Chapter 9: First Mission
(Kai)
“Ro doesn’t look very happy.” Serafina whispered to Jet as they trudged along the muddy path towards the secluded town. Kai could hear Jet’s audible sigh of annoyance. Amber would not shut up about the stupid Homecoming Dance, which wasn’t for at least another several weeks, and Serafina was being, well, Serafina. Ro was the fifth year student who they were supposed to shadow on this supply run. If Kai recalled, she was Tah’m’s sister. Chan had spoken with Tah’m and requested her to help them. She didn’t seem too pleased about it, though. She was a little shorter than Ersa with toned muscles and a scar running down the right side of her face, making her look more menacing than friendly. She had royal blue hair in a low ponytail, dark tan skin, and cold blue eyes that glared at everything. She was wearing a simple black tank top and olive shorts, her weapon concealed in her pocket. Or pockets. Kai had no clue as to what it was.
On top of the mission being a form of punishment for them all-decided by Chan- they were being graded as well. The mission was an easy A, according to Chan. They all needed the extra credit after their shitty first week. Individually, they had all excelled in their own ways in class, but as a team they sucked. Kai could hardly believe they’d all had such a bad first week of school. Then again, orientation was a mess, so maybe he should’ve expected the worst.
They had flown to the outskirts of the South Lotah forest all night in a Pegasus-drawn carriage. The driver refused to drive them any further, muttering something about a curse and deadly flying Erseugen on his way out.
A heated conversation flared up between the leaders of the group, grabbing Kai’s attention. He listened up ahead to Ro’s conversation with Ersa and Chan, drowning out the others beside him.
“…two weeks of being a team and you’re already this far behind?!” Ro scolded the coleaders. “You peons are going to be the reason I fail this year.” Ro rubbed her temples, clearly wishing she had been stuck with any other team, but theirs.
“Are you serious?” Ersa spat, pissed. “What the hell is wrong with you, you’re supposed to help bring us together as a team, not tear us apart.”
“Oh, you’re already doing just fine tearing yourselves apart.” Ro shot back.
Ooh, this was way more entertaining than whatever the others were going off about. Kai would never admit it aloud, but he loved seeing Ersa angry. She was usually so cool and confident. As a contrast, her angry side was sometimes just as bad as Pyaar’s. As long as that anger wasn’t directed at Kai, he’d gladly observe.
“Well,” Chan butted in. “We are still first years-”
“At least we recognize when our team needs help before it’s too late.” Ersa fired.
Ro abruptly stopped walking. “What happened to my team is none of your goddamned business!” She hissed through gritted teeth.
“Maybe.” Ersa smirked and continued walking.
​
An uncomfortable silence fell over everyone. Not even Serafina had anything to say, though she was too busy admiring the flora to do so anyway.
​
Finally they walked up to a rusty old gate that towered over the surrounding trees, the entrance to D’Angelo, the Walled City.
​
Ro flashed a code on her phone before they let them in.
​
They were greeted by a skinny graying man in a tattered suit and a thin woman who looked more dead than alive as she stared at them through bent glasses.
​
Kai frowned as he surveyed the area. What kind of shit was this? This mission was supposed to be simple. Just “go in, give them the supplies, get out.” At least that’s what Ro had assured them… This place looked like it needed some major TLC.
​
The man sighed, fake smile fading quickly. “I thought they’d be sending real guardians. Not some half-baked wannabees.” His nose curled in disgust. Kai raised an eyebrow. What an ungrateful asshole! They should just turn around and leave. Say they got lost or something. Couldn’t find the fucking pit.
​
“Milord Adam!” the woman gasped. Oh good, she’s not dead at least.
​
Kai felt Ro, Ersa, and Pyaar all tense up, anger boiling between them all.
​
“Our apologies, sir.” Chan stepped forward. “But allow us to show you our true strength before you pass judgement. We may look inexperienced, but our strength combined could make even a hydra-dragon bend to our will.” He stated confidently. Pfft. Yeah, right. Kai rolled his eyes.
​
“Tch.” Lord Adam snuffed. “We’ll see.” He gave a deep sigh. “C’mon. I’ll give you the tour. Barbara, take notes.”
​
“Yes, Milord.” The woman said in a small voice.
​
They followed as the sickly duo told them about the town. Trade had been cut off to the town for months, due to the increase in Erseugen activity in the surrounding woods. Also King Eita’ah had cut the town’s budget.
