Chapter 12 – A good attack requires a steadfast heart

Reconnaissance – that is something done by moving cautiously and takes up a lot of time. You shouldn't move aimlessly around, while doing so. It is important to have a clear target in mind, to which you then draw closer with care. Another thing not to forget would be to always have an escape route to get back after you managed to find out what you came for. Taking chances isn't the right way to do it.

Even if you follow all those advices, there are some things that come only with experience. For example entering unknown territory that is known to be frequented by enemies but has no one to be seen at that time, demands caution. If a scout uses such paths, he should first stay hidden and search for patterns of movement before venturing on. Otherwise his precious escape path might be cut off.

[Alright, that's something I have to remember for the next time...]

The situation I feared had happened. My lack of experience had shown. Although we were still hidden, we had to take many detours to avoid enemy detection. This forced my mounts and me deeper into the dungeon that was frequented by more demons. Now we were basically stuck at once place, neither able to go back, nor able to move on.

I had crossed the bridge where we killed the fleeing demon and followed the lava-stream. Thinking that it might lead to the surface, I had hoped to find an exit. Somewhere along the way we met a group of trainees with a guard and had to turn around. The same thing happened a couple of times and now we were currently somewhere hidden on the main path towards the settlement. Atleast I remembered the way we took.

[Should I just kill myself and get back that way?] Then I had to kill the two demons carrying me, first. A very cold-blooded decision not to mention that I would have then waisted their two lives for nothing.

Yeah...their lives were in my hands. That meant their blood would also be on my hands, if I did this. This is what Richard Lionheart must have felt when he ordered the execution of the 2700 prisoners in Acre so he could move on. [What a rotten feeling.]

I looked at Areti. She's a smart girl who had lied to me about the number of guards present here. Probably because she feared we would have tried to reach the demon's teleport-circle to get out of here. From her point of view our next obvious choice would have been the settlement, which was bound to be a failure. She couldn't have possibly known that our means of transportation wasn't affected by the ward she had spoken about.

[Really now...] Such intelligent eyes she had, always looking for an opening so she could finish me off, if the need arose. Only the threat of me telling the guards everything about her, kept Areti in check.

“Areti, Nrewen, any suggestions?”

It was useless to expect any good input from Nrewen. While he was smarter than Aonel he probably thought of our current situation as a chance to flee. Areti, on the other hand side, dawned what only alternative I was left with.

“We are not far from the main cavern, a vast training ground with more than 500 of you inside. With them are an equivalent number of trainees and the appropriate number of guards.” (Areti)

[Yepp! I should have killed her earlier.] Withholding such important information until the last moment. Threats that are not fulfilled are useless. Otherwise people will just grow accustomed to them and still do what they want. Randalph shouldn't have interfered. Now it came back to bite me. [Such a mistake won't happen again...]

“Close by is a small pathway which leads to a secluded spot with a good view over the whole cavern. We could stay there for a while.”

“How do you know this? You have only been here for one day.”

“One of my brothers told me about it. He said it was a sight I would surely be able to appreciate.”

“Spare me from your twisted ideas and get moving.”

Right now there was no one around in the vicinity, but the path would often fork off and had many curves out of which a demon could suddenly appear. Still, from her description the passage was supposed to be only around 200m away from us. Staying hidden, only sneaking from one cranny to another one, we moved on.

Reaching the entrance took us two whole hours. It was covered by a pair of stalagmites and the path led us to a vantage point above a vast cavern illuminated by lava-streams and torches. We were greeted by an appalling view. Hundreds of demons slicing at chained humans, their shadows would melt into one giant spectacle on the walls.

I whispered to Areti.

“It isn't as secluded as you said it'd be.”

Three demons had prepared a picnic at the spot with the best view and were enjoying themselves, two adolescent girls and a boy. Going back was impossible, one of them had already noticed us and pointed towards our direction.

However, they weren't immediately able to switch from a cheerful atmosphere into a vigilant stance. The situation was too confusing for them to do so. We were the first to react. Areti put on a smile and waved at them to set them even more off-balance.

