User:Some Color Mage/Rebuild of Echoes of Strife/Chapter 1

Darren awoke to the sound of a messenger knocking on his door. "Wake up, Coul, it may be your first day here, but it doesn't allow you to sleep in."

"Eh? What..." Darren was dazed. He'd stayed up well past the middle of the night reflecting on his situation, and a few hours of sleep had done nothing to stop his thoughts. ''Did I really go and join the Twilight Order? Is this the right thing? Maybe I should have just stayed in Vellaten and helped my people directly... Not much point second guessing myself now I suppose.''

"Yes, of course. My apologies."

"Well don't let it happen again. Commander Hexed is waiting for you. Time for your first mission."

Darren immediately leapt out of bed, prepared as quickly as he could and rushed to Magnus' office.

"You're late." Magnus was standing in the middle of the room, arms folded, with an expression that Darren could only describe as the grumpiest thing he'd ever seen. Over in one of the corners, Telluri was tapping out an intricate pattern with her feet.

"S-sorry, commander," Darren started to explain, "it's just that-"

"Can it! I don't care about your excuses!" Magnus shot back. "We need to get this briefing over quickly so you two can get started. Has Telluri already told you the particulars?"

Darren was confused. "N-no, sir, but last night I overheard you and Telluri mention something about white mages and, um... I've got nothing."

Magnus' face somehow became grumpier, as he shot a look at Telluri. All Telluri had to respond with was a shrug and an innocent smile.

Magnus sighed. "Less than 24 hours since Drazure gave command over to me and this is already going to hell," he muttered.

Retaining his composure, Magnus began the briefing. "Yesterday we had two agents capable of white magic arrested and sent to Tesendarian prisons. One of them's been able to hide his ability from them for about 8 months now, so he can stay safe for a while, but the other is a known white mage, and an extremely potent one at that, so we need to get her out as a priority, before she's shuffled off to whatever twisted plans the Emperor has for her." He brought out a map and pointed at a small prison fort near the border. "Her name's Yuan. Waist-length black hair, wearing a traditional white mage robe when we last saw her so with the scarcity of her kind around she shouldn't be too hard to spot. Infiltrate the prison and get her out by any means necessary. Telluri will be there to assist-"

Telluri loudly cleared her throat.

"-right, you'll be there to assist Telluri in this mission."

"Wait, w-why am I the one assisting, she's-" Darren started to stammer, but a stern look from Magnus quickly shut him up. "Yes, sir."

"We do also have a backup soldier planned, assuming said backup would ever bother to show up."

"Who -" Darren asked.

Telluri smiled. "You'll know him when you see him."

Magnus nodded. "Okay, off you go." The two nodded back.

After the two left, another man, clad in red, entered and approached Magnus.

"Well hello, Nelo, nice for you to appear via conventional methods. I thought you hated stairs?"

Nelo chuckled. "For a commander, your room is too small. I'd surely burn something if I ignore the stairs. But, if you don't mind..." A small fire started forming in Nelo's right hand.

"Use the stairs, please. Anyway, you're with Coul and Telluri. Follow them and assist."

Nelo didn't reply, but gave a rather deadpan look.

"I'll take that as a yes. Get going." Nelo, still silent, turned around and left. "And I'm warning you, don't incinerate the prison or our allies in the process!" Hexed yelled after him.

As Darren was packing his supplies, a thought popped into his head he couldn't get rid of.

"So, how do we know this prison we're heading to is the right one?" he asked Telluri.

"Well, Yuan was kidnapped from the treaty signing at Vellaten. The place we're heading to is the closest prison from there, and while Tesendar loves to use Teleport to cross the continent in less than a day, it's a lot less powerful if one of the travellers isn't cooperating. So they can't have travelled much farther than that prison in one jump." Telluri paused. "Aren't you a prince? I would have thought you'd know something about how Tesendar operates."

Darren frowned. "Whatever. How long will it take us to get there?"

"About a day and a half on foot, probably three if you keep giving me more questions to answer."

The two finished their packing in silence and started their long trip.

The grand hall of Castle Tesendar was almost always home to at least one general planning their next conquest. Today, there were 3 such men there. Adam and 8, recently returned from their post-treaty duties, paced back and forth endlessly, while Diala sat on his throne, thinking about what he wanted to hear first.

"Adam, how goes our efforts in Kolona?" Diala asked.

