Amelia began to tell us her story.
The day after Julius and I had left their village, a large heavily armed group set up camp just outside its limits.
Cahir was just a small farming village that, like many other outcrops, had sprung up in the last decade. Expansion efforts to reclaim territory in the Commonlands had escalated, and with the support of the divisional armies in Axio many villages had been fortified to withstand weak monster attacks.
The hub of the village was atop a hill that was protected by a paltry mix of stone and wooden walls, sheer rock cliffs, and before the turmoil in Axio; regular patrols of divisional soldiers.
Most of the villagers were wary of such a militarized group appearing unexpectedly, especially since the remnants of the Vanixian Divisional Army had just passed through days before.
Worried that the group may have been sent from Axio to pursue our army, and would be unforgiving if they found out the village had welcomed them, the magistrate went to speak with them that night.
He didn't return. And in fear, some villagers armed themselves.
They formed a small militia under the command of a prominent village head, who was an Imperial veteran of the Apocalypse.
In the early morning, before the sun had risen, and without warning… the bandits attacked.
It was immediately obvious that the militia stood no chance of winning. Knowing that Axio wasn't safe and that the forces there couldn't be trusted, the villagers grabbed whatever they could and fled south after our army.
Practically everyone who had arrived here at Tolin was a non-combatant. And nobody had any useful information about what we were going up against.
Great. An unknown force that chased fleeing farmers all the way here… Who in the Aether are these jerks?
Whoever they were, they would be arriving in the next few minutes. Julius had whipped up the supporting soldiers into a defensive formation, and was holding position behind the protection of the city walls.
At his and Hailey's insistence, I was atop the gatehouse, along with four Waystriders. According to Julius, I wasn't ready to fight face-to-face with real people just yet.
And I think Hailey was just worried I wasn't back to full strength, so she sided with him.
I didn't disagree with them.
Monsters and beasts are pretty predictable when it comes to how they'll react to things.
People on the other hand, didn't always act according to instinct—not to mention the fact all of my equipment was stashed away in the manor—but I still didn't feel comfortable sitting out on the action.
The high-ranked rangers who had been assigned to my guard were flanking me, two per side.
They're giving me plenty of space… at least I'm not being handled like a child.
A horn sounded just past the gates.
I crept forward to get a better view. My guards moved with me. The aggressors had stopped a few hundred yards away, out of range of arrows and most spells.
Something moved in my periphery, jarring my attention away from them and towards the stone battlement.
Sitting atop the parapet walls was Meko, the tavern cat. He stared out intently at the massed army.
One of the rangers laughed lightly to himself after being startled by the cat.
How did Meko get up here? Ah, well it's probably as safe as anywhere else to be.
I reached out to gently pat his head—A voice echoed in my ears. It sounded like a man whispering, low and gravelly.
"Do not bother me right now, Empress. You have more important things to worry about."
Dumbstruck, I stood there with my hand hovering just above Meko's soft fur. His face turned around just for a moment, his eyes narrowed.
Did a cat just talk to me telepathically?
"My sister can appear to you as a fox, and you accept it. But I take the form of a cat and it is beyond your comprehension? Unbelievable."
Meko shook his head in disbelief.
"…"
You're not Capricorn. Judging by your voice, I assume you're not Virgo either. So who does that make you?
"Their beloved brother. Did they not mention me? What wonderful sisters I have… truly. I have taken quite a liking to living as Meko. A peaceful life in a small village in the grasslands. Apt I would say, for one such as I. For I am the Celestial God of Nature, Taurus."
I shook my own head in disbelief this time.
Am I destined to run into a new Celestial deity every day now…?
"You should focus on the danger lurking under the disguise of those brigands."
What do you mean?
"A practitioner of the Void accompanies them. Under the guise of a bandit. But they are an assassin, come for you."
I sighed heavily, drawing the attention of my guards. Quickly, I waved my arm.
"Sorry, just thinking to myself."
"Of course, Commander. I'm sure we all have the same thought."
"Oh? And what thought would that be?"
"That if it's not one thing, it's another."
I chuckled, "Absolutely."
We sure can't seen to catch a break. From Archdemons to string pulling Celestials—which speaking of, what sort of crazy nonsense am I going to get into by accepting your assistance here?
