At the same time, Sethan and what had been left of his troops entered through the main gate of the walled city via their carriage. There had been all but a few words spoken within the entire trip back, their sullen expressions conveyed wordless emotion. For a time, he worried and little and blocked off the gossip and rumors about his brother whom he had little contact with but still cared much about, but the recent turn of events made him think more and more about it.
The stone roads of the capital were smooth, and thus the rattling of the wooden carriage was lessened and allowed him to sink deeper in his thoughts. The people outside, the buildings and the clamor were all molded and blended in his mind, and then were put away out of his focus. Asralyn worriedly at her brother, at times like this she would console him, moments where he would look into the distance and thought deeply, but she could not find the words to say at that moment. ‘What would he have done…’ Sethan thought about what Metas would have done in his place. Without realizing, he was muttering to himself.
The senior knight glanced at him as well, he pitied his condition. ‘Sometimes I forget how young he is, a true knight captain for sure. But he’s still too young to handle this sort of thing. If not for his brother’s actions and good work, he’d still be one of the young knights, dreaming of leading their own company. I suppose he’s both lucky and unlucky in that regard. Ideals and conviction are one thing…’ As he was thinking to himself, a voice spoke out within the carriage. “Don’t think about him. About what he would have done. He doesn’t matter to us anymore.” Said Asralyn, with conviction. The others including Sethan were surprised and were silent. “He’ll probably leave the town and all those people to die.” She added.
After a few more seconds of silence, Sethan replied. “You’re right. He would have chosen the logical choice of retreating, in order to protect his company.” Asralyn was stunned. “The others wanted to protect those people, it was their choice as much as yours!” She exclaimed. “Alright, that’s enough.” Said the elder knight. “We’re nearing the castle soon, be on your best behavior.” He added. Asralyn had tears in her eyes and was gritting her teeth in anger, while Sethan only looked down at the ground.
Earlier, he felt as if though it was strange that Helia stayed behind in the village only to head straight to the capital, even passing beyond them in her own carriage seemingly in haste. He thought that she just didn’t want to travel at the same time as them so she stayed behind, but this too was pushed away in the swirl of thoughts.
He looked back outside again, he could see movements in the distance, but he could not make them out and they only appeared to him like faint brushstrokes of a painting. Then, he saw one of his fellow knights inside the carriage waving and then looked up at them. For the first time since they left he saw faint smiles on the knight’s face, and on the others. He looked outside once more, the blur turned clear, and he saw that there were people outside, young and old waving at them, standing at the roadside. Many others minded their own business, but a few greeted them as their carriage passed by. “News of what happened must have reached town by now…” Said the elder knight. Sethan looked outside and at the smiles of the people, and although there were others scoffing at the knights, those smiles were the brightest among the crowd, like a beacon of flame to him.
Sethan forced a smile of his own and waved back at them.
The day grew later and later, there were the few who had their paths set to the capital, and as these forces grew closer to each other, their collision was imminent. But the forces that drew them to each other remained a mystery to those caught up in the maelstrom that was yet to come. “Commander Dreilond!” “Ah, Captain Sethan!” The commander Metas and his group met earlier came face to face with Sethan who was accompanied by a few of the white-armored knights of the council.
“What’s the situation?” Sethan asked. “Not good. There’re pockets of resistance of knights protecting civilians all around, but our main post in the town square was quickly overtaken. Although few in number, the enemy can easily take out a whole company using only one attacker if we’re not careful.” The commander responded.
The buildings burned bright and the flames engulfing them roared loudly, towers and buildings fell and collapsed as the fires consumed their walls and foundations. “I take it that since you’re here, the main force of the knights is sure to follow behind?” The commander added. “No. Their efforts were focused on rescuing civilians and setting up a perimeter around the area. Due to the fires and the debris and buildings all around, they’ve decided it would be better to strategize and reassess instead of rushing right in.” Sethan answered. “Hmph. So, they’ve decided that this town is dispensable. Well, it would be rash to move in without considering what the enemy is first.” Said Dreilond.
