Chapter 9

(Revised Edition)

Michael, Maya, and Steven were currently sitting on some logs in the backyard. Meanwhile Harmony was happily toiling away in the kitchen. It wouldn’t take long for her to finish preparing their food.

Harmony grabbed a piece of bread and spread some butter across its surface. She wondered what the group outside was talking about. Most likely it had to do with what they had encountered earlier.

It was truly strange what they had heard. Harmony wasn’t so sure how she felt about it. The one detail that Harmony really latched onto and developed thoughts on was destroying the Unity.

Without the Unity, specifically the O.C.S., the likelihood of the Known world figuring out about the Unknown world increases exponentially. Even during wartime the O.C.S. accomplishes their job with extreme efficiency.

As the O.C.S. is part of the Unity, they would cease to exist if the Unity was destroyed. That had to be brought into consideration. Perhaps that was something that Caleb had already discussed with the mysterious person. It would be foolish to overlook that detail.

Finishing the meals, Harmony plates them, then puts them on a platter for ease of carrying. Harmony opened the sliding glass door before picking up the platter, otherwise she would have to set it down to open the door.

“What are you talking about?” Harmony saaid loudly, setting the tray down onto the table on their patio.

“Mostly about camping, partially about what we heard,” Steven said, lounging back in the grass.

“Steven was the only one talking about camping,” Maya corrected, “Michael and I were the ones talking about what we had heard.”

Harmony started to hand out the sandwiches. Steven stared inhaling his, while Maya slowly started eating hers. Michael set his aside for a while, seemingly not hungry.

Sitting down next to Michael on the log, Harmony started to eat her sandwich. If her mouth wasn’t full she decided that she would pitch in on the conversation.

Swallowing her first bite, Harmony said, “what exactly about the conversation were you talking about?”

“The Unity falling,” Michael said simply, “we were specifically talking about the effects that the Unity’s fall would have on our way of life, as well as the rest of humanity.”

“So far what we’ve come up with is that the separation between the Known and Unknown would cease to be,” Maya explained, “this is due to the fall of the O.C.S., which you should be well aware of the consequences thanks to history classes.”

“Then they talked about the damage that it would actually cause,” Steven jumped in, “though at the time I was more talking about camping, they were talking about how the Known world wouldn’t be able to stop the mythical creatures.”

“Their weaponry just isn’t advanced enough,” Michael commented.

By this time Harmony had finished her food and was staring off into the trees. She was vaguely listening to the conversation, but only enough to understand, and not respond.

“Then there’s the fact that there’s nothing stopping the mythical creatures from imprissoning us instead,” Maya added.

Harmony started to nod off. She was tired from the excitement of the day, and wanted nothing more than just to take a nice long nap. However, she was kept in a state of consciousness due to the conversation happening around her, though she only got the just of the topic.

***

Standing up from the log that he was sitting on, Michael picked up his backpack, “I’m going to bring this inside, I’ll be back out in a minute.”

Slinging the bag over his shoulders, Michael walked passed Maya and Steven, who were idly arguing about the effects that the Unity’s fall would have. Meanwhile, Harmony had slumped over and was sleeping peacefully on the log that Michael had once occupied.

It didn’t take long for Michael to get to his room. Opening the door to Michael stepped inside, then promptly closed the door.

Staring at the window, Michael remembered the dream that he had not too long ago. The glowing red light flowing through the window was something that Michael remembered second most vividly. It was right next to the dead body of Harmony.

Michael shuddered. Those weren’t pleasant memories. Hopefully he never had those dreams ever again.

After setting down his bag, Michael started to undo his hilt, but then decided against it. They were going to be practicing anyway, so Michael decided that he might as well keep it attached.

When Michael opened the door to leave the hinges screeched. It sounded absolutely grating. Michael mentally noted that he needed to oil it later. Likely something that he would do later that night.

Returning back to the backyard, Michael returned to the log where Harmony was sleeping. Looking at her sleeping peacefully, Michael decided that he was going to sit elsewhere.

Partially this was because he didn’t want to incur her wrath. At times she could be very grumpy when she woke up. Michael had experienced her groggy grumpiness on numerous occasions. Then again, Michael was pretty sure it was because they were siblings.

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“Have you thought of anything other than what we’ve discussed?” Michael asked, taking one of the chairs from off of the porch.

“Not really,” Maya said, “the only thing that we really talked about was how hard it would be to take down the Oathsworn. They are only the toughest force in the known universe.”

“That’s… true,” Michael didn’t want to admit it, but the Oathsworn had some of the toughest people around.

In the past, it was the Oathsworn that had been the ones to defeat the phoenix, dragons, demons, and other mythical creatures. It was undeniable that they had power beyond what most could understand.

When Michael thought about it, defeating the Unity was an absurd proposition for an organization as new as the Eclipse of Dawn. The Eclipse was far too small and didn’t have the manpower. Michael supposed that was why they needed to open the shrines.

