Seamus couldn’t keep his hands still as he tied up the last of the snares, looking around the empty ghost town. He was by himself, sent to set up traps in this part of town. He knew James was just putting him far from the action, knowing that Seamus didn’t have it in him to fight. Seamus cursed himself for not insisting on staying with the others or manning up enough to fight the marauders.
‘But you know why you didn’t stay. You coward,’
Seamus felt angry at himself for not choosing to fight. A part of him wanted to do something, to help, but his fear had won over again, and now he was away from the real conflict, cowering in an abandoned part of town. Seamus looked in the direction James and the others had headed, knowing that he could still go back.
“No… I still have things to do.”
Seamus turned to the surrounding buildings. He knew he had to evacuate whoever was still here, just in case James’ plan didn’t go well and some marauders got through. His hand felt at the sword the archer gave him back at the tavern. He knew how to use it. Hel, he had practiced with the blade for years. But it wasn’t the experience he lacked. It was the will to use it on someone else. Seamus gulped, telling himself it would not come to that this day. He headed off to see if any of the buildings still had people inside.
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Havor ensured his armor was on right, testing to see if the straps were tightened properly. Helen was beside him, her spear and shield on her back as she stood idly. Havor could feel the salty, cool breeze hit his face as Frostbite tore through the waves, the vessel slowly nearing the small island. He wanted to get this over with quickly before Deimos came back.
“Do we really have to do this?” Helen asked, her voice hesitant.
“You sit out, and I’ll make sure Deimos knows you disobeyed his orders. I’m sure he’ll love to talk with you,” Havor responded with a scowl. He sheathed and unsheathed his sword multiple times, making sure it slid effortlessly.
“These are innocent people, they haven’t–”
“Shut it. Don’t weasel your way out of this,” Havor cut Helen off. “If you haven’t noticed, Deimos and that freak Eli could kill us without much of a second thought. So, shut your mouth and do what you are told if you value your life.”
That seemed to shut her up. Helen quietly turned to face the ocean while Frostbite neared the harbor. Havor took a deep breath as the crew moved around the deck, preparing to dock the ship. This felt wrong. It was like something was off.
‘Something isn’t right, but what?’
Havor swallowed his doubts. He instead prepared himself as the ship slowly docked.
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James crept through the building with care. He made sure to be as quiet as possible despite the marauders not being anywhere in sight. Thomas, the other town guard, was behind him, sword in his sheath as he sat on the floor. They were in an empty shop, abandoned by the store owners hours ago. Both of them had hidden inside the building after they had set up their traps.
Dahlia was still out there, drawing the runic symbols needed to summon the spell they needed. All James had left to do was wait, sword in hand, as he knelt. For armor, James wore a leather doublet over his dirty Earth clothes, courtesy of Felix. Still, he felt very exposed, unlike before he had gotten here.
“Is she done with the runes? The marauders could come at any minute!” Thomas spoke, obviously nervous. James peeked over the counter to see Dahlia rushing back to the shop, her right hand pocketing her soapstone.
“She’s coming, don’t worry about it,” James reassured the man, who seemed to get more nervous by the second.
James split everyone up to cover more ground. He sent Harald, Felix, and Jasper to another part of town while he, Dahlia, and Thomas covered this area. Of course, he sent Seamus off to where the marauders would least likely find him, wanting to keep him away from their grasp since he was the one they had wanted.
The shop’s door hit the small bell above it, ringing as Dahlia entered. She had been setting up runic symbols around the town, using most of her own energy to enchant them all. They were rigged to release the ‘Fog Cloud’ spell, which would engulf the area in a thick mist. According to Dahlia, all she had to do was activate one rune, and all the others would follow.
“When do you think they’ll get here?” James asked as she knelt next to him. He knew the marauders had all day to invade the town but hadn’t seized on the opportunity yet.
‘Did they give up?’
A small part of James hoped, but he remembered when he had fought Deimos, when he had stared into the man’s eyes. He shivered, knowing that Deimos meant every word of what he had said that day. The thought of fighting him again elevated his nerves, his hands turning clammy at the thought of facing the marauder again.
‘Not if they fall into the trap first…’ He reminded himself, but he knew he would still have to face him again, even if the plan worked flawlessly.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Just as James opened his mouth to say something, he could see movement outside the window. It was too far to determine what it was, but James knew it had to be the marauders. He looked at Dahlia, gesturing to the window. She followed his hand motions, her eyes squinting.
“Those have to be the marauders. There’s no other reason to think otherwise,” she pointed out in a hushed voice.
James knew that none of the others would dare deviate from the plan since it required everyone to cooperate. He also knew that it was highly unlikely that any of the townsfolk had chosen a spot where supposedly everyone had evacuated. Still, James hesitated to give the go-ahead. He didn’t know why but he had cold feet about the whole thing. His gut lurched as he thought about fighting the invaders. James had never taken another person’s life, and he knew that he would have to do it inevitably soon.
‘It’s just like with the wolves… Defend yourself! These bastards chose to be here!’
