The Dance of Chaos [IC-Fantasy-OPEN]

[Elysian Kentarchy]

Illania

Path of repentance? Repentance?! Is that what they call what they did to her? I would laugh were it not so infuriating to hear them speak such nonsense. I would have preferred to die in battle but I suppose going through what she went through isn't such a bad fate either... They have no reason to not hand me over anyway because I am an Achisian witch even if I am not a necromancer, not truly anyway. But I will never repent for their imaginary crimes, I will break before I repent, it is all I can do as a de Velira and someone already damned before Spraevia.

So all I do is glare at these 'Faith Keepers' as that is all I can do with this gag.

[Zapatha]

Peter Clermont

After the tense exchange of words, Peter took a moment to gather his thoughts, as he needed every bit of wit to navigate around Eric’s rather blunt tirade towards the Seneschal.

“My lord, my friend here Sir Eric has had a long few days and quite frankly is rather irritable from the battle and march back here. Please excuse him, however what he says still rings true. Yes you may have been orchestrating the movement of forces elsewhere and gotten us the reinforcements, however you address us as though as we were cowards who left our valiant princess for dead.”

However Peter immediately noticed the newly arrived group of people, four of the Faith Keepers in their distinguishing armor. Damn them, if they get a hold of her she’ll never be seen again...yes and also our leading source of information on the Achisian troops would be lost. He had to do something.As the priestess addressed them, Peter immediately looked to de Visent once more “My lord, this witch knows valuable information about the new Achisian war effort, it would be unwise to hand her over to complete her repentance before we interrogate her.”

Now holding Illania to his side, Peter looked at both the Faith Keepers and Seneschal de Visent and said “This is the lady Illania de Velira, witch of Achisia, and more importantly great-granddaughter of the Achisian General Augustine de Velira, a name I’m sure you know well my lord de Visent.” Looking now at Illania, he removed her gag and told her:

“I’ve given you your chance my lady, say that you will give Lord de Visent his information and you may yet live another day.”

[Elysian Kentarchy]

Illania

I move my jaw as if to realign it, that gag really made my jaw sore. "Much appreciated Lord Peter." I say politely, best not to show my appreciation too much, and, after I rotate my head to pop my neck, I speak. "Yes he is correct on who I am, Illania de Velira, daughter of Asterius de Velira with his wife Irene Hyaleas and great-granddaughter of General Augustine de Velira who is the Lord of House de Velira, mage of the Circle of Fire of Achisia. Forgive me if I don't curtsy." I don't give my mother's true name as that would be unwise with the company before me, while I never met that part of my family I do not want to risk the Faith coming after them.

As for information, well I honestly would prefer not to be handed over to the Faith if I had to choose who kills me so it doesn't hurt to say something, we will win in the end no matter what I do. So I shrug, causing my shackles to clink before speaking to the Seneschal.

"As for cooperation, grandfather keeps most of his plans hidden so I can't say with complete certainty what he would do but I do have a pretty good idea since I was raised learning how he wages war and I was at least involved in part of the current mobilization." I tilt my head to the Faith Keepers. "Sure you could hand me over to the Faith and I will be tortured and executed on some charge or another and no one will care but given what happened the last time the Faith went after my great grandfather's family handing me over to them would only make your situation worse."

I smirk ever so slightly. "Well, unless you think you can withstand a second Siege of Chovers, Seneschal, but this one with my great-grandfather leading it along with the Cults of Sins, your former princess, and, I was informed before I joined that last battle that she has returned, the Bearer of the Eternal Flame Nerine de Marlon. And with your own hero as wounded and exhausted as she is I don't think enough relief would come to your aid. Duivene still ails from what you call the War of the Uncrowned King and the war against Achisia. Wyzkia's losses were considerable in the war when it comes to their Paladins. Calaria's navy would be unhelpful at best in the current situation. And Anselm, can you seriously trust them to come to your aid? They switched sides during the war and they have their own issues from what I have heard. Sure Xerania might help you but it will take them time if they are so inclined. Up to you though, I do not fear my judgement before Lady Spraevia and will happily go to it so it is only your loss in this world, well your loss and the loss of everyone who gets in the way."

[Zapatha]

WARNING: Graphic battle sequence described below
The Battle of Ohridia

As the Knights of the Black Sun thundered within 50 meters of his defensive formations, Arthur couldn’t hold back a smile as he knew any second they would ride straight into the trenches his troops had dug the previous day. Covered with grass and other materials, the trenches had wooden stakes on the bottom which would skewer any charging cavalry and almost halt the next wave of charges. When the charging vanguard was about 20 meters away, the first row of trenches received their first victims as the charging knights and their mounts were swallowed up by the trench. Dozens were already skewered before the charge almost came to a halt, and that is when Arthur turned back towards his regiments of archers:

“Archers knock…..draw…...LOOSE!” Arthur yelled, swinging his holy sword at the halted cavalry and hundreds of arrows soon took to the air. As they rained down on the cavalry, dozens more horses were peppered with arrows. The knights themselves mostly came out untouched due to their armor, however many were thrown from the saddle of dead or dying horses into the ground.

“Archers fire at will!”, and with that three more volleys of arrows rained down on the knights with dozens more killed or injured. However by this time the charging knights maneuvered their way around the death trap and once more charged onwards towards Arthur’s forces. As the knights finally closed in, Arthur’s frontline of spearmen and pikemen locked their shields together and braced for the charge. The charge was brutal, as the mounted knights crashed into the infantry squares with many of Arthur’s men being trampled by the charging mounts or impaled by their couched lances. The charge was also brutal for the knights, as Arthur’s men were ready for the charge and many horses were stuck with spears or pikes and the knights themselves being thrown from their saddles from a blow from an infantryman or the horse being killed under him.

After the initial shock of the charge, Arthur glimpsed Prinz Alexander himself leading his infantry in behind the cavalry. Marching forward, Alexander positioned his infantry on both flanks of Arthur’s with most being concentrated to the center. He means to surround me…. Arthur realized, though because Ohridia’s walls were directly behind his forces they wouldn’t be completely enveloped. Looking to his frontlines, his defensive formations seemed to have blunted the worst of the cavalry charge however once Alexander’s infantry joined the fray they would be heavily outnumbered. Kicking his spurs, Arthur rode to join his main contingent of men-at-arms, light cavalry, and peasant levies. Pointing his sword at the incoming infantry and mounted knights, Arthur shouted:

“Men of Velikiya, now is the moment of truth. It does not matter what you are, be you young or old, man or woman, noble or farmer, so long as those bastards do not defeat us today you are all equal sons and daughters of the Black Sun in my eyes!” Turning his warhorse toward the faltering frontline of spearmen and pikemen, Arthur screamed “Charge!” and the next few minutes were a blur. Arthur and his guard of a dozen or so Scripture Knights of his order cut a bloody path into Prinz Alexander’s own charging infantry and remaining cavalry. Both he and Alexander’s armies were mostly made up of conscripted peasants, so any trained knight was practically invulnerable to their attacks one on one. At one point however Arthur and his guard became separated from the main line of Arthur’s forces and were surrounded by trained men-at-arms and peasants. Each knight of Aurora held their ground, however one was overwhelmed by almost 10 men and was hacked to death by sword and scythe. Arthur was next, however he conjured a blue flame in his hand and turned most of the group into smoldering ash. One Knight of the Black Sun spotted him however, and lanced into the side of Arthur’s warhorse. Although the lance bounced off the side of the horse’s armor, Arthur himself was knocked to the ground as his horse ran off in terror.

[Zapatha]

Battle of Ohridia

As Arthur fell to the ground, he could hear a crunch of metal due to the force of how he was thrown off of his horse. Gathering his senses, Arthur quickly scrambled to his feet looking at his personal guard. One of his knights was being surrounded by men-at-arms , so Arthur quickly ran to help. Slashing at one of the men-at-arms from behind, Arthur hewed off his arm before decapitating him in two quick strokes of the flaming blade. Two more enemies closed in, one with a spear and the other an oak shield and maul. Swinging first for the spearman, Arthur cut the spear in half and threw the spear tip at another enemy infantrymen which hit him in the throat. Wasting no time Arthur conjured a javelin of white flame and hurled it at the unarmed spearmen, which impaled him into the ground. The other man-at-arms attempted to swing his maul at Arthur’s head immediately after, only to be parried by Arthur. Arthur then slashed downward at the man, the attack being blocked by his shield which set alight from the flames of Arthur’s holy sword.

As the man struggled to unstrap the shield which was now burning his forearm, Arthur closed in fast and slashed diagonally at the man’s torso, nearly cutting him in half as the holy blade burned its way through chainmail and leather. Stopping to catch his breath, Arthur surveyed the battle which had devolved into an all out dogfight, with battle formations being nearly forgotten as savage fighting ensued. Arthur spied mages under Prinz Alexander unleashing a combined spell on a large mass of troops, dozens on both sides being reduced to ash by the magical bolts of electricity being conjured. Deciding he needed to do something, Arthur gathered up the remnants of his personal guard of Scripture knights and cut their way to try and stop the mages. As they closed in, Arthur planted his holy sword into the ground and began his spell. Arthur raised both his hand, his palms pointed toward the mages, and gathered up blue flames in his hands. The flames grew and grew until Arthur could almost not control it any longer and unleashed a wave of blue flame at Alexander’s mages and surrounding troops. As the flames washed over them, Arthur heard their screams of terror and the mages’ desperate chants to shield themselves in vain. As the flames dissipated, Arthur looked on the devastation with charred bones and ash being the only remnants of those who had been standing there moments before.

It was then he saw them, it must have been hundreds of Knights of the Black Sun charging through the breach in the fighting Arthur’s spell had created. That’s where Arthur spotted Prinz Alexander leading the charge, himself bedecked in ornate black armor with the Black Sun of Velikiya sewn onto his surcoat and shield. Turning to one of his Scripture Knights, Arthur shouted:

“NOW!”

Taking out the trumpet, the knight blew three times to signal to Prinz Artem’s heavy horse regiments to begin their flanking maneuver. I fear it’s already too late… Arthur cursed himself, and readied he and his surrounding troops to face the charge of Alexander’s knights.

[Zapatha]

The Battle of Ohridia

Prinz Alexander’s charge was terrifying to behold, as he and his finest knights of his order charged headlong into Arthur’s formations. The earth itself shook as they neared, as they screamed curses toward Arthur and his troops with their lances couched and ready. Arthur readied himself and took up his holy weapon again from the ground and pointed it at the incoming cavalry. Making a swinging motion horizontally, blue fire shot out from the ignited sword like a wave headed straight for the enemy cavalry. As the flames hit their mark, dozens of knights were turned to ash while others simply cooked inside their heavy plate armor. Arthur’s attack was in vain however as the cavalry crashed into his troops to devastating effect. Arthur spotted Alexander lance one of his Scripture knights straight through the chest, and it was then he realized Alexander was wielding the legendary Lance of Winter which was a powerful magical artifact traditionally reserved for the Grandmaster of the Knights of the Black Sun.

Snapping back into the moment, Arthur unhorsed one charging knight with one swing of his blade and finished the knight off on the ground. Not given a moment’s respite, a huge man-at-arms began wailing at Arthur wildly with a greatsword. The man was at least 7 feet tall and armored, at first overpowering Arthur and forcing him to the ground with another blow from the greatsword that Arthur barely parried. Acting quickly, Arthur kicked the man’s legs out from under him and quickly got up and swung at him. However the man was quicker than he expected and dodged the attack before staggering back up himself. Enraged, Arthur went on the offensive and after a few slashes the huge opponent had at least half a dozen wounds. After what seemed to be an eternity, Arthur plunged his sword into the man’s chest ending the duel. Regaining his senses, Arthur saw that Alexander’s cavalry charge had gone perhaps to far into the fighting as now the knights were being enveloped on both sides by infantry.

The next thing Arthur knew, he was on the ground and his left shoulder suddenly began to ache. Looking up, Arthur saw Prinz Alexander atop his horse charging at him again to finish the job. Getting up quickly, Arthur had to dive out of the way of Alexander and his legendary lance and found himself staring down the rival prince. As Alexander charged again, Arthur was prepared and conjured a javelin of white fire and hurled it at Alexander. The javelin missed the prince, however hit the poor warhorse in the chest and killed it almost immediately which sent the prince flying. As Arthur closed in to finish the job, Alexander’s personal guard stepped in to protect their Grandmaster. One of them swung a heavy double sided battleaxe at Arthur, and he sidestepped the swing. Fast as lightning, Arthur punched the man in the breastplate which caved in due to Arthur’s incredible strength. Seeing Alexander attempting to flee, Arthur had to deal with his guard quickly which he did by decapitating one and threw a ball of white flame at the other two which turned them to ash. Losing sight of Alexander, Arthur felt an excruciating pain in his side suddenly and turned to realize Alexander and stabbed him with the legendary spear that penetrated Arthur’s armor easily.

