Chapter Eleven / The Last Kingdom

Thunder rumbled, overcast by dark clouds and swept away by a breeze. Cracking in intervals, the thunder rumbled quicker and quicker. Screams followed behind the rumbles quietly, then distantly, and then becoming a mess.

A commanding yell echoed over the screams: “Fire!”

On command the thunder cracked in the shadows of a large looming stone wall. The thunder cracks, projectiles ejecting from weapons, cut through flesh and the ground below. Volley after volley of projectiles fired upon the quickly moving humanoid monstrosities that mindlessly congregated at the bottom of the wall as heaps of flesh. Their gray flesh melding upon one another like a pile of boulders. Skin taut and wrapped with fingers fleeing from their own body, like one escaping from inside itself. Faces gaunt, eyes so far into their skull like lights at the end of a black tunnel. Teeth and fingers sharp – fangs and claws like a beast’s. Monsters.

Explosions erupted throughout the far desolate field of impact craters and blood. Canisters etched with explosive magics fired from cannons from a higher ledge, above the volley lines. Angled cannons fired in overhead arches that pummeled the field with further explosions. Yet the tide of monstrosities didn’t cease. Thousands rapidly approached the wall from a massive gateway, that overshadowed even the wall, beyond the field. A black mist fogged the doorway, the monstrosities appearing as if they were spawned directly from the mist itself.

The wall, several layers deep of stone and steel reinforcements, positioned itself in a U-shape, as if to catch the oncoming hordes from the gateway. Built only several miles away from the gateway, the fortress creates a kill zone some hundreds of feet between inner wall sides and from the outermost wall to the inner gate. Fortified parapets ran along the inner walls of the kill zone, allowing for more accurate fire from a lower position and freeing more positions for cannons to fire from.

The onslaught of monstrosities didn’t waver, throwing themselves into a cacophony of exploding flesh, however, their attention waned from the main gate of the fortress. Instead, they began climbing the outer wall, which spurred on shouts from the defenders above: “They’re climbing the outer wall!”

A voice commanded from the gateway: “Send out the vanguard!”

The main gate, steel reinforced wood, swung open and the black steel portcullis was raised. The noise of the main gate, even with the cracking and thunder of the weapons above, attracted the attention of the hordes of monstrosities. Moving away of the outer wall, and back into the killing pocket, the monstrosities charged towards the main gate.

A ripple of projectile flashes erupts from the main gate – cutting down swaths of the monstrosities, their gray bodies covering the field. Yet, despite the oncoming projectiles, the monstrosities poured over their fallen spawn and neared the gate. Shields reinforced with steel glittered in the gateway – a shield wall forming, with one placed at the front and another stacked over the top. Just as the horde reached the shield wall, spears extended from between the top shield and front shield. The spears pierced through as many of the monstrosities as they could, before retracting and scraping the bodies against the shields.

Another volley of fire erupted from the shield wall, the shooters using the same hole between shields.

“Push!” Shouted a commanding voice, and the shield wall pushed forward. Bodies stacked against the shield wall were pushed out of the way or trampled over as the vanguard advanced. The number of monstrosities dwindled. From above, from the sides, or from directly in front of the monstrosities, they had nowhere to go.

The dark clouds overhead became quiet, the distant rumbles now silent.

“Clear the field! Bodies to the walls!” The captain of the vanguard shouted.

The captain scanned the horizon, the ever-ominous gateway now quiet. Adorned in worn flexing plate armor, a small blue cape drooped to half of his back, and a closed armet helmet upon his head. He then looked at the battlements, the gate house specifically. Yet, no sign of the enemy came from above. The captain returned his gaze to his soldiers clearing the field of bodies.

Most of the vanguard equipped themselves in a mix of chainmail that was hidden with either a layered gambeson or doublet etched with blue and gray, an enclosed helmet for the shield bearers, and with mixed sabatons and gauntlets.

A faint grunt drew the attention of the captain – in front of him a young man struggled to move one of the bodies. The young man’s armor was more tattered than the rest of the unit’s. Piecemeal equipment, older equipment and perhaps their own together. A new recruit? The captain moved swiftly over to the young man, and positioned himself over the body, squaring his knees. “They’re difficult to move by yourself. Let me help.”

“Thank you, sir!” The young man struggled to say under the weight of the body.

