Tulip let out a slow, shuttering breath as everything was rushing through her head that had just happened. Why was there a dead guard from Brimrose’s personal assortment of them dead at the base of the stairs?

She glanced up as James continued moving along. Quickly glancing around with each step he took to check the hallways he moved through.

“James, wait!- Please!” Tulip shouted after him, bringing him to a stop as he turned to glance back at her.

“What is it?” He spoke slowly, tension was clear in his voice but she wasn’t sure from where it originated. There was more than enough to be tense about.

“Please just tell me what's going on! It cannot possibly be that hard to explain what's happening twice… Why was there a dead member of Brimrose’s guard at the bottom of the stairs? Who were the two chasing me? Why are all the other guards in the building going insane?” Tulip’s words blurted out from her like a typhoon, leaving James to raise a hand into the air, calling for her to try and slow down.

“Presumably, he was killed by those two. Those two chasing you are a part of the Raiders, though we have heard of them, we haven’t directly seen them. They’re some of the better fighters amongst the raiders, though I personally doubt that they’re close to the leader like Her Majesty believes.” James explained slowly as he turned to continue walking much slower now. Giving Tulip much more of a chance to keep up with him.

“Beyond that, we’re under attack by the Raiders. It seems they are attacking alongside a Sandstorm, which from what Her Majesty can tell is being controlled or created by a rather powerful mage in their midst. They have a second powerful mage who is currently affecting many of the weaker willed and injured inside of the building. Driving them mad, which has left Her Majesty to project her own shield around the building in an attempt to minimize it until the caster of this magic can be found.”

“We sent out three patrolls and haven’t heard back from any of them yet.” James continued with a heavy sigh, shaking his head. “I regret to say that you both have been trapped in the middle of a practical warzone. Now can we focus on finding Kirin? Can your further questions wait until then?”

Tulip was about to speak before James made his own statements, her mouth already halfway opened closed slowly as she exhaled and nodded.

“Alright. I can wait now, thank you.” Her mind began moving immediately, they were under attack, their allies couldn’t be trusted because of a supposed mage with the ability to control weaker minds, that was what really concerned her. Especially if they could affect anyone, she feared if Kirin could be in danger of it.

“One more thing… Why are you here? Like- Inside the keep I mean. Shouldn’t you be outside helping Brimrose fight?” Tulip broke the silence that had already begun growing between the two of them while she moved along to walk beside James.

“While Her Majesty fears for the lives of the people inside of this city, she fears the wrath of your father far, far more.” James replied, his head turning just enough to look at Tulip as he spoke. “A city, however cruel it may sound, holds less value in just the number of lives, than an inevitable war with Berinia should the crowned heir be injured or killed.”

“The daughter of nothing more than a sin made flesh…” Tulip mumbled, shaking her head while she looked to her sides, glancing at the doorways they passed. Utter silence is all that hung in the air between the two of them as they walked after her statement, nothing more than a grunt came from James, she took it to mean he was in agreement with her.

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The wind was still howling against the walls with groans of the entire keep shifting from the force. While the faint ringing of the bell, likely swinging wildly and aimlessly could still be heard, yet unnervingly there was still no sign of the woman who had been with the Brute.

But nothing but silence filled the air between them, alongside the howling wind and ringing bell.

—

I looked around as my eyes slowly moved open. Everything felt heavy when I began moving my arms around, my wounded stomach still ached when I shifted yet it didn’t feel anywhere near as painful as it had seemingly moments before I had fallen asleep.

Wind was howling almost like it was in my ears, I could hear a bell violently ringing like it was just outside of the room where I was laying. Everything was pitch black, the window which had previously let in some light now let in nothing more but gusts of sand rushing through the gaping cracks that were growing around the frame.

“What the?...” My head felt groggy for a few moments, as my eyes cleared the blur from a series of blinks I reached to push myself to sit up slowly.

I reached a hand to my stomach, feeling the scraped wound gently. It was still painful to the touch, but far from being to such a point that I could barely move. With a sigh I pushed the covers away from myself, my thoughts trailing as my legs pushed over the side of the bed.

‘I need to find Tulip…’ I thought for a mere moment before I could hear steps outside of the door mere feet away from where I sat on the edge of the bed.

It was a series of scuffing sounds pressing against the door, like someone was trying to push it open. The rattling of the hinges being pushed back just to shift forwards felt strangely off to me.

“Is someone there?” I found myself asking out despite my best judgements, and for an instant I thought I could have simply been imagining what was happening. Until the blade of a form of spear plunged straight through the handle of the door, leaving it crawling open slowly.

A shadowed figure stood in the doorway, outlined only by dim orange lights bouncing off of the walls from behind them. Long, elegant hair sat strewn about their head, flowing softly from the intensive winds that managed to pierce in through the gap from the window.

Eyes sat gleaming upon their skull, they sat targeted like a predator, burning into my own eyes with a gaze so intense that I was desperate to look away. It felt like I couldn’t breathe just by locking eyes with the figure, their spear tilted towards the ground as they walked forwards, a single step at a time.

I pushed myself to my feet, the air in the room felt heavy while the figure looked like they were being bathed in fire whilst they marched forwards.

“Is something wrong? What's going on?” I asked quickly, concern was clear in my voice, panic was rising in my chest as I was trying to think of what to do. There was only one way out, and it was being blocked by them.

“Just shut up and die already.” The woman spoke as her spear raised up slowly.

I could feel my heart sinking, while at the same time it felt like it was beating so quickly that it threatened to jump out of my throat. I could feel the pressure in the room changing rapidly around me, like the wind was rushing towards the woman's spear in her hands.

My arms raised with my shield igniting, my mana was rushing through my body like fire, but even then it barely raised in time.

A shockwave like that of thunder washed through the room as I was thrown backwards, the beds around the woman shattered into splinters while the ones beside and behind me were sent flying. I held my ground for a few beats but the overwhelming pressure of howling wind was overwhelming to the point that even with my shield out, entirely visible before me it sent my flying backwards.

Despite the fact that it was a pile of beds against the wall, the impact with it was incredibly painful as I was sent crashing into the frames with a resounding impact.

The world felt like it was spinning as a pained groan escaped my lips, my eyes settled for a moment and looked around.

Just in time to see the spear flying through the air, straight for me.