-48-

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“Hey, Momma Airis, whatcha doing?”

Akari’s voice disrupted me, pulling my focus back from a place between meditation and full-on disassociation.

“Hi, kiddo. I’m trying to… how in the Aether do I explain? There is a connection within me to my soul, if that makes sense, and I’m trying to, uh…” I began making awkward gestures with my hands, “Well, I don’t really understand it myself.”

“Oh. Is it something important?”

Akari was looming over me as I lay in bed with a shy look across her face as if she had something she wanted to talk about but wasn’t sure how to bring it up.

“Nothing that’s more important than you.” I said, sitting up in bed, “What’s on your mind?”

She fidgeted.

When I went to reach for her, she began to speak quickly, “I wanna come with you during the battle!”

I choked on my tongue, “Gaaah! You what? No way, it’s war. And you’re a kid!”

“Rias is a kid too!” Akari pouted, “But you let her help. I want to help. I can help, see.”

Akari cast a spell wordlessly—something complex, judging by the magick sigils that appeared in the air around us.

Our room was encased in a barrier spell almost identical to BLAZING BARRIER.

A voice called out from the corner of the room, “Whoa! That was a quick spell cast. Sturdy structure too. You’ve got some talent there little miss.”

I turned to see Flik standing next to a chair that hadn’t been there earlier, tapping a gauntleted hand against the barrier.

“Yeah, Akari is quite the sorceress,” I admitted, “but I have reservations about taking her into combat. I’d rather not risk her safety when she’d be more secure in camp.”

Flik turned her head in thought and crossed her arms, “I don’t about that, Your Eminence. I’d say the safest place in this whole peninsula would be right next to you. Even if you take out the whole blessed by the Gods thing, there’s the fact that you have five knights with instant communication devices that can call Command for support, two party-sized divisions of supporting personnel—many of which will be accomplished spell casters themselves, and priority fire support from the Specter teams and Seeker’s managing the siege weapons.”

As my guard captain listed fact after fact, I took a moment to consider the points. I had planned to leave Akari safe in camp but, after the near-abduction incident, there was a nagging voice in my head that didn’t want to leave her alone in case the Renaultians had any weird ideas.

The twins had misunderstood and assumed Akari was my biological daughter.

Whatever that bastard Renault wanted, it apparently could be achieved with or without me—which put Rias in an equally terrible position of being under threat of abduction as well, but in her case, she’d be surrounded by dozens of trained artificers and mages in Command.

“Fine,” I groaned, “but if things go to shit, I want you to use that AETHERSTEP ability of yours to high-tail it back here. Okay?”

Akari beamed back at me, “Mhmm! ’kay!”

----------------------------------------

The sun fell and I still had no luck accessing my Iteria.

I mentioned it offhandedly to Ikuye while we were getting ready to depart outside the camp to oversee the runestones.

“Oh, yeah, that happens sometimes.” she replied.

“It just, happens, sometimes?”

“Yep! Think about last time, you were sitting in a quiet room for half a day before you could get the proverbial spark to light, right? It gets easier to access the more you do it but when you’re stressed out, tired, or preoccupied with other things it’ll be hard.”

Her input was surprisingly insightful.

I stowed away my desire to unlock a new Iteria power for now. If things went well and I could get some time to meditate later on maybe I’d pick it back up.

We arrived at a hastily thrown together tarp-covered overlook and reunited with Hailey.

The rest of my companions were already in the field heading to Axio or in Command coordinating what we were about to do.

All three runestones were in view from this location. The crimson glow from the barrier they emitted was barely noticeable in the pitch of night.

“Are we ready?” I asked, my question aimed at two senior officers nearby.

“Just about, Your Majesty.” one of them responded, “We’re waiting for one more ballista team to report in.”

I turned to Hailey with a smirk, “How about you? You’re taking secondary in the field, right?”

She patted a hand on a satchel slung over her shoulder.

“Yes. Julius is primary with Aisling as a standby. I’ll be assisting recovery operations with the Church’s Light teams. We’ve got all sorts of potions and scrolls split across the support teams.”

“And the, uh… the trinket Rias and I worked on?” I asked quietly.

Hailey pulled a corded leather necklace up from under her shirt. It had a metal pendant in the shape of an eight-pointed radial star and glowed a haunting blood-orange.

“Yes,” she whispered back to me, “I’m wearing the creepy orange spike wheel you two made for me, what in the Aether is this supposed to be?”

I suppressed a laugh as she tucked it underneath her shirt once more.

“I’m not really sure what it is. A star, I think. It just felt right when I was drawing up a draft for Rias. It should keep you safe, and that’s what matters.”

She narrowed her eyes at me but didn’t say anything else, just stared down at where the pendant lay beneath her uniform.

The weird feeling and crackle of static that accompanied someone trying to reach me over the communirune drew my attention away.

I willed the channel open so anyone could reach me and Hanna’s voice was in my ear.

“Seeker-One to Regal-One.”

She was using the team names I’d approved earlier today.

“Go for Regal-One.” I replied, stepping aside to focus.

