“How to conquer a city, you ask ? It's simple, there are three steps.

First, siege a city !

Then, breach the walls, destroy the doors, kill the guards !

Finally, take the city !

See ? Simple. What, you can't do it ? You damn fools !

-Roharl giving a lesson on siege warfare to first-year students”

* * *

Erin

“They're all idiots,” Azcheron hissed, kicking a random, blameless stone that was laying here.

Erin snorted. “I told you.”

The fourth war council had just ended. They had been holding one meeting per day, each lasting almost all day. Unsurprisingly, even Pelirise's generals had no real experience of being besieged. In fact, the number of people who truly knew how to deal with a siege here could be counted on the fingers of one hand. The Free Cities weren't exactly allied or united, but that didn't necessarily mean they were enemies. They hadn't been at war with each other for two generations at least. There would have been the convenient solution of sheltering the generals who were in the cities conquered by Karia, they could have given us advice based on their own experience... If they hadn't all been captured and burnt at the stake, that is.

Both Saraela and Yva were of the opinion that they should try negotiating first, and if it failed, to endure the siege thanks to their walls and their provisions. But they clearly didn't get that there wouldn't be any negotiation with the Great Sorceress. It wasn't unheard of, to let citizens surrender in case of a siege, but there was very little room for doubt regarding the fate of the demons surrendering to Karia's warm embrace. Her army wouldn't care about things like war crimes, the moral values and code of the Empire didn't apply to demons. And the Emperor himself was backing the mistreatment of demons. They'd be butchered, or burnt. When the city watch's captain and the counsellor finally admitted that negotiations were only wishful thinking, they opted for something else.

“Prolonging the siege, they say...” he grumbled. “And I'm supposed to protect the city from Karia's magic. What am I, a mana shield on legs ?”

Azcheron had been asked to demonstrate his ability. Lord Sazael might have trusted his spies, but counsellor Yva wanted to see for herself if the Rahal Saint was worth his salt. She was already convinced of his might by the time he unnecessarily knocked out the entire battalion of mages he was supposed to defend against, once they had ran out of spells to throw at him. Needless to say, queen Jacille was ecstatic, and it didn't take much more than that for Azcheron to gain her trust.

Infatuated was how Erin would describe Jacille's behaviour toward Azcheron, but it felt petty to put it like that.

“Honestly, I can't say that a prolonged siege is a good idea... Hell, it probably won't happen, seeing how the Great Sorceress has been stomping everything until now. But if you don't shield the city from her spells, I don't see who will.”

“...Should let all of them die,” he muttered. “I actually think we should follow queen Jacille's proposal.”

“...And that would be...” She paused and frowned. “Ah. Letting you lead an attack against Karia instead of defending the city, if I recall correctly.”

“You recall correctly !” he exclaimed, snapping his fingers. “Such a marvellous plan from such a young mind. Yet her generals barely listen to her, the poor child. I should have supported her, since no one else did.”

“I think there's a reason for that ? Experience ?”

He shrugged. “Why do people listen to me then ?”

Erin was speechless. Well, yeah... Why do they, in fact ?

Thankfully, the Saint didn't participate too much during the war councils. He just stood on the sidelines, listening for the most part and only intervening when there were talks of magic and battle spells. Erin raised a brow, as she realized something. “Are you finally admitting that you have the military knowledge of a random tramp ?”

He only gave her a crooked, frozen smile, which could very well have been an intimidating grimace. She was about to mock him when a deafening sound occurred.

It was the horn. It was all there was for a few seconds. The magically enhanced horn echoing, the message it conveyed. Moments later, the horn faded, and they could now hear the city. Orders were screamed, children were crying and groups of guards were running around, footsteps shaking the ground and metal clinging and banging.

The Saint looked at the horizon through the window, Erin did the same. Then, she saw it – she didn't even need Azcheron's magic enhancing her vision. A sea of soldiers, banners and horses. She spotted a large banner that stood out – white, silver and gold, the colours of the Great Sorceress.

