"The Rescue"
A week had passed since the fall of Jeuno, I and my team had retreated back to Windurst to regroup. It's been more than a year since I left Windurst. Everything in Windurst still looks and feels the same. The place looks ancient and old. So tranquil, but this tranquility will not last if the marauding beastmen cannot be stopped.
I was fishing at my favorite spot in Windurst Walls. At the horizon stood the Heavenly Tower, home to the Elder Council of Windurst. The Elder Council of Windurst had gathered to plan their course of action against the impending attack on Windurst. Zeid had arrived in Windurst as a representative of Bastok. I was waiting for him to finish his meeting with the council. It has been four hours since the meeting started and it was starting to get dark. Finally I saw Zeid walking towards me. Beside him was Wolferine, an Elvaan Beastmaster from the Sandorian resistance. I stood up and walked towards them.
"So how goes the meeting?" I asked.
"Is there some place we can get a drink around here Tiny Heart?" Zeid asked.
"Yes there is follow me." I took them to this little tavern near the cooking guild. The shopkeeper had a hidden stash of the finest wines in Vanadiel. We ended up drinking wine at a secluded corner of the tavern. "So how did the meeting go?" I asked again.
Zeid let out a heavy sigh. "The Elder Council refused our proposal of a joint attack between Bastok and Windurst forces to take back Jeuno. They think they can negotiate a peaceful end to the present crisis."
"The more we wait the more time it gives for the enemy to gather their forces for the final push towards Windurst and Bastok." Wolferine added. "We need to counter attack before the enemy strikes again."
"Nothing we can do now. Bastok doesn't have enough forces to take on the combined forces of Orcs, Quadavs and Elvaans." Zeid said. He then angrily slammed the table causing the other patrons to look at us. "Damn it, we need to do something."
"By the way, I forgot to tell you. My people in Sandoria passed some information you might be interested. They think there is an important prisoner in the dungeons aside from the former king. I think it is Jabrina." Wolferine said.
"Jabrina? What makes you think that?" I asked.
"Because the guards outside the cell block are Duke Leydon's men. They have been there even before the former king was incarcerated." Wolferine replied. "Also there is a growing dissent amongst the people in Sandoria on Prince Trion's ascension to the throne. There have been rumors on the military gathering forces to stage a coup."
"That is interesting news. It may be the break we need." Zeid said. "Wolferine, can your people in Sandoria contact the military leaders who are planning the coup?"
"I think they can. Why? What is on your mind?" Wolferine asked.
"If we can overthrow Prince Trion and have the Sandorian forces on our side. I think we can persuade the Windurst Elder Council to reconsider their decision." Zeid said. "It might really work."
"I thought Bastokan Council had disapproved of meddling in the affairs of another country?" Wolferine asked.
"Desperate times calls for desperate measures. I will take full responsibility for the consequences of what we are about to do. I do not care anymore about technicalities. All I want is to save Vanadiel from the darkness that is aboutto engulf us all." Zeid firmly said. "Tiny Heart, go find Twinki and Hyanmensir and meet us back here in an hour." We quickly stood up and left the tavern.
-O-
Zeid started the meeting as soon as everybody arrived. Seated around the table were I, Tiny Heart, Wolferine, Zeid, Hyanmensir, Twinki, Whon, Black Falcon and Chari.
"As you all know, Sandoria had already fallen to enemy hands. Bastok and Windurst are next in their list. Sadly Windurst has declined the proposal of the Bastokan government to launch an attack to retake Jeuno. So I am going to take matters in my own hands. Wolferine says there is a growing dissent amongst the people of Sandoria and it's military on Prince Trion's ascension to the throne. We can use that to our advantage. Wolferine has contacted the forces who seek to topple Prince Trion. Plan is to rescue the former king from prison and try to help him take back the throne." Zeid said
Zeid continued saying. "The reason for all of this is to have Sandoria on our side. That way Windurst might consider joining forces to retake Jeuno. It is a long shot but with the other options on the table, I think it is the best we got. This is not a mission sanctioned by the Bastokan Government. If we fail we will be deem enemies of sandoria. Bastok will disavow any involvement of our actions. So this is a strictly volunteer mission. I do not want to force you to do it."
