Jorish sat, enjoying the aromas of dawn, mixing with the aroma leaving the bowl he held in his hands, as he sat opposite to a campfire, waiting for the sun’s presence to provide warmth and light to the lands, he glanced at the men and women suited all around him, each eating their meals as random chatter went around.

He could see tens or even hundreds of faces, yet he could recognize everyone one of them. Some were more familiar than others, his partners and allies, Anise, Dyce, Nao, and Sayaka stood out, leaders of their own squads in Jorish’s battalion. He smiled as he knew they had made the same decision he did, when he traveled with Traves, he gained a new appreciation for food, yet what he had learned as they traveled on was that Traves didn’t simply appreciate food, he appreciated company.

Thus, they all sat there, enjoying the meager meal they had. Joining the common soldiers in their meal as they refused their better rations. The men originally protested, wanting their squad leaders and idols to have the best, yet over time they got used to their company, and it became almost a tradition, so they sat together over the flames, awaiting the battle.

Jorish glanced at Dyce, he saw his never-changing smile and seriousness, the justice-insanity in his speech and actions feeling every familiar, almost unchanged. He moved to Sayaka, sitting between her squad of familiar friends and teammates, now slightly bigger with more men, yet nowhere as unapproachable as she used to be. He could see a hint of a smile on her face, as she chatted with her colleagues and old friends.

Next was Nao, she ate in silence, her eyes glued to the ground, not looking anywhere, as she always did. Jorish didn’t know how or why she requested to be moved to his battalion, he could understand Anise’s, Dyce’s and Sayaka’s, but he knew better than to inquire, instead appreciating the additional fire power.

Finally, he moved to Anise, he saw her chatting and laughing with her squad, yet Jorish could feel it, he knew her for long now, it had been many, many months since they met, and while her village burning had hurt her, she has changed, she was a bit different now. Not broken, yet missing a piece, a piece that died off and faded with every man and woman in her squad dying.

Jorish sighed as he sipped on his soup, the mildly bitter yet salty taste of the broth, pieces of potatoes floating within filled with onions and garlic, almost overpowering the taste of the dish to cover up the quality of the rest of the components. Jorish enjoyed his food slowly, disregarding the hints of an aftertaste he could feel. He looked in his bowl, nothing but a thin layer residing on the bottom. He looked around him, watching as everyone was done, looking at him as they waited for his orders.

Jorish waited, as the piping hot soup remaining turned chilly, the darkness of the skies broken by light, as the sun slowly rose in the skies, slowly yet surely as hours went by, until it was a touch away from reaching its apex. At that moment, Jorish stood, as he downed the rest of his soup before putting the bowl down. He grabbed his spear, smashing it into the ground, wordlessly stepping forward as everyone followed, equally silently. Now, they march on.

A while later, Jorish could see hints of gray break the barrier of the brown sands. He could see the rough stone walls rising into the skies, his eyes widening as he looked around the city, which looked more like a fortress, as countless stones floated all around, painting the city in a paranormal sight. He heard steps behind him, approaching him before speaking.

“First time seeing Graus-toke, huh?”

Jorish turned, looking at Sayaka before nodding as she continued.

“This area has always had an abnormal amount of Energy, causing training here to be much more effective for most. Add that with those floating ledges which are often integrated in the city’s defense, the people’s fanaticism for strength and fighting, and you get one of strongest and most difficult fortresses to break through.”

Jorish stopped, getting deep in thought as he considered their options to break through, before getting interrupted as loud noises of carriages approach them from behind. Jorish felt startled, grabbing his spear as he got ready to face off whatever was ambushing them, before visibly relaxing as he saw the person leading the wagons.

A few moments passed as he saw a person approaching him, he wore white, fancy clothes, adorned with the minimum armor to be functional yet give a feeling of majesty. Looking at the newcomer’s face, Jorish smiled as he spoke.

“Fredek! It has been a while. What are you doing here?”

“You didn’t think I would stand back home when my army was about to face their biggest hurdle now did you?”

“But you…” muttered Jorish as he wanted to avoid speaking his mind, before getting interrupted by Fredek.

“But I am weak? Indeed I am, friend. But you will one day understand, strength isn’t everything.” Fredek winked as he turned back, as Jorish noticed a few gigantic objects rolling forward all around them. Jorish looked at the object as he spoke.

“That is…?”

“Ah, let me introduce you. Straight from the Islands, hybrid Energy cannons! They use both metal and Energy to maximize their firepower. Their only issue is that they can only be used so much, needing hours or even days after even a few usages. Your friend is a very resourceful man, getting us those so fast.”

Jorish didn’t need to ask to know that Fredek was talking about Traves, having him come to mind, he asked, hopeful.

“Fredek, where is Traves? Is he here with you?”

“Unfortunately not, friend Jorish. He is still focused on preparations for the fight against the Witch, they are almost ready, which means we too need to speed up our conquest here.”

Jorish nodded as Fredek moved away, giving random orders to his men as they set the cannons up as well other devices all around. Jorish waited as the rest of army marched around, surrounding the front half of the fortress as some circled around, cannons in tow. Jorish also noticed a few older cannons, with bodies of lead and no sign of Energy circuitry being pushed closer.

Minutes went by as Jorish held his spear, awaiting the moment for the start of the battle. Jorish turned his head, looking at Fredek as he took his position. Fredek lifted his arm, holding a weirdly shaped pistol, firing it into the air. Jorish watched as a green flair flew into the sky, followed by a few more all around the fortress.

A moment later, wooden structures moved from their camps, with small opening for cannons inside and enough space behind to give soldiers cover. Jorish looked in confusion as they moved the older, classic cannons forward, not taking enough men to make use of the cover as they sent tens of those platforms arounnd with the minimum amount of soldiers manning them.

