AO 4 Ch 35 (Patreon)

Chapter 35

Melida fidgeted nervously waiting for the letter that would determine the fate of the kingdom to arrive.

“Lay down.” Brusset patted the bed he had been warming up.

“Can’t.” Melida peered out the window, looking down at the road leading to the fort. “This is too important. I can sleep later.”

“You won’t be able to act on anything until morning.” Brusset said the reasonable thing, as usual.

However, her mind wasn’t a fan of ‘reasonable’ at present.

She needed to know the result of the Elder Trial before she could put her mind at ease.

A rider rushed down the road and Melida leaned out the window to see if she could pick up on the results by their gait alone.

They were in a damned hurry, but that was all she could tell in the dim firelight.

“Finley!” She called.

The slim man rolled out of the bed on the other side of Brusset. “Fine, fine. I’ll go get the letter.” He was in a set of finely pressed pajamas, but that didn’t stop him from jumping out the window and into the night.

Melida bit her thumb and started pacing. “If Carmilla won, we’ll head north. You’re people would shelter us at least for a season, right?”

“They would, but they do not like outsiders.” Brusset rolled onto his back. “Wake me when you’ve stopped fretting over things we will learn in only moments.”

Melida grabbed her pillow and hit the big anchor in the head with it. “I’m stressed!”

“Yes, you are. I don’t have to be, but you seem intent on forcing your stress on everyone around you.” Brusset gave her a flat smile.

“This is a big deal. The Enclave hanging in the balance will change the entire country, to the point that House Trevis could fall under siege.” She threw the pillow back on the bed before throwing her arms up in the air.

“House Trevis will be fine as long as there is a war that requires you.” Brusset said calmly. “Things won’t be that dire.”

Finley appeared on the windowsill again and handed Melida the sealed letter.

She tore it open with a nod of thanks and stepped back so he could enter the bedroom again. The letter was long. She unfurled the three pager and started reading as fast as she could.

A gasp tore out of her throat.

“What?” Finley asked with a vague disinterest in his mannerisms. It was his political training at work to always seem uninterested to hide his true intentions.

“Hold on.” Melida held up a finger as she continued reading, going onto the second page and gasped again.

“Okay, now after all that, you are going to make us wait longer?” Brusset asked.

“I thought you could wait.” She narrowed her eyes playfully over the pages. “Then wait.”

Brusset rolled his eyes and laid back in bed. “What did Ard do?”

“Killed two elder mages.” Melida said offhandedly.

“Wait, what?” Finley’s feigned disinterest shattered.

“Mmmhmm.” Melida got to the third page and kept reading until the end and flipped back to the first to read it again. “Carmilla killed her first challenger and the anchor of the second. Gwen Aldis stepped up and appeared to be winning until something happened and she halted her magic looking dazed. She barely protected herself from Carmilla and returned to the offensive when Carmilla coughed up blood and her spells faltered. Gwen Aldis’ spell killed her before she could stop it.”

“That’s not good.” Brusset said from the bed. “Civil war has broken out?”

“There was a standoff between all the current elders, as well as the King’s men and the old bastards from a few families on our side. Apparently that’s when Arden stepped up and killed two Elders instantly, breaking the standoff. The king backed down.” Melida’s voice was almost giddy.

“Arden.” Finley put his hands down low. “The little mage you picked up just last summer? I can’t believe it.”

“He wasn’t that small.” Brusset mumbled from bed. “He’s grown at a remarkable rate.”

“My grandfather doesn’t know how Arden accomplished the kills. Zuri’s reports are full of very purposeful gaps. We can gather this isn’t the first time he’s used some extraordinary magic.” Melida said.

“So, he’s getting better at it.” Brusset nodded. “You might have to be polite to him.”

“Na. He’s still Ard or he wouldn’t be prancing around the Capital pretending to be a villain. Grandfather says he’s been hit hard when he killed two of House Aldis earlier this week when Carmilla captured them and attempted to use them as hostages. If anything, he had a bone to pick.” Melida read the letter and between the lines.

“Could Ard be the reason for the strange occurrences in the Elder Trial?” Finley offered.

