《Eclipse - When worlds collide》 Prologue - The third demon invasion This prologue is meant to set the scene for the world in which the events of the story will unfold. The main characters will be introduced in the first actual chapter. A ripple raced through the air, and to Koma, it seemed that the universe itself shuddered. "So I wasn''t the first... but I''ll be damned if I don''t at least try to resist." Without any further delay, all neural junctions were locked by copper and redirected to control Eclipse, his ship. Its turrets immediately rotated towards the perceived origin of the ripple, and fired. Just a moment later, thousands of satellites woke from hibernation, the sky darkened, and the temperature began to plummet, as every bit of available energy was redirected to fight the invader. Reality-rending beams traveled at the speed of causality from thousands of different locations, impacting harmlessly on their target, but Koma was relieved. "Alive. Power: less than feared. Survival: possible." Half a second passed, the ripple stabilized, and a human figure emerged. At the same moment, in hundreds of bays all around Earth, ships broke the surface of the water - woken from their slumber by a specially designed signal. It would take 498 seconds before Koma would have the power of the Sun available for his defense. If only he could hold out until then, he might still survive. The figure took a step, and was before the bridge of Eclipse. "Well, that''s quite the welcome. I take it you know what I''m here for." Koma did not answer. The invader was here to kill him, of course. After all, this was required to escape fate. Eclipse blinked out of existence, and reappeared on the other side of the globe, but the invader was there before the ship''s arrival. "482 secs - long time", Koma thought before his emotions were finally fully disengaged. Eclipse''s prow was disconnected from her hull before she teleported again. The ship had not been destroyed outright - the disruption shield was doing its job. 6000 ICBMs launched, all targeted at the north pole. Eclipse reappeared in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, as did 243 more ships, the number growing by 10 every half second until an armada of over 900 ships was facing the invader. Their cannons fired, and the atmosphere burned. A moment later, the armada was no more. All ships were sinking - except Eclipse. She was covered in wounds, but none of them were lethal to herself or her only occupant. The green glow of auroras washed over the freezing ocean. This would buy some time. 451 seconds remaining. Eclipse teleported. Eclipse''s bridge exploded right after she reappeared. The green glow faded. The invader had her immobilized. There was a ripple in space-time, as the strong force failed for a fraction of a second around the invader. Eclipse teleported away. Seconds later, thousands of reality-rending beams once again fired at the invader from the satellites, and the sky lit up. Eclipse was cut in half before her next teleport. Carbon dioxide rain began to hit her fractured hull as she reappeared, evaporating on contact. The world lit up. That planet was no more. The invader still stood, but the planet had bought a precious couple of minutes. The next teleport brought Eclipse to the North pole. There, she resisted the invader''s onslaught for 10 seconds under a veritable downpour of liquid oxygen until antimatter missiles impacted the scene, immediately vaporizing one tenth of planet. As she reappeared, the invader sighed.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. "Survival is the only thing that matters, huh. I didn''t think I had it in me to inflict so much destruction on so many innocents." He looked at the wreck that was Eclipse. "Maybe we can stop this madness, some people might still be alive..." Everything went white.
The Versuvian Feather was, by all accounts, a completely ordinary merchant galley. It had a carrying capacity of roughly 30 boulders (equivalent to 82 metric tons), and a crew complement of 120 men. Its captain, a 37-year-old sailor, had a good reputation, and was seen as a punctual and reliable carrier with moderate fees. Besides a few seasonal workers, most of the sailors had worked with each other since the keel of the ship had been laid in 206 E.S., nearly 12 years ago. It was no surprise, then, that on the evening of the 13th day of the second moon of summer 218 E.S., one day before the ship was scheduled to arrive at its next destination, the mood on the upper deck was rather jovial. The two lookouts, on the other hand, were in an understandably grumpy mood. They knew the importance of their job, and they were not slackers, but still, the last night of any voyage was generally seen a moment to relax, and having to miss the party stung. "You know, I just realized that we haven''t had to deal with that many pirates lately." "Well, I''m guessing it has to do with the recent increased patrols from Erya." "Really? I wasn''t really paying attention. What''s the deal?" "I don''t really know either. Maybe they finally had enough of the pirates?" "You tell me... Anyway, what did you have for lunch?" The other lookout sighed. "Can we please not speak about food at the moment." The two continued with their small talk for a while. There''s wasn''t really much to discuss, but just standing there, looking at the dark horizon, was not particularly thrilling either. It was a pretty clear night, with almost no clouds, a near full moon and the sea was calm to boot. As a result, all other vessels were very clearly visible, so the chance of getting attacked by pirates was pretty much non-existent. "By the way, see that ship with two lights over there? I''m pretty sure that''s one of those Eryan patrol ships I mentionned. That''s how their recognize each other apparently." "Thanks, I was about to ask what was up with that ship." The Eryan ship was still quite far away, but with its two lights, it not only illuminated itself, but many of the surrounding ships as well. The waters near the port city of Taflius were quite crowded at this time of year, and a dozen or so ships were illuminated by the patrol. For a couple of them, the lookouts could even make out the trade company label on their sails - not that this information was particularly useful at the moment. The Versuvian Feather was currently anchored, as was common practice for merchant galleys moving goods in the Eryan basin. The basin was shallow enough that anchoring was possible at almost any location with it. This, combined with very calm trade winds during the summer months, meant that crews could relax during the night. Because of this, about half an hour after the Eryan patrol ship first came into, not much had changed. Almost all the ships were in the same location, the exception being a small dingy that really had no place on the open seas, and the Eryan patrol ship, which seemed to be moving North a moderate pace. "This is so boring... Hey what do you think that boat''s doing here?" "Dunno... Also, I don''t really care." "Oh, come on. I''m having a hard time staying awake as is. Can''t we at least talk about the one unusual thing that''s happening right now?" "Look, it''s probably just moving between two ships. Passing a message or something." "You''re no fun... but actually, that makes me think. Didn''t you get married last time we visited Danalau. What was her name again?" "Her name''s Hilde. Why d''you bring THAT up, of all things?" "Well, it''s just, you know... Are you planning on sending her a letter, or something, when me moor at Taf''?" "Yes, but that''s none of your business." "Thing is, I''ve never heard of a sailor with a stable marriage, what with never staying in one place for long. So like, are you going to keep sailing?" "Yeah, we worked out a deal. I''ll probably become a seasonal worker on this ship starting from next year." "I still don''t know what she sees in you, but to each their own, I guess... Hey, what the hell is up with the Eryans!?" In the distance, the two lights from the Eryan ship were moving rapidly in opposite directions. The lookouts observed the moving lights, as if mesmerized. Then, after a few seconds, the festivities on board of the Versusian Feather were brutally interrupted by a crack of thunder. Flashes of light were seen at the horizon, and one by one, the anchored ships began to sink, each event accompanied by the crack of thunder. A few more seconds later, it was the Versuvian''s Feather turn. A shockwave blasted the lookouts overboard, splinters of wood lodging themselves into the flesh of the unsuspecting sailors in the process. Even deafened and blinded by the impact, contact with the water still felt like hitting solid stone, and it was a miracle that neither of the two men lost consciousness. Thankfully, both of them also knew how to swim. After resurfacing, they took their bearings, located each other, and wordlessly began to swim in the direction that was most likely to see them survive: towards the small dingy that had, miraculously, not been targeted by the onslaught. The next 10 minutes felt like eternity. Each stroke was slow, the water seemed to be as viscous as honey, but simultaneously only as dense as air. To both men, it seemed that their muscles would give up before they reached safety, and that the sea would swallow them, as the dark beast that it was. Waves on the calm surface of the water, that had seemed so small before, suddenly appeared as if they were created by a storm. Each breath felt like salvation, but was followed by the realization that they had barely moved. The boat was there, but it was out of reach. Was it getting further? The sailors didn''t know, but they labored towards their destination. Their soaked and heavy clothes were weighing them down, seemingly imbibing more water by the second, and in the distance, as their hearing slowly began to return, the thunderclaps intensified. But at last, they had made it. Yet, that was not the end of the night. As suddenly as the onslaught had began, it stopped, and then, from beyond the horizon, massive, unnatural, angular shapes emerged. They looked like nothing the sailors had ever seen before, moving with speed toward the wreckage. As they approached, the towering monstrosities began to feast upon the sinking ships. The sound of creaking wood, the cries for help that would be suddenly silenced, the stench of iron, and the subsequent silence would haunt the nightmares of the 12 people who would be the only survivors of that night. The third demonic incursion was heralded by sea demons. Chapter 1 - Her fourth Birthday Adrea was not a morning person. That was not to say that she slept-in often, but she would if she had the chance. The problem with that was that unlike most families, hers had limited supply of muscle, so she had to help out. The sixth day of the fourth moon of summer, 219 S.E., was not any different. As usual, she was awoken by the oh-so-annoying crow, and as always she swore that she would have that pompous rooster''s head. She wouldn''t, of course - the damnable thing was too agile, and she would have to deal with consequences - but at least it made her feel better. As she walked out of her private room, a luxury many kids her age could only dream off, she was greeted by the sweet scent of bacon. "Mom, what''s the occasion?" She had to raise her voice a bit to be heard, but that was less effort than going all the way to the kitchen. "What do you mean, ''what''s the occasion''? It''s been exactly four years now!" Adrea could almost hear the "I swear, this girl...", but she was a bit too far away for that. Overcoming the initial annoyance, she finally registered her mother''s words and the gears began to turn. Four years... Four years... Wait it''s already been that long ?! Her steps hastened. "Is Naviya already there? Wait no, don''t answer that." Of course she was. Sometimes it really bothered Adrea how her sister didn''t seem to care about the time of day. She could probably count the exact number of times she''d seen Naviya show any sort of emotion that wasn''t fake, and even that was a common occurrence when compared to the number of times that Adrea had managed to wake up before her sister. Crossing through the kitchen, Adrea had to pinch her nose. "Morning Mom, are we eating outside?" Taking into account the rays of light that were hitting her in the face through the open window, she could already guess the answer. Her mother turned around and sighed. She wasn''t upset or anything like that. Adrea knew that this was just part of the routine. "Of course, we are eating outside, you dolt... Why, oh why, are you still so cute. You''re 15, for crying out loud." "And you''re of an age that should never be mentioned... Oww." "Just go outside and help your father get table ready, before I get angry." She would not have gotten angry, but Adrea followed her advice anyway. The smell was beginning to be unbearable. As she stepped out of the house, her eyes took a moment to adjust. Her father was busy dragging the "nice" table towards the spot where they held celebratory meals when the weather allowed. He was obviously having some difficulty. The table was not particularly light, and he had been injured a couple days ago during a hunt. Naviya was helping out, but she wasn''t doing anything more than would be expected an ten-year-old. "Hey dad, Mom said you needed help?" The table dropped with a thud. "Yeah, I''d appreciate a bit of help." The table was as heavy as it always was, but together they managed to drag it in place. Getting the chairs was a lot easier, and by the time they had everything in place, Adrea''s mother was just about to bring the food. Bacon with eggs was not really high cuisine, but pigs were exceedingly rare in middle Danalau, so bacon had to be imported from lower Danalau. Because of that, this particular dish was reserved for special occasions, and the anniversary of Naviya''s adoption was worthy. Bacon had a tendency to cool remarkably quickly though, so rather than speak, the four-member family had their breakfast before moving on to the announcement. When everyone was finished, and the Lady of the Hunt had properly been thanked, Adrea''s father began his (probably rehearsed) speech. "So it''s been four years since we officially became a family of four. When Naviya first came to us, we were beginning to lose hope of ever having a second child. You were not our child then, but you are definitely family now, and so let us have a toast. To my cute daughters, and the bright future that awaits them!" All four gently clanked their wooden cups together, with a loud "TOAST!". "But all good things eventually come to an end. In a few months, Adrea will be of marriageable age, and social norms dictate that she must either find herself a groom, or begin her apprenticeship as a prospective explorer."Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Her mother chose this moment to chime in. "Dear, we already know which of these is going to happen, don''t we?" Adrea felt a bit hurt by that. Her mother was right, of course, but it still annoyed her that marriage was completely off the table. It was not like she was particularly adventurous, and she knew that she would have genuinely enjoyed building her own family, but all the other kids of her age were completely terrified of her. Based on her studies, she knew that she was not stupid, but she genuinely had no idea why, and everyone just refused to tell her the reason. She was not violent nor did she have a scheming personality, and she did not even hold grudges for very long! "Hey, wasn''t this supposed to be about Naviya?" Her sister was sitting there, as impassive as ever. As far as children went, she was beyond unusual. When she had stumbled into the village a bit over four years ago, she had very clearly been traumatized by something. She could barely speak, her clothes were ragged, and although she didn''t appear underfed, this was clearly proven to be an incorrect assumption when she was presented with a meal. In the four years that she had been living with them, Naviya seemed to recover from whatever happened to her. She played with the other children, helped out on the fields, and was generally well-liked by all, but Adrea knew that this was nothing more than a facade. Behind her expressive mask, Naviya barely showed any strong emotion. There were some rare exceptions, including the one and only time Adrea had asked about what had happened before they met. She was not planning on ever bringing the subject back up. "Well, for Naviya, there''s not much to say, is there. We still don''t know how old she actually is, but we''ve been going off the assumption that she was about five to six when she arrived, so the next big milestone for her is only in two years. You on the other hand..." As annoying as this was, it made sense. With the exception of multiples of four years, birthdays were not seen as particularly important events in Danalau, at least when compared to things like village festivals, or the four holy days of Light. There was not much else to be discussed. Her parents pestered Adrea a bit about her plans for the future, but nothing really came of it. Then, after the somewhat effort-intensive task that was moving the "nice" table with its assorted chairs back into the storage closet, it was back to business as usual. There were some crops that needed weeding, which would take about two hours, and after that, it would be time for school. Education in Danalau was compulsory between the ages of eight and sixteen, and was subdivided into lower schooling and middle schooling. Lower education focused on teaching basic skills: how to read, write, do basic arithmetic, among others. Conversely, middle education was meant to broaden the general knowledge of the populace, covering various topics such as geography, religion, literature, and went into particular detail on the proper etiquette to be followed when interacting with different strata of Danalau society. Adrea thought that this was a boring topic, but considering that a Shaav ¨C her social rank ¨C saying anything insulting to the honor of a Vaahreid (which she was not quite sure how to recognize) was punishable by death without a trial, she had to admit that it made sense. As the fourth bell rang, and she began to pack her things before heading home, the head-priest entered the classroom and turned towards her. "Shaav Adrea, before you go, I would like you to pass by my cell." That was unusual. Adrea had not done anything that would deserve punishment, which was the main reason why anyone would normally be called out in this way. His tone had been serious, but definitely not angry, if maybe a bit worried. She hastily put her books into her bag, along with her coal pen, and headed towards the cell of the head-priest. She was somewhat surprised to find her whole family assembled here, along with the head-priest and a man she did not recognize. His clothes seemed to indicate that he was an explorer of some kind, which only made the situation more confusing. "Maybe we should re-explain everything to her?" Her mother''s nervous tone, as she turned towards the head-priest, had Adrea on edge. "Well, that would only be right, but maybe your father should begin." "Ahem... Well, hm... We had actually been planning to organize a bit of a surprise this morning, by having Naviya''s age read. The gentleman here, Vaahmeist Mrius Vandraak, was supposed to help with that, but he was delayed and could only reach us by noon." That couldn''t have been easy to organize... The man in question was also obviously uncomfortable at the whole affair, but he seemed polite enough to wait until her father turned towards him with a slight bow, before beginning his explanation. "Yes, although my services as a genealogy seer are not usually afforded to Shaavs, the compensation that your parents prepared was enough to convince me to come. And, honestly, this seemed like a pretty interesting case either way, you Shaavs usually don''t care about genealogy." The way he had said it suggested disdain, but it was clearly not directed at Shaavs in general, but rather at the notion that someone might not be interested in his chosen field of study. What followed was a lengthy rant about the specific details of the age measuring procedure, the importance of various types of mana, something about decay rates, anecdotes about the tangled mess that was the genealogy of Vaahuds, Vaahreids, and Edreens, and a few other things. Adrea really couldn''t keep up with most of it, but the Vaahmeist had a clearly superior social position to her own, so she didn''t dare interrupt him, and tried her best to at least appear as if she was following what he was saying. "... so anyway, when your parents asked me if ''d be willing to solve their little mystery child''s origin, in exchange for a couple of solar-gold coins, I thought: ''Why not? This might be a nice change of pace from dealing with the politics'' of our country''s illustrious nobility.'' " His voice turned serious. "Now, I want to be clear, my skills as a genealogy seer are well-know and have been validated by three academies, so when I say that your sister is an anomaly, I don''t say this lightly. I know that head-priest Shaak has done his due diligence and checked her for any trace of demonic aura, because that was my first reaction when I appraised her. That girl is about five-years-old and she also doesn''t have biological parents." There was silence. Judging by the stunned face on both of her parents'' faces, this was news to them too. "But... that''s impossible... I mean, she is clearly older than that... Maybe someone erased her whatever you called it?" Mrius shook his head. "That shouldn''t be possible, as far as I know." There was another silence. Then the head-priest spoke up. "Now unfortunately, this has become a serious matter, and as much as I would like to just leave this be, I have to at least ask: Naviya, do you remember anything about what happened five years ago?" Chapter 2 - Their bonds As soon as Adrea heard the question, she knew that she had to say something. "Head-priest, with all respect, this is a sensitive topic, does she really have to?" "Adrea, this is an important matter. Let your sister answer my question." "But why though?" "Shaav Adrea, I am not going to repeat myself." For a second, there was silence, but, to Adrea''s surprise, Naviya calmly answered the question. "I don''t remember very well. I think I reincarnated. From another world. I don''t want to talk about what happened before." The head-priest''s tone turn gentle. "Girl, it''s okay. It'' okay. Vaahmeist, would this provide an explanation for her apparent age?" The mage thought about the answer for a few seconds. Eventually, he spoke up. "Well, if what she says is true, this would be a good explanation. The problem with that line of thinking though, is that there is no real precedent for something like this happening." The mage seemed lost in thought for a few seconds, then his demeanor suddenly changed. "Head-priest, I require immediate transportation to Dana-gradfort. Do you have anything here that I could use?" The capital was almost a hundred horizons away. Adrea knew that there wasn''t anything in the village that was suitable to quickly cover this kind of distance. "My deepest apologies Vaahmeist. Our settlement is not connected to the grand river network. The best I can offer is our fastest horse. Let me guide you to the stables." Both of the men stormed out of the cell, leaving the stunned family alone. After a few seconds, Adrea''s mother spoke up. "Dear, do you think we should wait until the head-priest returns?" "It''s probably best that we at least step out of the room. What was that all about?" It took another 15 or so minutes of awkward silence before the head-priest came back, visibly winded. "My apologies, it turns out that if what your daughter says is true, there are dire implications. Apparently, this pushes back the timeline of an ongoing demonic invasion by almost two years." "Wait a second, a demonic invasion !?" "This was news to me too. Apparently, because the damage has been limited so far, the news is being kept from the general population to avoid panic. So I would like to ask that you do not spread it around." Adrea''s father had a complicated expression on his face, alternating between worry and anger, and followed shortly by a sigh of resignation. "Fine, but I''m going to sharpen my sword this evening. What about Naviya?" "The Vaahmeist told me to expect a messenger in about two weeks'' time. As long as he manages to find evidence of whatever it is that would confirm Naviya''s explanation, I expect that it that will basically be the end of it." He turned to Naviya. "It''s okay, you were not lying, right? In that case, I am not going to bring this back up again. I promise. I am sorry that I had to make you remember painful memories." She nodded weakly, and the head-priest turned toward the parents. "Now, as mentioned, I would like to re-iterate that these talks of demonic incursion are not to be divulged to the rest of the village. Considering your background, I do not think that I need to provide any further explanations." "Could you at least let us know if you get any more information? I may not have been born here, but this village has become a real home to me. I would like to be ready if I need to defend it." "Yes. I can do that." After that, they bid each other farewell. The rest of the day was pretty normal, all things considered. They went back home, checked the fields, had dinner, and each went about their individual occupations. Adrea had some homework that she needed to complete before sunset, which thankfully was quite late at this time of year, so she went to her room. About half an hour into her study session, as she was busy cleaning up some of the notes that she had taken during the day, she heard a knock on her door.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. "You can come in." It was Naviya. Uncharacteristically, she seemed to be ashamed of something and rather anxious. "I''m sorry. I promise that I will tell you the whole story later. I just cannot bring myself to do so now." "This won''t change how you see me, right?" "No, of course not." "Thanks." And with that said, she left. This brought Adrea to think back on what she had said. It was a simple phrase: "I reincarnated", but she could not fathom its consequences. And then there was the whole "demon invasion". Apparently the two were related somehow. If she had to guess, the same event that brought Naviya here also caused the demon invasion, but she wasn''t a scholar. After that, was the revelation that her father had been an explorer. Didn''t he hurt his leg a few days ago during a regular hunt? There''s no way an explorer would be that clumsy... She found that she could not concentrate anymore, her mind drifting to different scenarios, imagining all sorts of events that could have led to the present. Each was more fantastical than the last, until eventually, she had to force herself to try and think of something else, and go lay in bed. Maybe being an explorer would not be too bad... She tried to convince herself that, as her father often said, things have a tendency to sort themselves out, and that everything would be fine, but she still felt restless and could not sleep. About an hour later, her thoughts calmed, and, tired, she drifted off to sleep.
Herdrick was looking at his sword. After nearly 20 years of neglect, the edge was beginning to show signs of rust, and he was apprehensive at the idea of servicing the hilt. No doubt, its state would probably be much worse than the blade itself. He pushed a bit of his mana into it, and four out of the five runes that were engraved in the fuller lit up with a warm orange glow. The fifth one flickered, but did not activate. "You''re stalling" His wife was sitting next to him on the bed. "Eva, I don''t think I can do it. I am so out of shape I want to cry. How could I let myself get so complacent..." He tried to repress the feeling of despair. "And look at this sword. This used to be my pride as an explorer. Now, it''s barely better than a basic club." "Dear, calm down." "I know, I know. We don''t have much of a choice. We can''t just ignore a fuh...dging demon invasion." "That''s not what we were talking about." "No, it was. You are right about the girls. We knew since the beginning that Naviya''s past wasn''t something the we should discuss. Then we did, and now we just have to wait and see." She gave him a look. "Don''t look at me that way. Neither of them seemed to be particularly upset." "Herdrick, how many times do I have to spell it out. Naviya has enough trust issues without you ignoring her feelings, even if she seems to be doing her best to hide them. As for Adrea, that girl probably just hasn''t had the time to process the information. Both of them need a clear sign of moral support right now." She wasn''t yelling at him, but it felt like she was. He sat there for a moment. I cannot continue like this. I need to clear my head. Maybe I should... He let himself feel the mana swirling around his body. It was an unstable bubbling mess. Years without meditation, combined with his emotional state, were obviously at fault here. He let his senses drift, focusing on the motions, looking for patterns in the swirling mana. And then, after what felt like an eternity, but was probably only a couple of seconds, he found it. [Serenity] The spell hadn''t worked well, but it was enough, and he steadied himself. "You''re right. What kind of father runs away from his kids." "That''s better. Was that a spell?" "Yes, that was Serenity, or rather, a half-baked version thereof. If I''m going to be start getting back in shape, I might as well start now." There was small pause in the conversation, as both changed into their nightgowns. "You know, I missed this version of you ¨C a cool-headed, warmhearted warrior... You never told me that you were using a spell. I feel a bit cheated now." "Hey! I don''t usually need that spell. It was just practice." "Sure, Dear. Sure..."
