The Fire and The Storm - The Nexus of Kellaran #2
Chapter 195

Part 27

"Most of us are on multiple teams, if not as many as you are, Father." Talia told him as she gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Even the kids here are on nine different teams, including their own and Mark's, and Mark is on twenty-six.

"What are you doing?" Alilia asked as she detected the Governors casting on themselves.

"We're casting a modified version of the brain-charging spell we came up with in the brainstorming session." Val explained. "The one we've been using just charges us up enough to figure out whatever we wan to figure out at the time. This one keeps us almost fully charged all the time, then goes to full boost when we need it. It's a little less safe but it's still pretty good that way, and we won't take the chance that we'll fail to realize it when we need to be smarter."

"Ah." Alilia smiled, and was distracted by events before she could respond further.

Pakdag appeared on the stage, his archaic armor shining, and spoke as if every word was a grand announcement. "Be welcome, contestants and news-carriers, to the greatest and most momentous tournament ever held on Kellaran; The Tournament of Governors!

"A random drawing has been held to decide the order of the contest. The order number of each team has been added to their entry in the official team listing.

"In fifteen minutes the tournament will begin. The leaders of the first team will step upon the stage within a circle of elder gods. They will allow those gods to cast upon them, and they will begin the scenario. Every team will face exactly the same scenario, and no team leaders will be permitted to disclose what occurred during their play until all the teams have played and the results have been announced. Since some people are serving as supporting team members on more than one team, no supporting team members will remember their experiences as such until after the tournament is concluded, to prevent their play on one team from affecting their play on another.

"As we have done with the recent training exercises, each team's play will be conducted in a simulated psionic reality, and will only require a few seconds in real time. At the beginning of the scenario the team leaders will believe that they have already won this tournament, and that they now command Kellaran. They will not command The Triax, and will need to co-operate with them as we do now.

"Everything within the orbit of our star's outermost planet will be simulated in the scenario, as close to reality as we are capable of making it. Each team will face exactly the same foes. The behavior of all the people of Kellaran who are not team members will be simulated based on a Reading of them that will be taken just before the tournament begins, and that same Reading will be used for every team's play. The behavior of The Triax and most of the behavior of the demons will be simulated by gods of The Triax.

"I swear by my vow on The Truthstone of Falgaroth that we will conduct the tournament with the highest possible fidelity and with absolute impartiality. Almost every god we have will be participating in conducting the tournament or actively monitoring it, including most of the new gods. Our work with them has shown that the contestants who are new gods will be subject to the scenarios in every way exactly the same as mortals are, so long as they are sincerely permitting it. They will believe, as every contestant will, that it is not a tournament, and not an exercise. They will be convinced that what they are experiencing in the scenario is reality. In this way will their true character and abilities be revealed.

"After every team has played there will be a ten minute break, during which the pantheons of The Kellaran-Triax Alliance will review the results and decide upon the twelve teams who led us most effectively. We will then present and announce the twelve best teams in reverse order, with a short Revealing of the highlights of each of their performances.

"We will not announce or even decide upon the placing of the teams that do not place in the top twelve. We know that every team will do their best for Kellaran, and none of them deserve to be ranked last. It will be enough for them to know that they were not in the top twelve.

"After the tournament is over they will all be free to discuss their performances, and will be provided with a detailed Revealing of their play in the tournament. Since such a Revealing may well require several years to review in its entirety in real time, they will be provided with a sub-spell that allows the content to be easily advanced to any reference point the viewer might request.

"Please be ready to take your places in the circle promptly when called.

"Good fortune to you all."

"We're going forty-sixth." Val noted as she checked her list.

"I'll be fifty-seventh." Mark stated as he did the same.

Soon the leaders of the first team to play were called to the circle; led by the gnome King Wosea of Enj and the giant Emperor Baltar of the Empire of Eskangir in Felion. In four and a half seconds their play was finished, and they left the stage as the leaders of the next team were called.

The placing of the team leaders in the center of a circle of gods was purely symbolic. Every member of each team was cast upon by the tournament's organizers as their leaders were cast upon, no matter where they were. As it turned out, some supporting team members weren't even present in the hall, but it mattered not.

They joined the scenarios of the teams they'd been asked to participate in as subordinate members, and the psionics of the gods were so sophisticated that none felt mentally fatigued by the end, not even Yazadril, who experienced many decades of simulated warfare.

In less than half an hour the call came; "The forty-sixth team to play; the Governors of Hiliani, please take your places in the circle."

They took their places on the center of the stage and joined hands, though it was a bit awkward since Karz was his full-sized self, and they Linked deeply.

The elder gods cast upon them.

"...And so, with these scepters of office, we declare you the Governors of Kellaran, fully empowered to command every mortal and every god among us in our struggle against the demons." Somonik respectfully intoned as he handed each of the four a gleaming gold scepter, then bowed to them.

"Thank you." Six said for the four of them as they gave a deep bow to the Assembly.

"We'll waste no more time." he

stated decisively as they straightened. "We'll attack the demons as soon as possible, and begin planning for it right now. Mobilize our forces and have the civilian populations move to their defensive positions. Inform The

Triax, and ask their commanders to

join us here immediately." Content

In less than an hour they were ready, and launched an all-out assault on the demons' distant vessel with all of their gods, all the gods of The Triax, and all the available power of the mortals of Kellaran wielded by fifty-two of their finest Strike Wizards, including The Governors and most of their team.

The demons defended their colossal irregular rocky vessel with hellacious energy and refused to yield any of it. Whenever the Gate-to-the-sun attack was cast on their stone void ship, they Translocated it forward in its path almost immediately by a little more than its length, just enough to escape the attack. They also responded by vastly increasing their speed toward Kellaran. After six

hours half the mortals were relieved, both the Strike Wizards and those in the Command Link with them who supplied their power and defenses, and the fight continued thereafter in two overlapping shifts. Other than that, the running battle continued continuously without letup or pause for almost two full years. As it came within the orbits of the inner planets early in the second year, the forces of the mortal Triax and the Kellarani void-vessels joined the fight.

Still the demons fought on, and as they approached the orbits of Kellaran's moons they began Translocating millions of greater and lesser demons to the surface of the world to raise havoc among the defenders, while DemonLords began attacking the mother-ships of The Trax. However, none of those vessels were completely lost before the demons were finally

exterminated.

As all of The Kellaran-Triax Alliance began celebrating the final victory, reality shifted and the four stood again within the circle of gods, their play in the tournament at an end.☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐

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