“We can’t reach anybody, you know,” Narime said.
“I am the regent of this province and this city is my home. I will ensure its safety,” Terrius thundered. He glared at her. “I know you can teleport. Afterward, let’s talk about everything else and this Nathan Straub you’re so smitten with.”
Her cheeks flushed and Narime looked away. Terrius didn’t waste any time. His footsteps echoed along the hallway as he stomped into his bedroom and changed into something that didn’t look like a bathrobe. Narime didn’t bother to change. Mystic foxes looked odd to everybody anyway, and she liked wearing a kimono.
Although she did put on her shoes.
Once she teleported the two of them to Terrius’s castle, she left him to chat with his Champions. His Bastion was deployed at the Houkeem Desert, and the two Champions he left behind had complete command of the province’s security.
The duogem in command was a horse beastkin. Her eyes held a nasty look whenever she looked at Terrius, but she held herself in check. The look of fear that crossed her face when her gaze met Narime’s said everything.
Duke Terrius might be friendly toward Narime, but he owned an entire clan of beastkin slaves. This duogem Champion was one of the lucky few that was spared slavery, but only because a Bastion in service to her old owner liked her. Had she really escaped slavery?
Narime didn’t have the answer to that.
“An invasion will happen, but not for a few days,” Terrius said after pulling them into a spare meeting room.
The castle interior was stark compared to her recent lodgings. Cold, gray stone. Plain oaken furnishings with no decoration or finishing. No cabinets full of expensive liquors or magical percolators tucked into the corner.
Her Bastion’s castle was no different to this. When she returned to the Houkeem Desert, she’d spend months on end fighting demons with nothing to keep her distracted beside meditation and cheap wine.
It bothered Narime that the luxury of Nathan’s castle attracted her. He had an extensive library that rivaled any noble in the Federation. Every room was as extravagantly decorated as anything in one of Duke Terrius’s manors.
The food was less impressive, but the Champions told her that was because the cooks stuck to seasonal fare. The busty catgirl drooled every time she had talked about the end of winter and the massive plates of meat she was going to devour.
“With communications out, I need to reach out to the border fortresses,” Narime said.
“And do what, exactly?” Terrius asked. “You said this was suspicious, and I agree, but I’m not sure I agree on who is suspicious.”
“You don’t? Because there’s a man in the Federation who just admitted he’s been playing everybody for fools.”
“And you just returned from a month with a man who may be doing the same in the Empire. He knows more than you about demons and portals. Who knows what he’s capable of?” Terrius said.
“Not this,” Narime said. “The only place nearby that could trigger a cascade of this size are the Aurelian Spires. And who do we know has been dealing with the Spires?”
Terrius scowled and fell silent.
A small clock ticked on a desk in the corner.
“Let’s say you’re right. What do we gain from working against Torneus? He’ll destroy you if you step out of line. You’re only a Champion, Narime,” Terrius said.
“If I need to find a new Bastion, I will. I like Arriet, but only as a commander,” Narime said. “I’ve changed Bastions before. I’ll do it as many times as I have to, if it means preventing my new home being destroyed my demons again.”
With a long-suffering sigh, Terrius waved a hand at the door. “Fine, go. But this won’t end here.”
Wasting any more time was pointless. Narime didn’t bother with the door. Her gems glowed, and she teleported out of the castle with a spell.
She didn’t have enough power to teleport from binding stone to binding stone, however. For hours, she used magic and her own enhanced physical ability to cross the western border of the Federation. At every border fort and castle she found the same thing.
Companies of nervous soldiers massing in courtyards and fields, unwilling to go to war, but terrified that their country was under attack.
If somebody wanted to restart the war, they had chosen the best tactic possible. How many would die in the coming days and weeks before the leylines calmed down, and the regents resumed control of their armies? How many fathers and sons would be screaming for vengeance and charging off to war afterward?
Narime only hoped that something was happening in the Empire. If there wasn’t, then she had a very personal visit to pay to Nathan.
And she wouldn’t teleport away this time.
Assuming, of course, that he survived the Messenger that was invading him at this moment. Narime paused for a moment in her rush and said a prayer to Omria. Like most mystic foxes, she didn’t believe that Omria was a real goddess, but she had a mystical belief in the Watcher’s power. If anybody was going to protect Nathan, she imagined it would be Omria.
Because she didn’t know if anybody else was protecting Doumahr right now.
Chapter 18
“This is what portals look like?” Princess Charlotte gasped out.
“It didn’t look this intimidating last time,” Anna muttered. “It was a lot smaller, and there weren’t so many walls.”
“I can’t believe this was built by this useless pup,” Nurevia muttered, shooting Nathan looks.
After Alice’s sudden intrusion, Nathan had led everybody to the portal. Explaining the situation would take longer than visual aids, and that was time that could be used to begin preparing the defenses. The castle bustled with activity, and Nathan sent Sen and Fei off to round up as many soldiers as they could. Many of them were out on patrols and messengers needed to be sent to alert them.
