Beneath the Dragoneye Moons - Chapter 524: Sentinel Meeting

Night was back!

I practically bounced through the streets, my cape fluttering around me as the citizens got out of my way with nothing more than a respectful “Sentinel.” greeting, or similar.

I deliberately restrained myself and slowed down, Iona catching up a moment later, an amused look on her face. I had a distracted thought that wondered how well her new armor would catch sunlight – hadn’t had a proper chance to see it, not with the ashen clouds over Sanguino.

“Trying to start a panicked stampede?” She teased. “Nothing scarier here than a Sentinel running.”

I muttered a deflection, my stomach twisting and turning in knots. Iona had no mercy, possibly due to the savagery aspect she got from Fenrir.

“We’re only an hour early.” She effortlessly dodged a sandal thrown across the road, a heated argument underway.

I slowed down, and went around a cart instead of over it, just to prove my point.

“Look, it’s been tens of thousands of years since I was at one of these.” I countered – poorly. “Let a girl be a little nervous, yeah?”

I then utterly betrayed my earlier attempt at slowing down and trying to prove I was calm and collected by ducking down and speeding up to pass under a palanquin, instead of waiting for it to pass by. I gave it the stink-eye as Iona waited a heartbeat, and then continued walking.

I tried to keep myself humble, and I wouldn’t start shit over it, but I seriously had to wonder who had the gall to see a Sentinel, fully fledged in armor and badges, going down the road and say ‘nah, I’m going to cut them off and hope they’re in a good mood.’ Seriously?

I reset my thoughts, trying to prevent myself from growing the sort of ego that could be problematic, that ended up with me demanding everyone bow, scrape, and clear the road every time I passed.

Law and order held sway in Sanguino and Exterreri. Rank, status, and level didn’t mean as much as rule of law, and a palanquin with right of way was fully entitled to cut me off.

I was so full of energy. I bounced my leg up and down as I waited for Iona to catch up with me. I swear my wife was going at normal speed just to fuck with me, and her grin suggested that was exactly what she was doing.

I almost – almost – whined at her to hurry up, but that would’ve been going too far. Instead, I tried to burn off some of the frantic, restless, excited energy somehow. Without making the Sentinels look bad.

After an agonizing eternity of six minutes, we made it to Castle Stormwatch, where the guards let me through with a smile and shot cold looks at Iona. We made our way through the vaunted halls, past the displays of various trophies from Exterreri’s conquests.

I took a careful look at them, paying special attention to the dates. All of them, without exception, were from the ‘current’ era, after the latest rounds of violent Immortal wars. The timeline spoke to near-constant conquest up until around fifty years ago.

Gods. Goddesses. Ciriel. There we go.

Things were… well, I couldn’t say things were peaceful with a straight face, not after leaving the Han Empire. But things were relatively stable. Border skirmishes were the biggest thing I was hearing about. Urwa was lightly raiding all their neighbors, but were mostly content to stay in their lands and make themselves obscenely wealthy. There was a long-standing sibling rivalry between the Golden Courts and Tympestshard Council that occasionally erupted in bloodshed but was at a low simmer. The demons of Draakveld didn’t allow anyone to stay more than a night, but didn’t try to murder their neighbors.

In a word, peace.

If only everyone could be content. It only took a few greedy guts to spoil it for everyone. A few people pushing for more and more and more, consuming everything and never dying, never releasing their chokehold.

I’d sworn to do no harm, but right now Nina’s [Creed] was looking mighty tempting. Command’s use of the Shadow Sentinels to quietly keep the peace was sounding… reasonable.

I shook my head as I arrived at the room, a dozen servants carrying heavy trays of food getting out of my way. I pulled a face as I darted in, Iona laughing behind me.

“I couldn’t even tell them to ignore me, no, go on ahead!” I complained to her, eyeing up the grand buffet being set up along the wall, trying to mentally mark some choice pieces. If the meetings were a third as chaotic as the Remus ones had been, there’d be an absolute free-for-all for the food at the end, and I didn’t want to waste any time hesitating over what to get. Proper prior planning prevented piss poor performance! For everything from battling for my life, to battling for lunch.

Farmed hypsilophodon legs – the skin was so tasty crisped and herbed – and barbequed lesothosaurus ribs that made my mouth water just looking at them were my top picks. Garlic rice, a salad with walnuts and a jug of dressing that smelled divine, and cupcakes for dessert.

All hail Night! All hail the new world order! If this is how we ate during Sentinel meetings, I wanted to have them three times a day.

Iona and I grabbed a bench to share near the food. The seating here was interesting. A large number of benches, each able to seat roughly three people comfortably or four if they squeezed together, all facing a slightly elevated platform near the ‘front’ of the room. There were no windows in the room at all. I suspected security took precedence over comfort and light… then again, maybe it was because most of the Sentinels were vampires, and Sanguino might not always have an Ashen cloud cover.

