Silondras. Named after the mountain range of which it sits. Surviving millennia of progress and wars, desolation, and having been rebuilt twice in its history, this site has obvious importance to the heritage of the Liontarian people. The clans' first emperor was said to have been born on the peak of Mount Silondras, his kin being the first royals of each clan. Even in his demise, the clans cling to their idea of being an empire, despite no man ever reclaiming that sacred throne. The throne of Silondras. It was a beacon, never folding to any threat that had ever come to it, surviving every single attempt of siege. And when James came into possession of this treasure, he vowed to allow it to stand for another ten thousand years. That was his promise, his duty as the last Colton. And over the centuries, they made sure that any attack would be easy enough to defend against. The position was highly defensible. Not only were they surrounded by natural barriers, but with the impossibly high walls, the open plains between them and the meadow, and the countless men who watched fort threats vigilantly, there was no way for a massive army ever to approach the front gate unimpeded. They were an indestructible fortress that had stood against the test of time and continues to prove victorious. The people's trust in their walls, in the crown, in the knights and Paladins has always been uncompromised.

Amond was tasked to break that trust.

It was late in the evening. As the sun began to dip down below the horizon, the plains were entrenched, with the large shadows extending out to reach for the city. The city was still moving; it may take a few hours before movement would slow down. Because of the increased presence of knights on patrol, the wall's security doubling its efforts, and so on; while the people were worried, they trusted that the king was right. That this was all to protect them from something. Something. A golem threw the first rock from the treetops. Approximately a kilometer away, yet it crossed such distance in an impressive arc. If it wasn't for the breaking of the tree line that alerted a disturbance, the wall's garrison most likely would not have noticed right away and managed to get alarm bells warning the occasion. As large as a house, a boulder was moving across the twilight directly over the walls and aiming for within the city. What could they do? It was moving too fast. They could only watch as the boulder passed them overhead and crushed whatever was in their way. Then, there was a sudden flash of light, and the boulder disappeared into a cloud of dust. The thunderous explosion of it'd disintegration echoed into the town, and that immediately stopped every single mind in their daily lives to see what had caused the disturbance. And the alarm bells ranged once more, the calling for evacuation. A siege was commencing. The streets now erupted into sudden panic as people began running for shelter within the main fortress at the city's center. Many more of their large boulders were seen exiting the Forest of Silence and rapidly moving towards the city.

Lupurious landed on the wall, startling some of his men who had just destroyed the first boulder, and staring as more made their way to him, black bullets against the twilight.

Is this it? He questioned himself. Was this the threat that James foresaw for the city? Who is this, and why are they attacking now? How did he know."

"Make sure there are no breaches in the wall," he shouted to all who could hear. "Raise alarms to a total siege, and prepare for a potential assault on the walls. Get a move on now!"

He barely had the breath to spare, as he immediately launched himself into the sky once more. Aura to enhance his physical capabilities and lighten his weight to precisely impact one of these boulders midflight. He didn't dare to destroy them, instead of lightening them as well on impact and allowing it to float gently down while he kicked off to intercept the next one. He did this with several massive boulders that could cause a lot of damage. Some of them even set ablaze. But there were so many, too many. He watched as one quickly zipped past him, headed directly to a busy town center that had yet been evacuated. He kicked off the boulder he had landed on, making it under the boulder to grab it before it impacted the crowd. Some people got pushed aside, but very few were injured. He immediately lightened it and threw it to collide with another not too far away. Another volley was coming. Buildings exploded into shards. He watched as these attacks came one after another. No matter how many he ould stop, some would get past him. He's not at his strongest, as he looked to the retreating sun as it dipped below the horizon, his power dwindling by the second. He watched as a boulder he failed to catch slipped from his grasp and landed against a large tower, severing it in half and falling into eh crowds below. Guards with held shields were far from enough to protect them, citizens, as many were crushed under the tower itself. He heard the screams. That was all he heard besides the thumping of his heart and the erratic ranging of warning bells echoing off the inner walls. As he alighted nearby, another boulder crashed into a building to his left, leveling it in an instant and setting any nearby structure alight in flames. Lupurious ran to assist those only injured, putting them into any capable hands nearby. He stopped himself from dwelling on the deceased corpses he had to walk over to get to those he could save. A woman frantically tugged at a rock that had crushed what appeared to be a young girl. Lupurious didn't help. He could only glance at her, seeing that the girl had been crushed up to her chest, and move on. A soldier had to literally drag her away from the body to move her away from the debris.

The dust did not help move people along, shrouding many paths in thick smoke as fires fueled the darkening cloud. The horizon turned an ugly shade of dusty brown as flames became the beacons of this night, with no one to light the various outdoor posts to guide the citizens. All this while getting weaker and weaker, slower and slower, and losing strength even to lighten boulders. He could not last like this for long in the dead of the knight. He missed yet another boulder, but this time it settled on him as he, along with it, crashed into a two-story house and the basement floor. The impact rattled his whole body, his brain bouncing in his head and threatening to lose consciousness, but alive. He picked himself up in a daze, looking around to see a family in avid shock looking upon him, huddled in a corner away from the debris.

