“Sol Syntrivon, of planet Mercury!”
I was surprised and somewhat glad to see that I wasn’t the only one unfamiliar with the name, judging by the reactions of the members of the Council. All of their faces suggested that the name meant nothing to them and thus didn’t understand the gravity of Eirini’s words, nor could they fathom the trepidation in his voice.
Nova was once again the person to take the lead. He said, “Forgive us, Eirini of clan Henosis, but I am afraid that we aren’t aware of the individual you speak of. I don’t know if you are aware of this fact but we have been keeping ourselves away from the matters of the Four Rings for centuries now!”
Eirini gained a contemplative look at that statement. He looked around the chamber, probably trying to determine the validity of Nova’s statements, before nodding to himself, seemingly having arrived at a decision.
“If what you say is true, councilman, then I am afraid that a lot of things have changed in the Four Rings over the past few centuries. And not all for the better.”
Before he could continue on with his tale, I couldn’t help but interject, “I am sorry but what is this ‘Four Rings’ you speak of?”
Eirini took the initiative to answer my question. “I think I would be the best person to answer the question, David. The Four Rings are a group, a coalition if you will, of the four planets nearest to the sun in our system.”
Samuel interrupted before he could explain any further. “Why would planets need to have a coalition?”
Eirini gave him an exasperated look that looked really out of place on his face before saying, “The same reason I am sure nations on your planet have coalitions or treaties. Benefits!”
Samuel nodded stoically, although the faint colour in his cheeks gave away his embarrassment. Eirini ignored this, however, saying, “Anyway, Four Rings is a coalition of the planets which is pretty tentative in nature. It’s a threadbare agreement, to say the least, especially since Earth has been actively avoiding the other members of the Four Rings for centuries now. Now I find out that your Council hasn’t even kept up with the events of the Four Rings, which is going to make my explanation even more difficult, seeing as I am not aware of the events which led to the rise of the tyrant that is Sol Syntrivon!”
The Council members gained a flustered look after his words as he had basically called them out for being uninformed. I was almost certain that I saw the usually unflappable Nova squirm in his seat. He didn’t let it deter him though, “Our lack of information is inexcusable, Eirini, but I hope you can understand the circumstances that led to it. We were beset by monsters on all sides and couldn’t hope to hold them back while also maintaining our relations with the rest of the Four Rings. After that, it was a matter of consolidating our own planet rather than expanding our reach.”
The other Council members nodded along with him, fully agreeing with Nova. Shadow continued, “Last time we had any communication with the Four Rings, we had heard that the entire system was completely at peace, with an unprecedented level of prosperity. In our moment of ultimate crisis, we could curse our luck that our alliance with the Four Rings wasn’t more than just words. We could have really used the aid such an alliance would have provided.”
Eirini nodded at that before saying, “I am sure that necessary aid would have been provided to you, Council member. We didn’t know of such dark times on your planet, otherwise, we would have lent a helping hand regardless of the terms of the alliance. A threat posed by monsters on any planet means a threat to the entire alliance.”
I was struck by the passionate words of Eirini and it seemed, so were the Council. They all had grave looks on their faces and there was silence throughout the room, as the Council members bowed their heads in memory of their fallen brethren. At that moment, Eirini struck me as a true leader, one who could inspire loyalty in his people. I couldn’t help but want to emulate him sometime in the future.
Nova broke the silence by saying, “What’s done is done! We can only grieve and learn from our past failings and move on so that we aren’t forced to repeat the mistakes of yesterday!”
Eirini gave a solemn nod at that before saying, “Wise words, Councillor! However, while you were consolidating the position of Untethered here in your world, the rest of the Four Rings were fated to be thrown into despairing times. Don’t get me wrong, what you guys said was true, for a while.”
“Our alliances grew stronger. Trade routes were opened up. Agreements were signed. It really looked like we were about to welcome an age of peace and prosperity, an unbreakable alliance, if you will. I was just a kid then, born in those prosperous times, never knowing the struggles of war or famine like my ancestors had.”
He had gradually gained a forlorn look on his face as he continued his tale as if he was remembering those carefree times. For a while, there was silence in the chamber, as no one wished to bring up the topic of why the era of peace ended.
Eventually, he continued, “Alas, the thought of ever-continuing peace was a dream. In the end, it was our own hubris that took over. Secure in our knowledge that peace had spread through the system that we didn’t look out for any threats that could disrupt this harmony. And that proved to be our undoing.”
I couldn’t help but interject at this point, asking, “I am sorry to ask this but why didn’t you try to contact our planet when this era of prosperity ruled over the Four Rings. I mean, surely as a member of the Four Rings ourselves, we were also liable to enter the various agreements you put in place so that we too could reap the benefits.”
