“We’ve been losing several, as well, Elder,” I noted a bit whimsically. “Surely you have been tracking those, as well?”

“FIREFLIES DYING, BUT YES. DID YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH THAT?” Ice Emperor inquired, curious and disdainfully amused about our infighting, as ever.

I took a Light of Souls out of my Pocket, and held it up for Him to inspect. He examined it slowly and at length, drawing conclusions of His own before turning His head away thoughtfully, and I deposited it back.

“THERE SEEMS TO BE LITTLE DIFFERENCE IN THE COMMITMENT OF THE LIGHT TO THAT OF THE DARK,” He noted with grim irony.

“Aye, they are almost draconic in their ready ruthlessness to get what they want,” I agreed. “You saw the double setback for the Underworld in Egypt.”

“I DID.” How could He have missed it, even sitting on the edge of Infinite Sands’ territory as it had.

“This is merely a return gesture against the Light.”

“PRUDENT. HOW MANY MORE OF THEM ARE THERE?”

I flicked up a Holo globe of the planet, and with a wave of my hand scattered some glowing dots around it. Each dot had five Colors on it, in order of which they’d been gained, except for the three left which had four Colors and were blinking.

“I SEE...” He murmured, totally able to tell the hue of Light made from the Light of Souls from that learned honestly and openly in the ancient tradition. There were still seven of them left, but three had notably and openly moved to Rome for some odd reason, after two of their number had simply disappeared. “AND THOSE ARE THE WEAK ONES THINKING TO USE THIS TO ASCEND TO STOLEN POWER...”

“There’s only so many ways to tempt the powerful, but becoming more powerful is generally one of them,” I agreed, letting the Holo lapse. “Do you have something you need, or that I need to hear, Elder?”

“THE MACHINATIONS OF THE CRIMSON SPIRIT ATTEMPTING TO MAKE ITS HARVEST OF SOULS AND FRAMEWORK FOR ASCENSION WERE PART OF THE NETHER REALMS’ INFLUENCE, AS WELL. THE SPIRIT WAS INCAPABLE OF FULFILLING THE ROLE, IT COULD ONLY BE TAKEN BY A SUITABLE MORTAL.”

“Hooo...,” I mused at that bit of news. Not having seen it myself, I naturally did not know that, although I probably could have deduced it. “Mok Fan was supposed to take that up, and irrevocably tie himself to the Netherworld in so doing. I imagine him being The Sevenfold Sage really upset a bunch of players who thought they were being smart.”

“IT HAS BEEN THOUSANDS OF YEARS SINCE A MAGE WITH THE POTENTIAL TO BE A SAGE OF THE SEVEN ELEMENTS HAS APPEARED. IN ANY OTHER ERA, YOUR TRIBE WOULD DECLARE HIM A GOD OF MAGIC.”

“Indeed. And as long as everyone is looking at him and what he can do, that’s just perfect.”

He glanced at me, then away, and the air and cold swirled in rueful appreciation. “YOU COULD CRUSH ANY HUMAN SAGE BENEATH YOUR HEEL AND CLAIM THE TOP OF YOUR TRIBE IF YOU WISHED.”

“Which, knowing my Tribe, would amount to nothing more than inspiring a whole lot of people to try to tear me down, and so amounts to earning me exactly nothing. Our instincts to be the king of the hill are pretty strong, Elder.”

“IT HAS BEEN NOTICED BY MANY OTHER TRIBES,” He noted drily. “WHAT PREDICT YOU OF THE INTERLOPERS AND THIS SITUATION?”

“It was a Netherworld scheme to firmly turn the balance of power their way. If successful, the Synod would have immediately sacrificed their Archangel Gabriel to make her an Avatar of the Lord of Light, and the two would have been forced into conflict immediately. The Final Conflict would have started within two years.”

“HMMM. THAT MOVE BY THE SYNOD IS STILL POSSIBLE, THEN.”

“No, it’s not.” His Avatar glanced at me with what passed for curiosity. “I recruited her by telling her what her Wings were designed to do to her. As Mok Fan has cleansed his Dark Elements to free himself of the Underworld’s grip, Archangel Gabriel has purged her Light Element and is no longer tied to the will of the Lords of Light. When they try to do that to her, they are going to get a very rude surprise.”

“AH, ANOTHER CLEVER PRE-EMPTIVE POWER PLAY, REMOVING ANOTHER PIECE FROM THEIR GAMES.” He ruminated on that fact. “YET IT ONLY DELAYS THEM, AND TOO MANY FACTORS ARE ALIGNING TO PUSH TOWARD A RESOLUTION.”

“True enough, while ours are proceeding in another direction, also as planned,” I noted.

And He, of course, was doing nothing. Nothing at all. Because to act was to dare a Realm Lord to respond, and that would start everything, which meant He was basically useless, an impotent High Dragon stuck in His don’t-bug-me territory, only lording it over the world when given an excuse to do so.

Given an excuse. “Elder, how much contact do you have with Infinite Sands? He and I have never spoken.”

“WE SPEAK ONLY AT A DISTANCE AND IN PASSING. HE IS VERY ANGRY AND NURSING HIS HATRED OF THE INTERLOPERS.”

“Would He be willing to give Europe a really hot summer if you gave them a very cold winter? Subtly, of course. We wouldn’t want them pointing fingers.”

His Avatar’s phantasmal head rose. “MISCHEIF?” He asked, but I noted He had a tone of expectation in His voice.

“If we are leading up to the End of Days, inclement weather is to be expected. I think their underlings being miserable will only help us, in the end.” And destroy yet more of their faith when the Lords of Light could do next to nothing about the weather.

