“FALL BACK!” a shout woke him up from the haze of carnage.
On instinct, Raven picked a direction and started cutting his way through it. He cut down demon after demon until there was none in front of him. He finally looked around. The wall was breached in several places; the Palai soldiers were all retreating to the inner city. He didn’t have time to admire the scenery, for there was an army of demons behind him. He ran forward. A group of demons crossed his path. A group of demons died by his blade.
“You will make a lovely pet indeed,” a female voice taunted him from above. He looked up. Kayleanne sat up on her griffon on one of the houses near him. She raised her eyebrows into a provocative look.
“Chop chop, you won’t make it to the gate if you don’t hurry,” she remarked poisonously. Raven dashed forward. A group of flying demons descended upon him. Raven cut whirled and slashed, but there was a lot of them and were careful about attacking him directly.
“MOVE IT!” a shout came from the gate.
“CLOSE THE GATE!” Raven shouted back.
The gate started falling down.
Raven unleashed his magic and the time stopped. All around him stopped moving. Raven sheathed his blade and walked through the gate. He unfroze time and the gate slammed down behind him.
“Do we want to hear the status?” Raven asked as they met for the morning meeting.
“No, but I shall say it anyway,” Li Mu smirked, “we are down to half of our men and lost access to storages in the outer city. On the plus side, we still have the brewery.”
“How was Kayleanne?” Lucas asked.
“Confident but careful, she could have attacked me but chose not to. She will not make any stupid mistakes,” Raven replied.
“Do we have an escape route?” Lucas asked coldly.
“The escape tunnels are sealed, but we have started unsealing them, they should be prepared by the sunset,” Li Mu revealed.
“With Kayleanne staying around the outer city, we won’t even make it to the mountains,“ Lucas evaluated.
“URGENT REPORT! A woman in blue stands in front of the gates and says she wants to talk,” a soldier rushed in.
“Akku, I’ve got a job for you,” Lucas turned to him. They talked in private for a few seconds. Akku left afterward. “Let’s go see what she wants,” he added.
It was as the man said, Kayleanne stood atop a house opposite of the gate.
“What do you desire, lady Kayleanne?” Li Mu opened up.
“Commander, I have nothing against the rest of you, so hand over Lucas and I shall let you all be,” Kayleanne proposed.
“There are plenty of fish in the sea; surely if you put some makeup on what you call your face, you can find yourself someone else… or you can buy yourself a dildo, whichever floats your boat,” Lucas shouted back.
“I don’t need him whole, you can just behead him yourselves and toss me the head,” Kayleanne countered.
“Well, it’s true that the head is the most pleasing part, but usually women give me the strongest references about the other half of the package,” Lucas replied.
“Master negotiator indeed,” Kayleanne smirked.
“AKKU!” Lucas shouted.
A ballista bolt flew out of the ramparts straight at Kayleanne. With breathtaking speed, Kayleanne drew her blade and cut the arrow in half. The dog dung attached to the arrow plashed all over her.
“Ewww… I don’t want to be rude, but you might consider using a perfume,” Lucas remarked.
“Alright, fine. I shall feed you all to my demons!”
The entire rampart burst out into laughter.
The fighting that day was especially fierce.
“BEHIND!” Akku thundered.
Raven whirled. Demons were flooding out from the keep. Raven dashed toward them and started cutting his way through them. More demons were flooding the inner square from one of the houses. Raven didn’t have time to wonder what happened. He just dove into the swarm.
This is strange. These demons clearly come from the escape tunnel, the one we were supposed to use to escape tonight. Why am I so calm? Is it because I believe we shall win? No, I am sure we will lose. There is nothing me or anyone can do to stop that from happening.
It’s because I trust Kayleanne. She said she would capture me instead of killing me. Somehow, that gives me peace. Why do I trust her so much?
“COVER THE FRONT!” Akku woke him up from his thoughts.
He looked around. Men were rushing in with the wounded soldiers.
Wasn’t there supposed to be the gate?
