Chapter 20: Back in Prontera

Tryzen groaned in pained as soon as he woke up. He had lost track of time since he made the sewer walls collapse all over him. He found it rather strange that he was lying down on a soft mattress somewhere, relatively alive if he was capable of feeling pain at this time. However, he certainly did not expect to be smacked hard on his head as soon as he woke up.

" Damn jackass! Were you trying to get us all killed?!" Vermillion exclaimed angrily. She was about to hit Tryzen yet again when Serene and Krayken stepped in to stop her from dealing anymore damage.

" After what you just did, I'm thinking maybe I should have considered that..." Tryzen replied gloomily. He took a good look around. They were back at Vermillion's quarters at the monastery, and Tryzen was propped nicely in her bed. From the looks of it, it seems like he had sustained the most injuries during their short excursion. His body was aching slightly, but other than that he was quite fine. The others didn't seem to have suffered anything serious. " Anyway, what happened when I was out?"

" After you blew a hole in the sewers powerful enough to bring the whole place crashing down, we had to start running for cover when huge chunks of rocks started falling all over the place. Krayken here was quick enough to whip you out of that mess when you conveniently fainted after your head hit a boulder. Now, there is a God damned mess, and the authorities are trying to figure out who the heck was moronic enough to make half the thing collapse!" Vermillion fumed, somehow careful to keep her voice down despite being very pissed at the moment.

" So, you got me out of that mess," Tryzen replied, looking at Krayken. " Thanks a lot."

" You were not listening to a thing I said!" Vermillion yelled, loosing her cool this time.

" Shut up! We have more pressing matters at hand than worrying about me almost killing you by collapsing a ceiling!" Tryzen replied, jumping out of bed. He later realised that he was only sparsely dressed, but decided not to bother about it as the bandages around his body made up for the lack of clothes. He started pacing around the room, his arms folded against his chest as he spoke.

" We now have knowledge that the Holy Order are made up from people who are, at least, not in a sense, holy," he replied sternly.

" I thought we already figured that out," Vermillion scowled.

" No, you do not understand my meaning," Tryzen answered. " They way they knew we were hiding behind that wall...it would only be explainable if they had 'Vision'..."

" 'Vision'? You mean that ability to see through tangible objects?" Serene asked.

" Yes...I can't think of any other solution. The cardinals, if it were them, could even see Krayken's movements behind a solid wall," Tryzen replied.

" No way...if they have 'Vision', that would mean..."

" We have demons from the Neatherrealms within the ranks of the Holy Order," Tryzen finished the sentence for Serene. There was some silence between the four of them when Tryzen completed the sentence. Nobody liked to consider the fact.

" This can't be possible!" Serene exclaimed. " Demonic creatures are beings hated by the Holy Order, and are sworn to be banished by them. How the heck did a bunch of demonic creatures even get in the ranks of the Holy Order? Heck, how did anyone not notice?!"

" That is what troubles me most...it is almost impossible for them to stay in the Holy Order for so long without anyone noticing. I'm guessing they infiltrated the Holy Order recently, killed of a couple of the cardinals and disguised themselves as one of them while they carry out their plan. What plan they have that involves Azaroth, I can hardly fathom, but I don't imagine it to be good..." Tryzen answered, biting his thumb.

" Talking about Azaroth, we have news about him," Krayken interjected.

" What?" Tryzen exclaimed, turning around to face him.

" Apparently, they have caught him somehow, and he's back here in Prontera," Krayken replied.

-

" So, you are concerned about the judgment being passed upon Azaroth, and the on-goings in the Holy Order. Furthermore, your friend Selene is concerned that there is more than meets the eye on this matter, and you believe that she has taken some form of action to deal with it. Also, you feel something is wrong and there is some impending doom coming along nicely," Aesis repeated what Melanie had told him.

" I did not mention the last phrase..." Melanie retorted.

" Alright, you don't, but I do," Aesis replied.

" What do you mean by that?" Melanie asked, folding her arms.

Aesis got up and stretched his body, feeling cramped up from sitting on the chair for far too long as Melanie expressed her worries. He walked up and started to casually pour himself a drink from a nearby drink cabinet. Melanie had to refrain herself from wanting to scold her superior for such odd manners. Nobody can pull any ranks with the top commander in the army.