As usual, Adrea was awoken by the damnable rooster, and she felt even more grumpy than usual. She hadn''t slept well. She had woken up at least two times because of nightmares. In both cases, images of monsters mingled with the fleeing form of Naviya, as they were separated, and then... She shook her head. This wasn''t worth thinking about. As she made her way to the kitchen, she found that the rest of her family was already there. Typical. As she took a seat, she saw that her father seemed a bit nervous. He was probably going to try and say something about yesterday. He cleared his throat. "So, um, I''d like to say that I... we... we''re sorry that we didn''t ask you for your input before having your age investigated. I thought it would be a nice surprise, because I thought that you had forgotten. Your mother told me that it would have been better to ask you, but I managed to convince her otherwise... Anyway, I hope you can forgive us for that." The room was silent for a bit, before Naviya softly said "I''m fine, Father. Don''t worry about me". There was a hint of happiness in her voice. There was a further pause, and her mother discretely elbowed her father. "Ah, and yes, this whole demon invasion thing is probably blown out of proportion if it''s been going on for the last four years. I used to be a pretty decent explorer back in the day, so don''t worry too much. I''ll protect us if something does come our way. I just need to get back in shape." "I trust both of you to keep this a secret, just as the head-priest said." With that said, life just continued as usual. In next days, Adrea often saw her father busy maintaining his sword, or rehearsing various stances and motions in his free time. Although it meant that everyone else had to spend a bit more time tending to the fields, Adrea saw this as a positive change. She was a bit surprised when her father offered to show and explain some of his techniques to her, but considering that she would likely take up the explorer''s path herself, it made sense. Together they decided that they would have a training session every two days. Naviya would also join in to observe. After a week, her main takeaway was that when she actually got a proper master, she should focus on having strong foundations, rather than fanciful techniques. Most explorers that survived to retirement age did. The second takeaway was that she should always be aware of distances. Her father saw weapons as "the great equalizers". It didn''t matter whether one was weak, or lacked in agility, if they could hit their adversary with a weapon while the adversary could not. Considering her lack of success with training, Adrea somehow doubted that it was as simple as that, but she persevered. Her 16th birthday felt to her like a thundercloud on the horizon, creeping towards her ever-so-slowly. Chapter 3 - Stressful Nights Adrea awoke to a sound that wasn''t the rooster. It was also much darker than what she would have expected. Moderate rain was hitting something near her window making a pitter-patter sound. She was still a bit groggy, and wasn''t sure what exactly had woken her up. Her mind immediately jumped to "demons", but there weren''t any unusual sounds. She sighed. This was the fourth day in a row that this had happened. This was the first time that had been under so much stress, as far as she could remember. Although she kept telling herself that her father was right, and that the whole thing was probably overblown, that did not really help with her nerves. Waking up during the night also made the mornings even more difficult than usual. She tucked herself under her sheets, and tried to think of other things. Unfortunately, there really was not much to think about so she settled on looking at how the clouds moved. Full moon was only two days ago, so the night sky was still rather bright, and the unexpected darkness was primarily due to rain. Even at night, she could make out the outlines of the clouds, with moonlight shining through intermittent gaps. It was not particularly interesting, but the ever-changing shapes would eventually lull her back to sleep. As expected, getting up the next morning was an unpleasant experience. "Good morning Adrea. You seem to be pretty poorly rested lately. Is everything all right?" Somehow, the fact that her mother had picked up on it was a surprise to Adrea. "Mom, I''m fine!" She paused for a bit, realizing that she was over-reacting. "Actually, probably not. I keep waking up for no reason at night. Then, I get worried that we''re being attacked by demons. And then I can''t sleep." Her mother seemed to mull it over, but before she could say anything, Adrea continued. "I know that Dad said that I shouldn''t worry about it, but I just can''t convince myself, apparently." Great, now I''m angry at myself. "Urgh... I don''t want to think about it. Let''s just get on with breakfast." "Adrea, wait a minute. Maybe it would be better if you didn''t sleep alone for the coming day or two." "Mom. I''m fifteen! Not five!" That was too much. She stormed out of the kitchen. Thankfully, the rain had cleared and so she went outside to check the fields, neglecting breakfast. She had to vent on something. Birds and weeds would do for now. She avoided her family (except Naviya - she hadn''t done anything wrong) for the rest of the morning before going to school. The main lesson today was geography, one of her preferred subjects. The highlight of this particular session was a lecture on the grand river network. All the provinces in Danalau were actually part of the same drainage basin, which made rivers a particularly effective method of transportation, especially when moving downstream. The grand river network had been a formalization of age-old practices, which included standardization of barges and the construction of appropriate infrastructure. The project had been started over 50 years ago, and covered almost all major cities. Interestingly, twelve years ago, a brilliant Vaahmeist, Breckmer Verhaaf, had come up with a plan to extend the network beyond its current size by using special dams that would allow ships to pass through them, widening narrow rivers while maintaining navigability. At the end of the day, Adrea had mostly calmed down. She was a bit apprehensive at going home, but she managed to convince herself that her parents would not be angry at her. That, and she was famished.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. The first thing she did after coming back home was finding her mother. "Mom, I''m sorry. That was childish of me." "I had a bit of time to cool off, and you''re probably right." As always. "How should we do this?" The felt really embarrassed to accept, but she knew that something had to be done. "You can be quite handful at time, you know that?" "I was thinking that you could use the spare bed in Naviya''s room where you were sleeping until two years ago." "I don''t know... I mean it''s Naviya, how''s that going to help me?" "I''m sure you''ll feel better with her around. If that doesn''t work, we can always try to bring that bed into our room, but that is something that we can''t do today." "Fine, I''ll go ask Naviya if she is fine with that. But... umh.. before that, are there some leftovers from this morning?" Adrea expected that Naviya would be indifferent, but the younger girl was actually be somewhat happy when she learned about the new arrangement. After she finished her breakfast, the rest of the day went peacefully. This involved harvesting part of their crops and another training session with her father before sundown. Then, after that, she had to make her bed in Naviya''s room. The feeling of embarrassment, as Naviya helped her get things ready, was difficult to deal with, but Adrea managed to repress it by talking with her sister about unrelated topics such as her progress at school. They probably stayed awake for a bit longer than reasonable, but eventually, she drifted off to sleep. She woke up in the middle of night. Again? No. Something''s different She could hear an unusual noise in the background. It was quite low in volume, probably coming from the outside. Her house was somewhat isolated from the rest of the village, but it was definitely coming from there. Then, something washed over her, as though she had been doused in cold water. Her senses immediately shot awake. She jumped out from under her sheets, looked over her sister''s bed... With a loud crack, the wall next to her exploded into a thousand pieces, and she was flung into the opposite direction. Pain shot through her left arm half a moment later as she crashed into another wall. Disoriented from the impact, her vision was filled blurry white and purple alternating stripes. Then, as her eyes re-focused, her blood ran cold. In front of her, no more than a couple of inches from her face, was row of spikes - pearl-white teeth as long as her arms, that seemed to almost glow. Every survival instinct screamed to her that she had to flee. She tried to get up, but fell on her side as her left arm failed her. The creature looked at her. Its three black eyes, two of them on the right side of its maw, were dotted with glowing purple blots that were moving about erratically, seemingly in an expression of glee. She tried to get away from it, her eyes scanning the destroyed room for an escape, when suddenly, numbness spread through her right leg. Turning around, she was once again greeted by the row of teeth, but this time, boldly displayed on the lower jaw was a spasming leg. Hers. She cried out in panic, pain, terror, fear, desperation, resignation, with no coherent thought in her mind. Her vision once again blurred, as tears began to flow. She was going to die... She could make out the rapidly growing puddle of her own blood reflecting the moonlight, she could not hear anything except the loud thumping of her ears, and she barely felt anything else. And then, through her tears, she saw her sister, sitting up in bed, confused. Somehow, the sight brought Adrea back to reality. "NAVIYA, RUN!!!" Sensation returned to her, and she cried out in agony, her broken arm and missing leg asserting their presence. At the same moment, the teeth of the monstrosity began to move independently, clacking against each like pieces of wood, yet resonating somehow. The grim display lasted but a second before the demon lunged at her, its maw open with three serrated appendages at it center moving in random directions around her. One of the teeth pierced her belly, and then... began to stir. At that moment, all her other senses failed her. There was only pain that felt like an eternity of pure torment. She began losing consciousness, but then, the pain suddenly disappeared, and she found herself staring at her lower body being repeatedly perforated by the now blood-red spikes. Pieces of flesh and bone were flying in all directions. The gruesome display of her body being brutally mangled as she was forced to watch made her want to retch. Just let me die already... She turned her head away from the carnage. To her horror, Naviya was still there, with an expression of utter disbelief. She wanted to cry out, tell her to get away, but no sound came out of her mouth. No... And then, after seconds that had felt like a lifetime, she finally fainted. Chapter 4 - Partial recovery It took Adrea three days to recover from the event to a degree where she could think straight. Her memory of what happened in the meantime was hazy, especially the hours right after what should have been her end. I''m alive? Maybe this was just a very bad dream... Some of the images of the night still lingered at the edge of her consciousness, the most prominent of which was a desperate Naviya saying something to her. Adrea took a moment to get her bearings straight. She was surrounded by branches and leaves, with her back resting on the hard surface that was the trunk of a tree. There were some chirping noises - birds welcoming the warming rays of the morning sun. She was half-sitting, half-laying on some sort of platform that seemed to be made from sturdy planks of wood. To her right, she saw her father''s sword. Flashes of the night rushed through her mind. She remembered the orange glow as the village burned, the wails of suffering that she had ignored in favor of her own safety, the red stream, and her father''s unmoving had, holding the sword that was now at her side. It was too much. Adrea steadied herself. She felt the rays of the sun warm her face from above. Naviya was sitting next to her. "You''re back, right? I did not know what to do. I thought that I had made a mistake somewhere." After a weak yes, Naviya hugged her with so much strength that Adrea could swear she heard a creaking sound. "You were just like a... [foreign word]." "I''m so sorry. I was not prepared. I had lowered my defenses. I could have protected everyone, but I did not." Her face was completely inexpressive, just like all other times when she showed strong emotion. Adrea also noticed that her sister looked different somehow. It took her a second before she realized that her lustrous navy-colored hair, which had reached her hips the day before the attack, now just barely reached below her shoulders. The braids that she usually wore were nowhere to be seen, instead replaced by bangs of straight hair that evenly reached her eyebrows. This was particularly notable as Naviya had always refused to have her hair cut. "When you were attacked, I did not know what to do. I just sat there and watched. I could still have reacted faster, but I was scared of losing myself. You almost died..." "Calm down. It''s okay. I''m fine now." Adrea was not really focused, and she did not immediately register what her sister had said. Instead she asked the one question she could. "So, what happened to your hair?" That did not seem to ease the tension in any way. "Your body was almost completely destroyed, so I had to create a replacement to keep you alive. It used most of my reserves of [foreign word]." "Right, I was... eaten alive... Oh by the Light!" She remembered the event. The teeth, the pain, the blood... "Oh no, no, no, noO..." Hysteria overtook her, the memories whirling around her head, overlapping each other in a gruesome collage of mismatched sounds and images. She couldn''t think of anything else, as her cries went from loud, to soft, to tearful, to pained, while the traumatic feelings pounded at her consciousness. Then, as the memories began to fade, she briefly felt relived that the experience was over, only for it come back with a vengeance as soon as the thought crossed her mind. The cycle repeated itself. Once, twice, three times, ... Eventually, she managed to bring herself under control, and opened her eyes. Naviya was staring at her with worry, as she tried to wipe her tears. "I think I''m fine now..." She was not, of course, fine. "Let''s not talk about that anymore. So what now, are we headed somewhere specific?" "You said that we should follow the river downstream, that it would lead us to Meunheil. You said that the city had big walls that would protect us from the demons." Adrea had never actually been to the city, but she knew about it from her classes and what her parents had taught her. She tried to not think about that, but something did not seem to add up.