“Hey! Look at what we found.” she drew slowly closer to them, readying her sharp tail to strike at their hearts with me on her back. 15 metres were still between us. [Good. She knows all too well what will happen if we are found out.]

“That's a fairy! How did you get that?” The adolescent boy said. They stood up and also came closer towards us, with no hint of hostility.

“That? Didn't you know? You can rent them if you pay enough money.” 10 metres were now between us but I didn't dare to use my aura just yet.

“Wow! You can rent them? That's amaz-”

“Orwion, get back! They are enemies.” One of the females shouted. Something must have tipped her off. Whether it was the insecurity on Nrewens face or her own wits, I did not know. Despite her warning it was too late. All of them were now within range and I created three fiery cages with not an ounce of space between their skin and the flames.

“Silence! If anyone of you makes a sound, it will be the last action of your life.” I hesitated burning them to death. Even with the other prisoners screaming down below, there was still a chance of someone noticing the turmoil up here if they suddenly started to shout out in pain.

On a hunch I said.

“Areti, explain the situation to them.”

She was a little bit startled but still began to talk.

“You and us are his hostages. Do everything as he says or you will die. These flames are his. See those burn marks on my arms and legs? That was his doing. He already killed four of us in a matter of moments like this. Don't even think about going against him or else he'll tell the guards about us. Killing him won't help either, since he'd just revive again like they always do. You know what happens to those that associate with the prisoners, don't you?”

Then she paused for a little bit and watched their reactions. It seems she wasn't satisfied with what she saw and went on.

“Just to make sure... in case you thought of explaining the situation to the guards, I'll give you a piece of information. The power to revive is theirs and not the result of the emperors magic. We will surely be executed if the guards find out about our knowledge. The only way to survive is to not let anybody know of our participation.”

Areti warned them in advance. It's questionable if they'd thank her for that, though. [So they believed that this was the doing of their emperor.]

There were two reasons why I let her do the talking. For once, I wanted to hear their perspective and it already paid off.

The other one was that something had caught my eye and I had been drawn to.

While the blue demon was still talking I motioned Nrewen to bring me to their viewing spot where they had prepared the picnic. From there I saw it clearly. Scratch what I said about reconnaissance earlier. It's all about dumb luck. This is why you send out multiple scouts; to heighten the chances that someone stumbles upon something.

“That...is probably Godmother.”

In the middle of this vast chamber was one prisoner who stood out. Her body was completely engulfed by the chain from neck to toe, with only her head visible. It wasn't the elaborated way of her imprisonment that convinced me. The moment I saw her, there was this indescribable feeling. I could feel her. About this world or magic, I didn't know much about. But if someone was the leader of the 'Children of the Dawn' it had to be that woman over there.

[Freeing her is going to be a problem.] Surrounded by hundreds of demons, there was no way to do this sneaky. Did we have to give up on her, after all? Randalph wouldn't be happy about it. What was important now was to tell the others about it. That led me to my earlier thought again. How would I have to get back to our camp unnoticed? [Do I really have to kill them?]

I took a good look at those demons again. Areti and Nrewen wore resignation on their faces while the three others were still trying to cope with the situation. [Wait...]

“You are rather old. How big are you?” I had addressed the boy who approached us without much thought earlier.

“N-nearly two metres, sire.”

“I have seldom seen such a high demon with a face as young as yours.”

“My house is known for it's height.”

[That might work...]

“Is anybody of you able to seal wounds with fire magic?”

“I know a fire-lance spell that could be used this way. B-but why would you need that?” One of the girls in the back said that.

“Can you use it often enough to seal four wounds?”

“P-probably...”

“Good. I have an idea. Cut off my arms and legs, seal my wounds with fire, then disguise me as a back-pack with that blanket and carry me to our camp. It shouldn't look too weird if someone as big as you would have such a package on his shoulders.”

“Cu-what?!”

“You heard me right.”

-------

Orwion's POV

That damn fairy! He said I had to cut off his arms and legs. [How about I'll just miss and hit his head instead?] Gripping an axe with both of my hands I took aim. This is when he said.

