Chapter 21 - Fragments of Deceit

"The sky today is filled with tiny fragments of fire. It has taken on that exact color. Or perhaps it has always been that way. Only today I can no longer ignore it. I know fire symbolizes hatred, but something about it feels different this time.

Fragments that carry memories within them, memories I had not valued enough before, memories whose worth I never imagined I would one day recognize so dearly. For us, time itself is a challenge. For the gods, it is a path littered with trivial obstacles. Memories are among them. Especially the memories of those you love.

The worth of something only grows when you lose it. That saying has never held more truth. Like a fire that consumes an entire forest. When it dies, the land is enriched with minerals, yet the fire is forgotten as a destructive thing, even though, at first sight, it seems to release all its emotions at once.

Half of me is gone. My fire no longer warms. No. Today, it is cold."

Igorus stood utterly alone before the towering mass of burning Dominion crosses, where his brother's name, Kaies Friola, was carved clearly into one of them. Cloaked in a dark mantle, he stared at the cross with a gaze he never imagined he would one day carry. It seemed that every other Dominion present had already left the memorial ceremony, their presence fading like flames abandoning the forest after they have done their deed. Yet the feet and unfurled wings of Igorus refused to leave.

"The clouds look so deeply orange today. More orange than usual. Why are they so joyful above your name, Kaies?" Igorus spoke with a voice weighed down in despair.

He lit a small flame with his fingertip and began to walk away, letting his brother's soul drift toward one of the three moons, for in this world neither hell nor heaven exist.

Kaies left this world without ever learning what it meant to love someone. He asked himself every day whether what he felt was an absence, or something fuller than it was ever meant to be. He departed without an answer. And yet, the answer had been before him all along. He never noticed it, for it was something so ordinary that anyone might overlook it: the love of his brother.

Kaies felt alone, alone every single day, never knowing that he had never truly been alone. Not once. Yet his reality remained one-dimensional. His life had woven for him a solipsism he never even understood the cause of, only that it was there. And such a sensation could vanish as easily as firewood fading in the hearth of feeling. Smoke rising upward to the heavens. Smoke joining the other clouds that float above the world.

In that moment, Igorus' sphere began to tremble. With his face frozen, he drew it from the pocket of his cloak.

"General, sir! My condolences, and forgive me for contacting you at such a time, but we've received an important message from the central police of the capital. We—"

"There's no need to tell me," Igorus said in a monotone voice, cutting the soldier short through the sphere.

"Pardon me?"

"I know who did this," Igorus replied as he extinguished the sphere and slipped it back into his pocket.

With every step he took, the ground grew hotter until it seemed to melt beneath his feet. Igorus spread his wings and surged into the sky with overwhelming fury, creating a vortex of searing steam that obliterated every cloud daring to stand in his way.

"Have you heard?"

"Yes, about the death of the Chief of Intelligence?"

"Yes! How did it happen?"

"Does anyone know what truly happened?"

"Who did it?"

"This is all so unusual."

The voices of the dominions could be heard all across the kingdom of Tamasi. They whispered to one another, carried by wings and breath. Banners floated through the skies, inscribed with the shocking news. Within hours, the word had spread to every dominion kingdom. Even those living in the most remote corners of the nation saw the announcements drifting above them.

"Now that we've lost Chief Kaies, solving this crime will be far more difficult," said Officer Gavles during a meeting of the police forces. They were gathered around a vast round table, where the highest authorities of the dominion law sat. Cloaked in crimson, their garments fastened with golden clasps that marked their ranks, they ranged from aged veterans with faces lined by time to younger officers eager to prove themselves.

"Is there any solid evidence so far? Any leads?" asked another officer.

"Not yet. Results are expected tomorrow, according to the central bureau of research and intelligence," replied Stravna, the special guest at the gathering. She was visibly shaken, her hands trembling from grief. She did not want to be in that room, yet she had no choice.

"We've never recorded a murder of this nature before. The cause must have been exceedingly deliberate," remarked another.

"Agreed. Such a killing lies beyond the nature of dominions," said one more.

"It has been millennia since anything like this has occurred, since the case of King Briannan Fins, when the officers of that age were forced to execute him before the entire nation," another added gravely.

"What are the chances this crime was committed by an angel?" Officer Gavles asked at last.

The room fell into a heavy silence at his words.

"Utter madness. There's no way angels could infiltrate our nation without any of us knowing," one officer retorted.

"Not to mention, none of them would dare commit such an act. It would go against the very essence of their creed," another said.

"Certainly not demons either," added a third.

"I suspect it was the cursed servants of Queen Kaliga. Perhaps they learned that Kaies uncovered their corruption and silenced him," another suggested.

At this, Stravna stiffened. She remembered vividly the moment she had told Kaies that those two had requested to see him in the queen's name.

"Absurd," Gavles replied sharply.

"What?" the previous officer shot back.

"It would be sheer stupidity on their part if they tried something like that. They'd be exposed instantly. Besides, they have neither the authority nor the power to rebel to such a degree. The only thing we can do now is wait for the central bureau's report tomorrow," Gavles said firmly.

