Chapter 5: Ambush

The darkness of the night whose stars shone brightly in the night had become shrouded as the blue-tinged dome replaced the sky. Lancing analyzed the barrier with his eyes and the paresthesia his body experienced from the magic, but every signal pointed to a single conclusion: there was no escape. Soon the enemy would pounce upon the camp. The opponent was not a pack of ravenous dogs with no thought, but a pride of lions who had already trapped their prey. Soldiers, whose fearful faces betrayed their stable stances and capable disposition, huddled together in a circle to show no back to the enemy. They would engage in a fight of honor, but judging by the power of the enemy mage, it would be closer to a brutal slaughter.

Elise did not back down from the imposing might of the unseens foe. Walking with shaking legs, she moved towards the soldiers to join their force. Compared to the dismay she felt as the camp first realized the ambush, her mind became clearer as she thought of strategies to leave alive. However, her years of experience with magic defying nature to create various phenomena hit her in the gut as she looked at the barrier formation. It was not her first time seeing a barrier of such as size - even the duke’s castle had one in place that could activate from wall to wall. What worried her was the scale of strength that seemed to be on another level than the few others she’s seen. Only the emperor’s castle, whose barrier was constructed over hundreds of years, might be superior to the one that stood tall in front of her that was erected in only a few moments. A mountain whose peak rose above the clouds had  appeared in front of Elise. Shock and despair swirled together inside of her body, increasing the rate of her heartbeat until it felt on the verge of bursting.

After waiting with anxiety for a few minutes, the sound of silence was broken by the rustling of leaves from the surrounding forest. Humanoid shapes walked from the trees, revealing their forms that dropped the jaws of every human watching. Not two of the individual were of the same race or held the same features, but all 9 of them were foreign.

One woman of substantial beauty had a body composed of dark, mahogany wood whose grains swirled around her body in an upward pattern. The branches growing atop her head grew leaves of their own and her face looked very content as she communed with nature, even during such a tense situation. Only another woman whose wings flapped with passion and horns growing from her crown matched the other in looks. But compared to the grace and glamor innate in the dryad, sensual charm exuded from the succubus, whose clothes covered much too little. Her seductive power was inversely proportional to the amount of cloth on her body, as the men in armor could not tear their eyes from the sight of her looks. As their gazes met the demon’s, their cheeks grew flushed and desire soon pervaded their being, distracting them from the imminent danger of the others in the group.

Two men stood across from each other on the outlier, separated by the ring of soldiers but only paid attention to one another as a glare shone from both of their eyes. One could hardly be called a man anymore, as his bulged muscles created an abomination of pure mass. Fur lined the skin on his body as a dark grey color and the golden eyes in his skull peered through the darkness of the night as if it was the day. With a furrowed brow and a snarl dripping with saliva, his clenched claws let blood flow as if the only blockade from him launching himself to attack was the pain on his palm. As the source of the werewolf's anger, the other let out a chuckle as if the furred beast’s ruthless expression was comical in his eyes. He wore a long coat of black leather that rustled alongside the leaves around him. His light blue eyes pierced the air with a deep coldness; each flying leaf that came into contact with his bare skin froze upon its surface. Even the ground around him iced over slightly due to his presence. Both battled with only their gaze, one of pure hatred versus another of transparent contempt.

Five other distinct appearances stood among these four. One man elevated the temperature of the air around him due to the flowing magma between the molten rock that made up his skin. Surprising those who saw him, none of the fluid matter escaped the boundary set by his humanoid shape. Another man had the ordinary look of a human, but closer inspection would reveal a lack of scales on his being. Beside him, a petite woman with obsidian skin held onto his arm, a charming smile upon her demonic face. A lonely boy of fourteen years looked at the surroundings with anxiety, somewhat intimidated by the spectacle before him but he still released breaths of excitement. Lastly, a woman with a distant expression stood with clasped hands held on her stomach. Her straight, white hair hung past her shoulders and her clothes which showed no skin revealed her reserved temperament. However, her most distinct feature was a black mask that looked to be torn in half that covered one part of her face, obscuring one of her eyes. The other eye remained closed as her expressionless face pointed towards the ground.

If the appearance of the nine shook the faith of the troops below, the sounds of thundering footsteps shattered any that had remained. All too familiar footsteps rang through the skulls of the soldiers and they quickly turned their heads to the source expecting the King himself to show. However, the slight hope that had arisen in the hearts of the naive was crushed as an otherworldly man appeared instead. Slight fleshy horns protruded at each of the upper corners of his forehead which rose above the long, black locks of hair that hung from his head. Where his eye sockets should have held eyeballs as most ordinary humanoids did, his were replaced by radiant green orbs that gave off light in front of him. Robes of a black equal to his hair adorned his body and a green sigil was presented on his chest. The green diamond with curved horns on its two superior sides looked familiar to those who saw the extravagant design on his chest. Thinking once more, all of the ambushing party had some form of the sigil on their beings, whether it was on the clothes they wore or branded onto their very skin.

