Chapter 426 (1/2)
Chapter 426
Chapter 424: Changing the Narrative
CECILIA
“And here we are, once again,” I said, glancing tonext to me as we hovered just outside the protective barrier surrounding the western half of Sehz-Clar Behind us, twenty thousand loyal Alacryan soldiers filled the streets of Rosaere, the city spanning the two distinct halves of the dominion The translucent shi+eld neatly bisected it
It was nearly dawn A cool breeze blew in froray hair I’d never gotten around to dyeing
The shi+eld itself seemed different to my eyes now Whereas before it was an inexplicable ns of basiliskwas structure easily observed
On the other side of the shi+eld, I could sense only ainto defensible positions throughout the city, but we outnu,” I told Nico “She’s pulled her forces back”
Nico was quiet We’d barely spoken since he ran out of my bedroo about the lieshared, and the truth that I was keeping fro what I’d learned Not yet…
Turning suddenly, I flew up higher so all my forces would be able to see me When I spoke, my voice came from everywhere at once, each molecule of atht for the spirit of your continent This isn’t a war, but a reclamation These traitors have atte lies and discord But, look!”
I waved at the opposing half of the city Mana flared as it peeled away froiant shi+eld and drifted toward the pockets of resistance,the sht is already lost; the bulk of their force has already fled!”
A distant but thunderous roar ca battle cry
With a flourish, I twirled and pressed one hand against the barrier
The power of a Sovereign was laced through hundreds of ainst the rest of the world My consciousness traced the lines of it, all the way back to Aedelgard, down the network of mana-conductive material to the heart of Seris’s machine, to Orlaeth Vritra himself I could sense him—the battery on which all this operated—but that was all; I had no sense of what they had done to him
This time, when I turnedtoward the sunlight, the individual mana particles that made up the barrier drearded them into the shi+eld When I withdrew y calooers, where it dissolved into its base fores flaring with flickering white light The light crawled over the lustrous surface, and the hole expanded, picking up speed with each passing second
Even though ed my features into an expression of calm determination I was a leader at the head of an ar, I hoped she could see this What she had labored for years to create, I had just unrew until it was a few hundred feet wide, opening the way for e My gaze followed the receding edge until, with a suddenness that surprised even me, the shi+eld burst like a bubble One h Sovereign has proclaie, unadorned, or slave who has turned their back on this continent is unfit to live on it Give no quarter” I took a slow, deep breath “Attack!”
The spring-snap noise of catapults firing followed h the air, past where the shi+eld had been, and crashed as in the western half of the city Condensed stones burst apart, sending out deadly shrapnel for dozens of feet Barrels of flas, which ignited instantly, setting the city on fire Clusters offro entire structures
A shockwave of noise andup all over, and there was a flurry of return fire and counterspells A blue bolt of lightning shot up froround, aied, dancing line of electricity hanging in the air A wave ran along the length of the lightning bolt, starting at the end hovering fifty feet below round
Dozens of smaller bolts exploded outward froo dark
Souts Better a quick death in battle than weeks of torture and starvation in the depths of Taegrin Caeluer here,” Nico said, drawing me back into the battle “Our side will have this cleaned up quick enough without our assistance”
Melzri was leading a force from the west to capture Seris’s base of operations in Sandaerene while Dragoth and the soldiers from Vechor patrolled the Vritra’s Maw to prevent adoard the center of round, I said, “Echeron, you’re in command You have your orders”
My voice traveled on the wind directly to Dragoth’s retainer’s ears
“Yes, Legacy,” sounded his response, wispy and distant
I looked at Nico and nodded “Let’s not waste any her up, we spend northward As we crested the cliffs above Rosaere, several dozen spells—bolts and jets of green, blue, red, and black ic—flew fro in annoyance, I grasped the threads of each spell and pulled, dragging the spells off course and forcing them to cluster in the air in front of us
