A King's Legacy Ch. 39

Byron was feeling anything but eager to perform his duties. Their formations would most likely cross over those mountains a little after nightfall, using their superior eyesight in darkness to hopefully gain an edge that they would never truly need. It was a short while later that the wolven general found the company of the panther one. The teacher greeted another of his students warmly.

"If nothing else, perhaps we may at least look forward to a little rest with our families after all of this, Jagón." The panther turned to the wolf, and bowed lightly, paying his respects to the beast that had trained him even then, even after rising up to surpass him in rank as the king's hand.

"Perhaps a little, but if my newest cub on the way ends up half as loud as Cortist was, it isn't very likely I'll be getting much rest at all." Byron chuckled, thinking fondly of his own youngest son in that moment. He answered warmly as the subject of their offspring came up.

"Oh, you should hear my Stahl, never have I had a pup growl so much at such a young age. If you try and take whatever he is teething on, you'll just end up with a bloodied finger or two... Amboss asked if we could trade him for a work horse just the other day, after Stahl bit him, so I told him to go ask his mother." Jagón forced a smile briefly, the older wolf's efforts to lighten the mood appreciated as usual by the knight. The panther played into the banter.

"And? What did Lady Aeris have to say about that?" Byron flashed a fanged smile the feline's way as he answered truthfully.

"She told him there was simply no way that was going to happen... An Aschefell cub had to at least be worth an ox." A genuine smile crept across the panther's muzzle for the first time in weeks, and the two general's simply laughed in the face of their imposing task for a moment, both working up the steel to do what was commanded, despite how tired they were by that point. A moment later, Byron spoke once again in that more sincere voice of his.

"Any word yet on your cub?" Jagón answered flatly.

"No... Felicity is still having problems, but I'm trying to remain hopeful. No easy task, considering..." Byron nodded silently, understanding what Jagón was referencing.

"Well, for what it's worth, you're masking your worry well here." Jagón went silent for a moment, gazed up at the evening sun, and answered quietly.

"I had a good teacher." Neither of the beasts felt like smiling for much longer after that. A roar of thunder sounded over the fields a moment later, signaling the charge onwards. The generals turned to each other, nodded one final time to wish one another luck, and broke off, both moving to take their places in their respective battalions. The beasts began their final march on man; a wolf, a panther, a lion, a winged dragon, and a hidden goddess leading their main forces to the base of the southern mountains.

Off to the west, marching from Lady Aschefell's own hometown, a bull and a wingless dragon were moving their own troops, timing it to arrive a little over a day after the initial clash had been predicted to begin. The beasts were hoping the humans would send the entirety of their forces to meet the southern army, leaving their defenses wide open to a pincer tactic from the west behind the guise of the very mountains the final, furless king cowered behind.

They never had any inkling it would only take that same, proposed coward, and a few barrels of black powder to bring the entirety of the would-be backup forces to their knees.

===

The beast king's main forces had severely underestimated how prepared Adamare was by that point, because fighting their way up that southern mountain certainly drug out far longer than they had expected it to. It had been almost thirty hours before they managed to claw their way up the slopes, hindered every step of the way by a slew of well-hidden hunting traps.

Everything from camouflaged pitfalls to simple snares barred their passage. Blazing barrels of whiskey and oil were rolled down the mountain in a constant barrage, their contents leaking out trails of fuel for the fire before they finally exploded on impact, engulfing beastmen and landscape alike with a sticky, stubborn fire that wasn't easily extinguished. The humans had no reservations about destroying the road into a kingdom that was already doomed.

The panther, the wolf, and the rest of the king's vanguard had lost around twenty percent of their forces merely making it up the mountain to where the true battlefield awaited. Jagón knew they needed to hurry, because Brutus Rixator's charge should be climbing over their own mountains fairly soon, but as the general finally stood upon the same overhang Aster would one day humbly gaze out over, he finally understood how little credit they ever gave the final human king. The golden waves of the heartbeat were visible from even that distance in the darkness of the second night. Calium had intercepted the western army.

