Chung's heart was ready to beat out of his chest. Every breath he took was a suffocating mouthful of ash as Velder's commercial district burned around him. At this point, his vision was beginning to fade but he knew he couldn't slow down. Don't think. Just run. Just follow the faint glint of a sharpened blade just meters ahead of him through the thick smoke and hope to the El Lady that there were still parts of the rampart beneath him.
For every ten steps, the entire ramparts that made up the southern gate shook. The sound of collapsing walls drew closer. It was right behind him. Chung feared just how close the being was from actually catching them, as he could quite literally feel each breath it took as it pursued them.
The Dark Nephilim, a dreadful beast worshipped by the dark elves as some kind of divine being, had joined the invasion of Velder. It walked on all fours and its size easily dwarfed the house it landed on when it stepped into their realm. It had no eyes, at least none that were readily apparent. Instead, it seemed to rely on some kind of sixth sense that the surrounding smoke did little to impede. Its thick purple scales shrugged off even the heaviest of ordinance and strikes on its softer exposed hide did little more than make it angrier.
And Elsword went through lengths to really piss it off.
Now on the run, with Raven leading the pack, the three made their way along the battlements, through ruined watch towers towards the trap they had set at the far end of the ramparts.
"Keep going! Almost there!" Elsword ordered, his voice just a few steps behind Chung. Elsword was always the faster runner. The only reason Elsword was behind Chung was to give him that little push whenever he slowed.
The three of them broke through a wall of air, right into a magically conjured air bubble wide enough to cover a town square. As the smoke cleared, Chung could finally see his immediate surroundings, and the battle that took place. They were gaining the upper hand. As long as the Dark Nephilim had its sights set on the El Search Party, it was only a matter of time before Velder would break the Glitter army siege.
Led by Elesis in a headlong charge, thousands of Velder troops had clashed against the dug-in Glitter army for every burning inch of the ruined city. Supported by reinforcements from Elder, Velder had known their two choices were to overwhelm the demon foothold now or suffer a slow, losing battle of attrition. The newly bolstered ranks of the human assault had tipped the scales in Velder's favor. For a while.
The dark elf Chloe, faced with losing their grip on the city, then unleashed her trump card: the Dark Nephilim. The armored monstrosity tore through human resistance like paper and would have crushed the assault long ago had the El Search Party not stepped in.
On the rooftops, Rena, Eve, Ara, and Add battled against Chloe amidst a hail of arrows from her dark elf battalions. She was no longer pulling any punches. And neither was Rena.
Where Eve, Ara, and Add struggled to even maintain stable footing while simultaneously avoiding incoming support fire, Rena's heightened senses allowed her to fight toe-to-toe with the enemy.
The two elves clashed in a deadly dance that hinged on whoever landed the first mortal strike. Blows were dodged and deflected. Dark elf steel and elven silver hummed with each parried strike. Despite the whistling arrow storm, neither lost their focus on the target in front of them.
"Is that all you've got, Rena?" Chloe laughed, kicking Rena back to create space while quickly sidestepping an arrow that would have struck her. As much as the dark elf tried to grin her way through the fight, her labored breath and the sweat dripping down her half-burned face proved the duel was far from easy, "I must say the Night Savers have grown lazy with recruiting if this is the best they can send."
Rena recovered her footing, twisting around just as an arrow trained at her leg grazed her hip, before entering a defensive posture once more.
"You talk too much," Rena glowered, her grip on her silver blade remained rigid and unwavering.
"And you don't talk enough. It's remarkably boring," Chloe retorted. She leaned to the side, letting an arrow fly past her head towards the forest elf.
Rena batted the projectile away but was immediately caught on the backfoot when Chloe used the opening to close the distance. Nearly losing balance, Rena blocked the cross of blades aimed for her neck before knocking the daggers aside and shoving Chloe back.
The dark elf backflipped and it was then that Rena noticed her opponent had snatched one of her explosive twigs from her quiver.
Launching herself in the air, Chloe quickly nocked the magical twig on her bow and loosed it not at Rena but far past her. As the explosive whistled over the elf's head, she followed the trajectory to the distant southern gate ramparts. Its target became crystal clear almost immediately: Raven.
Expecting to use the surprise attack on the elf's love interest as an opening, the dark elf was shocked to see Rena simply turn away and re-engage Chloe before she even had time to switch to her daggers..
The Blade of Erendil was buried into Chloe's gut all while the dark elf was still trying to comprehend her miscalculation on Rena's reaction.
It all became clear just a fraction of a second later as a magical bullet detonated the twig almost an arm's length away from its intended target.
"Thanks!" Raven shouted as he burst through the smoke cloud with Chung following close behind, smoking barrel in his hand.
The Dark Nephilim followed, tearing through the smoke like a train only to be met by a blazing chain of fireballs that did little to slow it down.
"Now!" Raven ordered as they all cleared the trap. Aisha moved to the lever, giving the mechanism a hard tug.
"No! Not yet!" Elsword shouted, looking back over his shoulder at the beast barrelling after them. Confused, Aisha stopped, but kept her hand on the rusted iron bar.
"We do it NOW!" Raven ordered once more. Glancing back, the Dark Nephilim was practically standing over the trap.
"Wait! Wait for it!"
"Do you two want me to pull the lever or not?!" Aisha screamed over the two. Her voice carried far enough for the Nephilim to notice. And though it appeared to have no eyes, it trained its head towards the mage's cries.
It opened its mouth, a glowing orb with a definite pupil could be seen extending from its throat as it began to gather El.
"E-Elsword…!" Aisha whimpered, "It's doing that thing again!"
Glancing back, the redhead's eyes widened as he saw the monster's weak point.
"Now! Now! Now!" Elsword yelled, prompting Aisha to spring the trap.
"And then he killed the monster?" Edwin was practically sitting at the edge of his seat, moments from bursting with excitement.
"No… well yes he did, but the trap didn't kill it," Chung explained.
"Then what was the trap for?" Anduran asked.
"You see, initially I just wanted to block the beast; keep him contained in that section of the wall while we focus on regrouping but Elsword had a better idea. The raised wall mechanism was experimental at the time and actually raised it at much higher than comfortable speeds. Elsword and Elesis were aware of this and Elsword, the crazy guy that he is, decided to-"
"Use it to stun the beast! I see!" Zudrich clapped his hands together, "Ingenious!"
"Risky, more like," Chung sighed, "He put our lives in danger and-"
"It hit the monster! Pow!" Edwin exclaimed, swinging his hand in an uppercut motion.
