The White Darkness

By Helbaworshipper

The Roland Kingdom Arc: The Ruins Of Peace

The camp had been fully packed up by the morning. Chris could feel the tension from some of Lotis masters. However, none was coming from Mayura Seno. She had seen her mother to a protected carriage that would take her to the Weilhausen Kingdom. Anyone who could not defend themselves was being sent there.

"Will you have enough to protect the command point?" He approached carefully, his voice as calm as he could make it. Nothing about this upcoming conflict was going to be easy. Her eyes turned towards his location with perhaps the most realistically optimistic gaze one could give. She had a lot of battle experience after all.

"There should be." She commented softly as she looked over Chris' body. "I can't imagine it'll be easier for anyone else. Is Mei Lin alright?"

"She's insisting on following me on the fight against Samuel."

"As I'd expect. Billy is following Kyo, right?"

"He was going to follow me but I insisted he keep a watch on Kyo's back."

"He can't enter the Kingdom until the fog is gone, right?" She seemed in thought for a moment. "If I hadn't been as I was… perhaps I would have been able to go and help her." He thought of how he had been as the kingdom crumbled. It was not a good time. He could remember how chaotic it was and it make him shudder.

The Roland Kingdom's castle was the first to see the mess of darkness going around. He remembered it was a simple banquet. Nothing particularly as a celebration that he could remember when the first messenger screamed for the King's attention. He had been sitting near his mother when it had started.

"I'll see him privately." He turned towards his mother. Her features were burned into his mind, but so much had happened he couldn't remember if her hands shook. If only they had truly been in panic enough to understand. If only…

It had only taken an hour for the forces to be taken on their strongest point. He could remember being shuffled around and kept with the strongest guards and Lotis masters that could be spared. He remembered just going farther and farther away from the castle. Eventually they were simply in an Inn that was for the lowest of nobles. It was a few miles away from Roland Kingdom and was sort of under the Weilhausen protection.

The last Lotis Master that was with him sat, exhausted, but not wanting to sleep in case of an attack. He himself was already weakened by the massive amount of maram that had struck at him through the barriers that had been made. He could barely sleep without nightmares himself. The other soldiers were simply doing the best they could.

It had taken another few days to figure out the mess and the toll. He sat on probably the most 'regal' item in the Inn as one of his father's few soldier's reported.

"Your highness… I regret to inform you that-"

"They're both dead… aren't they?" His voice was almost hollow, trying to keep some sort of composure.

"Yes," the man seemed only slightly relieved. "They maintained a stronghold but… your tutor..." He felt the thud as the man tried to word, but from what he could tell… It was a fight against his desire to say it and the fight against reliving it.

The forces moving were like streams of colors. Each time a force moved, it was as if a stream of cloaks formed a stripe of a color. Chris moved towards the east side of the Roland Kingdom in careful movements. His own forces were most of the thieves and a few of King Weilhausen's soldiers. The area around had certainly been taken back over by nature, but the town where he had hidden was long deserted.

They were going to use it as a command base for their own attack. He could see the remaining, mostly intact structural pieces. The Inn was half destroyed on one end, but mostly would work if needed for something. It was strange to be in such a place, yet unable to truly mourn it. He had only really been here for minor occasions and the rather destructive event so long ago.

None of the people who left with him were around. He took a step into the bakery they were going to use for their main hub. It had long lost any true power to light things, but that would be easily remedied.

"Mei Lin," the woman looked at him for a moment. "You don't need to be so careful around me. I'm fully aware this is hard on you too."

"You're taking a huge risk doing this."

"There's no other option. If I were to remain back and hope that the battle would be won without my intervention.." His gaze was almost trying to figure out what to look like. He felt mentally drawn into a mess of emotions. He'd had years to decide how he wanted to deal with the death of Lotsuan's channeler. If it were so simple to deny his involvement, he should have been able to long ago. "I have to reach some closure in all this. There's a lot our kingdom could have done to stop your kingdom from falling."

"Darva is an inevitable force." She stated calmly, but he could see some of her thoughts. It wasn't simple to throw away a royal position. He couldn't imagine how much she had left to deal with during her time. She simply approached him, her hand on his shoulder. "You're our leader. So don't just take it all alone."

He remembered for a moment how the last knight he had managed to escape with looked. A part of him truly had wanted that knight to live. If only he had met Alice Seno earlier. If only he could have tried to turn the situation around to his advantage! Still, these what ifs could do nothing but remind him that they no longer existed. He took a deep breath and spoke quite calm despite what he was about to say.

"It looks like our first visitor will be coming." The dark, oppressive force felt almost immediate as he could feel the Daara's first strikes a few miles away. "We have to keep them from getting to Mayura Seno."