General Arthur assigned a unit of guards to the catacombs before leading us through the tower. It was a truly massive structure. Easily capable of holding more than fifty or sixty thousand soldiers before the top half had been destroyed. Despite this, there was not a single square of free space anywhere inside the tower. There were more soldiers than I could even begin to count.
“These are not all Novus soldiers?” my father asked in surprise as he looked at the coat of arms on a nearby soldier.
The general nodded. “That’s right, I was about to have a glorious battle with the lads of the Exous Army when I saw the mist comin’. For once my wasted youth as a disciple of the church came in handy. I knew what the mist was, and more importantly, I knew the glyphs to keep my army safe. I modified a fog dispelling glyph into a long-term area protection glyph. It does not protect from damage, but it works wonders on the mist. Then, I made a truce with the Exous and we fled faster than Ciel nobility on the battlefield. Picked up a few others along the way too. By the time the mist caught up with us, the eight thousand I came with had grown to over thirty thousand. I got soldiers from nearly a dozen countries in this tower, and except for the Avari that showed up two days ago, they are all uninfected and itchin’ for a fight.”
Orias jumped up. “The Avari are here?”
“’bout three thousand of them, runnin’ like their tails were on fire. The harpy and her critters hot on their tail. If this tower had not been nearby, we would have been in a bit of trouble. They are on the third floor if ye want to see them.”
Orias asked for directions, then ran off to see the survivors for himself. General Arthur chuckled. “Good to see he’s doin’ well. Terrible thing, that business with his commander.”
Consumed by curiosity, I bounced up to General Arthur with my hands behind my back. “Is it true you have never lost a battle?”
“Oh! Ye must be little Wren. Ye look just like a miniature version of your mother way back when she first became my squire. Ye were just a tiny babe last time I visited. Hard to believe it seeing ye now.” General Arthur patted my head with a big smile as he talked. “Keep it a secret, but I have lost a few battles over the years. Nobody is truly undefeated. The trick is to turn defeat into future victory. Make them think they won, then turn on them when they least expect it. This way when ye report back to the capital ye can tell them it was a victory. They don’t need to know how it happened and all the little details that led up to the victory,” he said with a wink.
The general then turned to look at Charly, currently hiding behind my mom. He looked like he was doing everything in his power not to be seen by the general, but now that was impossible.
“Charly my boy, ye have grown so much I barely recognized ye. When are ye going to apply for the army? I’ve got a hundred knights who all want ye as their squire.”
“I- I am not going to join the army,” Charly said with a stutter.
“Not going to join? That would be such a waste! Even as a babe you were the best at drawing runes. You have a gift for it. You have to join! Renald, talk some sense into your boy.”
My dad shook his head. “You know he is not interested in serving the kingdom. It is his choice to make. I will not force him.”
“Bah! Fine, I will try an talk some sense into him later. For now, we will talk about more serious matters. That harpy out there is a true Demon. It’s something I never thought I would get to see. She can control the Demonkin without a word. Killin’ her isn’t going to be easy. It is only a matter of time before she smartens up and realizes throwing her critters against the wall is gettin’ her nowhere. Then, she will probably try an starve us out. Unless there is a way to eat Demonkin without it poisonin’ ye, we have four days’ worth of supplies. We have to attack before we run out, or we will only get weaker.”
My dad started counting on his fingers as we spoke, “We brought some supplies with us. They are currently with a few thousand civilians we are trying to escort out of the mist. Leaving them with enough to get out of the mist, there should still be enough food and water for a day or two at full rations. This many people could maybe last a week if everything is rationed properly.”
“Hah! Excellent! Even if she falls back and surrounds the tower, that harpy will still probably send of few Demonkin to harass us from time to time. Every day we delay is more time to thin their numbers. Every critter we kill from the safety of the walls is one less we have to fight when the real battle begins.”
“What if they find the catacombs?” my mom asked.
“That would be even better!” General Arthur replied with a laugh, “That staircase is too small for more than a single Demonkin to pass through at a time. If she tried to squeeze her army through there, we can bombard them easily. I don’t know why, but all the defenses in this place are all facing the center of the tower rather than outwards. They are all focused on that single room. It is the strangest thing I have ever seen. I wonder what was here that needed to be guarded like that.”
“Each of the four towers once held a doorway between realms,” I said, answering his dilemma, “Aurielle was more concerned about what came out of the doorways than what went into them.”
General Arthur looked at me with surprise. “Really? I don’t remember ever reading about that in the church records. It makes sense though. It is obvious this tower was extremely important a long time ago, but a doorway between realms. Now that is something else. Too bad it is gone now. I would have liked to have seen it. Without the doorway, this place is nothin’ more than a ruin with strong walls in the middle of nowhere. Ye are a knowledgeable little lass. Where did you learn so much about the Undead Queen?”
“Um…” I hesitated, regretting my sudden urge to blurt out the answer. I was so used to answering all of my family’s, and especially Donte’s, random questions about Aurielle. I did not think before answering this one.
It was actually Charly who spoke up, stepping out from behind my mom for the first time and saving me. “I told her about it. I always told her stories when she was sick, and when I ran out of interesting accounts from the church records, I would ask travelers for new tales and legends. I heard it from a merchant passing through the village.”
