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Chapter 17 - In the Shadow of Dravon

Later that evening, Tsuyari stood by the window of his throne room staring at the volcanic landscape of Dravon.

Gone...

The very word chimed through his mind. The Tier 4 Verythra was perfect for the task-wild enough to overpower any student, disciplined enough to capture. Simple should have been, Grab the boy. Bring him here. Finish what I started. But something had gotten awry.

Within those hours, the Verythra discovered Itsuki in that training ground of his. It cornered him; it had even started the extraction.

And then nothingness. Sudden severance of connection as if Itsuki Naoya had simply ceased to exist.

His hand pressed against the volcanic glass.

The kid had disappeared-"I have woven my essence to reach every corner of Vilaris. I have eyes in every shadow and whispers in every wind. Nothing moves in this realm without my knowledge. Yet a seventeen-year-old boy gifted with Mythic power has completely disappeared from my sight." 

Tsuyari shut his eyes and stretched out his consciousness, letting his power drizzle through the realm like water flowing through cracks in stone. He searched through every domain, every city, every forgotten corner where someone might hide.

Silverstone-void of his presence.

Zenkai Dojo-no trace.

The capital-nothing. Even the boy's friends seemed to have no clue. Their confusion was genuine; their fear was real. They did not know.

Which meant that someone else knew.

There were only a handful of beings in all of Vilaris with enough power to hide something from him to that extent. The other Trueborns.

Tsuyari opened his eyes.

Rivers of molten stone poured through the black ground beyond the window. Perpetual storms crackled with red lightning. It was beauty in devastation, exactly how he intended to shape this domain centuries ago.

But now, standing there and surveying his realm of managed chaos, Tsuyari felt something he hadn't felt for a long time.

Doubt.

"Which one of you is playing games with me?" 

Yunrei had to be the prime suspect. The time controller had always been way too clever, way too willing to meddle in affairs best left alone. And he had the power, to hide somebody in a temporal fold, out of reach even of Tsuyari's sight.

But would he dare?

Then again, any of them might. Mizuko might have whisked the boy away to some far-off shore. Rinako might have slumbered him so deep that his physical body no longer registered in waking reality. Even Kurojin could have sealed Itsuki in some unknown place.

The possibilities were too many and altogether infuriating.

Yet below that anger, there was something else bubbling up-Anticipation.

This changed everything, made it all more interesting. If one of their own Trueborns had taken Itsuki, then this game was no longer just manipulation-it was personal.

And Tsuyari was always good with matters of a personal nature.

Footsteps sounded throughout the throne room. There were two pairs of footsteps.

Tsuyari remained unturned. He had thought of a visitor ever since the failed secondary objective of the capital's attack.

"Tsuyari."

Yunrei's voice parted the air like a blade through silk.

"Yunrei. Kurojin." At last, Tsuyari turned, holding gaze upon his two visitors with that very cool calm. Yunrei somehow managed to stand tall, unreadable. Behind him loomed Kurojin, a living shadow.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"The Verythra attack on the capital," Yunrei stated, cutting right to the point.

"I remember. Terrible business. So many innocent lives lost. My heart goes out to the survivors."

"The beasts appeared without warning. No scouts detected their approach. No essence disturbances were recorded in the Beyond," said Kurojin. 

"How strange," Tsuyari remarked, 'Almost as if they materialized from nothing.''

"Or as if someone with the power to erase detection had guided them."

Tsuyari smiled. "Are you suggesting I had something to do with this tragedy, dear brother?"

"I'm not suggesting anything. I'm asking directly. Did you orchestrate the attack on Astralyn's capital?"

The throne room went silent, even the distant roar of volcanic activity seemed to pause as if the realm itself was holding its breath.

Suddenly, Tsuyari burst into laughter; a kaleidoscopic sound that shattered the stillness, jagged, beautiful, and dripping with danger.

"Oh, Yunrei. Your paranoia never ceases to amuse me. Do you really think so little of your own brother?"

Kurojin stepped forward. "Answer the question."

A sudden chill filled the room. The shadows on the walls began to twist and curl, assuming grotesque shapes.

Tsuyari suddenly stopped laughing.

"You want an answer? Very well." He began walking back to his throne, with each step showing deliberation. At the throne, he turned to sit down with the same air of quiet deliberation. "No. I did not orchestrate any attack on the capital."