As a surprise to those waiting for the confrontation, the first to speak wasn’t the green-eyed leader of the enemy party, but rather Elise among the troops. “To surround a Royal Convoy can only result in punishment of the highest degree of the law! Who are you all that you would so brazenly perform such an idiotic act?” Elise tried to empower her voice with magical property. To the ordinary soldiers, her voice held an imposing aura of authority, but no magic could remove the shakiness in her words.

Like the others, the leader of the ambushing party was astonished for a moment before he bellowed out a laugh. Only after ten whole seconds did the man regain himself but still couldn’t remove the smile from his face. “You know, I was feeling like crap after coming out to this backwater world for this assignment but you just brightened my day. To think some trash like you would have the courage to threaten and insult someone like me.” The amusing smile on his face soon lost its luster as it turned icier as each word left his mouth. When his face looked to be covered in a layer of frost, one last sentence left his mouth.

“Kill them.” Thinking for a second longer, he added as if it were an afterthought, “Except the girl. Capture her if she doesn’t resist too much.”

Sirens rang in the minds of the soldiers as they heard the enemy leader’s words leave his mouth. They fully expected combat to break out, but it did not mean they were mentally prepared for it. However, they were not able to think for long before brilliant lights soon bombarded their sight.

Icicles of frost rained from the sky, piercing the helmets of the soldiers deep into their skulls. Some that survived felt the ground below their feet turn molten hot as they sank to their calves in a burning pit where the earth was only a moment prior. Meat separated from bone as the lava pit seared off the flesh of whatever entered. Those that managed to evade both of the calamities felt their nerves fried from the one-sided slaughter. A few looked at the enemies in disgust and attempted to charge, but found their legs unmoving, bound by thick tendrils of grass beneath them. In a panic, swords struck the grass, but the steel only rebounded as if it hit titanium. Angered, the grass grew larger and let out a roar of a beast as the tendrils moved from passive binding to breaking apart the limbs of its prey.

Only two soldiers remained: one as the Captain of the Royal Guard and another the Captain of the Richmond squad. Valiantly, the Royal Guard charged towards the leader of the ambushers. The distance between the two was cut in half in only a few steps as the superior build of a Knight accelerated his being. His heartbeat loud enough that it could be heard in the surroundings, he raised his sword into a chop that hoped to split the green-eyed demon in twine. In less than a second, he was at his target. Facing the sword which was raised over his head like the guillotine of justice, he only let out a yawn as a hand slapped in front of him.

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The sound of a shockwave emerged from the left side of the Captain’s body which then crashed into him. Sounds of bones breaking were louder than the shockwave itself as the man continued through the air until he crashed into a thick, ironwood tree. Upon the collision, his flight ended unceremoniously with the sounds of cracks emerging from his body. Broken and beaten, the Captain’s body laid on the ground without a sign of movement.

Richmond’s Captain now felt sweat emerge from every pore on his body. A casual slap of the air from the enemy led to an ally stronger than himself crushed to a corpse. Panic surfaced on the old Captain’s face as he looked back in forth at each of the opponents, hoping to at least take one of the enemy forces with him. Seeing the child who looked to be fourteen-years-old, he made his decision as he raised his sword into a charge. The boy pointed his hand in a panic to confront the sword whose intent was to stab his body. However, he never got to release the magic he prepared for his foe.

A bone-chilling roar shook the air. The Captain looked to his right as a mass of furred flesh intercepted him on his path of assault. Fangs ignored the steel armor that protected the trained militant body below as they bit into his shoulder. Skin, muscle, and bone; each was ignored as the werewolf yanked his head backward, taking an entire arm with him. Screams of agony rang in the surroundings from the man pinned by the beast above him, but no one moved to interfere. All his allies had all perished under the previous assaults and the others had no mercy for the man fated to die. His cries of anguish continued for a few minutes longer as the wolf toyed with its prey, releasing the bloodlust it had saved over the past couple hours. But even after the sobbing had long ceased, it was not satisfied as it continued to tear at the unrecognizable body below it.

Elise stood in the middle of it all. Beside her, men lay with open eyes on the ground with holes bored by a weapon long since dissolved. The heat in the air left as soon as the souls of those snarred left their bodies. All that remained of them were limp torsos buried halfway in the ground whose heads hung without life. The snares of grass had also disappeared, leaving behind the broken bodies that nature had their way with. Her quivering knees lost the last of their strength as she bucked to the ground, soiling herself once there. Both of her arms tightly held her body as her eyes staring at the ground were devoid of hope.

Heels began to move their way towards the center of destruction. The stilettos punctured into the earth with each step, but they still moved towards the crumpled Elise unceasing. Looking up at whatever horror was approaching her next, the scantily clad succubus revealed a smile as she crouched down in front of her.

Moving her finger to Elise’s forehead, she said, “Don’t worry, little one. You’ll get used to it.”

The moment contact was made, all light left Elise’s eyes as her body fell limp into the arms of the demon. Picking her up as a prince would carry the princess, the succubus winked at the boss as she walked towards him.

