The king’s speech failed to occur.

The moment he unfolded his notes and began his pantomiming, a monumental explosion erupted in bright light through the southern window. People smarter than me understood what was happening immediately. I think even Lotil understood before I could. In fact I’d say her face was almost the calmest. The king, quickly stepping up beside her, was equally as calm though. I suppose that’s a warrior for you.

Pounding a quickly acquired sword onto the ground to silence the mumbling crowd curious of where the blast originated the king began to speak. “The day we feared is here my friends.”

These simple words forced the truth into anyone doubting the cause of the magic rapidly hammering outside the windows. Again, the meeker among them erupted into whispers between each other.

“And I don’t call you friends out of any individual respect for you. I can say that without doubt actually.” The king chuckles with a glance around the room. “Most of them already long passed simply to bring us to this moment. Now, I can already see that most of you want to prattle to each other about ways of escape. And I somewhat understand that. Because if demons are here that means the boundary has fallen. And if the boundary falls, so too does the country. So, we either become the boundary now or we become the road. A sword through the heart or a horn through the ass? I’ll say it again, I’ll understand if you want to escape. But I’ll never forgive you! So, decide. Die with guilt, running away like cowards, or die in the heat of battle with brethren beside you?”

“We die either way?!”

“Unless a miracle happens.” The king laughs pounding his sword once again and pulling it from the sheath. A bright light poured from the blade lighting the ballroom even more than the initial explosion. “And everyone knows miracles happen a dozen times an hour on the battlefield!”

The heroic light of the blade was blinding for most, but my mind was preoccupied by recursive thoughts.

Demons are here.—?

Am I the thickest one of the group?

How can demons be here? Dad and Skule are protecting the border, so how did the demon’s frontline move so far past the three chokepoints?

It’s a fluke then. A demon who snuck through the line and started wreaking havoc in the capitol. Probably a lizard type or a quad. They can be hard to kill, which explains why there were so many explosions.

That makes so much more sense. The king got everyone riled up for…

*SMACK*

Ow.

“Listen to me!” A voice shouted into my ear for the nth time. Finally hearing the voice I turn to look at the blurry figure. “You understand what you must do, right? Collect it and run! You understand?”

Coll… Run, where?

“I’ve got him.” Another voice interjects ripping into my arm with familiar gloved fingers and stringing me towards the castle entrance of the ballroom. Shortly behind the two of us Tasha, Lotil’s personal maid was holding up the rear as our group broke traffic towards the inner chambers of the castle.

How can I notice all that, but not comprehend what’s happening? “Demon’s can’t be here. It must be a random…”

“It’s not random. The demon army is here.” Lotil confidently spouts to my rambling, without pausing her path towards what must be the direction of the vault.

“But… the twenty-six frontier legions and…”

Stopping in her track almost caused me to bump her but miraculously I stopped myself with pinpoint precision. Her back was still and her body seems calm but there is a tension underneath. Finally lifting her head from where she gaze she very simply stated the facts. “The southern border fell three hours ago. Probably sometime between the chamomile pot and the second tray of...”

“That’s not possible! My dad is the strongest warrior in the world. And Skule is completely uncontested in strategy there’s no way the demons could break that line.”

I could see Lotil cock her head momentarily at the first part but she let it pass without comment. “Then we agree on the principles.”

“… What?”

“Skule couldn’t allow the line to break, and your father would need never retreat, am I right?”

“…”

“Then with those as the variables how does the demon army arrive at the gates of the capital?”

I see what she is getting at. “All the more reason not to run away. I’ll take them on myself if I hav…”

I’ve never heard such a clearly fake laugh, but again, her meaning was clear enough. “You will?”

Roughly grabbing at my hand, Lotil wrenches it in front of my eyes.

“See any marks?!” She shouts with a fingernail digging into my spotless wrist. “How about here?”

Grabbing my other wrist to do the same she releases them and shows her own in turn.

“Here neither!” She reiterates before turning to Tasha who quietly awaited behind us. “How about you?”

“It’d be a shock to me.” Tasha mutters quietly flipping her hand to show the same.

“No hero’s here!” Lotil concludes with a shrug. “So today, you are useless. Just do as told. Just do your duty.”

▐◊▌▐◊▌

“Another!” Tirus shouts pointing above a nearby home.

