War was god to the Imperials, it was what saved them from what they once were, but now its led them into who they've become. Such a devilish mistress is it not?

-Joeden, a Saderan monk

EASTERN ALNUS MONTANE:

Lelei listened to the sounds of the birds flying overhead, late in their travel to the jungles down south. She sat on the ground, her arms over her legs as she watched the men readying the horses at the edge of the clearing they'd camped in.

Below her, Hector lay with what remained of his left hand in dirty bandages on a small sleeping bag next to a flameless fireplace; its coals all which remained.

"We leave soon. Prepare yourselves!" ordered Kurmann, who guided the three other able men through what to pack and what not to pack. His ordinarily sharp face had dulled in these few days. Even his voice sounded quiet. As if something had left him and would never return.

It was only six of them now. Not even a full contubernium, yet Kurmann still pressed on. Rickett and Edmund followed him, their faces thin and hollow, like ghosts.

The three of them had burst into the hospice, seeking her and Hector in the chaos of Alnus's destruction. The others, including Markus, were not among them, nor Cato. They were covered in the dried blood of their comrades as Kurmann ordered her to come with them. The last few days were a blur of constant movement, even at night.

She rubbed her face and let a soft breath escape her. "Do you require aid?" the voice asked, bringing her away from her thoughts. She looked up to see Zega standing above her, his arms behind his back.

He'd been on the path next to a donkey, dead of exhaustion, the cleric himself seemingly soon to follow it. He was on his knees in silent prayer, and when he saw them, he almost jumped for joy and praised Wareharun then and there. It was indeed a sight to see after forty-eight hours of no sleep. Kurmann had nearly thought the man an illusion.

"He is fine," she said.

"That is not what I meant...ah, never mind."

"Where are we moving?" Hector said in a small voice as he rose from his lying position. Lelei watched him.

Zega answered for her, "I believe we are still bound for the Italica."

"Oh, okay." His round face was drained of color, revealing heavy dark bags under it, almost like he'd applied clay to them. It was probably due to him weeping late at night when he thought nobody could hear, but Lelei always had.

They rode under a gray sky with dead trees leading down a snow-covered path, the cold making them pray for some sunlight that had not been seen in what felt like years but what was actually a few days.

The horses weren't adjusting well, often slowing down from the exhausting walk or whining as the men forced them along. The woods were silent as they traveled, and Lelei watched from the back of the pony she and Hector shared as Kurmann broke the silence by yelling directions at them.

"You sure this is the right way?" Edmund said, leading his horse with one hand. He shook his head and covered himself with one arm and led his horse with the other, "damn, it's cold..."

"I recognized a few landmarks around here. We should be close to the village at least. It should take a few hours to get there."

"Hope so," Rickett added, "nothing to eat for so long, gods. We might have to slaughter one of the horses if it goes on for any longer." He wasn't wrong. Concentrating on the task at hand was hard without the constant want for something to eat.

When they'd fled Alnus, the men found themselves lacking any food for the better half of the week. The cold only added to that misery as starvation set in on the first day. It was a tale as old as time; soldiers simply could not fight on an empty stomach.

"What sort are in this place?" Rickett asked.

"Ask the priest; he recommended it," Kurmann snided.

"Elves. There is a bit of them living amongst the tall trees. They should be welcoming."

"Dark elves?" Edmund glanced back with a strange face.

"No, their lighter brethren. The drow tend to keep themselves south in caves."

"I heard they eat folk," Edmund commented.

"Many of the old tribes do. Not merely drow, either, but goblins, orcs, and ogres. Be wary," Kurmann said, holding up a finger. "We probably shouldn't even be talking."

"You really think those demons in green would be this far east?" Rickett said.

Kurmann thought for a moment before answering, "No, but that doesn't mean something else isn't."

The roads were half-foot with snow, and it was very cold. The trees slopped downwards with white tops as they walked up the pass. The horses soon began to struggle and slowed almost to a crawl by the time they reached their destination. The trees soon surrounded them on all sides, massive and great in their stature like the towers of gods.

Some hundred feet up in those tall trees were old and emptied nests of straw, a faint semblance of the sweet smell drifting down at them. Their shadows in that dark greyness must've kept the wolves and coyotes away for even they had stopped their howling. The wind started picking up, and a faint snowflake hit Kurmanns face, which he wiped away.