The commander talked with him from behind his line of spearmen and surrounded by the wounded and the civilians. “You have encountered them, yes?” He asked Sethan. “Yes. Slavering madmen, scarred and burned, they explode when aggressive or set aflame.” Sethan and the silent knights were covered in soot and ash, staining their armor. “You’ve done well getting through all the way here, but there’s worse than them that’s troubling us now.” As the commander spoke, there were sounds of yelling a few streets away. “The knights from the other streets are fighting.” He remarked. “We need to get to them.” Sethan said as the noises of weapons clashing, and battle could be heard by them occurring nearby.
“You’ll have to go by yourselves, we’re staying here to protect the people.” Said the commander. Sethan and the handful of knights he was with prepared to walk to the other street, but the commander interrupted them. “Some of these fiends might not be like the ones you’ve encountered. They are conscious enough to use weapons, but they lack fear and never tire.” “Okay.” Sethan started to rush off but was interrupted again. “Your brother! He passed through here, maybe you’ll see him up ahead.” Sethan was only slightly surprised by the information, and then thanked him before running off towards the sounds of battle.
In the depths of the catacombs and underground chambers of the large stone castle, Seruvia had her palm outstretched, a faint flame illuminating the surroundings. She was walking down a path of stone stairs and was in a narrow hallway. She was followed by two of the shadow knights, as they descended deeper and deeper towards their destination. She looked at the stone walls in the narrow corridor around them, water was faintly trickling down from the ceiling and the wall, dripping onto the cracked and crumbling floor of the stairs.
'How fitting. This crypt was once the domain of the old Lords, the flame Kings of ancient times had subjugated them, and this place became the tomb of traitors and the defeated alike, and it became the foundation for our rule. It's only right that their descendant falls here.' She smiled to herself as they continued down. They reached a stone door at the end of the narrow stairway going down. "Leave me." Said Seruvia. The two shadows bowed in response, before retreating into the darkness and out of sight. 'From the castle above to here, she's going to have to contend with our ground, the shadows will wait and plan for a perfect moment to strike, the rooms and halls are rigged and readied to our advantage. She will be like a rat in a trap if she plans on trying to get "it".' She opened the stone door with one hand and walked into a spacious dark room. The flame in her hand brightened and burned higher as she entered and slowly illuminated her surroundings.
"Did you expect me? You couldn't have seen my flame, could you?" She playfully asked to the man standing in the room, leaning against the wall and had his arms crossed. His weapon, an eastern sword was leaning on the wall beside him. "I heard your footsteps on the stone and felt the heat in the air." As Seruvia walked further, her flame illuminated and revealed the warrior's visage, the fire in her palm reflected on his unresponsive whited out eyes. "Your lack of vision must have sharpened your senses so. The rumors about the blind must be true then." She continued. "Hardly. Within the confines of these cold stone walls, silence is my only companion, and any difference in temperature or the slightest minute noise can be easily apparent. Even you could have done so." He answered.
Seruvia walked forward and looked to the left to a sort of hallway or tunnel leading deeper into the darkness. "Isn't your post next to the gate itself, slacking off maybe?" She asked. "Hmph. Just attended to an intruder, the agreement was the others' deal with matters on the surface and I stand guard here." He answered, picking his blade up and continued after her. "You forget you being here has a second purpose, and that matter is at threat right now." Said Seruvia. "Ah. That old relic." The man said as they walked further and came across a brightly gleaming metal weapon in the dark, right in front of a swirling black torrent, which emitted a quiet hum.
Although beasts regularly emerged, tainted by darkness, the man's armor was clean and in an impeccable shine, a feature that he could never enjoy with his sight deprived. He had a helmet on, which barely kept at bay his medium length black hair, like the rest of his armor it was of an ivory white color and had a small feather plume attached to its top. "With all the kingdom's resources, and yet you never managed to pull a single spear out of a rock." He walked further and knelt down, he tried to yank the weapon out of the rock that was oozing darkness that led to the vortex, but to no avail. "Are you sure it's safe to get so close to there?" She asked.
