Before Virion had the chance to respond, the dark wooden door to the meeting room suddenly flew open as an armoured soldier desperately stumbled into the room.
"Commander, Lord," the soldier greeted hurriedly, still trying to catch his breath.
"What is it?" Virion asked impatiently.
"Th-They've been sighted, Commander. Approaching the western coast." The soldier's voice quivered in restrained fear. "The sh-ships."
I bolted up from my seat at the soldier's news. "Where exactly did you see them?"
"J-Just a few miles south of Etistin... Sir," he replied, hesitant on what to call me because of my age.
I rushed past the guard and headed out the door. "Come on, Zeph."
"Wait! Al, what are you doing?" Claire and virion called from behind, their voices laced with concern.
"Clipping their wings," I responded without turning back.
Claire grabbed my arm with a determined look to follow me into this fight. "Like hell, I'm letting you go to war by yourself!" She scolded me.
"They likely have an armed escort, Likely even a Retainer or Scythe which Is why I don't want you to come with me," I said knowing she didn't like this at all.
"If you not back before midnight I'm hunting you down myself." She sniffled as I could feel one of her tears hit my arm.
"I promise, And If I don't feel free to stab me with this." I handed her the sword Wren made for that he so affectionately named the Sundance mk.2 after his previous best sword that was the same shade of crimson.
Claire gave me a surprised expression before giving me a happy smile as she let my runoff. Zeph and I sped toward the teleportation gate room, dodging past several surprised workers and guards.
Upon reaching the familiar double iron doors we had come through, we saw two guards that weren't there before guarding either side of the doors.
"open the doors," I requested which was more of an order than anything, impatience evident in my voice.
The male guard, clad in heavy armour with a longsword strapped to his back and two smaller blades bound to both sides of his waist stepped forward with a stern expression. "All entries and exits are to be approved of by either Commander Virion or Lord Aldir. We haven't heard of your departure from either of them so no can do, kid."
"Let me through before I tear the door open myself," I threatened as my fingers were starting to transition into claws.
"No matter how lofty you think you royal kids are, learn some respect for your elders."
The female conjurer that looked to be middle-aged, dressed in a lavish robe and a hood that covered her hair, quickly intervened, hoping to quell the situation. She spoke in a gentle voice as if she was talking to a child. "It's dangerous for you to go out alone in these times. Maybe if you have a guardian you-"
She stopped in her tracks as she choked on her last words. Both the guards crumbled to their knees as they clawed at their throats desperately. They gasped for air like fish out of the water as I took another step forward looking down at them.
"Let's try this again," I spoke with Frosted breath as the area around me was coated in frost as My horns showed themselves from my release of Storm Soul to make a point. "Open. The. Fucking. Door." I spoke in a venomous voice, my sound magic-infused voice hijacking their nervous system puppeteering them back to their feet and releasing them once they were standing.
The two of them scrambled toward the door and released the lock. The heavy doors groaned against the gravel floor as I rushed through and made my way toward the center of the room.
"Etistin, Now," I ordered and a second later the glowing portal buzzed and hissed, the view of Etistin came into focus.
Without a word, Zeph and I stepped through the gate once more, my heart thumping heavily the closer I got to my destination.
Arriving at an unfamiliar room filled with guards on the other side, I stepped down from the elevated stage that held the gate, Sylvie just a few steps behind.
"Who let a child through- IT'S THE FROSTHORN!!" the barrel-chested leader shrieked as she saw my jagged horns.
"He's from the Castle, Sir," he responded shakily pushing himself against the wall, staring at me with tear-filled eyes.
It was both troublesome that my reputation had gotten this bad, and a boon that made putting people in their place easy.
Also, everyone thought of me as just a child was annoying as hell even though I was well into my teens. I was taller than many of the guards present, but my unruly long hair and adolescent appearance seemed to keep any of the soldiers from taking me seriously; well until they figured out that I was the so-called "Frosthorned Demon,"
Without the patience to explain my situation, I made my way toward the exit, walking past the large leader.
"Kid! What's your business here? Don't you know the state this city is in?" A new grizzled armour-clad soldier that stood at least a head above me gripped my arm tightly, jerking me back.
"I have permission from Virion, Open the door before I make a new door," I warned.
The leader scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, sure. Commander Virion sent the likes of some thin pretty boy here. I bet you're just a runaway noble brat that had a tantrum and pretended to be the Frosthorned Demon. Lester, take the boy back through the gates! I don't need more civilians to be taken care of here!"
"Pretend you say?" I smirked releasing my presence as I thrust my hand at him, digging my clawed hand into his chest plate before tearing the metal off him like it was paper throwing him at a wall in the process knocking him unconscious.
Many of the soldiers present were augmenters, so they knew exactly what was happening as everyone helplessly fell to the ground. The very air in the room froze as the soldiers stared wide-eyed in shock at one another. The gateman, being an ordinary civilian, couldn't handle the pressure and had been knocked unconscious.
"Zeph. Let's get out of here."
'But the door-'
I glanced around the room to see some of the more capable mages already calling for backup.
"You wanna make a new one or should I?"
"I always wanted to make a dramatic entrance." Zeph was overjoyed in anticipation.
The white lizard body of my bond began glowing until he was fully enveloped in a shroud of blue light. With a thunderous burst of mana radiating out of his body, The reinforced chamber we were in was blown wide open as the sun above illuminated the two of us.