" Something is not right here: both the destruction of the outer villages and the murder of the cardinal. I might be wrong to say that both these events are unrelated in any way, but I've seen enough in my lifetime to know something is just not right," Aesis replied, taking a sip.

" Please don't answer me vaguely, commander," Melanie pleaded.

" My bad..." Aesis replied. " First of all, the attack on the outer villages. Now, from your report, and what I've heard, it was apparently the undead that attacked the village. However, there were no traces of them getting to the village, nor were there any traces of them leaving. Now Melanie, tell me what do you think?"

" What? Me? Why should it be important what I think?" Melanie asked. Aesis had a way of making people feel awkward by addressing them directly by their name.

" I'd like to see if one of my best people know how to think decently," Aesis replied.

" Was that a compliment or an insult?" Melanie scowled.

" Just tell me what you think," Aesis interjected.

Melanie sighed, then said " What I think might not make sense," she replied.

" The fact that I hold my post in the army doesn't make much sense either, so try me," Aesis replied, trying to be funny. Melanie wasn't sure whether the laugh or sigh. She decided to do neither.

" If there were to traces of the undead leaving or arriving, that means they took another means of entering the village. There are two other possible ways of entering the village: either from under the ground, or above the sky. If they did come from the sky, and in such numbers, it would be astronomically impossible that nobody actually saw them in the sky at all, thus I'm lead to the conclusion that they arose from underneath the village," Melanie answered.

" Bingo, and with that I'd say you are right," Aesis replied, emptying his glass. Looking at the empty glass, he suddenly said " I'm sorry...would you like a drink?"

" But how was that even possible? The village has no supply of corpses, and whatever that caused that destruction sure didn't summon a couple of zombies, that I'm very sure of!" Melanie exclaimed, ignoring Aesis's last statement.

" What are you implying?" Aesis asked.

" That it is technically impossible to even summon zombies there!" Melanie argued.

" And with that comes a flaw in your statement," Aesis pointed out.

" Flaw?"

" You said 'technically impossible'. Now, if you do not consider technicality, then in reality, it is still possible," Aesis replied.

" You are telling me that it is possible to summon zombies under those conditions?" Melanie asked incredulously.

" Of course it is possible, if not why was the village destroyed, leaving traces that zombies were actually previously there. Now, think carefully…your knowledge of the undead and the teachings in the Holy Order should be enough to roughly figure out how this happen. How do you summon zombies?" Aesis asked. Melanie could not see where her commander was heading to.

" First of all you need a vessel: a body, corpse, or an organic functional body that doesn't need to be a live. Impart some dark magic into it and we have a basic zombie," Melanie replied.

" Alright, that would be the most basic way to summon a zombie. However, as everyone who had been there had stated, there were no fresh supplies of zombies around to even consider summoning them directly, so some other method had been used. Now, can you think of another method where they were sent there, or summoned in any case?" Aesis asked.

" I already said…"

" Excuses, Melanie. Use your brain. Don't limit yourself to one method. There has to be an explanation," Aesis argued. Melanie started to hate this conversation. It was as if Aesis was testing her in an alchemy class, where they had to rack their brains to figure out funny formulas and cracked-up molecules.

Melanie figured for a while. If they were not summoned there, it would probably mean that they were sent there. But then, there were no physical marks that they were sent there, although a funny thought did occur to her somehow.

" Someone teleported them there?" Melanie tried.

" Exactly the answer I was looking for," Aesis replied, smiling.

" But commander, there is no way in hell a zombie can enter a warp portal. The holy powers will rend it to bits the moment it enters the warp portal!" Melanie argued.

" Well, priests aren't the only ones capable of opening warp portals," Aesis replied.

" Are you considering necromancers here?" Melanie asked incredulously.

" I am unable to consider anything else, Melanie," Aesis replied, getting up. " See, we know that the zombies did appear in that village. Problem is, there were no physical traces that they made their way there. Conclusion, they were warped there. Second conclusion, there was no way in hell a priest could send them there, unless you include fallen priests, which technically are also necromancers. It has to be Melanie, even it's hard to believe."

" But, all the necromancers were long dead by the end of the Second War," Melanie objected.

" And can you give me any proof of that?" Aesis asked. Melanie was unable to answer.