They carried the body to the right wall, their armor rattling along with their steps. When they reached the forming wall of bodies, they placed it on top of the mound - a bead of sweat trickling down the captain’s brow. The captain watched as the other soldiers brought more bodies – teams forming with several people to carry one body. Though, it wasn’t surprising as the monsters were several feet taller than the average man, and heavier.

“What’s your name, son?” The captain said looking at the young man.

“Renald Lyndall, Vanguard Shield Bearer, sir!” The young man said, saluting by placing his right hand in a fist just above his heart, his thumb touching first and turning the fist so that the underside is facing outwards. “Renly for short, sir!”

The captain chuckled, “We’re spilling blood together, no need for formalities. When this is over, we’ll have a drink.”

Renly blinked and replied: “It would be an honor, sir!”

The captain smiled beneath his helmet, motioning to Renly with an armored hand, the two approached another body. Just as they knelt for the body – the ground vibrated, like a tickle, then rumbled, and moved as if it would fall out beneath them. The ground shook violently, the vanguard troops falling onto their stomachs or backs. Unlucky soldiers fell to their doom from the walls above, cannons breaking on their holders. The forward left part of outer wall cracked in several places before breaking completely. Rubble and smoke filled the air as the quake subsided.

“Renly, you alright?” The captain said picking himself up off the ground; mud caking his armor.

Renly stood up beside the captain, lifting the visor of his helmet and puffing out mud from his mouth.

“I’m alright, sir.” Renly said scraping mud out of his mouth. “Just a mouth full of mud.”

Renly looked around the area. Blood seeped from the bodies of the defenders who fell; a plume of smoke still wafting into the air from the collapsed outer wall.

“What was that, sir? Was that normal?” Renly questioned.

The captain surveilled the area and looked back at Renly. “No, that was new. Never felt anything like that,” the captain then whispered to himself, “Felt like it was everywhere.”

A shout came from above the gate: “The outer wall is breached!”

Just as the shout came from above, another roared from the direction of the shadowed gateway. Then a high-pitched piercing scream. Troops of the vanguard scattered along the field, clutching their heads and screaming in terror. The piercing scream was momentary, but enough to disorient many of the defenders.

The captain stood as soon as the screaming ceased, clutching the side the of his helmet and wincing, and shouted: “Vanguard form up! Form up!”

Additional groggy but forceful shouts came from other officers of the vanguard unit, who wobbled to relay and set the troops into formation.

Renly could barely hear the shouts, his ears still ringing from the scream, until the captain helped him to his feet.

“Renly! Get up! Grab your shield and get into formation! It’s not over yet!” The captain shouted.

Renly stumbled to his shield, a blackened steel and caked in mud, and back to the formation gathering around the captain.

“The wall is breached! Draw their attention!” The captain shouted and his voice echoed over his troops. The captain looked to Renly, “Renly, in front of me!”

Renly quickly moved in front of the captain, flipping close his own armet helmet, and the shield wall again formed shield over shield with spears and firearms. Renly watched as one of the riflemen fumbled to attach a sigil of fire to his firearm. Each sigil, etched onto a small metal canister, could produce a highly precise bolt of magical fire which is barely visible to the naked eye. As soon as the riflemen pulls the trigger mechanism, however, that canister is then exhausted.

Voices filled the air. Unintelligible and distant. Renly listened closely and looked around – the other soldiers in the formation doing the same. The voices, however, were not coming from the walls above them.

“It can’t be.” An exhausted voice whispered from behind Renly. “By the One. Don’t let it be.”

“Something is coming out of the gate!” The watchmen from the wall above shouted.

The captain then shouted: “Shout! Scream! Distract them! You are soldiers of the vanguard!”

The soldiers of the vanguard then shouted as loud as they could. Renly shouted and banged his hand against his shield. The sounds from the vanguard filled the air against the voices, which became like whispers. Then something emerged from the black of the gate beyond.

“Think of the souls behind you! Your families behind you! Your kingdom behind you!” The captain shouted behind Renly. “Your kingdom needs you – the world needs you! Your enemy fears you! You are the vanguard! Shout!”

The voices of the vanguard swelled behind the captain’s words. Renly shouted louder despite his lungs and throat beginning to burn.

It came then from beyond the horizon. Dark against even the gate. The voices swelled, but not the vanguard’s. The distant voices became innumerable yet not separate. One creature barreled down toward the vanguard. A behemoth towering over them.

“Abomination.”