​
“The wall is hundreds, if not thousands of years old.” Barbara whispered to Kai. Like I care. “Erseugen constantly threaten the safety of our town. It’s gotten a lot worse recently. We can barely sustain ourselves anymore. The biweekly support the university sends us is all we get, but it’s still not enough.”
Why the hell is she talking to me? Just leave me alone. I could care less about a crummy old wall. Kai grumbled in his head. For some reason everyone felt the need to bother him. Apparently he didn’t look as unapproachable as he thought. Damn. He’d have to work on his image.
“This is the wall’s weakest point.” Lord Adam droned on, gesturing towards a huge crack from the middle of the wall up that was haphazardly filled with mud.
“Soon the Erseugen will break through and the town will be decimated.” He huffed. “But I bet that’s just what that bastard king wants, to be rid of us for good.”
“Milord!” Barbara gasped.
​
“Shut up, Barbara!” he yelled. “I’m sick and tired of this bullshit. You know it’s true. We are a town of nearly 90% human and the king hates humans. Well, I’ve had enough.” He pointed menacingly at Chan. “You all must destroy every last Erseugen in this forest. That is my demand.”
“But-” Ro stepped in to protest.
“Every. Last. One.” Lord Adam angrily demanded. “Or I’m not signing over any paperwork saying that you came and did your job. You either get rid of them or go back empty handed. I want every last one of those monsters dead!” he glared at them all then angrily stomped off.
“I’m so sorry.” Barbara looked at them all, scared out of her wits, then ran off after Lord Adam.
“What the hell?!” Pyaar looked at the lord’s retreating figure.
Kai frowned and looked around this stinky, dirty, rotten town. What the hell had they signed themselves up for?
“Let’s set up camp here, I guess.” Ro frowned and dropped her backpack.
“Yay! I love camping!” Serafina beamed.
“Have you ever been?” Amber looked at her with her mesmerizing light blue eyes.
“Nope.” Serafina admitted and began to help pitch the tent.
“What are we supposed to do?” Amber asked after the tent had been set up. It was a simple cream canvas tent that was surprisingly bigger on the inside. Everyone had claimed a different section of the tent with their belongings. Kai was right where he wanted to be: in the darkest corner.
“About what?” Jet side-eyed her as she ate some beans from the supplies they brought.
​
“Um, hello? About the Erseugen?” Amber frowned adorably at her angry counterpart.
​
“Kill the Erseugen.” Pyaar grumpily stated. “Nobody likes or needs them anyway.”
​
“I’d rather leave…” Chan added. “I don’t feel comfortable charging in blindly. We can go back to the university, gather more information, then return when we’re better prepared.”
​
“We can’t leave!” Ersa stood up defiantly. Oh, gods. Here we go.“We can’t get a fail on this! This is extra work we requested. That would look terribly on our record. Plus, did you see the state of this place? Did you notice as we toured the town not a single other person was seen? We can’t just leave them here to rot and die.”
​
“Little miss perfect’s all riled up.” Pyaar commented under his breath.
​
“What say you, Ro?” Chan looked over. Ro was staring defiantly out the tent’s entrance, which they had placed so they could face the wall.
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“Wait.” She turned to them “I’ll tell you my decision in the morning.” She walked out to examine the wall closer.
​
“Great.” Kai sighed from his corner of the tent.
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“I don’t want to hear any sass from you.” Ersa glared at Kai, shutting him up.
​
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Eventually everyone fell asleep. All but Kai, Serafina and Ersa, who were taking the first watch.
​
“How many do you think are out there?” he heard Serafina ask through the zipped tent. Since she was a demon, she could see as clearly in the dark as she could in the day, so she’d stay out for most of the night.
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“Erseugen?” Ersa’s shadow turned to Serafina who nodded in the bright moonlight. “In this area, I’d say about three hundred. Way too many for a group of inexperienced guardians in training like us to conquer. Perhaps if we were all in our prime… But even then the odds are too risky.”
​
“Pfft.” Serafina brushed off Ersa’s doubt. “I can do anything I put my mind to. That’s what my daddy says anyway. If I wanted, I could destroy them all!”
​
“I’m sure you could.” Kai could hear the smile in Ersa’s voice. “But would you be able to exercise enough control that the town and all the innocents would be safe? What about the trees? The animals living in it? On top of that, there are those Erseugen who have become domesticated. How would you tell them apart from the savage beasts?”
