“So yer sayin the elves can be trusted?” The dwarven king asked in a voice that sounded small. But Amara suspected anyone’s voice would, as the hall that Amin, Zenon, the dwarven clan leaders and bishops were in was enormous. And so was the round table made of marble that could easily have the fifty people that were present seated evenly around it - with plenty of room to spare.  Even though Amin was the tallest after Zenon, he wouldn’t be able to reach the dwarven priest Bofus, nor Zenon, who were seated on either side of him. 

Amin nodded to the dwarven king, who was seated on the opposite side of the table. When he replied, his voice sounded small as well in the silence of the grand hall. “Indeed. While it might be true that they have committed crimes in the past, those who are alive now aren’t responsible.”

“Noone be askin’ if they be responsible.” One of the dwarven clan leaders interjected. “We askin’ if they can be trusted.”

[This one denies.] Zenon replied. 

Amin’s reaction perfectly mirrored Amara’s as he turned to stare wide-eyed at the sapling.

What the hell, Zenon!

The dwarven king snorted. “Then-”

[This one knows deeming a race as trustworthy can only be done if the race only consists of one individual, and that individual is deemed trustworthy.] (Zenon)

Everyone was silent for a moment, and when Amara understood what Zenon was saying she slapped her forehead. Yeah, Zenon’s right, but come on. Start with that!

Amin seemingly heard her, as a wry smile rose on his face as he shook his head. “As Zenon said, an entire race can’t be painted with a single brush. However, after spending three years on Whildernae, I can tell you that they are, at least, as trustworthy as humans. If anything, the elves I’ve met are more honest than humans.”

The dwarven leaders were silent as they exchanged glances with each other. Amara could only admit that she was impressed at how expressive they were, because she could almost see the silent conversations that were going on between them. Mostly they seemed to express skepticism about the elves being trustworthy, as well as a reluctant acceptance of the words of the prophets. The only ones who didn’t show any emotions were the bishops.

Almost a third of the dwarves present were religious leaders. While the human societies tended to treat the faith as an advisor at best, the dwarven bishops held actual power in government. And judging by their large presence at the meeting, as well as how their wealth only seemed to be outmatched by a minority of the clan leaders, it was evident to anyone that they were the most influential faction, unless all the clan leaders stood united against them.

And during the entire meeting, the bishops had been silent and listening to the prophets. On occasion, they seemed to be a little troubled. While they hadn’t been disrespectful, they hadn’t been entirely welcoming either. 

Amara let out a faint sigh as she watched the bishops. I guess they might have gotten used to their influential position. And us coming here could be seen as something that will undermine their authority. Especially if I say something like I disapprove of their political influence.

The dwarven king cleared his throat. “If Lady Amara agrees with yeh, then-”

The king cut off his words with a frown as a low commotion was heard from beyond the doors at the end of the hall. The panicked voices of the guards, together with a furious howling of a female voice, told anyone who heard that the intruder wouldn't allow herself to be stopped. Everyone seated at the table stared at the doors as they listened to the commotion, before several of them let out anguished groans. Several of them shuddered. 

What’s going on?

One of the clan leaders whispered harshly as she leaned over the table while staring at the king with a panicked gaze. “Didn’ yeh say she wouldn’ know we’er meetin’?”

As the doors suddenly opened, most of the dwarves around the table flinched as their postures stiffened. For a while, the only thing that was heard was the sound of the wooden shoes periodically striking the floor as the aged dwarf with grey hair approached the table. Amara immediately recognized the newcomer as Holly, one of the dwarves Amin and Zenon had traveled with for the last months to reach the dwarven capital.

The dwarven king spoke tensely as he greeted the intruder. “Holly, you-”

“Balvar. Thought yeh were smart, eh?” Holly replied with a dangerous smile. “Well, not smart enough. Ye stupid little shits.”

…Is it alright to talk like that to a king?

As Holly made her way around the table, a shudder seemed to go through most of the dwarves as she walked behind them.

Balvar hesitated before he spoke stiffly in a completely different mannerism to before, while avoiding to look at her. “We didn’t tell you because-”

“Oh, it’s obvious. It’s the same reason as why yeh asked me to retire.” Holly cut him off. “Ye shits didn’t want me here ‘cause all ya’ll want to satisfy yer stupid pride an’ greed, rather than talk about what matters.”

The king twisted his lips as he thought. “You’re exagger-”

“Oh really?” Holly snorted as she reached the king and crossed her arms while staring down at him while he was staring into the distance.

After letting a disapproving snort, she turned her eyes to Amin and Zenon. “Oi. Have these shitheads asked about how Amara wants us to help in the war with the demons yet?”