The assembly remained with arms crossed, their thoughts tangled and their tongues reluctant. They exchanged uneasy glances. Whispers stirred again. Stravna's eyes darted around the chamber, her nerves fraying with each passing moment.

"So we truly have no idea who could have killed him?" asked one officer at last.

Again, silence. No one had a real answer.

A young officer raised his hand. He was clad in a black-and-red uniform, a dark cap upon his head, golden clasps gleaming at his chest.

"Permission to speak, gentlemen?" the youth asked.

"Yes. State your name and your department," Officer Gavles replied.

"Officer Ordes Gewelg, from Department Three of the Tamasi kingdom," the boy announced.

"Very well. Share whatever information you may have, no matter how small," Gavles permitted.

"In truth, I have no theory about the matter, but..."

The officers leaned in, listening intently as the boy gave a response that seemed oddly confused. Gavles frowned, listening with a growing unease. Stravna swallowed hard, her discomfort plain.

"You all, all of you, and every dominion besides, will die at the hands of the angels. I can hardly wait to see you running for your lives. I can hardly wait! I CAN HARDLY WAIT! HAHAHAHAHA!"

The boy suddenly broke down, screaming, his voice ragged with mania. He tore off his uniform piece by piece, until his wings were revealed, pure white.

"An angel!" the officers cried, drawing their swords from their belts.

Stravna recoiled in terror as the chaos erupted around her.

"You think you're safe because Uanamangura fights at your side? HAHAHA! You will die as well—as will all things in this world! DIE! DIE! DIE! AME—"

His words ended in a wet choke. A sword had pierced upward through his jaw, cleaving his skull with grotesque finality. The false angel collapsed lifelessly to the ground, his mangled jaws barely recognizable. At the other end of the blade stood Marshal Ilfar Mildura, calmly chewing on an apple.

"Marshal!" the officers exclaimed in unison.

"Damn. That kiwi did me more harm than I expected," Mildura muttered, approaching the corpse.

"W-What happened?" Stravna stammered in shock.

"Hm? This isn't an angel," Mildura said, taking another bite of his apple.

"What did you say? What do you mean?"

"His wings are white," two officers remarked at once.

The assembly stared at one another, their faces twisted with confusion and dread. Mildura finished chewing, then spat a wet fragment onto the corpse's feathered wing. The saliva soaked in, and before their eyes, the white plumage turned a murky brown.

"Impossible!"

"How can that be?"

"You were all so absorbed in his words that you forgot to feel his energy," Mildura said coldly, staring down at the dead dominion whose mind had been completely erased.

"Who could commit such a vile act? Who could twist a dominion in so foul a way?" Gavles whispered, horrified.

"He must be sent to the autopsy bureau. They'll study what poisoned his mind. He had Fernia in his body after all. But the greater question remains, who had the power to manipulate him like this, and to what end?" Mildura murmured.

"He said he was from Department Three," one officer recalled.

"Ordes Gewelg... I've heard that name before," another muttered.

"N-No! It can't be!" Stravna gasped, her face stricken by sudden realization.

"What is it, Stravna?" Gavles pressed, his voice tight with concern.

"He's the son of the potter who lives near the department. I recognized him by name and face. He's Erdredd Gewelg's boy," Stravna said.

"What?"

"Incredible!"

"Who could do such a thing to the potter's son?" the officers muttered among themselves.

"It may have been sheer coincidence," Mildura said flatly. "The culprit must have taken an innocent dominion and shattered him to pieces from the inside. A tragedy. Call every police force of this kingdom. This headquarters is now a crime scene."

"Y-Yes, Marshal!" the officers responded, and rushed out like ants stirred from their nest, each ready to fulfill their duty.

"Aldes. Do you hear me?" Atbara's voice came from the forest as he rode his mystic steed through the dark trees.

"I hear you. I didn't expect Kaies to die. Do you have any idea who might have killed him?" Aldes asked through the sphere.

"Not at all. But I know we'll be the first suspects since we've strayed a little too far from our masters. I only hope we don't get caught up in this mess. It won't end well," Atbara replied.

"True. I wouldn't want to feel the wrath of—"

Suddenly, the air around Aldes grew scorching hot. The trees withered in an instant, their leaves curling into ash upon the ground. Each breath seared his lungs.

"Pfffeww! It just got unbearably hot. What in the—?" Aldes muttered, fanning himself with his hands.

"I have an idea."

"Hm?"

Behind him stood Igorus, his eyes burning with the mark of wrath itself. Like Hades about to unleash Cerberus from the cage of hatred.

"W-What do you mean, General?" Aldes stammered, his nerves unraveling.

"You asked a rhetorical question because you felt my presence. You wanted to provoke conflict with yourself, but it led nowhere. Take me somewhere else on this world. I don't want to reduce all of Ladnoria to ashes. I know Atbara can speak the incantation," Igorus said, his tone dark as night.

Aldes' breathing grew shallow and quick. Then, from a nearby tree, Atbara emerged, stepping into Igorus' shadow.

"I know a place made precisely for this," Atbara said...