Waiting in front of the gates of an enemy city alone was a nerve-racking experience. I kept my facial muscles tense so as not to portray any emotion. My royal training was coming in handy more than I had imagined recently. "State your business, Elven scum!" One of the guards on the wall spat at my feet. My horse had already returned; he would not accompany me within the city walls. I just calmly looked at the yelling guard without a speck of emotion on my face. He was a young man; he could not be older than 18. Just a child then, I sighed internally, realizing that he would not live past the next few days.
"I come bearing a message from Colonel Bargrave." The guard disappeared from view for a few minutes before the massive wooden gates opened. An entire squad of soldiers wearing the green and yellow of the Yemen Kingdom colors stood waiting for me. Stepping forward with the regality befiting royalty. I followed the soldiers as they led me deeper into the city. The city itself lacked any form of grace. Everything was made from the same dull grey stone.
The streets stretched out before us in long, uniform lines of stone, devoid of any ornamentation or care for aesthetics. There were no carvings, no statues, no banners proudly displaying the kingdom's identity. Just an unyielding function. The buildings were square and practical, their surfaces worn smooth not by time, but by neglect. Even the layout of the city felt… rigid as if it had been constructed with efficiency as its sole purpose, and nothing more.
Soldiers walked in disciplined patterns along the main road, their gazes sharp and unwavering. Yet it was not they that drew my attention. It was the civilians. They stood along the edges of the street, watching silently as I passed. Their eyes followed me with an intensity that bordered on desperation. There was no anger in their expressions, no hatred for the invading force marching toward their walls. Only a deep, suffocating fear mixed with hunger.
It was only upon closer inspection that I noticed it. Their frames were gaunt, their cheeks hollow, their skin stretched thin over bone. Even the children bore the same look, fragile and underfed. It was a sight that did not match what I knew of this land. This close to the Eternal Storm anomaly, the soil should have been impossibly fertile. Crops should have flourished here. Livestock should have thrived. There was no logical reason for a population this starved. Unless that abundance was being taken. My gaze sharpened slightly as I walked, though outwardly I remained as composed as ever. A kingdom does not starve its people without reason. And whatever that reason was, it was not one that would be found on the surface.
One of the guards stepped slightly too close behind me. At first, I thought nothing of it. Their formation had been tight since the moment I entered the gates. But then I felt it, the briefest brush against my shoulder as he stumbled forward, as if losing his footing for a fraction of a second. It was a clumsy display. His hand steadied me, the contact lasting no longer than it should have. To anyone watching, it was nothing more than a minor mistake.
Then his voice reached my ear, so low it was barely more than a breath. "A gift from your father… they are leading you into a trap." The words vanished as quickly as they came. The guard stepped back into formation without so much as a glance in my direction. His expression remained neutral, indistinguishable from the others around him. I did not react. My stride did not falter. My breathing did not change. My gaze remained fixed forward, as though I had heard nothing at all.
But beneath that still surface, my thoughts sharpened. Of course, it was a trap. Bargrave had made that abundantly clear without ever saying it outright. The only difference now was that the enemy was aware of it as well, which meant one of two things. Either they intended to kill me the moment I stood before their king… Or they wanted me alive for something far worse. Neither option was particularly appealing to me. Mentally, I began to cycle mana and aura alike through my body. Preparing myself to react on a moment's notice.
The streets began to widen as we approached the center of the city. The buildings grew taller, though not more refined. The same dull stone persisted, as lifeless as the people who inhabited it. At the heart of it all stood the palace. If it could even be called that. It was nothing more than a larger structure of the same grey stone, its walls thicker, its gates reinforced, but otherwise no different from the rest of the city. There was no grandeur, no attempt at intimidation. Just a fortress built for function. The gates opened without ceremony as we approached. The guards did not slow, nor did they speak. They simply led me inside, deeper into the heart of the structure.
