The cloud of dust still covered the entire fortified passage.
From atop the Second Wall...
The sentinels remained motionless.
No one could see what was happening below.
Only the occasional sounds of collapsing stones broke the silence.
CRACK.
A fragment struck one of the battlements.
Rolled slowly across the stone.
Another fell right after.
THUMP.
One of the sentinels narrowed his eyes.
"I can't see anything..."
Another raised a hand to his mouth, shielding his face from the dust rising below.
"Was that a strike?"
"A strike?"
The man swallowed hard.
"It seemed like a mountain falling."
None of the others answered.
They all continued staring at the enormous cloud of dust.
Alina remained among them.
Motionless.
Her silver-blue eyes slowly swept across the obscured passage.
Her expression remained serene.
But her attention was completely fixed on the field.
She could not see Garrick.
She could not see Boran.
Not even the extent of the passage could be distinguished through that cloud of dust.
Then...
A voice emerged to her right.
Calm.
Soft.
Almost amused.
"Looks like I arrived a little late."
Alina reacted on instinct.
Her hand dropped to the hilt of her sword.
SHING!
The blade left its sheath.
Her body spun violently toward the voice.
The silver edge cut through space.
FWWSSH!
Nothing.
The blade passed through empty space.
Alina's eyes narrowed.
The sentinels reacted at the same instant.
"WHO ARE YOU?!"
Several swords left their sheaths at the same time.
SHING!
SHING!
The soldiers immediately formed a defensive line.
The voice emerged behind Alina.
Calm.
Close.
"I would be careful swinging those swords..."
Alina turned.
A few steps away.
A tall woman.
Slender.
She stood completely still.
Her extremely pale skin seemed almost porcelain beneath the light of dawn.
Her long, golden hair, wavy and abundant, fell freely over her shoulders and chest, partially hidden beneath a large black hood.
Her golden eyes were fixed on the cloud of dust.
Intense.
Predatory.
Dark shadows framed her gaze.
Her black lips formed an almost imperceptible smile.
At the center of her forehead...
A small black ornament, resembling a ritualistic jewel, rested against her skin.
Around her neck...
An elaborate black adornment wrapped around her throat.
A golden stone remained at the center of the piece.
Chains and various metallic pendants descended over her chest.
The black garments were voluminous.
Elegant.
The wide sleeves partially concealed her arms.
Fastened at her waist...
A long black whip remained carefully coiled.
The dark handle disappeared partially between the folds of her garments.
Large ornaments resembling dark petals rested upon her shoulders.
Everything about her conveyed a strange combination of solemnity and decay.
Like a saint who had abandoned her own purity.
Alina kept her sword raised.
The sentinels did not lower their weapons either.
The woman continued:
"Against someone who has not yet decided whether she wishes to be your enemy."
Alina frowned slightly.
"Who are you?"
The woman tilted her head slightly.
A small smile appeared on her black lips.
"Oh..."
Her voice remained soft.
"Weren't you the ones who requested reinforcements?"
Alina narrowed her eyes slightly.
"Reinforcements?"
The woman slowly nodded.
"That's what I was told."
Alina's eyes traveled over the woman from head to toe.
"And where are these reinforcements?"
The woman's smile became slightly more pronounced.
"Ah..."
Her golden eyes drifted across the wall.
"I suppose they got lost on the way."
Alina's eyes began to glow.
Around her body...
The air subtly rippled.
As if space itself were being distorted by heat.
"This is your last chance..."
Her hand tightened around the sword's hilt.
"Who are you?"
The woman held her gaze for several seconds.
Then...
She took a small step forward.
The chains around her neck chimed softly.
"I am the reinforcement sent by Asterion of the Central Kingdom."
"You may call me Number Two."
Alina remained motionless.
"Number Two...?"
"Yes."
A brief silence.
"That's not an identification!"
One of the sentinels stepped half a pace forward.
"Identify yourself."