“IF ONLY AN ANNOYANCE TO THEM I MUST BE, THEN AN ANNOYANCE I WILL BE.” I could hear the plotting in His voice, that we could make at least some use out of the two of them. “IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE I SHOULD RELAY TO INFINITE SANDS?” He was almost sarcastic about being reduced to a messenger.

“Apis, the new Medusa Queen, is Contracted to the new Sevenfold Sage, and is thus an ally. If Infinite Sands might see fit to have some of His servants harass the ever-loving crap out of those who stayed loyal to the Pharaohs, that will be very useful. We expect to start work at the Egyptian Death Zone within three months, and the fewer opponents we have aboveground, the better. The more of those Death Zones we cap, the longer we can hold the Interlopers off, and I expect Infinite Sands will be crucial to making that Interdiction against them hold.”

Now that got His attention. “YOU ARE DOING SOMETHING WITH THE PYRAMIDS YOU USE TO CAP THE INCURSION ZONES...” It wasn’t a question.

“That is correct, and is why Emperors are protecting each and every one of them on their territories. Those Pyramids and the energies they are channeling don’t make it hard for only the Underworld to come into our realm, but the Lords of Light, too!”

“AHHH, THE CLEVERNESS OF THE HUMANS IS ONCE AGAIN ON DISPLAY,” He murmured, but not without appreciation. “INFINITE SANDS LOATHES YOUR TRIBE, HEALER FAE. HE BELIEVES THEM REPONSIBLE FOR BRINGING THE INTERLOPERS HERE.”

Oh, ho. Well, fuck Him! “Flowing Silver High Emperor did not tell you?” I asked archly.

The Ice Emperor was immediately on guard when I evoked the High Emperor Fox’s name. “TELL ME WHAT?” He asked carefully.

“That the three of you mucking about with Time Magic is what attracted the Interlopers here? You managed just enough proficiency to become five-dimensional existences, but without all the sensitivity and skill to conceal yourselves. The three of you are more visible than the entire rest of the time stream of the whole planet to a true Realm Lord.

“It was the three of you who lured them here. We Humans were just a convenient vector by which to spread their influence past the Veil and gain a foothold here, and that is Truth.”

His Avatar shuddered and almost broke apart as I put emphasis on what I’d said, and none of the words I’d uttered rang hollow.

“Furthermore, your lack of ability to conceal yourselves meant that the Interlopers could follow the existing chains of Summoning Magic back to the Beast Realm, and the Underworld made an attempt against that Realm. I imagine the Beast Lord is not very happy with you three, but He’s still tied to our Mortal Realm, so the fate of this world is rather intimately intertwined with the fate of the Beast Realm at this point, and there’s nothing anyone can do about that.”

His image seemed to shrink in on itself without actually changing in size. “WE DID NOT KNOW...” He almost whispered, maybe just a vestige of guilt audible in his words.

“By your words, Elder, I’m assuming the Beast Lord warned you about messing with Time Magic, and the three of you Elders gaffed Him?”

“THAT... IS TRUE,” He admitted after what felt like a mighty internal struggle, probably a reflex admission after hearing the Word and being rocked to His core by it. “WE THOUGHT HE WAS ATTEMPTING TO KEEP US FROM THE STATUS OF A REALM LORD AND AN EQUAL...”

“Mmm, and by reacting with such suspicion, You Three may have killed us all. Well, now You know. I honestly thought Flowing Silver had informed You and Sea Emperor. The True Emperor Alliance all know, so I assumed He had mentioned it to the two of you already.”

“THE SLY WIT OF THE FOXES...” murmured the Dragon’s Avatar, and I’m sure Flowing Silver was laughing His arse off right now, as Reynard was listening in and in his Ancestor’s presence in the Broom Closet, relaying all of this.

“Given the arrogance and pride of Infinite Sands, I’m sure He will find some way to toss the burden of responsibility onto Humans, regardless of His own culpability. I have no desire to confront Him on this matter, and would prefer He just stay out of the way as we work to delay the End of the World as long as possible. If we win, at least He will be alive to hate us.”

“I... WILL INFORM HIM OF THIS. HE WILL DOUBTLESS NOT BELIEVE IT, AS I DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO THE WORD AS YOU DO, BUT HE WILL DO THIS.” He paused significantly. “SEA EMPEROR DOES NOT KNOW?”

“I have never mentioned it to Him, Elder.”

“THEN YOU SHOULD INFORM HIM WITH YOUR WORD. I EXPECT THERE WILL BE A REACTION, AS HE ARGUED THE STRONGEST ABOUT PRESSING ON WITH OUR RACE TO BECOME THE REALM LORD...”

Ah, a machination of the most politically-inclined High Emperor, blowing up in His face. It was also too late to hide it. I knew, all the True Emperors of the Lands did, and we could spread it with great alacrity.

Indeed. My political side noted that the entire goddamn planet of Beasts would likely turn against the three High Emperors were this to become known. If they were going to die, it would not be in the service of those who had killed them all, right?

“I am not in the habit of keeping secrets like this, Elder, and I am certainly not going to be arrogant enough to order the True Emperors to silence. This IS going to get out.” As in, Thunderbird and Fire Phoenix were now totally aware of the circumstances, and would at the very, very least inform Leviathan and White Death Wolf Emperors... who, no no, would not inform the other Emperors of the Ice and Sea...

Pure brute loyalty and fear would keep those Emperors loyal to the High Emperors, but the eyes they would look at the Elders with would not be the same. Naked ambition for power dooming the whole world was one of those things that just kinda upset people.

Sure, they could respect the strength and ambitions of Dragons, but it was also true that Dragons were killed very, very frequently by other species for just those very traits. Those traits were threatening the whole world. Did they really want that kind of ruler?