I wake as suddenly as I passed out. I can feel rhythmic walking and it quickly becomes apparent that Roland is carrying me.

“Put me down. I can walk” I croak.

He gives me a brief glance down at me.

“As far as I can see, you cannot. And we needed to move faster anyway.” he responds.

I frown in response. “How long was I out?”

“About 30 minutes. No more.”

Damn that’s quite a while.

“... Are we close yet?”

“Yes, however... I’ve had to bypass a lot of the regular routes, further exacerbating things.”

I observe the passing of the plain stone walls with infrequent lamps going by. They exist in stark contrast to the halls full of rich tapestries and statues.

He notices. “Servants routes… We’re heading out the postern. I don’t think trying to get to the library is a good idea. We need to get out of the castle… It’s a deathtrap right now.”

His words are again punctuated by an ominous shake. He walks a bit faster in response.

“How could cannons cause such shaking?”

“Shells charged with earth magic to make small earthquakes. Weakens foundations and whatnot. Not very powerful individually, but in large numbers they can trigger a real earthquake… Though I am beginning to suspect the far less likely, and frankly far more dire possibility it is a powerful earth mage just ripping the place apart piecemeal.”

“Not much we can do then hmm...” I mutter.

“No, I’m afraid not.”

He falls quiet for a bit while continuing his steady march. This man seems utterly indefatigable.

“I’m going to put you down now. I need your help with the mechanism for the postern.”

Sliding down onto my feet I feel the fatigue that still hasn’t left me. Looking at the door, it appears to be a massive slab of metal filigreed with a heavy inlay of complex runes cut into it.

I give Roland a questioning look.

He briefly massages the bridge of his nose while I stare at him expectantly. He sighs.

“The door needs a member of the ruling dynasty to open.”

“And that entails what exactly?” I ask.

“I don’t know the details to be honest. Your blood might be sufficient if you don't know how to control your mana. I’m just guessing though.”

Right. Big ol biometric door. Either way, I don’t really want to jump to bleeding on it first without exhausting other ideas.

I reach out to touch it. Slim fingers feel the surface of the door finding no purchase at all…

Perfectly smooth. How odd, not even minor imperfections. It’s even a bit warm to touch.

I press lightly against it and find that the runes certainly look carved into it but… I try putting a bit more force into it for the sake of curiosity. Poking a few different spots on the door that look vaguely button-like is similarly unhelpful.

Time to try a different approach. I close my eyes and try pushing at the door with my mind… To no apparent effect at all. I really have no idea where to start on that one.

I guess it's time to bleed on it.

I glance at Roland, who’s impatiently standing watch behind me.

Drawing the thin knife from my belt I pause to look at it. It has a light blue sheen to it, and is only lightly adorned with what I presume to be a family crest.

My hands shake a bit at first… I then very carefully and gently cut the back of my forearm. Certainly not going to cut my hand… I take extreme care not to go too deep.

I gasp. Not from just pain but also because my blood is apparently a bright vivid blue.

“Ouch”. I drop the knife in surprise…

Cut myself a bit worse because of it.

It pings off the stone loudly.

Roland turns around to look at what happened.

That doesn’t make any sense at all. I’ve already seen other people bleed so it’s definitely not the norm.

“Are you just going to stand there and stare at it?” Roland dryly comments while arching an eyebrow. Apparently misunderstanding my look of surprise.

Guess he must be aware of the odd color. That or his composure is much better than mine. Might be awkward to ask about though.

I somewhat painfully smear it onto what approximates the center of the door and watch for the result.

A few long seconds pass without anything happening until the runes begin to slowly fill like channels… The whole surface soaks it in like a giant sponge.

It begins to softly glow, and I’m suddenly overwhelmed by the scent of the ocean. Then the whole thing turns translucent enough to see outside.

There’s what appears to be a large hedge garden blocking the direct line of sight elsewhere from this part of the Castle.

I don’t notice Roland trying to hand me the knife back till he sighs and just gives up while sliding it directly back into my belt sheath.

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“Give me your arm.” Roland asks.

Pulling my attention from the door, he’s holding a clean bandage, and immediately sets to work covering the wound tightly, after sprinkling some acrid smelling fluid that stinks worse than vinegar onto my arm. Burns almost as bad as it stinks.

“Thanks.” I murmur. I brush a tear from my face, again momentarily stunned at the sheer difference of feeling.

He looks me dead in the eyes. “I’m not sure where to take us from here to be honest.”

He pauses, gathering his thoughts.

“First, let's step outside before the postern closes.”

So we do.

Looking around at the surrounding (thankfully) deserted hedge garden, I can see it too is well looked after, with the bushes trimmed to neat sharp angles and tasteful shapes.

The sky has gotten a fair bit darker at this point in large part due to an evident thickening of clouds coming from the north. I also notice a second smaller moon barely visible over the hedge to my west… It’s pale blue, and still a fair bit larger than Earth's moon.

Really is a different world.

“We can flee inland, and try to meet with a patrol that’s still out of town. Our other option is to flee into the forest and try to wait things out. It’s pretty clear to me that they want to capture you… So fleeing into the forest may be a fruitless endeavor with them being so persistent.”

He frowns slightly. “Frankly none of these are good options, and I was hoping you might have a better idea than mine.”

I nod… At this point the guy has not only proven himself trustworthy, but quite a competent person.

“Yes, I do have somewhere in mind. The Magister was supposedly making preparations for a boat to voyage to the New world that was to leave in the morning. That… Could be our ticket out of here.”