​
Serafina was silent.
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Ersa’s shadow walked over to her, abandoning her post to put a gentle hand on her puffy-sleeved shoulder.
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“You’re doing great, Serafina, you really are. It’s just that sometimes not even the greatest of us can accomplish the impossible.”
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“You could, though.” Serafina sounded like she was pouting.
​
Ersa was silent for a moment. Kai’s eyelids were growing heavy when he felt a chill run through him.
​
“Do you sense that?” Serafina sniffed the night air. “Something’s coming.”
​
She thwaped her fan open, her newest choice of weapon. She still couldn’t commit to just one, but the fan had served her well for the past week, so she chose to bring it. It was a really nice fan, actually. She had gotten her friend Oma’ar to help her forge it. The metal tips were sharp and deadly. The fan itself was a light lavender with pink roses all over. Kai was a little jealous, it was a nice weapon. It suited her well.
“Serafina!” Ersa hissed, drawing her back into focus. “Wake the others, NOW!”
Serafina ran back into the tent. She took a deep breath in and yelled “ERSA SAYS WAKE UP!”
Kai jumped out of his sleeping bag, kunai and chain in hand.
Everyone else groggily got out of bed. As they did, the ground began to shake.
They heard a crack and boom and ran outside to see the wall crumbling and a stampede of Erseugen rushed in like a river of death. Kai saw recognized several beowolves and scyllus, among many others he had never encountered before. The phalaris stood out to him the most, with it’s huge horns, boar-like features, and firebreath. Those would be particularly fun to deal with, he was sure of it. Overhead several winged beasts swooped in, the carnage beginning.
“Hurry!” Ersa commanded as Kai crouched, ready to go.
Serafina followed Ersa and began casting explosive glitter-ball spells at the monstrous creatures.
(Chan)
“Oh my gods!” Chan groggily stepped outside the tent, quickly slapping himself awake.
There were dozens of Erseugen flooding in through the broken wall. Chan stood for a moment, fixated on the catastrophe, when Ro stepped in.
“Lux, and Amber, go further in and protect as many civilians as possible! Pyaar and Ersa, you will try to kill as many Erseugen as possible- since you’re both so bloodthirsty. Kai go west, Jet East. Stop as many Erseugen as possible. Serafina, Chan and I will plug up the hole and stop the monsters from coming in. Now move!”
They all ran off in their respective areas, some more reluctantly than others. Ersa and Pyaar seemed to grumble the most. Pyaar, Chan had expected, but not Ersa. She really didn’t like Ro. Chan couldn’t fathom why. They were both powerful, smart leaders. They should work together.
Chan ran by Ro’s side as Serafina jumped from out of nowhere and cast a spell. She held up her hands as a purple sparkling bubble plugged the hole in the wall. No more Erseugen could get through.
“Well,” Ro looked at Chan. “That was easy.”
“Serafina,” Chan ran beside the pointy-eared girl. “How long can you contain this spell?”
“A couple hours…” she frowned. “Maybe ‘til morning? I dunno. I’ve never tried before. I guess until I get bored.” she giggled.
“Well, don’t get bored.” Ro commanded, looking off in the distance. “Do either of you hear that ringing in your ears-Chan! Did you see that?!” she pointed up at the top of the wall, momentarily forgetting about the ringing in her ears.
Chan squinted but could only see dark shapes and shadows. He frowned. One of the disadvantages of being human; you couldn’t see in the dark.
“Follow him!” Ro shouted as she ran along the edge of the wall.
He ran after her, barely able to see in the moonlight. He made a mental note to buy some night-vision glasses when he went back to Alteire.
He fell further behind as he kept tripping over stray cats, trash, and even an Erseugen until Ro was out of sight.
He stopped running and looked around. He had made it to the center of the town, which seemed to be surprisingly calm right then. Actually, it was completely calm where he was standing... He couldn’t hear or see any of the chaos that was happening just a few thousand feet from where he currently was. Weird.
Chan looked up and could barely make out in the waning moonlight that he was next to an abandoned temple for the gods. He walked up to the busted door, a strange sense of calm washing over him. He felt like something was calling to him and he made his way around the overgrown foliage without giving it a second thought.