“We have confirmation of all Specter and Assault teams in position. Seeker teams are awaiting the order to begin the attack.”

I took a deep breath and placed my left hand over my chest.

The cold metal plate sent a chill down my arm.

I exhaled, looking over to where Hailey was smiling and laughing with Akari.

My eyes followed on behind them, to the small orbs of torch and magi-tool lights along the towers and great walls of Axio.

“Seeker-One, begin preparations to fire.”

“I’ll make it happen. Stand by.”

That unnerving feeling of static that typically went away when a communications channel was open began to ramp up and seep into our link.

In the distance, I saw the oed runestone begin to light up. The small runes etched around the center went from dull red to brilliant shining crimson—the oed rune itself was not illuminated, however.

Once the last of the small runes on that stone had lit up, the iọ runestone started lighting up.

Aethermist was settling into the fields between all three stones, darkening the lit up stones a small amount.

In a blinding flash, the iọ rune proper went from dull to shiny. The entire runestone was now lit up.

A moment later, the oed rune followed in another staggering flash of light.

Once those two were fully lit, the runes around the syg stone began to do the same, resulting in another flash.

“Seeker-One to Regal-One. Ready to fire. On your command.”

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Regal-One to Seeker-One,” I said calmly, “Broadcast on all channels.”

The staticky feeling abated a little as the communications links were all established.

“All channels, this is Seeker-One. Stand by for transmission. Go ahead, Regal-One.”

“Defenders of the Light, this is Regal-One. Once more our duty requires us to stand against the abyss. A foul despot holds a chain around our people and defiles our home. Tonight, we make our voices loud and our wills clear. For the Empire of the Light, strike the walls of this city down and tear the pretender from his throne.”

A wave of magickal energy dispersed from the third runestone and dozens of bright white lights appeared across the fields around Axio’s southern walls.

THRU—UM!

The entire field was washed in dust as shock waves rippled out from the ballistae positions.

Ear-shattering explosions were set off in series.

Streaks of sunlight tore across the sky, striking the city’s defenses. Chunks of stone were blasted apart as the magickal bolts made contact.

Some towers were hit with multiple bolts and their tops were torn completely off. The gates into the Maarin district disappeared almost entirely, their remnants laid behind the walls, engulfed in fire.

There was then a sudden drop in air pressure around us that indicated that our opening attack hadn’t finished.

A second and third arc of dispersing magick from the oed and iọ runestones were set off, and the dense cloud of Aethermist began to swirl around the stones like a storm.

Around the three runestones, a massive magick circle was manifesting. Complex sigils made up of hundreds of Feyndirian runes were arranged all around the spell formation.

The ground shook and the air in my chest felt as if it was being pulled from my lungs.

Then, it became day for a split-second.

In the blink of an eye, a streak of white light zipped across the sky toward Axio.

Before the attack, there had been a mighty tower.

After the attack, there was a gaping hole of scorched earth and cinders.

The attack had completely disintegrated one of the outer towers, leaving nothing but molten stone in its place.

“Seeker-One to Regal-One.” Hanna’s voice chirped in over the communirune once more.

“Go for Regal-One.”

“All targets confirmed hits.” she declared, “Specter-One has confirmed two breaches into the city. Assault teams are moving to engage.”

“Regal-One acknowledges. I’m heading in as well then. Keep me up to date. May the Goddesses watch over us.”

----------------------------------------

The gates to the city had been reduced to splinters, and the blue-armored bodies of dead Renaultian gendarmes littered the main street into Axio.

“I don’t mean to sound dismissive, Your Eminence,” Flik stepped in line with me, “but is this really the city you all have been living in for forty years?”

“Well, this bit of the city was where the Maarins lived, but yes, this is where I grew up. Why?”

“Aren’t the defenses a little… how do I say this nicely? Even a hundred years ago this kind of place would’ve barely been acceptable as an expeditionary outpost in the Strifelands. There’s no magick-imbuement or enchants. One single ballista should not have been able to blow the gates away.”

I glanced back at the smoldering remains of the gatehouse.

“Ah. All I can say is that this is the best we could do. We lost mostly everything. Some historical texts survived with the richer noble families that could afford to bring their luxury belongings, but a lot of our military knowledge died along with the legions that held off the demons—or that’s what we all figured, I guess.”

“That makes sense. It just seems—watch out!”

Flik brought her shield up and blocked an arrow that had been aimed towards us. She glared into the distance, at one of the many barricaded, green-roofed, buildings.

“Hawken, third from the right if you start at the fountain. Second floor. Look for the window below—.”

“—Got him.”

The twang of Hawken’s crossbow preceded a “Nice shot!” from Viktor.

“Goddesses above,” Aeko murmured behind me, “the whole city looks like it’s already been a war zone for months.”

She had a point.

As soon as we crossed into the city things felt wrong.

The buildings were boarded up. Piles of trash and scrap were blocking the streets, making it difficult to navigate.

Only the sounds of magick and metal clashing in the distance could be heard.

I had expected some interaction with the locals at the very least, even with it being the middle of the night. It wasn’t like we entered the city quietly.