"Well… yes. Yes it did. The wall broke when it crashed against the Dark Nephilim's jaw but it hit it with enough force to knock it out. Since it had its hidden… mouth-eye thing hanging out when it got hit, it bit into it so hard that it cracked the orb and it couldn't retract it back into its throat when it fell over."
Anduran clutched at her throat, "That… sounds painful."
Chung shrugged, "It made it all the more easier for us to hit its weak point. We killed it after that."
"You or Elsword?" Edwin asked.
"Well… Elsword did. He's the one that landed the finishing blow."
"So Elsword's stronger than you?"
"Well… I'm physically stronger but he has his own strengths…"
Edwin didn't understand. "But he's the one that killed it."
"Yes… but I'm physically stronger than him."
"But you said he ran faster than you and he killed the scary monster and everything you did didn't do anything to it."
"I… well," Chung found it nearly impossible to argue against that logic, "Maybe he is stronger than me…"
"Kid's right," Lu smirked.
"No one asked you, demon."
"I'm just calling it as I see it. And what I see is some second rate loser." Lu shrugged, turning her head back towards the endless expanse of sand behind them. She knew she had Chung fuming at this point.
"You listen here!" Chung sneered only to be ignored by his enemy. "Hey! I'm talking to you!"
"Elsword's the hero! Elsword saved the day! Elsword saved the day!" Edwin jumped out of his seat and began swinging his arms around as if windmilling two swords, "I wanna be like Elsword! I wanna be a knight! I wanna fight big scary monsters! Pow! Swish! Clang!"
The wagon was crowded enough with the Lewry family and the Hamelians. But with Lu and Ciel quite literally hanging off the back, everyone inside had to avoid the boy's wild swings.
It wasn't until one of the swings grazed Nerin's head that she finally stepped in. "Edwin, enough. That's good enough."
"No! I wanna be a hero! I wanna be a knight! I wanna save the world!" Edwin stamped.
"You can be a hero. But first you have to be a good boy," Nerin cooed.
"I am a good boy!" Edwin squealed, "I wanna be a hero! Now!"
"It's not that easy being a hero," Anduran said.
Chung nodded, "It's a lot of hard work."
Edwin wasn't satisfied by this and screamed loud enough to make Chung's ears ring.
"It's not something you can just become," the young king explained, "You can't really call yourself a hero. It's a title you have to earn. It's something people have to call you on their own-"
"Say I'm a hero!" the boy ordered the king, "Say it! I wanna be one!"
Chung definitely wanted to say something to the child at this point. As much as he didn't like pushing his status of royalty onto anyone, this level of disrespect towards him, as well as the idea of being a hero, was inexcusable. He could see Zudrich was on the verge of breaking at that point. Even Lu looked about ready to do something about the child. He had to step in before the demon decided to act.
"Edwin," the mother called, in a whisper that Chung recognized. It held the same frightful authority Chung could attribute to Rena when she was angry. Nothing more was said. The boy knew a line had been crossed and he immediately retook his seat between Anduran and his mother. Even the two demons recognized the tone as one to respect.
Nerin put an arm around her pacified child as the entire group seemed to sigh in relief. Whether it was for Edwin or Nerin, Chung wasn't sure.
"How about we talk about something else?" Gerard asked, looking over his shoulder at the otherwise disgruntled passengers.
The king sat back, not sure what else to talk about, and feeling as if he shouldn't have riled up Edwin in the first place, he let someone else do the talking instead.
Half expecting Anduran or Zudrich to pick up the conversation, he was surprised, and admittedly a bit annoyed, when Lu chimed in after a short pause.
"You think this situation sucks? Wait till you hear about what it's like where I'm from."
Chung didn't care. If anything he'd prefer a silent ride rather than hearing the demon talk about herself. This was going to be a long day of traveling.
It was worse than Chung had anticipated. Not only were Lu and Ciel able to behave themselves, but the others were growing comfortable around them. It started with a few questions about the demon pair's origins - something about an usurping and being banished, Chung wasn't listening and couldn't care less - but before he realized it even his guardian was beginning to loosen up to them.
By the end of the day of traveling with these monsters, Chung felt as if he was the one being alienated as he was the only one actively avoiding conversation with Lu and her bodyguard. They shared laughs, exchanged stories of their cultural differences, and much more than the king would ever even consider saying to a demon within arms reach.
Yet as night closed in, Chung stood by his beliefs. Even if Zudrich and the others saw nothing wrong with letting their guards down, Chung refused to give them anything more than a spot to sit in the limited wagon space.
Thankfully, they were almost at their destination.
It was hard to see at first: shadowy, uneven formations in the eastern horizon that seemed to float ever higher into the sky as they drew closer. It could easily be mistaken as distant clouds but the distinct tribal colors of white and green were highlighted by the setting sun behind them. It was similar to Altera in that the entire village had been built atop floating chunks of earth, yet unlike the Nasod bastion, the foundation was much thinner, and spanned a wider area horizontally instead of vertically. From where Chung sat onboard the moving vehicle, he spotted what appeared to be a moving windmill at the highest cluster of floating land.
"That's the Caluso Tribe's capital?" Zudrich gawped, standing at the front of the wagon to get a better look as the distant structure slowly vanished in the twilight. Faint, bluish-green light could be seen floating in and around the foundation. Wind shards, Chung concluded, as Altera also used the power of El shards to remain afloat.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Nerin said as she gently stroked her sleeping son's head, "It's been over five years since I've seen my home, yet seeing it, again… it feels like I've never left."
"Yes. I feel the all-too-familiar sense of dread running up and down my spine as we draw closer," Gerard said, slowing his vehicle to a stop. "If I remember correctly: we need to send a signal to them."
"Yes, dear," Nerin chuckled lightly at the comment as if recalling a fond memory. "Unless you prefer getting showered by arrows." She then turned to the others, "You should have seen him. It must have been nearly ten years ago when my husband came as an envoy of Sander."
"I sent a signal as instructed!" Gerard grumbled.
"And my father assured you afterwards that he must have missed it. But seeing the way you ran for dear life was one of the many reasons why I fell for you."
Gerard sighed and shook his head, turning to the young king with a crestfallen shrug, "Never get married, Chung. It's not worth the risk."
"I'll keep that in mind," Chung chuckled, "So we have to send a signal then?"
Gerard nodded, "In my haste I've forgotten to bring the necessary components for a flare spell. That's where you come in."
"Way ahead of you," Chung said, stepping off the wagon with his cannon in hand. He hefted the weapon and entered a siege stance, pointing the barrel skyward.
