Aghanim's Rubick Chapter 19

Chapter 19:

“This is excellent work.” I remarked, looking down at the rows of wooden puppets laid out before me, “Well done, Treyni.”

“Thank you, King Rubick.” The Dryad responded, “The treants were reluctant to part with so much, but they understood that we must prove our worth. I hope this is enough for us to be even?”

“I am not a King, I don’t wear a crown.” I hummed, before looking up from the inert humanoid body I was examining, “What do you mean even? The Dryads are a part of the Jura Confederation, just like the other races.”

“Please, Lord Rubick.” Treyni smiled, “You act as a King even as you reject the title. After some observation, I’ve found that it is better to glean your intentions from your actions, rather than your words.”

“Calling me a liar?” I hummed, a wry grin on my face, “Rather bold of you.”

“Not a liar, per se. More someone who is wary of letting others know his real feelings.” She responded, “Much like how you have yet to visit this grove every since you accepted the mantle of Jura’s Protector. I understand that my actions may have been manipulative, but I wish to make sure that no bad blood exists between us and the one responsible for our continued existence.”

I stared down the spirit, who took the weight of my gaze unflinchingly, merely smiling gently back.

I let out a sigh, “Even if the harvest Festival had not occurred, my killing of the Orc Lord would have made you declare me the Protector of the Forest regardless. Your plan was always to force me to assume this mantle.”

“I could hardly force you into…” She was stopped by my raised hand.

“Please, we both know that was not what I meant.” I lowered my hand, pinning her in place with a look, “Should you have spoken to me about it first, asked me to take the mantle rather than springing it on me the way you did, I likely would have accepted happily.”

“But you had no way of knowing that.” I continued, “Your survival and that of your people were at stake and so had to act in their best interests in relation to an unknown power. I suspect that If I didn’t get your approval you would have observed the fight between the Orc Lord and I in order to kill the exhausted victor.”

Her face remained in its gentle smile, neither confirming nor denying, “You have a very cynical mind, Lord Rubick.”

“Or a realistic one.” I remarked, my suspicions confirmed, “Claszureme is your aegis. Any that would wish to do you and your charges harm would have to first get through us. If they were successful in doing so, their power would be far beyond yours.”

“I am aware.” The Leader of the Dryads spoke, watching impassively as I rose from my inspection, “The terms of our agreement have been clear to us for some time now.”

“I’m glad.” I pinned her in place, my serious gaze forcing the air from her lungs, “Then you are aware of just how much this agreement benefits you over us.”

“We provide food…” She forced out.

“Your resources are fully renewable. Even these puppets that I requested are made out of wood that will grow back relatively quickly. You are giving up nothing but time, meanwhile my subjects are shielding you and your grove with their very lives.”

“You were right, Treyni. About there being bad blood between us. So let me explain it to you in plain terms.” I walked over to the dryad, flexing my will, usurping her magic and forcing it out of the grove and back into her body, severing her connection with Nature, “I accepted being your protector. I took up the mantle you offered. However, I am not your puppet or your pawn. Any attempt to manipulate me like you did before, and I solemnly vow, the threats beyond the Forest?”

“They will be the least of your concerns.”

She shivered, pale and sickly, visibly wilting at the act I had just performed. My message was clear. I released her magic, gently coaxing it back into the world around her, actually strengthening and enforcing as I did so, as a small apology.

“You are not my subjects, your Dryads and yourself, Treyni. That makes you a vulnerability, should you be subverted to work with any of our enemies. I wished to make it clear to you, I am not gullible, like you probably hoped. Should you become a threat, I will deal with it.” She nodded shakily at that.

“You remind me of Lord Veldora, his terrible rage… Rest assured Lord Rubick, I understand.” To her credit, she was visibly recovering even as she spoke.

Looking into her eyes, I could see that she did. Rather than viewing me as a convenience, or a prop to be used, she had been forced to acknowledge the power I wielded as well as my willingness to use it.

“Good. Alliances are between equals Treyni. If one side views the other as lesser, then that’s not an alliance, it’s a vassalage.” I stepped forward, extending a hand that she looked at quizzically, “I would like for us to be allies. But for that to happen, we need to be clear and honest about what we want and expect.”

Her blue eyes stared at the offered limb, before timidly taking it in her own hand, accepting the handshake, “It seems that my actions have caused you some suspicions, Lord Rubick. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to resolve them.”

“I would have done the same as you, most likely.” I let go of the Forest spirit’s hand, “I will continue to shield you, as I agreed. However, our agreement needs to be more concrete than just the verbal component that we have had so far.”