As lady Alice stood watching that golden pulse from her place on the southern peaks, she had a wave of personal resentment wash over her, dredging up a bitter aftertaste that only made the goddess long for her revenge against man even more for their great betrayal. It was the lingering taste of centuries of dust, denied even a single drop of water all the while. It was something she could always seem to recall, just as clearly as she could still feel those chains binding her in place whenever she tried to rest... The same way she was still so very afraid of darkness, of even closing her eyes, lest she wake up to find her vision stolen once more.

Ten years of freedom for such a long sentence had barely even brought her out of her disbelief, but the anger of it all was finally consuming the goddess. She had already accepted such feelings when she burned down Peuforet. The goddess of the sun stood in the middle of that smaller forest nation, she heard the pleading cries of humans begging for mercy, begging her to save them. It was such a familiar song to her, but the humans could cry all the treacherous tears they wanted to this time, her flames would not be so easily doused. She would dry away all of their tears with only her answer of consuming fire.

It soon wouldn't matter if the shield fell with man anymore, she could feel it, the piece of her heart coming back... She knew who the new sword bearer was before anyone else, she remembered the faintest sensation she had overtake her when she first felt that piece of her heart reviving. Alice had stopped mid-step that day, bracing at her chest, smiling at the warmth and realization. Her heart could be reborn by beasts, the human king and his cub could fall, and she held no reservations about fulfilling her desires disguised under King Alocer's own orders.

In truth, Calium wasn't sure he could even blame her for such valid resentment, but he would still meet her the same as any enemy if needed.

===

It was time. Calium was doing one final run-through the evening the beastmen were to first begin their march up the mountains. The king was ensuring everything and everyone was in place before the low tides vanished the following morning. This would be the final day they could move anyone in, or out of their stronghold. They would be under the observant eyes of the beastman army the next time the cave appeared, and they could not risk being spotted trying to access it any further. This was it, the time Calium had so dreaded... It was time to say goodbye.

He knelt before his daughter somberly in her bedroom, laying a reassuring hand on her shoulder as he stared into her eyes warmly. Lunai was trying so hard to hold in her tears, and she was failing so beautifully in her father's opinion. Calium was so proud of how brave she was being, knowing this couldn't be so easy on a mere eight year-old. The king hid all of his own pain so expertly as he started.

"You're going to be such a great big sister to so many little brothers and sisters, you know that, right?" Lunai just clenched her eyes shut, sniffling in her best effort to keep herself together. She nodded slowly, knowing what this moment between them truly was. Calium continued endearingly.

"Don't worry, I promised you I'd never leave you without guidance, didn't I?" Lunai opened her eyes, staring somberly at her father, trying her best to be a very strong princess. Calium reached into a larger leather satchel he had been carrying, and pulled out his finished and final gift for his daughter. Lunai just cocked her head a little, giving her father time to explain.

"This book is a bit different than the others I've stocked for you, it's one I've written myself. All the information you need is already secured inside of your temporary new home, but this book helps outline how to go about it all while giving you references for where to check for various information. I tried to make it as simple as I could, to keep it easy, but there is nothing really easy about it in the end. It may be hard sometimes, but remember, you don't always have to do things based on this book. Things may change, so be open to changing with them." Lunai croaked out a response at last.

"So, I only get one last story from you? Is that supposed to feel like enough? Why can't you just come with me, father?" Calium smiled, hating that he even had to answer such a thing.

"I never expected it to feel like enough. Even as I was writing it, it never felt like I could say enough... All stories have their ends eventually, and my story must come to an end here, but there is a bit of comfort in knowing you can always revisit this one. This book is meant to grow with you. You will come to understand more of it as you mature, and you'll find new meaning with words that never resonated so clearly before. It may be my final story for you, my daughter, but it is only the prelude to your own." Lunai finally managed to hold back her tears for a moment, and gently reached out to accept the book. She broke into full on sobs once more as Calium took his daughter into his arms for the last time. The king whispered softly to her.

