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| What awaits you at the entrance of the Land of Everlasting Night? |
3.3.19.5. Break into the Dark
‘Unnh...,’
Cristophe, the Emperor of Arcadia opens his eyes.
The next thing he sees is Carolyn’s face so
close to his. His sight is still blurry, and he becomes fully awake when his
cousin suddenly breaks away from him, rushes out from the tent to inform the
others and shouts, ‘The Emperor is awake! The Emperor is awake!’
Awake?
That means I’ve been asleep for a while! Ah, my head is still aching, I can’t
remember a thing. Oh, no! I remember now. I fell unconscious during battle and
Robert brought me all the way to safety.
Suddenly, worry strikes him like a thunder
bolt, and he tries to get up – with no avail.
Urrgg!
Guess I’m still too weak to move.
Just then Carolyn rushes in and shouts,
‘Your Majesty! Please just stay in bed and don’t move a lot. Let us explain
everything to you.’
At the same time Rael’charon, Robert,
Hernan, Ivor, Kyflynn, Iris, Eidos and Dejan Pavlovic enter the tent, all seem
relieved and calm. As Grand Marshal, of course Rael is the first to talk.
‘Your Majesty, thank Vadis you’re awake.’
‘How long have I been unconscious?’ Chris
asks.
‘Three days. Our healers have been working
intensively, and your wounds are all healed. However, you still need rest, and
I’ll work amongst you from now on.’
‘What about Dalamar? Did we recapture it?’
‘Yes, Your Majesty. The tide of battle
turns in our favor after the first division came, and when I arrived with the
Valanian mages, the Succubus Queen sounded full retreat. The Dark Forces left
quite a mess in the city, so we decided to set up tents and rest in open
spaces.
Adler is reorganizing the troops and Ney
and her team are extinguishing fire in the city to prevent our camp from being
burned. Our losses are heavy, yet we still have enough men to go on with the
Crusade. Dejan has brought help from Halethia and Edel, and we’ll be ready to
march again in one day or so.’
Chris stares straight into Rael’charon’s
eyes and says, ‘Anyway, there must be a good reason of the Valanians’ delay.’
‘Yes, Your Majesty,’ says Rael calmly
without a thing to hide. ‘Not all things went as planned. The Terranovan dark
elves attacked us, although we took the path through Lorna Sea as I’ve
suggested.
We battled in the harbor, and when we were
cornered, the pirates led by Sheena Mekh’ta came to the rescue. We finally
escaped by the ships, and the pirates escorted us to the coast of Castoria. I
thanked Sheena earnestly. The Pirate Queen didn’t want any reward and went off
to assist the Allied Fleets instead.’
Hearing that, Chris doesn’t press this
matter further. He nods and says, ‘Though we are clear of Sheena’s intentions,
I must admit she has helped us so many times during this war. Just let her be
with the fourth division fleets.
Speaking of the first and third division,
how did they fare?’
‘The first division has recaptured Freidle,
and then charged through Ballax and Handelburg without much trouble. The
Borgian troops chose to stay in their homeland, getting their well-earned rest
after all the battles they’ve been through. One thing that delayed them was
that the Heir of Vordac showed up and fought in Freidle.’
‘WHAT?’ Cristophe is shocked to hear that.
‘Wait, if the Heir was there, then Robert...’
‘Robert also fought the Heir along with
Kyflynn, Desmond, Tina and Hernan. So, I believe he is not the Heir.’
‘I see. That means all Robert said was
true. Forgive me if I ever doubted you, my friend,’ says Chris to his
ex-mentor, Robert.
‘That’s all right, Your Majesty,’ says
Robert, reassuring him.
‘... Vordac’s Heir in Freidle, and I,
Vadis’ Heir in Merida and Castoria. Hmm. He must’ve had a good reason to show
up there and not here to face me.’
‘Precisely, Your Majesty. He just came to
help Nöac and test his strength. Apparently, his power was not stable, so he
fled, and all Dark Forces fled with him.’
‘Hmm. Some might say that was a glorious
victory, but I say that’s a warning. The Dark Forces are regrouping in
Sylvania, where they are the strongest and the dark mana is the densest,’ says
Chris with resentment. ‘The fight ahead is got to be much, much harder for us.’
‘You’re right, Your Majesty. That’s why we
need all the rest, strength, help and blessing we can get. We’re going to break
into the dark and there’s no turning back.’
‘So, how about Sir Vincent and the third
division?’
This time Dejan speaks up, ‘Here’s my
report. I have guided Sir Vincent and we have found Genilda Yemima. Commander
Rael was right. The orcs went to defend Freidle, only one third of their forces
is in Bresconnor. Genilda was in a great despair because the orcs kidnapped her
daughter Marjan, and Sir Vincent kept her from acting rashly.
So, I left the third division in their care
and went to Edel and Halethia to get help.’
‘Hmm. It seems Genilda and Sir Vincent will
make a great pair together. Very well, then. I now hereby re-transfer the
authority as Grand Marshal to Commander Rael’charon. The fights ahead will be
much harder, yet we still believe Vadis shall guide us to the path of victory
and deliverance. With this faith, we go forth!’
Go
forth, Paladins! Fulfill Your Destiny!
==oOo==