"Any beast that steps through, shall be sliced in half before it gets within an inch of me." He then stood up and swung his sword, cutting through a spider web but only leaving the momentary gleam of the silver thread right as the reflection of the blade shone right before it was cut through, and only a faint sound like a quiet whisper was heard. "Hmph." Seruvia remarked, unimpressed. "Anyway, all the relics are safely guarded by knights in our storeroom, this only remains here because we can't bring it elsewhere. If we cannot transport it, most others will not, and it lies in a secretive location where shadows and labyrinths guard it and another hidden fore as well." Seruvia boasted.
"So why must you yourself come here to guard something so well kept?" The man asked. "Enjou. She is not most people." Seruvia responded. "And with the deaths of Siegmund and Endro, the others are focusing their resources elsewhere, they are paranoid as they should be. And at first, only Alroc was the sole one to the task, I myself wanted to step in, but now the situation's become graver." Seruvia continued. "Hmm." Enjou seemed unconcerned for the deaths of two of the most prominent shadow knights. "Well, do you believe she can accomplish what she claims?" He asked. "Possibly. A scholar long studied at academia, since she rose to power as a member of the council, she conducted many studies and experiments here, she said that she yielded no results, but it was soon apparent that it wasn't the case, the knowledge corrupted and corroded her mind, and now she is just another threat to be dealt with, albeit a dangerous one." Said Seruvia.
"I remember." Said Enjou. "She went here with chained criminals in tow, scribbling notes and muttering about all sorts of things, it always felt like what she did made it more dangerous here." He added. "Tch. I always said that this thing should have been left alone. It was guarded, yes. But ignored as it should be, only she had taken an interest in it, and her prestige and rank enabled her to." She then put her hand on her forehead and sighed.
"This power is not to be tampered with, it differs from our divine given ability of flames." The flame atop her other palm burned brighter and brighter. "It is a force foreign, drawn upon long ago by a defeated people. Their last hope lies buried here, it's advance halted." She pointed dramatically at the spear but then was interrupted by Enjou. "I have been curious of the spear's properties and origins; I have occasionally swung my blade against it with not as much as a single scratch on its body. I can feel segments that separate the steel, and scripts engraved on it." Enjou said as he sat on the floor, cross legged, his blade stuck in the ground.
"Well... When she realized that she was branded a traitor, she tried to dispose the texts that she could not hide away with her, there was one of her papers that she attempted to burn but I retrieved knowledge about it. Apparently, the ancient peoples created and used relics to great effect and power, and also they used their relics to carve paths to other worlds, and that is where their true strength lay. Serafion often discussed the possibility of the fire arts that we use were of a similar nature, because they defied natural law. My response to her, is still my ideal now. That other forces are not to be tampered with, and that our fire, our hearth is the kingdom's core. Any other, be it heretic, traitor, bandit, even other kingdoms shall not tamper or extinguish it. All in all, it's a power none shall reach." "I prefer swords over spears anyway." Enjou responded.
"So, do we just wait? Until when?" He asked. "If Alroc has her head, he'll report to me immediately. Or if something happens, the shadow I've sent to observe him, or one of the ones lurking the halls above will alert me. Besides, if there's fighting, we'll hear it." Seruvia said as she looked to the ceiling. "He's being observed?" He asked. "All of you are, to ensure what happened before will not again." She remarked. "Hmph." Enjou grumpily answered. Seruvia sighed and said: "This might take long, and I'm not exactly open on sitting on this floor."
Suddenly, the ground beneath them began to shake, and soon the entire room did as well. Enjou was in silent concentration, listening intently, before swiftly jumping backwards towards the end of the room. "Tch!" Seruvia remarked as she used a vial of the green powder on the flame on her palm, before clapping her hands together, and wielding giant green flames atop each hand. The stone ceiling gave way, and then the miasmic darkness from the vortex began to rise.