Wounded and bleeding from the side, Arthur attempted to parry Alexander’s thrusts of the lance which he wielded with skill and strength. Alexander managed to pierce through Arthur’s armor once more, this time in the right leg though this time not as deeply. It was then that Arthur heard three trumpet blasts in the distance and what sounded like… Yes...they came in time. Prinz Artem and the Scripture Knights of Aurora led the charge, almost 3,000 mounted knights and heavy cavalry barreled towards the formations of Alexander’s forces. Wasting no time, Arthur went on the offensive against the now stunned Alexander who parried Arthur’s first attack with his heavy shield. Arthur was relentless however, as the sheer force of his blows shattered Alexander’s shield. Steel met holy flame as Arthur’s Lightbringer clashed against Alexander’s magical lance, until Arthur swung with all his force at the lance.

The lance broke in half, and an explosion of magical energy was released which sent him and Alexander flying in opposite directions. Dazed, Arthur thought he saw Alexander mount a horse and flee which is when he saw that Alexander’s army was quitting the field after the devastating rear charge of Prinz Artem. Velikiya lives to see another day…..

[Kingdom of Irhk]

The Kingdom of Duivene
Chovers, the White Citadel

Silence. That is what followed when Eric stopped talking, as somehow, despite the sounds of soldiers talking, protesting, taking off their weapons - what he had said was heard by everyone there. While no one seemed to have noticed the failure of that soldier to Eric's sword, everyone was listening by the time this unknown knight had dared to insult the Seneschal of the Reiaume, the Regent. Every word was like a stone thrown at the older man, every insult like an arrow. You could almost hear the spite dripping from the mysterious knight's voice. Who was he? How dared he speak like that? Unlike those around him, the Princess's emblem was nowhere to be found on his armor, neither was any other sort of heraldry. Was he even a knight? For of course, in this proud land of chivalry, blood was the highest indication of honor.

And as he finished his last words, no one reacted. The idea that someone, a simple nobody, would dare threaten the most powerful man in the country like that - it was simply inconceivable. The older man was no hero. He wasn't like Alexis, someone that you could follow into battle, someone that you would proudly die for, someone whose waving flag could make you forget the most dreadful wounds. Alexis was a hero - Alexis was for many a saint. But the Seneschal, the Seneschal was power. He simply seemed to exude authority, bringing a sense of fear with him wherever he went. The gentlest admonishment from him would have been worse than divine wrath for just so many, the simplest advice from him was like a tenet from the Scriptures. It was said that he could hear everything and see everything, that he could read someone's very soul and mind and that he could tell truth from lies. More than once had traitors confessed to their crimes without even being accused, begging for his mercy. More than once had those who had failed to follow one of his orders killed themselves rather than to betray his trust.

Five years ago, led by two princesses, the nation had rallied against an uncrowned king to protect the heir of a lost king. Five years ago, the knights of Duivene had put a child on the throne because of the blood running through his veins, because he was their King.

Today, many people had no idea what a King even was.

So as soon as the initial shock started to dissipate, the guards around the Seneschal started to unsheathe their swords, the unmistakable sound of these tools of death being taken out filling the air.. until the old man gestured for them to stop.

"No Duivenian blood shall be spilled today.", the Seneschal answered in a calm and gentle voice. As Peter had made a step forward towards him, some of the guards had stepped in between the old man and the younger knight - but now, as their leader started to speak, they moved away. "That would be the last thing our princess would want. For us to jump at each other's throats. It's truly heartbreaking to see that people are so quick to forget, that just mere years after brothers and sisters had to fight against each other in rebellion and struggle, so many are still ready to disobey, to fight against back against just authority." The man sighed. "Although I do not know your name, you are right. I was not there with you in battle, and I did not kill any enemies with my own hand that night. But do not mistake me for someone that I am not, for my armor was stained with blood long before you even born young man. If turning into a rat is what my kingdom would need of me, it is something that I would do without thinking. I was not there in body, to fight and stain my blade in the blood of the enemies, but I was there, watching over all those who had fought. For battles might be won with swords and magic, but wars can only be won with the mind. For victory in a single battle is useless, if you lose the entire war. Yes, I was not on the frontlines, but I was not hiding in a warm bed, with warm clothes and with warm milk to drink. I did sleep, eat, or drink for the entire night, as all the mages of the court can confirm - for I was sending orders to all the borders, watching every battle. Who do you think called the Xerenians to your aid, knights of the princess? Who do you think sent orders in the night, for the peasant soldiers to run to the rescue of their princess? I wasn't there to shield you, I wasn't there to help you rise again from where you had fallen in the mud - but I was there nonetheless."

And a moment of silence followed.

"If leading an entire nation through its darkest moments is easier or more difficult than fighting on the lines of battle is for the Gods above to decide, and for the Gods below to judge. But someone has to be there, someone has to make the difficult decisions no matter what doubts he or she might have. I allowed Alexis to defend that part of the border since we had no one else to send there. Our forces were stretched thin. It would have been a disaster, had the Achisians defeated you, but it would have been even worse if another undead army would have been ravaging everything, moving towards the royal capital, or if the Kartarans would have crushed our Calarian allies in Vigerra. War makes men make decisions that they are not proud of, but decisions that must be made no matter what. My heart was in pain the entire night, at the simple thought that something might happen to our beloved princess - but she knows the dangers of war all too well. And she, of all people, would surely know that someone's life is less important than the survival of our realm. That is something that you seem to have forgotten. I did not scold you because I enjoyed doing it, but because someone had to. I live to serve the realm, and to serve the king. I am one of the Pillars of the Crown not because of my own desires, nor because of pride - but because the realm would not survive without someone to help guide it in its times of need."

At once, the Seneshal's guards sheathed their swords again.

"If you wish to continue to walk on your way of spite, if you wish to stay true to your mutinous ways, if you wish to act like mere members of a jacquerie - that is your choice. There is nothing that can be done now, not after such a bloody and tear-filled night, not here, not now. But remember. This garri who humbly speaks to you know is but a humble vessel for the King's voice. My request for you all to surrender your swords was not a plea - it was an order, and as the Regent, it was an order in the King's name. I will not resort to violence, but remember - those of you who dare to break a royal order shall, sooner or later, face the King's Justice. For the Gods watch, and the King commands."

"For the Gods watch, and the King commands!", his soldiers repeated as one. Those knights of Alexis who had given up their swords at the Seneschal's command fell down on one knee, while those who had refused stood up, together with Eric.

The Seneschal's guards then turned around, following those who gently carried Alexis towards the giant fortress, and the old man turned around to follow them - but he stopped, turning to face Peter again. "Sénher de Clermont, I will not allow you to talk badly about the Faith in my presence. You shall very well remember that our King rules by the mercy of the Gods, and the Faith represents the will of the Gods. The witch did perform horrible crimes against our realm, but her crimes against the Gods and their laws are much, much worse. Her fate rests with the Faith's Judgement now."

The old man turned around yet again - but as he started to walk, a new group seemed to be moving to towards the retinue of the princess, the guards of the Senechal moving aside to make way for them.

No faithful man or woman would need more than a moment to recognize who they were, without even looking at their faces. Crimson robes, crimson armors, and on their shields and their medallions, a pure, white Faith's Flower - with the scales and an open, ever seeing eye.

The Faith Keepers.

It was a small group, just four people.. but the sight of their armors caused some of the knights who were trying to stand back up to freeze.

The first of them was a young man, a boy maybe, although his features were also just slightly feminine. He looked as if he had never seen the light of the sun in his life - with pale, milk-like skin that almost seemed sickly in a way, with long white hair that went to his shoulders, and pale red, almost pink eyes. He was however, honestly beautiful - with the one thing ruining that being a red mark on the right side of his face, from his throat all the way up to his right cheek, which was either a birthmark.. or the mark left by cursed fire, never to be completely healed. He didn't seem to be particularly muscular, and he seemed to be only armed with what looked to be an estoc, lying in its crimson leather sheathe.

Next to him was most certainly a woman.. but she was taller and looked to be stronger than pretty much anyone else around her. Her threatening size and strength greatly contrasted with her long green hair, and with her gentle gray eyes. However, probably just to further emphasize that no one should mess with her - she was holding in her hands an absolutely gigantic halberd, longer than even her, with a crimson blade, that seemed to be weirdly marked with some magical chants of an unknown origin, written in white.

In a very ironic way, the third Faith Keeper that the soldiers would notice was... a girl or a boy, who actually looked like a child. She seemed to be the complete opposite of the other woman, short, wearing a simple chainmail armor that was also dyed in crimson, medium-length but scruffy white hair, and light pink eyes. She was armed with a peculiar polearm - what might be known in Duivene as a ranseur, almost as long as the woman's halberd, a spear of sorts, with a crescent-shaped blade acting a a hilt, at the base of the spear's tip.

And behind them was a priestess, or at least so it seemed. Partially hidden as she was behind the others, it would have been difficult for the knights of the princess's retinue to look carefully at her. They couldn't say what order she belonged to, or what God she served, as the robes of Faith Keeper priests were of the same dark crimson as that of their brothers and sisters in faith. What they could see however was that in her hands, she was holding a silver, metallic staff, with complicated symbols carved into it, and with a small flame burning at its top.

The four Faith Keepers stopped right in front of the group, casting a glance at the chained woman that two knights were holding. And then, their leader spoke. "May the Gods be with you, knights of Duivene. We have been informed that you have captured an Achisian witch in your last battle. Her crimes are enough to make the Eight Hells shiver and shake. We, as humble servants of the Faith, are here to judge her in this life, just as Spraevia will judge her once she moves on into death. But before she will face her judgements, we must find out the extent of her crimes against the Gods. The Faith will not allow one of its children, as lost as she is, to face divine judgement unprepared. She will repent for her crimes before her life will end.", the young man told them in a soft voice. "We thank you for your service, and Spraevia, She Who Sees All, will most certainly remember. Please, give us the witch so that she may start walking on the path of repentance."

Eric Antoine Roch de Villegaignon

"Who do I think that called the Xerethians? I think your letter - if it exists - reached them when the battle was already going on. Who do I think told the peasant soldiers to run? Certainly someone that cared more about the Princess than you do. I know the hearts of peasants better than you think, Seneschal. You certainly stained your armor with blood long ago, but I highly doubt it was yours or from your foes!

Basic rule of any strategic manual that you find in Duivene: if the opponent's army employ necromancy, the bigger they distance they travel before engaging with yours, bigger their army is, for their infantry have no need of food, water or rest and can be found anywhere, specially in times of war, greed and bloodlust. Allowing a small detachment of soldiers to engage is just not only suicidal, but it is imprudent with the allies you allegedly sent to us when by some reason your consciousness seemed to have a small trace of strategic thinking.

War makes men to take some decisions that no one can possibly proud of, yet is the turmoil of the war that presents itself as the death of the etiquette. There is no further need of masks when the thick fog covers your weapons and intentions, don't you think? And deaths - even those of heroes - are plausible. You're not humble, or a vessel for anyone. Your type of behavior precedes you, and even if you may be exceptional while performing it, you're not the first specimen of your kind I've met. If the King's vessel orders soldiers to hand their swords due to his tactical inability to plan ahead and to perceive that no able men must walk unarmed in times of war, then these orders are, in the best opinion possible, badly structured. No one dares to defy a reasonable order, or request, as you and your enlightened political mind would obviously know. I don't act like the leader of a jacquerie or some mutiny. I act like someone who is far too old and far too smart to fall for such things."

As the exchange with the Seneschal got heated, Eric looked around. Somehow, his words seemed to inspire, or at least justify their refusal in giving away their weapons. So, the hope wasn't completely lost. As long as the soldiers could escape the web crafted by the man that presented himself as the King's voice, the situation could be reversed. How he did not know yet, but maybe Alexis, when recovered, could clarify matters for him.

And as always in Duivene, the Faith Keepers came in their march. Even after years of his departure, that order still raised fear in men's hearts, as they held the tools of repentance, and prayers weren't counted among them. No one knew exactly what happened in their prisons, and no one was eager for a chance to see or know. However, as they asked for Illania, Eric gripped his sword tightly.

"And I firmly believe you will find the extent of her 'crimes', but unfortunately, I can't handle her over just yet. See, I have... private issues to settle with one of her allies, and I'm sure you'll understand that I want the information directly from her. A little bit of grudge against you as an Order, but not against you as a specific group. But after years of mercenary work, you learn that when you want an information, you absolutely need to do your best in not letting it run around: this is how a wolf turns into a wild beast and the wild beast turns into a werewolf. To have a better notion of prices you need to know the proper information. And since the particular target it's an Achisian, I think it's in your best interests to let me have a private talk with her in the soldier's camp before you take her to her path of repentance. What do you say?"