Melida shrugged. “We’ll ask him when he gets here.” She practically danced around the room to grab Finley and kiss him. “We didn’t just get a one seat advantage. Currently our faction holds a three seat advantage and a chance to solidify it in the coming year. This wasn’t just staving off defeat, this was an all out victory!” Meldia danced with Finley.

“The young man certainly made a splash.” Brusset rolled out of bed, picked up the letter that she’d thrown to the side, and read it himself.

Melida was pushed down on the bed by Finley. “We should celebrate.”

“He’s still coming.” Brusset said, reading the letter now. “I wonder how he feels about all of this. The boy might resent the mages for punishing him, despite him winning their little political war.”

“Mmm.” Melida held Finley's head as he worked her robe off with his teeth. “They won’t toss him away. Let’s see what they do for his ‘punishment’ for killing two elders later.” She gasped as Finley found a spot he loved to use to tease her.

***

Both men were snoring softly next to Melida as she stared at the ceiling. Even after their attempts to tire her out, her mind was still keeping her company well into the twilight.

The Kingdom was about to change.

Arden was going to shine far sooner than even her grandfather had predicted. He was going to come crashing in like a falling star and shatter the normal order of everything before it all rearranged to his will.

He may not have just won the war, but he certainly won a decisive battle.

She wondered if Ard was still the same young man who wanted to lift up the peasants and bloody the noses of all the nobles he met.

He was going to cause plenty of chaos over the next few years.

Thankfully her grandfather had given him Zuri. Melida would have to keep her own relationship with him strong.

The idea hitting her, she got out of bed to pen a letter to her grandfather.

Now that he was done bracing for the results of the Elder Trial, he needed to check in on her cousin who was still acting odd down south of the desert.

There was a flicker of moonlight through the window.

Melida didn’t hesitate, sneaking in on a mage was a death sentence and lightning poured from her fingertips, dousing the ceiling in thick cords of electricity.

The room lit up like the sun had risen and both of her anchors jumped in bed to see a figure clinging to the roof.

Melida didn’t care. She turned up the lightning magic and worked to fry him to a crisp. They could get answers later.

The figure fell to the floor, smoking and she approached.

“Who the fuck sneaks into my room at night.” The figure’s uniform was unrecognizable and Melida went to kick him over and see if she could recognize the face.

It rolled over and the face was strange.

First off, it was just wrong. Something in her mind told her to kill it again. Some sort of instinctual reaction to seeing a face that was just a touch off.

Worse, the burns receded. It was healing.

Melida jumped back just in time for its eyes to open and the figure to jump to its feet, reaching for her throat.

Brusset was next to her, kicking up a shield of stone to block the assassin.

To everyone’s surprise, it’s hand punched through the magically reinforced stone still reaching for Melida.

Finley’s sword pierced its palm and he stopped it just short of grabbing her.

“Sharp.” It hissed and jumped back, ripping off two fingers as it looked at its hand. “Wounded me.” The corrupted tilted its head like some sort of animal rather than a person. It had snake eyes that were dilated to an extreme that there was no sclera.

The monster, because it certainly wasn’t a man, sniffed at its wound and licked the stump where two fingers had been.

“What the hell is that?” Finley had his sword out.

“We knew there was something strange about the corrupted that attacked last season.” Melida said, keeping her calm. “Perhaps Garrish has found a way to weaponize them.” She had her magic built up enough and several walls slammed into place between them and the corrupted before she turned to the window and shouted at the top of her lungs. “ASSASSIN IN THE FORT!”

The ding of swords being drawn and the clank of helmets being picked up rang out in the yard.

Echoing shouts of ‘Assassin’ were going up and down the fort’s wall.

Brusset threw a heavy cloak around her shoulders. “We’re getting you out.”

Finley and Brusset faced the three stone walls as they shook.

“Let’s go. Fighting in the bedroom only leaves us at a disadvantage.” Finley grabbed her and swung her legs up into a carry before stepping up on the window sill and launching them both into the night air.

Brusset was launched out less gracefully as he threw aside a cracked shield and tumbled to the air to land in the yard.