They looked up to see that there was opening that stretched all the way to the surface, a hole that led the ever-bursting stream of darkness upwards. A geyser of dark energy blasted upwards, but there was plenty of space as it only rose through the center of the opening. The spear lodged in the ground slowly floated as the darkness gushed up. Seruvia flared her green flames towards the portal, halting the surge of darkness and minimizing the upward stream but did not halt the slow upward movement of the relic. The opening extended through multiple floors and rooms, as the both of them looked up, Enjou quickly hopped to the next upward platform, and quickly traversed floor to floor leaving Seruvia behind slightly bewildered.
"Hey!" She yelled. "If this reaches the surface, then it is where my duty is located next." He said as he jumped and hopped out of earshot. "Argh!" She remarked as she blasted her flames brighter against the swirl of the abyss. On the surface, as Serafion touched the well sigil the ground opened up beneath Alroc, he swiftly jumped backwards from the growing opening. The first traces of the stream of darkness trickled up from the ground, and Serafion had one hand reaching out to it, and draw a small sigil on the ground with the other. She let out a blast of darkness towards the shadow knight, knocking them aside.
She gasped and panted, with her injury and exhaustion. Alroc watched wary and unsure, debating and analyzing his thoughts in his mind about the danger in front of him. As the darkness grew larger and higher, and she pointed her palm towards him. "Don't move." She said, in tired breathing. Alroc gritted his teeth and clenched his weapons, the threat in front of him was unpredictable and dangerous, and that retreat would be a wise option. He stood his ground, but did not move in to attack either. He quickly stepped forward, but the metal spear relic rose from the ground's opening and Serafion clutched it with her open hand. It was segmented in its cylindrical body, and it's small metal tip segmented from the rest of the body. It was short, only about over the length of Serafion's forearm. "Don't" she threatened.
Alroc was stopped in his tracks once again. "You... Can't use it, can't you?" He said mockingly. He reached into his cloak for his daggers, it was a bluff and he felt extremely tense about the situation. The torrent of darkness became stronger and stronger as she had her hand in it up to her wrist, it appeared like she was covered in a sinister aura. The stalemate lasted for seconds but felt like minutes, each side not backing down but not engaging. Serafion immediately noticed as the stream of abyssal energy waned and thinned and looked down to see the ceasing surge, and then struggled to stand.
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She walked backwards, as the stream of darkness dissipated, and turned around. She was still covered in an aura, and as she glanced back at Alroc, and at the opening in which the darkness stemmed from. Suddenly, a figure jumped out from the hole, brandishing a shining steel katana, and ran forward with his blade readied in a stance. Enjou ran forward preparing to slash at Serafion, she noticed and as the flash of steel glowed bright in the night darkness, and a hair's breadth away from her eyes. An arc of flame flashed across the air as Enjou slashed horizontally, but the blade only slashed through a few strands of Serafion's long white hair, the flame that followed his blade turning it to ash.
"She's gone." He remarked. Alroc ran up to him clutching his rapier and dagger. "Tsk. She escaped." Said Alroc. "Where could she have gone?" He said to himself, immediately thinking of any possible location related to her. "Where is she?" Asked Seruvia, as a mob of the shadow knights walked across the field, one of them carrying her. "She used her magic to disappear, I've injured her but the used her arts to prevent me from enacting the final blow." Alroc said as he looked at Seruvia with indignance, remembering the shadow that was monitoring him, but his expression could not be seen behind his beak mask. "Put me down." She ordered and the knight lowered her to the ground.