[Elysian Kentarchy]

Felicity, back at the Monastery

I push the wall in with my sword drawn and enter into the room and, seeing no one, I gesture to the others to follow me out into this room full of old treasures. This passageway is one of the older escape routes, used to remove the old relics in case the place came under siege and it seemed lost. I am not supposed to show outsiders it but it is the safest way into here. I give the room a look over, I haven’t been down here much but I can at least run a mental inventory based off of what I remember. “The reliquary looks to be untouched. That’s a relief, even if it raises more questions.” I mutter to myself as I guide the others out into an unlit hallway. “Stay close and be ready for anything.” I whisper as we walk.

These halls are the place where we are at our weakest so the goal right now is to get to the courtyard and from there we can move elsewhere. After a couple minutes of silent walking I speak again. “After we get to the courtyard we can…” I stop dead in my tracks after I look out a doorway that is missing its door into the courtyard causing the others to bump into me. “This can’t be right.” I mutter to myself as I walk again out into the open air. “There were so many bodies here before… So many dead and dying...” Around the courtyard is not a single body, there is plenty of guts and gore, but not a single thing that could be considered to be a body. There are also craters scattered around as if the very ground exploded and broken pillars and stairs. It is a scene of blood and destruction that tells you what happened here was death but nothing else. “What did the traitor do with the bodies…?” I notice something else that comes with it, something even more surprising than the lack of bodies. “Where are the weapons of the fallen?” The only thing here is blood, there is no bodies, there is no armor, there are no weapons. It doesn’t make any sense. I shake my head. “I guess we will find out when we find her.”

I try and figure out where she could be, narrowing down the list to places we can check quickly and quietly. “There are two places I think we should start with, first is the Griffin stables,” I gesture with a thumb over my shoulder down a dark hallway, designed to be more wide than the norm, “if you follow that hallway you will find the entrance to the stables, seventh door on the left. The other place the great hall,” I point out a hall some distance away, “it is a pretty open area and sturdy and serves as a good fallback point. Granted the traitor did have her own quarters here so that is a possibility but so is any of the other rooms here so it is probably best to handle those two before searching the quarters as going door to door is bound to be noticed.” I lean against a wall, my eyes surveying the area, never have I heard the monastery be this quiet. I would always hear children playing, Paladins training, griffins braying, but now it is all quiet, it is a tomb, not even the crackling of a torch is here to provide noise.This is all so very wrong... Trying to shake how disconcerting it is to me I then ask the Scripture Knights, “so, how should we handle this? Given what I have seen it is best to take her by surprise but that requires finding out where she is and then planning the attack and it should be done quickly so we still maintain that element."

[Elysian Kentarchy]

Mélodie Beauvais, the White Citadel of Chovers

I am standing off in the distance with several other maids, listening to the ongoing conversation, and my frown is only getting deeper. "They should just hand her over to the Faith and be done with it. The witch should not be left alive and any information she has is suspect at best." I mutter to the others.

"It seems like she is making good points to me." Another maid remarks to me.

"She is yes but still, selling out her family, her nation, just to live longer? Disgusting but I suppose that is how low the Achisians have gotten." I then turn away and comment as I walk off. "I am going to go attend to the Princess, tell me the results of her begging for her life later." And with that I join up with the others carrying the Princess, giving them directions to her quarters, the Princess takes priority over the Achisian witch, not to mention the Princess will undoubtedly override any attempt to keep her alive.

[Elysian Kentarchy]

Solomon de Velira, Achisian Camp

I wonder for a brief moment how I got into this situation, on the ground while Ney is strangling me on this night. Ah right, she had suggested we spar and she went all out, overpowering me and pinning me to the ground, normally that would be the sign to end the battle but she then went for my throat and started squeezing... I guess that is how Ney is in this mad world... What am I thinking?! I need to get her off me, I need to… I reach a hand up to Ney’s face and chant a quick spell. "Lady Cassia... give my magic... the shape that I need... and guide me... to victory..." and with those words Ney falls off of me, clutching at her throat. I get back on my feet and snap my fingers, lifting the small barrier I put in her throat, if Ney had been wearing her mask that probably wouldn't have worked, and I pick up my sword to wait for her next move. But, instead of lunging at me as I expected her to, Ney just gets off the ground and lightly applauds me.

“I never expected you to do that Solomon. Could you always do that?”

“In theory yes. I never used it in a fight though.”

“Well remember you can do that. You need to use every weapon you have.”

“It is not honorable at all to use.”

“But you used it on me, your childhood friend.”

“I acted without thinking. I would never... Ezekiel would never...”

“You acted in the name of survival. I was trying to strangle you after all.” I am silent so she continues. “Ezekiel understood the need to use every weapon he had at his disposal, he understood sometimes you had to make compromises if it meant winning."

“I don’t think I could ever come to believe that Ney. Ezekiel was the pinnacle of nobility and honor in our family, he was the ideal son, the ideal successor. He would not use such a thing on his friends or family no matter the circumstances.”

“In due time you will. You must if you are to become stronger. You must become stronger if you are to succeed Ezekiel, we both know that and we both understand you are his successor in more than name. Now come, the night is still young.” We ready our weapons again but are interrupted by a soldier running towards us.

"Lord de Velira! Bearer de Marlon! The Xerenians have been sighted!"

"Ekatiz?" I ask sharply.

"I don't know sir but you both are needed at the war council immediately." Me and Ney both sheathe our weapons and hurry. Day is coming soon and it looks like our fighting is not done yet.

[Elysian Kentarchy]

Mélodie Beauvais, Princess Alexis' room

"Set her on her bed." I instruct the Knights and soldiers and after they do so I say, "now get out." At the blank stares I sigh and explain. "We are changing the Princess out of her armor so please get out. Men should not see the Princess in such a state. But you can stand guard in the hallway at least until we are done." Almost in unison they nod and depart and I work with the other maids to remove her armor and other clothing and change her into her dress. I click my tongue at annoyance at the injury on her right thigh. "Send for a healer after we are done changing her. The Princess' leg should be checked just to make sure the injury won't harm her in the long run. Undoubtedly when she wakes up she will want to start fighting again."

"Who could have hurt her like that?"One of the younger maids asks me.

"Hell if I know." I reply and give instructions on how to clean her armor. "The Princess should have her armor made ready for when she wakes up."

"Do you know when that will be?" The young girl asks again.

"No I don't and I don't want to speculate." I snap and continue, explaining my reasoning. "The Princess has exhausted herself into this state so the more rest she gets the better. The longer she can rest the better. She must rest before fighting again."

"But if the Achisians march on Chovers..."

"We can worry about that then. For now the Princess' health is our priority." We finish changing her and I see to it that her armor is cleaned and maintained right before speaking to the other maids after pulling a blanket over the Princess up to her shoulders. "Excellent work. As I mentioned, send for that healer, tell the boys in the hallway she is decent, and I will take first watch. It has been a stressful day for us all so you all could use some sleep." I leave absolutely no room for objections from the other servants with the smile I have on my face when I say that.

---

Meanwhile at the Achisian Camp, Solomon de Velira

Both of us arrive at the war council and I immediately notice someone is missing. “Where is General de Velira?” I ask of the other officers, some of them young, some of them old, some of them wearing their masks from the war to show their rank, others not doing so either by choice or by the fact their masks were lost or destroyed. Not a surprise, the greater one is that we actually still have officers who can still fight given the end of the war. Mixed in though are a few Necromancers and other mages from the Circles, primarily of Fire as well as the Maiden.

“Lord General de Velira said he had things to attend to on the other fronts and left you in command.” An officer answers, handing me a letter which I open and silently read.

Solomon, I have to attend to other parts of the front so I must depart. I was going to tell you but you were sparring with Nerine so I wrote you this letter. Below I have a few quick sketches about what to do in the event of a Xerenian attack. You are in command, you are a de Velira, so I expect you to act like it. Fight for Achisia and as you have been trained and it should be alright as long as you do what you have to.

- Augustine de Velira

I sigh and pocket the letter after reading grandfather's suggestions, no use complaining, I know the rebellion has demanded a lot from him so I should do what I can. “Very well, someone get me a map of the area, we don’t have much time.” One is quickly provided and another officer outlines our location along with the forces we have at our disposal and a necromancer does the same in terms of the undead... I am glad for now the officers and necromancers are working together and I am similarly glad that since we have gotten here more reinforcements have arrived.

“What do you think Solomon?” Ney asks.

I look over the map of the area, a bit old but still usable, this area doesn’t seem to have changed much, minus the expected destruction from the war. But first I must confirm something. “Has Ekatiz been sighted?”

“The scouts haven’t seen him at the front at least. He could be in reserve, waiting to see what we do.”

“Likely. Alternatively he is not accompanying them, the agendas of the False Heroes are beyond the understanding of those who are good after all, but it is best not to assume.” I dislike using that term because surely, out of all of them, Alexis is a hero, but the term is what we call those who slew our Emperor and his family today. The heresy of their actions is undeniable.

“If he is here then it would be perfect, Ekatiz, the most vile of all the blasphemers, falling would be a perfect way to cement the return of Achisia.” A young officer remarks with a grin.

“If we can kill him fine but if he doesn’t show up then it is no loss on our part.” I remark offhandedly as I examine the map closely. The terrain favors us certainly and we can use that. They will probably assume we are too tired to fight, that we cannot resist much and we will prove them wrong. “Our priority right now should be to utterly crush them with as few losses as possible. We will split our army into two groups with group one being the one with the bulk of our forces. We are going to need something powerful to hit them from the front, something to draw them in. Ney, you are best for that.”

She grins. “Good that you realize that.”

“You will assume command at the front and cause as much chaos as possible. I trust you can survive that?”

“I haven’t died yet so I won’t die now.”

“Good.” I motion again to the map, the map outlines some woodlands and on our way to this camp I had made note of them, they will be useful. “The second group will maneuver through the woods to try and flank them. This will also prevent a flanking attempt by them on us should they get the same idea, such an attack though should only be made when we have the advantage. I’ll take command of the second group and...”

“Lord de Velira, may I speak?” An officer interrupts me.

“Yes, what is it?” I must still show deference to my elders and if they have valuable opinions I will listen.

“Since Lord General de Velira left you in command maybe it would be best if you don’t directly enter the battle and instead remain in a position where you are able to command everyone.”

I frown. The logic is sound but my place is in the thick of battle leading individual troops to victory. It is where I am most useful. But needs must I suppose and I was told to do what I could to win this. “Very well. I will stay behind and assume command, but I want to be as close to the fighting as possible to ensure I have a firm enough grasp of what is going on.” I mentally change my plans for the battle and move on those changes. “I want to find as many people as possible who live in this area to try to use their knowledge to serve as runners between the different parts of the army and myself. Following that I want our forces positioned as so.” I give a basic outline, nothing about the formations is unusual, it is mostly the standard we used during the war with a couple alterations made to accompany Ney's... proclivities, but where I am saying these formations should be placed causes a few eyebrows to be raised among the officers.

“Lord de Velira if I’m not mistaken that’s…” One of them starts.

“Exactly, don't worry I know what I am doing. Day will be breaking soon so it will be best that we attack with the dawn, with the rebirth of light. If we can incapacitate Ekaitz’s forces quickly we will have many options available to us, even if he is one of the False Heroes he is one man.” I place my hand on Ney’s shoulder. “Plus we have our own hero right here to fight him should he deign to fight us.”

“His blood will flow if he gets in my way I assure you of that.” She tells me with a smile. That insane smile that promises death to good and evil alike. Innocence and guilt matter not to her in the slightest, only blood and death. Cassia forgive her. Cassia forgive us all for what we do.

“I’m counting on it old friend… but be sure to keep friendly casualties to a minimum.” I finally say. “After we repel the false hero and invader we can attempt to push the border with Duivene. Maiden, would you close the war council?”

“May the Emperor, who rests at the side of His father Solaris, watch over us. May His daughters smile down upon our efforts. The sun rises soon so Solaris will watch over and bless our efforts and the dragon shall be destroyed by the serpent.” The Maiden intones.

[Tracian Empire]

Somewhere
A broken boy with a scythe


A lone figure was walking aimlessly through a field of flowers, a trail of death behind him. With every step he took forward, the flowers around him withered and slowly died, the colours of life turning into a dead grey. With every step, another drop of blood would fall from the blade of his scythe. The blade, once black, was covered in multiple layers of blood, dry and messy and then fresh. His clothes were now nearly all crimson, as if he had bathed in it.. but it wasn’t his. Beyond the stains of blood, his skin was sickly pale, and his chains made a dreadful sound with each move.. but he was alive.. or was he?