Adam nodded. "The Twilight Order refuse to surrender. We have temporarily withdrawn, to give us time to prepare a proper offensive, that will hopefully not raze Kolona to the ground in the process." He clutched his sword, the Ragnarok, harder as he continued. "But, it should not matter. We already have Yuan in our grasp. What they do from now on is irrelevant."

Diala then turned his head to 8. "And we do have her safely within the capitol, correct?"

"My apologies," 8 said, "but even while silenced, she struggled against me every step of the way. I only got as far as the South-West Facility before I decided we had to detain her."

Diala seemed taken aback. The tiniest wisp of darkness could be seen coming from his hand. "What? You are aware that the Order is very close to that prison, yes? Why there of all places?"

"It was a mistake, Your Highness! My magic can only do so much without harming her and I thought-"

More darkness crept out of Diala's fingertips. "SILENCE!" he yelled, the booming voice causing 8 to step back. Diala quickly suppressed the darkness before continuing. "What's done is done, but we cannot afford to lose her. You understand what that means?"

"Y-yes, Your Highness, but do not worry, I have Aeon assigned to guard the facility." As soon as 8 mentioned Aeon, Adam was overcome with a sense of unease. "She will not escape."

"I appreciate the thought, but that is a waste of manpower. Send new orders to Aeon, telling him to bring her to the capital immediately."

8 knew better than to debate this with the Emperor. "Yes, Your Highness, " he nervously muttered as both he and Adam left the room.

That night, Telluri and Darren stopped in a small village near the border. The two used Telluri's supply of potions to pass themselves off as simple merchants, and checked into a small inn. Once inside, Telluri brought out a map of Tesendar.

"We'll be able to cross into Tesendar early tomorrow," she explained, "after which we can quickly make our way to the prison. We need to infiltrate as soon as we can."

"Alright! I've been waiting for a fight." Darren brandished his sword.

"Coul, this isn't a game. This is war. Forget about the fairy tales that say the hero never dies while someone blathers on endlessly about honour. We're infiltrating a prison. If the hounds of Tesendar catch up to you, they. Will. Kill. You."

"Uh, well, you see, I better brush up on my swordsmanship then, a-a little training never hurt anyone, did it?" Darren started to head for the door.

"Actually, what you need is a good night's sleep."

"Bu-but...!"

"Go to bed. If we have a repeat of this morning, we'll lose our chance to save Yuan."

Darren knew he was defeated. "Bah! Knew I shouldn't have argued with a lady," he muttered under his breath as he slunk away to his chamber for the night.

Despite the early night, Darren still found a way to fail to wake up on time. Telluri's foul mood hung over the both of them as they marched to the border.

"Come on, don't be so mad," Darren said in a poor attempt to lighten the air, "it's not even noon, we've still got plenty of time."

This only served to make Telluri angrier. "Don't you get it? The Tesendarians know who Yuan is. She's extremely important to us, and to them. Do you really think they'll waste any time in escorting her to the capitol?" she lectured.

Coul tried to find words to shoot back with, but found himself speechless.

The two shortly reached the border. As soon as they stepped into Tesendar, the atmosphere began to feel hostile. Darren took a quick look back to Labradia, and compared his surroundings. The air felt stagnant, vegetation had decreased, even the colours felt more muted.

"How... fitting for an empire," he observed.

Telluri pinched his elbow. "Quiet, you'll draw attention to us," she whispered.

Darren winced. After a few more hours of walking, they found the South-West Facility, its gates manned by many guards. The two hid behind a nearby wall.

"So... how do we get in? Fastest way would probably be if we charge-" Darren started to suggest before Telluri shoved a vial of pink liquid into his hands.

"Just shut up and drink this."

"Uhh-"

"It's an antidote for the gas bombs I'm going to use. Drink it!"

Darren, now somewhat scared of Telluri, quickly complied. Telluri then searched her bag for a few green vials, and threw them at the feet of the nearby guards. Thick smoke billowed from the smashed vials, sending the guards into a coughing fit.

"Now!" Telluri yelled, as she started to rush the gate. Once the two were inside, Telluri threw more bombs in every direction, searching every cell along the way, until she noticed that Darren wasn't following her any more.

"Take that!" she heard from a short distance, and turned to see Darren running his sword through a dazed guard.

"Mission, Coul!" Telluri said through gritted teeth.

Darren had figured out by this point it was best not to argue with Telluri and joined her search. He muttered something as he did so, but Telluri didn't care to listen.

