Realm of Monsters - Chapter 714: In the Darkest Moments…

Chapter 714: In the Darkest Moments…

  “Please, just take Stryg and go,” said Lunae in a defeated voice.

  Aurelia balled her fists, yet in the end bowed her head. “As you wish.”

  The memory faded away and left Stryg standing alone in the darkness. The light of Archive flickered into existence above him. “That is the last of Lunae’s and your interlinked memories. Would you like to proceed to another memory?”

  “…No.” Stryg crouched and hugged his knees. “I just want to be left alone.”

  “As you wish.” The beacon of light disappeared.

  For so long, Stryg thought he wanted to know what exactly had been bothering him. Now he wasn’t so sure. Was it better to have remembered what he had lost or to have forgotten it all?

  For once in so long, he felt whole, and it hurt. This was not the sense of relief and wholeness he hoped to regain. This was the deep, raw sense of loss. And it was agony. 

  He stared into the darkness, tears streaming down his face. There were none to hear his sobbing. He cried for what was lost and for what never could be again. 

~~~

  The door to the underground foundations of the castle was made of a marble-like stone. Veins of an ancient mineral stretched across the pale rock, empowering it in ways not even House Morrigan’s greatest scholars and mages understood, even after centuries of trying to study it.

  The heavy slab of stone that constituted as a door had been pushed open, revealing a long, dark tunnel ahead. Corvus knew from experience that the foundations of the castle were a maze and no one had ever truly mapped it all out. One of his ancestors had once claimed that the walls of the foundations shifted with every sunrise and sunset, like the changes of the moon in the night sky.

  Whether it was true or not, Corvus did not know, nor did it matter. His children had clearly entered the foundation’s maze, if the open door was any clue. And he would not be able to find them, not down here, not alone.

  Instead, he waited at the entrance of the foundation. Leaning his weight on his right side. A battlemage noticed his discomfort and had a pair of soldiers bring over a chair. At first, Corvus considered ignoring the offer, for he did not wish to appear weak in front of his women and men. But there were more important priorities. He needed all his strength tonight, pride could take a step back.

  With a nod to the soldiers, Corvus slowly took a seat, careful not to reopen the wound on his left knee. It had been a long time since he had felt the sting of pain. His aurum aegis—the one he had taken from his own mother’s dying hands after he had slashed her neck—had served him well all these years.

  To think, it would be a pair of young women, not even a year out of the academy, who would overwhelm the aegis. The mana in the amulet had been exhausted. The giant scarlet-haired woman had managed to get past his defenses and raked her claws against his knee.

  Her golden claws had ripped through his armor, flesh, and bone as if they were mere paper. The pain had blinded him and Corvus had done what he had been trying to avoid. He had attacked Bellum’s daughter. For a moment, he had stopped holding back and gone on the offensive.

  “Dammit,” Corvus sighed quietly. Things were getting more complicated than he had hoped. He needed to end this quickly before events escalated and Bellum got involved.

  His knee twinged with pain. He had infused the wound with white mana and carefully stitched the tissues and sinew back together. Yet something was preventing the wound from fully healing. Whatever strange golden flames had burned on the tips of that woman’s claws had clearly done something to his injury. It was almost as if some other form of energy was preventing his own white mana from healing the wound.

  “My lord,” a servant came rushing in, stopping in front of the small army of battlemages and soldiers that surrounded Corvus. “U-Um, my lord. I bring a message from General Urdlon.”

  “What is it?” Corvus waved his hand, and his battlemages shuffled to the sides and made way for the servant.

  “General Urdlon says the goblins have broken through the river gate. They are attacking the Water Market. Our soldiers are holding them off, but somehow they are losing against the creatures. The General requests reinforcements.”

  This was the fourth such message Coruvs had received tonight. The Sylvan warriors had somehow attacked on multiple fronts and were overwhelming Murkton’s forces despite the goblins’ significant lack of stature.

  Corvus glanced at one of his senior battlemages. “Lead fifteen regiments of reinforcements sent to the Water Market.”

  “Fifteen, my lord?” The battlemage seemed like she wanted to say more, but did not wish to offend.

  “We cannot afford to lose the Water Market, otherwise the Sylvan forces will have free access to the lower residential areas. Move quickly, else they’ll slaughter the peasants before you arrive.”

  “At once, my lord!” She bowed and hurried off.

  “You sent for me, my lord?” A grizzly orc walked down the stairs, a pack of dogs trailing behind him. They were the largest breed in the realm, reaching up to a grown man’s waist. The dogs were bred by the orcs for a single purpose.

  “Gelris, about time.” Corvus pushed himself to his feet. “Our quarry lies in the foundations.”

  Gelris rubbed his beard and narrowed his eyes, searching his surroundings, until he settled on the dried blood droplets on the stone floor. “Is that them?”

  “Indeed,” Corvus said.

  Gelris whistled a command and the dogs huddled around the blood, their open maws salivating from the scent.

  “Time is of the essence, huntmaster,” Corvus said.

  A battlemage walked over and handed Corvus his aurum aegis back. Corvus had given the medallion to his mages to replenish its mana reserves and judging by the weight of power radiating from his palm, the aegis was brimming with mana.

  “They have the scent,” Gelris said. “We will locate your prey and bring them to you.”

  “No, we will follow behind you and bring them down ourselves,” Corvus said. “As I said, time is of the essence. Do not fail me on this, Gelris.”

  “Rest assured, my lord.” Gelris’ eyes glowed with an inner purple light that suddenly mirrored his dogs. “I will not fail.”

  The pack of dogs rushed into the darkness.