Nico’s staff flashed with red light, and he slashed it through the air in front of hi balls of blue fire bo their shi+elds and collapsing the reinforced structures on the athered spells into a stor back down at the s out the few renatures I could detect
Nico held his position for afor any more activity, but I could tell the substructure beneath was clear “Coet is waiting for us in Aedelgard, unless she’s already fled”
“This is a token defense,” Nico said thoughtfully, as if he hadn’t heard what I’d said “Even discounting the presence of any Scythes or retainers—or you—such a ainst our superior numbers So where are her arine,” I answered, speeding forward I sensed hiht pushi+ng hi in my wake
The countryside north of Rosaere was dotted with small settlements and private estates, but no additional fortified locations We flew at top speed, north and west, and as we approached Sandaerene, I felt the battle long before I could see it Nico and I kept slightly east of the city, not intending to involve ourselves in the battle, where Melzri and Maould have things tidily in hand
Although Nico and I could have breached the shi+eld near Aedelgard as I had before, avoiding the hundreds of round from Rosaere, and I had wanted them to see me break the shi+eld In addition, it had been an opportunity to sweep the length of the do es alike
Still, I was anxious to put an end to things by the tiard, where Seris’s coy were
Seris ily, a survivor, and I doubted I would find her standing on the balcony of her estate waiting for ed to outwit and capture a Sovereign
When the city ca up fronature radiated frooth alreadyat me
I keptas he hasn’t let Seris slip away by disregarding his duties”
All Scythes—except Nico, of course—were bitter and frustrated with my position They scrambled for whatever s to replace Cadell as Agrona’s right hand and prove theoth had taken this opportunity to win a victory for hi war, the Scythes were no longer relevant inover the Vritra’s Maw Sea, I finally caught sight of Dragoth He was flying over the estate, his ar horns and incredible bulk, he looked like a side of beef hanging on the rack
“You’re out of position, Dragoth,” Nico snapped once ere close enough to speak
Dragoth floated up a foot or so in order to look down his nose at Nico “I had a resource in the city before the shi+elds fell, who informed me of a rush of activity Since your tour of the doht it best to lock down the city” He gave acy Vechor’s shi+ps and soldiers are still patrolling the sea, but if the rats are fleeing their sinking vessel, we haven’t seen them”
Perhaps that’s because you can’t see beyond the confines of your own ass, I thought
Out loud, I asked, “Has there been any sign of Seris?”
Dragoth shook his head “The lower depths of the estate are shi+elded, however Shedown there If I know her, she’ll have some trick up her sleeve”
“I don’t care what she tries,” I said, not trying to hide my irritation with the Vechorian Scythe “This is over”
“Indeed The fact that I was able to turn one of her own suggests she’s lost her touch” Dragoth chuckled “Made weak-kneed by some unblooded nobody from the other continent…it’s no wonder she’s fallen so far”
Tipping toward the ground, I flew to one of the open balconies of the estate Dragoth’s soldiers were ransacking the place, dragging out anything of value and tossing it into piles One particularfor our arrival
His appearance was generally unree duality to him On one side, he had a red eye and a short horn that stuck up from his black hair, but on the other side, his eye was brown and the horn had been shattered, leaving only a jagged stump half-hidden Still, he didn’t flinch back at our approach, like most of the soldiers Instead, he fell into step beside and just behind Dragoth like he belonged there Severaland took up formation around the two
“What have you discovered here, Wolfruoth asked
“We’ve followeddown several levels, but haven’t ed to bypass the door at the botto the shi+eld,” the Vritra-born htly nasally voice
“Take us to the door,” Dragoth said, then aacy wishes”
I stopped, having walked through a large solar and into a connecting corridor covered in fanciful paintings Instead of replying, I only waved a hand The younghis head and hurried past h severalstaircase By the length of time we followed the cramped stairwell down, I knee must be deep into the cliffside under Seris’s home
The “door” in question was a thick iron square inset into the wall The only sign of how to open it was a dim mana crystal affixed to the wall nearby