Chapter 739: POV Sword Disciple

“Hey! Feather butt! Get out here!”

A sigh slipped free from Severina’s lips. Feather Butt? Truly? Did Kerr not have any capacity for respect? Must she throw about ridiculous sobriquets at every opportunity? Even during a major military engagement?

“Ma’am?” Calvus prompted her, his eyes darting to the open door of the airship cabin.

“Keep going,” she waved the man’s questioning glace away. “Where did you see the mire hound matriarch?”

“Right here,” he pointed to the map laid out on the table between them. “It was heading east, away from the main fighting.”

“In the direction of the secondary breach?”

“Possibly. It wasn’t on one of the main roads, so it was changing directions constantly, but it could end up there, yes.”

“I said, get out here, you cross-eyed, overgrown pigeon!”

“In a moment!” Severina shouted at the open doorway, her frustration surfacing faster than normal. “Sinia, please relay the information to the eastern diversionary force, as well as to the generals. Jadis will need to know if there is a second matriarch heading to her position.”

“Yes ma’am,” the human woman said as she turned to the communication device that Sabina had crafted.

“I’ve already got the generals,” Maeve told her assistant. “Just relay to the eastern front.”

“Yes!”

While the battle was still in its early stages, Severina held out hope that the conflict would end sooner rather than later, and most certainly in their favor. The strongest defenses that the Demons possessed, namely the colossal charybdis Demons and the impenetrable domes, had been neutralized. Yes, there had been one more charybdis that had not revealed itself until after the main military force made its approach on the city, but it had been killed with minimal casualties inflicted. There were also still a dozen more domes surrounding the city, but the ones closest to the western breach were destroyed and they had even broken several more on the eastern side of Kastoria, giving them a second foothold for their attack. Technically, a third foothold, as the Voltonian navy, diminished as it was, had just arrived at the harbor and were providing a platform of attack from the south. Yes, the battle was far from over, but it seemed that Valtar was smiling upon their efforts.

And, though Severina hesitated to invoke his name, Destarious’ fortune seemed to be on their side as well.

Communication was key. Perhaps, in a way, even more so than having Jadis and the Hero on their side. The rapid communication that Sabina had provided them with her enchanted devices was winning them their fight against the Demons holding Kastoria. Where in every other battle before that point the updates could only flow through runners, who had to physically transport their messages by hand, or through signals like horns or flashes of light, which were extremely limited in what could be conveyed, Sabina’s tele-buzzers could be used to pass along highly detailed reports across any distance at the speed at which it took to translate words from one language to another. The only real limitation was the number of devices, as well as the number of people who could operate the main console set up inside the Leviathan’s cabin.

Maeve had taken up the duty of the primary operator and had, thusly, spent almost all of the siege stationed inside the airship. Open battle wasn’t her forte, so a position of support suited her, at least in this instance. The Fetch’s unique form allowed her to interact with the central device at twice the capacity of anyone else; literally. Maeve was constantly having two conversations at once, splitting her attention between two different stations. Still, she couldn’t do it all alone, so she had been assigned two assistants, Sinia and Otho, who sat at their own stations to either side of Maeve at the central console. There were others aboard the Leviathan as well, aides who kept the map updated and helped correlate and condense all the reports coming in, whether those messages came via the tele-buzzers or through Seraphim who carried information directly to the Leviathan.

The efficiency of their communication system was how they were able to direct those who were needed most to the worst areas, shoring up their own weakened lines before disaster could fall, and attacking the enemy’s weaknesses before the opportunity to take advantage slipped away. Seeing the system put into action, Severina could not imagine going into a major engagement again in the future without such a means of communication in place. The benefits were too great to ignore.

“Hey! I said, get your fat fucking tits out here, you foot lick—”

“Yes! I hear you!” Severina shouted over Kerr’s belligerent call for attention. “I am coming!”

“You aren’t even breathing hard yet!”

“Please excuse me,” Severina said to the others gathered at the map table as she stormed to the cabin door.

