Chapter 3: The Empire's Might
"We have to get out of here now."
Everyone turned to follow the tactician's gaze as she spoke. She was looking out of one of the castle's windows, towards the site of the previous battle. As they looked to the horizon, they were horrified to see another army, much the same as the one they had just dealt with, only far, far larger. Realising the same view was present from the opposite window, they understood the urgency in Amy's voice.
"Holy…" began Hammond.
"It looks like the troops we defeated were just the first wave," said Xand. "Nothing more than decoys to lull us into a false sense of security."
"I'd bet on it," replied Doran. "It seems the Emperor was willing to sacrifice a few men to wear us out so as to be sure of victory."
"Something about that bothers me…" began Xand. He was about to continue, but was cut off by Amy.
"If you two are through, we really need to get moving," she said. The tone of her voice had not changed a bit since noticing their predicament, suggesting the urgency she conveyed was more to convince everyone else how much trouble they were in than the result of her actually panicking.
"With all due respect," began Karr, "where exactly are we going to go? We can't leave through the front door, or we'll be walking straight into them. The same goes for the back."
"And if we take the side exits," continued Eld, "we'll end up trapped between them."
Amy took a moment to think. She hadn't considered how they were going to escape, just that they needed to. After a moment, she turned to Loren and Lily. "Are there any other ways out of the castle?" she asked. "A tunnel, a secret passage, anything?"
After several seconds of silence while the prince and princess tried to think of any possible way out they might have, the two were beginning to lose hope. At that moment, their little sister piped up.
"What about the passage that leads to the Zeitune Shrine?" she asked.
Loren thought for a moment before embracing his sister in a tight hug. "Marne, you're a genius!" he exclaimed. He turned to Amy to explain. "This castle connects to a shrine located close to the Zeitune Forest," he said. "If we can pass through the forest, we won't have far to go to cross the border with Ilan."
"We'll be safe, provided Ilan is willing to offer us sanctuary," said Xand.
"There is a long underground passage that can take us from here to there." Loren looked back at his sister. "Marne knows it better than anyone, likely even the guards."
Amy considered the option briefly. It wasn't exactly a foolproof plan, but it was the best they had, and she was eager to get moving before the soldiers got any closer.
"Alright," she said finally. "Can you take us there?" she asked the young princess. All she got in return was a sour look.
She sighed. "Milady?" she added, hoping to appeal to Marne's superiority complex.
Marne's expression changed almost instantly. "Of course!" she replied, with the same giddy excitement as a child showing off their favourite toy (which was unsurprising, given the similarity of the two situations). "Follow me!" With that, she turned and ran down one of the hallways of the castle. Without a better idea, the rest of the group followed suit, hurrying after her.
The group followed the passageway to the forest quickly and quietly. Quickly because they didn't want to be caught when the Reonian army stormed the palace, but quietly enough that they wouldn't be heard in the case that they got ambushed by guards coming the other way. The three horsemen had dismounted, and were doing their best to keep their steeds for making any noise at all. Marne was leading the group, with Loren and Amy close behind, ready to act in case something did happen. Doran, Eld and Ronal were guarding the rear for extra safety.
After walking for what seemed like an age, Marne finally said "We're almost there! It's just a…"
She was cut off by Amy, who shushed her. Once everyone was silent, the tactician stopped.
"Do you hear that?" she whispered.
Loren shook his head. "I don't hear anything," he replied.
"Try harder, then," was the response he got. He did so, closing his eyes so that he might better focus on any sounds that were entering his ear.
I don't know what she's talking about, he thought. Maybe she's just hearing things. His train of thought was quickly interrupted. Wait, what was that? Was it… a voice? Yes, I can hear people talking. That must be why Amy stopped.
He turned to her and nodded, signifying that he had heard what she had. Receiving the same gestures from several others, Amy turned to the group. "We're trapped," she said succinctly.
"What do you think we should do?" asked Ronal.
"Isn't it obvious?" The reply came not from Amy, but the prince. "We cannot go back. That means our only option is to break through whatever forces they have stationed here." His words earned him a disapproving shake of the head from his tactician, although he only noticed it when he turned to look at her as she spoke.
"Unwise," she started. "We have no idea how many they are, nor how skilled or well-equipped they are. Charging headlong into battle could get us killed faster than if we turned back and faced the brunt of the army." She paused. "Is there any way around?"