Meko hopped down off the wall.
"No nonsense. I am upset that abomination destroyed my peaceful home. I can't intervene, not without causing issues with the others. But you can. If the opportunity presents itself, kill the mage for me."
And with that final whisper, the God disappeared down the stairwell.
I scratched at my head.
Wasn't telling me about the mage… intervening?
In the time spent going back and forth in my head with the Celestial sneaking around as Meko the cat, a small contingent of the bandit army was making its way down the road towards us.
The night air howled as a gale of wind rushed through the flat plains just north of us. A cold chill ran down my spine as the wild draft picked up.
"Fourteen riders approaching. Less than five minutes out."
One of the rangers atop the gate startled me, shouting down to one of the runners in place to relay critical information to the main force.
Quickly snapping the rest of my mind back to reality I called back, my voice raised high.
"There is also a powerful magickal caster among them. All caution should be exercised."
After a brief puzzled look, the ranger called down my added information and jogged over to my position.
"Sense something, Commander?"
"Yeah. You could call it a disturbance of sorts."
"Got it. Well, whatever they bring to bear we'll face it with you."
"…"
I retook my position on the battlement and watched uneasily as the two-party strong advance came within attacking distance.
"What's your name?"
"I am Waystrider Aleksi Tomin, Third Divisionals. Please, call me Tomin. I'm at your service, Commander."
"Well, Tomin, stick close. We're in for a rough night."
"Which one of you red-clads is in charge?"
A brutish voice called out against the raging winds. His voice was being projected loudly with the assistance of an action class sonic spell, called AMPLIFY.
This guy was obviously some kind of mage. But if he was the void practitioner mentioned by Taurus remained unclear.
Doubtful someone hiding their magickal abilities would be the one mouthing off and show casing their powers right away.
Julius' voice rang out in response from underneath the cover of the gatehouse.
"You're trespassing in Divisional territory. Turn back or we will take force against you."
That's my cool and collected vice-commander for you. Straight to the point with threatening violence. Way to go Julius, no doubt we'll be able to talks things over now.
The angry man spat on the ground, making no effort to hide his true feelings.
"Yeah, yeah. Let's be reasonable shall we?"
I clenched my fists tightly. Something about his demeanor seemed familiar… And it pissed me off immensely.
Peering over the battlements to get a better look at the ring-leader, I was hit with a rush of shock.
The man stood a few feet ahead of the small group, outfitted in a crimson set of plate-armor that looks too close in appearance to the set Julius was currently wearing.
Judging by his towering presence over his fellow party members he was definitely over seven feet. Paired with the long white hair that came tumbling down as he removed his helmet…
It couldn't be. This man should be dead.
There was no doubt that this was the noblebourne bandit Julius and I fought and killed after leaving Cahir.
That or this was a doppelganger.
Performing a quick review with OMNISIGHT revealed it was the latter.
- - - - - - - - - - - - {TARGET} - - - - - - - - - - - -
NAME: [HIDDEN]
HEALTH: (110 / 110) | STAMINA: (112 / 150) | MAGICKA: (605 / 615)
»NOTICE: DETAILED APPRAISAL BLOCKED BY RUNIC INTERFERENCE.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The same damnable runic magick as before.
And what the heck does this message mean by 'detailed appraisal'?
But it was obvious that this wasn't the same man. His stats were radically different.
Tomin must have sensed something was off and gently placed a hand on my shoulder.
"Commander, is that man the disturbance you felt?"
"Ah, no. But he is certainly a threat."
"Understood."
Julius and his troop moved forwards into view.
They stepped slowly in a tight semi-circle formation with guardians at the front forming a shieldwall.
His guard was already up, no doubt thinking the same thoughts of our aggressor as I. From his point of view he would be able to see the man much clearer than I could.
"We'll not tolerate brigands in our lands. Leave now or prepare to be put down."
"Big talk from a bunch of runaways"
The noblebourne sneered at Julius, and the others behind him laughed as well.
As Julius and his forces approached closer he drew his weapon. Bright silver light pulsed outwards around him as he activated his SILVER BULWARK ability, granting a protective barrier to those around him.
"Huuuh? What's this then?" The bandit leader takes a step forward and points squarely at Julius, "You in the front, casting that silvery magick. Where in the blazes did you get that armor?"