"I believe I see it!" Kurmann yelled as he saw the shapes of small houses through the trees in a large clearing. By this point, the snow had started again, and they all had to cover their faces from the blustering white and grey that filled their eyes.

Before they entered the clearing, Kurmann stopped them. Looking back, he said to them, "We mustn't enter all at once."

"What? why?" Rickett complained. He was shivering the most out of everybody, the cold not treating him well.

The priest spoke, "They might feel threatened, dear boy; we don't exactly seem presentable, do we?"

"Well, no but...what should we do?"

"I'll go, Zega, you come with me. The rest of you, stay here with the horses and be ready to ride out just in case." He stepped off his horse, as did the priest.

"Be careful, Sir," Edmund said as he dismounted. They all watched as the two went off through the tree line, their boots crunching against the snow like the crinkling of paper.

He and Rickett settled the animals as Lelei helped Hector off their mount. He grimaced as he stood next to her.

"Is your hand hurting?" she asked softly while tying the horse's reigns around the tree.

"I'm fine," he said.

The priest and Kurmann walked together, holding their hands up against the snowflakes and the latter holding in his other hand a fleeting torch whose light was swallowed by the darkness and the sawing illumination and blackness itself like those men who were against a complex that they could not or would not wish to comprehend.

It was as if that fire contained a part of themselves, in as much as they were taken by the darkness without it and fleeting with it. Each fire within them burned like with all mortal creatures. From the first fire of the elves thousands of years in the past, to the fire of machines that was responsible for their dire situation.

The shapes of the constructions slowly revealed themselves, and the priest watched as Kurmann stopped.

"Something the matter?" Zega asked.

"We'll need all of them," he said quickly.

The priest saw him turn back around and begin walking back the way they'd come. Confused, Zega cupped his hands over his eyes to get a look at what the Decanus saw.

"What do you think's gonna happen?" Rickett said. They'd all drawn whatever weapons they had, Rickett with the same gladius he'd had since the day of his induction into service. Edmund with a longsword he'd found on a dead body as they'd escaped Alnus.

"These elves will shelter us, I hope," Edmund said as he watched the forest for movement. He'd begun thinking the men in green could be hiding behind the trees as if they were stalking the group for miles.

"I mean if we get to Italica, what'll happen?"

"Uh...I haven't a clue. We just need to find something to eat right now."

"Reinforcements...maybe..." Hector murmured.

Rickett looked at him, "Well yeah but..." he stopped when he saw all of their faces looking at him, "bother it."

After a few minutes, they heard crunching in the snow and saw Zega and Kurmann walking back through the treeline. Both men looked strange as they stepped over the small sloop leading down into the village.

"Come," Kurmann said.

"Did you find anything?" Rickett asked hopefully.

"No, come on," he motioned back towards the way they came.

The priest looked at him, "You want to go back?"

"I want to investigate further."

"What if something is still there?"

"Then we'll find it."

They were led in and saw what remained of the village. Rows of what were once small huts and straw houses had been reduced to mush by a fire. On the ground, there were charred tracks detailing the progress of a fire that seemed to have started at the entrance to the place. Each of them moved slowly, the torches still flickering from the moisture.

The village itself arched from the bottom, burnt houses upwards to half-destroyed huts built on rocky terrain instead of the normal patches of grass the snow-covered. They went along a path to the left of them, the view of the dropping dusk void to their left that seemed to span the darkness forevermore.

"Wareharun's light..." Zega murmured.

"Hush," Kurmann ordered.

"We shouldn't be here," Lelei squeaked.

"Enough out of all of you," Kurmann said as they went on. Hector stepped on something following behind, he glanced down, Lelei saw him.

His boot had found itself on a bow. While Hector reached down to pick it up with his good hand, Lelei said, "Mr. Kurmann you might wish to see this."

They all looked back and saw Hector presenting it to the light. The bow itself was crudely stitched together with broken sticks and reeds for strings that'd snapped off and now hung there like a noose.

"That's not an elven bow..." Edmund said squinting his dark eyes at the thing. "Maybe a childs toy but..."

"We need to keep moving," Kurmann insisted. They listened, all a bit slower in their steps but following nonetheless. Their hunger overriding reason itself.

Sight was a luxury in the storm, their torches only able to cover a few paces in front of them. When they reached the center of the village, passing the burned houses and the fallen debris, they stopped.

