The Black Sheep of the Family, Part 1

EARLY IN THE NIGHT, two winged figures stood alone inside an elegant meeting room. Lavishly decorated and lit by arcane lighting, the place screamed of opulence and comfort… yet the individuals inside of it were anything but content.

Cold sweat had long settled on their foreheads, their eyes glued to a scroll spread out over the table. Unlike the rest of the environment, the parchment was plain and tough, standard for military communications.

Concealed beneath layers of arcane wards, the document detailed what was known about a series of events that occurred in the Realm of House Argenta earlier in the day.

Several key areas were lacking in corroborated accounts of the incident, but the general picture of it was clear: about half a day ago, a massive spatial calamity had befallen the southern imperial province. And according to preliminary reports, the rogue demigod Galardos Alessia was involved in these events.

“What do you make of this, Vahram?” asked a female voice. “Do you think he has truly gone rogue?”

The one asking this question was the demigoddess Arlene Calea, heiress to the Great House of the West. Not only was she heir apparent to one of the Great Houses, but also shared an intimate connection to the demigod in question: she was Galardos’ fiancée.

Or she had been, at least… before his exile.

“I don’t know,” replied Galardos’ brother. “Even now, I don’t think he’d actually turn his back on us. But if what the report says here is true…”

“This intelligence came from the Whisperveil,” Arlene reminded him. “You’ve seen their record. If they say it’s accurate, then I’m afraid it is.”

At risk of tooting her own horn, the demigoddess brought up the renown of her spy network — something Vahram knew was no mere boast. They were close rivals to the Inquisition when it came to espionage, a fact Isabella herself acknowledged.

“Fine, let’s assume he was involved,” Vahram conceded. “But even if he took part in this mess, we know nothing about his motives. Running away from us is one thing, but to cripple an entire province like this? I can’t believe he’d do it.”

“Not willingly, at least,” Arlene pointed out. “When push comes to shove, Galardos is bold. He doesn’t hesitate to take risks when he has to.”

“It’s hard to see him pushed like that in such a small village. The only mention of trouble there was a monster outbreak, and that’s adventurers’ work at most.”

“Yet something made him use Reality Warp… and bungle it.”

Vahram fell silent, desperately trying and failing to find another explanation.

Few spellcasters were able to conjure such a spatial distortion, and in the Empire, Galardos was the only one unaccounted for. This, combined with the known details of his presence in the region made him a prime suspect for questioning.

“We have to find him,” said his brother, fearing the worst. “If Isabella were to get her hands on him, then…”

“It’s not Isabella I’m worried about,” interrupted Arlene. “She might not admit it, but she still has feelings for him. At worst, she’ll seize the opportunity to ensnare him for herself. The Empress, on the other hand…”

Vahram frowned in frustration.

To this day, the exact reason behind his brother’s departure remained a mystery.

The man himself didn’t explain anything, leaving his family only with the Empress’ version that he walked away in shame after the Emperor’s death.

Attempts were made to contact him over the years, but Galardos stubbornly evaded them, to the point of trading blows with the Whisperveil on one occasion. He was left alone since, but something about the Empress’ story stunk to the high heavens.

Taking the complexity of the matter into account, Vahram had given his brother plenty of time to sort things out and come back on his own terms... but the current circumstances didn’t allow for more patience.

“Can your agents get us to him?” Vahram asked plainly.

“I’ll mobilize everything we have. It will take some time, but—”

She paused midsentence.

With a wave of her hand, she opened a dimensional portal to her astral sanctuary, the Sylvarien, where the Whisperveil was headquartered.

A nearly imperceptible presence entered the room, invisible to the naked eye, and it established an encrypted telepathic connection with the two demigods.

“It’s an emergency,” an androgynous voice said, “Galardos Alessia is in the Capital.”