"Pried it from the body of another idiot too stupid to know not to cross me."
Chill. What's your deal today, Julius?
Whatever had gotten Julius all fired up, palled in comparison to the level of rage now coming off the bandit guy in front of us.
"You bastard! I'll carve that ugly smirk from your face!"
A blast of fire flew through the air at Julius.
With his shield raised, he planted his feet and braced himself.
The impact from the spell drove him back, pushing him against the shields of the guardian wall, but dissipated rather harmlessly under the effects of his barrier.
Wind rushed past my face as four charged arrow shots were loosened from Tomin and his fellow waystriders.
Three of shots hit true. The fourth was deflected by its target skillfully with a pair of blades.
All of the targets were robed figures, likely spell casters.
Great intuition from the rangers with me. And impressive that they designated unique targets of their own with no verbal communication.
The dual-wielding enemy was an anomaly. She had been wearing a caster's robe but it fell loose as she defended against the ranged attack, revealing a strange outfit.
Tight fitted ebony-black plate armor covered her from head-to-toe. Though, at her waist it broke out into an elegant ruffle-layered dress of blue and black cloth. A sharp angled metal face-plate adorned her head, covering her ears from view.
Alarm bells sounded in my head as my instincts screamed that this person was a threat.
Before I had a chance to try and appraise her, she flipped behind the remaining bandit group in a dazzling display of aerobatics. As she landed a pink glowing crystal left her hands, flung high into the air.
A crackle of energy discharged from the crystal and a moment later beams of pinkish light rose into the sky in the distance.
At the location of the main bandit force.
In the span of a blink, one-hundred more worked-up bandits had been beamed down onto the battle field, thanks to that woman's warp crystal.
I now understood why Taurus had taken his time to warn me about this disguised spell-caster.
Warp crystals were powerful magi-tools that allowed the user to activate teleportation spells without the lengthy incantations and sigil work.
Now the guarding force Julius was commanding was outnumbered, almost four-to-one.
"Crush these red-clad bastards!"
At the call of their leader, the bandit army swarmed the shieldwall.
My focus was directed to finding the woman in black.
As soon as the teleportation spell had finished activating she vanished out of view.
Without turning my attention away from the battlefield, I called out to Tomin.
"That woman who activated the warp crystal is the priority target. She is the most dangerous thing in this fight. Keep your guard up and try to find her."
"Aye, Commander—"
"Someone is coming up the stairwell!"
One of the rangers called out a warning.
"Halt! You can't be up here—Gah! Stop I said!"
At the sounds of the scuffle behind me I turned around to find my sister pushing her way past the dissenting ranger.
Her breath was heavy and she was practically doubled over to catch it. One arm clutched a bundle of clothing and armor plates.
She looked up at me and held out her free hand. She tried to say something, but it just came out as a wheeze.
In her palm was a small coin-sized stone.
A runestone of her own design that allowed short-range communication between other wearers.
You dummy! Rushing into a battlefield to bring me a communirune.
Scolding her in my head, I grabbed the rune and placed it against my head, below my ear, and activated it.
A light jolt ran through my body and the crackle of magick filled my ears as it came to life.
"Hey-hey, Commander. Looks like we're back in action, eh?"
Luke's voice flooded into my head.
"Luke, I'm glad you're here. But I'm going to give you a walloping for sending my sister into harms way."
"Whoa! That was not my call. She stubbornly raced ahead of us and wouldn't give up your rune. Mei tried to keep her back, but Rias wouldn't take no for an answer."
I sighed and looked down at my sister who was gasping for life in front of me.
"Thanks for bringing this to me, sis. But you can't stay here."
If looks could kill, Rias would have slain me.
"Yeah. No."
"What do you mean, yeah no? This area is too dangerous for civilians—"
Her arm came up to stop me.
"Not… leaving."
"Like hell you're not. Hey! Take my sister down to that temp checkpoint place away from the gate."
I waved down the ranger that she had blitzed past.
He stared at her, hesitating.
"Carry her if you need to. Just get her out of danger."
"You got it, Commander."
"Huh!? Hey—"
With a bewildered look my sister was scooped up and carried down the stairwell.
I shook my head.
Back to business.