Fowlhunter [GL]

Jemi was the first to react. It was a sudden and silent movement. One arm around her shoulder, and the next, one of her daggers curved around the girl’s neck like a liquid silver snake.

“.......” Ennanis stared at the pair of them, flat. “Put the knife down, lightning bug.”

Jemi ignored the angel. She cocked her head to look at Vesuvio’s daughter, instantly breaking out in a malevolent grin.

“Hey now, kid. I know you’re not used to following orders, but everyone learns to take turns eventually.” She tilted the blade ever so slightly, adding pressure. It was hard to believe that this was one of the same daggers being used to grill sandwiches a moment ago—but Ennanis had once been on the receiving end of their bite too, back in the Palace lake. “The orders are very simple. You are going to remain still, be very quiet, and answer a few questions for us.”

When Pelia heard Jemi’s request, she seemed just mildly surprised. “Oh, questions? You’re not going to ask for my wallet?”

“You’re giving that to us, too?” Jemi gasped. “How generous of you!”

“Don’t,” Ennanis warned.

“Stop me then. Free her from my evil, terrible clutches,” Jemi offered.

“She’s a child.”

“Hm. Indeed,” Jemi poked Pelia’s cheek with the tip of her dagger. “One that’s oddly calm for the situation.”

“You’re not the first person to think they can get away with threatening a helpless, young girl with powerful connections,” Pelia deadpanned. She did seem awfully used to this sort of situation.

“I have Soleki links with multiple guards right now. At my word, any of them will come to my aid. Even if they don’t make it in time to rescue me, you two will definitely not make it out of these mines alive, no matter how strong you may be.” Emerald eyes glimmered.

“I suppose that’s to be expected from someone of your bearing.” Jemi said, though she didn’t appear worried. “I take it, then, that you’re not giving them said word for a reason.”

“Yes, so stop threatening me, idiot,” Pelia spat rather bravely. “I’m only here because Capri sent me to help the angel. As repayment, she said.”

Jemi crooked her brow at Ennanis. “Wow, Commander. You really do get all the girls, don’cha?”

“Ask the relevant questions, please.”

Jemi withdrew her dagger. Pelia relaxed minutely.

“I believe you,” Jemi informed the girl as she flipped her weapons back into her cloak, “but believe me when I say that, if you try anything funny while I’m around—you’ll regret it.”

Pelia Vesuvio wasn’t the most trustworthy person to let in on their plan, but without more information, their plan would be stuck at a dead-end anyway. The help offered by the daughter of Vesuvio was likely the only chance they would get. If she ratted them out to her father… well, a child was easy enough to hold hostage for the Cockatrice, no matter how many guards she sent her way.

As if sensing the aura of malice emanating from Jemi, Pelia backed away from her. She came to a stop beside Ennanis, as if subconsciously seeking protection from the angel. Once there, she gave her a glance.

“Is your friend always like this?”

“Not a friend,” Ennanis stated. “An ally.”

“O…oh. Okay.”

Ennanis turned her gold eyes down on Pelia. Her height towered above the girl. Voice droning, she said, “Do not mistake me for the good cop. I am not like other angels. If you betray us, I will similarly make sure you are punished.”

Her pupils shrinking, Pelia gave a sober nod.

Jemi sighed. “Let’s get on with it.”

The three women huddled back into the shelter of the tunnel and explained their theory to Pelia. The young woman listened, clacking her tongue.

“Colour me impressed,” Pelia said. “You figured most of it out, from just one trivial detail.”

“Oh, not just me. I have very competent friends,” Jemi said humbly, though still looking rather smug altogether. “...And allies,” she added with a off-handed, wry glance toward Ennanis. Ennanis ignored her.

Pelia looked between the two of them, and appeared to mentally give up. She stroked her chin instead. Still dressed in her prim blouse and skirt, her redhead covered by a hardhat while she conspirated with a pair of spies, she was a baffling sight. “It is true that my ancestors built a false mountain over what was once a volcano, digging out a cavern after a fortuitous landslide buried the original mouth,” she confirmed. “It was a very delicate process, especially when they got close to revealing the mouth. The feat was only achieved with the help of angels.”

Ennanis stiffened. “Angels helped?”

“Why, of course,” Pelia cocked her head. “It wouldn’t have been possible otherwise. The lava leakages killed any human instantly. Only angels could endure them long enough to clear out the cavern and without risking their lives. It was well worth it, though. With the installation of the volcanic mining level, workers could get closer to the lava than ever before. We couldn’t do that with magma, because the ground below the mountain is too hard to drill through at any reasonable rate. But the softer rock of the landslide was more manageable.”

“But why would angels have helped with something like that?” Angels were supposed to carry out missions that either directly helped lives or maintained peace among humans. They didn’t take on jobs for businesses.

“Close proximity to lava is also excellent for tempering luminarial gold for Soleki weapons. The angels and my ancestors made a deal: help them open the mines in exchange for material.” She paused, looking at Ennanis. “This is news to you?”

“We were… not told the specifics,” Ennanis said.

“Ah. You’re one of those young ones, then?” Pelia nodded as if it made a lot of sense. It sounded funny since the human girl was seven years her junior, but twenty-seven was young for an angel, especially for one to reach the rank of commander. In truth, Ennanis had seen little compared to others of her station.

Perhaps angels before her had come down here before to investigate the rumours of child labour at the bottom of the Vesuvio mines. But then, they realised that this was part of an ages-old trade deal between Casca and Kanch, one that they didn’t have the status to challenge.

“That aside,” Pelia continued, “Kanch has always had lava, which was capable of producing exquisite amethyne. According to our beliefs, the spirits of the Agni live within the lava. However, around a decade ago, this dragon of fire visited Amethyne Mountain, and we decided that was the Agni in its true form. We don’t know how it comes or goes; it would simply appear in the chamber and disappear randomly. But we noticed whenever the Agni was around, the lava around it produced even vaster quantities of higher-quality amethyne.

