A Promise Fulfilled

Fulcher and the others followed King Mnguni and his royal procession to the docks of the city. Once there, they walked down the docks to a pavilion on the water, rigid and unmoving against the waves. It held a crescent table with ornate chairs, with the largest chair placed on the inside of the table at the crescent’s apex.

Fulcher offered a pat to his raptor as he left it at the end of the dock with Arrow. As they walked down the dock, Schon tugged on Fulcher’s sleeve.

“Are you sure that thing is safe? It’s like, four times the size of Arrow,” she asked with a concerned look. Fulcher waved his hand.

“Ah, they’ll be fine. They actually get along with each other pretty well, it’s just when they get hungry that they get uh, nippy,” Fulcher said. This seemed to have the opposite effect on Schon that he had intended, who looked back at the pair of beasts. Both had already found a stick they liked, and were currently staring each other down with an end of the stick in each of their mouths. The rumbling growl of Arrow was interrupted by the click-click-click of the raptor’s massive toe claws.

“Hey! Drop it!” Fulcher called. The raptor spat the stick out and chirped, fluffing its feathers as it settled down at the end of the dock. Arrow, who did not listen, jogged away with the stick to chew on it. The King made it to his seat and motioned for the others to join him.

“Come, come! I will have the guards ensure your companions on the shore do not get into trouble,” he said. The group filed into the seats around the crescent table. Fulcher peered over at Akaj, who kicked his feet up onto the table as he bit into a leg of meat the prince could not identify. The Chronomancer took a seat closest to the King, resting his staff against the table.

“Thanks again for this, I’m sure discussing war isn’t the most fun thing to do,” Fulcher began. Mnguni held his hand up and shook his head.

“Please. We have long since prepared for an assault from the North. It is only a matter of time before your father’s pride draws his troops across the desert,” he said. “What you offer here is an opportunity for us to fight that battle on our terms, away from our citizens and innocent.” Fulcher nodded along as the King continued.

“The question is, how do we get past the gates of Corvidrop?” Mnguni asked. “We cannot maneuver past it without alerting their watchtowers and scouts. Are we to assault two keeps to secure your father’s defeat?” Fulcher shook his head.

“We have Corvidrop’s support, actually. He is our primary ally against Dilyniant,” the prince explained.

“But your father will surely hear of the approaching armies,” the King said. “What if he runs?” Fulcher sat silently for a moment, trying to think over the options. It’s true he could simply flee the Capitol as the armies approached and head North. Even if Corvidrop’s troops marched North before the assault began, they could be spotted by Dilyniant’s spy network.

“Um,” Schon started. Fulcher looked over at her as she spoke up. “How long did you and Fulcher spend in the past?”

“He spent about five weeks, between his capture and taming of the Great Hunter,” the King said.

“But for us, it was less than a minute. So, when you travel through time, you can choose when to return, right?” she asked. The King looked to his right at the Chronomancer, who scratched his chin.

“I can return to the present or past, where-ever I am standing. When I retrieved Fulcher, I simply returned him to the point in time where the King sent him away,” he explained.

“So, what if we do that for the army?” Schon asked. Blank stares met the woman, who stood and started waving her hands around to explain. “So, we have your army march to the Capitol while they’re in the past. Then, when the battle begins, they can march back out again in our present time! There’s no defending against that, no way to respond,” she explained.

“You mean to say that we move an entire army through somewhere in the past? That is bound to cause rippling damage to the timeline. There’s no way we could hide it,” the King retorted.

“What about just before the Great Purge?” Fulcher asked.

“The what?” Schon asked. Before the King could answer, Akaj started to laugh and choke on his meal.

“Sorry, just–” Akaj coughed again. “I’ve yet to meet a mortal who’d offer such a bold idea, My Liege.” He grinned at Fulcher as he unceremoniously bit into his leg of meat again. The King looked over at the Chronomancer.

“Could it be done?” he asked.

“Hmm,” the caster hummed. “We would have to wait til we left the borders of the Ubuk, to allow our traditions there to remain uninterrupted. But once we walk beyond the borders, I see no reason why we could not try.”

“Very well then,” the King said. He stood and walked into the crescent, reaching a hand out towards Fulcher. “It would be an honor for this King to aid the Tamer of Darkness into battle.” He smiled wide.

Tamer of Darkness? Fulcher thought. Is it because of the special raptor I brought back? He extended his hand and shook the King’s. After the shake the King offered a look to Schon as he waved his hand to some distant servant, who scurried along the docks.