Number Two's tone remained perfectly calm.
"Ah..."
Her golden eyes passed over the sentinels.
"If you make me say my name..."
Her eyes returned to Alina.
"I fear that would complicate things."
Alina held her gaze.
"You should identify yourself before the throne of Arkhel!"
Number Two showed no reaction.
She simply walked slowly toward the battlement.
Upon reaching it...
She rested her hands against the stone.
Her golden eyes remained fixed upon the plain.
"I imagine the prince is already aware of my arrival."
Her fingers slid across the surface of the stone.
"After all..."
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"It would be impolite to cross the fortress of Arkhel..."
A small smile appeared on her black lips.
"without first sending a courtesy to the host."
Alina remained silent for a few moments.
Then her eyes shifted discreetly toward one of the sentinels.
A thin scar crossed the man's chin.
The soldier met her gaze.
He only nodded.
Then...
He sheathed his sword and stepped away from the formation.
Alina turned her eyes back to Number Two.
For several seconds...
Neither of them said a word.
SHING.
The blade slid back into its sheath.
The other sentinels followed the movement.
SHING.
SHING.
Number Two's eyes remained fixed on the gigantic cloud of dust covering the passage.
A gentle wind crossed the wall.
The long black garments slowly rippled.
A few golden strands escaped the hood and slid over her shoulders.
The chains around her neck chimed faintly.
She remained motionless.
"We'll see..."
Her golden eyes did not leave the passage.
"if it was worth coming all the way here."
The wind continued crossing the battlements.
The dust slowly began to disperse.
Inside the fortress of Arkhel...
The throne room remained silent.
The hundreds of torches continued illuminating the ancient white stone pillars.
The long tapestries of the red rose remained motionless between the columns.
The extensive red carpet led toward the raised dais.
Upon it...
Caelith remained seated upon the white stone throne.
Motionless.
Before the steps...
Several heads lay scattered across the marble.
Blood slowly ran across the stones.
His crimson-red eyes rested upon them.
Then...
Caelith's gaze moved away from the heads.
Until it found a man standing.
Thin.
Pale.
Reddish marks circled his wrists and neck.
His clothes were dirty and torn.
Dried blood covered part of the fabric.
His eyes remained lowered.
His body trembled violently.
Caelith watched him for a few moments.
Then...
Caelith's fingers tapped once against the arm of the throne.
Toc.
"Speak."
The voice in the shadows behind the throne answered:
"She is already at the Second Wall, Your Highness."
Caelith's eyes settled once more upon the heads scattered before the steps.
"Sending someone like her..."
Caelith's fingers stopped tapping.
"Is a curious way of offering help."
The voice in the shadows emerged again:
"How should we proceed, Your Highness?"
Caelith rested his face against one hand.
His eyes remained upon the blood running across the marble.
"Observe."
A brief pause.
"People like her tend to be more dangerous when they appear to be doing nothing but watching."
"Understood."
Before the silence could return...
Hurried footsteps echoed through the hall.
Toc. Toc. Toc.
A soldier appeared through the great doors.
A thin scar crossed his chin.
He stopped abruptly.
His eyes found the heads scattered before the throne.
His entire body stiffened.
For an instant...
He could not say a word.
Then he raised his eyes toward the throne.
"Your Highness..."
Caelith did not answer.
His crimson-red eyes merely turned toward him.
The soldier swallowed hard.
Meanwhile...
Before the Second Wall...
The wind was beginning to slowly disperse the enormous cloud.
Little by little...
The hidden forms began to emerge again.
Roven remained motionless.
One of his arms remained extended before Cassian.
Cassian's golden eyes shifted toward Roven.
"What does this mean?"
Roven did not answer immediately.
His single eye remained fixed upon the dust ahead.
"Do not be reckless."
Roven finally turned his single eye toward him.
"Have you already forgotten what we decided yesterday?"
"Or the reason we sent Reinhardt back to the Northern Kingdom?"