If the Eclipse could open the shrines then they could possibly gain powerful allies. Though, the demons were probably best left caged. They couldn’t be reasoned with, and they would only cause destruction and carnage.

“I don’t think it’s worth it to keep speculating,” Michael said, “completely toppling the Unity is an absurd proposition. They’re far too powerful, and, as weird as this is to say, we are too early on in the war.”

So far the war had been going on for roughly a decade, maybe a little bit more. In that time the Eclipse hadn’t made much headway. In fact, the Eclipse had lost more ground than they had gained.

That didn’t mean that the Eclipse was losing the war though. Many battles in the past had actually tipped into the Eclipse’s favors. This war was anyones to win currently.

“If we keep discussing it, we’ll end up talking around in circles,” Michael said, adjusting his seating position.

“I agree,” a familiar voice said shortly after Michael finished talking.

Quickly standing, Michael moved his hand to the hilt of his sword. Standing to the side of their house was Caleb. Behind him was an entourage of armed soldiers carrying a variety of different weapons.

The soldiers quickly readied their weapons in response to Michael moving for his. In response to seeing this, Michael swiftly moved his hand away from the hilt to show that he wasn’t trying to be aggressive, but the soldiers still maintained their aggressive demeanor.

Maya stood up from where she was seated, and Steven moved to rouse Harmony from her slumber. There was a tension in the air, yet Michael couldn’t place the reason for it. Sure, there were armed troops staring them down, but what was the reason?

“It’s quite a nice day, isn’t it,” Caleb walked out into the backyard, two of the soldiers tailing him on either side.

The guard on the left held a weapon that Michael knew as a forest bill. They were likely female, but it was hard to tell as they had a visor covering their face. Their heavier armor covered the rest of their features.

Someone at their school was very proficient with this weapon, and they did give Michael some trouble when they were in dueling class.

The guard on Caleb’s right was stockier than the person on the left. Unlike the other guard this one was undeniably male.

In their left hand they held an arming sword, and attached to the forearm of their right they had a buckler. Judging from how lightly armored the guy was, his aura was likely to make him more agile. He would likely be a problem.

Michael tried looking beyond the three approaching them to those hanging back. The most that Michael could see was just the visage of an extra three people. If they had weapons on them, then they were concealing them rather well.

“I would say it’s rather gloomy,” Michael feigned looking at the clouds, but in reality he was looking more around the area, taking inventory of the situation.

“Regardless, what brings you here today?” Michael asked, easing back towards Harmony and his friends.

“With how sharp you are, I’m quite sure that you know why I’m here,” Caleb said, showing no hint of emotion.

If it was about what they had overheard, then this situation could be pretty dire. Though Michael didn’t agree with what he had overheard, he wasn’t planning on doing anything, as there wasn’t much that he could do.

Perhaps Caleb thought that, because Michael had proven to be strong in his convictions, he was going to do something irrational. Then again, that would just warrant being talked to in private, not having an armed force come to someone’s home.

“Security risk,” Michael heard Maya mutter under her breath.

“Exactly,” Caleb said, “we don’t know what you’ve heard, and if that info were to get out, it would hurt the cause of the Eclipse.”

“So you weren’t planning on informing the public of these plans?” Steven asked, moving to stand beside Michael.

“Well, if we did we would lose a portion of our following,” Caleb said, starting to pace around, “almost no one wants to fully remove the Unity from the equation, but higher up in the chain realize that if the Unity remains, then nothing will change.”

Maya and Harmony stood right behind Michael and Steven. Michael knew that Maya would be looking for ways to get out of the situation, as was her expertise.

“Unfortunately, we’re going to have to take you in,” Caleb stepped forward, “likely we’re going to hold you for the rest of this war, for however long it may last.”

“Not one for free speech then?” Steven asked, half in jest, half trying to convince Caleb to change his course.

“This is on a different scale,” Caleb said, a menacing undertone rising in his voice, “this is for the sake of the entirety of the Eclipse.”

“Any other way we can get out of this?” Michael asked, trying to find another out, as well as give Maya some more time.

“I’m afraid not,” Caleb took another step forward, his guards following close behind.

Michael breathed out a sigh. There really wasn’t going to be another way out of this, was there? It was either to be captured, or struggle against them. Neither of which seemed very favorable.

Caleb motioned for a person in the back to throw him something. From the three standing back, one of them threw a rather large sword that looked like a zweihander, but broader. Caleb caught it with relative ease, despite the blade looking rather heavy.

During the opening ceremony of the Ecliptic Academy every year, Caleb would fight the previous champion of the dueling class. Some champions managed to hold their own, but every single one was defeated by Caleb. Thankfully no one ever got injured.

This was different, and Michael had fought Caleb a couple times. Michael had shown promise, but he knew that he was never close to defeating Caleb.

“We don’t have to make this difficult,” Caleb brandished his greatsword, “you don’t want to do this.”

Michael took a deep breath in, “I think I do.”

With a quick movement, Michael drew his blade, letting it sing as it left the hilt.