The front yard of the Edger mansion was filled with the sound of nothing. A thousand men were kneeling on the grass and gravel, their heads bowed low. The air was thick with the smell of horse sweat, dust, and the iron scent of blood from Eon's mouth.
Eon sat on the porch, his back against the wall. Every breath felt like a hot needle was being pushed into his chest. He watched Alaric Denares standing in front of the massive army.
Eon's mind was racing. He had so many questions. He wondered how Alaric was even standing. The last time he saw the Lord, Alaric was a broken mess under the effect of mana suppression power of the soul-binding collar.
'Did Elora wake him up? Did she talk to him? Did he agree to help them on his own? How is he even here? He should have been chained up. Who released him?' Eon looked at Elora, who was standing just beside the doorway. She looked terrified but also relieved. She didn't look like she had planned this. It felt like a miracle, but Eon didn't believe in miracles. He only believed in plans.
Alaric did not look at Eon. He did not look at the injured elves. He kept his eyes fixed on Captain Valen, who was still kneeling at his feet, trembling.
"Why are you here", Alaric asked. His voice was cold and sharp. It wasn't the voice of a man who was high on drugs. It was the voice of a ruler. "I gave you an order, Valen. I told you to take the men back to the Denares mansion and wait for further instructions. Why did you disobey me?"
Valen didn't lift his head. He spoke to the dirt at Alaric's feet. "My Lord, I apologize. I was worried. After you and Lord Darius stayed behind at the Count's estate, something felt wrong. The order to return was so sudden. I decided to stay nearby, just in case."
Valen continued, his voice getting a bit stronger. "Then the Duke's investigators arrived at the Count's mansion. They were asking questions. They were suspicious. I thought they were coming for you. I raided the Count's house again because I wanted to find out what they knew. I wanted to see if they were a threat to House Denares."
Valen was lying. Eon could tell. The Captain was trying to cover up the fact that he had been drunk and partying, and that he had probably been the one who leaked information to the investigators in the first place. But Valen was a good soldier. He knew how to make his disobedience sound like loyalty.
Alaric raised a hand, stopping Valen in the middle of a sentence. "I do not care about your reasons", Alaric said. "You left your post. You brought an entire army to a private estate without my permission. You have caused a scene that will be hard to explain to the Duke."
Valen finally looked up. His eyes were desperate. "My Lord, I only came because of the light. Lord Darius's life light. It went dark at the barracks. I thought you were both dead. I came to save you or to take revenge."
Alaric narrowed his eyes. He looked down at the Captain with a strange expression. "And how did you know it was Darius? I made sure that the life lights for both me and my brother were made from the same crystal batch. They have the same signature. No one can tell which light belongs to which brother. So, why did you assume it was Darius who died? Why did you come here looking for me as if you knew I would be alive?"
Valen hesitated. He looked at the ground and then back at Alaric. "To be honest, My Lord, I didn't know for sure. But I had a hunch. My gut was telling me that you wouldn't die so easily. You are the smart one, Lord Alaric. You always have a plan. Lord Darius... he was a god of war, but he was reckless. I just felt in my soul that if one of you were to fall, it would be the one who charges into the fire first."
Hearing this, Alaric felt a sharp pang of shame in his chest. Deep down, he knew that Valen's image of him was wrong. He wasn't the smart one this time. He had been tricked. He had been drugged. He had been turned into a slave by a boy who was about to be his property. He had failed his brother, and he had failed his house.
But at the same time, Alaric felt a small spark of pride. Valen was a good captain. His perceptiveness was impressive. Even when things were a mess, the man's instincts were sharp.
Alaric took a deep breath. He needed to act. The spell in his mind was pushing him to protect Eon, but his own noble pride was pushing him to save his house. For now, those two goals were the same.
"You have done well to come, Valen," Alaric said. His voice became louder, carrying across the yard so every soldier could hear him. "It is true. My brother, Lord Darius Denares, is dead".
A collective gasp went through the army. Some soldiers actually fell back in shock. The Knights of the Diablo Unit looked like they had been hit by a physical blow. Darius was their hero. He was the man who had led them through a dozen battles without a scratch. To hear that he was gone was like being told the sun had fallen from the sky.
