And so, amidst the false promises and fake projects being announced across the internet on this April Fool's Day, here is an update that is actually honest. Also I'm done with all my classes for the year, so I just have to get through exams and then the free-time of summer shall open before me!


Chapter Twelve: Everyone Loves an Execution

Lloyd stared at Kratos. "What do you mean, you didn't?"

"I mean exactly what I said." Kratos sounded grumpier than usual, and Lloyd wasn't sure if this was due to the rain or due to the fact that they'd reached a point in the story that he found aggravating to remember. "We were too late. By the time we reached Cleopolica, the Desians were already there."

"Oh no," Colette said, clutching her hands together and fiddling her hands. "Everything just keeps going wrong…"

Kratos nodded. "Things tend to do so when Desians are involved. In any case, we pushed as hard as we could to make it to Cleopolica in time. But there was no point in just Spiritua and myself getting there before the others, so we were delayed by having to stay at the pace of the caravan. I've never seen a caravan of women and children move that fast, but the Desians overtook us. In their benefit was also the fact that they took the main road straight to Cleopolica whereas we were trying to remain unseen by trekking through the woods. We were able to evade being found by the Desians, but it did slow us down.

"When we reached the path that led up to Cleopolica, we realized we were too late. We could see the Desians entering the town further up the mountain. I knew they would waste no time in rounding everyone up for the execution, so we were left with Pierce, Spiritua, weakened Cleopolican soldiers, pirates, ex-prisoners and myself to try and drive an entire force of Desians out of a town. To be entirely honest, I was ready to give up and go to the Balacruf Mausoleum-"

Lloyd glared at him.

Kratos added, "But I didn't, Lloyd. We were back at square one, so to say, and I could only hope that Spiritua would come up with another one of her brilliant schemes. As it happened, though, it was Pierce who thought of our plan this time."


"I kind of like the idea of being executed."

The expression Ferris gave Rowan might best be described as 'incredulous', but only because no language in the world had yet invented a term for the sheer amount of disbelief, confusion, and certainty that he must have heard wrong that Ferris was currently experiencing. Coupled with this look were two simple words: "Say again?"

Rowan smirked at Ferris' confusion and tried to explain. "There's meaning in being executed. It's not random or an accident. Anyone can annoy Desians and get dragged around a corner and beaten to death, but to get properly executed like this… it means we accomplished something."

Ferris nodded in comprehension. "I suppose that's one way to look at it."

Rowan looked around at the Desians standing a few metres away, though none of them were paying any attention to them. Why bother? He and Ferris certainly weren't going anywhere. They sat with their hands handcuffed behind their backs, leaning against a great block of stone that Ferris said was supposed to be some mystical altar of some sort. A little to their left was a hastily erected gallows, which Rowan would be quite happy to keep off of for as long as possible. All around them were Desians, hanging around with their swords very obviously dangling from their waists as Cleopolican citizens were herded towards the altar. All around they could hear the wind whistling through the mountains, as if bemoaning the fate of the town.

The Desians had taken over the city fairly quickly upon arrival. Half the city's militia was either dead or with the pirates, including their commander. As such, the under-staffed and unprepared militia was easily over-powered and the ones that weren't dead had been locked in their own cells. The civilians were rounded up and all of them were being taken to the altar to watch the execution, after which they'd all be taken to the ranch. Either that, or killed on sight. Rowan wasn't sure which, and he wasn't sure which was preferable.

The only thing that comforted Rowan in the slightest was the knowledge that whatever happened, at least Spiritua got away. One of the Desians had gleefully told them that Kratos had come to rescue Spirit but chose to leave them to die. Rowan supposed this was intended to make him feel bad, but he was just glad that Spirit was ok.

The Desians around them parted a bit to allow Dagen to come through. She strode forward with her head held high, acting like she owned this city. Of course, at the moment, she did. What bothered Rowan was that she was smiling, and in his experience, a happy Desian was never a good thing.

"Vale!" she barked as she crossed the open area in front of the altar.

Vale appeared from around the gallows, and didn't even look Rowan's way. Rowan was ok with this, because catching his might interrupt the death glare Rowan was currently aiming at him. "Yes, ma'am?"

"Have you rooted out all the humans in town?"

"I believe so."

