The Infinite Bk. 03 Ch. 04

"Hurnst Saveat. Most maritime trade is run by his company. His son, Mark, is friends with Seraph and Galvin."

"One of his ships was lit on fire, and another was stolen by prisoners who escaped the dungeon. It's raising costs on everything from overseas. To your left, the fat slug in the yellow robe."

"Count Plume. He tried to pull me onto his lap at one of these parties two years ago."

"One of his knights was summoned to the city to help deal with the Red Revelries and died in battle. Unfortunately, that knight was the lynchpin to the count's authority, and now the local bandits are becoming more active. See the woman over there with her hair covered?"

"Marquette Silman. Her territory produces almost half of the paints and dyes used in the country."

"Her son was killed by a knight, and she's cut off all donations to the academy. Unfortunately, the Red Revelries exacerbated an already growing distrust between the nobles and royal family. It's good that the prince's victory came when it did."

The conversation was cut short as a woman bumped into them. "Excuse me," she hissed, pretending that it was not a deliberate act. Minus the icy expression on her face, she was very attractive; early 40's with black hair, an alluring figure, and a boastful cleavage.

"My sincere apologies, madam," said Noah.

"Duchess Herald, it has been a while. You are looking well," Alexis said. Noah sensed her nervousness, something she only displayed when it came to Lady Zodiac, but there was no admiration this time.

"Hello, Alexis. I must admit, I'm surprised to see you at such an event. I thought you were allergic to sophistication. Would it be presumptuous for me to congratulate your return to civilized life?"

Alexis's eye twitched, but she maintained her composure. "Well, I thought it would be a nice break from my studies. I've been putting all my effort into training for the knighthood and decided to enjoy a night off."

"I'm glad you've found such fulfillment at the academy. I'm sure that with enough hard work, you can restore your family's honor."

"Your caring words fill me with hope, Duchess. I'm sure you can agree that it's better to live while earning trophies instead of being one."

"Yes, it's for the best. Clearly, you and my son had different views of the future. I now see that you were right to break off the engagement rather than waste his time. Not all of us can get married and have children. Some people are simply meant to live and die alone."

"Well, I, uh..."

"I just hope you're not stringing your friend along with false hope. Speaking of which, who might you be?"

"Cadet Henry, madam," he said with a bow. "Am I right to assume that you are Prince Galvin's mother?"

"I am."

"I thought so. He and I fought on enrollment day and have become friends since then. Your son speaks highly of you."

"He does, does he? You must be a good influence on him."

"Clearly, you are as well, and upon meeting you in the flesh, I must say that even the title of Duchess does not do you justice."

Her expression eased. "A good influence indeed."

"Please forgive me for bumping into you. This strange music is intoxicating, is it not? It beckons you to dance like we're moths fluttering around a candle. Are you perhaps looking for a partner? It would be my honor to accompany you upon the floor."

"I'm sure I misheard you. A cadet asking a duchess to dance..."

"I know I am not worthy. Fate is cruel to put one such as yourself within my reach, yet so far beyond my grasp. Still, a man can dream."

A knight in polished armor approached the duchess and whispered something in her ear. "Ah, I'm afraid I must depart. Cadet Henry, it was a pleasure to meet you." She shot Alexis a dirty look and then turned back to him. "Perhaps we can talk under better circumstances. Until then, I wish you two a wonderful evening."

She walked away, and Alexis glared at Noah. "Really? Flirting with a duchess? Do you have a death wish?"

"To her, I'm simply a foolish young man who had a little too much to drink and was hypnotized by beauty. She's probably already forgotten my name, but will remember the compliment. Besides, she hates you so much, she might have accepted my offer simply to steal me away out of spite. Either I'd succeed and distract her, or I'd fail, and my attempt would drive her away.

So, you were supposed to marry Galvin, correct?"

"I refused, of course, a bit violently, I might add. It left a black mark on both our families."

"She holds the title of Duchess, rather than royal consort, so how did she manage to pop out a royal bastard?"

