Maukland—Spring 85, 39 A.U.
Gwynneth gingerly poked the yellow ligmite crystal on the display. In a few moments, the shape of Feng and emperor Iliya appeared in the yellow-tinted mirror. “Hi everybody,” she smiled and waved nervously. “There might, uh… we might have a tiny little bit of a problem.”
Altair inhaled sharply. He knew his daughter’s mannerisms like the back of his hand. Something must have gone horribly wrong. “Oh, Ashin, what happened?”
Gwynneth looked away and tapped her fingertips together. “Well, the thing is, Hyde tried to parlay, but one thing led to another and we were kind of sort of forced to, uh… ”
Hyde adjusted his glasses and cleared his throat. “Negotiations… fell apart, and we were forced to defend ourselves. We destroyed their vanguard camp and eliminated a high-ranking officer, but lost two mages and the Maukling ambassador. The battle caused quite a commotion. We may have attracted unwanted attention.”
“Fell apart?” Iliya asked as he gnawed on a knuckle. “How?”
“Apparently, the reason why Altgard is invading Maukland is because they feel entitled to do so. They claim that Maukland used to be a part of their empire before they presumably fled through the portal that was opened.”
“Hmm… that makes sense. Old grudges tend to be a good enough excuse for a lot of things. What prevented you from negotiating?”
“They proposed a deal that gave us half of Maukland and opened up trade, but after I accepted they attempted to backstab me,” Hyde explained. “It’s obvious that these people cannot be trusted.”
“They attacked you after making a deal? Why? What could they possibly gain from that? They must be insane!” Feng exclaimed.
“Well, papa, judging from the fact they cast magic by snorting drugs, the general turned into a disgusting… thing, and that they were using necromancy, I think it’s safe to say that they might be just a little bit batshit insane.” Gwynneth crossed her arms. “Worst part is, they nearly killed Hyde.”
The intensity of the Altair’s reaction eclipsed his previous outburst. He nearly exploded and if there was a table in the room he probably would have flipped it. To say he was overprotective of his family would be a little bit of an understatement. “They. What?” he yelled in a combination of surprise and outrage.
“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Hyde hurriedly reassured. “When the general transformed into a beast, she gained some kind of ward against aether. I couldn’t do anything but it was child’s play for Gwyn to deal with her.”
Altair closed his eyes and took a deep breath, steadying himself. “Right. That’s good.”
Iliya raised his eyebrows at Altair. “What do you mean, ‘good’? That’s terrifying! They were almost able to kill one of Atlesia’s most powerful mages. The Seven are supposed to be able to face down hundreds of enemies without breaking a sweat!”
Hyde shrugged. “Well, Gwyn and the others might be able to take on an army by themselves, but I play more of a support role. Brute force isn’t exactly my forte. Besides, she was able to take down the general pretty easily.”
“I’m sending Barrett and Tomoe over. Either way, it’s obvious that we’re not going to have another Seven Day War.”
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