Chapter 935: By The Skin Of The Teeth
Dropping onto the ground, Raven took a final glance at his companions. His party was suppressing their surprise and confusion with masks of confidence, but every time their gaze shifted to that now red fur collar around their leader’s neck, it made them wonder if they would have to fight Raven again for one reason or another.
"We’ll be fine," he prayed and turned to the collapsed wall a few feet away.
The tridents moved further into the kingdom from above them, casting a dark shadow on the already darkened city. Smoke and dust fizzled through the air, choking everyone who stood amidst the chaos. Thanks only to Mel’s wind magic did the group not succumb to the aerial poisons surrounding them from everywhere.
Walking on the ground, the hero could see more than what he could from the tridents. The smoke clouds were obscuring the details, but even amidst it all, Regalia had managed to pinpoint the council leader. With great care to not topple the crumbling wall any further, Raven stepped as light as a feather and approached the horned demi-human.
"W-who is there?" Startled by the coarse voice, the party stopped dead in its tracks. Melenai’s head lifted at the same time, her face all bloodied and her left horn broken near its base. Through swallowing and coughing, the demi-human wiped her face with her right hand while the left remained pinned under a pile of rubble. "I thought...I thought it was over. Are you with the barbarians?"
Her voice came strained with effort as she stared at Raven and the rest of his party. Unable to make out their faces through the layer of dried blood caked over her eyelashes, she narrowed her eyes and leaned back against a stone behind her.
"Fuck..." Resting her head against the crumbling pile, she looked into the sky. Her hands reached for the heavens with a faint smile on her face. Slowly, the heroes began their approach, stepping light as ever to prevent any more rocky downpour. A chuckle from the bard broke their pace. A few loose stones fell beside Melenai, but as if not at all concerned for her life, she simply smiled and waved her bloodied fingers at the sky, painting.
"And they would tell the tale of the tragic bard. She wrote, she sang, and she served idiots for centuries! HAHA!"
"Melenai?" Whispering her name, Raven tried to get her off her ramblings.
"Her word was her gift, oh, a pitiful thing. She could’ve done so much, and yet she did so little!" The laughter quickly turned to sobbing, though her fingers continued to paint her rhymings. "Melenai Curlhorn was her name! A waster amongst many, and the bard who recorded her own end."
As if her threat had been waiting to be cut, Melenai’s hand fell as soon as she was done talking. Her body went limp in a second, and her eyes closed slowly. And yet, as Raven looked at her with a haunting feeling looming right over him, he noticed her chest moving ever so slightly.
"She’s unconscious, breathing still..." With that said, he started directing his companions to secure the demi-human from any rocks that may fall during her rescue. In the meantime, Will-O, who had insisted on tagging along, had decided to heal the injured woman.
The faerie’s magic worked slowly, given the situation, any help was an improvement. And while the party rescued Melenai, hoping they could learn more about what happened in their absence, Regalia was leading the rescue teams throughout the city streets. But to her surprise, they weren’t the only aid that had arrived.
Kara, the high priestess of Aphrodite, was amongst the rescuers. Leading a congregation of her own that served the dead goddess. Under her lead, the worst of the injuries were being healed, and the distressed were being comforted by men and women of a dead faith. The sight left a bitter taste in Regalia’s mouth, but there was little she could do about it at the moment.
"Where did they come from?" At a cursory glance, those were the only helpers the kingdom of Eclanor had received, but as Regalia noticed Garcia running through the streets, a glimpse of her lucky coin burning with a silver light reminded her of Fortuna.
’Is the vampire here as well? Did Mesmerazia help too?’ What exactly happened here, however, nobody yet knew. First came the rescue and putting out the fire, then everything else. But on that list, the account of what happened here was bound to be the first. ’Damn it. Let’s get this done and check on Aesteradia and the islands next!’
Eclanor was far from the only place that needed their help. Who knows what occurs beyond the shifting dunes of the oceanic desert? Aesteradia was one thing, but beyond the drop of the plateau and Lululalia, a whole ocean separated them from the rest of their territories. Still relying on the devil to take them to those places as well, everyone worked as swiftly as possible. But leaving without an answer to numerous riddles was also not possible.
’We’re gonna have to load these people up into the ships. Leaving them here now would be a huge mistake.’ Redirecting her efforts from rescue to evacuation, Regalia, with the help of the winged soldiers, quickly began carrying the people of Elcanor inside the tridents. But as many were carried up, half as many looked down at their homes now burnt. Their families scattered, and their senses overwhelmed by the true horror of war.
While they were fighting in another land, their own land was invaded. The enemy wasn’t stupid enough to waste such an opportunity, and thus, the morale of such soldiers quickly weakened. Lifted by hopes that one day their families wouldn’t have to fear the threat of the demon lord, they’d set out to rid the world of him. Now, doubt was setting in more than the fields of battle itself.
Was anyone truly safe? Whether fighting or not? Should we stay with our families and protect them if the need arises, or continue on this journey beside the hero, no matter what happens? The answer couldn’t have come easy, and nothing could be said until the flaming kingdom of Eclanor was no longer flaming.
