Denton bowed his head once more formally to the Silver King, expressing his gratitude for the gesture. He looked over to his dear sister; she was resting at Evamal's side, panting quite soundly.
Good thing that at least two-thirds of the Triumvirat are reasonable ... otherwise I would have seen myself forced to try to appease my lords differently until she recovered. I will not be forced to throw away my pride to prolong this meeting at all costs. That is good. The few options I have on hand would have tainted this business permanently.
"Thank you for your kind offer, your shininess; we will not disappoint you. We have undergone the procedure in the morning on our test subjects and can explain it with their aid without straining my dear sister's reserves even further. You have my deepest gratitude."
The silver lamia swished his tail back and forth in response, an amused but warm expression wandered across his scaled face, and he smiled for a single moment before regaining his noble stance:
"I would never force guests~s to do s~something that could permanently harm mind or body, and you two have awakened my interest, not only because of your research. You kept your ground ... for the most part at least against Au'pierre, a feat not many have dared to do and s~survived. My utmost respect.", he outstretched his scaled and decorated arm in a sweeping movement, pointing at the massive gate to the meeting hall, "S~shall we? Bronze? S~spearheads? My dear kobold guests~s. Let us~s witness~ in the privacy of this historical meeting room, under the glance of all prior incarnations~s of the triumvirate, the miracle you desire to present to us~s."
A respectful nod of all present but the queen later and lady Bisfourth ordered the blue, monocle-wearing kobold to open the gates. She leaned down and exchanged a few, for Denton unintelligible, words with his sister and his sister's walking support. Bianca smiled softly and nodded, and the group began moving to the gate. He, on the other hand, walked back over to the freezers smiling softly to the girls:
"Thank you, my friends, for allowing us this ch-"
He got rudely interrupted by Thilarie placing her metallic claw on his head, soft paw pads caressing his skull. The automaton's eyes smiled softly and shook her head, kneading his forehead carefully:
"We did nothing, Denton. We merely sped up your path to greatness. I am looking forward to watching you two grow into famous doctors and am hyped to witness these test subjects. I am glad that I decided to accompany Lanstein this year. Otherwise I wouldn't be able to stand here now, witnessing greatness.", she flips his snout and giggles, "You won't need it, I am sure of that, but good luck to you regardless."
"Let us witness live Nemthian history in the making, come on!"
Empowered by the encouraging words of his new friends, Denton put on a wide smile and followed the procession with the Spearheads in tow. The kobold butlers finally managed to open the massive door, and the richly ornamented portal parted, unveiling a historical room Denton only heard about before. Formerly high-ranking war veterans had often admired this very room when telling their stories to the citizens of the slums. They told the siblings about the unique atmosphere of the audience room feeling the judging eyes of all leaders of the triumvirate looking down on them.
Denton thought that these stories were exaggerating, that the veterans meant it figuratively, but no. What opposed them, staring testingly at the kobolds from the three arching walls of the room, took his and Bianca's breath in an instance. He gulped, and his spiritual partner swallowed even more heftily:
<And I thought the hallway was already imposing enough. Have all the soldiers of the Argentum legion looking over you through their silver helmets. But this, this is...>
<Breathtaking. We are in a mausoleum, Khõra. Look! I even recognize some of these people, who got immortalized in statues made of ivory, bronze and silver. I think these are all the members of the triumvirate, from the heroes of the grey past down the family line of all incarnations of our shiny leaders. Wow...>
Looking back with a soft smile, the bronze queen couldn't help but giggle at the gasping faces of their guests, pointing in a wide-reaching swoop to the statues in the ceiling, far up, towering over all others. These three statues appeared to be at least twice as massive as the remaining statues. Lady Bisfourth, as well as the Silver king, performed a small bow to the sky, lowering their head in respect. She then returned eye contact to Denton and Bianca, smiling with the warm yet commanding expression of a true leader:
"Welcome to the auditorium of remembrance, the heart and soul of Nemthi. Bear witness to all those, who held our title before us, protecting this beautiful country with their wits, power and wisdom. Convincing us of the worth of your discovery means receiving the blessing of all of us. A decision that is and will be forever binding."
Feeling the weight of hundreds of staring metallic eyes on his shoulders, Denton felt suddenly so small and unimportant. He looked left and right in search of the comforting look of a kin of his, any kobold, who stepped up and became part of the legend protecting Nemthi. But he saw none at all. In all these centuries, there was not a single kobold who managed to bear the mantle of the Triumvirate, not one. Glancing across the many hundred statues he immediately noticed something odd. The eyes of the silver and bronze statues were all glowing in many colours; the ivory statues, however, seemed to be oddly lifeless ... as lifeless as a statue can be. Noticing his curious glance Thilarie nudged him from the side with a tiny water tendril shifting his attention for a moment:
"The current Jack is not present, the former Jacks are therefore not interested in what you have to say. You sadly have to live with that not being able to witness the full magic of the auditorium.", she looks behind her and sighs at a few singular golden statues decorating the archway of the door they just passed, "Not that this would be anything new..."
Denton feels a weird sensation located somewhere between relief and disappointment.
Roughly 100 fewer souls to speak to, but 100 souls less to witness our lifework. Still...what an oppressive force is present here. These are no ordinary statues as well; they are the tombs bearing the souls of my past leaders. No pressure at all. See them as they see themselves. They are all part of the same three beings. Yes, there are only seven other people in this room. Only the bronze queen and her two kobold butlers. The silver king as well. Then there are Lanstein, Thilarie and Bianca. A presentation for six people only. Doable. Piece of cake. Just don't look up at those glowing eyes; they are not here, no. Deep breaths, Denton. Deep breaths ... you got it!
At the very moment of the kobold butlers closing the door behind the group, the small ball-like drone speeded silently through the closing crack to not lose connection to those it shall spy on. The Aetherial intelligence was satisfied with the results, being able to hide behind the open hand of an ivory drake statue in the fourth from the top row. Twisting and turning its eye to get as much of the triangular table amid the auditorium on screen, it sent a small message over to Silent shadow Crass:
<Reporting from the auditorium of remembrance. I got in and am about to confirm the credibility of the kobolds' research. Requesting putting any movements on hold until I have gathered proof. That is a touchy subject; a wrong move on our side could result in an even worse situation than what happened after the peace summit. Also->, the drone paused, its digital transmission now shaky, <Keep agent Opalclaw under control. She is currently approaching target Bravo, and her suit reads murderous signals coming out from her.>
With that said, the drone finally calmed down switching to stealth mode. It was eager on watching the procession, fully unaware that it itself got watched. The ivory eyes of the drake statue, the orb rested on, suddenly flared up in a soft red. They were staring fiercely down at the intruding ball in its hand frustrated that the ivory Jack wasn't around. Otherwise would the soul of a past holder be able to tell the Triumvirate of the atrocities happening in its paw. Unable to communicate with anybody all that the statue was able to do was keeping its soul, and therefore its eyes, burning, hoping someone would notice them.
"Denton bowed his head once more FORMALLY(?)" "What he got PRESENTED with, staring from the three arching walls of the room" Yay! Another chapter and the plot brews a bit more! I look forward to the next chapter.
Thanks for the heads up, issues fixed :3 I am glad I am back. I hope I can keep it up as well.