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In the meeting room of the Farmer's Guild, Li found quite a few more people than he had initially bargained to see. Not to mention that, judging by the scribble-infested runeboard at the front, there had been much discussion already.

He had told everyone to be ready for a meeting from this morning all the way to the afternoon because he did not know how long negotiations would take with the duchess, but it seemed everyone was promptly there.

Everyone, and more.

Occupying one half of the wooden meeting table smelling of cedar was the usual inner council of the farmer's guild. Old Thane sitting straight with his burly arms crossed. Ivo next to him in the exact same posture, basically mirroring the old man in all things except for the fact that Ivo had yet to become bald.

Ven'thur and Sindra were next to them, with Ven'thur tipping his tophat to Li's entrance and Sindra busy as usual, her attention focused entirely on scribbling down notes on a piece of paper next to her.

Already, though, her notes had formed quite the pile, indicating how many lengthy topics had been discussed already.

Not too surprising considering the other half of the table.

There was the count Alexei, his tall, lanky stature wrapped up in black, formal suit. His skin was several shades tanner than his usual deathly paleness, and his eyes had shifted color from their deep crimson to baby blues. His face seemed less bony and more filled out, more youthful, and overall, he looked to be quite striking in the looks department.

Next to him was Gronn. The dragon's human form was like that of a bodybuilder's, immensely built and large to the point where the seat under him looked like it would collapse at any given point. His close-cropped hair and roughly square features littered with scars gave him all the poise of hardened warrior.

By the dragon was Cicero, his wrinkled hands wrapped around a steaming cup of tea as he, like his former student Sindra, looked down at notes he had written.

And, perhaps most surprising of all, was the presence of the hero Meld. She was not in her hero costume this time around. Without her black blindfold, wide brimmed hat, and leotard, she looked surprisingly normal in a lacey white shirt and leather leggings. 

She acknowledged Li with a look, her eyes completely pale and clouded. She, like Old Thane, was blind.

"Well, this is quite a surprise," remarked Li as he took a seat at the head of the table.

"Lots of people!" said Tia as she looked around wide-eyed. When her eyes settled on Gronn, she exclaimed, "And dragon! Like me!"

"Not like you," said Gronn. "The highers were wrong. You are not lesser blood. You are higher. I am lesser." He bowed his head. "I defer to you."

"See, papa, even big dragon knows I strong," said Tia rather happily, and Li could only help but smile at her.

"Oh yes, indeed this was quite a surprise," agreed Ven'thur. "First, I hear tell from the master of fields that you are to march to battle, and then, Sindra brings here her northern friends with a hero of the Ascendant order, and all the while, the oh so esteemed count Alexei of the Alarie family decides to drop by for a quick visit.

A shame the gracious count refuses my tea. I quite pride myself in my brewing skills, too. I suppose he prefers…other beverages."

Alexei gave Ven'thur a piercing stare, and Ven'thur did not say much more. The two knew instinctively that they were high tier undead, but where Ven'thur was a man of levity, Alexei was just the opposite, stone cold serious in all of his interactions.

"I will summarize for you so as to not waste any further time," said Sindra with a quick sidelong leer at Ven'thur, and Alexei nodded at her serious composure. "As you instructed, this meeting was held from sunrise til' now when noon reaches near. Old Thane immediately consulted us with what you revealed to him from the night prior.

Hearing of your plans, we spent much time deliberating upon what to do among ourselves. We decided Ivo would take upon both roles as master of ceremonies and master of fields while myself and Ven'thur will maintain our administrative positions within the city."

"And…everyone else here?" said Li as he eyed the rest of the non-farmer's guild side of the table.

"Count Alarie asked to enter the meeting soon after we reached an agreement among ourselves. He has offered us as much aid as we require during these trying times and also wished personal audience with you. Soon after, Cicero intruded with Gronn and this hero. Before their intentions could be made known too deeply, you arrived."

"Alexei, good to see you," said Li with a nod, and the count nodded back. "Though, I have to ask, how did you know about this meeting?"

"I have ears across this entire kingdom. I do not spy on you, per say, but I do keep watch upon the activities of your followers so that I may be more proactive in aiding them," said Alexei.

That explained why Alexei was so capable of figuring out what Li needed seemingly before Li himself knew and before he ever even approached the vampire.

"Well, I do not mind you keeping tabs on us. I trust you enough to be discrete and helpful about it." Li turned his attention to the stranger in the room. Meld.

"And you, hero? I have to say that it is a slight bit uncomfortable seeing you here. Knowing where your allegiances lie and all."

"An understandable concern," said Meld.

"She is with me," intervened Cicero. "As I mentioned to you in our first meeting, we have been working together to unveil the machinations of Lucius and his closest advisors. She and I are here to propose an agreement with you."

