Murmurs could be heard throughout the large crowd, but the Alacryans didn’t stop it. They let the chatter and hesitance amongst the crowd grow until finally the woman on the pedestal let out a sigh.
She only let out a sigh, but I could hear it as if she were next to me in a quiet room.
She used earth magic to raise that stone pillar, and she’s been manipulating sound to spread her voice. How powerful is she? I couldn’t help but doubt what I had learned. In the face of someone capable of not only manipulating multiple elements, but also being a deviant like myself, I began to wonder how many mages as powerful as this person, or even more, existed amongst the Alacryans.
“Your disbelief is reasonable, and what I say or do here will only fan the flames of doubt growing within you. This is nature, and this is why we had to do what we did. Because of stubbornness, because of pride, because of greed, and because of doubt, peace can only be achieved through war,” she said solemnly. “You may feel like prisoners of a defeated country now, but I assure you that as time passes you all will feel like a part of something bigger, a citizen of a godly kingdom.”
“My name is Lyra Dreide. Today, I have stood above you as victor of this war, but I pray that the next time we meet, it will be as equals, and as friends.”
The Alacryan’s words lingered like a sweet candy after medicine. She didn’t just stop there; she then raised the stone pillar even higher and gently pulled the bodies of my parents and the king and queen of Sapin from the black spikes.
After setting them down one by one on the ground, she created a pit around their bodies before conjuring a flame in her hand.
“Our sovereign has decreed today, the twenty-fith sundown of Spring, as the day of rebirth.” In a single motion, she lit the pit on fire.
I pressed my hands over my mouth, physically restraining myself from screaming as I watched the flames burn higher. The thought of not even being able to properly send off my parents clawed at my insides making it harder to control my raging beast will.
“This is not a time for mourning and reflection of the past. Today is the start of a—”
The Alacryan’s speech was cut short.
It was then that I felt the subtle shift in the air.
My hair stood on its end, and I could feel the primal instincts of the elderwood guardian inside me tremble. Every fiber of my body told me I should get out of here.
I watched the bright flames dance in the pit as if mocking me. Rage and indignation bubbled in the pit of my stomach but I knew it was too late.
Biting my lower lip, I took one last look at the Alacryan named Lyra Dreide. I knew she wasn’t the one responsible for those black spikes that had killed Kathyln’s and my parents, but I wouldn’t forget her.
I found the Alacryan talking to a figure that wasn’t there before. With short black hair and a rather thin body frame, I swore I recognized him but he had his back turned toward me. Regardless, my body screamed at me to run away the moment my gaze turned toward the familiar man, and with how much was at stake, I followed my instincts.
Staying low, I weaved through the forlorn crowd, burying my own feelings from getting in my way. Wiping the tears from my face, I headed towards the buildings in the hopes that I’d be able to squeeze through the alleyway to escape.
There were two Alacryan soldiers guarding the path that I had come from. It would’ve been smarter to wait for at least one of them to leave, but behind me, I could feel the threatening presence growing closer.
Barely able to think over the sound of my own heart trying to break out of my ribcage, I ran past the Alacryan guards, blasting both with a gale of wind.
However, unlike the guards I had first met upon arriving through the gate, these Alacryans seemed ready.
The female guard to my right repelled my attack with her own blast of wind while the male guard to my left had managed to anchor himself to the ground, his entire body covered in reptilian scales made of stone.
The earth mage swung his arms, launching a barrage of the stone scales covering his body while the female guard sent a gale of wind from above, pushing me down to my knees.
With no choice and little time, I ignited my beast will and shrouded myself in the protective green aura of the elderwood guardian.
The stone scales were repelled and the wind had become manageable. Conjuring a translucent vine of mana in either direction, I killed the wind mage and injured the earth mage before running off.
Despite my victory, the dread in my heart grew. The threatening presence that made me fear for my life followed behind me like a shadow even as I reached the outskirts of the city. My first plan had been to try and make it back to the gate that I had crossed from, but even from a distance I could already see Alacryans heavily guarding all three gates of Etistin.
“Damn it,” I cursed under my breath. I leaped off from the building I was on top of and made my way towards the southwestern border of Etistin.
The closest city with a teleportation gate was Telmore city, which was just off the western coast. If I could make it there and use the medallion, I could still make it back to the refuge shelter. What worried me, however, was that the Alacryans would expect this.
With that in mind, I didn’t go directly to Telmore, but made my way toward the shore that the last major battle had occurred in. From what I’ve heard, General Varay had managed to build a massive field of ice off of the Etistin bay shore. This was the battle that both General Varay and Arthur had participated in. I wanted to see the spectacle for myself, and hopefully find some help.
After hours of nonstop running with wind magic through hills and dense arrays of trees, the sky had turned a deep orange from the setting sun. I knew I wasn’t too far from the coast, but I needed to rest.
I’ll head to the coast in a few hours and see if there are still any Dicathen soldiers still in the area. I didn’t believe the Alacryan named Lyra. There had to be soldiers on our side still fighting out there.