Or heck, maybe this was Meeting Room #14, and whoever administered Castle Stormwatch had decided it was the right room for us. We weren’t the only military power in Exterreri. There were the Rangers, Command, the Legions, and the Bloodsworn Order, to name a few.

Adventurers didn’t count.

“Do the Valkyries ever have meetings like this?” I asked Iona as I mentally debated if I could [Rapid Reshelving] a particularly tasty-looking cookie directly into my mouth. There should be enough of a gap if I opened my mouth wide enough… maybe fake a yawn.

She shook her head.

“Never like this. Occasionally, in the winter, when the grand hall would fill with us all, Sigrun would make a quick announcement.” Iona’s voice was tight, the echo of old pain etching itself into her eyes as her hand tightened around her winged helmet.

I felt bad asking. Even if every single Valkyrie alive constantly had a squire, and all of the squires made it and raised their own, it would be decades before she was in another hall of warrior women.

I patted her armored leg, silently letting her know I understood.

Sentinels with a few members of their team started to trickle in. Archmage, the tiny gnome-turned-vampire was one of the first members in, floating along on nothing. A pair of hulking orcs providing muscle to the fragile mage. She tsked at the arrangement, and with runes flashing faster than I could see, transfigured one of the front-row benches into something like a tiny tower.

Yawning, I made a mental note to talk with the Sentinel after the meeting. She was one of the Spatial wizards, and even though I’d gotten a bit of a cold reception from her before, there was no reason not to keep trying. I wanted Kunchenjab to help me out making a rune, but if she could, I don’t know, give me exercises to do or something, that could help my class quality become more potent. Or just have neat tricks.

I stealthily munched on a cookie, debating the best way to ask her as various Sentinels trickled in. I waved to Queen, who smiled and waved back, and lamented Tyrannus being off-rotation.

“Dawn! Great! Just wanted to let you know the War Sentinel meeting is still on. The days of the week we meet up, it’ll be immediately after this one.”

I shot a quick look at the buffet table, swallowing too much at once to hide the evidence of my crimes.

“Do we just eat all day?” I asked incredulously. Iona started to shake with silent laughter. “We’ll be as round as a pig!”

Queen’s amused face was utterly perfect. The only reason I knew it was the byproduct of a skill was being on the wrong end of her perfect poker face one time too many. It only made sense for a noble to have a skill like that, although I wasn’t going to ask Iona. The card dealer laughed politely.

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“Not at all! We simply order lunch when Arachne is in charge, to maintain something of the tradition. Oh! Sabre! Over here!” She waved to an ogre, his muscles larger than Iona’s and so ram-rod straight I swore someone had surgically implanted a Legion standard up his ass.

I recognized some Sentinels, didn’t recognize others. There were a pair of members of the Bloodsworn Order here. When Iona locked eyes with them, there was a sort of electrical tension going on between them as the [Knights] from rival Orders sized each other up. I’d bet they’d want to spar after, then go out drinking and become fast friends. The beauty of the rotation – we’d all work with each other at some point. While Night’s method was significantly more time-consuming than Arachne’s ‘you’ll get a letter when we need you’, the fact that I couldn’t name about a third of the Sentinels here felt like a problem.

Difference in leadership styles. I could make long, elaborate arguments in favor of either one, but at the end of the day, the balance was probably getting the best of both worlds.

Night entered, escorted by his team, and the casual conversation quickly petered out. One last lingering servant making sure everything was just right had a dozen eyes boring into him, and he decided that the plates could be at the other end of the table instead, fleeing under the combined pressure.

“He got three levels just now.” Iona murmured to me out of the corner of her mouth. I stifled a laugh.

Night walked to the front of the room, commanding everyone’s attention with his mere presence. He stood on top of the small stage, turned around, and opened his arms.

“Sentinels, friends, and all. Welcome again. While I know some of you have the long view, treating the recent passage of time like the blink of an eye, to me, it has been far, far too long since I’ve stood here in front of you all. It is my humble pleasure to be here. Now, before we get too deep into the proceedings, there is a slightly urgent matter that we must obtain a consensus on before we go any further.”

Tension lanced through the room like a lightning bolt. The room went from relaxed and casual, the first meeting again after eight years, seeing old friends and generally having a grand old time, to a room filled with hardened killers, ready to apply as much violence to a problem as needed for it to go away.

“Valkyrie Iona, if you would please approach.”

Iona and I traded mutually shocked looks before my wife stood up, and walked over to the stage. Night smiled at her.