"Hey, who knows what can happen? Maybe I'll find a way to make it back to you after all..." He wouldn't lie to her here, but he just didn't have it in himself to tell her what true fate was in store for him. Lunai responded quietly, more trying to convince herself in that moment.

"I'll be strong. I won't cry anymore." Calium squeezed her a bit tighter, held her head so dearly to his chest, and cooed down one last bit of wisdom to his little princess.

"Oh, my moonlight, it is only the bravest and strongest that ever do cry in times such as these, yet still manage to find a way to shine." Lunai finally looked back up into her father's brilliant, golden eyes, and saw the king had been shedding his own tears for some time at that point. They held each other dearly, they cried together for a long while, and Calium finally tucked her in for the last time. The king spoke tenderly to her in that sacred moment.

"Goodnight, my moonlight." Lunai whispered softly in response.

"Goodbye, till sunrise." Calium didn't take his leave until after his daughter had managed to fall soundly to sleep. As he closed the door, he spoke firmly to the guard stationed there.

"She leaves in the morning with the rest of them. You make certain of it." The guard reassured the king he would handle it. The king had little reason to ever believe otherwise.

Calium spent the majority of his remaining hours preparing to hold the western line, already well warned that there was another challenge on its way all the while. The king stepped into his courtyard alone just a short while before he would be needed elsewhere. Death spoke swiftly when the challenger had arrived.

'On your left...' Calium never moved an inch, effortlessly bringing up a golden shield on his left side, stopping the assassin's blade just as he went to strike. The startled fox couldn't be blamed for his astonishment at the seemingly impossible interception, but Rayos Sicario was far too seasoned of a warrior to be completely caught in the king's obvious counterattack.

Calium swung his shielded fist directly towards the mostly silver fox's head, but the assassin flashed out of sight in an instant. The human king only stood his ground silently in anticipation of another assault from the shadows. He was hoping it would be the tiger, if he was being honest, that bloodskill was far easier to deal with than the Sicario one, for him at least. Death gave another warning.

'Candori is here as well, but he's being cautious now. You get to face the master and the apprentice here.' Calium cursed his luck as the god spoke again.

'Cover both of your sides... Three... Two...' Calium held both arms up, timing it perfectly. Being aligned with a deity able to foresee one's own death had its perks, after all.

The tiger and the fox were intercepted immediately upon emerging, both enraged by the impossible. Nobody could so flawlessly and effortlessly disrupt the assault of the two greatest assassins in Alora, after all. The human king dropped his shields, raised one above each beast, and slammed his arms down, hammering a ringing blow atop the skull of both intruders as he knelt into the strike. Reiner Candori phased through the earth in retreat, Rayos the fox had a more unfortunate injury as his jaw was clamped shut by the blow.

The rune on his tongue had been split by his own fang, rendering his bloodskill's shortcut useless for a while. The fox spoke his trigger verbally instead, retreating back a ways by the action.

"Mark." The experienced, older fox stared down the younger human king warily, speaking to him from his new position as he rubbed at his throbbing head.

"You're good, even for a human, I'll give you that, but you should just give up already, make this easier for all of us." As the fox ended his taunt, Death spoke hastily to the king.

'It's a ruse, he's coming low, from behind you.' The human king intercepted the tiger once again, turning around and stomping on the earth, a shielded boot colliding with the tiger's skull with a resounding impact just as he surfaced. As the feline phased back into the earth in explicit pain and humiliation once more, the fox leapt at his chance, rushing in for the kill as he shouted his trigger one final time. Calium turned, and drew his sword at last per Death's instruction, spinning just as the fox called out.

"Mark!" The silver fox's eyes went wide as he reappeared, the king's blade only drove deeper into his gut, piercing him just as the beast had taken his new position. The fox stared into the human's eyes, and asked his dying question.

