by Eric Vall
Twenty warriors from the Blue Tree Guild stood in formation in front of the smaller airship. They were fully armored, and many of them had broadswords slung on their backs. I could see Leon and Dagen in their ranks, and their youthful faces stood out from the stern expressions of the wolf Demi-Humans.
“I’ll come with you,” Nikolaus said as he broke apart from the guild warriors and walked toward me. “You are going to hunt down the harpies, are you not?”
“There’s a castle,” I murmured back to him as I drew in a calming breath, “in the mountains at the eastern edge of the forest. It has existed there, in secret, for at least a thousand years. According to the Lord Prior, children were disappearing from Hatra and our vassal villages, all of them last seen near the forest. Graves belonging to children and cultivators were also desecrated. On the day Hatra was attacked by demons, the Lord Prior had just returned from scouting the forest and had found a fully functional castle instead of the ruins that were supposedly there. And he met a scholar who perfectly matches what we know Olivier to look like. There’s too much coincidence here, Nikolaus.”
“Children disappeared and graves were desecrated?” Nikolaus’ silver eyes narrowed, and his jaw clenched. “There are many things that can be done with such ingredients, none of them pleasant or even anything we would want to happen. Not even the sects that dabble in the darker arts would kidnap children and desecrate graves.”
“What do you think they were being used for?” I asked as I turned to face him, and anger coursed through my veins. “
“You have to understand, Evan,” Nikolaus began to explain, “I have served on the front lines of the Breach for as long as I can remember. And when I am not fighting in the Breach, I am fighting any instance of the demonic scourge outside of the Breach. There are demonic and fallen mages, people who have given themselves over to the demons and their twisted promises. Some of them have been known to kidnap and mutilate children in order to extend their own lifespan. We don’t know if this Olivier is a cultivator, but we do know he caused the Corrupted Corpses to fall into Hatra. Thus, we can deduce he is a fallen mage, and it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to consider he’s been extending his lifespan using children.”
“That bastard.” I clenched my fists so tightly my claws cut through the flesh of my palm, and blood dripped onto the ground between us.
“Evan!” Anton called out as he jogged over to my side. “Blue Willow is prepared for launch at your command.”
“Good.” I nodded and walked to stand in front of the warriors. “This is a mission of the utmost importance. Harpies have already attacked our people once, and we have good reason to believe we’ve found their possible base of operations. They have a castle in the mountain range beyond the forest’s edge. We will go and wipe out every trace of their existence.”
A loud cry went up, and I closed my eyes as I reveled in their shared anger.
“We will follow you to death,” Dagen cried out as his ears stood up straight on his head.
The other warriors around him joined in on the shout, and their faces were set with rage and the willingness to follow me anywhere. Although I hadn’t met all of them, and I didn’t even know their names, I knew they trusted me with their very lives.
“No one is going to die,” I promised as I walked past them to board the airship, “except for the Green Glass Sect.”
Another clamor rose up behind me, my words had only riled them up even more.
“It would be wonderful if we could wipe them out in one go today,” Nikolaus said as he strode beside me. “That way we can get rid of this rot altogether.”
“As wonderful as that would be,” I muttered back, “I doubt it’ll be that easy. Olivier and his people are like maggots, always wriggling.”
With that, the warriors of the Blue Tree Guild climbed into the ship and loaded into the cabin. Two or three of the warriors went into a different section of the airship, and the ship’s ramp disappeared into the hull. Then the airship rose smoothly into the air without a hitch, Hatra disappeared beneath us, and we headed in the direction of the forest.
Blue Willow sailed through the skies above the forest, and the green canopy beneath us floated away as if ocean waters were underneath the airship’s hull instead of air currents. The warriors were inside the cabin, ready at any moment to burst out and fight.
I didn’t stay inside, though, I was out on the deck watching for the Green Glass Sect’s castle.
