Three days had passed since I first learned how to direct the golden flames with glyphs. With my dad’s help, I had begun learning and experimenting with new glyphs. We had not yet found anything as useful as the simple directional explosion, but I was constantly improving my familiarity with the flames.
While I was busy trying to master this new field of study, the rest of my family had been infected by Donte’s enthusiasm for training. Every waking minute, they pushed their bodies and talents to their absolute limits. When their muscles gave out and they could barely move, they simply went to soak in the bath for an hour and they were completely refreshed. This cycle repeated over and over again and I was even dragged into it more than once as well.
The only people free from the endless cycle of training were Charly and three mercenaries that decided the assist him in catching birds. With the mercenaries’ help, Charly was able to create a proper snare that worked far better than the simple sheet trap he and I had come up with. Thanks to their help, Charly was able to catch a new record of birds yesterday, numbering twenty-three. There was not much meat on the birds and everyone was still hungry, but out of respect for Charly’s hard work, Esben had not slaughtered the stallion yet.
Food was still a serious problem for us. A couple mouthfuls of meat a day was better than hardtack, but it was not enough to prevent the constant feeling of emptiness in my stomach. The extreme physical training Donte was determined to drag everyone into only made the hunger worse.
The only one not complaining about being hungry was Nox. Constantly gobbling up the golden flames I created while practicing, the kitten was walking around with a permanent bulge in his belly that made him look like he was pregnant. I had never seen him so content.
Sitting in the corner of a large room, I ignored the clashing of wooden swords as a golden glyph formed in front of me. this glyph was the fruit of my hard work these past three days. Even with practice, it took more than ten minutes for me to form. It was completely impossible to use in battle, but my dad said it was a vital glyph to learn if I wanted to ever learn anything more advance.
I watched with interest as the glyph in front of me faded. The golden flames created a small ball of fire about the size of my fist that rocketed towards the distant wall on the other side of the room. The fireball did not even get a chance to hit the wall before a black shadow jumped up and swallowed it.
With his mouth leaking smoke, Nox looked at me expectantly, waiting for his next serving of food. I ignored the cat and leaned back with a sigh.
Three days of practice and I was still no closer to figuring out how to control the golden flames without glyphs. It made no sense to me at all. As Aurielle I had seen thousands of talents. Not a single one acted as the golden flame did. The combination of the two abilities was too volatile to even be considered a talent. It was more like a malady. Two talents forming in the same body was usually fatal. The few survivors I knew of either sealed one talent away or one of their talents devoured the other. None of my years of experience helped me with this.
I could not help but wonder if my teacher would know something more. Michael Aevus had always seemed to know everything. After living for more than a thousand years there was very little that could stump him. If only I could contact him I…
I froze, remembering his gaze, and quickly discarded the thought. I had no desire of ever returning to life under that gaze. It was better if I did not risk his idea of help unless I had no other option.
The clashing of wooden swords came to a sudden stop and I looked up at my dad and Donte both panting heavily on the far side of the room.
“It is scary how fast you are improving,” my dad said with a big smile, “It was not that long ago when I could through you down without breaking a sweat.”
“Before long, I will be the one throwing you down over and over again,” Donte replied with haggard breaths.
“Keep dreaming,” my dad said as he patted Donte’s shoulder with a heavy hand, “You will have to wait until I am old and grey before that day comes.”
“We’ll see,” Donte replied with a confident grin. I could see his eyes roaming the large empty room we had affectionally dubbed the training hall as he looked for his next victim. As winded as he was, it was clear Donte had no intention of taking a break just yet. It was not long before his eyes locked onto me.
“Wren, want to spar with me again?” he asked, pointing his sword in my direction.
I sighed as I stood up from my corner. “It has only been a couple hours since the last time. Do you not know how to take a break?”
“Not a chance, I…” Donte froze mid-sentence as a small orb of light appeared on his forehead. He stood like a statue for a few seconds before shaking awake. “Our match might have to wait. We are finally approaching our first city. Do you want to go and take a look?”
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I nodded and moved towards the door. “I am curious how Irene will handle this. If she moves away all her Demonkin to avoid a conflict we might have a chance to launch a counter-attack on her human undead. If she moves all of them back, we could get an opportunity to restock some food and essential supplies.”
My dad, Donte, and I all walked outside. The floating Island of rock was as barren as always. The overcast clouds left a chill in the air that made me wish I had warmer clothes. Off to one side, Charly was chatting with a few of the mercenaries while Esben and Habil were staring down over the edge of the island.
Esben looked up and waved us over. “I was just about to send someone to get you. There is a city on the horizon. The city of Deces if my memory is correct. It is the second-largest city in this country.”
I looked out of the edge of the island to see the city in the distance. Proud stone walls jutted into the sky. More than a dozen towers manned by archers and catapults looked out over the city below. A grand castle dominated the center of the city like a monolith. It was the perfect place. Unless Irene wanted to start a war, she would have to pull most of her forces back until after we passed.
