Lands of hope

Darkness indeed got down to business, as Namira circled building after building, choosing her words well enough to coax dragons into another attack. It didn’t take her long to convince anyone, especially since the promise to remove enemy protection encouraged even the most skeptical to attack. “Are you going with the others?” Zorath asked his father as soon as the news reached him. “Without me”, he squinted, nose in the air, “everyone might think that they took over the city only through the efforts of a distraught Namira, and that they themselves weren’t involved. “Distraught?” asked the young Zorath. “What makes you think that” She just lit up with an idea and therefore unusually active…” “She has decided to replace Amenemhat, and she will demand no less from the people than the demiurge. Her conceit is the same as that of a dragon, but she uses it, not her conscience, as fuel for her activities”. “But she’s really much more strong-willed, and I think she has a plan,” Zorath said, crossing his paws over his chest. “Is such a ruler no better suited to the dragons than the sluggish and incapable Amenemhat? After all, he even consulted with the crowd of people and still hasn’t come up with anything that could help us in defeating krakalevns! “Namira has a plan!” — clasped her wings Surt. “And what’s it? Scatter future corpses, as usual? But she didn’t tell that anyone, fearing krakalevn spies knew about it ahead of time? Here are no krakalevn spies, but dragons, able to repeat what she’s doing. I’m leaving today. You can fly with me, you can guard the house, but I’ll try to get ahead of her and show the others that her plan is no better than my improvisation.” “Is there anything you can say for them?” the boy asked. “Look, the dragon packs are ready to fly! They’ll simply not listen to you, and by opposing Namira, you’ll lose your authority! If her plan fails, we’ll lose or retreat, and the anger of the others will turn against you as much as against her. “I can’t s a y anything, but I can do,” Surt said, gathering a few crystals from the shelves, " and I won’t call myself great, all-powerful, and unknowable for it. Namira and her suckers will fly into the city of krakalevn and find me there.” “Why didn’t you do it earlier?” Zorath was unpleasantly surprised. “There was no Namira before. Or, rather, who she now claims to be. Krakalvns will open to me the gates without a fight, because they’re afraid of Darkness.” “Darkness?” “Zorath has already mastered enough of a wide variety of knowledge to collate such obvious facts. “So Namira is being taken over by the Darkness, right? This explains why she’s so… restless and self-confident? Surt never answered questions with an obvious answer.