"Don't move from there," Lupurious was unsure that was what they had heard as yet another boulder crashed somewhere above them, causing the ceiling to rattle and dust to fall. He jumped back through the hole, back into the frenzy. As far as he could see, a large section of the outer ward of the city was set on fire. Whatever oily substance that was coating the rock was slow in going out and made it very easy for flames to spread via the debris it created, but he noticed that the boulders were getting closer and closer to the fortress itself, where the majority of citizens were guided to. It had only been twenty minutes, and he was beginning to feel the fatigue of his rapid use of aura.

"More knights," he whispered to himself. Then, bounding off onto the rooftops of various buildings to make his way towards the central fortress. Adrenaline rang in his ears.

(X)

"What is going on?" Gray heard the crashing. No, he felt it. He rushed out from the basement, where he had spent the majority of the day helping his father in the forge. Out of instinct, he had grabbed his sword on the way out, unsheathing it. He had no armor ready, the armor he brought for the trip in repair, and him in his commoner clothing. But he could see soldiers move about, shouting to everyone in the artisan district to make for the shelters under the main fortress of Silondras. He need not ask what was happening, as he could see several falling boulders overhead, even one headed down towards them. He quickly surmised where it was going to land, the sculpture's shop. He could sense someone in there still. He did not hesitate. By channeling aura to his spine and legs, he bounded off into the air to slam the flat of his blade into the rock. A small part of his cringed from the damage the blade may endure, but still, it shattered the rock into far more harmless chucks to scatter about. He landed on the sculptor's house, only to see yet another, larger one land in the nearby foliage and explode. The boulder apparently filled it with some kind of oil because any nearby structure or tree caught fire on the spot, including the pen full of horses. He ran as fast as possible, using water to control the water from a nearby well to come gushing out in aspire and wash it over the entire area. Those unlucky few bystanders caught in the middle of this devastation were not so lucky, even with his efforts, as soldiers and towns guards rushed in to give medical aid to any survivors.

What is happening? He thought, though, in his heart, he knew what this was. This was the nail in the heart. The fear he had felt revisited. He rushed back to his shop, pushing through crowds of workers running with children or valuables in hand to make it across the market ward and into the fortress. He found his father running out of the shop, seeing the carnage unfolding in wide eyes. He was as stiff as a board, seeing the unfolding catastrophe before calling out for Gray.

"Dad," Gray stopped before him. HE pointed his sword towards the general flow of the crowd. "Hurry and get to the Fortress. Don't wait for me. Hurry."

"Wait!" His father reached out o grab him, but Gray was already off, in the blink of an eye running along rooftops to continue. He heard his father but knew that he had to keep moving on. They needed him. He heard the screams, the terror that came with this sudden attack. Something within him refused to allow him to stop and care only for his father, as pained as it was for him even to think that. He had a duty, a vow as a knight to uphold. The citizens needed him-the other knights. Elena, Massua, they all did. And as he made his way out, seeing other knights who got the call to action destroying one projectile after another, desperately keeping them from crashing, an increasingly futile effort. Everyone made efforts to defend the city till at least a majority of the population made it to shelter. He noticed as several catapults were being hoisted up wooden elevators atop the massive walls, presumable for some retaliation. But this made no sense. How is it that they had no mention of an incoming army? How could Talin mount such an assault so suddenly? A dozen questions rolled over his head as he used his abilities to put out various fires where he could. But, some of the fires wouldn't stop, still alight despite being doused over. With these, he had to leave behind to deal with more pressing threats. First, he had to get to Silondras.

(X)

Massua suddenly awoke to the sound of thuds and crashing in the distance. Instincts within her forced her to get, grabbing the nearest weapon-like object, a candlestand to defend herself with. She was only met with a dark room, her mother also awake and staring out of a nearby window that overlooked the city. The doors were wide open, nobles and tons of guards frantically climbing through the halls for any available shelter within the mountain itself. Her mother looked silently into the night as fire and brimstone rained down upon the city in mass. She couldn't believe the sight. A siege on Silondras? Dread filled her as memories of the attack by that winged creature seized her, froze her. She could feel his cold touch on her skin already.

Celia turned to her daughter. She already had sage gauntlets on. "Get to the bunkers within the mountain," she said, pushing what appeared to be a shortsword into her daughter's hands. "Find Elena and stay safe."

"No, I want to fight with you," Massua said to her. That gave her mother some pause, looking into the eyes of Massua. She has changed. She always had the warrior spirit, she supposed. But at this moment, such spirit would only serve in her demise. Celia pushed her out of the room into the hall, using aura to increase the mass and weight of the doors till they were practically unmovable by Massua alone. So she was left in the halls that were quickly emptying, pounding on the doors with all the might she could muster, efforts futile. Finally, it was only a few minutes before she heard someone call out her name, turning to see Elena in full knight's gear, a shield in hand, as she made her way to Massua. As soon as the siege began, Elena knew that she had to come here. Guards had already spread the words, it seemed, and everyone was headed to the basements to enter the bunkers built within the mountain itself.