Enjou was sniffing the air, he faced multiple directions and walked from side to side. "Any idea where she could've gone?" Seruvia asked as she walked up to the two of them. "Still thinking of any possible location she might have went, but it's likely she'll be hiding away for now. How's the gateway down below?" Said Alroc. "It's been stabilized to the state it was before, but didn't recede any further. I've stationed a few of the shadows there in case a beast makes its way through." Seruvia then walked a bit further to see the town the castle overlooked below, it had been converted to a sea of flames. "Hope the others are doing their part, lest the kingdom crumble starting with this town." She said. Enjou sniffed through the air and then stopped.
"There. She's there, I'm certain." He pointed towards the blaze. "A dangerous place to hide away for sure, but she might have been thinking she's lose us in the blaze." Seruvia remarked. "How you were able to determine that?" Alroc asked Enjou. "The smell. The thick aura of darkness is still heavy in the air, and I can sense it trailing from here towards the flames." Alroc glanced at Seruvia. "Well, his other senses are his strong suit." She remarked. "You, you." Seruvia pointed at half the group of shadow knights. "Follow me to the town. The rest set up a perimeter and patrol the area." She continued.
As the three of them looked at the area below in flames, Alroc remarked to himself: "Out of the cooking pan..."
In the town below, Serafion emerged out of the air through a tear of darkness, still covered in the lingering aura, she found herself in the fiery remains of the town, she had selected an area behind a wooden warehouse to transport, as she discreetly placed a sigil one of the rare times she visited out of the castle. The dark followed her like a mist or a fog, trailing and slowly settling on the ground as she moved. ‘That was dire. And it looks like I’ve absorbed too much.’ She said as she looked at her arm, covered in the dark fog. ‘Still, it was needed, I needed a source of power to use a spell that moment. And as I thought… I can’t use it.’ Her other hand was holding the relic. The dark engravings on its metallic body appeared to glow a dark purple due to the abyssal influence.
‘What I’ve learned… And what I know now. If the dark energy surrounding me fades this object will be as if an unliftable anchor towards the ground. If I retreat now who knows if I can bring enough of the darkness to sustain this… I need to get it to someone who can wield it, with that my goal can be reach even if its not through me.’ As she thought it to herself, she looked up at the flames. The roaring fire overwhelmed all other sounds in the area, occasionally the sound of crashing stone or wood, an explosion or a distant scream resounded. In the streets, those who managed to escape the initial blasts, and got out of their homes before the fire encroached and trapped them, were held up and crowded in the streets, either gathered and defended by knights, or watched over by the fanatical husks. The brainwashed husks stood straight and stared into space despite most of them having no vision.
They stood like eerie statues, a single one of them stood on each end of the road, the townsfolk sat on the muddy road frozen in fear, they did not want to escape or take action against them, as when even one of them stood up or walked around, the madmen swayed and moved slightly. Even if a few of them managed to rise up, no one attacked or attempted to flee their captors in fear for the possible damage done to the others. The shadows they cast as one of the remaining standing figures in the road swept over the crowd of people, their empty grins terrifying to the people.
“Please let us through! My daughter is injured, we need supplies, doctors, you must let us pass through!” A man in the crowd yelled. They did not respond, though it appears that they at least heard the request. He stood up carrying the child in his hands, before the things turned towards him as he attempted to walk forward before he was held back and pulled by some of the townsfolk in the crowd. “Stop it, they’ll attack us!” “You won’t be able to save anyone if you do this!” Cried the men and women who held him back to the ground.
“No, don’t!” Cried his wife, she wore simple clothing and had long black hair. “But Alice! She’s…” The man cried out desperately. “Papa… I’m alright…” The girl feebly said, fighting to stay awake. She had a wound at her side, stacks and wraps of cloth are tied to stop the bleeding, but it was clear that some was soaking through. “Henry! Our only option is to stay here, and wait for the knights, wait for help.” His wife said to him. “But, Clara!” He said as he looked down drainedly and gritted his teeth, tears in his eyes. His head was bandaged as he was slightly wounded at the side of his forehead.