Raven stared at the hole in fortification where the gate used to be. Demons were pouring in. The sides of the wall showed signs of acid.
Right, they can melt through stone. Judging by the timing, it needs at least a day for them to be able to do it again. That means the keep shall fall in one or two days.
“I’ve got a nice collar for you; I think it will suit you just right,” Kayleanne woke him up from his thoughts. She held a bright pink collar in her hand as she was smirking at him from across the square.
“Not a chance,” Raven shouted back.
“Maybe I will put a bow over your head, pink one to match the collar… that would be a fitting match, wouldn’t it?” Kayleanne tossed up.
“GATE!” thundered from behind.
Right!
Raven froze time and retreated inside the keep, the gate slamming shut behind him.
“Amuse me, Li Mu, how fucked are we?” Lucas tossed up.
“Very. We are down to hundred and twenty men and restrained to the keep. We have no exit, we have no food supplies and, worst of all, we have no beer,” Li Mu evaluated, “anyway, the acid that melts away stone is apparently an ability of Ebilezerhar himself or one of his champions. It seems it needs a day before it the can be used again. Take a rest and get ready to fight the next day. I shall have the men prepare to collapse parts of the keeps, which shall buy us time.”
“How much time?” Raven asked.
“Tomorrow, we should manage without them reaching the wounded. The next day, we get everyone up on their feet and try to hold out for the last day,” Li Mu revealed.
The next day went exactly like Li Mu said.
“I shall keep this short. We are down to forty healthy men, six hundred and thirty men who are alive, but unable to fight and that’s it. We have lost most of the keep today; these four rooms are literally all there is. I am afraid that tomorrow shall be the last day of this siege. Get some rest, we expect an attack at dawn,” Li Mu summarized, “good luck,” he added and left.
Lucas relaxed down on the ground by the wall, “I will catch some sleep, wake me up before dawn.”
Raven and Zoey waited for him to fall asleep. It was disturbingly fast. Raven and Zoey followed his lead.
“So… what do we do? Dawn is almost here… I don’t feel like dying,” Zoey tossed up. She and Raven were awake. Neither of them could really sleep.
“I don’t know,” Raven sighed, “I actually don’t see a way out.”
“Didn’t Kayleanne say she won’t kill you?” Zoey tried.
“I am not sure I should trust her word,” Raven refused.
“Still, it might be worth a shot,” Zoey pressed.
“What do you think I should do?” Raven inquired.
“Surrender, apologize, be nice to her… lick her feet if you have to, just get out of here alive and tell her I was your prisoner,” Zoey suggested.
“That’s shameful at best,” Raven contested.
“Living in shame is better than dying before lunch,” Zoey countered, “plus pride is something you can always remake, life is not.”
“I don’t know,” Raven hesitated.
“You want to achieve something, don’t you,” Zoey pushed, “you won’t achieve or prove anything by dying here today.”
“What about Lucas and the others?” Raven asked.
“Lucas can make a run for it, he might succeed or he might not,
that’s up for him. I saw Li Mu setting up magical bombs around the keep; he will try to collapse the keep and hope at least someone survives under the rubble once the demons leave to pursue Lucas,” Zoey replied.
“Alright. I really don’t feel good about it, but it makes sense… I just hope she was kidding about that collar,” Raven agreed.
First rays of light appeared from the window. Zoey kicked Lucas to wake him up.
“Thanks,” he smirked and sat down. He took down his shirt and pants, then pulled heavy metal greaves and gauntlets from his dream pocket.
“Taking your running shoes?” Zoey pried.
“Something like that,” Lucas smiled warmly. He put on himself black heavy leather armor that matched the greaves and gauntlets.
“I guess I should also change… into something more prisoner-ish,” Zoey sighed and turned.
The door opened. Li Mu entered the room.
“Morning,” he greeted. They greeted him as well. Lucas got up to his feet and stretched.
“All prepared?” he asked Li Mu.
Of course, want to do the honors?” Li Mu answered and stretched out his hand, handing over a gloriously decorated horn.