It will never cease to amaze me how fast he can spot an enemy. Holding up a thick wooden bat I begin to silently chant.

Two seconds.

All it takes.

Another explosion grazes the roof of the house obliterating both the quad and a dozen imps who had ridden it in.

“Two O’clock.” Tirus shouts noticing I haven’t opened my eye yet.

Thank god. I can already feel my retina getting torn apart each time I have to readjust after the blast. Changing my angle to match his instruction I only blink my eye for a moment.

A one second chant should be enough. And it might just postpone my blindness for a few more moments.

“We form the frontline here! Those quick on their feet, escort civilians towards the noble quarters!”

“Yes sir!” A chorus of voices clamber back at him.

That must be the King. Took him long enough.

“I don’t suppose you have heard anything?” The kings voice again calls out. I assume he is talking to me. Cracking an eye carefully indeed it seems to be the case.

“I was hoping the opposite your majesty.”

“I see. And your mana. Can you keep it up? Mages from the court are gearing up as we speak so feel free to fall back.”

Taking the eyepatch from my left eye and pulling it over the bridge of my nose I open my eye and slowly adjust it to the light. “If you’ve got a spare sword, I could probably swing for awhile. I was incog when the attack started so all I’ve got is a dagger and this.”

Tapping the crumbling small staff on the ground carelessly I retrieve the sword tossed to me gratefully. Swinging the familiar heft a few times, a grin grows on my face as I realize the intended user of this blade.

“Shall we?” The king asks retrieving his own sword with a manic look.

“For my brother.”

“And for Lloyd!” The king bellows igniting his sword with a pulse of mana once again.

A great number of the nearby demons scamper away from the powerful light but if they are anywhere near, then its far too late. A swing of his sword and hundreds of Lizard demons and Imps scatter into dust.

Following behind the lumbering man carefully, I take out a quad first by cutting down its forelegs. Collapsing onto the Imp’s taking refuge, I hack at its wide throat and kick off deep into a crowd of Lizards.

‘Lizard demons are interesting’ dad used to say. They are bipeds but they follow a sort of herd mentality which can make for easy killing but also added danger. They have no verbal communications, their ‘war cry’ is the same as the ‘help cry’. This can be advantageous to heated battles if you are aware of how to harness it.

Since they only attack what they see, if you leap deep enough into a pack you can split a herd as the rest keep moving forward. This makes it much less dangerous and much easier for typical soldiers to handle the subsequently smaller waves.

Of course, the danger is much higher for the splitter themselves, since they basically have to hold off an entire line until reinforcements can finish clearing up the lizards who made it past the split.

But, I’m a Hyde. We invented this move.

Lizards, Imps, Dog style quads, and even the more dangerous lump quads, are all no problem for a Hyde.

So. Who did it then? Something we haven’t seen in a while?

A Dragon? A Lich? A Drago-lich?

No, shake it off. Ignoring the thoughts, I turn to see how the King’s side is doing. We are pushing forward almost evenly, I moved the frontline two blocks and the king cleared three.

Probably noticing my glance, the king leapt over a rather large group of Imp’s dropping a number of stones as he went.

One unlucky soul caught the damn thing, freezing him into a cheering statue. The rest of the stones, hitting on target, cover the street and surrounding Imps in a layer of ice. Without even glancing back he again swings his sword decapitating a row of lizards and tossing one final stone.

I’m not sure what it did but they were there and then they just weren’t. As if it were always a mirage. Clean street even, not a scrap of trash.

The rest of the area still looked like a battle zone though. And every second more and more demons crawled over the wall and further reinforced the invading party.

“Three blocks each. Good work.” The king says as the line moves up to the area the king just cleared.

“Right.” I chuckle with a reluctant fist in the air. “Teamwork.”

“That’s the spirit!” The king laughs with a palm landing roughly to my upper back. “Always fun to fight with a Hyde.”

“W… What about the other?” I hesitantly ask glancing up at the monster of a man.

“Protected and accounted for. Should be on their way by now.”

Relieved, I breath a heavy sigh. “Good.”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.” At the king’s words, I notice it too.

Patting my forehead with a shirt sleeve and resetting my sword I breath a gulp of air while I still can. “That’s a lot of mana. Are those all…”

▐◊▌▐◊▌

Again I was pulled deeper into the castle. She’s right, I know. It’s in the best hands possible but…

I’ve got nothing. My mind is half blank, half distraught.

