Surprise early chapter. I didn't think I'd finish this one today, but some awesome stuff was happening so it kinda went fast. Hope you all enjoy!
Chapter 8
Rolf's dark green cloak flourished as he swept down one of the great hallways of his palace. His now in truth, or it would be soon enough. He was flanked on both sides by knights loyal to him and him alone and each one bore a severe expression on their faces. They were all veterans, hardened soldiers who knew battle. So far there had been only small skirmishes here and there, but mostly between his knights against the few personal troops some of the wealthier nobles had brought with them to the capital. There were other clashes outside of the palace, in the Noble's Quarter. It had been a simultaneous assault on every estate, though most of the nobles had given up without a fight, there were a few who had shown resistance.
Rolf was on his way now to one such battle. All three moons shone overhead as he and his men exited the White Palace. Mounting horses that were waiting for them in the main courtyard, the king and his men made their way toward the estates of house Walker. It was a large building, almost as big as the palace, truly a testament of the power that Lord Gren Walker wielded. It loomed in the darkness as they approached, and the sounds of a heated battle could be heard. Occasionally flashes of magic could be seen, lightning bolts deflected into the air, fireballs exploding into walls, as well as every other thing one could imagine.
“Hurry men,” Rolf yelled back at his riders. It looked like his knights had already penetrated the walls of the mini palace, but if the runners were to be believed there had been severe casualties already. Rolf had initially wanted to simply command the battle from the back, but Lord Walker was putting up too much resistance to be ignored.
As they crashed through the remnants of the gate a cheer rose up as his men recognized him. There were at least a thousand troops wearing the green and yellow of house Walker, as opposed to the six or seven hundred left of his own red and white clad troops. Bodies already littered the plaza before the estate, as well as the courtyard within. Rolf and his men cut a bloody path through the enemy's center, hacking left and right, left and right. It became almost a mechanical movement as he raised his sword over and over again. His knights protected him as the rode, not letting any of these depraved mongrels lay even a hand on his Majesty.
After what seemed like an eternity the enemy troops started to retreat into the Walker estate. “Keep pushing men,” he bellowed. “This is where it gets messy,” he said in a stony voice. He and his men dismounted and when Rolf threw himself into the fray, his knights could only hope to keep up with him. They stared in shock at his movements, fluid and snakelike, the king darted from one place to another. Dodging a diagonal slice he easily countered with a cut of his own, then smoothly flowed into the next man, smashing his face with the pommel of his sword Excursius. The soldier fell limp, his face destroyed in a bloody mass. Excursius gleamed catching the light of the moons as it fell into it's next victim, spraying crimson across the ground. The man, cleaved in two, stared wide eyed as he fell to the ground in a heap of blood and entrails, his mouth open in a final, silent scream.
So it went, from one to another as Rolf stormed his way through the Walker residence. Men lost their lives as soon as they noticed that head of flowing dark purple hair. Rolf was king, and with that station came responsibility as well as ability. Blocking a sword that had swung down from behind him with his own he turned raising his left hand and muttered the words of a particularly nasty spell.
“Light, I call thee now,” he chanted, “flay them oh blinding rays!” Suddenly a ray of pure white shot out from his hand, piercing the chest of the soldier who had thought to get the drop on him. Rolf grasped the bar of light and as he twisted it, nine glimmering strings of light burst out of the man, shredding him in a cloud of bloody mist.
Yanking the whip of light to his side the enemy soldiers panicked then, starting to tumble over each other in their haste to reach safety. This was one of the royal magics, Light of Nine. Cracking the whip, beams of radiant light danced around the area piercing all who stood in the way. This was no longer a battle, it was a bloody slaughter. Rolf's escort, as well as the knights they had come to assist could only look on in awe at the scene before them as their liege decimated the enemy with every swing of that dreadful light.
Not long afterwards an eerie silence permeated the dark hallway they found themselves in. There were still sounds of men killing and dying outside, but not here. Rolf took a long breath as he let the light of the whip dissipate into sparkling dust. “Have you located Gren yet?” he asked in a too calm voice.
One of the soldiers who had just arrived came forward bowing at the waste, “Yes your Majesty,” the man said brusquely, “he has holed himself up in a tower in the east wing after we chased him out of the escape tunnels. Our mages have begun a fusillade, but it appears as though his lordship has erected a barrier.”