That was fast. She came sooner than I imagined. Did the scouts get caught or something ? We shouldn't have been warned so late...

Azcheron rubbed his chin. “Hm.”

He rushed down the stairs, Erin followed him without the same verve. Inside the castle, things were hectic. Servants running around, guards yelling, in the most annoying disorder. Several times Azcheron had to stop abruptly in his course to avoid banging his head on something or someone while taking a turn in the corridors.

In the audience hall, they ran into queen Jacille and counsellor Yva. Saraela was at their side, along with a numerous escort.

“Lord Azcheron, lady Verald,” the queen said in a shaking voice. “Are you on your way to the walls ?”

“We are indeed, my queen,” Azcheron answered very solemnly, to Erin's confusion.

Jacille nodded. “I will pray to Pelirise for our victory.”

“And I shall bring you Karia's head,” he said, putting his palm on his chest. “As per our agreement.”

“Yes,” the queen acquiesced. “Do so and I promise to get my most eloquent bards and playwrights working.”

Huh... I haven't heard about that before. Please don't tell me that THIS is going to be your reward.

Saraela interjected. “Lord Azcheron, please do not forget that you are to defend the south wall and the gates, before everything else.”

“Of course, of course. I wouldn't dream of abandoning my post. I merely mean to say that, if Karia were to personally lead the attack, I'd throw myself body and soul into stopping her.”

Both Saraela and Yva seemed to still harbour some disbelief, but they simply gave him a nod in the end. Erin, however, knew better than that. She didn't really expect Azcheron to follow a plan he clearly disliked.

“Well then,” Saraela concluded, “let us go to war.” They saluted the queen and her aunt, and left the castle. Queen Jacille would be waiting in the hall, on her throne, embracing either good or bad news with dignity, rather than cowering in an underground dungeon or at the summer altar.

Erin had to admit, she didn't exactly like the girl and her unstable, naïve demeanour, but there was something sincere and genuine about her, as Azcheron said. Whatever backstory lurked behind this strange niece-aunt duo, Erin didn't know – perhaps a tragic, tear-jerking story worthy of compassion and understanding – but the result today was surely something different from the usual cold and calculating rulers. Emperors, kings, demon lords and the likes, they weren't famed for their touching gentleness.

Not that there really was anything touching or gentle in a nine year-old child dismembering people and nailing them to columns to honour a god, but well...

As Erin and Azcheron followed Saraela, drums and trumpets could now be faintly heard in the distance. It didn't come from the city, but from the distance. From the Imperial army.

“They're already close,” the captain cursed. As they walked down the stairs leading to the castle, they could still see beyond the walls. Karia's army was organizing itself, moving ballistas, trebuchets and magic cannons. It seemed like they could attack anytime now. Erin expected to see boats, rafts and such, to attack the other walls via the river, but perhaps that would come later.

“Why didn't we learn of their arrival sooner ?” Erin asked Saraela.

“We lost contact with the scouts. Probably killed or captured. As for the mages supposed to watch the horizon... I don't know, I guess they're not trained enough ? This situation is a first for most of us.”

“Personally, I don't mind,” Azcheron retorted. “What would life be without its share of incompetence ? In fact, I love incompetent people. It's thanks to them that I look so mighty and all-knowing. We should have more of those.”

Saraela looked offended, but she didn't bother to argue. “...We'll split up here. I'll find Vraxil, you two go to the gates. Rudolph should already be there.”

“Captain,” Erin called out, grabbing her by the wrist. “Your father asked us to protect you. You should stay close to us, or at least away from the walls.”

Surprisingly, she didn't get angry. Instead, she gave a sad smile. “Lady Verald, you know it is not I who will face the biggest danger. You'll be fighting at the gates and the south wall. The other parts of the city won't be under as much pressure. I'll be okay.”

“...If it gets dangerous, please retreat in the castle.”

