Page 27 of The Dragonrider and the Void
“And what led us to brokering that deal with the Morsythians,” Nix added.
“Which was done to provide them with a dragonrider in hopes that they could defend themselves against the threat of rimeshade in the far North?” Venrick asked.
“Yes. The Kings of Wintermire, Skol, and Lamar have been striving to create a super-majority on Hyalite distribution and allocation. King Agadorn has been working with the Kings of Wintermire and Skol for years now, the whole while the other Kingdoms of Nordraven were left to fight a ground war for control of the forest,” Lark said.
“Those Kingdoms being Elderice and Fjern, the two whose armies are supplying the majority of their forces to the battlefront along the Everburning Forest with Lamar,” Venrick said.
“Meanwhile, Kings of Skol, and Wintermire, and Lamar have created a new triangle of power to put themselves in position to take all magical resources from the Everburning Forest,” Cheyanne said.
“That’s right,” Lark confirmed.
“Why would Lamar keep sending troops to fight in the war against the North if it had allied itself with two of the four kings?” Venrick asked.
“Lamar still wants full control of the Everburning Forest. Making a deal with Wintermire and Skol was a means of working toward full control over the Hyalites. Our nations have been atwar for centuries. It wasn’t until recently that the ground war shifted to the eastern part of the forest.”
“I thought that was because the firestorms were more active in the central and western regions?”
“Yes, but that never stopped the Keeps’ armies before. Lamar, Wintermire, and Skol agreed to allow one another rights to Hyalites so they could build their forces and push lesser kingdoms out of the competition,” Cheyanne said.
“They were just delaying the inevitable. Lamar would still need to compete against a unified Wintermire and Skol, right?”
“Right, but working with your enemy to weed out the others is a strategy that every race has been using since the dawn of time on Sataran. Lamar’s goal is to dominate all powers introduced through firestorms. When it comes down to three kingdoms vying for control, Lamar will not hesitate to betray either Wintermire or Skol,” Cheyanne said.
“But Skol has already been planning ahead of the others. It seems that Barrik is making deals on my cousin, Greggor’s behalf, working with the Magi Order and rimeshade to gain an advantage over the others,” Lark said.
“What about the other Kingdoms. Surely, they have an impact on each King’s decisions,” Venrick said.
“As of now, Doran is allied with Lamar. Gambria takes Hyalites for itself when they can, but for the most part remains within its own borders, leaving the conflicts to the rest of the world. Now if it ever came down to it and Gambria was forced to choose to fight alongside Lamar or Nordraven, most Gambrian elves would side with Lamar. Sojax has always opposed Lamar. Now coming back to why Wintermire and Skol don’t simply annex Elderice and Fjern from Nordraven, they’re too weak to withstand retaliation,” Cheyanne explained.
“Only if Lamar is their ally. Lamar could let them fight among themselves,” Venrick replied.
“That’s if Sojax doesn’t get involved. They’ve long been trying to work out a deal that would get Nordraven to help them oppose Lamar. For now, Nordraven despises Southerners. But if a civil conflict arose, Elderice and Fjern could side with Sojax, which would create the largest army on the continent,” Cheyanne explained.
“Lamar is willing to work with Wintermire and Skol to a point,” Venrick said.
“It’s a delicate balance,” Lark said.
“That balance needs to be shared with the rest of the world to prevent others from gaining too much control over these magical resources. We can’t have other Kingdoms imparting their rule over it all. Especially when the rimeshade threaten the very existence of our ability to use magic,” Cheyanne said.
“The rimeshade take magical energy away from Hyalites and Yogos without tapping into them,” Venrick said, remembering how the rimeshade’s mere presence drained his Yogos.
“If they had control, none of us would be able to wield powers ever again. Our access to magic is at stake,” Cheyanne said.
“This has to be related to the Flashover,” Venrick said.
“I agree. This rimeshade was working with a Magus,” Cheyanne said. “There is no way one rimeshade could’ve coordinated this effort and hidden it for 10 years.”
“The rimeshade have been here for hundreds of years. Why are they making their moves now?” Venrick asked.
“I think I might have an idea of what they’ve been doing with all that magic. They’ve been working in secret right under Nordraven’s nose. That’s why the Northern Kings didn’t expect the rimeshade would have such a dangerous impact on their Kingdoms. They thought they could keep them on a tight leash,” Lark replied.
“Obviously they have an impact if they’re making moves as big as this one in Haven’s Edge. So why haven’t they tried to take over the Everburning Forest before?” Cheyanne said.
“He is right. It’s because of the Flashover,” Yarla whispered. None of them had thought she was conscious enough to be following the discussion. “They’re distilling magical abilities from us to arm their followers when they come through the veil during the Flashover,” she added in a weak voice. “Imagine armies equipped with distilled dragon fire, or assassins wielding essence stolen from shadow wraiths.” Yarla coughed from the effort of speaking.
“Save your energy, rest,” Cheyanne said, placing her hand on Yarla’s back. Lark and Venrick moved in closer so they could hear what she had to say.
“The extraction process,” she continued, her eyes closing with fatigue. “It doesn’t just take our magic. It takes pieces of each victim’s soul with it. Those who survive are left empty. Like shells of who they once were.”