In the meantime, Sunstorm began the long process of alerting the forts on the eastern side of the Gharrick Mountains. She would also stop the invasion at Fort Taubrum, although Nathan suspected it would be a weak one. Unlike the one at Gharrick Pass, its binding stone had only just been activated and hadn’t been subjected to months of leyline disruption.
Once through the double door gate that separated the portal from the fortress, the party discovered what Nathan’s hobby had been for the past month and some change. At some point, Kuda—Anna’s butler and the fortress administrator—had joined them.
The twin valleys were each protected by a double layer of twenty-meter-high stone walls. Nathan had been forced to choose to defend either the central clearing—where the entrance to the fortress was—or the valleys themselves. Without the resources to defend both, he chose the lesser evil.
Kadria had advised him to avoid fighting them together, so he assumed that meant one of the Twins would attack through each of the two valleys. Fighting two Messengers together was insanity, as they could pool their power together for an exponential increase in magical ability. If they were separated in the valleys, it might be possible to win.
Even so, Nathan left a small stone fort at the entrance. A small number of automaton statues and ballistae protected it, and it was the last refuge they had if they needed to retreat. Unmanned catapults sat behind the walls that blocked off each of the valleys. They sat here in case the soldiers needed to retreat from the forward wall.
“You should have shown me this earlier,” Leopold grunted out, although he nodded approvingly at the arrayed defenses. “A massive transformation of the world surrounding the portal is a sure sign of imminent invasion by a Messenger.”
“I know,” Nathan said.
“I gathered from the fact none of your Champions were surprised,” Leopold drawled, fixing Seraph with a glare. Nathan was glad that Fei and Sen weren’t present right now.
“Couldn’t you have at least told me? This is the second time you’ve left me out of the discussions regarding the portal,” Anna said.
“There’s been enoug
h on our plates as is with the negotiations. I had hoped for more time,” Nathan said.
“Uncle Leopold, how bad are Messengers? Because this looks as strong as Maylis’s defenses back at the capital.” Alice stared at the walls wide-eyed.
Leopold didn’t answer. Instead, he walked up one of the walls to get a better look at the defenses.
Between each layer of walls stood dozens of catapults, huge wooden shields, and clearings marked out with ritual circles. Trenches and lines of defensive earthworks broke up the space farther. Hundreds of soldiers milled about below Nathan and company as they watched from the walls. Boulders were loaded in the ammunition deposits of the catapults, and the shields were mounted on wheels for portability. Officers conducted drills, and shouts echoed off the cliffs.
“Again, looks really strong,” Alice said.
“Does it need to be this strong?” Charlotte muttered. She kept her bodyguard Champion between herself and the others.
Nathan tried not to stare at the princess. Not because of his attachment to her.
But because she was so meek.
“Come on, Charlotte. Look at how many catapults there are? And those circles are for the battlemages to cast their spells together for greater effect. There are even postern gates in the corners so that Nathan and the knights can sortie.” Alice’s voice was excited as she pulled on Charlotte’s dress. “This is going to be amazing to watch.”
“You are not watching this,” Nathan said.
“Under no circumstances will you be here during the invasion,” Leopold thundered.
Alice pouted. She hunched her shoulders and looked between both Bastions for a few moments. Realizing neither of them would give in, she turned to Anna for support.
“You’re kidding, right?” Anna asked. “My officers told me what happened last time Nathan fought off an invasion. It involved a tornado made of fire, a flood of flesh-eating water, and intentionally letting the demons breach the walls. And this is going to be more dangerous.”
Alice’s jaw dropped, and she looked at Nathan. “The Inferno Tornado?”
Nathan rolled his eyes. Good thing Sen wasn’t here. They’d be squealing over the spell right now.
“Alice, I told you before that I would only allow you to stay if you did as I told you when it came to security,” Leopold said, rising to his full height.
“How come you only call me by my name when you’re ordering me around,” Alice grumbled. “Fine, Uncle. I’ll go somewhere safe when the fighting starts.” Then she grinned. “Assuming, of course, there is somewhere safe? Aren’t Messengers super dangerous?”
“They’re an existential threat to humanity, but they’re not unstoppable,” Nathan said. “I’ve been preparing defenses against them since I knew one was coming. The basement around the binding stone is warded against them.”
Almost everybody stared at Nathan. Alice scowled at him.
“Warded how?” Leopold asked. “If the fortress itself is breached, then things are already as dire as it comes.”
“Spatial and mental wards. The records suggest that many fortresses fell effectively instantly. That could only happen if a Messenger somehow struck at the Bastion directly or bypassed his normal defenses.” Nathan frowned. “And we know that Messengers can use ascended magic.”
Of course, this was almost complete bullshit. Nathan was wary of direct attacks on his binding stone for one reason, and one reason only.
Kadria had warned him that the Twins were a similar type of Messenger to her. And Kadria had defeated Nathan by attacking his binding stone directly using either a spatial or mental attack. He had yet to discover which, but he had greatly increased his defenses around Gharrick Pass this time. Half his library was dedicated to every tome he could find that hinted at spatial or mental magic in history, although he hadn’t found anywhere near enough time to go through all the books.
Times like this were when he really needed somebody like Gareth, who could invent ridiculous magic almost overnight, and was insane enough to try it.
