Chương 144: 57 - THE GOLDEN SUN

It was a warm day. The wind bristled through the falling leaves as they changed into their autumn colors. The sun was unburdened by any clouds, allowing its heat to kiss the skin. Mitas Corlander stared at the sun through deeply tinted sunglasses. He stared for a while as if he were somehow competing with it. But the sun never stopped and never grew tired. Its presence was inevitable. Corlander envisioned that he would be as well one day. Then they would be equals.

"The day is gorgeous," he said. He walked with a cane on a trail outside the mansion. On days like these, he wasn't bothered to show off his age. German was by his side, with a hand underneath his arm for support.

"Is it? I didn't notice."

"That, I suppose, is your problem, German. You fixate so much on reality that you forget the feeling of it. But if there is no feeling, then there is no point because there is no reward. That is why I remind myself with these walks… of what it feels like to be powerless. So that I can rejoice in my progress."

"Were you able to deactivate all of them?"

"No. Just enough to feel the sun again." Corlander removed the gloves from his hands in order to feel the trunk of a tree. The ragged wood slid underneath his skin, but would burn where he touched it.

"In honesty, I'm still growing used to these powers of mine. The more loot I add, the less natural they feel to use. Instead of me flicking my hand as I once did, I now feel like I have to flip through a mental catalog in order to get the power I'm searching for. I'm still not sure of what all my body can handle having activated at once." Corlander could see that his right hand was hardly listening, trapped somewhere within his mind. He regloved his hand.

"I know you're against the Graceland assault." That got German's attention.

"But we'll leave time to determine if I'm being too impatient." German moaned an understanding, but Corlander had known his tendencies. Any anxiety he felt, he channeled into a controlled, cadenced set of blinks. It was small, but when a man worked so hard to hide his thoughts, one had to find them in the small things. Corlander watched his eyes, and German turned to him. Two blinks. One blink. Three. Off rhythm.

The old man turned to continue walking on his own power, his spine stiffening and his head raising tall as the air shifted around him.

"You have to let go of your attachments. It's the only way I've found to ascend above them."

"I understand. I have for a long time."

"Good… I must tell you that I'm grateful to you for your many years of service to me. I feel that's gone unsaid for far too long, German." German walked cautiously behind him, his footsteps unusually quiet.

"Mhmm."

"When my collection is finally complete, and my hold on reality is permanent, you will have as much as I do. I still aim to fulfill that promise." Mitas Corlander, adorned in a vibrant purple suit, turned to observe a specific tree with a hole in its center. German was inches from his back, face as blank as an empty letter. Corlander's mind mimicked his emptiness, guarding his thoughts like a protective shell. German reached for the man's back, casually cleaning a spec of dirt from his collar.

When he saw the man not reacting, his hands sparked with an unusual glow. The wind flurried, and an invisible force shoved German several yards away. Then the gravitational force around him began to pull down so hard that even the trees were forced to bow to him. German, of course, was no tree. His body was squished to the ground to the point of feeling his own blood squeezing his skull. Corlander turned around, stood perfectly in his crocodile skin shoes. His expression was unchanged.

"My offer still stands… despite this lapse in judgment." he stepped closer.

"I believe my assertion was right then to go through with the attack. They must be desperate to think that I wouldn't scan the neck of every person in my service. But this is what the world has come to. Pathetic acts of desperation." German grimaced on the ground, feeling his lungs collapse. Before that happened, he teleported away, leaving Corlander on his own. He reappeared in Graceland's library, choking to regain his breath. The residence quickly surrounded him.

"It… failed," he coughed. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Tyene and T'balt stared down at him and then at each other.

"I told you it wouldn't," Tyene said.

"It was worth a try, though," said T'balt. German removed the Wanderer and the Loot Thief from himself to give to Tyene, who then handed them off to T'balt.

"He'll be coming… soon."

"Alright. Back to Plan A." T'balt was wearing a dark blue, baggy windbreaker and black pants. He was strangely smiling at German.

"It's good to have you back on the team." To that, German only had one reasonable response.

"I don't know who you are."

"I know… Alright, everyone!" The dark-haired young man clapped his hands and the dozens of people in the room straightened at the call.

"The plan is a go. The fight is on its way, which means we have to move to our places right now! Ellie, get everyone who isn't fighting evacuated. Cannon and Vienna, prepare the shoreline defenses. David and his group, on the statue. We all know our roles. Let's defend this city!" There was a collective war cry as all the men and women filed quickly up the stairs like a well-trained battalion.