Stepping outside, she was met with a strong wind that was being carried inland over the Siren Sea. The Leviathan had been oriented to face the water, since it was easier to maintain position by flying against the breeze than it was to try and stay in place when the wind was hitting the broadside of the vessel. That meant that the port side faced Kastoria and had the best view of the overall battlefield. Several Nox mercenaries were congregated along the deck railing, bows at hand and at the ready in case any flying enemies approached the ship. Such an attack was unlikely, since Severina and the rest of those capable of flight had fought and killed almost all of those Demons who could take to the skies, but keeping vigilant was only prudent.

Severina’s success was only an almost, after all.

“What do you want,” she demanded as she strode up to Kerr. “I am slightly busy at the moment.”

The infuriating therion stood on the front end of the portside deck, away from the rest of her estranged clan. She had her bow in hand, but she was also stationed next to the large, enchanted ballista that Sabina had crafted and installed onto the Leviathan. There were racks of enchanted bolts sitting against the wall, all of them labeled for various effects and purposes. A quick glance told the story that Kerr had already expended a few of the precious bolts, but there were still twenty or so of them left.

“Do you have any idea why Alex is flying?”

“What? No, I don’t,” Severina’s temper was doused by the seriousness of Kerr’s tone and the complete surprise of her question. “Where is she?”

“There.”

Following the line of Kerr’s finger, Severina spotted the dark figure of Alex flying high over the city of Kastoria. She was nowhere near the safety of the highly protected center line, where the best soldiers with the highest-ranked defensive skills had been positioned to protect her and the rest of the mages who were helping to fuel the ingress into the city. Instead, Alex was circling the southern side of Kastoria, in her full Demon Lord form aside from the hidden halo, alone and unaccompanied by Jadis or anyone else.

“What in Valtar’s name is she doing?”

“No idea,” Kerr shook her head, a worried note in her voice. “Did Jadis call for backup or something?”

“Not that I’ve heard,” Severina answered. “She should still be on the eastern side, occupying the simulacrum matriarch with Noll, Aila, Thea, Bridget, and Meli.”

Severina did not mention that the mire hound matriarch had been spotted heading for Jadis’ location. That report was only a possibility, not a certainty, and there was no chance that Jadis or anyone else on the eastern side of the city had requested reinforcements without that message passing through the Leviathan first. No, whatever Alex was doing was not at Jadis’ behest.

“Severina!” Maeve’s shout came from inside the cabin, her panic clear.

“Shit, she’s diving,” Kerr said at the same time.

Indeed, Alex’s form dove out of the sky, wings folded back as she fell at extreme speed. At the last possible moment, she spread those dragon-like wings wide, slowing her decent and pulling her flight horizontal with the ground, just in time to disappear inside one of the top windows of the ornate domed tower that crowned the Opaline Palace.

Severina was torn. Her first instinct was to immediately take to her wings and chase after Alex. Whatever she thought she was doing, it was incredibly dangerous. If anything happened to Alex…

She shook the disturbing thought aside. Severina wanted to give chase, but her responsibility was to the war effort. She couldn’t just run off without telling anyone what she was doing. That was the sort of reckless maneuver that got Jadis in so much trouble. Instead, without another word to Kerr, Severina whipped around and rushed back inside.

“Sev!”

“Maeve, pass a message to Jadis, immediately,” Severina spoke at the same time as the Fetch. “Alex has—”

“Alex killed a man!”

“What!?”

Severina stared in shock at Maeve’s interruption.

“That doesn’t make any sense,” she managed to get out after a moment. “She wouldn’t—Valtar said—”

“Hold on,” Maeve grimaced, one hand still on the central console. “The report from the mages is all over the fucking place. She… no, Alex didn’t kill a man.”

“Then what—”

“There was a man possessed by a Demon,” Maeve continued, her concentration clearly on interpreting the signals coming though the communication station. “She killed the possessed man, or she pulled the Demon out of him, I don’t know. Fucking—okay, she sprouted wings and then told the people there… ‘I am going to kill Demon Prince Desire’ and then she flew away. She—she’s going after Desire alone!”

