Jaxon had Monroe looked over several times. There wasn't any marking on Monroe… but they'd all seen that flame… and he didn't dare hope it was just a bluff.
"We need to think quickly, ten guesses before nightfall. We can't afford for us to miss the cut off time to submit them." Leonard reminded gravely as they looked over a dozen sheets, each with possible clues.
Levi had also recounted every feeling, thought, and action he'd made from the moment he'd been given the ring box this morning. Nothing in particular stood out… but he was considered two obvious clues.
Lucian was looking over the potential clues, both Leonard and Levi had been cursed, and influenced… but Leonard had also either met the beast directly… or its proxy. "Have the mages place distortion enchantments on Monroe, make him harder to track, sense, and smell."
Leonard nodded, "I will also always have Amin with him. Jaxon, I need your guess. We should all make different ones, even if only one is right… at worst two pieces will be at risk. If we're lucky, a finger will count as a piece."
Jaxon glared, "Would you be so logical if Levi were named?"
Leonard glared back, "Yes. Because acting rash might get him killed. We already knew we were on thin ice, while I don't know why Ashton picked Monroe. I do believe you might have some idea."
Jaxon glared, "Do you have an idea why Ashton said he'd take your flesh as payment, but still left you and Levi alone? As far as I know, Monroe and I had nothing to do with whatever beast gave you those rings."
Leonard took a deep breath as Levi baod his head, "I don't know, for all I know it's because Levi is next. But I assure you Duke Darnings, Monroe's plight has my full undivided attention."
Jaxon gritted his teeth, then glanced to Devlin's apprentice who specialized in enchantments. "Did you find anything?"
The mage shook his head, "Nothing your grace, I'm sorry."
Lucian gripped Jaxon's shoulder, "Better to only lose two pieces a day than ten Jax. We will figure this out. Maybe the other beast can help."
Jaxon gripped Lucian's hand taking a deep breath. Monroe was all he had left; both his uncles and their families should already be dead. He hoped they were dead. "Thank you." Jaxon whispered.
Leonard jolted, staring at Lucian and Jaxon, "Monroe is bait…" Leonard whispered in understanding.
Jaxon glared, then paled, "Levi and you are already compromised… Serafin and Natasha are political investments ha… haha… a battle of beasts…" Jaxon stumbled then slumped into the closest chair. The only logical choice was Monroe, Emmett was in training to become a first-generation knight for the Empire.
Several quick, loud knocks were suddenly made on the conference room doors. Lucian signaled to let them in while Monroe was pulled aside to start having protections placed on him.
Two pale mages and a dozen guards were escorted in to report the damages. Devlin's most promising apprentice Gareth Betts, already a fourth-tier mage at 40 years old, led the procession.
Lucian took his seat as the others did the same, "Report."
Gareth pushed his sweaty brown and grey hair out of his eyes and gave a bao, "Your majesty, before we report on the damages… there is an alarming discovery we need to announce."
Devlin nodded to the group, they set out a large map of a miniature capital, complete with damaged buildings and ashes where gates once stood.
Gareth placed a dozen mana crystals that had recorded the latest damages… and discoveries. Then he zoomed in to focus where the main gate had once stood… hundreds of human rib bones were visible beneath the ash.
Lucian leaned forward, "What is the meaning of this?" He growled out.
"We found human bones and containment enchantments every ten or so meters along the entire gate… we also found similar enchantments and remains beneath more than half the burnt structures." Gareth reported swapping the view to several buildings where the ash had been either swept away or dug up.
Lucian gripped the arm of his chair, "Those bones look… fresh… but that gate is over 500 years old." Gareth paled at the comment while most of the guards looked ready to vomit.
"We have two dozen mages looking into the enchantment but… I believe, from a cursory inspection… the enchantment keeps the … sacrificed tethered to their remains…" Gareth explained.
The room was as silent as death…
"Are you saying… they aren't dead?" Jaxon asked horrified at the implications.
Gareth hesitated, "Their bodies… are gone, maybe from decomposition, or as part of the sacrifice… but the bones are the anchors to keep their souls. We believe, we are still decrypting the enchantments."
"Why bind the souls?" Lucian asked pointedly.
"I don't have an answer, and… probably only the church would know. These enchantments are not only hundreds of years old; none seem to have been adjusted in that time, they also appear to only be the tethers. Whatever enchantment is afflicting the souls… hasn't been discovered yet." Gareth explained pulling some of the gate enchantments to be compared with the newer buildings, one residence was only four years old.
Jaxon examined the bones, each building only had one type of bone, some had leg, some only had… finger bones? "Why separate the… remains?"
Gareth hesitated, then stepped back so a priest healer could step forward, "I am not familiar with soul enchantments your grace, but Priest Katherine has theoretical understanding. She arrived at the gates to confirm this was sacrificial in origin, and… that the church had similar enchantments."
Katherine stepped forward, at forty with a daughter who was also a priest she'd come across more than a dozen variations… today she learned the horrific truth. Katherine gave a deep bao to the emperor waiting to be addressed.
Lucian practically dissected the priest, grey and white hair, clam blue eyes, overweight, ash covered priest robes, and that wretched calm indifference. "Speak."
Katherine wasn't surprised, she was well aware of how much the current imperials hated the church… her revelation would not garner any good feelings. "While I haven't had time to do a full inspection of the enchantments, I can explain a bit about the soul, then the soul enchantments."