He had no idea where he was, or what he was going to do.. but he still remembered who he was. And what had happened. No matter of how much he had wanted to forget everything, no matter of how much he had prayed for the sweet release of oblivion.. he could still remember it, and it hurt. It hurt so much. Even as he tried to ignore it, the dull pain was always there, and whenever those very same memories flooded his mind again, it turned into a burning pain. She ran away. She left. She left without even trying.. without even trying to understand. Had it all been a lie? Had everything she had done been a lie? Everything from when they had met, all the hope, all the promises, had all of it been deception and smoke? He had almost, almost, almost believed it all. That she didn't want to kill him. That she didn't think that he was a monster. That she wanted to find the good in him. That she wanted to save him from his fate, to break the chains bonding him to sin. That she wanted him to be happy. That she believed in him. That she cared about him. That maybe..that maybe she loved him.

Lies, lies, lies, lies.

She didn't even try to understand. All those sweet words, all those promises, all that happiness - none of it mattered. When the time had come.. nothing. An Archbishop of Kindness, one who had tried to believe in him despite everything that she had faced, had believed the lies of a deadly sin. When he was bound by chains, unable to do anything, to say anything, to move, to scream, she had just ran away. Someone like her could never understand. Someone in the light, someone filled with hope, could never understand how dark the night can be. How could she know what suffering was, living her entire life safe and protected? How could she know what envy was, when she had everything? How could she know what jealousy was, when she had never lost anything? How could she know how loneliness felt, when her mother had been there for her? How could she know what war was, when she had lived in peace? How could she know what having no free will felt, serving a goddess of good and kindness? How could she know what betrayal was, when she had never felt the bitterness of a dagger in the back? How could she know how precious life was, when she had never felt it end? How could she know how precious life was, when her heart was still beating? When she hadn't lived with the constant fear of the coldness of death? Then how could she ever hope to understand what madness was, when she had never experienced the voices of thousands of tormented souls screaming into her mind?

He could feel them all the time, the metallic handcuffs biting into his wrists, the collar around his neck, how could she have forgotten about them? How could she have just not seen them? Unless she did see them.. and just looked the other way. Just yesterday, it had been his greatest fear. That everything had been a lie. That she had been lying to him, that she had actually wanted to kill him like an Archbishop of Kindness should have felt, that she actually thought that he was a monster, that she didn't believe that there was any good left in him, that she just wanted to let him fall towards eternal damnation, to bind him even closer to sin and banish him, that she wanted him to suffer for his crimes, that she did not believe in him, that she did not care about him.. and that she hated him.

And she had all the reasons to. He had hoped that maybe, maybe, maybe it was real.. but it did not matter. She was gone now, probably back to that good, and strong, and holy hero.

Who would choose a demon over a hero anyway?

And as he walked and walked, death followed him. And yet, his treacherous mind brought him back.. back where he had been so happy, just a day ago, although it seemed like that had been ages ago.. a field of flowers...where she had lied to him, trying to make him happy, showing him all the flowers and their colors and their names.. but it didn't matter. Without her, the flowers couldn't resist someone like him. With every step he took, a dark stain swept through, the flowers and the plants dying and turning black, his aimless walking cutting death through the color. And eventually, he stopped. He looked at a flower in front of him, but it was useless.. he couldn't.. he couldn't remember its name.. she had told him..but he could feel the poison running through those memories. And just as he managed to pluck it out of the ground, the flower had withered, slowly turning into dust and ashes in his hands, like everything around him.

"Of course..", he whispered, grabbing something that had been lodged into the ground, hidden by the flowers above it..a white, bleached bone. Death... life had tried to cover it up, to hide it with flowers and hope.. but it was still there.. and he could feel it. Now, with her no longer around, with the last memories of that time that seemed to be so long ago gone, he could feel it.. the death hidden beneath. That's why this place had seemed familiar..death. A battle, long forgotten. The restless souls, ripped from their earthly shackles and yet bound again by dread and cruelty, never to find their silence.

And then he felt it again, death.. but this time, standing right behind him. She was pale, drained of blood, a gaping hole in her chest where his scythe had ended her life, her clothes stained with dry blood and yet, she wasn’t withering away, her nameless beauty endlessly stuck in time by cursed magic, still visible in the moonlight, her clouded, hollow, green eyes staring at him wordlessly. He had no idea who she was, what her name had been, what her desires in life were, whether she had any family, whether there was anyone she loved.. but her blood was on his hands, the thread of her life cut by his scythe.

Celio slowly stood back up, a sad smile on his face, tears of blood rolling down his cheeks, snakes of smoke with eyes of crimson coiled around his body and arms. "I'm sorry", he tried to tell her, his broken voice pathetically sounding in the silence of the night. "I'm sorry that you had to suffer like this...I'm sorry that you were next to a monster like me when the cage was broken... I'm sorry that you had to die for trying to help....I'm sorry that you had to die for just being in the wrong place at the wrong time...I'm sorry that I don't even know your name.. I'm sorry that your old life is lost. I'm sorry that your soul can't even rest, can't even leave your shattered body...I'm sorry that you are now cursed to walk this earth behind me for all eternity.. I'm sorry.. I'm sorry.. I'm sorry... but..you... you understand.. you understand, don't you?" One of the snakes dissolved only to appear again around one of the girl's blood stained arms, hissing, as the ash of the dying field beneath them started to float.

"You understand.. that we don't have a choice.. that none of us has a choice...Krypta is cursed to forever reap the souls of those ended by her blade... I am cursed to forever be blinded by the poison of envy, seeping and trickling and whispering always and always and always..and now, you are cursed to forever follow the command of whoever owns your soul.. but you should be happy...", and the boy giggled, even as he continued to cry, "Rejoice, for you have escaped the cruelty of life..and now, now you can finally understand it all.. you..you can.. understand..you understand.. because.. because you are a monster too.."

For the first time ever since he had left that village, a glimmer of life seemed to appear in the boy's crimson eyes, so hollow. "You are a monster.. so you understand.. only monsters.. can understand other monsters.. so if.. if she.. if she becomes a monster too.. then.. then she will understand.. she will finally understand.. and she will finally love me.. she will love me for who I am.. and she won't need any heroes anymore.. any virtues...I have.. I have to help her.. I have to show her.. to show her everything.."

Forgetting that the undead girl was looking at him, Celio turned around and fell on his knees, staring at the bone for a moment, before one of the snakes turned into a pure, black knife, falling on the ground right next to that final remain of someone's life. Tightly grasping the knife's handle with his hand, the necromancer let his blood soak the ground below as he started drawing the marks of his cursed art.

[Elysian Kentarchy]

The Achisian Lines, Solomon de Velira, an hour before sunrise

"Fear not the darkness as the light of the Flame will drive it away. Even after the death of His mortal body we maintained our faith in the Emperor and the Gift of Solaris and that faith demands we defeat the invaders and reclaim our home from their taint. Hope is the root of faith. Desire is the root of freedom. So do not walk into darkness but instead walk instead bravely into the fight and hope for victory, desire for victory and thus our faith and freedom will spring eternal with the blessings of the Gods.” The Maiden says with her arms raised as if she was giving a benediction. “They have dared to desecrate our lands, to attempt to extinguish the most pure Flame, to murder our holy Emperor and His wondrous daughters. And that blasphemy must be dealt with severely. The Emperor demands it. Solaris demands it. So fight under the holy flame and achieve victory. For the future ordained unto us, us the true successors to the Thyrian Throne. Us who have been given the most pure and noble light by Solaris.” Those words, spoken by one of the Emperor’s chosen Maidens, causes generations of history, of blood, to kick in and as the men march into position, to once again battle for Achisia, she speaks to me. “Lord de Velira, would you mind speaking so I can find my way over to you?”

“Of course. I am sorry you have to be a part of this war Maiden.” I tell her and she sits on her knees next to me, I having taken a seat provided for me to oversee the battle and a silver mask provided to cover my face. My original mask was destroyed by Alexis during one of our fights so this will do for a replacement. I am not an individual soldier now, I am the commander, so I should wear one.

“Honestly if I wasn’t here, if I wasn’t among our people who were still good I would likely be burned at the stake, or worse.” Her fingers touch the mask she has always worn, the symbol of office she can never part with. “To them I would be a witch, a heretic, they would not understand what I have seen, what I feel. To have seen the light, that most pure light... But I do not blame them for their actions as it all serves to balance out the world.”

“Balance?”

“Suffering, sorrow, misfortune, injustice, anguish, despair, a counter exists for every one of them. What is evil will be countered by what is good. Castitas, Temperantia, Caritas, Industria, Patentia, Benevolentia, Humilitas. What is good will be countered by what is evil. All serve a natural cycle and so the world is in balance.”

“Do you really believe that?”

“All I have ever known was the Flame, was its purity, it is all I have ever seen. So my views on morality are not well developed and it is something I must think about more. I never thought my life of prayers and chanting would end but it did. And I only have you and your sister Illania who saved me to thank for the fact I still breathe.”

“It wasn’t Illania who helped me save you, she was elsewhere in the capital.” I say without thinking and am suddenly glad I am speaking to someone who is blind so she doesn’t see my surprise at saying that.

“It wasn’t her?” Her voice is disappointed. “Who was it then? I must meet her in order to thank her.”

“Like me, she was a soldier, a noblewoman, someone who realized things were ending and the right thing to do was to protect the people. We understood what must be done without exchanging names or purpose. We knew instinctively what the right thing to do was. And that is perhaps why we could work so well together during that time. I haven’t seen her since that day, since we lost track of one another when I was cut off from her when I saved a child.”

“I hope she got out.”

“I know she did, like me, she is a survivor.”

“I hope you were right, I still have to thank her. Like you I owe her everything.”

“I will do what I can to make sure that comes true then but it may take time.”

"I have plenty of time to wait, I assure you Lord de Velira."

Solomon de Velira, a bit later

"Lord de Velira, we have sighted a wyvern!” A soldier shouts as he runs up to me.

“Just one?” I ask from my seat.

“Yes sir, probably a scout.”

I look up to the sky and I can see the shape of one in the distance. “Indeed. Probably a scout.”

“Should we have the mages from the Circle of Fire try and shoot it down?” An officer asks me.

I ponder for a moment but shake my head. “No. Don’t bother harrying it, we will need our mages in their best shape if we are to gain the victory we need. Let them see the forces arrayed against it and know that we have returned."

Rosaria, the sky

"Do they not care? No, they are just that confident I guess." I mutter to myself after not encountering the resistance I expected, I expected to have fireballs shooting at me by this point but the sky is calm. Achisians, always so arrogant, even when their nation is reduced to a wasteland they think to be superior, that they will always win no matter what. And that is why we will utterly destroy them, for Ekaitz and the Despotess, he has entrusted me with the destruction of this Achisian force and I will not fail him. Hence why I am personally doing the scouting on my mount to ensure I can command the forces I have been given adequately.

As I soar over the empty skies I can't believe my eyes when I see how they are positioning themselves, I remember these battle lines really well. "Are they seriously going with that? Have they taken leave of their senses?" I smile despite my disbelief, this might be easier than I thought. Minus a change to the center formation slightly they are positioning themselves in the exact same way they did back then.

"But their forces are larger than anticipated. Reinforcements must be arriving from elsewhere. That or they kept reserves in anticipation of the retreat, either one seems possible given who we are talking about here. So we must strike quickly before they are further reinforced.” I mutter to myself as I circle once and fly back to my lines and land, and, after I have assembled my officers I give the orders, “It is the same as it was back then, as it was when we alone defeated the Achisian Army once upon a time. Inform the soldiers, we are to attack within the hour and Achisia will die. For Ekaitz and the Despotess."

[Castle Crashers]

Somewhere
A broken boy with a scythe


A lone figure was walking aimlessly through a field of flowers, a trail of death behind him. With every step he took forward, the flowers around him withered and slowly died, the colours of life turning into a dead grey. With every step, another drop of blood would fall from the blade of his scythe. The blade, once black, was covered in multiple layers of blood, dry and messy and then fresh. His clothes were now nearly all crimson, as if he had bathed in it.. but it wasn’t his. Beyond the stains of blood, his skin was sickly pale, and his chains made a dreadful sound with each move.. but he was alive.. or was he?

