The Infinite Bk. 05 Ch. 13

"And Tarnas still isn't back yet?"

"He's been gone since Knight's Day. Seraph supposedly lost his powers after Noah pulverized him, so Sir Tarnas took him somewhere for training. No one has seen either of them since," said Alexis.

"Prince Seraph is off training and Prince Lupin is in Welindar. I guess that left the door open for Galvin. Perhaps I should be grateful the castle isn't in ruins. How bad is it?"

Alexis and Sophia exchanged a glance. "It's actually... not that bad," said Alexis.

"Galvin showed up several days after the king's death, all healed up after what Noah did, and is acting... normal?"

"Well not normal for Galvin. We mean he's acting like a normal person. It's the strangest thing. There is no hatred and vitriol in his eyes, he's polite and respectful, and he isn't bragging about being king and erecting statues of himself. It's almost scary."

"We haven't actually spoken to him face-to-face, as you can imagine why, but from a distance, he seems to be a whole new man. He hasn't even said a word about the Knight's Sheath and Cyrilo hasn't been arrested. It seems Noah really did put the fear of God in him."

"Wait, you said there is no hatred and vitriol in his eyes, that he's all healed up. Noah gouged out his eyes and castrated him. Healing magic can mend what's damaged, but it can't restore what's lost."

"I thought so too," said Sophia. "I guess the power to undo that kind of injury does exist. The Herald estate has fallen on hard times, but still holds considerable assets. If that kind of power has a price, Galvin's mother can pay it."

"For now, though, there has been no sign of her. Given what happened between her and Noah, I can imagine why she'd be hesitant to show her face around Colbrand. A lot of people have been kicking up dirt about Galvin being crowned king, much of it due to how Noah humiliated him and his mother, but with Seraph and Prince Lupin missing and the threat of the Profane, there is no one else to fill the throne, and Colbrand needs a leader, even if it's him."

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In the coming days, Colbrand was caught in the grip of fear. Word of the Profane army had spread, how they had already pierced deep into the heart of Uther and were marching towards the city. Shelter and evacuation plans were put in order, but anyone who could escape on a ship had already done so, leaving the docks empty.

It was a race against time to gather every knight and soldier in the surrounding countryside to fight. Any troops out past the monster army would never make it, leaving Uther to defend its capital with barely half its military might. Despite Sylphtoria's pledge to help and Uther's alliance with Vandheim, they simply couldn't get there in time to make a difference.

Even if they could rally their full military might, the defending forces would still be overwhelmed. Many church spies had been purged from the knighthood, and Bella left countless knights dead or unable to fight. Now they were facing a hundred-thousand fiends, each one stronger than a trained soldier.

On the fateful day, the armies of Uther gathered. The sight for the battle had been carefully picked, taking place well beyond the city limits where the field could be prepared. It was a wide-open area where, for days, spike pits and barricades were planted. Numerous stone walls had been erected to try and funnel the demon horde and provide defensive lines to fall back to. It was unclear how well they would work. The spring sky was overcast, not that it mattered. If the sun had any power over these monsters, it would have exerted it long ago.

"Lady Zodiac, please, you're not strong enough! You still haven't recovered!" said Alexis, trying to stop Valia as she hobbled past rows of anxious soldiers.

"You think those monsters care? They'll kill me either way. I'd rather die on the battlefield with my comrades than in an infirmary bed. Besides, Colbrand is my home, and I'll fight for it to the end." She stumbled, and Alexis caught her.

"Please, don't make me watch you die," Alexis whispered, trying to hold back tears.

"If you watch me die, it means that I did something right, and that I kept you alive to my final breath. Forgive me, Alexis. This is all my fault. I was too weak in Welindar, and I let the enemy get the better of us. Now we're all going to suffer for it."

"We all failed," Alexis murmured.

She helped Valia to the front line, where the rest of the knights stood, trying not to keep their nerve. Berholm was there, in much the same state as Valia. Tens of thousands of troops had been organized for this battle, but they still paled against the monster army charging towards them. Many were freshly conscripted, having barely received any training, just slapped in a suit of armor with a sword shoved in their hand and ushered to the battlefield. At the head of the army was Galvin, sitting atop a horse and garbed in extravagant armor. Despite his notorious lack of a spine and sense of good judgment, he seemed to be holding it together.

No one was sure when it began, but the shaking of the ground was eventually noticed by all. There was also a low rumble in the distance, like a continuous echo of thunder. Finally, they came into view, a black line stretching across the horizon. The wind shifted, and a noxious odor blew across the ranks. It was the stench of unwashed bodies and revolting breath.

For almost a month, the fiend army had marched nonstop towards Colbrand, destroying everything in the way. The power of the Profane and the will of Kaisen drove them forward, going beyond the limits of mortal flesh. Those who collapsed, whether by fatigue, a deformity, or a simple trip, were trampled to death by their comrades and eaten.

Abandoned homes and farmsteads were knocked over like houses of cards. Trees were ripped from the soil and stepped on. The walls put up to funnel the forces were simply scrambled over, the fiends traversing every barrier like water. The traps painstakingly laid out managed to incapacitate some beasts, but they might as well have been strips of fly tape fending off a swarm of locusts.

Soon enough, individual figures could be distinguished, still dressed in the clothes from their former lives. These weren't men trained for war, garbed in armor, nor were they simple animals driven by instinct. These were once people, people who blood had been spilled to protect, but were corrupted by the Profane against their will. Their lives, their souls, and their very sanity were stolen from them. There were children among their ranks, infants running on all fours, and all were possessed by insatiable bloodlust. So much evil was racing towards Uther, yet no matter which side won, the victims would all be innocent lives.