The behemoth stood twenty feet above the formation of the vanguard, its massive eight legs trampling the ground, dotted with a dozen heads and arms; its leathery violet purple skin dark against the gray sky. The screams of the soldiers drowned in the screams of the behemoth. Renly shook with terror. His arms barely holding onto his shield. He couldn’t even think.

The behemoth struck out with two pulsing large arms, and the unwavering vanguard scattered into the air. In one moment, Renly was staring at the behemoth, and in the next he was on the ground looking up at the sky above. He choked for air, saliva building his throat as he turned off his back.

Renly removed his helmet trying to get air into his lungs. His head swelled, and the world felt as if it was turning. The air filled with dust mixed with blood. Cannon fire thudded against the drowning screams of the behemoth as it tore through the vanguard. Barely anyone resisted the creature in the formation. Those who did, with spear or firearm, did little to harm the behemoth; its wounds stitching themselves up quickly.

A magical canister fired from one of the cannons above landed squarely on the chest of the behemoth, blowing a hole through it. Yet the screaming never ceased, and the wound resealed itself. Only a moment passed and the field was again littered with what remained of the corpses, the vanguard almost annihilated.

Renly pulled himself up just in time to see the Abomination rush towards him. Stand up! Stand up! Renly screamed inside his mind, yet he couldn’t stand. Helpless against the oncoming death. I made a promise! Rage, sadness, and frustration filled him. The Abomination stood before Renly, the eight legs crouched, and its massive arms reached out to him.

Before the Abomination could snatch Renly up – a blue cape swung into the scene and a sword struck at the hands, brackish red blood spurting from the wound. “Stand up, Renly! Grab a spear!” The captain yelled.

Renly found strength in his legs, snapping out of his daze, and he began searching around the ground for a spear. The captain assumed a guard stance, raising his sword into a somewhat diagonal position just above his head. The Abomination didn’t stir, the wound healing on the nearest hand. The eyes on the heads of the Abomination looked everywhere and nowhere, as if waiting.

Renly found a spear beneath the upper half of a nearby vanguard soldier, the lower half completely gone. Renly took the spear into his hands and turned back to the captain who appeared to be in a starring contest with the Abomination. He then rushed over to the captain.

“We’ll take it together. Watch its movements.” The captain said carefully beneath his helmet.

Before Renly could reply or even ready himself, the Abomination twitched. The right hand flew towards the captain, who moved to counter with a stab into the hand. The captain, however, quickly realized this to be a faint as the left moved swifter than the right. Too late to change his momentum, the captain thrust forward still to pierce the right. If I’m quick enough I can at least try to block the left. The captain thought to himself.

The captain’s sword inched towards the hand, and upon impact – shattered. The captain’s eyes grew wide behind his helmet. The left hook and right both collided with the captain stuck in the middle. His armor dented in several places, before another left hook slapped the captain bouncing off the ground several yards away. His crumpled armor lay silently in the dust.

Renly could only watch in horror. He looked away from the captain’s body, and terror took hold once more. The eyes on the Abomination all looked at Renly. The abomination spasmed, its muscles contorting and morphing. Out of the back, its arms grew in length, several arms, more than a dozen grew out of its flesh and hovered over its mid-section. They drew around Renly to encircle him.

Renly thought of the bodies littering the field, their limbs and torsos shredded. It planned a worse fate for him – to pulp what was left of him. His hands squeezed the shaft of the spear, his knuckles white beneath his gauntlets.

Suddenly streaks of golden light struck down from the sky striking the Abomination, piercing several of the limbs and puncturing through to the ground.

Arrows? Renly thought to himself as the golden light dissipated on the ground.

Several more streaks, shaped as arrows, flew towards the Abomination and punctured through its body again. The creature screamed, and the wounds began to heal themselves. The wounds, however, were notably slower to regenerate. The arrows originated from the breached wall. Atop its battlement an Archer equipped in white armor etched with golden lines of sigils and armed with a white bow, fired these arrows with no quiver.

The Abomination roared, its attention fixed on the Archer, but before it could react to attack – the Archer jumped from the battlement and began running in the air. While running, the Archer continued their onslaught. From behind, Renly could hear more footsteps running towards him. Two other gilded Knights emerged from the direction of the fortress gate, their armor gleaming in white and gold. Renly noted their helmets the most, shaped forward and wide upon the sides as if he was looking at an Owl.

“The Order of the Owl.” Renly whispered in astonishment to himself.

