Chapter 80

It took a while and I still have my dark moments, but, thanks to my partners as well as Morgana and my other friends, I finally came to terms with the loss of my Thea. Admittedly it helped knowing she really was in a better place, after all, an Apostle of the Lord isn’t going to lie to me.

My victory over Atomus had the Council in a quandary. Most simply couldn’t believe that a ‘mere’ journeyman could defeat a High Mage until it was pointed out that Atomus was hardly the first High Mage I’d taken down as well as the not so small matter of the Old One. Their quandary was that opponents of reform (and there were still a few) suspected that Morgana was going to unleash me as some form of attack dog on their sinecures as Council members, particularly on those who merely used the position for status without actually doing much in the way of work. The problem was there really was no process of retiring a useless member save by a duel.

Mind you, having her journeyman defeat a High Mage raised Morgana’s already stratospheric reputation to even newer heights, not that it meant a lot to her, but it reined in the endless backbiting and under the table deals by some Mages who did not want her to be offended ... just in case.

Our victory on Tír na nÓg galvanised our allies as it proved that, under the right circumstances, we really could take on our mutual enemy and win. Offers now flooded in from them and next time we took to the field, it looked like we’d have the command of several thousand, perhaps several armies if some of the offers were to be believed.

Elsewhere the only major success for Queen Oonagh, although this was mostly the Nephilim’s doing, was on the three Tuatha Dé Danann worlds in which it rather looked like the Tuathans were facing annihilation. This had eased the situation on Murias as the Tuathans had completely withdrawn their forces leaving the Murians, the Æsir and the Craebh Ruadh to focus solely on the Nephilim and roll them up as the Nephilim were forced into a strategic withdrawal in the face of a masterly campaign by Wind Councillor Ferrimoot.

One of the upshots of Ferrimoot’s alliance with the Æsir was the marriage of Ferrimoot to Vaniralla Freya after the assassination of his wife and son by Gorian assassins. Although Ferrimoot himself was convinced that his wife was actually plotting against him and his son had stumbled upon the plot with everything going to hell in a handcart and all involved ending up dead. It rather looked like Murias was going to end up as part of the Æsir sphere of influence to which the Mages of Earth wished them all the best as the Æsir at least were a (mostly) friendly realm who had never caused issues for us. Ferrimoot’s biggest problem now was refugees from the Tuathan realm and their old attitudes, although he assured us that they’d never be in a position to influence policy now that the lower classes had political power of their own. Indeed, many seemed to accept the new opportunities offered and we watched with interest to see which direction that society would go, certain that they would not go back to the way things were.

With the final demise (in a fashion) of the Coalition of the Pure the Craebh Ruadh had privately informed us that their ongoing vendetta against them was now over. A private meeting between Mage Cornelius and the priesthood and noble conclave of the Craebh Ruadh had ended with terms being settled and a promise by the Craebh Ruadh to deal with the occasional inconvenient fanatical Coalition Mage who could not be controlled by Cornelius. What the Craebh Ruadh got out of this I do not know, but Morgana, Julia and Simon were happy enough about it, so I refused to worry about it as well.

The evacuation of the Outer Realms continued apace. We had now managed to relocate over half a million Azurans to New Azurana, where, despite the almost chaotic conditions caused by food shortages and lack of adequate housing, a stable new and friendly realm was coming peacefully into being. Plans were now being made to establish a permanent foothold in the Outer Realm enclave off Azurana and hopefully ease some of the pressure on the civilised Earths by the constant raids carried out by the Nephilim despite their horrendous losses.

One of the happiest moments I had was waiting in the embassy portal of the Council chamber for the arrival of Ketty and Niras who were taking a break from their hectic schedule of works to come and visit our Earth. Both looked a little relieved when they were through as for all Loegrian technology in most fields was well ahead of our Earth’s, teleportation was still thought to be a bit of a pipe dream. Still the delight on their faces was a joy to see when they found themselves surrounded by friends whom they knew.

“Oh, that’s such a relief,” Ketty admitted. “And then there was that awful waystation we went through.”

“Unfortunately that’s Council policy,” Morgana replied as hugs were doled out freely. “All Mages go through there too, despite there being no real need for it these days.”

“I can’t wait to see the parts of your planet we can only view by video in ours,” Niras added.

“Well, John will be your official guide for the next few months and you’ll want for nothing as all arrangements have been made,” Morgana replied handing over a couple of UK passports made out in their names. “Tonight though you’re guests of honour for a meal at my home.”