“I recently presided over Valkyrie Iona and Sentinel Dawn’s wedding, and Arache and I regularly meet with Dawn and her team in a social capacity. I have the utmost faith in Sentinel Dawn, and my trust in her judgment extends to her closest family members. Valkyrie Iona, also going by the title The Dusk Valkyrie, has a unique blessing from the gods, a divinely granted gift that all should be aware of.”

Night paused, letting the anticipation build – and possibly let people relax. Tension visibly bled out as the urgent matter wasn’t some crisis requiring intervention.

“She is capable of seeing all status, skills, and abilities. Nothing can hide from her keen eye. As I have mentioned, I have complete faith in her discretion, and Arachne has found use for her abilities at times. With that said, if any Sentinel is uncomfortable with her presence, we will politely ask her to leave and invite Sentinel Dawn to bring other members of her entourage around. With that said, should anyone choose to speak up at this time, do note that I politely request that you never ask Dawn for assistance from her wife. Thank you.”

I saw Addolorata slip a piece of paper to Iona as small discussions broke out around me. I did my best to listen in on all of them, because fuck not listening in when it directly impacted me.

“If Night has nothing to hide…”

“Clearly good at discretion if we’ve never heard of this before.”

“I’m not comfortable with this.” A member of a Sentinel’s entourage complained.

“I am, and Night was clear – Sentinels objecting. You’re free to leave, but I think it’d be a bad idea.”

“The inability to request assistance is devious, a genius social move. Take a note, bring it back to…”

Okay, okay, good, nobody was objecting, so I didn’t have to object to them. Anyone complaining about Iona I’d take serious beef with, and we were Immortal – a grudge could last a long, long time.

Night clapped his hands together, bringing the attention of the room back to him.

“With no further objections and a busy agenda, I declare Valkyrie Dusk able to continue attending the meetings. Moving on. Nominations for any Sentinel who would like to join Arachne and I in taking up the burden of command, as the late Sentinel Titan used to.”

Half of me listened to Night while the other focused on Iona, speed-reading the letter she got from Night’s devil teammate the moment it came in range.

Dawn, Dusk.

I apologize for springing this on you at the last moment. I have no excuse for the lapse of thought, and I apologize again for any awkwardness that has resulted. Dusk’s abilities potentially being problematic to the other Sentinels only occurred to me as we were arriving today, and given its potentially sensitive nature, I wanted to clear the air immediately. I believe you are capable of imagining the negative reactions should Iona’s capabilities be revealed after weeks or months of close contact, how some would consider her to be a spy, or for the lack of information to be a deep betrayal of trust.

Thank you for your understanding,

Sentinel Night

The letter made me significantly less grumpy, and when I remembered the stacks upon stacks of paperwork Night was going through to prepare for his rotation in command, and how many Sentinels there were, each with their own team, and how many tens of thousands of different interactions there could be, I could see how this one could’ve been a small oops. A little out of character for Night, but he’d never claimed to be perfect – indeed, he often claimed the opposite.

Iona was looking displeased as she stomped back, the unhappy look on her face decreasing as she read Night’s apology. [Rapid Reshelving] blatantly and openly stole some of the dessert table.

Hey, after being called out like that in front of everyone, I was more than willing to jump the line, and dared anyone to say something about it. Queen mimed a laugh at my theft.

“Cupcake?” I softly whispered to Iona, offering it to her.

“With a brownie.” She affirmed, using [Telekinesis] to flagrantly snatch a second desert off the table.

Calorie therapy secured, we listened to Night speak.

“… and Sentinel Archmage, we have deployments for the four of you. Addolorata has the details.”

Dammit! I swore as Archmage and three other Sentinels got up, walked or floated to the front of the room, and got a set of notes from Addolorata. There went my chance to chat with Archmage! I’d have to do it when she was back.

I knocked on the wood of my bench. I hoped I hadn’t jinxed it.

The four Sentinels were gone in less than a minute, swiftly striding out to whatever disaster required the presence of Exterreri’s hardest hitters.

“As many of you know, each rotation I try something a little different. This time, I believe an after action report, no matter how aged, is appropriate even if no Sentinel has recently returned from their mission. Lastly, we will discuss the missions the Sentinels who have just been dispatched are on, debate the finer details of the deployment, and, should we come to a consensus that either additional resources are required, or the wrong Sentinel was dispatched, we will send a second Sentinel to assist. Fortunately for today, Sentinel Sabre, who would like to be called the Sword Saint, has recently had a battle that he has requested to share today. Sentinel Sabre, if you would take the stage please?”

Night offered, and the ogre stood up, marching over to the stage. He lacked a few of the traits that marked vampires, and I wondered if he was one of the rare mortals who’d seized Immortality on their own.

If so, I was starting out super impressed. Seizing it as a [Healer] was difficult enough, but doing it in a combat class was damn-near impossible.

