The Hybrid: Chasing Destiny

Caeden marched through the black gates of Castle Caedence with mild disappointment. He had missed his home and was elated to see its crimson banners flapping against its sun-kissed walls, but he would have loved to see Ava marvel at his golden city.

After threatening him, the Fire Spirit had retreated from her eyes, rendering her unconscious. She had not awakened since then, but her temperature had slowly returned to normal.

Atop the erupting Red Mountain, the Wyvern folded into itself, floating above it in a ball of flame that blew off wave after wave of heat. It was fully intended to burn the Casimir Empire to ash. Caeden could not fail at this point.

He spotted King Raeburn’s daughter gliding down from the castle steps as he slid off his horse and wiped the sweat from his brow. She looked ethereal in a light, white elven dress. The silver threads sewn into it glimmered in the sunlight. Her long platinum hair was tied in a single braid and interlaced with silver ribbons. Before Spectermere, he would have considered this a great sign, but right now, she was another problem he would need to address. A problem of his own making. Caeden stroked his horse's neck, trying to pull himself together and muster his propriety.

He must have failed because when Bethany reached him with a big, wonderous smile, it faded and she stopped awkwardly, frowning delicately as she tried to gauge his mood.

“Lady Bethany, your beauty today would rival the goddess Fern,” Caeden beamed and bowed before her, reaching out to ask for her hand.

She placed it tentatively in his palm and he kissed her fragranced fingers. Her silver eyes glimmered and she twirled. The fabric spun around her legs, revealing shapely calves.

“Do you like it? I have not had a chance to wear them, but since it has become so uncommonly hot, I thought now would be the best time,” she breathed.

This conversation was already becoming tiresome, and it surprised him. He had had no issue putting on airs with her and had been fine listening and responding to her inane conversations before. And, despite his disinterest, he had thought he could have had a tolerable marriage with her. After all, it was not as if Lady Bethany was in this hoping for love. Her ambition for the Queen’s throne was why they had chosen her.

Had I changed so much in such a short time? The path he walked before and the path he walks now are so vastly different that it has changed his entire perspective on everything.

“It is lovely…” he began.

“Oh, is that the creature?” she interjected, grabbing and squeezing his arm to her breasts in fright.

He stifled a grimace as pain shot through his injured arm and turned to see his men heaving the stretcher carrying Ava off the wagon.

Oblivious to his discomfort, Bethany peered closely at the ‘creature’. Oswin and Ser Morley turned from directing the men to bow to her, but she failed to recognise and acknowledge them. And they were left to awkwardly decide whether to straighten or keep bowing until she did. Caeden silently signalled them to carry on with their duties.

“It looks not at all what I expected. Perhaps that is why hybrids can manipulate men so easily.”

Something in the way she said that made Caeden's heart flip over. Is that the narrative going around in the castle?

“Lady Bethany, I apologise but I must leave you. I need to prepare myself to speak to the emperor,” he said, removing his arm from her vice grip.

Her expression dropped. “Yes, I understand. The court is meeting currently, and they have summoned you. Lady Ella sent me to retrieve you. I will escort you there.”

“That will not be necessary,” he stated as he turned to make for the throne room. “I will send for you later.”

Fern’s Breath, not even a moment to wash up. Caeden felt every speck of dirt from his journey clinging to his body. This was not how he had planned to make his report to the emperor. But with the Fire Spirit radiating like a second sun, perhaps this was for the best.

The ornate doors parted, and the Herald announced his arrival. The emperor sat on a large golden throne bejewelled in rubies and red obsidian. The shadow it threw over the walkway was long and cold.

Ambassadors from the other kingdoms lined the floor below the dais. A representative from the Trade Council was noticeably missing from them. Understandable, since the betrayal from Master Bartus and two other council members had thrown them into disarray and they were now working to get back on their feet once again. The only one among those present who seemed pleased to see him was Elwood’s ambassador. The decision to relinquish Ivan Gueterath to Queen Lernae to enact appropriate punishment had worked in his favour. However, it seems he might have fallen out of favour slightly with Everard’s ambassador by entering without Lady Bethany on his arm.

Two smaller thrones flanked the Ruby Throne on either side. On the left throne sat the emperor’s wife, Queen Aeline, her expression carried its usual measure of disapproval and disdain. His mistress, Lady Ella sat on the right, looking mildly perplexed.

Crown Prince Kael stood next to his mother, his hand placed firmly on her shoulder and despite his carefree demeanour, the way he cracked the knuckles of his other hand told Caeden that he was either impatient or annoyed.