The holiday was an absolute blast. Ketty and Niras loved the Caribbean, particularly the villa we were having built for them. But they also enjoyed the various locations we took them to, including Egypt and a Nile cruise, Europe, the Americas as well as some sights in Asia and Australasia.

“So in a year’s time we can move here permanently?” Ketty asked as she sunned herself on a private beach on the island of Bali.

“Yes, you’ll need to sort out any issues in Loegria, but it will all be ready for you and you’ll have a good income here from the bequests you made to Rowenna’s advanced medical centre in Troianova,” I replied.

“Good, because we don’t want charity, John,” she explained.

“You’ll be free to travel either by air or portal if you want, we’ll make sure you know which places you require paperwork for,” I replied.

“It’s so beautiful here, John. Yes, I know you have pollution and overcrowding, but nothing like what the Over-masters have done to parts of our planet,” Niras sighed.

“Not too primitive for you I hope,” I chuckled.

“No, John, simple living is what we need, not technology and we want to start a family soon,” he replied.

“Morgana’s looking forward to that,” I noted.

“So she keeps telling me,” Ketty giggled.

“Your children can be whatever you want them to be, Loegrian or Earthling,” Róisín added.

“We’ll decide when it’s necessary,” Ketty replied.

“You’ll also be able to visit Loegria occasionally to see old friends,” I said. “Well, old friends in the know, that is.”

“We know that John and are very grateful, though still not sure why,” Ketty admitted.

“Think of it as thanks for helping us blend into Loegrian society without too many questions and allowing us to heal our people properly,” I chuckled. “That and pointing us towards Artello.”

“He’s a world renowned neuro-technician now,” Ketty replied with a sunny smile. “Even gets consulted by other surgeons in the Over-master countries.”

“I thought they like to pretend you didn’t exist ... save when they needed a bogeyman to enrage their populace,” I stated.

“That was the case at first,” Ketty admitted. “Now, we’re just another country competing for resources and trade.”

“And doing rather well,” I chuckled.

“Yes because we can bring massive amounts of expertise towards a problem, rather than a few highly trained elite scientists,” Ketty replied.

“Yes, we’ve seen a higher learning centre,” I noted.

“We always had a highly trained workforce, but we opened things up by ridding ourselves of the hierarchical system which prevented certain groups from progressing beyond certain boundaries,” Ketty replied.

“How did they deal with the odd genius that must have cropped up now and again?” Róisín asked.

“Enforced adoption,” Ketty grimaced, glancing at a stony faced Niras.

“I was taken at five and renamed, brainwashed ... for want of a better word and brought up in an alien, to me, household as a prize pet. Yes, I was educated, but it was made clear to me that I was not ‘family’ save only as a breeding bargaining chip,” he grated out.

“No wonder you went rebel,” Róisín said into the silence.

“We tried, but were being gradually hunted down and eradicated ... well until you Mages turned up anyway,” he sighed at some no doubt distasteful memories.

“We found each other,” Ketty said squeezing his hand.

“That we did,” he chuckled, his dark mood lifting.

“And we’ll have a long life to finally enjoy the happiness and benefits we denied ourselves,” Ketty said with a huge smile.

“That we will, that we will,” he replied with his own broad grin.

The following day Róisín and I returned a relaxed Ketty and Niras back to Loegria to complete their obligations before they were to be given a new life. Archon Joras had made arrangements for a tragic accident for them in one of the underground maglev tunnels being bored from various cities, there would be no bodies and no blame to anyone which was how they wanted it.

Róisín and I spent a lot of time visiting other friends including journeywoman Irena and her husband Chetlar and meeting their young daughter. All were as happy and content in their lives as it was possible to be although we did have to edit Chetlar’s memories to hide the fact that Róisín and I hadn’t aged although Irena was allowing her age to progress with that of her husband ... well, her outer appearance at least, she was certainly removing any traces of dementia in order to allow her to recover should she want to when Chetlar moved on to the next stage of existence.

Albany itself was now a settled and prosperous country where the populace as a whole benefitted from the removal of the heavy hand of government by the now reviled Over-master clan who had once ruled there. Most of the fear and resentment against their southern neighbour had gone to be replaced by a friendly rivalry. A fledgling tourist trade had sprung up and prospered as the inhabitants of both countries now visited various sites and scenery in each other’s countries, a first for the planet as a whole in centuries, we were told.