"You believe so?" she snapped, and Vale seemed to shrink a bit in the face of her wrath. It made Rowan feel fuzzy inside to watch one of the people he hated most in the entire word get cut down like this, even if it was due to another of the people on the World's Biggest Bastards Who Needed To Die Horribly Right Now list. "Did I ask you if you believed you've found them all? No. Either you did or you didn't. Did you? Yes or no."

"Er…" Watching Vale struggle to decide which answer would be more destructive to himself if it happened to be wrong. When he did speak, it was long and drawn out and he sounded like he was about to switch words halfway through. The end result was a word that was more akin to the garbled sounds of a dying animal than an actual word: "Yeeee-nnnn-eeess…?"

Dagen glared.

Vale composed himself. "I mean, yes. Yes, ma'am. Desian troops have patrolled ever street of this town and we are certain that we have herded together every man, woman, and child in this city."

"Good. For your sake, you had better hope you picked the right answer."

She walked away, leaving Vale staring at the space she had once occupied with a very frightened look on his face. Vale walked over to the nearest Desian and said, "You. Double check that we've got everybody."

The Desians looked confused. "But, sir, we've already swept the town twice."

"I don't care; search it again!"

The Desians sighed. "As you wish, sir," and trooped away.

Once Dagen and Vale were gone, Rowan and Ferris were once again left with nothing to do but watch the crowds of frightened people crowding the tiered ledges leading up to the altar. Rowan didn't know exactly what Dagen had planned for them, but it couldn't be good. Either she'd kill them all or enslave them all at the ranch, and to be honest, he wasn't sure which was better. The worst part was, if all of these people died, it would be his fault, in a way. He had known Dagen had a precedent for crushing the hometown of escapees, and yet he'd still gone forward with their escape attempt. He and Ferris both had been so selfish about getting themselves out, they hadn't even thought about the consequences for Cleopolica afterwards.

"Ferris, did you ever predict this?" he asked. "You know… them attacking Cleopolica afterwards?"

Ferris frowned, his gaze on the terrified crowd gathered not too far away. "To be honest, I did wonder if there would be retaliation. In retrospect it's obvious that they would attack, but from within the ranch the only thing that kept me going as the thought of getting out." He sighed. "I guess you could accuse me of being an optimist. Did you predict any of this?"

Rowan looked down at the ground with a furrowed brow. Had he predicted this? No, not in so many details. He'd certainly been feeling cynical about their chances of succeeding, though, and the thought of retaliation on Cleopolica had hardly crossed his mind. All he said, though, was, "Dagen having boobs was a surprise."

Soon after, Dagen reappeared on the scene. She stood at the top of the steps that led all the way up to the altar and looked down at the gathered humans. She had her back to Rowan and Ferris so they couldn't see her face, but Rowan could imagine the triumphant smirk that must surely be on her face.

"Hello, humans," she said. "I must say, so far I have greatly enjoyed my visit to your pathetic little town. Now then, I'm sure you have all heard by now that the other day, your friends and families in my ranch decided they valued their own freedom more than yours. I am sure I issued a warning many years ago that any attempt at escape would result in the eradication of everyone in their hometown."

Frightened murmuring took off like wildfire through the crowds. The gathered humans shuffled as they looked around for a way to escape, by Desians closed them in on all sides.

"Allow me to show you the inferior being responsible for this, so that you will know who to blame for your despair."

She turned her head and gestured with her hand at some of the Desians standing behind her. A pair of Desians jumped to attention and marched over to Rowan and Ferris. They were pulled to their feet and then shoved forward to start walking toward the gallows.

The steps creaked as they walked up them and the planks of the platform itself seemed unstable. This might have been a result of the way everything seemed kind of unreal as Rowan stood up there within feet of the noose. He realized that up until now, he'd held onto the hope that someone would save them. It was suddenly sinking in that he was really going to die; that this really was the end. Everything felt surreal. The strong wind on his face reminded him that right now he was alive, but soon he wouldn't be able to feel anything at all.

"So, everyone," Dagen said. "When you curse me and blame the Desians for your misfortune, remember that we're only here because of your very own Lieutenant Ferris."

Next to him on the platform, Rowan heard Ferris mutter, "What a bitch…"

That comment probably deserved the Understatement of the Year award.