The corrupted stuck its head out the window, its tongue flitting out in the moonlight before it vanished, only to reappear on the wall and tear through the soldiers like a knife through wet paper.

“Fuck.” Melida cursed and lightning coursed from her fingers, leaping through the air and chasing after the corrupted.

The corrupted didn’t stop, rushing the wall and crushing the guards like they were ants underneath its boots.

Blood sprayed into the air, highlighted by the full moon as it watched over the grim night.

Torches shot from the barracks and half a dozen more anchors joined the fray. “Oh? Melida, just one assassin is creating such a mess?” A woman who might as well have been naked and surrounded by another dozen anchors stepped out.

In fairness, even Melida took a longer than polite look.

“It’s a strange corrupted.” She shot back, making sure her own cloak was secured around her. She wasn’t bold enough like the woman to walk around quite so naked.

“Men, take it down.” The woman pointed and her sixteen total anchors jumped into the fight flashing with life and death magic.

Melida shook her head. Something was off about this corrupted, but Faith’s anchors were all top notch. Good enough that Melida put aside that their mage was so horny that it was hard to have a conversation with her.

The corrupted shrieked with what almost sounded like joy at the anchors rushing him and then in a blink of an eye the corrupted smashed four of them back into their compatriots and captured a fifth as he jumped back and giant fangs tore into the captured anchor’s neck.

Even as the anchor glowed with life magic and tried to struggle, the corrupted held him still in what seemed like an effortless hold as blood ran down between the two of them.

The life anchor should have held on longer but slumped in just a moment as the corrupted threw him aside and let out a long sigh.

“More. I need MORE!” It roared and rushed her anchors.

They were professionals and weren’t scared by death even if it stared them in the face.

“Tom, Brad, hold him. Jimmy, George, pump it full of death magic.” A broad shouldered anchor took the lead in organizing them.

Melida never really bothered to learn Faith’s latest clutch of anchors’ names. They all had the same manicured look though. It was easy to tell which had life and which had death magic though. The death magic ones all had long black hair and that slightly tortured but hot look.

Two anchors rushed the corrupted and fought with it briefly, before getting ahold of its arms and lifting it to pin against the wall as two more rushed in with swords radiating dark magic.

They stabbed into the corrupted who struggled against their combined forces.

“Looks like they got it.” Finley said. “Still what a terrifying corrupted.”

Brusset had a frown on his face. “It’s faking again.”

“Get back!” Melida shouted, trusting Brusset’s instincts more than anything else.

It was too late though.

The corrupted who they all thought was pinned suddenly had both anchors holding it collapse like marionettes with their strings cut and grabbed the wrists of the two death anchors pouring magic into it before it tore out their throats with its fangs.

Faith shrieked and waves of death magic battered the wall harmlessly, but struck at the corrupted. One such wave got a guard that had been trying to sneak up and perform some heroic act with a spear.

Sadly, he withered to a husk in an instant.

“Get them and pull back. Melida, I’d like to see you pull your weight!” Faith was incensed at losing her anchors.

“Seems staying too close is a losing strategy.” Finley drew his rapier. “Brusset, don’t be slow on me.”

“One doesn’t need to move quickly to keep a distance.” Brusset rumbled and jumped up on the wall to face the corrupted.

As soon as the corrupted charged, Brusset’s skin took on an earthen glow and he hit the corrupted in the chest with an open palm, sending the monster flying into and shattering a guardhouse.

Finley jumped clear and stabbed it several times before jumping back and dodging a slash of clawed hands.

“More.” The monster pulled itself from the ruins of the guardhouse. “I need more mages to eat.” It licked its lips and then turned towards Melida.

Pools of death magic roiled off of her, curling into ghastly figures that swirled about and swayed as they rushed towards the monster. “Die.”

The corrupted was clearly of the serpent sphere. Which meant it might take a few wraiths to take down and there was no sense in holding back.

A dozen of the spells rushed out to strike at it.

