Gabriel felt woozy as he held on to Alice. The ache kept creeping up on him, running along his bones like maggots digging in to reach his marrow. Thanks to that, he wasn’t quite conscious as she helped him get back to the others, it felt like he blinked and then they had simply arrived.
"You’re back."
Arioch’s voice greeted them when they returned to the battlefield. Caine was throwing back some pills so his complexion was already getting better, while the remaining knights had already moved the more exhausted knights to the back of the formation. Teresa stood a bit away from the knights, Fenrir and Quetz posted around her, probably on Alice’s orders. Nergal… Was chomping down on the three talons he had snapped off of the claw, a grinding crunch coming from the blotch of darkness that occasionally peered at the surroundings with some floating eyes.
"It’s over, then?"
Arioch looked the best out of everyone present, which said a fair bit if one looked at his ragged state. Fighting on the front-lines with Caine whenever Gabriel prepared his moves, throwing out large magics to restrain the beast, he looked just about ready to keel over. But he was the future northern duke, the lion of the north. He had a responsibility to both the land and the men, he could not allow himself a moment of ease before he knew that it was over.
"Yes, it’s gone for good."
Arioch had already expected the answer, the figure that had crashed into the mountain had suddenly just vanished after all. But it was still good to hear Alice confirm it, a long and heavy breath slipping out between his lips before he turned to his men.
"The battle is over! Gather the deceased, we’ll leave these blasted mountains straight away and then get some rest when we meet up with the men outside!"
He really wanted to rest, he really wanted his men to get some rest. But no, these mountains weren’t a safe place to rest, not while everyone was wounded and exhausted. There was only so much they could do by going to one of the nearest outposts, especially for those that had severe wounds. They had to return to the men that were still stationed outside the mountains, it would be safer to rest an hour or so there before they hurried back to the city.
"Understood, my Lord."
The response from the knights was a lot more subdued than it was when they first left for the expedition. They had survived this gruelling battle, but they had lost several of their comrades. Maybe later they would be able to cheer for their survival, but for now they hadn’t even gotten the chance to mourn the loss so it would have to wait. Arioch’s gaze slid across his men for a moment before he turned back to Alice and Caine, slightly lowering his head.
"Young master Caine, Young Lady Alice, thank you for going along with my plan to uncover the truth about the legend. I wish it hadn’t been true, but luckily we were quick in handling it according to the plans we laid just in case. Now we’ll be able to rest at ease and not have to worry about that buried danger."
Arioch didn’t try to lower his voice, even the knights gathering the deceased could clearly hear him. Looking at Alice’s expression as Arioch spoke, Gabriel could guess that she had no idea what he was talking about. But both of them quickly came to the same realisation, Alice smoothening her expression in a very natural manner.
"Please don’t thank me, Young Master Arioch. We were so caught off guard when we first saw that it was real that we failed to react in time, a failure that cost the lives of several knights. So please, don’t thank us, we’re not worthy of it."
She copied Arioch as she spoke and lowered her head. Caine did the same so he had probably also caught on to what was going on. Gabriel was the only one who actually stood close to them so he was the only one who could see the bitter expression all three wore.
Future leader of the Barong duchy, future leader of the Woodime family, possibly future leader of the Vritara Duchy. They were integral parts of the empire, the relationship between their families provided safety and livelihood for countless people.
Alice had gone ahead and pulled a scheme without telling anyone, a gamble on an old legend. Caine had reacted before anyone else, and while normal people wouldn’t have been able to hear what he said when Alice cracked the seal, Arioch wasn’t a normal person. Caine knew about the seal in advance, he knew that something was sealed here in these mountains.
Caine kept a secret, Alice made a gamble, Arioch and his men paid the price.
But he couldn’t publicly berate them, he couldn’t scream and question them here in front of his men. He had familial relations to maintain, he had to make his men think that this was an elaborate plan they made in advance. He couldn’t let his knights grow to hate the two of them, lest they do something that could sour the relations between the families.
But they needed someone to hate later on. They needed someone to blame when they were mourning. At that time… It would be better if they pointed their anger at the young lord who didn’t share any information with them. Like that they would at least be able to avoid souring any important relations.