"But I am not a merciless woman," Dagen said. "For you see, I shall not exterminate every last filthy human in this town. I am simply going to decimate you."

Rowan glanced at Ferris in confusion and whispered, "Isn't that the exact same thing?"

From the look of fury and frustration on Ferris' face, it wasn't.

"To put it in more simple terms for you primitive humans, I shall reduce your population by one-tenth. Every single human in this town is to be taken to the ranch, and as you line up to walk through the gates, every tenth prisoner will be killed. I think that ought to teach you a lesson, don't you think?"

"I'm gonna kill her," Ferris growled.

Rowan snorted. "Good luck with that."

"But before we march you all to our ranch," Dagen was saying, "first you will witness the fates of those who would plot against me."

Rowan's heart skipped a beat. This was it. He was really going to die any minute now. He happened to be standing on Ferris' left, making him first in line for the noose. That was hardly fair! Why did he have to go first?

He was seriously considering protesting this issue when a deathly silence settled over the crowd. At first he thought everyone was sobering up out of respect for the fact that he was about to die, but when everyone's heads turned to look back down the steps he realized he wasn't quite that important.

Someone else was coming into the scene, and that someone was attracting the eyes of every person in the area. From where he stood up on the platform, Rowan had a very good view of who was striding confidently up the steps. Despite the fact that he was moments away from execution, he found himself being very glad that he wasn't on the Desians' side, because the look of fury on Pierce's face was one of the most intimidating things he had ever seen.

Pierce came to a stop at the lowest tier of the steps just beyond the ring of Desian guards. He stood broad-shouldered with his feet planted firmly in the ground. His sword hung in its scabbard and he made no move to draw it. Sunlight gleamed on his polished breastplate. Dagen appeared unsettled by his appearance. It wasn't so much that he was clearly a force to be reckoned with – it was that he was a solitary man standing resolutely before a small army of Desians, with the attitude and confidence of someone with an entire battalion behind them. That kind of confidence was unnerving when you couldn't see where it came from.

"Who are you?" Dagen asked, crossing her arms and glaring down the steps at him. Everyone in the crowd had moved aside, clearing a straight opening down the stairs to give her a clear view of him. Even the Desians seemed hesitant to draw near.

"My name is Captain Pierce Asgard of the Cleopolica militia," he said in a voice loud and clear. "And this is my city. Get out."

Dagen cocked her head slightly. "No." Then she nodded to one of the Desians closest to Pierce. "I don't have time for this. Bring him up here and we'll kill him with the other two."

"Yes, ma'am!" the pair of Desians at the base of the steps said. They started walking towards Pierce with their swords out, but the captain made no move to either run or attack. Rowan considered shouting at him to do something, but just as he was about to open his mouth, the Desians exploded.

Wait. That couldn't be right. Surely he had seen wrong. Rowan would have rubbed his eyes had they not been handcuffed behind his back. Everyone else in attendance was staring in shock as well, so maybe it hadn't been a trick of his eyes. The two Desians in question lie on the ground, covered in burns. Rowan couldn't tell if they were alive or not, but he certainly wouldn't want to have been in their positions when the earth had opened up without warning and spat flaming rocks and fire at them.

"I should mention," Pierce said calmly as smoke drifted up from the scorched Desians, "that this entire area is underlain with landmines. There mines were a special invention of a dwarf friend of mine. Amazing what dwarves can do, isn't it? I have just returned from a trip up the mountain to ask her to activate them. They explode based on the mana signature of whoever steps on them, meaning they will only ignite for half-elves."

"That's ridiculous," Dagen scoffed. "No such thing exists."

Pierce raised an eyebrow. "Are you willing to risk it? If you and your Desians calmly march out of this city right now and never return, I will show you what path to take that is safe."

"Capture this human," Dagen commanded.

The next batch of Desians who tried to get near Pierce met the same fate as the first two, and subsequent Desians hovered a few yards away, quite hesitant to attempt to get near him.

"I gave you your chance," Pierce said. "You leave me no choice but to retake my city by force."

Dagen laughed. "I'd like to see you try, human. Your little army of escapees doesn't frighten me." Dagen could see just as clearly as Rowan that from behind Pierce, every Cleopolican soldier who had escaped the ranch was marching into town, armed with weaponry borrowed from the pirates.

