The hillspeople charged into their ranks and threw Serafins soldiery aside like wooden toys. They were crushed underneath their feet, turned to paste at a strike of their weapons. The lines had no time to break, they were simply shattered, flattened.
But her mages had finished the incantation. The soldiers mindful enough screamed in pain as black marks appeared on their bodies. Those who were struck and died, soon rose up again as beaten, lurching corpses. They clung and gnawed at the inhuman, oozing a bright green blood that slowed the hulking creatures down, burning through their wooden skin like acid.
The eastern and western streets had filled with enemies as well, from all sides they were swarmed. Serafin had taken position at the centre. The sun shone upon her, a starved body clad in rags, unkempt locks of hair hanging over her face. Whoever met her gaze swiftly turned and faced the enemy, throwing themselves at the enemy without a single care for their life.
The inhumans broke through onto the plaza, a remorseless wooden wave.
Not a single of the abominations had fallen, and its vanguard was now marching towards Serafin herself. She stared them down, and rose the banner over her head. There could be no redemption. To fall and let the banner to fall into the hands of the enemy, she was going to be the one unable to look Aeterna in the eyes.
A bell sounded, a booming, metallic sound. It echoed across the city, the valley, causing avalanches on the mountains upon which the throne of the Grand Father was built. It silenced the fury of battle.
All, from the inhuman, to the fallen soldier of the empire, stared south.
Between the mountains, high in the air, a golden rift had opened. It began to widen further and further. Large enough for a winged beast to pass through. Large enough for a flying merchant ship. Until.
It was large enough for a capitaline vessel.
Once more the bell resounded, as a massive ship sailed through the rift. It was a metallic colossus, it's shining silver covered in heavy plates of gilded steel. It had cast away any dependency on the winds, being propelled forward by four massive burning engines. It bore not the insignia of the capital, nor of any of the four greater provinces, instead the head of a lion adorned its front.
On the top of the head stood a figure, clad in robes hiding armour, a staff in hand, while holding the crystal orb in the other.
"You fight Aeterna, the lady of light." The voice of Revelation reached their ears as clearly as if he spoke right in front of them. "Behold her works, savages. And despair."
His words were followed by a deafening salvo. The sanctified projectiles, aimed at the hordes still pouring into the city unleashed devastation. Upon hitting the ground they exploded in bursts of golden light, and any unfortunate enough to be too close were seared, devoured by the streams, until nothing remained.
The ship cast a shadow over the city as it continued its advance, the great guns fired without cease, a defeaning symphony that drowned out the fighting and dying below. Soon they arrived in the air above the plaza, and here Revelation turned to the soldiers behind him.
Three ranks of three stood at the ready, with a tenth, their commander at the helm. Their bodies were encased in heavy, gilded suits of armour, cast so seamless that the naked eye could not find an opening. The pauldrons were shaped in the form of wings, the gauntlets ended in sharp claws. Their helmets fully covered their heads, with a golden mask obscuring their faces, hiding them behind flawless, divine and perfectly androgynous painted features.
All except their leader were identical, both in their armour and their height and width, and even the one leading them only stood apart from the long artifical mane of hair hanging from the back of their helmet.
"These faithful below have stood alone for too long, knights most holy." Revelation rose his staff in the air, the crystal in his other hand began to glow. "It is our duty to repay their devotion with salvation."
As one the knights stretched out their right hand.
"Today you shall be the hammer of our beloved imperator, knights most holy." As Revelation spoke, weapons appeared in the hands of the knights. Great hulking warhammers, retaining the winged motif of their armour, shining silver. "These savages accept nothing but strength, so show them that humanity has it now in ample supply."
He raised both hands into the air. "Crush this perverse fortress in the name of Aeterna, show her might that no savage may look upon her faithful without fear in their rotten hearts!"
His words rang through the air, and the knights sprung into motion. They leapt off the side of the airship without hesitation. During their fall, great wings of light sprouted from their backs, slowing their fall and letting them land gracefully upon the embattled plaza.
Not only did the sun reflect off of their golden armour, but they themselves were shining bright, their mere presence gave the brutal slaugher around them a feeling of serenity. All, from the raised, mindless human soldier, to the most monstrous of the hillspeople stopped and watched.
The knights landed in groups of three, with their leader descending in front of Serafin, who fell to her knees and lowered her gaze.
Without a word or looking at each other, the knights charged in unison, each group towards one of the streets leading out of the plaza. As effortlessly as the inhumans had stormed the place, just as easily were they now driven back. The hammers of the knights threw even the largest of the hillspeople off balance, where the sanctified weapons made contact they burned the flesh, with flames quickly spreading across their bodies and engulfing them.
Soon the greatest obstacle to the knights were not the enemies themselves, but their bodies piling up before them, the mass of dead flesh they had to wade through.