Lucas pulled a golden cloak out of his dream pocked and threw it over his shoulders. He went to the window and looked into the dawn. Others also went to the windows.
“I feel like there is something that you forgot to tell us,” Zoey revealed.
“Perhaps.”
Lucas took a deep breath and blew the horn. The sound was loud and strong. It got completely swallowed in the screeching of the demons that were surrounding the keep.
“We need a bigger horn,” Li Mu smirked.
“No shit,” Lucas tossed the horn back to him. “Hold onto something,” he added.
“Wait, what the fuck happened?” Zoey shot fast.
Lucas ignored her and walked up on the small balcony. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour,” he whispered and took a deep breath. The world lost color.
Raven blinked, but it didn’t return. Out of nowhere, everything was just shades of black and white. I can’t move! Everything turned black. As if his eyes lost sight, all was devoured by darkness. He tried to speak but couldn’t. He tried to shake his head but couldn’t. He tried to blink again, but couldn’t. Suddenly his vision returned. A wave of tremors hit him. Like a pulse of pure power, it shot from Lucas. It threw Raven to the wall, shattered windows and cracked the stone walls. Raven fell on his feet. He could finally move again. Cold sweat covered him head to toe.
Lucas pulled a heavily decorated golden cloak and threw it over his shoulders. He put on a similarly decorated golden helmet and leaped off the balcony.
Raven looked at Zoey. She held her ears and her skin was deathly pale. She was clearly beyond terrified. He checked Li Mu, but he was the same. They stood in the destroyed room, but none of them managed to speak. “What the hell was that?” Raven managed to squeeze out of himself after what felt like an eternity.
“I don’t know,” Zoey breathed.
Li Mu opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out.
The air filled with sounds of horns and drums. Like under a soft earthquake, the tower started shaking. Raven walked to the balcony to look out. Outside, the demons were in an utter panic. The sunlight turned into shade. Thousands of arrows covered the sun. The demons shrieked as they sank into them. But demons weren’t what kept his gaze. Neither were it the thousands of archers who were firing from the edge of the mountains. It was the sea of red and gold that was flowing into the valley like a river from a broken dam. With an earthquake on their hooves, thousands of Palai knights were charging into the valley. The demons were trying to remake their formation. They didn’t have enough time. They were not prepared.
“I guess our surrender is postponed,” he smirked and threw an eye at Zoey.
Silently, she walked to him and looked as well. “Did you know about this?” she asked Li Mu.
“I apologize for deceiving you,” he smiled weakly.
“So… we were… the bait?” Raven inquired. The picture was finally putting itself together in his mind.
“Yes,” Li Mu smiled and joined them on the balcony. “There is no victory without sacrifice. While it pained me to sacrifice my own men, it is irrelevant in the face of our war. The 1st Legion shall recover, you and Lucas shall recover and Palai Order shall prevail.”
“How did you get the army through the mountains?” Zoey breathed in amazement.
“Thanks to your sisters. The archers you see by the side of the valley are mostly made of the very same Faye warriors who were supposed to stop our army from passing through the mountains.”
“What the hell did you give them, I mean, we aren’t exactly close to the demons, but I can’t imagine what could the Order offer Sibyl for her to agree to such treachery,” Zoey exhaled.
“I don’t know, the only thing I know is that the 3rd Legion struck an alliance with the northern Faye army on the very first day it arrived,” Li Mu stated.
“How do you know so much?” Zoey jabbed at the elephant in the room.
“I am the head strategist of the Order. I don’t know what Lucas did or didn’t tell you, but this has been our plan to remove Ebilezerhar and Kayleanne from the very start. This single act of power you see is the result of three years of machinations and preparations. Lucas didn’t lie to you when he said he’s out to kill the demon princes; he just kept the main part hidden to not endanger the plan,” Li Mu described, “I thank you for the part you have played. This is undoubtedly your success as well.”
For a long while, they just stood in silence and watched the carnage. Golden cloak of Lucas was blinking among the demons as he was teleporting from one enemy commander to another.
“Is there anything we are supposed to do?” Raven pried.