"Are you really going to try and attack while I have your entire town held hostage?" Dagen asked.

"No," Pierce said. "We can wait a few minutes."

"For what, may I ask?"

Another explosion shattered the tension. This time the burst of heat and stone had appeared right in the middle of the Desian ranks, sending Desians scrambling out the way. This movement sparked another explosion about thirty seconds later.

"The more you scramble around, the more you set off our mines!" Pierce was grinning now as the chaos in the Desians ranks grew greater and greater. The explosions were spaced out by thirty seconds to a minute, and Desians pushed and shoved each other to try and get away from the dense mass of soldiers, where every eruption killed or injured at least five men.

"Stop it!" Dagen shouted, struggling to be heard over the shouting Desians and explosions. "They're not mines! That's nonsense! This is human trickery!"

Her words weren't accomplishing very much, though. The Desians' survival instinct had overridden the need to obey the Cardinal's orders, and the ranks of orderly Desians had become an every-man-for-himself mob of terrified half-elves. The humans they were surrounding were just as scared, and tried to get as far away from the Desians as possible. They pushed at each other to try and get closer to the altar, and Rowan found himself feeling very glad to be standing on a platform up above the chaos unfolding below.

"I think we ought to get out of here," Ferris said.

"I'm with you on that!" They turned around to make a break across the stone altar, but then Rowan heard the planks creak as a Desian jumped after them.

"This is your fault, you maggots!" he yelled, raising his sword.

Rowan dropped to his knees to duck, but he ended up not needing to when the next burst of fire erupted right in front of him, consuming the Desian. He screamed and dropped his sword before falling to the ground, covered in burns. The platform itself caught fire as well, so Rowan and Ferris scrambled back onto the stone altar to avoid the flames.

"There is no way these are land mines," Ferris said. "Land mines do not erupt on an elevated wooden platform exactly when it's convenient for us!"

"I was thinking that too," Rowan said. "They keep going off at a consistent pace. If they were really activated by stepping on them, they'd be getting faster and faster as the chaos spreads."

"So what do you think it is?"

Rowan grinned he they stopped at the far end of the platform. Ferris jumped down first, and Rowan took a glance up at the rocky mountainside around them. "I think someone nearby is using magic."

He hopped down as well and the pair leaned against the stone, catching their breath. Their hands were still tied, but they were out of immediate danger now that they were somewhat hidden behind the altar. "And considering I only know one person who can use magic who isn't a Desian, I have a pretty good guess who it might be."


"They've just run to the other side of the altar," Kratos said before charging up another Eruption. Spiritua peeked around the edge of the boulder they were hiding behind just in time to see Rowan's head duck down on the other side.

"Eruption." Another blast rocked the Desians. By now they were spreading out from the altar. Pierce and his soldiers were doing their best protect the citizens as they fled, and the constant Eruptions from Kratos were doing a good job of keeping the Desians sufficiently distracted. What Spiritua was mostly worried about was the fact that the grass in front of the altar had caught fire and was steadily spreading toward the steps. The stairs were stone so she hoped that the fire would be contained to the area around the altar. Still, she needed to get Rowan and Ferris out of there before the fire consumed the entire area.

"I'm going," she said.

Kratos nodded. "Be careful. I'll meet up with you at the pirate's caravan."

Spiritua took out her wings and launched into the air. She kept her eyes locked on her destination so that she wouldn't have to look down at the people running around like panicking ants, because seeing the ground far below tended to make her stomach do backflips.

Luckily there was so much chaos down on the ground that nobody was paying enough attention to bother looking up. She flew unnoticed over their heads toward the altar and came down right next to Rowan.

Rowan jumped when he saw her and swore loudly. "Spirit! What are you doing here?"

She raised the lock pick she'd borrowed from Rook. "How do I use this?"

"Give me that," Rowan said, turning around and reaching with one of his bound hands.

"I can help."

"I can do it faster." She rolled her eyes but handed over the lock pick. Rowan fiddled around trying to get the thin piece of wire into the hole and Spirit wondered why couldn't have just told her what to do. Of course, if he had done so she probably would have suspected him of being an imposter.

A minute later his hands sprang free and he went to release Ferris. "How are we going to get out of here?" Ferris asked.

Rowan shrugged. "I think the Desians are too worried about blowing up to stop us."