Loren turned and looked at Marne. The princess held her head in thought, but then shook it.
Amy hated to admit it, but it seemed they had no choice. Still, she wasn't planning to allow her army to rush to a slaughter. "At the very least, is there anywhere we will be able to assess our foes' strength without being seen? I'd rather we didn't all get killed."
"The final area of this passage, the one they're in, is enormous, but not open," replied Loren. "We could be in there with them and they might not realise it."
The prince's words seemed to calm his tactician a little, because her posture slackened slightly and she breathed what sounded like a sigh of relief. It seemed they weren't in such a difficult situation after all. Still, all of that would mean nothing if it turned out the opposing force was too big for them to handle. She couldn't let herself relax just yet.
The group walked further down the passage in absolute silence. They were all preparing their weapons, ready for the inevitable combat, and the three cavaliers had gotten back on their horses.
It was fortunate that there was no door between the Parolteans and their foes. If they'd had to open a door, they would have made a noise and been spotted straight away. As it was, however, they were able to sneak in without alerting anyone.
The army were now hidden behind one of the room's elevated platforms. Amy held herself against the wall, peering past it through her spyglass and attempting to size up her enemies, without being seen herself. She saw several armed soldiers patrolling, but none were close enough to see them. Eventually, she was able to make out a figure at the far end of the room, talking to two of the soldiers. She assumed that was the enemy commander. Her keen eyes honed in on the keys dangling from his belt.
"Bad news," whispered Xand, who had been looking from the other end of the wall, where he had been able to see the exit, "The exit is blocked. Our foes have set up several locks – clearly they expected someone to come this way and wanted to block it."
"Their commander has a set of keys on him," said Amy, attempting to steer the conversation back towards the positive. "I'm certain those will be the ones we need to get out of here. And thankfully, there don't look to be too many of them. This looks like a battle we can win."
"What are your orders, then, Amy?" asked Loren. She sighed at that comment. Clearly the prince hadn't been listening to her earlier, when she had first been introduced to the group.
"I do not give orders, sire," she replied, "for I lack the authority. Only the commander may perform such a task."
It was Loren's turn to sigh this time. "Very well," he said. "What would you suggest we do?"
"We need to split up," replied Amy. As those words left he mouth, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye, though she chose not to mention it for now. "I'd like Karr and Hammond together, Xand and Ronal, and you and Eld."
"What about me, ma'am?" asked Doran. "What would you have me do?" Amy winced at being addressed so formally, but she didn't have time to argue.
"I need you to stay back here and guard the princesses," she responded. She half-expected some kind of argument, but when she saw the look that flared up in his eyes, she remembered she was dealing with royalty. No knight would pass up the opportunity to serve them, and Doran likely saw it as the most important job he could be doing.
"Absolutely, ma'am. No harm shall come their way."
"What about you, Amy?" asked Loren.
"Something has come up," she replied nonchalantly. Her voice took a more serious tone. "I saw movement nearby. I need to check it out."
"Alone?"
She smirked at the look of concern in the prince's eyes. "I'll be fine. You should worry more about yourself." She turned to the rest of the army once more. "The goal is to get out of here. That means we need to open the locks on the doors, and to do that… we'll have to take out the enemy commander. But don't ignore the other soldiers, either, or they'll make our job near impossible." Satisfied that everyone understood their objective, she took off in the direction of the movement she had seen earlier.
The remainder of the group split up. Karr and Hammond moved quietly left, while Loren and Eld went right. Xand and Ronal stayed near the centre, and all three groups began advancing, watching for guards along the way.
It was the two cavaliers who first found one. Unfortunately, it is rather difficult to conceal horses, and as they made their way towards the Reonians, a group of four guards turned around just before they could get out of sight. They charged at the two mounted men, but one was rewarded with an axe to the head, while the other was struck down by a javelin. Karr and Hammond then proceeded to draw their close-range weapons – a sword for the red-haired knight and a lance for the green-haired one. They each parried a strike as their opponents thrust their own lances at them, and followed up with swings of their weapons. In mere moments, the two men were surrounded by four corpses.