Into the jaws of the dragon. They led me directly to the throne room. Where King Boltimore himself sat on a throne of stone with a silver crown on his head. He looked to be in his mid-thirties with a thick mane of auburn hair falling to his shoulders. He wore silk clothes in a simple fashion. He was a lot smaller than I had expected. With a thin frame and short stature. He did not inspire respect when I laid eyes on him. The only detail that stood out about him was his tired eyes. They were not the eyes of a man willing to wage war for what he believes in. But the eyes of a man who has been pushed around for so long that he could not take it any longer.
"I have come to hear of your swift surrender." A light smile played on my lips as I watched the king. I hated the performative nature of what I was about to do. However, I had no choice but to comply.
"Surrender? To the empire? No, we won't be doing that again." The King's voice was a baritone deeper than I had anticipated.
Looking around at the faces in the room in a performative manner. "From what I can see. Your people are starving. Can you really afford to fight this war?" I seemed to have hit the nail on the head as King Beltimore's face turned purple from anger.
"You have no right to speak of the well-being of my people! Yes, they are starving. They have been starving for a very long time. While you, Imperials, grow fat on their labor. You pillage our lands and claim it to be a protection tax. While my people work till their death just to feed their family. You think I do not know what the court thinks of my kingdom? They call us the loyal dogs of the empire. I think it's time I show that even dogs can bark. Guards kill him!" He practically spat out the last part in his anger. Although his words were shocking. I could not call it surprising. The strong have always taken advantage of the weak. Why would here be any different?
"You should not have done that." I sighed before blinking directly in front of the king. I had no weapons on me as per the agreement. But since when did a wizard need a sword? Aura was imbued into my clawed hand as it gripped Edward Beltimore's throat in a vice. "If anyone moves. He dies." The guards that just a second ago had been charging at me froze. Indecision was written clearly on their faces.
All the while, King Edward looked at me with defiance. Although he was physically weak, the same could not be said about his will. Lifting him from his throne, I dragged him off the stairs. I hated myself for what I had to do. I sympathized with him, I truly did. But I had my orders. "I will be leaving the city now. And I will be bringing the king with me. If anyone moves against me, he dies. If anyone comes too close to me, he dies. If you look at me wrong… You guessed it, he dies." A red cloud dispersed from me as my killing intent was released in full. Some of the younger guards flinched back when they sensed it. While the veteran guards grew tense with wide eyes.
Just like that, I began walking out of the palace with the kind still in my grasp. When I left the palace doors, an antsy young guard shot an arrow at me. Instead of dodging it, I used the king as a human shield. The arrow struck him in his gut. Blood began leaking from the wound, staining his silk clothes. He yelped in pain, but I did not care. I dragged him through the city for all to see. For the first time since entering the city. I saw an expression other than fear on the civilians' faces. I saw genuine hatred as they looked at me. It seems the king was greatly loved by the people. A trail of blood followed behind me as Edward began to pale from blood loss. The guards followed behind me the entire way. When I drew close to the city gates, I tripped, a young guard who drew too close. Taking his bastard sword from its scabbard while he was falling. Only when the gates were opened did I finally let go of the king.
He was so shocked that I let him go that he did not realise until a few moments later. He shot me a confused look before attempting to run away. I say attempting because the second he turned his back to me, I decapitated him in one swift motion. The shock and despair on the faces of the Yemeni people broke my heart. But it was too late now. Picking up his head, I quickly began running away. Crossbow bolts, arrows, and spells followed soon after. Forcing me to run in a zig-zag pattern to avoid being struck.
There were just too many for me to avoid fully. A fire spell struck my back, burning through the leather armor and scorching my skin. On another occasion, an arrow hit my achilles causing me to stumble. Blink was the only thing that saved me from having a crossbow bolt in my chest. When I began to despair that I would never make it. I saw a massive flaming boulder fly overhead. There was a deafening crash when it struck the city wall. A large shadow fell over me. Looking up, I saw a rain of arrows blocking the sky, before striking behind the wall.