Touch of Fate

Chapter 207: Survival and Clean Up

Mike opened the next door cautiously. After climbing through three floors of the seemingly deserted tower, he was beginning to wonder if the command staff might have already evacuated or been captured. He worried that he might be wasting his time hunting through an empty building while his friends got farther away.

Luckily, the next room had a group of nearly thirty Tenundian soldiers lying in wait, reassuring him that he was in the right place.

They were crouching behind stacks of simple furniture, bows drawn and weapons at the ready, every eye focused on the door across from the one Mike entered through. It didn't take long for them to notice him, and start turning in his direction. A leader of sorts, dressed in a more ornate uniform, started yelling a command.

Acting quickly, Mike threw a hail of ice spikes in a wide arc, and then started chanting. Since he'd only focused on volume of fire, rather than accuracy, most of the crystalline projectiles ineffectively smashed into the walls and floor. The rest did their job, cutting down or incapacitating roughly half of the soldiers before they had a chance to respond.

A few desultory arrows flew in his direction, but he dodged them with ease. Finishing his chant, he subjected the remaining Tenundians to a swarm of wind blades, cutting them to pieces. For a second he remained on high alert, fully expecting other enemies to make their appearance.

Once it was clear that he was the only one left alive in the room, Mike sighed and surveyed the room while trying to calm his racing heart.

[That surprised me.] He thought while making his way across the floor carefully. The scene of the brief fight now resembled something out of a horror movie, which would have once disturbed him. Now that was no longer the case.

Thankful for willpower enhancement skills, he approached the next door while taking care not to step in any viscera. He was about to open it, when he heard the faintest of noises from the other side.

With adrenaline still pumping through his veins, he felt sure that the sound betrayed the presence of another squad of enemy soldiers lying in wait. Taking a second to listen quietly, he heard a second scuffing noise, reminiscent of a booted heel rubbing against stone.

Convinced, he began making preparations for taking the next room by storm.

As quietly as he could manage, he took a few steps back, before sprinting forward and smashing his shoulder into the door. The simple edifice shattered under the impact, and he emerged into the next area with his spear ready, surrounded by a halo of splintered wood.

Immediately in front of him was a woman armed with a rapier, toppling over backwards from the force of his entry. Without thinking he stepped forward and he was about to strike, when he heard a familiar voice. "Mike! Don't!"

He stopped, and looked around. Behind the woman he now recognized as Kiera, commander of the 1st Division, he saw Sera and Tal. The Oracle was breathing hard, as if she had just run a great distance.

Seeing that the two of them were alive and still in one piece, he relaxed before looking down at the person he'd nearly impaled while scratching the back of his head. "Sorry about that, I thought you were another group of enemy soldiers, lying in ambush."

She shook her head while standing once more, still looking a little shaken. "Such things are common enough in the thick of combat. Do not concern yourself with it." Leaning to stare past him, she commented. "I take it by your presence, you've cleared the rest of the tower up till this point?"

He nodded, "Yeah, it should be clear up till the ground floor. I can't say much about what's going on outside, though."

"That's enough." She turned to Sera and Tal. "Go with this one and ensure that the area around the tower is clear. I will rejoin the rest of the staff and resume command."

She was already moving upstairs by the time Mike realized that she didn't have any authority over him. He briefly debated on arguing against the order, since he'd planned on taking his party members to a safer location before doing anything else. However, he figured that it was probably alright now that he'd crushed a majority of the invaders. Besides, it seemed like they had been taking care of themselves just fine without him.

"You two alright? I thought I heard the emergency beacon going off a while ago, but it cut of suddenly." He asked.

Sera frowned at him. "Yeah, we were attacked not too long after you left. They tried to hijack the tower's defenses and destroy it while were still on the top floor. I used my necklace, but it only worked for a second before crumbling." She sniffed. "Thankfully, we didn't end up actually needing your help."

"Tower interference." Tal offered an explanation.

"I see" Mike replied quietly. He'd underestimated the situation a bit.

[I didn't think about possible interference from defensive magic. Looks like I'll need to do some more testing before I can really rely on my creations.]

