Should Have Let Me Die

"So, then Haruna tell me about what happened to you to get sent out to that island. This must have something to do with the Game Master, or it was just by chance that I ended up on the one island that she was on," I said.

Mostly everyone had finished eating and now there were only a few of us at the table. Titania, Xelios, Jenna, Violet, and Haruna, the rest didn't need to hear this, but I wanted to get the opinions of the women at the table about what we were going to hear.

"I was born as a princess of the Firesti Empire, and for the most part, I lived a peaceful life. Firesti is the only place in Bjrothorne that had disallowed slavery, and that is the reason why they have always bought the slaves," Haruna explained.

"Really? I really had thought that the place was using them, but I guess that's what they wanted to believe," Titania said, putting a finger to her chin thoughtfully.

"Yes, they have kept it a secret from everyone, but people still do know. Firesti has been driving rumors and making the slave masters that transport them dress to look disreputable."

"That's not good, I need to get back sooner than later then. If these people are actually good people in disguise, I have been killing innocent people that were just trying to help. Give me a moment, I need to send a message to Nina, this is serious news, and if we stop attacking them they might be more open to peace talks," I said after facepalming.

"I heard, and I have already let her know," Eva said from a shoulder speaker.

Xelios and Violet went bug-eyed when Eva started to talk, I had forgotten about them not knowing about the TTC. I would have to explain after, but maybe a brief explanation right now wouldn't hurt.

"When I was on Frost Island, I found an Easter Egg that Dave hid for me. It basically turned me into a transformer, and now I can change my body at will, and I am super fast, so yeah," I said with a shoulder shrug.

The girls shook themselves free of their slack-jawed expressions. It looked like everyone but Haruna was about to attack me with a hail storm of questions., but I put a hand up to stop them.

"Later, on our way home. Eva is almost done with the blueprint scan of a V-22 Osprey Tiltrotor plane, and we will be able to use it to lift straight up. For now, while she is building the scan for me, I want to hear the rest of Haruna's story," I said to the eager group that all let out sighs of disappointment.

I looked at Haruna who was waiting patiently and nodded for her to continue.

"One of the princes, Genald married Lexani of Gavelrun, and things went downhill from there. I had never met her before, but she hated me from the first moment that she laid eyes on me," Haruna explained.

"Didn't your brother do anything about it? What about your parents? They were or are the rulers right?" Xelios asked.

"I was not my father's daughter, only blood ties with my mother. I wasn't taken seriously and she would only act mean to me when others weren't around. The final straw was her stealing many of the empire's magical weapons, and the crown, but placing the blame on me. I don't know what kind of magic she has, but I think it can influence the way others perceive things or something like that," Haruna said.

That was worrying, and it meant that there would be someone influencing the decisions of the people in charge. The real question now was what their game was? 

"I have some questions. First, what do you know about Gavelrun and their motives? Dave gave me a warning about them being the real problem outside of the Game Master, but he didn't have much info to tell me. What do you know about them?" I asked Haruna.

"Gavelrun? Really? They have nothing and are a very poor state that Firesti supports from behind the scene. They are almost more secretive than Firesti, but their secrecy comes from the lack of attention that they draw from no one ever having a reason to go there. The place is rock cover and it has very little in the way of anything useful," Haruna explained, slowly starting to get some of her spunk back.

"That is highly sus, and if they are being supported by Firesti then they wouldn't need help. I think that this state might be the real problem for uniting the continent," I said, fingering my chin.

"I mean, you could just go and flatten them, take out the capital and the few cities," Titania said with a shrug.

"I would prefer not to have to do that. We don't know if it is actually all of Gavelrun that is part of whatever we think this is. It could very well just be one person controlling it all. If that is the case, then they are going to be hard to get ahold of," I said.

"We need to get to the Empire first if you can stop Lexani from doing whatever she does. I know I can convince my father with your help to see the reason for what happened to me. You stopping the raids on the slavers will help out, but it is going to be hard to get close to the king," Haruna explained.

"Don't worry about those things, I have already figured out a way to deal with this Lexani. As for the King, there isn't a place that I can't go," I said with a chuckle.

I no longer used magic like everyone else, the Lighting that I had didn't seem to do much right now. I suspected that none would work properly until I had all the pieces.

The thing was that the Gate and the TTC were not magic and could not be affected by the anti-magic stones from Ratiha. I would just take some with me or see what I could do to synthesize it. 

"You need to be careful Hyde, I am serious. My father doesn't fuck around with the military and there is another reason why the Firesti keep their borders closed. Firesti is modern, and they even have a barrier wall to hide the capital that acts as a mirage. On top of that, King Brandon has a trained army, and they are constantly going to war with the Crashing Wave Empire over the port of Cathal," Haruna explained.

"Is that really all over Nika? I don't really know the story, but I would assume that you would," I asked.

"No, It has nothing to do with her concerning the real reason when they are fighting. Nika was just the fulcrum Firesti needed to start a war. The true purpose of gaining control of the port is that Firesti is landlocked," Haruna explained.

"Are you serious? Wait, I guess I knew that, but what about the ship? Can't they just fly up and over to attack them from above?" I asked.

"Nope, King Triton has superior air defenses, but they are all scared of water or something like that. I don't know the specifics on what bothers them so much, but they don't have a Navy. Firesti needs that port to make a direct attack on the inner ring. In this case, I think what Firesti is doing is good, but King Triton controls some of the most powerful magic users in the land," Haruna said, then looking over at Xelios who was softly snoring.

The conversation was pretty much over now anyways. Eva had just let me know that the scan was done, and we could get going at any time.

"Okay, well that is a lot, but now I understand a bit more of what's going on. Still, we need to go to the Cresting Wilds first and foremost. I want to get all of you safe at Dreams, and we are going to get a tally on magic users and start putting some people to work with security. I want everyone outside as soon as possible so we can get going."

I stood up and went over to pick up the sleeping Xelios. I gently slid my arms around her, and picked her up, letting her head rest against my chest.

Everyone started to move around me, but I wanted to talk to Haruna before we left. I went over to where she was standing and gave her a kiss while still holding Xelios.

"Don't worry I will get Lexani, and we will straighten everything out. No one treats my wife like that and gets away with it!" I said with a big smile.

"Thank you, but I will just be happy to help stop whatever it is she is doing or planning to do. Hopefully, it's not already too late," Haruna said with a worried look.