He pulled the reload lever, waiting for that familiar clunk and shifting in weight as the shell was loaded… but received nothing of the sort. He tried again, thinking the loading mechanism must be jammed, but still noted the lack of additional weight from the El-created shell. He shook the weapon, pulling and pushing the lever as he tried to load the empty chamber but failing at all attempts.
"Everything alright, Chung?" Zudrich asked.
Confused, Chung tapped at the guardian stone embedded in his chestplate, and noticed a distinct lack of El flowing through it. It wasn't working.
"What's the matter? Can't get it up?" Lu asked, as she lazily hung her head out of the back of the wagon to watch him struggle.
Chung said nothing but threw a less than amused look at the demon for her suggestive comment. Lu grinned and giggled at him impishly.
"Here, let me see," Zudrich offered. He hopped off and the king handed him the cannon. After a brief inspection of the mechanism, Zudrich pulled on the lever. The guardian stone on Zudrich's chestplate began to glow and a shell materialized into the chamber with a resounding 'thunk!'.
"I think a flare shell is loaded. Not used to your weapon. It's heavier than it looks."
"Yeah, well, you can thank Horatio for that," Chung said, trying to brush away the fact that his guardian stone wasn't working, "Anyways, flare's going out. Everyone, cover your ears!"
Chung fired, the single shot echoing across the dunes as a bright blue flare shot high into the night sky. Faint white smoke trailed behind it as it climbed ever higher before bursting in a bright bluish-white light against a dark purple backdrop.
The entire group watched as the light reached its peak and slowly began its return journey to earth, fading away into the night.
"They'll definitely see that, right?" Gerard asked, turning to his wife and addressing her more seriously, "Right?"
Nerin smiled innocently, "Of course. I wouldn't expect them to miss something as obvious as that."
"Speak for yourself," Gerard sighed. As if to spite him, a response flare was fired from the floating capital.
"That means they've spotted us and we're allowed to approach," Nerin informed the rest of them.
The archmage turned the key to his engine, grumbling under his breath about the whole process. Chung's hand subconsciously rested over his father's guardian stone as he returned to the wagon.
"Is it broken?" Zudrich whispered as the king took a seat next to him.
"I'm… not sure. I've actually never seen anything like this happen before. Have you ever heard of a guardian stone just not working?"
Zudrich scratched his head as he tried to recall but shook his head, "Back in the fight with Ara, you said the stone was much harder to control than your previous one. Do you think that can be related?"
"Possibly," Gerrard chimed in, "I may not be entirely familiar with the intricacies of using a guardian stone as a catalyst but if it works like one, then the lack of experience using a different guardian stone may be a contributing factor. I have a few books in my library regarding their properties but found little reason to study it. News of the loss of Hamel as well as any means to create said stones had dissuaded me from giving it much thought."
"Would you look into it for me, Gerard?" the king asked.
"Of course. I think it would be of mutual benefit if I did. Once we arrive at the capital I'll unfold my estate and look into the matter."
The entire time he spoke, Gerard had been trying again and again to start the dunerunner's engine to no avail.
"Ah, just my luck," Gerald muttered, "Sorry, everyone. I was hoping we'd reach the capital before the El lost its charge but it looks like this is as far as we can go. We're going to have to wait until the engine charges."
Hearing this, the entire group seemed to let out a unified sigh of exasperation.
"Not for the whole night," the archmage reassured them, "Just long enough to finish the last leg. I'd give it an hour."
After being cooped up in the wagon for the entire day, Chung was more than happy to be able to stretch his legs. Edwin and Anduran weren't complaining either, as the two cousins burned their spare energy running about on the cool, open, sand.
Chung lightly kicked a pile of the fine grain as he strolled along the top of a dune with Nerin, who pointed out the many landmarks of the area surrounding the Caluso Capital.
"That direction, southeast of the capital, is the nearest source of natural water. You can't see it in the dark but during the daytime it looks like a wide black spot in the sand. It's a sinkhole overflowing with water."
"You know so much about this place, it's fascinating," Chung said, making a mental topography of the area.
"Well, when you live here most of your life, it's inevitable," Nerin said, turning back to her tour, "There, towards the south, is a trock village. It's actually a fairly new settlement. Ever since the armistice with Sander, many of the Trocks had finally found it safe to move out of their sand burrows and expand near human territory, again."
"What are Trocks?"
"Eh… how do you say…" Nerin rubbed her chin in thought, "They're like the size of a child-fur all over their body. Animal-like noses and pointy ears. Cute. Mostly harmless."
"They sound like ponggoes."
"Maybe," she shrugged, "I have never heard of ponggoes before."
"Maybe they're distant relatives," Chung nodded.
"My husband would know. He's very knowledgeable."
"I wouldn't doubt it," Chung laughed, "I've heard a lot about him and what he did for a living, but you've never spoken much about yourself."
"There's not much to say…"
"I can't say I agree with that. You're one of the Caluso Chieftain's daughters. On top of that, I've seen my fair share of injuries and can safely say that the scars on your skin were deep cuts at one point. Your hands are calloused. And I won't forget the time you put your life on the line to protect your niece. It took everything I had to even face Ara. But you put her down in one fell swoop. If you don't want to talk about it, I understand. But I feel like there's plenty to say."
Nerin idly ran her fingers over a particularly large scar along the side of her belly, contemplating Chung's words before sighing.
"What do you wish to know?"
"How you got those scars, I suppose. I take it you fought in a few battles before the armistice?"
Nerin shook her head, "No. I was never given that chance."
"Then how-"
"Training."
"...Training? But that looks like it would've been a serious injury-"
"It was. A sparring partner drove their blade into my side when my guard was down," she glanced over at Chung, smiling at the confusion in his eyes, "There really isn't much to say… in Caluso standards, at least. Most Caluso are trained to fight from the day we learn to ball our hands into proper fists. Hand-to-hand became natural to me by the time I was Edwin's age. Weapons training followed shortly after. At first, children would use wooden training weapons. But as we grew into our teens, to hone our understanding of a life and death situation, we were trained with real blades and spears."
"That sounds… incredibly dangerous," Chung commented, thinking back on what he considered was brutal paladin training, "Did anyone actually die from that?"
"My sparring partner," Nerin shook her head, a deep sense of regret filled her eyes, "It's rare but even if he was my brother, when caught in the heat of the moment, I knew it was either going to be me or him."
"You killed your brother?!"
"I'm actually the middle child of three siblings. My brother was the oldest and heir to the chiefdom. Father was livid."
