Two days after the Inferi army has broken the first line of defense at the western entrance of Mount Or\u00fcn, news comes\u2014all passes to Mount Or\u00fcn have been sealed, and nobody besides the Ved\u00e4s themselves have the right to withdraw the order that no one is allowed in or out. When the message arrives in Fiska, its residents flood the front of Taara\u2019s cottage, demanding an explanation.<\/p>\n
Taara, only just hearing this news herself, guarantees nothing but that she will talk to the high priest of the Regional Temple to see what the matter is, and if anything can be done about it.<\/p>\n
She thinks that it might have to do with the invasion of the dark creatures (which are likely to spread to Fiska, since the village leads to the southern entrance of Mount Or\u00fcn). What Taara does not know is the reason why the Ved\u00e4s have ordered the mountain to be sealed.<\/p>\n
What about the rest of us on the Iron Mountains? Have the Ved\u00e4s abandoned us? Taara thinks as she pushes the gate open. The high priest is saying prayers, kneeling below a grand statue of a female Ved\u00e4 in the middle of the temple. The statue is still and silent, looking at him with a tender expression as she always does.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo reason was given for the sealing of the mountain,\u201d the priest says without turning to Taara, before she even asks.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlright.\u201d Taara frowns at his arrogance. \u201cWith such a threat looming, at least allow me to transport the villagers to a safer place.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe oracle demands you, as well as the whole of Fiska, to garrison the southern defense line of Mount Or\u00fcn.\u201d<\/p>\n
Taara is taken aback by his words. \u201cThere must be some mistake. They want us, humans, to fight against the dark creatures of the Inferi? That\u2019s suicide!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou wish to act against the Ved\u00e4s?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut there are women and chil\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey should feel honored to serve the Ved\u00e4s,\u201d he says flatly and glances at Taara. \u201cYou\u2019ve begun to question your faith, Taara. Should I be worried?\u201d<\/p>\n
She bites her lip. The high priest is too blind to see, but she knows the truth. Indeed, the Ved\u00e4s have taught humans many things, from agriculture to metallurgy, from medicine to magic\u2026but humans are nothing but tools to them. The Ved\u00e4s, sitting comfortably in the Temple of Light, never care if a man works so hard that he coughs blood; they are only concerned about the quality of the weaponry the people of Fiska produce and pay as tribute. The Ved\u00e4s only protect those who obey and believe in them. As for the others, there are a million ways to convert them (or if that fails, to list them as heretics and assign them excessive work until they can no longer think).<\/p>\n
Seeing Taara not responding, the priest presses on: \u201cI have placed a spell around the village. Anyone who tries to leave will be marked with an identifying stigma. When the mountain is opened again, the heretics will pay.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the corner of her eyes, darkening flames rise and threaten to devour any sense Taara has left. Her gauntlets squeak as she clenches her fists, but the sound eventually ceases.<\/p>\n
There is nothing she can do now.<\/p>\n
When Taara slams the gate, she does it so hard that the ground shakes. For the first time in her life, she feels that her strength is useless. The snowstorm grows louder; it howls as white flakes lock to her eyelashes. Taara lets the snow gradually freeze her feet outside the temple, lets the cold quench her impulse of fleeing this place with her people.<\/p>\n
\u201cDeath no matter what, huh?\u201d a sweet voice says from behind Taara. She turns to see a woman smiling at her. There is a pair of dark wings on her back and two huge horns on her forehead. Somehow in this weather she is wearing very little, but does not seem to feel the cold.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re one of the dark creatures\u2026\u201d Taara takes a step back and strikes a pose.<\/p>\n
The woman chuckles. \u201cOh, darling, no need to tense up. I didn\u2019t mean to overhear your conversion with that old fogey, but it seems you need some help.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf what you want is my life or that of my people, you are in for disappointment.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, please,\u201d the woman says. \u201cI am not that kind of devil.\u201d<\/p>\n
Taara shows disbelief.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m the kind that can offer you a third choice, a choice that will grant everyone in Fiska their lives,\u201d she smiles the most beautiful smile at Taara, \u201cand their freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Two days after the Inferi army has broken the first line of defense at the western entrance of Mount Or\u00fcn, news comes\u2014all passes to Mount Or\u00fcn have been sealed, and nobody besides the Ved\u00e4s themselves have the right to withdraw the order that no one is allowed in or out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4534,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4551","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hthgaming.com\/aov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hthgaming.com\/aov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hthgaming.com\/aov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hthgaming.com\/aov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hthgaming.com\/aov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4551"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hthgaming.com\/aov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4551\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hthgaming.com\/aov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hthgaming.com\/aov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}