None of the cells Telluri could access from here contained anyone even resembling Yuan. "We better leave before someone else shows up," she said, turning to the stairs, only to find Hevorhend walking down, drawn to the noise.

"Well, if it isn't the Twilight Order's alchemist," Hevorhend started. Darren cleared his throat. "...and an impudent whelp. New recruit, Miss Duncen? They sure don't make them like they used to did they?" Hevorhend chuckled at his own taunt.

That was enough to provoke Darren "You little...! I'll have you know that I'm the pr-" his exclamation was interrupted by one of Telluri's vials hitting Hevorhend square on the nose. Distracted by the glass and coughing gas, Hevorhend wasn't able to notice Telluri run up to him and kick him in the groin. Hevorhend collapsed.

"You talk too much." Telluri turned around and noticed Darren appeared to be frozen in horror. "If you have time to stare, you have time to help me grab his keys." Darren quickly complied, and after a short struggle with Hevorhend, they wrenched his keys from him.

"Sh-should we kill him?"

"Nah. Would be a waste of time." Telluri had started to sound somewhat sympathetic. Darren started to wonder where this sudden bout of sympathy came from, but decided that the safety of his crotch was worth more to him than trying to figure this out.

The duo climbed upstairs, Telluri continuing to throw the gas bombs at guards while Darren inspected every cell. Eventually, amidst the coughing, they heard a soft voice from one of the cells.

"Who's there? Not another hound of Tesendar, are you?"

"Yuan!" Telluri exclaimed, snatching the keys from Darren and fumbling to find the right combination to unlock her door.

"Telluri!" Yuan replied when the door opened.

"Are you all right, nobody harmed you?"

"Yes, I'm fine. The Emperor has need of me for... something, so the guards weren't allowed to so much as touch me unless they were escorting me to the cell." Yuan turned to address Darren. "And you are?"

"I'm Darren Coul."

"Prince Darren of Labradia?" Yuan asked, as she took a vial of antidote from Telluri.

"The very same." Darren bowed. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Lady Yuan."

"Likewise. And just 'Yuan' will suffice, if you don't mind." Yuan drank the vial.

"I hate to interrupt the introductions," Telluri interjected, "but I can see more soldiers heading here. They must be here to take you to Tesendaria. We must hurry!"

The trio worked their way out. Most of the guards had coughed so much they'd passed out from the lack of air, making the exit easy. Unfortunately, by the time they reached the exit, they were face to face with the new group of soldiers. Desperate, Telluri grabbed a handful of smoke bombs and incendiary devices from her bag and threw them to the ground, creating a thick fog and fire to mask their escape.

As night fell, the three reached the Labradian border. With no soldiers in sight, they stopped to catch their breaths. Only a few minutes passed before a cold laugh could be heard approaching them.

"You thought you could run?" It was Hevorhend, still walking slightly awkwardly from the earlier trauma. He laughed again. "You're nothing but deluded fools!"

"You again?" Darren shot back. "You followed us? Do you really place no value in your family jewels?"

"Silence, whelp, or I'll kill you first. This is a personal issue. For what I've done this day, it is for the sake of being able to spill your blood across the countryside, and satiate the dark deity that I gave my eye to for my powers, Telluri!"

"Um, am I missing something?" Darren asked, as Hevorhend removed his eye patch, revealing the void that had replaced his eye, and started to draw orbs of darkness from it.

"Be devoured by the darkness!" Hevorhend yelled as he threw the orbs at Telluri. Telluri braced for the hit, when a wreath of flame flew out from behind her and collided with the orbs, dispelling them.

Telluri immediately caught on to what happened. "Watch it, Nelo, you're gonna burn my hair!"

Nelo said nothing, as he casually walked out of his hiding spot and placed himself between the other Order members and Hevorhend. Hevorhend let out yet another cold laugh.

"Has Lady Luck finally smiled upon me? Such a lucky day, when I can finally take revenge on both responsible for four years ago!"

Nelo looked bored as he lazily tossed a fireball at Hevorhend. Hevorhend quickly deflected it with his sword.

"You thought I would fall for that? Fight me like a real-" Nelo threw another fireball right at his chest, knocking him down.

"Really, is 'Hit the enemy mid speech' just a normal battle tactic for the Order?" asked Darren. "Seems incredibly rude."

Yuan snickered, while Telluri just shrugged at Darren and said "Well, it works."

Nelo turned around and signalled to the other Order members to flee. A wave of darkness hit him square in the back, and, after picking himself back up, he turned back around to see Hevorhend back on his feet.

