7. The old city of mist

He cracked his eyes open, it was cold and wet and the mist hung thick around him. His superhuman biology had healed his wounds and every trace of them was gone but the memory was burned in to his brain. The sight of his father, friends and men who trusted him to protect them being slaughtered by that pathetic excuse for a king. Aeoran sat up and took in his surroundings, he was in a body pit, where Solaerans disposed of their dead, he sat in a field of bodies that stretched out in to the mists. He looked down at the bodies he sat on and was greeted by the pallid, almost green, face of his father and the other men who came with him, they had been stripped of their weapons and armour, even the primarch had been stripped of everything. Seeing the lifeless eyes of his father and the bodies of his comrades being picked apart by scavengers Aeoran couldn't hold his tears back and he let out a mournful cry that could be heard all the way up the mountain and in the city of Aeoror itself.

Aeoran lost track of time as he sat amongst the bodies crying at his own failure and foolishness. He had no weapons or armour but he was a primarch; he could tear his way through Aeoror, he could raze it to the ground, he could rip that king limb from limb and cast his broken body in to the mist. No he should, he will, he will scrub any memory of that king and his kingdom from history. Aeoran stood up and approached the sheer rock face that would lead him to the city, to the object of his rage and vengeance, to a normal man it would look impossible to climb but for a primarch it was a simple thing. Aeoran placed his hand on the rock face and prepared to climb but as he lifted himself off the morbid ground of the pit his enhanced hearing picked up a sound, a sound that should exist amongst the dead, the sound of shallow breathing, of someone barely alive.

Aeoran followed the sound and fell to his knees as he dug through the bodies of his friends and there, just under a layer of bodies, was Alrean, pale and barely conscious but alive. The primarch wept as he pulled his friend to the surface and looked over his wounds, his stomach was punctured and he had several other wounds, he was barely alive and every second he got closer to death. Aeoran quickly scrambled to find cloth to dress his wounds, revenge against his enemies would have to wait, he had more important things to take care of.

It took Aeoran and his party a week to travel from Aldra to Aeoror but that was only because of the limits of normal men, Aeoran didn't have those limits. He ran as fast as his genetically superior legs would carry him, barrelling through any obstacle in his path, for a day and a night he ran faster than any human, animal or machine until he arrived at the base of his home peak. He burst through the gates, tearing them off their hinges, and fell to his knees in the middle of his village.

"HELP!" he cried with all his might, waking up the entire peak, "SOMEONE HELP"

In no time the entire village came out to see Aeoran crying over the dying body of his friend. The healers got to work in no time and runners were sent to get healers from the other villages as Aeoran knelt on the ground, content to rest for a moment.

His mother pushed her way through the crowd and made her way to her distressed son, "What happened? Where's your father?" She asked, holding the primarch's face and looking in to his eyes

She didn't need him to answer, she figured it out and pulled him in to her embrace, "It's ok" she whispered in to his ear as she soothed him like she did when he was a baby

The primarch soon recovered his mental condition, he was the last leader left on the peak and he couldn't wallow in despair for long. He stood and looked around at the entirety of his village, Radiel wanted to crush him and his people but he would not allow that.

"Gather everyone" Aeoran commanded

"Everyone?" someone questioned

"Everyone from all the villages" there was no longer four leaders leading four villages, there was just him

Every man, woman and child from the four villages on the peak were summoned and soon Aeoran was surrounded by people demanding to know what happened and where the rest of his group was.

"It was a trap" Aeoran started as he explained everything to the people

By the end the crowd was outraged and most were calling for them to march on Aeoror and raze it to the ground and as much as Aeoran wanted to lead them in such a campaign, he knew they didn't have the weapons, experience or manpower to even break the city's defences. Aeoran calmed the crowd and tried to think of the next move.

"Who will lead us?" one of the crowd cried out as he took a moment to collect his thoughts

"Aeoran" another shouted before the primarch could react, "He's the only one left who can lead us"

Soon everyone was chanting his name and it was decided that he would lead, not just his village but all four, he had no say or choice in the matter despite his efforts to reject the offer, he was the only one who could lead the villages through this crisis, it was what he had to do. After a few hours Aeoran calmed the crowd down without accepting the position as leader, he had just gotten his own father and the previous leaders killed thanks to his own foolishness. The sun was starting to rise as Aeoran finally put some proper clothes on and went to check on Alrean. His friend lay in bed, covered in bloody bandages with his wife and son by his side, he could barely bring himself to look at Alrean or his family. Aslia approached the giant, she could tell what he was thinking, she always could.

