-35-
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The ringing of steel against bone and fang echoed through the forests.
A large mass of fur leapt at my head from just within the edges of my vision and I fell to the ground with my right arm raised to shield my face.
Sharp black fangs bit into my chrominilium..?—no that’s still not right—chrom-whatever-steel bracers. Spittle and blood hit my face, knocked loose from the beast’s mouth.
Red beads filled with hate eyed me from the face of a snarling wolf-like beast.
An enormous pack of demonic wolves ambushed the divisional unit I was leading to our first strategic strong-point. It had been less than a week since we broke away from Julius and the main army and already things were getting out of hand.
I kicked up at the beast looming over me, knocking it far enough to the side that I could roll onto my knees.
It failed to waste a second before it was back on me. But I was a single moment quicker, and my blade cut through its hide with a raging whirlwind of inferno and deadly steel.
Giving the blade a sharp shake towards the ground to fling the blood and viscera away, I called out over the battlefield—projecting my voice with a runic device my sister crafted for me.
“Tomin, you fucking shit excuse for a field monitor! Where are my scouts and why am I knee-deep in demon corpses!”
Those closest to me flinched at the sudden loud noise but quickly refocused as more wolves streamed in from the treeline.
A barrage of arrows slipped past a soldier heaving a giant maul down onto the head of a demon wolf. Sharp yelps and whines filled the air just out of view.
A man rushed towards me, drenched in sweat and Celestials know what else. He held a bow in his left hand, clutched tightly between bloody knuckles.
“My apologies, Your Majesty. Every position reported all-clear one moment and suddenly collapsed under assault from these beasts the next.”
“I don’t want apologies, Tomin. What in the Aether is going on? How can hundreds of these things appear out of thin air?”
“I managed to find one scouting party that claims to have witnessed a bright pink tower of light rise up from the forest roof. They were positioned on a hill that cut above the trees.”
“Pink light…” I trailed off.
A warp crystal then? Someone deliberately sent us this horde.
“I suspect a warping device like was used by the Renaultian-backed bandit outfit.” Tomin continued, with a hint of worry in his voice, “We also recovered an intact crystal from the conspirators in Tolin, and when broken it evaporated into pink dust.”
“So, Renault has somehow managed to control and employ demons into his forces. There isn’t a man on this earth I find more frustrating. Haaah.”
I sighed desperately, and a new wave of demonic beasts crashed into my soldiers—who had managed to rally and finally form a legitimate shieldwall.
With a purposeful thought, I willed a mental link to Hailey via our shared communirune connection.
“Hails. How are things on your end? Tomin and I just about have the northern line secured.”
A static-infused pause followed for a minute before she responded.
“All’s clear in the rear. As we suspected, it seems as if the wolves had a specific target amongst the group—I assume you—and didn’t follow after the civilians and I.”
“Glad to hear. We’ll finish up here and rendezvous at a different location. I don’t want to lead any stragglers into the non-combatants—hang on a second.”
I cut myself off and turned to Tomin, “Tell me someone managed to get a bead on the town before all hell broke loose?”
He nodded back at me, “We did. I’d say we’re about an hour or so on horseback from reaching the town.”
I tried to do some quick math in my head to account for the speed on foot but stopped myself when I began to consider having injured soldiers or a wayward supply wagon, let alone what other potential surprises could be lying in wait from our dear friend Renault.
Focusing back on the connection with Hailey, I continued, “I’ll send a few waystriders your way who know the way. We’ll meet up a few minutes outside the town’s border and head there all as one unit.”
I got a nod of approval from Tomin, who stepped off to find said waystriders, and an acknowledgment from Hailey before she cut off the communication.
Now to finish cleaning up this mess. I sighed to myself and jogged off to the shieldwall with my weapon ready.
----------------------------------------
Three hours later than my poor excuse for math had determined, we had arrived at a crossroads where the poorly maintained forest path we’d been marching through met a proper road.
Further north would take up to the main highway, and eventually the city of Axio, and east would take us towards our intended destination.
Brookshaven.
Hailey’s hometown and, from what we gathered from scouting parties and a little external pressure upon the conspirators in Tolin, the base of a resistance force that opposes the Renaultian occupying forces.
A mess of ruby-red hair and a smile that faded away all too quickly greeted us as we emerged from the overgrown pathway.
Hailey jumped into business straight away, “It’ll be thirty minutes walking pace from here till the town walls come into full view. We can pick up camp and head there right away, or…”
I looked back at my forces as her voice trailed off.
