Author's Note: This chapter will make more sense if you've seen The First Strike.


Chapter 55 - Threads

Winter was no less harsh on Tolbyccia. The winds were higher at this altitude and seemed even colder by comparison. They trudged through the ice and snow filled fields and into the forest. He remained ever at the ready, something deep in his gut telling him that something was not right here. His blue eyes were alert, scanning between every tree and around every rock.

Something was very wrong. Since they had left the coast and the camp that they had made there, they had not encountered a single monster, and the forests of these cliffs were normally fraught with them. The whole forest seemed so dead and quiet and it was incredibly unnerving. Normally, Flynn could hear every twig popped or leaf rustled by a creature, but it was only their own footsteps crunching softly through the snow, and his breathing, rapidly filling and leaving his lungs as clouds of steam in the cold air. Even though they were still a few miles from the Manor, they had to remain cautious.

Further up ahead, through the trees that lined the trail, just beyond the misty winter air, he could see an armored silhouette. He held his breath as they drew closer. There were other forms behind it, two, wearing familiar olive green and brown uniforms. He breathed a small sigh of relief. It was only a handful of Imperial Knights, standing steadfast in the path.

They saluted, but held their positions.

He took a few steps forward, relaxing slightly. "What's the situation here? One or our scouts returned traumatized by something that happened."

The first knight dropped his arm out of his salute, letting it fall limply at this side. For a half a second, Flynn could see something above him glittering.

"Sir... run..." the face of that soldier was twisted with pain and fear. His head cracked to one side and he drew his sword, every one of his tense bones cracking as he moved. Flynn saw that glittering again and recognized it to his own horror. Thin strands of red, barely visible though the mist, were holding that knight and the other two tightly. Or worse yet, they were controlling them. Something started to glow in the center of the knight's chest, bright red. It was something else that terrified him.

"Retreat! Now!"

"But, Sir!" Sodia started from his side.

"Now!" He glanced around them but it was too late. They were surrounded by beasts and knights and people he knew as guild members, all of them with the bright red spots on their chests and the red strings tethering them. The rock monster in Ceazontania had been bad, but this was worse. Whatever it was, it was controlling these men, turning his own knights against him.

From behind them, a scream echoed out as a knight of the Frings Brigade was grabbed and whipped up into the trees by something long and dark and shining red. After a second, another was grabbed and then another. They dropped back out of the trees, filled with glowing chests and draped with glittering strings.

This was a trap.

The first knight came in to strike at him. He parried and aimed for the strings, but missed as the knight came at him again.

"At the Manor..." the knight gasped, raising his sword high with a will that was not his.

"What's at the Manor?!"

"Please... kill us..."

His heart sunk and he knew that these men couldn't be saved. He didn't want to believe that. He had never intended to fight his own men. He was frozen.

"Sir! Watch out!" Aslan shoved him aside, out of the way of the quickly plummeting blade, managing to parry just in time.

Sodia helped him out of the snow where he had fallen, scrambling back to his feet. Yuri wasn't here to do the thing no one else wanted to do. That would fall to Flynn. He would be forced to take up the mantle. He didn't want to raise his sword against his own, but he had to, and he did.

As another knight came at Aslan, prepared to strike, Flynn made his move. He cut the red threads that bound him. The knight crumpled to the ground. He jabbed the knight in the red heart and the glow faded. They were suddenly overcome with monsters and men. He turned to fell another when he spotted Aslan out of the corner of his eye, holding back two with his sword from going after Flynn. One of the knights swept down on Aslan, lodging a long sword into his shoulder. Blood sprayed everywhere, but the Captain held out, managing to shove back the two he had been fending off and retaliating against the one with the dagger he carried at his side, shoving it into the red glow in the knight's chest.

He was losing blood quickly and with more enemies encroaching when everything suddenly stopped. Flynn felt like the whole world was moving at half speed, and yards away in the trees, he spotted a moving glyph of glowing blue in the air. The enemies stopped cold and fell to their knees, the glow fading from their chests and the strings that bound them dissolving. Flynn's vision darted quickly around until he spotted a familiar form holding a familiar sword.