"I will go." I said immediately
"So will I." Everyone seemed to say at once.
"If you all made up your mind then we leave at once. Wolferine's men have established contact with the Sandorian military opposed to Prince Trion's ascension. We will meet up with them inside Sandoria. I cannot go with you. I have to return to Bastok to report back to the President. I will join up with you of the need arises." Zeid said. "Wolferine will lead the group as usual. Twinki is second in command. Get ready your gear and meet up with Wolferine at Port Windurst. Whon will teleport you all to Crag of Holla then you go by foot to Sandoria. Good luck everyone." With that we all stood up and went our separate ways.
-O-
It was already close to midnight when Whon teleported us to Crag of Holla. We cautiously made our way towards Sandoria as there were many Sandorian forces present along the way. We finally saw the city walls of sandoria. Wolferine instructed us to keep out of sight while he makes contact. Five minutes later Wolferine came back and signaled us to come out. We hurriedly followed him and saw an Elvaan at the city doors of Sandoria waiting for us. The Elvaan then lead us inside the Cathedral. There we saw three other important looking Elvaans waiting for us at the main altar. I recognized one of them. It was Commander Valmun, who led a force to capture me in Selbina years ago.
"Wolferine, never in my wildest dreams I thought we would be meeting like this." Valmun said. "I always thought one day we would meet in the battlefield somewhere."
"You and I may differ in our ideas but both our concern is for the welfare of the people of Sandoria." Wolferine replied. "Let's get down to business. What do you propose we do about Prince Trion?"
"I am still loyal to the former monarch of Sandoria. I do not approve of Prince Trion's takeover. I think I have enough forces inside the city to retake it. The only apprehension I have is Duke Leydon's men guarding the dungeons. I know some of them. They are battle hardened ex Elvaan Army personnel. My forces might not be able to stand up against them." Valmun said.
"I will handle the rescuing of the king. You just keep the other soldiers away from the Chateau." Wolferine said.
"One of my men will lead you to where the king is imprisoned. What does the Sandorian resistance ask in return for helping me rescue the king?" Valmun asked.
"Sandoria, Bastok and Windurst join forces to liberate Jeuno and defeat the forces of the Shadow Lord. That is all I ask." Wolferine said.
"That might be a little complicated. The one you call Icon, I have seen his powers. He is very powerful. But a deal is a deal, I will honor my part of the bargain if we succeed."
"We will worry about that later, first things first. Where is your man who will lead us to the king?" Wolferine asked.
"Nomek, lead them to where the king is." Valmun told the Elvaan beside him.
"Yes Commander Valmun." Nomek replied.
"Good luck to you Wolferine. And I hope after this the Sandorian resistance will give up their struggle against the Monarchy." Valmun said.
"That remains to be seen." Wolferine said as he went out the cathedral.
-O-
Nomek led us towards the Chateau. It was odd that no guards seemed guarding the entrance. Wolferine pulled me over and whispered. "Tiny Heart, something's wrong here. When we get to the dungeon, be ready for anything. If the need arises, go find Jabrina first and get her out."
Nomek noticed Wolferine whispering to me and said. "You don't need to be suspicious. I pulled out the guard duty for a couple of minutes to enable us to sneak to the dungeon. Come we need to hurry." True to what Nomek said, no guards seemed present on the route to the dungeons. We reached the dungeons and Nomek motioned us to stop. "Left corner, there are four guards guarding the king. We should be able to take them." Nomek said.
Wolferine asked Nomek. "Is there a Mithra named Jabrina locked up in here?"
"Yes. She is at the end of the right corridor." answered Nomek. "Okay let's go surprise the guards."