Our army had gained an enormous amount of ground, according to the reports I’d gotten from Hanna. The strange void-beasts were nowhere to be seen and the Renaultian forces stationed in this part of the city were lacking.

It would seem our surprise attack was working for now.

Or we were being led into a trap.

We heard shouting and a cry for help from a nearby street. I called Hanna to confirm if we had any teams nearby—last I checked this area had been cleared.

“No other teams are in your vicinity according to JPS.” she confirmed a moment later.

“Let’s check it out, shall we?” I pitched to my guard knights.

“What do we do once we figure out who they are?” Flik asked, “Both the Maarins and Renaultians are our enemy, right?”

“We play it by ear.” I shrugged, “We can always trap them in a barrier and call for a Seeker team to secure them as prisoners.”

I tousled Akari’s hair when I mentioned barriers and her eyes lit up in excitement. She was desperate to be helpful.

Hawken scouted the corner and waved us over.

“Blues fighting Greens.” he explained the situation, curtly.

We rounded the corner and approached what was effectively a stalemate.

Four men in disheveled mix-matched armor were facing off against two well-armored Renaultian brigadiers—judging from their uniformed armor.

The Renaultians noticed us first and stopped their shouting.

“Shit.” one of them said.

“Pretty sure my guys said this sector was cleared,” I started, “So, where did you six crawl up from?”

That drew the attention of the Maarins. One of them glanced over and looked us over.

He spoke in a heavy accent, “Ay, Vanixian girlie, get over here an’ help take these dogs down—iff’en that sword an’ armor ain’t for show.”

I drew my head back and placed a hand over Dáinsleif’s pommel.

“No. I refuse.”

“Huh? Whaddya mean—”

“What makes you think you’ve any authority to bark orders at me? What a shitty attitude, can you believe this guy, Flik?”

Flik had looked visibly disturbed by what the man had said so I tried to disarm her a little.

She relaxed the grip on her weapon, “No, Your Eminence. This man is clearly suffering from the effects of war.”

The Maarin man looked between the two of us, ignoring the rest of my party.

“Have ya’ buffoons been hiding inna’ attic ‘fer nine months? Who in the blazes do ya’ think’en ya’ are?”

A series of explosions rocked the city once more. One ballista bolt hit a few streets over, sending a massive ball of fire and smoke into the air that illuminated the sky.

I pointed a finger in that direction, “Me? I’m Airis. The leader of the armies currently scouring this city of its infection of colluding traitors.”

Both the Renaultians recoiled slightly and tightened their grips around their weapons.

The Maarin man didn’t quite seem to understand or just didn’t care much. He pointed a thumb at himself, “Well, I’m Vallenstrom, the Wolf of Nolinsk—”

I cut him off, quickly firing a CHAOS BOLT straight into the chest of one of the Renaultian soldiers. He’d been acting shifty and just jumped at Flik.

The sickly-orange bolt pierced his armor and exploded, rending the man in half. I pulled Akari in close with my right arm and covered her eyes.

“I don’t really give a shit who you are,” I waved my left hand dismissively, “If you all surrender, nobody else has to turn into mist.”

Hanna sent a team to our location to secure the prisoners. Whoever the Maarin guy leading this little group was, he thought he was someone important.

It was possible he’d have useful intel for us.

“Is that your real name, Vallenstrom?” I asked him while we were waiting for the Seekers to arrive.

“Whaddya mean?”

I sighed.

“I’m asking,” I tried to clarify, “if people who cared for you named you something ridiculous or if you choose it yourself.”

“Does it matter how I got ma’ name?”

“Kinda, but I guess not really. One is a little sad and depressing while the other makes me wonder what other poor choices you’ll make if we keep you around.”

“Iff’en you hate the name so much ya’ can call me Wolf.”

I shook my head, “Nope, not gonna happen. I’ve already got one of those. Empress’ Mad Wolf, they call him, but at least he’s a nice kid.”

Once the Seeker team arrived we bid the strange man goodbye and I prayed to never see him again. Something about the way he called me a ‘girlie’ and assumed we’d just help out after being insulted really irked me.

As our party headed back towards the main street to continue deeper into the city, we ran into a bit of a problem.

“Regal-One to Seeker-One.”

“Go for Seeker-One!” Hanna excitedly chirped over the comms channel.

“We’re gonna need some directions. How did that Seeker team get to us? A ballista bolt must have hit a residence or something, my position is blocked by a collapsed building.”

“Stand by Regal-One.”

A minute later I was contacted by Mei.

“Specter-Two to Regal-One.”

“Give me some good news, Specter-Two.”

“I can do that, Regal-One. I have your position in sight and I can navigate your team from above.”

Mei’s team, and other Specter teams, had been pushing the inner towers around the Maarin district. From her position, she could see us and lead my team and me around the obstruction.

“Okay, Regal-One, take a left at the next turn—oh, no, your other left. My left. Right, you go right.”

…

This is gonna be a journey in itself.

“We’ll head north, Specter-Two. Let’s stick to cardinal directions moving forward.”

“Great idea, Regal-One. Next block you’ll want to head west.”