Jude POV:
"I'm going with you!" Ellie's voice sounded from behind.
I stopped in my tracks and the guard beside me halted as well. Turning back to lock eyes with my sister, I struggled to hold down the words, 'it's too dangerous.'
"You promised, remember?" Ellie's gaze remained resolute as she walked to me.
"A massive horde of corrupted beasts," I muttered softly.
"You'll be with me," she answered immediately. "And I'll have the protection of the Wall."
The guard beside me scratched his head and kept shifting his gaze toward the exit impatiently. "Commander Jude..."
"We're going," I stated as I began walking toward the training ground exit once again.
Looking back over my shoulder, I called out to my sister. "What are you doing? Let's go."
Ellie visibly brightened as a contagious smile blossomed on her face. She followed after me in a full run. "Come on, Boo!"
Immediately outside of the training grounds there was an unfamiliar mage with a large sparrow-like bird perched on his shoulder, stood, waiting. After making eye contact, he respectfully inclined his head. "Greetings, Commander Jude. I am Officer Julor Strejin. A member of my squad surveying the Beast Glades was the one to spot the horde. I will be briefing you about the situation at the Wall."
"Officer Julor," I acknowledged with a nod.
Without wasting any time, the officer began informing me of everything that I was expected to know. Two other mages—both highly-accomplished adventurers before joining the army—would be accompanying us as additional support to the Wall. The best estimate on the size of the beast horde was somewhere close to thirty thousand. Although a majority seemed to be from D-class to B-class, there were several A-class and even quite a bit of S-class and SS-class mana beasts had been spotted.
"Unfortunately, we weren't able to get too close because of the Alacryan mages, but we spotted at least two dozen S-class mana beasts and several SS-class mana beasts," Julor stated solemnly.
I looked back at Ellie. "Two dozen S-class and several SS-class mana beasts. And the fact that they are corrupted means they'll be even stronger and more fierce."
Ellie's face paled but her expression remained firm. "I'll be okay."
My determined, talented, yet sheltered, sister has definitely never seen a mana beast besides the tamed bonds in Xyrus when she was younger. I doubted she could even fathom how scary an SS-class beast was but here I was, leading her straight into not only one, but several... along with several thousands of other beasts.
I turned to Julor. "Any signs of retainers or scythes, Officer?"
"None yet," he replied confidently. "But the possibility remains high from the interrogation of the spy we caught."
"How many days do we have until the horde reaches the Wall?" I inquired.
"By the pace that they're marching, we expect them to arrive in no more than two days time," he answered before shooting a glance at where my sister was. I could tell he was about to say something but he held his tongue.
We walked in silence for the remainder of our small walk until we reached the docking room. It was relatively quiet inside the usually-bustling space. Besides the several workers strapping saddles on giant hawk-like mana beasts, I could only see Virion with a small entourage when we had arrived.
"Jude!" Virion called out, his once-cheerful disposition had faded, instead replaced by war-weary eyes. Beside him were two mage soldiers and a few maids behind them.
"I'm sure Officer Julor informed you of the situation so let me quickly introduce you to the two mages I've chosen to support you at the Wall. "This is Callum Hembril. He's young, barely past thirty, but already an accomplished fire conjurer in the solid-yellow core stage."
The chestnut-haired mage stepped forward, his long coiled bangs covering his forehead. He had an inquisitive look on him that he quickly covered with an amiable smile. "Callum, as introduced by the commander. Pleasure."
Virion stuck a thumb back at the figure a few feet behind Callum. "This big lug here is a dark-yellow core augmenter, but he's been out on the fields of the Beast Glades for over forty years."
The barrel-chested man that stood almost a foot over me and twice my girth was covered from the neck down in heavy plate armour that glowed dully. He had short hair and his lower face was dark with stubbles. With a piercing gaze that seemed to be assessing every inch of my body, he stretched out a hand toward me. "Gavik Lund."
I shook his hand that seemed almost as wide as Boo's paws, before turning back to Virion. "So, what's the plan?" By those mounts getting ready, I'm assuming we're traveling by air?"
"Mhmm. Those are Callum's and Gavin's mounts," Virion informed. "The closest teleportation gate is in Blackbend City and the train hasn't yet been fully finished. It's fortunate that the Castle's location is relatively close to the Wall."
"I'll fly myself, my sister and Boo," I said curtly.
Virion's expression was laced in worry, but he didn't comment on Ellie going with me.
The large bifold doors that took up an entire wall opened, letting in a constant rush of air as the floor below us slowly slid out toward the large exit. I motioned for my sister to follow as I made my way toward the edge of the castle.
I relished the beautiful sight of the sky below us. "I forget sometimes how high up the Castle is in the sky!"
"Tell me about it! At least we can't see how far up we are because of the clouds below," my sister shouted over the sound of the wind.
The sight of Callum and Gavik on their mounts whizzed by. The tamed mana beasts dove off the edge of the dock before reappearing into view with wings spread out.
"Let's go!" I shouted as I ran toward the edge.
