A/N: Hashire sori yo- It's not Christmas yet you fucker! In any case, here have this chapter, moving things along! Shit's weird, because I've been setting up some things for the stuff that's gonna happen. Hope ya'll have a fun read!
"Huh," Henrietta looked over the letter from Queen Hornet once more, the document that was meant to translate the Insect's language to her own lied beside it, and found a peculiar detail.
The rest of the letter wasn't anything special. It was just a reply to the invitation to her wedding, and that they would be honoured to attend it… At least that was she assumed with what she could translate.
But the odd part of it, was a… warning in the letter.
Luckily, she wasn't going to end up decoding some assassination plot after she read (and translated) the next few lines.
It wasn't a warning about an attack, or anything serious.
Apparently, in about a month's time, near about the time of her wedding, she and the rest of Hallownest are expecting some big event that could end up displacing their city. Nothing specific, just… displaced.
Henriette could not help but internally laugh at the irony of the Insects being afraid of an event that could displace their kingdom.
Despite that, she took the warning and wrote down a note to herself to prepare for refugee camps if the event were to ever turn up.
Once the wedding had concluded, and the alliance with Germania was set, the relationship between Tristain and Hallownest were to set to improve.
Hopefully.
[Scene]
The days went by, until it was time for the wedding.
High in the skies was the Albion Fleet, the Lexington at the forefront.
Once they were the premier fleet of Halkagenia, a marvel to behold as the Windstones of their country allowed them to forge as many airships as they could.
But that had not been the case for years now.
Meeting the Lexington and the Albion fleet was Tristain's own. While not a single ship could ever match up to the Lexington, their numbers did. Above La Rochelle, the Albion Fleet met with Tristain's.
Atop the bridge of the Lexington, Wardes stared at Tristain's fleet behind his mask.
They performed the greetings and cannon salute as they should, and they prepared their plans to frame the Tristain fleet.
When it was time for the Tristain fleet to fire their cannons, filled with nothing but gunpowder, two empty ships that were floating besides the Lexington burst into flames. The ship itself was filled with explosives set to explode.
It was all the pretences that they needed to start their war. Immediately they began moving around the ship, loading up the cannons as they waved flags of aggression towards the Tristain fleet over the treason.
Then the cannons were loaded, they had been upgraded by the man in robes. He had said that it had been fitted with a source of energy and designed so that it could not only blast its cannon farther, but it even held a surprise.
The Lexington shook as they fired their cannons, the cannonballs propelled with a blast of purple energy that send it flying farther than normally possible. And when the cannonball dropped, the purple energy kept going, and while the metal ball smashed through the wooden frame of the ship.
The purple blast of energy from the cannons burnt through the sails and ropes.
Wardes couldn't help but grab onto the railing as the Lexington barrage grew more absurd, when not a moment later another volley was fired from the cannons. The cannonballs that had been fired before were still in the air when the second wave of them hit, and took out a number of smaller ships of Tristain's fleet. The purple energy blast hitting the smaller ships and taking them out of the sky.
Before a third volley commenced, just as quickly.
Wardes felt his eyebrows furrowed at the fire rate, but he kept quiet. Instead he watched as more and more ships of Tristain's fleet were blown out of the sky by the cannons of the Lexington.
Then he spotted them.
Aboard one of the ships, he could see them poke out their cannons in response. His first initial thought was to laugh, as it was not possible for them to reach any of Albion's fleet.
But that laugh died as he saw the cannon glow a white that was familiar, and a spark of the same colour. The spell that enhanced his eyes allowed Wardes to see what the source. And he saw an Insect stabbing their Soul Wand into the ignition of the cannon.
With his eyes he saw how the Insect did not hesitate, while the humans around them seemed to try and dissuade them. It was as if they did not care what the action could entail, all that matter was to strike back.
When the cannon fired, it was with a blinding white light. And Wardes saw the cannon launch it's projectile through the air.
It was a good shot, it was aiming for the Lexington itself and from a quick glance it would go right through the captain's quarters and kill whoever was inside.
Normally, he would've casted a spell to slow it down or to divert attention away. The other mages would've also done the same, to cast a spell to not only protect the ship, but everyone inside it. Instead, he and the rest of the crew simply watch as it flew closer and closer.
