The garden froze.
"Kaer'valeth... shel men'thura... vi'sharal... aketh..."
The words vibrated.
Wet.
Layered.
Like throats filled with blood.
Every reanimated servant and knight repeated it in perfect unison.
The smell hit next.
Rot. Perfume.
All mixed together to form a sweet smell of decay.
The music had long stopped.
The laughter.
Silenced.
Now, only terror remained.
"Veils…" Eimira murmured.
A goblet shattered
One man staggered backwards. "W-what is this…?"
A noblewoman panicked. Fear written on her face.
She ran, her silk scraping the stone.
This sudden movement alerted a nearby veil. It jerked upward like a puppet and landed directly in her path. It seized her skull.
Crack.
Her head folded before the scream fully formed.
Steels hissed from scabbards.
"To arms! Protect the nobles!"
Knights and Vanguards took action.
The veils surged.
Bones snapped with dull pops. Limbs twisted unnaturally. Flesh slid over flesh with a sickening wet pull. Two veils collided and did not separate. Their bodies fused.
Dozens followed.
They started becoming one whole cluster.
I couldn't breathe.
The air felt thick.
Beside me, Eimira's blade rang free.
Aeris and Aqualis warped around her blade, forming a spiral that whooshed with tremendous force.
"Ryona! Feona!" She yelled.
Boot scraped the ground in perfect rhythm.
Ryona dashed past us, unsheathing her twin blades.
The veils began to spit out red glowing goo at her, but Ryona dodged effortlessly. Weaving past as she advanced.
She made five heavy steps, using Terra, and four circular slabs of earth shot up, circling around her. They deflected oncoming goo.
"I'm going in." She yelled.
Whoosh.
Whoosh.
Two arrows tore past Eimira and I. Feona had shot them.
"On the way." Feona replied.
"Ungh." Ryona jumped, as Feona's arrows passed under her, piercing through the veil cluster.
Ryona joined both ends of her twin blades, linking them.
She took a stance, about to lunge into the cluster. The circular slabs around her flattened, becoming longer and sharper.
I could feel a rise in energy level coming from her as she seemed to be powering up her next attack.
Fwoom!
Ryona became a spear. Piercing through the heavy cluster of veils, leaving a huge gaping hole in the middle.
Eimira held her sword before her face.
Her eyes opened. The right glowed blue. The left shone green.
"Dragons of the sea and wind. Hear my cry."
She struck.
The impact boomed. The ground cracked. The cluster of veils imploded, bodies bursting into red spray and splintered bones. The scent of blood thickened instantly.
The other vanguards did the same, in their own way, and the clustered veils went down. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Then suddenly.
The debris and torn flesh stopped in its place, as if time itself had frozen.
Ryona's jaw dropped.
"What the…"
The veils vibrated.
I tapped Eimira."What's going on?"
"I-I-I don't know." She stuttered.
The bones began knitting again.
Skin crawled. Muscles reattached with wet snaps.
They returned. Bigger. Stronger.
One lunged towards a corner, where nobles had sought shelter. Their screams echoed.
Chichi landed in between. She struck the ground with her hammer.
The impact shook the garden.
Stone erupted upward, forming a dome around her and the nobles.
The veil crashed into the dome. It slammed both its bloodied fist on it. Only to be pushed back by a heavy gust of wind.
Tabbi.
She stood atop the roof of the pavilion. Her catalyst floated above one hand, as she used the other to control Aeris.
To think the once beautiful and peaceful garden is now this bloody hell.
"Hey, Aevorah." Someone called out.
Eimira turned, and it was the captain that had greeted us earlier.
"It's getting a bit dangerous here—" she stopped mid-speech to slice the veil that attacked her. "Don't you think it's about time you tell your guest to go hide?"
"Gah—" she grunted. "It's hard to fight if you have to worry about protecting someone."
Eimira turned to me.
No words.
Just her eyes.
"Got it." I didn't hesitate.
I bolted.
As I ran to seek shelter, I couldn't help but think of what the veils said.
'Why did I understand it? I was lost in thought.
"Zandren!"
"Uhh?"
I was being charged by a veil. I hadn't noticed it there earlier.
'Too fast… I don't think I can dodge this.'
Its jaws opened, as it got nearer.
'Is this… the end?'
I closed my eyes.
Nothing hit.