The two Knights on the ground swept past Renly faster than any horse he had ever seen and began a circle formation of their own around the Abomination. Separating with one of the Knights going to the left and the other to the right. Both Knights simultaneously held out their hands as they ran, summoning forth a golden light that radiated from their hands. Out of their hands, the left Knight summoned forth a gilded white glaive, and the right Knight a gilded white shield and war hammer. Together, in sync, they attacked the Abomination. In retaliation the Abomination struck forth with its many limbs, striking and defending against the Knight’s attacks.

The Archer overhead provided streaks of soaring light arrows at the Abomination, who could do nothing to stop the attacks from above while simultaneously being attacked from the ground. The combined attack appeared to be working on the Abomination, its healing slower after each landed attack.

Renly gawked at the scene unfolding in front of him but shook himself free of it and ran to the body of the captain. He knelt over the body, the captain’s dented back facing towards him, and asked: “Captain?” He assumed the worst and expected no reply.

To Renly’s surprise, the body moved from its side and onto its back. “Renly, what’s going on?” A painful reply came from the closed helmet. Renly could hear his heaving breaths against the metal and opened the visor. Blood ran from every orifice of the captain’s face, yet it was hard to tell how badly injured he was.

“The Order of the Owl is here. But forget that we need to get you back to the fortress!”

The captain’s eyes scanned the sky, moving left and then down. He couldn’t move his head. “Tell the others to retreat and you go with them.”

A pained expression crossed Renly’s face: “There’s no one else but us.”

The captain didn’t immediately reply, then said: “Get back to the fortress.”

“Not without you. I’m taking you back.”

“That’s an order, Renly.”

Renly threw away the spear in his hands and positioned himself above the captain’s shoulders. He knelt and began dragging the captain along the ground.

“Renly.” The captain coughed, “I’m ordering you to retreat to the fortress.”

“I’m complying, sir – just not without you.”

The captain said nothing in reply. He relented and watched the dark clouds overhead. Thunder roared distantly but gradually moved closer.

A scream bellowed out from the Abomination and a shockwave of air swept across the battlefield. The shockwave knocked away the Knight’s onslaught temporarily, and it charged. Its multiple legs thudded across the ground, shaking the dirt and blood.

Renly looked up from his pulling and saw the Abomination charging. It was charging, however, not towards the wall – but towards him. All of the Abomination’s eyes still fixed on Renly. The Knights ran to catch up. The glaive Knight cleaved one leg clean, and the war hammer Knight used the pick end of the hammer to completely tear another leg. The Archer volleyed more arrows into the back and the legs of the Abomination, but the arrows stopped piercing.

Renly looked down at the captain and let his grip go. He then ran to his right – away from the captain. Renly watched as the Abomination changed course towards him. Good, the captain will be safe then. Renly thought. Yet, another thought filled his mind. What do I do now? He had not thought this far ahead.

The abomination quickly caught up to Renly despite missing several legs. One of the larger arms reached out and grabbed him. Renly screamed, its grip crushing him. The Abomination, however, turned its hand sideways, Renly staring up towards the sky, and lurched downwards. Just as it did, the two knights appeared and severed the arm. It was too late, however, as Renly rocketed several hundred feet into the air above the walls.

Renly watched the sky, the thunder sounding closer than ever, the rolling gray clouds turning into a darker shade. The moment he hit the max height of the throw felt like an eternity. He had never seen the clouds so close before. I’ll be nothing but a puddle of blood in a moment. Renly thought to himself.

Light bounced along the clouds overhead; golden lightning shrieked behind them with thunder clapping. The fall never came. Renly felt weight behind his back, then heard flapping. Wings? Renly looked to his left and up. Two brown, with white intermixed, wings flapped in the wind. Renly looked upon a Knight, gilded in white and gold, with a blue mantled cape clipped over their left shoulder. Atop this Knight’s head, however, set a winged helmet, with white feathers dancing in the wind. The right wing of the helmet, however, was missing its top half.

A one horned knight. Renly thought to himself in a daze. Have I seen you before?

The gold lightning overhead intensified and a single droplet landed on Renly’s cheek. Immediately the wings of the Knight ceased flapping, and they fell towards the ground. Renly could see the rain falling just behind them, catching up to them, nearly touching the winged knight’s helmet. With a grunt, the wings expanded and they landed gently on the ground. The rain landing as the knight’s right foot touched the ground.

