S4:CH6

A woman knelt inside a maroon colored tent. Her eyes were disheveled, dry, and dirty. Around her were scrolls of paper. Some were torn from other books, some were burnt, and some still had their covers from the SUV. The ground was riddled in dry and withered leaves, making it seem like the place was made out of black straw. There was no room for the smell of rot, as all the animals inside the tent were now deformed, almost dry and husk-like. The only life form that was there was the woman, and a rat, stabbed with a stick to the spine, screeching in pain.

“...heed no..” General Theadosia whispered. She was almost finished with her spell. Her veins glowed all throughout her elbow, as she took out the stick attached to the rat. The animal tried to escape, but with its spine crushed, it couldn’t move its legs. He had the same injury, she thought, preparing the last spell, knowing that if she were to do this, there was no turning back.

“mokuepa teki-,” she felt some sort of liquid flow out of her nose. She touched it. As the faint light of the lantern showed, red was on her fingers. It was blood. She felt her head spin, but struggled to grab her mirror. When she did, it revealed itself. Her glowing veins were at her lip.

A beam of light assaulted the inside of her tent. It was open, and several men in dark robes were seen, all with red mana nullifier crystals pointed at her. It was the Black Valkyrie Regiment.

“General Theadosia Willand. You’re under arrest,” Lieutenant Edd said.

The Karthusian dungeon was cold and humid, but at the very least it wasn’t noisy. She was inside a special cell, one for mages. Many would think she would have better treatment since she was a mage, but the BVR does not treat Dark Arts practitioners with a soft hand. Unlike other prisoners, she was not free to walk wherever she pleased. The blinding yellow nullifiers that emanated from the corners of the cell were already an annoyance, but her arms being shackled to the wall were the bigger problem. The cold steel rested on her wrists, with a red light coming from it. She looked at one of her shackles. There was a red nullifier crystal there.

“I guess they really take the dark arts seriously,” she muttered to herself.

“Indeed, they do,” Kindred replied, arriving at the other side of the cells, before stopping. He was carrying a rectangular mirror, before resting it gently on the ground. He sighed, before looking at her. “You know, I was worried about Kai’s decision to let a Sanamancer be the next general of one of the biggest factions of this realm.”

Silence. The mage was not willing to talk with him. Not after what he had done, and not after what she was going through. Kindred knew this, and before she could even realize it, the sounds of jiggling keys came in. The cells opened. Kindred moved the mirror to face her, revealing what she has become. Malnourished, pale, and her uniform all scratched and dirty. Her eyes were covered by her frizzy hair, and if she lifted her head a little bit, she would see the dark spots in her eyes. Throughout her arm and her chin, green veins glowed on her skin. She’s been here for a few hours, perhaps eight.

“But I suppose choosing to surpass your limits to save the people definitely helps me worry less about that,” he said, before squatting in front of her, looking at her pale and thin body. “Although I am worried about what you have been eating. Is your new lover-”

“No one told you to barge into the Camp of Freedom, Kindred,” Theadosia said, her eyes covered by her hair, only showing her nose and her mouth. “It’s as if it would matter to you.”

A pause, before she lifted her head to face him. “You weren’t there,” she said.

Kindred looked away, before standing up. “Do you know what they do to Practitioners of the Dark Arts?” he asked, before taking out a purple mana nullifier from his pocket. “We had a reaper once after that scuffle with Kai Ellington… very determined man I tell you.”

Silence once more. She was not willing to listen to this conversation. Kindred raised the purple nullifier into the air. “I’m sure you’re familiar with what this is.”

“I already have a headache from the spells I used. I thought the BVR had creativity…” Theadosia replied, trying her best to be comfortable as the muscles from her thin arms tried their best to keep them together. “I’m afraid you would have to do more than a Saint’s Crystal,”

“Then you would know what they do when someone is touched by it,” he said, before moving closer to her. As the Saint’s Crystal touched her skin, the glowing veins slowly grew up towards her cheek. A striking headache followed, along with tears from her eyes. Then, he let go, before walking back and putting the crystal back in his pocket. “I could keep going if you want.”

“Go to hell,” Theadosia said, as a drop of blood from her nose went out to the floor.