The Alabaster Cyclops had once told him “When the gods call, you betchyer ass ya better answer!” And, even though Chan wasn’t all that spiritual, he could tell that someone-or something- wanted him to come here.
Rapier at the ready-just in case- he made his way to the center of the temple.
There were broken marble pillars that had once stood tall and proud. The stone walls were nearly all gone, and the roof was nonexistent, revealing a dark yet starry sky. There were shattered and rusted statues along the sides. He assumed they were once of the Eleven. At the far end of the temple stood an alter that the moonlight illuminated. At the altar, Chan saw a faint light.
He slowly walked towards it, brushing aside cobwebs and vines. When he got to the light, he realized it was a glowing ball of light, no bigger than a grape with a luminous radiance the size of a grapefruit. He slowly held out his hand, not sure what he was doing. The orb suddenly darted to the left side of the smashed altar. Chan reached to the left, the light responding by flying to the right.
He sighed. Clearly this orb did not want to be caught. “Fine.” Chan said, voice echoing in the quiet. “I’ll leave you alone.”
He turned to go but stopped when he felt a tug on his sleeve. He turned around and saw a beautiful glowing spectre standing before him. He had shoulder length golden hair and fair skin. His stormy grey eyes were soft and kind, but worried. He wore a tattered dirt stained white shirt and ripped denim pants. His bare feet were bloodied and bruised and never touched the ground as he floated above the earth. He wondered if this guy was a lost soul.
“Why do you stare, human?” the man asked in a melodious voice.
Chan took a timid step back. “I’m sorry… It’s just...” he searched for the right words, not wanting to offend.
“It’s alright, Chan. My name is Ana’mur. I’m an angel of sorts. Please, I don’t have much time. As you know, angels are not allowed to be corporeal in the mortal world.”
Chan stood and looked at him, completely confused as to what was happening. He listened patiently as Ana’mur continued.
“I am an angel who serves Hyperion, the god of light. My essence has been split in two in order to protect this town. I’ll have you know this is not very common for eternal beings, angel or demon.” He sighed. “I was cursed centuries ago, just after the Dark Times, because I fell in love with a human and sneaked off to the mortal world to live with her. This place was where we once lived. Together we created this town and started a family here. When Hyperion discovered this, he grew angry. As punishment, I was stripped of my physical form and titles as an angel and forced to watch my love suffer and die at the hands of an Erseugen attack.” He looked away, tears brimming his eyes at the memory.
Chan looked down, empathizing with him. His stomach tightened. Who knew the gods could be so cruel?
Ana’mur wiped his eyes before continuing. “Please don’t hate Hyperion. He was hurt badly and was only doing what he thought was best…” he trailed off. “Anyway, I created the wall with the last of my magical strength in order to protect this town from any more Erseugen attacks. These temple ruins are what bind me here now that the wall has been broken. I need you to fix the wall and set me free so that I may finally pass on and be with my love.”
“But...” Chan finally found his voice. “I thought angels can’t die? Forgive me, but, aren’t you eternal beings?”
Ana’mur smiled. “Yes, but I am no longer a true angel. I was stripped of my titles, authority, dignity, I am nothing more than a spectre with a tiny bit of magic and a title with no meaning.”
“As you wish, Ana’mur.” Chan nodded. When the gods call... “But, please tell me how am I supposed to fix the wall when the Erseugen have destroyed a huge chunk of it?”
“The Erseugen?” Ana’mur laughed. “My boy, it was not the Erseugen who made the hole, but Lord Adam!”
“W-What?”
“Yes, indeed. The wall guards under Lord Adam’s orders are more precise, however.” He shook his blonde hair. “I will attach myself to your soul and lend you the last of my magic to help seal the hole permanently and bring Lord Adam to justice, but afterwards I will leave.”
“What if I fail?”
“Then I’ll be attached to your soul forever.” Ana’mur laughed merrily and turned back into a tiny orb of light. The light flew towards Chan’s chest and went through his armor, filling his whole body with a comforting warmth like one of his mother’s hugs. He smiled at the dark and ran back out the broken temple, quickly finding his way back to the wall.
Serafina was about to lose focus, Chan could tell.
My gods! You have a demon with you?! Ana’mur’s voice filled Chan’s head with disgust and surprise.
Great, Chan thought, now I really do have a voice in my head.
I promise I won’t be here long. Ana’mur reassured him. I don’t want to be here, I want to be with my love.
