Devourer

Chapter 97: The Fall Part 9

Arias stood on the balcony of a house in the merchant district Lower Gildton as he gazed at the inner wall. He couldn’t sleep, the thought of what had happened today haunted him everytime he closed his eyes. When he walked through the streets on the way to Lower Gildton he saw corpses littering the edge of the streets. Judging by the horrid red pools of blood that had seeped into the gaps of the cobblestones and the long smears across the streets, the bodies had just been dragged off to the side. 

Arias remembers Junie screaming when she stepped on a piece of disembowelled intestine. He remembers looking down in horror and disgust as he saw the small piece of bowel looked to have been torn out by some kind of maw judging by the teeth marks. Furthermore it appears it has already been trampled several times thus far, all Junie had done was stuff it further down the cracks of the stone. 

The signs of the battle were everywhere, he could see the little patch of safe zone was more or less secure. Technically the street was within the safe zone but the street was also a major street. Thus the Tralis garrison violated it almost immediately and when that happened the beasts of the hive were quick to attack. Luckily for them only the safe zone of the street was compromised, it wasn’t that big of a deal, it was not like many people standing there anyway. Who the hell is going to stand out in the middle of a street in the middle of an assault? A sensible person would stand as close to the church as possible since the holy structure was said to be given some semblance of protection from the invading army of beasts and men.

The rich merchants were not that pleased with the arrival of the influx of thousands of refugees but a quick chastisement from Mother Justina was able to swiftly silence them. The revelation that the Great Beast commanded it and that the Averlonian army was on the move also helped significantly.

So now Arias was standing on a balcony of an inn, it wasn’t his room it was Junie’s. Apparently she was having trouble sleeping and she wanted Arias to be nearby. Mother Justina ended up giving Junie a strange look when she requested that. Arias knew she suspected there was something going on between the two of them but given the circumstances she didn’t have the time or energy to do anything. She already had her hands full trying to keep everyone calm, the last thing they wanted was a panic.

Arias heard the balcony door behind him open, he turned to see Junie standing in her nightgown. The priestesses were given their own rooms after the incident at the church. It was an oversight on the church's part. They underestimated what large amounts of fear and stress could do to someone. Having so many people packed into the church building was dangerous and having terrified soldiers among them made it even worse. 

Many of the soldiers felt there was a chance they would be executed after this battle was over. The sight of the defenders being torn to pieces only exacerbated that fear. The beasts after all had no moral compunctions; they would tear into the defenders with reckless abandon with no care for their own safety. Sitting still and powerless as they listened to the screams and sounds of battle echo out from around the city. Those would be rapists said they cracked when they saw the Great Beast turn the ancient wall into magma. 

The smell of burning buildings and the screams from the inner city didn’t help matters either. The burning of the slums and south town have also smothered the town in this smog. The air smelled of burnt wood and flesh. Many things were here that would slowly chip at a person’s resolve. 

“Can’t sleep?” Junie asked gently as Arias saw her approach. 

“Yeah…” Arias said as Junie walked into his embrace. Arias shut his eyes as he breathed in the scent of hair. Her skin was still sticky from the sweat thanks to their love making a few hours prior. 

“How did it get to this point?” Arias asked softly as he continued to listen to the droning groan of those large beasts on the wall as they fired their deadly projectiles into the inner city. They have been doing it for hours, bombarding the poor people on the receiving end before even the sun had set. Privately Arias wonders how many those beasts have killed so far?

“I don’t know…” Junie replied as the two separated and the two shifted their gaze to the great gash in the wall in the distance. The edges were still glowing red hot and occasionally he could see some blue sparks as ether sparked off the magma. It has almost been eight hours and this ether charged magma still hasn’t cooled…

“It’s scary isn’t it? Look at that hole…” Arias muttered as the pair gazed at the ominous glowing lines in the darkness.

“I learned in the academy that ether can supercharge materials. No one has managed to do it to stone in recent centuries, the amount of ether required is… beyond imagining…” Junie replied softly.

“Is that why it isn’t cooling?” Arias asked as another lighting bolt of ether danced off the molten stone, cracking through the night.

“Yes… all that energy has to go somewhere… You know ether crystals?” Junie said.

“Yeah why?” Arias asked.

“Ether crystals are just materials that have a naturally formed ether transmission lattice. It allows the ether to flow within the crystal in a stable manner. The moment the ether circuit becomes unstable, it discharges unpredictably. The energy is often released as electricity, heat, light or kinetic energy.” Junie explained.

“Is that why ether crystals explode when damaged?” Arias asked as he turned to look at Junie.

“Yes… as to why that stone can’t explode well… technically ether crystals are routinely supercharged but the term supercharged is mostly used when something that isn’t supposed to be charged ends up charged.” Junie explained as she shifted her gaze back to Arias.

“Like the stone.” Arias said.

“Yes, the stone. Stone is very resistant to ether, especially the type of stone used in fortification. It makes them more resistant to spells, that's why we use runes to create an artificial ether circuit to create enchantments. But even then for those walls, there are mithril cables running through the wall to help facilitate the flow of ether. 