We swiftly ran and as we turned left to where Nomek said the king was imprisoned, we saw a surprise waiting for us instead. Dragoons and Red Mages were waiting for us, as if they knew we were coming. "It's a trap! Damn it Valmun tricked us." Wolferine shouted. We tried to run back out but more Elvaans came down the dungeon and block our escape.
An Elvaan stepped forward and smiled and laughed at us. "Welcome dear friends. Welcome to your doom."
Wolferine recognized the Elvaan. "Prince Trion. Where is the king?"
"King Trion, not Prince Trion anymore." answered the Elvaan. "It's been years Wolferine, years since you turned your back on the monarchy. You have royal blood damn you. And you chose to change the system of government in Sandoria."
"Royal blood? Wolferine is Sandorian royalty?" Nomek asked, surprised about hearing the news.
"He is my half brother. Born to a commoner my father had an affair with. Father loved him very much but he chose to oppose my Father's rule." Prince Trion explained.
"I will deal with you first Trion, then Valmun shall feel my wrath for betraying us." Wolferine said angrily.
"Valmun didn't betray you. As we speak he is being arrested for treason against the crown. It was Nomek who betrayed you, not Valmun." Prince Trion replied.
"Nomek! How could you?" Wolferine glared at him.
"King Trion promised me the position of the Commander of the Sandoria Army. It was an offer I could not refuse." Nomek answered smiling.
"Enough talk. I give you one last chance to surrender and I will spare your lives." the Prince said.
"Dream on." Wolferine said. He then called out a jug pet. A mean looking tiger popped out.
"Attack!" Wolferine commanded the tiger. The tiger ran towards the Prince. Quickly the Dragoons ran in front of the Prince to protect him from the tiger. Then bedlam broke lose as we engaged the Elvaans. Hyanmensir took on the Paladins blocking our escape route. Using his fists, he pounded the Paladins as fast as he could. Twinki was jumping and ricocheting like a ball against the wall, threw shurikens at the Elvaans. The Elvaans were caught surprised by our aggressive offense.
"Chari, blast me a path." Wolferine ordered. Chari cast spell of Stonega and Firaga at the Dragoons and Red Mages in front. The two Dragoons fighting the tiger got knocked down immediately. The Red Mages were luckier because they magic protection on them. The spells didn't hurt them that much. Wolferine, wielding two axes, jumped towards the Red Mages and engaged them. Black Falcon and Whon stayed in the middle and kept us healed. The odds were against us. There were too many of them. Suddenly someone shouted Wolferine's name. "Wolferine over here!"
Wolferine turned and saw a familiar face locked up inside a cell. "Tiny Heart come and keep these Red Mages at bay." I ran and engaged the Red Mages whom Wolferine was fighting. Wolferine, using his axe, destroyed the lock of the prison cell.
"Hello old friend." Wolferine said. It was Jahn, the former king's Ninja bodyguard.
"Pleasantries later." Jahn said as he ran toward me and jumped kicked one of the Red Mages causing the Red Mage to let go of his sword. He picked up the sword and joined the fight. "The King is this way." Jahn yelled. With Hyanmensir and Twinki guarding our rear, we slowly but surely pushed forward. Chari kept blasting the Elvaans with her magic spells giving us a much needed break.
The Elvaans behind us suddenly stopped in their tracks. They turned around and engaged another party behind them. With that break, we pounded the Dragoons and Red Mages in front of us. Soon we finally broke through and arrived were the King was held. Jahn quickly destroyed the cell door lock and the King emerged. The King picked up a sword and yelled. "You Elvaan traitors! I will show you the price for treason." The King joined us in fighting the remaining Elvaan guards. Soon we defeated them all.
"Where are Prince Trion and Nomek?" Wolferine asked.
"He must have slipped away during the battle." Jahn said.
"Go find them and bring them to me alive." the King ordered.
There were Elvaan soldiers coming towards us. We readied ourselves to the next onslaught as the soldiers stopped a few meter from us. We then saw Valmun trying to get through the Elvaans soldiers. He kneeled and bowed to the King when he approached us.