"I… I mean you killed your brother. Why wouldn't he be mad at yo-"
"He was mad at my brother. To have his first child and heir to the Caluso Tribe lose a fight was a sure sign of weakness in my father's eyes. My brother was left to die."
"That's horrible…"
"It was," Nerin agreed, "But we wouldn't have come this far in the civil war had we become complacent with our strength. Caluso pride themselves as warriors-the best in all of Elrios. And judging by our encounter with Ara, I can safely say we still hold that title."
Thinking back on his run-in with the traitor back in Garpai Village, he remembered how Nerin set herself between Anduran and Ara without a second thought. He remembered how, despite Ara's speed and precision, all of it was nullified with a single parry from Nerin. He remembered the complete and utter shock when realization finally hit the fox-woman before she was blasted away.
The Caluso were on a level Chung had never seen before. Knowing this, and seeing Gerard's hesitancy to even approach the capital, Chung was well aware of the possibility of unrest with a Sander native, outsiders, and two demons arriving at the tribe's capital.
"Do you think they're going to welcome us?" He looked over at Lu and Ciel sitting near the wagon, conversing with Zudrich and Gerard. "Especially with those two in tow?"
"I'm not sure my father will even welcome me back, to be honest," Nerin chuckled, a hint of uneasiness in her voice, "It was my decision to elope with Gerard that day he came as an emissary. Father probably still thinks I've eloped with another Caluso man."
Chung raised a brow at her. "Love at first sight?"
Nerin scoffed at the notion, "Hardly. I'm not like my sister who believed in such nonsense."
Hearing this suddenly reminded Chung of Anduran's fascination with novels and the hopelessly romantic. And just like that, he felt he had a clear picture of who Anduran's mother was.
Nerin continued, "I actually couldn't stand the sight of him. He was physically weak. He couldn't hold a candle to me in terms of fighting prowess. It was more curiosity of what was beyond the distant horizon than any real attraction... At first, anyways."
Chung saw the woman's expression soften.
"I saw Gerard as a means of escape. His return to the city of Sander wasn't taken lightly when they discovered I was with him. He fought. So hard. To give me the right to live with him… just because I wanted to see the world. After spending my entire life fighting for myself, seeing someone so willing to sacrifice everything they achieved for my happiness was just..." her hands subconsciously cradled the child in her belly as she tried to find the words, only to fall silent as she stole a glance at her husband.
Although nothing more was said, Chung understood where she was coming from. It was a refreshing change of pace-talking about a single person's love life rather than the big picture of politics and war. And after listening to Nerin speak of how her distaste slowly transformed into genuine affection, Chung couldn't help but feel a little… lonely.
His thoughts drifted to his own friends. He wondered, after that admittedly heated decision to kick everyone out of Hamel, if the others still considered him a friend. He thought about Rena, Elsword, Raven, and, of course, Eve.
He wondered what she was doing now. Knowing her, she must be working tirelessly in Altera, doing what she could to revive her fallen race. He wondered if she thought about him from time to time.
"Edwin! Stop!" Anduran screamed, catching Nerin and Chung's attention just as a jet of flame was shot out of Edwin's palms. Anduran was standing behind the child, gripping him by the shoulders to keep him from falling over while the silhouette of some poor creature could be seen being swallowed by the intense flames.
By the time the flames had dissipated, all that remained was a twitching, smouldering husk. Any recognizable feature, other than the fact that it was half the size of Edwin and bipedal, had been vaporized.
"Yeah! I got it! I killed it! I'm the hero!" Edwin beat his chest in triumph while his mother and Chung arrived at the scene.
Anduran stamped on the sand angrily at him. "That wasn't right, Edwin! You killed it!"
"I killed it! I killed it!" the child trumpeted.
"Why did you do that? It wasn't hurting anyone!" Anduran was furious at Edwin who took no notice of his cousin's ire.
"Edwin," his mother called, garnering the boy's attention who ran over to her, and threw his arms around her. He was quick to recoil, however, when the mother gave him a tight pinch under his arm. His jubilation abruptly changed to tears as the boy was now wondering what he did wrong. "Why did you do that, Edwin?" Nerin asked, her voice a calm, yet stern tone that commanded authority.
"It was staring at me funny!" Edwin whined, getting another hard pinch from his mother. What was once a child full of uncontrolled joy was now sobbing heap on the floor in a matter of seconds.
"Fire magic is dangerous, Edwin. Your father will be very angry with you when I tell him."
"No!" Edwin screeched.
"I will."
"No! It was staring at me funny! I had to kill it!"
"That's not what heroes do," Nerin said, her words garnering a loud wail from the boy. "They don't kill people just for looking at them."
"But Chung!" Edwin pointed an accusatory finger at the king as the child rolled on his back on the ground, "Chung's stories. He kills lots!"
Was Edwin really trying to use him as a scapegoat?
"Hey, now, what I had to do back then and what you did now was completely different!" Chung argued, "I did it to protect innocent lives. What you did was wrong!"
"Actually…" a distant voice interjected. Everyone turned to find Lu descending down the dune to join them, "The little snotrag was right to kill that thing."
The demoness approached the burnt corpse just as its remains began to disintegrate. She leaned over, inspecting the being and taking extra care not to touch it, before turning to the others.
"Just as I thought. It's a shadow spy. We were being watched."
"A shadow spy? A demon?" Chung asked.
Lu nodded. "They're small and hard to see. They can take various forms for a short time and work as a demon lieutenant's eyes and ears. They don't have a lot of offensive ability but they're still dangerous to those caught off guard so it's good that the kid got the jump on it before it decided to attack. Since they're so weak physically, not a lot of lieutenants use them. Karis is the only one that employs them en masse so I'd put my money on the fact that bitch knows where we are, now."
Hearing this put the other four on alert as Nerin moved to keep her child and niece close. Chung immediately scanned the surroundings for any more but it was difficult to see in the darkness.
"Ah, I wouldn't worry about it too much," Lu waved dismissively, "Look where we are: out in the middle of an open desert, with safety in the horizon. We've been traveling for so long. To have Karis field a small group, let alone a whole army, to take us on before we up and leave is impossible."
"Ran was able to open portals to move himself as well as other demons," Chung interjected, "Wouldn't she be able to do the same?"
"That's because he had access to the El Stone of Water. Karis doesn't have the El Stone of Wind."
"How do you know that?"
"Because the Caluso are protecting it," Nerin interjected, "With the El Stone of Wind keeping the capital afloat, a direct assault is only viable through air. Any who fly too close will be ripped apart by torrential winds."
"And that's why we need to get there soon," Lu nodded, "Once we reach the capital, we should be safe from Karis."