Duke Panterei stood before them, Dein Nomos in hand. Before Flynn could react, Aslan staggered and he moved to catch him.

"Captain Frings!" A medic was at the their side quickly, treating the gash in his left shoulder with military precision.

"Are you alright?" Flynn knelt beside him, but his eyes remained fixed on Duke, who wasn't looking at them, but instead at the bodies of the enemy around them.

"I'm fine, Sir." He cringed a bit as the medic shifted him to get a field dressing on the wound.

If help had arrived only seconds later, the Captain may have been a goner. Flynn sighed a little with relief when the medic indicated that with proper treatment at the camp, the Captain would recover in time. He stood and approached Duke, who was holding one of the blastia hearts.

"Thank you for your timely assistance."

Duke's deep crimson eyes scanned him briefly. "It was not my intention here."

"Thank you all the same."

"You should get out of this forest before it returns to finish you."

"What do you mean 'it'?"

"The creature that is causing the disturbance in the aer."

Flynn was reluctant to leave. They needed to know what was going on here, but they were overpowered once already and a second time could spell their end. He had injured men to think about. They were in no condition to continue.

"We will withdraw immediately. Will you accompany us and inform me further on the situation?"

"Let us go." Duke turned and started back through the forest toward the coast.

Flynn hastily reassembled his now dwindling troops and they headed back to camp.


"I was wondering if you've got any new information for us," Yuri asked, standing before the Union once more.

"Well, we did sent a small reconnaissance group to check out the Manor of the Wicked, like you asked. It's been two days and they have yet to return."

That alone sent his thoughts racing. It shouldn't have taken so long to get there and return on a simple scouting mission. "Thank you. We'll head there ourselves and see what's going on."

Harry nodded and Yuri left. He didn't like this one bit. If everything was fine, the guild members should have returned by now. Guilt started filling his stomach, squashing the hunger he had felt earlier. If something had happened to them, he was responsible. He was the one who had asked for the aid, and he would have to suffer the repercussions of his actions.

He headed back to the headquarters, intent on rallying the others and heading there immediately.

"Yuri Lowell!" That voice made his hair stand on end and his kidney ache, although he would never show a trace of that to the person who spoke.

He whipped around to find Sodia, followed by two Royal Guards, quickly approaching him. He shifted his weight onto one foot and put his hand on his hip. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

She obviously heard the sarcasm heavy in his voice. He wasn't trying to hide it. "What do you know about what's going on at the Manor of the Wicked?

"Why?"

"Just answer the question!"

"Only if you say please."

The desire to strike him was clear in her eyes, but she resisted for whatever reason. "We were ambushed near there."

That caught his attention. "Lemme guess... monsters with glowing chests."

"Monsters... and Imperial Knights. Look. Flynn asked me to come find you. He said something about a place called Ceazontania. He said you'd know what I was talking about."

"Where is he now?" Of course he knew what she was talking about. He would never forget that place. The very mention of it brought back a flood of memories, some good, some terrifying.

"At our encampment on the coast north of here."

"We'll head up. Let him know." He turned his back to her. It probably wasn't the smartest decision, but her worry for Flynn seemed to be overcoming her hatred for him even if only briefly. She could have attacked him if she wanted to, but instead he was able to walk all the way back to headquarters without incident.

Everyone was sitting around the conference table when he entered.

"Yuri! Raven just told us that there's an Imperial camp north of here. Flynn might be there." Estelle must have been hoping that their quarrel had simmered down since they'd had some time away from each other. She was probably worried about the Empire's White Knight as well.

"He's definitely there. We need to go meet up with him. There's some serious stuff going on. Let's go and see what he knows."

All of this being centered on the Manor again worried him. Two missing guild members, blastia heart monsters, an overflowing krene, an ambush, and anything having to do with Ceazontania that could have been connected with Alexei's Word didn't sit right. Hopefully the blond would be able to shed more light on the subject.

"Are you worried about Flynn?" Estelle broke his thoughts with a gentle hand on his arm.

"No. Flynn can handle himself." It was everything else he was worried about.