“I agree.” She smiled, her confidence returning, “Shall we begin negotiations?”

It was then that I learned that Treyni would have been a very successful lawyer on Earth.

---ARARAR---

“What are we going to do?” The question hung in the air, like a spectre of despair.

No answer was forthcoming, the one it was directed to staring deeply into the fire in front of him.

“Lord Phobio?” He started, head snapping to the speaker, “Are we returning to Lord Carrion?”

“We… yes.” His voice was raspy, still strained from screaming, “We need to warn him. Rubick is dangerous, he needs to know.”

“Oh ho ho!” An obviously feigned laughter rang out across the clearing, causing the beast men to draw their weapons and face the direction it came from, “More than you know, little kitty cat!”

Out of the foliage, a rotund figure wearing a snarling clown mask appeared, sizing up the group in front of him. After sharing a brief glance between themselves, Phobio decided to step forward and confront the stranger.

“What do you mean? What are your intentions for approaching us?” He remained tense, not sensing danger from the clown but feeling on edge regardless.

“Oh, so suspicious!~” An energetic, feminine voice sounded out, “It makes me feel sad! Can no one trust anyone these days?”

“I know Tear, it’s enough to make me angry. But it’s understandable, after all the cat here has just met with Rubick after all.” The Clown replied, turning to a revealed small figure who pirouetted from behind his bulky figure.

“Oh! The one who is so dangerous! I can see how that could make one forget their manners, even if he only knows the basics!” The smaller one spun to a stop, revealing her colourful pigtails and tear stained mask, “Isn’t their ignorance just so sad, Footman?”

“Enough.” Phobio put his foot down, “I am not going to let you mock us without even explaining why you are here.”

“Oh, how right you are! I am furious at myself for forgetting my own manners!” The Taller figure bowed, “My name is Footman, and this is Tear, we are here to warn you that Rubick Maelstrom is a danger to your gracious Lord.”

“To Lord Carrion?” Phobios ears perked at that, “What do you mean?”

“That scary purple portal he can summon!” Tear clutched her hands to her mask, hidden behind her long sleeves, “He can use it to travel long distances himself! If he wanted to kill your lord, he would be able to teleport there instantly and catch Lord Carrion unaware!”

Phobio felt a shiver down his spine. He had not thought of it until now, but it made sense. Rubick sent them multiple leagues away, almost nonchalantly, as if it was no great effort. Opening up that tear in reality into that terrifying hell, depositing Phobio and his men in an instant with nothing but a wave of his hand, If he could do that to multiple other people at once… Doing it for himself would be child’s play.

Still, why were these strangers warning him of this? He would have gone back to report his hellish experience anyway and he was sure that Lord Carrion would have instantly realised what it meant, his experience and strategic acumen many times better than Phobio’s own. That meant that the Clowns wanted something from him before he returned to his Lord.

“Thank you for the information.” He started carefully, “We need to return to Lord Carrion with this news at once.”

“Ah, but that’s no good. Rubick could decide to attack Lord Carrion before you arrive! After all, he can get there instantly, there’s no telling when he could strike!” Footman quickly pointed out, “Lord Carrion would be caught completely off guard!”

Phobio narrowed his eyes, suspicions confirmed. They didn’t wish him to leave this forest without accomplishing whatever goal they had in mind for him. Ordinarily, Phobio would merely leave to inform his Lord of the threat and not listen to another word these two had to say, but his recent experiences and the weird feeling they gave off stopped him.

Looking purely at the magicules he could sense off of them, he should have easily been able to defeat them should they initiate a fight to stop them. However, he was powerless before Rubick and he could sense nothing from him. Obviously, he couldn’t trust his senses implicitly. His instincts were warning him as well, saying that these beings before him were more dangerous than they appeared.

“What would you suggest, in that case?” He probed, fishing for information.

“Oh ho ho! What a wise man, asking for advice when faced with a complex problem!” Footman mimed laughing, holding his gut as he did so, “It makes me so happy!”

“It will make me cry! It’s so beautiful!” Tear hopped forwards, shooting one hand straight up in the air while pointing directly at Phobio with the other, “If Rubick is a danger to your lord, you just need to get rid of him, right?”

Phobio laughed, relaxing as he now knew that he had nothing to fear from the two in front of him. After all, they were clearly idiots.

“That’s insane. I wasn’t able to even move the last time I faced him. How do you suggest I kill that?” His voice was relaxed, but his hand curled into fist.

The words were angering, admitting his own weakness was humiliating, but he would not get any further by turning his back on reality. He had a goal he needed to reach, and being realistic about where he stood was the only way to make that eventually happen.