An image of a homely looking woman with brown hair, a thick neck, and fat rolls entered Chan’s mind.
Cute? Chan thought, shaking his head, trying to focus on the task before him.
I’ll guide you through the incantation. Ana’mur told him as Chan got in position.
I’m ready. Chan told Ana’mur, ready to be done.
(Ersa)
“Fuck yes!” Pyaar yelled as he swung his war hammer at a scyllus’ head, splitting it in two.
“That’s twenty for me!” he called to Ersa, who was standing atop a pile of about two dozen corpses.
“You were saying?” she smirked, blasting a small beowolf behind him.
“Bitch.” He muttered, charging a phalaris before it charged him. He grabbed it by the horns, careful to not get caught by its firebreath.
He picked up the beast, a squeal escaping its lips as he swung it around three times before sending it flying into several others following in its wake.
“Wait!” Ersa called to him. “Do you feel that?” she frowned looking back towards the wall.
“Feel what?” Pyaar called back to her, smashing the arms of a beowolf. “The rush and excitement of a battle?” he grinned, slamming his hammer into the ground, casting a spell that engulfed all Erseugen in the area in thousands of vines that began to strangle them.
“There’s… something familiar….” Ersa frowned, an uneasy feeling forming in the pit of her stomach.
She ducked as a dark winged kuruka swooped overhead. The kuruka were human-sized bats with spikes along its back and sharp fangs. They mostly stalked the night.
“Let’s go back.” Ersa hollered.
“But there’s still Erseugen to kill!” Pyaar protested. “And Ro said-”
Ersa cast Light of Heaven Holy Trinity Cannon, decimating all Erseugen within the area. She turned to Pyaar, face dark and menacing.
“I don’t take orders from Ro.” Ersa spat then ran back towards the wall.
Ersa did not like Ro. Since that morning when they first met, she just couldn’t get along with her. She was like Pyaar, only everyone hated Pyaar. Only Ersa seemed to dislike Ro.
Pyaar jogged after Ersa, catching up with her moments after she had reached the wall.
“That’s ancient magic.” Ersa frowned at Chan’s stance.
Pyaar looked at Chan as he made weird hand signals and danced in a circle. “How can you tell?” he sneered. “He just looks drunk to me.”
Ersa rolled her eyes at him. “And you look like you’ve got a sword up your ass, but we don’t say anything to you.” She sassed.
Pyaar grumbled and opened his mouth to retort when Ersa held up her hand, silencing him.
“I’ve felt this magic before.” She muttered, more to herself than Pyaar.
Ersa slowly walked towards Chan, as though in a trance.
As she neared, Chan ended his spell, a huge blast of golden energy radiating from him. Chan floated several feet in the air before a blast of magic exploded from him, sending Pyaar and Ersa flying several feet back.
When the blast reached the wall, it crumbled like brittle burnt wood.
“What the…?” Serafina turned around, the purple bubble she had conjured disappearing.
“Chan!” Ersa ran over to him as he fell to the ground and collapsed.
“What the hell just happened?” Pyaar stared mouth agape.
What the hell, indeed. Chan had just single-handedly destroyed the town’s only line of defense.
Serafina began fighting the Erseugen that continued to pour into the defenseless town.
“The…spell…” Ersa heard Chan’s weak voice over the shrieks of frightened citizens and cries of the monsters.
“I’m… too… weak… to finish…” Chan gasped. “Ana’mur… the angel…” he coughed.
“You idiot!” Ersa looked in his eyes as they changed from amber to grey. She dropped him and took a few steps back as his body began to glow and change.
“Hey!” Serafina looked at him and frowned. “You’re not Chan.” she turned her weapon on Chan’s glowing body. Ersa could still see Chan, but it was like his figure was slowly merging with a man with golden hair, pale skin, and grey eyes.
“What the hell is going on?!” Pyaar yelled as he smashed the heads of the Erseugen flooding the streets.
“My name is Ana’mur,” the figure in front of them grinned maliciously. “Your friend so graciously gave up his body for me to devour his soul and take over. He’s pretty easy prey.” he laughed. “It’s like my comrades always said; never trust a fallen angel.”
“Shit…” Ersa looked from Serafina to Chan, unsure of what to do. She’d never read about anything like this happening before. How could Chan be so stupid?
