Emblemtale: The Ancients- Chapter 8: Praeterita Historia
Back with Serene's group, they had been locked in battle with the cultists for most of the night, but neither side seemed to be taking the lead, having to dodge out of the way of the Praetorite attacks, though it's attacks were indiscriminate and took out a chunk of the cultists.
Leaping on to Uther's back, Freya raised her axe into the air "I'll handle the big guy, you three focus on those hooded bastards!" With that, Uther roared and began flying around the Praetorite, dive-bombing towards it so that Freya could get in some strikes alongside Uther's claws, but no matter what they did, it seemed as though they were unable to damage it "This damn thing hasn't got a scratch on it!"
After dispatching another cultist, Lavernius turned around to watch Freya's fight "Try something else!, Do you have any other weapons?!" he asked as he back-flipped over another cultist and slashed at him.
"In the cave!" Freya shouted back as Uther barely dodged a swipe "If these fools haven't completely trashed my house, there should be some axes in there!" Lavernius nodded and ran through the battlefield, expertly weaving through the crowd, parrying and swiping at any cultist that stepped in his path, eventually making it to the cave.
He quickly scoured the interior, digging through the detritus strewn about the cave, unable to find any sort of weapons in the rubble, his luck soon changed when he felt what he assumed was the haft of an axe, he hauled it out from the clutter and found it was a lightning-bladed Bolt Axe "It'll have to do..."
Lavernius tied the axe to his back and ran out of the cave, heading back into the fray, trying to make his way back to Freya, but he was stopped by four cultists, but they were soon blown away by whipping winds, coming from Agate "Keep going, Livi! Freya needs help!"
He simply nodded at Agate, letting the nickname slide given the circumstances, Lavernius leaped over the prone bodies of the cultists and continued through the carnage, looking over to see that Serene had been expertly fighting against two enemies, he silently thanked the Gods that her father had her take combat lessons since she was young.
Lavernius then set his gaze on the Praetorite in front of him and saw that Uther had landed, seemingly exhausted, but not letting up, still trying to fight the enemy, even Freya seemed to be slowing down "Damn...what will it take to beat this thing?"
"Try this!" Lavernius yelled, untying the axe from his back and throwing it towards Freya "Grab it! I'll draw it's attention!" he took several more knives from his belt and began throwing them at the Praetorite, which slowly looked at him and began lumbering towards him.
Freya scrambled for the Bolt Axe, once she grabbed it she felt the energy crackle through it "Livi, get down!" she yelled, charging the axe, once she felt the power reaching it's apex, she held the axe in the air and called down the lighting, the resulting flash tore through the Praetorite, effectively tearing it in half "Phew...looks like I might have put too much into it..." Freya joked, nearly collapsing, but before she did, Lavernius caught her.
"Keep your wits about you" He said, helping her back to her feet "Losing consciousness here could spell your end" once she was back on her feet, he handed her a Vulnerary from his belt "Take this, we'll need all hands to make it through this battle."
"Hey! If you two are done flirting, we could use a hand over here!" Agate called, startling both Lavernius and Freya, but they decided to ignore his comment and joined him and Serene in battle "We've got them on the ropes, just a little more should do it!"
"Do not falter!" Serene encouraged, an uncharacteristic commanding tone in her voice, she raised her axe in a rallying gesture "We shall be victorious by daybreak!" feeling their morale rise, the four heroes let out a battle cry and redoubled their attacks.
"We cannot fall here, brothers!" The lead cultist roused, trying to rally his allies, as well as attempting to mask the fear in his voice "We cannot allow our research to fall into their hands!"
"But how can we hope to stand against them?!" Another cultist cried, his body violently shaking from fear "They defeated a Praetorite! We can't fight against strength like that!" after voicing his fears, other cultists seemed to mirror his sentiment as well, weapons and voices wavering.
Seeing this, an idea struck Serene, she lowered her axe and found a tall rock to stand on, she then cleared her throat and stood firm "If you no longer wish to fight, you can flee with your lives, we will not pursue!"
"What?! Are you serious?!" Agate shouted, astonished by what Serene was saying "Are we really gonna let them run away Pri- er, Serene?!" he whipped around to looked at her, waiting for a reply, but the determined expression on her face told him all he needed to know "Damn...I was looking forward to a good fight..." he placed his tome back on his belt and crossed his arms, pouting.
"If this is what you wish..." Lavernius simply said, sheathing his knife and straightening up, staring down the cultists "But, if you do not take this pardon, know it will be not offered a second time..." Freya kept her axe ready, but soon relented and silently dropped her stance, waiting for the cultists response.
After a tense moment of silence passed between the two groups, the lead cultist looked around, seeing the bodies of his fallen comrades "Tch...we have no choice, if we do not give up, we'll be routed, fall back, we've gathered plenty from this site!"
The cultists stayed in place for a moment, but finally sheathed their weapons and began fleeing from the battlefield, grabbing what they could from the fallen, they soon disappeared behind the treeline as the sun began to rise.
Once they were gone, Agate let out a sigh and fell on his backside, grateful to finally be able to rest "Man...fighting that many guys on an empty stomach is hell...you got any food in that cave, Freya?"