A few of the dwarves twisted uncomfortably in their seats as they kept their gazes lowered. Amin hesitated for a moment before he replied. “...Not yet. We-” 

“Fuckin’ knew it.” Holly slowly turned her fierce gaze to the king, who shuddered when he felt how her eyes landed on him. With a disdainful snort, she unfurled her arms and put her hand on the king’s shoulder. “Well, I’m here now. Let’s get to the point, shall we?”

One of the clan leaders cleared her throat awkwardly. “Since yer retired, then I don’t think yeh need to be here, Holly.”

Holly turned her dangerous gaze to the clan leader with a grin on her face. “Ah, yeh know what? Yer right about that.” Holly slapped the king’s shoulder as she turned her eyes to him. “Watcha say, Balvar? Yeh know, I’m startin’ to change my mind about not tellin’ yer wife that-”

The dwarves were silent as Balvar’s face suddenly contorted. “N-no, no. Your wisdom and…decisiveness has always been appreciated. We only asked you to retire out of concer-”

“Well, that settled that. Yer concern for this ol’ hag is wasted. Anyone else have concerns they wanna tell me?” Holly glanced over the dwarves gathered at the table, who all held their eyes cast down and shuddered when Holly's eyes landed on them, before she snorted and turned her eyes to Amin. “What does Amara ask of us, exactly? How do we play a part in ‘er plans for the future?”

I like her. A wry smile spread on Amara’s face as she watched how Holly gave an approving nod and turned her gaze towards Amin. [The same as the others. I want you to implement a few changes to your society, as well as help me with research and development of new tools and weaponry. I’d also like volunteers to join the Amaran Guard or migrate to other worlds to forge better ties between the races.]

Amara tried to ignore her displeasure over the fact that the united defense force of her domain would be called the Amaran Guard. She had wanted to name it something else, based on what such organizations were called on Earth, but when the centauri had heard of its founding they immediately started discussing what it should be called. At first they had come up with Wardens of Amara, but it could be misleading as one could interpret it as that the members would only be wardens. 

In the end, the centauri had enthusiastically started using their own name for the organization and everyone else had little choice but to give up changing their minds. 

As Amin repeated her words and elaborated on all the things Amara was hoping for the dwarves to do, many of the dwarves frowned. Mostly because it made it blatantly clear that the elves held the most key positions at the moment when it came to the united efforts.

“The elfs are in control of everything?” (?)

Amin hesitated for a moment. “While that is true at the moment, we intend to-”

“Unacceptable!” (??)

“Never trust an elf!” (???)

“OI!” Holly howled at the dwarves who immediately shrank back. “Shut yer pieholes and let ‘em finish ye prideful gits!”

As everything fell into an awkward silence, Holly turned her eyes back to Amin. After a moment she let out a snort as she crossed her arms. “The elves don’t hold their positions 'cause Amara prefers 'em, yeh?”

I have no idea what kind of position she had or why they are so afraid of her, but she clearly helps us keep the conversation moving. Thanks, Holly. Amara smiled faintly as she replied. [I don’t hold preferences for one race over another. All I care about is if they are willing to help or not.]

“Ahem.” The dwarven pope suddenly cleared her throat after Amin repeated Amara’s response, drawing everyone’s attention to the side of the table that had been silent. “I believe we dwarves need to be granted positions in all divisions of this united front.”

Several of the dwarves nodded in agreement.

“Our craftsmanship is far superior to that of any elf!” (?)

“We outnumber the elves, don’t we? Our potential of helping is greater than theirs. Our benefits need to be at least as good as theirs!” (??)

Amara let out a sigh. [Let me make things perfectly clear. Everything, the Amaran Guard and the research division, are open to everyone. Those who climb up the ranks in the respective branches are those who prove themselves capable, regardless of their race. And the discoveries made by the research division will be available to all who are a part of it.]

As the dwarves glanced at each other after hearing Amara’s response, she realized what they were thinking and continued. [However, the leaders of different worlds and races that are the most enthusiastic about supporting us, will be the first to receive new magical and non-magical technology as they are developed. ] 

Holly snorted. “Even Amara can tell what greedy fucks yeh are. Ye shameless shits.”

As the dwarves were awkwardly silent after Holly’s rebuke, one of the clan leaders asked hesitantly. “What kinda technology are we talkin’ ‘bout?”

[Show them the translators, mana-batteries and your gun, Amin.] Amara thought for a moment before she added. [And tell them about my goal of creating teleportation gates. Magical long-distance communication should already be possible since I managed to make the printer work, I just need to adapt the enchantments for delivering other kinds of information.]

Amara’s printer had been based on Earthen technology at first. Although it had taken time to create a simpler version, the biggest issue had been how to send the files she wanted to print to another world. 

After a lot of trial and error, Amara had discovered that she could label items when enchanting them. And she could make one enchantment that activated another enchantment, as long as the second enchantment had a matching label to what was being referenced in the first. One of the requirements was also that the second enchantment was being supplied actively with mana at the time the activation request came. In a lot of ways, it worked like cellphones on Earth - a cell phone had to have power and be turned on in order to be able to listen to and receive an incoming call.  