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. "How long have we been moving?" "Three days, excluding today." The city is supposed to be only about half a day away by horse. We''re lost, aren''t we. Of course, we are. She repressed the feeling of despair. They were going to get out this, one way or another. Maybe following the river was simply not the fastest route? She tried to recall her knowledge of Danalau geography. Sure enough, the stream that went through their village and eventually joined the river Ojtoeys actually flowed south, whereas the city was to the north-east. She reassured herself that they would eventually reach their destination anyways. There was no reason to panic... A loud howl interrupted her thoughts, coming from underneath. Her heart raced for a moment, before she realized that this was only a wolf. That couldn''t hurt her while she was on a tree, but all her focus went to it anyway. About an hour later, as the sun was beginning to set, the beast finally decided that it had had enough, and wandered off, along with the pack that had joined it a few minutes after she had first heard it. Adrea relaxed a bit. "Naviya, I''m sorry. I''m going to try to get some rest, and we can move forward tomorrow." It was now too late to do anything else, especially with wolves roaming around, which was why Adrea settled on resting as best as she could. Considering the circumstances, "as best as she could" turned out to be "not very well at all". The night was rainy, and although they were protected from the worst of it by the tree''s canopy and a makeshift roof that Naviya had fashioned at some point during the day, she still got hit by the occasional droplet. With the wind slightly rocking the tree, she never really felt at ease either. After a while, her state of mind changed to something that would be best-described as "blank". She looked at the swaying trees, the moving clouds, the reflection of the moon on the nearby stream. She listened to rustling leaves, the sound of creaking wood, the rhythmic sound of the raindrops impacting the exposed part of her platform. It all felt distant, somehow, like she was looking from beneath the surface of water. She briefly considered jumping off, maybe she could fly... Morning greeted her with the warm touch of the morning sun, and she felt grateful for Danalau''s climate during summer. Her neck hurt from the uncomfortable position in which she had slept. Panic briefly overtook her as she remembered her last thoughts during the previous evening, but the feeling of wood beneath her reassured that everything was fine. As she opened her eyes, she noticed that Naviya was sitting next to her. "Good morning." She just sat there, immobile for about two seconds, before turning her head. "Ah... Good morning. Sorry, I was focused on the surroundings. There''s nothing dangerous around at the moment." It took another couple of minutes before Adrea was fully awake, but after that, both girls made their way down the tree and resumed their march in silence. From what she remembered, the route following the river was about twice as long as the direct one, or about twenty horizons in total. They had had a good pace during the first three days, so the city could not be that far away. As they made their way past a large bush of blueberries, she absently remembered that she had not eaten anything yesterday. Or the day before... and probably not since they left the village. She could vaguely remember that they had stopped at different occasions to have a drink, but that was it. Her sister was walking slightly ahead of her, so she called out. "Hey, Naviya. I just realized that we haven''t eaten anything since we left the village, but I can barely feel any hunger. This cannot be good... Maybe we should stop and eat some of these blueberries here. " "Sure." Over the course of about one hour, they managed to collect about two pounds of berries. That went a long way towards making Adrea feel better, and realize just how much her ability to think ad been affected over the last days. "Say, Naviya, why didn''t we stop to eat on the way here. I know I''ve been out of it, but you seem to be mostly fine. Weren''t you hungry?" That seemed to take the younger girl by surprise. "I..." She paused. "I suppose that I won''t be able to hide it much longer anyway. I don''t actually need to eat very often, because I''m not human." Adrea felt as if a weight had been dropped on her lungs. Obviously, her expression had betrayed her, as Naviya immediately began to panic. "I''m not a demon either. I''m still me. I''m still your sister. This doesn''t matter, right?" "No! don''t come any closer!" This can''t be happening! No, calm down Adrea, calm down! Panic never solves anything. She steadied her breathing. Oh no, what did I just say? One look at Naviya told her how badly she had messed up. "I... I''m so sorry, I didn''t mean to... Of course you''re still my sister. Oh, how could I say something like this. I''m sorry, I''m sorry, I''m sorry!" Her tears flowed as she hugged her little sister, and for a while, they just sat there. "You''re the only family I have left... How could I even... think that..." "I thought that you at least suspected it... You always seemed to be able se through me..." "Please no. It doesn''t matter, I''m just not right in the head right now... don''t leave me alone, please." "Big sister, don''t worry. I don''t want you to leave me either." Adrea could feel how her younger sister gently patted her head. There were no ill feelings here. They stayed this way for a while longer. She let herself relax under the gentle summer breeze, let her mind drift. Now was not the time for existential questions, all she needed now was peace. After a while, they resumed their journey, but overall did not get far that day. By her estimation, they probably walked about three horizons total, mostly in the morning. It did not last long before day turned to dusk, and they had to make camp. As it turned out, they had been using their father''s sword as an improvised axe. The edge was surprisingly sharp when Adrea was using it, to the point that she had no trouble cutting even moderately thick trees in a couple of swings. At that point, it was just a matter of splitting the logs length-wise, and connecting them together with Naviya''s hairs to create a surprisingly robust platform on a suitable tree. The whole operation took less than an hour to accomplish, and just seemed preposterous, but Adrea told herself that she would not question anything right now. What mattered at the moment was reaching Meunheil as quickly as possible. Everything else could wait, and hopefully they would still be able to reach the city tomorrow. Chapter 5 - Arrival in Meunheil The 24th day of the fourth moon of summer had begun like most other days, just like Marteryaan liked it. Being a guard captain in Meunheil meant that he had a steady stream of problems to attend to, but most of them were quite trivial. He quite fondly remembered the incident, three days ago, when one of his teams stumbled on a young naked couple stuck in a closet. They had done some investigative work, and quickly found that the closet had actually been locked by one of the neighbor''s children, who had decided that he had had enough of noise. The interactions between the relatives of the involved parties was quite humorous to his tastes. It was the sort of case that did not involve a lot of paperwork, where no-one got seriously hurt (unless one counted pride), but still required his direct oversight and took skill to resolve correctly. Marteryaan snickered a bit at the memory as he was making his way the city''s western gate. Improper formalities at the gates were probably one of the most common problems that he had to deal with, and although it tended to be especially common during the third moon, it still occurred at least once every few days. He would never admit to it, but he actually modified the protocols slightly every year to ensure that it kept happening, because he believed that it would keep his soldiers sharp. He would not have had the authority to do this if it was not for his family name, but he was not above resorting to using it if necessary. As he made his way down the main street, he noticed one of the younger recruits running towards him with haste. "Junior Militiaman Vraak, reporting from the western gate." Good, he is following protocol. "Sir, I was dispatched with an urgent request for your presence there. Reason for request was given as ''Direct request from visitor, under oath of relevance''" "Acknowledged." He increased his pace to a jog. An urgent request under oath of relevance was not something to be done lightly, as consequences for misusing them were harsh. As a matter of fact, most people were not even aware of the procedure, so it was unlikely that this was not a genuine problem. As he entered what most called the "interrogation room", he found himself looking at a royal courier with bags under his eyes. His clothes were somewhat dirty, which was indicative of the urgency of the man''s request, considering that he had clearly used his waiting time make himself as presentable as he could. As the man noticed Marteryaan, he immediately spoke a sentence that no captain wanted to hear: "For your ears only." "I assume that you know the consequences of the actions that you undertook, should they not have been warranted." "Yes." "Understood." He turned towards the other guards present in the room. "This man has requested to talk to me exclusively, under oath of relevance. In accordance with the royal decree of 52.W.2.17, I am obligated to grant this request. All agents are hereby ordered to immediately vacate this room, record the occurrence of this request, and deploy all available measures to ensure that the words spoken here during the next hour are not overheard." As soon as the door closed behind the last guard to leave the room, the courier immediately began to speak. "Demons have destroyed the villages of Trosten-egerdaal, Vaalreyk-egerdaal, and Mundraak-shardaal. I have verified this personally, and have recorded my observations in this letter, which must be delivered to the Royal Complex without delay. I would do this personally if I could, but as you see, I am in no state to be traveling." Marteryaan grabbed the letter, went out of the room, and ordered his second in command to deliver it herself using the fastest horse that was available. As much as sending her away would be a hit to city''s defense, there were no riders in Meunheil that were as capable as her, including the two couriers that were currently assigned to the city. Having done this, he went back into the interrogation room. "I have dispatched your letter. Now, please explain further. I have a city to protect, and I need more information." The courier visibly relaxed. "Oh, thank the Light for your professionalism. I thought for a second..." He steadied himself. "My apologies I''ll explain how this happened. I was sent to deliver a letter to Trosten-egerdaal... By the way, who in their right mind uses a royal courier to deliver a letter to a Shaav? I guess that turned out to be a wise decision, huh." "Anyways, The village is about half a day from here by horse, so I left Meunheil yesterday afternoon. I did not expect that the locals would be able to provide an adequate replacement for my horse, so I thought it would make more sense to spend the night there and come back on the following day." "When I arrived, I found the village to be completely destroyed, with mutilated bodies laying everywhere. My first thoughts had been that it was some frenzied animal rampage, but that was clearly proven to be incorrect. Frenzied animals simply cannot leave the kind of injuries that I saw there, but that was not how I concluded that this was a demon attack." "You see, there was house in the village that was a bit separated from the rest, where the residents actually managed to resist the attack for a bit. I found a total of four Spiker Demon carcasses near that house, with slice and stab wounds. Considering that mundane weapons are woefully inadequate against demons, and even when they are sufficient, the demons are supposed to evaporate, my best guess is that these were killed by a runic sword. I did not find the weapon though, so I cannot say for certain." "I should probably also mention some odd damage around the house and the rest of the village that does not match our records of previous Spiker Demon attacks. There were multiple places where I observed a perfectly circular hole in the ground. Everything in the immediate vicinity of these holes had been burned, again in a near-perfect circle. This is the kind of damage that I think is only possible using offensive magic, but that''s way too far outside my knowledge." "So after I checked the village for survivors, of which I found none, I decided to scout the nearby villages as well. My knowledge of this province is not exactly great, but I knew that Vaalreyk-egerdaal and Mundraak-shardaal were relatively close, and the directions to follow." "As it turns out, both villages suffered the same fate, as Trosten-egerdaal, so I expect the damage to be significantly more widespread than just these three villages. I did not find any killed demons there, nor did I find any strange circular holes, so these were likely the result of someone defending themselves." "Based on what I saw, I think that the attacks happened between four and eight days ago. I guess that that is probably the only piece of good news about this whole thing. That about covers it." That was a lot to take in. "So, based on how you are describing these events, I take it that you are one of the Verhof?" "Yes, graduated 12 years ago from the eastern academy." "I have to say, someone like you being sent to some small village, just as it gets attacked by demons, seems a bit too outlandish to be a coincidence." "And I would agree. It was also the only village that seemed to be able to put out resistance of some kind."Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. "Did you, by any chance have a look at the contents of the letter that you were supposed to deliver? Maybe that would contain some hints?" "No. Professional integrity dictates otherwise. I really wish I could, though." "You do still have it, at least?" "Yes, ''undeliverable letters are to be returned to the sender''." "As a Vaahreid, or main provincial guard captain, would I have the authority to override this directive?" "Also no, unfortunately. If this had been a regular courier delivery, that would have been well-within you authority, but because this is a royal courier delivery from a Vaahmeist, I am afraid you would need to be higher nobility at the very least. Trust me, I would have told you if this was an option." "Right. Well, thank you very much for your time. You look like you need to take a rest. We will discuss what to do with the letter afterwards." This was probably the worst thing that could have happened to Marteryaan''s peaceful posting. Even as the news of the third demon invasion has reached him two years ago, he though that it was unlikely that he would be involved in it directly, at least at first. Yet, somehow, Meunheil-Duuk had been the first province to actually be hit, as far he knew. Wait, what if the invasion is so bad that no one had the opportunity to report it? The most terrifying thing about the thought was that there was nothing to disprove it. Communication within the kingdom was not particularly frequent, but he could not remember the last time he had heard anything from the southern region of Karuaan in nearly a moon. Suddenly agitated, he rushed to the records chamber, where he asked the clerk to retrieve all records of entries into the city from the last moon. While the number of records was high, he could still parse them all by himself within a reasonable time. His fears were confirmed when he realized that arrivals from the neighboring region had been completely interrupted about 17 days ago. Marteryaan immediately sent a local courier alert the provincial council. He did not expect the lazy councilors to reach any sort of satisfactory decision in a timely manner, but they had to be informed. With some luck, they might be able to pass some emergency laws that would help him do his job, but he did not count on it. As for himself, he headed to the barracks, where some of his men were enjoying a break. "Everyone, to attention!" "I have just received disturbing news. The city may be subjected to attack within the coming days, likely at night. Thankfully, because we know this in advance, we can prepare. All those with even identification numbers are to report to their resting quarters and prepare for night duty. Those with odd identification numbers will remain on duty for today, on high alert. This order is effective now. For those of you here with odd numbers, you are to repeat this order to the rest guards and militiamen in the city when you see them, but do not be loud. We want to avoid causing panic." He proceeded to repeat his order to ensure clarity. With his order acknowledged, Marteryaan headed to his bunk. He would have to be fully rested if he was to be effective in his role as a commander during night-time, when demons were known to be active. Forcing himself to rest from mid-afternoon to dusk was not something that he enjoyed, but he managed. As night began to set, having briefed the various teams about their roles, he headed to the western wall of the city. He idly wondered what the odds were that demons would attack the city on the same day as he had been warned about it, but decided that this was not a line of thinking that he wanted to pursue. The royal courier was actually waiting for him on the wall. "I have to say, I am rather impressed with how quietly you have been able to mobilize a defense." "We still have to see how well we hold out. I fear that the invasion this time might be worse than any of the previous ones." "What makes you say that?" "I checked the logs. We have not had a single communication with Karuaan in the last 17 days. If I remember my history correctly, during the second invasion, only the first few villages were taken by surprise, and attacks usually had some survivors. From what you told me, that does not seem to be the case this time." The courier remained silent for a while, probably digesting the information. "I think that I will stay in Meunheil for now. Maybe this Herdrick Venmaast survived the attack somehow... There were signs of battle in Trosten-egerdaal, afterall. I hope that would not be too much of an imposition." Marteryaan was not quite certain whether he should have praised the courier for his professionalism or berated him for his cowardice, but ultimately, this was not his call to make so he simply remained silent. The two men made their way to the top of the wall, and began to watch the horizon. Considering that it was nearing the end of the moon, it was somewhat difficult to recognize far-away shapes, but closer to the city, the gold-colored fields were sufficiently illuminated to serve as an early warning system. About half an hour into his watch, Marteryaan spotted two silhouettes moving towards the gate. At first, he thought that maybe his worst prediction had come true, but he soon realized that the two figures were humanoid in shape and were clearly following the road. I should be careful, demons are supposed to be quite insidious. "Aim our ballistae at the two figures there, but do not loose. I will intercept them." He rushed down the stairs, past the gate and the bridge, and made as much distance as possible between himself and the city wall, until he was at about 50 paces from the two figures. He unsheathed his runic sword. "You two, stop right there! Do not move!" The two figures stopped, and he got a better look at them. These were two young girls. The older was either just or barely not of age, and the second was probably between 9 and 13 years old. "I apologize for the rudeness, but you will have to bear with me. Show me your amulets of Light, and stay still until I say so." The two girls followed his instructions and he sighed in relief after he was close enough to verify that amulets were authentic. This was proof that these two were not demons. "It''s okay, you can move now. I apologize for the behavior, but it had to be done. Please follow me to the gate, where you will be able to follow the proper procedures to get into the city. I will be right behind you." The older girl was trembling a bit. In the darkness, Marteryaan had trouble telling whether it was because of fear, or cold, but he could not afford to let emotions cloud his judgement, so he proceeded to escort them to the gate, and into the interrogation room. Under the illumination provided by the ever-torches, he could now make out their features. These two were unmistakably sisters, to the point where he wondered if he had ever seen siblings so similar. Besides size, their main difference was in hairstyle. The older girl had long dark-brown, ever-so-slightly curly hair, with two braids beginning near her ears and joining into a knot at the level of her nape. Her hair was messy and somewhat oily. The younger had black hair with an almost blueish tint it. Unlike her older sister, her hair was short, and surprisingly well-kept by comparison. Their clothes clearly indicated that they were either upper lower-class or lower middle-class, but dirtier and more damaged than what would be expected. Interestingly, the older girl was holding a sword that was clearly above what her family should have been able to afford. "I am guard captain Marteryaan Vanheim, and I have a few questions that I need to ask you before I can let you into the city." The older girl nodded at his statement. Her face was dirty, her eyes were red, and she was covered in small scrapes. "For the record, please begin by stating your names, origins, where you are traveling from, and whereto." "Our names are Adrea and Naviya Venmaast, from... uhm what was the village called again... Trosten-egerdaal." Marteryaan had to stop himself from interrupting her. This was... incredible, and probably not a coincidence. "We''re travelling from our village to Meunheil to..." This was where he interrupted her. "Please do not give further details yet, we will come to this next. Let me record these answers." Thank the Light that I had this procedure separated into two parts for this year... Now, how do I get them to avoid mentioning demons in front of the others. "We recently had reports of frenzy attacks on several villages, including yours. Are you two survivors?" She nodded. "Considering the circumstances, I assume that you do not have any of the required paperwork for entering the city, could you confirm this?" "No, we don''t" "So the remainder of this procedure is pointless. However, I will need you state the names of your parents, as well as your age." "Our parents are Herdrick Venmaast and Eva Braun. I''m 15 autumns, and Naviya is 10 summers." Their mother is from Erya, huh... that explains the weird names. "Thank you for your cooperation. Unfortunately, due to not having documents, you will have to stay in the guard tower until we have some administrative procedures sorted, but do not worry, you are not at risk of being rejected entry. Please follow me." He had a runner call for the courier, and escorted the two girls to his second in command''s quarters. When they finally got there, Adrea sat on the bed, and with a "We''re finally safe..." tension left her body, and she began to cry. Marteryaan did not know how to react to this. He had not really looked at the younger girl so far. Her bangs covered her forehead, and from his standing position, he had not really been able to see her face. She was currently patting her older sister''s head, in a clear effort to comfort her, but as he noticed her facial expression, Marteryaan recoiled. Her face was like a wooden doll, completely neutral, and unnaturally still, as she turned to him spoke in a pleading voice, completely at odds with her expression. "Please leave us alone for a while." Something in his subconscious told him this was an order. He suddenly felt like he was 15 again, standing in front of an expert instructor for the first time. He broke out in a cold sweat. If he did not follow the order, he would certainly die. He had to leave now. He barely registered the door closing behind him, and as he was joined by the courier, he preemptively cut him off. "Sorry, we will have to wait for a bit before we can get some answers. Our guests need some time." "You.. don''t look well." "No, I am not. I am not sure what just happened, but I have never been so terrified of something in over 30 years. And that something was a little girl. I need a drink." Thankfully, the rest of the night was uneventful. Chapter 6 - House arrest Adrea woke up in a warm bed under an unfamiliar ceiling. The last days had left her completely exhausted both physically and mentally, and it had suddenly caught up to her as soon as she knew that she was safe. Realizing that she was probably using someone else''s bed, she immediately looked under the covers, and was relieved to remember that even in her emotional state, she had had the decency to remove her clothes before tucking herself under the covers. She was not particularly enthusiastic about putting her clothes back on, considering that they were quite dirty and ripped in more than few places, but she did not have any spares, so she reluctantly reached for them. As she was putting them on, she noticed Naviya sitting on a chair in the corner of the room. Her sister had a vacant look about her, and did not seem to have noticed that Adrea had woken up. This was concerning. As Adrea made her way towards her sister to check if everything was alright, Naviya suddenly seemed to come back to life. "Good morning, big sister. Sorry, I was asleep." That explains what I just saw... but also doesn''t. "Good morning, Naviya. Did I wake you up?" "Yes, but don''t worry about it. Are you better now?" As strange as it was, Adrea was filling quite chipper. "I feel better than I have in days. I do feel sore all over, but it''s better than not feeling anything." Naviya nodded in clear approval. "So, what did we have to do next. Let me remember... I think the guard captain seemed to want to talk about something yesterday before I..." That put a damper on her mood. Her loss of control over herself had not only been embarrassing, but also more than little rude. "I guess we should probably let someone know that we''re ready to talk..." The door was locked. She really did not want to knock on it, but after pacing around for a bit, she eventually mustered the courage to do so. For a brief moment, there was no reply, before a voice on the other side answered. "You''re awake?" "Yes." "Excellent, please wait for a bit, I will fetch the captain. He wanted to speak to you in person." It took a while, but eventually the door was unlocked and two men stepped inside. She recognized the one who was wearing a set of full plate armor, excluding a helmet, as the soldier who had "welcomed" them into the city. The other man was slightly younger, and mostly looked like a high-class explorer, with the exception of a royal crest prominently emblazoned on the upper-left side of his vest. The soldier spoke first. "Good morning. I take it that you have slept well?" Although he was obviously trying to control himself, Adrea immediately noticed that the man was not in a particularly good mood. He looked tired, and seemed annoyed by something. "Yes. I must apologize for my behavior yesterday. It was... unbecoming. Are you the guard captain?" The man seemed to get slightly more annoyed by the question. "Yes, I am. Also please do not worry about what happened yesterday. I understand that the last days have not been easy on you... two..." There was strange pause as he looked at Naviya with a bit of suspicion, but then immediately resumed talking. "Now, while I would have preferred to welcome you in a more pleasant way than how I did yesterday, this was a necessary precaution. In addition to that, I am afraid that I will have to continue with some unpleasant topics, because my ability to perform my duties properly depends on it." "With that said, I will now explain your situation. You are currently in one of four guard towers near the western gate of Meunheil. Due to your circumstances, we cannot allow you to leave this room, but we will provide any basic amenities that you may need, including clothes, food, and toilet service. However, as this room belongs to one of my subordinates, you are to be careful to not cause any damage to the furniture." "You must also understand that this arrangement is completely outside of regular procedure. According to the royal decree of 152.F.2.21, refugees are normally to be provided temporary housing in specifically designated buildings. However, in your case, you are the only witnesses that we have with regards to the attack on Trosten-egerdaal. Your testimony will be critical in understanding what happened and how to handle it. We also cannot allow you to spread this information, as it would public unrest, which will prevent us from doing our job effectively." "Before we continue, I would like to ask you to open and read the letter that this royal courier will now give you." The other man stepped forward, and with a "here you go", handed her an envelope with blue wax seal. It took Adrea some effort to control herself when she saw he father''s name on it. Meanwhile the guard captain continued. "I believe that the contents of this letter may be related to what happened to your village, but according to royal courier policy, I am not allowed to read it without the consent of the recipient." Adrea opened the letter and began to read out loud.