Nikolaus stood next to me, and his silver eyes searched nonstop in the air before us for any disturbance or attack from more demonic harpies. None of us had felt anything in the surrounding area, but one couldn’t be too prepared.
“I haven’t sensed any of those harpies,” Nikolaus murmured to me with more than a hint of suspicion in his voice. “Why haven’t they noticed our presence?”
“Maybe they can’t sense us,” I answered as I looked at the clouds above us, “maybe whatever is controlling them has to be constantly acting as their senses. They were already dead, they couldn’t act without being controlled.”
“Or they’ve already left.” Nikolaus tapped his hand along the railing and scowled. “They could be anywhere in Rahma, wreaking havoc.”
“No, they haven’t left.” My gut told me they were just ahead of us. “They aren’t going to leave without destroying Hatra and the orichalcum mine first. Neither of those two have been destroyed, so they’re going to be here still.”
We fell silent as Blue Willow moved into a large cloud, and cold wind brushed against our faces. The air shifted minutely, and it was as if we’d entered a different area. There were no sounds of any animals, or even wind. It was a completely dead space.
Then we came through the other side of the cloud and saw it.
The fortress came into view before us, and it was an impressive sight. The castle was built right into the side of the mountains, and it reached up into the sky like fingers trying to poke the gods. It was just as impressive as the magical rendering Tristan had created, but there was a festering stench of miasma and the nearly overwhelming sensation of pure evil coming from the castle’s carmine colored walls.
“What a disgusting place,” Nikolaus muttered next to me. “You can feel as if even the air itself is rotting away.”
“That’s because it’s nothing but evil,” I replied as I tightly gripped the railing in front of us. “It belongs to Olivier’s people, of course it’s going to have a hideous presence. Something like this would be better off no longer existing.”
This was it, we’d reached the seat of where the Green Glass Sect’s attacks on Hatra had originated from.
After today, there would be no more attacks launched from this castle. It would be nothing more than crumbled stone and would go back to being the forgotten ruins everyone had thought it was.
I was going to tear it down with my own claws, and my warriors would set it on fire.
Absolutely nothing but a smoldering ruin would be left.
Chapter 13
Dark purple clouds of miasma drifted along the base of the castle, right where it merged into the mountainside. It was strange. The poisonous smog seemed almost peaceful, and it mulled around the carmine stone walls as if it wasn’t even there. I couldn’t trust this false sense of calm. My gut instinct screamed the miasma was just waiting for the right moment to attack us, and when it did, it would be a desperate fight.
This was more miasma than I’d ever seen attack the city of Hatra, and I was almost suspicious there was a demon gate somewhere underneath the castle. We knew miasma came from portals to the demon world, but there were no portals in the area that I could sense. It was like the miasma had always been here, surrounding the castle as if it were a moat.
“Why isn’t it attacking us?” Anton asked as he stepped out of the cabin and peered at the malevolent clouds. The wolf ears on his head swiveled constantly, and I could tell he was as unnerved as I was.
“I don’t know,” I admitte
d to him as I concentrated on bringing my healing power to the surface, “but we’ll be ready when it attacks. There’s no if about it.”
Next to me, Nikolaus kept a keen watch on the miasma, and it was clear in his silver eyes that he was thinking the same thing I was. Just because the miasma was docile for now didn’t mean it wouldn’t attack us the moment it had the opportunity.
“The miasma in the Breach often behaves the same way,” Nikolaus remarked as he tapped the hilt of his sword. “It’ll lay dormant for a long while, almost as if it’s nothing but mist. But the moment one attempts to sneak past it and is surrounded … well, the miasma attacks, and you’re left fighting your comrades if you have no defense against its corruptive power.”
“Good thing we have something that’s going to make things easier.” I smirked back at him as I let my healing power seep into the bodies of everyone aboard Blue Willow. “I can heal everyone faster than the miasma will be able to corrupt them.”
While having Alyona and her purity here would be the best defense and offense against vanquishing the miasma, nothing would happen to my comrades as long as I kept them covered with my power.