Kindred simply pulled out his VAC-P2 and cocked it, before aiming at her head. “Or I could do this and spare you any suffering they’ll do to you,”

Kindred held his aim to her head, before putting his left hand in his left pocket. He then pulled out a rat. Its front legs were moving, but the back legs were all paralyzed. It was the same rat that Theadosia was trying to heal. She healed its muscular tissue, but not the bones. The BVR Commander then laid it on the ground, as it struggled to move. “But I have another alternative.”

Kindred shot the rat, pinning its left leg on the floor with the bolt of his cross-pistol. The rat screeched in agony as it tried to escape. “S-stop!” Theadosia cried out, as she tried to cast a spell, only to be stopped by the nullifiers on her shackles.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Kindred said, before kneeling down and picking up the rat in its nape. The rat tried its best to squirm and wiggle away, but its body was simply dysfunctional at this point. Kindred then simply threw it casually back to the ground as he stood up to reach for the yellow nullifiers above the cells. The rat laid down on the ground, steadily losing blood, and all Theadosia could do was watch helplessly. When he finally gathered all the nullifiers in the cell, he simply threw them all into the other side of the corridor. The rat was starting to become unconscious, and Theadosia simply gave up from trying, slowly letting go of the situation.

“We are at war, Theadosia. Wars aren’t won by people who are alone,” Kindred said, before stepping out of the cell, still open, before nodding to the door on the right. Archduchess Eowyn arrived, holding a plant. She casted a spell that killed the plant, before controlling the rat’s bones and muscles, healing it back to normal. In a few seconds, the rat was healthy once more, scurrying away to the crevices of the dungeon. Kindred then juggled the keys one last time, before freeing Theadosia, making her fall to the ground. “Don’t make the same mistake as I did.”

Theadosia slowly stood up, before walking out the cell.

“The BVR will hunt you down starting now, and Venators will look for you,” Kindred said, as Theadosia looked at the Archduchess. “I already talked to Kai about where to transfer you. It’s the only place I can think of to let you fight for what’s right, while also avoiding assassins.”

Theadosia left without saying a word, leaving Kindred and Eowyn in the dungeon. As the door from the dungeon closed, Kindred leaned on the cell bars. “We’re running out of time,”

“I’ve already compiled the documents and mixed them all with the SUV caravan headed to Hreinngar’s Freton Keep,” Eowyn said, before holding Kindred’s hand. “The plan is working.”

“We cannot be too sure,” Kindred said, walking away from Eowyn. “We did not even bring a single BVR Commander in there.”

“You know what Hreinngar feels about the BVR entering their territory,”

“Then they should know how Karthus and Ravena felt when the Vonturians entered our territory.”

Eowyn grabbed Kindred’s arm. “Kindred. Don’t.”

“Gambling is not my forte,” the commander replied.

Sentora. Full day. Clouds covered the skies. No. it was smoke. White smoke. The fortifications of the southern rebel alliance have just been bombarded by artillery barrages coming from sentoran mages. Commander Velnet Sundawn of the Sentoran Southern Rebel Coalition knew that if they were in Selyria, it would’ve been easy to weather this, as Selyrian mages, at least from what he heard from her dear friend Sebastian, didn’t have wings. But enough about that. They were in a battle, and she was stuck in the trenches. A human would have an easy time navigating this, but she was a centaur. She constantly slouched her back, while making sure the rebels were not squeezed by her massive and muscular bottom-half. She was not built for this environment, but she had to be here. Sebastian told her to hold the line until the fireballs stopped. Her orders were to keep the forces in the trenches, and bait the angels to charge at them. The southern rebels respected her. A daughter of a slavemaster, turning into a slave liberator would get you there. In this battle however, there was no racial distinction. In here, you were either living, or dead.

She shouted at the rebels, telling them to man the fortifications. Arrows and fireballs exploded all around them. Everyone tried their best to not get killed by hugging the trench walls for cover, but each fireball and each arrow claimed a victim.

The rebel archers did not know what or where they were shooting. They simply pulled their bows and hoped for the best. This was their first major battle, and clearly, they were not prepared for it. Still, Velnet persevered. Sebastian had a plan. He always had one.