At this, the demon let out a scoff as he looked back towards the camp. “Well, it seems like that’s done with. Grab the boy in the carriage and we’ll be on our way. Time for another unpleasant trip.”

Lancing, who had been watching with a gaping mouth this entire time, felt his heart shudder at the demon’s words. Did the enemy know he was with them? How had they figured out despite his Father’s best preparations? And most importantly, what had his father done to attract such powerful enemies? Despite his panic, he still retained some level of coolheadedness. 'Grab the boy’ at least meant they would let him live, right?

However, Lancing’s thoughts could not go any further as the human-looking man and the woman on his arm walked towards the carriages. The prince braced himself, ready to confront the man as he swung open the door to the wagon. His vision through the window had long lost sight of the man, but he still heard the steps continue onwards. But just as the steps got to the point where he could hear the crispness of the grass below the others’ feet, they stopped their advance and the sound of a door swinging open entered Lancing’s ear.

“Alright, kid. Give it up and come with us.” A rugged voice that you could hear in any tavern in the city rang out into the carriage. While the tone itself was commanding, the voice did not feel overbearing in the slightest.

However, the receptor of his order did not seem to understand the situation he was in. In an unwilling voice, Fendrick said, “No, I won’t go with you, you monster! Do you even know who I am?”

A sigh rang out from the rugged voice as he responded, “We know exactly who you are, which is why we have to do this.” The swing of a fist through the air rang out, followed by an impact and a thud on the floor of the carriage. The attacker picked up Fendrick from the ground and left the carriage. Knowing he had dodged a bullet, Lance let out a breath of relief.

As the man started walking back, he said to the girl beside him, “Lots of cargo today, isn’t there Tal?”

Tal chuckled at her beloved’s joke and spoke in a playful manner, “Seems like it. Better than the last job where the guy resisted and you ended up killing him, Ed.”

Edward winced as she poked at an old wound, “Ugh, don’t remind me.”

The demoness laughed once more, but as they took a few steps back towards the group, she stopped in place as she looked towards one of the other carriages. Seeing his partner’s weird reaction, Ed responded, “What’s wrong, Tal.”

With an unsure expression, Tal said out loud, “I think there’s another person here, but I only barely felt it for a second.”

At her words, the entire group was surprised once more. Frost still landing on the surrounding ground, the man in black leather said in amazement, “That’s impossible. How could none of us have felt their presence by now.”

Tal lifted her chin as she said proudly, “You know I’m not like the rest of you. Plus I only felt it as we got closer.” She then put her arms out towards Edward and said, “Ed, give me the boy and go check it out. I’m not good at confrontation.”

He still felt like he was getting the short end of the stick, but Ed conceded and moved towards the carriage. Since the enemy could conceal their presence, they must be an expert so he unsheathed the sword on his waist as he moved to grip the handle.

Lancing knew this time he would not escape from the group, so he decided to take his fate into his own hands. He knew what would happen if he stood idly by as those soldiers did. Standing up from the corner where he was hidden as he watched the fight, he raised his voice. “Wait! I’ll open the door myself.” Deciding that may not be enough to ease the tension, he added, “I’m only a civilian with no ability.”

True to his word, Lancing walked towards the door with shaking legs as he opened the door. There he stood, face to face with the grizzled looking man. A short, unkempt beard lined his face and medium-length wavy hair fell down the sides of his head. His common eyes of brown looked surprised that Lancing actually opened the door and was also surprised the other truly did not have any power. He lowered the scarf around his neck and sheathed the sword once more.

Ed said, “You really are a weak one, but still bold like the lass from before, huh?” Saying exactly what was on his mind, Edward looked intrigued at the person before him. “So what was your plan? Hope we didn’t notice you and escape once we were gone?”

Lancing stood tall, not shying away from the other’s accusatory tone. “I would’ve done anything to save my life, sir. Especially after what you all displayed earlier towards the Royal Guards.”

Narrowing his eyes, Edward looked Lancing up and down, “We only did so because they were a militant group, ready to die to protect. Keeping them alive only would have led to more conflict and trouble down the road. That is if they didn’t engage us anyways to protect that other kid.”

Finishing his justification, he looked around to the others in his party. In truth, Edward didn't feel right about killing the kid in front of him. Whether it was to make up for last time or some other force, he wanted this powerless kid to live. But he could already read a few of the minds of his allies. Some would vote to have him murdered, wiped from history and soon forgotten. Others would instead wish to take him as a slave so he could live life in misery, but compared to the other options Ed could think of, this seemed like mercy.

He spoke again, “But now that we know you are here, we can’t just let you go. You said you would do anything to save your life. Is that correct?”

With a dry swallow, Lancing could feel the eyes of all the experts on him at this moment. The chilling cold of one gaze, the fierce heat of another. One of primal violence that would tear him apart in an instant and another of blazing desire to push him down at the first chance. At last, he matched the gaze of the demon whose eye’s only consisted of two green lights. Within those lights, he could swear he saw the anguish of a thousand souls, each of which trapped within those bright green pupils. Lancing gathered his courage for one last time as he responded.

“Anything.”