"We’ll have to sit down and have a meeting once we’ve managed to get some rest. We’ll need to review the plans we made and how they fared when they were faced with reality, it’ll allow us to be better prepared for the future."
His voice carried its usual tone, if not a lot wearier and heavier than before, but his eyes brooked no room for discussion. He would have his answers.
"Naturally. Our families will continue to be in touch for many years so it will only be beneficial for all of us if we can become more proficient at laying plans for the unexpected."
Alice was quick to agree, naturally. She had revealed three of her magic affinities, but they were all affinities that Caine and the Crown Princess had already revealed to the world so it was fine. It was unexpected that Gabriel would have to reveal all of his magic affinities and even Nergal, but with things having reached this point they would just have to deal with it. As for Teresa and her poison affinity… Since it was an unknown affinity they should be able to temporarily disguise it as a clever utilisation of the nature affinity.
"Of course. This turn of event was extremely unfortunate so it’s important that we reflect."
Caine had no choice but to agree, a heavy breath slipping out as he cast a glance at the corpses that were being gathered. Several of them weren’t whole, frozen and shattered, so they could forget about bringing them back whole.
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Between Alice and Caine, it was clear that Arioch, as well as Alice and Gabriel, were glancing at Caine a bit more than anyone else. Caine had known about the seal, and his whispers had indicated that he had been surprised when it was just a claw. He knew. But how? And for how long? And in the case of Arioch, when had he been planning on telling his ‘friend’ about this danger that was just lurking within his territory?
Gabriel moved away from the three nobles as they started to talk again, a tense air hanging over them. His steps were a bit unsteady, but he signalled for Alice that it was fine. Right now she would have to be right there to talk, lest she be the one who risked souring relations. He felt Arioch’s gaze linger on his back for a bit as he walked, but that was inevitable after what he had shown. The Crown Princess was famous for being the first in a long time to have two affinities on the Divine Star, and now Gabriel came along and showed the exact same. Things were going to get… noisy when they returned.
He hobbled along as he headed for the knights, Nergal gathering himself together and sliding towards Gabriel. He merged with Gabriel when he reached him, slipping into him like tar into a pool. With the blotch returning to him, Gabriel felt a bit of strength well up in him, his flesh squirming somewhat uncomfortable around his wounds. Not enough to heal the broken bones, but enough to stop any ongoing bleeding. Nergal had eaten well, and it was reflected on Gabriel, the air feeling that much clearer and cooler as he drew in a deep breath.
Before long, Gabriel reached the spot where they were gathering and wrapping up the deceased. The knights naturally made way for him as he walked. He looked a mess with his broken armour and unsteady steps, but they had all seen the sheer carnage he had wrought. Water enough to create a lake, power enough to launch it into the sky and pierce the clouds. Two of the divine four affinities, a strange spirit.
Naturally, they counted him as someone who would become a knight after seeing him in action through their journey, he was young, but he earned their respect. But the things he did here… It set him apart from them, it was too different. What was once respect became more akin to awe, admiration, and perhaps a fair bit of healthy fear. Thus, they couldn’t help but step aside when he walked by them.
The corpses he was looking for, it was easy to find them because he remembered the wounds they got. They were packed amongst the others, two frozen and one with her mid-section crushed, just another three corpses to be buried. He sat down on the cold and muddy ground in front of the three, a blotch of darkness bringing his broken sword into his grasp.
It was the first gift he received from Lawrence, probably the first thing in this life that he could call his own. And now it was entirely shattered, crushed as he tried to defend himself. He stabbed it into the ground in front of the three corpses, looking at them in silence for a few moments before he opened his mouth.
"What are their names?"
Really. They had died so that he could have a conversation and bare himself to Alice, but he didn’t even know their names. The first time in his lives that he felt guilt… He wanted to know their names.
"Excus… Ah. Altair Serosh, Murak Eigon, and Wolton Delgar. Altair liked to drink cherry tea with her husband on the colder days, Murak had a sister who he raised when they were kids, she’s a baker now, and Wolton had a wife who was also a knight, but she died a handful of years back so it was just him."
