Chrysalis

Chapter 1202: Anthony On Tour - Aggressive Diplomacy

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Isaac's mam had slungs on her, even towards the end. The neighbours were almost as familiar with her voice as he was, since it sounded like she was yelling from within their own houses.

However, he had to give Eran Thouris scredit, she might have his dear departed mother beaten.

"WE CIN GOOD FAITH, UNDER TREATY!" she bellowed.

The golgari tried to get a word in edgeways, but she wasn't having it.

"THIS BASE TREACHERY IS AN INSULT TO THE ENTIRE BRATHIAN TRADE ALLIANCE!"

"We have committed no treachery!" the warrior spluttered. "It is you who have brought devastation and destruction to our home!"

"YOU THINK I HAVEN'T BEEN IN COMMUNICATION WITH MY PEOPLE OUTSIDE? HOW DARE YOU DENY INVOLVEMENT AFTER ATTEMPTING TO DROP A MOUNTAIN ON MY FLEET?!"

"That was simply a natural fracturing of the rock!"

Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt

Isaac almost winced for the man. It sounded weak, even to his ears. True to form, the Eran pounced, glaring at her opponent like a snake would a shivering rodent. She even lowered her volume, which was a blessing to all with ears nearby. The ants hadn't been bothered one bit.

"We will not be held responsible for the mistakes and poor skills of a few lowly Shapers."

Eran had let him build up a head of steam, and Isaac had expected her to cut off the warrior at the knees, but with the demand for compensation, all the anger seemed to evaporate out of her in an instant. She went ice cold, her eyes as hard as diamonds, even her scales seem to tighten around her. The golgari felt it, how could they not? Every brathian had the sresponse to his demand for payment, every one of them becoming an icy pillar of cold fury.

Eran Thouris drew herself up to her full height, almost half that of the imposing warrior before her, but she didn't appear small in the slightest.

"You will hear from our lawyers."

She dropped those words as if dropping an artillery grade fireball, then turned on her heel and began to stride out. Not knowing what to do, Isaac ordered his people to follow in her wake, since all the brathians were already doing so.

"Are we just going to leave the goods behind?" he whispered to Eran when he caught up with her.

"Who gave you permission to leave?" the warrior yelled, visibly fuming.

Isaac hoped she never found out who those people were, given the look in her eye. If she did, he imagined they would be living in a wooden box before long, everything they touched turned against them by the might of the brathian trade empire.

"Told you the Eldest would take care of it," his partner, Cavalant, told him cheerfully.

"The Eldest almost got us all killed," he pointed out, knowing it was pointless to bother, but somehow unable to help himself.

"That's weird. I'm not dead. Are you dead, Isaac?"

"... No."

"So nobody is dead, and the fleet has been saved. Seems like my point of view is gaining strength over yours, wouldn't you say?"

"Have you ever spoken to the Eldest, Cavalant?"

"Me? Of course not! I wouldn't trouble them."

"I have."

"Don't rub it in."

Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm

"And I find it hard to detect this deep wisdom you seem to imbue them with."

"Well that's unsurprising," Cavalant laughed.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Wouldn't you need to possess deep wisdom, in order to find it in others? You couldn't find your own left hand if I didn't point it out to you."

He tried. He honestly couldn't say why, but he did try.

Only when they reached the edge of the mountain and began to descend on platforms of air did Isaac finally get a sense for the true scale of what that mad ant had done.

The tunnel that had led down to the dock had been sheared away, and so had huge chunks of the mountain face. As if a giant had reached out a hand and scooped away billions of tons of stone, the mountain was just… broken.

Cracks and fissures big enough to fit his hvillage inside ran all along the face of it. Now wonder it had felt like the entire thing was falling apart. For the first time, he felt a chill when considering the power of that single ant.

That was a good thing, he comforted himself, the Colony would be safer, which meant he, Isaac, and all of his friends and comrades would be safer too, under the umbrella of such a creature.

Yet, he couldn't help but admit to himself, he was beginning to see why the Legion feared what he would becif given the chance.

With troubled thoughts filling his head, he floated down toward the fleet.

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