"German, you're in the library. I'll fill you in on your part in a moment." German glanced at Tyene, who nodded in confirmation and slowly walked up the stairs after everyone. He supposed he was just meant to wait his turn. T'balt caught Acelin lingering at the bottom of his steps, dragging his bat.

"What's the matter?"

"Do I really have to go with all the kids? What kind of knight runs away from the fight?"

"The kind that protects the innocent to make sure they get away." Usually, T'balt wouldn't mind having Acelin on the battlefield. The young boy used loot to a level that most adults couldn't, making him an essential force. But he was still a kid at the end of the day. If T'balt was going to be a father, he would have to be more responsible.

"You'll be with Ellie. You two should be able to keep everyone safe."

"Yeah. Sure."

"Hey, just do this for me, and you can pick whatever loot you want to defend." Acelin feigned like he was measuring the pros and cons but was unable to hide his excitement. Ellie, who lingered behind as well, nodded her approval.

"You heard him. Now go fetch T'balt's bag before everyone leaves you behind." The boy zipped to the back room, still having his speed loot. Ellie waited to hear him rummaging around with the coins before speaking.

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" she looked up at T'balt.

"I've done everything I can. I'll have to be. You just worry about the evacuation and our child." She smiled.

"I have a confession… I've been praying for a girl. Because I thought of the perfect name."

"You named them without me?"

"It's T'tania. But with an apostrophe instead of the I."

"You're really committing to the Shakespeare thing, huh? And what if it's a boy?"

"I've heard girlier names…" T'balt lowered his head to hide his laugh. Though he wanted to argue about that, both he and Ellie knew they didn't have the time.

"Fine. T'Tania it is." She kissed him lightly on the cheek, taking a look into his eyes almost like it was the last time. Gently, then she guided his hand to the back of her neck. The loot thief activated on its own, and in his open palm he held the Holly Bow loot.

"Make sure we get to meet her." The Gracelandians were loading into row boats on the western border of the city. It was the side going away from the south where the hunters were most likely to come from. It was mostly ocean, but the plan was for them to get out of range of the city, then take a sharp turn to a faraway docking area. That way the people who weren't fighting had the least chance of getting caught in any crossfire.

Ellie was there, making sure every single boat was loaded and each one had a water loot user to guide it quickly across the ocean. Acelin was stuck to her hip like a conjoined twin as the boats floated into the depleted light of dusk. Many of them had lit lanterns on them, just in case they lost their direction after nightfall. Uriel at the neck of the statue was just able to see them out of the corner of his eye.

"I suppose I should be grateful…" There was a static noise coming from below him, the sound of a microphone connecting with a speaker. David and the other Gracelandians were preparing a stage… for Lila Bloom. She waited patiently, in a glittery sequin ball gown, her eyes closed, taking deep breaths.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, LILA?" Uriel yelled.

"YOU SHOULD BE EVACUATING WITH THE OTHERS!" From all his time knowing her, she was never a fighter, a delicate flower whose power came from her voice alone. She tapped the microphone before speaking into it.

"I'm doing my part. Graceland has been my home for the last two months. Even if I can't fight, my voice will be our city's war cry. And hopefully that will give strength to anyone who can hear my voice." She started off with one of her hums. Many of the men and women who would soon become soldiers gathered around her platform. They bowed their heads in prayer at the sound of her voice. They were praying to him.

And before they went off to battle, each one would kiss the toe of the Bestower statue for added strength. Cannon and Vienna watched the eastern shore, searching for the arrival of the enemy. A battalion of Gracelandian soldiers was behind them. They had no uniform or guns. They stood unified at the sound of Lila's song.

"This is gonna be a long night," Cannon said.

"If we get through it, dinner's on me." Vienna raised her binoculars to her face, seeing the enemies gathering at the docks in the distance.

"I wasn't aware we paid for things on this island." T'balt found Tyene out on a deserted street, sitting by herself at an outdoor cafe table. She was looking up at the full moon. Before he could say anything, German interrupted him in his mind.

"Corlander is approaching."

"Did you hear that?" he asked Tyene.

"Didn't need to…" Once he followed her gaze, he could see a shadowy silhouette blocking the moon. It was Corlander floating there in golden armored regalia, looking down on them as if that space were the heavens. He then reached his hand even further above him to summon a meteor.