Down the passage's central strip, Ronal and Xand found themselves up against two foes – a mage and an armoured knight. Every time Xand attempted to move forward to get close to the knight, the mage would cast a spell, casing lightning to strike where his feet had been mere fractions of a second before. It wasn't until he heard the man scream in pain as he was struck by one of Ronal's arrows that Xand was able to successfully press forward. While his initial lance blows did nothing to penetrate his foe's heavy armour, he was able to parry each return strike, eventually managing a blow so heavy it forced a piece of the man's armour off. Seeing his opening, Xand thrust his lance down, feeling it pierce the man's flesh. Only when the knight had crumpled to the ground did he remove his weapon.
Fighting on the right-hand side suited Loren just fine. Although he did not have much room either side of him, his enemies did not either, but while they could not get past each other to attack with their swords, Eld was stood right behind Loren, providing support with his magical attacks.
Despite several different battles breaking out almost simultaneously, Amy had not yet been seen. She was following the figure she had seen before, who was effortlessly manoeuvring through the room, making no sound at all.
So far, so good, thought the figure. Now I just need to…
"Halt." The woman appeared out of nowhere, blocking the way ahead. "What are you doing? Are you with Reon?" she asked.
Amy hadn't expected the person stood in front of her to speak, but she also didn't expect what actually happened – a rather high-pitched, though quiet, squeal escaped them. She noticed two bulges in their cloak, which their hands were reaching towards.
"I wouldn't advise that." she said, drawing her own sword. "Assaulting me won't help you. Even if you are an enemy, you'll just alert my allies, and they'll be far ess lenient to you than I'm being now." She paused. "Lower your hood, so that I can see your face."
The cloaked figure seemed hesitant at first, but a stern look from Amy stirred them into moving. As the hood came down, Amy was surprised to see a young girl in front of her.
"Please," Amy could tell from her voice that the girl was panicking, "I'm not here to hurt anyone. I just…" her voice trailed off.
"You're a thief, aren't you?" Amy's tone was more questioning than judgemental, implying that she didn't care what the answer was, so long as she had the answer.
Silence followed, but the girl realised that if she didn't answer, the woman stood before her would likely just cut her down, so she slowly nodded her head. "Y-Yes…" she finally managed. "How did you see me? I was quiet, I was…"
"I'm a tactician. I have to keep my eyes and ears open in all directions at all times. You may consider it your job to hide… Well, it's mine to find you."
"Wait, a tactician? As in, of an army? But you're a…"
"Woman? So are you." She looked down to the two bulges in the girl's cloak. "And I'm guessing you can wield those daggers better than most."
The girl sighed. "I have no choice. My family is too poor. It's either steal or starve. And in order to steal, I need some way of protecting myself."
"Is that what you're here for, then? To steal?" Amy noticed a lockpick on the girl's belt. An idea was forming in her mind.
"I have a better idea," she said at last. "Why don't you put your skills to work helping us get out of here?"
"Huh?" That was not what the thief had been expecting. Her tone suddenly became cautious. "Why should I work for you?"
"Two reasons. One, if you do, I won't have to reveal to the prince why you're really here." She took a breath, allowing her words to sink in. "And two, you won't get out of here alone."
"Did you just say you're working for the prince?" came the nervous reply.
"I did."
The thief didn't have time to consider, because the two women had been caught. Two Reonian soldiers – myrmidons, Amy noticed – were headed their way. She drew her daggers, and stood beside Amy as the two men came closer. As one of them thrust their sword at her, she quickly jumped out of the way. She was fast, and managed to close in on her enemy quickly, before tearing him open with her knives.
She looked over to the tactician to see her engaged with the other enemy soldier. The two were parrying each other's sword blows back and forth, until eventually Amy was overpowered. Her sword flew out of her hands, and she cursed her inexperience as she watched her foe slice downwards. She screamed in pain as the sword tore into the flesh on her arm.
Fortunately, that was as far as it went. The thief had opened a pouch on her belt, and from it had drawn a throwing knife, which now rested in the soldier's chest as he slumped to the ground.
The thief smirked as Amy pulled the sword out of her arm. Blood was rushing everywhere, but she pulled a vulnerary out of her pouch. Using it to soothe the wound, she pulled out a bandage, which she quickly tied around the opening to stop the blood flow.
"You have my gratitude for saving me. I take it this means you'll help us?" she asked.
The thief chuckled. "I guess it does. I can't get out of here without fighting with you anyway."
"That's good to hear." The tactician held out her hand. "May I ask your name?"
"Talla." She took Amy's hand and shook it.