He had no idea where he was, or what he was going to do.. but he still remember who he was. And what had happened. No matter of how much he had wanted to forget everything, no matter of how much he had prayed for the sweet release of oblivion.. he could still remember it, and it hurt. It hurt so much. Even as he tried to ignore it, the dull pain was always there, and whenever those very same memories flooded his mind again, it turned into a burning pain. She ran away. She left. She left without even trying.. without even trying to understand. Had it all been a lie? Had everything she had done been a lie? Everything from when they had met, all the hope, all the promises, had all of it been deception and smoke? He had almost, almost, almost believed it all. That she didn't want to kill him. That she didn't think that he was a monster. That she wanted to find the good in him. That she wanted to save him from his fate, to break the chains bonding him to sin. That she wanted him to be happy. That she believed in him. That she cared about him. That maybe..that maybe she loved him.

Lies, lies, lies, lies.

She didn't even try to understand. All those sweet words, all those promises, all that happiness - none of it mattered. When the time had come.. nothing. An Archbishop of Kindness, one who had tried to believe in him despite everything that she had faced, had believed the lies of a deadly sin. When he was bound by chains, unable to do anything, to say anything, to move, to scream, she had just run away. Someone like her could never understand. Someone in the light, someone filled with hope, could never understand how dark the night can be. How could she know what suffering was, living her entire life safe and protected? How could she know what envy was, when she had everything? How could she know what jealousy was, when she had never lost anything? How could she know how loneliness felt, when her mother had been there for her? How could she know what war was, when she had lived in peace? How could she know what having no free will felt, serving a goddess of good and kindness? How could she know what betrayal was, when she had never felt the bitterness of a dagger in the back? How could she know how precious life was, when she had never felt it end? How could she know how precious life was, when her heart was still beating? When she hadn't lived with the constant fear of the coldness of death? the How could she ever hope to understand what madness was, when she had never experienced the voices of thousands of tormented souls screaming into her mind?

He could feel them all the time, the metallic handcuffs biting into his wrists, the collar around his neck, how could she have forgotten about them? How could she have just not seen them? Unless she did see them.. and just looked the other way. Just yesterday, it had been his greatest fear. That everything had been a lie. That she had been lying to him, that she had actually wanted to kill him like an Archbishop of Kindness should have felt, that she actually thought that he was a monster, that she didn't believe that there was any good left in him, that she just wanted to let him fall towards eternal damnation, to bind him even closer to sin and banish him, that she wanted him to suffer for his crimes, that she did not believe in him, that she did not care about him.. and that she hated him.

And she had all the reasons to. He had hoped that maybe, maybe, maybe it was real.. but it did not matter. She was gone now, probably back to that good, and strong, and holy hero.

Who would choose a demon over a hero anyway?

And as he walked and walked, death followed him. And yet, his treacherous mind brought him back.. back where he had been so happy, just a day ago, although it seemed like that had been ages ago.. a field of flowers...where she had lied to him, trying to make him happy, showing him all the flowers and their colors and their names.. but it didn't matter. Without her, the flowers couldn't resist someone like him. With every step he took, a dark stain swept through, the flowers and the plants dying and turning black, his aimless walking cutting death through the color. And eventually, he stopped. He looked at a flower in front of him, but it was useless.. he couldn't.. he couldn't remember its name.. she had told him..but he could feel the poison running through those memories. And just as he managed to pluck it out of the ground, the flower had withered, slowly turning into dust and ashes in his hands, like everything around him.

"Of course..", he whispered, grabbing something that had been lodged into the ground, hidden by the flowers above it..a white, bleached bone. Death... life had tried to cover it up, to hide it with flowers and hope.. but it was still there.. and he could feel it. Now, with her no longer around, with the last memories of that time that seemed to be so long ago gone, he could feel it.. the death hidden beneath. That's why this place had seemed familiar..death. A battle, long forgotten. The restless souls, ripped from their earthly shackles and yet bound again by dread and cruelty, never to find their silence.

And then he felt it again, death.. but this time, standing right behind him. She was pale, drained of blood, a gaping hole in her chest where his scythe had ended her life, her clothes stained with dry blood and yet, she wasn’t withering away, her nameless beauty endlessly stuck in time by cursed magic, still visible in the moonlight, her clouded, hollow, green eyes staring at him wordlessly. He had no idea who she was, what her name had been, what her desires in life were, whether she had any family, whether there was anyone she loved.. but her blood was on his hands, the thread of her life cut by his scythe.

Celio slowly stood back up, a sad smile on his face, tears of blood rolling down his cheeks, snakes of smoke with eyes of crimson coiled around his body and arms. "I'm sorry", he tried to tell her, his broken voice pathetically sounding in the silence of the night. "I'm sorry that you had to suffer like this...I'm sorry that you were next to a monster like me when the cage was broken... I'm sorry that you had to die for trying to help....I'm sorry that you had to die for just being in the wrong place at the wrong time...I'm sorry that I don't even know your name.. I'm sorry that your old life is lost. I'm sorry that your soul can't even rest, can't even leave your shattered body...I'm sorry that you are now cursed to walk this earth behind me for all eternity.. I'm sorry.. I'm sorry.. I'm sorry... but..you... you understand.. you understand, don't you?" One of the snakes dissolved only to appear again around one of the girl's blood stained arms, hissing, as the ash of the dying field beneath them started to float.

"You understand.. that we don't have a choice.. that none of us has a choice...Krypta is cursed to forever reap the souls of those ended by her blade... I am cursed to forever be blinded by the poison of envy, seeping and trickling and whispering always and always and always..and now, you are cursed to forever follow the command of whoever owns your soul.. but you should be happy...", and the boy giggled, even as he continued to cry, "Rejoice, for you have escaped the cruelty of life..and now, now you can finally understand it all.. you..you can.. understand..you understand.. because.. because you are a monster too.."

For the first time ever since he had left that village, a glimmer of life seemed to appear in the boy's crimson eyes, so hollow. "You are a monster.. so you understand.. only monsters.. can understand other monsters.. so if.. if she.. if she becomes a monster too.. then.. then she will understand.. she will finally understand.. and she will finally love me.. she will love me for who I am.. and she won't need any heroes anymore.. any virtues...I have.. I have to help her.. I have to show her.. to show her everything.."

Forgetting that the undead girl was looking at him, Celio turned around and fell on his knees, staring at the bone for a moment, before one of the snakes turned into a pure, black knife, falling on the ground right next to that final remain of someone's life. Tightly grasping the knife's handle with his hand, the necromancer let his blood soak the ground below as he started drawing the marks of his cursed art.

She hadn't moved in what felt like forever. The tears never stopped. The hurt never ceased.

She stayed rooted to that wall, heaving into her knees, praying for her goddess, asking for forgiveness until her voice was hoarse. She couldn't bear to even think, her mind swallowed and blinded by her pain, too afraid to try and think in knowledge of only hurting more. Her heart ached. Her body ached. She wanted to sleep, to leave, to let someone, anyone else solve her mistake for her. How could she have been so naive and stupid to believe him..? How could she have truly thought he would change for her? Why would he..? What was she to him more than a tool to strike what threatened him most..? She felt so much like a child again, slipping back into her memory, into the sorrow and pain of losing her father. The hurt and the relentless sting of pity from adults...the way they belittled her pain or her tears, giving her puppy eyes and frowns...a lack of being taken serious.

What more was she now? Sure she'd grown, but now, sitting here, she felt...no better. No smarter. No older. She could almost lose her hope. Almost.

She grimaced, feeling more hot tears run down her wet cheeks as she reignited the pain in her chest. How could she have failed so horribly? Had everyone...really been right about her..? About him..? What more was she now than a heartbroken child who was too naive to listen to her colleagues? Perhaps they had always been right about her. She had never been ready for this. How could she have thought she was..?

No.

The voice filled her head, shocking her enough to lift her blue, puffy eyes as it did. Please, don't listen to that doubt, darling. Without you, this world--that boy--would have no hope. No chance. He would be long dead by now. But you.... She felt it. Her warm, kind, ethereal hands against her tearful cheeks, pulling her eyes up to meet her goddess, who smiled down on her with sympathy. You changed that. You did. You sparked a sense of hope, a sense of redemption in him that no one else could. You are helping him do the impossible, Juliette. You're showing him forgiveness, kindness; and maybe, you can save him from this dark path that Invidia has set him upon...

Juliette paused, looking up at her goddess, awestruck as more tears spilled onto her cheeks. "B-but...how..? I...I don't...." She stopped, her face crumpling as her goddess watched. "I don't know what to do!" She cried, placing her hands against the Virtue's. "I've said everything...tried everything...what am I left to do..?" She sobbed. "And then...and then...he...he--he tricked me..! He lied to me! How can I save him like that..?"

The goddess said nothing for a moment, sadness filling her immortal green eyes. Darling... She spoke. You mustn't forget who he is--an Archbishop of SIn. Invidia keeps him laced between her fingers, a puppet to do her bidding. Do you believe that what she does to him, what she makes him do, makes him a bad person..? Does it make him unforgivable..? Her words left Julie silent, speechless, as she thought on these words, her tears stopping as she did. I can't tell you what it will take to help him. He's as unpredictable to me as he is to you. But...you're the only one who can save him... Then, Benevolentia grew troubled as she looked back behind Julie, in the direction she had previously run from before. But you must find a way soon...because if you don't hurry...it may already be too late...

Before the goddess was finished speaking, Julie was in a dead sprint back to where she came from, her Virtue's words evoking a sense of urgency in her; the power she needed to pursue her Sinful Compatriot once more. What had she been thinking? Leaving him alone like that? In all her past experiences, when had that ever been a good decision? And Benevolentia's words, it being too late...who knew what could've gone wrong in the few moments she'd fled..?

She stopped.

Her eyes told her everything.

What lay before her was a horrible scene; a worst fear, witnessing a gaudy bloodstain slashed across the cobblestones, and the wall of a nearby home. A crowd of villagers stood around it, horrified, some crying; and the old lady. She was there. She lifted her tired eyes to meet Julie's, a shared fear and horror immediately linking the two with a simple gaze. They didn't need words. It was clear who had done it. And the missing body...

She didn't waste a second more, her breath catching in her throat as she began to sprint again, continuing in the way she had come from, weaseling between villagers where she needed to, being met with an angry curse and a wish for damnation for the terror she'd brought every here and there. She ignored them. It was a problem for later. But the blood, the village...it was dangerous. Had the murder been on purpose? An accident? The longer she heard the blood rushing in her ears, her heaved breathing, her boots smacking the pavement, the more her fears mounted. If he had killed one person, who was to say he wouldn't kill another..?

And she stopped again.

There she was.

Fresh. Still youthful beauty. She remembered seeing her on the street the previous night, envious of her lone time with Celio. Her golden hair was messy, the ends dipped in blood from the spot her body had landed in, her green skirt now dipped red with the blood that she'd left in her last seconds of life. Her skin was pale and gray enough for Julie to know well enough that the girl walking before her was far from living. But, well, there was only one place this poor soul could be traveling to, right..? And, perhaps, it was just where she needed to go...

Quietly, worriedly, she followed the dead soul as it shuffled onward, never once noticing Julie trailing behind; whether it was a lack of care or a lack of senses was hard to tell. But as she moved, listlessly, barely making a noise as she left the village, Julie could only worry more. It was taking a long time for the body to reach its destination, and even then, what would she see once she got there? The thought of seeing him again, maybe even worse than what she'd left him as, made her heart ache. Would he hate her? Would he be happy? Well, how could he be after how she'd left him..? She grimaced, her anxiety beginning to melt as she watched the girl shuffle onwards, outside of the city, into a field...

And before she could remember her old steps, the evidence lay clear before her. What had once been a beautiful, colorful, happy wildflower field was now drenched in cold moonlight, a once lively and joyful place turned wistful and cautious in an instant. To remember that she'd only been here a day ago, laughing and grazing the flowers with her fingertips, smiling....made her stomach twist. It felt like that had been ages ago, centuries; millennia even. It took her only seconds to see the quiet destruction he'd already left in his wake, hidden by the wild flowers and grass, whispering for her to be careful in hushed tones. An almost undetectable fear, hushly urging her to turn back at the sight of their decaying neighbors. And yet, despite the unease, the fear and the worry she felt deep in her throat, she swallowed and continued forward. It seemed as if with even this small act of determination, of courage, the flowers bloomed and rose happily in her presence, their cheers of hope carried in their rustling against the cool wind, and where she was, where she walked, the flowers began to grow again. What had once been dead and ashen, soon rose from the ground as beautiful, green growth, as if, even now, they knew what she was here for...

But she continued slower than before. More cautiously. After the night of the Blood Moon, it was more than clear that he was far too powerful and capable for her to act so carelessly and irrationally around; atleast, that is, when he was most under the influence of sin or Invidia. This time, as she watched the golden haired girl shuffle forward, she crouched, obscuring her silhouette with the tall grass and the flowers around her. As she inched forward, the incessant whispering of the flowers against the wind did well to hide the noise of her following; it let her eyes take control, barely even blinking as she watched the corpse continue onward...

