Dawn of Arcane Destiny

Chapter One Hundred Two

"Non forsaken sword!" Drayce exclaimed throwing it to the grass with a muffled thump. The blade shown in the sunlight, as if brand new. It seemed to be taunting him. Begging to be used, but not willing to cooperate. "I will figure out how to use you!"

"Talking to your sword?" A voice said from behind him. "My, my, your mind isn't going as well, is it?"

Drayce snatched up the sword and swung around, holding the tip level with Zathrian's throat.

"No need to get jumpy." Zathrian said stepping back. "We need to talk."

"Why is that sentence always followed by an unpleasant conversation?" Drayce wondered aloud.

"Unpleasant times." Zathrian said simply.

Drayce shuffled forward, sword ready. "If you want to talk, we can do it from the dungeons."

"I can say from experience that the dungeons aren't very accommodating. Don't go throwing yourself in there just for me."

"I'm really not in the mood, Zathrian. Come quietly."

"We'll be wasting time—"

"Exactly. If what you have to say is truly so important, you'll come along."

For a moment Drayce was convinced that Zathrian was going to scoff and flee off the grounds but he shrugged and made a flippant gesture with his hand. Drayce raised an eyebrow, but called for the guards, who came running and cuffed him on the spot.

***

"It is seriously about time that miscreant was behind bars." Caelum said to Drayce as they went down to the dungeon.

"I knew you would be ecstatic at the news." He said.

"He is staying behind bars, right?" Caelum asked giving Drayce a sideways glance.

All he could do was shrug. "He claims he has information, and I keep using the sword and can't figure out for the life of me how to use it. Honorably we might have to, but we'll see."

That dimmed Caelum's excitement considerably. "Let's just get this over with. Maybe I'll revoke two of his meals while he's here."

"I doubt he eats more than that on a daily basis Caelum. The man looks emaciated."

Caelum shrugged. "It would make me feel better."

Drayce just rolled his eyes as they reached Zathrian's cell. He didn't look nearly as bad as he did the first time he was interrogated in the very same cell, but he did look more urgent.

"So here we are again." Drayce said.

"So it seems." Zathrian replied fidgeting with his shackles. "Let's get down to business."

"Lets." Caelum said glaring.

Zathrian returned the glare, but didn't object to Caelum's presence. He knew that Drayce wouldn't budge on that fact.

He turned to Drayce. "First off, your wife is the one who has been stirring up unrest among the people. She was also the one who let us into the university."

Drayce and Caelum groaned at the same time. "We already know that." Drayce said.

"Well it was confirmation." Caelum said.

"Why do you doubt me?" Drayce asked.

"Why do you doubt Lillia?" Caelum countered.

"That's just hurtful. You know it's not like that—"

"Enough! You both squabble too much." Zathrian said. He shuddered. "I just sounded like my mother."

"You have a mother?" They both asked incredulously. Immediately Drayce was struck with the ridiculousness of that question.

Zathrian gave them a flat look. Drayce cleared his throat. "Right, uh, do you have anything else to share with us?"

"I had a dream. Keir is planning on unleashing his army. Soon." Zathrian said. He seemed to sag a little.

"Well why didn't you lead with that?" Drayce said.

"But if the gods' sanctuary was any indication, we don't trust dreams like that anymore." Caelum said glaring at Drayce.

"Explain yourself." Drayce said

"He wants me to join him at the place." He shuddered. "The place where souls go to die. I will gladly stay in this cell."

"Where is this place?" Drayce asked.

"I don't know. No one knows. They're taken there. No one goes of their own volition." Zathrian said.

"Well I'm sold! Caelum pack the bags; we're going to the Non forsaken place of dead souls!"

Caelum rolled his eyes. "Can you tell us anything else? Like where and when he'll be attacking?"

"All I can tell for sure is that he's attacking in stages. The Soulless will attack three times. Three times and we're finished." Zathrian said.

"Three times." Drayce breathed. "What do we do? We would need a colossal army in order to finish off a threat like that."

Caelum nodded in agreement. "From the reports, there are at least seven thousand. Out army is only five thousand strong. And at least a thousand of those are new recruits."

"He'll likely attack Katallis first. Once the capital goes, the rest of the kingdom doesn't stand a chance." Drayce said.

"What about a draft?" Caelum suggested.

Zathrian snorted. "When was the last time you went out? Katallis is going to kill itself before the Soulless get here."

"Even if I order one, they're not going to listen. And we can't afford to waste force on them. We'll need the manpower for what's to come." Drayce said. "We need something that going to bring everyone together." He said tapping his chin thoughtfully.

"Drayce, no. That's a terrible idea." Caelum said.

Zathrian rose an eyebrow. "I know you two have probably been able to read each other's mind since birth, but you'll have to tell me what in Non's name your talking about."

"You said they're going to attack three times?" Drayce asked. Zathrian nodded. "We simply wait to post the draft after the first attack comes."

"After, Non knows how many, people die!" Caelum exclaimed.

"I don't hear you coming up with ideas."

Zathrian shrugged. "His idea has merit. It is going to take a miracle to bring them together."

Drayce gestured towards Zathrian. "See the blood-thirsty assassin agrees with me."

"I'm not blood-thirsty."

Caelum rolled his eyes. "How about this? You announce the draft. Every man at least twelve and healthy enough to fight, including veterans, are called upon to fight. We finally announce what's been happening. Then we'll see how many heed the call."

"I can tell you right now, that's not going to be very successful, but we can try it. All they're going to see it as is propaganda. Without a clear threat, no one is going to 'heed the call'." Drayce said.

"The time the draft is put out is irrelevant." Zathrian said. "As long as you enforce it the moment the threat becomes imminent." Drayce nodded in agreement.

"Okay, but we're missing one very important detail. How are we going to kill Keir? The gods are gone, we have no help or ideas on how to do this." Caelum said. "Even if by some miracle we're able to annihilate the Soulless demons, what's going to keep Keir from making more? He's the real threat here."

No one said anything. No one knew.