"Regal-One to Seeker-One, begin preparations to fire."
"I'll make it happen. Stand by."
That unnerving feeling of static that typically went away when a communications channel was open, began to ramp up and seep into our link.
In the distance, I saw the oed runestone begin to light up. The small runes etched around the center went from dull red to brilliant shining crimson—the oed rune itself was not illuminated, however.
Once the last of the small runes on that stone had lit up, the iọ runestone started lighting up.
Aethermist was settling into the fields between all three stones, darkening the lit up stones a small amount.
In a blinding flash, the iọ rune proper went from dull to shiny. The entire runestone was now lit up.
A moment later, the oed rune followed in another staggering flash of light.
Once those two were fully lit, the runes around the syg stone began to do the same, resulting in another flash.
"Seeker-One to Regal-One. Ready to fire. On your command."
"Regal-One to Seeker-One," I said calmly, "Broadcast on all channels."
The staticky feeling abated a little as the communications links were all established.
"All channels, this is Seeker-One. Stand by for transmission. Go ahead, Regal-One."
"Defenders of the Light, this is Regal-One. Once more our duty requires us to stand against the abyss. A foul despot holds a chain around our people and defiles our home. Tonight, we make our voices loud and our wills clear. For the Empire of the Light, strike the walls of this city down and tear the pretender from his throne."
A wave of magickal energy dispersed from the third runestone and dozens of bright white lights appeared across the fields around Axio's southern walls.
THRU—UM!
The entire field was washed in dust as shock waves rippled out from the ballistae positions.
Ear-shattering explosions were set off in series.
Streaks of sunlight tore across the sky, striking the city's defenses. Chunks of stone were blasted apart as the magickal bolts made contact.
Some towers were hit with multiple bolts and their ramparts were blasted completely to oblivion. The gates into the Maarin district disappeared almost entirely, their remnants laid behind the walls, engulfed in fire.
There was then a sudden drop in air pressure around us that indicated that our opening attack hadn't finished.
A second and third arc of dispersing magick from the oed and iọ runestones were set off, and the dense cloud of Aethermist began to swirl around the stones like a storm.
Around the three runestones, a massive magick circle was manifesting. Complex sigils made up of hundreds of Feyndirian runes were arranged all around the spell formation.
The ground shook and the air in my chest felt as if it was being pulled from my lungs.
Then, it became day for a split-second.
In the blink of an eye, a streak of white light zipped across the sky toward Axio.
Before the attack, there had been a mighty tower.
After the attack, there was a gaping hole of scorched earth and cinders.
The attack had completely disintegrated one of the outer towers, leaving nothing but molten rock in its place.
"Seeker-One to Regal-One." Hanna's voice chirped in over the communirune once more.
"Go for Regal-One."
"All targets confirmed hits." she declared, "Specter-One has confirmed two breaches into the city. Assault teams are moving to engage."
"Regal-One acknowledges. I'm heading in as well then. Keep me up to date. May the Goddesses watch over us."
-✵-
The gates to the city had been reduced to splinters, and the blue-armored bodies of dead Renaultian gendarmes littered the main street into Axio.
"I don't mean to sound dismissive, Your Eminence," Flik stepped in line with me, "but is this really the city you all have been living in for forty years?"
"Well, this bit of the city was where the Maarins lived, but yes, this is where I grew up. Why?"
"Aren't the defenses a little… how do I say this nicely? Even a hundred years ago this kind of place would've barely been acceptable as an expeditionary outpost in the Strifelands. There's no magick-imbuement or enchants. One single ballista should not have been able to blow the gates away."
I glanced back at the smoldering remains of the gatehouse.
"Ah. All I can say is that this is the best we could do. We lost mostly everything. Some historical texts survived with the richer noble families that could afford to bring their luxury belongings, but a lot of our military knowledge died along with the legions that held off the demons—or that's what we all figured, I guess."
"That makes sense. It just seems—watch out!"
Flik brought her shield up and blocked an arrow that had been aimed towards us. She glared into the distance, at one of the many barricaded, green-roofed, buildings.
"Hawken, third from the right if you start at the fountain. Second floor. Look for the window below—."
"—Got him."
The twang of Hawken's crossbow preceded a "Nice shot!" from Viktor.
"Goddesses above," Aeko murmured behind me, "the whole city looks like it's already been a war zone for months."
She had a point.
As soon as we crossed into the city things felt wrong.
The buildings were boarded up. Piles of trash and scrap were blocking the streets, making it difficult to navigate.
Only the sounds of magick and metal clashing in the distance could be heard.
I had expected some interaction with the locals at the very least, even with it being the middle of the night. It wasn't like we entered the city quietly.
Our army had gained an enormous amount of ground, according to the reports I'd gotten from Hanna. The strange void-beasts were nowhere to be seen and the Renaultian forces stationed in this part of the city were lacking.