That stone known as carbidium stone has extremely low ether conductivity, which means you need a lot of ether to overcome the natural resistance. So if ether struggles get in…” Junie said as she faltered, her mind most likely on the theory learned in the academy.

“It struggles to get out, it’s trapped in there.” Arias said finishing her sentence, the pieces clicking together in his head.

“Exactly, enchantments and curses are precise, special techniques are used to bypass this resistance. The power needed to do something like this is… immense. Most of the time you would just end up melting the stone or sending it flying off into the distance before you succeed in supercharging it.” Junie muttered.

“So that’s why all of you were looking so terrified when you stared at the wall. I was wondering why the priesthood and the mages looked particularly afraid. You knew what that meant…” Arias said softly.

“More than you know. After the Tralis’s fall is complete everything is going to change.” Junie said as Arias noticed her eyes widened for a moment as if having some kind of existential crisis.

“Hey, let’s not worry about that for now.” Arias said gently as he wrapped an arm around her waist, snapping her back to reality.

“What are we going to do after this? You’re going back to your fiance right?” Junie asked wistfully.

“Probably, if she has my child I can’t exactly leave and you’re a priestess so you can’t have romantic relationships.” Arias said gingerly, they both knew this thing they had was something that should not happen. It was breaking so many rules and wrong on so many levels.

“If you could take another wife, would you be willing to have me?” Junie asked tentatively.

“I… aren’t you a priestess?” Arias sputtered.

“I could leave, I joined the priesthood to avoid being married to someone I did not care for. But now… I do have someone…” Junie replied softly as her face turned scarlet.

“I… I don’t know… I would need to talk to Rosie and the Elysians don’t allow polygamy, it may not even be legal.” Arias said.

“I suppose you are right…” Junie said, her voice sounding brittle.

Arias felt a pang of sadness at the sight of the despondent Junie. In truth he was starting to truly care for her, they do say relationships formed in times of crisis were stronger than most…

“But if it were possible, I would love to have you by my side.” Arias said as he took her hand.

“But is it fair to your fiance? I’m just cutting in.” Junie muttered.

“That’s why I think maybe we can talk about it first. I’m not leaving her especially if she has been faithfully waiting for me and if she is with my child.” Arias said.

“Yes, I would not feel as I do about you if you were the type of person to callously cast her aside.” Junie replied gently.

“I suppose that is something for tomorrow. Rosie may not have remained faithful too, I mean look at us.” Arias said with a self deprecating smile.

“I suppose it…” Junie began but then she paused as she looked away for a moment.

“What?” Arias asked in confusion.

“Do you hear anything?” Junie said as she turned to look out at the inner wall.

“No, I don’t hear anything…” Arias said but he stopped himself when he realised what Junie meant. Those beasts from before had gone silent. Had they stopped firing?

“Something’s happening…” Junie said as her voice shook.

As if on cue they heard the beasts all across the city start to howl and roar.

Something was definitely happening…

“A night raid?” Junie asked in mute horror. 

“Maybe… get dressed, we need to tell Mother Justina.” Arias muttered and the two rushed back into the room. The two got dressed and Arias noted Junie didn’t care at all when she stripped down in front of him and she even asked him to help tie the sash on the back of her priestess robes in place.

The pair rushed down the stairs and headed for the building that Mother Justina was lodging in. It was this wealthy merchant's estate that had graciously offered the higher ranks of the priesthood and the more competent adventurers a place to sleep. Arias privately felt that this was to offer some additional protection against the beasts, afterall having your home filled with high ranking priests and priestesses meant the Great Beast would be less likely to destroy his hard earned property. 

Arias could see the lights were already on and he could hear a commotion in the building. Then he saw a group of adventurers rush out the door. A few archers and rogues nimbly scaled the walls and began running along the roofs. They were moving in the direction of the inner wall and looked like they were fanning out.

As they approached the door they heard an argument going on inside the estate. Arias tentatively opened the door and he nearly shouted in alarm from what he saw. He saw this strange creature, it was pure white with a domed head from which this long tail-like appendage protruded from the rear. It had four arms and a roughly humanoid appearance. The larger upper arms were out in front of it doing the typical hand motions used by humans while its smaller lower arms were neatly crossed behind its back.

“What is going on? Why are you here?” Mother Justina demanded.

“I am aware that this a violation of the safe zone, but seeing as you just sent adventurers to leave the safe zone as well, I think it’s best if we ignore this little discrepancy.” the creature replied calmly in a strange feminine voice.

“Legiana we both know you aren’t here for nothing. Why are you here?” Mother Justina pressed, her face a shade paler than usual.

It was then that Justina noticed Arias standing in the doorway. 

“Ah, I was wondering if you survived. Please come in.” Legiana said calmly as she turned to look at Arias.

“Survived?” Arias asked shakily as he looked at Mother Justina who nodded and the two entered the room.