At the center of it all, the light revealed piles of bodies all burned into various stages of black decomposition. They were near a hundred mounted in a massive pile that spread high towards the sky as if some offering or warning by whatever had done this. They saw charred limbs and bone scattered about the surrounding area, some large and some small. Hector would distinctly remember a small body lying next to a fouled stuffed lion for the rest of his days.

"Are...those...the elves?" Hector said breathlessly.

"But how?..." Zega said.

"The brigands...they...they must've...you saw that bow?"

"B-By the gods..." Hector was shivering.

Lelei looked up at this with widened eyes, and when the shock passed for Edmund he began praying with tears welling in his eyes, and Kurmann and the other three had white faces. The smell of burned dead bodies were branded into their memories as they escaped the place.

That night, the rear guard of the main Imperial force lay half smoking and immolate on the battlefield, their limbs gone, and their guts spread out on the grass. The Americans who'd dealt with them riding on in their tanks and leaving them in the forest for the scavengers to feast upon, unable and unwilling to give a luxury as a proper burial.

Within a week the Imperials were scattered out of the area, the fires on the ridges behind them, and the stragglers all which remained. Deranged chanting began emanating all around the continent from the temples of both Hardy and Emroy, the travelers making their way beside those places staying clear.

The screams of those murdered by the army of rebels and bandits filled the countryside, what remained of them impaled on spikes by the sides of the roads.

'What did they do?' Hector had wondered as the group traveled down the mountains. Usually, Markus would gift him some wisdom at moments like these but his brother was no more, so the boy was only left with his theories.

He thought that perhaps those who'd done this had moved on, but the doubt that followed did little to comfort him. The group ate snow as they rode on for the day, their stomachs like broiling cauldrons of acid.

They camped that night in a small clearing where the mountains met with the forest below. Small patches of snow still remained as the connection between the two biomes and landscapes.

The priest dropped snow into a heated pan, it sizzled and steamed up into the night sky. The others surrounded the fire, waiting for their rations. The subject was the gods.

"I don't understand the purpose for any of this," Edmund said. "Why open the damned thing?"

"Not all of them, just one," Lelei commented. Edmund looked at her questioningly as she added, "Hardy is the only god capable of doing such a thing."

"Okay then..." Edmund breathed, "why would she do this?"

None of them answered him for a while. After looking around at the others, Zega cleared his throat and stood up. His white robes blew in the soft breeze and his old face shined off the fire's light. They watched him.

"Hardy's reasons for anything are a mystery to the mortal mind. Her worship encourages the worst kinds of traits in any mortal creature, her and her devilish lover Emroy that is. But trust me when I tell you that all of their actions can be traced back to the evil that resides within them."

"That's a strong claim," Kurmann said.

"It is the right one."

"Maybe, but worship for Emroy has predated the existence of the Empire. When we were merely at the bottom of the food chain among mortals. A slave race to the orcs, rabbit folk, and elves. Yet..." she looked about the fire at all of them.

The priest looked surprised, "Studied up I see."

"I earned my education."

"What were you gonna say?" Hector asked next to her.

"Hm?"

"You said, "yet," before stopping."

"Oh, well...it was just ancient history. The first Emperor? I'm sure you've heard the stories."

He shrugged, "I heard he shot lightning out of his fingers."

Lelei looked around once more, and when she all saw them looking expectantly, she sighed and began to speak.

"Over six-hundred years ago, man fought for his existence as a species. Originally man ventured through the Gate for an Empire older than time. What they encountered, however, were beings that had advantages in physical and magical capabilities."

Lelei rubbed her thin face and continued, "They were not so welcoming. Man was taken by these races of different mortals and made into slaves, treated as livestock. This was until..." she stopped for a moment and thought, "there are several versions as to what happened, I shall give you the one I believe is most true."

They watched her, Lelei continued, "In the first era, however, an age of magic and creatures now believed legend. One of these humans raised above all things and led his tribe to victory over their slavers, but it did not stop there. The army of slaves drove the orcs that had oppressed them for so long away. From that place, the foundations of a kingdom that would soon become an Empire were forged."

She stared into the fire as she spoke on, "The man who'd led this uprising...his true name was lost to time because he took another. Remembering his forefathers that once came through the GATE, he took the name of Caesar. With this new name he led his armies, freeing human slaves and brutalizing the tribes and kingdoms which made them so. Orcs, goblins, elves, it did not matter. This vengeance would span the whole continent for almost a decade, but as soon as he'd risen, the first Emperor died. He lays in the palace of the Emperors to this day."