His uncle, Knight Admiral Kaelyn, military advisor to the emperor, stood behind the throne bearing a stern expression. Caeden knew him to be reasonable. Of the group gathered, he would be the one to share his point of view, but whether he would act on it was another issue altogether.

The one person out of this group that irked him the most was Grand Master Gildaen, representative of the Mage’s Guild and the emperor’s magic advisor, who stood next to the Knight Admiral and stared smugly down at him.

It was hard to read his father’s stoic expression as he watched Caeden walk to the base of the dais and fall to one knee before the throne.

“Emperor Haeden, Queen Aeli…” he started.

“We have received your correspondence, Caeden. Explain the situation in its entirety,” the emperor boomed.

Caeden frowned, befuddled. Was he not going to acknowledge me? He hazarded a glance up and quickly lowered his eyes. A small smirk broke the emperor's stoic expression. I see.

This was his punishment for his gamble in Landon. He would be humbled by giving his report on one knee. Caeden gritted through his humiliation and gave his report to the floor before him.

“Control of the Great Spirits! The gods have blessed the Empire with such might,” Queen Aeline huffed with wonder, patting her son’s hand lovingly. “We would be a beacon of their light to all races.”

Caeden stiffened in disbelief and pursed his lips. Her suggestion was absurd. Why the emperor tolerated her ridiculous nonsense in court truly baffled him.

“Perhaps we should focus on verifying the threat in Spectermere first before antagonizing our potential allies with such talk, Mother,” Kael answered, patting her on the shoulder in a way that was more silencing than comforting.

Caeden froze. That was the first time Kael had openly disagreed with her on something. He had always allowed her or Gildaen to speak for him, never gainsaying, either through sheer cluelessness or a complete lack of interest in the subject. It was hard not to smirk as Queen Aeline’s pale face twitched ferociously in the face of it.

“I agree,” his father echoed. “I cannot ready the army, let alone hand the power of another Great Spirit to a demonkin due to a single wraith and draugr shambling across uninhabited foreign soil. Quarantining Spectermere is the best option moving forward. We should focus on taking back our seas.”

“This is no mere wraith!” Caeden stressed. “It has abilities far beyond any we have come across. It can turn parts of itself material and can not only control the plague but speak through it. It risked crossing part of the Frozen Sea to reach my ship and has the Great Spirits so afeared that they have moved into action. We cannot ignore it. Whether through the Frogmen or other machinations, Azael will not remain in Spectermere.”

The emperor shifted in his seat and pondered.

“And this artifact? Has there been any progress with the demonkin in finding out what it is?”

“No, Your Majesty. She knows nothing about it. I am not entirely certain that she is a demonkin either. I have Oswin researching Ancient Records for any indication or references to what they both truly are.”

Caeden bristled at Gildaen's audible snort of derision at the mention of Oswin’s name.

“She claims ignorance, yet even the cursed wizard who raised her was after it. How quickly you trust the word of this demonkin of suspect origins with so little evidence, Prince Caeden,” Gildaen sneered.

Ah, and there it is. “Just what are you implying, Grand Master? That my mind is not my own?”

“I am sure the Grand Master only means to question whether this hybrid was sent by this wraith to capture and control the Great Spirits. Is she truly on our side or spinning tales to distract you, brother?”

Caeden’s brows furrowed. This was unlike Kael. What was he playing at? “Azael tried to kill her, burned her home and killed her guardian. They are not allied. Miss Ava has every intention of seeing the wraith destroyed. We are both aligned with the Great Spirits in this respect.”

“Hmm, so aligned are you both that the demonkin attacked and threatened you on the journey here?” Gildaen countered.

Caeden started, surprised that he was party to such information. He ordered his men to silence.

“The cursed wizard was aligned with elves as well, yet in the end, he led them and Archaicron to the brink of ruination. It is an association we cannot ignore,” Gildaen continued.

Caeden glared up at his smug face. It was obvious that the wizard was enjoying this unique opportunity.

Gildaen had still not gotten over Caeden’s slight in choosing a mage as his advisor over him. It had been an easy choice, Oswin had pragmatic advice and delivered it without airs or condescension. It was far more palatable than the wizard's dogmatic patronization.

Whether out of spite or something more nefarious, it was clear to him that the wizard was placing obstacles in his path and was veering the conversation away from any solution. But, unfortunately, his efforts to bury Caeden beneath a pile of doubt had provided him with sufficient dirt to bury the wizard along with him.

“I agree, it is an association we should not ignore. He was your mentor once was he not?”