My mana-enhanced senses picked up on the slightest movement, making me stop mid-step. I knew as soon as I did that, that I had made a mistake. I shouldn’t have made it known that I could sense someone.
“Get on your knees and show your back.” a clear and authoritative voice rang from my right.
I immediately got on my knees and lifted up the bottom of my tunic to reveal my lower and mid-back.
“Clear,” a deep voice grunted from behind me.
Suddenly, a figure walked slowly into my line of sight, her hands held over her head in a sign of peace. She was thin and a head shorter than me, but her weathered face and toned body told me not to judge too quickly. Her expression was knitted into a suspicious scowl as she studied me.
After taking another few steps, she turned around slowly and removed her leather vest and lifted her shirt, revealing a tanned but otherwise clear back without the markings that Alacryan mages had.
She turned back around but kept her distance.
“Nod for yes, shake for no. Are you alone?” she asked quietly, her gaze constantly flitting left and right.
I nodded.
“Okay,” she replied, walking closer and stretching out her hand. “I am—was the head of the third vanguard unit. You can call me Madam Astera. What is your name?”
Looking around uncomfortably, I leaned in close and whispered. “Tessia Eralith.”
Madam Astera, who looked a few years older than my mother, flinched and she looked at me carefully before her eyes widened.
It only took a second for her to regain her composure and send me a nod. “We’ll talk later.”
With a quick gesture of her hand, I could hear several pairs of feet shuffling closer until her entire group joined us.
“We’re going back to our base,” she said, her voice barely above a w
hisper.
The rest nodded and I found myself trailing right behind Madam Astera.
“Are you all Dicathen soldiers?” I asked, catching up to her.
She nodded in reply, her head constantly moving, watching out for something amiss.
“How many of you are there?” I continued, making sure to keep my voice low.
Madam Astera shot me a cold glance. “You’ll see soon enough, Princess. For now we need to keep moving.”
I bit my lip, frustrated at her lack of proper response. “I’m on my way down to Telmore City. If we can rally up more soldiers from the battle of Etistin bay shore, then I can take—”
“Rally?” Madam Astera cut off, her gaze sharper than a dagger. She let out a sigh and held up a hand above her head.
The other Dicathians around us stopped in their position, most hidden behind trees, some crouched in shrubs and hollow logs.
“Follow me,” she muttered, climbing the steep hill that we had been at the base of.
I followed after her, using the jutting roots and rocks as footholds. Madam Astera got to the top first and I saw her looking out, her expression solemn. Finally reaching the top, my eyes looked up, taking in the sight of the setting sun. It was when my gaze dropped further down that I felt the blood drain from my face. From the twisting knot in my stomach to my trembling knees on the verge of collapsing, my entire body reacted to the sight as a sharp gasp escaped my throat.
Out on the Etistin bay shore, where one of the last large-scale battles had occurred, the icefield that I could only assume had once been white, had been turned into a traumatic scene.
Blood—so much blood—dyed the ice varying shades of red, from light pink, all the way to a deep maroon where I could see scores of corpses. Scattered amidst the field of red were eerily dark flames that looked more like smoke, and the same obsidian spikes that had killed my parents.
“Princess. You asked if we could rally more soldiers…” Madam Astera breathed. “I don’t think there are any more soldiers to rally. At least not here.”
Chapter 245: Walking Catastrophe
“She really is a princess,” the balding bear of a man named Herrick muttered in a deep voice as he studied me intently.
“You’re making her uncomfortable you big oaf,” the girl called Nyphia berated.
“Sorry… I’ve just never seen a real princess before,” Herrick mumbled.
I held back a smile as I watched the two bicker before my eyes shifted to Madam Astera. She was talking to a thinner man—not much older than me—huddled over, hugging his knees as his entire body trembled. Jast had been here since we arrived, and judging by the condition he was in, I knew why; the guy was a mess.
Jast hadn’t said a word since we arrived, only muttering a string of incoherent words as he rocked back and forth.
“He had it the worst,” Nyphia commented, her steeled expression softening as she watched him. “He watched his entire unit slaughter each other in front of him.”
“Slaughter…each other?” I echoed, horrified.
Nyphia leaned close and whispered, “Yup. Even the girl we all knew he was ‘secretly’ dating.”
“Nyphia,” Madam Astera said, her voice sharp.
At the mention of her name, Nyphia’s body stiffened. “My apologies, Madam Astera.”
I watched as Nyphia scooted back over to where she was normally sitting. I found myself staring at her and Herrick, their bodies barely visible over the dim light artifact between us. While not as blatantly obvious as Jast’s state of mind, both Herrick and Nyphia were riddled with injuries.
Most notably, Herrick was missing his left hand, and by the blood spreading even over the thick bandages wrapped around his wrist, I could tell that the wound was fairly recent. Nyphia didn’t seem to have any injuries aside from the bloody gash running down the side of her face, but every time she moved her body, she would wince ever so slightly.
