Chapter: 674 – Could Have Gone Better

Tala felt a bit bemused at the turn of events. A House of Blood guard was quickly running the ten feet from the door to the back of the Talons waiting at rest behind her, sword already free of his scabbard and drawing back to swing.

In the hall beyond, a general alarm was being spun up.

The prime sergeant in charge of the three squads of Talons snapped out a command that made no sense to Tala, but she supposed that was the point.

Interestingly, Tala felt the smallest brush of authority and existence at the utterance, as if something of incredible power had been drawn by the incomprehensible words, and it was mildly displeased by them. Though, it apparently wasn’t enough so as to bring about action of any kind.

Regardless, the middle Talon in the back turned and stepped toward the oncoming guard, his white steel shield morphing into a pole-catch, a long pole with a collar at the end instead of a blade or spike.

The Talon moved with such speed and fluidity that he’d thrust out and caught the charging guard around the neck—white steel flowing to make it a full circle—before the man realized what was happening.

The Talon stepped back and to the side, twisting and dragging the guard to the ground while bleeding off his momentum so he wouldn’t snap his own neck. The white armored Talon then held his stance, keeping the guard pinned on his side, well out of reach. The white steel shaft of the pole-catch shrugged off the man’s sword strikes with ease.

Even so, more house guards were coming in the door now, the alarm spreading.

Head Corinis sighed, standing and using magic to project his voice. Interestingly, by the threads of reality and authority she could see—along with the magic—his voice seemingly would be heard by every House of Blood member within the hold. “Stand down. This is a false alarm. Everything is under control. Thank you for your vigilance. Return to your regular duties.”

He then nodded once to himself and sat back down.

The previously charging house guards slid to a stop, the other Talons having not even turned around. The single who was still keeping their fellow pinned, didn’t move, that Talon’s magic at a low burn—just barely at a higher loss than the other Talons—to easily counter the strength of the Elder guard.

The prime sergeant snapped out another command, and the white-steel pole-catch flowed back into the form of a shield, the Talon turning and returning to position, seeming uncaring of the ‘enemies’ behind, magic clamping down once more to minimal levels.

The other house guards helped their companion up, bowed as one to the room at large, and retreated, keeping wary eyes on the Talons as they did so.

When the door was pulled closed again, Head Corinis sighed once more. “You could have handled that better, Eskau Tala.”

Tala shook her head. “I believe that is only true in the sense that everything can be done better in retrospect. No one was harmed, and you got an easy demonstration of their capabilities.”

The Head steepled his fingers, raising one eyebrow.

The blue Pillar leaned forward in interest. “I don’t detect any gates, yet their weapons are morphic. Have you found a way to get such results without a soul-bond with special treatment of materials?”

Tala gave a nod. “It is a function of the white steel you see. The material is expensive to produce and takes a good amount of time as well. Beyond that, the use of it is a question of meticulous training. My Talons, including those you see here, have had more than a decade of dedicated training, partially under Eskau Meallain’s tutelage.”

That caused a ripple of mutters through the Eskau and Pillars. Eskau Reidh still ostensibly had the floor, so it made sense that it was he who broke the short silence. “Well… This is indeed a substantial show of force. Do I understand your words correctly? These are not all of your… Talons?”

“That is correct. I have fifty Talons of a similar level to these, with another two hundred with training ranging from five years to a few months.”

If the earlier revelations had caused shock, this was another level entirely. Eyes widened, people gasped, and Pillar Cruas snorted, muttering under his breath even though all present could hear him regardless. “No wonder Eskau Meallain isn’t in a hurry to return home. She has a miniature army to train. I bet she’s having the time of her life, lifting up sparring partners by the dozen.”

Chuckles rippled through those who knew the elven Eskau, breaking some of the tension.

Head Corinis’s eyes were narrowed. “Two hundred and fifty warriors. I notice you make no mention of their advancement.”

Tala shrugged, gesturing to those behind her. “All will have this level of power, even if not this level of skill in wielding it.”

Confusion followed those words. How could a non-gateless have power without the skill to wield it. It made no sense. The only way that was possible was…

One by one, they understood, several outright choking on the very idea.

Head Corinis fixed her with an intense gaze. “These soldiers are not magically bound to you; their power does not mirror yours in feel. That means that you have easy access to unaspected power at Revered densities.” It wasn’t a question. “This is the only explanation.”

Tala sighed. She’d known this would come out sooner rather than later, the revealing of the Talons bringing it to the forefront. “Yes.”

Silence was absolute.

After a moment, the turtle-kin Pillar began to chuckle, his laugh growing until everyone turned to regard him. The man got himself under control before wiping a tear from one eye.

Head Corinis arched an eyebrow. “Care to share what is so funny, Pillar?”

“But of course.” He smiled. “She has brought together exactly the resources needed to entice Houses away from vestiges.” He turned to glance at Tala. “I assume that there are no vestiges involved, yes?”

“That is correct.” She answered easily.

“You see? She has held this in reserve, likely to prevent three things.” The turtle raised three claw-tipped fingers. “First, she wanted her appointment to be based upon herself, not upon this novelty, no matter what it is. Therefore, it will be difficult to reproduce, likely taking many iterations to perfect if it is possible to reproduce at all.”

It was Tala’s turn to lift her eyebrows in surprise.

“She was not willing for her position to be tenuous until replication was figured out. Second, she did not want this idea to be stolen, which means that it would likely be easier to abuse the trick, maybe even applying it to existing structures, possibly even increasing the desire and need for vestiges or something similar. With such available, the chances of peace with the northern gated would become shaky at best, untenable at worst.”

He wasn’t wrong, but… Alat cackled. -We didn’t think this far through it. He’s giving us far too much credit.-

“Third, I would bet that the current version has herself at the core. There is a chance, however small, that we would have tried to capture her and extort the use without her being in principal control. This might have even been the reason she waited until she had advanced this far before returning to us. Given her previous interactions with our House, I cannot blame that concern, misplaced as it may be.” He regarded Tala critically. “Did I get close to the mark, young Eskau?”

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Tala huffed a laugh. “Precisely right, good Pillar.”

The turtle-kin gave a self-satisfied nod and leaned back, a contented smile across his features.

Eskau Reidh was still standing, and he huffed a laugh. “My final objection is satisfied. I vote in favor on behalf of my Pillar and our segment of the House of Blood.”

Tala gave the dragonling a grateful nod even as the Eskau returned to his seat. Tala directed her question to the Head of House. “Head Corinis, are my Talons still required?”

The man shook his head. “No. They may go.”