“See the cave over there,” Li Mu pointed toward the mountains, “wait for a couple of hours, then head out and fight your way there. Lucas shall meet you at the entrance, so you go in together to kill Ebilezerhar.”
“Then… what’s he actually doing right now?” they asked him in unison.
“Hunting down their officers. The cavalry shall crush all on the ground; the arrows shall clean up the sky. Their only chance is to organize themselves into a defensive formation within the city, but they shall not succeed without their officers. The battle of Vlatton shall indeed end today; it shall end with our total victory.”
I guess this is what it’s like to be a pawn in someone else’s game. Ah well, I promised I would see it until the end, so that’s what I shall do. When the time came, they headed out to the cave.
“Sup,” Lucas tossed up as he sat by the entrance to the caverns. Raven and Zoey just arrived, literally cutting their way here. The cave was surrounded by Palai soldiers who were guarding it so more demons couldn’t use it to escape.
“I have so many curses in my mind that I don’t know which one to use first,” Zoey admitted.
“Oh come on, it ain’t so bad,” Lucas smirked.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“It was more fun this way,” he revealed.
“I’m changing the one-week challenge into a one-month challenge, same rules,” Zoey breathed angrily, “I accept no complaints!”
“Come the fuck on! I haven’t even made it through two consecutive days, how am I supposed to last a month?” Lucas shouted.
“Your lack of discipline is your problem, not mine.”
“My discipline is fine, you are just being unreasonably demanding,” Lucas contested.
“Unreasonably demanding? I guess I should borrow one of Astril’s strapons and demonstrate your ass what the word demanding means,” Zoey sneered.
“Could we focus on the mission?” Raven interrupted them.
“I suppose,” Lucas sighed, “the caverns are mostly collapsed, the snake will dig his hole into his sanctum and hole up. We don’
t have any good plan. We just follow him and cut him in half.”
“Sounds good, what about his champions?” Raven asked.
“They are either just getting killed on the battlefield or shall be in the sanctum. I know it’s not optimal, but such is life.”
After a few hours of fast walk, they arrived at the sanctum. The core of it was a massive hall filled with statues.
“Before we go, promise me you won’t use my ability to look me up through the Dream World,” Zoey stated seriously.
“I promise,” Lucas confirmed, “why the sudden change of heart?”
“I want him to die. I have never wanted to kill anyone as much as I want to kill him now,” Zoey narrowed her eyes, “but I don’t want to fail my mission over it.”
“Look, Zoey, if I wanted to know who you are, it would have taken me at most a few hours to smash through all of your dream pocket defenses and find out,” Lucas remarked with an annoyed tone.
“Hmph,” Zoey grunted.
They walked through the sanctum toward the end of the massive hall.
“I was wondering who would you send to end me, Lucas; I am quite surprised to see you have come yourself,” Ebilezerhar stated as greeting from atop his throne.
“Cut the bullshit, Ebilezerhar,” Lucas breathed, “for I have come for your soul!”
“Your insolence truly knows no limits, traitor!” Ebilezerhar thundered. Pulse of magic exploded them from and all the statues in the great hall started moving.
“Got something to kill those?” Raven asked Lucas.
“Nope, you?”
“Nope.”
“I do,” Zoey joined in, “but not all of them.”
“Good, me and Raven go for the head, Zoey handles the statues,” Lucas laid out.
Lucas teleported to Ebilizerhar and stabbed his face. He evaded and spat out a ball of poison. Lucas teleported to his side and stabbed again. He withdrew the swing half way and leaped to the side as a massive stone fist hit where he was standing. Raven made it to Ebilezerhar. He swung wide and strong. Ebilezerhar leaped back, took a spear from behind the throne and stabbed at Raven’s feet. Raven slid by the strikes, stepped in to make a feint and spun. He hit Ebilezerhar with the shield and threw him into the wall. Stone statue stepped in front of him to protect him. Raven evaded the following strike from another statue.
Legacy of Death: Revenge (Legacy of Dreams Book 2) Page 48
