Bikromi seers had both. It was their aetheurgy, of past and future. Both Dunleiths possessed aetheurgy, but Valeria’s was different than Finn’s, far more chaotic. Far more potent.
“Though,” Val spoke softly, her voice never rose above a whisper unless she was communing with the goddess Bliss or the god Brio, “sometimes I wonder how Finn manages it.”
“Everyone’s talking down on me today, eh?” The broad-shouldered elfir cracked another wry smile.
Val grimaced, “Brother-friend, does that big mouth of yours have any other use than for stating the obvious?”
“I can think of a few things,” Finn responded with a wink toward Emre.
Emre cleared his throat. ‘After this weekend, things will be different,’ he wanted to say, but instead, “Give off, you two.”
“Yes, Dad,” Finn said…
…as Val breathed a sigh of relief and added, “Thank Bliss.”
Wick angrily slammed the pilot’s door with his paw-like hands. “If you two’d quit bickering like the royal brats you are, we’ve more important things to worry about. Right, Em?”
Emre shrugged, for that was his answer to all of Finn’s antics, which, again, ground Wick’s gears. What could he say, Finn had a way of undoing all of Emre’s problems. Most anyway, the ones that weren’t buried in his past. Such as Cadrianna or Brynn.
Love made most things difficult.
“What’s that, rabbit?” Finn pushed aside his silver mane to show his pointed ear in obvious mocking. Emre winced.
Though half the height of a normal humir, the lapin stepped toward the towering Dunleith, a dangerous glint in his button-sized eyes. If paws were able to go white like knuckled fists, Wick had that now. “Wanna repeat that, needle dick?”
Wick’s footlong ears were shredded to ribbon-like wisps of furry flesh and tied back behind his head like hair. During the conquest of Dervin, he’d been captured by the Imperium and made an example of. He’d been one of the lucky ones, truth told. Most lapin did not survive that first incursion. Lapin did resemble rabbits, but they were far from the anxious, frightened creature at the bottom of the food chain. Resembled, yes, but lapin were highly intelligent. And though the Imperium enslaved near the entire race, those who’d escaped were some of the rebellion’s fiercest and most cunning fighters.
And Wick fiercer still. A throwing knife swiftly appeared in the lapin’s clenched paw.
Emre didn’t have the time for Finn’s mocking to become a brawl, which it often did when left unchecked. “Knock it off, all of you.”
Finn muttered an apology, which for him, was barely more than a sulking glance and a tight-lipped grin.
Wick trembled with rage but tore away, the narrow blade disappearing up his sleeve. “You’d best control your man, lest he wake up without that toy between his legs you cherish so much.” His angled nose twitched, but then he moved toward the bikromi seer with the two crates of parch.
“How’d it go?” Val asked as she tossed Emre a multi-barrel wheellock pistol.
He stared at the pistol. It was a simple design, the heft just right. The only ornamentation was an engraved ‘B’ on the wood-coated grip. It had been his father’s. Tevun had given it to him after the conquest. It was the only thing Emre had left of their memory. The only physical link to the Benld name. Except the scars and the hatred.
His anger turned white-hot with the thought, but then he shoved the pistol in his waistband. Soon, Benld. Soon. “Exactly as planned.”
“I should’ve seen Kephren as an Imperium traitor earlier,” the bikrome said, regret tingeing her tone. “Many would still be alive today if I had.”
“The Virtuous One only tells you what She wills.” Bliss, also known as the Ideal Daughter, only spoke to the most devout, and Valeria Dunleith was nothing if not devout. “Don’t let it get to you, Val. Keph was a jittery fool.”
“Solanine released new warnings not ten minutes past. Same drivel as always, but we can assume Lu Har wants Drenth to think this random. No mention of the factories. Solanine always did have a penchant for theatrics. Even back then.”
Valeria had been present at the Fall of Eminence, same as Solanine, but on opposite sides in the end. Only at the end. The bikrome had been a friend to the Last Godsking. She didn’t talk much about those times; very rarely did she speak about the man called Canlon Carr or her time with Solanine. But Val had come to Drenth not long after the sack of the city, after Emre’s parents’ murder. She was the one who had brought him back to life after his throat had been sliced. She had saved him that day, and Emre would walk with her to the brink of Nocturne’s Pit if she asked.
Only because he knew she wanted the same as he: to see Lu Har break for breaking those loved.
Emre strained his hearing as he burned. Solanine’s voice rose clearly in the silvery sheen.
“Fret not, citizens of Drenth,” Solanine said. “Your protection is of the utmost importance to the Imperium. We’ve already begun apprehending the culprits for last night’s disturbances. All shall be brought to justice. As such, expect this week’s end festivities to commence as expected. I repeat…”
Emre snuffed his burn. “That godsdamned… nevermind.” Not yet, Benld, he thought bitterly. Do not fall for it. Solanine will reap in the end. Lu Har will burn in the pyre. For Brynn. Cad, will you forgive me then?
“It won’t take long before word gets out that we hit all the factories.” Finn sat on the ledge of the building as he chewed his fingernail with his legs crossed. Handsome as ever in the growing morning light. “Though it’s probably what Lu Har wants, but Solanine’s not one to mince words. You know that. The news will travel to Kalderim. I hope Mother and Father are prepared.”
Finn and Val’s parents were the Rēx & Rēgīna of Kalderim. For long years—and with little success—Emre had tried to get them to help the rebellion. The elfirish rulers claimed no skin in the fight with the Imperium. But Emre knew, as did the two youngest Dunleiths, eventually the Fallen would unleash his horde on Kanja. They needed to join forces now, while they still maintained the upper hand.
“Good. We need Kalderim to listen. Is everything ready?” Emre asked. I don’t think the Fallen is. Am I? He shook his head not knowing if he was or not. The pain would rip apart his soul if he was wrong. Wrong about his friends. About Cadrianna. About Solanine and Valeria. About Brynn.
“Yes.” Val’s mining goggles caught the rising sun for a moment. “Everything is set. Except for your climbers. Tevun’s waiting for them still.”
“I sensed them before the Imperium soldiers raced in. And we should have our catalyst within the day.”
“Good.” The bikrome’s many bracelets jingled as she made for the door. “I’ve drawn some outfits fit for the party tomorrow evenfall.”
“What about you, sister-friend, got a dress to hug those boyish hips?” Finn quipped as they descended, leaving the bullet-riddled airglider and the smell of smoke behind.
Emre was the last to leave the rooftop, he could still hear Solanine’s message below.
“…All shall be brought to justice. As such, expect this week’s…”
There was a twinge in the air, the nearest speaker crinkled with static. Emre almost thought he heard the faint sound of laughter behind Solanine’s streaming message.
The plan was coming together.