He felt a hand on his shoulder. Tal was looking at him with the hint of a reassuring smile on her face. "Glad alright."

Mike blinked for a second, before smiling in return. "Yeah, I'm glad you are both alright as well."

Pouting slightly, Sera started walking towards the door while speaking sarcastically. "Yes, we're all not dead. Isn't it grand? Now can we focus? We're still in the middle of a battle if you haven't noticed...Ugh, what the hell happened in here?"

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Brenden sat down with a sigh. A unit of Almiran infantry had arrived near the end of the most recent fight, quickly destroying whatever was left of the Tenundians' morale, and bringing an end to the battle for the gate.

It seems like they had finally broken the Tenundian invaders' resolve, and the few remaining attackers were scattering throughout the city. It would be troublesome to track them all down, but that was a problem for the guards. The beastman was just happy that he'd made it through the conflict without losing too many of his followers.

Now, Hubert was organizing a makeshift field hospital while the newcomers took over the defenses. The surviving gang members were still in something of a stupor, not quite able to believe that the long fight was finally over. At least for the moment.

He glanced over at the veiled woman, who had been watching his back throughout the last few assaults. Although he hated to admit it, her help had been invaluable.

"It looks like we made it." He commented, sounding more tired than he'd expected. "Any chance you could tell me who you are, now?"

The person in question glanced in his direction, offered a mocking salute. "Sorry, Your Thieveliness, but I've been told to keep my distance, for now. Don't worry though, I think we'll be meeting again soon. See ya next time."

Growling, he stood and faced her fully, "Listen, you"

By the time he had gotten to his feet, she'd already vanished. Even her scent had disappeared, making tracking her all but impossible. Sighing, Brenden stood up and started making his way towards the other unexpected addition to their fighting forces. He figured that, while he was up, he might as well check on his comrades.

Lily's arrival had been shocking for all of the participants. Simply by dropping into the Tenundians' midst and laying about with her monstrous strength, she had prevented them from making any kind of cohesive attempt at taking the gate. Since they apparently lacked the ability to actually injure her, they were forced to do their best to work around her, something that should have ended their direct assault attempts.

Yet, despite the chaos her involvement caused, the enemy commander continued to use his human wave tactics until his casualties had become too extreme to continue. Brenden was at a loss to explain it, but by the end of the battle, it felt like they were simply throwing themselves onto Almiran swords in disciplined mass charges. It was disturbing and foolish, and he found himself wondering what the Tenundians were thinking by putting such an idiot in charge of a vital aspect of their battle plan.

[Whatever, we're done with it now.]

The Dovistani noble was still standing in the midst of the blood soaked street with a dreamy look on her face. If not for the gratuitous amount of carnage in the area directly in front of her, it would have been hard to guess that she had recently been involved in desperate street fighting.

"Oi, you good?" He asked, slightly concerned by her lack of concern.

She glanced at him, looking a little confused. "Good? Good at what?"

Brenden resisted the urge to sigh again. This was going to be painful. "No, I mean, are you alright? No injuries?"

After briefly looking down at herself, she shook her head. "I don't see any"

A slight pain began building in the region behind his eyes. "OkaySo, what are you doing here? I'm pretty sure you shouldn't be getting involved in another country's war."

She frowned for a moment, as if in deep thought. "Well, I got kidnapped, but I fought my way out. Then Pretty Eyes came and gave me a ride over here. He asked me to help you out, so I did."

He waited for a second to make sure there wasn't something else to the story, but she switched to playing the fabric of the strange, black bodysuit that was her only surviving article of clothing. Her fascination was evident as she repeatedly stretched and released the material.

Sighing, he gave up on getting anything else out of her. Since she was apparently uninjured, he decided to not worry about it, and focus on his other followers. After scanning the area, he located his irascible representative and started walking towards her, figuring that she would have a good idea of what was going on. The rabbit beastman was standing next to the barricade with her back to him.

"Lara, what's our status? How many did we lose?" He asked once he'd gotten close.