As the moving barricades got closer, they slowed down as the cannons started to fire. Jorish could hear blasts as the cannons kept firing, the cannon balls hitting the walls as a weird reflection shone around the walls, absorbing most of the impact. It didn’t take long for Jorish to recognize what that was from the Energy fluctuations around them.

Artifacts.

Jorish looked ahead, preparing for a drawn out battle, as the barricades stood just in range to slowly bombard the castle, random cannon balls and blasts of energy firing from the floating rocks, hitting all around them, slightly too far to be accurate.

After an hour of firing without much results, the platforms started to roll back as they fell back. This will take a while, sighed Jorish. With the reinforcements Fredek brought and their cannons, it was only a matter of time until the fortress fell, yet time was the one thing they didn’t have. Jorish looked at Fredek, awaiting his next move.

Jorish was taken aback as he stared into Fredek’s eyes, shivering as he spotted a hint of insanity, penetrating into his very soul. A few minutes later, as the platforms fell back far enough, minimum injuries and damages to both sides, Fredek put another shell into his flare gun as he fired it into the skies, a crimson light, painting the skies in blood.

Jorish felt his entire soul freeze as his body tried to comprehend the minutes he experienced after. He understood that hybrid cannons were a great weapon, yet their drawback was that they could not be used continiously, yet what he saw was all the cannons moving forward at once, getting aim at the castle. A few moments went by as the flair in the skies started falling down.

A streak of red colored the sky, an injury though it’s flesh. As the blade that cut the skies fell down, reaching the earth, Jorish lost his senses, thundering, towering sounds shattered the space around, the world was colored not in colors, but in destruction. He couldn’t sense Energy no more, for Energy was everywhere, burning the world.

Yet, it did not stop. Over and over, those cannons kept firing, as Jorish felt the noise press against his body, vibrating him to the very core. It took him a few minutes to regain his senses again, as he glanced through all the light and destruction into the walls of Graus-toke. He saw the walls cracking, the artifact unable to keep up with the onslaught of destruction.

Jorish didn’t understand, soon their guns would stop, giving their enemies a chance to rebuild and regroup, the walls wouldn’t be damaged enough for them to initiate a charge, especially not against their forces. The firing kept going as the walls cracked more and more, many of the floating stones falling to the ground.

Jorish hinted a thread of blue above the walls of the fortress, followed be the sound of another bang unlike the loud screeching roar of the cannons. He looked to the side as a train of azure recolored the world, regaining peace as it flew, as the cannons stopped. Jorish froze, full of questions as Fredek started moving forward. Fredek gestured at him to follow him as he did, words stuck in his throat.

“Fredek, what is…”

Fredek regained his natural smile, hiding his devious outburst as he spoke. “This blue flag is an agreed tradition in the free cities to negotiate. So we could fight the battle on our terms, else their people would not be spared.”

“But Fredek, our cannons are down. We have used everything we had in one go, if those negotiations don’t work out as intended…”

“Indeed, knowing our cannons are down, we are in a big disadvantage… Yet, they don’t know that. When being sieged, your resources and information are limited, for all they know, we could have three times as many cannons, just enough to level them over, candidate or not.”

“And do you trust them to keep their words and not attack you?”

“If it was any other city, I wouldn’t. But Graus-toke is lead by their first divison commander, who is also the stronger man in the city, their 2nd candidate, Vencel. That man is honest to a fault, which is why he is fighting for his alliance even if he knows they are wrong, he wouldn’t betray his own word.”

Jorish nodded silently as he followed behind Fredek, feeling a ting of fear towards his frail, mortal friend. Indeed, pure power might not be everything.

As they got half the way to the castle, a man approached them. He looked to be in his 30s, yet he held a furious glint in his eyes, one that could swallow oceans and burn rivers. Jorish subconsciously gripped his spear harder, feeling the fluctuation of Energy from that man, A candidate. Jorish felt his heart flutter as he thought even further. A strong one too. Fredek gestures at the other man who accompanied them, who swiftly set up an artifact around them. Jorish heard his steps echo through the distance as he moved, feeling wonder at that artifact.

Finally two meters away from each others, everyone stopped. Vencel looked around, glancing at Jorish momentarily before speaking, anger sparking from his eyes.

“Fredek! What is the meaning of this? Where did you get those cannons from?!”

“Vencel. The islands heard of the evil your alliance harbored, sparing to expense to annihlate that darkness. If you know what is the best for you and your people, you would surrender and join us.”

Anger faded from Vencel’s eyes as he sighed before speaking. “You know I can’t do that, Fred.”

Silence reigned* for a few seconds, until Fredek broke the silence.

“In that case, why not settle it with a dragon’s duel?”

Vencel looked at Fredek, giving him a look as if he was an idiot as he asked. “A dragon’s duel duel?! You would throw away your advantage for that?”

Fredek rose his voice, as it echo’d through the entire fortress, enhanced by the artifact.

“We fight here because we must, Vencel. I wouldn’t kill our people. Yet, the Witch lives and terrorizes our very own existence! I would fight, to protect our people. Yet, I would not take their lives in the process, as long as I could. For that, I am happy to compromise. After all, I know you wouldn’t accept any less offers that wouldn’t give you an advantage in some form.”

Vencel grunted, finally aware of Fredek’s trickery yet unable to refute him. He snorted before speaking. “Fine, you got a deal, Fred. We shall fight in those plains, only those who are practitioners or higher. In an hour’s time.”

Fredek nodded as they both turned around, returning to their camps.

As they walked back, Fredek turned to Jorish as he spoke.

“Now, the easy part is done.

What remains is to scale the skies, and brave the impossible.”