by E E Ewer
Lucian re-emerged behind Alastor as he paced back and forth, and stood quietly for a moment assessing his friend’s composition.
“How much time do we have?” Alastor asked without looking up.
“’Till six at best, but we will have to be waiting for them well outside the city walls,” The Lord of Shadows stated calmly.
“So… five hours to finish the preparations and city defense. Wonderful.” The sarcasm in the Captain’s voice could not be missed.
“He is prepared for a fight,” Lucian said, “but not an organized defense. He expects to lay siege and take an easy victory over the chaos he supposes Eastcastle is still in, but his troops are not prepared to be met on the field.” His voice was low and composed, but Alastor still seemed concerned. “He is not organized enough to pull this off with my army standing in his way,” The Demon Lord said with certainty.
Alastor stopped his pacing at directed his gaze to Lucian. “That may be, but if his troops should manage to breach the city walls there is no telling how much damage they could cause,” he said. “Those men are not trained to spare lives.”
Lucian’s gaze darkened. He was well aware of the danger that was approaching the city, but there were not many options at his disposal. As the night droned on the city defenses were put into place, and residents were warned to remain barricaded in their homes. His attention turned for a moment to the brown haired girl fast asleep in his chambers. The largest concern he faced was not the breaching of the city walls, but the castle walls.
Just before the ethereal clock chimed 5, the Lord of Shadows mounted his war rathe and led his legions out of the city, to meet the Lord of the South in his advance. Only a few miles from the gates the Southern army could be seen as they marched over the hills with torches lit in the darkness. The Eastern army was dark, however, wanting to remain unnoticed until the last possible moment.
As the Southern army drew closer Lucian cloaked his legions in shadows, obscuring them from sight. Azael would likely not see them until his army was practically on top of them. The Eastern army waited in silence as the torches in the distance grew larger.
As the Southern soldiers drew close, the veil of shadow subsided. Lord Azael found himself standing only yards from the entire Eastern army, staring directly into the eyes of the Lord of Shadows himself. Alastor stood mounted to the left of the demon Lord, and his Commanders at the lead of each 40 Legions. All was silent as the two Lords stepped forward.
“Lucian,” the Lord of the South began, “you have rejoined us!” Azael said with a large gesture and sinister smile.
“I have indeed,” Lucian responded flatly. “And to what, might I ask, do we owe the honor of your presence?” The facades held by the two demons were completely transparent, and yet somehow still seemed necessary.
“As I understood it, the East was in turmoil with your sudden disappearance into oblivion, my Lord. I simply came with the intention to restore order,” the red demon explained.
“Is that so?” Lucian asked sarcastically. “Then why are you in need of such a massive company?” the Dark Lord asked, gesturing to the many legions behind Azael.
“Simply for security, my Lord,” the red demon smiled and made a slight bow. Lucian remained motionless. “Now that you have returned, however, I see there is no need for my presence.”
“No indeed.”
Azael was backing down, but it was useless. Lucian was more than prepared, and upon finding a solution to his previous problem, was completely intent on removing Azael permanently. He knew he could easily walk away and fight the battle at a time less delicate, but his mind was made up. Azael had marched on his quadrant and he would not be allowed to leave alive.
“Then if all is well, My Lord, I will take my men back to the South,” the demon announced as he prepared to turn his mount.
“Azael?” Lucian called to the other, his voice steady and filled with intent. Alastor jolted at the tone and realized that his Lord was not going to allow the current political situation to continue any further. The red demon turned his head and there was a clear sense of unease on his face. Lucian’s eyes shone in the moonless night, and his face was dark with intent.
A smile crept across his lips.
“I’m afraid I cannot allow this to continue any longer, old friend,” he stated ominously.
“Lucian,” Azael began in defense. The shadows began to close in around his men, and scattered screams could be heard as some were swallowed by the darkness. His nervous expression quickly turned to a scowl as he pulled his sword from its sheath and roared, urging his mount and his army forward.
Azael’s sword burned in his hand, and it was as if the blade itself had been imbued with fire as he charged on the East. The Lord of Shadows commanded his army forward, and Alastor shouted orders behind him. Lucian’s shadows continued to creep along the edges of the Southern army in an attempt to contain the damage. The men feared entering them, and rightly so.
Azael headed directly for Lucian. “I should have killed you ages ago!” he roared as he swung his blade.
Lucian moved through the darkness and reappeared behind the black horned demon. If he could keep Azael busy without getting hit, they stood a better chance of containing the battle outside the city walls. With such little time to prepare, and no time at all to call extra troops, the Southern army was much larger than his. They could easily slip away from the fighting and find their way to the less dangerous and more susceptible target that lie only a few miles behind them.
Lucian dodged Azael’s every attempt at striking him, but had not moved to strike back. His attention was far too divided between commanding the darkness around them and moving within it, and he did not need to end Azael just yet. His legions roared forward and merged completely with the Southern army. As the battle intensified it became difficult to maintain concentration, and Azael finally landed a blow just off his shoulder.
