8. Asthar


"Master Zael? Can you hear me?"

The deep voice was too familiar to Zael, and the name of that voice's owner came to mind.

"General Asthar!?" How could it be? Wasn't he dead? He looked around, trying to see if he could see Asthar anywhere, but saw nothing. Was he a ghost like Arganan was? "General? Is that you?"

"It's been too long since I've seen you. I never thought I'd see your face again, when you first fell to Zangurak and his forces…and especially after my demise, long before then." Asthar's chuckle boomed through the military wing, before a heavy sigh followed. "Unfortunately, this castle and its cannon won't be under your full control until you cleanse it of Zangurak's presence."

Zael heard Arganan groan. "And how the hell are we supposed to do that?"

"There are four terminals that Zangurak created and activated by using the Outsider's power, in order to keep the Turret Control room safe from intruders, even if he's not physically present." Asthar's voice answered. "You must use your power to deactivate them, to unlock the Turret Control room. Only then will this castle and I be freed."

Zael looked towards Arganan sheepishly. "Do you…know your way around the Military Wing?"

"If it wasn't such a wreck, yes." The former Count's nose wrinkled at the sight of the Great Hall around him. "But like this? No."

The younger man sighed, shaking his head. So much for thinking that his ghostly companion would be of any help. "Well, I suppose we should start looking." He took a deep breath, coughing lightly at how dusty it was before he heard Asthar speak up again.

"Thankfully, all of the terminals are located within the Military Wing, but they are hidden. You'll need to do some thorough searching, but I'm sure you'll manage. I know it's daunting, but I know you can do this…good luck. And be careful."

Zael knew this: He wasn't going to get anywhere with finding these supposed 'terminals' without looking. So he better start looking, then…


As Zael searched for the terminals in the empty wing, he was surprised that the castle was left in such poor condition for a hundred years. Arganan filled him in on what he knew the Gurak did, after storming Lazulis and virtually killing and/or imprisoning the humans: They kept the castle wrecked as a symbol of their victory, but kept it guarded. No one was allowed in or out, unless they were being dragged in there to be punished or worse. The fact that Zael even made it inside of his own will without being caught was, honestly, a miracle.

"You seriously thought I might get caught?" Zael raised a brow at Arganan.

The former Count shrugged. "Wouldn't be the first time you ended up in the dungeon, unfortunately for you. You were imprisoned in this castle twice."

Zael frowned. He vaguely recalled sitting in a cell, while a red-haired woman in there with him whined about no meat and booze, while an eyepatch-wearing one muttered something about being trapped in the dark and nowhere to go. "What for?"

"The first time around, Lord Jirall tried accusing you of working with the Gurak and kidnapping my niece in the process. The second time, he tried accusing you of killing General Asthar." He noticed Arganan's nostrils flare slightly at the end. "Of course, it turned out that Jirall himself murdered him, but…well, let's not talk about that."

Zael vaguely recalled seeing a bloody sword, and some sort of letter. A man screaming in the background, claiming he'd been framed. Had that been Jirall?

And why did Zael have the feeling that Jirall had been…right?

He shook his head, looking around. One hidden door found later, he uncovered an odd control panel, glowing orange. There was a flat surface where it looked like one was supposed to put their hand on, and Zael just had the urge to put his own hand on it.

Asthar had mentioned using the Outsider's power on it, right? Was this what he had to do? Zael decided to try it out, and he placed his hand on the panel.

The panel let out a soft, echoing noise, briefly, before it started glowing blue instead of orange.

"Three terminals left, Master Zael." Asthar's voice commented. "You're on your way already."

Zael turned towards Arganan, noticing how the older man seemed somewhat disturbed. "Are you okay?"

"I…" Arganan faltered, looking towards Zael with his one eye, before shaking his head. "I'm just curious about something. If Asthar is stuck here, and this is the place where he died, why did I end up outside of the castle when I technically died in here?"

