164 The War

AUTHOR'S POV

"I didn't join, of course. I'm too old and I hate wars. No matter how much the palace have took great advantage of us, I never carried grudge against them. We still had our free will anyway, our home is protected with barriers and we have a simple comfortable life to live. Most especially, I can never turn my back on your mother", Iaso appreciates and respects her friendship with Duchess Lucia, who is a great friend to her despite the odds. "Even after Yereah's death, I still sent Syria to protect those diamond ass royals. But that's the farthest line of our liberality. We have our own battle to fight", Iaso's face blushed in red remembering her student. She break her tears with one deep sigh. "Celeste? She's turning herself to a real monster. She's determined to cut ties with the royals and ignite a war against them. So… she needed the support of a powerful entity that she knew can be found in Caluso", Iaso stared directly at Stellan waiting for him to figure out who Celeste woke up.

"… Argus?", Stellan then figured Argus has been awakened from the Snow Mountain by a Wiccan, and not a soul traveler as what the palace suspected. Most likely, General Rowan's greed made him a great choice to become an accomplice. He even tried to conceal the truth that Argus is still in Caluso, when the General knew all along that Argus is already at large. That's why he was personally sent by the King to verify such information - a paladin King Silvius trusts.

"Of course it has to be not just any soul traveler, but the strongest of their kind… a celestial.", Iaso shook her head contained with worry. Argus died along with his indignation against the palace, to return with a great vengeance. Waking him flares up the deadliest and unstoppable schemes there is.

"So that's why there has been dark healers all around.. But come to think of it, they only attack one at a time, when without a doubt, they can wipe an entire village in a blink of an eye", Stellan wondered what keeps them waiting given that Argus is gathering his soul travelers, turning them to a dark version of themselves to initiate an unrelenting pursuit of disaster little by little.

"Like they are just making themselves known… that they exist", Iaso gave him a thought.

"Because they are preparing for something bigger", Stellan was bewildered with the blank spaces that were completed over a tea with Iaso. "The palace isn't prepared for this", he thought.

"Like I said, a war", Iaso hardened her jaw as she clasp on her fingers. "You say the palace isn't prepared? They might as well planned this too. Callaghan? He visited me recently. He wanted all the apotropaic spells be taken down in the palace. Guess which parts have the remaining apotroprotection?", she asked.

"The King's?", Stellan suspected. If his intuition is correct, then most people in the palace have been replaced by soul travelers and wandering sorcerers now. He started to worry about his friends.

"I hate to break it to you, we walk right beside our enemies", Iaso warned.

"Can you make me a pair of the emerald malachite?", he asked a couple of charms for his paladin friends. It was the protection her mother gave him so he won't become a vessel for soul travelers.

"If the price is right", Iaso smirked.

"I'll bring your barriers back. So none of you will have to leave.", Stellan offered.

"I'd love to. But your blood aint gonna make the cut. You see, deary, we do not need distant imperial blood. We require direct bloodline of the royals to put up the barriers", she turned him down.

Stellan knew he had to think of a better deal to get what he want from Iaso. After all, Wiccans always want something in return for any favor. "The priests in Holy Land died in a peculiar way. Their eyes were dark as night. Is that a sorcery thing?", Stellan continued to ask.

"Absolutely not. I have never seen such a brutal and cruel way of taking a person's life. I couldn't even look at Yereah.. there's not even a soul to send to the afterlife", she assumed there has to be someone else that possess such demonic ability to take someone's soul.

"So.. what does the traveler's stone has to do with all of these?", Stellan wondered.

"It was not just that damned stone they wanted. When Celeste came back to me, she was asking about two powerful stones. Iaso's stone, my stone that turns back time, and the traveler's stone, the source of power for soul travelers. Argus, during that time was in his weakest condition, in a body of a young sickly boy. Since there were no more dancing lights in the leccy of the snow mountain, he's in desperate need of the traveler's stone", Iaso explained. "As for my stone, of course, I can't just lend it to anyone I don't trust. Time is valuable these days, and in the evil hands… who knows where she wants to go back to", she continued.

"They're gathering all the power they can get…", Stellan said.

"Power and vengeance aint a good combination", Iaso replied.

"Come to think of it, you exactly know where the stone is, you locked it in the Holy Land. Why didn't you show her?", Stellan understood that despite Iaso is related to Celeste through their blood coven, Iaso firmly stood by her loyalty to the palace and her dedication for peace as she protect the knowledge only her knows.

"My stone, my rules. Well, it's know to all that the stone is simply in the palace.. Celeste might have noticed my subtle defiance to aid in her plans. They started to be fitfully furtive in their every move. The next thing I knew, dark healers are everywhere. Just as I imagined, with her cult growing, they are unstoppable.", Iaso magically fetched a bottle of bourbon from the cupboards with flick of her fingers, and poured more liquor in her teacup until it fills up to its lips. Her stomach churned for days when she found out that the Holy Land was attacked. Since no declaration of war have taken place, it's certain that the traveler's stone haven't been found yet. "We can't just sit and watch while she destroy and dirty our names with her foolish grievances. We built our homes for peace, and for the future of our descendants. So we tried to summon a celestial healer on our own. I knew someone who escaped long ago. She was pregnant that time and certainly, living well with her child", Iaso said as she look at Stellan's reflection in her teacup.

"Of course, Tris", Stellan uttered.

"Tris never answered to our calls. She shut us out, like she stopped opening her doors for soul traveling. Surprisingly, another celestial did, and she's much stronger. Unripe but, definitely have so much potential", Iaso said with eyes flickering in anticipation. "As soon as a window of hope opened to us, Agalea sacrificed her life in exchange to the great future of us all. And when Haelan soul traveled to Agalea's body, we trapped her soul never to soul travel back again.", Iaso entailed.

"And her crest?", Stellan knitted his brows as he ask more.

"Just a little sprinkle of magic of occlusion that Freya did to weaken its powers", Iaso drank all the bourbon from her cup in one gulp. "Haelan can't leave. We need her to find the traveler's stone for us, before Celeste and Argus does. We have to stop them before they gain the upperhand. My warlocks and witches are getting weary from blocking Celeste's magic in tracking more soul travelers. But every single day, she's getting stronger, and harder to defeat.", Iaso said as she wipe her mouth.

Stellan felt belittled as a paladin, that the Wiccans only see a bright future from a celestial soul traveler who doesn't even know how to hold a sword. "Haelan isn't ready for war. This kingdom have paladins. We shall protect its people, no matter what happens", he assured.

"Stellan, you still don't understand, do you?", Iaso gazed at the paladin as she lean forward. "Imagine an army of invincible dark healers, with no weapon to kill them, led by a celestial, and a sorcerer with an unsound mind… can the paladins and witches handle it?", she squinted her eyes entailing the torments of her mind. "You know very well how those ghouls are killed into fine dusts. Now, before we all turn to stone, we need a celestial on our side. At least, she's curated to man up by Freya and was shortly trained Brandenburg to fight", Iaso continued to insist.