Just as she was racking her brain for any kind of ideas, Ro appeared. Anger and hate in her eyes. Ersa’s stomach tightened. What the hell did she want?
“I thought you were supposed to be here with Chan and Serafina?” Ersa accused. “What the bloody hell is going on?”
Ro looked around and tossed something at Ersa’s feet.
Ersa looked down and gulped as she saw a man’s severed head at her feet. Half his face was mauled and bloodied, the other half was frozen mid-scream in terror.
“Ooh!” Serafina ran towards the head and tossed it up in the air like a ball, laughing.
“Serafina, put that thing down!” Ersa commanded. “We don’t know where it’s been. Ro, did you-?!”
“Of fucking course not idiot!” Ro shot back. “This was the guy who destroyed the wall. I was chasing him but an Erseugen got to him first. Now as for you.” she turned to Chan and sighed. “Fucking rookies,” she muttered and reached into her pockets. From her right pocket she grabbed a clear pure magic crystal and threw it on the ground, shattering it. From her other pocket, she took out five crystals. Ersa recognized four of them. One for each of the main physical elements. Blue for water, green for earth, orange for fire, and a milky grey for air. The last one she didn’t recognize. It was a dark purple with glowing blue swirls that moved and changed shapes.
She shattered them each one by one. With each shatter, a glowing wisp of magic flew towards Chan’s receding figure and encircled him as Ana’mur kept trying to devour Chan’s soul.
Ersa watched Ro in awe, mentally taking notes. She kept creating different hand signals and moving into different stances as the magic swirled around Chan. Ersa saw her lips moving as she recited a spell, too far away to understand.
After what seemed like an eternity, Ro stopped and faced away, bowing her head and praying to the god of light, Hyperion.
Chan and Ana’mur’s figure screamed in pain as they began to glow.
“What are you doing?!” Ersa glared at Ro. Was she trying to kill him?
Ro ignored Ersa and continued to pray.
Ersa wondered if she should stop her, but decided to wait a moment longer.
Suddenly a bright light emenated from Chan. Ersa had to turn away from the brilliance. She felt a strange calm wash over her as the light flooded the dirty streets. When it faded, she opened her eyes and, to her surprise, the wall was completely restored. Actually, this wall looked a little taller and stronger than the last.
She turned to see Chan and Ro collapsed on the ground right next to each other. Ersa ran to Chan as Serafina and Pyaar continued to kill the remaining Erseugen.
“Chan?!” she yelled and looked him over. Oh gods, please don’t be dead!
Chan opened his amber eyes and sat up, coughing. “I’m such a fool-” he coughed and reached into his afro, pulling out a water bottle. “Headmaster Damocles was right.” he said after a moment.
Ersa gave him a hug and smiled. “You’re too much.” she teased. Chan smiled and fell asleep in her arms.
Ersa picked him up and carried him over to Ro. She vowed to protect the two until every Erseugen was defeated within the walls. She still hated Ro, but it was the least she could do to thank her for saving Chan.
​
(Kai)
By sunup all Erseugen within the wall had been defeated. Everyone who could, gathered by where the hole had first appeared. There were many broken bodies and spirits. Kai cringed as the fresh smell of blood and rotting flesh overwhelmed his nose. On top of the already nasty smell of the place, this was downright putrid.
This had been a disaster. There was no way they’d be able to get extra credit on this.
“Hi Kai!” Serafina waved him over. She had a scrape on her left hand that was still bleeding.
“Serafina.” Ersa chastised, grabbing her hand. “Dress your wounds or bloody your dress.” She scolded.
“What happened?” Kai asked as the rest of their team slowly trickled over.
“Chan!” he heard Amber gasp at his limp body on the ground. She ran over and fell beside him. “What happened? Is he ok?!” she looked up.
“Oh, he’s fine.” Serafina brushed off. “He went all blinky blinky with the lights and magic then passed out after rebuilding the wall!”
“Chan did that?” Kai looked surprised at this.
“With the help of Ersa.” Serafina beamed.
“And Ro,” Ersa sounded displeased at that. She clutched her right wrist close to her side. Kai had a feeling there was more to the story, but before he could get into it, Ro stood with a burlap sack in her hands. Kai thought he saw blood dripping from it, but he couldn’t be sure.
“Everyone, thank you for coming.” Ro began in a loud voice. “I would like to show you something. Children, and those with a weak stomach, please avert your eyes.” she said then reached into the bag and pulled out the severed head of a pale man Kai didn’t recognize. Half his face was torn apart, the other frozen in a silent scream.