Until she froze. Her heart stopped. Her breath caught.

He was here.

She bent lower, watching carefully over the dainty flowers that tried to kiss her cheeks and her arms in hope that, maybe, she really could save them. She listened, alarmed and careful, as he spoke to the corpse...and despite her best instinct urging her not to, to not let him take advantage of her soft spot, to remember what she was here for, she felt sympathy. Her eyes softened as she watched him smile, sad, streaks of a dark, inky red falling down his cheeks as he apologized to her. His voice cracking, so sad and wounded, even as those evil snakes encased him; hurt her. Even if she was heartbroken, angry, sad--she couldn't forget how soft she'd grown to him. How much she did care for him. She couldn't deny that hearing him like that made her believe that maybe, just maybe, he was as hurt and confused and scared as she was. And if he didn't know she was here, that would mean that everything he was saying, the way he was saying it, was sincere. It could mean that he really wasn't lying before, right..?

She almost couldn't watch as she heard the despair leak back into his voice, the hopelessness, the wish for death...she thought she had helped him...she thought he had listened to her, believed her, cared for her, really...but after today, after Invidia, after the yelling and the crying, and now this...he really hadn't changed so much from that night, had he..?

But then, she heard something, lifting her wide blue eyes back up in shock. He spoke of her becoming a monster, a cold body, just like the girl before him...that then, maybe then, she would understand and love him as he was. Her heart twisted in her chest as she already knew what that would mean. He really did believe that it would help, didn't he..? Killing her....killing everyone...he was so terribly misguided and hurt, it made her torso burn. Would this be the outcome every time she tried to help..? An endless cycle of helping him just so he would fall back to the envy, the sin..? How could she stop that..?

It will be alright... She heard the whisper in her ears, nearly carried away against the gentle gusts of the earth, drawing her attention away as Celio began his necromancy ritual. You have to remember what you're here for, darling...he needs you...the world needs you...if you turn away, nothing but death will be left in his wake, and that chaos...it will end with him. You don't want that to happen, do you..? Her breath caught in her throat as she locked her eyes onto him again, crouching in the ash, drawing in it with the fresh blood from his arms. No...I could never let that happen... She thought in response, this time, her eyes staying locked onto the boy before her. Of course not...so stay strong, Juliette. It will be alright. You can help him...

"I can't let you do this!"

She was standing now, brow furrowed, blue eyes fierce and confident as she knew her voice would gain his attention. "I can't let you do this, to hurt everyone like that, to keep doing this to yourself...I won't let it happen again." She kept her voice steady, though it was weak, already showing that she still felt sympathy for him. "Please, please don't do this. It doesn't have to be like this. It doesn't have to keep being this way..." She spoke, her expression softening, pleading. Please, please listen to me...please...let me help you... She thought repeatedly, worriedly, as she kept her eyes steady on Celio. How she wished it could be that simple...

[Charlia]

All Nysa could do was watch in fear, trembling, not understanding what was going on but knowing from the expressions and tones of those with her that it was bad. She curled in on herself protectively, and whimpered, hoping it would end soon--she was scared, and she wanted it to stop.

But it didn't. It only got worse, and she watched in terror as Illari started throwing golden light everywhere. Destructive, frightening light--and then--

She screamed, overwhelmed by pain, and distantly registered her body being thrown into something, a hard collision that sent even more pain through her. She could barely think, could barely breathe--it felt like being burned again, but it was all over her. She couldn't stop screaming.

He'd said she wouldn't get hurt anymore. He'd promised. Why? Why did he lie? Why was she being hurt again, what did she do? They'd said her name while they were arguing. She did something bad, didn't she? But she didn't know what. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair, at least before she'd had some idea of what she'd done to make them hurt her. But why...

Her vision blurred, and went black.

---

The castle was... beautiful, to say the least. Alina was left quite in awe. It was strange, but the pieces of it joined together to create something that made her feel comforted just looking at it--simultaneously like something out of a fairy tale and like a fortress, somewhere safe where she'd be protected. And even from above, the sight of the garden filled her with happiness and peace. She imagined spending time there, just resting and maybe forgetting all the pain for a while, imagined how comforting it would be. She didn't want to make any presumptions, but she hoped she'd be allowed to spend all the time she liked there.

Though, if she was really going to be married, she'd have a lot of responsibilities to fulfill. Her father had drilled them into her, the varied duties of a good wife, most of which sounded tiring but manageable.

Some of them, she didn't want to think about. Not until she absolutely had to. And even then, she'd do her best to not think about any of it beyond what was strictly necessary.

But that was a line of thought for another time, and for now she just wanted to pretend everything was going to be okay.

When they landed, and Rafal helped her down from the griffin's back, she just nodded her thanks, suddenly overcome by trepidation, particularly as she saw the people approaching them. She hung back, clasping her hands behind her back to try and hide how they were shaking, and found herself unable to meet anyone's eyes. They seemed to love Rafal, or at least to respect him--it wasn't the same sort of respect her father commanded, tinged with undertones of fear, but a genuine one.

She hoped they could accept her as well, but... she had her doubts.

They'd probably want what was best for him, after all, and that certainly wasn't her.

Her thoughts were interrupted by someone else's appearance--a young girl, one who Alina couldn't help but smile at the sight of. She remembered being that age, and being much like the girl appeared to be, wild and 'unladylike', as her father would put it, countless dresses stained with dirt and mud from too much time spent outside and at play.

But then the girl--Elzbieta--said she hated Rafal, and hit him--and Alina flinched automatically, her hand going to her own face as if she was the one who'd been struck. How? How could anyone hate Rafal? She didn't understand, and she wasn't sure she wanted to. Rafal was a good person, she knew that. She trusted him. Why would this girl hate him?

She wanted to speak, but she couldn't, words lost in her confusion.

Rafal... what's happening?

[Tracian Empire]

Wyzkia
A castle

Silence. Everyone just looked at the two them, in shock, at the little girl, and at the knight in full armor that she had just slapped. Rafal didn't even seem to know how to react, how to feel. The red haired boy opened and closed his mouth a few times, as if he was desperately trying to say something, to say anything.. but in the end, all that he managed to do was to whisper her name. "Ela..", he tried to say, but before he could continue, the blonde haired girl slapped him again. "Don't you dare call me like that! Don't you dare!", she shouted, "You promised.. you promised that you would never leave me alone.. you promised that you would always be there for me.. and you l-lied!", but despite her best attempts to seem angry.. she seemed to be on the verge of crying, shivering and with teary eyes. "I didn't..I just. I have to do.. what father can't anymore.. I have to.." But the girl would have none of that. "You're just like him! Always only thinking about your title, about your gryphons, your order and your code! Always leaving so that you can fight, always away to follow what is written in that book, until you're going to do it just like he did and get yourself killed! He.. he said that he would return.. he promised..but he.. he was a liar too! And you are.. you are.. a liar too! You've t-told me that you would never leave me alone, and yet you did! Again, and again, and again! You always leave to fight for those paladins of yours, and you leave me alone here, never knowing.. never knowing if you would return or not! And you l-leave me all alone.. with her..she's s-scary..she's j-just.. so empty.. I d-don't w-want to, I d-don't w-want to s-see her ever a-again, I d-don't want to s-stay with her, n-no, no, n-no!"

Tears were rolling down her cheeks, but the red haired girl didn't give Rafal a chance to say anything, even if it was clear from his expression that seeing her like that.. it hurt him. "And n-now you c-come back, w-with her? Who is she? What is she d-doing here?" The young squire seemed to be completely taken aback by the question, as he looked back and forth between Alina and Elzbieta, hesitating. "She..Ela.. she.. she is Alina. Alina Kryszka. She is going to be my.. wife. I proposed to her.. and she accepted. After we marry I think that.. she will be your sister."

Only if Aurora herself would have thrown the Spear of Dawn in front of her would the little girl have been more shocked. Elzbieta continued to look straight at Rafal for a few more moments, before she turned towards Alina, as if she wanted to jump on her. " You left me.. all alone.. f-for her? For her? Who are you? Who are you? W-what l-lies have you b-been t-telling him? You.. you are t-taking advantage of him.. it has to b-be..y-you're j-just in for h-his m-money or something..you saw him, a n-noble, not married, and you s-saw your chance, like the evil queens in those stories..you m-must have t-taken advantage of his.. of his kind heart.. b-but I won't let you break it! I won't! What l-lies have you been telling him? He..he so foolish.. he always.. always.. goes out of his way.. to save everyone.. and anyone..is that.. is that.. how.. how you caught him? Is that.. how.. how you are fooling him? What story have you m-made up? That you were.. that you were some sort of a.. d-damsel.. in.. d-distress, l-like in the s-stories? D-do you know.. w-what.. w-what he is r-risking, to d-do something like this? He is.. he is a b-baron, he can't just.. he can't just marry anyone! He has to, he has to marry someone from the Golden Book, that's what.. that's what father always said. He can't.. he can't bring shame to the family name! It's all.. it's all he has. It's all the family has. If he d-does something like that, he could.. he could be removed from the book! The family would lose.. lose everything.. he has.. he has already risked too much..so don't you dare.. don't you dare.. don't you dare do something like that to him! What are you? Who are you? Some sort of a witch? Have you used m-magic on him, charms, p-potions? Or are you.. are you just.. a l-lying.. a lying whore? I've heard.. I've heard about.. the likes of you..the g-guards were talking.. about.. about the whores of that c-cult.. who go.. and bewitch the m-minds of people.. you.. leave him! Leave him alone!"

"Ela, don't, you don't know what you are talking about, please, stop..", a clearly shocked Rafal tried to say, but Elzbieta wouldn't have any of it. "No! No, you can't see it, why can't you see it? She has to be, she has to be something like that, you're not.. you're not thinking straight! I'm.. I'm helping you! Leave him alone, you, you w-whore!"

---

The Kingdom of Duivene
Chovers, the Two Towers

A heretic.. the daughter.. of a line of heretics, servants of a dead Witch-King., the young Faith Keeper said, his soft voice barely more than a whisper. "It is certainly heartwarming for someone like you to worry about the well being of Duivene and her people..but you attempts to sway the minds of your captors are all in vain. For they should remember, who came to the help of of the Unicorn's Realm when the forces of the Faithless Flame were at its gates. Not the Gryphon of Silver and the Gryphon of Crimson, not the Trident and the Crown, not the Deceiving Kraken, and not the Lilac Dragon, but the Faith. It was the Holy Faith, through the Haliarchy and the Scriptures, that came to Duivene's aid first. And it shall be the Faith again that would come to Duivene's help, for the Gods always answer the prayers of those truly faithful. For no darkness, no False Flame, no undead traitors and no heretic warriors can win against the light of dawn..." And the Faith Keeper sighed. "There is much poison in your words, witch, but even the most accursed can find repentance..the Faith's Judgement does not torture.. and it does not kill. We simply do what must be done to help the lost souls find their way back again..from the darkness of the night..to the brightness of the light. And you will find your way too.. trust me, you will. I do not know what happened to whatever poor soul from your family the Faith's Judgement tried to save in the past, but we can all find solace knowing that it is closer to salvation."

The whited haired man then looked directly at Eric, as the youngest of the Faith Keepers smiled, tightly gripping her ranseur. "Brave words..", the man said, and the third Faith Keeper, the tall woman, her face still emotionless, continued. "For someone guilty of crimes against the Faith." And the little girl giggled. "A grudge against our order? Why might that be? Because our brothers and sisters saved you from the clutches of Luxuria, Eric de Villegaignon? The Eye sees, the Scales judge, and we remember." And she giggled again. But the man, who clearly was the group's leader, continued to look at Eric with his pale red eyes. "Today, it is not my call to finish the job started by my brothers and sisters so many years ago. Your time for repentance will come another day, Eric, no matter what you try to do to escape. Acta deos numquam mortalia fallunt." The Faith Keeper closed his eyes for a few seconds, before he continued. "The night before, you have fought against the forces of darkness, and for that, the Faith is thankful. For that, we will allow you to ask that sinful woman the questions you desire..but only under two conditions. The first is that a brother or a sister of the Faith's Judgement will be there to listen, so that the witch's poison will not spread. And the second condition is that once you are done with your questions.. you shall surrender her to us, so that she may start walking the path of repentance. What do you say, Eric de Villegaignon and Peter Clermont?"

---

Somewhere
A broken boy with a scythe

"I can't let you do this!"

Her voice covered his soft chanting, but the black haired boy didn't even seem to have noticed her, as he just continued to weave his spells, even as she stood up, even as she started talking, even as she was pleading. Only when she stopped speaking, only when silence filled the air again did the boy slowly stand back up, turning around and looking at her.. but his crimson eyes seemed to be just as hollow as those of the dead girl next to him. And for a moment there, it was almost as if two corpses were looking at her, without actually seeing anything.

