Asara P.O.V.
“You saw the red bolt in the sky?”
“Yes, princess.” One of my guards answered me.
“Move, move! We got no time!” I yelled.
We rushed through the forest at our top speed.
“Ten breaths maybe.” I was calculating the distance internally.
“They will be alive; we are close.” A voice came from behind to my right.
It was Zaneir, my personal guard and private attendant trying to mitigate my worries. She always does things like this.
The earth quaked. A loud bang, akin to a detonation but subtler than orgonid charges was felt.
I rushed ahead with all my might to where the sounds and vibrations came from.
“Princess be careful!” Shouted Zaneir.
The dust was settling. It was as I feared, this was the result of a powerful kinetic discharge.
There were five dark cloaked persons attacking another group with a throng of beasts in the middle of it. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my former teacher Freslia kneeling on the ground, bleeding profusely.
“Protect them!” I screamed at the top of my lungs.
My retinue was made of fourteen knights of different professions and skills but were definitively elite in a comparison with other countries armies. However, these were elite Malgrunian forces to be wary of, if they can manage to corner Claimere Freslia like this.
Just like our training back in the castle, we split into three groups immediately to attend the current problem. I attacked the first hooded cloak I saw with the assistance of Zaneir.
ZIIING! SWISH!
The coordinated attack went forward as a single energy blast. The cloaked man who was near Freslia threw out an object. Maybe a talisman or a glyph, I had no idea it was too fast. A crystalline barrier formed and it withstood the energy long enough for him to evade before disintegrating.
“Damn!” Three breaths had passed and we couldn’t kill him in one shot.
“Heckor!” I shouted.
Ten of the fourteen retinue members stormed where the other dark cloaked men where. They were led by their Seider, Heckor who was spearheading the charge against the other four enemies. A terrible clash ensued.
ZIIING! ZIIING! BOOOM! BOOOM! ZIIING! ZIIING! BOOOM! BOOOM!
The intertwining of opposing kinetic energies caused a high resonance reaction. Trees were destroyed, the ground charred.
Zaneir and I prepared an encirclement for our evading foe using all the warding glyphs we had. Launching our artifacts in a single motion, a dome shaped energy barrier covered us. The energy ward prevented our foe and us from leaving the space. I was trying to prevent this Zigur from joining the others, a formation of five is highly dangerous, there is a reason they are called lustrums.
“Now!” I screamed.
Like many times before since we were children, Zaneir and I make a great pair when it comes to battle. We sent energy blasts towards the Zigur in simultaneous physical assaults. All he could do was block or barely dodge.
“You pests!” The angry man snarled like a beast.
We needed to keep the pressure up, the other four members of my retinue were helping our young seedlings with the charging fearbeasts.
Ten breaths had passed since the skirmish began.
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Sixteen people against five. Regardless, the Zigurs held on to produce an evenly matched strength contest.
“At least our elite knights can withstand these monsters.” I thought as I prepared.
The fight raged on just like before.
ZIIING! ZIIING! BOOOM! BOOOM! ZIIING! ZIIING! BOOOM! BOOOM!
Eight more breaths had passed; the seedlings were heading to my position. They had managed to leave their encirclement.
“Help us.” A girl with a bow begged as they drew close. It was obvious they didn’t recognize me nor my retinue.
“I’ll have to assume growing up in these parts of the world limits your exposure.” Zaneir said while charging for another attack.
“One mind.” I reprimanded her.
The Zigur before us was quite weak, I couldn’t understand why that was the case but I was grateful. We only need to buy time to proceed with our escape.
Lady Freslia finally showed a reaction. A convergence of energies was felt where she was kneeling. Her resonance felt like a flicker, she was unstable.
“Claimere!” A young red haired well-built man stood suddenly in front of her, he was covered in blood.
“Handsome.” That’s the only response I had in my mind.
“We must leave.” I heard Freslia say.
She recognized me when she was able to glance at me. She flashed me a bitter smile.
“The beasts are coming and the knights are starting to lose ground. We must depart.” Zaneir said.
The Zigur in front of us was in a defensive stance. He had no intention of fighting back.