Gildaen turned beet red, and something clicked into place in Caeden’s mind. “If I recall correctly, there was also an incident involving your apprentice's use of profane magic in the past. Such suspect connections considering multiple magic wielders were running a trafficking syndicate with ties to the plague and Azael.”

“B-Baseless accusations!” Gildaen spluttered.

It might be for now, but it was enough to plant the seed in their heads, judging by their frowns. They will not place trust in him easily, and despite giving away the element of surprise in that avenue of investigation, it was worth it.

“I will wager that it was your idea to antagonize the Wyvern by trying to bind it. “

“The blame cannot be placed solely on Grand Master Gildaen, I was the one who approved it. We were not certain of the Great Spirits' motivations after the Whirlwind appeared in the sky the night of the collapse. Tell us how to move forward from here, Caeden,” the emperor requested.

First, they question my judgement and now they defer to it. Do they even have a plan?

“I would suggest evacuating all villagers near the borders of the Ashen Fields and increasing our food reserve requirements. Then send Miss Ava to retrieve the wyvern. It will not accept anything else,” he replied.

“No, I cannot allow it.”

“Yet, you will allow the Empire to burn because of your fear! Miss Ava is not the threat here,” Caeden burst out angrily.

“Then bring me something more substantial than a demonkin’s word and supposition!” The emperor smashed his fist on the throne’s armrest, silencing him. “Dismissed!” he hissed to the room.

Caeden waited for Queen Aeline, his brother, mother and uncle to pass before he moved to stand.

“Remain, Caeden,” the emperor ordered as he walked to stare out a window.

Caeden’s jaw tensed as Gildaen walked past him. Silence filled the room as the door closed behind him.

“Your Majesty, I…”

“Your gambit has failed, Caeden,” he said, readjusting the ruby crown on his temples. “You wished to pressure me into sanctioning your quest into the Ashen Fields by seeking approval from other nations first, did you not?”

“I – It was the best course forward to expedite the process. There is no guarantee that the Spirits would fight on our side should Miss Ava collect them all. And ignoring them leaves the risk of Azael twisting them to his cause. We keep the battlefield level by safely securing them and removing them from play completely. The Beastkin find this plan agreeable.”

“Yes, they sent a letter saying as much, and have stated in no uncertain terms that they are prepared to follow her into war if she so wishes. They have sanctioned your quest to retrieve the Earth Spirit in the Motherland and approved the retrieval of their ‘Mother’ as well.”

Caeden smiled, Kama pulled through and the Beastkin were onboard. A small but meaningful ally in this war.

“I would not celebrate just yet. The elves have sent correspondence as well. In it, Arch-Magi Edelweiss stresses that The Mother is perfectly calm and safe in their care and has been so for eons. He also strongly emphasizes that the Magus Fellowship does not appreciate the Empire's involvement in what seems to be a Beastkin plot to seize the Nature Spirit for themselves.

“That puts it at odds with your report about the incident with the Frost Spirit in Snake Town and places the Empire in a delicate position.”

Caeden bristled. No wonder this meeting had become a blasted disaster. One of the two nations was lying and by doing so tied the hands of the Empire. The emperor could not side with one nation without angering the other.

“The workings of the Spirits are beyond my expertise, but I do not recall duplicity being an aspect of the ‘Mother’s’ dual nature. And unless the culture of the Beastkin has changed drastically in recent years, they would not actively provoke another nation first,” he deducted.

“That leaves the elves. Yet, I cannot see what they would gain by acting against the Nature Spirit. Regardless, both the Earth and the Nature Spirits are beyond you for now. I suggest you focus your attention elsewhere,” he said, turning to the window.

“Have you received word from Haalfkinguit and the dwarves?” Caeden enquired.

The emperor’s smile reflected in the window. Of course, he was goading me in that direction.

“The dwarves have cancelled all non-essential trade to and from Haalfkinguit and have diverted all essential ones to the trade posts. They have closed their borders, no one is allowed to enter or leave. And we have had no communication as to why whatsoever, not even from the ones still stuck on the surface,” he answered.

“Is this in response to my request?” he asked, confused.

“It happened three days after you left for Spectermere, thus it seems unlikely. Your connection to the Trade Guild might shed some light on what exactly is happening in Haalfkinguit. If you can get the dwarves to ally with you against Spectermere, then I will sanction your quest to retrieve the Wyvern. Now leave me.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Caeden affirmed and headed for the exit. His mind whirring with this new information.

“And Caeden,” the emperor called. “Overstep again and spend the rest of your days in an ash mine so deep the very stars will become a distant memory.”