I would have stayed in that state too if not for our arrival to a familiar place with familiar faces.

What was the name?

I want to make sense out of anything, so let’s start here.

I met him on the first day I arrived here. It was something memorable. ‘L’ something. Leo… Lector, Lector Baines!

“Lector Baines.” I mutter, now sure of myself again. Atleast I know one thing. With this maybe I can get a base on which everything else can settle.

“You remember my name.” The man laughs as he looks up from the work he was apparently performing around the vault’s entrance. “That makes me happy.”

Him, along with the other researchers all glance to each other before sharing a collective chuckle between themselves. Returning to work double pace, the men begin drawing thick red lines over the chalk they had been preparing.

I know what that liquid is. But who’s, and why do they need so much? The king said to collect it. Am I here to collect it? What does that mean?

The Hero’s Vessel?

That’s impossible.

“Stand back, Aryn.” Lotil grimly whispers, grabbing my arm and pulling me a step away from the elaborate circle the five men were simultaneously completing.

“What are they doing to it? Only the h…”

My words fell off my tongue though. All five reached the center with their respective lines of the elaborate array. As the five streams of blood met in a central pool a bright red glow began to pulse irregularly through the newly formed seal.

Lector tilted his head up as the final drop of blood left his pitcher, and I won’t forget what he did as they each tumbled to the floor into a heap.

He smiled at us. Like he was smiling at a future. Like he saw true hope.

But I’m not that. It’s not like I’m the hero.

I’m here to run, not save the day.

So, didn’t he throw away his life for nothing?

“Aryn!” Lotil again shouts. “The vault! Open it!”

Fumbling I take the necklace out from under my shirt and hold it carefully in front of me. The gem in the center is apparently glowing and probably has been since the ritual began. Stepping slowly, as if to avoid befalling the same fate as those five before me, I stumble forward.

By the fourth step it began. The chain of the necklace unraveled and twisted into a loop floating above my hand and the gem. With the chain fully tout, the gem began to dim in brightness gradually. A handful of seconds later, once almost all the light looked to be gone from the gem, it erupted into streaks of physically manifested mana. With the gem now gone, these petals of mana slowly curl around the chain until a bundle is all that remains.

The glow in the hallway diminishes and rapidly all the blood pooled before me bursts into thick black smoke.

Is it…

“It’s over.” Lotil nods as the vault settles back into my grip. Grabbing my hand she begins tugging me back from the pile of disintegrating flesh and blood.

“Why did they…”

“Do you really want, or even need, to ask that?” Lotil quietly asks as I struggle backwards. “We can’t waste time. Don’t let their deaths be in vain. Tasha, which way?”

“Left. Voices are coming from the primary route.”

“Roger.” Lotil responds tugging me towards an intersection of hallways.

Shouldn’t we follow the sound of voices? Why would we purposefully…

“Humanoids…”

“So, you know your history, good boy.” Tasha whispers at my awestruck realization.

Hallway to hallway we weaved until finally in a recognizable area again. The library should be two ballroom length’s north and the residence hallway is just around the corner. Where exactly are we heading anyways?

“Tasha we don’t have ti…” Lotil begins to chastise as the sound of footsteps stop falling behind us.

“I’m sorry milady. I can’t go any further. Mouse hunting must come first.” At the words from Tasha’s mouth, a burst of speed erupts from her legs and she lunges at the wall opposite us.

I thought she was going to kill me for a moment but she clearly passed me by and nearly caved in the wall in front of us.

Between her, and the sand and gravel that remained of the wall, was the mangled form of a humanoid with round scaly ears and a coat of thin fur lining his face and arms.

“They’ve got great hearing. And where there’s one.” Tasha begin before leaping out of the crevice and up to the rafters where she delivers a kick square into the nose of another humanoid figure. “There’s dozens.”

As her words fall sounds begin coming from all three hallways behind us.

“Go princess.” Tasha reiterates before untying the bonnet from her chin and flipping up two long slender ears. “Let me handle any of the savages who dare make a move against my family’s legacy.”

Again, an impossible burst of strength erupts from her small frame as she grips one Demon by the rounded ear and tosses him into another group sending them all tumbling.