“My father has made several attempts to secure the Agni permanently within the lava chamber. But it was only a week ago he was successful. However… you two say that the Agni that is really an ancient monster known as the Kraken, and now that it’s been emboldened, it’s only a matter of time till it forces its way out.”

“I mean, it’s kinda to be expected, isn’t it?” Jemi said. “The Agni is your god; do you really think man can ensnare a god?”

“Man can dream of anything,” Pelia said. “And you know how some sunbloods think of themselves as demi-gods of sorts. Combine that with nobility, and well, you have a recipe for unchecked ambition.”

“Just like you?” Jemi sniffed.

“And yourself,” Pelia retorted, glancing at violet eyes. “Don’t act like you’re so different from me.”

The woman went quiet. “I am different from you,” she hissed.

“Both of you, calm down,” Ennanis raised her hands. “We’re all here with the same goal—presumably. Hundreds of young lives are at stake that we want to protect. We have to find a way how.”

The three lapsed into silence.

Jemi turned to Ennanis. “Call them again,” she said.

“Why?”

“More heads put together is better,” Jemi said. “We don’t have to think on our own, you know.”

So Ennanis called Asha.

Hm. I don’t think there’s any way to stop the eruption. There have been several tries over undercloud history to stop volcanic eruptions, like plugging the mouth or drilling at different points to release pressure, but the explosion always ended up worse afterwards. The lava will shred through anything in its path, and if that’s really the Kraken—everyone is as good as cooked.

“If the explosion is bound to happen at one point or another, could we purposefully evacuate everyone to a safe place, and then break the grates ourselves to trigger the eruption?” Ennanis said. “That would remove the unpredictability.”

“I might be able to manage the evacuation,” Pelia said. “But good luck trying to break the grates, if even the Agni couldn’t do it yet.”

“I have an idea,” Ennanis said.

Jemi noticed where the angel’s gaze was drifting: down at her gold-braced arms.

“No,” she said.

“Why not?”

Jemi narrowed her eyes. “You’ll die, cinderbrain.”

“Dying for humanity is what an angel is meant to do,” Ennanis said. At Jemi’s look, she added, “It makes sense. It’s simply a matter of choosing between one death and the deaths of many.”

“Have you the wits of a moth? You minus your brace may be more powerful, but it might still not be enough to work. You can’t just brute-force something like this. I’m not letting you fly yourself into fire for no good reason,” Jemi said firmly. She exhaled. “Even if—let’s say you did break the grate, there’s no telling how far the eruption goes. Everyone might still die regardless, even if we think they’re a safe distance away. This is the Kraken we’re talking about. The one that travelled five peaks up Mount Casca.”

Hey, y’all, came over the Soleki connection. Lochlan says he had something. What if we extinguished the fire somehow? No, Nessie, shhh, that isn’t a silly idea at all, it’s worth discussing! What do you think?

“I doubt it’s going to be as simple as dousing it with a crapton of water, unless it is,” Ennanis thought aloud.

“No,” Pelia said. “The water would turn to steam before it even touches the lava. Honestly, anything you can possibly think of to quell a volcano, has probably been theorised and met with failure.”

“Then what do people do?” Ennanis asked.

“Accept it,” Pelia answered. “A volcano is a force of nature, and the Agni is the blessing of the Kancha people. We are born from it and return to it after death.” She laughed breathily, as if to herself: “Gosh, if Capri heard me right now, she would be in fits.”

“Still, there must be some way to stop it…” Ennanis murmured. She stopped. “The Cockatrice.”

“Who is dead,” Jemi said sourly.

“She isn’t.”

“……” Jemi paused. “It doesn’t matter what you deludedly believe. It’s a no.”

“Then what do you think we should do?”

“I’m thinking,” Jemi breathed deeply, “that we should sit this one out.”

“What?” Ennanis demanded, turning to her. “Weren’t you just in on stopping the eruption?”

“That was before. Now, I see that it is clearly impossible,” Jemi said. Her tarnished-gold hair rustled in the cavern breeze, her expression deadly calm. “We should just let the Kraken take its natural course. If what the Kancha have been doing all these years is leaving the volcanoes be, then anything we might do could make things even worse. To them, this is just another normal volcanic eruption. The best option for us now is to take our group and book it as far as possible, then recuperate after it blows.”

“This isn’t just some normal volcanic eruption,” Ennanis said, irritated. “Take some responsibility.”

“What responsibility?”

“For people other than you and your own friends.” Her words were halting, slow. “You don’t hold all the leverage here, miss. You wouldn’t have come to me if you hadn’t needed me as much as I apparently need you. I’m going to stay to save the people here, no matter what it takes, and no matter what you say.”

Sharply, Jemi inhaled. But all she responded with was, “I won’t let you.”

“Thanks, but I really don’t need your permission, leader.”

“Try me.” Twin silver blades slid into view. Ennanis raised her eyebrow, and Lienna on her knucklebone began to glow.

“Ahem-hem!”

Pelia coughed. The two older women lowered their weapons to look at her. “Stop! Are you both nuts?” she hissed. She sighed grandly. “I can’t believe these are the two individuals who managed to infiltrate our most well-protected mines. All the same-” She gave Ennanis a meaningful look. “I don’t disagree with your… partner there. Leaving seems like the only thing you both can do. It would take nothing short of a miracle to quench the eruption.”

There was a silence.

It was then that something was said quietly, “...try it.”

“Huh?” Ennanis and Pelia turned.

“No. I’ll try it,” Jemi spoke, louder this time. “I’ll… call, the Cockatrice.”