“Oh, that’s easy!” Tear spun again, throwing both arms out to Footman, “Take it away!”

“Thank you, Tear!” Footman bowed, “You see, Lord Phobio, this Forest was where Veldora was sealed away. You know this, of course, educated well as you are. However, what few people know is that Veldora’s children, the monsters created from his overwhelming strength, also reside within its confines.”

Phobio narrowed, his pride soothed despite the obvious flattery, “You don’t mean…”

“Exactly!” Tear cheered, “We are talking about Charybdis!”

Phobio was instantly going to deny the insane idea, before pausing.

Rubick used magic almost exclusively, he had heard.

And Charybdis emitted an Anti Magic field.

He could feel a smile growing, this was an idea with some merit after all.

---ARARAR---

The King sat back, eyes finding the white stone of the table in front of him. The news coming out of the Forest was… Troubling. The smile that had visited his city before had been odd, but sometimes Monsters that were a cut above the rest showed up. Sure, it was unheard of for it to be a slime, but stranger things have happened.

Rather than strange, the new monster who he was hearing news of was worrying. Immensely powerful and dangerously knowledgeable, if it’s claims of being able to resolve ‘any Magical malady you could care to name’. He was sure that the news had become exaggerated by the time it reached Dwargon, but the fact that it was offering to assist in mystical issues at all spoke to an immense ability in that area.

He trusted warriors much more than mages. At the higher levels, they could be at equal levels of strength, but there was a clear difference. A warrior could slaughter millions with his sword, but he had to personally slay each one of them. A mage however, could destroy entire cities in an instant, without ever seeing a single one of the victims.

It was his personal belief that the callous disregard mages developed for others stemmed from this. Warriors were personally involved in their killing, while mages could remain detached, unaffected. It was why he was always wary of those with immense power in mystical matters, even if he knew he could personally best them.

That is why the report sitting innocuously on his desk so greatly worried the King of Dwargon. Gazal Dwargo sighed as he opened it up, reading again the words he was pretty sure he could recite from memory at this point.

An Orc Lord, evolved into an Orc Disaster, from what the rumours that could be pieced together stated. A dangerous beast, one that Dwargon would have had to muster and mobilise fully in order to defeat should the horde have set its sights on his land. They would have succeeded, his people’s strength something that even Demon Lords respected, but it would not have been clean or easy.

And this ‘Rubick’ destroyed it in a single battle, engaging the majority of the Orcs himself. That was a worrying amount of power that a Monster he had never heard of before possessed.

On top of that, the Dryads of Jura had confirmed him as the forest’s new Protector, a title that had previously only been given to the Storm Dragon, Veldora. What did that have to say about this ‘Rubick’s’ strength and influence?

Worrying. Worrying.

Of course, everything the ‘Grand Magus’ had been involved with so far was either benign, such as his magical assistance, or a clear case of self defence in the case of the Orcs. Still, a new power was rising and that always led to instability. He needed to decide how Dwargon could leverage the situation most appropriately.

The first step in doing so, of course, would be to meet this ‘Grand Magus’ officially, to establish a line of communication. Unfortunately, he had no idea how Rubick viewed those who were not Monsters. Apparently he accepted any and all kinds into his city provided they follow the laws he set down, but to his best knowledge provided his intelligence agents, there was yet to be any significant contact between him and humanoids.

Should he prove hostile, that would pose a major problem to any diplomats he sent. Someone capable of killing an Orc Disaster, even a recently ascended one, was not someone that could be treated lightly. He was tempted to send the Captain of his personal Guard, but even that might not be enough.

He took in a breath, closing his eyes. Rather than going with his first instinct, he thought carefully through all the information and possible ramifications of his decisions. He opened his eyes and nodded, resolutely. Standing, he turned and moved out of the room, gathering his sword that had been leaning against his chair as he did so.

Opening the stately doors of his personal study, he moved with purpose down the opulent hallway, speaking to the guards that fell into step behind him as he did so, “Gather the Pegasus Knights. They are needed to escort me to my destination.”

The guard on the left nodded and peeled off, moving to relay his orders. King Dwargo himself continued on his path, heading to his court to set everything in order to allow him to attend to this issue personally. Meeting with a dangerous, unknown mage was often deadly.

The only one that he was certain could encounter such a situation, even backed up with a full Company of his finest Knights, and survive was himself.

It was a risk to put himself on the line like this, but Dwargon would suffer even more greatly should no one be able to return with news of Rubick’s hostility, should he prove himself and enemy.

The most sacred duty of the Kings of Dwargon, beyond merely ruling, was protecting the Realm.

Thus protect it, he will.