“Oh, Areti, Nrewen, you two girls behind there, too. If I should die here I will give you one last chance to come back to me by yourself. You would have time until I was freed again. After this I will consider you as traitors. Needless to say, do not let him return with you.” He pointed towards me at that.

[Traitors? We weren't on your side to begin with. Damn!] There was still another way. His idea wasn't bordering on idiocy anymore. It was far beyond this state. In the end he would just pass out from those wounds. Was he a madman?

His eyes showed no hint of insanity at all.

“Stop shaking so much. I want clean cuts.” Said the mad fairy to me.

I hadn't even noticed my shaking. Yeah, I was shaking in fear. It should be a chance for me, yet I didn't get that feeling at all from this situation.

“Do you want me to put some cloth in your mouth? To weaken the screams.”

“I want you to stop wasting my time and finally start.”

“One clean cut, as you demanded.”

[Just you wait...] With a snarl I took my swing. His eyes were calmly following the arch of my axe's path. It was only for an instance but I could see a small smirk on his face, as if to tell me 'So it's going to be that.' [Damn!] At the last moment I changed the course of my weapon to hit his arm instead of splitting his head.

Not only did I miss my chance to kill him, I also couldn't sever his arm cleanly. It was a bloody mess around the shoulder. What made me lose the grip on my weapon and the belief in my survival if I ever crossed this man was his reaction, though.

Again, with calm eyes he looked at his shoulder, not even a sigh leaving his throat. With a tone, even colder than the one of a lich, he said.

“Nrewen, this one is useless. You do the task.”

Piss was running down my leg, I fell on my butt. My mother was right. I shouldn't have used up fathers inheritance to get here. Signing up for the imperial army was a mistake if I was to fight against enemies like these.

Damn. No wonder we were told to never talk to them. It was for our own safety. [Fairies are scary.]

Nrewen did a better job. With his first swing he was able to cut off the bloody stump I left and my companion could immediately seal the wound. There were no signs of pain reflected on his face.

After asking for permission to go on, he gave Nrewen his consent with a nod. The bizarre shadowy play on the walls of the cavern caught his eye. Did he trust him more than me, that he would turn his eyes away? Just as I had that thought he moved his left shoulder a little bit in a way that would allow for a cleaner cut.

[No, he clearly saw where the axe would hit.]

At this point I wasn't even ashamed of me pissing myself anymore. Nobody could blame me if he saw the same thing as I did. Even worse, he started a conversation with the blue coloured bitch from the house Sa 'Wa.

“Areti, why would your brother think that you could appreciate such a view?”

“H-huh? Aa-erm...I...”

She could only stutter. I wasn't the only one who was thrown off track by what was happening right now. The insane fairy waited until she regained her composure.

“I like art of all forms and varieties. Instead of training for a position as a military officer I wanted to enrol in the High-Imperial-Academy with it's course on the fine arts. That brother is the only one who supports this side of mine and often helps me out.”

He let out a laugh that sent chills down my spine. I could barely hold my bladder so as I wouldn't leak for a second time.

“Art, you say? I understand that this view is breathtaking and certainly moves the onlooker. But that is hardly art.”

“What would you understand about art?” She retorted in a hurt tone. Then she gasped at her own blunder and waited if the man would get angry or even hurt her. He did neither and simply overlooked her mistake.

“Art isn't just defined by beauty. It always follows a purpose, a message that the artist wants to convey. The summit of art is only reached by those that are either working out of their faith or by those that are working to criticize the society. How could you regard a random view such as this as art? That's as idiotic as calling the beauty of nature 'art'. Would you go and say: 'Oh look at that mountain! Such beautiful art.'?”

The blue girl looked at the display in front of her in silence, obviously not expecting an answer to her question. After a while she said.

“But doesn't it seem as if this particular view was made by somebody? From your talks with the others I understood that this wasn't always a dungeon so someone had to make this.”

“Hmm...perhaps you are right.” It was his turn to fall in silence. After Nrewen was done with his arms and one of his legs he suddenly whispered in thought.

“Some day I am going to crush this dastardly piece of art and the one who made it.”

[Did he just declare war on the emperor?]