And just as it was about to hit the ship.
It came alight with a similar white glow, all over the lines enveloped it. Lines that connected into a shape that resembled a vague figure. It bore four arms and seemingly held the ship as if it were delicate fragile bottle.
It surrounded the ship and protected it from the cannonball, the projectile slamming into it harmlessly. None on the ship even felt it, the boat did not rock, not did the blast ruffled any hair on board.
He saw how the Insect drew back, and Wardes smiled even wider when the ship it was on was blasted to pieces.
And soon the rest of the fleet, followed.
Below the bombardment in the town of La Rochelle, a bartender watched up in horror at the event happening above him. His orange eyes taking in the sight of chaos and death.
[Scene]
Henrietta felt her head spinning as she heard report after report.
One moment, the Princess had been ready to be transported to Germania for the wedding, the next thing she knew she received terrifying reports of an attack by people of New Albion attacking them due to a breach in the treaty.
Sitting at the table, still in her wedding dress, she could only try to interject in the conversation.
Already she could hear the Nobles around her trying to find excuses and justifications for Albion attacking them. The sight of the Lexington was still a thing of terror for her countrymen.
Then she heard the sound of commotion, and to her surprise she saw an Insect suddenly burst through the door.
It was one of the few times she had seen them without being covered by the cloaks that they wore. A part of her shivered as she could vaguely recognise the Insect as a giant walking cockroach, but another part of her surpressed it.
Because she could see the fear in its eyes.
"Please," The words struggled to leave its mouth "Tarbes," an Insect words she couldn't recognise "attacked! Flying beast," it clicked another unrecognisable words "Burning the village!"
Immediately she heard the other Nobles try to shoo away the Insect, some of them pointing their own fingers at it.
Henrietta couldn't help but feel her stomach turn and her head spin even harder. How many times had she heard the news of a village being burned to the ground for the last three years? How many times within the last month had the nightmares of what had happened to Albion and her beloved filled her dreams.
Her eyes flashed to the ring on her finger and the crystal wand on the table in front of her.
Henrietta stood up and slammed her hands onto the desk, loud enough that it shook everyone silent.
"Enough!" Her words carried weight that she never realised "Tarbes is in flames, and our allies from Hallownest has requested aid!"
Some of them tried to dissuade her, trying to tell her that fighting New Albion wasn't the course to take.
Her glare silenced them all "I will not let not only my own kingdom be taken by those invaders, and I will not abandon those that had placed their trust within us to ally with us." She could feel her hearth beating "The longer we simply stand here, not doing anything to help those we should protect, the more we become unworthy of our own status as Nobles."
Her eyes met with the Insect, who looked at her with its own black eyes.
"I, Henrietta de Tristain, Crown Princess of Tristain will not stand here and let my own country fall!"
[Scene]
Far away from the meeting, within the magical vaults of Tristain Academy, a black torch stood among the artefacts within. Soft red embers were collecting within.
Embers that, seemingly for no reason, suddenly were snuffed out.
Removing the minute scarlet glow that had illuminated the room for the last month.
[Scene]
Siesta let out a terrified whimper as she heard the sound of cannons blasting above her.
The Insect guard was in her Grandmother's house, since she was taking a break. But for some reason, today of all days, Tarbes was being invaded.
She just wanted to see Grandma Bretta again!
Another sound of explosions, the sound of dragons flying around burning whatever was in her hometown, and she heard screaming, nearly made her curl into a ball.
But… She didn't. Instead she grunted as she carried both her elderly grandma and being followed Human that had been unfortunately enough to get hurt with her.
"Get me my Nail!" Her grandmother ranted as she was carried, "I can show those invaders what for!"
"Please Miss Bretta," The Human, despite not understanding the words of her kind, pleaded as they moved through the house "We need to leave immediately, before they attack again!" Her grandmother had a rather famous, or infamous, reputation as rather battle hungry. Apparently, in her youth she often roamed the world as a 'Knight' and took down any and all foes, and would often do so even at her old age.
Siesta couldn't help but thank the Humans in Tarbes, since they often did take care of her Grandma while she would be away due to work. Her parents had long since perished in the harsh tunnels around Hallownest.