Saraela nodded confidently, yet she couldn't hide entirely her shaking. “I know you do not believe in our gods, so I won't pray for your safety. I'll just say... May fortune be with you two.”

And on these words, Saraela left them. Without losing any time, Erin and Azcheron made their way to the gates. The place was very busy, knights and archers were readying themselves, supplies such as bolts, oil and stones were gathered, and the few battle mages here were trying to meditate and calm down.

Erin thought that most of these magicians looked like they were on the verge of panic, in truth. She would want to avoid having one of them messing up a spell and blasting away half the guards on the wall, but she didn't have the time to worry about others. Erin herself wasn't exactly calm either, after all.

“Worried ?” Azcheron asked, seemingly catching on Erin's state.

Of course I am.

“Of course not,” she said, waving the truth away. “I just don't want one of your colleagues to faint while casting a fireball, you see ? Don't particularly want to be burned alive because of my allies, Karia is already plenty enough.”

“Ah, well, I understand that. Anton often told be about how gruesome it can get when a mage botches a spell. Melted limbs and split ribcages ! It's not pretty !” he almost yelled, as if to make sure the mages heard him. One of them probably did, since he proceeded to suddenly vomit. “Ha !” Azcheron pointed a mocking finger toward the ill wizard.

Erin sighed. “Are you trying to turn them into useless wimps or something ?”

“Bah. I could probably manage the magical defence of the entire city all by myself... A handful of shivering mages won't make much of a difference.”

“That's assuming you do your job and indeed protect the city... I know you're grumpy because you won't get to throw flashy magic at the enemy, but it's important that you fulfil your role.”

Azcheron seemed to be thinking deeply about something. “Flashy magic, huh ?” he finally said. “Hmm, true, I should start developing a trade-mark magic. Karia has her fire pillars, Anton his storm magic, but I do not have any recognizable spell, do I ?”

Err... I'm not entirely sure it's the right time to try out things.

Pushing aside her feelings of unease – regarding her own safety and the panicking mages – and dread – regarding the city's safety and Azcheron – Erin followed her friend as they climbed the stairs of a tower to join Rudolph. Being a veteran who had travelled just about everywhere on the continent, he happened to take part in siege battles several times, finding himself on either side. Therefore the demons had deemed him entirely fit for command in such a situation.

Rudolph was sitting on a wooden crate, in his black armour, his helm resting on his lap. The frown he wore as he stared at Karia's preparation augured no good. The middle-aged bounty hunter noticed the pair, and pointed toward a large triangular shaped thing, that was being placed in front of the bridge by a group of Imperial soldiers.

“See the ugly machine there ?” Erin felt her vision distorting as Azcheron casted sight magic on her and himself. It was indeed ugly. A triangular roof, covered in wet furs of some sort, and a large, long, mean-looking beam. It was a battering ram. The beam was glowing, as if it was enchanted.

“Nasty thing,” Rudolph continued. “It breaches gates much faster than any regular ram. We'll have to take down the guys manning it, and the mages protecting it.”

“So I guess that means Karia won't be leading the attack ? We'll have to wait until she comes out ?” Azcheron complained. “Mnggh. I don't feel like doing this anymore.”

“And I feel like throwing you in the damn river, but I don't because I'm not a whining brat,” Erin growled. The tension, added to Azcheron's antics, was starting to get on her nerves.

He must have understood that because, to Erin's surprise, he refrained from fooling around and jesting for a while. The city felt rather silent, now. Well, aside from the drums, the horns and the din caused by the preparations. But there was very little talking, merely orders and small talk that began and faltered altogether. The air became heavy, as the mages and archers waited on the walls, and the enemy assembled in front of the bridge, out of arrow's reach. Some of the archers looked very eager to shoot a few arrows already, but the supplies were limited and the orders were clear – no waste of any sort would be allowed.