The corrupted grabbed the first death magic spell, sinking its claws into and ripping it apart while death magic splattered all over it. “I hunger.” It shot through one wraith after the other tearing them apart while dark splotches appeared on its skin as it tried to get to Melida

It was only a few feet away before Brusset cut in between the wraiths, his palm crushing the monster’s shoulder and sending it hurtling through the air to the wall.

Only this time, it flipped over, landing its feet against the wall and pushing off to launch itself back at Melida.

This thing was tougher than a wyrm. What the heck was Garrish doing to these corrupted?

Brusset stepped in again with a stone shield and smashed it.

The monster swung to meet his shield and cracked it, shoving the large anchor back a few feet in the process.

“Just what is this thing made of? Bluesteel?” Finley moved forward, dancing with the monster for a brief moment only for Brusset to step in and smash it away again.

“It doesn’t really know how to fight.” The big anchor observed.

“Well, it used to be a mage. We don’t normally learn hand to hand combat.” Melida said dryly. “More importantly, why isn’t it dying?”

All of the spots that her wraiths had successfully made were back to pale, but healthy skin.

Her two anchors kept it busy for the moment.

Faith screamed.

Those anchors weren’t getting back up despite her healing. They were already long dead.

Alarm bells started to ring on the walls and Melida’s head shot to the side.

“Army approaching!” A watcher shouted.

“Over the pass?!” Melida practically screamed.

“From the south.” The watcher hesitated and rang the bell again. “Allied army approaching!”

“Praise the gods.” Melida said humorlessly. “Perhaps my damned cousin has been chasing this thing, but a whole army?”

“Allied army!” Another shouted, happily ringing the bell before three arrows punched through his armor and body and he fell off the tower, his bell still ringing.

“Ah fuck.” Melida stared at the scene for a moment. “With me!” She shouted. “Brusset, hold that thing off. Faith! I need you to focus.” Melida made a pillar of stone to lift her up from the yard so she could see the other mage under her command.

The woman was laying over her dead anchors. “They are healed, but they won’t wake.”

“Get it together. Something is very wrong. An army in our uniforms are marching and firing upon the fort.” Melida shook the woman.

“Don’t care! They’re dead!” She shrieked.

“Then kill those responsible!” Melida slapped her across the face. She needed to get the mage back in the fight, even if it meant a pissing contest later.

Darkness covered the mage’s face for a moment before she stood. “Assemble. George, get the bows and everyone turn that fucking monster into a porcupine.”

“Yes.” One slapped his chest and rushed off.

“What’s happening?” Faith was back and looking pissed.

“An army is approaching from the south. They’re wearing our colors and have fired upon us with something stronger than a normal soldier.” Melida knew those arrows had to be fired from an anchor or perhaps a mage-forged. “We need to get rid of this thing before we can deal with the army.”

The anchor rushed back out with bows and quivers handing them out quickly.

“We’ll take care of it.” Faith lifted her chin proudly. “Boys, kill it.”

“Try not to make Brusset mad.” Melida said, seeing that they were going to fire into that mess and deal with it, she charged across the wall and Finley appeared at her side. “What’s happening?”

“One option is that your cousin has been crushed and they are wearing our uniforms.” Finley threw out a wild theory.

Melida took the stairs up to the scouting tower and made a stone wall to protect her while she only stuck the looking glass on a swivel out towards the army. “Our uniforms.” 

She squinted because she didn’t recognize the person in the lead and then her brows furrowed even more as she saw several Garrish mages next to officers that she recognized. “Holy fuck. My cousin… he’s been gone a while hasn’t he?”

She didn’t know how to make a mage-forged, but if officers from his camp had been tortured into them, then he'd have been defeated weeks ago.

“Someone has an incredible hand at forgery.” Finley was impressed and completely not helpful at the moment. “What do you want to do?”

Melida looked towards the fort. It was in complete chaos.

The soldiers had backed away to protect themselves. The monstrous corrupted was sporting dozens of arrows and still fighting Brusset.

The fort’s walls were completely abandoned.

That army of mage-forged would roll over them in just a minute, which was not nearly long enough to even get people on the wall. Yet Chillwind was the most vital fortress in this whole war.

What she needed was a miracle.