Chapter 345: Alone in Undergrowth

Lord Loch walked down the bloodied dirt road with a calm slow gait. He held his arms behind his back as he examined the charred and mauled corpses of his soldiers that were strewn about the ground.

Loch sighed in disgust and disappointment. There was so much smoke in the sky it seemed dark even in the middle of the day. The neighborhood was a scorched graveyard of Undergrowth’s soldiers and mages. Even now, the army was clamoring around the neighborhood’s central square, where the fires had yet to spread.

A soldier clad in slim forest-green armor with a golden trim stood at the back of the army, standing on what seemed to be a small make-shift tower. The soldier noticed Loch’s approach and she quickly clambered down the tower to meet him.

“General Loch!” she said respectfully and went down on one knee.

“Commander Siona,” Loch said tersely. “You were the one in charge of this mission, yes?”

“Y-yes, my lord!” Siona nodded and kept her eyes on his feet.

“And you were given leadership over ten companies of soldiers, a total of a thousand skilled drow men and women, yes?”

“…Yes, my lord.”

“Hm,” he nodded thoughtfully. “Tell me, why is it that I have counted over 50 dead bodies on my way over here? Was it so beyond your meager skill to capture a single master mage? Or am I missing something?”

“…We’ve lost a little over 200 actually.”

“200!? You’re telling me 200 of our soldiers are dead!?” Loch screamed angrily.

Siona flinched, “Um, not exactly, some of them were mages, my lord.”

Loch went for his sword, but he stopped, closed his eyes, and took a slow calming breath, “How did this happen, commander?”

“…The Ebon Aspirant had help, my lord.”

Loch frowned, “Help? The mages of Hollow Shade were spotted on the western side of the city. They managed to break through our army’s barricades with minimal casualties and are now on the run in the forest. Such a feat would have required the help of all their mages and an extremely skilled company of soldiers, House Katag’s guard. So what possible help could the Aspirant have had here?”

“It was a single man, a drow.”

“A single drow…?” Loch gripped the hilt of his sword.

“He’s riding a dire bear!” Siona said anxiously.

“A dire bear…? Binding magic?” Loch clicked his tongue, “Ah, Vayu of House Glaz. Leave it to a true mage to cause more trouble than they are worth.” Loch stiffened, “Wait. You said ‘riding’? He’s still alive?”

Siona nodded, “We have him and the Aspirant surrounded in the central square.”

“…I see. I’m glad to know your ineptitude at least has its limits,” Loch said. “Lead me to them.”

“Yes, my lord,” Siona nodded.

The soldiers at the rear of the crowd quickly stepped back and made way for their general as commander Siona led him to the forefront of the battlefield.

At the center of the square stood a lone dire bear, its thick hide was riddled with cuts and broken arrows. Two figures sat on the bear’s leather saddle, one was a young drow with delicate features marred by blood and soot. The other was hidden underneath a mottled grey cloak. Several dozens of mangled corpses lay at their feet.

A few soldiers ignored the warnings of their comrades and charged the bear. Thin lines of purple light, mind tendrils, shot out from Vayu’s hand and latched onto the soldiers, paralyzing them in place. The cloaked figure summoned a fireball above their head and launched it at the soldiers, incinerating them into smoking husks.

The line of soldiers surrounding the square grimaced in horror and stumbled back a few steps. Loch sighed at the gruesome sight.

“I stand corrected. Your ineptitude seems to have no limits after all,” Loch said sharply. “I’ll take it from here.”

“Yes, my lord,” Siona bowed fearfully.

Loch stepped forward, beyond the soldiers’ line, and clapped his hands together, “Well done, young master Vayu. Your reputation precedes you, your skill with beasts is truly remarkable. I’m sure the Great House of Glaz will be very proud of your accomplishments this day.”

Vayu stared warily at the newcomer, “…And who might you be?”

He bowed his head calmly, “I am Lord Alwin of the House of Loch, Commanding General of Undergrowth’s armies, and loyal servant of Queen Ophelia of the Royal House of Thorn.”

Vayu smiled weakly and wiped the blood from his lips, “Ah, so you're the asshole who made the tracking charm.”

Loch narrowed his eyes, “…I see. You did find the charm… I take it the cloaked individual behind you is not the Ebon Aspirant, then?”

Vayu frowned, “That’s…!”

“It’s okay, they’re too late,” Loh whispered and pulled down her hood.

Loch sighed, “…Elohnoir of the Great House of Noir, I guessed as much. After my spies lost track of you this morning I assumed you would be a problem. But this,” he whistled, “This was at a far grander scale than I had ever anticipated.”

“Glad we could impress,” Loh said between panted breaths.

“Yes, well, Lady Thorn will not see it that way,” Loch said lightly. “No, I imagine she will be quite angry with both of you. She’ll probably torture you, cut off a few fingers, then some limbs. I could convince her otherwise… but that would require some cooperation from the two of you.”

“Cooperation…?” Loh asked grimly, though she already knew the answer.