“I’d like to give everyone a moment of rest before heading off. Exterminating packs of wolves wasn’t on the schedule today, and I have a feeling most of my soldiers are putting on a strong face.”
A few laughs echoed through the trees, further cementing the plan to rest.
I dismissed everyone and I followed Hailey into the makeshift camp they’d set up on the road.
“Momma Airis!”
“Oof!” I heaved as Akari rammed her head into my stomach in a hug. Her hands gripped tight around my back. “Hey, kiddo. Did you miss me that much? I was only gone for a few hours.”
“Yeeeah, but you had to leave ‘cause of those mean black stinky dogs. I was worried.”
I ran my fingers through her pink hair, gently passing over the empty space I knew her horns were hidden from view by a GLAMOUR spell.
“What’s there to worry about? Your very tough, super cool mom beat all those nasty beasts without breaking a sweat.”
I grinned down at the little girl, still shackling herself around my waist.
She giggled and I let the stiff tension that had been building in my shoulders drop.
As I relaxed my muscles a hard slap on my back caused me to flinch.
“Hail, fair sister and her youngling! Nice to see you in good spirits after a battle. Though I can’t say the same. I’ve been rather bored escorting all these pes—people.” Ikuye, the blue-haired battle junkie, lamented.
She was about to call them pests again…
“I know, I know. But I wouldn’t have been able to keep a calm head if you weren’t guarding the civilians with Hailey.”
I scooped Akari up into my arms and kept walking after Hailey. Ikuye followed after us yelling out, “This battle group is so boring! You should’ve let me tag along with Julius. He told me that he was gonna attack a bridge. I wanna see how hard I can hit a bridge.”
I sighed.
“Julius is doing something more boring than we are. He’s setting up a forward base camp so that we can assault the Renaultian forces on the bridge. Nobody is going to be hitting any bridges. And, we’ll be linking up with them before they engage in any combat anyway.”
“Oh.”
“Yep.”
“’Kay, then I’m gonna go mess with Tomin till we start moving again!”
Ikuye kicked off into a run, leaving a trail of dust behind her before I could beg her to not bother the poor guy. He was already feeling bad about us getting caught in an ambush—not that I was helping him feel any better about the whole situation.
As we made our way through the camp I eyed our train of supply wagons, which were mostly filled with the few relief supplies we could spare for the people held up in Brookshaven.
“Did you have any issues with the wagons?” I said offhandedly to Hailey.
“Nope. Everything on our end has gone smoothly.”
“Oh, that’s good.”
“Yep.”
Akari frowned at me, and I tried to give her a reassuring smile.
Hailey and I’s relationship was still treading a thin line it seemed. Though we’ve been getting along markedly better than the past few weeks since the Bashir incident, she still occasionally keeps a painfully obvious distance between us.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
Since Akari spends most of her time at either of our sides, she’s become just as impacted by it as I have.
We eventually arrived at a large, command-sized, tent in the middle of camp.
Akari jumped from my arms and rushed inside while calling out, “Auntie Rias, we’re back!”
The flap to the tent closed, muffling the sounds of both Akari and my sister… and the dozen or so loud and bothersome attendants that I’d been glad to ditch for the short time.
Hailey turned to me and awkwardly shuffled over. She planted her head against my chest and weakly hugged my waist.
“I’m glad you came back safe.”
Her voice was soft, dampened further by the cloth of my tunic.
I hugged her back. “I’m glad you were safe too. Sorry that I’m a jerk sometimes.”
“I’m sorry too. My head has been a mess lately and I know I take it out on you.”
Hailey and I entered the tent a moment later and I collapsed onto a bed to rest for a bit, choosing to continue to ignore my babysitters who began fussing over me already.
The camp was broken down soon after and we headed down the road.
Soldiers were situated in the front and rear of our formation. Civilians, not including Akari nor my sister—they were with Hailey and I, either rode in the supply wagons or walked alongside them in the center.
Knights from the Stellae Prolaetoris who had been formally inducted into Julius’ Order of the Scarlet Wing rode horseback on either side.
Hailey, Rias, and I rode at the front. They each had their own horse, but I shared mine with Akari as she was too little to fit on a saddle by herself comfortably—and none of us trusted her to not hurt herself if she fell, considering her unique anatomy; batty wings and tail.
Tomin and Ikuye were also somewhere near the front, probably. Tomin had been circling the formation to take in scouting reports and check in with people since we broke away from the main force, and Ikuye had developed a weird attachment to the ginger-haired man.
