As we approach the village walls, I can already see the gates are closed. My sister has ruined my day.
Looking to Lieutenant Collins, “What now? I doubt they can move those gates in a minute.” And that is true, these gates are massive. They look simply, but these are larger and stronger than the gates on the Seat…well, at least they look that way. I can only imagine the Seat gates are reinforced in a way that some small village in the middle of nowhere can hope to obtain…but they are impressive.
“Yes, Princess. Sergeant Williams, can you throw us up on the walls?”
“Yes, sir.Shouldn’t be a problem.If everyone can get closer together…link arms as well.The weight is not a problem, I just don’t want to lose someone to the weakness of the edges.”
I can’t say this is the first time I have been tossed up a wall. Jergen was a talent when I was younger…although I suspect he just wanted to look up my dress. I do miss him.
The group quickly forms up and with a quick burst of air, they move up and settle on top of the wall. Startling a village guard standing by the tower wall, they begin their approach. The walls here are thick. I would say 75-80 men could stand side-by-side and still fit on to of the wall.
As we approach, the guard must have recognized the colors of the Seat, and quickly salutes to Lieutenant Collins.
“Sir, what are you…uhh…what can I do for you?” His stuttering is cute, but I really should get down the wall to a transit pad. I don’t think I need to be here.
“Where is your commanding officer? I have the young princess here on a small excursion, and we heard the bells.”
“Ah, yes sir. That would be Commander Willicks, he is at the back gate right now. Uh, but I guess Marshal Fellows is now the ranking officer here. He is is on the other side of tower, well…in the field on the other side of the tower. Sir.”
“Fellows and Willicks are both here.” I can hear the question in the Lieutenant’s mind. These two names are known amongst the military elite. Both trained the Seats guards, as well as most of the current militaries leaders. Why are both in some minor village in the fringe.
“Stay here, I don’t want to take you away from your duties guarding the village. We will just slip through the tower to the observation point on the other side.”
“Yes, sir. The bear is there sir. Don’t be alarmed. At least, I don’t think so, we are evacuating the village because the bell rang, but I am not sure what is happening. I just know that I am to wait 15 minutes after the bell, and move to the transit pads.”
“Thank you…Entry…we will be leaving then.”
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“Entry Bolsom, sir. Good luck, sir.”
We move by the Entry and quickly make our way to the other side of the tower. Even the tower internals are impressive. Duke Qual has invested heavily in this village. I wonder if this “bear” is part of the reason why.
As we move back into the light on the other side of the tower, I move over to the crenellations on the outside of the wall. Below me is a light bear, sitting across from a commoner child…who is currently talking with another commoner…they are hugging, so probably his father. I can see the Marshall, he is standing 10m away or so. There is a scout whispering in his ear as well.
“Lieutenant, can we hear was is going on?”
“No, Princess, this was to be a visual-only trip.”
“Yes, that makes some sense, I guess.”
At this point I note the movement in the surrounding woods and several men come running out on the edges of the field and head straight towards the Marshall.
I can then hear the thumping drum of a large beast following them.
Thirty seconds after the men come out of the woods a massive earth boar comes flying through the trees. The eyes are clouded with brown essence. In fact, his entire body is sourcing a visual waterfall of essence down his body onto the ground. As a light Weak, I don’t usually see other essences....unless it’s a Strong, and it’s heavily channelling the essence.
I need to get out, I need to get out of here now. These walls are thick, but this is an old boar, with deep connections. The village would probably survive if the walls were reinforced with earth Parities, but they were evacuating the village. The walls will eventually fall.
It’s at that point, the bear turns towards the boar. And now I see it. The bear, the light bear, he is not disturbing the light essence. He is part of the essence. He is an Avatar of light. It all makes sense now. My sister somehow caught wind of the bear. The child, must be important…for an Avatar to meet the child, this child must be powerful as well…and the boar…an earth boar…the child has multiple essences? I don’t know, but if this child grows up…he can overthrow everything my family has done to cement power in the region. He can’t be controlled…not with an Avatar bear of light hanging around. If we control his family, we might be able to control him, but his power is off the charts…it can’t be done. We control the Strongs, but what is a Strong to him. We will lose power regardless. If we wait and attack later, the people will see us for the tyrants we are, and move to overthrow. If we attack and fail, it will just show us as weak. The nobility will flock behind him. I can’t let that happen.
We are currently in an isolated village…a village that is being evacuated due to a Strong. If a commoner boy dies, its just another day in the Seat.
“Sergeant Williams, kill the boy.”
“Princess?”
“Sergeant Williams, did I stutter? That boy is about to become more dangerous than the entirety of every beast in this uncivilized forest. Lieutenant Merles, snap the emergency staff. We will need OUR people here to recover from this awful attack.”
In the meantime, the boar has stopped running. Panting with a lethargic look on its face, he begins to stroll slowly over to the bear and the boy. The father lifts the boy up and moves him to stand between himself and the boy. At the same time, Sergeant Williams’s wind blade moves through where the boy was…a diagonal cut meant to slice the boy in half from shoulder to waist…now, just the tip connects with the father. His head separated from his body, followed by a fountain of blood.
There is pause, as the body loses its strength. The boy drops back to the ground, splattered with blood. I can’t see his face. Soon, the bear, the boar, and the Marshall all look up to where the wind blade came from. They are look at me.
“Sergeant Williams, you missed! Again! He is out in the open!”
But Sergeant Williams can’t try again. His head is gone. There is nothing but burning flesh where it used to be.
I need to find someone else, and as I think of alternatives, I can hear the scream of seven year-old boy. It’s all I can hear. It grows in volume, louder and louder, to the point I need to cover my ears…and then it is joined by other voices. All of them are screaming. The sound is no longer coming into my ears, it’s everything, my body, my soul, and my essence. The whole world is screaming.
Lieutenant Collins is on his knees, blood pouring from his eyes and mouth. I turn and see Lieutenant Merles catatonic on the ground, the broken staff rolling along the ground.
This is the last thing I see as the world around me turns bright.