"Wait," Chung chimed in, "You're not coming with us."
Lu cocked a brow at the king. She clearly wasn't amused by that statement. "Eh? And why the hells not?"
"You said the lieutenants needed the El Stones to open portals to summon their armies. What's stopping you from summoning yours once you get a hold of the El Stone?"
"Were you not listening when I told everyone my entire reason for being here?!" Lu was practically shouting at him now.
"No. I must have missed that part when you started talking."
"You ignorant little-" Lu fumed, balling her hand into a fist as she bit her tongue hard. She took a few breaths, calming herself before having to explain herself a second time to the idiot.
"I don't have an army. Karis betrayed me. She robbed me of my power and banished me to this realm where I was left to slowly waste away. I have nothing. If I got hold of the El Stone of Wind, I'd literally have no one other than my butler to come to my side."
It took a moment for Chung to realize she was referring to Ciel.
"I want revenge. And revenge isn't complete without a little spite. Karis needs Anduran and the El Stone of Wind. I want to make sure they are forever out of her reach," Lu explained, "Now why the hells would I want to ruin that by taking the stone for myself when I have no use for it?"
Though the demon raised a fair point, Chung still didn't trust the demon. And it showed. Lu let out an exasperated sigh.
"You can keep an eye on me all you want. I'll even sit on a little corner with my servant and we'll do nothing for days on end until we are good to travel to Sander. All I want is Anduran safe and that's something we all can agree on. Help me achieve that and you're free to kill me the second I look at you the wrong way."
The king relented. Tentatively, of course, but relented nonetheless. "Fine. Deal. We'll work together for now."
Lu grinned a toothy grin, "Good."
"But-"
"Yeah, yeah. You're keeping an eye on me. I get it, blondie."
He wanted to say more but was interrupted when Zudrich appeared, waving at them to get their attention from on top of the dune.
"Someone's coming!" he reported, pointing a finger skywards in the direction of the Caluso capital. "In the air! Look! In the air!"
Chung trained his attention up to the night sky, looking for any sign of movement. Expecting to see something akin to a harpy with wide, flapping wings, he eventually spotted a moving speck of white against a black, star-spotted canvas. It was a kite. Or, at least, it looked like a kite. As it drew closer, Chung could barely make out a single pilot trying to wave them down.
"A scout glider," Nerin said, "From the capital. They've probably been watching us and are wondering why we aren't approaching. It's a precautionary measure. There's nothing to worry about. We just need to explain our situation and-"
The pilot was shouting something. It was a single word, it sounded, repeated over and over again in a language Chung didn't understand. But whatever it was, the pilot sounded frantic.
"What's he saying?" Chung asked Nerin as Lu climbed back up the hill to see what was going on.
The demon shrugged, "Probably yelling at us for taking too damn long to get there. It's been about half an hour, maybe we have enough juice to get going."
"He's… saying run," Nerin whispered, an air of confusion in her voice.
"Run? Why? To where?"
"I… I don't know. That's a rather strange order from a scout. He means towards the capital but-"
"Oh… we should probably get moving," Lu said.
Chung's brow furrowed at the demon's sudden outburst as he moved to join her with Nerin following close behind. "What? What's going on?"
As the king crested the top, he scanned the horizon and saw nothing out of the ordinary: just an ocean of sand and shadow covered hills..
Except the shadows were moving.
By the time he realized this, the dark shadows had already reached the top of a neighboring dune. Like an incoming tidal wave rippling in from the distant trock village to the south, Chung knew they would be upon them in less than a minute.
"Get Anduran back on the wagon. Ciel! Pack it up! We're leaving!" Lu ordered. She hurried back to the vehicle, joining Ciel and filling in Gerard in on the situation.
"Zuzu! Take Nerin! I'll grab the kids! We have to go!" Chung ordered.
"Aye, my king!" the fury guardian said. He took the Caluso woman by the hand, pulling her back to the wagon while Chung hurried to Anduran and Edwin's side. Chung scooped the flailing child up by one arm, throwing him over his shoulder before he could throw a tantrum and took the priestess's hand before practically dragging the two children back to safety.
Nerin remained at the top. Even with Zudrich doing his best to get her moving without hurting her, she refused to budge without the children at her side.
"Just go! I got them!" Chung huffed as he climbed to the top as fast as his legs would allow.
They were upon them, now. Chung could hear the thunder of several large beasts to his immediate right, and closing in fast.
As Chung reached the top, Nerin wrenched her arm free from Zudrich before a sudden gust of wind kicked up a torrent of sand around the king. Nerin leaped high over Chung's head, twisting into a spinning back kick that connected flush with the head of some enormous furry beast easily twice Chung's size.
Sand swirled around Nerin as she completed her spin on the landing and found herself staring up at a monster that looked nothing like the trocks she had expected to run into. There were three leading the charge with dozens more behind it. With one put to the ground from her first strike, she just had two to go. She immediately entered her fighting stance and was ready to parry her next incoming attack. Without a moment to spare, she knocked a large, crudely sharpened, stone axe aside, sidestepping the downward strike before following it up with another spinning kick that put the beast off balance. In that same motion she leapt over the beast's arm and grabbed the monster by their large wrist. With a hard twist, she disarmed the monster, ripping the axe out of their hand before hurling it towards the third with strength uncharacteristic of any normal human.
The axe struck the third with unparalleled precision, right between the eyes. By the time the second regained their balance along the slope of the dune, Nerin had already completed her wind dance and a blast of air sent it tumbling downhill towards the rest of the incoming horde.
All of this happened in a matter of seconds, and by the time the three immediate threats were dealt with, Chung had just reached the top of the dune and was sending the kids on their way while he covered Nerin's retreat.
"I got it from here, Nerin! Zudrich! Get the kids to the wagon!" Chung shouted, prompting the Caluso woman to make a break for the wagon as the beasts continued their uphill charge. As the beasts drew closer, Chung was finally able to see just what he was dealing with. There were well over a dozen of these beasts thundering towards him-enough for Chung to recognize that he couldn't fight them all on his own. They were similar in size to the demonic crushers he fought in Hamel. They were bipedal with two long tusks jutting upward from their lower jaw in a ridiculous underbite. The beast had a small head-much smaller than their jaw-and pointed ears that flopped about wildly as they clawed their way up to him with crude stone weapons at the ready.
He had to make this quick. Unslinging his cannon, Chung greeted the first to step within melee range with an upward swing that shattered the beast's lower jaw. He changed his grip, sweeping the heavy weapon horizontally with the bladed end and nearly cleaving the next closest enemy in half and bringing the cannon to a stop against the sloped sand before he turned and began his retreat.