When I opened them, the world dragged.
Sound stretched thin.
'Am I dead?' I thought.
Seeing the veil still in front of me answered my question.
A heartbeat thundered, grabbing my attention.
"Heart."
I heard them.
The people who became the veils.
The veil inched closer. Its chest didn't pulse.
I scanned around.
"Ah, there it is."
The heart of the veil was at a place no one would ever think of striking.
The thigh.
"How am I going to cut through tha—"
Whoosh.
Ryona pulled me away just as the veil struck
Saving me in the nick of time
"Bitch. If you're gonna run, at least run right."
"I think I know how to kill these things." I said, breathing heavily.
She laughed."Three Captains are here, and can't kill them, but somehow you know how to?"
I rolled my eyes. "Just listen to me dammit."
I stood. "They spoke to me—"
"Who?"
"The people who became the veils. They spoke to me."
"And what'd they say?"
"This might sound stupid but—" I exhaled. "but the only way to kill them is to pierce through their legs."
She hit my head with the base of her sword. "Zandren, this is not the time to joke."
"Ouch." I rubbed my head.
A normal veil saw us. It screeched at us and began charging.
I held out my hand. "Give me that."
"What?"
"Hurry.." I yanked her blade out of her hand.
I stepped forward, as the veil approached.
It got closer and swung a hand.
I crouched, dodging the attack, and latching on to its legs.
"AHHHHH."
I stabbed the veil on its leg.
It froze in its place. The body began to disintegrate, turning into black ash that smelled like burnt flesh.
I inhaled sharply, and turned to Ryona with a big smile on my face.
She chuckled softly. "I guess I was wrong."
I tossed her back sword. "Share this info. I'll do the same."
She caught it. "Na, go hide or something, princess."
"Hng" I grunted as I stood. "No, I have to do my part. And I'm not a princess."
She handed me a dagger. "At least take this. I don't want to see my captain cry tonight."
I thanked her, and we splitted up.
I had one goal in mind, and that was to inform Eimira about what I'd just discovered.
While Ryona handled telling the other Vanguards.
The information spread fast as I could see the decrease in the amount of veils.
"Seems she did her part well."
"Grrr." I pierced the leg of a veil. "It's left for me to do mine."
The battle had spread and was on the verge of leaving the palace, into the capital where many people are currently celebrating the festival of Elruka.The aim now was to contain this.
Eimira was on the south side of the garden, where the fused veils were plentiful.
"Ahh. There she is." I finally spotted her.
"Eimira… E-Eimira." I called out under heavy breathing.
She engaged a fused veil, slicing through one of its legs.
The leg disintegrated.
The veil writhed and lashed out, but Eimira flooded it with Aqualis. Water crashed over the creature. A blast of Aeris followed. The water froze instantly, locking the veil in place.
Eimira stepped in.
Steel flashed.
One slash. Then another.
Her blade moved in a blur, carving through its limbs.
The ice vibrated, then shattered into fragments. Dark mist escaped the ice as the veil disintegrated.
"Phew." Eimira sheathed her sword.
I walked closer. "I guess you already figured out how to kill them."
"Hmm." She dusted her dress. "I traced the flow of blood to its source."
My brows furrowed. "You can do that?"
"Yeah…" she answered.
We both left the south side and headed to the main garden. The fight was still going on, but the veils had dwindled in quantity.
A vanguard member drove his spear into a leg. The veil screeched, trying to grab his head, but it turned to ash.
"Finally." Eimira sighed.
He lowered his spear.
"I think that's the last on—"
A wet puncture sound cut him off.
A hand burst from his stomach.
Blood sprayed on nearby flowers, turning them red.
A tall broad figure stood behind him.
Pale skin. Tired eyes and long dark hair that dropped down.
Thud!
He flicked the captain aside like a rag.
"Hmm… Still— im…perfect." he stammered.
Then he vanished.
Five knights and two vanguard members fell before they could even have the chance to defend themselves. Heads struck the ground with hollow thud.
"I'll… need re..placements."
He sighted Eimira. "You.. seem st…rong enough."
Silence.
"Sutjoh."
His words reverbed.
He smiled, then charged at her.
Eimira couldn't move. She was bound by something.
I saw this and stepped in the line of his attack. My body had moved on its own.
Boom.
My fist connected with his jaw.