-------

Lucius' POV

Of course I wasn't so tasteless as to develop my intentions after a discussion about differing opinions on art. My decision to destroy their emperor was concluded the moment I understood what this place was truly about. But that had to be planned very carefully and was a thought reserved for the future. Right now there were other problems to deal with.

“You...why are you doing this?” (Areti)

“What do you mean?”

“Hacking off your limbs, disguising yourself as a package, this!”

“I shouldn't have to explain the nature of this action to a smart little girl like you.”

Deep in thought she fell silent again, visible deliberation over her next words could be seen on her face. Then she said.

“I don't owe you anything for that.”

[Hoo~...]

“That's where you are wrong. You owe 999 others and me their freedom. Enough talking now. We need to get going.”

Nrewen and the other girl were finally done with their task. Surprisingly, it hurt a lot less than before. The curse truly did increase the pain by a manifold. By now I was able to cope with it in a way that would let fakirs appear as crying newborns if they were compared to me. Something that would be beneficial. The loss of blood was a serious problem, though, and I had to fight against the dizziness.

I quickly ordered the demons to pack me tightly into the blanket so they wouldn't notice my weakness, a small hole was left for me to look through. After the big boy (Orwion) put a rope through the blanket and heaved me on his back I gave the sign to move on.

“Go! Yip, yip!” Carrying me through the ranks of the demons in such a disguise was as if we were flying. It took us more than half a day to reach that spot and in less than an hour we were back at the bridge again.

When Randalph had returned from his first scouting trip his demons were visibly frightened by his ruthlessness to hurt them without much thought. They had shaken and were close to crying.

When I returned, my demons had lost all colour from their faces and weren't even able to cry, nor able to utter a single noise. My action had a different impact on them, altogether. The will to inflict pain on others is indeed effective. However, my display to sacrifice myself for what I want left them simply speechless. Without much reacting to the orders of the other humans in our camp they unpacked me and then made room.

Aoi lost it when she saw me. An intelligible scream left her throat.

“A-RE-TI!”

From somewhere she got a mantle and a dagger and was now crawling towards the blue little demon with murderous intent, a small icy aura was oozing out of her. Areti didn't move, still too much shaken by what I had done.

“Aoi, please stop it.” Contrary to her insane look she immediately reacted to my softly spoken words. It was amazing how fast she could switch from a murderer to a loving face. Reaching out to me she asked with a caring tone.

“What happened?”

“It was necessary.” Was the only thing I said and she nodded with a pained expression.

“Areti, pierce my heart!”

-------

After reviving (and getting my limbs back) I began with my report. Luckily, Randalph and the others were there.

“We don't have much time, so I'll keep things short. I think I located Godmother.”

“What? Where? How?” The 'Children of the Dawn' were in an uproar and started a barrage of questions.

“I took the main path. There I found a vast chamber with 500 of us imprisoned. She was among them.”

“How would you know it's her? You never saw her.”

“That's true...how should I put it? There was this indescribable feeling I got when I saw her and I thought it had to be her. It sounds vague, I know, but I had hoped you would understand what I am talking about. I fathomed it was something all of you had in her presence.”

””That has never happened.”” The 'Children' Bransek and Fillion both denied. It was Randalph who had fallen silent upon hearing my words. It was obvious that he knew something.

“Randalph?”

“You are most likely saying the truth...there are some 'Children' who can feel the presence of our leader.”

“Really Captain Randalph? I never heard of it.” (Fillion)

“Yes, it happens...from time to time.” His tone and demeanour gave me enough hints that there was something else behind these words but he didn't give me a chance to ask.

“I am going out to confirm this now.”

He left in a hurry and only took one demon with him. Was it a mistake to not talk him out of it? Most likely. It greatly affected the chances of our escape, if we had to reach Godmother under these circumstances. Still, Randalph would go anyway. I just had to take a look at Aoi and I knew how he felt. So much I understood now. There was no sense for him in escaping without her.

While I was freed from the chain once again, Aoi spoke to me.

“That was a really idiotic way for you to move around, Lucius. It was necessary, you say? How did you come up with that?”

“Why are you still angry? Is it because I went out of my way to keep those demons alive?”