As Chung hurried back to the others, Zudrich had just finished helping the children onto the vehicle and was waiting for Nerin to catch up. The dunerunner was ready to go, its engines rumbling as they waited for the young king.
He severely underestimated the beasts' speed, however, as the beast grabbed him by the leg. Chung toppled into the sand and immediately attempted to wrestle his leg free before he was pulled back into the mob.
Unable to free himself, he quickly repostured himself with his one free leg, allowing himself to be pulled into a standing position where he was able to bring the weight of his cannon down on the monster's forearm before it realized its mistake.
The bladed edge snapped the bone, loosening the beast's grip and Chung stepped back, shifting his weight on his back foot as he attempted to reload. The rest of the horde were within spitting distance by the time the king remembered one crucial detail of his predicament that became all too clear as he tried to reload once more, getting nothing but an empty clang of the cannon chamber.
They were on top of him. Already committed to his siege stance, Chung could do nothing but raise his arm defensively as a boomerang-shaped weapon struck his forearm.
Even with his new Freiturnier armor, the sharpened blade cut straight through stopping only as it met the dense Nasod steel that had replaced his arm bones years ago.
Catching both the assailant and the king by surprise, Chung gritted his teeth through the pain and used this brief moment to knock the weapon aside before surging forward, landing a haymaker with his free arm that dazed the beast long enough for help to arrive.
The cannonball flew past him, the heat from the projectile burning Chung as the ball hit its mark. Half of the beast's body had been blown off, giving Zudrich just enough time to launch himself into the thick of the fight.
He brought the full weight of his weapon down on another beast, and buried the enemy's head into the sand. He pulled the trigger for good measure, The shockwave of the blow shook the earth under them.
The ground shifted.
Before long, the top layer of the dune began to slide, catching everyone standing along its face in a wave of sand, including Chung and Zudrich. The last thing the king saw before being completely swallowed were several of the beasts tumbling with him.
Disoriented and confused, Chung rolled downhill, doing his best to keep himself from being completely buried. Sand choked his throat and covered his eyes. He gasped for air as his body finally came to a stop near the sound of an approaching engine.
"Chung!" Gerard could be heard through the king's sand-clogged ears, "Zudrich! Chung's right under you! Dig him out!"
"I gotcha, Chung! I gotcha!" his guardian yelled, the weight of sand growing lighter by the second. He was grabbed by his forearm and Chung gripped the arm as he was pulled out of the earth.
Freed from his premature burial, Chung fell to the ground and let out a hacking cough as the fine grains were spat out of his mouth.
"Come on, Chung, our ride's here," Zudrich said, helping his temporarily blinded king up to his feet.
The young king stumbled around blindly, shaking the sand from his hair and rubbing his eyes.
"Behind you!" Gerard screamed, just as Chung managed to clear out one eye.
Zudrich's weight shifted abruptly, throwing himself over the king before a gruesome thud sent both of them sliding down the last bit of the dune.
Rolling back to a sitting position, Chung quickly assessed the situation around him. The first thing he saw was his guardian, lying face down in the sand, a large, sharpened boomerang wedged right between his neck and shoulder.
He wasn't moving.
"No…" Chung crawled over to the lifeless body of his guardian, "No!"
Unrelenting in their charge, another of the beasts was already on him, knocking him aside as it freed its boomerang from the dead guardian's body. With its weapon in hand, it threw itself on Chung, threatening to slice off his head like a guillotine under the sharpened edge. Chung held fast, his damaged arm doing little but slow down the clamp around his neck.
The beast roared, its bloodshot eyes eager to see its prey decapitated.
Blood splattered against the king's face as a glowing blue claw ripped half of the beast's face off.
Through Chung's one good eye, he saw a little demon girl sailing over him with bits of monster flesh still stuck to her sharpened gauntlets.
Stepping on the beast's back, she rolled off of him, using the momentum to swipe at the other half of its face and part of its shoulder before landing next to the downed king.
"Gerard says get on the wagon."
"But… Zudrich-"
"Yeah, whatever. Bring him, too," Lu said, not taking her eyes off the adversaries currently digging themselves out of the sand, "And hurry. Or do you want me to save you a few more times, first? I'm all for being owed favors."
Chung couldn't believe this. He was being helped by the demoness, again. Was he the only one that saw her as an enemy? And to make matters worse, he was now in debt to her. Just the idea of offering his services to help a demon felt so… wrong.
Lu's servant ran past Chung to join the demoness in the fight. He drove one of his gunblades into the neck of a half-buried beast and fired a shot into it. As he drew closer, the aura of dark el began to flow between them like an incorporeal link. She was drawing power from him.
"It's about time you got here," Lu said, her tail unfurling around her leg as the dark blue energy swirled around her.
"I was ensuring Anduran's safety," Ciel apologized. His strength visibly left him as Lu fed on his El. They were surrounded, now. Half a dozen of the beasts had managed to dig themselves out of the sand and more seemed to be cresting the top of the dune.
"Always with the excuses." Blue flames seethed out of her gauntlets. Clenching the sharpened claws into a fist, a burst of demon fire erupted around her that ignited her adversaries in unholy flame. She glanced back at Chung. "What are you doing? Get moving!"
"Lu!" Ciel yelled. The demoness turned to her next victim, thrusting the open palm of her gauntlet at the beasts chest. Her claws easily dug deep into its ribcage. She squeezed, breaking the bones as the dark flames roasted the monster's insides.
Forgetting the implications of what she was doing, for now, Chung scrambled to his feet and made a mad dash for his guardian's side. Fighting continued behind him as he scooped Zudrich up by his arm, throwing the larger man over his shoulder and dragging the guardian's cannon with his free hand.
He didn't like this: the feeling of carrying a lifeless body. Even with his Hamelian strength, the weight felt ten times heavier.
It reminded him too much of Aisha.
"Over here!" Gerard waved at the back of the wagon. He was in the process of pushing out several of the supply crates. One of the crates burst open, scattering personal belongings across the sand.
"My toys!" Edwin screeched, trying to jump out of the wagon to retrieve them. Nerin held him back as he kicked and screamed for someone to get them. As he continued to throw a tantrum, Gerard unfurled a bedroll for Zudrich to lay on.
Chung hefted the body on to the wagon before moving to load the cannons as well. "He's not breathing."
"I know," Gerard replied solemnly.
"Those things got him on the neck. I think-"
"I know."
Edwin continued screaming, yelling directly into Chung's ear as he loaded the weapons onto the wagon. "Get my toys! I want my toys!"