"Thank you" she said as she pulled him in to a hug, "I asked you to bring him back and you did"

She called over Alasiel and left Aeoran alone with Alrean. He knelt next to his unconscious friend for a few minutes, watching his steady breathing and looking at the many wounds he had, Alrean should have died but he held on. Was it because he knew Aeoran would save him or was he just too stubborn to die?

"I'm sorry I dragged you in to this" Aeoran hung his head, "I'm sorry I got you all involved in this, I should have gone alone"

"Then you would have gotten yourself killed" a weak voice came from Alrean's lips as he opened his eyes

"Alrean!" Aeoran almost wept with joy at seeing his old friend awake again, he still looked weak but at least he was talking

"You would've climbed back up that mountain to kill that bastard and gotten yourself killed"

"I could've done it"

"It's fine, I don't blame you for what happened and neither would your father or anyone else" with great effort Alrean reached for Aeoran's shoulder and looked right in to his eyes, "It was that king's fault and you'll make him pay, one day"

"Soon"

Alrean nodded, "Soon"

Aeoran smiled for the first time since the betrayal, "Get some rest, you need to be with me when I kill that bastard"

Alrean closed his eyes and Aeoran just sat with his friend. Everyone stayed in Aldra, instead of going back to their villages and getting to work like usual, just about everyone was trying to figure out what to do after this tragedy. Aeoror was now their enemy but they couldn't strike at a city so powerful, they needed allies and they needed to make them fast. When Aeoran finally emerged from Alrean's house he saw the entire population of the peak sitting on the ground and eating breakfast, large pots and platters of food had been laid out and everyone was eating as the elders discussed their future.

The crowd fell silent as Aeoran walked out, waiting for see what he would do, would he lead them? And where would he lead them? Aeoran commanded their full attention.

"I will lead you" He declared with a strong voice that was heard clearly across the village, "We will avenge our dead and show Aeoror our fury!"

Everyone roared in approval as they chanted his name. If he was to destroy Aeoror then he would need an army, something he didn't have, but at least for now he could train the men he did have.

The other three villages were mostly abandoned, razed to provide arable land or grazing fields, everyone moved to Aldra as Aeoran drilled the population in to an army. The anger was visible to anyone who watched them train, everyone knew someone who had been killed in the Aeororan betrayal and they would have justice. Whenever Aeoran wasn't drilling the men he was crafting weapons and armour for them to use, day and night he worked, forgoing sleep as he put everything he felt in to his works.

It had only been two weeks and while everyone slept Aeoran worked on a blade, honing it to a razors edge like every other blade he made. He was completely focused on the task until his superhuman ears picked up a sound approaching his mountain, it was the low rumbling of an engine, several of them, it took only a second for Aeoran to realise what they were. He ran out of his workshop and his superior eyes cut through the darkness, allowing him to see as clear in the night as in day, several balloons a couple of miles out were heading straight for them and emblazoned on each of them was the severed head of Fen.

Aeoran worked quickly and woke the entire village, he rushed to arm every adult and get the children somewhere safe as the balloons came in to view for normal men. Everyone quickly slipped in to armour as they armed themselves with the primarch crafted carbines and blades. The children and old people were hidden in the council building on the far side of the village and everyone else hid in the houses, lying in wait for their enemy.

The balloons cast a shadow over their village as ropes fell from their bellies and men rappelled down in to the village square, several of the men were armed with familiar weapons, Aeoran recognised the weapons that had been ripped from his dead friends' hands after they were betrayed. Aeoran let out a rage filled scream as the villagers burst out from hiding and ambushed their attackers, the confused Aeororans were helpless as they were caught in cross fire. The invaders soon started firing back but they had been surrounded from the moment they landed in Aldra, the Aeororans believed it would be easy to sneak in and slaughter the little village and its allies but they weren't prepared for their expert crafted weapons and their burning rage.

The invaders fought desperately as they threw incendiaries through widows and attempted to retreat to cover, they had the numbers but they were also suffering much higher attrition compared to the villagers and had been caught off guard, it wouldn't be long before they were completely slaughtered.

Aeoran picked up a blade and charged at the invaders with a murderous cry as he slaughtered multiple men with single slashes, the primarch let go for the first time and used his full strength and speed. The Aeororans were like scared little children as they faced down a god of war, it didn't take long for the primarch to slaughter the invading army, much to the surprise of the balloon operators who were only able to watch from above.

As the balloons attempted to retreat, Aeoran grabbed some of the ropes still hanging from the belly of one and with his great strength he guided it according to his will, the primarch's muscles bulged and ripped through his shirt as he swung one balloon in to another, using it like a hammer to smash through several balloons and cause them to fall in to the mists as great fireballs. A handful of balloons managed to escape destruction and flee back to Aeoror.

