Russell spent most of his living under one motto – most of his problems could be solved by showing people who was the strongest. Actually, it hadn't failed him yet. Violence and being strong was what got him out of Fraedia and to a country like Zahan that was actually willing to use their strength to get what they wanted. He didn't know why that seemed to be such a rare thing nowadays, but he supposed that while nobles could be cruel, they solved all of their problems by throwing their rank around. Somehow, they managed to be threatening with just their words and quite frankly, that was bullshit. People have tried to tell him that there were other ways to solve his problems than through strength and violence, but it as it happened, most of those people weren't alive anymore. He shrugged it off.
The palace was the centre of Valburn, the biggest city in Fraedia, but it wasn't much of a concern to Russell. All of his troops looked like bandits anyway and that wasn't out of the norm in Fraedia– he didn't wear a shred of Zahan's colours and his troops were all the 'uncontrollable' misfits anyway, the ones who didn't care about a uniform and didn't care for authority. The only person they would listen to was Russell, and only because he beat them into submission and being the only one who could beat them, he quickly became a general at twenty-two. In fact, he beat some of them so badly that they decided to go back to the main army and begin to listen to others, just to stay far away from him. The rest were only willing to listen to somebody who was stronger.
It wasn't hard to get the castle gates. He saw the faces of what looked to be mercenaries, but they didn't look interested in them when it became obvious that they weren't going to be hired and didn't interfere. The guards at the gate made to stop them but the first guard didn't even get a word in before Russell grabbed the guard's throat and slammed him into the nearest wall, crushing the man's windpipe as he did so. The other guard dove for his left, into Russell's blind spot, but it wasn't like Russell wasn't prepared for it. He was used to people going for his obvious blind spot but apparently, he didn't have to worry. He heard a scream and the sound of something dripping. Somebody else had him.
However, the gate was still closed and more guards were probably on the way, not as though that was much of worry. The main gate was a collection of bars organized into two doors, with a large chain and a padlock keeping the two doors together. He figured that one of the guards must have a key, but where was the fun in that? He took a moment and turned around, remembering something that Asteria told him before he left.
"I have to remind you all that civilians are off limits. If any of you kill or maim a slave, you're cleaning the whole damn palace on your own and I'll cave your head in myself when you're done. The royal family is mine and if you take my kills away, you'll regret it. Other than that, do as you please. Kill anybody who has the bright idea to fight back. It's been a while since we've had some fun," Russell said with a wide smirk. He cracked his knuckles and removed the axe that he carried on his back. He took a step back and struck his axe downwards, cutting through the chain and throwing the door open.
It was then that they were joined by more guards. His troops cut through them with ease so he led the charge into the castle, cutting through both of the guards at the entrance with a single, wide swing. Laughter escaped his lips as the blood splattered onto his arms. One of his men was the first to break through the doors, slamming his body through the doors which caved under the weight he threw at it. Russell followed him.
Luckily, the slaves all wore the same uniform, some plain white clothing, so it was easy enough to pick them out from the royals they served and the guards who protected them. He watched them all scatter. The beast inside Russell wanted to go after them, he was thrilled by chases, but Asteria was clear in her orders. She wanted casualties to be limited to the royal family, their guards, and anybody who wanted to stop them or take the king's place. Slaves weren't on the list.
Well, she didn't say they had to treat the slaves well. Maybe he would find one to his liking later, he mused as another guard fell dead at his feet. He merely stepped over the body, throwing his axe into the body of a guard that he saw just coming from his left, thanks to the peripheral vision he still had in his right. He laughed again as he retrieved his axe. He thought it was great when they tried to attack from his weak side, mostly because it was fun watching them be surprised that they suddenly had a axe in their gut.
Russell made his way up a small flight of stairs that seemed to lead to the throne room. He was met with more guards, so he figured he must have been going in the right direction. He went for the neck of the first guard who charged him, growing even more excited at the blood that sprayed out. He tore the lance out the guard's hand, and threw it at another guard like a javelin, although it was a steel lance and it wasn't made for throwing. However, the lance found its target and that guard collapsed. Russell had no time to enjoy that kill, as his somebody had gotten behind him and to his surprise, actually managed to hit him. The pain flew up his spine.
He laughed again as he turned on his heels, sending the flat side of his axe into the women's head. She staggered and got up again, swiping her lance at him. He didn't even bother to dodge – blood was blood, even if it was his own. While she was close, he kicked her down and stomped on her stomach repeatedly until the struggle stopped. The other guards ran to him, but the man from earlier who broke the door down intervened.
