The War (All Chapters + Synopsis)

Chapter 24.3 - Amalia

The wind rustles the grass, the red stains of death long washed away in wind and rain. This is the field where Lues and I first met, where he destroyed my army in one fell swoop, where I was captured and whisked away to my king's castle. Now I go the other way though, leaving the castle and the city of Moor behind me. Now we march to the shore, through the hastily cleared remnants of the Holy Collective's camp, their last foothold in Feralis. This time, Lues, the Demon King, is at my side as a friend, and Ilena, the Angel Death, my ally.

I almost laugh at the thought, that only four weeks ago I thought these noble souls monsters, that I didn't understand that monsters could be on both sides of any war. This time, an army is at my back, and it's not made of humans and ambros, but ambros and makraz. The combination of the mixed army we used to take down Carber, and the Feralin Royal Military.

We trudge on horseback through the forests and plains of Feralis, in only a day we've already reached the shores. Water laps at the sandy beach, rocks break the waves and sea foam bubbles on the surface. An armada of ships waits just beyond the shore, the Royal Navy of Feralis. Smaller boats wait on the beach, to ferry soldiers onto the ships, to ferry soldiers to war in Spero. A small force is staying behind in Feralis, led by Sergio, Amarion, Marianne, Gennaios, the two princesses, Lauria, Hayley, basically everyone except for Katlyn, Ilena, Lues, myself, Captain Tristayne, Daryan, and Addilyn.

The ferrying of soldiers starts with the seven of us, plus about four-hundred-thousand other soldiers getting into two hundred odd boats. We row to the largest of the ships, the flagship I surmise based on the red and black flag waving from the main mast. The Queen Amaryllis is painted on the side of the ship, this is indeed the newly built flagship of the Feralin Royal Navy. The ship is a legend in Spero, a rather large ship that can move faster than one a quarter its size. A ship built not only to carry thousands of soldiers and crew, but also built to move with haste and do battle on its own.

I've always admired the Feralin Navy, their ships are always top of the line, their soldiers and crews trained as near to perfection as they can possibly get. Katlyn seems uncomfortable, seeing the armada, likely because her father had been its admiral for centuries until his death half a century ago in a sea battle with the Holy Collective. Her oldest brother was killed in the same battle, a captain on a ship in the fleet.

"You know, I think Queen Amaryllis would've hated this lack of color," Katlyn comments as we take in the ship.

I must agree with her, based on what I know of Queen Amaryllis she would not have liked the bare wood. She would probably have preferred black or red or something other than plain brown.

"Maybe, but I think she would have told us that the color doesn't matter, as long as it never loses a fight," Ilena responds, looking at the railings that wrap around the deck.

A rope ladder is tossed down to us, Daryan and Addilyn hold it for us, as Lues and Ilena climb up, then Katlyn, followed by myself. Daryan and Addilyn stay on their boat, as does Tristayne, they'll be continuing on to Tristayne's own ship, the Viosky, which has joined our fleet of warships. On the deck, the admiral of the fleet, Admiral Altair Drusilla. He bows to Lues, salutes to Ilena, and nods to Katlyn. Technically speaking Katlyn and Altair have the same rank, hence the nod instead of a salute, but Ilena is a rank up because she's a knight.

I've only seen a few knights in Feralis, I know there are more than a hundred, but I've only seen Ilena and a few of the ones in Lues's personal guard. I assume the others are somewhere in Feralis, dead, or on missions for the kingdom. The sun dips into the sky, the inky colors of sunset painting the sky in strips. After a few hours, all four-hundred-thousand soldiers are on the two-hundred-odd ships in the fleet. As the ships set sail for Spero, I wonder what my mother is doing. Is she in the castle in Euros, unaware of the looming attack; or is she on the western shore, ready with an army of her own?