“I would like to meet such a merchant sometime,” General Arthur mumbled, “But regardless, it is not important for now. We need to get those supplies before anythin’ unexpected happens. Can I count on ye?”
“Of course, general!” my father replied with a salute.
We moved back through the catacombs. A few Novus soldiers at our heels just in case anything unexpected happened. It did not take us long to catch up with the civilians. They moved so slowly that it was almost painful to watch.
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My Dad started divvying up the supplies, unloading them off the wagons. We would leave those for the civilians to use. Only our wagon was an exception. My mom wanted it nearby in case of an emergency. She said it was always good to have a backup plan in case we had to make a quick escape.
Donte and I were working on unloading one of the wagons when we came across a soldier I had nearly forgotten about. It was Istvan, the sadistic soldier that strung us up when we were captured.
He had been infected for quite a while now and did not look good. He was not wearing his armor, and I could see the veins across his body had turned a blackish-red color, contrasting with his deathly pale skin.
The man was currently raving at a young woman that did not look much better than he did. The spittle from his mouth splattered at her as he shouted angrily. Before anyone could react, he slapped the woman hard across her face with enough force to throw her to the ground.
I wanted to get my mom or dad, but before I could, Donte moved. He stood in front of the terrified woman and glared at Istvan.
“What do you think you are doing?” Donte said with a growl.
“Get lost boy. This does not concern you.” Istvan replied, resting his hand on the hilt of his sword. “This woman insulted the Avari. As a noble, I must teach her a lesson.”
Donte did not back down from the threat. He drew his blade and pointed the tip towards Istvan. “That does not give you the right to hit her.”
“So what if I hit her? She is just a commoner. She should be happy I am bothering to educate her at all!” Istvan laughed as slapped Donte’s blade aside with his hand. With the ring of metal, he slowly drew his own sword. He stabbed the tip into the ground and leaned on the blade as he spoke, “You think that just because you follow the silver blades, you are a real knight? You want to protect her honor like some prince from a fairy tale. What a joke! You are nothing more than a brat that got lucky. Now, step aside before I hurt you. I have some more educating to do.”
“Not a chance! I am not letting you hurt anyone else!” Donte shouted. He held his sword firmly, but I could see the nervousness in his eyes as he stared up at the knight.
Istvan pulled his blade out of the dirt. Holding it loosely as he touched the edge to Donte’s blade. “Seems like you need to be taught a lesson as well. Fair enough, Orias is not around to stop me this time. Maybe when I cut off a couple of your limbs you will learn to show me the respect I deserve.
Despite being weakened by the corruption of the mist, Istvan’s blade still struck out like a flash of lightning. It was so fast; my eyes could barely see the blur of steel.
Donte was barely able to raise his blade in time to block the blow. He stumbled backwards from the force of the strike, nearly tripping due to the uneven ground.
Istvan laughed at the pathetic display of Donte trying to keep his footing. “How did someone like you ever become a squire? It is an insult to knights everywhere.” Istvan said with a mocking grin. He moved slowly as he closed the gap between the two of them.
Once again, Istvan’s blade flashed. The ring of metal echoed through the forest as Donte nearly lost his grip on his sword. He stumbled backwards again, his foot sinking in a patch of mud.
“Pathetic,” Istvan sneered, stepping forward to strike for a third time.
As Istvan took that step, Donte exploded with power. His innate talent whipped up a storm of wind that exploded in every direction. The wind tore at the ground and left deep grooves in the nearby trees.
Completely unprepared, Istvan was knocked back, sent flying by the force of the explosion. More than a dozen deep cuts appeared across his body. Blood flowed freely from the open wounds. He forced himself to one knee as he screamed in pain and rage.
Not giving Istvan time to react, Donte rushed forward. Pressing down on the purple gem, Donte’s sword shimmered and vanished. Before Istvan could stand up, Donte’s invisible blade stabbed towards him.
Istvan looked confused as sharp metal pierced through his shoulder and ripped open a large wound across his chest.
“You- You!” Istvan shouted as he was overcome with hatred. He roared like a beast as he ripped himself free of the invisible blade and jumped backwards. “I am going to kill you!”
Donte gritted his teeth as he charged towards Istvan again. The man smiled wickedly as Donte approached. His eyes glowed with an unnatural light as he activated his innate talent. His blade flashed forward.
Memories of the bloody explosion when that same power was used on Orias flashed through my mind. If Donte was hit with that…
“No!” I screamed, the power in my right eye flaring to life. The little blue flame roared furiously, and unlike normal, it did not shine a gentle light. Instead, a flame as small as a grain of rice shot from my eye. In an instant, the fire invaded Istvan’s body, passing through his clothes and skin.
A look of pure terror appeared on his face. His innate talent stopped working, and the blade that had been about to hit Donte fell still.
Donte’s blade stabbed through Istvan’s chest as he screamed in terror. He did not even notice he had been stabbed as he fell to the ground bleeding profusely. Donte stumbled backwards as blood spattered to the ground. The scream became a gurgle as more blood was coughed from his mouth. Finally, Istvan fell still. His face was a permanent mask of horror.
“I… I didn’t mean to…” Donte stuttered, “I thought he would block it.”
He looked down at the corpse of the once-proud man in shock. His bloody hands shook as he took a step backwards.