Scarlett felt it as much as she saw it. His loss resonated inside of her just as it had in her dreams. Another descendant was gone. The emptiness was too much. And now Hanks was gone too, dropped over the side of the watch tower.

Things seemed to be working out. The force field was keeping the mages and the mutations outside the walls allowing the mortals to regroup. Shaw stood on one of the battlements to watch the sorcerers battle outside the barrier. The horde had been thinned out to almost nothing. Shade and Alex were like a force of nature in the field against an army of mages.

The camp was now in a frenzy as the battle tipped out of the mage’s favour. What was supposed to be a simple operation had been upended. How could they have known about our tactics , Valerius wondered. He looked at his men, wondering if there was a traitor amongst them. Many had already spoken out against his decision to go to war, but none would be foolish enough to go against him.

The flare soured high into the sky, allowing everyone on the perimeter to see the signal. As soon as Shaw witnessed it, she smiled. Perfect , she thought.

Rebecca Shaw was on the wall, distributing their defences along the perimeter. Scouts had already clocked mages out there, so they were just waiting for the next assault. Clark relayed the parlay over the radio, ordering everyone into position. They had no idea if they’ll attack from air or land. They were also prepared for an ambush from teleporters. General Sherman was in the process of preparing countermeasures for that possibility.

It took less than a week to mobilise the Guard into an army. It took a day to transport them via a series of jump points established by Balthazar in that time to the staging area in the Unknown Region. It took less than a day to fortify their position, sheltered in a valley behind a mountain and a forest atop a hill. The rest of their time preparing for the coming battle.

Shade returned later that afternoon, as promised, carrying a bundle of clothes Shaw had collected in Alex’s size. He found himself a little apprehensive this time as he approached the flat they had put Alex up in. he adjusted the collar of his jacket and the strap of his sword. None of them had removed their weapons since arriving. We must be ready for an attack at any moment, the General might say. If what Alex had told them was true, they would expect something soon. They w

It took a long while for her vision to come back from the inky blackness, her mind foggy and woozy as she opened her eyes. The insistent claws of sleep pulled at her as she dragged herself awake, blinking through the uneasy haze to find she was staring at a ceiling. She peered up through narrow slits until feeling began to return. Everything felt numb and heavy.

Hanson returned with a report late that evening. He found the High-King in his office. For once Balthazar wasn’t present. “My King” he announced.

Emma walks through the corridors that evening at a snail’s pace. She had requested she go to her room after the incident with Alex fleeing the Citadel. She couldn’t stomach being in the room with her father and Balthazar while they plot to invade the Unknown Region.

The Guard sprinted to the broken window and watched the sorceress fly into the sky, her plume of blackness sweeping unsteadily between the towers. Hanson ran up and looked at the window before glancing down at the drops of blood on the floor. “She’s injured” he announced. “She won’t be able to get far. Alert the perimeter Guard. Get scouts in the air. I want to know the moment she makes landfall” he barked.

Morning came and the apprehension was evident on everyone’s face as they entered the council chamber. The Council were not in attendance today, at the request of the High-King. He wanted to bring only those in the inner circle up to speed, so he couldn’t afford to let what he was about to share get out into the Realm.

After the gruelling fight with Fagan, Shade felt like he could sleep for a week. Unfortunately, they didn’t have time to rest.

The valley was blanketed in a thick fog of dust when the group climbed down the cliff. It was impossible to see anything as they ran in blindly. The rain had stopped leave the air still and calm. The soldiers raised their guns when they heard growls from ghouls, drawn by the noise of the duel. They didn’t waste time with knifes and shot each one that lumbered into view in the head. Scarlett sprinted ahead, against Shaw’s instructions, cutting through the knees and necks of mu

The maelstrom imploded before their eyes and everyone saw the light and the fire and the lightning can pulled into the Valley. Then the explosion ripped through the space like an atomic bomb.

Everybody felt the earthquake and heard the roar. But they couldn’t actually see the monster that had emerged from the Valley save for the dark shadow illuminated by the lightning within the maelstrom. And what they did see brought the hairs on the back of their necks on end.

Unmai Kettai was a very old and dangerous tradition. The guidelines were simple: two duellists enter the fight, only one emerges. The duel, once accepted, cannot be interrupted by outside forces. Nor can it be ended until either one or both opponents are killed.

Across the Valley, the mages found a suitable spot to observe the challenge. Far enough away so as not to interfere, but close enough to monitor the situation. “Are you sure we’ll be safe here” Kaleb asked aloud.

Shade lowered the radio with a haunted look, everything dissolving into white noise around him as Fagan’s voice disappeared into the static. “Damn you Fagan” he whispered, dropping the handset to the floor.

After several days being confined to the Citadel, Emma was frustrated to say she was beginning to adapt to her new normal. Following her father around and staying by his side like the loyal daughter he forced her to be was proving to be at least illuminating. It was true, she never took into account the decisions he was forced to make on a day to day basis. She never made time to pay attention to the politics of ruling the Realm, something she really should take into account