The Storm King-Chapter 1180: Nymph Ceremonies

Much of Leon’s Kingdom in the Nexus was beautiful by his standards. He took pleasure in the natural world, finding much less beauty in the world of man than he did out in the wilds. In no small way, that made the land he’d chosen to settle as perfect for him as it could possibly be—the Ocean Lords had enforced their buffer zone, ensuring no large civilizations had settled in this part of the Far West. That left nature to flourish for tens of thousands of years.

Old-growth forests, primordial lakes and rivers, and untouched mountains. The grasslands to the east of the Artor Valley were seemingly endless, sprawling for thousands of miles between the mountains at the western edge of the Storm Lands and the Bolt Mountains that made his eastern border. Even now, after a hundred and fifty years of settlement, many of these places were still untouched by the hand of man.

There were lakes and rivers, and now cities lay upon them. Farms had sprung up to feed hundreds of millions of people, and infrastructure had been built to accommodate travel. But so much of the land was as yet untamed, and Leon reveled in every square inch of it.

Case in point: the shores of a large lake close to the Bolt Mountains that served as the headwaters for what was known as the White Feather River, one of the Blue Feather River’s largest tributaries. It was upon the White Feather River’s banks that Leon destroyed Numa’s strike force and captured Loia, prompting the King’s submission. The river that emptied Tyrant’s Lake and joined with the White Feather River Leon had named ‘Numa’s River’, helping to iron out some of the humiliation from that defeat—or so he hoped, anyway. Given the century and a half of peace between Artorion and Highcastle, his efforts had succeeded. ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm

But as he stood on the shore of that lake, it wasn’t Numa or Rolor’s Highcastle that consumed his thoughts. It wasn’t the breathtaking beauty of his surroundings, either.

No, it was what Xaphan had learned after contacting his old friends in the Elemental Plane of Fire. Amon was now the Prince of Flame, and how he’d managed it was unclear. Leon feared it had been Planerend, but he had no proof—not that there was much he could personally do about it even if he did. The only person he could trust with something like that was Ambrose.

But the meddling of a Primal Devil in demon politics was hardly the only explanation for Amon’s rise—the demon had seized Xaphan’s old title of Lord of Flame, after all, so why couldn’t he climb higher? A terrible possibility that occurred to him in that moment was hardly proof of anything.

He still shuddered at the thought of that single red eye staring at him, invading his mind, tearing his mental defenses to ribbons with contemptible ease. He couldn’t remember much of the aftermath, but something in him did. When he closed his eyes and he thought back on that moment, when his mind felt like it had been lit on fire, when the Primal Devil was forcing its way in, his eyes felt like they were starting to subtly burn. He’d lost them somehow while he’d been knocked unconscious, and Ambrose had claimed that he’d needed to regrow them while Leon was out.

He never wanted to face Planerend again. If there was even the slightest possibility that that creature was connected to Amon, then Leon wanted to take it seriously. He had some protocols for getting in touch with Ambrose, which thankfully didn’t involve returning to Aeterna, something he didn’t have the time to do.

A disturbance of the lake’s calm, almost glassy surface pulled his attention from those musings to what he’d come to the lake to supervise. He stood up from the rocky shore and stretched, reveling in the lack of other people around which allowed him to set aside his Kingly demeanor. The closest humans to him were the communities that had once lived around Krizos, and that Leon had settled around the lake. But they were just to the southwest of the lake, while he stood on the northeastern shore. Hills were at his back, and behind them lay a deep, dark primordial forest that even the Ancestral Harts balked at inhabiting.

But he wasn’t alone, as the gorgeous nymphs that emerged from the water made abundantly clear. They were all completely naked, as was their wont, and led by Maia, strutting out of the water as would a Queen through her domain. Her eleventh-tier equivalent aura was radiant and strong, imposing as a tidal wave. The eighth and ninth-tier nymphs behind her seemed like drops of rain in comparison.

Leon waded into the water, meeting his wife at a point where the water came up to about the middle of his thigh. They spoke no words, though Maia’s hand gently took his. They let their emotions travel freely through their connection, feeding each other love, acceptance, and anticipation. Then Maia’s hold strengthened, and she pulled him further into the water.

This lake had, for more than a century now, been one of the largest colonies of river nymphs in Leon’s Kingdom. Thousands called it home despite the light human settlement around it. Most of the time, if the nymphs wanted to find their mate, they would have to travel down the White Feather River, generally finding one among the towns and cities that lay between them and the Blue Feather River.

Down Leon, Maia, and the dozen or so other nymphs traveled. The light of the origin spark faded quickly, though the lakebed was alight with long strands of glowing blue kelp, fish that advertised their danger in equally fluorescent colors, and bright red grass that danced in the currents of the lake. Schools of tortoises drifted amongst those same currents, some only as large as Leon’s hand while others were larger than Leon was in his Thunderbird form. Thick eels playfully chased each other, spines flashing and sparking with lightning magic in what seemed to be communication.