The knight lowered Renly so he could climb out of their arms and Renly plopped onto the now wet ground. The knight then flapped the wings on their back and immediately took off into the sky again. Renly, as if feeling the weight of gravity, fell back onto his butt in the mud. He then looked to his left and saw the captain lying only a few feet away. The Knights had forced the Abomination away from the walls further into the battlefield several yards away. The rain fell lightly at first then began to pummel the ground. Renly looked up, scanning for the winged knight, and could just barely make out the knight in the rain.

Golden lightning struck the ground in the distance, churning in the clouds above the knight. The winged knight raised their right hand into the air, and the lightning above channeled itself into the open palm. The knight lowered their hand, as if pulling on the lightning, and retrieved a sword wreathed in golden lightning. A longsword of almost pure white, glittering in lightning, and the hilt made of white leather interlaced with gold seams.

The winged knight brought the sword out front of them and gripped the hilt with both hands. The lightning and rain both ceased, the thunder still echoing above. The knights below on the ground scattered away from the Abomination. The knight lowered the tip of the sword until it was pointing directly at the Abomination and in the next moment a glaring light struck down from the clouds. The ground shook as the wreathing coursing energy struck the Abomination, its screams completely drowned out against the force of the blast.

The rain fell once again, and a sizzling burnt out dent in the ground was all that was left of the Abomination. The winged knight descended and landed in front of Renly. The left wing of the knight extended over Renly, protecting him from the rain, and the knight extended their right hand.

“Can you stand?” A soft voice asked from behind the helmet.

Renly was shocked for a moment before answering: “Yea, thank you.” He reached out and took her hand. With her help he stood up and realized they were somewhere around the same height. He stared at the knight for a moment, their appearance completely hidden behind the armor and helmet.

On a whim, Renly said: “My name’s Renly.”

A moment passed before Renly realized he was still holding their hand and released his grip.

“Liera.” She responded.

Wait, Liera as in- The thought paused in Renly’s mind as the other knights approached.

The glaive knight walked over to the captain and knelt, the knight with the war hammer followed, and the Archer jumped down from the sky. They all gathered around the captain. Liera shielded the captain from the rain with her wings. The glaive knight placed their right hand on the captain’s head.

“Well?” A woman’s voice sternly asked from the war hammer knight.

The glaive knight breathed out, “Well, he’ll be fine.” A man’s voice chuckled a reply. “A few broken bones, all over, but I can fix that. He’s going to be feeling it when he wakes up.”

The glaive knight’s hand began to glow warm gold, the heat warming Renly’s face. The captain’s pained expression immediately became more relaxed.

“Hurry up, Gustav. I’m going to chaff in this armor from all the rain.” A woman’s voice said from the Archer.

“Aren’t archers supposed to be patient, Ava?” Gustav cracked and chuckled. “You should take a note from Nora.” He said looking up at the war hammer knight.

The war hammer knight, or Nora, turned to Liera, “We should return to the fortress, my lady.”

“Yea, the Commander’s hair is probably falling out from all the stress.” Gustav chuckled. “Plus, I’m done.”

Gustav’s hand stopped glowing, and he stood. Gustav looked at Renly and Renly extended a hand: “Thank you, I’m Renly.”

Gustav was silent for a moment before moving his hand up to own face and pointing: “You’ve got a little something.”

Renly looked at himself, caked in mud, and began brushing himself off.

Gustav laughed and took Renly’s hand: “It’s fine. Gustav Edalvich. The sure-shot archer here is Ava Tenerac, and our brute force is Nora Audin.” He gestured to the archer and war hammer knights, then looked at Liera. “I think you’re acquainted with the princess.”  

“You’re all really Knights of the Owl?” Renly asked.

The knights all looked at each other, and Gustav answered: “Well, we’re not all here, but yeah, we are. Why? The Princess whisks you off your feet and now you want to join?”

“Well, I-” Renly begins responding.

“No way…” Ava cut into the conversation.

“Don’t be like that, Ava.” Gustav retorted.

Ava didn’t respond. They all followed her gaze to the crater where Abomination once was. Something was standing in the middle.

All four of the knights immediately summoned their weapons. Ava ran into a higher position with her bow, while Gustav and Nora split up. Liera stood in front of Renly and the captain, her wings fully extended.

At the center of the crater a humanoid stood, a singular head, a set of hands and feet, human if not for its other features. No eyes, no mouth, nor ears. Leathery violet purple skin stuck to the humanoid like a patchwork bag. No claws or monstrous traits otherwise. It held up its right hand, rain sliding off it, its head tilting as if to examine it.