The fireballs stopped. A silence. Usually, this meant bad silence.

“¡NO SE MUEVAN!!” Velnet shouted.

“¡¡¡No se muevan!!!” another rebel lieutenant shouted.

Soon enough, everyone was shouting to hold their ground. Velnet looked over the trench. She felt as if her body made a great stretch. She however, had to savor it, as it was a very brief moment. She inspected the outside, and it was a thick, smokey land of dirt and fire. They tried dowsing the fortifications with water last night, making sure that the moisture was trapped. They were not expecting the constant barrages of fireballs, or even the mages being here in the first place. Had it not for Sebastian’s planning, they would’ve been all dead by now.

6 glimmers of light beamed from the distance. The smoke obscured most of it, but the faint glow made Velnet put her hand on the trench top, and try to see what it was.

“¿Qué debemos hacer, comandante?” asked the rebel beside her. Velnet knew that the rebel’s question was valid. They’ve been here for 30 minutes already, and they were receiving heavy artillery. Lives were lost, and the question of ‘what should we do, commander?’ was needed.

“¡Cálmese, camarada,” calm yourself, Velnet replied, knowing that she was also telling that to herself. Usually, soldiers wouldn’t last this long. They would have surrendered, or worse, mutinied. Worse, they weren’t soldiers. Soldiers were disciplined, trained, prepared for constant neverending wars where death and disease were the ground they marched on. These were rebels, taken from their masters, promised to be freed once this was done. They agreed to die as free men, and here they are dying as free men in the mud-splattered trenches. The centaur rebel commander felt a sense of pain from her chest. She felt like they were leading them to their deaths. But Velnet had been fighting this war for years. Even before the revolution. Small acts of defiance started as droplets from a summer’s drizzle, and she saw herself as the first shower that touched the ground. She was the first to be seen, the first to step in battle, the first to rally the troops, and the first to hold her ground. If she were to die today, then she may be free from the burden of seeing her men die. However, she won’t. Not today. Her and her men knew what they were fighting for. She knew why they were more loyal than the conquistadors of the north. The empire’s forces fought for payment, and for a manipulative sense of glory. When these centaurs saw war for the first time, their expectation was to fight and live.

These rebels have waged war all their life from the moment they were sold to their masters. Their expectation was to serve and die. But today, this may change.

The glimmers of light glowed brighter. Something was coming. The light was not static. This was not the glow of a yellow nullifier. Nor was it big enough to be a fire trebuchet - they were moving faster than that. But if they weren’t any of those…

“¡Escuchen!” Velnet shouted at the soldiers to listen carefully.

SIlence.

Silence.

Silence.

Wings flapping.

“¡BAJAD!” Velnet shouted, and the rest of the rebels ran to the bunkers below the trenches. A stampede followed, pulling and pushing Velnet to the sides and center of the trenches. She held onto one of the wooden spikes, before looking at the field again. There it was. The smoke cleared, revealing the wings of 6 angels, each holding a fireball in their hand, ready to throw at the panicking rebels. Velnet saw the smiles of the angels, and her heart simply betrayed her. She was scared.

Wait. She thought of Sebastian. This was part of the plan.

The last of the rebels finally got inside. This was it. A part of her wanted to follow them, but they were much better off surviving if the angels were distracted. The winged enemies came towards her, throwing their fireballs. Velnet galloped through the trenchline, blazing explosions trailing behind her. She jumped with all her might to dash to the back of the trench line. There was a tree line a mile from the trench. All she had to do was to sprint as fast as possible. The angels encircled her like a pack of vultures looking at this soon-to-be carcass.

“The archers may be at the tree line!” shouted one angel.

“Send in the forces!” shouted another.

Soon enough, there was a horn, and an army of centaurs began to gallop towards the trench. Velnet couldn’t believe it. The plan was actually working. However, if the Angels would stay here, who’s going to take care of them?...