He staggered backwards. "H-How c...an you mo..ve"
'What does he mean?'
I turned around and finally realised I was the only one that could move.
"S-So, he l…ives." He laughed. "M-Master did say not to g..get into fights."
He lifted a hand.
"Rise, for death is not your fate."
The words crawled visibly through the air. Symbols floated all around the garden.
The fragments of the disintegrated veils rose into the hair. Entering the body of those he had just killed.
"I— n..eed to sleep n…ow"
He ripped out an arm from one of the fresh bodies, and drank the blood that flowed from it, mockingly. He knew they couldn't do anything so he taunted them.
Everyone strained, but couldn't move.
"I am Devorakh." He said, eyes locked on me. "We will meet again, Zandren."
He didn't stammer this time.
He waved me goodbye and walked out of the garden like nothing happened.
Everyone regained their ability to move after he left. Some fell on their knees, mourning their fallen comrades. The nobles came out of hiding, most were trying to find the bodies of their closed one, but didn't.
I stumbled.
Eimira ran to me. "Are you hurt? Your eyes are closing…"
"How... Did he know my name?"
I blacked out.
****
Darkness.
Cold. Heavy.
Chains clinked behind me.
A version of myself knelt in the void. Shackles bit into his wrists. The chains connected to the shackles pulsed a dull red colour.
A chain snapped.
The sound echoed endlessly.
"You felt it, didn't you?" He said.
His voice, old and tired.
"You again…"
I felt a sharp pain rising from my fingers. Darkness curled around my fingers and up my hand, stopping just at the elbow.
"Assh."
"Protect her." He sobbed. "We can't fail for the fourth time."
"What do you mean?"
The darkness around us began flaking apart.
"Wait.." I grunted. "Protect who?"
"Protect. Her.
"Waaiitt."
****
I woke to the crackle of fire.
"So warm…" I murmured.
The crickets outside. Distant. Steady.
I turned.
Eimira lay beside me.
I moved closer. Her hair still smelled of rose and Jasmine, but it was faint.
She stirred. "You talk a lot when you sleep."
Her voice, thick with exhaustion.
I laughed, quietly. "I'm sorry. I'll try to keep it down next time."
She rolled a little, facing me with her eyes still closed. "Mmm. Good. I was winning an argument with a talking Ember wolf before you started whispering all that 'Void this, Devorakh that' crap."
I just smiled, looking at her face. Calm. Almost peaceful, but tired.
"Thanks for staying," I said softly.
"Well...," she tugged the blanket tighter around herself. "you saved me from whatever that was."
"Hmm.." I leaned closer, voice low. "You looked beautiful today.
She cracked one eye open. "Too bad, we spent most of the night fighting. The dress got ruined also."
"You still look beautiful without the dress."
She giggled quietly.
"Can you both cut the crap? We are trying to sleep." Ryona interrupted.
"Come on Ryona, don't be such a buzz kill," Chichi replied.
"We should just exit the room and let them get at it." Feona chuckled
I sat up. "You guys were here?"
"Yeah, due to the attack everyone is on high alert just incase "that"comes back."
"Did you guys see her face when Zandren jumped in between her and that demon?" Ryona asked.
"Haha, yeah, she didn't expect it." Chichi answered laughing while sitting up
"Her knight in shining armour." Feona teased.
"It's even more funny when Zandren collapsed like the princess he is, after the whole thing." Ryona added.
" "Zandren, Zandren, no, no wake up please"" Feona joked
They all laughed. I turned to see Eimira wide awake, flushed red and fuming.
"You little piece of...."
****
Door locks
"I guess we will be spending the rest of the night outside," Feona said.
Ryona banged on the door. "Hey Mira, can you at least pass us some blankets?"
Door opens
Eimira threw three blankets.
"Thanks booboo" Ryona teased."Try not to wake Tabbi with the bed creaks"
They all laughed.
The laugh died down after a while and they continued chatting till they fell asleep.
Eimira and I were still awake. She had something on her mind, but it seemed like she didn't know how to ask.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
She scooted closer. "I-I'm kinda cold"
"Uhh?"
"Never mind" She shied away.
I grabbed her and pulled her into my arms. "Hehe, I'll keep you warm."
"Uhm" she snuggled closer. "T-Thanks.
"Good work today." I stroked her hair. "Now, rest."
"Hmm."
"Goodnight."