We had to spend five days and four nights in the Fortress this time. I did some scouting in my astral form (using the Soul-Rope, as I sometimes called it), and saw a very different scene than the previous attack.

The beasts themselves were terrifying at first sight, but it didn't take me long to figure out that they were far less threatening than the shadow wolves. They looked like small six-legged insect bears with ant-like segmented bodies that were about half as long as the average adult was tall. Four of their legs were used primarily for locomotion, with the front two typically held up in the air and used to attack or move food toward their nasty-looking jaws. They were covered with short black fur and had padded 'feet' that reminded me of those a bear might possess, but other than that they looked and moved more like a swarm of gigantic black-furred praying mantises with teeth and claws.

So, as I said, they looked really, really scary.

However, they lacked the grace and precision of a real praying mantis. The insect bears moved with a slow clumsy plodding gait, didn’t work together nearly as effectively as the wolves had, and seemed to have trouble navigating the stone environment of the village (especially the cobblestone streets, where their clawed paws had trouble finding purchase). Not only that, but they were clearly quite confused by all the open doors, and it was common to see a large number of them gathering around and trying to force themselves past each other into somebody's empty home... it was as if they were competing for food, but lacked the instincts to realize that the first few to enter hadn't found anything and had already left. It would almost be comical if not for all the broken furniture and shattered glass everywhere.

There were a number of guards and other volunteers working together to clear the village (but Jaws was locked up with us – Mother's orders), using the gargantuan central fortress (which was called North Stone Fort) as a command post.

"Do you think there is a Beast King with this lot?"

"I'd be more worried about another bloody Emperor showing up to rip our bloody arms off."

Hovering nearby in my invisible astral form, I listened to a pair of soldiers wearing the colors of House Flameward as they chatted on the roof of North Stone Fort. There were scouts stationed around the roof as well, tending to the bonfires and keeping watch, but they were all regular guards and I wasn't nearly as interested in what they might have to say.

The first soldier shivered, reaching up to rub his right shoulder. "We couldn't be that unlucky again, could we? That damn wolf was already the second Emperor to attack the north in, what... 50 years?"

"Three of them bloody beasts in the last hundred, by my count!" the second soldier punched at the empty air in front of him, releasing a burst of flame that momentarily drew the attention of all the guards nearby, "Just a pity Firebrand wasn't around to deal with it this time."

Still rubbing his shoulder, the first soldier replied, "High Lord Flameward was a great man. Best Noble a grunt like me could ever hope to serve."

"Truer bloody words ain't never been spoken, my friend. Firebrand always off in the bloody great useless mountains on some bloody great useless quest, while the High Lord stood with the rest of us at the Citadel..." his words trailed as he stared into the distance, a haunted look on his face.

"None of us would have survived without the High Lord. I only hope the First Blessed Chosen by Fate lives up to his father's legacy. How old do you think he is now, anyway, three or four?"

"Little Kodan? He's a good kid, I've met him a few times. Six now, I think, since he was two when..." he stopped speaking and let out a sigh while shaking his head sadly, "...poor kid. He starts Academy next year."

There was a brief moment of shared grief, or maybe sympathy, that passed between them before they began speaking again.

"I heard the Snakes have a new Blessed Chosen By Fate they are hiding away in the City."

"A bloody Blessed Offering, you mean. Cruel beast-damned House of cowards, they are, safe in the south or hidden in the City, while we fight and die in the north."

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"Oh right, Blessed Offering Chosen by Fate..." the first soldier shook his head, "But they still get attacked in the south, don't they? And I heard High Lord Spiritwind is the strongest of all the Nobles."

The first soldier spat off the side of the fortress, "Strongest, he says. You haven't ever seen Firebrand fight, have you, lad? Sometimes I forget how bloody young you are. He'd melt that Snake into a steaming puddle of piss! Strongest High Lord, maybe, but he's far from a match to the best of House Flameward, the greatest of the Great Houses!"