“Eyes-on!”
A scout called out from ahead of us, indicating they’d spotted the town walls.
One moment later I too could make out the outline of timber walls, earthen ramparts, and makeshift towers.
A mix of bare wooden and iron-reinforced palisades surrounded the town. A noticeable hum of energy was present, indicating the presence of anti-magick runes in use.
The ‘gatehouse’, if you could call it that, was a set of iron-bound wooden doors inset between a repurposed bell tower and a pretty sturdy-looking watchtower.
The stone walls of the bell tower were painted with a mural of sorts. Knights in red armor held spears out, in the direction of Axio, with white speech clouds above their heads, but we were too far away to make out the words.
“Egos viviae libertaer mortiae pugnaer aut.”
My sister’s voice tickled my ears as she softly spoke the elvish phrase painted atop the tower.
“You’ve got better eyes than I do. Elvish, huh. You know what it means or do I need to flip the mental switch and translate?”
Rias shook her head, “No, I know it. ‘We will live free or die fighting.’ It’s a more verbose saying of a popular old imperial legion motto.”
“Well, at least we know we’re in the right place. Hard to imagine any Renaultian sympathizers putting up reliefs of Vanixian soldiers with ‘live free or die’ plastered over it.”
The town’s walls came to life as we approached. Soldiers manned the ramparts and someone with a pair of colored flags, crimson-red with a white cross, were raised along the gatehouse.
“Tomin,” I called out, “Did we bring anyone who can read divisional flagging signals?”
“I can interpret them, Your Majesty.”
I silently nodded and gave the signal to halt as Tomin rode ahead a few paces to show we were awaiting communications.
Some time passed as the guardsmen atop the gate flailed around. When Tomin returned he kept the interpretation short and loose.
“They want the main force to remain where it is, and a commander to approach the gate with no more than three people accompanying them. They ended the signal by saying, ‘Fail to comply and we will eliminate you with expediency.’ I believe they have had a few run-ins with the Renaultians and don’t trust visitors.”
I laughed as he mimicked their response in a naughty, noblemen-like, accent.
“I’m sure they don’t. Our experiences with Renault haven’t been fun either. If I could barricade Tolin with anti-magick runes and push outsiders away I would act the same way.”
Hailey was the obvious pick as either the ‘commander’ or as one accompanying me. I’d rather not sit back here and hope things went well, so we made up two of the four allowed.
If Hanna and Luke had journeyed with us they would have been the remaining slots. As Hailey’s childhood friends, the three of them would probably have no issues getting into the town just from recognition.
Unfortunately for me, the two of them were probably trudging through a swampy marsh right now to establish a camp behind enemy lines.
Tomin is a good fit, but I’d rather he stay with the main group and keep an eye out for any Renaultian tricks.
Same goes for Ikuye…
Oh. I know who would fit just fine and not be missed at camp.
“Tomin, would you fetch Beno for me.”
He tilted his head and raised a brow, “Are you sure? Wait, you’re not planning to do something to get the poor guy impaled with an arrow, right?”
“Whaaaat? Noooooo. I’d never purposefully lead Beno into any trouble. I like him the most out of all my Julius-mandated wardens.”
And that’s because Beno was the only one who wasn’t assigned by Julius. He was introduced to me by Primarch Karina, whom I quite like and trust a lot.
Tomin rushed off to find our third while I mulled over a fourth, and decided to settle on whichever waystrider Tomin wanted to send with us.
We were just speaking with the town guard anyway, not meeting with a head of state or some big-wig noble.
“You requested my presence, Your Majesty?”
Beno arrived a few minutes after Tomin had returned, having come prepared with a small pack on his back.
“Yep,” I said flatly, eliciting an inquisitive look from the man. “You, that guy over there, Hailey, and I are all gonna ride to the town and see if they’ll let us come in.”
“Oh. I see. I’m happy to serve in whatever capability you need me to, Your Majesty.”
“Great. I want you to use that somewhat vague but incredibly accurate sixth sense of yours to let me know immediately if you think something is funky.”
“Of course.” He bowed.
Abeno. No last name. No title. Little to no history at all. He was such a strange case that if anyone other than Karina had recommended him I probably would’ve sent Hanna’s inquisitors after them.
Beno, as I started calling him, had apparently been sequestered by the Church in Axio for decades. He looked to be somewhere in his mid-forties or early fifties but didn’t know his exact age—having been born during the Great Apocalypse or shortly after.