"We are well met, then, Talla. My name is Amy. We need to hurry. Everyone else is already fighting."
Unfortunately, Amy had no idea how true that last statement was. As well as everyone she had directed to fight, Doran now found himself toe to toe with three soldiers who had spotted him. He stood directly between the Reonian soldiers and the princesses.
"Stay behind me!" he shouted to the princesses, willing to give everything he had to protect them. Thankfully, he had no need to do so. His foes' weapons could not break his armour, allowing him to dispatch them with a few swings of his lance.
Ahead, Loren had found himself in a rather tricky situation. Much as he had Eld behind him, an enemy mage now stood behind the few foes he was fighting, and it was very difficult for him to even parry the melee units' strikes while at the same time dodging the mage's spells. Eld was helping keep the sword fighters away with his magic, but he wasn't actually hitting them – rather, they stayed away because otherwise he would hit them.
Eventually, as he parried a strike from one of his enemies, Loren noticed that the myrmidon had lost his balance. Seizing the opportunity, he pushed as hard as he could with his sword, knocking the man to the floor. His was able to follow up with a slash of his sword, but when he looked up, he saw a fireball hurtling directly towards him, and he had no way of getting out of the way.
He could hear Eld chanting, and a second later another fireball had met the first in mid-air, causing the two to explode just inches from Loren. In fact, the explosion did hit one of the Reonians, who dropped to the ground in intense pain.
The Reonian mage was so surprised by what had just transpired that he failed to notice a figure appear next to him, clutching knives in both hands. When he finally did realise, it was far too late, and one of Talla's daggers was planted deep into his chest.
Without the mage to worry about, Loren was able to regain the upper hand on the remaining enemies, overpowering them with his sword strikes. Amy and Talla had joined the fight too, and helped relieve the pressure from the prince.
Once the immediate area was clear, everyone took a moment to catch their breath. "You showed up right on time," Loren said to Amy.
"I'm here to keep you alive, aren't I?"
"And her?" he asked, motioning towards the thief. "I can't quite place it, but something about her seems… off."
"Talla's on our side, don't worry," Amy assured him. "But we don't really have time for introductions right now. We need to keep moving."
Loren sighed. "Okay," he said finally. "Let's go."
By now, the passage was overwhelmed with the sounds of battle. On the left, metal clashed against metal as Karr and Hammond dispatched any soldiers that came their way. Similar sounds came from the right, accompanied by the roaring noise of fireballs as Eld cast his magic. From the centre, the sound of Xand's lance crushing his foes' armour could be heard, along with the screams of the soldiers hit by Ronal's arrows.
It wasn't long before the sounds stopped, the Parolteans having taken care of the soldiers that had directly engaged them. Having done so, they progressed towards the exit. The room widened to a small area leading to the door by some steps, which were being guarded by the Reonian general and five remaining soldiers.
The prince and his seven soldiers all burst out into the small "battlefield" at once by nothing more than chance. As they did so, the Reonian commander was heard barking orders to his men.
"What are you waiting for? Don't let anyone out of here!"
Without any time to plan a coherent battle strategy, everyone simply engaged the soldier closest to them. Xand's fight was over the quickest, consisting simply of him driving his lance into his enemy with as much force as possible. His two fellow cavaliers soon followed suit, Karr's sword and Hammond's lance taking out one soldier each.
Amy may not have found victory as quickly, but she did have the upper hand. The extremely close quarters of the battle allowed her to strike relentlessly with her sword. It took all of her foe's strength merely to move his axe to parry, let alone strike back. Eventually, it was too much, and he felt his arm being sliced off right before he died.
Eld decided that if he was going to be fighting someone in such close quarters, neither his fire nor his wind spells would be any use. Taking another tome from his cloak, he began chanting a new spell. His enemy was stunned as a cloud materialised inside, and even more stunned when a bolt of lightning came out of it, striking him down.
"Why am I stuck with the incompetent ones…" sighed the Reonian general as he watched his men get effortlessly defeated. As he did, he could have sworn he could see a figure in his peripheral vision, but as he was about to turn to look, an arrow flew in his direction. He ducked straight away, the arrow narrowly missing his head, but knew he had to do something as he saw Ronal nock another arrow.