The fighting upon the plaza had stopped, and the survivors stared in awe at the turning tide. Many fell to the ground, their last strength leaving them. Many cried, and a large crowd gathered around Serafin and the leader of the knights. There was no cheering, noone raised their voice. They all lowered their heads, or lookoed up in reverence at the banner, united in silent prayer.
The droning voice of the grand father resounded, speaking in a tongue none could understand, for the language had died many ages past. The clouds above them broke, pierced by a massive hand reaching down towards the ship to grasp it like a toy.
Revelation quickly rose his staff, out of which burst a ray of light that spread and covered the ship in a hull. It burned the hand of the Grand Father, who pulled it back. Then he stood up. The ground quaked upon needing to bear his weight as the deity made flesh got on his feet. His entire upper body vanished above the clouds.
Revelation marched down the deck, clutching his staff tightly. "Benevolence, dear sister, you are needed!"
"I have not even eaten yet you inconsiderate bastard!" The young girl, second blade of her imperial majesty, appeared out of a pool of black, brackish water that had formed at his side. She scoffed and looked up to the figure of the Grand Father. "That thing?"
"Yes, and to aid our knights most holy." Revelation lowered his head. "They are without equal, but with the aid of your siblings we can assure their success, and them returning unharmed. You know how mother would react should we return with one fewer."
Benevolence grew pale, and took a step back. "You insisted on bringing them and letting them fight, not me! If one of them gets squashed by these savages mother will have your head, not mine, I had nothing to do with this!" She gritted her teeth and glared up at Revelation. "Fine, but this is the last time I am lowering myself to helping you, you useless golden clown."
With another huff she breezed past him, shouting more violent curses at him, the high hills, the enemy, everything that caught her gaze, until they landed on the palace. "I guess that place will do."
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She too jumped, a wide smile on her face. Her cackling laughter echoed through the air, until she crashed through the ceiling of the palace. Her body burst upon contact into a mass of black liquid which burned through the white stone, seeping into the building.
Serafin had finally managed to get back upon her feet, and looked up to the golden figure at her side. The attention was not returned. Instead the leader of the knights turned their masked face towards the towering deity behind them, and rose their hammer.
"No need!" Benevolence voice echoed across the plaza, emanating from the still open doors of the palace. Only blackness laid behind them, a darkness leaking brakish, foul smelling water down the stairs. "Just keep these little morsels safe, knight-commander. I'll handle this dried up relic of the past."
The foul waters poured from every window, every little opening. Until the roof burst, and from the blackness hidden underneath came forth a host of shrill, screeching furies.
They all resembled young girls, clothed in old, plain dresses. From their backs sprouted two, sometimes four dark wings which carried them into the air. With screams of glee they descended upon the city at large, the remaining forces still trying to flood the streets, the stragglers who had been retreating. They were a fervent mass of clawlike nails and sharp teeth, a swarm that did not kill their enemies. But that ate them.
Serafin could only stare at the sight in front of her in disbelief, before the sound of laughter made her turn around.
Out of the darkened gate had stepped a young girl, with ghostly pale skin and hungering eyes. Benevolence put her hands on her hips and leaned forward. "That I would see the day where one of mothers pigs proves herself useful! You're the one who found the second eye, well, you match the description well enough. Which is a shame, I am so very hungry. Not that there's much meat on you anymore."
As Benevolence spoke the knight-commander was quick to step between the blade and Serafin, hammer raised. Benevolence narrowed her eyes and growled. "Oh come now, I was joking. Did mother also wipe your sense of humour when she made you?"
Serafin was stepping backward, and tripped over a body of one of her soldiers. The left arm of Benevolence turned into a long, black tentacle that wrapped around her waist and stopped her from falling. "Hey! My big sisters made it very clear that I am to keep you alive, so don't try dying on me!"
The blade had opened her mouth to speak, but she was silenced.
Once more the Grand Fathers voice sounded, and great balls of fire fell through the clouds and down upon the warship. The shield of Revelation held against the bright blue flames, but faded after blocking the attack. Benevolence hissed and shook her head. "Keep her alive yes?" She looked up to the knight-commander, without receiving a reply.
Released from the grasp of Benevolence, Serafin struggled to remain on her feet. She looked around, across the field of battle, finding nothing to be as it had been. But here, close by this golden, angelic figure so alike her imperator, she felt the weight upon her shoulders lessen, and with it the need of strength to bear it. She fell forward, clinging to their banner to keep herself steadied if only a little.
Without another word the blade left returning through the darkness she had come from. The pulsating dark within the palace began to writhe and grow, until a massive tendril burst forth, toward the Grand Father. It had wrapped around his left leg, straining to keep him in place.
"So Aeterna intervenes. Sending her own children to fight her battles." The droning voice of the Grand Father overpowered everything, his very sigh pushed back the warship.