"Mere pain will not stop my grudge of four years! NELO! FACE ME LIKE A MAN!"

Nelo snarled and raised his arms.

Yuan became alarmed. "Nelo, stop! Not this time, please! You have to control-"

It was too late. A wall of fire separated the Order from Hevorhend, approaching the latter and turning what little grass was left on the ground to ash in the process.

Telluri ran up and elbowed Nelo in the back. "You idiot! Do you really want this to happen every single time?"

"Oops," was all Nelo would reply with as he signalled his allies to leave again.

Hevorhend attempted to pursue, but the darkness couldn't pierce the wall and fighting fire with a sword was pointless. "Fine, you win... for now. Nelo, I will find you again!" he yelled, as he made the long walk back to his post.

The four managed to make it back to the town Darren and Telluri had spent the previous night. "My, I didn't know simple merchants were dabbling in war these days," the inn keep quipped as she saw the four, dirty, bloody, and slightly singed, walk into the inn.

"Who cares, just give us the rooms!" Telluri replied, angrily.

Inside their room, the four started to discuss the mission.

"Burning everything down again? You're-gonna-get-it!" Telluri said in a sing-song voice.

Nelo remained silent.

"Well," said Yuan, "it did get rid of that Tesendarian. Whatever works, right?"

"We shouldn't be burning down the plains to get one man," Darren replied, "but, I guess you don't care, do you, Nelo? Mister Excuse-me-I'm-too-important-to-care."

Nelo stood up and started to leave. "Pot calling the kettle black," he muttered, just loud enough for Darren to hear.

Darren pounced up and looked like he was ready to attack. "Oh yeah!? Well you're just-"

Nelo closed the door behind him, making any further retort pointless. Darren, fuming, collapsed back on his seat.

"Coul, I wouldn't take offence to what he said," Yuan said, trying to calm him down. "That reaction was very unbecoming of a prince. Nelo's probably just gone to his room to laugh it off, and I suggest you do the same."

"You're taking the side of that lunatic?"

"Well, Yuan does have a point," Telluri added.

The inn stayed fairly noisy that night.

On his way back to his post, Hevorhend had been intercepted by some soldiers. They had teleported him to the capitol to report on what had happened to Adam.

To say Adam was displeased would be a severe understatement. Adam's hatred of Hevorhend did nothing to help his mood.

"So, what now?" Hevorhend asked.

Adam moved to enter the grand hall. "Stay in the city until your hear word from us, I will discuss what should happen to you with the Emperor."

Once inside the hall, Adam could barely contain a look of bloodlust. "Your Highness, 8's plan to secure the white mage, which should have worked on its own merits, has failed due to the complete and utter incompetence of Hevorhend Aeon. Permission to kill?" he enquired.

Diala seemed lost in thought. "... No, Adam, he yearns for the Order's destruction. We can still make use of him."

"B-but, Your Highness, he is a monster! I trained honourably under you and your father for years to attain the power of a dark knight, and then he shows up, cuts out an eye to some god and suddenly he's as strong as me? His character and his skills are suspect, why would you ever leave him alive?"

"Adam, do you know why Aeon did that? Four years ago, he was training to be a dark knight the normal way. He was living with his family near one of our weapons research labs. One day, the Order sent two soldiers to destroy the lab. Who they sent were an alchemist and a pyromaniac. Combine all those things together and you get a giant explosion. Enough to kill everyone there. At the end, only the Order's soldiers and Hevorhend were standing."

"I almost feel sorry for hating him," Adam said with a hint of sarcasm, "but I don't see why that means you should spare him."

"Because, the man is insanely devoted to tearing the Order to shreds. He's the same age as you, but looks a decade older, and using his powers is slowly killing him. Curses he willingly inflicted on himself, all to get revenge on two people that I also happen to want dead. I couldn't ask for more in a soldier. Now please, leave."

Adam left the hall and signalled a soldier waiting for him. "I want Aeon dead. I don't care how, but within the week I want his life ended and his body destroyed."

"Yes, sir. I also come with a report. The traitor general from Kolona has offered information, in exchange for a stay of execution."

"Very well, I'll go talk to him."

Adam descended to the dungeons, making sure to check the anti-magic shield first. It's on, he thought, that removes the possibility of this being a trap. He entered the general's cell. The general was wearing a fancy red hat, and holding a bottle of wine and two glasses.