Lelei then took a breath and looked at all of them. They had listened with interest. The priest was pouring the now melted snow into their water skins. All of them took the things and drank when it cooled.

"Some scholars theorize he was the first apostle," Lelei added, "that Emroy blessed him with the power of a demi-god to lead us from our state as slaves. It is the...most popular account."

"I heard that part," Kurmann said, "but it is at the end of the day mere speculation."

"Given it is untrue," Zega said.

They all looked at him, Kurmann with a narrow on his brow, "I assume it was Wareharun instead?" he said it almost with a mocking tone. Hector glared at him.

The priest held a finger to the air, "No. You see it was not the result of any god that man led himself from the life of slave. Rather, it is simple. We used our own strength, our ingenuity, our spirit. Our spirit is the truest, for it was the proverbial fuel that led to the Empire's construction. For better or for worse."

"You a supremist?" Kurmann asked.

"No, everything I have stated is fact. I have little love for the Empire these days, but their accomplishments speak for themselves."

"You seem real excited to talk about them. Isn't your god supposed to be about kindness or something?"

"Indeed."

"What's your god's explanation for all this then?"

The priest looked at him, then to the fire. He took a sip of the warmed water then looked at the Decanus, "For our lack of food? or the tragedies we've found ourselves in?"

Kurmann nodded, "How about everything?"

"The first I would say is due to the lack of animals in the area, the second was a matter of decisions that led to our predicament."

"And unlike your god, Hardy and Emroy provide recompense when these situations face the Empire. Have they not?"

"Blessings to win battles among other things yes."

"You wanna explain?"

"Hunger has made you a combative my child, but you are correct. These two and other gods have provided blessings in the past, but have they not provided negatives? their limitations set on the advancement of our society: both technological, magical, and cultural. We make offerings to Emroy with our wars and to Hardy with the death it brings. That apparently must be the way things must always and will be."

"Perhaps...the gods are fickle creatures on occasion, but..."

"The act of the GATE opening was a clear sign of Hardy, however, it was simply and plainly a trap for the wealth hungry senate and Emperor. We suffered the results. All the dead, all the misery, but...I shall admit the fault is not just with Hardy."

Kurmann gave him a questioning gaze, "Then who?"

"Man is truly at fault. A series of awful decisions led to the blooming results we've seen. From Hardy and her reprehensible lover opening a GATE for their clear amusement as if some planters of a garden to the budding Emperor and Senate all deciding upon an invasion force being sent through.

Zega made a downward motion, "Then, the petals wilting, as the soldiers sent in came back dead, injured, or missing. Man decided the choice to not try a peaceable encounter, and now we are paying the price for what the free will gifted upon us has wrought."

"Therefore, your god like all others shall not interfere? merely observe?"

"Not exactly, I know he shall guide us on this journey as long as we stay true to ourselves."

Kurmann shook his head as he stared at him, "If you say so. Anyways, what does our wizard think?"

Lelei took a moment before giving an answer, "I suppose I have none."

"Ah," Zega said, "but you have spoken. Through all of our actions, good or bad, we have come here of our own will. That is what Wareharun gives. The choice to be good and the choice to be evil, this is free will. He gave the fire of will and spirit to all mortals within the world. Why do you think the others try and limit this?"

"And the other gods do not allow this? even the goddess of knowledge?"

Zega nodded, "None aside Him give this gift of choice, for your goddess requires you to follow the limiting tenants of magic and science. Emroy requires one to become a warrior, and Hardy requires one's soul to be bound to her domain."

They watched him, Lelei shaking her head, "I believe I shall retire from this conversation. Good night to you all."

"A right idea," Kurmann said, "the road to Italica is long."

In the morning they were out of the Montane and back in the forest, the cold remaining, however. The mountains were behind them in a dark blue hue and the forest before them was gray with the mist and sky playing a beneficiary role toward's the look. The ground was dead leaves and bushes and trees, bark stripped off the latter by the deer.

Per usual, Lelei and Hector rode at the rear on their pony. He sat guiding the thing with his right hand, his face thinned and his belt loose from malnutrition. The two were taking turns for this endeavor throughout the day so that the other had the benefit to rest for a moment.