Zael recalled seeing Arganan's demise, the man dissolving into blue light. "That's…a good question, actually."

"Anyway," Arganan dismissed the issue with a wave of his metal hand, "Let's get back to searching."


Zael walked a couple steps down the main hall of the Military Wing, before noticing some sort of glowing automaton, walking around on four legs upright. Its one orange eye glowed, scanning the space around it. Zael quickly ducked behind a pillar, Arganan following, as it looked in their direction. Thankfully, the machine hadn't noticed them, and continued pacing around.

Arganan frowned, observing it. "I haven't seen that before. Must be one of Zangurak's little inventions during the past century."

Zael swallowed. Were these machines the reason there weren't any Gurak in here? "They must be security. Replacements for the guards."

"I should've figured they would make something like this." Arganan groaned. "The Gurak were always more advanced with their technology, after all."

"How do I destroy it?" Zael doubted it was a good idea to get too close to it. "Shoot it?" He took out his crossbow, loading it with a regular arrow. As he peeked out from behind the pillar, he quickly shot it. The arrow hit the automaton in the eye, and it sparked a bit, before immediately slumping over.

Arganan shrugged. "I guess that worked."

Zael found another terminal near where the automaton once roamed, and he quickly activated it.

"Two terminals left. So soon? Impressive. But don't let your guard down."


It didn't take long for Zael to find the third terminal, which was further down the main path in the Military Wing. As he activated it, he heard Asthar chuckle a bit.

"One more. We're so close, Zael. You just have to find the last one!"

"He's certainly optimistic," Arganan noted, "For someone who's been waiting for you for a hundred years."

Zael shrugged. "I just appreciate him having any faith in me still."

Hearing Asthar's voice felt so relieving. It made Zael feel like how a father might address his child, trying to encourage them to keep going at the task they were at. Zael tried to remember if he even remembered his biological father, and came up with nothing. With a soft sigh, he made his way into the upcoming room.

It wasn't the Turret Control room, but this place felt familiar. It was a large room, for sure, and an elevator was at the end of the room, likely leading to said Turret Control room.

Unfortunately, there were also three of those automatons from earlier, and all of them spotted him. Two of them started charging up the orange light coming from their eyes, while another one took out a spear-like appendage and scuttled towards Zael, intent on impaling him and killing him.

Zael dodged the attack, before barely ducking in time to avoid being hit by two rays of orange light. Cracking sounds reverberated behind him, and Zael winced; if he got hit, that likely wouldn't end well.

"What are you doing!?" Zael overheard Arganan hiss. "Get behind a pillar and shoot them or something!"

"I'm trying!" Zael couldn't help but hiss back. As much as he found Arganan's advice helpful, sometimes the man was straight-up annoying, and he really needed to focus on this battle right now.

He ducked behind a pillar, loading his crossbow and shooting. It missed, so he quickly reloaded it, aiming before firing again. It hit one of the automatons, causing it to spark and collapse on the spot. The one with the weapons was untouched, however, and it started heading towards Zael's hiding spot.

Zael quickly used his crossbow to shoot down the other laser-shooting automaton, before quickly running out of the way as the automaton charging at him crashed into the pillar he once hid behind, causing a dent to form in it. It sparked a bit, likely damaged from the impact, and Zael used the opportunity to run up to it, switch his crossbow for a sword, and smash it in the head.

The automaton whined, before collapsing and sparking a bit. Zael quickly looked around in case there were more automatons, but that was all of them. By the elevator, he noticed one more terminal. He didn't hesitate to cross the room and activate that as well.

As the terminal turned blue, he heard Asthar's voice once more.

"That's the last terminal. Quickly, lad! To the Turret Control room! It should be unlocked now."

Zael looked towards the elevator. "Will that take me there?" A memory flashed through his mind, a man with golden eyes, claiming to go ahead and give reinforcements.

Arganan nodded. "It is. Let's go."

Zael took a deep breath, and entered the elevator leading to the Turret Control room.