Tales of Eleutheros

Alektor closed his eyes and rubbed at his aching brow. Hours of meetings and staring at maps and charts had taken its toll on him, but still, he had a long line of representatives and politicians waiting outside his chambers to meet with him. He sighed heavily and looked at several tomes that were stacked on his desk. They were bound in tattered leather, but still clearly very high quality. He rested his hand on them, remembering his father’s words when they were gifted by him. He closed his eyes and immersed himself in that moment again. Using the memory to calm his frayed nerves.

Suddenly there was a loud knock at the door and some commotion outside. His eyes opened to find he was still in his chambers, and he growled for whoever it was who disturbed his thoughts to enter. The door slid open, and Demessa approached and bowed her head.

“Your Majesty, I fear there is something very wrong with Prince Reku,” she blurted out before Alektor had a chance to complain about her intrusion.

Alektor’s eyes narrowed, and he sat up in his chair. “What now?”

“I saw him in the hall, not too long ago. He was carrying a large bag and seemed to be very flustered. Before I could confront him, he… he disappeared. I do not want to believe that he would abandon us, but I felt I should speak to you directly.”

Numbness followed the news, and he knew that his worst fears were coming to fruition. The one true advantage he possessed in the coming war was now on its way to his enemy. A pang of doubt battered him, and a familiar emptiness grew in the pit of his stomach.

“Let him go,” he said, after several moments, no sign of his inner turmoil in his voice. He waved his hand dismissively at her, and she turned to leave.

“Oh, and Demessa,” Alektor called, stopping her in mid-stride. “Do not let Turak pursue him. We will find our own way.”

~

“Like hell!” Turak raged. “I will not accept this betrayal!”

“My Lord, King Alektor, explicitly requested that we refrain from following him. This is—” Demessa was cut off by a bag of gear being thrown at her.

“Damn him for his inaction. This is not just a tactical disaster; it is treachery of the highest order! He would choose these humans over us now? After all this time? After all we have done for him?”

“My Lord,” Demessa continued. “With all due respect, we don’t even know where he’s going. He didn’t really say much in that regard. We will be running off, blind, and against the king’s orders.”

Turak scoffed. “You have little faith in me Demessa, I’m wounded by this.” He looked at her, true fury in his eyes. He seemed to be taking this quite personally. “I have my own ways of finding him. He thinks he is undetectable with these new powers, but he can be seen. His illusions do have weaknesses. Only to those who know what to look for.”

“There really isn’t much to find,” Demessa said, curious. “Not even a shimmer in the air.”

Turak finished assembling his gear and walked next to her. Placing his hand on her shoulder, he sighed. “We aren’t looking for him with our eyes.”