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Relias’s demand for an explanation was another sign of progress. While clearly indignant, he allowed them to speak this time before further condemning them.
“Your Holiness,” the real Captain Sonea addressed him as she bowed in her saddle. “I am honored to meet you. I am relieved you are present, for I am confident you will best understand the trials and tribulations my dear friend Alban has been through.”
“Storytime,” Nora whispered in excitement. Master Landon shot her a flinty look, quirking his eyebrow. Nora straightened to attention, though her eyes still hungered for lore.
Relias frowned. “I would… carefully consider your words, Captain.” Relias then glanced at me, his face softening slightly. “Recently, I have learned that sometimes there is an explanation for seemingly irrational behavior…”
Given the situation, I tried not to smile too much, but I was impressed with his admission.
Unless he was implicating me, too.
“The world believes that Captain Alban turned a blind eye to the war front, reducing the number of mounted knights in favor of trained laymen with the advent and rapid production of the crossbow,” Captain Sonea explained, glancing at Nora and me specifically. “Nobles across Porta and Ecclesia were quick to condemn his actions, threatened by the idea of arming commoners. Shortly after their outcry, several large towns were attacked by demons out of nowhere, destroyed between sunset and sunrise, with nary a soul surviving to bear witness.”
Relias crossed his arms. “Had there been a sufficient number of knights on patrol at the borders, the attacks would have—”
“Happened regardless,” the fake captain finished for him. “Sister, get to the point!”
Captain Sonea gave her twin a steely look that spoke volumes. “I was about to.” She then shook her head. “Your Holiness. The demons that attacked those cities did not breach our frontlines; of that, I assure you. I admit, even I was confounded by how they got behind us. It was our understanding that demons are limited to a translocation distance circumscribed by line of sight. However, it turns out that older generations of demons can open portals across great distances, provided they have enough time and energy to do so. They need only a fellow demon situated at the opposite end, and—”
“Morcelos!” Nora cried. “Belgaldi said he was old!”
Master Landon began to pale, which was quite a feat considering how light-skinned he was in the first place. “And even a weak or injured demon, if undetected, has all the time in the world to gather enough power to open such a portal…”
“But Morcelos was absorbed… no, not absorbed, but swallowed by Belgaldi… Are you saying that’s how he was able to summon that portal by the South Gate?”
“They… managed to open one here?!” Captain Sonea shouted, reaching for her reins. “I’ll order the cavalry to—”
“Rae closed it before anything came through,” Nora said with a wave of her hand. “It was quite the sight to behold!”
Captain Sonea glanced at Nora, then me, appearing slightly puzzled. “…Rae? You mean Captain Raelynn Lightbringer, do you not?”
“Yeah,” Nora pointed at me. “That’s her. But you already knew that.”
Captain Sonea’s eyes went to my shield, which started to flash brightly. “I was skeptical, I admit, but… tell me, Chosen One. I wish to know how to close such portals, for they continue to erupt without warning.”
“Um… I shoved Holy Celestia into the middle of it while it opened and then turned it like a lock. Unfortunately, there was a sort of explosion, and… Holy Celestia didn’t make it.”
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The twin sisters exchanged a long, thoughtful look.
“We do have an overabundance of swords…” the fake one suggested. “We get the priests to bless them…”
“It would give the knights something to do,” Sonea agreed. “They’ve been rather put out about being outclassed on the front lines…”
Alban, who had been holding his breath the entire time, let out a long exhale as he dropped down from his horse to prostrate himself in front of us. “Forgive me for appearing in your presence, Your Holiness. But I would ask for your forgiveness in light of this evidence since I am forbidden to enter Chairo to seek penitence. The leaders within its gates must understand that the war against the demons is changing. A knight in full plate is impressive, even more so when they are on horseback. But we do not fight demons the old way anymore. The average demon is relatively weak compared to its previous generation. That makes it cunning, desperate, and even open to new ideas. They rush the frontlines in waves to overwhelm our armies. We had to adapt and adopt the best techniques to survive. Training a knight is a lengthy, time-intensive process that does not yield the results it once did. Arming the common folk with crossbows and blessed arrows helps us to protect the lands. Even if the blessed bolt shot does not sever the demon’s core, it’s usually enough to banish it back behind the lines. Our enemy has evolved, and I felt the need for us to evolve as well.”