Siesta just hoped that her grandmother would've been safer above ground in Tarbes, but unfortunately luck wasn't on her side.
When they finally left her grandmother's house, she heard a gasp from her grandmother as she finally witnessed the devastation happening to her home.
With the large menacing airship that hung above Tarbes, and the flying drakes that were torching whatever they could see, Siesta tried her hardest not to just go berserk and fly up.
Luckily, the other Insect guards were doing that for her.
"Quickly," She turned to the Human, speaking her language "We need to take her to the Stag Station!"
Because right now, Grapevine was probably the safest place to go to.
It didn't take long for those invaders to notice them running. She saw out of the corner of her eye, one of them was diving towards them. She paid it no mind, even as she heard the screaming from the Human with her.
Just as it drew near, one of the Insect guards flew out of a nearby window and dismounted the rider with their Nail, and knocking the drake off-course. She could only manage to say a quick thank you, as she heard the scream of the Human as they were carried into the air and then dropped to the ground. She ran faster when she heard them scream followed by a sickening crunch.
All around her, she could see similar fights. Those that had settled in Tarbes, instead of Grapevine or even the Crossroads, fighting off the Invaders. Occasionally she could spot some of them fly towards the massive Air Ship, only to be blasted away by both cannons and a bright purple beam of energy.
As she drew closer to the Stag Station, she was surprised to see larger Insects standing guard over the entrance, all of them ushering in whoever was close by and occasionally swinging their clubs into the air to scare off any drakes and their fire breath.
"Hurry!" One of them shouted and Siesta could only run faster.
[Scene]
Wardes watched as he burned down his home country, smiling underneath the mask as he could see the many dragon riders torching the village. There was some resistance, as he had expected, from the Insects that infested the town.
But, they were of no match towards the dragons. Sure, one or two could strike at their riders or take them by surprise. But Wardes was all to happy to confirm that they were exceptionally weak to fire, burning much easier than he had anticipated.
A thought that he repeated with glee, as he pointed his Sword Wand at a particularly brave Insect and fried it with a single spell.
Not to mention, any time they flew too close to the Lexington the cannons and subsequent purple blast of energy would take them out just as quickly.
Wardes looked around on top of his Dragon mount, he eyes scanned to see that while many of the Insects that lived in Tarbes were still fighting back, he noticed very few Humans were among them. He scanned the area, looking for…
"There." He pointed his Sword Wand forward at an almost inconspicuous building. It almost looked unfinished, but the symbol that was bolted on the front told him what it was.
A Stag Station.
The wings of his Dragon flapped, bringing him back up to the sky and towards the Lexington. There, a group was waiting for him, the ones that would follow him into the tunnels and attack Hallownest.
Once more, he tried to ignore the empty gazes in their eyes. Instead he barked his orders "All those that are meant for the attack on Hallownest follow me!" The ones with empty gazes wordlessly approached their own mounts, climbing onto equally silent and unnerving Dragons to be ridden into the caverns of the Insect kingdom.
Following them were the mages. Fire Mages, Water Mages, and Earth Mages. Only Wind Mages were not deemed important enough to follow.
It needed to be quick. They needed to collapse the cavern as quickly as they could, and flood it within moments of reaching it. The Fire Mages were there to take care of any stronger Insects that threatened them.
Once they were all ready, Wardes brandished his Sword Wand and dived down to the ground, the rest of them followed.
A spell on his lips, Wardes chanted Lightning once more, and the moment the two larger Insects were in view, he casted the spell.
And officially began his attack on Hallownest.
[Scene]
She walked along the path of her kingdom.
In her hand was the weapon that she had used for so long.
She saw the terror in the eyes of those that had hidden away from the attackers, she saw those that were injured but were lucky enough to rush to safely.
Anger filled her, and with a single toss of her arm, she took to the air and moved to punish those that had not only harmed her people.
But those who her people had befriended.
[Scene]
As they reached the split that would lead them to Hallownest, the group was met with a surprising sight.
The giant Insects, the ones that Wardes had seem guarding the cave entrance the last time he was lead to Hallownest, were there. Each of them carrying clubs that were the size of carriages.
When they spotted them, they raised them over their heads.
Immediately Wardes and the mages were ready to respond. Spells to deflect physical blows already on their lips, and counter attacks on their minds.