Cassian narrowed his eyes slightly.
Roven's arm remained where it was.
"We expected to face Alaric."
"If the High Priest decided to send Boran and Tazir..."
His voice remained low.
"then what we had before us has changed."
Cassian held his gaze.
Roven turned his eyes back toward the passage.
"The difficulty changed."
A brief pause.
"Not what needs to be done."
The silence stretched on.
Then a serene voice emerged a few steps behind them.
"As much as I do not trust that woman..."
Selvaria remained mounted.
The reins rested loosely between her fingers.
"Roven is right."
"What needs to be done has not changed."
Cassian's golden eyes met Selvaria's ice-blue ones.
She held his gaze.
"Do not turn concern into haste."
"Garrick is not so fragile that we need to decide his defeat for him."
Selvaria turned her eyes toward the passage.
The dust continued slowly dissolving.
The silhouettes were beginning to become clearer.
"Even so..."
Her voice remained serene.
"I understand your concern."
The fingers holding the reins moved subtly.
"Unlike the other Awakened..."
"we cannot simply draw upon the World's Flow to replenish the Eso we consume."
Her eyes narrowed minimally.
"And we have already consumed a considerable amount of the Eso..."
"stored within our Cordis even before we arrived here."
Roven remained silent for a few moments.
The arm before Cassian finally lowered.
"That never stopped us before."
His single eye remained upon the passage.
"During the war, we learned early not to waste what we could not replenish."
The wind crossed the field.
A new layer of dust was swept away.
Little by little...
Something began to emerge amid the devastation.
Stone.
An enormous rocky formation remained at the center of the crater.
Cracked.
Deformed.
Like a shell that had received the weight of a mountain.
CRACK.
A fissure ran across its surface.
Then another.
CRRACK...
Large slabs of stone began to break away.
They collapsed one after another.
THUMP.
THUMP.
Until...
Garrick emerged from within.
His body remained leaning forward.
One of his legs had been pushed several inches backward.
The other was bent.
His knee...
A few inches from the destroyed stone.
But it did not touch it.
Both hands remained wrapped around the handle of the war hammer.
The metal had bent.
The pale armor was covered in new cracks.
Fragments of stone still fell from his shoulders.
Even so...
His head remained raised.
Before him...
Boran remained motionless.
Roven watched the scene.
"If we depended only on what our Cordis could store..."
An almost imperceptible smile appeared on Selvaria's lips.
Roven continued:
"none of us would have survived the Hundred Years' War."
The silence remained for a few moments.
Selvaria continued watching Garrick.
Then she released the reins.
With a calm movement, she dismounted from the horse.
Her boots touched the ground.
Fastened to the side of the saddle...
The long hilt of a Claymore rested between the straps.
Selvaria wrapped her fingers around it.
SHING...
The blade slowly left its sheath.
Long.
Thin.
Elegant.
The steel reflected the light of dawn.
Selvaria observed her own edge for a brief moment.
"Well..."
Her eyes settled upon Alaric.
"Kaizer has already had his chance."
The tip of the Claymore lowered gently beside her body.
"I will deal with Alaric."
Roven showed no surprise.
He merely nodded.
Cassian watched the two of them.
Roven turned toward him.
"They know our weapons."
A brief pause.
"Our habits."
"They know how far we can go before we even need to reveal our abilities."
His single eye shifted toward the figures ahead.
"We cannot say the same about Boran and Tazir."
Roven brought his hands to the two blades fastened at his waist.
He took a step forward.
"We will make them show what they are capable of."
Cassian narrowed his eyes slightly.
Roven turned toward those who remained behind.
His single eye swept across them.
"Watch closely."
"Do not waste what we will need to bleed to discover."
Selvaria gave him a brief look.
SHING.
SHING.
Roven's two blades left their sheaths.
He kept them lowered at his sides.
Neither of them said anything else.
Then...
They began to advance.