* * *

“How does your attack differ from ours?” Amenemhat didn’t stop asking useless questions to his Creatress in the flesh. “If you know the magic trick of removing the shield, tell it to the others, and we’ll capture thousands of cities, not just one.” “Don’t try to cover with your pathetic mind that which you won’t be able to understand”, in speaking Namira didn’t have respect for anything, even for herself. “Your brain is smaller even than this shallow pool of stars and dust you call Universe, as is the brain of this body you’re speaking to. That mind can’t formulate the answer, and you can’t understand it. All you have to do is trust me and obey me.” “If you were all-powerful, you could explain to me something as simple as a way to win a nestling fight,” Amenemhat said, irritated not by the disrespectful tone, but by Namira’s stubbornness, which could end many lives with its recklessness. “And if you can’t, you can’t do anything, and I don’t have faith in you.” “You impatient, smug fool,” Namira said, not even looking at him. “All I can tell you is that you must learn to trust someone who is many times smarter than you are.” “Then why do you put up with us, fools and stubborn, if you can overcome all Innumeral at once?” “I care for you because I love you, even if you are imperfect”. “The weak will die in battle, and the strong will learn much,” said Arma, who was standing nearby. That is natural selection.” “And you decided to speed it up, so that the weak don’t suffer for a long time… Great is your love, " Amenemhat sighed, wincing. “I won’t forbid fanatics like you from dying, but it’s strange that you didn’t choose to die for Radver. Your narcissism probably didn’t allow it. Freedom is not arbitrary; you can become a slave to yourself.” “Only one who does nothing is not a slave, but of all the masters this body has taken in the most perfect — me.” Irritation, which Amenemhat had experienced from the arrogant tone of Namira, increased at once, when dragons rushed to the streets of krakalevn town as it’s defense collapsed. Not intending to stay out of the action, Namira spread her wings and flew toward them, leaving Arma and Amenemhat alone. “Effective, isn’t it?” the dragoness chuckled. “You destroyed not only protection, but also krakalevns?” Despite the swagger of these females, the chief couldn’t help but admire them. “They fled with the power of the Darkness,” Arma responded. Messengers flew up to Amenemhat. “There are no krakalevns in the settlement… but Surt and his son are sitting in the Central building”. Amenemhat burst out laughing ironically. “Your chieftain is happy that only one and a half of a dragon overcame an entire city by power of Darkness,” Arma explained to the messengers, unabashed. “Bodies are just tools; they don’t have the will, even if you think so. Surt would not have moved before the Darkness came. Darkness pressed the button of the mechanism — Surt worked, Darkness ordered — Surt carried out. Whose merit is in the pot — the potter’s or the clay with the potter’s wheel? “Surt has the will to make his own decision,” Amenemhat said, spreading his wings. “But what’s the point of arguing if we can find out from him in person?” “No one forbids, but you will only hear envious appropriation of other people’s merits. Besides me, no one is capable of anything,” Namira flew up, and together with the others rushed to Surt. “You even exist because I’ve decided to.” Amenemhat made no reply to this boastful Incaration, though some of the dragons immediately broke out into cheers. What were they happy about? That words exist at the behest of something? “Why does power often co-exist with the desire to humiliate others?” Surt turned to Amenemhat as soon as he reached him. “We’re exterminating krakalevns, Radver — religious people, the Darkness — unbelievers. You should have chosen your crew more carefully, chief, and only take those who are your equal, and send the best and worst of them on another ship. “Then I would have flown alone,” Amenemhat said, landing smoothly in front of the dragon. “Your joke is witty, but what was your motive?” “To be honest,” Surt nudged Zorath with his wing so that he wouldn’t stare at Amenemhat with admiration, “I’m jealous that the dragons aren’t listening to me, but to Radver the female. I would myself say always and everywhere how clever, strong, and loving I am, if I didn’t feel disgusting.” “And if it’s true?” “Namira has also landed. “Unlike you, I’ve done what you couldn’t do.” “Dragons should follow the leader who knows how to win,” Arma added. “If you think about it and don’t do it, you can expect krakalevn to be within striking distance of his damned paw.” Surt hurled a pebble at Namira with his telekinesis, not expecting it to do much damage. “It’s easy to loot your own people in a war when no one will hit you back to weaken the army! Or will there be any?” The stone hit the female on the chest and fell down. Namira didn’t even try to defend herself. “Amazing conceit,” she said, holding up a paw. “Maybe I should turn you inside out and see what exactly is causing it? Or fuck your son by dead krakalevn?” “If even after this dragons will enjoy you, I have none for whom to try,” Surt began to form a battle shield and accumulate a charge of energy. “You will go to different boats,” Amenemhat himself hit Surt in the shield with a small discharge. Surt understood the hint and removed the protection. “Darkness will clear out the small towns, since it has done so well, and Surt’s equals will surpass that feat by taking the capital of krakalevn, Thgrd. At the same time, they’ll rename it to something more pronounced.” “I think he’ll give up his soul faster, which means our argument will be resolved,” Namira said. “And they will stop biting me, provoking me to tear off my head in response.” “The quickest way to defeat the dragons is to create an Incarnation of Darkness among the krakalevns and make them submit to a crazed corpse, but I don’t think that was your plan,” Surt said, turning to His son. “So you saw that it’s cheaper and effective to conquer dragons than krakalevns. Let others fight and die, and you take their glory and their souls.” “You’d better bite your tongue, Surt.” Arma got closer to them. “You’re forgetting your place.” “Darkness is omnipresent, so there’s no room for dragons. Let’s fly, Zorath, Uthgard is a good city, we’ll take it.” “I’m afraid the city is about to be taken away!” Zorath jumped up and pointed with his paw at the crowd of krakalevns that had suddenly swooped down on the careless dragons. Amenemhat laughed again as he took off, dodging a block of rock that flew out of the exploding house. “Two and a half simpletons, not the forces of Darkness! This isn’t a surrender, but an ambush! Stop playing tricks and hit them in a normal way!” “There’s no need to fight, let’s move back!” Surt risen next. “There’re too many of them, and it seems that their masters are rushing to help their slaves. NAVS!..” “I’m the only one who can defeat the reality killers,” Namira said, barely managing to utter the words before she disappeared in a puff of black smoke that billowed toward the shapeless figure. “How many dragons are going to perish while you fight it?” snarled Surt, losing control. “Darkness only cares about itself…” At that moment, some of the dragons suddenly drew their weapons and attacked their fellows from the back and sides. It was true that nav had taken over their minds and turned all their skills on each other. Only the most strong-willed kept their sanity, were able to fight back, but few of them hit with full force, unlike the madmen. “Where’s the demonstration of your skills?..” Surt followed the flight of smoke, which had just caught up with nav. Then it became no time to watch the fight, because krakalevns literally crumpled part of the dragons. Zorath, ahead of his father, stood on the edge of the roof and began to send down not fatal but rather painful charges. Surt barely managed to fend off one of the dragons, grabbing it in a leap and dodging, offering his claws, ripping the neck under the ear almost to the spine. It was worth sacrificing one for the safety of the others — there was no time left for the absolute good of everyone. The newly slain man’s raging soul burned more fiercely than usual. Having removed the crystal from his aura and emptied it of information, Surt spent his soul on collapsing space, pulling the madmen into a kind of bag and folding it, leaving a freeing spell on the crystal. At this time, the navian creature made a sound that vaguely resembled a painful cry made by several animals at once, at different loudness. By this cacophony krakalevns was dumbfounded, struck by the death of his patron. But there was no original courage among the dragons that had led them to Namira. Even Amenemhat didn’t consider it a shame to leave the lifereaper’s settlement, not even wanting to see how they would take their revenge. Dragons gathered up the wounded and the corpses of their comrades who might still be able to recover their souls and lives, and then they took to the air. Surt, with his son flying in the last ranks, freed the madmen, some of whom came to their senses after nav’s death. Unfortunately, not all of them.