Relias stood still for a few moments, his eyes flickering with doubt. “Why did you not simply share this information with the General Assembly?”
“Your Holiness, I believed the official reports I had sent during my tenure were quite candid. But in the end, it seemed they were ignored.”
Captain Sonea dismounted her horse to stand next to Alban. “When I was promoted to Captain, I was warned by Councilman Pravum himself to train more knights if I wanted a budget. I did what I was told at first, but we were losing ground as a result. So, I asked my sister to help me investigate and develop a plan to increase our outcomes. Please allow me to introduce Jessamy, my co-conspirator.”
Jessamy folded her arms, refusing to get off her high horse. “You can threaten me all you want, but the Eternal Covenant does not bind me. I refuse to be given a Purpose, seeing as what you did to my poor older sister. Bound to be a holy knight for a lifetime of service! Do you know she doesn’t get a day off unless I trade places with her? How fair is that!”
“Wait, she works every day?!” I shouted, also annoyed at the idea.
“Don’t you?” Jessamy countered.
“We never did get a girls’ day out,” Nora said with a sniff.
“Having a body double…” I admired aloud. “I wonder if Emmy would be willing to—”
“Captain Lightbringer,” Relias said with a note of exasperated warning.
“Right, I’m off track at this point…” I sighed. “So, you two have been investigating these abrupt portal eruptions. I will assume you were also hunting down demons whenever you encountered them. But why were your recent reports to Chairo just copies of the same thing?”
Captain Sonea turned sharply to glare at her sister. “What is she talking about?”
Jessamy coughed and looked away. “What was the point of writing things down when it was obvious no one was reading it? I just had one of the priests make a bunch of copies, and…”
The principle of parsimony.
Sometimes, the most straightforward reason for something is the closest to the truth.
“Okay, I’m convinced,” I announced, though I was only at a 90% confidence level. “The Order of the White doesn’t seem to be under the influence of demons any more than we are… can we all agree on that?”
Captain Sonea glanced at her cadre of knights. Sir Selric flipped open his visor to stare off toward Chairo. “I will concur, provided you first adequately explain what happened to the holy crystal barrier.”
Master Landon, Relias, Nora, and I exchanged long, rueful glances.
“We should probably inform you of General Ragnerus’s ultimatum as well,” I sighed, noticing the squad stiffen. “Oh, he wasn’t actually here, but, um, I am going to have to get a move on if I’m to meet him in the Wastelands before his deadline.”
“Deadline?” Jessamy asked.
We took turns explaining recent events.
“That’s what his sending meant…” Captain Sonea gasped softly. “You will return to your capital of deceit and corruption,” she intoned, mimicking the demon lord. “Find my rival reborn amidst its ruins, and bring them without delay to my domain, for my heralds are no longer fit for such a task.”
Jessamy grimaced. “We both thought he meant we would find a dissenting demon here who destroyed the city, but it seems it was just you.”
And with that semi-truthful perspective, things began to click together. “Uh…”
Jessamy raised her hands. “Not saying you destroyed the city! But… it was looking better the last time we were here…”
“Right…”
Captain Sonea shook her head. “I would also like to assure you that I did not plan to follow the orders of a demon lord. That is why I brought one of my regiments with me.”
Relias blinked, turning to gaze at the distance, where countless soldiers filled the landscape as far as one could see. “This… is only one of them?”
“Our efforts have been… fruitful, as of late,” Captain Sonea said with a tight grin. “With the rumors of the Chosen One’s return, we’ve never had a better recruitment year.”
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