AEHU/Plot/Plot Sketch Chapter 7

"Dreams Devoured"

Schala and Derben join King Zeal and Belthasar's team to the sub-ocean excavation site where the Object lies. After they help Belthasar's team dispose of Lavoid support creatures threatening to block access and get a brief look at the Object, Schala and Derben resurface and head off to Algetty.

Schala acts as translator for Derben, who speaks with an Earthbound elder completely oblivious to the presence of projectile weapons in his community. The talks go nowhere and are further interrupted when the elder's granddaughter, Doreen, announces that Masa and Mune are missing; Doreen had to work overtime by Zealian order and the twins got away from her, possibly following their father's hunting party to the Beast's Nest on their nightly hunt for food.

Schala and Derben fight their way through the Beast's Nest and find the younglings playing in a dangerous spot. They protect them until their father, Grishe, arrives. Grishe snatches up his sons without thanks because he blames Zeal for the condition the Earthbound are in in the first place.

Schala and Derben return to Algetty to continue investigating the weapons situation. This time they speak with a cautious Anderu Po'hjol, chief engineer tasked by his Zealian minders with overseeing energy production operations in Algetty. Surprising Schala with his fluency in the common tongue, Po'hjol admits to Derben that he himself designed the weapons sighted earlier, but that they are only for the self-defense of his people. Derben says he has no doubt, and the trust they place in one another allows them to strike a deal whereby Po'hjol will hand over 2/3 of his weapons stock to the Seneschal and store the rest in a location of Derben's choosing. Derben swears that the location of the weapons cache will remain a secret as long as they're used against beasts only, and only during emergencies such as the beast incursion in Algetty.

Derben and Schala return to the excavation site, seeing a bright flash and hearing shouts ring out as they descend. They learn that King Zeal has just been vaporized after making direct physical contact with the Object.

The following morning Queen Zeal awakes to the news of her husband's death. Stunned at first, she eventually flips out and signs orders for Demeria and the Gurus to be locked up on grounds of extreme negligence. Seith, who wants to continue investigating the Object, assesses the Gurus' like intentions and manipulates Queen Zeal into punishing only Demeria with a demotion from Seneschal; it was her job, not the Gurus', to protect the king, and Schala is goaded into revealing the quarrel Demeria had with King Zeal prior to the incident.

Dalton is promoted to the position of Seneschal. Demeria bears public anger but refuses to give up her title until Dalton defeats her in battle; per Zealian custom, the new Seneschal must defeat the previous Seneschal to prove his or her protective worth. Demeria actually wins, but Seith covers for Dalton politically and his technical failure to meet the requirements of Seneschal are swept under the rug. This makes Dalton obligated to Seith personally.

Schala and Derben chase Demeria down and both apologize for her predicament -- Derben for the fact that he was the focal point of her argument with King Zeal, and Schala for revealing the argument to Queen Zeal. Demeria insists that her judgment was not clouded; the Gurus had assessed the Object and it appeared perfectly safe to approach before it killed him.

During King Zeal's funeral, Derben saves the ark bearing King Zeal's ashes from a spill while its bearers trudge over rain-soaked steps and Demeria and Schala take turns comforting a distraught Janus.