Amidst all of this rose twenty great pyramids. Leon instinctively sucked in a breath as he took them in, reminded as he was of their inspiration—the graves of the Primal Gods he’d seen beneath the Serpentine Isles of Aeterna, and Krith’is who invaded his mind in an attempt to break free. That had taken place so long ago that he’d lived more than ninety percent of his life since then, but those memories were as vivid as if they had only taken place the day before.

Leon was more familiar than most with the powers of the Primal Gods and Devils, and only luck had seen him out of both his close encounters.

Nymphs circled in great pods around the summits of each underwater pyramid. Some eighth-tier nymphs were already there, standing on their pyramids. Those following Maia broke off their pursuit to go to their own pyramids, taking control of the lesser nymphs that swam around them. Leon noted a marked increase in the number of younger nymphs since the last time he’d come here, serving as another reminder that it wasn’t only the human part of his Kingdom that was growing.

Maia took him to the largest pyramid that lay in the center of them all, upon which was a large altar. A long staircase led from the foot of the pyramid to the top, leaving anyone who ascended it on one side of the altar. Leon and Maia floated down to the altar’s other side and waited.

With a wave of her hand, Maia twisted the water of the lake, kicking up the sand and soil that had settled at the bottom. Millions of glowing spores and glowing creatures filled the water around them until the pyramids were surrounded by what looked almost like a field of stars. Even the swimming fish and tortoises either stopped to watch or began circling the pyramids.

With another wave, Maia sent a pulse of her magic through the lake, signaling an official start to the ceremony that Leon had come to partake in.

Movement caught his eye; the eight greater nymphs that had been waiting for them began swimming toward Maia’s pyramid. Those that had accompanied her remained on their pyramids, their pods of lesser nymphs circling them like schools of fish.

In total, seven greater nymphs swam to the foot of Maia’s pyramid and, in a show of submission, ascended the stairs on foot until they stood across the altar from Maia and Leon.

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Maia glared imperiously at them, while Leon stood by her, his face carefully stoic, revealing not a single hint of emotion. The water around Maia pulsed—a wordless command to continue—and the first of the seven nymphs walked forward as naturally through this deep water as one of Leon’s vassals would in his throne room. This eighth-tier river nymph laid her hand upon the altar, and in a flash of light, conjured a raw, fist-sized red diamond. Another flash of light deposited a shield-sized turtle shell on the altar, and a third laid a dozen bolts of fine sea silk made from the byssus of local oysters next to the shell.

A nod of approval from Maia allowed the nymph to retreat, and another took her place. More treasures were added to the altar, all of great value, though none of strategic value. They proceeded in this manner until all seven greater nymphs had laid offerings on the table.

Maia evaluated their offerings closely, letting them stand before her in quiet dread. She glanced at him, and with practiced ease, Leon joined her in evaluation. The gifts were fine, representing a significant amount of personal wealth—though they were but a few drops in the swimming pool that was his treasury thanks to the storm crystal trade. After a moment, he stepped back, satisfied with their tribute. Maia did the same thing after another moment. She then conjured golden bracelets for these seven greater nymphs, all of which Leon had personally forged and enchanted, and presented them to the nymphs. Seven hundred and seventy-seven similar silver bracelets followed, the forging of which Leon had outsourced to his skilled smiths and enchanters.

These bracelets were designed to aid the nymphs in conceiving children—a field in which Leon and his wives had become rather adept after all of their research, even though that research had yet to bear fruit in their own family. They were also beautiful and had, in the past century, come to represent significant status among the river nymph community.

Such a community was rather new for the nymphs. Naiads and Pleiones on Aeterna didn’t often work together, though Pleiones would often have at least a few Naiads serving them. Rare were the nymph pods that exceeded a thousand nymphs.

In this lake alone, however, lived ten thousand river nymphs, and tens of thousands more lived throughout the lake and river systems in Leon’s Kingdom. This necessitated a level of societal organization that was rather alien to the nymphs. But after reigning by Leon’s side for as long as he’d been King, Maia had picked up on the value of tributes and ceremonies. Her nymphs gave her and Leon tribute, and she gave them gifts in return. Her subordinate Naiads and Pleiones followed her because she was the strongest nymph, to be sure, but this ritualized gift-giving helped to ensure that it wasn’t just fear of her power that kept them in line.

These eight Naiads were the newest to emerge from this lake, all of them having risen over the past decade. This was their first tribute since gaining the status of a Naiad, the others in the lake having already given tribute and receiving gifts in return weeks ago.

Maia took their tribute into her soul realm, allowing the nymphs to descend the stairs to the foot of the pyramid again. The tribute ritual wasn’t long, and when it was over, Maia took Leon’s hand again and pulled him to the altar. She lay upon as runes all over the pyramid flared. The ocean around them seemed to disappear, all the sounds of the deep vanishing, until Leon and Maia seemed alone at the top of Maia’s pyramid.

For all intents and purposes, they were alone, the enchantments Leon had laid upon the pyramid separating them from the rest of the lake, giving them all the privacy that they could ever want.

With a smile, Leon pulled his clothes into his soul realm. His lips met hers, and they indulged in their own ‘ceremonies’ for several hours more.