But what if there was an easier way to get rid of the miasma? I glanced over to my fellow Noble of the Sword. If I remembered right, Alyona had called him the Prince of Light. If his strengths lay in light magic, then there was a possibility his power could clear out the miasma in the same manner Alyona’s power could.
“Impressive, none of the healers on the front lines are capable of doing such a thing.” Nikolaus kept his eyes on the miasma, but there was a faint smile on his face.
“I’m nothing like the healers you’ve met,” I laughed as I shook my head. “Speaking of which, can you do anything about that miasma?”
Just as Nikolaus was about to reply, there was a barely noticeable shift in the miasma. He and I both exchanged glances as we reached for our Swords. I hadn’t been able to practice fighting with Miraya, but there was no time like the present.
Do not worry, Miraya’s voice echoed inside of my mind, the memories of the previous Lords and Ladies of Hatra el Shamash flow through me. Their power will be yours.
I gritted my teeth and only tightened my grip on the Sword’s hilt. The power I felt in the air was somewhat like the demonized harpies from the attack on the orichalum mine.
Beside me, Nikolaus seemed to glow. His silver eyes were almost pure white at this point, and the Sword in his hands was nothing more than a ray of light.
“There’s something strange about what’s coming,” Nikolaus murmured as his silver-white eyes fixated on a point beneath us. “Something half dead and half gone.”
“Sounds like the harpies we fought before,” I replied as I took a breath to center myself.
I knew exactly what he meant by those words, since the demonized harpies weren’t living by any standard definition of the word nor were they dead. They were trapped in some unholy existence between the two planes.
As we watched, out from the miasma came what looked like a flock of hundreds upon hundreds of black and tan birds. We knew better, though.
Those were demonized harpies, except they looked nothing like the ones I’d fought before. These were almost rotting in mid air yet still held together, as if they had been mummified before they were sent after us. As they approached, pieces of their bodies fell off, and their wings were featherless and bony appendages. By all rights, they shouldn’t even be able to fly.
“What pitiful creatures they are.” Nikolaus drew his sword and slashed in their direction. “I shall put you all to rest.”
An almost blinding arc of light exploded from his swing, and the harpies in its path disappeared. There was a great sigh, almost in relief, that filled the air around us and the sound of ringing bells.
“How did you do that?” I glanced over at him with wide eyes. “Was that your power or the Sword?”
“Both,” Nikolaus replied as he nodded at me, “your Sword would be able to put them to rest if your blade touches them.”
Well, that changed the story.
Nikolaus continued to vaporize the harpies with the light from his Sword, and we drove the flock toward the ground.
“Leave some for me!” I cried out as my heart pounded in my chest. I wanted to face these harpies head on, and I wanted to be the one to defeat them. Not out of hatred or anger, but out of pity. These creatures didn’t ask for this, and I would put them to rest.
As the Blue Willow descended through the sky, the castle’s courtyard rose up to meet us. Dozens of harpies screeched in the skies as they swarmed the ship, and I finally had enough of standing around.
When the airship was thirty feet from the ground, I grabbed onto the railing and swung myself over. Then I was in freefall.
“Evan!” Nikolaus screamed after me, but I bared my teeth in a feral grin as the harpies dove for me.
I swung the Sword of Hatra left and right, and three harpies exploded into nothing more than dust in debris. I finally reached the ground and barrel rolled, and then I popped up on my feet as I brandished my blade.
The Blue Willow was still hovering in the air, but now the harpies’ attention had been split. Half of the flock dove for me while the other half continued to swarm the airship, and their screeches reached a new fevered pitch.
“Come on, come on,” I muttered as I tightened my hands around the hilt of my sword.
Then the first harpy reached me, and I ducked out of the reach of its talons. As the beast careened past me, I swung my blade at its back, and the harpy screamed as it crumbled into dust.
