“Celesta… is she-”

William laid his fingers on both sides of Victor’s snout. “No, she’s very much alive. She’s off to report that both of my fellow captains aren’t, however.”

“What in the abyss? One’s bad enough, but both?” Jim wiped his brow down with a forearm.

William fiddled with the strings of his crossbow, and looked off into the woods instead of addressing Jim head on. “Believe me, I don’t like this one bit. And it’s not my fault, either. They came up with their own ideas, I had nothing to do with-”

“Just tell me what happened. I don’t need to hear anymore pointless excuses, you’ve said enough of those already,” Jim said.

William drew a drawn out sigh. “It’s these weapons, Jim. The ones that make that sharp cannon-like sound… that kind of look like little cannons, now that I think about it. It’s like a bow, except better. If you so much as blinked, you’d miss the shot entirely. You’d probably be on the ground by the time you realise what hit you. It was absolutely brutal. I saw a whole bunch of people get run down by the things. A whole mouthful of shots.”

Jim rubbed out his eyes with one hand. “Divinity almighty… I got off lucky. They hit me in the leg, and that was bad enough. If that bastard I cut down could actually aim properly, I’d be dead right now.”

Victor gulped, and scratched at his legs. “I guess we’re all lucky to still be alive, aren’t we?”

“Just consider yourself lucky enough to be who you are, red. We’re all almost crapping our pants all the time, thinking of what might happen to us if you end up getting killed,” Jim said.

Victor lowered his head. “My apologies.”

“Hey, cut that out. That’s not his fault and you know it. And let’s not get off track here, not when people are falling dead left and right around these parts,” William said.

Jim shrugged. “Fair enough. We’re all deep in the muck here, I’m afraid. Can’t help it if I get a bit loose at times, ‘s just who I am. Hey, what’s with the long face all of a sudden?”

Victor shuddered. “Oh, it’s nothing, I just, It’s not what I ever wanted, turning up like this.”

William put up his hand. “We know. But this is not the time to fight over nonsense like that. You can worry about that some other time. For now, we got a whole big mess to clean up here.”

“Right… how many dead are we looking at?”

“Some forty, around that number,” William replied. “Oh, and I think a dragon got shot to pieces as well.” Jim kicked at the dirt on the road, before wincing from his injured foot. Then, he shook his head with an exasperated sigh.

“An entire group wiped out over a damned road… by Divinity, if that does not spell doom for what is to happen at Whitestream itself in a few days, then I’ll be damned.”

It was then that the clouds above resumed shedding their tears. But they were not frozen nor slow, as they began to wipe the scars of the dead men off of the disturbed landscape.

* * *

A drizzle moved in. Celesta hurried her way through the vast labyrinth of gear, men and dragons that shielded the town from infiltration. No hawkeyed cannonballs were going to do any damage here, the Front had made sure of that in quick order. She pushed on through, shoving aside man and dragon alike in the process.

“Sorry, sorry! Movin’ on through!”

“Ow! Watch where you’re going, missy!”

“With those damned eyeballs of yours, how in the abyss can you not see where you’re going?!”

“Shush, you! Don’t you dare name that wretched place in the presence of the lord!”

“Busy place,” Celesta muttered to herself. Her claws were still somewhat bloody from the battle earlier. It had come and gone like the spring breeze, and like petals from a flower had she been taken away to spread the word of what transpired on that wretched road. It was information intended for the lord Lothar himself. His name brought fear to all who heard it: For blessed be those he saw as a friend, and woe to anyone he saw as a foe. Even those he saw as a friend couldn’t dispel the fear dwelling in their hearts as his voice boomed. But a job was a job, and so Celesta pressed on through.

Across the town, numerous residents were complaining to any official they could find. Some lingered in the comfort of their homes, hoping all the rugged men and beasts of war would leave them be. It was a very peculiar situation. No other village or town liberated by the front had shut itself off in such a manner. Usually they’d be welcoming them with open arms. But not here. Here it was shuttered curtains, and curious children being pulled away from windows.

At last, after maneuvering her way past the various guards and troops, in the center of the village there was the one and only leader of the Lokahnian Homefront. Alongside him was the brown one, Batharr, chewing away on a leg of one creature or another.

“Commander… I have known your ravenous appetite for many a year, and I know you seem to be in a perpetual state of starvation, yet this has to be a bridge too far for you. Is it any wonder any of the people here are not leaving their homes?”

The brown dragon clicked his tongue in between bites. “Oh, please! You act as if me having a little nibble is the end of the world. Besides, anyone can see that this is meat from a Dweller, right? Everyone is afraid of those, so why would they be scared of me eating one?”

Lothar pressed a claw against the bridge between his eyes. “A little nibble… this is more than just a little nibble, Batharr. You are feasting on something half the size of a human being. And if I were but an unenlightened peasant, I wouldn’t want to walk out to the sight of a dragon of your size devouring such a nightmarish creature as a Dweller.”

“If I were a commoner, seeing that such horrors can be defeated would not be such an issue-”

“Ah yes, a monster being eaten by something which may be even worse. That is the view of the commoner, and it is up to us to make a good first impression. Should we fail in that, then I am afraid it will be a painful few years of convincing them otherwise. Now, put that leg down, will you? It is unsightly, and I have a visitor.”

“Aw,” muttered Batharr, as he tossed the hunk of flesh down onto the snow. Meanwhile, the golden one turned his ambers onto the eyes of the smaller lavender dragoness approaching. Celesta gulped.

My, to think Victor will be just as big one day.