"Does this count as stealing your kills?" he asked. Russell did not try too hard to commit names to memory, but if he remembered correctly, this man was named Reger. He had that guy! He growled but he would punish Reger later. He shoved him aside and ran to the throne room, kicking the door down as he did so.
The throne room was fancy, he noted. There was a purple dragon mosaic on the floor and Russell wondered if an actual paid artist did it or if it was the work of some slave. The dragon was long, with large claws and an arching back, but no wings, he noted. He vaguely remembered that noble were nice four times a year, once a season when they all got together for a week long feast that celebrated said dragon. Even slaves got time day off, although Russell was 'too dangerous' for anybody to actually let him out. However, even he was still given bigger and better meals than he had on most days. They weren't wrong but still.
There were two thrones, a purple and gold one for King Eradus and a fancy purple seat for his queen, though it lack the gold and it was smaller. Eradus was surprisingly tall and thin for a noble. Russell thought he would be some fat man but when he looked beside the king, he found a fat noble after all. He was surprised somebody could squeeze her into that dress and she clearly saw better days. His axe hand twitched.
"Who goes there?" King Eradus shouted. He tried to be intimidating but he was too thin and sickly looking for him to be frightening on any level. "Attack him!" he called to all of the guards in the room. They ran at him with their lances drawn, so Russell charged too, striking the first guard with a vertical slash, his axe going through their helmet. The soldier collapsed, their head split open, but the helmet was still stuck at the end of the axe. He frowned.
Russell dodged the incoming attacks and took a moment to dislodge the helmet from his axe. He let a lance graze his arm, the one attack that was outside of his right eye's peripheral but regardless, he took the helmet and hurled it. It hit the Queen's head, eliciting a scream that sent pleasure running through Russell's spine. He shoved the soldiers out of the way by slicing into their sides before breaking into a mad sprint. He reached the Queen before anybody could stop him, holding his axe above his head before bringing it down on the fat Queen. Killing her husband was easy enough, considering he was within reach of his axe when he reached to stop him. Russell had no idea what the king was truly to accomplish, going anywhere close to him unarmed but he was dead, so it didn't matter.
The guards stopped when they saw what had happened but by the time they recollected themselves, Russell and Reger were on them, taking advantage of their moment of surprise. They fell quickly, almost boring in how they barely held up a fight afterwards. Russell was excited before but he was already beginning to calm down. The bloodlust was already dying and it ultimately didn't last long. The battle just wasn't that long and the guards are not talented enough to entertain him for long. He was disappointed. He needed a real army to plow through, not just some guards. Where the fuck were they all anyway? He expected much more than they found.
A new figure came into the room, brandishing a thin but sharp sword. It was a young man, probably around the age of eighteen if Russell had to guess, but estimating ages was not his strong suit nor was it important. He had an effeminate frame, curly blonde hair that went just below his shoulders, and pretty brown eyes. He looked like a skinny, prettier version of the fat queen. Most of all, he had a circlet around his head and an expensive-looking purple tunic with silky black pants. A prince then. His face twisted into anger.
"How... how dare you!" he screamed, lunging his sword. Reger blocked with his weapon, then grabbed the prince's collar and threw him towards Russell. The kid surprisingly went from tripping to swinging, using the power behind Reger's throw to attack Russell. Russell blocked the attack and unlike most people in the castle, the prince swiftly dodged his next attack and cut Russell's leg with the sword. He wasn't bad at fighting, Russell noted when he dodged yet another attack. He was quick and perceptive, though he wasn't all that strong so the cuts weren't deep, but he was still hard to hit.
"Go make sure this brat doesn't have any siblings!" Russell commanded. Reger gleaned and ran out of the room. The prince's eyes went wide.
"I don't get it! What are you doing? WHY DID MY PARENTS HAVE TO DIE?" he shouted, going for a more critical area. Russell threw his arm in front of his stomach, preventing his sword from piercing his stomach by making it go through his arm instead and moving his arm away from himself. The prince gasped as Russell kicked him back, forcing his hands off of the sword. Russell pulled it out of his arm, then snapped the sword in half, resulting in minor cuts across his palms. He let the pieces fall to his feet.
"You put up a better fighter than anybody I faced here so far. Heh... just when I thought it was getting boring," Russell said with a smirk as he stepped over to the prince, then squatted down beside him, lifting his head up by pulling on his hair and covering it with his blood. He was too interested in the prince so he ignored his injuries for the time being. "I might keep you for a bit but I've never managed to control myself long enough to keep a pet before. I play too rough."