Damn, Lucian thought, as he withdrew his shadows to focus on the now more urgent problem. He had known he wouldn’t be able to keep it up for long, but a blow from Azael’s sword would require immediate attention. He focused his energy on the wound to lessen the damage.
Nire sat straight up in bed and grabbed the moth pendant that lay on her chest. In her sleep she had felt it pulse, and something about that made her heart feel as though someone were squeezing it. A distant sound drew her attention to the balcony, and she hurried out of bed and rushed to the doors. Opening the heavy frames, she moved quickly across the balcony and leaned out towards the calamity in the distance.
Her attention was then caught by dark figures running through the courtyards and across the walls surrounding the castle. The sound of a door opening inside caused her to turn quickly.
“Nire!” Margery shouted into the room.
She came back through the balcony doors to find Margery searching frantically. “I’m here!” she shouted. “What’s going on?”
“The city walls have been breached. The guards are pulling back to defend the castle,” Margery told her frantically.
“What?” Nire asked in shock. The sudden emergence of a dim light behind her stopped her thoughts, and she spun around. The sun was creeping over the horizon, washing the Realm in an orange light. “Marge…,” Nire said, “why is the sun rising?”
“He needs to pull his energy back. Everything that he controls takes energy and concentration. Keeping the sun at bay was probably taking too many of his resources.”
“What does that mean, Marge? That he’s… losing?” Nire’s face was crossed with worry.
“No, not necessarily. He is using a great deal of energy and cannot afford to expend it elsewhere at the moment,” Marge said, hoping she was right. It could very well mean what Nire suggested, but losing to Azael was not something Margery could easily imagine.
“What are we going to do?” Nire asked nervously.
“We are going to stay here,” Marge instructed, pointing directly at the floor.
The rising sun broke one of Lucian’s main defenses. With light flooding the realm he no longer had concealed access to the Southern troops and his shadows were heavily restricted. Azael laughed loudly at the rising sun and took it as a sign his opponent was weakening.
Lucian was unaware that the city walls had been breached by a single legion from the South, which had managed to break around his troops in the increasing light of day and escape his shadow barrier. The castle guards and a single legion stood between the Southern troops and Eastcastle. As the city guards fought to protect the citizens, five Elders stood at the front of the legion at the castle gates and prepared to defend it with their lives.
The sun had nearly reached the top of the sky and there had been no break in the fighting. Lucian was finding it difficult to allow his attention to be divided, but refused to allow his consciousness to diverge completely from the shadows that filled his quarters in Eastcastle. Until the battle was over, he needed to be sure at all times that Nire was there, and safe.
The Lord of Shadows faltered under another blow from Azael’s powerful blade. The red demon taunted him, but Lucian still refrained from striking. Azael was growing weary, and Lucian planned on taking advantage of that. In order to attack Azael, he would need his full consciousness at his disposal, leaving Nire completely alone.
It was difficult to gauge the battle in the midday sun. Azael had started fires in the fields, and with each swipe of his blade more sparks descended to the heavily vegetated ground. He had few shadows to see from, but all things considered the battle seemed to be weighing in his favor. As soon as he could get clear evidence of the East’s advantage, he would pull his consciousness from Eastcastle and attack Azael.
The sun moved in the sky and the shadows broadened. His troops now had a clear advantage on the field, and any member of the Southern army foolish enough to not watch their footing would get their feet caught in any shadow they stepped in. Just as he was about to pool his consciousness to strike, he felt something was terribly wrong. Nire was no longer in his chambers. He flashed his mind through the shadows of Eastcastle, and suffered a powerful blow from Azael as a consequence.
He had not been able to see Nire, but he had seen numerous Southern soldiers as they moved through the castle. He couldn’t look for Nire and dodge Azael at the same time, and while it was dangerous to leave him unattended to, he needed to find Nire.
The moth flew rapidly through the service halls and Nire followed closely behind it. A handful of Southern soldiers had made it passed the guards to the East Wing and had been at the doors of Lucian’s chambers. With no other options, Marge had shoved Nire through the service doors and locked them behind her despite Nire’s protests to stay in the room as she was instructed.
In her panic the moth pendant had come to life and bombarded Nire until she turned to follow it. She had no idea where it was leading her until she heard that familiar sound of dripping water. The Depths … she thought. She hated the idea of going down there alone, but remembering Lucian’s last words to her, she swallowed her fear and followed the moth deeper and deeper without hesitation.
Lucian found Margery on the floor of his chambers and slaughtered the five soldiers who had managed to break through the door. “Nire!” his voice boomed. Margery was alive, but unconscious, and the Lord of Shadows stormed out the doors in search of his human.
He easily removed the heads of any Southern soldiers he came across, and found his troops regrouping in the North Wing in search of the men who had escaped them.
“Nire is missing!” he shouted, making his presence suddenly known. “FIND HER!” he roared at his men. Exchanging glances, they all turned and rushed through the hallways in search of the human girl.
Lucian found it increasingly difficult to focus what little energy he had left on the shadows in search of Nire. Stray soldiers were still crawling through the castle and causing a great deal of damage with whatever they came into contact with. The residents were in a complete state of panic.