" It may have been a war, and it is true that we had wiped out the last of the Dark Legion, but that did not mean that we managed to kill every single opponent we had in that war. Considering that necromancers are sneaky bastards, we can safely assume that there is still a possibility that at least one of them was still alive," Aesis replied. " It has to be, Melanie. We can't bend logic, no matter how far fetched it may be."

Melanie hung her head. " What do you propose to do then, commander?" she asked.

" Leave it to me. I'll ask my subordinates to deal with this matter personally. You have done enough," Aesis replied. " Alright, we are done discussing with one topic. To the next one now: What do you think of Azaroth Crimson?"

" What the heck do you mean?" Melanie exclaimed.

" His position, the trial, and the charges…what do you think of it personally?" Aesis asked.

" It's not in my position to think of the charges in this case," Melanie answered.

" Typical response I'd expect from you anyway," Aesis replied. " Anyway, if you ask me, his whole trial is a piece of crap, and I'm under the impression that he has been falsely accused of his crime. Something is up, and I think the cardinals are the ones involved in this. Don't ask me how I came up with that. I just feel that it is."

" And what are you going to do about it?" Melanie asked, surprised at her commander being very frank about it.

" Nothing as of yet," Aesis answered.

" Nothing?!"

" Look, what can I possibly do? I have no proof that the cardinals are really the ones at fault here, besides my gut feeling. However, it will take more than that to convince everyone about that fact. It would look rather criminal if I started walking inside the church and starting to accuse the cardinals of this. Heck, what would Reinne think about it? I doubt she would fancy me much if I started beating up a couple of old men, especially from the church," Aesis answered. Melanie raised her eyebrows quizzically, in which Aesis replied " Alright, that was an overstatement...she wouldn't do that. Just a manner of speech."

" What would you plan on doing?" Melanie asked.

" Nothing as of yet," Aesis replied, getting ready to leave. " Don't worry, I'll try and figure out something by the time this is over. Right now, I think you should go report this matter to your Division commander. I'm sure she needs to heard your report on the destroyed villages. Whether or not you intend to go into a in-depth discussion like the one we just had, I'll leave it to you."

" That was what I intended to do, except she isn't here," Melanie argued.

" I wasn't talking about Deinnelle, Melanie. I was talking about Reinne. Being second-in-command doesn't mean she isn't allowed to receive mission reports," Aesis replied. " Stop being so uptight, Melanie, if not at this rate you wouldn't get a boyfriend anytime soon."

Melanie spun on her commander, blushing slightly. " What?!" she declared loudly.

" I must say, you look good in a shade of red," Aesis jokingly replied.

" Are you hitting on me?" Melanie exclaimed.

" Don't get so worked up. I'm not hitting on you, just giving some advice. Besides, I already have my eyes on someone else already, and it's nobody as fiesty and stoic as you are," Aesis laughed. He walked out of the room with a smug grin on his face, leaving Melanie behind to fume for a while.

Aesis always felt that Melanie was too strict for her own good. She would smile once in a while, usually in the company in her friends, but Aesis always felt that she could use a close partner to ease her seriousness in her life. However, from the looks of the way she was going, she might be staying single for some time now.

" Commander Aesis!" someone exclaimed loudly. Aesis looked up to see a surprised looking knight, no doubt wondering what the heck was his division commander doing coming out from another division commanders room.

" Yes, what now?" Aesis asked.

" Sir, the southern portion of the sewers has collapsed for some reason!" the knight replied.

" What? Collapsed?" Aesis asked.

" Yes sir. Some of the peasents have reported that there was a sound of an explosion right before the collapse of the sewers. Several houses were destroyed, but there were no casualties. The damage is quite intense, and it would take some time to repair it, considering the state the sewers is in," the knight replied.

" Hmm," Aesis thought. A sound of an explosion? Certainly, someone has unleashed an amout of power somewhere inside the sewers. Being rather ancient, it would not doubt break easily when the correct pressure to specific parts were applied. Question was: who blew it up?

" I'll take a look," Aesis replied.

" What? There is no need sir. The squardron captains will organise the clean-up, and report anything to you directly," the knight objected.

" I'd like to see it," Aesis replied.

" Right, sir. This way," the knight replied, not wanting to argue with his superior on that matters. Both of them trooped off down the stone corridor, their footsteps tapping on the ancient stone as Melanie stepped out of Deinnelle's room, after hearing most of the conversation.