“No, I am angry that them keeping alive meant for you to cut off your limbs. Couldn't you come up with a better way?”

This is when Crence interrupted us.

“A long time ago I had a war-dog. I really liked it and when a battle broke out during a monster-subjugation, I had to jump in front of and take a strike that was meant for him. The wound was severe and I failed the quest, but it was alright. The dog was more worth than the reward.”

“So what? You are saying he was right?”

“No, I just told you a story about my dog. I also think that this was a retarded thing for you to do, Lucius. Not so much because of the wounds and the pain but because you lowered your head to keep them alive. They don't deserve it. “

[So he's saying that my dignity is more worth than them? However, I said it myself. There is no need to be humble in front of oppressors. Did I really already forget? No!]

“When the time comes that I become weak enough, so I have to kill prisoners, this is when I will really have lowered my head! I said I am going to let them live as long as they follow my orders and that's it. If I can't hold my word here, then I wasn't meant to take them prisoner in the first place. No more discussion about this!” I got angry and raised my voice.

“Well...I guess it's not that bad, after all. Your stamina probably fell from two back to one, after dying. It had been bugging me all this while. Now we are even again.” Thankful for the change in topic with which Crence provided me, I continued in a calmer manner.

“Where did I get that point anyway?”

“By killing those four demons, of course.”

[Oh right...]

“You can have that point. I don't care for this.”

During our conversation the other 'Children of the Dawn' just listened in on us and didn't engage in a discussion of their own. There were now four of them here, Bransek and Fillion aswell as the two who were with us here and had finally awoken. I got curious about something so I asked Fillion.

“Say...are there ranks between the 'Children'? I heard you calling Randalph with the rank of captain.”

“Yes and no. During times of battle we have some ranks. There are four captains, each commanding 1/4th of us with Godmother above them. Since we were fighting for the last couple of years it kind of became the norm. Before we had to fight against the elves we pretty much had no need for any ranks and structures. Godmother was enough.”

“You fought against the elves? Was it the Kingdom of Endron?” (Aoi)

“What is the Kingdom of Endron?” (Fillion)

“It's also called the kingdom of traitors. The elves that sides with the Eternal Black Demon Empire and split off from the others. That Kingdom of Endron that even fought against their own brethren.”

“They were allied with the demons but I didn't know they were called Endron. Wait! So their alliance resulted in a civil war? Ha! Serves them right. It was really a shock when they suddenly appeared together with the black demons to attack us. Demons on Verol...really.”

Crence and Aoi looked at each other, realizing something that neither I nor the other 'Children' had yet been able to understand. Then Crence carefully probed.

“Do you know about the Kingdom of Brenai?”

“This term sounds vaguely familiar. Didn't some dwarves in the west start to call themselves lately like this? They are also fighting against the elves. Good guys.”

“I am a Brenai. In our kingdom humans and dwarves live together.”

[What is this about?]

“Aoi, Crence, would you care to tell us what you are thinking? You seem a little bit out of it.” (Lucius)

“There is really no easy way to say this without sounding idiotic...but I believe you are older than you think. Verol was attacked by the demons 2700 years ago. The Eternal Black Demon Empire was pushed back to it's own continent, but a lot of demons stayed here. Some are even reigning as monarchs.” (Crence)

“There really is no way to say this without sounding idiotic, you were right. We are humans, we don't live that long.” (Fillion)

“What did you just call me?”

“Crence wait! Didn't you listen to them? They say we are on Verol. Don't you understand what that means?” (Aoi)

“Huh?”

“This dungeon, it is on Verol and led by the empire. I even saw a black demon here once. Did you forget about the peace treaty and what it said regarding the matter if the empire were to ever set foot on Verol again?”

You could see that Crence was trying to remember something, his face was wrinkled in thought. Then it lightened up and he made an “Ohhhh!”-Sound. A bloodthirsty smile appeared as he said.

“Wouldn't that be a nice reason to declare war on them now, would it?”

This time Orwion, who was tasked with freeing me, did not only piss himself, but also managed to fill his pants with some shit.