“Sounds difficult. Given how light the garrison is in this region… Do you know which boat it is?”

Glancing away from him. “No. I don’t.”

He scratches the stubble on his chin.

Musing out loud for his benefit, I say. “Well, It’ll need a deep boat draft to manage Ocean water wouldn’t it?”

He shrugs. “Don’t know very much about boats to be honest.”

Right, so he doesn’t know. Hmm…

“Can you lead us to the docks then? That seems like a good place to start.”

Roland nods. “I can do that… One thing though. We should probably make at least the barest effort to hide your face and hair. You are too easily recognizable.”

He’s right. There may be something in the backpack though. I start rummaging through the backpack that Roland evidently put down at some point while keeping watch.

I don’t have to search for long, and find an extremely well made dark navy blue hooded cloak. It looks like it might be waterproofed too, given the waxy feel on its outside. Don’t think I'll find anything that doesn’t scream “Rich noble” in here though.

I really need something more normal to wear. If I'm being honest, I'm not used to having such well-fitting clothes.

I stare at it for a moment before putting it on, welcoming the added warmth afterwards.

Roland scoops the backpack up before I even have the chance to consider it. He glances in my direction, daring me to comment.

I just raise my hands in defeat.

“Let me know if you’re getting tired next time.” He grumbles and starts leading the way.

The night time walk through what becomes apparent is a hedge maze… Is rather slow and sort of spooky.

All we have to see by is moonlight that barely pierces the dense hedge walls. It’s dim to say the least.

“Why is the castle so empty anyway?” I ask, while we walk.

I hear him loudly sigh. “Talking about the embarrassingly light garrison?”

“Well, your uncle doesn’t live there, and it's just the bones of the serving staff in there, and a few Knights like myself sworn directly to the family, rather than the Crown.”

“Given you were ‘merely’ unconscious, our duties and loyalties didn’t change at all. Your Uncle could strip the garrison all he likes, but not us.”

“Your half brother was kicked out of the castle shortly after your Uncle took control… Citing that he’s ‘not a real member of the family’, and given he wasn’t allowed to take up the dynasty name, in the eyes of the kingdom, that’s true.”

Thinking back… We probably left quite a number of people behind still. “What about the people still in the castle?”

“Don’t worry about them. The other knights should be able to get them out.” He trails off with a quiet, “I hope”.

We keep walking like this for a while, leaving me to keep stewing with my thoughts. The cloudy night sky makes it hard to observe the stars…

Nothing even remotely recognizable up there either.

Finally, after what was probably only about 5 minutes, we step outside the hedge. The town comes into view, and it’s awash in fire and smoke.

Almost none of the town has been spared. I can see the occasional flash of light from a ship on the coast followed by a ground shaking impact and fire a few seconds later…

I count about 30 seconds between each shot. Ridiculously fast if it's a single cannon. I can’t tell from this distance however… Especially in the dark.

I count 4 ships visibly firing on the town.

Wordlessly, we come upon a path built out of massive paving stones and start following it down the hill that the castle is built on. It’s probably wide enough to drive a pair of buses down side by side.

I have so many questions I want to ask Roland… The only way to get real answers is to either play the amnesia card again or… Just tell it straight. Not sure if he’ll believe me though. Similarly important… Will he help me if he realizes I’m someone else? Issues for future me, I suppose.

Ughhhhhhhhhhhh. I let out another sigh. I seem to be doing that a lot lately.

Roland gives me another backwards glance. Staring at his back… He certainly cuts an impressive figure with his shiny metal armor and flawless posture.

It takes another 30 minutes of walking to actually reach the outskirts of town.

Most of the houses appear to be a mixture of Renaissance and Victorian architecture… Some are pretty unfamiliar, preferring odd bevels. Not much in the way of bricks used. Lots of plaster and wood.

Many of the fires have been put out by this point, but there are clear signs of its passing… Some houses with roofs have fallen in on themselves… Others are simply burnt out husks.

It’s… Disconcerting to say the least seeing not a single soul around while some buildings keep burning.

I glance at Roland, catching a sidelong glance of him turning his head to look into the town. It’s the most emotional I’ve ever seen him. He looks equal parts mortified and angry… I guess it was his hometown. Probably grew up here. I can only imagine that kind of pain. I just… I can sympathise with that.

Why am I crying? I try to wipe it away, but…

Is this my fault?

…

...

Empty clothes fill the streets, sometimes scattered weapons. Amongst them I see the outlines of a few actual bodies. Some clearly armored. Other scattered belongings and furniture lay around as well.

Roland stiffens and takes a deep breath, turning away briefly.

“Let’s keep going,” he says quietly. “There’s nothing left for us here except more death.”

I just give him a numb nod.

He continues leading us through the deserted streets. The overpowering smell of smoke and blood is… Kind of a lot.

I will make this right. Somehow.

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

We finally reach the edge of the docks. Once proud ships poke out of the water, some still in the midst of sinking. Thankfully, I cannot see any sign of the attacking ships anymore. Perhaps that should be cause for alarm though.

At this point Roland is looking to me for some direction.

I opt to head north towards what looks like stone docks. Most of the streetlamps are either unlit, or broken by the looks of it. Only a few remain lit.

We walk a few minutes further passing yet more ruined ships until we finally reach the end of the docks where it meets the perimeter wall.

I barely give the last pier a glance until I'm forced to do a double take.

The water has a boat shaped depression in it- As in a boat that I can’t see… Sitting in the water.