His words caused her to flinch noticeably, and it was only then he noticed that she was shaking. Glancing past her, he saw the triage area, where the injured were receiving treatment. While the sights and groans of the wounded and dying were bad enough, her gaze wasn't focused there.

A little farther away, near the edge of their loose formation, he could see the rows of fallen defenders, who had not yet been covered. It was hard to tell from his vantage point, but it seemed like most of them were wearing the dark leathers of the gang members he'd brought with him.

[Ahlooks like casualties were higher than I thought.]

His gaze was drawn to a small figure lying in the midst of the other adult ones, one that he realized he knew quite well. Jorn, the best warrior of the Hunter's Paw despite his youth, was now a corpse lying amongst dozens of others. Dead men and women who had followed him into battle, simply because he had asked them to. Because they believed in him.

Guilt slammed into Brenden.

This was not the first time he'd seen his comrades die. In fact he'd probably witnessed more death over the course of his relatively short life than many veteran soldiers. However, this was the first time he'd been responsible for bringing them to their ends. Never before had he made the decisions that had led so many of his friends to theirs deaths.

He knew that they were aware of the dangers, that they were fighting to protect their home, but it did little to ease the pain that gnawed at his gut.

[Another sin to add to the pile] He thought bitterly as he moved up to stand next to the girl.

Lara slowly turned to look at him, tears streaming down her cheeks. He had never seen her look so lost. It was easy to forget that, for all her cunning and guile, she was younger than even Sera. With faltering steps she walked to him and buried her face in his chest. Brenden wrapped his arms around her, letting her cry her fill.

He gently stroked the back of her head, still unable to look away from the results of his first attempt at leading others in battle.

Although he regretted the thought instantly, knowing that it was unfair to all parties involved, he couldn't help but wonder. If it had been Mike standing in his place, would things have turned out differently? Would fewer of the defenders have died? Would any of them?

A familiar voice spoke from the depths of his mind, one that had not made itself known in a long time. Its stabbing words of venom sank into his consciousness.

[You are weak. You are useless. This is all your fault...]

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A group of nobles sat within a tent, one side of which was left open, allowing them to watch the progress of the battle. To make certain that such an event wasn't tiresome, they provided a wealth of fine food and drinks. Thus, despite the horrors occurring in front of them, the small gathering had a festive air.

"It seems the attack has failed, Your Grace." Salens commented from his seat as he watched the battered and demoralized remnants of the assault force make their way back into camp. The courtier took another sip of his Mirithian Wine while sneering.

The other members of the ducal party made sounds of agreement mingled with disgust. Despite it being the army of their country, they showed no sign of any emotion besides annoyance.

Duke Alderbert, resting in an elaborate, throne-like chair he'd had brought all the way from Tenundi, snorted disdainfully, "Evidently, Kiertesan has lost his edge. We'll need to act accordingly. Salens, have that disturbing creature brought here. It's time to talk about our other options."

Another voice broke in from a dark corner of the tent. "If I may, Your Grace, I thought such an eventuality would come about, so I took the liberty of making myself available."

A thin, almost emaciated figure stepped into the light. It was swathed in grey robes with hood drawn. A simple white mask covered its face.

Salens found himself suddenly very uneasy. He didn't know much about the strange thing, other than it was something unnatural. It acting on its own, even for their convenience, was somehow deeply troubling to him, but he didn't have the guts to say anything. He didn't want to admit it, but the creature scared him.

The Duke was a little more sanguine. "Sneaking into the tent of the Duke could be considered a treasonous offense. Luckily for you, I am a man of mercy, and will therefore let it pass this time."

The figure gave an unnaturally deep and graceful bow, almost brushing the ground with its hood. "Your Grace is most merciful."

Alderbert continued despite growing discomfort on his face. "Anyway, it seems my Marshal has failed, and we will have need of your device after all."

"I predicted that this would be the case, Your Grace, and I have already taken the liberty of starting the preparations. We will be ready to move in two days."

"Excellent news! You have my thankswhat was your name again, creature?" The Duke asked with a frown.

"You may refer to me as Grim, Your Grace. Please, just leave everything to me." Although he couldn't see it, Salens could hear the smile in the creature's voice, and it gave him chills.