He had a ‘gift from the Goddess’, or so the Primarchs had told him. A sort of unnatural sense for when someone bad was going to happen.
It was thanks to him that Karina, Anathalo, and the few priests managed to escape Axio when they did.
Beno had caught a whiff of the demon wolf ambush with that premonistic sense before things got out of hand and we were able to pull the civilians back without casualties.
We rode towards the gate, my danger-sensing attendant in the rear and, probably talented at scouting, waystrider in the front.
“That’s far enough! We can speak with ya’ from there. This ‘ere is Brookshaven, bastion of His Grace’s imperialists who stand in defiance against the Tyrant King.”
A man atop the gate called down to us, sneering his last words as if uttering a slur.
The waystrider that Tomin assigned with us, Quincy, led the introductions. “Hail, defenders of Vanixia! We’ve journeyed from the south, the reclaimed city of Tolin and seat of the Empire of the Light, in order to petition your leader to aid us in conquest against the despot, self-titled King, Jacques Renault. I accompany the rightful heir and titled Empress of the Vanixian Empire, Airis Vanixi; High-Commander of the Imperial Armies, Commander Hailey Brooks; and a representative of the Church of the Consecrated Light, Abeno.”
Though only shortly rehearsed, Quincy’s proclamation accomplished what we’d expected: the gates of Brookshaven were bustling with noise.
The man who had called out to us didn’t seem sure on how to proceed. They had all likely assumed that we were another group of hold-outs like them, and not what I could only presume they now saw as a bunch of crazy people.
A minute passed. And then another. And before long I was beginning to get a little annoyed, but the man eventually did respond.
“I’m told. That Commander Airis Vanixi was killed in action and that—”
“I was not.”
“…”
Ah, what bliss. I missed being able to quip at people.
Hailey suppressed what sounded like the start of a giggle and trotted next to me.
“Captain Belder, I am ordering you to stand down and allow entry to the Imperial Armies of the Vanixian Crown in the name of House Brooks as its legitimate heir, Hailey Brooks. Open the gate, old man.”
Hailey pulled her staff from its stowed position on her mount and held it aloft.
The man, Captain Belder, did a double-take before yelling commands down below. A loud thud resounded from behind the gates and they began to open.
“Quincy,” I called, “Head back and inform Tomin to bring everyone else inside the town.”
The waystrider departed and the remaining three of us dismounted and walked towards the group of people flooding out from the gate.
“By the Celestials, it really is the spring flower of Brooks!” Captain Belder exclaimed as Hailey and I got close.
Hailey’s eyes rolled and a groan escaped her lips.
“Spring flower, huh?” I goaded.
“Please don’t.” She begged.
“Alright. I’ll save it for later when you aren’t expecting it. I bet I could—”
“I said please!” Hailey whined.
Belder cleared his throat, and our attention returned to the rather serious air that had been forming nearby.
“Then that was the truth then?” He started, “Lady Brooks, the woman there with you is an Empress? The Empress? Our Empire has been returned?”
I stepped forward, “I am Empress Airis Vanixi. Harbinger of the Goddess Virgo. Disciple of the Goddess Capricorn. Title holder of the Empire of the Light. Abeno can attest to the former claims, and this should satisfy the latter.”
I swiped my hand over my wrist, activating the runic symbol and manifesting an Aethermist window for all to see.
TITLES
DESCRIPTION
Ruler
Title bearer has the authority to rule over a faction.
Empress {Ruler}
Title bearer has absolute authority over the Empire of the Light [Vanixian Empire].
Harbinger of the Immortals
Bestowed by Virgo. This title identifies the bearer as a herald of things to come. Lesser demons and monsters fear your presence.
The older members of the small group fell to their knees while the younger faces seemed confused, some following suit and others panicking.
“Please rise. We have no time to stand on ceremony. My people are preparing to make war as we speak. Captain Belder, I need to meet with the people who are in command of Brookshaven.”
The man stood, a mix of emotions on his face.
“Aye, you’ll be wantin’ the Knight-Protector an’ His Grace the Baron then.”
At the mention of the Baron, Hailey visibly relaxed. I knew she was worried something may have happened to her father for weeks since we’d gotten scouting reports about the state of the town, and not one scout had been able to positively identify him.
“I doubt neither our spring flower nor the Baron would prefer we wait any longer. Please take us to see them.”
Hailey’s face turned beet-red and I laughed an ugly laugh as the captain led us down the street to a large manor.