"I am sorry Your Highness. You had to suffer the indignity of imprisonment." Valmun said.
The King approached Valmun and told him to get up. "It is not your fault. Your loyalty to me shall greatly be rewarded Valmun. First things first, go find that traitor son of mine." the King said. As Valmun lead us out of the dungeon someone shouted. "Prince Trion locked himself up in the throne room." We quickly headed to the direction of the throne room.
The door was locked and the soldiers started to bang their bodies on the door to break it down. Chari stepped forward and told the soldiers to step back. She blasted the door open with her magic spell. Prince Trion was sitting down on the royal throne when we entered the room.
The King, still holding his sword, pointed the sword to the Prince. "You still have a gall to sit down on my throne?" the King asked.
"It is my throne now Father. You are not the King anymore." Prince Trion replied.
"Your forces have been defeated. Give up and face the consequences of your actions." the King said.
Prince Trion stood up and got his trident that was leaning on the throne. "I challenge you to a duel Father." Prince Trion pointed to the King. "Whoever wins shall be the King of Sandoria."
"So be it." said the King. As the King took a step towards the Prince, Wolferine stepped forward and blocked the King's path. "I shall deal with him." Said Wolferine.
The King looked at Wolferine and stepped back to let him fight the Prince. "My. my. What do we have here? The prodigal son helping the father he opposes? What irony." the Prince said.
Wolferine held both axes sideways and started to walk towards the Prince. A dragon then floated above the Prince's head; it blew a breath of fire towards Wolferine. Wolferine quickly tumbled to the left to avoid the fire coming towards him.
"Hahaha. I am not that easy to defeat my half brother. I am a Dragoon. You Beastmasters are no match for me." Prince Trion boasted. The dragon kept spewing fire towards Wolferine, causing him to keep running to evade it. Wolferine then called out another jug pet. A damselfly appeared and Wolferine ordered it to attack the dragon. Both dragon and damselfly flew above and fought each other, leaving both the Prince and Wolferine to face each other.
"Impressive, but your little fly wont be a match for my dragon." Prince Trion said. True to form the fly was no match to the dragon. It didn't last long. The dragon quickly glided back to the Prince's side. "Now what will you do?" the Prince asked smirking. "This." Wolferine threw his one of his axes towards the dragon, hitting it straight on the head.
"What did you do to my dragon?" the Prince was enraged. He charged Wolferine with his trident. With the trident having such a long reach, Wolferine couldn't get near as the Prince kept thrusting the trident from afar.
Wolferine then call another jug pet out. A frog like jug pet with a mushroom head popped out. "Go Funguar." Wolferine ordered. The funguar ran and lunged towards the Prince. The Prince raised the handle of his trident to block the funguar's attack. Without his pet dragon assisting the prince, the advantage shifted to Wolferine's side. The Prince was now having a hard time trying to counter two attacks at the same time. Wolferine swung his axe towards the Prince's head. The Prince blocked it midway but the funguar jumped and hit the Prince across the chest. Soon the Prince had his back against the wall, nowhere to run. He pointed his trident outwards toward Wolferine and the funguar.
"Give up Trion. You cannot hope to win." Wolferine said.
"Never! I will never bow to a peasant like you." the Prince yelled back.
"So be it." Wolferine commanded the funguar to do a special attack. A black mist spewed out from the funguar's mouth and blinded the prince.
"I can't see!" yelled at Prince as he rubbed his eyes. Wolferine quickly approached and knocked the trident out of the Prince's hand. He then punched the Prince across the face causing the Prince to fall down. Sensing defeat the Prince finally gave up. The King approached Wolferine and the Prince. "Seize that traitor." the King ordered.
-O-
After the Prince was lead out the throne room, the King ordered his men to find Jabrina. After a few minutes, the King's men lead Jabrina to the throne room. Jabrina ran to me when she saw me. She hugged me and started to cry.