"This isn't about you!" Chung snarled at the child, "My friend is dead and all you care about is your stupid stuff!"
The king climbed onto the wagon and Nerin whistled loudly to grab Lu and Ciel's attention. The two quickly finished off the nearest threat and made a break for the wagon.
"Are we really going to wait for them? This is dangerous," Chung said, noting the horde still hot on their trail.
"I need them to drive," Gerard explained.
"What? Can't you do that?"
"If you want me to save your friend I need them to drive."
"Aw don't look so glum," Lu said, catching the end of the conversation upon arrival. She turned to the approaching horde, summoning the last of her remaining El before driving her gauntlet to the ground. Black chains burst from the sands, binding the leading beasts in place temporarily.
"Ciel, drive," Lu ordered. Her servant, though visibly exhausted, wordlessly obeyed and climbed onto the dunerunner.
"The right handle is the throttle. Brakes are the grips for either hand. Don't be afraid to push it. I don't think we have the luxury of taking it easy," Gerard said, getting a nod from the servant.
With that, Lu leapt onto the back gate as the vehicle sped off towards the capital.
"Damn, I threw out my chalk by accident, as well," Gerard grumbled before dipping his finger into Zudrich's open wound. "This will have to do."
"You can save him?" Chung asked, watching as the archmage traced his bloodied finger into a rune on Zudrich's chestplate.
"I think I can save him. He's been dead for over two minutes, and the longer we wait, the harder it is to undo what has been done," Gerard began channeling his El onto the strange symbol. The red mark began to glow, its hue shifting from red to turquoise, "As I've stated before: time does not belong to me. It is governed by the Dark God Henir. What I'm doing is manipulating his realm against his will. Whether he chooses to punish me for it… well, that's something I cannot determine. All we can do is hope he is merciful."
Gerard began reciting an ancient spell.
Chung watched in wonder as the wound quite literally undid itself. Particles of sand floated out of the gaping hole, bone unbroke, and flesh knit. Yet as he repeated the incantation again, and again, Chung noted a certain electricity in the air. It was a strange sensation that the king could only describe as his hairs on the back of his neck standing on end and a static sensation at the roof of his mouth. It was a looming presence that he was sure the others felt. Even Lu looked about uneasily as if expecting some kind of oncoming threat greater than the beasts they had outran.
A fog, almost as black as the night sky, had surrounded them, only growing thicker the longer the archmage recited his spell. Yet Gerard continued his chant until Zudrich's took a soft, almost unnoticeable breath of air.
And then Gerard stopped. With his job complete, Gerard ceased the spell's effect. Almost instantaneously, the fog that had surrounded them dispersed.
The entire wagon sat about silently, the revving of the engine the only thing breaking the silence as Gerard looked about with uncertainty. He breathed a sigh of relief, happy to see that everyone, including himself, was still in one piece.
"What was that…?" Lu whispered. Even her usual composure cracked in the moment.
"That was the Dark God. He wasn't physically upon us in this timeline, per say. Rather, I've simply garnered his attention. That was his gaze. He's aware of my transgressions against him," he said, wiping the blood on his fingers against his robe, "It'd be wise that I refrain from doing anything to provoke him, further."
"So he's okay?" Chung asked, checking Zudrich's pulse. It was beating rapidly, yet it looked as if the man was in a deep sleep.
"As healthy as he would be… roughly four minutes ago. Though I'm sure it must be jarring for his soul to be pulled back into its vessel so suddenly. It'll take him a bit to readjust."
"We have a problem," Ciel reported, garnering everyone's attention.
As they crested another dune, they were met with yet another large mass of shadows standing between them and the capital. There must be nearly a hundred of them. Their movement suggested they came from the village to the south.
"Trocks…?" Nerin whispered in disbelief, "I think we've been fighting Trocks."
"What makes you so sure?" Gerard asked.
"In all my years living in the capital, I've never seen beasts such as these. Yet they hold a strange familiarity to me. I believe whatever happened to them has caused them to transform into such bloodthirsty things."
"Demon corruption," Chung stated, "I've seen how it mutated the wildlife in my kingdom. It poisoned the waters in Hamel. It transformed a coral serpent into a towering monster that dwarfed even our tallest spires. It has to be demon corruption."
All eyes, with the exception of Ciel's, fell on Lu who hung off the back of the wagon, staring back at everyone else.
"What?" Lu scoffed, "I don't know much about that stuff. I was more of a… in-your-face kind of lieutenant than the whole… slow takeover-strategy type. Not my style, personally."
"Regardless," Ciel shouted over the engine, "These Trocks have moved to cut off our escape. I'm going to circle around them."
"No. Don't. The dunerunner is running on fumes as it is. If we go around, we definitely won't have enough energy to get us the rest of the way there.
"Are you suggesting-"
"We plow right through them. Chung? Are you able to use your weapon?" Gerard asked.
Chung shook his head but took his guardian's. "No, but Zudrich still has a few shells in his.
"We'll have to make it work. Take us through."
"Do it, Ciel," Lu ordered, climbing her way to the very front with claws bared, "I can do with a bit more killing."
"As you wish," Ciel sighed, turning to Chung who was climbing onto the dunerunner as well, "How many shots do you have left?"
Chung slung Zudrich's cannon over his shoulder and opened the chamber to check. "Three."
The demon servant nodded. "Make it count."
"I will."
They drew closer. The mass of Trocks gathered, creating a multi-layered bulwark to meet the oncoming charge.
"Brace yourselves!" Gerard warned his family, "Here it comes!"
The dunerunner slammed into the waiting mass. Chung fired off a cannonball, splintering the first layer of defenses and giving Lu enough time to literally tear through the line.
His second shot blasted through the second layer and the third decimated the stragglers trying to move to the third. Completely empty on rounds, it was up to Lu to rip a path for them.
Like a lawnmower cutting through tall grass, the dunerunner crunched and crushed its way through fallen Trocks while the demoness's gauntlets shredded through flesh and bone like paper. Those that looked to grab at the sides of the vehicle were easily swatted away by Chung or shot by Ciel.
As they plowed through the trocks, Chung got to see, firsthand, the true ferocity of the demoness. For Chung, fighting was a last resort. It was something he did not take any enjoyment from. It was always do or die and survival hinged on the split second decisions he made in every engagement.
But for Lu, it was different. She savored each kill. The way she tore through each of her enemies was brutal and resulted in a large shower of blood that she seemed all too eager to bathe in.
By the time they broke through, Lu's once blue coat was soaked dark red. She reeked of death and she breathed it in with a satisfied sigh.