Then, after what felt like an eternity, things started to move. Trebuchets and ballistas were loaded, and battalions formed near the river. Still no boats, but a figure clad in white and gold approached the shore. It was the Great Sorceress, obviously – if Erin hadn't understood by looking at her, she'd have known by looking at Azcheron. He was tense, probably thinking that it'd be his chance to get the sorceress' head.

Is she going to attack then ?

Under the cheers of her men, Karia raised her hand toward the river. Erin only had the time to hear Azcheron emit a surprised growl before feeling a sudden and very harsh drop in temperature.

The river became ice, and the men started running on it, toward the city.

“Wha-”

Then a rain of stone and fire came from the skies, into the city, arrows piercing people, spells and rocks crushing houses, in a loud, heavy blend of noises.

“Hmm.” Azcheron sat and supported his chin with both his palms. “She's good at ice magic too. I wonder whether the soldiers have spiked boots or enhanced soles...”

“Don't simply stay here !” Rudolph barked. “See all the men running on the ice, the battering ram approaching the gates, and the god damn hell falling on us ? Get to work !”

“Hrmpf. I'm waiting for Karia.”

“She won't come anytime soon,” Erin said. “Look.” She pointed toward the shiny figure, sinking back into the sea of soldiers still waiting. She's probably going to let her army unwind their fanatic hatred for now.

Azcheron blankly gazed at his target. “We can't have that, can we ? There's nothing amazing in having a long siege, right ? And the longer we wait, the more people here die. My popularity will decrease.”

Before Erin could retort something smart like 'you're not even popular to begin with', the Saint stood up and looked down at the frozen river. He turned back and gave an innocent smile to Erin – that was enough to let her know. She didn't have time to voice her objections, as he climbed the battlements, simply said “I leave things here to you !” and jumped.

Rudolph looked bewildered. As for Erin, the darkest feelings of anger and bloodlust were creeping in her mind. By the time she leaned on the battlements and looked down, Azcheron was already running on the frozen river with Manasprint, annihilating any troops he came across with wind blades, as he went in a straight line toward Karia's location.

“Okay then,” Rudolph finally said, grabbing two bows and handing one to Erin. “Let's do our part.”

They joined the others bowmen in shooting volleys of arrows at the invaders. Erin herself wasn't much of an archer, but she realized she was still better than most here. Either they had poor training, or poor collectedness. Poorest than Erin's, in any case. She kept shooting for some time, mainly at the soldiers approaching the gates via the bridge, with the battering ram.

We should make the damn bridge explode, she cursed, noticing the ignoble crowd of soldiers hurrying along the bridge with their shields up. Why couldn't Azcheron do that, for instance ! Or at least, destroying a few catapults, that would have been nice. Melting the frozen river would have helped too.

For now, the mages were managing to blow up or block the biggest projectiles and spells before they reached the city, but that made them too busy to help killing the enemy. And arrows were still an issue. Already, the ram was crashing against the doors, and the other walls requested more archers since they weren't expecting the river to be frozen, allowing a much more important attack than if the enemy was on boat.

“The gates won't hold for long !” someone yelled. As Erin shot her last arrows and prepared herself for the carnage that would happen down there at the gates, a powerful white flash came from the Imperial camp.

She looked toward the direction Azcheron went in. A large lightning arc went through the sea of soldiers, sending people flying and shattering to pieces a good number of catapults and cannons. As if to answer the magic, a massive pillar of flame erupted from somewhere in the crowd, and the heatwave came soon after. The battle between Azcheron and Karia had begun.

The Imperial soldiers on the ice and on the bridge all looked confused for a short moment. They surely didn't expect to have a magic battle of an absurdly large scale at their back, but they quickly focused back on breaching the city's defences, with a renewed haste. Perhaps they were worried the ice would melt at this rate.

And so their efforts soon bore fruit. In a loud crashing sound, the gates were opened. Yelling and clashing swords followed. Erin rushed down the stairs, weapon in hand, when another bright flash made the ramparts' shadow grow against the city for a second.