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. "To Shaav Herdrick Venmaast," "The information regarding your daughter has been crucial in making sense of recent events, and having discussed this with other colleagues, we came to the conclusion that what she told us is very likely to be true. You may consider the present matter to be resolved." "Yours sincerely, Vaahmeist Mrius Vandraak." "PS: Due to being classified information, the rest of this letter has been written in mana-activated ink, which should hopefully be activated by you daughter''s unique condition." The rest of the contents had not appeared yet, so she asked Naviya if she could help. As soon as she touched the paper, the ink activated, spreading in an expanding disk around the place where she had held it. Adrea continued reading, pre-reading each sentence in advance to make sure that she would not reveal Naviya''s nature. "Unfortunately, the discovery that Naviya appeared what we discussed happened around five years ago has led the court to make an extremely uncomfortable realization, followed by an even more uncomfortable decision." As Naviya released the paper, the ink began to fade, so she had to ask her to continue holding it. "Thanks to additional clues, which I will not expand upon, it has become obvious that what we have been calling ''the third demon invasion'' (now called the ''Hildean invasion'') was only a precursor to the actual demon invasion (which I have petitioned to call as the ''Venmaastian invasion''). This demon invasion will probably begin soon and is likely be on an unprecedented scale." "The royal court has decided to focus all its efforts on strengthening the heartlands in Lower Danalau and central Middle Danalau, effectively abandoning all other regions to their fate. Concretely, the policy is that until sufficient resources are made available to guarantee the defense of a given settlement, this settlement is not be informed of the danger to avoid overloading other places with refugees. While I personally consider this decision to be utter stupidity and completely irresponsible, it is not something I can significantly influence." "However, as the ones who helped uncover what is happened, I thought that I should at least warn you. You should inform the rest of village and begin heading out to the nearest fortified city as soon as possible. I would like to request that you avoid mentioning the present letter to anyone but city authorities, and come up with some other excuse for everyone else. As much as I hate to agree with the court, I believe that they are correct in saying that panic would only hinder the defense of a city." That was the end of the letter, and the contents were disturbing to say the least. The royal messenger was the one to break the ensuing silence. "Well, this is ... unfortunate news. So, this means that the city is basically on its own against the largest demon invasion in recorded history?" He was visibly getting angrier with every word he spoke, followed by a stream of profanities. This did not last particularly long,after which the man apologized for having lost his temper. The guard captain, who was visibly just as angry, nevertheless spoke in a calm voice: "As infuriating as this is, we have to do the best we can. Verhof Marcel Ondraak, Shaav Adrea Venmaast, Shaav Naviya Venmaast, you are not to speak of the contents of this letter to anyone. To ensure this, all three of you will be confined to your rooms for now. I will arrange for you to be let out onto the city walls under escort starting tomorrow, under the condition that you do not hinder our preparations." The royal courier seemed outraged, but did not push the matter. The guard captain continued. "I will come back later to get your account of what you saw, but I have immediate duties to attend to in light of what I have just learned." The two men exited the room and Adrea was let alone with her sister, holding the letter. She looked at the one paragraph that she had omitted: Personally, I still have doubts about your daughter''s explanation. I think that there is more to it than ''reincarnation'', as she said. The way mana flows around her is like nothing that I have seen before. I have no idea how to describe it, other than ''unnatural''. Do with this information what you will. That reminded her that Naviya had, at some point during the last days, stated that she was not human, and that she had not asked for more details on the subject. Bringing herself to ask her younger sister about it was hard. Adrea did not know how Naviya or herself would react, and that terrified her. Regardless of her secrets, she was still her sister, and she did not want to drive a wedge between them. Both of them just sat there in silence for while. Somewhat uncharacteristically, Naviya seemed distracted by something, but Adrea decided against asking her about it. She was apprehensive about speaking to her now, and welcomed the delay this offered. Eventually, Naviya seemed to regain her focus, and Adrea managed to push herself to ask her about what she had meant by her statement of not being human. Naviya started by saying that she did not really know what she was herself. She explained that she had been something different prior to being "Naviya". She described herself as a weapon of some sort, with power on a scale that Adrea struggled to understand, but that she was currently much weaker than she used to be. Naviya herself did not understand how she had become more than an inanimate object when she was moved between worlds, but she had. Her name prior to that had meant "eclipse". She did not elaborate why, and neither did she wish to speak about what happened before she had materialized on the coast of Danalau, but she strongly insisted that she did not want to be called by her old name. Her journey before she reached Adrea''s village had been an unpleasant one. Because she had not known the local language and customs, she had been systematically shunned wherever she had gone. By the time that she reached Torsten-egerdaal, she was beginning to lose hope that she would ever be able to put her past as a weapon behind her. The unique circumstances that had led their parents to take Naviya in had been a blessing for her, and the destruction of the village had hurt her much more than Adrea had realized. Adrea decided to not ask Naviya about what she could do that normal humans could not. Nor did she ask her about what happened during the attack. She was not ready to hear it yet. Instead she moved on to talk about what they would do once they could go out of the room. Visiting the walls seemed like a nice prospect. After that, Adrea would probably have to find an explorer apprenticeship, whatever that entailed. She was not particularly enthusiastic about it, but it was a nice distraction, thinking of all the awesome things that she could be doing once she was ready. Eventually, the guard captain came back into the room to ask them about the events. Naviya was the one who explained what happened, saving Adrea the pain that would have come from having to remember the events. She did not really listen to what was said, but the captain seemed satisfied with the explanation and did not probe either of them any further. There was not really much to do it the room. Adrea eventually built up the courage to ask if there was any way to have her clothes replaced or washed. Both were possible, and the captain had apparently volunteered to cover their expenses for anything sensible. Having proper clothes qualified. Besides that, she spend some time practicing sword forms. In the beginning, she was reluctant to pick up a sword, even one of the wooden training swords that she found in the room, due to the memories it evoked, but she eventually began practice, blowing away all her stray thoughts. Naviya mostly just sat there and watched, making comments from time to time. Later, new clothes were brought in. They were also provided with a couple of towels and a bucket of hot water to wash themselves with. It was not an ideal arrangement, but thanks to that, for the first time what felt like weeks, Adrea fell asleep while feeling comfortable. Hopefully, tomorrow would be a good day. Chapter 7 - Getting out When Adrea woke up the next morning, it was due to being poked by Naviya. As she groggily opened her eyes, Naviya let her know that the guards had come by a few minutes ago and had requested that they get ready. They would be escorted to the refectory, where they would be allowed to have breakfast. Adrea acknowledged this and got her clothes on. It was as she was finishing dressing up that she came to a sudden realization. She had not eaten anything the previous day, and yet not only had she not felt hungry at any point during the day, she still did not feel particularly inclined to eat anything. The first time that it had happened, she had brushed it off, but she had not been half-aware yesterday, unlike the previous time. She was probably going to have to ask Naviya about what had actually happened... As soon as the thought crossed her mind, memories resurfaced. She remembered the teeth, the demon''s black eyes, the inescapable pain, the bits of herself being strewn across Naviya''s room, the teeth, the pain, her parents... They''re dead, I should be dead, the demons killed everyone, they are going to kill everyone... Naviya appeared in front her. "Big sister, everything is fine, we''re safe." That somehow brought her back to reality. The memories were still there, but they were muted. "Yes, you''re right." I don''t really want to ask, but maybe now is actually a good moment... She hesitated for a second. "No, I have to know. Please tell me what you did to make me live. I barely feel any hunger even though I have not eating in almost two days." Naviya did not seem particularly agitated by the question. Rather, it felt as though she had suddenly achieved peace of mind, as she spoke in an almost monotone voice. "After what happened, I did not have much time to save you. If I did not do anything you would not have survived, so I created a temporary body for you. Currently, almost everything below you heart works like my own body. This was the only solution that I had, but it is temporary. In about two years, you will be fully human again." After saying this, she seemed to snap out of whatever had come over her, but just as she was about to say something, someone knocked on the door. A guard had come to accompany them to the refectory. Adrea answered in the affirmative, and a few moments later, they exited the room. The route they took to reach the refectory had clearly been planned to avoid civilian areas. It consisted primarily of staircases going up and down the city''s wall. As they reached the mid-sized building, Adrea realized that it actually very close to the guard tower where they had spent the previous day, but the route they took was probably about three time longer than the direct one. It was also a very dull route, with only a couple of places where she could look outside. Breakfast was also quite bland, consisting of a sour vegetable soup with bread. Once again, as soon as she began to eat Adrea was immediately assaulted by a sense of hunger, as her body suddenly remembered that it needed food to survive, but she managed to keep herself under control and eat at a regular pace. After that, she was still feeling ravenous and after explaining to the cooking staff that she had not eaten the day before, she got a one-time exception to have a second serving. Apparently, a rules of "one serving per person" had been introduced the day before due to expected shortages in the coming days. When she returned to her table, she noticed that indeed, quite a few of the guards seemed to be quite irritated. She even managed to overhear a few complaining about the new policy. After they had eaten, Adrea asked their chaperone if it would be acceptable if they ventured onto the walls to get a better view of the city and its surroundings. The guard, whose name was Bert, had shrugged and stated that it did not matter to him as long as he knew where they were.