A knight who had just finished carefully bringing over another one of the deceased was the one who responded to Gabriel. Perhaps he could gauge it from his expression, or perhaps he had experienced something similar before, but he went into more detail about each of the deceased. Once they had lives, once they had family. Now they were nothing but more snowflakes that scattered across this frozen waste.
They weren’t nobles, but they still had family names. That was one of the privileges of being knighted, you got to choose a family name for yourself, a name that could be carried on by your descendants. Once Gabriel was knighted, as Alice wished, he too would have to come up with a family name for himself. But quite frankly, it wasn’t a thought that had crossed his mind before so he had no ideas. But now… He felt that he should probably start to look into it.
The rest of the deceased were quickly gathered up, carefully packed so that they could be brought out of the frozen mountains. 10 Knights-in-training had been left outside so 48 people entered the mountains. 40 of them trained knights, 3 of them nobles, 5 of them attendants. Of them… only 23 would return alive.
Caine, Alice, and Arioch took the front, the remaining people left in charge of bringing the deceased back. Leaving the mountains went quite a bit faster, the entire party rather rushed to leave so that the wounded could get treated and the weary could get some rest. Still, it took a bit of time before they got to see the knights-in-training, who were tensely waiting for them.
"My Lord! You’ve retu…!"
The words of the young trainee caught in his throat when he saw the state of the party. The heavy expression on Arioch’s face made it especially hard for him to squeeze out any further words before Arioch gave his order.
"Prepare the steeds. We’ll put some distance between us and the mountains and then get some rest. Have the medicines ready by the time we stop."
The party naturally brought their fair share of medicine with them into the mountains, but some of the bigger things remained here with the steeds. It would at least be enough to buy them time to get back home and have a real doctor take a look at them.
"As you order!"
The young trainees quickly sprung into action and prepared the steeds. They were made to wait out here, but that didn’t mean that they allowed themselves to get lazy with boredom. In less than a handful of minutes, everything was set up and the steeds ready to go, everyone quickly moving away from the mountains.
They kept going for a bit over two hours, making sure that they were far enough away from the mountains when Arioch finally gave the order to stop. The trainees quickly set up camp and formed the defensive perimeter, using the special beast repellent that had been brought along for the direst of circumstances. It was extremely expensive to make, which was why it wasn’t used during the night, but if they didn’t use it now then no situation would ever be dire enough for it.
The knights finally got a chance to rest, a chance to take in the events and the losses. The trainees made food for everyone, and the knights who made it back forced themselves to eat. You had to eat to live. They were sad, but they wanted to live, so they had to eat.
Arioch ‘politely’ had Alice and Caine join him in his tent so that they could ‘discuss their plans.’ Gabriel once again took this chance to sit down in front of the wrapped up dead, especially the three that died because he wanted to talk. The guilt he felt for the first time in his life, he felt that sitting here would allow him to experience it to the fullest.
He looked up at the dark night sky that spread out above them, the clouds covered up everything from the smallest start to the great moon itself. The fire crackled a bit behind him, the camp as somber as one would expect.
His gaze lowered eventually, looking back at his own hand. For a moment, when he fought against the claw, his hand too had become a claw. His Unique Magic, the ‘sword’ part. It was tied to Akasha.
What was Akasha magic? It was the magic of demons, the magic to use demons. As for what exactly classified as a demon, he had no idea. Normally, when used on a living demon, it let you use them as a companion while giving you their affinity, letting you cast spells of their element. When used on a dead demon, it would only give you its affinity. Another thing it did was give you the demon’s mana, so the more demon’s you gathered the stronger you would become.
The thing he did however… Gaining claws, growing scales, the burst of strength… They were not things that belonged to Akasha. Was that the part of his Unique Magic in Akasha?
But there was something else. Using Akasha on a demon only gave you its affinity, you still had to draw the formation and cast the spell like normal so you had to study a lot. But Gabriel…
His finger lowered to the ground, poking into the snow below him. He could feel the ice buried there, the little bits of ice that formed each snowflake. His finger started to slowly move in a circle, the ice and snow in a one-metre wide circle around him swirling in tune with his movements.