Earlier when the attacks started, he ran straight towards his home, the first wave of crowds and knights halted the fire and explosions, but they soon tore through the town with Grisham leading the wave of destruction. He ran and ran, catching up with his family but getting caught up with the capture and entrapment of the others. There were side paths and alleys between the buildings and houses, but fear and uncertainty of potential other threats and the collapsing and burning structures made him not want to pass through.
A furtive figure hid and slipped past one of the side paths and crawled into the road. ‘Ugh. Who knew that this place would be so muddy? Maybe I should’ve just floated here, no I would’ve been spotted, I’m no longer as small as I was. And besides, travelling only in spirit takes only a small amount of energy, whilst physical travel’s exhausting.’ “And I’m tired already.” The orange haired boy stated. He slowly crawled to the crowd drawing little attention to him, and with the fires around them and the panic in their minds, he was difficult to spot. As he looked up at Henry, the boy noticed him and his current plight. “Psst… Old man!” “Who are you calling old- Hey, its you! You’ve grown?” Henry remarked, surprised.
“A kid?” “A boy?” “Where did he come from?” Some of the adults and elders nearby remarked at his appearance. “It’s a long story! Anyway, let me see her.” The boy gestured towards Henry’s daughter. She had long dark brown hair, just like her father’s, it was dirtied by leaves and soil, she was only about as tall as the boy was now. He removed the cloths wrapped at her side, Alice grimaced when he did so, and the boy winced. “We need to get her to a doctor, but those things are keeping us here. We need to keep it down so they won’t hear us.” Said Henry, worried. The boy placed one hand near the little girl’s wound, and then a faint orange glow emanated from it.
The glow got brighter and brighter, Henry and the others looked at the standing fanatics worriedly to see if they noticed. Then the glowing light faded, and the wound on her side was gone, healed and disappeared. “How did you?” Said Henry, bewildered. “Even though the wound’s healed, she won’t be moving around any time soon.” He said to Henry, putting one hand on the girl’s forehead to check her temperature. “Do you know this boy?” Clara asked Henry. “He’s a miracle worker.” Another one in the curious crowd said. “Uh… It’s complicated.” Henry said, confused on how to explain the situation.
“Is the old man with you?” Henry asked, whispering. “No. It’s just me.” He answered. “Just as I thought.” Henry pessimistically responded. “The old man doesn’t do what he thinks is necessary to involve himself in.” He added. Henry remembered Jura’s words. ‘I’ll do what I have to. You’re free to do what you want.’ “He’s given me such an opportunity… It was like a child’s dream coming into fruition.” Henry quietly said to himself. “Hmm?” The boy asked. “Nothing. Its just that he doesn’t usually step in in times like this, right?” Henry remarked.
“Riots, bandit attacks, wars. He doesn’t interfere unless its necessary, or his superiors order him to, these types of things tend to sort themselves out before they last years.” The boy responded. “Well, you went to out to help regardless.” Henry remarked. The boy simply looked at the ground, and then looked up and said: “Stay here and be quiet, I’ll try to get rid of those guys.” “Wait.” Henry yelled quietly but quickly turned to both husks at the ends of the road to see if they heard as the boy scuttled off.
“Where did he go?” Clara asked him alarmed. “He went to do something about those things.” “Are you serious, we should go help him then.” She answered. “No, we should just stay here and be quiet. I… Believe in him.” Henry sounded slightly unsure, but he was serious. “Okay.” She responded, voice slightly shaky. The boy crawled near the burning buildings, he was uncertain if the fanatics could “see” in any way, so he preferred to hide the color of his hair with the roaring and billowing flames. ‘I should’ve worn a hood if I wanted to conceal myself… Well it doesn’t look like these bandits or whatever they are have eyes, so that’s a problem solved.’ He ducked and stopped as a piece of wood from a building beside him fell, it missed him and rolled off.