It would seem our surprise attack was working for now.
Or we were being led into a trap.
We heard shouting and a cry for help from a nearby street. I called Hanna to confirm if we had any teams nearby—last I checked this area had been cleared.
"No other teams are in your vicinity according to the JPS." she confirmed a moment later.
"Let's check it out, shall we?" I pitched to my guard knights.
"What do we do once we figure out who they are?" Flik asked, "Both the Maarins and Renaultians are our enemy, right?"
"We play it by ear." I shrugged, "We can always trap them in a barrier and call for a Seeker team to secure them as prisoners."
I tousled Akari's hair when I mentioned barriers and her eyes lit up in excitement. She was desperate to be helpful.
Hawken scouted the corner and waved us over.
"Blues fighting Greens." he explained the situation, curtly.
We rounded the corner and approached what was effectively a stalemate.
Four men in disheveled mix-matched armor were facing off against two well-armored Renaultian brigadiers—judging from their uniformed armor.
The Renaultians noticed us first and stopped their shouting.
"Shit." one of them said.
"Pretty sure my guys said this sector was cleared," I started, "So, where did you six crawl up from?"
That drew the attention of the Maarins. One of them glanced over and looked us over.
He spoke in a heavy accent, "Ay, Vanixian girlie, get over here an' help take these dogs down—iff'en that sword an' armor ain't for show."
I drew my head back and placed a hand over Dáinsleif's pommel.
"No. I refuse."
"Huh? Whaddya mean—"
"What makes you think you've any authority to bark orders at me? What a shitty attitude, can you believe this guy, Flik?"
Flik had looked visibly disturbed by what the man had said so I tried to disarm her a little.
She relaxed the grip on her weapon, "No, Your Eminence. This man is clearly suffering from the effects of war."
The Maarin man looked between the two of us, ignoring the rest of my party.
"Have ya' buffoons been hiding inna' attic 'fer nine months? Who in the blazes do ya' think'en ya' are?"
A series of explosions rocked the city once more. One ballista bolt hit a few streets over, sending a massive ball of fire and smoke into the air that illuminated the sky.
I pointed a finger in that direction, "Me? I'm Airis. The leader of the armies currently scouring this city of its terrible infection, that of colluding traitorous scum."
Both the Renaultians recoiled slightly and tightened their grips around their weapons.
The Maarin man didn't quite seem to understand or just didn't care much. He pointed a thumb at himself, "Well, I'm Vallenstrom, the Wolf of Nolinsk—"
I cut him off, quickly firing a CHAOS BOLT straight into the chest of one of the Renaultian soldiers. He'd been acting shifty and was mid-jump, aiming his blade towards Flik.
The sickly-orange bolt pierced his armor and exploded, rending the man in half. I pulled Akari in close with my right arm and covered her eyes.
"I don't really give a shit who you are," I waved my left hand dismissively, "If you all surrender, nobody else has to turn into mist."
Hanna sent a team to our location to secure the prisoners. Whoever the Maarin guy leading this little group was, he thought he was someone important.
It was possible he'd have useful intel for us.
"Is that your real name, Vallenstrom?" I asked him while we were waiting for the Seekers to arrive.
"Whaddya mean?"
I sighed.
"I'm asking," I tried to clarify, "if people who cared for you named you something ridiculous or if you choose it yourself."
"Does it matter how I got ma' name?"
"Kinda, but I guess not really. One is a little sad and depressing while the other makes me wonder what other poor choices you'll make if we keep you around."
"Iff'en you hate the name so much ya' can call me Wolf."
I shook my head, "Nope, not gonna happen. I've already got one of those. Empress' Mad Wolf, they call him, but at least he's a nice kid."
Once the Seeker team arrived we bid the strange man goodbye and I prayed to never see him again. Something about the way he called me a 'girlie' and assumed we'd just help out after being insulted really irked me.
As our party headed back towards the main street to continue deeper into the city, we ran into a bit of a problem.
"Regal-One to Seeker-One."
"Go for Seeker-One!" Hanna excitedly chirped over the comms channel.
"We're gonna need some directions. How did that Seeker team get to us? A ballista bolt must have hit a residence or something, my position is blocked by a collapsed building."
"Stand by Regal-One."
A minute later I was contacted by Mei.
"Specter-Two to Regal-One."
"Give me some good news, Specter-Two."
"I can do that, Regal-One. I have your position in sight and I can navigate your team from above."
Mei's team, and other Specter teams, had been pushing the inner towers around the Maarin district. From her position, she could see us and lead my team and me around the obstruction.
"Okay, Regal-One, take a left at the next turn—oh, no, your other left. My left. Right, you go right."
…
This is gonna be a journey in itself.
"We'll head north, Specter-Two. Let's stick to cardinal directions moving forward."
"Great idea, Regal-One. Next block you'll want to head west."