Ferris frowned, but nodded. "I think you're right. The only way down from up here is down the main steps. We'll just have to make a run for it."

The three of them rounded the altar and hurried back around to the front of it. When they got there, they found that there weren't nearly as many Desians as they had thought there were The fighting had spread out from the steps and was now mostly concentrated on the wide dirt roads in the town proper. Meanwhile, the dry summer grass around the altar burned, sending pillars of smoke into the air.

"We need to get down from here, pronto," Ferris said, holding his arm over his face to block the smoke. Spirit and rowan followed his example as they ran across the edge of open area, trying to keep as far back from the fire as possible.

They reached the steps and took them two or three at a time in their rush to get down. Down below, the humans appeared to be winning. Kratos was still higher up the mountain slope, blasting the Desians left right and center. The humans fought much more viciously, and they actually outnumbered the Desians when one took into account the fact that all the able-bodied civilians had grabbed whatever weapons they could out of the nearest houses to join the fray, beating Desians back with frying pans and chair legs. They also had the advantage of knowing the streets and terrain perfectly, whereas the Desians had to stick to the main boulevards to avoid getting lost.

And then, when Spirit and the other two were about half way down the stairs, the wind changed. Spirit felt the change immediately, but she didn't think much of it, other than that it was annoying to have her hair suddenly blow in her face when it had previously been blowing it back. But the fact was, the wind was now blowing in the direction of the town, and up above, the burning embers of grass got picked up in the wind and blown down onto the rooftops of the town.

"That's not good," Ferris said, pausing when they reached the bottom. The roofs of the nearest houses were burning, and it wouldn't take long for the flames to leap across to the next roof. Cleopolica would ordinarily have a fire department to take care of this, but all its members were currently fighting the Desians, leaving the flames to burn unchecked. Hungry tongues of flame leapt between the dry wooden shingles of houses, sending sparks and smoke into the burning air.

"Nothing we can do about it right now," Rowan said. "Come on, we need to get out of here." He took hold of Spirit's hand and started running for the town's exit. The main road out, though, was the site of the majority of the fighting. Getting through unscathed would be next to impossible.

"There's a side road we can use to get out," Ferris said. "It leads to a smaller path down the mountain the re-joins the main one after circling the gorge."

"Take us there," Rowan said.

Ferris nodded and took off in the opposite direction, leading them further into town. There was less fighting in this direction, but this was also the direction the fire was heading. The air was thick with smoke and every breath burned Spirit's lungs. They ran through town as fast as they could, leaving behind the rage of the battle. The streets were narrower now since they were passing through a residential area.

Spirit heard the cracking first, but Rowan and Ferris reacted only seconds later. The two-story home they were running past gave way as fire consumed the bottom floor, sending burning debris toppling down onto the street right towards them. Rowan shoved Spirit hard in the back, sending her flying forward before stumbling to her knees. She heard the burning timber smash into the ground right behind her and felt the rush of hot wind on the back of her neck.

As soon as the debris stopped falling, she jumped to her feet and looked around. Ferris stood next to her, coughing and just getting to his feet as well, but alright. Rowan was nowhere to be seen.

"Rowan?"

"I'm here!" he called back on the other side of the burning pile of refuse. A good portion of a wall had fallen, quite effectively barricading the street.

Ferris called, "We're both fine over here; are you hurt?"

"No," Rowan barked. "I'm f-fine."

His voice cracked just a bit. Obviously he was hurt, but not badly enough to be crippling. Probably a mild burn on one of his limbs. Spirit looked up and considered flying over to join him on that side, but it was hard enough to breathe the air down here; flying any higher would be suicide.

"You guys keep going," Rowan said. "I'll find another road and join you later, ok?"

Spirit circled her fists in frustration. She had finally gotten Rowan back, but now they were getting split up again.

"You guys be careful," Rowan said. "Ferris, take care of my sister."

"Will do," Ferris said in an as cheerful voice as he could muster. "Look after yourself. We'll see you later."

Spirit didn't bother saying goodbye to Rowan. She was going to see him again in just a couple hours when they reunited, and saying a goodbye felt much too final. She would only say goodbye if she knew it was really their last, and this definitely wasn't that. And so she followed Ferris without a word, speeding toward the exit.