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. They spent the next hours walking around the city along its walls. Bert was not particularly talkative, but he at least explained the general layout of the city to them. Meunheil was not particularly big, as far as provincial capitals went, with only about 20 to 30 thousand inhabitants, but it was still very impressive to Adrea. The city was separated into three parts called, rather unimaginatively inner, middle, and outer city, and were separated by the inner and outer walls, respectively. The outer city was actually outside of the city walls and was, apparently in the process of being evacuated. Bert was one of only a handful of guard that had been made aware of the exact nature of the thread, but it was clear to Adrea that he did not actually believe that it was real, so the way he explained the situation was quite irritating. She avoided speaking to the man for the rest of the tour, which he only seemed to appreciate, and as a result did not learn much about the city. When they finally got back to the guard tower a bit after noon, Adrea had cooled down a bit and felt a bit of regret at not having asked some more questions. On the other hand, she did not like the guard, so she did not feel particularly bad about it. Being locked in the room once again, she decided to keep practicing her sword forms. She could not really tell if she was improving in any way, but at least in gave her something to do. At some point, she noticed that Naviya was a bit more quiet than usual, but when prompted, her younger sister simply stated that she was a bit tired after visiting the city. Considering what she knew, this did not make a lot of sense to Adrea, but she was certain that if it was something important, her sister would have told her, so she did not pry. Towards the end of the day, they were once again called out of the room, this time by a woman. "I am sub-commander Yilse Nordraad, Tandraaf and superior to the blockhead that had to babysit you this morning." She clearly was not particularly happy at the posting either. "I have come to escort you to dinner, after which we will head to the baths. Also, I still don''t know why Marteryaan gave you Griyete''s room, but make sure you keep it clean." "Yes, ma''am." Do all the guards hate me? They made their way to the refectory once again, using the same needlessly long path. On the way there, Yilse told them that they would be in her team''s custody until demons reached the city walls. She briefly explained the hierarchy of the Meunheil guard, in which she was apparently high-ranked, and she made it very obvious that although she understood the captain''s thought process, she was not happy with the consequences falling on her. She was convinced that having to look after two girls was below her. Any hope for conversation conversation ended with that. Dinner consisted of grilled vegetables, of a type that Adrea had not yet seen before, with salmon and bread. It was a bit more filling that breakfast, and this time Adrea felt moderately full by the end of it. This gave her hope that she would be able to continue living a normal life. Visiting the guards'' communal baths was a novel experience. Back at home, they had mostly used a wooden bathtub or the river when it was warm enough, since the village was too small to accommodate public baths. Although Adrea had been quite enthusiastic at the idea in the beginning, this quickly faded as she had to endure Yilse''s scornful face while older woman explained to her how she should store her clothes, that she had to wash herself before entering the bath itself, and that there was apparently a difference between hair soap and body soap. It was quite embarrassing, but thankfully the baths were mostly empty. She suspected that this was due to the baths being gender-specific and there not being many women who worked as guards, but considering her current situation, she could not really bring herself to ask more questions. Having her mood soured, she could not really enjoy the experience, and they left relatively quickly. Back at the tower, once they were finally alone and about to go to sleep, Adrea suddenly remembered that she had forgotten to ask Naviya about what had happened to her body. This seemed to upset her younger sister. "I''m really sorry that I did this to you. I''m trying my best to find a way to accelerate the process of restoring your body, but no matter what I try, it does not seem to work." "It''s okay, don''t worry about it." "But you want to be human right? It''s my fault that you''re like this! It seems like I messed up somehow, and ..." "There, there, I''m okay. It''s only a small thing, and it''s not even permanent. You don''t have to blame yourself so much." At some point, her sister''s face had reverted to the inexpressive appearance it had when she was distressed. That had been enough of a clue for Adrea to understand just how bad she must have been feeling. "I''m just curious about it. I don''t really blame you for it. You saved me." Naviya''s face regained some of its color. "I tried my best to replicate the appearence, weight, and functions of your body. It should not have felt any different. But I did something wrong. I don''t know what else I did wrong..." It took a while before Adrea managed to console her sister. By that point, she was too tired to do anything but sleep. Chapter 8 - Facing the demons Adrea woke up in the middle of the night. She had been thrown off her bed by something, and the soreness of hitting the ground quickly caught up to her. Thankfully, the floor was wooden, so she had not been hurt particularly badly. Having found herself suddenly awake, she took in her surroundings, and it was not looking particularly good. Several stone bricks had been severely dislodged by whatever had happened and were threatening to fall out of place. "We have to get out here!" Naviya''s words suggested that she had been woken up as well and shared Adrea''s concerns about their safety if they stayed here. They grabbed their clothes and their father''s sword, and made their way toward the door. That had been locked, of course, but it had also been damaged by the shock, so a hard kick was sufficient to knock it open. From yesterday''s visit, they knew that the nearest exit was upstairs, a door that led directly to the city''s outer wall. Adrea ran like her life depended on it, and after a few seconds that had felt much longer than that, both she and Naviya exited to the tower to the relative safety of the outside. However, the situation there was not particularly encouraging. Only 100 or so paces from where they were, they could see massive breach in the city''s wall, as though some huge tree had fallen on it, with no indication of what had caused the damage. Naviya rushed to the crenelations. Her younger sister probably had a better idea about what was happening that she did, so Adrea simply followed her. In the pitch darkness of a near new moon, it was difficult to make anything out, but Adrea could swear that that the ground below the city walls almost seemed alive, with faint wisps of purple, red, and yellow moving about. The sight reminded her of the contents of a box of worms that she had seen when she had gone fishing with her father a few years ago. A memory of her father''s lifeless corpse resurfaced at the thought, and she had to repress the crippling negative feelings that came from it. Adrea re-focused herself on the situation at hand. A few paces away, she saw two guards loosing arrows in rapid succession into the sea of darkness, too focused on their duty to notice anything else. Near them, she recognized the prone figure of Yilse, who was trying to get up but was clearly too disoriented to succeed. Down near the breach, guards were rapidly converging to protect the gap from the demons. Illuminated by torchlight, tentacles of darkness with pulsating veins of various colors were slowly creeping through, moving chaotically with only a hint of direction, splitting and merging at random as they did. It was almost mesmerizing to watch, until one of the tentacles suddenly seemed to gain a sense of purpose, detached itself from the wriggling mass, and impaled itself into the nearest guard. Immediately after that, the thing transformed into something that looked like a blood-soaked butterfly and flew away with a cackling screech, as the other guards looked in horror at their dying comrade. How are they supposed to deal with that !? Adrea forced herself to look away, and instead focus on what she could do. The most obvious option was to see if she could help Yilse in any way. As much as the woman had showed a dislike for her, the feeling was not mutual. However, as she began to head toward the fallen guard, Naviya caught her by the edge of her nightgown. "I... I think I should help?" "You can?" "Yes, but please don''t tell anyone." Adrea simply nodded, and Naviya let go. She rushed to the fallen guard, while Naviya headed towards the crenelations. As she reached Yilse, she realized that the woman helmet was significantly dented around the chin area, and her right hand appeared to be out of commission. However beyond this, she did not appear to have been significantly injured, just very disoriented. Adrea propped her up against the wall and opened the visor on her helmet, hoping that it might help her get her bearings. Although it was not clear how much she had contributed, after some time, the woman seemed to balance herself. "Thanks... Wait, shouldn''t you be back in the tower?" That''s the first thing she asks? "No. I mean yes, but the tower was damaged because of the thing that hit the wall. We thought it would be safer outside." Yilse held her head with her left palm and groaned in pain. "Right... the wall. Help me up right, will you. I need to see what is happening." From where they were, it was not possible to see what was happening below. Adrea helped Yilse as best she could, but the heavy armor was making things difficult. After trying couple of times, she eventually succeeded, although the guard was beginning to become frustrated. As soon as they reached a point when it was possible to see the breach, Yilse immediately began to shout. "Get into wide defensive formation, you numb-skulls. Halberds at the ready and pointed towards the swarm. Defensive formation; halberds raised. Defensive formation; halberds raised." Despite the distance and the noise, the guards below somehow managed to hear her. Their panic seemed to subside a bit, and they quickly reorganized themselves. Based on what she had seen, Adrea was not sure whether the formation was really appropriate for the situation, but it seemed to at least help with morale. In the breach itself, the wriggling mass was still moving about at random, inching forward ever so slowly. A couple of tentacles detached themselves and raced towards the defenders, but this time, not causing any fatalities.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Yilse turned to her. "Since you''re here, might as well make yourself useful. Letting you fight would be a terrible idea, so you''ll serve as a messenger. Follow the wall and get to the next tower bastion. Tell the guards that western section three had been breached, and that we need reinforcements. They will tell you what to do next." "I can do that." "Remember, western section three breached, need reinforcements." "Yes." With that, Adrea began running along the wall and past Naviya. The younger girl did not seem like she was doing anything, just staring into the distance. Adrea could swear that her hair seemed shorter than it had just a bit earlier, but she did not dwell on it. She had a message to deliver. She kept repeating Yilse''s instructions in her head until she reached what she thought was "the next tower bastion". She repeated the words to the two guards standing there, one of whom immediately began heading down the nearest flight of stairs. Adrea peered over the fortified wall. The view was almost identical to what she had seen near the breach, except that the moat was apparently still doing its job here. Based on what she was seeing, that probably would not last. It was at this point that Adrea realized that the city was not sufficiently equipped to deal with the demons. There was no way that there was sufficient manpower to deal with the demons if the city was surrounded, as seemed to be the case. Archers were firing volley after volley into the black mass, and although it seemed to have some effect, it was barely noticeable by comparison to the sheer scale of the enemy. The city would be overrun, and what happened in her village would repeat itself. The demons would torture and kill the inhabitants until the streets ran red with the blood of thousands. They would not leave a single stone untouched. No matter where she hid, they would inevitably find her, and they would kill her again. She would experience the same suffering as before, and now Naviya was not even nearby to help her. Even if she had said that she was able to help, they would surely overwhelm her too. She had to get back to her sister. She ran back as fast as she could. Her sister was still looking over the wall''s crenelations, not having moved from where she had been previously. "Naviya, thank the Light you''re okay. How is it going?" "I''ve reduced their numbers, especially to the rear. If the guards can hold on for a few waves, I think they will win." That was something good at least. "I saw what was happening further down the wall. I don''t think the city will hold." Naviya seemed to think for a few seconds. In the distance, Yilse seemed to be completely focused on the battle at hand, so they could talk privately. "I... might be able to do something, but it will take time. I don''t want to be a weapon again, but you''ll be happier if I help right?" Adrea did not know how to answer. On one hand, she thought the moral thing to do was to help the city, but on the other hand, she did not want to hurt Naviya. "Will you be fine? If you can help, that would be great, but I don''t want you to do something that would hurt you... I don''t know what to do!" "Big sister, you worry too much about me. I am more resilient than you think." Adrea knew her well enough to tell that she was lying, but she chose not to pursue the matter. "Just... don''t push yourself too hard." "I will be fine. But this will be a one-time occurrence. I will not be able to repeat what I am about to do for a long time. This will take a while." Nothing happened immediately, but now that Naviya had reassured her that everything would be fine, Adrea managed to calm down a bit. After a couple of minutes, she decided to check out what was happening near the breach. From the distance, she could see a number of downed soldiers, but only three or four were not moving. The defensive formation had held up quite well. Adrea went up to Yilse, waited for an opportune moment, and informed her that she had notified the nearby garrison. Yilse was somewhat irritated by the fact that Adrea had come back without getting confirmation that reinforcements would be sent, which switched to repressed anger when Adrea told her that she wanted to stay with her sister. "Fine! Just don''t get in my way. I have a defense to lead." For the next hour, or so, Adrea watched as the defensive line was slowly being pushed back. From the walls, Yilse had a high vantage point with a complete overview of the battle, which