"It was a one-time drunken affair, but that was all it took to latch onto the royal family. She was born a commoner, but she schemed and manipulated her way up the social ladder. The king was so afraid of her ambitions that he made a secret decree that Galvin can't take the throne while his mother lives, to keep her from wiping out the rest of the family and taking control of the nation. This is all according to my older brother, so I don't know how accurate it is."

They were then interrupted by the sound of fanfare and trumpets. "Presenting His Highness, First Prince Lupin Oxam Vilard Albion!"

All eyes turned to a great set of doors opening at the end of the hall, through which a man stepped forward. He was in his late twenties, with long hair and a proud smile. He stood prim and proper in a white military uniform with a cape over his shoulder and a ceremonial saber on his hip. Even from a distance, Noah felt the aura he gave off as the antitheses of Seraph and Galvin. His arrival drew a round of applause from all the guests, prompting him to bow in gratitude.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I, Prince Lupin, welcome you to Castle Albion on this most auspicious of evenings. You have been invited here to celebrate a grand victory. However, it is not my victory, nor is it Uther's. It is the victory of the brave knights and soldiers who gave everything they had for this great country. Too many paid the ultimate price, but I am proud to present the surviving victors and a befitting trophy to their success!"

Behind him, several knights entered the hall, all of varying ages and ranks. Their armor was freshly polished and decorated with medals and crests of achievement. With them was a train of wooden carts, upon which the slain basilisk was brought in. It had been dismantled for transport and display; the skeleton stripped of its flesh, cleaned, and arranged like a fossil exhibit. It was like a six-legged cross between a velociraptor and a brontosaurus. Its torso was the size of a city bus, and the shape of its bones projected its predatory speed and skill. It had talons like scythe blades, easily capable of tearing through steel armor like paper, and a mouth full of sharp teeth that could swallow men whole.

Its scaly pelt hung on racks along with its skeleton to show how many times the beast had been blasted, slashed, hammered, and stabbed before finally dying. Basilisks were notoriously difficult to kill, boasting both incredible defenses and endurance. Even if a warrior could manage the Herculean task of breaking their skin, inflicting enough damage to kill it was a whole other story.

"Behold, the vicious basilisk! The legendary slayer of armies! This ravenous monster killed just as many beastmen as it did soldiers and knights! It even swallowed the king before bursting out onto the battlefield! The gates of Welindar, having withstood attack from weapons and spells for centuries, were smashed to pieces when it went on its rampage!

Countless men on both sides were left paralyzed with fear. Even I wished to flee at the very sight of it. Its wrathful shriek will haunt me to the day I die. Words cannot describe the ensuing battle, nor do justice to those who gave their lives. We'll never know which injury sealed its fate, never know which was the attack that ended its life." He approached one of the bronze knights, a young man just a few years older than the cadets, and clasped his shoulder, making him red in the face with nervousness. "But let history never forget that it was Sir Reynolds here who landed the first blow! He was the first to overcome the terror we all felt and strike the rampaging monster. It was he who galvanized the rest of the troops, and even I left a mark on the basilisk thanks to him.

Now, let us drink and celebrate, not just for the fall of Welindar, but the rise of our knights into legend!"

The cheering and clapping of the nobles were deafening, filling the entire grand hall. Even Noah cracked a smile. "Damn, he's good."

"Lupin is a skilled diplomat. He's helped keep Uther out of trouble with the elves and is part of why we have such a strong alliance with the dwarves," said Alexis.

"Let's get a closer look at that thing."

He and Alexis moved towards the skeleton, but unfortunately, almost everyone else at the party had the same idea. The prince and his knights occupied plenty of the crowd's attention, but it was still a great effort for Noah to slip through and get close enough to the skeleton to study it. As he stared at it, his brow furrowed. Nothing about this was right. He moved around the skeleton, examining it from all angles, and the more he saw, the more concerned he became. He soon exited the crowd and returned to Alexis, still looking for a way in. He smoothed over his expression, but she sensed something was wrong.

"What is it?"

"Hopefully nothing, but I need to talk to some of those knights. Excuse me."

He left her and went over to one of the food tables, where a bearded knight from the prince's entourage was stuffing his face with small sausages. "Excuse me, you're one of the men who fought the basilisk, right?"

"I'm trying to eat here, boy. Wait until I'm drunk, then I'll start telling stories."