"Well, let's start with your name, and where the hell did you get that wine?"

"Saldo Mailao. And I asked the guards for something to drink. Seems strange they'd give me wine, but it smells like cheap swill. Want some?"

"May as well." Adam sat down next to Saldo as he poured two glasses. "So, what can you tell me about the Twilight Order?"

"Not much. I'm a mercenary, so I was kept out of their secret discussions."

Adam was suspicious. "They hired someone to infiltrate the military?"

"Oh, yeah." Saldo downed his whole glass. "Blech, swill, what did I tell you? Anyway the Order's espionage efforts are complete trash, they have to rely on sellswords like me to get their information."

"Interesting, so we could just buy out their spies to send them false information. You haven't told me much, but you've been very helpful. I'll put a good word in with the wardens. So what's with the hat?"

"Oh, this thing?" Saldo seemed to perk up. It was like he'd been waiting on Adam to ask. "It's a symbol associated with red mages. An ancient group, not many of them around these days due to the balance of light and darkness in the world being off. The red mages believed diversity would lead to a purer soul, and so taught their disciples many forms of combat, from swordplay to black magic..." He waited for Adam to take a sip. "...and even white magic."

Adam spat out his drink and stood up. "You're a white mage? I must report you to the Emperor right away!" He ran for the door, fiddling with his keys to find the right one to unlock the door and leave.

"I don't think so. Hold."

A series of yellow circles appeared around Adam, and he fell to the floor. Saldo stood up, stashed the wine in his hat, grabbed the keys and started to leave.

"Funny story; that general who locked me up? He was too stupid to operate the anti-magic shield! He just broke the lever so it looked like it said it was on. And all that stuff I told you about the Order is rubbish, I'm a full member. Bye now!"

By the time Saldo retrieved his gear from the stock room, guards were already swarming in, looking for Adam and the escaped prisoner.

"Hmm, too many to fight. Vanish!"

Saldo completely vanished from view, allowing him to simply walk out of the city. The dispelling field got rid of the effect as he stepped out of Tesendaria, but at that point the guards were too far behind him to be a serious threat. It was about 3 to 4 days to Kolona from here. A long walk was ahead of him.

Yuan's rescue party returned to Kolona the middle of the next day. For once, they had not been delayed by Darren's sleeping, Telluri had struck fear into his heart the night before by threatening to do what she did to Hevorhend. All that was left was to report to Commander Hexed.

"So the mission ended with everything being burnt to ashes." Magnus glared at Nelo. "Why am I not surprised."

Nelo, as could be expected, said nothing.

"Why must this always happen?" Magnus continued. "Gratification? Relief? Releasing your pent up rage over all the stairs that exist in the world?"

Teluri started snickering.

"Oh, ha ha," Nelo said flatly as he turned around and opened the door.

"I'm not finished, Nelo. Get back here."

Slam. Nelo had no intention of listening to the commander right now.

"And I'm the disrespectful one? Really?" Darren asked to nobody in particular.

"Don't be too hard on Nelo, Hexed," Yuan suggested. "After all, he did save us. Even if his methods of saving involve rampant pyromania."

Magnus sighed. Why am I even bothering. "Urgh. Well, you're all back safely so that's a job done. Not well done, but I've seen worse." He returned to his seat. "You're all excused. Drop off your gear at the armoury. I'm working on a plan for the near future, until then you're free."

"Thank you, Commander," the trio said in unison and left.

"Well, you're not doing too bad for a new recruit," Telluri said to Coul, "but still, sleeping in, fighting commands at every step? You still need a lot of work."

"Uh, thanks?" Darren wished to change the subject before Yuan joined in on poking barbs at him. "So, anyway, Telluri, what was the deal with you and that eye patch guy? Seemed pretty mad you."

Telluri and Yuan's moods instantly soured.

"How do you like the order, Darren?" Yuan was now behaving as if Darren hadn't said a thing.

"T-That's not what I-" Darren stopped himself and sighed. No point prying any further. From then on, the discussion turned to non-personal affairs, discussing the treaty, and the possible futures ahead of them. However, as Telluri started counting the contents of her bag while unpacking, she suddenly became worried.

"I'm short a Wraith's Tear bomb!"

"What?" Yuan sounded alarmed.

"I had brought some on the mission, but I never used any of them, which means I've left one somewhere. Please not in Tesendar..."

Darren was confused. "What's a Wraith's Tear, and why is it important?" he enquired.