“This one is strange. Normally by now, the weak elites are overtaken by their rage.” I thought.
“Zaneir, we leave. Sound the retreat.” I ordered.
“We must use the glyphs here. We are in no condition to flee, the forest formation is weakened, it will work.” Freslia said standing up and walking towards me.
The teleportation glyphs are scarce and very precious items. Only to be used in emergencies. We had already used dozens of them. That was not the pressing matter, a bleeding Claimere qualifies as an emergency.
“Gurnir!” I cursed.
I nodded at her words.
Zaneir emitted a clarion like sound from her pendant and the knights immediately started to retreat.
“Where do you think you are going?” A voice boomed from behind the burning trees. Five more dark cloaked persons showed up, they had appeared in a matter of breaths.
The girl with the bow, the handsome bulk and a skinny young man with glasses were surrounding another youth. He was also bleeding profusely from an injury to one of his arms.
“Bullshit!” I cursed under my breath.
“Hang in there, man.” The handsome one said to the suffering kid.
“Use them now. Heckor!” I shouted as loudly as I possibly could.
Zaneir, Heckor and I threw our teleportation glyphs near our retreating position as far away from the incoming Zigurs as possible. The dome barrier dissipated as the energy from the triune teleportation portal absorbed all the convergent energy in the area. The displacement device activated.
“My lady, we’ll hold them.” Heckor said as he and his two direct subordinates exploded in an intense fiery energy blast to provide cover for our retreat.
DOOONG! DOOONG! ZIIING! BOOOM! ZIIING! BOOOM! ZIIING! BOOOM!
The incoming attacks from the nine Zigurs simultaneously tore into the Seider and his two knights. The rest of our group entered the portal swiftly. I was the second to last one to enter.
Before the energy ripples closed, I could see the beaten Zigur that remained smiling at me.
“Your knights invaded first, princess Asara.” He said with a wicked grin.
Proof of interference. Three knights of the personal retinue of the princess of Kotar laid dead on Malgrunian soil. War was now, an inevitability with the Eternal Moon having the political edge.
“I hope this future king is worth it.”
The rift closed.
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“We will be departing for Malaktaraf in the morning.” I told Freslia.
She was sitting near the bedroom window of the lodging we had accommodated into for the night.
“Why was the surveillance so astringent on Malgrunian territory?” She asked with tired eyes.
“We are at the prelude of all-out war. Don’t know the details but something truly serious occurred during the High Moon festival.”
“You sacrificed a Seider and arrived with a full cohort of knights. You better explain yourself protégé!?” She pried.
“King’s orders. I had to consult the Archsage for your location, otherwise we wouldn’t have made it in time, plenty of resources were expended. But the goal of our little venture was the chosen one.” I answered genuinely.
“So I was caught in the crossfire. I’ll have a word with Akathos later.” She said with a heavy sigh.
“Tell me, is he exceptional?” I questioned with extreme curiosity.
“Yes, for someone this young by all measures, Krigsain, is a jewel. With proper care he will be a truly formidable one.” She replied.
The look in Freslia’s blue eyes was piercing, it was obvious she wanted to tell me more. I waited patiently.
“You redheads could make quite a pair but it will not be easy, he is very independent. Joining the Andurin was already a stretch, it took a lot of convincing.” She added while sipping her tea.
She remained insightful as ever. She can read me like a book and I’m the one with special eyes, frustrating.
“The thread of fate on your little crew is strong for all of them to have gathered inside enemy grounds.” I said.
“Fate? We are fate breakers my dear princess. It is more akin to the cumulative convergence of our own making. I assume you are eager for proper introductions then.” She offered.
“We will have to agree to disagree. Even the great ones of all known enclaves quarrel over this issue perpetually.”
“Careful with your words your highness, they could be interpreted as borderline contempt towards the precepts.” Freslia pointed out.
I pretended not to hear what she was saying.
“And yes, I would like to meet the future of the Kotar kingdom firsthand. Lead the way Claimere Freslia.” I said sidestepping the issue.
We stood up and headed out of the private bedroom to the lodgings of the four Sachears.