I looked towards Eirini, expecting him to answer but to my surprise, it was Nova who said, “We were offered the chance to enter into the various trade deals and alliances that had been forged within the Four Rings. But our leader decided that it wasn’t the right time for us to enter such an alliance. We were in a position of weakness and our leader didn’t think we could offer anything meaningful to the alliance. So he judged it would be prudent that we concentrated on improving our own state first before accepting any deals from the other planets.”
His words left me utterly baffled. I couldn’t fathom any reason for rejecting such a lucrative deal, not when the benefits seemed to be utterly bountiful. But I didn’t bring up this argument in front of the Council, as I didn’t think that questioning the decision would sit right with them.
Shadow spoke up, bring the focus back to the topic at hand, “Please, Eirini, continue!”
Eirini nodded before he continued on with his tale, “Everything was going great. We all enjoyed great relationships with the other members then suddenly all communications with Mercury ceased. Trade routes closed. Communication lines were shut down. In a way, Mercury went completely dark. It was only after a little time had passed that we received some indication of what was happening on the planet.”
“A civil war had broken out on the planet. Venus and my planet, Mars, couldn’t take any action. A term of the alliance was that we couldn't interfere in the internal affairs of any planet. Especially when we didn’t know the cause of the civil war in the first place. We also couldn’t afford to alienate either of the two factions in the war without knowing the eventual victor. After all, for the alliance to remain intact, the victor had to agree to accede to the demands of the alliance.”
“And so we waited. And that was our downfall. Our indecision resulted in the creation of a force that was overwhelming in its nature. Contrary to our expectations, Mercury didn’t reopen its channels once the war was over. Instead, it seemed to retreat into its shell even more.”
Light piped up at this point, asking Eirini, “Did your planet or Venus try to extend your invitations to Mercury?”
Eirini replied, “Of course, we did. I know for a fact we did. My clan, the Henosis clan was the overseer of planet Mars at that point. My grandfather was the Supreme Leader of the planet. A general of many wars with many victories and a benevolent ruler to his people.”
“Eventually, though, Mercury became active in the affairs of the system once again. Only it wasn’t in the way we hoped. Before anyone could comprehend what was going on, Mercury had declared an unprovoked war on Venus. There was no room for negotiations or a treaty. Wave upon wave of spacecraft were sent towards Venus, resulting in an overwhelming force that they found hard to resist. So being an ally, my father did the honourable thing. He sent aid in the form of reinforcements. He himself led the forces comprised of the finest of our soldiers.”
Nova interrupted him here and asked him a question which was bugging me too. “I have noticed that you haven’t said anything about the instigator behind the whole conflict. This Sol Syntrivon that you speak of! Didn’t your forces have any intelligence on him?”
Eirini gained a hateful look on his face at the mention of Sol Syntrivon. “Ah, yes. Sol Syntrivon. How could I have not mentioned him? Information about him was sparse. We just knew that he was a one-slotter with such mastery over his ability that he could influence an entire planet with it. But we didn’t have any concrete intelligence on his army or his ability. We just knew it totally annihilated any opposition it came across.”
Light asked him, scepticism regarding such a massive force evident in his voice, “Surely your grandfather considered all avenues before leading your forces there? How did the forces of Mars do against this individual you speak of? Surely you were confident of victory if you were willing to aid another planet?”
Eirini glared at Light, startling everyone, before composing himself and saying, “I am sorry for my reaction. What you are saying, Councillor is indeed true. We were confident in our battle prowess. Too confident in fact. In our minds, victory was but a matter of time, a matter of when not if! No one could have predicted how the events played out!”
“My father was leading the people of Mars in the absence of grandfather and we thrived just the same. It was during this period that we received some grave news. Our forces had been defeated, utterly obliterated if you will. It was a numbing shock to us. The army we had thought to be invincible had been swept aside like sand against the wind.”
I couldn’t help but ask, “How? How was this man able to accomplish that? How can someone gather such an overwhelming force so as to suppress the armies of two planets?”
Eirini just passed a sad smile in my direction before saying, “Patience, David. I was getting to it.”
“Before long, we saw our spacecrafts above our skies. Lost and forced to retreat. We were eager to welcome them and to find out the cause of their defeat. But what awaited us chills me to my core even today.”
“When the spacecrafts opened to let its passengers out, it wasn’t our friends we saw. Instead, they were forces hell-bent on killing us. But you know what the most terrifying thing was? These foes wore the faces of our friends and families, with my grandfather leading them.”
“And that David is the answer to your query. How did the tyrant gain such an unstoppable force? Because the whole battlefield became his army. Because you see, the people who came out of the spacecrafts weren’t people who looked like our own. No, in fact, they really were our friends and families. They just weren’t alive.”
“And that is how we realised Syntrivon’s ability. And how he gained such a large army. You see, any foe he vanquished joined his cause in death.”
“Sol Syntrivon is a necromancer!”
And as those chilling words left Eirini’s lips, the mark of the Reaper on my chest throbbed, almost in excitement! And that had me much more horrified than Eirini’s proclamation ever could!
