Glass shattered under my slightest touch. I frowned down at the cup as water spilled across the table. Another victim in the long run of unfortunate items I had come into contact with the past few hours.
Physical strength like this was not something I had any experience with. I had never lived long enough in any of my previous lives to make any progress practicing arts that refined the body. It was a weakness of mine that I had come to accept. Being able to crumple metal like wet cardboard was fun at first but the downsides quickly became apparent.
I had no idea how to control this new strength. Even taking a single drink had suddenly become a taxing endeavor that left mountains of broken dishes in my wake. It was only made worse by Svend when he learned of Mare’s success. He insisted I only use the most fragile and breakable items we could find in the army. I understood his thought process but the frustration that came from failing at even the simplest tasks did not help my mood any. The effects of the Demon’s influence may have mostly faded but I still found myself in a dour state.
Sighing, I waved my hand over the table. Multicolored blue and green flames ignited, quickly evaporating the spilt water. It was unfortunate the flame could do nothing about the scattered shards of glass. Those I had to pick up by hand, as I had already broken the wooden handle of the broom after one of my earlier accidents.
My dad chuckled as he entered the room. “You know glass cups aren’t cheap, right? We wouldn’t even have any if it was not for the supplies your grandmother brought for nobles to use.”
“It’s not like I am doing it on purpose,” I growled in annoyance as one of the few larger pieces of glass crumbled when I tried to pick it up. At least, I did not have to worry about cutting my fingers on the shards. I was not sure a sword swung at full force by one of the soldiers could cut my skin now.
Dad laughed at my predicament as he bent down to help me pick up the glass. Once it was all cleaned up, he brushed off his hands and sighed. “Have you recovered enough to step outside for a bit?”
“I should be fine so long as I do not spend too much time out there. Why? Did the Demons return?”
“No, they have been strangely quiet since the storm. Even the number of Demonkin harassing us has diminished greatly. Most agree that they are probably gathering all their forces at the capital for one final battle. No, this is about something else. I think it is important I have someone come with me.”
I nodded, curious about what could have had my dad looking so troubled. As I stepped outside, the sight of the roiling blood mist left my stomach nauseous. It was almost as if could feel the emotions of the disembodied faces staring back at me. I frowned, knowing I was still not completely free of the Demon’s influence but it was not enough to impact my actions. For now, this was still within what I could handle.
Dad floated up into the air with practiced ease and motioned for me to follow. I could not help but smile at seeing the simple action. I could imagine how many hours Dad had spent practicing for him to reach such a casual state in the air. Such improvement made me wonder how hard he worked behind everyone’s back.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“You will see soon enough. It is not far from here, assuming anything still stands” Dad replied grimly.
I flew behind Dad curiously as we left the floating island behind. It was only a short moment before the army was also lost in the blood mist. Five minutes later, Dad stopped. He looked around at the nearby landmarks before changing direction slightly.
It took me a little longer to realize where we were going than it probably should have. Most of the environment had been twisted by corruption but the major landmarks still remained. It was when I saw a set of hills with a cracked rock face that I finally understood. I knew where we were. Once upon a time, I had stared out a window at those hills every day, wishing I could go there on my own two legs. It looked different now. The old tree that had grown on top had died rather than mutate and thorned vines choked most of the hill from view but it was there.
A few moments later, a small village appeared in the mist. It was a place I had all but forgotten in the chaos and excitement of the past year but still a place I knew well. The small tavern I had once eaten at had collapsed. Only a few busted walls remained, broken and splintered. Colorful houses once so full of life now laid silent. None of this, however, compared to the bloody sight of the church where I had met Sylvie.
The remains of corpses, decayed from months of exposure were nailed to the front of the building. The dried blood running down the walls testified that they had probably still been alive when they were crucified there.
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Dad froze when he saw the bodies. His eyes lingered on one especially small figure. The Demons had spared nobody. Even newborns were no exception.
“I never gave the Carpenters the gift for their newborn,” dad said, almost absentmindedly. His hand tightened into a fist. “I knew it would be bad but this…”
“They were sending me a message,” I said as I tried my best to fight back the surge of emotions, “The Demons knew I would come back here eventually.”
With great difficulty, Dad tore his eyes away from the bodies of the people he once knew. “Help me get them down. They don’t deserve this.”
I nodded numbly. Flying up to the wall, I pulled out the large nail piercing through the hands of the rotten remains. Dad and I worked in silence as we handed the corpses as gently as possible. The stench was horrible but neither of us complained.