"I still don't understand..." he gasped. He had a defiant look to him, one that Russell rather liked. He couldn't resist sinking his teeth into the kid's shoulder, making him thrash in an effort to get out of his grip. The prince managed to grab something from the floor, and forced it into Russell's cheek – a shard from his broken sword, Russell realized. Russell laughed, grabbing both of his pet's wrists and forcing him onto his stomach. He held him with a knee to his back, one hand on his head, shoving his face into the floor, and one hand keeping his wrists bound.
"You don't have to. Everybody but the slaves are going to die, assuming they're not all dead already. My troops are just as crazy as I am, just not as strong. Say, what is your name? Or should I give you one?" he asked with a smirk.
He turned his head, so that he was resting his face on his cheek. "Calum."
"I'm not sure I like that name."
Reger came back, holding the body of a blonde girl by the arm. She certainly looked like his pet but he wasn't sure how many people were in the royal family.
"I should have asked somebody how many people were in the royal family," Russell mumbled.
Somebody else stepped into the room. He was wearing Zahan's colours in the form of long, flowing robes with a hood that looked, overall, complicated and fancy. Russell frowned – he wasn't super fond of mages, especially this one because he wore a silver mask. He didn't see the point to the mask and he certainly didn't trust anybody who hid behind a damn mask. He also held an engraved staff with a purple jewel at the top. The mask covered his entire face, save for his eyes, so Russell had nothing to really gauge from him and that only angered him more. He carefully stepped over the bodies, almost like he didn't want his stupid robes to be stained with the blood.
"My name is Veiser and I'm here to assure that you and your men have performed as expected. It looks your troops were thorough... are you going kill that one? He should be the last one in the royal family." His voice was muffled by the mask but he was still clear.
"Who sent you? Weinstrad?"
"Weinstrad, indeed. The prince?" he asked, gesturing towards the kid with his staff.
"He's my pet. I thought I would try to keep one for a while," Russell said proudly with a smirk. He didn't imagine Calum lasting too long as he had a bad habit of breaking his toys but Calum seemed stronger and more talented than the others who he considered 'toys', so hopefully he lasted longer. "He won't escape. I'll take care of that." He might have to break both of his legs to do it but that wasn't a big deal to him.
"I hope he keeps you entertained then," Veiser said with a nod. "It wouldn't do for you or your troops to get bored. More people would get hurt, no?" There was something about the way he spoke and moved that made Russell want to slug him. He was probably smiling if he had to guess and Russell had no idea why the mage would be pleased with the mess they made unless he was just as deprived as they were, but that didn't make sense to him either. Veiser seemed all high and mighty and for what? Because he could use magic? Magic for was the weak, or people who weren't strong enough to lift a real weapon.
"Pfft, like you need to worry about that. We killed everybody we needed to, unless more idiots decide to show up so you can just go fuck off now," he said with a growl.
"Oh, you don't like me?" Veiser asked. "It's the mask, isn't it? You see, I just feel safer with it on. I can show you my face if that makes you feel better around me though."
"The masks just makes you a coward," Russell growled. "And so does your stupid magic."
Veiser jerked his head to his side, his grip on his staff loosening. "I see. I know I'm the odd one out here but unfortunately for you, I'm required to stay here and make sure that these servants, or slaves as it would be in Fraedia, aren't killed or seriously maimed. After all, our Queen wants casualties of innocents to stay at a minimum. Beyond that, I don't care what you or your men need to do to entertain yourselves. I couldn't care less so long as they don't lose a limb or die. I'm going to find a room to sleep in for the evening, and I suggest you do the same when your get your wounds looked at. Those wounds would knock anybody else out."
With that, Veiser left, stepping over the bodies carefully.
"What are you going to do with me?" Calum asked, his voice still defiant.
"That depends. Are you going to be a good dog or a bad dog?"
However, Russell was left wondering about that mage. He didn't like him yet... he was curious. He brought himself to his feet and forced Calum to his feet.
"All of this death but no fun. It was a total buzzkill..." he said with a sigh, but a smirk crept across his face. "But there's another way I can have fun. Come along."
He made Calum lead him to Calum's bedroom and made a slave who hid there to fetch a basin of water, a cloth, and some bandages after assuring that no, she wasn't going to die if she left the room. He wanted fun but Veiser at least had a point when he said that his wounds had to be looked at and attended to, as he most of them worse of the course of the battle. He was never comfortable with magic, so he would rather have his wounds heal on their own and with stitches if necessary. He wasn't sure if he would rather have a staff or be bedridden for a while, but he would rather not think about it all.