But once Amara knew how to make paired enchantments, all she needed to do was put the enchantments on different items and it would work as if there was a telepathic connection between them; instant and across dimensions. Although it wasn’t the same as communication through quantum entangled particles she had read about in sci-fi novels, it was close enough to be considered equivalent. 

Although the concept currently meant that one required a pair of enchanted items for each line of communication, Amara held no doubts that what she had achieved was likely one of the greatest inventions she would ever make. Because she knew that the already complex enchantments could be made even more complex, and used for different purposes. And her greatest hope was that it would be the key for making teleportation gates a reality.

“This ‘firearm’ of yours…I heard that the humans and elves both already have the blueprints. I believe it’s only fair that we receive them as well, no?” (Balvar)

Amara was brought out of her deep thoughts as King Balvar made his request. Once she first made contact with the people in her domain, she had provided a few basic blueprints for them to make and learn the steps for advancing non-magical technology, and the one Amin had with him was the last and most advanced of them - a revolver. 

[Amara?] (Amin)

[...Sure.] Amara nodded thoughtfully for herself. [We can ask Aleesha to bring them, as long as they are willing to welcome her and start forging ties with us. They especially need to get rid of that suspicion towards the elves, which can only happen by getting exposed.]

The dwarves seemed a little unsettled by the fact that they would actually need to welcome elves, but they all stiffened as Holly snorted. “The blondie’s harmless. And as far as I could tell, better mannered than all ya’ll.”  

[This one confirms.] (Zenon)

Most of the dwarves twisted awkwardly as they realized that Zenon wasn’t merely voicing his agreement that Aleesha was well-mannered, but also that he - the prophet of Alarice - was calling them rude.

Balvar coughed awkwardly before turning his attention to Amin, while changing the subject. “Then, it would seem we should be sending our brothers and sisters to both Teyrin and Whildernae.”

The dwarven pope leaned forward in her seat, even though she had no need to, in order to be able to get a clear view of Amin. “What is the state of the religious factions on those worlds? Their authority in government?”

…Why do I have a feeling she wants a measuring contest?

“...In truth, I suspect all three worlds place differing importance on the gods. For the humans of Teyrin, the church doesn’t hold much political power. It’s more considered as a neutral advisor to the leaders, while providing healers and guidance to the people.” Amin replied and glanced at Zenon. “On Whilernae on the other hand…”

[This one recalls that the elves have not had much faith in the gods until now. But they still listen to Amara, because Aleesha listens to her and holds large influence.] Zenon’s voice rumbled loudly, even in Amara’s mind, who was used to telepathic calls. [This one’s kind lacks leadership all together. This one’s kind stands in direct obedience to the gods. The centauri are similar.] 

That explains Whildernae’s anarchical state…the elven council aside.

The internal division among the dwarves became evident after Amin’s reply. They seemed to interpret it as that the religious leaders weren’t supposed to hold any power, which made the dwarven bishops have troubled expressions. The clan leaders on the other hand, tried to hide their glee that they could have an excuse to reduce the church’s influence. But after Zenon’s response, the clan leaders seemed somewhat disappointed while the bishops let out faint sighs of relief. It was only after Holly rebuked the lot of them to keep their power struggles out of their official audience with Amara and the prophets, that they moved on to the specifics that should be done in the near and far future.

 

After several hours, the meeting had come to the conclusion that Bofus and Alfor, two of the dwarves Amin and Zenon had met upon their arrival, would be sent to Teyrin and Whildernae as the first dwarven representatives. Bofus, the priest would be sent to promote the ties with the human religious leaders, while Alfor would be joining the Amaran Guard. A list of others followed, including enchanters and craftsmen.

Amin ended up calling Campbell to confirm that he would approve of the exchange, as well as to act as a bridge between the two popes, since the dwarven pope insisted on having a conversation to ensure they held the same values with regards to their faith. For the first time, Holly seemed to hold her tongue on something that annoyed her - which made Amara expect that she too was curious about how the human religious leader’s view on the gods differed from theirs.

As Amara waited, she noticed how Amin’s eyes widened in surprise, before his expression quickly darkened. [Amara!]

[Yes?] Amara asked, curious about what had happened.

Amin immediately replied with a grave tone. [Campbell says there are demons outside the barrier on Teyrin!]

 

_______________

“...I found an abandoned village.” Amara said in a concerned voice as she was moving from settlement to settlement along the roads through Farsight.

“This doesn’t look good.” Ezme replied in a serious tone. “Let me call Sophelia.”

Amara furrowed her brow. As soon as Amin had forwarded Campbell’s explanation, she had called Ezme for advice and to help her confirm the presence of demons on Teyrin. “But is this really evidence there are demons? They aren’t allowed to cross the barrier because of the armistice.”