“Notify Jadis,” Severina ordered as she spun away from Maeve and rushed back to the open door.

“Where are you going!?”

Severina did not have the time to answer Maeve’s shouted question, nor the one echoed by Kerr. In the next instant, she was over the edge of the airship deck, wings spread wide as she caught the air. With sword drawn, she dove towards the distant Opaline Palace, intent on one and only one goal. She had to protect Alex.

At Any cost.

Alex could not die. There was too much at stake for her to take such risks! She was a Demon Lord—A Demon Lord!—who had Valtar’s explicit approval. Alex could change so much in the world. She could change the future in ways that Severina had never once in her life imagined. If Alex died…

What would Jadis say?

Severina did not follow Alex’s exact path. Her flight was lower, though she stayed well above the range of the most common spells that a dead head or similarly suited Demon might be able to reach her from. As she flew, Severina passed over the growing circle that the army had made on the western side of the city. Thousands of soldiers were expanding the space, fighting back the Demons with the help of Wilhelm, his companions, and Jadis’ companions as well. They were making good progress, in part due to their combined efforts, and in part due to Jadis and a smaller force fighting on the opposite side of the city, splitting the attention of the defenders.

None of that mattered, though. The success of the siege didn’t matter. If Volto lost the battle, or even lost the war, that ultimately didn’t matter.

Alex mattered more.

A bolt of golden light shot out from the masses below, striking Severina on her right flank. Using her metal wing as a shield, she managed to prevent the spell from being a direct hit against her body, though the sphere of malign divinity that appeared around her still caused great harm in the moment that it took for her flight to carry her past the effect. Gritting her teeth through the pain, Severina immediately started pouring healing magic into herself, replenishing her health pool to maximum. Her magic pool, however, was already drained from the fight against the possessed Vitus. With another round of healing, Severina was under a quarter of her three thousand and eight hundred maximum.

Another bolt from the spell sniper Demon chased after Severina, but she avoided it, dodging out of the way as she reached what she thought was the same window that Alex had dove through. Without hesitation, she entered through the open portal, sword at the ready before her. Inside, there was no sign of Alex. Only chaos.

Broken furniture and shattered stone littered the floor of the open hall. It looked as though the space had once been a gallery for art at some point in the past, a place to display fine paintings and delicate statuary for the enjoyment of nobility and perhaps visiting dignitaries. Whatever was left of the artistry that had once decorated the hall lay in tatters on the floor, mixed into the blood and viscera of the gods only knew how many dead Demons. While Severina could not see Alex, a clear trail of destruction led from the window to the central pillar, where the opening for the stairs could be seen. Whether Alex had gone up or down, Severina had no certain idea, but the crack of stone shattering that echoed through the hall sounded like it was coming from below.

Rushing for the stairs, Severina made to fly down in pursuit of Alex. The form that appeared in the opening before her caused her to retreat back several steps instead.

“Throw down your arms and surrender,” Severina spoke the words, though she knew that the man would not obey. “Submit yourself to Valtar’s mercy.”

“There is no such thing as mercy,” Roul’s growl echoed through his spiked armor. “Dare no such dreams from me.”

Raising her sword, Severina felt the cold embrace of the mad knight’s skill sap the strength and speed from her body. In the same moment, he raised his own curved sword, taking a stance that was a mirror to the same one that had inspired her as a child. Adjusting her own positioning, Severina fell into The Wolf’s Stance, meeting Roul’s aggression with her own.

“You have training,” he commented as he took a step forward, forcing Severina to step back or else engage.

“Yes,” Severina replied, not interested in conversation with the mad killer.

“Good. Let’s see if you are any better than that chiot pale that Noll has been suckling like an old cow.”

As one, their swords moved. Steel tasted steel and the ring of a dual echoed inside the broken halls of the Opaline Palace. By the third stroke, Severina knew that she was fighting against a true master. By the eighth, she knew she was in serious trouble.

By the thirteenth stroke, she knew what her own blood looked like on Roul’s wicked blade.