~~~

  The stone floor was cold, damp, and its surface was rough. Tauri found herself wishing she had something, anything, even an old frayed blanket, that she could put underneath Gale. Every breath the vampire took was laboured, the intervals between each breath growing slightly longer each time.

  Freya and Callum sat on their knees next to Gale, channeling what little remained of their white mana into her. But the vampire’s wounds were too deep and she had lost much blood. Her face had grown paler than usual. Her stark, blonde hair stained red from the blood of her enemies and her own.

  Tauri had seen such wounds on the battlefields of Dusk Valley. A soldier did not survive half those wounds. The only reason Gale was still breathing was because of the white mages struggling to keep her alive.

  A general had to harden their hearts to loss. Tauri’s father had drilled the lesson into her and her siblings many times. Yet, Tauri found herself desperately hoping against all odds that her friend could pull through.

  Even now, Gale’s hand was wrapped around Stryg’s. Tauri had placed it there in hopes that Gale might focus on staying awake, but the latter had fallen unconscious over twenty minutes ago and she had not woken up since.

  The soft glow in Freya’s hands faded away. She clenched her jaw and bowed her head, her golden locks hiding the tears in her eyes. “I have no mana left.”

  Kegrog walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s not fair,” Freya mumbled.

  “I know,” Kegrog whispered.

  Freya laid her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes in defeat.

  “Cal, it’s time to rest. You can’t do this alone,” Nora whispered.

  “Not yet,” Callum said through gnashed teeth.

  Nora touched his forearm. “You’re burning up. If you don’t stop, you’ll fall into shock from mana hyperthermia or worse, your heart will just stop.”

  “Not yet!” Callum’s bloodstained hands trembled. His eyes were bloodshot and wide. Not for a moment did he take his gaze off Gale. “I am a Veres. I am a Veres. We protect our own. I can’t let her… I can’t… She’s my family.”

  “She’s my family too, Cal. …I know it hurts, but she wouldn’t want you to give up your life trying to save hers.”

  “…I couldn’t save Cly,” his voice broke as he cried. “I’ll be damned if I let his sister die.”

  “Sometimes we can’t protect the ones we love most,” Nora said softly. She grabbed Callum’s hands, pulled them away, and hugged him. He shook in her arms.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I’m so sorry. Cly, I… He was my Shield. I should have… I should have…”

  “It was never your fault.” Nora rubbed her hand over his back and kissed his cheek. “There is nothing to forgive.”

  Callum sobbed, the feelings of guilt washing over him.

  Gale’s breaths slowed down until her chest stilled. Tauri took a long look at her, trying her best to memorize what her friend looked like. She did not want to forget. 

  Tauri glanced at Gale’s hand. Even in death, Gale still gripped Stryg’s hand— No. 

  Tauri narrowed her eyes.

  Gale wasn’t the one gripping his hand. He was gripping hers. Her veins had gone dark where his claws made contact with her skin.

  “Stryg…?” Tauri whispered.

  Belle’s head snapped up in mid-doze. “Someone’s coming.” 

  “Who is it?” Kithina asked, wiping her own tears from her face.

  Belle sniffed the air. “Dogs, lots of them.”

  “Oh no,” Gilgard’s eyes widened.

  “What? What’s going on?” Veronica asked him.

  “Our father brought his huntmaster,” Gilgard said.

  “He’s a true mage like me,” Beatrix muttered grimly. “Except, he’s a Purple.”

  “Binding magic. Shit,” Freya said. The graduates of Hollow Shade’s academy all knew too well the abilities of someone like Vayu Glaz.

  Belle stood up with a grimace, holding her bloodied side. “Whoever can fight, with me. The rest of you, take the injured and get out of here.”

  Kithina staggered to her feet, ignoring her own injuries save for a small wince. “I’m with you.”

  Freya stood and leaned on her hammer for support. “I have no mana left, but so long as I can hold Oginum, I can fight.”

  “You won’t fight alone,” Kegrog said.

  “Veronica, take my sister and go with the others. I’ll stay behind and buy you as much time as I can,” Gilgard said. “I’m sorry your trip to Murkton ended so terribly.”

  “It wasn’t so bad, I got to see you,” Veronica smiled weakly.

  “You go with Veronica,” Nora gave Callum one last hug and then pulled back, “I’ll stay and fight.”

  “No,” Callum grabbed her wrist. “You’re not leaving Kamilo an orphan. I’ll stay.”

  “If you cast another spell, your heart could stop. You can’t,” Nora said.

  “I don’t need to cast. I have these,” Callum raised his arm and revealed several potions lining his cloak. “I couldn’t save Gale or Cly. Let me do this. Please, let me save the ones I can.”

  “…Okay.” Nora nodded with a bitter smile.

  “Tauri, take Stryg with Nora and the others,” said Belle. “Tauri, what are you—?”

  Tauri straddled Stryg and grabbed him by the shoulders. “Stryg, if you’re there, we need you. Wake up, Stryg! WAKE UP!”