“Yes, but people suddenly disappearing is a classic sign that the demons have arrived. And judging by the number of disappearances and area…there are thousands, at the very least.” (Ezme)

Amara let out a sigh as she continued searching. Campbell’s first warning hadn’t been completely accurate, as nobody had actually seen the demons yet. But Campbell and Andrew had drawn the same conclusion as Ezme, and said that an excessive number of disappearances had been the first sign of the demon’s arrival on Teyrin decades earlier. It was only after demons were sighted that they had been able to understand why people were disappearing. The demons weren’t stupid, and hid in the wild or blended into the population until they had enough numbers to show themselves.

But the armistice explicitly stated that the demons weren’t allowed to cross the barrier and continue the war. That made Amara suspicious that the demons might not actually be responsible, as it meant that they would have violated the terms and thus victory would fall in Amara’s lap automatically, without having to ever fight Ryc’zamul.

Amara couldn’t deny that she was excited by the prospect of not having to fight. She was certainly worried about the people that were disappearing, but if the demons had violated the armistice’s terms, she couldn’t ignore the fact that it was the best possible outcome for the largest number of people - herself included. The war for Amara’s domain would end right then and there, long before her scheduled battle with Ryc’zamul.

But in order to be able to point fingers at the demons, they first had to confirm their presence on the wrong side of the barrier.

“...I found one.” Ezme suddenly spoke quietly. 

Amara’s expression darkened. “Where?”

After following Ezme’s instructions, she arrived in a small fishing town by the sea. After getting the suspected demon pointed out to her, Amara took a closer look. 

The hooded man was dressed in ragged clothes and sat on the ground by one of the warehouses in the port. Anyone who looked at him would have thought him to be a beggar, but as Amara took a closer look at him, she saw the signs. 

From underneath his hood, the man was looking at the people in the port with wild eyes - like a predator looking for prey. Amara had seen the look more than enough times to tell that he was unlikely to be a regular human.

“...Can we confirm without appraising him?” Amara asked. 

“We’ll have to ask Sophelia when she arrives.” Ezme replied quietly. 

Amara cancelled Farsight and stood up from the sofa to pace in the room. There’s no doubt that he was a demon. But we don’t have evidence without appraising him. 

However, once we tell Tom and the Overseer…then they’ll investigate it. They’ll have to. 

And then…I’ll be free.

After waiting impatiently, Sophelia arrived with a gentle smile as she greeted them. “Champion. Sist-”

“We found demons outside the barrier in my domain!” Amara immediately cut her off. “We need to tell Tom and the Overseer!”

Sophelia blinked slowly with a serene smile before she turned her gaze to Ezme, who was looking at her anxiously. “Where is this demon?”

Sophelia was far quicker at following the instructions than Amara had been. In fact, Ezme hadn’t even finished explaining where the demon was, and only managed to explain how to locate the town, when Sophelia replied. “I found it. Indeed, it is a demon.”

“Yes! They violated the terms in secret!” Amara exclaimed. I’ll be free!

Sophelia’s distant gaze faded as she turned her eyes to Amara. “That is impossible.”

Amara frowned in confusion. “What do you mean? You said yourself that it’s a demon!”

Sophelia cocked her head with a gentle smile. “I did.” 

Amara’s confusion only grew larger, and she didn’t seem to be the only one as Ezme voiced the same question that rose in her own mind. “Yet you're claiming it didn't cross the barrier?” 

Sophelia smiled as she replied. “Indeed. The Overseer would have immediately noticed and made an announcement if a demon crossed the barrier.”

“Then how are they outside the barrier!” Amara exclaimed in frustration.

“It is obvious.” Sophelia smiled faintly as she looked at Amara. “The demons are not allowed to enter your domain on their own accord for the duration of the armistice. Which means that someone else brought them there.”

Someone helped them get there? Who?

The god of the demons, the Devourer? But that is still a violation of the terms!

“What does that mean!” Amara shouted as she clenched her fists in anger. “I was told nobody was allowed to interfere!”

Sophelia let out a faint sigh as she met Amara’s furious gaze. “You’re right in that no divine being is allowed to interfere. But the armistice does not forbid the actions of mortals.”

Ezme suddenly spoke in a disbelieving voice. “...It can’t be.”

Amara frowned in confusion as she glanced at Ezme. “What?”

Ezme hesitated and glanced at Sophelia. As the seraph made a faint nod to confirm that her suspicions were correct, Ezme turned her grey, agonized eyes to Amara. “...The demons didn’t cross the barrier…they were summoned. By mortals in your domain.”

Amara stared at her in disbelief. After glancing at Sophelia, who confirmed it by nodding with a sympathetic smile, Amara closed her eyes as she pinched the bridge of her nose. The mortals summoned them?

Who the hell could be that stupid!?