The crowd gasped and Kai heard a few retch or cry. Nervous murmurs flew up around him.
“THIS MAN HAS BETRAYED YOU ALL.” Ro addressed the crowd in a loud voice that would make any man tremble. “HE HAS BEEN WEAKENING THE WALL EVERY NIGHT HE GUARDED IT.” Everyone looked at each other and started murmuring. “TONIGHT HE CAST A SPELL THAT DREW ERSEUGEN TO THE AREA AND LET THEM DO THE REST. HE IS THE REASON FOR YOUR TEARS. HIM AND HIM.” she pointed to a guard who was crying behind her. Kai wondered how he hadn’t noticed him. His hands were bound and he was wearing the bloodied mismatching armor of the city.
“B-but I was just following orders!” the frightened man insisted, looking up in fear at the angry crowd.
A man in the crowd stepped forward and spat on the guard. “Here’s what I think of your ‘orders’.” He sneered. “My wife is lying dead in the streets because of your bullshit orders. What little I had left of my shop is now beyond repairable. What the fuck is wrong with you?”
The crowd behind him seemed to be getting angrier and louder every second, and Kai honestly didn’t blame them.
Ersa stepped forward and held up her good arm. “Please, good people, let him speak. Where is Lord Adam? He must hear this.”
“Well-” the man began.
“Right here.” Barbara interrupted, plowing her way through the crowd, this time dragging Lord Adam with her. He was bound by tight ropes and had a mark on his face that looked like he’d been slapped. “Tell them what you did, you bastard.” She commanded, a fire in her eyes that wasn’t there earlier. “TELL THEM YOU PIECE OF SHIT!” she yelled after a moment of silence.
Lord Adam laughed. “I’ve been working with King Eita’ah this whole time to get rid of this shitty place. The guards were acting under my orders. As soon as this place was reduced to rubble by the Erseugen, I was going to run to the king all emotional like a little bitch and he was going to give me the entire forest to rebuild and make my own castle. My how shit hits the fan, eh?” he smirked.
“What the fuck?” Pyaar whispered next to Kai.
“You humans are pests to this great realm.” Lord Adam continued. “All of you do nothing but piss, fuck, and procreate like fucking rabbits. I hate you all.”
Ersa held up her hand. “I believe we’ve heard enough.”
“Piss off, bitch! I’m not done!”
Ersa turned to him and extended her good arm, thorns rushing out of the ground, trapping and choking him. “You’re done when I say you’re done.” She growled as blood trickled down his arms and throat.
“Hey,” Pyaar hissed. “That’s my spell.”
Kai rolled his eyes. “It’s magic,” he hissed back. “It’s not just yours.”
“People of D’Angelo” Ersa turned to them. “You elected this man as your Lord, we leave it to you to punish him as you deem fit. Once it is high noon, we shall depart.” She turned on her heels and marched back into their tent that was surprisingly still standing.
Ro quickly followed Ersa in and began arguing with her.
Two other guards came from the crowds and took Lord Adam and the other guard to the town’s jail.
The angry crowd dispersed. Amber just sat there next to Chan. Kai admired how people respected Ersa. Well, they did fear her a bit as well, but at least they listened.
“Wanna play some deathscotch?” Kai overheard Serafina asked Amber.
“Uhh…. No thanks…” she happily declined. Ever since Serafina had told them she was a demon, her weird antics and names for things made much more sense. Deathscotch must be a form a hopscotch.
​
Pyaar and Kai carried Chan back into the tent and they all began packing.
“What did she mean?” Amber asked Jet. “He was elected as Lord?”
Jet rolled her magenta eyes. “Amber, we’ve been over this. I’m from Mylocyta. Iilrona’s government makes just as much sense to you as it does to me.”
“Small towns elect their leaders.” Kai piped up, hoping to shut the pair up. “Larger territories the nobility is passed down by birthright or marriage.”
“Ah.” Amber nodded.
“We’d better get the extra credit.” Jet muttered, plopping down by her stuff. “I don’t want to deal with bullshit like this again.”
“We are guardians in training,” Amber reminded her. “I’m sure there’s a bunch more of stuff like this to come.”
​
But should there really be this much shit to deal with? Kai wondered as he packed in silence.