"And Gronn tagged along just to listen?" said Li.

Gronn grunted. "No. I am here to speak to you. Tell you of my will."

"I have full faith my guild council have reached acceptable conclusions among themselves. So let's hear what you all have to say. Starting with you, Meld," said Li.

Meld crossed her arms not in a defensive posture, but more in a thinking manner, one of her hands twirling ever so often as she spoke, as if directing the flow of her words.

"Cicero informed me of his presence here. Also of the situation that…bloomed between you and him," said Meld with the faintest of smiles at her wordplay, no doubt knowing that Cicero had a living seed bomb inside of him. "And, as Cicero is my most useful informant in the north, I am naturally tied to his fate."

"We can offer you the very information we seek," said Cicero.

Li stuck out an inviting hand. "And that is?"

"I have been moving from shadow to shadow in the Republic, hearing bits and pieces of conversations everywhere for the better part of five years," said Meld. "But the security around the Imperator and those closest to him, especially those of sourced blood, has been incredibly difficult to penetrate.

Yet, in the past year, I have made contact with Cicero, and using his once close relationship with the Imperator, dredged out some useful information. Particularly now, in the wake of this brewing conflict."

"I see," said Li. "But I have yet to hear any of this useful information so far."

"I will state it plainly," said Meld. "The Elves have closed their borders nigh entirely in the past few months. Usually, though they hold some conflict between Soleil at the mountain range border by Montagne, they still yet trade with us, particularly with Trieste.

However, even that came to a stop. They have been preparing for battle, fortifying their western borders immensely with all manner of cannon and mechanized ballista. Such defense is it that I truly cannot see any demonic invasion breaching their borders."

"You would be surprised," said Li, knowing that the demons this time around were going to be far nastier and stronger than the norm.

"Yes, the demons have grown more powerful, particularly with the alien energies they now channel. But the Elves hold the Purgatorio. If it is demons, no matter their might, they will not falter easily."

"Then what now? I've never heard of this 'Purgatorio' in any of the books I have read," said Li. "Nor is information about what exactly the Elves have in terms of weaponry quite publicly available." 

"Soleilan texts will not mention these, particularly in the wake of the good duchess's book burning," said Ven'thur. "But I can explain. Remember that Elven hero we once spoke of? The one whom wielded disastrous weapon that razed the demonic army of the third invasion?"

Li nodded, noting that Ven'thur did not mention the citadel that too had suffered under that same hero and her weapon. He evidently wished to keep knowledge that belonged to his lich side under wraps.

"Well, the weapon was not that alone. It was the armor she donned also. Armor from another world, another realm. One far advanced and besieged by demons that had also co-opted mechanics into their being. An armor so soaked in the blood of countless nether creatures that it became the bane of all their kind throughout all realities."

"I see. And they still have that armor?"

"Yes, and source-charged heirs to don it," said Cicero. "The demons have never been much of an issue in Lucius's eyes for that very reason."

"So what? I see no issue in the elves turtling up, letting the south soak the brunt of a conflict that they can easily win. Was not their plan to absorb Soleil as well? This would be an apt way to do it."

"I would agree with you," said Meld. "Were it not for the Sunspear."

She sensed that Li was not confused, so she continued. "The Sunspear has landed far West, near the border between demonic territory and the Hinterlands. If the legends are true, if it is indeed capable of cleaving apart the world in brilliant sunfire, then it is a weapon more than capable of propelling whatever state that holds it into unchallengeable sovereignty."

Li nodded. "Considering you, Cicero, knew of this, I am assuming the elves did too. Then naturally, the Elves would be scrambling to retrieve the spear, if only so that it does not fall into enemy hands."

Meld nodded. "And that is also why the duchess moves now with such haste. But the elves have had more than enough time to retrieve the spear. Using the Purgatorio, they could have snatched it away with utter and complete ease, even if it is now guarded by countless demons."

"It could be that they do not want to risk losing their precious armor," said Li.

"It could be," agreed Meld. "But, I suspect, it may be something more. The Republic holds another trump card within their towering factories. The presence of immense, metal arrows that house the power of the sun within them."

"Nuclear Armament," said Cicero. "But their location remains a secret even to me. To anyone but the Imperator himself and his closest aide, likely."

"I do not know the full supply of these weapons the elves have," said Meld. "But my investigation, if judged on the optimistic side, still suggests that the full arsenal could easily turn much of the continent into cinders.

I merely have suspicions unfounded by much evidence, but it is my theory that the elves are positioning themselves for all races to gather around the Sunspear, priming an apt, closely packed target for their weaponry. What better way to completely defang a rival nation whilst eliminating the demonic threat? "