James scowled silently, ready to respond to Faust’s urging, but he stopped as soon as he realized it wasn’t the spirit talking—it was his own thoughts.
‘Am I going insane? Why am I hesitating? It’s just like the wolves, you have the right to defend yourself.’
But James didn’t have the right to take their lives, right? Wolves were different. They never gave James a choice. The marauders did.
‘Are you seriously thinking of changing your mind?! After what they had done!!' his rational side shouted mentally. James was internally arguing with himself, his hand clenching as he gripped his short sword’s handle.
‘James. Stop stalling. You have to give the signal; otherwise, everything will go to hell.’
Faust was now speaking, snapping him back to reality. James gulped and forced his hands to be still. He could see Dahlia glancing at him as the group of marauders neared. She was nervous, one second away from activating the trap herself.
James looked back at the now clear group of marauders, everything around him turning slow, almost as if time itself had stopped. The group of marauders was smaller than he had initially thought. Deimos wasn’t even visible among them.
James didn’t have time to hesitate. He swallowed his doubts and moralities and moved to give the signal. He never had a chance to. James felt a sudden sharp, familiar pain in his head. It was overwhelming, his body collapsing to the floor in response. He clutched at his head in unbearable agony. It felt as if someone was drilling deep into his skull.
‘What… What is happening?!’ Faust’s pained voice yelled out in his mind, followed by his screams.
No, it was James’ own screams. He couldn’t control it, his body convulsing as another wave of pain washed over his mind. He couldn’t focus on anything but his pain; his vision blurred as he writhed on the floor. Still, he could hear Dahlia activate her spell, her voice reaching him.
“Fog Cloud!” she shouted. James watched her blurred figure cast the spell. He tried to stand, but something sounded out in his mind, stopping him in his tracks. It was a voice different from his own and Faust’s.
‘Consume. Kill.’
No, it was multiple voices, all chanting the same two words before pausing. James’ pain also stopped, giving him a brief period of respite. Before he could question it, the voices returned, and James could swear they were smiling.
‘Interesting.’
They spoke suddenly. The young man felt his body grow weak and pass out, his consciousness slipping from his grasp.
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Felix was unsure of how the man named James would save their town. He still doubted the crazed man’s plan. Still, it was better than what he had in mind, which was to hold out in the tavern and shoot at anyone who looked suspicious. His aim still needed work, but Felix didn’t doubt he could hit any bastard who wore that black armor and a red handprint. The damn symbol was begging to be a target.
Still, he knew he could never kill the burly bastard who had come here last time. No amount of arrows could be enough for that monster of a man. Felix never saw the alleged fight between the man and his victim, but he had seen the bastard as he left the harbor. Felix wasn’t the best at reading people, but he knew that the man was one tough son of a bitch. He had given Felix a look that sent shivers down the young guard’s back.
He shivered again at the memory, prompting the old geezer named Harald to ask.
“Nerves getting to you?”
Felix had seen Harald only a couple of times before. The hermit came to town only for necessities that he couldn’t get out in the wild. He had heard stories about the man, how he was a veteran from the last time Valenfrost was at war.
“Maybe,” Felix answered, unsure if he feared the marauders or the man he had seen that day. Maybe both. “It won’t matter, anyway. My aim will still be good, nerves or not,” Felix stated confidently, his hand gripping the bow he had. It wasn’t anything special, something most guardsmen were equipped with. Still, Felix treasured it, mainly because he couldn’t fight worth a damn with a sword, even if his life depended on it. The bow was his, and he was all right with that.
“Hm. We’ll see once it all breaks loose,” Harald said calmly, his eyes gazing over at Jasper, who drank a bottle as he sat alone. Felix blinked, unsure of what the old man meant.
‘Breaks loose?’
He was confused about why Harald had thought so. Felix thought James’ plan would go well, even if it sounded strange and half-baked.
“What makes you think it’ll all ‘break loose’?” Felix asked.
Harald made an amused sound, smiling lightly. “I’ve been in enough battles to know that no plan goes flawlessly. It always ends up in a bloody mess. One way or the other.”
Felix was surprised at the man’s nonchalance at the situation possibly going wrong. He opened his mouth to respond but noticed something up in the sky. Gray clouds blanketed the sky, but Felix could see a darker cloud rise into the dull sky, embers clearly visible within them.
‘Smoke…’
Felix looked over at the veteran, who was already up with Jasper, the drunk man swaying side to side.
“I guess it was sooner than I thought,” Harald muttered. Felix watched the veteran unsheathe his sword in a practiced motion. It was like he had done it a million times beforehand. Felix gulped, his hand tightening around his bow even more.
They moved to a vantage point on top of a small building, where they could see the harbor more clearly. That wasn’t the Fog Cloud spell James and others were supposed to activate. Before Felix could say something, he watched as everything around the harbor was engulfed by said spell. A thick fog covered most of the ground, mixing up with dark smoke that spewed embers into the air.
It had all broken loose, all in less than an hour.