Chapter 160

Brenna

Under Siege

The smell of burnt bodies filled the air. The ground spoke of mass graves that had recently been filled with people. Worse, there seemed to be no sign of accountability. The people who were thrown outside the city limits were clearly unable to go anywhere.

“What is going on?” Brenna asked a person who looked like they were in charge.

“The king, he has locked us out of our own houses. He had taken in a surplus of grains, and now that the fields are being unproductive, he hides behind these massive gates.” The man said. As he spoke, he gesticulated wildly, with his arms, causing his robe sleeve to slide up. During this movement, Brenna noted the unmistakable sign of a mana infused tattoo of a seven headed serpent.

Lykan who had been observing from above, also saw the symbol and flew down. Brenna nearly laughed when Lykan appeared next to the man and all but held up the sleeve of the rebel leader. From this close, it was unmistakable that the tattoo on the arm of the man was that of a legendary beast.

“You are Hydra.” Lykan stated.

As he spoke, the man whose sleeve he had been moving suddenly realized how close Lykan was to him. Apparently, the man had not even seen nor felt Lykan arrive, as he nearly jumped from fright. The only reason he did not fall wildly to the ground, was because Lykan made a quick gesture to catch the man before any injury could occur.

As it was, the whole scene caused Brenna to smile and try to hide her slight chuckle behind the large blades of her battle axe.

“What? Who are you?” The man, Hydra said.

Lykan for his part just waved away the question. “I am of no concern to you. Though, I do have to ask, how you became a Hydra?”

“Oh, you probably don’t know. Our illustrious King Philipon is likely the only sod wielding the True King’s Seal, a symbol that grants him absolute authority over his kingdom. Yet, there is supposed to be a catch, the Hydra. For every one of us he kills, two more come up in his place. I believe I am the eight, maybe the ninth if one of the others have met untimely ends recently.” The man shouted, his voice loud enough so that even the guards manning the walls could hear.

Almost in retaliation for such a jab, a few arrows were fired. The people were lined up well outside the firing lines of those manning the gates, but the arrows were still meant as a deterrent. At least, that is what Brenna thought the point of the arrows was. A cheap way to cow the protesters into submission and make them leave early. What they did was draw the ire of Lykan.

Within a second the wind began to pick up, as Lykan shot into the air moving twice as fast as the standard arrows that were fired. The four arrows that were fired, were all picked up by Lykan, as he rode the wind to the fastest path to intercept each arrow.

Once each arrow was captured, he quickly twisted the arrow around and hurled it back at the offending archer. Each shot was returned to land an inch under where the archers had taken up their stances. Of course, the whole thing happened so quickly, and the blocks of stone were so thick, that Brenna assumed that no one other than Lykan and herself had seen the direct retaliation.

“Azani!”

The one word was hurled as a warning cry. At the sudden appearance of Lykan flying in the air between the gates and the citizens, both guards and protesters alike began scrambling.

“Fire!” The Guard captain shouted, directing a volley of arrows right at Lykan.

Lykan for his part just stood still. Then with ruthless precision swung his staff around in wide arcing swipes to knock out the projectiles from the air.

Brenna at first wondered why he would go through the process of knocking down the slowly moving projectiles, but Brenna soon realized his plan was to protect the protesters from the possible stray arrow. As such he sat there, knocking down volley after volley.

Alarm bells rang, and while the rate of fire seemed to increase, Lykan for his part never seemed to grow any more concerned. Instead, he used this as practice. Swinging his bo-staff at every projectile. This was no longer about knocking away an opponent’s blow to gain leverage for a strike. This was an entirely different set of attacks entirely. This was using the speed and reach of the bo-staff to provide full defense.

Finally, after what had to be close to an hour of sheer defense, Lykan caused the wind to blow around him. The wind was so fierce that if forced the archers to crouch down, and avoid sending more volleys of arrows, lest they get picked up and thrown off their gate wall.

During this time Lykan, took the moment to take on a relaxed pose in the air. He stood there, bo-staff outstretched in a relaxed posture, as if he was merely taking a leisurely stroll through the air. Brenna of course, found this all to be part of Lykan’s charm. Though she doubted he realized how imposing the seemingly relaxed gesture appeared to be. Let alone for the common man.

“That is enough practice.” Lykan said, his voice was calm, but carried on the wind as if it was shouted by a great war leader. “As a thanks for helping me reach my peak with the bo-staff. I will not take your attacks made thus far, against me, personally. That said, I am Lykan Vov’Vita, and I am here to speak to your king.”

Again, his voice was calm, but the wind carried his words with a sense of gravity that could not be denied. If Brenna had to guess, she would assume that Lykan had made it so everyone in the city knew he was speaking here at the gates.