"I just have a few questions. They'll only take a minute."

The knight turned away from him. "I said I'm busy. Piss off."

"It was acting crazy, wasn't it? Limping and moving erratically?"

Having about to take a drink of wine, the man lowered the goblet in his hand. It would be weirder if the beast wasn't a bit crazy."

"Basilisks are notoriously aggressive, but this one, was it acting like it was rabid?"

"Well, it wasn't foaming at the mouth, but... yeah, it was acting funny. Swinging its head, screaming, moving around weirdly in circles."

"How did its eyes look. Were they normal?"

The knight finally turned to him. "No, they were huge and red, like big bloodshot melons threatening to pop out of their sockets."

"Thanks," Noah said. He departed before the knight could say anything else and went over to Daniel. "Hey, I need a distraction."

"What, like knocking a tray over or starting a fire?"

"No, just use your guitar. You call yourself the Bard of Rock, well do something bard-like. I just need you to thin the crowd around the skeleton a little."

"Well, I'm not that great at improvisation, but I think I have something in mind." He ended his classical-style muzak and began a new tune, the dramatic Spanish melody, Asturias. "Gather around, citizens of Colbrand, so I may tell you the tale of the vicious basilisk!" The sudden change in tempo and the loud strumming drew the attention of much of the crowd. Daniel continued to play his tense chords. "It crawls and climbs across the slain, feared by all as warrior's bane. Its claws and fangs, sharp, they are. Across the battlefield, its roar echoes far." He began regaling, pausing between lines to think up the next verse. "In the battle of Welindar, it did appear, its scales breaking many a sword and spear. Our brave knights did not stop and did not cease. They went to war with the wicked beast. Command the battle from atop the horse, the prince rallied his men until his voice was... uh, hoarse."

He stumbled a little bit, but several nobles moved away from the skeleton to better hear his song. Fortunately, the prince and knights were as amused as the rest of the guests. He projected his mana with his guitar, which helped immensely to ensnare them. Once the crowd had thinned out, Noah activated his spells and approached the skeleton while leaving his clone standing in place. He examined a segment of the monster's hide and managed to pull off part of its scale. Hopefully, it was enough.

He gave Daniel the all-clear signal and left the ballroom. He found a broom closet in an adjacent corridor and stepped inside, safe from prying eyes. Now alone, he began channeling his mana into the scale, just as he had done the previous day to his collected samples. He didn't have the strength to imitate such a massive creature, but if it was spawned by magic, he could still project the circle. No such luck. His findings were not a 100% guarantee, but they gave his theory too much credence to ignore.

He leaned against the wall of the closet and sighed. Was he really going to expose himself like this? His finding could save countless lives, something he didn't really care about, so there wasn't much incentive. However, the fact that he didn't care was why he had to do it.

He returned to the ball and found Alexis. "It's not nothing, is it?" she asked.

"You're acquainted with the prince, right?"

"I've met him, sure. Why?"

"I can't get close enough to him to strike up a conversation, but someone like you can. I need you to pass a message to him. It's important."

"What's going on?"

"See for yourself." He handed her a piece of rolled parchment, and she read the message inside. She turned to him, fear and tension in her eyes. "Go," he said, before she could ask any questions.

She nodded and left his side, heading to the prince and the crowd of congratulating nobles. Noah had been correct about not being able to get close. There was a hierarchy of who got to speak to the prince, and as the daughter of a duke, Alexis narrowly qualified to get in line among the other nobles. She had to wait her turn, but Lupin was doing a fine job addressing each of his fans.

"Ah, Alexis Veres! It's been too long!"

"Yes, Prince Lupin," she said with a curtsy. "It is good to see you, and your victory is one for the ages."

"I appreciate your kind words. It's a shame that things could not work out between you and my brother. You would have been a welcome addition to the family."

"You flatter me, Your Highness. While I have you, a friend of mine asked me to pass this along." She handed him the parchment, and he glanced over the few written words. Immediately, his smile vanished, and he turned to Alexis with a concerned glare, one that she shared. "He hasn't explained it to me, but I suggest you listen to what he has to say."