allowed her to make give effective orders. The enemy was, despite its apparent chaotic nature, much more coordinated than appeared at first glance. The wriggling tentacles had only struck the defenders when they appeared to be over-extended, and as the front began to move into the city, it began an encircling maneuver that Yilse managed to prevent through tactical positioning of some of her subordinates. As she was watching, she saw a light in the corner of her vision. As she turned her head towards the city, she saw four rays of light racing towards her. They were not moving straight, changing their angle and crossing each other in a cyclic motion. The rays were rapidly approaching the city, and for a second, she thought that they would hit it. She had, for a second, thought that these rays might be divine in nature and would purge the demons, but as she noticed the damage they inflicted on the ground, with chunks of flaming rock thrown in all directions, her hope rapidly turned to fear. There was nothing that she could do, so she just stood there as the rays approached. The rays missed the city by only a few paces, leaving an oscillating trail of destruction as they went from south-east to north-west, just barely missing the outer wall and vaporizing most of the demons. She briefly though about how lucky that had been, before a thought suddenly crossed her mind. Wait, was that Naviya''s doing. By the Light, what kind of power is that!? As she rushed towards her sister, she heard Yilse shout something that mirrored her own thoughts, with some profanities thrown in. "Naviya, did you do this?" "Yes. I did it in a way that could not directly be linked to me." "What kind of power is that?" "Please, not so loud... It''s actually only a fraction of the power that I used to wield. But look at the destruction it caused. I just destroyed millions of square paces of land in seconds. What''s worse is that doing this just felt SO satisfying..." To Adrea, both the display of power and he sister''s reaction had been absolutely terrifying. She could not imagine having this kind of power at her fingertips, or rather the responsibility that would come from that. It was no wonder that Naviya wanted to get away from it. When she looked back at the breach, Adrea saw that the guards were in the process of mopping up the now directionless tentacles that were jumping at them with much less coordination that they had shown just a few minutes earlier. Although they were still dangerous, they had become predictable, and it was obvious, even to Adrea''s untrained eye that the city would be held this night. Chapter 9: Touring the city As the first rays of the morning sun crossed over the the eastern hills, it was clear that the damage to city had been extensive. Although the breach had been held thanks to Naviya''s discrete help, it seemed that the city had been breached in a least 4 more places, judging by the smoke rising from various parts of city that Adrea could see from the wall. The reinforcements that Yilse had requested had arrived only a bit after Naviya''s sky beams - Adrea was not sure what to call them - had vaporized most of the demons. This had ensured that the remaining demons were quickly dispatched. A runner had then been sent communicate the situation to other parts of the city, and after another runner had come back, about half of the soldiers had headed to other parts of the city, leaving only a token force to guard the breach. The remainder of the night had been tense, but uneventful. By this point, Adrea was beginning to feel very tired, and was spacing out a bit, when Yilse''s voice brought her back to reality. "You look like you''re about to fall over." She did not seem that much better off herself, but at least she was also not angry at her, as Adrea had feared. "Look, I''m a bit on edge right now, but I''m really just tired, and my hand is beginning to hurt, alright. You''re still technically my responsibility, and I would not be where I am if I didn''t take those seriously. We just have to wait until the day shift comes at the first morning bell, and then I''ll find us some place to rest. You can handle the wait, right?" Adrea nodded. "Yes, ma''am." "Excellent. That''s the right attitude to have. Just wait here. It shouldn''t take too long." The wait was indeed relatively short, and Yilse came back to them just a bit after the first morning bell rang. Together, they briefly looked over the guard tower where Adrea had been sleeping, and Yilse agreed that it probably was not safe. She offered to let them stay at some relative''s house to rest for a bit. They walked there in silence, and after some quick introductions, they were shown to a bed. At that point, Adrea was beginning to recover from the sleepiness, so going back to sleep was a bit difficult but she still managed to get some rest. She was awoken by Naviya lightly shoving her. Looking outside, she realized that it was probably well past midday. "Big Sister, they told me to wake you up since it was getting late." There was not much that she could do about it, and she was not feeling that tired, so Adrea simply put her clothes on and headed to what she assumed was the living room, where she was greeted by Yilse, still wearing her armor, along with two other guards whom she did not recognize. "Unfortunately for everyone, you''re still my responsibility, so that means that I have some questions for you. So let''s get started right away. Are you ready?" "Um, yes?" "Good. So I understand that you will be turning 16 this autumn. Is that correct?" "Y...Yes" "Noted. So considering your circumstances, you''ll have to become an explorer, and that means that I''m in charge of finding you a master. From your showing yesterday, I''m guessing that you don''t have any real military background. Do you?" It took a couple of seconds for Adrea to register the question. "Um, not really, but I did practice using a sword for a couple of weeks." "Noted. That brings me to the next question. That sword that you''re dragging around, how did you get it?" "It was... it was..." She felt herself begin to tear up. She tried to push the words through. "It was my father''s." At hat point she could no longer control herself. She remembered his death, then the faces of the few people who had mattered in her life. They were all dead. As she began to sob, she caught herself saying "please don''t take Naviya from me". Her little sister was all that she had left... It took her some time to calm down. The people in the room had tried to comfort her as much as they could, and although all of them except Naviya were clearly at a loss about what to do, Adrea felt that their efforts helped her. She wiped her face and tried to continue. "Sorry... I''m okay now. So, um, that sword means a lot to me. It''s apparently a magic sword, but I don''t really know what it does besides cutting very well." Yilse seemed a bit hesitant to speak. "Are you sure that you''re in shape to answer more questions... I don''t think I can handle much more of this." She acquiesced, and the woman sighed. "Fine, do you have any prior experience with mana?"Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. "No. I know that it exists and is needed for special skill and magic things, but that''s about it." "Noted. What about the Chaoslands?" "They''re the places were explorers explore right? Natural laws don''t work the same there, and that''s were more of the enchanting reagents come from. I know the location of most of those in Middle Danalau by heart, and I''ve seen the basic things that can be found on the edge." "Well, that''s something, I guess. I''m not going you ask you to describe them to me now, but I expect you to be able to do it later. Now that covers the basic questions." She turned to the guards and the two other people present in the room. "The rest of this conversation will be classified, so I would request that all of you leave the room." Once this was done, she turned her attention back to Adrea, and glanced at her sister, who was standing behind her. "News of the demon invasion has now spread through the city, so there is not much hiding this fact, but thanks to the light beams, were able to contain the damage, and that includes avoiding widespread panic. As such, do not speak about the details of what you saw last night to anyone but myself and Vaahreid Marteryaan Vanheim... That''s the captain." "With that said, is there anything else you know about the demons." "Not really. They seem to do everything to make their victims suffer, and they''re really dangerous." She felt herself begin to shake. "I''d rather not talk about that anymore if that''s okay..." "Fine, but let me know when you''re ready to continue this conversation. I need as much information as I can get, if I''m going to defend this city. Now, go get your stuff, we need to find you a proper place to stay. Now, please get your things in order - we are going to have lunch and hopefully find you a proper place to live for now." Finding a place to live turned out to be a futile endeavor, much to Yilse''s displeasure. As it turned out, a breach in the north-west of city occurred relatively early in the night, and the area in the immediate vicinity of the breach had been almost completely destroyed, resulting in a sudden increase in demand for housing. Finding a prospective master to study under also proved impossible, as most of the former explorers that Yilse had considered as appropriate candidates were currently busy helping with the defense of the city in any way they could. As part of searching for a prospective master and living arrangements, Adrea and Naviya were treated to a guided tour of the city. They would still have to figure out where local services were located once they eventually moved in somewhere, of course, but at least Adrea felt that she would not get completely lost if left alone. In total, the city had suffered breaches at seven different locations, but besides the north-western one, the damage around them had been manageable, and reconstruction was already ongoing. Adrea was particularly impressed by the fact that in both of the cases that they passed along the way, the breach had already been half-filled. Adrea had tried asking about the strategy that would be used to defend the city moving forward, but Yilse shot the question down, stating that this was not for her to know. After that, Adrea stuck to observing the city and asking occasional general questions. One interesting aspect of Meunheil was that the heil was one of the highest in all of Danalau. This had earned the city its unusually short name, but more importantly for Adrea, meant that it could be used to know exactly where one was located within the city city, since it was visible from most places. According to Yilse, the fort itself was not particularly remarkable when compared to other forts in Danalau, but it was still the most impressive structure that Adrea had seen in her life. The city also boasted two separate, one for the western and eastern sides of the city, which helped with directions. As with all meuns, the area upsteam of the confluence of the two rivers had been transformed into a swamp. This feature made fledgling meun-based towns very defensible against conventional opponents, but apparently presented a bit of blind spot against demons, since three of the seven breaches had actually happened on walls facing the swamp. This had peeked Adrea''s interest since meuns had not been discussed very often as part of her schooling. Unfortunately, she did not get the opportunity see any of this, because Yilse considered these areas to be "the bad part of the city". Beyond these, the city was actually lacking any sort of notable landmark. Places like guard towers, grain silos, and workshops were seamlessly integrated into the city, rather than having dedicated districts, and there were no straight roads to speak of. Because of this, by the end of the day, Adrea felt that she would have a hard time navigating the city regardless of how long she spent there. Her mood was not helped by the fact that as evening slowly came, she still had no idea where she was going to live or who was going to to tech her. Eventually, they began heading back to the area near the wall where they had spent the night. "Well, this has been a waste of day..." Yilse was still as irritated as ever, and Adrea did not know what would be the right answer to her comment. "Well whatever. Look you two, I don''t have the time to look for a place where you can stay, but I can''t just shirk my responsibilities and leave you alone. So here''s the deal: if you agree to become my apprentice, we can arrange some accommodations from the city guard. This will be a temporary arrangement, but at least I''ll be able to get back to work and you''ll have a place to stay. Also, you''ll have to follow my orders, and if you get in the way, I''ll have done enough that it won''t be my problem. So, is that a deal?" "What about Naviya?" "She can stay with you as long she doesn''t get it the way." "Then, that''s perfect. You''re alright with this, Naviya?" "Yes." "So that''s settled. We''ll have you fill in the paperwork tomorrow morning." By this point, they were nearing close to the wall, and Adrea noticed that the area near the now mostly filled-in breach was surrounded by tents. "Perfect, it looks like the repairs and temporary lodgings are almost set up. I''ll show you to my tent, where you''ll spend the night." The tent was, unsurprisingly, completely empty with the exception of a large heap of straw, some cloth and rope. Adrea''s first task for the evening was actually assemble these into something resembling a bed. This proved to be remarkably complicated, and Adrea only managed to produce something that would not fall apart late in the evening. Even then, the thing could barely be called bedding, but it was enough for her. Naviya had offered to help multiple times, and Adrea had a suspicion that the younger gild would actually be able to do what took her hours to achieve in minutes, however, she had refused help - after all this was supposed to be part of her training. She still barely felt any hunger, but remembered to ask about dinner, only to be informed that it was already too late. With that, she found herself with nothing to do but go to sleep. She couldn''t help feel anxious, considering yesterday''s attack, but the lively conversations that she could her coming from outside the tent reassured her that it seemed that a second attack was not going to happen this night. She still had trouble falling asleep but eventually, she did. Hopefully the coming days would bring some semblance of normalcy back to her life...