“What is that thing?” Renly could hear Nora ask.

Before Gustav could answer – the rain paused. Renly looked at the droplets floating in the air, as if stuck in time.

Ava fired a few arrows at the humanoid, the arrows passing through the frozen rain, and struck it cleanly in the head. Yet, after a few moments, the golden arrows completely disappeared into the skin of the humanoid. In another moment, the humanoid was in the air next to Ava. It brought its hands together and slammed down on Ava’s head. She slammed the ground below and didn’t get back up.

“Ava!” Gustav yelled and ran towards her.

The humanoid appeared directly in his tracks, and Gustav twirled the glaive in his hands into a stab – which shot through the humanoid, then twirled into a horizontal strike, which also passed through the humanoid. The humanoid’s right hand drew back into a fist, and Gustav moved to defend by positioning the shaft of his glaive in its path. The fist flew towards the shaft but phased through it and slammed into Gustav’s face sending him several yards away.

Nora brought her shield up, anticipating the next move, and the humanoid appeared in front of her. Just as it appeared, the head of the hammer emanated a bright golden glow, and she struck down with it. It phased through the humanoid’s head, smashing the ground below them, however, she didn’t follow through with the attack - already readying her shield. With her hammer still in its head, the humanoid attacked with a right hook upwards.

Gotcha. Nora thought to herself, as she readied her hammer, the glow radiating outwards.

The fist slid through her shield as if it weren’t there. Nora’s eyes went wide behind her helmet and the fist slammed into her chin. The blow moved her off her feet and into the air, but she still held onto the hammer and shield. As if noticing this, the humanoid grabbed her right leg before she moved too far away into the air and pulled her back down. It delivered a blow to her stomach, her engraved sigil armor denting, and the shockwave blew away the surrounding frozen rain. Nora gasped for air on the ground, fetal positioning in the mud.

Liera walked forward, pulling her wings inward, and then releasing a gust of air that sent the frozen rain surrounding the battlefield away. The humanoid turned to face Liera and walked towards her. The golden lightning wreathed in the clouds above once more. Gripping the longsword in her right hand, Liera and the humanoid approached each other until they were some feet away. Liera struck horizontally with the sword in one of her hands, leaving the other free, and the humanoid ducked the swing. Before she could bring her hands together, the humanoid grabbed onto her wrists. Liera winced as the humanoid forced her right hand to face palm up and release the sword. But it was a momentary weakness.

Golden Lightning coursed over Liera’s armor, and she forced her weight on the humanoid. This loosened its grip for a moment, enough time for Liera to force a right hook herself. To Renly’s surprise, the blow landed squarely on the humanoid’s face, the shockwave cracking like thunder. The blow forced the humanoid to skid along the ground backwards a few feet, but Liera didn’t allow the opportunity to slip. She followed with a left jab, which again landed squarely on the humanoids face, whose body swayed lightly, and then another right hook to its stomach. With every blow a shockwave both appeared in a circular air burst and shook the ground.

Renly shook his head in shock. The fight up until this point appeared entirely in favor of the humanoid, but now it was helpless against Liera. It took out three knights easily. Liera must be in a different league. Renly shook his head again. The other three sacrificed themselves so that Liera could know how to fight it. To figure that all out without even once speaking to each other is nothing short of incredible.

The humanoid gripped its stomach and knelt in front of Liera. Liera cracked her knuckles behind her armor, gold lightning sparking over her gauntlets. It’s over. Renly sighed in relief. Yet, Renly noticed, the rain was still frozen.

A horrified expression fixed itself on Renly’s face. It’s not over!

“Liera!” Renly yelled and ran towards them.

Forming behind Liera were two orbs of violet purple flesh, which quickly remodeled themselves into spikes. Liera pulled her wings in, and the wings shrunk as to completely disappear into her back. But before they could, the spikes jammed themselves into the ligaments of her wings where they met with her back. Blood pushed out of the wounds, and the force of the spikes pushed her towards the humanoid.

The leathery violet purple skin of the humanoid unseamed into individual strands, revealing the inside of the body. Pulsating violet ooze hummed to a heartbeat and reeked of a vitriolic acidic smell. If she went in there – she would never come back out.

