“So the prodigal child returns! And you really did have two more Heaven rankers in tow. I guess there’s a chance you will be able to continue climbing after this after all. If you survive of course”. Algar managed to reignite Laurence’s anger once more, but he bottled it. There would be a time for him to explode, but now was not it. He would make the arrogant Zephyr pay soon enough.
“Algar, I’m taking this to my mother when we finish this, you know that don’t you? You’ll be bound more securely than an Adjudicator in their first century, never allowed to leave the confines of the Zephyr home plane. You can’t do this to members of other clans”. Wind whipped around Winoa. She had obviously had enough, and it seemed to Laurence that she had a rather large backer in her side of the family.
“You think I care? I do this, report it remotely and then I never return to the homeworld. I’ll be like your dearest daddy, a realm explorer of the immortal stages. I’m not a coward after all, unlike someone we both know. Just keep running your mouth, girl. I don’t care if you are a Heaven ranked Golden Child before the age of twenty. I wouldn’t care if you were the little sovereign either. Keep talking the way you are and you’ll be sent to the front lines right along with your weak little friends”.
Winoa stood looking at the dwarf of a man with an open mouth. It was rare that people turned her down in the first place, but to not only ignore her point but full on rebuke her and then threaten her was unprecedented. Laurence doubted it had ever happened before. This man was burning all his bridges within the Zephyr clan for a reason. The only question was why.
Laurence ushered his friends out of the cavern and sat at the edge of the valley, looking down at the Lupe below. The timer still ticked away, counting down the seconds until the seal was complete. He had his arm around Cleo’s waist and her head rested on his shoulder. This was a big fight. They could both feel it. Something huge was brewing in the air and they were going to be part of it, for better or for worse. Laurence smiled as he felt the young woman beside him. He knew that without a doubt he would not worry about the upcoming battle as long as she was by his side. He had nothing to worry about as long as Jim was by his side as well, but the connection was different. He had faith in both Jim and Cleo’s combat expertise. They had earned that faith through fire and blood as they climbed the last few floors of the tower.
Now all they could do was wait for Algar to declare their attack. The sun rose high over the sky, the heat beat down over the Valley of Kings as the timer continued to tick. The timer sank below two-hundred-thousand, continuing to tick at an uncomfortable rate, yet still Algar waited. He sent two scouts into the valley to determine the validity of Laurence’s information, but even when the information came back clear, they still did not push forwards. This Laurence understood, but he had assumed that Algar would be less tactically minded than he appeared. The way that the Immortal had acted made Laurence assume that he would be far more confrontational and aggressive in style than he was. He was cautious, and so took advantage of the poison that Laurence had spread through the Lupe base.
The lack of troops in the Lupe base only became apparent when the timer sank below fifty-thousand. There was a distinct sink in soldiers patrolling around the valley after that, but they seemed to realise the cause of their fatalities fast enough. They only seemed to have half their military might available, which was perfect for Algar’s little squadron.
At forty-thousand seconds Algar called everyone together. “Look guys, let’s make this a clean run. Thanks to some rather useful poisoning we are no longer disadvantaged in numbers. In fact we might even have the advantage now, though I wouldn’t hold to that. We’re going to hit them when they are most vulnerable, at around five-thousand seconds we’re going to smash through their defenses and try to storm the stage. I will take on their leader, a presumed Immortal, and the rest of you will secure the site and take out any combative forces.
“We know that the Lupe have seven Immortals with Declan, Jared and Naomi Lupe being the three who stand closest to Ascendant Immortality. They are not peak Immortals by any stretch, but I will have a much easier time if I’m dealing with someone like Tony or David instead”.
“It’s Declan!” Laurence shouted in shock, he stood up and looked back at the valley. “I knew I recognised him, he was the Adjudicator on the fifth floor for us! I’m sure it’s Declan”. He knew he had recognised the face of the Lupe in the valley, but he met Declan so long ago that he had to trawl the recesses of his memories to even think of the name. Algar mentioning him immediately brought the memories into focus.
Algar frowned. “That complicates things greatly. All of you shut up and let me think for a second...” He began pacing to and fro in front of the table, looking down at the map. Finally he pulled out a dagger and began cutting into his arms with it. Patterns began forming out of his blood that quickly clotted and became battle tattoos. “With these, I should be able to take him on as long as he isn’t a peak Immortal. There should be nothing to fear with this, so remember, we roll out at five-thousand. Convene at six and be ready”.
With that, all that was left for the group to do was sit down and rest up until the assault began. It would not be a short one, and Laurence could not help but feel that it would be a tough battle.
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