Several hours had passed since our departure and besides the gorgeous views of the sky and clouds, it was a boring journey. We had settled into a comfortable speed heading southeast with Callum and Gavik leading just a few dozen yards ahead. After my sister's initial excitement—and Boo's terror—of flying had died down, the two had fallen asleep while still being flown by me.
Ahead, Callum conjured a bright flare and signalled that we were descending. The two mages then led their avian steeds below the sea of clouds, both disappearing from view.
Looks like we're almost there.
The shroud of wind I had cast over my body kept all of the moisture from the clouds away from me but Ellie wasn't as fortunate. I couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of my sister awake, drenched and grumpy. Boo's thick fur was drench and matted down to his skin, making him look scrawnier than what I had imagined.
I shot a smirk at my sister, but her gaze was glued below, jaw agape.
I peered down, the layer of mist thin enough for me to finally see through. And what I saw was truly a sight to behold.
I could only describe it as a sea. A sea of black and grey that was made up of what could only be the corrupted beasts. We were several miles above ground and the beast horde was still more than a day away, at the least, but already my chest clenched in suspense.
Callum and Gavik had both stopped their descent to behold the sight below, exchanging concerned glances with one another every few seconds.
The Wall, the fortress housing close to several hundred mages and soldiers, responsible for keeping this beast army at bay, looked tiny—insignificant—in comparison.
I could feel heart speeding and my blood boiling to the extent that my hands were trembling.
We arrived at the ground level of the Wall, where a small welcoming team was waiting for us around the designated landing podium.
"Ahh—oof!" my sister let out as she fell into my arms. "Couldn't you have gently floated me down to the ground?"
I looked down at her with a smirk. "I thought all girls wanted to be carried this way at one point in their lives."
"Gross," Ellie groaned as she rolled out of my arms, landing deftly on her feet. As she dusted herself off, she looked around for the first time, only to start blushing as her eyes scanned our surroundings.
I pried my gaze from my sister to realise that there was a crowd forming, silent and expectant. Callum and Gavik had already handed their mounts off to the beast-keepers and were awaiting orders.
"L-Let go of me, idiot brother!" Ellie whispered.
Dropping her on her feet, I teased, "Are you embarrassed of your brother?"
"Commander Jude," a voice called out. I turned to see the one who must have the captain. There were two people next to him. Upon making eye contact, the three of them inclined their heads respectfully.
To keep the morale high, the soldiers most likely did not inform them of how large the enemy force was, but even then, their eyes were filled with worry. It seemed that having a boy the age of many of their children as backup didn't particularly fill them with confidence. Some of them were even mumbling to their neighbours about whether or not I was really a commander.
I let out a heavy breath and stopped controlling my mana core. Power surged through my limbs and mana and aether particles that lit up around me.
There were gasps that could be heard even from where I was standing and many of the people in the crowd buckled, unable to bear the pressure of my aura—even with me holding back.
"While my presence in this fortress may be unnecessary, my only wish is to expedite our victory with as little loss to our forces as possible," I stated with my head held high.
The people in the crowd erupted into cheers and shouts as I walked toward the three captains.
We introduced ourselves to each other.
"Let's head to the meeting room," I declared, matching my pace with the large armoured man in charge of the Bulwark Division, whose main duty was to defend the Wall. "My younger sister would like to contribute in this battle. Her skills as a magic archer should be of use to your troops. If you'd like to test her out..."
"No need for that, Commander. Your word is plenty enough for me and my men," Captain Albanth responded resolutely. "I'll also have my most capable soldier guiding her."
"Benjamin!" Without stopping, Albanth beckoned for a messenger and had him fetch the guard.
"I don't need a babysitter, you know," my sister complained, walking up to me. "I still have the pendant Arthur gave me and Mom, remember?"
Ellie pulled out the phoenix wyrm pendant Arthur had gotten her and Mother on Ellie's twelfth birthday.
"I've let you come on this mission as I promised, but you're not allowed to say anything about me taking extra precautions," I chided.
By the time our small group had arrived at the familiar meeting tent, the soldier that had been beckoned for by Albanth was already there.
"Stella," Albanth called out. "This is Commander Jude's younger sister..."
"Eleanor Leywin," my sister finished with a salute.
"Eleanor Leywin. She's a capable magic archer that I'll leave under your direct care," the captain of the Bulwark Division ordered. "Make sure she's properly equipped before taking her to the top level."
If the woman named Stella was discontent with being stuck protecting my sister, she did a great job of hiding it. Her scarred face was expressionless as she held her helmet in one hand and a mace in the other.
"Yes, Captain," the soldier barked, clicking her armoured heels. "Please follow me, Lady Eleanor."
"Please. Just Eleanor, or even soldier, is fine." My sister scratched her head in frustration as she followed after Stella.
"My apologies for having one of your soldiers guard my sister like this. She was rather adamant about serving and I thought the Wall would be a safe place to start."
"Normally, I'd agree with you. But with the size and strength of this beast army approaching, I can't say that for sure," Albanth responded.