“I am glad Charly didn’t see this… I wish I hadn’t seen it,” Dad whispered as he pulled the last of the bodies down from the front of the church.
I felt anger well up in my chest as I looked at the rows of bodies. I did not know them as well as Dad but they were my people. I would remember this insult the next time I confronted one of the Demons.
“Can you bring them back?” Dad asked, “Like you did your soldiers?”
“I can,” I replied hesitantly, “Not now but once this war is over, I will give them a new life. I just… I can’t erase the memories of what happened here. The torture they experienced… It will not be easy for them to find a way past that.”
“At least they will have that chance to try,” Dad replied. A glyph formed on the ground, eclipsing the bodies in silver light. Ice formed over them, preserving what was left until the day I could make this right. “Until that day comes, we will put them to rest in the crypts. My ice should preserve what is left of their bodies.”
The two of us worked quickly. The church was relatively intact, a rarity when Demons attacked since most churches of the Fourth Division had their own defenses. Unfortunately, this one was too small to protect the people from the might of the Demons.
As we carried the preserved bodies inside, I looked up at the ceiling of the church. Little lights still shone across the black surface like stars in the night sky. More than half the lights on the ceiling were red with only a few bastions of blue mixed in.
“One victory and… one loss,” I mumbled, pausing to look up at the new red light. A mass of annoyance coursed through my body and one of the nearby church pews shattered under my grip.
“Is something wrong, Wren?” Dad asked with concern.
I waved my hand at the stars in frustration. “That!”
Dad frowned as he looked up in confusion. “I don’t understand what’s wrong. Charly was the one who spent his time at the church not me. I always found their stories of distant wars against the Demons… fanciful imagination. How silly that sounds looking back now.”
I rubbed my temples in exasperation. “Each of those stars represents an explored realm publicly acknowledged by the Thirteen Divisions. Through a special method, the church can even receive updates from the Fourth Division despite the fact there is no doorway between realms right now. Blue stars represent realms controlled by humans while the red ones are controlled by Demons. You can get a general idea of the state of the war by watching the changes of color in border zones.”
“Convenient, but why does that upset you?”
I pointed at the ceiling with a sigh. “That star there, the one with the fanciful diagram etched into the stone around it. That is us.”
Dad paused as he saw the star I was pointing at. “If that is us… Why is it red? What does that mean?”
“It means the Divisions have declared our world a lost cause, not worth protecting,” I spat coldly.
“But we are still here… still fighting.” Dad’s voice was almost a whisper now. “I thought you were someone important in the Divisions. Would they really abandon you like that?”
I shook my head. “The Divisions have never been truly unified. Even when facing absolute destruction, conflicts often spring up between the different factions. I am sure the Thirteenth and Fifth Divisions are still working on our behalf but I doubt any of the others are willing to risk their resources just to protect this backwater planet.”
“What does that mean for us?”
“It means we are on our own. Envy could be launching his invasion from any one of those red stars or maybe even a place not yet recorded. There is no way two divisions alone have the manpower to check them all in such a short time, especially if the source is deep within Demon territory. Which, given Envy’s conniving nature, he is probably attacking from a location only reachable by passing through several dozen other dangerous realms.”
Dad rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Is there really nothing we can do?”
“Not unless you want to jump through one of those half-formed rifts with Envy waiting on the other side and see if he lets you set up a beacon. Maybe if you ask him nicely, he will also treat you to a gourmet dinner.”
Dad chuckled at my bad joke, bringing some much-needed levity to the dark halls of the church. “To be honest, I never considered we might get reinforcements in the first place. The Thirteen Divisions always seemed like a fairytale to me. Stories to inspire children, nothing more. In a way though, it is somewhat comforting. Despite all the destruction that happened here, there are still so many realms untouched by the corruption and the blood mist. Even if we lose, humanity will live on.”
I felt my heart ache at Dad’s resolute gaze. I had seen eyes like that countless times before. It was the gaze of a man prepared to die fighting rather than retreat. The determination that even if he died, the world would move on. It was a resolution familiar to me. The same gaze I had each and every time I gave my life in battle.
I reached out to hold my dad’s hand. No matter what, I could not let him follow through with that determination. Even if he hated me for it, I could not let him die.
My grip tightened as I reaffirmed my goal moving forward, only for a sudden shout to break me out of my daze.
“Ow, Ow, Wren, too tight! You’re crushing my hand!”