Seeming taken aback by the sudden passion displayed by his companion, the first soldier simply nodded in agreement and took the remark in stride, making it clear he was the least experienced of the two. I wondered how much younger he was than the soldier who liked to swear too much, but it was hard to tell because he was covered in dense green and yellow striped fur.

"No... I've never even seen him. He wasn't in the City when the other winners of the White Tournament and I were selected."

They both lapsed into silence for a while, gazing out over the embattled village.

"Still gives me bloody nightmares, you know. Howling, then screams, from inside the bloody Citadel, before a single alarm gave any warning."

"I still say High Lord Flameward would have survived had he been given time to don his arms and armor."

The second soldier stared at the first incredulously, "Was that a joke? About the High Lord's arms?!"

His face paling, the first soldier waved his hands furiously in front of his chest, palms open, as if to deny the accusation, "Never! You know I'd never-"

"It would be a pity if Firebrand heard someone had been making wisecracks about his poor cousin!"

The teasing banter carried on for a while longer, but it wasn't the type of conversation I was there for. I decided to return to my body.

----------------------------------------

A few days later I found the same pair of soldiers again, this time standing even closer to the edge of the roof. Their armor and weapons were battered and bloody, but they didn't appear to be otherwise injured. The fighting down in the village was still fierce, yet there were still so many beasts that it felt like clearing them all out was an exercise in futility. Luckily, they were too dumb and instinctual to adapt to the tactics we were using against them, so the danger was minimal as long as no mistakes were made (in which case the soldiers on the roof would swoop in to provide aid).

The veteran of House Flameward was speaking quietly to the younger man with a strange cadence to his voice, while simultaneously keeping an eye on everyone else nearby to ensure he wasn't overheard. Whoops! Sorry guy, but this was way too interesting for me to care about your privacy concerns. As far as I could tell I was already breaking a ton of laws that the nobility forced us commoners to live under, so what was the harm in breaking a few more?

"Feel the rising will of the flame. Feel the heavens above call the flame home. Feel the earth produce the flame, seeking, rising, burning all things in the Quest for Heaven."

"I am the flame. I burn for the heavens. The earth below feeds my ascent. Naught can bar my path but my will itself."

"The will of the flame is the will of our hearts. Know that the heavens above call the flame home. Seeking, rising, burning all things in the Quest for Heaven."

"The flame rises, as does my Heart of Fire."

"Good, lad, now try again. Seek heaven!"

And then the younger soldier walked off the roof, a drop that should have been more than high enough to maim or kill anyone... and he fell.

I couldn't see exactly what happened, since the edge of the roof blocked my view, but the older man's wince told me that he was probably not meant to fall quite as quickly as he had.

The veteran jumped off the roof and floated downwards far slower than his companion had fallen, and then they both returned together with the more experienced man holding the grimacing young soldier tightly as he ran up the wall in a dazzling display of gravity defiance.

"As soon as I start to fall, my fire just starts sputtering. How can a falling fire also rise into the sky!?"

"Keep your voice down, you beast-brained fool," the veteran hissed with a scowl, again looking around to make sure nobody was nearby, "you want to get sent to the bloody Wall for oath-breaking, you bloody well leave me out of it. Listen, I don't know if there is much I can do to help, I only know what I know, and I know fire bloody well rises! All you can do is ask the Captain to check with the Heavenward Scroll, she's a bloody Noble, ain't she? I'd bet a tenday's pay she can find your answer right quick."

The chastised solder grimaced again and ducked his head in shame, looking around at the guards on the roof (who were all watching the both of them by now) and opened his mouth to reply-

-and then the sky exploded, and a flaming meteor struck North Stone Village.

The clouds blew outwards in an expanding ring as a wave of pressure battered everyone on the roof (everyone who was corporeal that is), knocking the burning wood from the bonfires all over the place. Then the sonic boom hit, causing all of the guards (plus the soldier with the yellow and green striped fur) to wince in pain, and the insect bears began exploding in an expanding wave originating from the point of impact.

The Merrik had arrived, and the entire village was cleared in minutes.