"You..can't.. let.. me.. do.. this?", Celio whispered, his crimson eye almost appearing to glow in the night, as the black, shadow snakes coiled around his arms and body hissed moved, as if they wanted to jump at Julie. "How are you.. going to stop me?", he seemed to ask, his face still blank and emotionless. "You can't.. let.. me.. hurt.. everyone?I'm.. a monster. You're too late..way.. way..way..way too.. late. Where were you...when I killed her? Nowhere.. nowhere. You can't let me.. keep doing this.. to myself? As if.. as if.. I have a choice.. as if.. I've ever had a choice.. not that.. not that you'd ever understand." Bitterness seemed to seep into his words as he took a few steps forward, his chains rattling. "You won't let it happen again? You're a liar.. why would.. anyone believe you? Please don't do this, it doesn't have to be like this, it doesn't have to keep being this way.. you're lying, you're lying, you're lying, you're lying.. you don't understand... you never do." Celio looked away from her and instead looked directly at one of the snakes, as tears of blood continued to roll down his cheeks. "I hoped.. that you would understand...that I never had a choice...You told me.. that you believed in me... that there always is a way, and you vowed to me that if there isn't one, you will make one..you promised that you would stand for me, even if no one else would..that you won't let me suffer alone..that you weren't going to let them hurt me anymore.. that you.. that you were going to save me....that..you liked me.. lies.. all of them.. lies. And for a while.. I believed them. I didn't want to. I hated myself for it. But.. I believed them. I wanted to.. I wanted to hope that there was someone who believed in me. That there was someone who believed in something I forgot long ago. That there was a way out.. and that there was someone.. someone who would love for me what I am. And yet all of it was an illusion..."

Celio remained silent for a moment, as Julie could suddenly hear the snakes hissing yet again..and while the boy's eyes were still empty, the blood-red eyes of the snakes were filled with hate. All it took was a moment.. for you to forget everything that you had promised.. to abandon everything that you said. You believed it.. didn't you? Everything that she said, everything that she showed you..it's ironic isn't it? That the lies of envy would unveil your own lies..but this is at it should be. The black haired boy smiled. "I am an Archbishop of the Cult of Sins, a slave of Invidia, the Sin of Envy. Maybe it is time for me to finally start acting like one.." And as the boy spoke his last words, the ground behind him started to tremble and to break, as hands of white bone started to claw through, as the dead started to rise from the blood soaked ground. "You wouldn't understand.. you would never understand.. not when you are like this. What would you know of darkness, when you spent your entire life in the light? What would you know of sin, when you have spent your entire life in virtue? What would you know of death, when you have spent your entire life among the living? But... if what you said.. was actually true.. if you want to prove.. that you haven't just been weaving.. a web of lies.. there is a way.. for you to understand.. there is a way.. for you to prove that you meant everything."

And Celio took another step forward, stopping right in front of the girl. Crimson met blue, their eyes meeting, as the boy hesitatingly placed his left hand on her cheek, not seeming to care that his hand was dirty, stained with dry blood, or that fresh blood was still slowly dripping from the many cuts on his arm. "You can die..", he whispered too her, as the snake still coiled around his arm moved a little forward, hissing right next to her ear. "And then, I can set you free.. I can free you from the lies of the light, the lies of the virtues.. and you will understand.. in death, I'm sure you will.. for only a monster.. can understand.. another monster.."

[Charlia]

Alina didn't understand everything Elzbieta was saying. That wasn't too surprising. She wasn't who the words were meant for, after all. But soon the young girl turned in her direction, and Alina visibly tensed up, bracing herself for what she was certain was coming.

And come it did, in a torrent of words asking who she was, what she'd done to trick Rafal, shouting at her to leave. Alina flinched, and took a step back, and then another, looking like she might very well turn and run, anywhere, just to get away from the accusations.

That's not true, she wants to say, but can't. I would never... I'm not... I tried to tell him to leave, but he wouldn't listen. I tried, I really did, I didn't lie to him. I'm not--like them. Don't say I'm like them. Please... I can't... I can't be like them...

She was breathing too heavily, on the edge of hyperventilation, and she thought she might cry, unconsciously clutching at the fabric over her chest as if to make sure it was still there, still covering that hideous scar they'd left her with. Stop. Stop. Please, stop saying that... Rafal...

[Elysian Kentarchy]

Illania de Velria

I laugh, not my mocking chuckle but an honest laugh. "Oh please spare me your humor Faith Keeper it is just too funny that you might kill me with laughter. After all, I probably care more about Duivene than you do and I am someone who would shed no tears if this land was burned to the ground and its population sent to their judgement before Spraevia." My smile leaves my face and I turn contemplative. "Though I wonder how much aid the Faith can truly give. Surely the Faith must have suffered in the war and not profited off of the suffering of so many people? I can imagine their resources must be stretched helping so many of the faithful in need of help, that is the right thing to do and Terraria would undoubtedly smile down upon such acts." My smirk returns to my face, "or were you too busy interrogating a chicken over not laying any eggs to check that one out? I hear such heresy would get the chicken sentenced to death by being made into dinner for the Haliarchs so I understand it to be a serious matter for your people."

[Kingdom of Irhk]

The Kingdom of Duivene
Chovers, the Two Towers

A heretic.. the daughter.. of a line of heretics, servants of a dead Witch-King., the young Faith Keeper said, his soft voice barely more than a whisper. "It is certainly heartwarming for someone like you to worry about the well being of Duivene and her people..but you attempts to sway the minds of your captors are all in vain. For they should remember, who came to the help of of the Unicorn's Realm when the forces of the Faithless Flame were at its gates. Not the Gryphon of Silver and the Gryphon of Crimson, not the Trident and the Crown, not the Deceiving Kraken, and not the Lilac Dragon, but the Faith. It was the Holy Faith, through the Haliarchy and the Scriptures, that came to Duivene's aid first. And it shall be the Faith again that would come to Duivene's help, for the Gods always answer the prayers of those truly faithful. For no darkness, no False Flame, no undead traitors and no heretic warriors can win against the light of dawn..." And the Faith Keeper sighed. "There is much poison in your words, witch, but even the most accursed can find repentance..the Faith's Judgement does not torture.. and it does not kill. We simply do what must be done to help the lost souls find their way back again..from the darkness of the night..to the brightness of the light. And you will find your way too.. trust me, you will. I do not know what happened to whatever poor soul from your family the Faith's Judgement tried to save in the past, but we can all find solace knowing that it is closer to salvation."

The whited haired man then looked directly at Eric, as the youngest of the Faith Keepers smiled, tightly gripping her ranseur. "Brave words..", the man said, and the third Faith Keeper, the tall woman, her face still emotionless, continued. "For someone guilty of crimes against the Faith." And the little girl giggled. "A grudge against our order? Why might that be? Because our brothers and sisters saved you from the clutches of Luxuria, Eric de Villegaignon? The Eye sees, the Scales judge, and we remember." And she giggled again. But the man, who clearly was the group's leader, continued to look at Eric with his pale red eyes. "Today, it is not my call to finish the job started by my brothers and sisters so many years ago. Your time for repentance will come another day, Eric, no matter what you try to do to escape. Acta deos numquam mortalia fallunt." The Faith Keeper closed his eyes for a few seconds, before he continued. "The night before, you have fought against the forces of darkness, and for that, the Faith is thankful. For that, we will allow you to ask that sinful woman the questions you desire..but only under two conditions. The first is that a brother or a sister of the Faith's Judgement will be there to listen, so that the witch's poison will not spread. And the second condition is that once you are done with your questions.. you shall surrender her to us, so that she may start walking the path of repentance. What do you say, Eric de Villegaignon and Peter Clermont?"

Eric de Villegaignon

So finally someone discovered who I am... Now this will get definitely interesting.

Eric stared at the Faith Keepers, running his hand through his iconic mustache as the Duivenian officers launched their accusations at him. The only other person who seemed to know his case that deeply was the Archbishop of Chastity. However, their version of the story caused quite a different reaction...

He laughed.

"So, that's what the reports say? That the heroic protectors of the Faith, marched on your white horses with shining manes, to save the desperate lost knight?"

Taking one step closer, he stared at the eyes of the group's leader, his hand firmly gripping the handle of his sword.

"Now listen here... I escaped that terrible cave alone. I suffered for hours before I've even seen anyone who could help me escape. It was this sword... This very sword I use today, that broke the shackles that held me. It wasn't the blade of any Keeper or priest.

I escaped from captivity due to my own will to escape, not due to your efforts. You stole way too much from me already for me to let you steal that too."

Taking one step back, he heard Illania's answer to the Faith Keepers. Definitely, there was a different kind of resistance inside her: maybe one that was the fruit of her young age, maybe it came from her famous relative, the General. However, she was in a far less favourable position than him. She was an Achisian, a mage and a prisoner, in a situation where she could end up as an example for anyone who tried to go against Duivene.

"But I will accept your offer. Send one of you to come along, in case she tries to run away."

[Elysian Kentarchy]

Solomon de Velira

The battle begins and as expected considering the structure of our armies archers on both sides begins firing off arrows at the opposing number while the infantry on both sides raise their shields for protection, us with our kite shields and the Xerenians with their heavy rhombus shaped shields. Who knows how long this will last given the Xerenian emphasis on archers but if it goes as I expect this shouldn't last long. I had to make some alterations from the normal tactics and troop deployments thanks to the lack of cavalry at the moment but it doesn’t matter. Our purpose is to hold them here and let them advance no further so that type of mobile warfare is not needed. The deviations are overall minor and given the Xerenians movements as far as I can see they have not mattered much. Despite being early in battle the screams of the injured and dying already can be heard and the Maiden shudders from her seat on the ground next to me.

“Ah this is your first time seeing an actual battle isn’t it Maiden? Ah my apologies, I meant hearing.”

She nods her head, “I understand what you meant Lord de Velira and yes this would be my first time. I was considered too young to go on campaign before the fall of our Emperor.”

“Well for your first battle you are definitely facing an interesting one.The slave crests of the Xerenians make it so their morale is unbreakable, they cannot defy their orders so they will fight even if they don’t want to. They won’t break even though they should. So the proper course of action is killing as many as possible so their masters order the retreat. Tactics to disrupt their morale is pointless. They are like the undead in that way.” I say almost conversationally to the Maiden but I then frown as I hear a roar from the sky. “But that continual advance is almost unnerving in its own way. Advancing without faltering, without halting in the slightest, it can unnerve even the most stalwart of defenders. And that does not include their beasts.” At those words another roar echos across the battlefield and the Maiden raises her head in its direction.

“Was that the dragons?”

“Wyverns,” I correct her, “while they are related to the dragons they lack the power of actual dragons. They attack in swarms in an attempt to overwhelm their enemies with sheer numbers and are not truly intelligent. A Binder who can use tactics more advanced than that is an extremely deadly one as they are often possessed with the rage of their mounts.” I turn my head to a runner, “bring word to the Ring of Fire, they are to make every reasonable effort to take down those wyverns.” The runner nods and departs, causing me to return my gaze to the battlefield, our forces still in the skirmishing phase, soon after the wyverns arrive and against their arrival comes fire sent from Achisian mages. If Illania were here, she would be able to counter this better but I have to make do. In the distance I hear the chanting of a trio the Achisian mages:

By our hatred
By our love of the Flame,
By our desires,
We gather our strength and use it to destroy all that stands against us.

And as soon as they are finished lances of fire form and fly towards for a trio of wyverns that was heading towards our left flank. The first one is killed along with its binder, pierced through completely by several lances they fall to the earth a burned husk. The second has its binder killed and flies off but its movements are erratic to show its struggle against its bindings, but the third dodges and swoops down upon our lines and its acid rains down upon them.

The screaming can be heard from here and I flinch under my mask at them while the Maiden looks distressed. “Maiden, I apologize that you must hear things like this.”

“The screams are just so horrible. To suffer as these people must be suffering…”

“I know, and I would save them all if I could.” From my seat I observe as the group that was just hit pulls back, dragging their wounded along with them, and is replaced by one of our reserve units, we don't have that many but it is best to make our army seem larger than what it is, the scout could not have figured out just how large our army is so I am exploiting it. As planned for the non wounded soldiers are cannibalized into the other units to plug gaps or, in the case of archers, to add more arrows to the mix. The archers on the sides of the moving formation rain down arrows at the forces directly across from them to prevent them from exploiting our movement. The officers are doing their jobs well and the army fights as well as it used to, at least when it comes to maneuvers, when the melee comes we will have to see. But for now discipline is being maintained very well, and without that we will inevitably lose. I then address one of the runners, “tell Bearer de Marlon that she is free to go all out now, in fact I expect her to do so and advance towards the Xerenians.” Time to draw them into pitched battle. But are they willing?