"A Wraith's Tear is a special ingredient I use to enhance the power of some of my more... destructive bombs," Telluri explained. "There are a few different applications for them, and rumour has it the head scientist of Tesendar requires them to create some mighty weapon that will further the goals of the Emperor."

"But they can only be naturally found in Crisir, a cemetery that we got to first," Yuan continued. "It's under constant guard, and even the location of it has been kept secret from Tesendar. Telluri, what can we do about this?"

"I think we should ask Hexed, he should know."

Night had fallen by the time Magnus had thought things through.

"We don't know where Telluri dropped it. If it was in Labradia, they'll never find it, but odds are neither will we. If it was in Tesendar, however, it will already be in the hands of their military."

"So... we're not doing anything?" Darren asked.

Magnus rolled his eyes. "OK, let's march to Tesendaria while there are most wanted posters of four of our soldiers plastered everywhere their side of the border! I'm sure that won't get most of us killed."

Darren was about to argue back when a loud roar shook the office.

"What the hell was that?" Darren said, alarmed. "A monster?"

"In HQ? Can't be," Telluri stated.

Hexed sighed. "Actually, our injuries in the siege of Kolona post-treaty were huge. Guard coverage is so thin that something might have crept in. Grab your weapons, we'll sweep the base."

After grabbing their weapons, the group proceeded to the west wing, where a large beast, like a mix of a lion and a dragon, was feeding on the corpses of two guards.

"A dranea," said Telluri. "It should be a simple match for an armed soldier. So how did it best these two?"

Darren prepared to pounce on the beast, but was held back by Magnus. "Don't be so hasty. Look - a series of runes appears to have been seared into its flesh. Yuan, can you read them?"

"Um... They appear to be a form of strengthening spell." Yuan was having a bit of a hard time reading while also avoiding catching the dranea's attention. "It's a very rare form of black magic."

In an attempt to get a closer look, the dranea finally caught wind of the new prey, turned, and assumed a pouncing position.

"Shit!" Hexed yelled. "Everyone! A dranea's claws aren't very strong compared to its mouth. If it pounces, it will try and bite you. Keep away from it until it's left the position."

The group engaged the dranea. Usually not a problem, the runes were creating a stronger foe, one that actually posed a challenge. Darren was knocked into the wall by a wild swipe of its claws. "Oof! Who the hell put these runes on it!"

"I have an idea," Yuan stated, while healing Magnus, "but I'm not certain yet. He's the only person I know who could wield black magic this effectively."

While he'd gotten a few bruises, Magnus was the best fighter in the group. He knew exactly when and where to roll to evade the dranea, an act that was aggravating it into attacking him more. Eventually, Magnus made a small jump, lodged the Gungir into the top of the dranea's skull and held it in place, while Darren used the chance to cleave the beast's head off.

Hevorhend was pacing the halls of the castle, stopping to take the occasional glance out the window. ''I wish this blood lust would end. I just want to live my own life now. But this dark power, it demands I kill, beyond just Nelo and Telluri. Every day I'm battling to keep myself sane and not let the dark power consume me.''

His thoughts were interrupted by a dagger lodging itself in his shoulder. Hevorhend turned around, seeing four soldiers approach him with their swords drawn. Hevorhend tried to respond in kind, but his shoulder would left him in no state to attack. Desperate, he pulled off his eye patch.

Dark tendrils burst out of the empty eye socket. The four men only had enough time to let out a short scream before the tendrils pierced their hearts, leaving their bodies in a pile.

Hevorhend fell to his knees in pain, letting out a small chuckle. ''So, this is it, then. The empire is out to kill me, and I'm a sworn enemy of every other group in all of Amevitai. I must find another way to avenge my family.''

Still feeling the pain of his powers, Hevorhend slowly and silently made his way out of the castle, and Tesendaria in general. Another set of guards eventually stumbled upon the corpses, and Adam made no delay on ruling Hevorhend guilty in absentia. He was now marked for death.

Yuan was inspecting the body of the dranea in the hopes of finding out about the runes on its body. Drawn by the sounds of battle, many guards had come to see the spectacle, but Magnus had now sent them all away, save for those that were there before, and Nelo.

"What do you think of it?" Telluri asked.

"I don't know..." Yuan muttered. "These aren't just strengthening runes, but I can't read this par-" Yuan gasped when the dranea stood back up as if nothing had happened, even growing itself a new head.