When the shadows disappeared, hell showed itself. A storm of blades and blood was swirling around the gates, in a deafening rumbling of stomping horses, clinging armour, steel banging against steel and slashing through flesh, and corpses collapsing on the ground.

Without thinking twice, Erin jumped in the melee.

She approached the closest Imperial soldier she found, from the side, hacking at him and sending his arm flying. A demon on horseback finished the man soon after, then in turn got cut down by an axe. She dodged a slash from the new opponent. Before she could counter-attack, the axeman took an arrow in the eye and fell on the ground. Erin stabbed him for good measure and then focused on other enemies amidst the chaos, trying to stay calm.

That proved hard to do – her heart was racing and her vision was blurred. With her helm she wasn't even seeing much to begin with, and her own loud breathing was reverberating and deafening her, but it was still better than being bare-headed. She didn't want an arrow of her own lodged in her eye-socket. A young soldier came running at her with a mace but was immediately taken down by a spear through the neck. She nodded to the demon who intercepted him and went back to looking around her, while several white flashes occurred from the other side of the wall.

Another orange light rose in the sky, sending once more a wave of heat. Some brave and idiot lad tried to attack her from behind while yelling, so she cleaved his head in two. She yet again looked around, and amidst the carnage, spotted Rudolph who was dealing with two foes. The bounty hunter parried one of his opponents and stabbed his stomach, before blocking a strike from the other. Erin didn't have time to watch the rest of his fight nor help him, for the enemies kept pouring through the gates, and Pelirise's soldiers kept collapsing one by one. Erin quickly understood the reason.

There was a magician throwing obnoxious paralysing bolts, hidden behind a wall of soldiers. She yelled to a handful of tough looking demons, pointing to the mage. They followed her, as she carved her way through the crowd of Imperial warriors. Dodged a few horses, picked up a shield laying around and started bashing people out of her way. One of the guys following her fell down, got trampled by a rider. Finally reaching the annoying mongrel playing wizard, she kicked away one of the men defending him, sliced his throat, while the demons fought the others. She then buried the edge of her shield in the mage's face, knocking his teeth out in a gargle as he was probably about to do an incantation. His jaw was now dangling, blood dripping from it. Erin gave him a few more hits to make sure he was dead.

She looked up, panting roughly like a wild beast, tried to calm down and assess the situation. She was now under the gates, and Pelirise's forces were gradually regaining ground. From here she could see the horizon – the thunder, the fire and the explosions in the distance. The magic battle kept raging. An electric arc twisting like a whip, a blast of light dispelling it, then a rain of massive ice lances, clawed away by a wave of fire... Erin would have liked to keep watching, were it not for a fancy dressed knight on horseback suddenly striking from the side, grazing her leg with his spear.

“You, I know you !” the knight said ecstatically through his decorated helmet. “This armour, this crest... You're Verald, the traitor ! I'll cut your bitch head off, hah !”

“Eat shit,” she flatly retorted as she avoided a thrust from the spear, before slashing at the mount. Her sword got stuck in the horse's body, and the animal fell to the side, crushing the man's leg. With her shield Erin immobilized the knight against the ground, then unsheathed the dagger at her waist and drove it through his helm's sight slit. Repeatedly, ignoring the screams of the man, screams that stopped soon enough.

She removed her weapon from the horse's cadaver and felt satisfied for a moment, but her glee was disturbed by a high pitched noise and a massive detonation from the other side of the bridge. Several lights flashed brightly in the sky. Whatever spell that was, it didn't felt safe at all. Erin's intuition was confirmed when huge orbs of light came crashing everywhere at high speed, exploding against the walls and destroying towers. Imperial soldiers on the other side of the bridge were blasted away, the ice from the frozen river was cracked, and more generally everyone unfortunate enough to be close to one of these orbs was splattered in a blast of blood and guts.