Seeing the army coming, feeling the thudding of their footfalls, hearing the snarls and ragged breathing, smelling their bloody bodies and festering wounds, the experience was too much for many. Several troops and knights threw down their weapons and ran for their lives. Others wanted to run, but were left petrified by fear, unable to move. All they could do was stand and weep in terror. Even the most seasoned warriors were praying for protection from the gods and bidding farewell to their loved ones. Sophia was stationed with the other healers in the back of the army, wishing she could stay by Alexis's side. Death frightened her, but dying separated from her loved one made her sick.

Valia thought of Valon, Noah, Elisandra, and Shannon, desperately wishing she could see them all one last time. She wished she could have helped Valon and reconciled with him. She wished she could have stayed in Sylphtoria and helped Noah and Elisandra raise their child. She wished she could have continued teaching Shannon and see what great things she'd accomplish. But as Noah would say, it was all pointless.

In Colbrand, the sound and smell had reached the people. They huddled in their basements, holding their loved ones close. In the Knight's Sheath, everyone was gathered in the parlor, unsure of what else they were supposed to do. Should their defenders fail, two choices awaited: either let themselves get trampled and eaten by the monsters, or walk out into the sea and be claimed by the surf.

Soon, the army would be in bow range, but then, to everyone's surprise, Galvin pointed to the sky, revealing a glowing blue manacle on his arm. "Fear not, brave knights and soldiers! Behold the power of your king!"

In response to the manacle's radiance, something activated. A great tremor shook the landscape, coming from the ocean, as off the coast of Colbrand, a massive maelstrom began to churn. From its depths, a form rose up, nearly as large as a mountain. It had a three-sided triangular shape, but with round sides, like it was filled with air, and the three corners were tapered into points like the barbs on an arrowhead. The entire surface was perfectly smooth, without a single barnacle or piece of seaweed clinging to it. It had a beautiful blue color, except for a large white circle near the tip, reminiscent of an eye, with the symbol of the water god Wassenschtal.

It broke free of the water, free from gravity, and elevated itself high above the city. There, it halted its ascent and released a deafening hum, like a mechanical drone, and numerous lights blinked across its surface. Seized by its power, a torrent of water rose from the ocean and was absorbed into the object like a sponge. The object released another hum, and then its eye began to glow.

What happened next was heralded by a deafening shockwave, shattering windows throughout Colbrand. All the water the object had gathered was shot from its eye at supersonic speeds. It was focused into a beam, bound by the object's power, so not a single drop fell away or was wasted. It had all been compressed at an atomic level, removing the empty space between the molecules and crushing them so that the electrons could barely orbit around the nuclei. This beam of water shot over Colbrand, over the heads of the defending forces, and landed in the heart of the fiend army.

At the moment of impact, all of the water that had been super-compressed was released and allowed to scatter, producing an explosion on par with an atomic bomb. A shockwave swept through the fiend army as every water particle gathered from the sea hit them like shrapnel, ripping through their bodies like bullets through tissue paper. Their flesh, bones, and blood were instantly vaporized. Even the parasites in their veins were pulverized. It took only a moment for the entire fiend army to be reduced to dust, but the blast had yet to diminish in its fury. The shockwave was heading towards the defending army, who were just far enough to see the explosion in all its beauty and horror.

"Get down! Take cover with your shields!" Berholm shouted.

The order shocked the troops from their stunned silence, and everyone dropped to the ground, hiding behind their shields and other covers. Walls of stone and magic barriers were summoned just in the nick of time, and though they shattered instantly, they absorbed enough force to protect the troops. A wave of steam washed over the armies with the kinetic force of a tidal wave. Countless soldiers and knights, not properly sheltered, were thrown into the sky. Others thrust their swords and daggers into the ground to cling to as endless waves of water vapor slammed into them. The air was moving so fast that no one could breathe, and all they could hear was an infinite roar. It was as if the world was ending.

Finally, the chaos ended, and all was calm. One by one, soldiers and knights got to their feet, their eyes glued to the mushroom cloud rising now rising from a massive crater. Then, a flash of rain poured down on them. However, this rain was dark as ink, and the realization dawned on everyone that it was the liquified corpses of their enemies. As they were drenched in gore, Galvin walked in front of the army with his arm raised, having lost his horse but not his spirit.

"Take a look, sons and daughters of Uther! That is the power of the Wassengel! What was lost has been recovered, and bent to my will! As your king, I swear to you, so long as I live, never again will you fear for your home city! Colbrand is untouchable! Let the world never forget that Uther reigns supreme! Now raise your voices, and let the heavens hear our cries of triumph!"

Everyone looked around, unable to believe they were still alive. It dawned on these men and women, who moments ago had accepted their imminent death, that they had been saved. They and their city had been spared annihilation, and as all that fear flowed out of them, hysterical joy took its place. They cheered and screamed in relief, many hugging each other or dropping their knees in a near-religious fervor.

Valia, Alexis, Sophia, and several others were likewise overwhelmed by relief, realizing that they could continue to enjoy their lives, and yet deep down, they felt a fearful chill as the soldiers and knights chanted.

"Hail King Galvin!"

"Hail King Galvin!"

"Hail King Galvin!"

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Another book come and gone! We've now passed the halfway point in the series, with four more volumes to go. Book 6 will be posted here next January.. I don't want to spoil the plot, but I'll give you this hint: TOURNAMENT ARC, MADDAFAKKAS! Anyway, what did you think of Book 5? What were your favorite scenes? What did you think of the characters? What did you like most? I want to hear what you have to say! Thank you, everyone, for reading and commenting!