“Yes, the winner of the luckiest man alive medal in the battle for Elysia. I wanted to thank you for protecting the little priestess. If she ended up shot by a spine it would leave a black mark on our little family.” Legiana said with a wide fanged grin. Though this creature called Legiana had no eyes Arias could sense her gaze and it felt like she was looking through him rather at him.

“Black mark?” Mother Justina asked in a clipped tone.

“Has the state of this battle distressed you Mother Justina?” Legiana asked calmly as she turned back around to look at Mother Justina.

“It was agreed that all wounded would be returned to us for treatment. We have yet to receive any wounded.” Mother Justina said, her tone cold like ice.

“My brethren typically do not leave many wounded in the wake of battle. Our attacks are usually not conducive for the survivability of our opponents. We have a tendency to decapitate, disembowel and lethally poison. We also do not have access to healing abilities. When one of us is severely injured they are usually killed and reassimilated. Minor wounds are treated after the battle in rejuvenation vats.” Legiana said calmly, obviously unphased by this moral condemnation.

“Why are you here?” Mother Justina asked in resignation, her frustration clear in her voice. Arias could tell her nerves were frayed, this period has most definitely been hard on her. Staring down the Great Beast on many occasions, trying to keep everyone calm in this time of madness and chaos.

“A simple message that my king wanted me to deliver in person.” Legiana said.

“And that message is?” Mother Justina asked cautiously, uncertainty clear in her gaze.

“There is a night attack commencing as we speak. My king has determined that a more aggressive strategy is needed. Our scouts have indicated that some of the defenders in the inner wall and the palace has been found with suicide vests filled with ether crystals.” Legiana said and Mother Justina’s eyes widened in shock.

“We estimate that they plan to use them when the hive becomes more concentrated near the palace. As a result my king has begun questioning the rationality of the human species. He has never encountered your species until recently and up until now has been operating on the assumption that you all were similar to older humanoids.

He has been giving clear propositions and surrender offers yet the humans in this city continue to choose madness and stupidity. Thus he wishes for me to remind you of the consequences of continued defiance and resistance. 

This city will fall tomorrow, I would suggest you get your fellows in order for the changing of an era.” Legiana said calmly.

“I understand…” Mother Justina replied softly.

“Also one more thing, in case it hasn’t been obvious thus far. It is in your best interest to settle problems with the other humans before my king has to get involved…” Legiana said as she paused for a moment and stared unerringly at Mother Justina who was just standing there stiffly.

“My king has little patience for the foolish games of humans and when troubled he may opt for actions of a more… expedient nature…” Legiana said and Mother Justina nodded mutely like a servant taking instructions.

“Do you understand Mother Justina?” Legiana asked calmly.

“I understand.” Mother Justina replied softly, her previous righteous fury and frustrations now trampled underfoot under the weight of the cold apathetic logic by which the beasts operated. Once again demonstrating that beasts and humans were not the same in many ways.

“Now then, revered mother with that settled, I must return to the Empress's side. We were about to have a game of Expansion when the order came down. I do enjoy your board games.” Legiana said as she gave Mother Justina a graceful bow to which Mother Justina stiffly returned.

With that Arias and Junie watched slack jawed as Legiana walked past them and opened the door. But she paused at the door and turned her head to look at Mother Justina.

“I suggest you do this quickly before the terror of this night raid takes hold and breeds irrationality…” Legiana said. Arias and Junie then jumped as they heard an explosion in the distance. Legiana on the other hand didn’t even flinch as she held Mother Justina’s gaze just a moment too long.

“May you have a good rest Mother Justina.” Legiana said in a tone that betrayed that she knew no one would be getting any sleep tonight. With that final jab she left and closed the door behind her.

Arias turned to look at Mother Justina who took in a deep breath before letting out a sigh. She leaned heavily against a nearby table and pinched the bridge of her nose. She honestly looks like she has aged a few years these past few days.

“Damned beasts, they call our ways foolish games but they play it better than anyone…” Mother Justina said wearily.

“Mother Justina…” Junie began her voice filled with concern. Arias could see why Junie was concerned, Mother Justina looked so haggard with those dark circles under her eyes.

“I’m fine dear, could the two of you go and tell the rest of the priesthood to gather…” Mother Justina said as she waved away Junie’s concern.

Arias and Junie nodded mutely, their minds spinning on what they have just overheard. Wouldn’t that be a problem? Letting someone like them listen in to what might have been a discussion of sensitive topics. Or perhaps that was the plan all along… maybe the Great Beast wanted the word to spread…

Then Arias heard another explosion far in the distance, no doubt from the afore mentioned suicide vests. 

“Oh yes, you two…” Mother Justina said just as the two were about to leave.

“Yes Mother?” Arias asked.

“I didn’t want you here to listen to this but that creature obviously wanted you two in the room to hear everything…” Mother Justina began and Arias noticed that her eyes were clouded with worry as she looked at the two of them.

For your own safety, tell no one of what you heard here today…

Wash your hands of all of this once this is all over…