In a way, they were technically true. Tsuyari had never orchestrated an attack on the capital. That was the distraction, to keep other Trueborns occupied while his real target was somewhere else. The deaths, the destruction, the chaos... all that was incidental to his real agenda.

Which was to capture Itsuki Naoya.

Yunrei watched him for a moment. "The time was suspicious. The beasts struck off when several promising bright young warriors from various dojos had left their normal protection."

"Coincidence. War rarely follows convenient schedules."

"This wasn't war. This was calculated. Precise. The kind of precision that points to intimate knowledge of our defenses."

Tsuyari spread his hands in a gesture of openness. "And you believe I possess such knowledge? How flattering. But I'm afraid my domain is rather isolated from the capital's military planning. Perhaps you should question Mizuko instead—her people have much more contact with the central command."

Masterfully done. A deflection containing just enough truth to be believable while simultaneously planting the seeds of suspicion against another Trueborn.

Something flickered behind Yunrei's eyes. Recognition, perhaps. Or calculation.

"We shall be conducting our own investigation."

"Naturally. And I shall cooperate fully. After all, nothing trumps the safety of Astralyn."

"There's another matter. There is a student from Zenkai Dojo who's missing. Itsuki Naoya."

Tsuyari's heartbeat hadn't changed. His breath remained steady. The years of practice had ingrained the control into his very being. 

"Missing? How unfortunate. I trust he'll be found safely."

"He disappeared during the attack. His friends believe he was taken."

"By the Verythra? How terrible. Though I suppose if the beasts were hungry enough..." He dropped the hint.

Yunrei's jaw clenched. "We have reason to believe he might still be alive."

"Well then, I hope your investigation bears fruit. Young people shouldn't suffer for the failures of their elders."

Kurojin stepped forward again: shadows seemed to pour forth from his presence, disdaining any light. "If you learn anything about the boy's whereabouts..."

"I'll contact you immediately. You have my word."

The two Trueborns left without any further ceremony. Just the sound of their footsteps fading into the distance as they made their way out of Tsuyari's domain.

Tsuyari waited until he was certain they were gone before allowing his mask to slip.

So they suspect me...Good.

Suspicion without proof was nothing but paranoia. And paranoid people made mistakes. They acted rashly, trusted the wrong allies, revealed more than they intended. 

Tsuyari could work with paranoia.

He stood from his throne and walked over to a different window, one that looked further into the heart of his domain. In the distance, he saw the forge-cities where his people crafted weapons of unimaginable power. Closer still to his palace were the training grounds where his elite warriors honed their skills.

All these would be needed in the coming conflict.

Because there would be a conflict. Tsuyari had made sure of that.

The attack on the capital had served several purposes. To test Astralyn's defenses and see how lacking they were. To tantalize the population with fear and uncertainty. To prompt the other Trueborns to reveal some of their capabilities and response protocols.

And most importantly, it gave cover for his attempt to capture Itsuki.

An attempt that had been a failure.

Failure was another great teacher. It meant someone else was playing the game, that Itsuki was maybe more important than Tsuyari had ever presumed. And that, finding the boy just became Tsuyari's first order of business.

Tsuyari closed his eyes and let his consciousness expand again, this time going past Vilaris. If Itsuki had been hidden in this realm somewhere, Tsuyari would find him one way or another. His power was simply too great, and his network, too broad.

But if he had been taken away... another way would be needed.

Tsuyari opened his eyes and smiled.

Turning away from the window, he walked deeper into his palace toward the rooms that housed his most dangerous servants. The corridors were carved from the same volcanic glass as the throne room and polished to mirror-smoothness. His reflection walked beside him like a dark twin in a world of shadows.

The first phase had been discovery and recruitment. Shion Enther now served him willingly, his mind shaped by carefully crafted conditioning and his power aggravated by gifts that came at horrid costs. 

The second phase was already in motion.

If any of his fellow Trueborns thought they could defend Itsuki from him, they were about to be set straight. Tsuyari was patient for centuries, willing to work behind the curtains, maneuvering events in the faintest of reflections.

But patience is finite.

And Tsuyari was very close to running out.

Echoing footsteps filled the darkened corridors as he approached the chamber wherein his best-servants awaited the instructions of his coming order. They would be given new targets, new levels of collateral damage which would be deemed acceptable.

The game was no longer the same.

And Tsuyari was going to ensure his victory.

Whatever it may take.

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