Leopold grunted in approval and turned back to the soldiers below. “There’s a lot of them. More than I’d expect to defend a portal.”
“This explains where all my soldiers have been going,” Anna said. “I’ve been wondering where you’ve been sending them, given the pass still isn’t clear.”
“They’re not here to fight the demons in melee, but every siege engine I have adds something. There’s a lot of ballistae in the walls, as well. The more manned weapons I have, the more I can focus on automaton knights.”
Nathan pointed at the lines of steel statues standing at the base of the far wall. They practically blended into the granite wall at this distance.
“As amusing as it is to see the Imperial Princess revealing her love for her army, a more pressing question is how long do we have?” Vera asked.
As if to answer her question, the world went dark. The soldiers stopped moving. The red sky vanished in an instant and became an eerie pitch black. Moments later, the purple light that crept up from the cracks in the ground turned bright white. Their vision returned to normal, despite the transition to a monochrome world.
“Hours,” Nathan said.
The soldiers who had frozen out of shock returned to their drills. Their officers screamed loud enough that even the sharpest soldier stopped questioning what strange hellscape he had ended up in.
“Then let’s form a plan. The valley is split in two. Are the defenses the same?” Leopold asked.
“They are. I’m assuming something will happen if the enemy joins up at the end. Maybe that’s not true, but who knows with a Messenger,” Nathan said.
“A good assumption. Stranger things are detailed in the records. There was a Messenger who rolled down a hill once, and he grew larger with everything he hit, until he was so massive he obliterated the fortress when he reached the bottom.” Leopold shook his head.
“We’ll need to split up. I only have two companies of beastkin knights capable of fighting the demons head-on, but Sunstorm will be—” Nathan began to say.
“Keep both.” Leopold pointed a finger at his own Champion, Mae, who stood beside Alice. “Mae, Nurevia, and I will hold the other wall.”
“I will?” Nurevia said. “Maybe you’re forgetting, but you’re not my boss, old fart. And my mission is to defend Alice.”
“And you’ll do that by stopping the Messenger before they get to her,” Leopold growled.
Nurevia narrowed her eyes, then smirked at Nathan. “Well, let’s see if your defenses are half as impressive as they look. Maybe you are half the man your daddy is. You certainly sound it in bed, but it’s not how you use it that counts, it’s what you’re pumping inside ‘em.”
“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” Seraph said. Beside her, the princesses turned scarlet and the Falmir Champion bared her teeth at the dark elf, her hand falling on her sword.
Nathan rolled his eyes and ignored Nurevia’s comments. Then he noticed something missing in Leopold’s team—or someone. “You need a sorcerer, Leopold.”
“I have your siege engines and battlemages.”
“Don’t be stupid, old man,” Vera snapped. “I’ll back you up.”
Leopold grimaced and looked away.
Nathan didn’t have the foggiest clue why the old man disliked Vera’s help, but he didn’t have the time to play psychologist.
“Nurevia, Mae, and Vera with Leopold. I’ll take Seraph, Fei, and Sen, plus both of my beastkin companies,” Nathan said.
Alice pointed at Leopold. “Doesn’t that mean Uncle Leopold has an advantage? He’s older, more experienced, and has two duogem Champions, plus a powerful sorceress.”
“Experience doesn’t mean much when Nathan is next to his binding stone, Your Imperial Highness,” Leopold drawled.
Frowning, Alice tilted her head and looked around her. “Huh. I guess not. You built all this so quickly, didn’t you?” She began mouthing things to herself.
“In that case, I believe it’s time to get you to safety,” Leopold said, staring at the princesses.
“It’s still safe,” Alice said.
A demonic scream split the air. Alice’s hair stood up on end, and her hand shot to her side. It gripped nothing, and she cursed under her breath. Charlotte gripped onto the arm of her bodyguard for dear life, and the duogem Champion grit her teeth.
Thunk-thunk-thunk went the ballistae in the far wall. The guards on the battlements pointed at something, and Nathan saw them laughing. Within moments, the ballistae stopped firing and all fell silent.
“That sounded like something got turned into a pincushion,” Seraph said.
“How nice,” Nurevia muttered.
Leopold gave Alice a meaningful glare, and the princess relented. The invasion might not have started, but the portal was far from safe.
Kuda slipped away with Anna, Charlotte, and Alice. The Falmir Champion also joined them, as her duty was to protect Charlotte. Fei would let them into the basement, where they would be behind the strongest protections in Gharrick Pass.
If only Nathan was confident that they were enough.
A hand clapped him on the shoulder. “We need to have words after this.” Leopold glared at him. “I’ve overlooked a great many things in the past, because you’ve kept things under control, but you’ve let this one slip too far.”
And now Nathan had angered one of the most powerful Bastions in the Empire. Hopefully, fighting off a Messenger was enough to convince Leopold that he was worth keeping around.
Assuming Nathan fought off the Twins. If they were half the Messenger that Kadria was, Nathan might end up needing another trip back in time.
Chapter 19
Nathan covered his eyes as reality cracked and a tear from Hell opened.
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