Renly in the meantime, picked up Liera’s sword and ran faster than he had ever run before. It was if time had slowed, but he kept moving. He was on them in seconds. Before the folds of skin could surround Liera, Renly struck vertically and then horizontally, the blade blurring into a golden light. The humanoid quickly backed away, avoiding the strikes, and reformed itself into its human form. Renly caught Liera, setting her on the ground, where she grunted in pain. Renly then gazed at the golden blade in his hands. I can do this.

The humanoid wasted no time and dashed towards Renly. Again, time appeared to slow. Renly readied himself.

“Throw me.” A voice said in Renly’s head.

With no time to question it – Renly flipped the sword in his right hand and pulled it back with the sword tip facing the humanoid.

I can do this. Renly again thought to himself. Pulling the sword further back, the golden glow became brighter and brighter until it was bright enough to blind most of the defenders watching from the walls. The ground cracked beneath Renly’s feet. The humanoid unfurled its skin becoming a net of flesh in front of him.

Renly threw the sword. In a flash of bright light, Renly caught a glimpse of the sword transformed into a golden spear. The spear, completely unseeable in the blast, streaked through the humanoid. It obliterated every piece and bit of the humanoid, then proceeded into the sky above – blowing a hole into the dark clouds and dashing away the storm. The rain fell back to the ground in one last surge of water. The sun beamed across the sky and ground.

Renly turned back to Liera: “Liera?” He knelt and examined her back.

The violet purple skin oozed out of the wounds and disintegrated on the ground.

“I’m alright.” She responded in between heaving breaths.

Renly looked around and found a nearby knife, then began slicing a long piece of his shirt under his mail, which had been destroyed. “This will help stop the bleeding.”

He helped her into a sitting position and began wrapping it around her. Then he realized his mistake.

“You’re bleeding inside your armor. We need to take off at least the top.” Renly said.

Liera nodded and pushed her helmet off her head. Her face covered in black soot and sweat, her auburn hair, intermixed with white along the edges, was pulled back into a bun. She opened her eyes, a dim golden gaze staring back at Renly. All hereditary traits of the royal Nemendol blood line.

“Renly, my straps.” Liera winced.

Renly reached for the upper portion of the armor and along the lower seams to unlatch her upper armor. She wore a white tunic underneath, which was now red in the back from the blood. She lifted her shirt up, and Renly wrapped the linen around her chest and back; looking away every time he got close to her chest.

“Okay, that should hold until Gustav gets up.” Renly sighed feeling as if that was harder than fighting the humanoid.

“Thank you, Renly.” Liera smiled in between breaths.

Renly smiled back.

“Not bad, Renly.” Gustav’s voice came from behind Renly. He was standing directly behind him.

“How long have you been there?!” Renly asked.

“Oh, around the time you asked the Princess to take off her clothes.” Gustav laughed.

Renly and Liera’s faces both flushed bright reds, though more noticeably with Liera due to the loss of blood.

Ava pushed Gustav forward: “Hurry up and heal her you idiot!”

Nora walked over, still clutching her stomach, and knelt next to Liera.

“Are you alright, my lady?” Nora asked.

“Yes, somehow.” Liera looked at Renly. “You saved us.”

Renly looked at all of them, then back at Liera.

“When I picked up your sword I heard a voice. It told me to throw it and I’m not really sure what happened.” Renly tried to compile his thoughts.

“You heard the voice of the One.” Liera replied.

“What? I mean my folks were avid believers- I mean I was, am a believer but - I didn’t know.”

“They’re real?” Gustav finished Renly’s sentence. “Yeah, they’re real. All things considered – it’s the most believable thing here. Stuck inside a giant dungeon, monsters, weather inside the dungeon. I could go on.”

“Renly.” Renly looked at Liera. “Do you want to come with us?”

“Is it alright?” He asked. “I’m a nobody from a small village.”

“The Order of the Knights of the Owl do not discriminate based on your background. If you hear the voice of the One, then you can uphold order in the Kingdom.” Nora said beside Liera.

“Not any more dangerous than your current job.” Gustav chimed. “And it’s got some nice perks. Aside from all the training and training, and more training. Oh, and the occasional extinction event prevention.”

Renly looked at them all and then nodded. “Okay. If you’ll take me.”

“Great, now heal her.” Ava slapped Gustav’s back.

“Ava, my back! You’re always violent like this!”

“Violent?!”

Gustav knelt and began healing Liera’s back.

Renly looked at the sun casting shadows upon the breached wall of the fortress. The scattered dead across the battlefield.

I did it Mom and Dad. I avenged you. I’ll keep it from happening again.