A fireball hit the front of Velnet, causing her to fall forward and crash into the ground. She slid into the dirt, before hitting a tree. The impact was so severe that the tree started to fall down. It had branches on its sides, and she simply could not move quick enough to run away. She found herself stabbed by one of the branches, as the trees from her surroundings covered the skies. She was stuck, with an entire tree partially pinning her down to the ground. She groaned, clutching her fist to see the branch stabbing her bottom trapezius. For a normal horse, this would’ve meant that they could not live anymore. But lucky for a centaur like her, that’s not where her head was. The pain felt more like an annoying thigh stabbing. Perfectly nothing too life-threatening. Wait… back to where she was. There were still angels. But… they weren’t trying to get to her.

“A waste of your race!” one of the angels finally broke the silence. “How dare you waste your energy to free such beings?”

“You are taller than men. Closer to Solev,” another angel spoke. “You should thank him for your blessings!”

Suddenly, a silence. Wings were flapping. Panic from the angels arrived. An angel fell in front of him, with a tree branch lodged through his stomach.

The tree she was stuck on started to levitate, then it was lifted into the air, revealing a brown haired angel, wearing a maroon outfit. It was her. The former general of The Red Blood Regiment, Theadosia Willand.

Theadosia took the branch that was stuck on Velnet, then healed her. She waved her hand, and her glowing veins immediately went from her wrist, to her neck. Several branches from the tree line snapped, and as the rebel centaur stood up, she saw several angels with their stomachs stabbed by branches. The centaur soldiers soon started to arrive, as they crossed the trench, unaware of the soldiers below. Theadosia then controlled the branches as they started to charge at the maroon angel. But by the time they were near her, it was too late to see that she had just controlled around a hundred sharp branches.

“Greetings, Duskalia,” Theadosia said, before hurling all the sharp branches to the centaurs.

“¡¡¡MAGO! MAGO! PARAD, PARAD!!!” A Sentoran Captain shouted, telling them that a mage was there, and that they needed to stop. But this was too late, as one of the branches hit his head, immediately killing him, and immediately causing disarray within the army.

“¡RETROCEDED!” one of the officers of the sentoran military panickingly shouted. Theadosia then turned around as she still flew, looking at Velnet. The rebel commander was in awe, before snapping out of this moment, realizing what was happening. Sebastian’s plan was complete now. She shifted her hands to snatch her whistle, before blowing it as hard as possible. By the time the sound of the whistle came, the rebels bursted out of their bunkers, and into the back of the trench line. Soon enough, men and women dressed in maroon, walked through the forest, armed with spears, pitchforks, and all manner of polearms. The centaurs were trapped. The Red Blood Regiment had arrived.

There was nothing to be said after that. Trapped and nowhere to run, it was a bloodbath. Nothing else, nothing more.

After the battle, Velnet turned towards the main tent of the rebel forces. There stood the tall angel, and a man with white and blue hair. And finally, someone familiar - Sebastian. “Velnet!” he said, hugging her, relieved that nothing bad happened. After finishing his embrace, he then gestured to the two people wearing maroon. “This is Theadosia, the one that helped you,”

“And this one?” she asked, pointing at the man in white hair.

“This is my liaison for The Red Blood Regiment,” he replied. Velnet pulled him a little bit to the side, before lowering herself to meet Sebastian.

“This was your plan?” Velnet asked.

“Southern Sentora needs Democracy,” Sebastian replied.

“We already talked about this,” Velnet’s voice was starting to rise. “Lord Fuevalez is about to reinforce us. If he ever finds out that-”

“Lord Fuevalez is not arriving,” a man arrived with ginger hair and round glasses. “Our scouts have reported he’s attacking from the Sea of Leviathans, heading straight into the capital.”

“What?” Velnet looked at this man in shock. “But without him, we would be-”

“That’s why we’re here,” Theadosia said, before looking at them. “We knew more of them would come shortly.”

Velnet looked at Sebastian, as the white haired boy turned his head towards Zan. Zan smiled when he saw a glimmer of hope on the faces of the 2 Sentorans.

“So what’s the plan?” Sebastian asked.

An applause could be heard from the board room. It was filled with maps, but most importantly, filled with politicians and security officers. An important moment was happening here in Vontur. A tall blonde angel, a felinian, a bulky half-elf, and a muscular orc, all stood in front of the board. Nathaniel, now the Secretary of National Defense, talked to the politicians in front of the 4 group of people.