-

Azaroth was violently woken up when he was violently thrown back against a wall. He groaned in pain as his back was slammed against the stony wall of the familiar dungeon cell. This time however, instead of the usual handcuffs and chains to his feet bound to an iron ball, he was totally wrapped up in chains, and his movements were restricted completely. The most he could do was stretch his head and look around.

" Hey, what if I need to shit?" Azaroth yelled, caring less about his manners in speech.

" Relax, at the date fixed for your execution, there is no time for you to shit at all," one of the guards said. The other five who were with him started laughing loudly, slapping the guy who said it heartily on the back as they started to walk out of the holding area where they kept him. Azaroth winched slightly as they slammed the door shut loudly.

Azaroth tried to remember what had happened. He had no further recollection after his engagement with the High Priest, being knocked out immediately after that. The next thing he knew, he was being dragged here, completely bonded in chains and unceremoniously dumped into the dungeon cell.

" It just has to be my lucky week..." Azaroth groaned.

-

" Hmm, what's this?" Tryhayren asked, seeing Grimjaw dump a large leather sack on her table.

" Consider this a token of appreciation if you wish. This will be my last time staying here. Just saying thanks for keeping us here," Grimjaw replied.

" Oh, where are you leaving to?" Tryhayren asked slyly.

" I've secured a mode of transport out of here to Prontera, and I'll be leaving immediately with Meillienne," Grimjaw replied. He poked the leather sack slightly, and there was the clinking sound of coins hitting coins. " This isn't much, but this will be the last payment I'll most likely be paying you."

Grimjaw walked out of the room. Meillienne was standing right at the end. She bowed slightly as Grimjaw reached the door. However, just before they left, Grimjaw heard something fly in the air. He spun around just quick enough to catch a flying leather pouch deftly with his right hand. Grimjaw was slightly surprised that Tryhayren decided to turn down his offering.

" You should know I always like other forms of currency," Tryhayren replied mischeviously.

" What now?" Grimjaw asked, frowning.

" I'll only allow you to leave if you promise to visit once in a while. My daughter has become quite found of you already, you know that. It's not really nice to just leave her unattended like this," Tryhayren replied.

Grimjaw sighed loudly. " You know I can't object to that. I'll try and see..." Grimjaw replied, stepping out of Tryhayren's private room. Both Meillienne and Grimjaw walked back quietly tomeet Selene and Teranis back at their old place.

" Brother, are you going to rescue Azaroth?" Meillienne asked.

" Hmm, most likely...why?" Grimjaw replied quietly.

" Won't it be dangerous?" Meillienne asked.

" I've got enough lives to waste," Grimjaw laughed. Meillienne felt odd. This was a time when her brother has been acting differently from before. Azaroth must have had quite an impact on Grimjaw to make him want to rescue him. " Besides, going to Prontera would be a good chance to become an acolyte as you have always wanted. Isn't that good?"

" Brother, promise me one thing..." Meillienne asked.

" Tsk, more promises again..." Grimjaw sighed.

" I know Azaroth is important to you. He's important to me as well. But, you are as equally important as well. I just...I just don't want to lose you both as well," Meillienne timidly said.

Grimjaw stopped walking just as they reached to outer area of their old house. Meillienne looked quizzically at her brother. He took a deep breath, puffing hard on the cigarette in his mouth, before looking at her. " You sure are one demanding sibling..." he sighed, patting her affectionately on her head. Meillienne smiled happily at him.

" Hey, Priestess! We are all set and ready to go!" Grimjaw exclaimed.

-

" He's...back?" Tryzen asked, his jaw dropping slack.

" Yes, you dumb ass. While you were sleeping nicely all along there, the Holy Order has somehow sent some group to Morroc and nicely fetched back Azaroth's bum right back to the capital. He's back in his dungeon cell now, and his execution date is set for this evening!" Vermillion yelled.

" Damn it, you can't be serious..." Tryzen groaned, sitting back down.

" What now! He's back, and he's going to die! What are we going to do?" Vermillion exclaimed.

Tryzen thought for a while, sitting down quietly. There wasn't much time left. It was slightly past the afternoon, and that would mean that the execution date was just a couple of hours away at the least. There was not enough time to come up with a suitable plan right now. They would need to get Azaroth out, and get him out fast.

" Serene, Vermillion...you still remember the original plan, don't you?" Tryzen asked, getting up to pick up is staff.