The same high pitched noise occurred, and another deflagration came. More deadly magic balls flying around. A large part of the rampart crumbled, and some people got crushed by the rocks. Erin avoided an avalanche of large stones by a hair's breadth, but a demon next to her didn't have this chance and got his skull flattened.

Erin turned around with the intent of getting away from everything that could end up falling on her head, but came to a stop as the castle came in her sight. The castle was leaning. Bits of the keep were falling apart and crashing down in the city. Then a good chunk of the upper part simply collapsed to the side, raising a cloud of smoke and dust with the impact.

A sudden hit on her helmet sent her on the ground. A stone, probably. Stunned, her ears ringing, she clumsily reeled away from the danger zone, only to find herself held by the shoulders as she was about to fall again. She got dragged by someone. The black armour told her it was Rudolph. “Still alive in there ?” he asked.

Erin nodded. “I believe so. What happened ?”

She didn't really need to ask. This haphazard, chaotic magic is probably not Karia's, since she cares for her men. And Azcheron did say he wanted to try out some flashy magic...

Rudolph was apparently of the same opinion. “Our esteemed friend almost killed us all, I gather. I'm not sure queen Jacille and counsellor Yva are even alive.” Following Rudolph's gaze, Erin observed the castle. It had collapsed on the side, not on itself. If the queen and her aunt were in the audience hall at the time, there was a chance they were more or less unhurt.

She could hear the battle continuing, but couldn't see any enemy around them, so she took her helm off. Rudolph had dragged her to some open area that perhaps used to be stables, with horses and wounded people laying on the straw. How they could get any sort of rest with the frenzied horses next to them, she didn't know but didn't care either. The gate was being defended by Pelirise's guards, and it didn't seem like there were many Imperial soldiers left in the city, although she didn't know about the other walls. She somewhat hoped Saraela was alive.

Someone blew a horn on the other side of the walls. Her eyes widened when she realized what was happening. “They're sounding the retreat ?”

Erin, Rudolph and a lot of other soldiers rushed to the walls, or what remained of it. From here, they could see Karia's disorganized army, slowly retreating. Some sort of human whirlpool was happening far away, with the occasional explosion or flash of light. That was Azcheron, no doubt.

...Did he win ? If that's the case, he's probably dealing with angry followers of Karia ?

But something felt strange. If it was indeed Azcheron, why wasn't he coming back to Pelirise ? He was getting further and further away. As if... he was being pushed back.

She glanced around and spotted a random guy wearing a robe on the walls. Grabbing him by the collar, she barked at him. “Do some sight magic or something on me, quick !” Seeing his hesitant silence, she gave him an incentive. “Now, or I'll shove that large stone in your rear !”

The mage complied gracefully and Erin gazed at the strange occurrence with her enhanced vision. All she saw was waves of soldiers getting blown away by flashes and blasts – but Azcheron's magic seemed different from what he had been using earlier. It looked... tired and unfocused, and the fanatical soldiers kept gathering and piling up around him.

“We have to go there,” she said, walking back next to Rudolph.

He frowned. “No, we need to clean up the other walls. And what you have in mind is suicide. There's no guarantee he actually managed to kill Karia.”

Erin stared at him and exhaled deeply. “Why are you here anyway ? Being in the north is suicide.”

“...I imagine you'll still charge into this mess, even alone, but I don't plan to stop you.” He paused for a bit. “Maybe I'll tell you why I came here, when you come back. If we both survive.”

“Are you mimicking Azcheron ? This sounds like one of these novel things where the death of one of us is foreshadowed.”

“Perhaps. Better make sure you stay alive then,” Rudolph scoffed. He waved for soldiers to accompany him as he strode in the direction of Saraela's wall.

Not losing a second, Erin ran to the stables, jumped on the less insane-looking horse with a saddle on, and rode through the gates, toward the sea of Imperial soldiers. It was indeed not far from suicide, but she didn't have much of a choice, did she ? After all, a certain someone looked like he needed to be rescued.