Back on the front, in Lucian’s absence, Lord Azael was regrouping his men and preparing to lay siege on Eastcastle.
Chapter 16
Table of Contents
As the chaos in Eastcastle had Lucian frantically trying to find Nire, he could tell that Azael was growing as a threat the longer he was away. Pushing his way through the halls as residents ran to find safer areas, he suddenly felt a presence deep within himself. Nire… he thought as the living darkness of the depths surrounded her small frame.
Suddenly aware of what had happened, Lucian darted towards a shadow as it lengthened along the wall. The sun was nearing the horizon and he would soon have the advantage of darkness.
A large portion of the Southern army forced its way through the gates and rampaged through the city. In Lucian’s absence, Azael’s troops had massacred thousands of the Eastern soldiers and pushed forward to Eastcastle. The sun sank lower, and Azael knew he couldn’t afford to allow the battle to continue into the night.
Reaching the castle gates, Lucian’s troops had reorganized at the front and attempted to push back the Southern advance. Azael removed the Elders one by one, and his troops slowly pushed forward toward the gates. Lucian was biding his time. If his men could just hold them off until the sun set, that was all he would need.
Focusing every last ounce of his strength Lucian forced the sun lower. The change did not go unnoticed by the Lord of the South, who angrily urged his troops forward. The Eastern troops were falling back, and the first of Azael’s men pushed through the gates of Eastcastle. His men outnumbered those of the East, and a grin spread across the red demons face as they began to take the castle. With daylight still in the sky, Lucian couldn’t outmatch both him and his soldiers.
The Lord of Shadows strained. He had been severely wounded by the final blow he had received as Nire disappeared. With his energy focused elsewhere it became increasingly difficult to maintain himself. Just a little further… Relaxing his mind, he felt Nire as she sat alone in the depths. Nire…
Lord Azael’s grin dropped as the sun suddenly dropped from sight. Darkness swept over the realm and the shadows consumed his soldiers as they tried desperately to flee. “NO!” he roared at the sudden panic amongst his men that allowed what remained of the Eastern army to take the advantage.
Soldiers were pulled into the shadows left and right, their horrified screams being cut off almost instantly. Lord Azael turned to see Lucian standing before him, and a look a horror spread across his fierce features.
“Do you remember, Azael?” Lucian’s voice rang through the darkness.
“What?!” the Southern Lord shouted in return.
“All those many years ago,” Lucian said, “the day you slaughtered an entire population of your own people.” His voice echoed in the demon’s ears as he finally divulged what he knew.
“What? What are you talking about?” Azael demanded.
“And the girl who survived, the one you murdered 14 years later,” Lucian continued. Panic spread across the red demon’s face. “Do you remember this, Azael?”
Azael was still and silent as his men fell before him.
“And the girl, the one you claimed you didn’t have, when I paid you such an unexpected visit,” Lucian said.
Sudden realization shot through Southern Lord’s green eyes.
“You are a disgrace to your brothers, Azael. You have betrayed me numerous times and with that you have betrayed us all. Do you even remember the Great Wars? How is it we came to be such enemies?” Lucian asked in earnest.
“I!” shouted the red demon. “I have betrayed you? We fought side by side for centuries, we are brothers Lucian! And here in this new world we have created you have forgotten … What … We … Are!” he scolded.
Anger boiled deep within Lucian’s chest. “What we are, brother, is eternal! And eternity cannot exist without change! Is that not what we strived to do from the beginning? Change? Did you think it would only apply to your
circumstances and not to you? We destroyed that world to create a new one, and you would bring this one to destruction for your own gain!”
Azael began to laugh. “You can preach change all you want Lucian, but you can never change what you are! And you are the worst in us all. Lord of Shadows! My brother, I may seed the flames of destruction, BUT YOU ARE THE DARKNESS THAT FILLS THE SOULS OF THE DAMNED!” He roared his last words with a fierce and horrible truth as the angry shadows engulfed him.
The thick darkness retreated almost instantly and Lucian fell to the ground. Alastor ran to his side and placed his hands on his friend’s shoulders. “Lucian!” he shouted.
“Do not worry, my friend, I am well,” he reassured the lion headed demon. His face was wrought with exhaustion as he looked to meet Alastor’s gaze.
“You’re injured,” Alastor began.
“Yes, but I will be fine.” Lucian’s breath was heavy and labored. “I must go now.”
“Go?” the Elder asked in confusion.
“Yes, Nire is in the depths.”
The lions face dropped to a look for horror. “She’s been there the entire time?” he asked.
“Yes, unfortunately it was the only place she would be safe,” Lucian said.
“Safe from Azael!” Alastor roared, “but what of you? You just consumed Azael and more than half his army into shadow and you let her bare witness to it all? She is only human Lucian!” Alastor scolded his friend out of concern, but Lucian was well aware of what he had done.
“Yes, I know. And that is why I must go…” Lucian fought to stand, and his friend braced him.
“Can you get there yourself, or do you need my help?” Alastor asked.
“Ah…” Lucian thought for a moment, gazing at the starry sky. “Help me to a dark shadow, and then I will be able to get there on my own.”
