With a loud gasp that startled everyone in the room, Stefan shot out of the bed and grabbed at his side. His hands found only bandages where his sword should've been. He looked around and found the twins, Orien and Ameera, holding a bucket of water and a towel. Their faces still damp with clean water and their clothes fresh and new. He looked down and found only his pants and his body covered with bandages that smelled like a mix of medicinal herbs and weird ointments. After a moment, he sat down and sighed.
"Semilia, Riel... Where are they?"
"T-They're out, s-sir... Do you want us to call them?"
Orien asked nervously as he set the bucket on the floor.
"No, it's fine. Knowing that damned Elf, she's-"
"Getting you some booze for when you wake up. We'll take it from here, you two."
She handed him a pint of mead with her ash-covered gloves. Stefan looked up at Semilia, her short hair tied into a ponytail as she smiled at the two children before her.
"Are you sure, Miss Semilia? We could help-"
"Ameera, we're fine. Go help the other adventurers."
Semilia smiled at them as she sat beside Stefan. Ameera was about to say something, but she stifled her protest at the sound of Riel as she entered through the doors.
Her dishevelled look and blackened robes caught the attention of most of the people within the room. She wore an irked expression while she patted off the dust and rocks on her large hat. After a moment of angry pats and grumbles, she walked towards them with a stomp to her steps. He wondered what the two of them did while he slept. He glanced at Semilia, her azure eyes focused intently on her own drink as she quickly gulped it down. Then he looked at Riel, who shook off the rubble caught in her hair.
"I see that you're finally up. Did you get a nice sleep?"
"More or less. What have you two been up two?"
Riel put on her hat and sat down beside Semilia. The Low-Elf didn't mind, although her hand flicked away the small rock that fell on her lap.
"The two of us escorted you and others to the guild. We had to take a few more trips to get everyone to safety."
Semilia glanced at the siblings as the two of them left the bucket of water and cloth near their feet. They left shortly thereafter, though they doubt they would be gone for long.
Semilia too the damp cloth and wiped the dirt off of her face with it. After she was done, she handed the cloth to Riel who quickly washed the cloth in the bucket. They sat there in silence, disturbed only by the occasional sound of pained groans and exhausted moans. They were tired. The looks in their eyes told him as much, and he could tell by the way they moved as well. This wasn't what he promised Semilia and Riel. Far from it.
He moved. He wanted to stand up, to find his sword and go. Go where? He didn't know, perhaps to fight the Demons. Yes, he would go out there and help slay those things. But Semilia stopped him before he could go and throw himself towards death. Her azure eyes glared at him. It told him that she knew what he was thinking and that she wouldn't let him. He looked at the leather gloves that pushed down on his shoulder and sighed.
"Sem, I need to do something. I can-"
"Shut it, dumbass. I know that fucking look in your eyes and I'm not letting you hurl yourself in front of those things without a plan."
Semilia gritted her teeth as she eased her vice on his shoulder.
"And that's...Why I'm taking you to the Guildmaster."
Semilia shook her head as she fell backwards into the hard bed. She let out a tired groan and Stefan turned towards Riel for an explanation while Semilia grumbled softly.
"The Guildmaster has a mission for us. Not just us, but a few others as well. And by the sound of it..."
"It's a fucking dangerous plan. A desperate plan to do something that I don't know what the fuck means."
"Ah. I see."
Stefan sighed. There would be no denying a quest if the one who requested it is a Guildmaster.
"W-Will you accept it?"
"Do we have a choice to say no? Anyway, let's go..."
The bed groaned as Stefan got on his feet. But he wasn't too keen on going to the Guildmaster. Not yet.
He slept soundly. Peacefully even. But the tired expression on the faces of those around him and the blood-soaked bandages around what remained of his arm. Druven sat by him, a cold tea in hand and stale bread in the other. Semilia shuddered at the sight. The loss of an arm, a dominant arm, is a nightmare for all Archers. To see Alric like this unsettled Semilia, but a different emotion swirled in Stefan's chest. He gritted his teeth as he looked at Alric, his hands a tight fist as he did so.
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Alric was alive. He will live to see another day, but not as a Guardsman. Everyone there knew it. He won't be able to hold a bow or sword ever again—perhaps a pen in time—but he will live. Stefan said no words to the unconscious Archer. Instead, he left Druven a gold coin and a curt nod. The small token of gratitude will buy them all a few rounds of the finest drink in the guild, but it won't bring Alric's arm back. But before they could leave them be, Druven grabbed Stefan's arm.
"Boy..."
He said with a grim yet calm tone.
"When this whole ordeal is over, what do you think will happen?"
Stefan pondered on Druven's question. He found no answer acceptable.
"I don't know. But I hope that this doesn't happen again."
With those words, Stefan patted the Dwarf's shoulder and walked away.
He saw what he needed to see. Alric and a few other Guardsmen lived, although some were more whole than others. He wasn't some Hero that needed to save them all. He was just an adventurer. It's not his job to save others, it's his job to prevent situations like that. Stefan said nothing, he did nothing, he simply walked towards the door. Semilia and Riel said their goodbyes and followed after him. Stefan glanced back at all the wounded, not just the Guardsmen.
"Some adventurer I am..."
He said to himself as he walked away.