Many of the houses had been destroyed or heavily damage in the fighting and many of their own had died but they had fought off Aeoror, for now. The people of Aldra got to work disposing of their dead and the bodies of the invading army over the side of the mountain. About 2,000 men had attacked them and they had lost just over 100 people in the attack, although they had a fighting population of barely 1,500. The work took them until sunrise and once again everyone gathered.

Word of Aldra's grudge or Aeoran's miraculous survival had probably reach Aeoror and they were seeking to finish the job or they never intended to let Aldra survive from the beginning, whatever the reason it was clear that Aldra and its people will suffer another attack and soon, and it was doubtful they could endure against Aeoror's might for long.

Aeoran stood at the head of a riled-up crowd that demanded action. There were no easy solutions to their problem and no matter what solution he came up with his gut told him that it would end in their destruction, the whisper in his ear told him it would only end in their deaths, until he thought of something radical, something that was near impossible for them to do but if they could do it then they would be safe from Aeoror and could foster their fury until they were ready to strike their foe.

It will work

"We can't stay here" Aeoran silenced the crowd with his booming voice, "We must leave or they will return again and again until we're destroyed"

"Where will we go?" one of the villagers asked, "No village will take us when they learn Aeoror want us dead"

"Somewhere Aeoror won't follow us, where they can't follow us"

It took a second for everyone to realise what he was talking about, "You can't be serious" Alrean limped forward with help of crutches and his wife, "We have women, children, old and sick people, even the men that can fight in the mist won't survive forever down there"

"Beasts are everywhere down there" someone shouted out, "We'll be torn apart"

"There's no land to grow anything or shelter" another person pointed out, "We'll starve soon enough"

They were right, the mist was inhospitable and now their mountain village was too, there was nowhere on Solaero for them to go but Aeoran felt this was the right choice, in his heart he knew there was somewhere for his people to flee. Elia stepped up to stand beside her son.

"I know where we can go, where there are no beasts and we'll have shelter and a place to live, somewhere we can forge ourselves in to warriors capable of destroying Aeoror"

"Where?" Aeoran questioned along with many others in the crowd

"Old Solra" she revealed to the surprise of everyone

There

The crowd erupted in complaints about how cursed the old city is and that it was swarming with beasts. Aeoran had always heard of the city in stories but he had never been there himself, despite that he knew that it was where they needed to go, even if the stories about it being swarmed with beasts were true he knew in his gut that there was a place for them there.

"Where is this place in the cursed city that we can survive?" a man angrily demanded

"The great temple to Aeoran" Elia looked up at her son before she continued

They never managed to tell Aeoran about his origins after his father had been injured, they never found the right time to explain it to him but now was as good as any. She had to reveal the secret the original people of Aldra had kept even from the other villages.

"All who grew up in Aldra will know that my husband managed to journey to Old Solra but most don't know the full story" Elia steeled herself as she prepared to share the entirety of her late husband's journey to the cursed city of mist, "Aeoran you should have figured out by now that I never gave birth to you but despite that you're my son"

She told the story of Aldean's expedition in to Old Solra and what exactly he found there, the great temple to Aeoran untouched by the beasts and a possible sanctuary for them if they can reach it. Aeoran listened closely to the truth of his birth and the more he heard the more he was sure that his future and the future of his people lay in Old Solra.

"No matter where I came from you're my mother" Aeoran smiled down at her before turning back to the crowd, "And she's right, Old Solra is the only place for us now, we'll hide in the mist and foster our fury until it's a burning blade we can use to strike down Aeoror"

The crowd was silent, they had little hope in their future and little hope in surviving in the mist or Old Solra. Alrean limped up to stand with his friend, bloody and weak but still standing strong.

He looked Aeoran in the eyes and the fire in them burned brighter than even the primarch's, "Whatever it takes to destroy those bastards"

"Yes" Aeoran nodded as he drew on all the power he had as a primarch, "SO WILL YOU JUST LAY DOWN AND DIE!"

He demanded the attention of all of them as he delivered a speech that filled every man, woman and child with the same fire he saw in Alrean. He demanded dedication, fury and sacrifice from his people but in exchange he promised them victory and vengeance for their dead. By the end of it all in Aldra were determined to brave the mist and the cursed city so they could see their vengeance fulfilled.

"Gather all the food, weapons, livestock and whatever else can be carried, spoil the water and the land" he ordered, "We leave at sunrise tomorrow"

Next time: King of the cursed city