“It is a well-defended city,” my dad said, “It is strange seeing it from this view. I wish I could have been able to view places from above when I was marching with general Arthur. We could have planned our attacks so much easier if everything was laid out in front of us like this.”
“It sure has grown,” I mumbled as I saw the ant-like figures flowing into the city gates. Flourishing farms dotted the land close to the nearby rivers. Colorful homes and shops had spilled out of the walls and were built along the busy roads leading into the city. “Last time I saw this area, it was just a slightly larger town.”
“Not so strange, the river is a major trade route around the mountains. Any city along its path was bound to grow,” Esben said with a smirk in my direction before motioning towards the people down below, “It looks like they have noticed us.”
I nodded. Even from a distance, I could see people stopping and pointing in our direction. More than a few of them seemed to be panicking when they saw the floating island but most just seemed awed at the sight. However, as we got closer to the city, that awe turned to horror.
Behind us, Irene had still not pulled back any of her troops. The horde of undead marched without any concern for being seen. The mountain-sized rat alone was enough to cause many people to flee in terror.
“What is Irene doing?” I asked in confusion, “Is she not worried the country will send its army to eliminate the Demonkin?”
“Maybe she is busy with something else and has not noticed we are getting close to the city,” Donte remarked.
I furrowed my brows as I wondered if her imitation of my talent was really that limited. “If they are just following mindlessly, we can test it. Donte, maneuver us around the less inhabited side of the city walls, close enough for the defenders to shoot at the undead, but not so close that the undead will mindlessly charge into the city.”
Donte nodded and was about to connect with the Preateritum ruin when the undead suddenly started roaring furiously. The sound was like deafening thunder as all the undead roared at once. Then, for the first time since they had found us, the undead stopped mindlessly following behind us and started sprinting forwards.
“What… What are they doing?” Donte asked.
I stared in disbelief as the undead charged in a straight line, completely ignoring us as they blew past our island with astonishing speed.
“They are attacking the city!” I shouted.
With the mountain-sized rat leading the charge, the horde of undead quickly left us behind. Civilians, too slow or too frightened to move were trampled in the horde’s mad dash towards the wall. Arrows and fire rained down from the walls and towers as the undead closed the gap in less than a minute. It was clear the soldiers on the wall were not prepared for the sudden attack as most did not even get a chance to fire off a single shot before the horde was already at the city gates.
Bells rang from the towers and there was a moment where it looked like the entire wall of the city was one giant glyph, but before the city’s defenses could activate, the enormous rat slammed into the stone wall, shattering it into a thousand pieces. With no wall to stop them, the undead horde swarmed into the city, slaughtering everyone in their path.
“Why? Why are they doing this?” Donte whispered in horror.
“We have to help them!” Charly shouted as he gripped his crossbow until his knuckles turned white.
“No!” Esben said firmly, “That is why they attacked the city. Irene is trying to draw us down. The moment we step off this island, the full force of that horde will turn its attention on us.”
I stared down at the sight below full of rage. In just the few seconds since they broke through the walls, the Demonkin had already turned the city street into a carnival of blood and gore. Everything had happened so fast. Nobody had time to hide or flee. Men, women, and children were ripped apart without mercy or hesitation
“Well, it worked,” I said as green flames erupted around me. Even the blue flame in my eye burned with fury at the sight of the senseless massacre. “You can stay here if you want Esben, but I am not going to just stand here and watch this happen.”
Esben looked like he was going to protest, but he stopped. His eyes locked on the carnage as a small child was ripped to pieces in the claws of an undead Demonkin. “You are right, Let's go.”
“Boss, you cannot be serious!” Habil shouted as he pulled at his beard, “This is suicide. We barely survived six of those things. How are we going to fight an army?”
“Shut up!” Esben shouted back. He looked like he was about to punch Habil but barely held himself back. “Since when did you become so scared of death? We are proud warriors of Kala. So what if we die? We have the Raddare on our side and will rise up again to fight the Great Demise. A death like this is an honor.”
“The Raddare is a child! What can she possibly do?” Habil’s face was beet red as he screamed at Esben, but his face turned pale as a figure stepped out of the mansion.
The chill in the air instantly disappeared, replaced by dry searing heat. With a main of golden flames and fur as black as night, Nox stepped into view. Towering over the man, a single paw was bigger than Habil’s head. Powerful muscles rolled with every step as Nox strode up to the edge of the island. Looking down at the undead below in more ways than one, Nox opened his mouth. A domineering roar echoed across the city, drowning out the screams and cries, bringing everything to a stop.
I patted Nox’s fur as I stared back at all the undead that had turned to look at the source of the roar. “You have eaten your fill, now it is time to work.”