“2 days ago, our intel found traces of an unmarked caravan heading from Vendeaux, to Valenti, then to Naerem,” Nathaniel said, the politicians looking very uninterested. “We believe it’s a convoy.”

Murmurs could be heard from the room. A man with gray hair stood up slowly. “Secretary Nathaniel, I assume you’re not just here to report an unmarked convoy headed to another kingdom.”

“Yes, Senator Crane, but the Festival of Knowledge in Karthus is dawning in 2 weeks. Nobles from all over Selyria will come. They were discreet enough to not use airships as they have strict regulations, and it seems like this intel is too heavy to mount on dragons. They’re hiding something, sir.”

Whispers occurred from around the room. “If you’re here to ask for more CSS funding to get another mothership, no suspicion is going to make us agree. Valheim was your problem, and Valheim is your consequence.”

“Oh I’m not here to ask for funding, Senator. Just your eyes. A double agent from Ravena tipped us that House Deschenel personally inspected the contents of this convoy,” Nathaniel said, before presenting the four operatives to the officers. “I developed a task force for this operation. The CSS’s new general, Talf Willand will be in charge. We get in quietly, and we’ll get out.”

“Very well then,”

The meeting ended, and the CSS walked to the hallway of the building. Talf was there, waiting for the group, as he saw Nathaniel walking towards him. “How was it?” the new CSS General asked.

Nathaniel stopped as he got close to Talf’s proximity. Then, he sighed. He took a moment of silence, looking at the politicians exiting the board room. “This better be worth it,” Nathaniel said.

“I told you, they’re the best of the best-”

“Any further complications and we’re stuck with another international incident on our hands,”

“I know that. But you have to understand that this cold war-”

“-is a cold war,” Nathaniel interrupted “I want to keep it that way. Not until the republic gets more allies.”

“Nath. I’m not Valheim,” Talf replied, his hands slowly turning into a fist. Nathaniel saw it as he turned his head slowly. The Defense Secretary then looked him in the eye.

“Good. Now get your operatives ready. The Committee’s funds are secured.”

A sigh escaped from Talf’s mouth. Operation Nightcrawler is now greenlit.

The CSS were now in a Huey Dragonfly - a massive creature similar to a dragonfly but… much more gigantic and hairy. The winds from outside whisked everywhere, and everyone knew that this mission was not going to be one of their usual ones. Again, they were in a Huey. Most of the CSS wore plate armor that resembled an average mercenary from Hreinngar. As for the other operatives, they were wearing their best protection. Talf himself was wearing a Vonturian Brigandine, and he was armed with a VAC-M2.

“Rangers, listen up!” Talf shouted, as his left hand grabbed a bar on top of the Dragonfly’s Cabin, while holding his slinged VAC with his right hand. “You know your training. You’re not Vonturians. You’re Hreinngarian bandits hired by Sir Eric Orfinson. Try not to die, and try not to get captured, and you won’t need to remember that.”

“Yes, sir!!!” everyone shouted.

“Lufon, I need you to take overwatch by the ridge near the perimeter,” Talf said.

The felinian simply nodded.

“Rhichter will provide cover with his shield,”

“Yes sir,” the half-elf said.

“Vronsky, you’re our best shot in this team, so make sure you assist me properly on this when we get in,”

“Affirm,” the angel replied.

“And if all else fails…”

A loud thud occurred at the foot of the cabin, followed by a very bulky orc smiling at Talf. “Thank you, Thrall,” Talf said, as he rolled a crank inside the cabin on the side, turning gears and opening a door that let a lot of wind in. “Remember, all of you have your VAC-P2s as your side arm. You only have 1 clip so make it count. ONLY use it if you feel like you are in trouble. DO NOT compromise us.”

“Yes sir!!!” they all said, as the Dragonfly finally landed on an elevation near an outpost. Torches and lanterns lit the walled fortress, and as the rangers got off the Huey, they all pointed their weapons out.

“All clear,” Lufon said, before lowering his weapon. The undercover CSS then holstered their VACs, and took out their swords, preparing to enter the front gate. The felinian got into a prone position, using his scope to check the different guards patrolling the compound.