92

"You built the Ziggurat, but you don't deserve it. I will free your slaves and give these people civilization and law, not orders and constant fear."

"I am the chosen of the Icons!" Stralchus shouts, but his voice sounds hollow, and the villagers jeer, calling him a sorcerer and a swindler.

"Why have you brought that beast here?" Chief Kothis shouts across the river. "To mock us? Or to fight?"

The elephant sweeps its tusks through the river, churning the water, and Kothis takes an involuntary step back. Cerulean Guards appear in the windows of the pagoda, armed with crossbows, copper-tipped hoses, and weapons you don't recognize.

"How could Stralchus have created so much," Control wonders, "in so little time?"

"Now is not the time for theory," Alexius says, checking his Amantiou as more armed soldiers appear along the pagoda.

Next