Zeph's form changed into that of a sheer-white dragon. Over the past few years, his form had become much more distinguished and mature. Small details like the shape of his horns and scales, which now looked like thousands of small jagged pieces of plate armour, all made Zephyr appear fearsome yet ethereal.
Zeph let out a colossal Roar shaking the earth and knocking nearby soldiers to their unconscious with the sudden blast shock to their hearing, the ones that were still conscious let out stifled cries at the turn of events, but I didn't waste any time enjoying their distress. I jumped on top of Zeph as he beat his leviathan-sized wings to lift us into the sky.
As we shot through the skies, the gasps and screams from the civilians and soldiers below us soon softened the higher we reached into the sky.
The crisp winter air whisked past my cheeks as we ascended above the clouds until we could see the setting sun turn orange against the horizon. The beauty of Dicathen was in full view, laid out like a canvas below. I took a brief moment to relish the peaceful sight, from the snowcapped mountains and grassy plains to the sparkling ocean and lush forest, before directing Sylvie toward the south.
'Let's make it there before nightfall,' I advised, leaning forward on Zeph's massive back as I de-activated Storm soul and started mana rotation to replenish the mana.
'Roger,' he chimed back, his voice still chirpy despite his frankly nightmare-inducing appearance to those who didn't know he was my bond.
'you sure you want to have me ride on your back in full dragon form? we can both fly without expending as much mana as you are.' I asked knowing the mana it takes for dragons in their true form was a lot.
'It's fine, I wanna stretch my wings, besides since my last growth spurt before we left for dicathen I was only able to fly for about an hour so I need to get used to it.' he transmitted back as I sat down for the ride.
The land sped past us in a colourful blur as if the very background was being pulled out from underneath. The mana around me abiding my will without even needing conscious thought as it protected my clothes against the sharp winds.
As we headed south, the sight of cities soon became visible the closer we headed toward the coastline.
'Let's get lower, Zeph,' I transmitted, hunching my shoulders.
My bond tucked in his massive wings as she fell into a steep dive toward the cliffs just above Trelmore City. We barreled through the clouds that obscured our vision, swooping just below the clouds with the grace of an owl in the winter. As we descended, the glittering sea soon came into view, and along with it, the variable I hadn't expected and blamed myself for.
I cursed aloud at the nightmarish sight ahead, my words getting lost in the wind. as I built up my mana preparing for a large-scale spell.
I could only stare in silence at the scene.
Hundreds of ships both on the water as towing zeppelins in the sky approaching from the glowing horizon, not more than a few dozen miles away from shore, making their forces stationed in the Beast Glades seem like nothing more than a speck.
'Storing fuel for when they make landfall?' Zeph's voice echoed in the storm of emotions in my head.
"It won't matter if they never make landfall." I spat out as I scanned for the presence of any scythes or retainers.
"This doesn't look too good," Sylvie's voice echoed behind me as I turned to see Arthur riding his bond behind me as she gazed at the ominous view ahead.
"it won't matter if I stop them from making landfall," I said letting my mana influence the atmosphere, the waves picking up and the clouds starting to churn as the air smelled of ozone and static.
"Al stop. Virion said they want to have a meeting with their delegates before the war officially starts and they attack." Art spoke as he grabbed my shoulder having jumped from sylv to Zeph.
"It's just an ultimatum to kill the council members and let the citizens live, or they kill everyone. It wouldn't matter either way they will still experiment on the prisoners, win or loss in the war, the choice doesn't matter." I spat remembering their message.
"Still attacking now could accelerate their plans in retaliation and have them draw whatever cards they have up their sleeves, besides we can't even use the Typhon yet," he added on.
"Fine, I'll wait another day. the messengers were two retainers, Uto and Cylrit, Uto is dead so they likely will send another retainer in his place but Cylrit's greatsword can be used to attract spells or physical attacks but only one at a time and you can tell when he does. And he is just as fast if not faster than you so stay on your toes if you fight him." I spoke as we turned and flew back.
VIRION ERALITH'S POV:
A bloodcurdling scream jolted me awake. I didn't know when I had fallen asleep, but my body immediately got up from my desk chair. Heading out of my study, I narrowly avoided a guard rushing in the direction of the shriek.
"C-Commander Virion," he saluted, skidding to a stop.
"What is going on?" I looked around, watching the other guards all heading in one direction.
"I'm not sure, Commander. The scream seemed to have come from just a floor beneath."
"There shouldn't be anyone-Anna!" I gasped. The only occupied room just immediately below this level was Cynthia's room, with Anna taking care of her.
The guard's eyes widened as he turned and headed down. Immediately following behind, I pushed aside the horde of armoured guards. Arthur's family was just outside the door, but they were all staring inside. Everyone was staring inside.
Lifting my gaze, my eyes stopped at the scene just a few feet ahead.
"N-No," I let out as I hobbled closer, unable to believe my eyes.
"H-How? Who?" I stammered, but Anna was just as shocked as she shook her head.
My head spun as the clutter of noise and murmurs around me became muffled. I took another step but my legs gave out underneath me and I stumbled against the bed, Al pulling me up with his bloodied palms caused by his clenched fists.
"I couldn't stop the curses advance, I'm sorry." He spoke through gritted teeth with a repressed tone of anger at himself.
Cynthia Goodsky lay peacefully in bed, her arms by her side and a thin white sheet over her body. And out of her chest was a pitch-black spike jutting out, covered in blood. Covered in her blood.
An indiscernible howl ripped out of my throat as I sunk to my knees, clutching tightly at my old friend's cold, lifeless hand.
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