On deck, Revelation was shaking his head, and wandered across the deck. At the other end of the ship a shrine had been erected, a rare, modest building amidst the imperial splendour. He stopped before the doors and lowered his head. "It seems that mothers rival is intent on joining the fray, great sister. If you would please-"
Three locks of his hair were cut by the passing wind, right beside his neck.
The door opened, and through it stepped a young woman. Across her shoulder she carried a thin blade longer than herself. Her dress was without ornament or pattern, though it shone in an almost otherworldly whiteness. Bright blue eyes stared down Revelation.
"Speak not of my mother as your own in my presence, brother." She walked past him, and he followed, four steps behind. "It does not become of a divine blade to blaspheme. No savage idol could hope to rival mother."
"I merely echoed her- our imperators words." Revelation kept his head lowered. "Regardless of his position, he must be stopped if we are to save the faithful, and only you could be his match, first divine blade of truth." He reached out the crystal to the woman. She dismissed him with a wave.
"It is already insolence that we use that which mother claimed for herself, that you insisted on commanding those who are hers alone. Were it not for the plight of the faithful beneath us I would have not complied to this and taken your head instead. So do your duty and deliver them from harm, before sisters' sisters grow too hungry." She looked up the body of the Grand Father with an empty expression. "I will deal with the false god."
A gust of wind surrounded her, dissolving her body until only her blade remained, which was vaulted upward, through the clouds.
Revelation let out a long breath, and leapt down from the warship. As he fell a pair of great golden wings sprouted from his back, akin to those of the knights most holy, and beat them once to turn his fall to a graceful landing.
Many sisters of Benevolence had circled the plaza, eyeing the wounded and dying below with the same hunger that they had for the inhumans. When Revelation appeared they screeched and scurried, throwing themselves at the hillspeople instead
"Do not be afraid, faithful of Aeterna." He leaned down and grasped the shoulder of a fallen soldier, lifting him up out of the darkened waters. The battered man stared up at Benevolence with wide open eyes. too shocked to notice how his broken bones were mending, his wounds closing.
"Your salvation is here, your faith has been rewarded."
The bottom of the warship opened, lowering a plattform with a contingent of regular capitaline soldiers in their bright blue uniforms standing on it. They spread out upon touching ground, gathering and carrying the wounded while Revelation walked towards Serafin. The wounds of the dying closed when he walked past, their pale faces regaining some colour.
Serafin looked up at him, though her gaze was empty, her face betraying no reaction.
"Thank the lady of light that you are safe, commander Serafin." He gently picked her up, weighing next to nothing in his arms. Though when he tried to take the banner, her hands clenched onto it for dear life. "We held. We kept the faith. We held." She whispered, again and again as her empty eyes welled up with tears.
"You have done well. More than we could have expected of a mere human." He carried her towards the plattform, which ascended back into the warship shortly after. "Now allow us monsters to continue the fight."
Above the clouds the sun shone upon the head of the Grand Father. He stared at the sword in front of him, hanging in mid air. Behind it the body of the first blade reformed. She stood on the thin air as if on ground, and shouldered her blade.
"Child of the usurper."
His voice spoke in her mind, though she showed no reaction. "I am the first divine blade of truth. Sacrosanct. Shield of the faithful, bane of the abominable and faithless." She reached up, resting her hand on the hilt of her blade.
"You and your mother have committed a grave mistake, one which I will right." His eyes glowed with a bright blue flame, as intense as the fires of the sun. Sacrosanct did not avert her gaze. "But I admire your courage, to stand before a true deity."
"You will perish like the rest of the filth that stains mothers world." She took a step forward with her left. "This world knows no gods except Aeterna. To show this world this truth is why I was born."
The Grand Father rose his right arm over the clouds, formed a fist and leaned forward. His step shook the city beneath his feet to the core. The ground cracked, mountains were shattered as his fist surged towards Sacrosanct.
Within one motion she drew her blade, and slashed horizontally through the air. The motion unleashed a wave of a storm, blowing away the clouds. It slashed through the Grand Fathers arm, and delivered a wide gushing wound across his chest, a river of blood pouring forth. He had to take a step backward, crumbling one of the mountains that had made up his throne. Behind them the force of the slash continued, severing the tops of mountains beyond.
"You drank deep from the eye, child." The wounds had already begun to close. "But such power is finite." He rose his left arm high towards the sun, and a great axe took shape in his hand. "There is little time, so I must make this fight short."
"You have spent your time, old man." Through a black rift over his right shoulder stepped Kyrie. "You have grown old and slow, Grand Father. My lord has noticed the failing of the ward, and your vigilance."
The sky behind the grand father trembled. Far in the south, beyond the high hills, the very air showed cracks.
"And he is coming."
The very air broke, crumbling into pieces like a shattered mirror. Beyond it was a flaming red sky, giving view to a desert of white ash, ancient ruins. And a black swarm of wings, surging southward. The very horizon began to be covered in a darkness that marched to one will, chanting but one name.
Elthaine.