I felt a knot in my chest looking at them. On one hand, I pitied the state they were in, but on the other hand, I admired the fact that they were still able to smile despite their situation.
After Jast had fallen asleep with his head buried in his knees, Madam Astera walked over to the back of the cave where we were sitting around a dim light artifact.
She sat across from me, her gaze boring holes into my very soul. Both Nyphia and Herrick had stopped talking and it seemed like minutes until Madam Astera spoke again, and when she did, it wasn’t what I had expected her to say.
“F*ck!” she cursed, pounding the hard ground with her fist.
Nyphia, Herrick, and I were all taken aback by her sudden outburst. Combing back her bangs with her fingers, she stared at me and let out a sigh. “It doesn’t bode well to see you out here, Princess.”
That’s when I realized the reason for her outburst. I wasn’t hurt, but I was running away in disguise. My very presence all the way out here meant that something was very wrong, and she couldn’t have been more right.
I nodded. “You’re right, it doesn’t. But before I explain the situation out there, can you tell me what happened? To my knowledge, we were winning the battle at the Etistin bay shore.”
“We were and we weren’t,” she said cryptically. “My knowledge is filled with gaps since my unit was positioned towards the outskirts of the battle, but I’ll explain to the best of my abilities.”
And so, she told me what had happened while the rest of us silently listened.
The Bloodfrost Battle is what the soldiers had dubbed the massacre that occurred at the Etistin bay shore. During the time General Varay and Arthur were there, the battle was one-sided—Alacrya didn’t seem to have a chance. But as the battle progressed, it became more and more obvious that something was off.
The enemy soldiers threw themselves into battle without formation, fled or even begged for their lives, and sometimes, they’d even see soldiers sacrifice their comrades to save themselves.
Despite all of this, the higher ups continued the order to push forward. They wanted to take over the Alacryan ships docked at the other end of the ice field.
It was on the third day that the situation flipped. Madam Astera couldn’t tell me exactly how it had started, but it was when the new vanguard line that was supposed to relieve the current frontline’s position didn’t arrive that the soldiers knew something was wrong.
Then, Alacryan soldiers—actual soldiers in formation and tight teams that clearly knew what they were doing—came from behind. The majority of the Dicathen forces that were on the field were now suddenly pincered, and everyone could see the battle occurring above us in the sky.
General Varay was fighting an enemy capable of holding his own against the strongest lance. The Dicathen forces held strong though, and the reserves that had been fighting against the real Alacryan soldiers were slowly regaining their footing after their initial surprise.
Despite the major setback, once Lance Mica joined the battle, the Dicathians were hopeful to come out of this battle victorious… that was, until that man arrived.
Madam Astera’s expression darkened as she continued speaking, both Nyphia and Herrick trembling just at the mention of that person.
With the arrival of this new figure, the already-bloody battle had turned into a scene of hell. Scores of obsidian spikes shot out from the ground, skewering allies and enemies alike. Clouds of murky gray mist slowly spread, rendering affected troops into deranged monsters that attacked our own. But the worst were the black flames enveloping entire units of soldiers and growing larger despite the entire ground made of ice. In its wake laid only blood and soot.
It was just one man, but it was more accurate to call him a walking catastrophe. It only took several hours for the battle to be rendered into a graveyard.
�
��H-How did you guys survive that?” I asked, my voice coming out hoarse and shaken.
“Because the black fires, spikes, and smoke weren’t aimed but just spread randomly, Dicathians and Alacryans alike were affected. Those that hadn’t died from that deadly magic were able to escape since even the Alacryans were in a state of chaos,” Madam Astera explained, her gaze falling on where Herrick and Nyphia were. “There are definitely other survivors hiding out here if they hadn’t already gotten caught and captured, which is why we’ve been going on these runs—we’ve been trying to find more allies.”
“We found Jast as he was getting attacked and saved him yesterday,” she continued, taking a quick glance back at the sleeping teen curled into a ball before turning to us. “These two are what’s left of my unit, but there are a few more out there who were there when we first found you. We’ve worked out a system where one group comes back while the other circles around just in case we’re followed.”
I nodded, unable to come up with any sort of reply appropriate for this situation.
“How are your supplies looking?” I asked after a long pause.
“We can split the rations for four more days at the maximum between us five and the other three that’ll be here soon,” she said. “Besides sustenance, however, we have nothing. The emergency medical kit I was carrying in my dimension ring was used to patch up Herrick’s injury.”
At the reminder of his wound, the large soldier dipped his head, looking at the stump where his left hand used to be.
“Now, Princess. Tell us the situation out there. Is the war over? Have we lost?” Madam Astera asked, her large piercing eyes focused on me.
I shifted my gaze to Herrick and Nyphia; the two of them were staring back intently, hopeful—desperate.
I sat up and kept my expression stern and confident. “We lost this war, but it isn’t over.”
TBATE Volume 7 Page 40