Only to be surprised when, instead of striking them, the Insects swung as hard as they could into the walls.
Wardes stumbled as the earth around them rumbled, he had to stop himself from falling when they struck the walls again.
He heard sound of the walls cracking under their immense strength, Wardes head snapped up and saw the earth above them shake loose.
"MOVE!" He shouted as rocks began to fall. Another strike from the Insects, prompted him and the others that had been leading the front to back away.
Just in time as one final strike caused the pathway to collapse entirely, burying the path under rock and dirt.
Wardes heard the few that weren't quick enough scream for a moment, before they went silent as they were buried under the rubble.
"Earth mages!" One of the commanders called out "Clear the path right now!"
Two of the ones that weren't disorientated by the sudden collapse stepped forward, and started to chant their spells. The earth that fell started to glow, before they shifted as-
Wardes blinked when, the moment the slightest of gaps opened due to the spell, a javelin suddenly flew through and pierced through the head of a soldier that was unfortunate enough to be in it's path. The earth rumbled, and with their concentration broken, the gap in the earth wall fell apart.
He growled and stepped forward before they could panic further "Hurry up!" He snapped at the Earth Mages "The longer we just stand here; they'll keep knocking down more walls."
He started chanting his own spell, while he may not have much proficiency in Earth Magic, it wasn't hard to produce a powerful pushing or pulling spell to dispel rocks and earth. A few more mages followed suit, and soon after the wall started to glow with the combined magic.
A hole was blown inwards, large enough for a Dragon to fit through.
And the moment it did, two of the Insects suddenly rushed in. Their wings buzzing behind them as they flew through the hole.
It happened so fast, that one of them managed to spear one of the commanders who was on his mount, before flying upwards and stabbing it's lance into the ceiling, pinning him there. They heard his scream of pain turn into gurgles, before they heard the buzzing wings move away from the body and fly back down and crash into the Dragon.
The second one had opted to rush into a group of infantry, impaling one of them and using him to ram through the rest of the soldiers that was with him.
And as this happened, Wardes caught sight of the giant Insects lifting their clubs and knocked down even more walls to cover the hole that had just been made. Seemingly fine to leave the two Insects alone with the whole attack force.
He heard an inhuman scream when the first Insect finally ran into a row of spears. It's body thrashed about, spilling the white liquid that was their 'blood'. Wardes turned to the other Insect, and chanted his spell.
"Hey!" He called out towards it, prompting it to take to the air and turn to him. He pointed his Sword Wand and casted the spell.
He was thankful that the smell of a charred Insect wasn't as bad as charred humans. It splattered on the ground, their blood pooling underneath. The other Insect was torn apart by the spears, spilling the same white colour.
"Fire Mages!" He shouted at the ones in the group "Coordinate with the Earth Mages, prepare a spell and cast it the moment it opens!" In his own mind Wardes was already preparing his own spell "Strike them down before they can rush in again!"
They followed his words, three Earth Mages and two Fire Mages stood by the collapsed wall. All of them chanting their spells in sync, Wardes included.
Once more the walls glowed and with a final cast, it blew open once more. A moment later, the Fire Mages finished their own chant and two balls of fire were blasted forward into the group of Insects on the other side.
As expected, they had rushed in the moment the walls blew open. One of the Insects was fried to a crisp the moment it had rushed through the new hole.
The other one however, did not seem to care. The ball of fire slamming into its midsection charring it black. But it didn't seem to care.
It was one of the larger Insects, carrying an equally massive club. The ones that stood in front of the hole only had a moment to react, before they were splattered by the massive club slamming down.
And not only that, it swung down hard enough that the air from the blow travelled across the ground and threw whoever was in its path aside.
It made a noise, screaming its language, before it went berserk. Swinging its giant club all around it, hitting the walls, the ground, and whoever was unlucky enough to be nearby. Each swing was devastatingly powerful, strong enough that it could turn even the dragons that they were riding into mush with just one swing.
With its immense strength it was actually causing them to back away, and the wind that it was making with each swing was forcing them back.
Wardes heard the walls crumble again, and once more they shut the hole. He let out a growl of annoyance, but turned his focus onto the large Insect going berserk.