“Tell me where the Ebon Aspirant went,” Loch said. “My scouts told me that he was not with the group that escaped on the western front. But I get the feeling that you, Elohnoir, know where he is, you are his master after all.”

Loh took a deep breath and spat a glob of blood and saliva at Loch’s feet. “I’d rather die, old man,” she sneered.

Vayu grinned, “I guess you Undergrowthers don’t know the meaning of loyalty, huh?”

“Loyalty… it is a strong bond indeed…” Loch conceded with a small bow.

Tens of empowered stone spikes erupted underneath the dire bear and shot a dozen feet into the air, easily piercing the animal’s body and both his riders. Loh yelled in agony as a spike skewered her thigh and femur. A second spike pierced Vayu’s arm and another impaled his stomach, lifting him 3 meters into the air.

Loch snapped his fingers and released his stone spell. The spikes crumbled into dirt and unceremoniously dropped Vayu and Loh onto the ground. The dire bear collapsed heavily next to them, dead, a myriad of holes leaking blood all over its corpse.

Vayu fell in a sprawl of broken limbs. His eyes rolled into the back of his head and his mouth made a gurgling sound, his lungs choking on his own blood.

“Vayu, NO!!!” Loh screamed and dragged herself towards him, her leg leaving a trail of blood behind her.

Lord Loch shrugged, “Fortunately, mind spells don’t care for loyalty. It’s a shame about Vayu, but it would have been difficult and very time-consuming to try and break the mind of a Purple high-master, especially a true mage at that. But you, Elohnoir? That’s a different story.”

Loch looked down at the whimpering woman without a hint of warmth in his eyes, “After a few sessions, I’m certain my purple mages will break your mind easily. It won’t be pleasant for you, of course. My mages can be quite – indelicate – with their mind spells, you’ll probably suffer permanent brain damage. On the bright side, your mind will give up whatever secrets you're hiding and we won’t have to kill you. Sure, you’ll probably be left in a vegetative state, but at least you won’t be dead.”

Loh ignored his taunting words and cradled Vayu’s head in her arms. Her tears fell and mixed with the blood on his face as she whispered quiet apologies to him.

Loch shook his head in disgust, “Oh, Elohnoir, how did you think this was going to end? I am an archmage, even if you both weren’t at the brink of utter exhaustion, you still would have lost. Has living in the golden comforts of Hollow Shade really left you so arrogant that you’d actually think you could face the might of Undergrowth all alone?”

Loh slowly looked up at him, her shimmering blue eyes glaring at him, “…Someday, my grandfather will find you and your deranged queen, and death will be the least of your worries.”

Loch laughed, “Oh, you stupid girl, do you really think I am afraid of a man who hides behind his precious wall of shades?”

Suddenly, a torrential storm of azure flames fell down from the skies and swept through a large swathe of the crowded city square. The tightly-packed soldiers had nowhere to run as the flames devoured them. Armor and wards alike melted in the scorching inferno. The blue flames grew and spiraled outwards in a flower-like pattern, burning through the square.

Lord Loch stared, dumbfounded, as the flames burned around him, the cries of his soldiers dying in the firelight.

It wasn’t possible, he thought numbly.

The sheer level of destruction… In a handful of seconds, he had lost over 400 soldiers.

Loch stumbled back in fear. He recognized the flames, he had heard the tales, the myths, and whispers. The flame that surpassed all others. The spell that had bestowed Elzri Noir the title of ‘Most Powerful Archmage’ in all the Ebon Realm.

“The Azure Flower…” Loch whispered in dread.

Loh slowly looked up at the flood of flames flowing around the square. There was only one man who could cast the azure flame. “Grandfather…?” she mumbled.

As the azure fires dissipated, a blurred figure appeared at the center of the inferno; a drow wearing a white cloak with a black flame crest etched on its back.

“Grandfather!” Loh cried out in relief.

“How…? You can’t be here!” Lord Loch yelled anxiously.

“You are wrong,” the flames rippled as the quiet yet potent voice spoke.

Loh frowned in confusion, That voice…?

A tall graceful drow stepped out of the azure flames. She wore the white cloak of House Noir. Her eyes were a familiar cold grey and her narrow face held the same disdainful expression. Even her voice was similar. But she was not Elzri.

“You may not fear my brother,” Una Noir narrowed her eyes, “But you will fear me.”

“Get back!” Lord Loch yelled in a panicked voice and summoned forth a wall of stone and vines between them.

Una swept her hand through the air and her fire answered. Azure flames bloomed to life around her and consumed the wall of green magic.

Her daughter Unalla jumped out a window of a nearby abandoned house and raised the massive black sword Votum above her and yelled, “ATTACK!!!”

Forty mages, dressed in the theater garments of the Singing Willow Troupe, rushed out of other nearby houses and charged the remaining scattered soldiers.

Loh looked around, dazed, blood dripping down her head. Vayu was on the ground, his body growing cold as blood seeped from his abdomen. Actors and dancers were running around, casting powerful spells at screaming dying soldiers.

Is this real…? Loh wondered. Her vision blurred into darkness and the world fell into oblivion.