"Now, now Jabrina. You are safe. Don't cry. You won't look beautiful anymore." I consoled Jabrina "
"Tiny Heart I saw Icon. They did something to him. He..." Jabrina started to say.
"Hush now child. We will talk later." I told her.
The King now seated at his throne called Wolferine to approach him. "It is good to see you again my son." the King said. "I am very proud and happy you came to my aid."
"I only did it for the good of all Vanadiel. As per agreement with Valmun, Sandoria will help Bastok and Windurst take back Jeuno from the forces of the Shadow Lord." Wolferine said.
The King looked at Valmun, he then turned to look at Wolferine again. "He made that agreement with you? Sorry I cannot honor that agreement. The Sandorian Army has suffered much from recent events. We need time to regroup. I cannot help you with the retaking of Jeuno."
"But your Majesty, I promised Wolferine that..." Commander Valmun started to say. "Silence! I am the King. You do not speak for me. When I say no then the answer is no!" the King angrily shouted.
"You are still the same my Father. Nothing has changed, still an old stubborn fool. You still think your decisions are always correct. The Monarchy must end its rule of Sandoria. The people have the right to say what direction they want their future to go." Wolferine said.
"You also are still the same my son. You still fight against me for the rights of the people. The Monarchy has ruled Sandoria for years. We have prospered as a nation. Why should the Monarchy give up the rule over the people now?"
"You have not seen the effects of your decisions over the people. I have. Whenever you wage war with other nations, it is the people who suffer. When people speak up, you suppress their voices. The ways of the Monarchy are obsolete. We need to give the rule of government to the people." Wolferine answered back.
"You disappoint me my son. I was hoping you had come back to rule by my side." the King said shaking his head.
"As long as the Monarchy rules over Sandoria, I will fight to my very last breath to oppose its rule. Good day your Highness. I hope you will not regret your decision not to honor my agreement with Valmun." Wolferine said as he turned and started to leave.
"And where do you think you are going?" the King asked Wolferine.
"There is nothing more to discuss between both of us. I and my friends have a mission to do, which is to save Vanadiel from the darkness that is descending all over the land. Goodbye." Wolferine said.
"I cannot allow you to leave. Guards seize them." the King ordered. The King's men drew their weapons and pointed them towards us. "If you leave one day you will come back and overthrow me. I cannot take that chance."
"Power really is that important to you? I pity you. No wonder your son rebels against you."
"Insolence! Guards seize them." the King ordered.
Suddenly an Elvaan Paladin lunged towards and King and held a sword to the King's throat. "What is the meaning of this? Who are you?" the King angrily asked.
"I am Xyphos. I can no longer serve a King who orders that the son who helped him regain the throne be seized for no crime committed. Wolferine is correct; the time for change is now. The Monarchy should end their rule over Sandoria." the Paladin said.
"You will not get away with this. Even if you kill me I will order my men to kill you all." the King said.
"I have no plans of killing you. I only ask safe passage for your son and his friends, me included. " Xyphos said. He pressed the blade of the sword a bit more to the King's neck. "Will you grant us safe passage?"
The King seeing the situation had no choice. "I will grant you safe passage."
"By your honor?" Xyphos said.
"Yes by my honor. Let them leave!" the King yelled to his men. The King's men backed off and Xyphos took his sword away from the King's neck. He moved towards us.
"Can I join your crusade Wolferine?" Xyphos asked.
"I will be honored." Wolferine said. "Let's go."
Whon cast a spell of Teleport and we disappeared from the King's sight.
-O-
Jeuno.
Umbra wasn't feeling well for a couple of days. She had having nausea all this time. She went to the infirmary to see if they can find out what was wrong with her. A Mithra came to check on Umbra. After a few minutes she called a female Hume over to check on Umbra also. After talking with each other, the Mithra smiled and said to Umbra. "Congratulations! You are pregnant!"
"Pregnant?" was all Umbra could say.