-------

Location: Imperial Embassy in Endron

In a room functioning as the ambassadors office, a large muscular figure was seated in a throne-like chair. Black skin and four arms, the typical appearance of the ruling class in the empire, he was Lord Bagrat Ver 'do San, entrusted with the affairs on Verol by their supreme immortal leader, thus making him the most important imperial representative on this side of the ocean.

Officially his position was to act as a diplomatic liaison between the empire and the Kingdom of Endron, aswell as some satellite-states on Verol. However, there was a second standing order that he had to follow. Bound by treaties that wouldn't permit imperial troops other than ceremonial guards, he was to ensure that a long kept state-secret would remain undiscovered. It was the prison for the 'Children of the Dawn' that functioned as a military facility.

Once again he was asking himself why there was a need for such a risky operation. Certainly, it's usefulness as a training facility for the young was not to be overlooked. But it had already lost it's value for the elites and veterans a long time ago, because the captured prisoners were the weakest beings stuck at lvl1. The accumulated rise in power sharply dropped for killing one of them, after somebody had reached lvl20 and there wouldn't be much of a benefit even after putting thousands of them to death.

What made him sure that there lied another purpose even hidden from him, was the fact that Arandis Ber 'Vo, the man responsible for creating new magical weapons, had to be allowed entry into the prison at all times, if he ever wished to come.

While he was harbouring such thoughts a knock on the door could be heard.

“Come inside!”

His aide Nertiri stepped in and bowed. After the lord gave her permission she began to talk.

“Lord Bagrat, a message from Lord Ber 'Vo has arrived.”

[Speaking of the devil...]

“What has the master of the forge to say?” [The cynical old fool.]

“The message says that he finally finished forging your new weapon, Mylord.”

“So he completed my request? It has been already more than five months, since I asked for it. Let us hope that it is of a better quality, this time.”

“He writes that you will surely be pleased by them. It seems they are not normal cursed weapons. He didn't clearly explain it in the letter but he says you would understand, once you held them in your hands. They are supposed to be masterpieces.”

“Well, if he praises them this much I guess, I should try them out. When are they supposed to arrive?”

“He already left them at your 3rd mansion after testing them personally.” Nertiri had used the codeword for the underground prison. Even though this embassy was highly guarded, it was still a foreign country so they had to stay vigilant at all times. The building was very well warded against attempts at magical spying but you could never really know whose servant's ears had been bought to listen in on them. Being too cautious was a term Lord Ver 'do San did not know of, so he insisted on such measures.

[So he went there again without notifying me?]

“I haven't been there for quite some time. Maybe I should go and visit it...”

[The dungeon is due for an inspection in three weeks. I could prepone it.]

“Postpone the appointments of the next two weeks and prepare everything for my departure. I will go and visit my mansion.” It was a rather unusual decision for the Lord, who put his duty before everything else. But five months ago he had met a prisoner that dared to stand up to him. Behind all his sophisticated and elegant demeanour Bagrat Ver 'do San was a petty person whose pride could easily be hurt.

He couldn't do much if the emperor decided to not tell him everything but he would never let a mere human look down on him.

“Before I forget Nertiri, I didn't give Arandis any specifications. What form do the weapons have?”

“Mylord, he said it was a set of two weapons, a halberd and a mace.”

“Oh... is that so? A little bit inelegant for my taste but it does not matter. You can take your leave now. I want to depart by the third hour in the afternoon.”

After his personal aide left, the black demon's face twisted in anger, a fist pounded on the table, another one was tightly gripping the elbow-rest until it gave in.

“Is this supposed to be some kind of mockery?”

[This fool expects me to use weapons meant for peasants?]

Bagrat Ver 'do San was truly angry. Angry about the things he didn't know about, angry about being stuck on Verol instead of serving in the capitol, but mostly he was angry at the old weapon-smith Arandis for taking him for a fool. Thankfully, he just knew on which prisoner he could vent his anger.

End of Chapter 12

Afterwords:

I have been thinking of changing the title to something like: Revive Unlimited - 'Birth of the Paladins' or 'The might of the Paladins'

What do you think about that? The main reason for this ff is to depict the construction of a paladin order, after all. So i thought I should tell the people what to expect.