I walked up. That was a first. Either the general was in a great mood and couldn’t wait to thank me or he needed someone’s rear to lay into and mine was his first choice. Thankfully, I didn’t see how it could be the latter.
Inside, Balak sipped from a glass of wine, looking pleased with the state of things.
“Tyrus. How’re you feeling?”
“Better, sir,” I answered as the flap closed behind me. “Congratulations on the victory. I hear your decision along the western front worked out for the best.”
He set the glass down and nodded. “It did. The Geneshans were hoping to flank us. They weren’t expecting to run into such resistance.” He grunted. “The mages are acting like the victory should be theirs though. Lazy fools finally decided to pull their weight around here and now they expect all the accolades I sweated years for.”
I chose not to respond. It was no secret that Balak and the High Mages didn’t get along. Both resented the other since they each answered to no one but the king himself.
I changed the subject. “I hear terms of peace have already been worked out.”
“Yes.” His smile returned. “Once they learned your unit had the artifact, they agreed to pretty much anything we demanded so long as we swore not to use the thing. Have you seen it?”
“No, sir. We thought it best not to open the box it was in.”
“Nothing wrong with taking a look. Here,” he said while going behind the table still adorned with maps.
He pulled out the wooden box we took from the Geneshans. It looked unimpressive. Made of oak, it held no engravings or paints.
He flipped the lid and I moved closer to peer inside.
The artifact was carved from the same wood as the box. It was ugly as sin with the body of a turtle and the head of some sort of insect with long antennae and big, round eyes. I had seen better craftsmanship from the merchants peddling their wares to our army.
“It doesn’t look like much, does it?” he asked.
I shook my head. “Is that supposed to be Beel?”
He grunted. “You know, I didn’t think to ask. If it is, I understand their religion even less than before.”
A strange pulse of sorcery radiated off the artifact. It made the hair on my arms stand up.
“Even with my resistance I can feel the power coming off it. Any reason why the Geneshans never used this thing on us?”
He took a sip of wine. “Because they’re scared of it. You weren’t here for the peace talks. I think they wish they never found the thing. Apparently, there’s some ancient prophecy that says if used, the artifact will end the world.”
“And now we have it.”
He nodded.
I snorted. “And they’re serious?”
His face grew stern. “You should have seen how quickly they agreed to terms. They couldn’t stop going on about how the sky would change color, the earth would shake, fire would rain down from the heavens. Plants and animals would change—”
“And us?”
“Lots of death. Lots of sickness. Chaos.” He paused and shook his head. “So long as we promised not to use the artifact, I think they would have crawled around on their hands and knees kissing our rear for the next year in order to avoid their prophecies. As it is, they agreed to become a vassal of Turine.”
I doubted anyone had predicted the Geneshan Empire ever becoming a vassal. I didn’t. Even though we had gained the upper hand in the war for some time, the empire had been too big for Turine to ever hope to conquer outright. At best, most hoped for peace and maybe a bit of land west of the Golgoth River.
Balak closed the lid to the artifact and the pulse of power lessened.
“So now what happens to it?”
He lowered his voice. “Well, according to the terms of our agreement with the Geneshans, we’ll bury the thing a hundred feet below ground and never think of it again.”
Something about his tone didn’t sit right with me. “That’s not what’s going to happen, is it?”
He drained the last of his wine and poured another glass. “No. Orders from the king said I’m to hand the artifact over to the High Mages. They’re going to bring it back to Hol to study.”
“And you don’t agree with that?”
“Of course not. I’m not saying the artifact is going to end the world, but there’s obviously something there we should leave well enough alone. But you know how the