"The hell!?" exclaimed Hexed. "Draneas don't just revive themselves, let alone spawn spare heads! Who the hell did that?"

"I did." A soft voice could be heard coming from behind one of the hallway statues. "It's a thank you gift, for providing the Empire the Wraith's Tear we sorely needed." A mage walked out from his hiding spot. His face could not be seen, only a glowing gold eye under a layer of fabric wrappings.

"I suspected this man was responsible," Yuan said. "8."

"Isn't he one of the Empire's commanders?" Darren asked.

Magnus was attempting to restrain Telluri from running up and attacking him. Nelo, remaining silent, threw a fireball directly at 8's head. The fire dissipated before it even came close, with the mage not even pretending to flinch.

"Oh my," he said, "I didn't realise I've become so popular."

"Tell me how you got in!" Hexed attempted to bark orders at the mage. "And what does the Empire need with that Wraith's Tear?"

8 laughed. "So many questions, so little time. And the answers don't even concern you."

"You stole our property, broke into our secret headquarters and unleashed a monster! Of course they concern us!"

"Stolen? That bomb was dropped on our side of the border, that makes it ours. And I'm only in here to deliver a message. We've resumed our occupation of Kolona. I wouldn't leave your base, if you don't want the Blackguard tearing you to shreds. That is, assuming, you can survive my little pet."

8 pointed at the suspiciously still dranea. The runes on its body started to glow, and it cried out in pain as its body burst open, revealing an even larger creature, more humanoid and yet more monstrous, with two large, curled horns. This beast was also covered in runes, these ones periodically shooting out licks of fire.

"Enjoy your time with the gigas. And, if you figure out whom among you is a spy, relay to them my thanks. Teleport."

And with that, the mage vanished. The members of the Order flashed looks at each other.

"A spy..." said Nelo. "Who?"

Darren drew his sword. "We've got a bigger problem here! Less chat, more gigas slaying!"

Darren engaged the beast, but the extreme strength and flames of the beast were proving too much for him. Nelo was attempting to fight fire with his own, but the other members of the Order kept restraining him, under fear he'd burn the base down, until he got the point and stuck to his sword arm. The combined swords of Darren, Nelo, and Magnus simply were not enough to halt the beast.

"I've got an idea!" Telluri yelled, throwing a stun bomb at the gigas. "Coul! With me!"

After a short daze, the beast started chasing Telluri and Darren. At an intersection, the two went different ways, with the gigas continuing to follow Telluri. Darren used the chance to get behind the gigas, leap on its back, and etch a giant gash down its spine. The gigas, enraged, turned around to grab Darren and throw him into a wall.

"Coul!" Yuan gasped as she ran to his aid. Fortunately, Darren was just unconscious, a few heals later and he was able to stand back up.

Meanwhile, Telluri had pulled out one of her Wraith's Tear bombs. She threw one into the gigas' open wound. The detonation blew a hole right through the beast's chest, as it started to collapse. For good measure, Magnus then jammed his sword through the beast's skull.

"Well," Telluri said, panting, "we know where the missing bomb is now."

"Yes, but what does this mean for us?" Magnus, for the first time in a long while, had fear in his voice. "The Empire is one step closer towards their goals, and they know exactly where we're hiding..."

"Did you hear? A gigas raided the base last night!" Several soldiers were discussing what they knew of the last night's events.

"Seriously? How did we miss that?"

"I heard that Nelo was involved."

"No way, the base didn't catch fire or anything."

"Let's just be glad he's on our side."

Away from the other soldiers, Nelo was preparing a fire. Magnus had sworn the rest of the people who fought the gigas to silence over what had transpired that night, but it seems some details got out anyway. It was now Nelo's job to cremate the gigas' remains. Magnus joined him.

"Everyone knows about the gigas."

Nelo chuckled. "News craves to be heard. It was inevitable. In any case, 8's intrusion has remained secret."

"Yeah, and I've been monitoring the entrances of our base all morning. He was telling the truth. Blackguard eyes everywhere, but only watching. They don't want us dead... yet." Magnus laughed as well "How long has it been since I wast last able to talk to you without scolding you?"

"A month," Nelo replied curtly, turning his attention back to burning the gigas.

Magnus paused for a second and frowned. Finding the right words was proving difficult. "...Nelo? Please tell me more about the weapons plant mission."

Nelo seemed surprised, but offered no words in response.

"It's just that..." Magnus continued, "...the report we received was so lacking. Only you and Telluri know what really happened there."

