any..." His voice trailed off, leaving the steady hammer of rain in its absence. "There is the continental smuggling business, I suppose. But still."
Jaylah watched with satisfaction as Fotelis took apart and reconstructed the pistol like a child would a particularly amusing toy. "How did you acquire it?"
"Do not ask." In return for lending her his firearm, Alexander had required Jaylah to pay him several indulging compliments. It was a humiliation she thought she may never live down.
"Ah." There was a click. "I know how it works. It functions as a cannon in miniature. The spark creates a tiny, more controlled explosion in the base of the barrel, which launches the projectile at rapid speed." He turned it. "How did they...? Oh, I see. Clever."
"It can fire all six shells in little more than a minute. Of course, after that it requires a reload." Jaylah's eyes were glued to the perfectly round exit, which was the last thing several victims had seen. "I need it to be even better."
Fotelis looked up. "You are asking me to create Oceana a firearm more successful than that of the Tilanic."
"I am asking you to create the thing that will put us at the forefront of militant progression, the thing that our enemies will tremble at the thought of. I want its range lengthened, its build capable of holding more shells, its internal explosion bigger so they will pierce even Bloodiron."