He continued crawling through the muddy and dirtied road. ‘I should’ve worn boots, or at least shoes. Wait, if I’m crawling through the mud I would’ve been covered in dirt even if I wore shoes. I should’ve just crouched, argh! What I get for staying inside for years.’ As he crawled closer and closer to the fanatic, he slowed his pace and observed them closely with each inching of movement he made, intently watching for any hint of reaction. As he passed, and was behind them, the boy quickly chucked one of his orange crystals into their pocket.
The fanatic immediately turned towards the boy and lunged, before stopping short of him with their mouth open and hands outstretched. Henry and the others watched worriedly, as the boy raised his head and directly looked upwards, and the fanatic was seemingly frozen in their tracks. As he looked up, his eyes began to whiten, but red swirls could be seen within them. ‘This… Chaos! Swirling… Never seen anything like it. At least I got it to stop moving…’ In the realm of consciousness all he could see was a chaotic and incoherent swirl of thought and emotion. ‘Go back, run, turn around.’ He commanded. ‘I don’t think he’s listening, or maybe listening at all is impossible at this state.’ “Uh…” Henry remarked as the other husk standing guard noticed the odd behavior of the one near the boy.
“Tch! The other one!” The boy saw the other fanatic running out of the corner of his eye. “Cease thought.” He said. At that moment, his command and will dispelled the maelstrom. ‘These thoughts… They aren’t his. There’s barely anything left…’ After the vortex of rage and sorrow disappeared, only a lightless void remained. He saw a small speck of light in the middle of the void. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the men and the adults stand up to prepare to protect the others from the speeding fanatic.
Henry desperately held his silver dagger out. While trying to decide what he should do, the boy glanced back at the speck of light and gained a realization. Suddenly, the other fanatic ceased running and fell to the ground motionless. In the realm of consciousness, the boy held onto the speck of light, and through it he saw the memories of the person outside of it, and there was a link to the mind of the other one within. He saw flashes of thoughts, of the viewpoint of this person, and the face of another. Flashes of moments, he could see the appearance, and the smile of another, uncovered and unclouded by the burnt flesh that covered the fanatics’ faces that day.
‘Brother, let’s play outside!’ Bright gleaming eyes, children, not bandits. Another flash, ‘Mother’s sick, father’s gone. What else are we supposed to do?’ ‘We can work!’ A voice from the point of view from the memory of the person. ‘No one will accept us!’ The “brother” said. Another memory, ‘I won’t let you near him!’ The person cried out, them facing towards the source of the malice, Grisham. ‘You have two options, either follow me or do not. Those who don’t become my enemy.’ He responded. The memory concluded with the person running towards Grisham with his sword raised, being knocked down, and his hand swiftly blocking the view.
“Hey kid, you alright?” Henry said to the boy, snapping him out of the memory. The boy was startled and jumped back only to see the two fanatics lying on the floor. “They’re dead, we checked.” Said Henry. “Is everyone safe?” The boy asked, looking glumly at the corpses. “We’re all safe, but there’s much of us that are injured and even if there’s no more of those things in this road, there’ll surely be more of them out there. So, we think its best if we stay here and hide for the meantime.” Said Henry.
“Yeah. I’ll… See if there are knights and I’ll lead them to this street.” He responded and prepared to walk off elsewhere immediately. “Wait!” A voice from the crowd called out. “Hmm?” The boy turned to the crowd. “We haven’t thanked you yet.” Said Clara, the others called out to him as well. “Yes, how can we properly express our gratitude when we don’t even know your name?” Henry noticed this and began to try to explain the situation. “Uh… Excuse her, it’s just that…” He then turned to the others. “It’s a bit hard to explain, its just…” “I… Have a name.” The boy interrupted Henry.
“Its… N. Well maybe, it has more letters but its all I’ve got right now.” He proudly announced. “Just N? Like the letter?” Henry asked. “Well, yes.” Said N. “Suppose we all have our names.” Clara remarked. “Yes… I’m going now.” “Good luck.” Said Henry, as a parting remark. As the boy walked away, he thought to himself words that he had heard long ago. ‘Why must you stay in this forest, if the humans encounter something they shouldn’t, why not let them?’ A young man’s voice said in his memory.