---

Rosaria Givri

“High Binder Rosaria, we have received word that one of the Bearers have been sighted standing at the head of the Achisian forces in the center.”

“Impossible. The Bearers are all dead, we made sure of it.... No, I suppose that isn’t enough to make sure of anything with the reports that Alexis of Duivene’s traitor of a sister was sighted fighting on the field.” I turn my head to someone I know who was a veteran of the last war and also was there with us when the Bearers were wiped out. “Go check it out and report back to me about your guess on who they are.”

“As willed by Prince Ekaitz through you.” He runs off and soon returns out of breath.

“Well?”

“It is the Maiden of Steel.”

“De Marlon eh? Heh, that’s ironic.”

“Ironic?” One of the newer officers asks me and I explain.

“De Marlon was killed by Alexis of Duivene’s traitorous sister before the palace yet now they seem to be on the same side,” I explain and shrug, "she will die regardless for that is what Prince Ekatiz commands. The Achisians cannot stand against such a decree." I give directions on what to do about the presence of the Maiden of Steel and wait to see what the Achisians do next.

---

Nerine de Marlon

“Lady de Marlon, Lord de Velira has ordered you to, and I quote, ‘go all out’.”

I turn from my shield that I have been maintaining with my mana to grin to the messenger who carried that message to me and he flinches. “Very well, you can let Solomon know that the slaughter will begin. Children of Achisia! Advance!” I shout raising my axe to the sky and the soldiers near me march forward, many of them carrying heavy axes and all of them wearing lamellar armour. A few carry round shields for protection but they are also armed with axes. Solomon made sure our center was where our strongest infantry was and it shows as, to counter it, the Xerenians advance along the flanks and seem focused on going around us. So it is with some satisfaction that a wyvern lands before me and roars while its binder looks down at me with contempt.

I grin upwards at it. They claim to be beings of hatred and anger, but their rage will fall before the force of oblivion and I am its herald.

[Elysian Kentarchy]

The archers continue their volleys even as the Xerenian infantry march forward towards the Achisians who are waiting with spears and shields raised. The lines bend and move even as Nerine marches forward with her troops and engages the wyvern in front of her.

---

Solomon
I frown under my mask. “This isn’t right. Or is it?” The Maiden raises her head to me and I explain, “the Xerenian forces are smaller than expected. I knew that they would be small, there is no way for them to force march a massive army this far so quickly, but even then this is a smaller force than I thought it would be. What could they be planning?”

“Perhaps they underestimated our size?”

“That is true, we have received reinforcements since our retreat, however, even then they aren’t moving like a force should be when outnumbered like this. They intend to give pitched battle here, that much is clear, but that is not what is sane, even if I have devised the battle lines to encourage a pitched battle. Just what are they planning..."

Rosaria
I frown, the Achisians are better organized than I expected them to be. I expected the wyvern attack to scatter them and we could exploit the chaos that would cause but that isn't the case. They move and fight with discipline that is unchanged from the old days. For just how long were they planning for this day? Since the war ended? Or did they start making plans before the wretched Emperor died? With the discipline they are exhibiting here crushing them directly is going to be difficult. Perhaps it was a mistake to wait for reinforcements to arrive but...

“High Binder Rosaria?” I turn my eyes to the officer who spoke up and who is trying to avoid my sight.

“Speak.”

“Does… does Prince Ekaitz intend for us to win this battle?” I raise an eyebrow and he hastens to explain, “I mean, the Achisians are out in force and are far better organized than we were led to believe. Even if we were to win we would lose most of our force but it seems unlikely, especially if the Achisians have reinforcements incoming.”

“And what do you suggest as an alternative?” I ask sharply. “What alternative is there besides victory?”

At that the officer looks directly at me and speaks clearly. “Delaying action, injure and kill as many Achisians as possible, see if we can’t cut off the head of the leader of this group. If we do all of that it should stop the Achisians from launching an offensive towards Duivene for sometime and, if this truly is a widespread rebellion, it will force the leaders of that rebellion to send reinforcements this way to stop a counterattack. It will allow us to buy time until Duivene, the Scriptures, and the Despotess’ armies are ready to move. We should not fight this as that battle in the past but instead fight it as a battle in the now. And the now requires us simply killing as many Achisians as possible.”

I look at him carefully. Was this His Majesty’s plan? If so why didn’t he tell me? On the other hand my orders were vague so perhaps this action is acceptable. After observing the situation more I nod, time to change the battle up. “Send out the orders to the infantry, ‘kill as many Achisians as possible, break and destroy them, your objective is only to kill’, pass along similar orders to the rest of the Binders.” With those words I walk off towards my wyvern.

“Where are you going ma’am?”

I turn my head and grin, “I am going to go and take the head of the Achisian commander here.”

[Zapatha]

The Kingdom of Duivene
Chovers, the Two Towers

A heretic.. the daughter.. of a line of heretics, servants of a dead Witch-King., the young Faith Keeper said, his soft voice barely more than a whisper. "It is certainly heartwarming for someone like you to worry about the well being of Duivene and her people..but you attempts to sway the minds of your captors are all in vain. For they should remember, who came to the help of of the Unicorn's Realm when the forces of the Faithless Flame were at its gates. Not the Gryphon of Silver and the Gryphon of Crimson, not the Trident and the Crown, not the Deceiving Kraken, and not the Lilac Dragon, but the Faith. It was the Holy Faith, through the Haliarchy and the Scriptures, that came to Duivene's aid first. And it shall be the Faith again that would come to Duivene's help, for the Gods always answer the prayers of those truly faithful. For no darkness, no False Flame, no undead traitors and no heretic warriors can win against the light of dawn..." And the Faith Keeper sighed. "There is much poison in your words, witch, but even the most accursed can find repentance..the Faith's Judgement does not torture.. and it does not kill. We simply do what must be done to help the lost souls find their way back again..from the darkness of the night..to the brightness of the light. And you will find your way too.. trust me, you will. I do not know what happened to whatever poor soul from your family the Faith's Judgement tried to save in the past, but we can all find solace knowing that it is closer to salvation."

The whited haired man then looked directly at Eric, as the youngest of the Faith Keepers smiled, tightly gripping her ranseur. "Brave words..", the man said, and the third Faith Keeper, the tall woman, her face still emotionless, continued. "For someone guilty of crimes against the Faith." And the little girl giggled. "A grudge against our order? Why might that be? Because our brothers and sisters saved you from the clutches of Luxuria, Eric de Villegaignon? The Eye sees, the Scales judge, and we remember." And she giggled again. But the man, who clearly was the group's leader, continued to look at Eric with his pale red eyes. "Today, it is not my call to finish the job started by my brothers and sisters so many years ago. Your time for repentance will come another day, Eric, no matter what you try to do to escape. Acta deos numquam mortalia fallunt." The Faith Keeper closed his eyes for a few seconds, before he continued. "The night before, you have fought against the forces of darkness, and for that, the Faith is thankful. For that, we will allow you to ask that sinful woman the questions you desire..but only under two conditions. The first is that a brother or a sister of the Faith's Judgement will be there to listen, so that the witch's poison will not spread. And the second condition is that once you are done with your questions.. you shall surrender her to us, so that she may start walking the path of repentance. What do you say, Eric de Villegaignon and Peter Clermont?"

Eric de Villegaignon

So finally someone discovered who I am... Now this will get definitely interesting.

Eric stared at the Faith Keepers, running his hand through his iconic mustache as the Duivenian officers launched their accusations at him. The only other person who seemed to know his case that deeply was the Archbishop of Chastity. However, their version of the story caused quite a different reaction...

He laughed.

"So, that's what the reports say? That the heroic protectors of the Faith, marched on your white horses with shining manes, to save the desperate lost knight?"

Taking one step closer, he stared at the eyes of the group's leader, his hand firmly gripping the handle of his sword.

"Now listen here... I escaped that terrible cave alone. I suffered for hours before I've even seen anyone who could help me escape. It was this sword... This very sword I use today, that broke the shackles that held me. It wasn't the blade of any Keeper or priest.

I escaped from captivity due to my own will to escape, not due to your efforts. You stole way too much from me already for me to let you steal that too."

Taking one step back, he heard Illania's answer to the Faith Keepers. Definitely, there was a different kind of resistance inside her: maybe one that was the fruit of her young age, maybe it came from her famous relative, the General. However, she was in a far less favourable position than him. She was an Achisian, a mage and a prisoner, in a situation where she could end up as an example for anyone who tried to go against Duivene.

"But I will accept your offer. Send one of you to come along, in case she tries to run away."

After hearing Eric, Peter sighed and looked to the Faith's Keepers:

"I will accompany you as well, protectors of the faith. Seeing that I captured the witch on the field of battle it is expected of me to see that she is justly interrogated and treated. I will however not directly interrogate her myself, I will act only as an observer of the royal court of Duivene as I am the king's steward." Looking to Illania, he gave her a half smile and nodded.

Peter had never participated in an interrogation of a prisoner before however this situation was different. If he let the Faith have at her, neither Peter or the Duivenian government would get wind of any information she had about the Achisian invasion.

[Kingdom of Irhk]

Eric de Villegaignon

As everyone seemed to come to an agreement, the soldiers carried Illania to the barracks, as a wave of offenses could be heard directed towards her. It was clear for Eric that even after all the time he spent away from the streets of Duivene, there was still some underlying hate that came up to the surface at the first chance, at the very first glance of Achisian icons.

As the procession took place until they reached the barracks, the soldiers and the Keepers made sure that Illania was properly restrained to a chair, placed in the middle of a captain's barrack that could fit all of her interrogators: Eric, the Clermont noble and the Faith Keeper, all of them equally interested in what she had to say to them.

As everyone seemed to take their places and the soldiers outside divided themselves between trying to make their inner peace after the harsh words of the Seneschal and the fate of the Princess or actually listening to what type of questions they were going to make towards her.

"Well, Illania... we saw each other at the battlefield, but I was kind of busy with General Augustine, which is your relative, I assume. See, I want you to clarify some stuff for me.

Achisia lost an unified army at the end of the war, and even if you were distant from the country you would know that. Now, for the surprise of all of us involved, the country joins the battlefield properly organized with the command of a General that terrorized us given how hard it was to take away his carefully produced tactical advantages over us.

What exactly are your goals? Are you an organization, do you have any more allies...?"

[Elysian Kentarchy]

Illania de Velira

I mull over what exactly to say for a moment before starting on something I need to make clear, "to start with a basic assumption you have made, the dismantling of Achisia's armies was not as thorough as the Council would have liked to believe. Most of the higher ranking officers, mages, and nobles died at Arak'thon and the fall of our capital but beforehand they made plans for the 'next war' should the worst come to pass. They calculated when the next Night of the Bloody Moon would be and created a plan to prepare for it, the mustering of troops and mages is only a part of it." I don't mention the finer details since I figure they would not care about it, that and I was not involved in many of those details so I only know the basics.

"Our goals are... well that depends on who you are talking to, General Augustine de Velira, my great-grandfather, is the easiest one to explain, the restoration of the Empire of Achisia, at any and all costs. There is no goal higher in his mind than that and he will do everything he can to accomplish it. On his side he has mustered many loyalists and veterans and has organized them along the lines of our old army but I do not know how many of them share his ideals or just want to fight the enemy. As for allies well..." I mull over my words again, "Grandfather doesn't command every Achisian and there are a few groups whose views are different from ours that I expect to have risen up by this point, I know of at least one for certain but their leader is... unstable. Also, there are two other groups Achisia's enemies could call our 'allies' and they have very different goals from ours, the Cults of Sin and the Silver Banners." I make no effort to hide the contempt I have for both groups from my tone, abominations and heretics the lot of them.

[Zapatha]

Peter Clermont

Standing up from his seat, Peter walked closer to the middle of the barrack towards Illania. His wounds from the battle were almost fully healed from magical treatment, however the scar on his cheek would be there for the rest of his days. Looking to Illania, Peter said:

"Lady de Velira, you have said that your grandfather has recruited many veterans of the Great War and nobles with their shared goal being the restoration of Achisia. If that is their goal, then why exactly is their army continuing their push north to Duivenian territory?" Before letting her answer, Peter took a step back and turned to the rest of the audience of the interrogation:

"I believe that Lady de Velira isn't telling us the whole story of her and her family's intentions for marching into Duivene. If what she said was true, then why not just be content with eliminating allied forts and outposts in Achisia itself, like what happened at Fort Peremoha?" Turning once more to Illania, Peter said "I believe you know more than you are letting on Illania. It would be better for you to tell us now under your own free will rather than how the friendly Inquisitors over there would get the truth from you."