When the slave came back, he dismissed him. "Calum, my wounds."
"I'm not going to treat your wounds-" Russell darted out of bed and put his hand around Calum's throat.
"Weak people always act like they're morally superior and self-sacrificing," he said with a grin, squeezing his throat tighter. "But I know that deep down, you want to live because we're selfish. You're going to be my bitch, got it?" For once, Calum looked looked scared but he still tried to hide it behind the ever present defiant look. Russell let go and sat down on the bed. He was surprised by its quality but he didn't say or show anything to betray it. Calum washed the wounds harshly and Russell was sure he made the wounds worse, at least they hurt a hell of a lot more, before he bandaged it all. Russell pulled the shard out of his cheek and made Calum washed that too, only it was never covered.
Russell locked the door and lounged on the bed, inviting Calum to come join him with a wild smirk on his face.
Asteria's presence in Adoss was long overdue. Even when most of her army was in motion, under the orders of her most of her generals, she ended up taking some troops back with her to Zahan for a short time since she needed to updated her council on the current plans and make sure that leaving her young brother and maternal uncle in charge of everything ultimately didn't hurt her and her reign. She trusted her uncle, as their opinions often aligned, but she wasn't so sure of her younger brother. In theory, he was smart and he too believed that The Barren was something to be used and not feared, but the biggest problem was his age. He may been too sensitive and may be easily pushed around by the other nobles because they knew how to get under people's skin. Nobles were a different battlefield. Ideally, he could be left alone but she ended up putting him in the care of her maternal uncle, setting them up to be co-rulers.
Erin was the only general truly with her but it was odd to call her a general, as she did not have any troops under her. No, she more or less gained the title due to her passion and insight around The Barren and the fact that Asteria couldn't come up with another suitable tile. Erin was also beginning to become somebody that Asteria admired as a friend, so she was glad that Erin was with her.
"There is one thing I don't quite understand, Milady," Erin said suddenly. Asteria had just arrived in the palace and went straight to her own quarters since it was late into the evening. Erin trailed behind her. She was fine with that, as her personal quarters were rather plain and she didn't have anything to hide anyway. Aside from the spaciousness and the quality of the materials in her bedroom, it did not really look like royalty resided there. Asteria made a beeline to her bed and began stripping the armour off for the night. Erin shut the door behind her and leaned against it. "I think you understand more about The Barren than I currently do... yet you ask me to study it anyway."
So she noticed after all. No, Erin's job was still important because she didn't want to get into more trouble than she could deal with and Erin was her fail-safe.
"There appears to be what ancient mages refer to as a 'great evil'. All of the rocks have been enchanted to form a seal, one which may fail at any moment and release whatever is sealed away. If there is some destructive force, then the reason for the toxicity observed for so long would make sense. I believe you already know this though, considering your sudden change in plans," Erin pointed out with a simple shrug. "Has the supposed-evil contact you?"
"You truly are smart," Asteria answered. "It hasn't told me all of its plans yet, but it said if we had headway on its plans and continue to help it, then I could redefine the boundaries of a New Zahan. I could take some of the fertile land that Adoss doesn't appreciate."
"Its plans call for the death of the other rulers and the capture of the oracle?" Erin asked, raising any eyebrow. Asteria was finally out of her armour, revealing simple yet elegant clothing underneath it all. She was never so dressed down in front of somebody from her army. She reached into her closet and pulled out a simple nightgown and began to change into it, even with Erin in the room. For some reason, she didn't mind if Erin saw her in her underclothing – she didn't have anything Erin never saw before. "What stops it from turning on you?"
"I thought about that actually... that's why I want you to research The Barren. I want you to find a weakness. I don't think it can talk to me or see my thoughts when I'm so far away from it. It can't act outside of the territory to which its is bound to, so we have time to discover something that will keep me safe. I trust you to be able to find this."
Erin huffed but a smirk spread a cross her face nonetheless. She didn't look she like appreciated the sudden challenge but nonetheless, it was a challenge and a challenge on her favourite subject nonetheless. "You are asking for a lot, Milady, considering you know only the basics of its plans."
"What does it sound like to you? What do you think its end goal is with what you know?" Asteria asked.