“Hmm,” Rolf nodded to himself. “Stop the barrage, I would speak with Lord Walker myself,” he said as he turned making his way toward the east part of the building. Quickly his escort reformed around him. Barked orders could be heard from behind as the squad leaders reorganized their men. There was still fighting to be had after all.
It wasn't long before Rolf found himself in front of a large set of double doors that lead to the tower. With shouted orders the mage knights formed into columns and opened a way for the king and his men to come in front of the door. Rolf pondered for a moment, then turned to the officer in charge.
“I assume not only the door, but the walls have been reinforced?” he queried.
“Yes Majesty,” nodded the light haired man. “We've also had our earth mages digging underneath, but to no avail,” he concluded.
“Very well,” Rolf said in a level voice. “Clear the area,” he said thoughtfully, “I will knock the tower down.”
“Y-yes Majesty!” stammered the officer. Rolf recognized the man now from the training grounds at the palace, it was no wonder he hadn't questioned the order, notwithstanding that one would normally not question their king of course. A wry smile made it's way onto his face, but it didn't touch his dark blue eyes.
Once his troops had exited the area Rolf stepped back about fifteen paces, turned toward the door and began chanting.
Oh light eternal
In sleep we rest
Awaken now thy glow
And grant this at my behest,
To strike with light unending
Those with works immoral
And bring once more
Your light, Eternal!
Any who would have seen Rolf would have beheld a man enveloped in a pillar of white light, sparkling particles of luminescence shooting upward all around him. Outside, above the tower a pin prick of light appeared. Slowly it grew as if emerging from the distance, until it's unbelievable speed became apparent. Slamming down upon the tower in a flash, a pillar of light devoured the area in and around the tower. About five paces in front of where Rolf stood, the room completely disintegrated, creating an arc where the marble of the floor was simply cut off. The empyrean light continued for a few more moments before it finally drew in on itself, retreating slowly back into nothingness.
The tower itself, with it's magically reinforced stone had simply melted. It lie now in a twisted ruin inside a shallow crater caused by the massive spell. Light Eternal was rarely used in battle, as it required not only an obscene amount of magical energy, but also a lengthy chant that would leave the user open to preemptive attacks.
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None of this mattered to Rolf at the moment, as he hopped down into the crater and made his way towards the wreckage he had caused. The melted stone was cold to the touch, as if the retreating light had taken all the energy out of it. Finally his eyes spotted what he was looking for, and he walked slowly to a pile of rubble that would have been near the top of the tower.
“Ah, Lord Walker,” Rolf said smiling, “I wanted to talk to you about a certain matter of State.” Crouching down he squatted on his heals.
Lord Gren Walker, head of House Walker, Lord of Camerly hills, twisted his neck to peer at the voice that had called out to him. Unfortunately his melted eyes were lying in a pool near his right cheek, and as he moved his head the skin separated, sticking to the melted stone. He let out a low anguished sound as he tried to speak.
“Yes, I wanted to address the recent findings some of my...investigators have discovered,” replied Rolf. “You see, it seems they've found out who hired the assassins who killed the previous king, my father.”
A low howl began to spill out of Lord Walker then, but Rolf wasn't finished yet.
“We've also found a co-conspirator,” Rolf was practically beaming now, “But it seems my sister Winter has taken care of the man,” he paused then, “ah, you did know I let her escape right? I let that little bit leak out didn't I?” The man was wailing in pain now, “I take it you and Boris had some sort of arrangement correct?” He smiled then, “does the phrase: 'Through this oath of blood, let none reveal' strike at any memories? Did you two actually believe you would get away with what you did to my beloved sister?”
The howling had died down to a low whimpering now as it dawned on him that he had been found out. All the man's schemes had doubtlessly come to light. This was divine punishment for all he had done, and Rolf wanted to grind his face in it until the very moment he passed from this world. If he had still had the gift of sight, Lord Walker would have trembled at the dark light glowing from those murky blue eyes of the king.
It was going to be a long, long night.
-*-
Winter awoke shivering with a sudden chill. The light of the three moons spilling through the window gave her room a ghostly atmosphere. Grabbing the nightgown that had been carelessly thrown over the back of a chair she covered herself. For some reason she couldn't stop trembling, and it took all her concentration to finally calm herself. Was it a nightmare? She couldn't remember if it was, but she was wide awake now, so she decided to take a stroll outside in the garden courtyard in order to relax. Slowly she made her way down the stairs, then out the large white plastered doors leading to the garden.