Without another second of flinching Lotil again drags me by hand in the direction of the library wing.

“…” Wordlessly I follow but thing seems to just be getting more incomprehensible. Humanoid demons are more than just legend? And they’ve already infiltrated the castle?

Tasha.

What is she? Why was she living as a maid if she’s that powerful? She said something about family legacy, is she somehow related to the royal family? Or was she referring to…

If I had to guess the king must be involved somehow. But if she is that strong why not position her on the frontline with…

As my mind wandered around easy and tough subjects, we apparently reached the library.

“Wake up.” Lotil half-whispers with another clap onto my cheek. “No time for day dreaming. We need to get the tunnel open and…”

“Tunnel…” I mutter, finally able to pull a shred of my thoughts together. “I’m really expected to run?”

“Do you think my father’s speech meant nothing?”

That speech. Honestly it was impressive. It even made me want to fight. Who would turn their back after something that rousing. Which is exactly what I mean. “How can I run when they are fighting for their lives out there. We have the armory now, maybe we can go and….”

“STOP!” Lotil again shouts slapping my face with more force than the first two combined. “Your job is to run. My father had you undergo a pledge, to follow his commands. Before anything you must follow the kings command. Weather it bring you pain or anything! Don’t you remember?! Why do you think he made you pledge to that?”

“That’s…!” I attempt to rebuke but Lotil has already begun pulling me towards a wall mounted book case. Reaching for a book labeled ‘Histories of the Kingston Family Line and Their collapse,’ several pistons and spells begin releasing around the wide rack of books.

With the tunnel open, and a wide spiral staircase winding infront of me Lotil wrenches me to face her abruptly.

With a line of tears lining her eyes she pulls my head down by my tie and plants her lips against mine heedlessly.

My mind is still in jumbles, but I don’t fail to kiss back. It as if my body is reacting on its own instinct. I don’t know why but I suppose I could hazard a few guesses. Eventually pulling back from me with a thin string connecting us Lotil bites her lip and faces the door of the library.

“Go. I’ll close the doors behind you and make sure you have a good head start at least. Head north once you reach the f…”

“OK that’s enough! That’s absurd! I’m not leaving you here. We can run together an…”

“Above all else, above money, above blood, above state, the sword must be protected. Do you think that means nothing to us? Do you know why they are fighting? You asked about the speech, about why you should run when my father said the opposite. That is the reason. Those people are dying for you without even knowing, and you want to argue about this now? Even if everyone in the nation must fall for you to escape, we will have won the day. Even if you have to sire the hero yourself, you must survive!”

“Remember what you told me all those years ago? The words you said that stopped me from crying from that night on?”

“…”

“It’s time for me to step up. To stiffen my lip. Now, will you let my last memories of the boy I love be ones of cowardice or will you be brave?”

I want to answer but she didn’t allow me the opportunity. Stepping quickly out the door to the library and shutting it behind her, she had sealed my options.

I follow her out the door; or I run.

I’d like to say I followed her. But in that moment of choice I felt something vaguely familiar. Pain, anger, torment, a voice, and that same feeling I felt when I laid my hand on the heart in the throne room.

I’d like to say I ran because any rational person would.

But I just ran.

I’d like to say I heard Lotil’s footsteps behind me on my way down the endless spiral staircase. But I didn’t.

And I knew I wouldn’t

Because she is brave. Probably braver than I will ever be.

Even facing the demon army itself, she will, even if only for a moment, delay them. As she promised me.

▐◊▌▐◊▌

Just too many. We kill one and three replace it. I’ve already broken two sword and probably an arm.

We weren’t prepared for humanoids in these numbers. One on the battle field could normally turn tides but there must be hundreds here.

Even the king, who seems used to fighting these fiends, is seemingly struggling under the sheer numbers.

Tirus died.

I didn’t see it happen, but his head is completely crushed. Probably the breath of a lump quad.

Actually, I think my entire squad is dead. I haven’t seen Wix since the king began reinforcing us. And Trunbot died in the first surge according to the platoon he led here.

I think the only reason I am able to keep up this fight is the smile on the King’s face. Perhaps we are fighting for the same reasons. To relieve glory days we had forgotten, and to experience the ones we endlessly heard about in stories.

“…’d be proud.” The kings voice called over the howl of battle. I didn’t catch the first part but I got the message.