His Sword Wand came alight, another spell already on his lips, the Mage rushed towards the large Insect. It saw him approach, it raised its club and swung in his direction.
He pointed his weapon forward, and a massive gust of wind met with the Insect's club. It knocked it off-balance, the massive size of the club forced it stumbled backwards and land on its back.
Wardes jumped, his Lightning spell on his lips. The Insect tried to swipe with its claws, but the lightning enchanted weapon pierced through both its claws, and its midsection. He casted the spell, and watched through holes in his mask as the Insect was cooked alive instantly.
He pulled his weapon free, shaking off the white goop off his weapon, and looking around. Already underneath the large Insect were two of the Fire Mages that had casted the fire ball spell, crushed underneath its massive frame. More than a couple of the Dragon's that they had brought along were similarly dead, smashed to pieces.
He turned to the wall of dirt, and he clicked his tongue.
"Viscount," One of the mages approached "Should we try again?"
"No," He turned to the other path, the one that the Insects had left alone "Change of plans, we're taking another path. We can't afford to lose any mages at all, or else the attack won't work."
Immediately he heard the rustling of papers as they took out the maps that he had acquired.
"We go to Crossroads," He spoke pointing his weapon down the path "If the map is accurate there should be another path towards Grapevine."
He heard earth rumble, and he could only assume that the Insects were covering their tracks.
"Hurry!" He barked his orders once more, immediately they changed their path. Wardes moved back towards his mount. The group rushed through the dark corridors.
Until finally they reached the 'Crossroads'. Emerging from the Stag Station, Wardes noticed how… vertical everything was. Above and below were paths that would have made normal traversal on foot near impossible.
Luckily the Dragons that they were riding allowed them movement within the caverns. They descended, until finally they reached the ground.
Wardes stayed in the middle of the group, along with the other Mages. They all looked around them, unlike the soldiers that Cromwell had used his powers on, they still had their emotions. And from what he could see, some of them were starting to feel regret.
The one in front continued to lead the group, and Wardes knew something was wrong.
The Dragon he was riding was another one of the creatures that was been placed under Cromwell's spell, it shouldn't feel any kind of fear. Yet, he could see it fidgeting and shaking.
When they stepped into another cavern, the feeling became reality.
They felt the earth shake, they felt the ground shift, they heard the sound of something underneath them.
Then, almost out of nowhere, it appeared.
A massive worm like creature, segmented like many of the Insects that he had seen. Each part of the segmented pieces had, what he could only guess, were teeth growing out of it. And the end of it was it's 'mouth'. A mouth that was as large as the Dragon that it captured in its teeth.
Wardes quickly chanted a spell, and casted Lightning.
Only for his eyes to widen when the spell smashed into the skin of the Insect and do nothing. It was as if it had hit a stone wall, rather than a living creature. It didn't even react to his attack, as it chewed its prey.
And that wasn't the worst of it.
When the lightning struck, he had momentarily illuminated the area. And along their path he saw even more of them, popping in and out of the ground, and even the ceiling.
And that wasn't all.
"BRAVAAA!"
Insects, the ones that they had recognised as proper guards, suddenly descended from the ceiling. Having managed to hide themselves due to the darkness.
Wardes couldn't react when two of them swooped down and picked up two Mages from their mounts.
And just as easily toss them deeper into the cavern. One of them was snatched out of the air by one of the giants Worm, the Mage screaming in horror as he was eaten alive.
The second one had hit the ground first. He heard her scream of pain, before it turned to terror as another Worm descended from the ceiling and swallowed her whole.
The rest of them swarmed the group.
Wardes growled behind his mask, and fought back.
[Scene]
"Bug?" Louise looked down at her Familiar.
The Void Vessel was shaking in place. Its body seemingly shivering.
It so minute that nobody else would have noticed anything was different, but Louise could tell something was different.
They had been waiting for the carriage that would have carried them to castle before departing towards Germania for the wedding.
But something had halted the ceremony, to the point that a messenger from the palace had came running.
Now she and the rest of the students were waiting inside the hall, as the teachers were trying to explain everything that was happening.
And among it all, she saw how Bug seemed to be shaking in place. It was concerning enough, even Sib was staring at its Sibling.
But before she could ask her Familiar, the teachers told her the news.
New Albion had declared war.