Chapter 613 Uneasy War Room
The war room was lit brightly right now. Varok stood at the head of the table, his silver eyes fixed on the crude map sprawled before him. The other division leaders sat around the table in tense silence, their expressions a mix of contemplation and frustration.
Even after their victory, they can't fully immerse themselves in happiness because turns out, there are more secret that they didn't know.
The revelation of the blue skeleton's true nature had shaken them all. The knowledge that it belonged to a dead goddess buried in their world for an unknowable amount of time felt like the opening of a door to a labyrinth they had no map for.
The silence in the room was thick, each leader grappling with the weight of the discovery.
Varok broke the silence first, his voice steady but still clearly laced with frustration.
"The elders knew. They knew all along, yet they said nothing."
Lira leaned back in her chair, arms crossed tightly. Her green eyes were sharp,like she was dissecting every word the elders had spoken, or hadn't.
"They've always guarded their secrets and we don't care about that until now, but this? A goddess? This isn't something you keep hidden. This might be the reason those invaders for coming here," Lira said.
Brogar slammed his big fist on the table, the sound reverberating in the enclosed space.
"We've been fighting and dying for hundred of years, and all this time they had knowledge that could've changed everything. Why didn't they tell us? What else are they hiding?"
"Perhaps they feared what would happen if this knowledge spread. If even the skeleton's dormant energy is enough to make us uneasy, imagine what it could do in the wrong hands," Elena spoke softly, her voice cutting through the tension.
"That doesn't excuse their silence," Tovan said, his tone edged with anger. "We're supposed to trust them. They're our elders, our guides and leaders. If they've been keeping secrets like this, how can we trust anything they say anymore?"
Kael, who had been sitting in quiet thought, finally spoke. "What worries me is why they chose to keep it hidden. Were they protecting us, or themselves? And if they were protecting us… from what?"
The room fell silent again, the weight of Kael's words hanging in the air. Each of them was lost in their thoughts, the possibilities spinning out before them like an endless web of uncertainty.
Varok sighed, his hand gripping the edge of the table.
"Whatever it is. We can't afford to let this divide us. We've made it this far by standing together. But I won't let this go unanswered. The elders will have to explain themselves, whether they want to or not."
"What if they refuse?" Nerin asked, his restlessness evident in the tapping of his fingers on the table.
"Then we press them," Varok said firmly. "They owe us answers. Not just for the sake of our trust but this could also be for the survival of our people. If this skeleton truly holds the remnants of divine power, we need to understand it before our enemies do."
The leaders nodded in grim agreement. The potential of the blue skeleton was undeniable, but so was the danger it posed. The revelation had opened new possibilities, both as a potential weapon against their enemies and as a harbinger of unknown threats.
The tension in the war room deepened as Varok leaned forward, his silver eyes narrowing.
"Is the Lord Dragonborn back?" His voice cut through the murmur of thoughts.
The leaders exchanged uncertain glances, a ripple of unease spreading across their faces. The realization dawned on them like a shadow creeping over the room — they had been so consumed by the discovery of the blue skeleton that none of them had noticed Eccar's absence.
"Commander," Nerin said, hesitantly breaking the silence, "I… I don't think he's returned."
Varok's jaw tightened, his frustration mounting. Without wasting another moment, he turned toward the soldiers stationed outside the war room and barked an order.
"You! Bring me news of the Lord Dragonborn immediately!"
The soldier snapped to attention, and hurried off. The room fell silent again as the leaders awaited his return, their unease growing by the second.
Minutes felt like hours until the soldier finally returned, his expression grim.
"Commander Varok, we've searched the perimeter. The Lord Dragonborn is not back yet."
Varok's hand slammed down on the table, the force rattling the crude map before him. His gaze swept across the room, his voice cold and clipped.
"The Lord Dragonborn is not back yet. That means either he's still out there… or worse."
The implications hung heavy in the air. The leaders' faces turned grim, the possibility of Eccar's death weighing on their hearts.
"The Lord wouldn't just disappear. He's our strongest warrior. If he's not back yet, then something must've happened. We need to send a search party," Lira spoke up, her voice sharp but tinged with concern.
Brogar growled in agreement, his fists clenching. "We can't leave him out there alone. If he's alive, he needs us. If he's not…" He trailed off, unwilling to say the words.
But Varok shook his head, his eyes distant, as if recalling something.
"Wait," he said. "I remember… just before we retreated, Lord Dragonborn said something to me."
The room leaned in closer, hanging on Varok's every word.
"He said, that he will be staying behind. And ask me to go without him, and I need to secure the team and retreat. We don't need to wait for him.' He must be planned to get caught."
The weight of those words seemed to deepen the room's silence.
Kael frowned, his sharp mind piecing things together. "If he planned this, then maybe he knew he wouldn't make it back with us for now. But why? What could make him plan that and required him to stay behind?"
Elena's eyes widened, a spark of realization lighting up her face. "The blue skeleton… Could he have stayed behind to discover something more about that? Or worse… to stop something that none of us saw coming?"
Varok's expression darkened as the pieces began to click into place. "If that's the case, then he's either still out there, trying to finish what he started… or he sacrificed himself for our survival."
The thought was a bitter pill to swallow, and the leaders struggled with the implications.
"We can't sit here and speculate," Lira said, rising from her seat, her green eyes blazing with determination. "We owe it to him to find out what happened."
Varok nodded and ask for the soldier on the ground to call those who were outside at the raid and saw what happened to Eccar.
---