----------------------------------------
"I-Is it just me or is Stefan... off?"
"What do you mean? He's always... off."
Riel replied quietly as the three of them waited for the Guildmaster to open his doors.
"Yeah, but this time he's pretty fucking upset about something. I'm not sure why, but I can tell that he's-"
"Sad? Angry? Maybe frustrated is the right word. Whatever it is, he's a different kind of serious today."
The two of them looked at Stefan as he stood in front of the Guildmaster's room.
Below them, the guild roared with activity as adventurers of all ranks poured in and out of its doors. Some carried with them civilians and those unlucky enough to find themselves out in the open. A handful carried the wounded while a small few carried the dead. Despite their differences, the adventurers all wore the same grim and dark expression. Only a small minority have lived through such a scene. Yet even they were not prepared to see Arenhein crippled like this.
Riel's stomach lurched. The sound of a distant building as it crumbled sent a shiver down her spine. She looked out the window and saw a dark shape as it fell onto another building, followed by a small blur. Moments later, blasts of arcane magic scorched the large Demon. Just ahead of the moving column of smoke was the castle, its walls now rubble against whatever it was that assailed it. Yet despite its defenses being destroyed and its defenders retreating into the keep itself, no Demon moved towards it. She found it odd, very odd, until her eyes saw the unmistakable glow of magic.
"Defensive Runes. Ones that are more powerful than those I set up around the district. No one's in my room, by the way."
The older gentleman known as "The Guildmaster" smiled at them as he climbed up the stairs. He had a worn but determined look in his eyes as he met with them.
"Guildmaster."
"Stefan, Riel, Semilia. Come with me, we need to talk."
"Can't we do it here?"
The Guildmaster chuckled and shook his head at Stefan.
"We could, but then I won't be able to give you people your presents properly."
Stefan raised a brow at the Guildmaster as he grinned at them.
They had no choice but to follow after the old man. They passed by a Cleric, his arm covered with lacerations and blood. Semilia and Stefan thought that it was from a Demon attack, but Riel could tell that it came from something else. Burst veins and mana backlash from the rampant use of spells. Riel looked away and shoved the sight to the back of her mind. The Guildmaster saw Riel and chuckled.
"Only those who work under a higher power could cast their spells in the presence of a Demon. Unless of course, you're a capable Mage."
The Guildmaster ushered them towards the back of the guild. The three looked at his hand as he held the doorknob and saw magical rings that shone with iridescent colors.
With a hefty push, the door swung open and the three groups of people inside jumped in surprise. One of them was familiar, with her silver hair and pale skin that looked like soft, freshly fallen snow. After a moment of tense anticipation, the Guildmaster coughed and waved his hand. An angry murmur from the group filled their ears followed by a low hum to the tune of a slow and solemn hymn.
"I have in this room three parties. All of them are capable fighters and with them is Miss Katherine, who I have tasked to relieve the small force that is busy holding the West Avenue."
The Guildmaster paid no attention to the angry glare of the Priests and Clerics as they performed their ceremony. Instead, he continued to talk as he poured himself a glass of strong wine.
"This Demons cannot be killed so easily. So I'm giving you the tools necessary to make killing Demons easier. If you look towards what our dear Priests are doing, you can see that they are blessing the weapons that I myself will lend to you. Of course, all of that is obvious already so let me get to the point."
Stefan sat down as the Guildmaster swirled the wine in his glass.
"Do you know why those Demons are attacking the castle?"
None answered his question. Katherine looked like she had the answer, yet she stayed silent on the matter.
"Ruric? Elya? No? I guess I'll-"
"Arenhein's a fortress city. Or at least, it was back in the old days. Won't be too far-fetched to say that those Demons are trying to breach the only thing that stands in their way to the Capital."
One of the women, an older lady with an eyepatch and a greatsword, said with a confident tone.
"Ah, yes. That. You're correct, mostly. But that's not the only thing the Demons want from Arenhein. No, there is another! An item created during The Scourging when great Demon armies were once mustered and assailed the very gates of our belove-"
"Get to the point, Liam."
A man that looked like two decades Stefan's senior spoke with a gruff voice as he wiped his spectacles. The Guildmaster sighed and sipped his wind.
"In that castle built not to house the old nobility of Arenhein is a pit. In that pit was once the innumerable bodies of Archdaemons and Greater Demons as well as the countless bodies of Lesser Demons. There were other pits, yes, but they were easily purified and destroyed... Except for this one. For you see, something happened to those bodies."
The Guildmaster poured himself another glass of wine.
"Their malice, their magic, and their bodies changed. They were dead, yes, but their hatred for the natural order clung on and it began to crystallize in that pit. And then, when it was time, their bodies and soul became one and their collective hatred shaped their vessels into a new form. When the Archmages and the Grand Priests from the Capitals came to purify the greatest of the pits, they found only a sword."
"A sword? They're try-"
"Not just any sword, Elya. A sword that contains the souls of thousands of Demons. It has an edge that never dulls but forever thirsts for the blood of all things. And that sword and its materials are bound by none other than Irkthrius, the Hound of Kings. He is better known as the Demon General that raged through the South."
"... Holy shit."
Elya's shoulders dropped. Everyone murmured amongst themselves while the Guildmaster finished his wine.
"Yes. Holy shit."