"How?" Valen asked, his voice was barley a whisper, his face was also turning pale. "How could a man like Lord Darius die here?"
Alaric looked out at the sea of soldiers. He had to tell a truth that they would believe. He had to give them a target for their anger.
"The mercenaries," Alaric said. His voice was firm. "Those greedy bastards I hired to help with the transport. They saw the wealth in this house. They saw the high quality of the slaves. They grew greedy. They tried to break their deal with me. They wanted to take everything for themselves and sell the elves on the black market."
The soldiers listened with open mouths.
"Darius and I fought them, Alaric continued. We fought like lions. But there were too many of them. They used dirty tricks. They used poison. My brother died protecting me and the property of this house. He died like a true Denares, with a sword in his hand and his face toward the enemy. Some of the elves here also died trying to help us. It was a bloodbath."
Eon, who was listening from the porch, felt a chill go down his spine. He was amazed. Alaric was a natural liar. He had taken the truth, that they were attacked by Shadow Mages and mercenaries, and twisted it just enough to make himself look like a hero. He had turned the dead mercenaries into the villains and the elves into his allies.
"But what about the Shadow Mages?" Valen asked. "The ones who took our White mages?"
"They were part of it", Alaric spoke without blinking. "They were the ones who led the betrayal. They killed our white mages to make sure we couldn't heal our wounds. They wanted us dead."
Alaric stepped forward to the very edge of the porch. He looked over the thousand men. His eyes were cold and full of fire.
"Do you hear me?" Alaric shouted. "The mercenaries and the mages who betrayed House Denares think they can get away with this! They think they can kill a Marquess and walk away! They think we are weak because one of your leaders is gone!"
The soldiers started to stir. A low growl began to rise from the crowd.
"We will find them!" Alaric roared. "We will hunt every single one of them down! We will find their families, their friends, and their homes! We will kill every root of their existence! We will make sure that no one ever dares to point a sword at a Denares noble again! For Darius! For the House!"
For a second, there was silence. Then, the explosion happened.
"FOR DARIUS!" a knight screamed.
"FOR THE HOUSE!" the infantry roared back.
A thousand men stood up at once, drawing their swords and spears. They slammed their weapons against their shields, creating a sound like a mountain collapsing. The roar was so loud that the windows of the mansion rattled in their frames. The soldiers were no longer tired. They were no longer drunk. They were filled with a terrifying, unified rage.
Eon, Elsa, and the other elves just watched the scene with their mouths open. They had never seen anything like it. A thousand humans, all screaming for blood, all controlled by the words of a single man.
Eon looked at Alaric's back. He realized that he hadn't just captured a noble. He had captured a commander. He had a weapon in his hands that was more powerful than any fireball he could ever cast.
Alaric turned back toward the house; his face was still hard to read. He looked at Eon for a split second. There was no warmth in his eyes, but there was a silent understanding. He had done his part. He had saved the elves. He had saved Eon.
"Get the men settled in the outer fields", Alaric ordered Valen, who was now standing and saluting. "I want a perimeter established. No one goes in or out without my word. And find me a healer. A real one. I am tired."
"Yes, My Lord!" Valen shouted.
The army began to move. The knights started barking orders, and the sea of steel began to flow toward the edges of the estate. The immediate threat was over. The mansion was no longer under siege, but it was now the headquarters of an army of vengeance.
Eon let out a long, shaky breath. He felt like he was going to pass out. Elsa rushed to his side, catching him before he hit the ground.
"We did it", she whispered, her eyes still wide from the speech. "They believe him."
Eon nodded, wincing as his ribs shifted. "They believe him for now. But we have a thousand soldiers living on our front lawn. If even one of them finds a mistake in the story... we are dead."
He looked at Alaric, who was walking into the house without a word.
The game had changed. Alaric was no longer just a slave bound to Eon in this mansion. He was the center of a storm. And Eon knew that the real fight was only just beginning.
Author note: The Real fight only just begun.
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