Following the trail of bodies, Lenore and Cecil soon found a bloody Lucius holding a plump head. The supposed command room was in a dire state, stray bricks littered the room.
"I'm guessing that's the commander's head, yes? " asked Lenore, pointing at the head.
"Yes, let us go to others."answered Lucius, already moving down the hall. Cecil and Lenore soon followed, not saying much. In front of the main keep was Ellis von Snow and Cobin Kaal with a heap of soldiers behind them. In the distance, they noticed Felix's unit closing in on their location.
"Thanks for the assistance, that spell did wonders."exclaimed Ellis, wearing a wide smile and putting her thumbs at the man. Her state was dreadful, she covered head to head with blood, her snow white dyed crimson by the amount of lives she snuffed out personally. He could see no visible wounds on the girl, this was evidently a walk in the park for the girl.
Lucius was slightly peeved at her attitude; unlike Lenore she didn't know when to read a room, Corbin was head to toe with nicks and cuts and from the looks of it they had lost around twenty percent of Heaven's Hand. Lucius looked around the castle, most imperials were either running or dead. He saw a particularly gruesome sight from where Lenore was before he left for the keep. Corpses were cleaved in half or with their skulls split open, he credited that to Lenore.
"Lenore, was that your work?"asked Lucius, pointing to the site in question.
"What? You told me to destroy them so I did. Too much?"answered Lenore, tilting her head to the side in obvious confusion at her prince.
"No it's fine, you'll most likely get a nickname fitting your actions though."stated Lucius.
"So be it, I was just following orders,"said Lenore.
"Never have I seen a battle this gruesome, it's quite the shock."said Corbin, looking rather pale.
"Oh, cheer up buddy but I suppose you are right. Lenore's magic is quite revolting and Lucius isn't any better."said Ellis, trying to lift the old man's spirits. Lenore looked away from her so-called best friend after she made this statement.
"So what now, Major General?"asked Cecil from behind Lucius and Lenore. He hadn't spoken for a while so gained their attention.
"We'll secure the castle and report to the field marshall about our success,"declared Ellis.
"What about the lost troops, what was he thinking of sending us to take this castle. It was filled with insignificant ramble. The Lunar Knights would have no problem taking this castle."declared Lucius, many of the losses were of his unit so he had a right to be angry. He never argued with the mission even though it didn't sit right with him, foolishly.
"Calm yourself Lucius, he must have had a good reason."said Felix, approaching the small group of commanding officers. Unlike the other officers, the man was only slightly bloodied.
"I'll put in a request for reinforcements so we can actually hold the castle. The lost troops will be replenished eventually."stated Ellis, acting indifferent to their blights.
"What's with the indifferent attitude?" spat Lucius, furious at Ellis' dismissive attitude to the lives which were lost. Lucius was cold and detached when it came to killing; his long stay in Darklands had caused that but his unit were people he considered his friends. Their loss shook the usually indifferent man to his core, he hadn't felt like this before so had no way of coping with their loss. He wasn't one to weep, choosing an angry stance in the face of loss.
"Don't give me that, you can't -"retorted Ellis but was cut off by Felix, not letting the two start a fight in their hard fought victory.
"How about you both get some rest, we'll handle the clean up of the corpses."said Felix, acting as mediator between the two. Lucius said nothing and started to walk off towards the main keep of the castle which he had just come from. Lenore followed trailing behind silently.
A few hours passed since the end of the battle, Lucius and Lenore were on one of balconies overlooking the castle grounds. The remaining four thousand troops were either resting or disposing of bodies. Corpses were either dumped in the moat or thrown in a ditch outside of the castle gates, corpses couldn't be burned as it would attract entities. Making the process long and drawn out for the foot soldiers. They both leaned on the balcony, Lenore hair blowing in the face of the slight breeze.
"Are you okay?"asked Lenore, now looking at the prince.
"For now, just that we didn't have to come here. Some of my men lie dead in that ditch, I feel personally responsible."responded Lucius in a somber tone, he had yet to lose any of his soldiers. So this loss didn't sit well with the prince.
"You know it's not your fault." said Lenore, moving slightly closer to the prince. She knew nothing she said would lighten his burden so they simply enjoyed each other's company. Taking solace with each other.