"It sounds like its trying to turn Haelin into a clean slate if all of the rulers have to be dead and boundaries can be redefined but I can't fathom why a clean slate is necessary. There's disparity, sure, but I hardly think that's preventable. What else do I know...?" she asked herself, hand on her chin. "If it was a 'great evil' and it caused all the toxic effects we saw earlier, then I doubt that mages alone would be able to take care of it. Maybe a group of ursurines were working with them, or perhaps even manaketes. Maybe whatever is sealed is a manakete and was taken down by other manaketes because I doubt anything else would be so troubling... but even then, not even manaketes are immortal. The best answer would be to kill it, not seal it away."
Erin seemed to be going off topic but Asteria was content in letting her puzzle it out, even if she had to do it out loud and Asteria couldn't understand where her train of thought was going. She didn't even bother to question what 'it' was and that was a big mistake on her part. She realized that she herself was in danger by agreeing with it but the biggest mistake was failing to try to find out more about it. If they knew what it was, then they could possibly figure out a motivation for a clean slate and then she could figure out how to protect itself.
"So it's either immortal or powerful enough to be immortal but not actually immortal?" Asteria asked.
"I mean, manaketes can be pretty strong but they're certainly not immortal, especially if you believe the rumours are Weinstrad. Apparently, he's quite the avid manakete hunter and some say he even bathes in their blood to try to reach immortal himself. If anybody knows about the mortality of manaketes, it would be him... that's why, unless it was super powerful, it doesn't make sense to seal it away. If we assume it's immortal, then we have no choice but to work with it anyway. If it's immortal, then it could be anything. I wonder if that's possible."
"Except we have nothing. If there is a great power, we don't know anything about it."
Erin looked pensive for a moment, but then it suddenly looked as though inspiration struck her. "Maybe we've been approaching history the wrong way."
Asteria blinked. While that seemed obvious, the fact that they had very little to go off of was a clear indicator of that, what choice did they have? It wasn't like they could go back in time and see what happened, or make those people write down they knew. By the time anybody began to care about written history, it was already too late. She didn't say anything though and merely waved at her to continue.
"Written history is useless to us... but perhaps not oral history. Whatever we may think is just be a fable may actually have some sort of relevant fact that we're missing. Fables usually have some origin based in truth or made to try and understand something, right?"
"Like how the Fraedians believe that a dragon saved their country?" Asteria asked, mostly to herself. She never thought of that way – she figured it was just some dumb reason to throw a party so that the general population would forget that they hated the nobility for a while. Aside from the supposed serpent that guarded Queen Raila, nothing strange ever seemed to come up. Asteria didn't read children's stories as a child so anything else was beyond her.
"Yes! Stuff like that!" she said with a grin. "Except that my parents thought that stories like that were a waste of time and energy. It was too bad, really!"
"I don't see why we wouldn't have tomes like that in our royal library," Asteria mumbled after some thought. She never read them, she was spending too much trying not be a child as a child, but she was sure her more-laid back brother liked to read them. She didn't use them but they must have existed in the castle somewhere. "Follow me, I'll let you in."
The royal library was, for the most part, locked up and only members of the royal family had the keys. There wasn't a lot of written history until relatively recently in history, but they still had valuable, one of a kind tomes, some that focused on the study of dark magic, anatomical studies, and the likes. It also had archives, yet those required another key, which only Asteria had. Her uncle and brother had a copy of the key that unlocked the royal library and Asteria had hers handy in one of her drawers in her desk. She pulled it out quickly, and even though she was only wearing what essentially amounted to a short nightgown, which just went above her knees and barely had any sleeves, she was out in the hallways with Erin following behind her.
Erin squealed when she saw the inside of the library. Apparently, she was not hard to please. The library had six, long shelves full of books on each side. There were two tables, three giant, yet comfortable chairs that sat in front of a fireplace that needed tending. While Erin ran into the aisles, Asteria approached the fireplace, which was faraway from the shelves, to go throw in some more wood and poke the embers. The fireplace didn't get tended to a lot, thanks to the fact that the room was usually locked, but somebody was in here previously so it didn't take much for the fire to begin roaring again. She wanted Erin to be comfortable.
"Erin, when you're done in here, let me know, even if you have to wake me up," Asteria shouted. She heard Erin shout back, so she left her in the room on her own.
I think this chapter MIGHT blur the lines between the T and M ratings but nothing is super explicit, so I think it's vague enough.
Anyway, I'm uploading this at 5:40am and with a headache. I caught a lot of things but I don't think I've ever uploaded an error-free chapter. It's just me after all. I'm also sorry to say that I have no progress with supports. I just wasn't feeling them at the moment.