The Blue Willow touched down behind me, and the Blue Tree Warriors rushed across the courtyard with howls and battle cries. The warriors’ weapons weren’t as effective as my and Nikolaus’ Swords, but the guild members did a good job of corralling the harpies so Nikolaus and I could take care of groups at a time.
Between the Sword of Healing and the Sword of Light, we laid waste to the crumbling forces attacking us.
“Keep pushing forward!” I yelled as Nikolaus and I cut through the lines of decrepit harpies.
The Blue Tree Guild members howled in response, and I was in awe of how the wolves and other Demi-Humans flowed across the battlefield, almost like dancers.
I gritted my teeth as I pulled up my stone power, and a moment later, a dozen pillars of rock shot into the sky. Some of them struck a few harpies that then tumbled to the ground with ear-splitting screeches. The guild members jumped forward to pin the bony creatures to the ground with their blades. Then Nikolaus and I alternated between putting the harpies of their misery.
Within minutes, my skin was coated in dust and sweat, and the taste of ash was heavy in my mouth. I watched a harpy dive from the sky and tackle a Demi-Human wolf to the ground, and the wolf yipped in pain as the harpy’s talons raked his chest.
I leapt forward as the harpy pinned the wolf to the ground, but I realized I wouldn’t make it in time, so I summoned up my stone power again. A moment later, a rock spear launched through the air and impaled the harpy through the gut. The momentum of the projectile knocked the harpy of the guild warrior, and I sprinted toward the fallen opponent before I put my Sword through its skull.
The harpy’s grimace of pain dissolved into dust, and then I turned back to the wolf still panting on the ground. Dark red blood stained his tunic, and he whined as his hand felt along his sliced up chest.
“Don’t move,” I instructed as I walked over and placed my hand on his forehead. Glittering energy enveloped the Demi-Human, and when it faded, his chest was whole once more.
“Thank you, Lord Evan,” the wolf grunted as I helped him to his feet.
“Don’t mention it,” I said and clapped him on the shoulder. “You good to get back into it?”
The wolf bared his fangs and brandished his blade in response.
“Sounds good,” I laughed before the two of us jumped back into the fray.
Although, as the fight wore on, something
strange began to happen. The harpies were completely disorganized, there was no rhyme or reason to their attacks. But as more and more harpies faded into dust and ash, the remaining force seemed to become less zealous. They hovered in the air for longer periods of time and were more focused on fighting Nikolaus and me. It was as if the harpies realized we were setting them free, like when I’d fought the other flock at the orichalcum mine.
Still, there were dozens of harpies between us and our prize, and the longer we dragged this fight out, the more likely it was that someone could get hurt.
“We need to finish this!” I shouted as I ducked beneath a set of sweeping talons. Then I spun around and drove my Sword through the harpies chest, and it shrieked as it disintegrated into nothing.
I glanced to the large door that led to the inside of the castle and then back at Nikolaus. He nodded and reversed his grip on the Sword of Light.
“Follow my movements, Evan.” Nikolaus lifted his Sword into the air and poured power into it. “Focus your power into your Sword, and when you stab it into the ground, visualize it exploding around you.”
“Wait, won’t that harm our comrades?” I asked as I glanced over at my fellow Noble of the Sword. Despite my confusion, though, I mimicked his movements.
“No, our Swords will never harm those we protect,” he replied, and there was a softness in Nikolaus’ voice that was out of place with the violence around us.
But I was going to trust him.
The demonized harpies clamored in the air above us, confused that the attacks had suddenly stopped. Then they watched on as Nikolaus and I both lifted our Swords into the air.
I pushed my power into the Sword of Healing and felt it pulse in time, almost as if Miraya was holding onto my hand. Then Nikolaus moved, and I moved simultaneously as I slammed my sword into the stone courtyard.
There was an explosion of power from both Swords, and everything around us looked as if it had been covered with glittering white light. When the light faded, the miasma vanished, and there was no trace of it in the air.