------------- The Shadow Conspiracy – 7 of 7 – Lord Syrik

Savra stepped onto the balcony and peered through the darkness. Her eyes adjusted and she finally saw the Queen and others sitting around chatting. She approached formally and bowed.

“Your Majesty, pardon the intrusion.”

Dahlia smiled and then laughed slightly, “Oh, girl. We’ve divested ourselves of formality hours ago. Please, I insist you call me Dahlia.”

Savra lowered her gaze on Emma, her own crystal blue Frelenat eyes glowing in the darkness.

“I see my compatriots have already accepted your hospitality, Majesty. I can do no less. But there is still a matter to deal with, one which will not wait.”

“I assume your concern is for the dark Elven Mindsword?”

“Yes,… Dahlia.”

She patted the cushion beside her and motioned with the other hand for the servants to produce another glass of wine.

“It will keep for a bit longer. Join us.”

Savra did so reluctantly, her mind still whirling with the events of the day and the dark portents of things to come.

“I understand that Lady Kirith Joli has spoken with the Dragon Kings. The Emperor himself has condemned Duke Coranthyr’s actions.”

Dahlia seemed momentarily confused. When the light came on behind her eyes it immediately went out again.

“Ah, yes. I nearly forgot. Duke Coranthyr as you called him was always known to us as Lord Syrik. None knew where he came from or when he first appeared. Most of us always remembered him being here. But as we have all seen, he was clearly the spider at the center of the web, though I still have my doubts.”

Emma narrowed her brow, “Doubts, Dahlia?”

“Yes. Doubts that he truly was the force behind the Shadow Conspiracy. We know of others still out there, still free to work their schemes, and I doubt any of them was the first. Somehow that thought bothers me more than what has happened here today.”

Nova leaned forward, and as she did her light involuntarily brightened.

“I know where it began. Uncle Martek told me. It was in the days before the Planet Shift, when Mordai was negotiating with the Shadows for power and knowledge. As the Krell civil war spread and the presence of the Shadows was revealed, the Krell built the great Mindswords, even yours Lord Galladorn.”

The elf warrior nodded but said nothing.

“There were a dozen, built to fight the Shadows, and powered not with Krell Magic, but with Ashiri psyche. Some of those were captured during the war, captured by the Shadows and corrupted. Lord Syrik’s sword was one of the lost Mindswords tainted by their evil. But how a dragon noble could come into the possession of such a weapon, I can’t say.”

“I fear you have that backwards, Ashiri. It was not the sword that came into Lord Syrik’s possession, but a dragon that fell under the control of the Mindsword. Possessed until nothing was left of Duke Coranthyr but the will of the Shadows.”

------------- Credits

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