Unfortunately for him, there was nothing he could do, because Loren engaged him from the front as soon as he regained his composure. Sword clashed with sword, and for a moment the two seemed equally matched. A moment was as long as it lasted, however, as a hard kick from Loren sent him backwards, his body spinning until he was facing the opposite direction. He found himself facing Talla, who swiftly planted a knife into his chest.
"If my soldiers weren't so worthless…" he coughed as he fell to the floor, "I wouldn't have been so hopelessly outnumbered…"
Having been in a poorly lit tunnel for several hours, the light that shone as the doors burst open was almost blinding to Loren and his army. After they got over the initial shock, they took a few steps outside. A small shrine stood off to the left, but far more intimidating were the enormous trees only a few metres in front of them.
"I assume that's the Zeitune Forest," said Amy.
"Right," Loren nodded. "It's likely the safest route out of the country, because it's the furthest from the border with Reon. I imagine you'll want us to cross right away?"
"No," she replied. "After a battle like that, we need to take a short breather before we continue. It wouldn't do to be caught unprepared."
As she said that, she began walking towards the shrine. Loren was about to follow her, until Xand caught his attention.
"Milord," he said quietly. "I must speak with you about our newest… recruit." He motioned towards Talla, who was stood alone from the others, staring into space. Lorena and Amy had spoken to her before she picked the locks to the doors (apparently, the commander didn't hold the keys to all of them), and the conversation had culminated in her joining Loren's army.
"Oh? What about her?"
"Do you not see it, milord? The scar on her face – it's the way we mark criminals that have committed crimes against the royal family that were serious enough to warrant action, but not so serious that they would require imprisonment or execution."
Loren gasped. That was why he'd felt as though something was off when he'd first seen her. "What did she do?" he asked.
"If we could remember all crimes committed against the royal family and recognise all those responsible by their faces, there would be no need for the mark," sighed Xand. "But given what we've seen of her, I would imagine it was theft. That's likely why she was here in the first place."
Loren paused. He hadn't been commander long enough to make decisions like these instantly. Could he really have a criminal in his employ? On the other hand, could he reject her in spite of the aid she had just given them?
"I don't believe she is a threat to us," he said finally, "and she helped us to defeat those soldiers, even risking her own safety in the process. Whatever she has done in the past, or was even planning to do here, is irrelevant."
"Sometimes, milord, I worry that you are simply too kind-hearted and trusting," replied Xand.
"Sometimes I worry that too," replied the prince. "But we cannot turn our backs on someone who has aided us."
Loren turned, and walked over to his sisters. Although neither of them had been involved in the battle, he hadn't had the chance to talk to them she they had been forced to flee the castle, and he wanted to make sure they were alright.
Meanwhile, Amy was busy studying the shrine. It was a small and not particularly complex structure, consisting merely of an arch surrounding a few steps that led to a dais, with a statue of a figure she could not identify behind it, but she wondered what it was doing out in the open, and what the words inscribed into the dais meant.
All other paths lead to deception. The one true road lies ahead.
She'd been staring at the words for a good ten minutes before Loren's voice snapped her out of her trance.
"It seems everyone's ready. We can get going now."
"Alright." She paused. "Do you have any idea what these words mean?" She motioned towards the dais.
Loren took a look at the words, then shook his head. "Unfortunately not," he replied. "Although I was always told this was a place of great importance by my father. Perhaps one day I shall find out why."
"With any luck, you will. You are the heir to this country's throne, after all." With that, Amy turned to look where the rest of the group were gathered. "Let's get moving then, shall we?"
As they entered the forest, Loren and his sisters turned and took one final glance at the castle, knowing it may very well be the last they ever saw of their home.
Thankfully, nothing got in the group's way as they trekked through the forest aside from the occasional wild animal. That actually worked to their advantage – evacuating in a hurry didn't leave them with a great deal of food, and it meant they didn't have to search far to hunt. Ronal's arrows had killed two animals – a bear and a deer, and as it was beginning to get dark (not that much light was able to pierce through the trees anyway), they decided to stop for the night.
Having found a spot in the forest where they could start a fire without burning the forest down, Karr, Doran and Ronal went to look for firewood. Amy was about to go with them, but suddenly she caught sight of something.
"Is that a... wagon?" she asked.
"It looks like it," replied Loren.
"Who would leave a wagon in the middle of a forest?" asked Talla.