Plants and flowers of all types could be observed here. White lily like flowers had been planted here, lilacs and tulips over there. Rosebushes lined the stone worked pathway that lead out to a green lawn. Clouds had appeared since she had awoken and blotted out most of the light from the three moons. There was a certain breeze in the air, and it sent a chill through her bare legs, making her conscious of the fact that she had forgotten shoes too. Again she shivered.
Walking out onto the soft grass she peered up at the clouded sky. The high clouds could barely block out the light of the moons, and every now and then one of them would peek through. It seemed like the calm weather before a storm, before the clouds gathered and thrashed rain and lightning down upon the earth. For now it was peaceful though, and she breathed deeply taking in the atmosphere. The clouds split then, and Winter saw a tall man in a fur lined cloak standing on the path, bathed in a pillar of cool silver light. It lasted only a few moments however, before the clouds continued their dance above in the heavens.
“I didn't expect to see you out here this late, Highness,” spoke the man in a gentle voice.
“There was a chill in the air,” she replied, “and what about you Eban? What brings you here at this early hour?” she inquired tilting her head.
“I like to come here at night and clear my head sometimes,” he said looking up at the sky. She noticed that he avoided looking directly at her. Medieval propriety must be at work, she thought to herself. That or she could lump him in the same boat with Lox. Ah, why couldn't it be your sister out here instead?
That last thought made her think though. What was she? Obviously she was a man stuck into a pubescent girl's body. Declan had had enough trouble working through his own puberty, he'd forgotten how tough it could be, but being a girl like this was beyond him. Of course he could compartmentalize his feelings to get a job done, but it wasn't healthy. The CIA had almost denied him a job because he had some slight PTSD left over from Afghanistan, in fact they wouldn't have admitted him if it weren't for his language abilities. She shivered again thinking of that roadside IED and the ambush that came after. He'd lost some good friends that day...
Without even noticing, Eban had moved in front of her and was wiping something moist off of her cheek. His face was obscured by shadows, but she could feel a warmth emanating from him.
“I must apologize Winter,” he said with sympathy, “during dinner you looked just the same as I remembered you back then.” He was looking at something above her head then, “but in the strategy meeting though, it was almost like you had changed into someone...different.” He looked down at her then, regaining some confidence, “seeing you shedding tears here...for what we must do to save this kingdom of ours, has banished all such thoughts.” He smiled warmly then, “you are my Princess, whether or not you remember, you are still you.”
Ashamed and conflicted Winter averted her eyes. She hadn't meant to shed a tear, in fact she had been sure she would never do so again after what had happened back on the Jalalabad-Kabul highway. The skeletal remains of blown up vehicles lined the road, some still smoldering with ash blowing across the boiling landscape. We were just abou-
“No!” Suddenly she found herself enveloped inside a warm embrace, the fur of the cloak softly brushing her cheek. She crumbled. It was no use, the recent stress of finding herself in a new world, in a different body, combined with all that had happened up until now as well as her memories of lost friends and comrades from a thoughtless war almost a decade ago, it all came crashing down on her all at once. He cried, like a girl.
For his part, Eban didn't say anything. He just held her shivering body close, supporting Winter the best he could. It was some time before she was able to lift herself up, wipe her eyes, and push everything back into that corner of her mind where she wouldn't have to think about it again. At least for a while.
“I'm alright now,” she said. All emotion missing from her voice. “I'm sorry you had to see that Eban.”
His silhouette in the moonlight made him look even more like a delinquent than usual, but he only nodded saying, “think nothing of it Winter.” Sighing he continued, “I said it a long time ago, but I'll say it again now, you can always count on me. I am your sworn man, my life for yours.” With a graceful bow he flourished his fur cloak, “if you'll excuse me, we should both be back to bed.”
“Yes, I agree,” Winter replied looking once more into the night sky. Parting ways with Eban, she slowly made her way through the garden, back to her room. The clouds had departed, and the three moons still hung in the heavens. Perhaps that storm would pass, but the wind still sent chills through her body as it rushed through the leaves in the garden.