"Then explain." Lucian ordered tersely.
"Our souls are bound by our living bodies; the bones are kept alive through these enchantments. If the bones die… the attached souls would be freed. The bones are segregated for two reasons, that I can tell so far. First, if at least one bone I still alive the soul can remain bound; second, each enchantment is specialized to keep a specific bone type alive." Katherine explained as simply, and concisely as possible.
"Can we tell how the remains are being kept… alive? Since we don't really have a better term." Leonard asked as he also made notes as Katherine pointed out small differences in the stone enchantments. Katherine gestured so Gareth focused on specific bricks that were shaped to form the enchantments.
"All the enchantments we've uncovered are like flood drainage from the main arrays; they rely on power from an outside source. Which means… there must be at least two main enchantments, since the reason for the souls is still unknown." Katherine explained apologetically.
Jaxon glanced over the bones, "What are possible uses for souls?" he asked writing down all the clues from Ashton, the delegations, and anything else that was related to curses. He would organize them later. For now, just getting all the possible information was the priority.
Katherine hesitated, "I… don't know in this context. Usually when a soul is sacrificed… it's gone, no need to maintain an anchor to keep it around. Soul mana… usually uses the soul as fuel… I would have to see the enchantment to even be able to hazard a guess."
Jaxon glanced up, "What kind of curses would need… this many souls?"
Katherine paled as she glanced around the room eyeing all the armed guards. "If… well." Katherine hesitated as she thought it over. "Even then, most curses would use up the soul, not contain them, and… this isn't a curse."
Leonard glanced up, "What about mitigating a curse, can souls do that?"
Katherine regained her calm, "In theory, someone could sacrifice one soul in place of another. That still would use up the soul, until we see the primary enchantments… if we can even decipher them this is all just speculation. Spells and enchantments have evolved greatly in the last 700 years."
Lucian narrowed his eyes, Bodin and the others were still alive. "But the popes would all know, yes?"
"They should, someone has to be making the sacrifices and… adding the remains." Katherine added unsurely, "Then again… they may only be adding sacrifices without understanding the process. This is incredibly complex, it would have taken… easily over a thousand priests to provide the initial mana needed simply to start such an enchantment."
Gareth glanced over some of the engravings, all of them were ancient, "The real problem is… we don't know what will happen if we destroy the remains. Until we know the consequences… we may have to… make sacrifices to keep the enchantments going."
Jaxon glanced between the two pale priests. "Are you out of your minds?" The sheer audacity… for human sacrifice…
Gareth met Duke Darnings's gaze, "These enchantments encompass the entire empire, the souls won't be able to just… pass on. If the enchantments just stop… can you image what 700 years of sacrifices would do to the empire? Only a handful of our priests can even detect souls… less than half of those can appease lost souls so they pass on. It can take decades for an angry soul to gain enough power to affect the living, but when they do… Your Grace, entire villages have been decimated when a single rouge soul manifests. There are currently thousands, possible hundreds of thousands very old, very angry souls trapped in the capital."
Leonard rubbed his face, "How long would it take to train mages to combat angry souls?"
Gareth shrugged, "I can't even give an estimate… soul mana has been forbidden… for hundreds of years. I wouldn't even know where to begin."
"A fourth-tier mage can do damage to corrupted souls, but only holy mana can force a soul to pass on against its will. Soul mana can destroy or capture souls but… training a single mage would take at least a decade." Katherine offered looking around the room.
"Have the pope and others interrogated again. Also, look into how our greed dragon died… there have been too many disparaging remarks." Lucian ordered, then he turned to the priest, "You are now in charge of the church, any who don't cooperate are to be thoroughly interrogated."
Katherine baod, then left to start investigations. She was also given three hundred guards to start rounding up uncooperative priests, start demolitions of religious buildings, and help organize the newly homeless.
Devlin and Bert took charge of having temporary walls erected to protect the capital now that the gates were gone. Jaxon and Sebastian sent word for their personal guards to arrive in the capital to assist with construction and maintaining order. Randal and the Luthiger guards were tasked with standing guard outside the gate perimeter until a new one was completed.
The imperial guards were standing guard over the enchantments to ensure no one attempted to remove the remains, or hide any evidence. Unfortunately, due to the panic caused by the public finding the gruesome remains many had started refusing guards entry to their private property.
Charmaine and Serafin had been making public appearances assuring the public that the imperial family was taking the matter seriously, and land would be returned after recordings of the enchantments were documented. She also swore to make the investigation results public, especially the punishments of any culprits found.
The duchies also made similar statements as well as announcing that the enchantments were using holy mana. The speculation ran rampant as justification of the lindorm purge started to circulate. Soon mentions that the rebels had also supplied no less than 600 sacrifices to the holy enchantments was also released along with testimonies from the semi-annual Cerulean Forest hunts.
Each duchy and marquis estate were to also send two thirds of their mages to assist in recording, labeling, and deciphering each enchantment. While the public started to cooperate with the mages, they questioned who and why the capital had been set on fire. As the rumors spread people wanted confirmations that a new beast had been disgusted with the capital, and wanted to clean out the previous religion before making Smyrna its home.
The idea that a new beast would leed Smyrna to even greater glory was welcome. While the mages didn't confirm the information, they did let slip the new beast had taken residence in the palace.