"I doubt it's just been 'left'," said Amy. "Most likely, either whoever it belongs to will return soon, or…" She walked over to the wagon with Loren, Xand, Talla and Eld following. When she reached it, she pulled down the cover at the front of the vehicle. Everyone was shocked to see a middle-aged man there, sleeping heavily. "… they never left," finished Amy.
"Malorn!" shouted Loren.
The prince's voice appeared to stir the man, and he began to wake up. "Wha… whuzzat…" Suddenly aware that he was awake, he flew into a panic before he even got a chance to look around. "Whaah! D-d-don't hurt me! I'm not a soldier, I'm just a…"
"Malorn, calm down," said Loren, who had now approached the wagon. "No one is here to attack you."
"Huh? M-Milord!? You're alive?" The man suddenly burst into tears, although it was obvious from his tone that they were tears of relief, not fear.
"Yes. Somehow, I'm still alive."
"B-but the assault… I thought you'd…"
"It will take more than a few soldiers to kill me." Loren's voice was markedly more confident than usual – he'd knew it needed to be to calm Malorn down.
"Loren!" shouted Lily, who had stayed back until now. "Ronal just returned with some firewood. He said Karr and Doran were close, and Hammond has begun to start a fire."
"Milady? Is that you? Oh, what glorious news!" exclaimed Malorn. "I was holding out my hope for you, but I never actually expected you to be alive!" He looked about ready to cry again.
"Did you honestly expect I would allow the prince and princesses to be harmed?" asked Xand, stepping forward.
Confused by the whole affair, Amy stepped back and looked around in search of someone who could explain the situation to her.
"Malorn is our supply master," said Eld, as she turned to face him, noticing her confusion. "He stores weapons and all manner of helpful items for us in that wagon of his. He has worked for the royal family all his life."
"I see," replied the tactician. "So why was he not with us earlier, when we were called out to that village disturbance?"
"That was just a small job, and we expected to be back quickly," was the reply. ""We had no real need for a supply convoy."
Meanwhile, Xand had begun to speak to the supply master. "Malorn! You appear to have left the castle in a hurry! Did you spare no thought for those you were leaving behind!"
"P-Please Xand! I am not a soldier! Stay I could have done, but the best I could have done would have been to serve as an unarmed decoy."
Xand frowned. He may not have been able to argue with that, but he still felt Malorn had abandoned the castle too quickly. He was about to say something else, but he was interrupted by a loud neighing.
"Woah, woah, hey!" came Talla's voice. "Easy!" She was currently trying to calm down one of Malorn's horses. It had been unhooked from the supply wagon, and was now looking like it might bolt. However, after a minute or so of trying, Talla was able to calm the animal down, and it neighed gently.
"See? I'm not gonna hurt you." Talla was gently stroking the horse's mane, and it was no longer resisting.
Malorn walked over to her, surprise all over his face. "Young lady," he said, "you have just managed in a minute what it took me years to accomplish. That one is quite nervous around strangers."
"I guess I just have a bit of a rapport with animals," explained Talla. "I like them, and they seem to like me back."
"Remarkable…"
"Hey everyone!" shouted a voice. It was Hammond. "Is anyone going to help me cook here or what?"
Amy had to admit, Hammond was a very good cook, although she could have done without him trying to flirt with her while he was cooking. Knowing that there was some food in Malorn's wagon meant that they had no problems cooking and eating both the deer and the bear, and now everyone was not only full but tired.
Thankfully, among the supplies Malorn had been holding for Loren and his group were a few tents, so they weren't left sleeping on the ground. Marne and Lily were sleeping in the supply wagon, so Amy was only sharing a tent with Talla, but for a while she found sleeping difficult.
This has got to have been the single most eventful day of my entire life, she thought. Waking up after… that was unpleasant, but I found a new employer more easily than I expected. I'm going to need to be at the top of my game if a full-scale war is breaking out, though.
I wonder if Lord Damien will ever find out what happened to everyone… She shuddered. Or to me…
Eventually, fatigue overtook her, and as difficult as she had found it, she was now fast asleep. Whether that sleep would be blissful or plagued with nightmares, only time would tell…
Next time:
Loren and his army make it through the forest unharmed, but they aren't out of the war zone yet. When they pass by a nearby village on their way to Ilan, they find it is under attack by Reon, and Loren's kind-hearted nature won't allow them to simply leave innocent people to die.
"Oath to Protect" is up next.