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Leon and Maia’s return to Artorion was far from subtle—they teleported back, with both sides of the portal connected by a beam of Lumenite that all the city could see. Almost as soon as they stepped out of the portal and into the pavilion at the top of Nestor’s teleportation hub, they took to the sky in Thunderbird and water dragon form, eliciting great cheers throughout the city. Leon and his wives frequently left the city to tour the growing Kingdom, and it always pleased the people in the capital to see their King and his Queens return—though Maia was the only one with him this time.

It had only been two days since they’d left for Zan Ziba Lake as the former citizens of Krizos called it, naming it in their own tongue, but Leon could already tell that the city was more energetic than usual. The reason why was plain for him to see from the sky: Anzu’s fleet of scout arks had returned. The arkyards were a flurry of movement as they serviced Anzu’s dozen frigates and thrice as many corvettes, ensuring that when the time came for him to lead his fleet back into the Void, they’d all be in perfect condition.

Little time was wasted returning to the palace, where a large group of Leon’s knights and other officials had gathered to welcome him back, including his family. Elise, Valeria, and Cassandra stood at the front, while next to them stood a tall, heavily built young-looking man with skin as white as the purest cloud, hair like flowing silver, and red eyes as bright and luminous as one of the Jaguar’s lightning bolts.

Almost as soon as Leon touched down in his private landing area, Anzu rushed forward shouting, “Brother!”

“Brother!” Leon shouted back, grinning madly as he and Anzu threw their arms around each other’s shoulders. “It’s good to see you back! I felt like my left hand had been chopped off while you were gone!”

“Thank the Ancestors you have two, right?” Anzu replied with a cheeky grin. A moment later, his smile faded slightly, and he added, “I’d hoped to get back before Farah’s submission. I’m sorry I missed it.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Leon said, not minding at all. He was the one who’d given Anzu his mission, after all, and he placed a higher priority on its completion than on Anzu being present for a ceremony. “If you feel that strongly about it, she should still be in the city if you want to meet her.”

“I might just do that. She’s said to be quite beautiful…”

“And a widow,” Elise reprimanded playfully as she, Valeria, and Cassandra approached from behind. “And quite devoted to her late husband.”

Anzu frowned dramatically. “Damn.”

Leon and Anzu finally released each other and Leon greeted his wives, and after them, he had to suffer through ten more minutes of greetings from the rest of the palace who’d come out to see him. If he hadn’t known better, he’d almost have thought he’d been gone for two years instead of two days. Regardless, as he headed inside, he asked Anzu, “How was your mission?”

“Successful,” Anzu responded with a smile. “And promising.”

“Promising enough that you were practically shaking with excitement when you returned,” Valeria pointed out with a sly grin. “I’m looking forward to your report.”

“You haven’t heard yet?” Leon asked, surprised at her restraint.

“I only got back a few hours ago,” Anzu replied, surprising Leon. Though he’d hardly been paying attention at the time, he thought he’d have noticed Anzu’s fleet passing through the great portal to the Nexus and past the defenses he’d built there—which amounted to a great fortress with a garrison of twenty thousand soldiers, plus a fleet larger than the one he’d first arrived in the Nexus with. That he hadn’t noticed Anzu’s fleet returned told him a great deal not only about how distracted he’d been given the possibility he’d floated with Xaphan but also about the speed and stealth capabilities of Anzu’s arks.

“Give me the quick and dirty version,” Leon demanded. “The details can wait.”

“That planar cluster is a mess,” Anzu immediately answered. “Those pirates must have destroyed all that could’ve threatened them because no one’s managed to fill the power vacuum they left. It’s been constant, violent chaos as far as I can tell for the past hundred and fifty years.”

“Perfect ground for a conquest,” Cassandra noted as they walked through the trapezoidal halls of the palace, murals of light to their right and left depicting many scenes of the Thunderbird’s triumph. “No one’ll be strong enough to even threaten our weaker fleets, and we’ll be the people who return peace to the cluster rather than an invading force.”

“That depends on how the conquest goes,” Leon stated. “One benefit of conquering a large and well-established Kingdom is the institutions that can be coopted. Notice how little we’ve had to involve ourselves with governing Culain or Elegan compared to Shatufan? If these planes are that chaotic, then we’re going to have to build up those institutions, and that means a lot of time investment.”

“Good to get some practice, then,” Valeria opined. “Better to get that experience now than have to fumble around on Minor or Tiryns, let alone Kypros.”

Leon nodded. Those three planes were his Clan’s most valuable planes, amounting to their spiritual capital and the home of the Thunderbird herself, their largest and most powerful fortress, and a plane so replete with natural resources that as far as Leon knew, it was still being fought over to this day. Of course, the Thunderbird Clan had holdings beyond counting out in the universe given its august position, but those three were the most strategically significant, and the three that Leon wanted back more than any others.

The planar cluster that Anzu was scouting was small and poor compared to most other clusters, but they were close to the other side of the portal through the Nexus’ shell and could serve as a useful base and port of call for his arks as they move through the Void. The cluster consisted of nine planes, each ranging from about half to three-quarters the size of Aeterna.

And soon, they would be a part of his Kingdom.