Also, judging by Lykan’s seemingly good mood, she would swear that he finally broke through the final threshold needed for his Bo-Staff Mastery. She was proud that she almost wanted to ask what new skills he unlocked but decided against asking right now. While she knew Lykan would gladly answer, it might cause people to doubt is conviction of his current path.

No, it will be best to let these people have every chance to comply.

“Sir, you must understand we have a truce with the Azani, your being here is against the accords” The guard captain said.

Lykan turned his head to the side slightly, then asked. “You think I am an Azani?”

“Aren’t you?”

“No.”

“Then who are you?”

“I have said it once, but I will say it a second time. My name is Lykan Vov’Vita, and I am here to speak to your king.” Again, Lykan never yelled. Never raised his voice, but his words were carried by the wind to all corners of the city at the very least. That Brenna was more than certain of now.

“The king is in mourning and will not see anyone at this moment.” The guard said.

“Your king knows that his people have been forced from their homes? That they are now forced to sleep outside the protection of these very walls he was entrusted with protecting?” Lykan asked.

“He is aware but is unable to accommodate so many people.” The Guard Captain said.

Brenna just shook her head. This was not going to end well.

“Oh, so it is just a matter of spacing? Meaning, if you found the space, you would be more than happy to take these people, your citizens within your walls?” Lykan asked.

“No, that isn’t what I…” The guard began, but a sudden gust of wind blew, causing the guard captain to drop down. During the moment of silence, Lykan turned to Brenna and said, “Brenna, will you help give the king larger walls so he can accommodate all these people?”

Brenna just smiled. Then she took a step forward.

Creak.

At her step forward, one of the guards pulled back their bow. While the arrow would be nothing for Brenna, something snapped in Lykan at the perceived threat to Brenna.

Whoosh!

Gail force winds grabbed the archer and hurled him a dozen feet. He fell off the wall crashed into the open streets below.

With that, clear threat Lykan flew to just a foot in front of the guards. Staring them all down and all but daring them to make another attempt at Brenna.

He didn’t say a word. He didn’t need to, his silence and the now chill night air that gave off slow howling wisps spoke volumes.

In fact, everyone was so focused on the monstrous silver hair with blue streaks Lykan who was in their midst, that they missed when Brenna drew close enough to knock on the castle walls.

By knock Brenna of course meant use the full force and mastery she now had over the very earth itself to split open the wooden gate, then cause the walls to bulge out wide so there was far more room to help accommodate more people.

RUMMMBBBBLLLLEEEE!

Unfortunately, Brenna’s control wasn’t quite good enough to make the entire process seamless. As the ground vibrated violently, as it was being ripped apart by Brenna’s very will. Part of her felt sorry for the act. But then, another part of her, thought this was more than adequate, as these people were under the King’s protection. A protection they were clearly being forcibly denied. To make matters worse, she knew how much this weighed on Lykan.

While she might have been a bit rough with her knocking, she was not too concerned as she knew Lykan would be there to catch all guards who fell. Or remove guards who now found themselves trapped on weakened support beams.

In this respect the two were a great and formidable team. Each seemingly knowing what the other will do, and how they can best assist in avoiding any lasting injuries.

Even the guard who had been violently thrown from the gate walls had a strong cushion of air grab them and cease their momentum just before they impacted the ground.

That was something she made sure to check on. Before she could even think to soften the ground beneath the falling soldier, the man’s fall was already slowed.

Of course, this grand scale use of powers didn’t seem to slow the guards down at all.

Instead, they kept ringing the alarm bells, demanding more assistance.

By now, the famed air ships of the kingdom were being set to sail from the palace. Watching them, Brenna was almost distracted by their sheer size and fluffiness. They looked like miniature clouds that could be moved in any direction.

Brenna was so caught up in the coming ships, that she almost missed the moment two armed magi came charging from the streets.

The two magi were clearly a pair of sorts. Both wore finer clothing, that seemed to signify nobility of some kind. At least that was what Brenna gained from looking at the costumes of the two young kids who charged forward.

One held a long silver sword, while the other had a golden staff. Both looked ridiculous in their getups. Especially as they looked forward a few hundred meters away, at Brenna, clearly missing Lykan who was floating not ten meters over top of their position.

“You, what is the meaning of this?” A woman with fiery red hair spoke out. From the look of the two, it was clear that she was the more powerful of the two. But she was also the one in charge.

Brenna just pointed up with her battle axe, then went ahead and sheathed her weapon. Having a weapon out against these forces seemed, rather unnecessary.

As the two followed the blade, they looked up and visibly tensed once they saw the being who was just floating there over top of the crowd.

“What is the meaning of this!” The woman asked, this time a little more forcefully. Though it was clear that she was visibly frightened by the unbridled power that was whipping around Lykan.

Lykan was so angry at this point that he likely didn’t even realize the effect his emotional state was having on the air currents of the area. Then again, even if he was aware, he wouldn’t stop.

However, no one, not even Brenna was prepared for the words that Lykan spoke next.