"How... did you know?" Calium twisted his sword sharply, forcing a grunt from the vulpine as more of his blood was spilled around the king's hilted steel. Calium answered with a light scoff.

"Because I bargained away my soul so you hunters would finally know what it was like for your prey all this time. Tell me, beast, do I make a convincing monster?" The fox was already dead by that point, but the human king turned to the tiger reemerging from the ground as he asked him the question in his stead. Rayos Sicario fell lifeless to the earth, and Reiner Candori took a step back in fear of the one that had slain his mentor. Calium Aureus could only smile as the "great," tiger retreated like the true coward he was. Reiner Candori would not handle that loss very well.

Calium sharply swiped his sword off to the side, clearing off the bulk of the mess left behind before sheathing it. He was about to chase the tiger down until Death spoke tauntingly.

'Let him go, you don't have the time... still, that was quite a performance, extra points for the dramatic speech, was that ALL on the spot?' Calium answered with a laugh.

"Not at all... It's from Lunai's storybook, part of the big villain reveal. Figured I'd borrow some from it, get used to answering like a demon should. Seems like it worked." Death chuckled along, finding that perhaps the most humorous thing spoken that day. The deity gave his advice after.

'Well, hope you're rested some, because you're needed to the west now. What you've prepared should be enough, I'll let you know when their retreat is certain.' The god paused for a moment before he continued. 'Some things are varying a little, and you may be alarmed by them, but all should be well. You may even gain a few allies for your children by the end.' Calium answered plainly, already forming shield after shield beneath his boots as he began climbing into the sky on an ever-forming staircase.

"Well, that isn't entirely bad news then, my allies may have shit all over us in the end, but maybe the next generation will get it right." Death scoffed at the optimism.

'Trust me, mortals almost never get it right...' Calium continued on, ascending until he stood high over the peak of the western mountains, gazing down at the secondary beast forces the size of mere insects from such a distance. As the human king took his position, and as the discovered beastmen scrambled to react below, Calium spoke once more to his dark ally.

"We usually don't get it right, this is true, but there is a chance they may. For the sake of your children and my own, lets have a little faith in that chance, shall we?" Death snickered at such a proclamation.

'You'd even lecture a deity about faith... You've got guts, if nothing else. Maybe your kind is just foolish enough to stumble across some way to turn this all around, after all.' Calium didn't answer, and instead took his stance, standing atop of a single shield, suspended well over the peak below. He raised a second shield in front of himself, reared back a third shield on his right fist, and slammed it forward, sending down the first incapacitating wave of the heartbeat's light to trap the beast army firmly in place before they ever made it even halfway up that mountain.

The king held his assault steadily after, pacing himself carefully, always ensuring he kept any from moving from their position by his timing. By the time the fifth wave had landed, the first of the catapulted powder barrels came flying through the sky behind Calium, passing to the right of the king before it fell upon the pinned forces. The first of many large explosions blew a hole in the center of the helpless beasts below. Calium only held his rhythm steady, even as the next barrel came passing by to collide into the mountain, setting off a smaller rockslide to bury another portion of the beasts. He had little trouble holding that line, having no remorse for returning a bit of that one-sided slaughter to the beast army. The great bovine, General Brutus Rixator, and the aspiring draconic warrior, Cerula Cascus, would both shoulder their failure that night for many years to come as their soldiers were massacred on their knees.

===

Jagón was feeling rather annoyed by the third afternoon of the siege. They had battled their way down the mountain and through the main gate almost too easily. They had nearly taken the entirety of the larger streets with ease. It was like the humans were letting them advance as they prioritized against the western forces instead, the remains of those battalions had finally been given reprieve from the human king's assault, and had taken the opportunity to retreat. Jagón had an uneasy feeling that the Adamites seemed to know far too much about their tactics here. Jagón considered the possibility of a leak of information somewhere in the chain of command, but the sound of another bone snapping between powerful jaws directed away his attention once more. Jagón glared towards the source, and spoke in disgust at the sight.