The surrounding nobles were starting to notice the tenseness in the air, so Lupin leaned forward and whispered in her ear. Alexis nodded and broke away from the crowd, returning to Noah. "He said to meet him at the gate, and he'll see you shortly. You'd better be right about this."

"Actually, you should hope I'm wrong."

He left the grand hall, and Alexis followed him. They stepped out into the main entryway, away from the crowds and now free to breathe the night air. Noah gave her his coat while they waited. It was dark, and no one was around. In the distance, they could hear Colbrand's nightlife like a boiling pot. They were patient, and ten minutes later, the prince arrived alone.

"So, you must be Alexis's friend. I was hoping for someone a little older, if I may be honest. What's your name?"

"Before I give it, I humbly ask that you not pass it on to anyone else. If they ask, this conversation never happened."

"A little too cloak-and-dagger for my tastes, but very well." He held up the parchment from Noah. "'Not real Basilisk -- something worse'. You have my attention and my time, and I suggest you not waste either of them. Tell me, what exactly is "worse" than a basilisk?"

"An artificial basilisk. What you have in there isn't a natural monster spawned from a magic circle. It was created by people."

Alexis stared in shock, and the prince was likewise taken back. "That's impossible. No such magic exists. If this is a joke, I find it in rather poor taste."

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to dismiss your victory or how hard your troops fought. I'm saying that this is a sign of something far worse on the horizon."

The prince crossed his arms. He was guarded but willing to listen. "Explain."

"One of your men confirmed that it was limping and moving strangely on the battlefield, but that wasn't because it was enraged or wounded. Its body was deformed."

"What do you mean?"

"The skeleton is asymmetrical, several bones either the wrong shape or the wrong size. Equally concerning is that several of them have a very rough surface, like gravel, which is a side effect of a rare and deadly illness: bone cancer."

"Bone cancer? I've never heard of such a disease. This isn't some folklore malady, is it?"

"Cancer isn't something you catch like a cold. It is the uncontrolled growth of abnormal, defective flesh, producing masses called tumors. Normally, the body keeps it in check and prevents it from spreading, but it can grow out of control and infect bones, organs, what have you. I was also told that the creature's eyes were swollen and looked like they would burst out. It likely had cancer in its brain as well, and the tumors were pushing against the backs of its eyes. This would also explain its erratic behavior. Your men wouldn't have known to look for them when they were carving it up, but its body was probably riddled with tumors."

"So it was sick, what of it?" Alexis asked, unconvinced.

"If it was spawned from a magic circle, it would have appeared fully grown and fully healthy. It couldn't have been born through natural summoning magic. The problem is that it couldn't have been born through copulation either. Take a closer look at the skull when you go back in. There are protruding domes across the cranium, like bubbles. They likely formed around the tumors as they pressed against the inside of the skull. What concerns me is that that kind of shape-alteration can only happen before birth or during the earliest stages of life, when the skull is malleable. To be born with this level of physical deformity, as well as such active cancer, it could never have survived hatching or delivery, let alone living to adulthood.

The only explanation is that the basilisk, rather than being born or spawned, was created by people and experienced extremely rapid growth. It might not have even been a basilisk in the first place, but something transformed through potions or magic." The prince didn't say anything, nor did he meet Noah's gaze. He was lost in thought as he processed Noah's theory. "The king of Welindar, you said the basilisk ate him before arriving on the battlefield. Did you actually see it happen, or did you guess because you found no traces of him, perhaps other than some blood and torn clothes?"

"You think that monster in there is the king?"

"Or someone else used as a test subject."

"But that's impossible. No shaman can transform into something as large and powerful as a basilisk," he muttered in shock.

"Perhaps someone is trying to change that, using corrupted shamanism and pushing the boundaries of magic and life. In which case, the result would be... what you have in there. What your men killed was a manmade abomination, or even worse, a genetic experiment. If so, its presence on the battlefield may have been a field test, and whatever method was used to create that thing can be perfected. If that happens, imagine what an army of them could do."

Alexis and the prince maintained their composure, but Noah could see their minds racing with horrible scenarios. Dots were being connected that they wished didn't exist.

"Can you prove this?" Lupin asked.