“Why hello there. You are Wraldin’s daughter, are you not?”

Celesta aired out her wings. “Why yes, that is me. You’ve seen me alongside my father a few times, remember?”

Lothar grunted. “Hmm. Ah yes, my apologies, that would be correct. I am not the greatest at remembering faces. But I must say, I have spoken to Wraldin recently, and he had been praying for your safety. I am certain he will be most pleased to hear that is the case, unless there is some hidden ailment which I cannot see nor smell. You appear as rosy and jovial as ever, by the looks of it.”

“Oh, thank you,” said Celesta, her tail playfully swaying over the ground. “You appear as magnificent as ever, my lord.”

The golden dragon raised a claw. “There is no need for such praise, blessed one. Humbleness is a trait of Divinity; only the fools require a torrent of compliments to maintain their ego.”

Celesta scratched at an imaginary itch on one of her forelegs. “Well, alright then.”

“What he means to say is ‘You’re not here to compliment me’,” Batharr chimed in. “Way too many people have ran up to him to do just that in these last few days, and since you’ve just came from the front, you should probably talk about that right now,” the brown dragon said, carefully making use of Lothar’s statue-like staring upon Celesta to nibble away on his hunk of Dweller meat.

Oof, what a rush, Celesta thought to herself, then shook her head. Wait a minute, this is no laughing matter! “I come bearing news from the front, yes. And it is not good. Even though we have taken the road, we have lost around fifty good men, and two of the captains are among them. We were utterly blindsided by the imperials here.”

Lothar’s eyes went ablaze. “What?! Did you not have the winds at your back? How could this have happened?!”

Celesta shook her head, her heart racing against the walls of her chest. “The enemy has a new weapon. A cannon that fits in the hand, with the sound and fury of lightning, so I’ve been told from the others. It’s far beyond anything else I’ve ever seen, it’s downright terrifying.”

The golden dragon breathed, no, growled as his frustrations began to bottle up. The news had come like the storm on the seas. “This cannot do… Not now, of all times. If they can afford to have these weapons on a mere road, then they must have this weapon inside the walls of Westedge too.”

“Well,” said Batharr, a sliver of meat sliding down his throat still, “we’ve faced worse odds. We can find our way around this as well. Look, no one can live without food. If we hold all the roads leading out for long enough, they’d have to lay down their arms eventually, right?”

Lothar rolled his eyes. “Of course you would be the one to bring up their food supply. I agree, however. Any direct assault on the walls would be akin to suicide. The imperials have made sure to completely ransack the woodlands around the city. Our forces will be devastated by the time they can so much as touch the walls, let alone breach them. And an assault from the air is not possible either. The enemy still has plenty of cloudbusters, and Divinity damn us if they are not the finest hawks in the land. This is arduous, and my heart goes out to all the innocents who will no doubt have to suffer in the process. But there is no other way, I am afraid...”

Lothar fell into silence. Celesta backed away a pace, her heart racing: her nostrils filled up with the last scent she wanted to smell. Even the one whose name alone could send people running had become afraid of what the future held. The end had been in sight, the light shone intensely at the end of the tunnel; then like a bolt from the black, the tunnel had begun to cave in.

“My lord…” Celesta spoke in a soft, hushed tone. She had no idea what she wanted to ask; the hollow gaze on her face made it clear enough.

“Now is not the time for fear, blessed one,” said Lothar, having haphazardly buried his emotions under a thin veneer of stoicism. “We will get through this in the end.”

“My lord. My lord!” A different courier came running from the north. “We’re under attack from the north!”

Lothar almost choked on his own tongue. “What?! Guards, have at them! Wipe these thugs out!”

As the clock struck upon a new hour, so did the dust stir up, as several dozens ran off to face this new threat to the north. Celesta was awestruck. “Sir? Should I-”

“No. Stay here! It might be a trap. I will only send in my personal guard- no more will be required.”

“An attack? How bold. What does it mean, though? We have them trapped in their fort now, correct?” asked Batharr, as an ominous gust blew the dust away. Lothar shook his head.

“I do not know. It may be an act of desperation… but my gut is telling me to not underestimate the foe. I faltered once before… I will not falter again.”

* * *

The volunteers came running back from the frontline towards the walls, their now filled bags slung over their shoulders. The rifles holding the walls kept a keen eye on their blind spots, lest one of the fools from the west would try their luck. It was eerily quiet as the city gates creaked open, and the volunteers ran past the barriers and into the city.

Heidi was on the walls, observing it from afar. Alongside her was an imperial officer. Sanctullator’s hired eyes. “Well madam, it would appear this raid of yours was successful. Congratulations.”

“It might not mean much… but at least it is something. With the roads cut, we’ll have to resort to this if we want to survive.”

“Until the armies push them aside, of course.”

“Of course.” Heidi nodded. “When the General sends his reinforcements. But that is still some time off, isn’t it?”

“A few days, give or take. If we can hold these walls for that long, we should be fine.”

Heidi shook her head. “Yes… unless they throw everything they have at our walls. Then we’ll be fine.”

“That might happen, of course. But it will be costly. If we die, Justitia will know it was not in vain.”

“My hometown… my family...”

“It is difficult, of course. But it’s the nature of war, madam. Fret not. In the end, Lady Justitia herself will make sure that the right judgement is passed. If not by our hands, then by hers. Your people will be fine.”

“Yes… yes.” Heidi eyed the empty fields nervously. “We’ll get the cultists. We’ve been after them for eight years, and we’ll be after them for however many years more.”