I leaned forward as he started to speak, wanting to catch every word.

“Hello. I am Sentinel Sabre. I am of the opinion that we should constantly be on the road, like members of the Bloodsworn Order, close enough to problems that we can react immediately. Each and every one of us has sufficient power to handle most issues, even if we are not perfectly suited to it. To date, Command has not seen fit to deploy us in this manner.”

He sounded sour about that last part, and I thought he was making good points. Iona was nodding along with him. It only made sense – it was how [Knight-Errants] operated, it was kind of like how Rangers operated, but our heaviest hitters needed to know where to be. Simply scattering people around and hoping could work for 95% of our problems, but the remaining 5%…

Plus, then the War Sentinels and Shadow Sentinels ended up in an awkward spot, and there was a lack of knowledge cross-pollination…

But the rapid response to problems could significantly reduce those issues, and-

Thank goodness for [Luminary Mind].

“In my personal attempt to demonstrate the validity of this proposal, I go on a daily patrol around Exterreri, hoping to stop problems in time. Three days ago, I encountered an elf and a demon fighting, high level powerhouses both.”

There was a ripple of murmurs at the prospect of a demon powerhouse, and what I quickly got from listening to literally everyone in the room was concern. Concern that the demons of Draakveld, who’d held themselves to a rigorous standard and kept to a ‘simple’ life, were starting to see rogue elements breaking free. Rogue elements that could result in them rising again, and this was bad for… reasons I didn’t quite know in the moment.

“They were throwing around skills that could wipe out a fraction of a city if aimed poorly, and given how Exterreri was neither’s home, there was no care for collateral damage. I…”

Sentinel Sabre started to tell his story.

An elf from Tympestshard Council was aggressively attacking a demon. The elf had Gemstone, Radiance, and Mirror elements, and was aggressive at using all three. Gigantic seraphims made out of diamond, wielding burning ruby swords and firing Radiance from their hands and mouths chased the demon, who freely wielded Darkness, Gravity, and Brilliance. He hid in the darkness, and shadows reached with hungry mouths, the Brilliant light amplifying their strength. Force and Brilliance panes snapped into existence whenever the Darkness was pierced through by the Radiance attacks, stopping the latest scattering of razor-sharp sapphire shots.

When attacks missed, fields burned. When one of the ‘angels’ was deactivated or cut off from its creator, it fell like a rock, destroying sheds before breaking into a million sharp pieces of high-speed shrapnel.

When the demon had his forearm burned off, he descended down on some shepherds, briefly enveloping them in further Darkness before taking off again. Nothing was alive when he left, a series of dried-out bodies on one side, a restored arm on the other.

“… I am not good at protecting things.” Sentinel Sabre freely admitted. “My best solution was to end the fight, one way or another. My logic at the time was simple. If one of the two combatants was dead, the fight was over. I saw no true reason to attempt to keep both alive, not when they so casually disregarded our sovereignty and citizens. I briefly weighed the elf’s life on a scale, balancing a near neighbor with positive feelings towards us, versus removing a powerful Classer who will undoubtedly one day turn against us. The second weighing I did was the aggressor. It is far easier to join in a hunt for prey, than to attack the predator. There was a strong chance, should I attack the elf, that the demon would continue to flee, leaving me alone in single combat. The potential rise again of Draakveld, I will admit, did not cross my mind, but further analysis now suggests my decision to attack the demon was correct.”

Sabre continued on, describing his abilities and how he used them. [Skin of Steel, Bones of Iron] was his defense, and [Battle Meditation] let him continuously ramp up as he fought, a rare skill in Mantle. His duel, probing moves, feints, and getting himself into a position to stack a number of devastating active skills at once. [Mantle-Breaker], [Cutting Wind], [Blade Storm], and [Punish] all came together with [Perfect Parry] to strike down the demon in a single blow. The demon dying, and what classes he had, along with Sabre’s speculations on what they meant.

“… I was deeply concerned that this was the start.” He said. “With Sentinel Night’s announcements, a pair of Immortals carelessly fighting over Exterreri? I saw the start of the end flashing before me, and it was clear the elf was considering starting a second fight after I prematurely ended his battle. Instead, he chose to simply lecture me on everything I did wrong, then ran away.”

There were some disbelieving laughs at that, mine included.

Night took the stage next to Sabre.

“Thank you Sabre!” He said. “Who would like to be the first to comment? Yes, Eruption?”

Sentinel Eruption stood up.

“Well done Sabre!” She said. “Brilliantly executed. Now, I have some questions about the deflection skill you mentioned…”

It wasn’t the barely-contained chaos of the Remus Sentinels, but in many ways, it felt… familiar. I smiled as the warm comfort of the after action report settled over me.