"Sorry to disappoint you, Agate, but I have a feeling that those buffoons might have destroyed my rations" Freya replied, letting out an exasperated laugh, before a look of seriousness fell across her face once again "But since we scared them off, we won't be able to interrogate them..."
Serene climbed down from the rock and approached Freya "I'm so sorry! We couldn't stop them from destroying your home, we'll help you clean up!" Her honest offer took Freya aback, but her expression softened, patting Serene on the head.
"Thank you, I'm grateful for the help, but I think I may have overstayed my welcome" Freya replied, giving her a motherly smile "I'll salvage what I can from here, it's kind of you to offer, but you don't need to stay."
"No, I insist!" Serene persisted, returning Freya's kind smile "It wouldn't be right to just leave you here like this, especially if those weirdos decide to return!" before Freya could reply, Serene ducked past her and went to the cave, sifting through the rubble.
"Sigh...why do I have the feeling she'll keep offering our services as we continue this journey?" Lavernius snarked, grabbing Agate's collar and hoisting him to his feet "Let's get to it, then, we can't allow her to do this all on her own."
"But...breakfast..." Agate whined, trudging over to the cave alongside Lavernius, with Freya watching, stunned at their kindness, she was brought back to earth when Uther approached her and pressed his muzzle into her.
She smiled at her mount and pet his head "This is a strange group we've come across, wouldn't you say, Uther?" the wyvern purred in reply "Well, we can't let them shoulder all our burdens, let's lend them a hand."
Freya took her hand off of Uther and went to the cave, helping out the others with the cleaning, when they were finished, the sun was high in the sky and the cave had been effectively cleared "It's already noon...food..." Agate moaned, flopping on the ground, he then looked deeper in the cave and an idea struck him "Maybe they left something untouched down there?"
As Agate wandered further down the cave, Freya approached Serene and Lavernius, who were resting against the cave wall "I really must thank you again, you three had no reason to help, but you went above and beyond."
"It was nothing, honestly" Serene replied, smiling brightly "I couldn't just leave you here without a home!" they both fell silent again, though Lavernius could tell that Freya had a burning question she wanted to ask.
"If there is something you wish to ask, ask it" He stated, holding his arms out to his sides, though he felt he already knew what her question was going to be...
"You're no scholar, are you?" Freya asked, seeing the shocked expression on Serene's face only helped confirm her theory "I had an inkling that you were more important than you claimed to be, that little speech you gave at the end of that fight only made me more suspicious, are you a noble?"
Serene looked from Freya to Lavernius, the latter of which simply nodded, seemingly consenting to revealing her identity "...I apologize for lying to you earlier...I'm not a scholar, I am the daughter of King Valtick, next in line for the throne, I'm the princess of Vauland."
Freya took a moment to process this information, but she finally smiled and took a knee in front of Serene "Then I humbly offer my services to assist Her Highness, it's the least I could do after all you've done for me."
Serene felt embarrassment surge through her body, trying to get Freya to stand "P-Please, there's no need to bow!" before anyone else could say anything, Agate's voice called from deep within the cave.
"Guys! You've gotta see this!" He yelled, the three looked at each other and followed the sound of Agate's voice into the depths of the cave, they finally found him staring at a cave wall, using a fireball from his tome "Look at these..." He gestured towards the wall and the others looked at what was there.
Painted on the wall were depictions of the Praetorites, all different sizes, at the foot of the creatures were countless humans, seemingly worshiping the creatures, at the back of the group was a Praetorite that towered over the others, a crudely drawn crown above its head implied that it was the leader of the creatures.
"Is this what the cultists were looking for? These paintings?" Lavernius questioned, running his hand over the drawings, he then looked around at the other walls and found that there were what seemed to be letters near the drawings, but in an incomprehensible language "What is this?"
"Could it be a spell of some sort?" Serene asked, she then turned to Agate, who seemed to be intrigued by the letters "Can you read them?"
"Some...but these are way older than the language spells nowadays use..." He answered, not removing his gaze from the walls, parts of the symbols began to make sense to him "Wait...Oh crap! These are runes for a summoning spell! Were those psychos looking to revive these things?!"
"What?! Who knows what destruction these creatures could bring!" Serene responded, placing a hand on her chest "We need to get to my father, he has to know about this, before it's too late!"
The four of them ran to the entrance of the cave and began grabbing as many supplies as they could –as they prepped, Freya spoke up "If this is as serious as it seems, I'm coming along, you'll definetly need more help."
"Thank you, Freya, I know you'll be a great help!" Serene answered, Shaking Freya's hand "We can't waste any time, let's head back to the inn and grab our horses, hopefully the Monsters haven't reached the border yet, we won't be able to stand against these creatures with a war going on!"
Serene's three companions nodded and even Uther seemed to be agreement, with a new sense of urgency hanging over them, they made their way to the inn once more, saddling their horses and riding off, ignoring Agate's cries for food...
THE END!
A.N: Sorry for the late post, I had a lot to do around the house, but I hope you enjoy nonetheless!