Lifting a staff from a fallen court mage I begin to channel with the protection of a few nearby elite guard.

As they wrestle off the humanoid and Imp’s endlessly trying to jam my casting I finally enter the third line of my chant.

“This might just kill me.” I mutter with a chuckle in between verses as I read off the pages in my memory.

With a small spark forming on the tip of my staff, the king and even a few of the remaining court mages stare in disbelief at the accumulating mana. Most know about death knell’s but few had ever seen one forming into a spell firsthand. A few even thought it was nothing more than a urban legend.

The demons too seem to have noticed and are packing around my position vying for a chance through the encirclement in attempt to interrupt the casting.

With the king growing giddy over the size of the group around me he lets loose with his fractured sword cutting away row after row.

Finally finishing the ninth aria, I open my eyes only to find a figure floating in the air exactly where my focus was centered.

I felt dread. Pure unadulterated fear, a feeling I had nearly forgotten.

Releasing the mana almost inadvertently out of pure shock, the staff in my hand rips to shreds as the spark vanishes from the spot and begins rocketing towards this floating figure who sat waiting patiently.

The spark struck the other-worldly figure less than a half second after firing. That light was the last thing I saw.

I didn’t see the figure brushing off the cinders on his fingers, or the hand accumulating mana at a scale even beyond my own. I didn’t see this demons response to my attack.

A thousand fold? Probably more.

It didn’t matter in the end. It would be enough.

▐◊▌▐◊▌

A death knell. The pulse of mana attributed to the loss of life. They say even a single powerful mage dying can send a pulse over fifty miles.

What about the population of a city? What would that death throe feel like?

“How many…” I croak before another eruption of vomit spills through my clenched jaw.

Instinct tells me to keep moving but my knees are frozen to the hot soggy stones beneath me.

Did I know any of them?

Were any of them my friends?

Was Lo…

What am I even asking?

They are all gone.

There should be no doubt. The demon lord is here and humanity has fallen.

This will be our end.

So with that being said, why are my legs still motivated to move? Should I really question it? Lurching myself from the collapsed heap with what little strength I have, I begin again towards the red light of the setting sun at the distant end of the tunnel.

Sanctuary. Freedom, so close at hand.

The heat of the spring sun growing closer and closer as I meander through the cave gave me sparks of hope with each step.

Nothing made sense but I refuse to question anything anymore. So far it’s gotten me nowhere.

Just one step. Then another. Then I will be safe again.

One step, then another.

One step.

Just one step.

But then, there were none more to take.

The entrance of the escape tunnel. A stone arch jutting from a stone outcropping. Trees and heavily forested area lay outside it.

Or so was the story.

All I saw were flames though. Thousands of feet high, licking at the trees endlessly, and heaving thick black smoke in every direction.

Out of the frying pan, into literal hell.

Falling to the ground with a self-pitying laugh I begin taking off my jacket and shirt.

If I’m going to die I’d rather it happen quickly. I don’t want clothes engulfed in flames burning me alive. Maybe smoke inhalation would actually be an easier way to go. Or should I just go back down the tunnel and find one of those rat demons?

No, I chose this path. I won’t wuss out the moment my choice reaches a dead end.

‘When we can’t find a path. We make our own.’

My fathers’ words ring no truer than now. But what about when a path is uncreatable?

Continuing to unbutton my shirt as death approaches a sudden thought passes my head. A last-ditch idea perhaps.

“There’s no way, right?” I ask, lifting the materialized hero’s vessel from where Lotil linked it to my belt. Reaching my hand in and rummaging around, I feel no sides or bottom, it felt similar to the vault.

So, then what would happen if…

For instance if…

Hypothetically, one were too…

Breathing deeply, I unlink the ornate chain clasp on the armory and kick my legs into it’s opening. Again, I feel nothing but the various contents of the hero’s armory under my feet. Wrapping the bag around my waist I carefully scoot off the edge of the bag holding the rim carefully. Lowering my body gingerly I again breath deeply and flip the rest of the bag over my head and fingers.

With a thump, the bag drops, and my body with it.

Peering around, I indeed find myself inside the dark recess of the armory just as I remember it, only much larger. But before I could feel relief my mind began to fade into darkness and the walls seemingly caved in around me.