"We have to go, Massua," Elena said, immediately grabbing her arm and moving her away. Massua still resisted.

"She's still in there," she yelled back at Elena, who stopped and looked at the door. It was radiating with aura still. But with a well-placed kick to destroy the hinges, they found only an empty room and an open window with curtains flaying at the upturned breeze. It appeared that Celia would put matters into her own hands.

(X)

The priority of the guards within the castle, above the safety of the castle's own residence, was the safety and safekeeping of the king himself. James had awoken as everyone else, but he was far more prepared than anyone, as well. Never before has Fate called to him more than now. He felt his body urged to a destiny that awaited him, a purpose to be fulfilled as both the sword and the torch. And the only way to determine which e shall die as is out there. Sentinels pounded his locked doors, shouting his name to come out so that he may be escorted to a separate bunker for security. That was the protocol. But he knew this cowardice was only a temporary matter against the inevitable. As he pulled on the ring that housed his own set of armor, the door burst open, revealing a somewhat wounded Lupurious and Novie with her radiant swords, creating a halo behind her. Both are fully geared for this entire siege.

"James," Lupuious yelled to him. "We must get to the shelter. It will not be long before they begin some sort of attack on the castle itself."

"I know," he told them. "And no, I shall not be hiding behind my kingdom. I am needed out there."

"Don't do this, my king," Novia said pleadingly. "We are your sword and shield, the Paladins. Allow us to do as we must and protect this city and you from our invaders."

"I'm sorry, Novia, but you know that this is my time," the king said. "I hear their screams, the screams of those that I love and must protect. Therefore, I must answer them no matter what."

"What are you talking about? We must-" She was stopped by a firm hand on her shoulder as Lupurious stepped forward with an aggressive look on his face. He could feel frustration leaking from the man, at the point of his weakest in the midst of the night. He had been the one to initially stunt the efforts of this bizarre siege, now weakened from his efforts.

"If this is it, James," his voice pained for resolve, but his salute ranged true. "Then allow us to see your final moments. The sentinels will be your guard till your final moments."

James didn't sense any falsities within Lupurious, not that he would try such a thing. Lupurious knew him far too well and knew the strength in James' heart and mind. This was what they had prepared for the last six months, and they refused to allow the people to suffer. He nodded, then held up his fist, housing the ring on his finger. In a flash of light, he was dawned in his golden armor, and the sword James swore his oath upon at his side. He almost absently went for the pendant as well but quickly reminded himself of its uselessness. Instead, he walked out into the hall. He shall be the fourth king ever to have to do battle within the city. The first was their founder, fighting off a siege from a human kingdom to establish this base for the empire. The next was Collas, who saw a siege that lasted thirty days. He was said to of massacred at least a thousand men, every day going out to face the enemy with his own paladins till the enemy was forced to flee or retreat. And finally, his own father, the ninety-day siege in which the civil war came to its close. And now, James Colton stands as guardian on the people against the invisible enemy that now strikes. He made his way to the front gates to greet them.

And as he walked into the halls, finding at least two dozen Sentinels waiting for orders, he felt a sickening presence beside him. A sentinel, one of the new ones. He suddenly reached out towards James from behind Lupurious himself. A hand exposed, revealing pale skin, and the tattoo signified him belonging to them, the enemy. This sudden dangerous presence was made known to all of them in an instant, an insidious purpose that had remained concealed until now. And in the moments before Lupurious could release a blow to reduce this sudden enemy to ash in an instant, they did touch James on his arm, and a large flash of light erupted in this hall.

(X)

Remmus felt a stir in the powers that be. Something was wrong, terribly wrong. He never felt like this before, not since his time as a godslayer. It whispered danger in his ear, and he immediately rose to his feet, grabbing his spellbook from the table and moving to a nearby window. Out on the harbor, he could swear he could see men rise from the waters, climbing aboard ships and launching various things into the cities. They were golems, thousands of them perhaps launching a siege? How did they make it to the island? How were the ravens unaware of this incursion? This must be it, the dagger that Talin wishes to drive into their hearts. The dagger is in the shape of fear. With the sudden siege, it will take time for the military to mount any kind of response. That is why he needed to be there. The grandmaster is needed. There were few actual master class mages at this moment, most off on their own estates elsewhere on the island or their own self-appointed assignments, meaning they were far less prepared now than ever to

His door opened, and several members of the Cardinal guard entered, staffs alight with power ready to be unleashed. They bowed upon seeing him, though their words were urgent.

"Master," they said in unison. Then one called: "Enemies make themselves known at the harbor."

"I can see that, thank you," Remmus closed the windows, swiftly moving to pick up his cloak. "Quickly get the word out to all available mages. This is Security threat level one, full siege from an unknown enemy. I want full focus on the harbor and-"