‘Firstly, to guard this place, an interstice between worlds, is now my assigned duty. And Jura, why must you put so much distance between yourself and your fellow man? And those innocent, uninvolved and unprepared against the stones cast against them by world, those greater must protect the lesser. At least in the world of spirits where we are aged long, fostering the young ensures years and years of their contribution, there is surely some similarity in the world of humans.’ Said Pharros. A young sprite of N, was inspired by this, despite knowing little of what it meant. Jura had his serious expression even then, but his hat and half-mask were absent from his person. And Pharros was of smaller size, her form like the figure of an eagle. N could feel their emotions emanating from them, a sense of discontentment and pride from Jura, and a feeling of responsibility from Pharros, although he could not put words to the feelings he witnessed, he could still understand them himself.
He remembered those words and took them to heart as he walked amongst the ruins of the town. Past across the borders of the town, crowds of the kingdom’s knights gathered round, but orders from the council passed down to the commanders have forbade them from entering en masse.
At the town’s edge, the flame knights used their abilities to slowly redirect the fire to the air and extinguish the most exterior buildings blocking the roads. A few knights have been sent in for reconnaissance, but they have not yet returned. Among those eager to enter was Helia, flanked by several shadows and Alfred, their black armors standing out grimly against the others, and the position they were in was isolated from the rest as the others avoided them.
The fire soared high, reflected, and made gleam bright Helia’s silver and gold armor. “Hmph, I say its time for us to enter the blaze ourselves, no use for us staying with this lot, after all the council’s commands are for the knights to stay and create a perimeter around the town, and we are not of them.” Said Helia. “The order was issued, and I still believe that it applies to yourself, as the enemy uses abilities and powers not fully known, danger is present.” Said Alfred, carrying a mace and his large shield. “Who are we to stray away from danger. And besides, there needs to be a fearless leader to venture forward, to lead the others, to be a beacon.” She responded.
"A beacon of inspiration?” Alfred asked, curiously. “I prefer a torch to lead all into the depths of doom.” She exclaimed proudly. “Was there any reason you sent the young captain into the town?” He asked. “His brother, the traitor was last seen around this town.” Helia responded. “Do you think he has some connection to this attack?” “No… No reason as of now anyway.” As she said those words, Helia thought to herself. ‘Heir of flame… An unbelievable and fantastical concept. But I can feel it, a distant fire…’ As she peered into the town, she could feel a red flame in the distance, as if it was calling out to her.
‘Sethan, he was eager as well… Did he feel the same flame, or was he certain his brother was within…’ “We’re going.” Helia said with a smile, standing up and walking past a line of knights who parted for her and the other shadows who followed. The knights who were keeping the citizens at bay, guarding the town’s perimeter, shouting, and receiving orders from each other, were silent, and cautious. As soon as Helia and the shadows passed and gained distance, the normal course of operation continued, though with a bead of sweat under everyone’s brows.
Deep within, near the center of the flaming labyrinthian remains of the town, Grisham turned around as Felkin slowly walked towards him, with Iris following close behind. ‘Huh. It looks a few of them had been removed from their links to me before they died.’ He wondered. Suddenly, Felkin’s extended blade whizzed through the air and swiftly shot towards Grisham. He blocked it with his left arm, before once again turning towards the two of them. A small cut formed on his forearm but quickly healed, Felkin’s sword bounced off and he recalled it back to its original size.
A wide grin formed on Grisham's face as his crazed stare confronted Felkin’s solemn gaze. “Just as fate ordained, we shall clash once more…” Grisham said excitedly. “Go help the others.” Said Felkin, gesturing towards Ellyn, Metas and Yuria. Ellyn stood over the weakened Yuria as she stared at Felkin in disbelief. “I’m going to unshackle you; from that corruption you call fate.” Said Felkin, pointing his sword towards Grisham.