"Well that wasn't so bad," Lu said, turning to her equally blood-covered servant. They were almost directly under the Caluso capital, by then, and Chung could see several floating platforms were already lowered to allow entry.
The only problem was the platforms were now being raised out of reach.
"What are they doing…?" Chung whispered, "They're not letting us in?"
Another scout glider flew overhead, meeting their speed and flying low enough to talk to them.
"Apologies, but we cannot let you in!" the scout shouted.
"Why the hells not?!" the demoness shouted.
"It's too risky! We do not want those Trocks reaching our platform!"
"We can fight them off!" Lu argued back.
"Orders from the chieftain! Again, my apologies. But we cannot let you in! You are on your own!"
Nerin stuck her head out of the wagon, calling the Caluso scout's attention in her native tongue.
"You will let us in!" Nerin ordered, "As the eldest daughter of Chieftain Karu, I demand that you let me and my friends pass!"
"Eldest daughter?!" the confusion in the scout's eyes was clear even through his riding goggles, "I was told she died years ago-"
"And yet here I am! I've returned with a child and another on the way. Believe what you will but I can do no more than speak the truth. My name is Nerin. The priestess, Anduran, is with us as well. We are low on fuel and should you deny us entry, we will die down here. The blood of your chieftain's daughter and his future descendants would rest on your hands."
"Nerin…? Priestess Anduran?!" The scout looked visibly conflicted by her claims. With a silent nod and nothing further the scout glider sped ahead.
"Do you think they'll let us in?" Anduran whispered, getting a reassuring pat from her aunt, "We just have to wait and see-"
The rumble of the engine ceased.
Horrified realization struck the humans as the dunerunner rolled to a stop a little more than a hundred meters away from the platform. Naturally, everyone turned to see the remaining horde of Trocks barrelling their way towards the stationary vehicle and closing in fast.
"Out!" Gerard ordered, "Everyone out!"
The passengers scrambled out of the wagon. With cannons useless, Chung opted to abandon his weapons for now in favor of carrying Zudrich to safety while Lu and Ciel moved to intercept.
The eight of them made a break for the platform, climbing up a rather steep incline to safety. To Chung's relief, he saw the platform lowering once more. A line of Caluso soldiers carrying bladed shields and spears stood at the ready. By then, Chung could hear the thundering footsteps once more. The Trocks were gaining, but Chung dared not look back and focused on moving as quickly as his legs would take him.
Fighting could be heard behind him. But even through the sound of rending flesh and gunfire, the roar of an unstoppable wave drew ever closer.
"Lu!" Chung heard the servant cry out as a pained yelp quickly followed. Gunfire followed by the labored grunt of the demoness could be heard.
"Fucker… got me in my blind spot…" the demoness spat as her servant passed Chung in the uphill climb. She was being carried by Ciel, her arm hanging limp at an unnatural angle.
The added weight of Zudrich on his shoulders caused each of his steps to sink. With each step Chung could feel his feet slide downward, making the hundred meter dash feel thousands of times longer. With sand still choking his lungs, exhaustion hit him fast and it wasn't long before he found himself nearly crawling over the last half of the run.
"Anduran! Edwin!" Chung heard Gerard shouted next to him. Only a few meters behind him, Chung saw the two children had fallen drastically behind. Too exhausted to move, Edwin had given up, falling to his knees to catch his breath.
The Trocks were right there. Merely a few steps away with weapons raised. Nerin leapt in to shield them. But there were at least a dozen of them ready to strike. Even a Caluso warrior like Nerin couldn't stand against those numbers.
And then, a house flew in.
Not just any house. An entire estate.
Chung watched as Gerard flung a black cube at the incoming wave. He watched as the cube unfolded itself, growing impossibly in size as a brick estate took shape overhead. He watched as it flew over the archmage's family and crashed into the first of the unfortunate Trocks that never saw it coming. The family estate rolled downhill, coming apart in a tidal wave of concrete bricks, marble, and steel. Those not caught in the initial impact were soon crushed under the weight of an entire building.
Even Gerard's family were dumbstruck at what he just did and as he stood there, arm still outstretched in a throwing motion, he quickly recomposed himself and motioned for Nerin and the others to hurry.
"Keep moving," the archmage said, his voice shaking as he turned to Chung, "I don't have another house to throw. So don't expect me to do that, again."
The act was unbelievable, but it bought his family enough time to catch up and reach the platform.
With all travelers accounted for, the platform began to rise, taking them well beyond the reach of any ranged weapons the surviving Trocks could have thrown at them. However, even though they were safe from the monsters at ground level, the tension in the air still remained.
Forming a defensive line across the halfway point of the floating chunk of earth, The Caluso Guards kept their bladed shields and spears pointed at the outsiders.
There was a long, uneasy silence as the visitors caught their breath and it became abundantly clear that the guards weren't too pleased to host them.
"Thanks for waiting for us. We didn't mean to cause any trouble. Most of us are only here temporarily and are on our way to Sand-" Chung began, only to be silenced by Gerard as his wife stood between the guards and her travel companions.
She spoke in her native tongue, her voice stern and demanding. She motioned at her companions and Chung only felt the tension in the air thicken. All the while the guards were unmoved. If anything, the grip of their spears tightened before one finally spoke. The guardsman responded to her, pointing out the visitors once more, then back at her. The only word Chung understood was Nerin's name. It was spoken as if directed at a traitor.
A long, shrill whistle caught everyone's attention and the leader of the guard responded with two short chirps that immediately prompted the rest of the defensive line to stand at attention. Someone from a higher platform leapt down to meet the outsiders, his landing slowed by a powerful gust of wind that almost pushed the visitors back.
Standing upright, he looked at each new face with indignant eyes before finally turning to Nerin. He was a large, aged man-well into his sixties. He looked just as tall as Zudrich and had a long greying beard that covered part of his exposed, scar-riddled torso. His white and green garb appeared significantly more regal than Nerin's, yet upon closer inspection, Chung could just make out the wear and tear of this kan's clothing. A large folded cloth adorned with multiple large feathers capped his head, making it all too clear that this man had to be the chief of the Caluso Tribe. This was Nerin's father… and he did not look happy to see her.
A/N: Hi! Yes I'm still alive! And yes I'm still writing this! I'm sosorry it took so long to write this chapter. I've been giving myself other side projects to work on by accident and before I knew it, its been literally months since ilast updated. Omg im so sorry! but anyways, Big thanks to tin and exian for the edits! hopefully my next update will come sooner rather than later! on to work on ch 14 now!