Dalengor pointed out the saboteur\u2019s cell. Admiral Conso Forsorna was a Troll\/Incubus Blender with a Lust Demon\u2019s eyes, wings, horns, and tail. \u201cCaptain Royana,\u201d he purred. \u201cIt\u2019s an honor to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSpare me, Admiral! We both know you\u2019re stealing supplies!\u201d hissed Arsha. His smile then vanished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAll right, let\u2019s do as you suggested and get straight to the interrogation!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou stole supplies from us!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTo make sure you go along with the Council\u2019s decision! Aldarval\u2019s constructing a Realmgate behind our backs after we overrode her veto on keeping the Realms separate! Why?!\u201d Dalengor snarled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou\u2019re the one being-!\u201d Arsha raised her hand to stop her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re gonna humor him and go through his interrogation.\u201d She then turned to Conso. \u201cWe\u2019re reconnecting the Realms one way or another and halting the Trinnies\u2019 attempts to create their own.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCome on, they\u2019re not that smart!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou\u2019re underestimating the genius of their leaders! Dr. Borg probably looked at all the Realmgates, figured out the network, and decided to make her own when the old ones were destroyed!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t underestimate her genius. You, on the other hand, overestimate her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI most certainly do NOT! But, let\u2019s forget about her for a minute and get to more important matters! Do you have any idea how many supply lines this irresponsible act has disrupted?! My own castle\u2019s technology came from other Realms! Heating fuel from the Under-realm! Masonry from the Over-realm! Barely any Realm uses their own resources, we all made our money by exporting them!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe seem to be surviving just fine without the Realmgates! Our economies ARE still stable!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut for how long?! I know Dr. Borg! She\u2019ll strike when our economies finally collapse! She\u2019ll give us access to her own Realmgate network only if we bow to her! She adapts! Evolves! Destroying her is the only chance we have to survive and thrive!\u201d Conso shut his eyes in annoyance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGiven your history with Dr. Borg, I have a certain\u2026sympathy for your desire to end her life. But I cannot condone the rebuilding of the Realmgates if it means the continuation of the Final War. Your crew is hereby ordered to halt your labors and begin taking what you\u2019ve made apart so we can negotiate with the Realm Trinity Empire.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026I\u2019m afraid negotiation is impossible, especially for me, Lardeth, Malnar, and our parents.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou lot won\u2019t even try?!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur Blood Contract forbids that.\u201d Conso blinked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026You mean, that bit about the Blood Contract during your address to the Realms on the day your parents declared war? That was real?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI have the scar to prove it.\u201d She showed off the back of her right hand to give Conso a good look at her signature scarred onto it. She continued her explanation. \u201cIt said that we would avenge Andwayla\u2019s death by destroying the Realm Trinity Empire. If we try to negotiate with them, it would be considered reneging on the contract, and we\u2019d lose our lives. We CAN\u2019T negotiate with the Trinnies.\u201d Conso looked at her in horror. \u201cThey worship Oyed, remember? He won\u2019t rest until the Realms are destroyed. We HAVE to destroy him and his followers to survive, meaning we need to be more aggressive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell, you just left me with a horrid choice,\u201d growled Conso, \u201cwhether to stop you and let you die to save the Realms or to allow you to continue this fruitless war you, your lovers, and respective parents started!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know if you fully understand,\u201d replied Arsha, \u201cbut an Under-realm ruler was killed, an Over-realm ruler was wounded, and those acts took place in the Mid-realm. Andwayla Narven introduced methods that helped us hunt down Splitters in record time; her assassin, Yamta, spat on those contributions by killing her! If you were in our position-!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cArsha, you don\u2019t need to explain yourself!\u201d urged Dalengor. Arsha didn\u2019t stop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf you were in our position, Sir, you would do the same.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026I\u2019m not in your position, though. I can\u2019t even BEGIN to imagine your thought process on the eve of the War! You lot may have found a way to ignore the exhaustive implications of combat, but I have no such luxury! I don\u2019t have the freedom to kill you to save the Realms! We\u2019ve long agreed that such an act is reprehensible and entirely unacceptable! If the end of the Realms was farther off, I would have your parents executed and you and your fellows forced to give up your claims to your respective thrones, but Aldarval will surely veto that and we couldn\u2019t amass the necessary voices to overturn her veto, and I am NOT prepared to keep you locked up forever! So I see no alternative\u2026but to be the single \u201cno\u201d vote when we decide on keeping the Realmgates closed forever and to allow you to continue with your work on rebuilding the Realmgates.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026Very well,\u201d sighed Arsha. \u201cDalengor, let him go.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCaptain!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat\u2019s an order.\u201d Dalengor hesitated, then she keyed in a command on the console and lowered the energy field on Conso\u2019s cell. He then stepped out of the cell and turned to leave, then he turned back to Arsha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTake a message to the All-realm Royals and Aldarval,\u201d he hissed, \u201cI will be monitoring you lot VERY closely. If I EVER find out that you intend to prolong this war, I won\u2019t hesitate in taking aggressive action against you all! If the Final War doesn\u2019t end by this year, you, Lardeth, and Malnar are to surrender your claims to your respective thrones! Is that clear?!\u201d Arsha nodded, then Conso left.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t agree to that!\u201d hissed Dalengor. \u201cWe need YOU to rule the Mid-realm! Wasn\u2019t it your dream to marry your lovers and unite the Realms?!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI received a report a day ago,\u201d explained Arsha. \u201cEltan\u2019s group of renegade Revenants found out that the Trinnies betrayed Oyed and weakened him as well as all the Divine Ones. Right now, Dr. Borg\u2019s forces are manageable. I have a good feeling we WILL win the Final War before the year\u2019s out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat\u2019s three months out though!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThen we\u2019ll win in three months. I can see it now, all of Rokanth going through a five-day victory vice\u2026oh Depths, what was I thinking?!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCaptain?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat must be why Mom and Dad smoked! Seeing me again allowed for a victory vice! \u2026Depths, I was rude! I gotta go take care of something!\u201d She immediately dashed towards her quarters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dalengor pointed out the saboteur\u2019s cell. Admiral Conso Forsorna was a Troll\/Incubus Blender with a Lust Demon\u2019s eyes, wings, horns, and tail. \u201cCaptain Royana,\u201d he purred. \u201cIt\u2019s an honor to be here.\u201d \u201cSpare me, Admiral! We both know you\u2019re stealing supplies!\u201d hissed Arsha. His smile then vanished. \u201cAll right, let\u2019s do as you suggested and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4448,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[97,238],"tags":[482],"class_list":["post-4935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-three-realms","category-the-three-realms-book-5-the-final-fight","tag-fantasy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4935"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4935\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4936,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4935\/revisions\/4936"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4448"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}