As they rode on he felt her eyes on him, but he didn't say anything for a few moments. He allowed the others to go ahead just out of earshot before saying, "Something on your mind?"

Her small voice came from behind, "Yes."

"Like what?"

She was silent for a while, so long that he was actually about to speak again with his voice raised before Lelei said, "Italica."

Hector glanced back at her hunched head, she looked hungry. "How so?"

"It is like Mister Rickett said a few nights ago, what happens when we are there?"

"We get something to eat and we join up-"

"What happens when the men in green come?" It was a question that'd remained unanswered for the past few days, even its original asker had ceased on discussion about it.

"I..." he paused, thinking for a while, "We'll be okay, Kurmann will see us through."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Are you okay?"

"Huh?"

"Are you-"

"I heard you, I just wanna know why you're asking."

Lelei looked at him funny. He continued, "It's just...why're you helping me the way you have? not even the priest assists me the way you do."

She was silent again, and he was beginning to get annoyed. Hector just sighed as Lelei took nearly a minute to respond, "I am unsure if the answer will-"

"Lady, just tell me already."

"It's..."

"What?"

"I wanted to help."

"Don't give me that crap."

"I...have a sister, and...you had a brother so I...I...wanted to help."

The air blew her hair off her shoulders as she said it. Both went silent, her waiting for him to give a reply filled with all his hate. But he didn't say anything.

When they made camp that late afternoon, he stood beside her as she kneeled down and touched the wood of the cleared fireplace. "Agni..." she whispered and flames shot up and took to the wood hungrily.

They ate at the gathered nuts and roots scrounged up over the trip that day. Kurmann rationed them equally among them all, his face thinned with hunger and eyes showing resolve.

"How'd you do that?" Hector said to Lelei suddenly. The two had seated upon a fallen dead tree near the fire.

She looked up at him, her face half-darkened from being opposite the fire and setting sun. "Magic?" she said. He nodded. Lelei thought for a moment, "It's a simple spell, more of a...utility."

"I mean..." he huffed, "how, did you do it?"

"Oh," she rubbed her arm as she realized, "well, magic is a rather complicated matter. But, if you insist I explain."

"I didn't-"

"There are many differing schools of magic. Evocation, illusion, transmutation just to name a few. The spell I've just used is from the one known as conjuration. Do you follow?"

Hector nodded, "Yeah, so are the spells all different in each?"

"Yes actually, but as to how magic is casted; it requires many years of study and practice with the body and mind before a wizard can even hope to bend the weave to themselves "

"How long you been doing it?"

She seemed a bit surprised by his question, "About three years, I was still learning from..." she stopped.

"Your master?"

"Y-Yes."

Hector had gotten used to the usual silence from her at this point, but this time it felt different. Maybe it was the hunger or the tense mood he wasn't sure, maybe both, who knew?

"Sorry..." he used his good hand to scratch his head, she looked up at him curiously, "Y'know, I'm surprised you've been learning it for so long. Aren't you twelve?"

"I'm sixteen..." she smacked him on the shoulder, and for what'd felt like such a long time, they laughed.

Notes: This was admittedly really tricky to write. I know I'm pretty minimalist when it comes to explaining the lore that I've thought up for Falmart and that's because I kinda wanted to leave it up to interpretation because that's how history is in real life, also doing the elves like this was honestly kind of sad but they and Tuka provided nothing of substance to the story even in canon. Lelei is kind of a different story because she exists to explain and show the magic side of the world. Anyways, enough yapping. If y'all got questions feel free to dm me or put them in reviews since I can't really think up anything else rn.

Replies to Reviews about chapter 11: (May as well start doing this since most latin words I use now are translated in previous chapters)

yeahboi 84: Genuinely thank you for sticking with me for a year now, especially with how horrible the original first few chapters were, as for the subplot you'll have to wait and see my friend.

Crescentation: I'm gonna say it rn, I hate canon Zorzal with a passion, not just because of his stupid actions or what he did to Tyuule (it's a part of it) but because of how bad of an antagonist he is. That's probably why he's the most changed character, not saying he's a good guy or anything though as I very much do prefer morally grey characters. To the rest of what you said though, this fic was made to give the Saderans besides the waifu's actual pov's and character outside of random grunts seeing boom booms fall on them or royalty and senators shaking their fists at the invading nation. Thanks for the long review btw, I appreciate it.