"Then ask her. Why bring it up anyway?"

"Just curious, I guess."

Nelo gave Magnus a cold stare. After a few minutes, he finally replied. "We've been framed for doing much more damage than we did. Wiping out the village? Wasn't us. Well, definitely not me, I couldn't keep track of Telluri at times. And because of what happened, we may have another threat coming after us soon."

"Who...?"

"Ser Hevorhend Aeon. He's sworn to kill the both of us for wiping out his entire family."

"A shame that happened. The Aeons were once a noble blood line." Magnus stared at the ash where the gigas' body once was.

Nelo gave Magnus a distrustful look and started to leave.

"Nelo, why do you always want to be our executioner, bringing the sword against anyone who opposes us?"

"Someone has to dirty their hands. What use is an Order that will not perform the necessary actions?" With that, Nelo vanished, a small fire flickering where he once stood.

Another day passed, and a messenger relayed to Magnus that the door to the research wing were opening again. Magnus went to find High Commander Drazure emerge.

"Is your research finally over?" Magnus asked.

"Not yet. It seems you've been keeping out of your office, so the grunts have been relaying intel by pushing it under the door here," Drazure replied, coolly. "I want you to see it and act on it."

Drazure handed Magnus a sheet of paper. It detailed the movements of the Blackguard throughout the city. One weak point had been identified, the city's Central Plaza.

"I think I know just what to do..."

After gathering Darren, Telluri, and Nelo, Magnus began his briefing.

"As you all know by now, we're trapped in here. Mostly. The Blackguard have accidentally left a blindspot in their ranks, however. We will march out, rush the Central Plaza, and destroy every Tesendarian soldier in sight." Well, Nelo, how's this for 'necessary actions'?

As the group prepared to leave, Yuan rushed into the room. "We've been fooled!" she yelled. "The armoury's nearly empty, we have no supplies. 8 must have cleared it out during the gigas attack."

"Hmph. Tesendar could just crush us at any point." Magnus said. "They could have just ended us yesterday."

"No. They want something of us." Yuan's thoughts started to drift back to her abduction.

Yuan, 8, and the Emperor were in a small, nondescript building, still within Vellaten. It appeared that the Tesendarians had planned this out well in advance, to have such resources within the enemy capital. 8 was preparing the next teleport, leaving Yuan and Diala to talk.

"Emperor Diablo," Yuan said, softly but firmly, "why have you abducted me? I am nothing but a diplomat. I come seeking peace."

"Because, Lady Yuan, you are a threat," Diala replied just as softly. "The Empire cannot show any weakness, I cannot have any dissent. The people must remain... 'happy' under my rule, and the Twilight Order is an obstacle to that."

"You must think me a fool. I know you care nothing for the well-being of your people. Tell me the truth."

"The truth, eh?" Diala started muttering, loud enough so Yuan could still hear. "I have to be rid of it. To do so I need the resources of all of Amevitai. Every country, every city, under my control."

"But the Order doesn't hold any land!" Yuan protested. "Kolona does not belong to us. And why leave me with my weapon?" Yuan held up her jian.

"Because," Diala's face and voice were growing more menacing. "I want YOU and the ORDER to SUFFER IN DESPAIR. I want you all to know you have the POWER to stop me, and still UTTERLY FAIL! I want your friends to go MAD at the RAGE and MISERY that will slowly KILL THEM! And finally..." Diala was now whispering into Yuan's ear. How did that happen? Last she saw, he was on the other side of the room. "You, in particular, white mage. I need to wrench away from you all the power that you hold within."

Diala re-assumed the calm demeanour that he had been using previously. "8, I tire of this, reapply her silence and take her to the castle prison. Do not harm her."

Hexed studied Yuan's face closely, noticing the sudden fear and distance in her eyes. "Yuan, we need to talk about this later. Everyone else, make sure every soldier has their personal backup weapons and start the operation. Even without the armoury, every man should still have a sword or staff with them. If we don't do this now, we have no other option but surrender."

Meanwhile, Saldo had reached Central Plaza. The Blackguard were leaving him alone, as while he was a wanted man, news of his identity or crimes had not yet left the nation of Tesendar. "Eh, I can keep Hexed worrying about me for another night," he said, as he headed into a nearby inn.

"Okay, is everyone ready?"

"Yes, sir," Darren, Telluri and Yuan replied.

Nelo nodded at the commander.

"Very well. Gather the troops. We leave in one hour."