IV
The Cloudy Chamber in La Chaim Palace, Elsphere, Capital of the Holy Land of Mekia
Several days after the return of the Winged Crusaders who had taken part in the Twin Lions at Dawn operation, Sofitia learned that the villages scattered around Mekia’s eastern border had been wiped out by the undead. It was with a rare grim look on her face that she summoned to the Cloudy Chamber the mages Lara, Johann, and Amelia, along with the Twelve Angels and the senior hundred-wings.
How will the seraph respond to this, I wonder...? Johann stood straight as a rod and motionless in the center of the front row, his eyes fixed on the richly ornamented throne. Amelia was on his left, just as still and erect. For her success in being the only one to slay an enemy commander in the course of the Twin Lions at Dawn operation, she was soon to be promoted to senior thousand-wing.
“The holy seraph!” The guardian’s announcement of the seraph’s arrival rang out. All of them moved as one to greet their liege with homage. Sofitia entered, wearing a scarlet gown that made her appear to be engulfed in flames. Her steps clacked coldly on the stairs of white glass as she ascended them.
“My Seraph.” A deferential attendant held out her silver staff adorned with rings. Sofitia took it, then gracefully lowered herself onto the throne. Her wisteria-colored eyes that seemed to see to the heart of everything now turned to the right of the front row, where stood Zephyr, his false eye gleaming mysteriously.
“Let us not waste time. Please tell me how the evacuation is progressing.”
“My Seraph,” Zephyr answered. “Evacuation orders have been issued to the towns and villages that fall in the path of the undead. At present, four-fifths of the residents have evacuated. I have also stationed owls in the other towns and villages, where they will make ready to evacuate immediately at the first sign of danger.”
“Thank you. I wish for you to continue to guide the evacuation.”
“Very well, My Seraph.” Zephyr lowered his head deeply. Sofitia’s gaze moved on to where Lara stood beside a map on a stand.
Lara took a step forward and saluted, then turned to the guardians and jabbed with the baton in her hand at a black point on the map.
“According to the latest intelligence from the owls, the army of the undead is continuing its march westward. Their progress is slow, but if they stay on that course—” She slid the stick to the left, coming to an abrupt stop at the point marked Holy City of Elsphere. “—in approximately ten days, more than ten thousand walking dead will overrun the holy city.”
The entirety of the Winged Crusaders knew about the dead, but only a limited few—Johann, Amelia, and the Twelve Angels—had a grasp on the most recent developments. As she had expected, murmuring broke out among the senior hundred-wings. Lara rapped her baton on the map.
“Get a hold of yourselves!” she barked, and like a receding wave, the muttering died away. When Lara was satisfied of this, she went on forcefully. “Of course, we cannot allow these impure creatures to take so much as a single step into the holy city. I mean to meet them with the entirety of our forces.”
Amelia spoke up at once. “If we send all our forces, who will defend the city? And, by extension, the seraph?”
La Chaim Palace was half a fortress and surrounded by three strong walls, but these would not matter if there were not enough guardians to defend it.
The response to Amelia’s question came from none other than Sofitia herself.
“Of course, you may assume that the bare minimum of a garrison will remain behind. And besides that, on this occasion I intend to ride into battle myself.”
The tumult of voices from the senior hundred-wings far outdid their earlier reactions.
“My Seraph?! Go to battle?!” burst out a grizzled old senior hundred-wing with white hair pulled tightly back, leaning forward. “That absolutely must not happen! I beg you, be prudent!” The others joined in with their own earnest remonstrations for Sofitia.
Meanwhile, Amelia had lost her usual appearance of impassivity. Her eyes were wide, and her mouth hung agape in a naked display of shock. Johann himself was only hearing about Sofitia’s intentions for the first time now, but he knew that her core philosophy was ultimately to rely on force of arms. As such, rather than being a surprise, it felt strangely right to him.
All the same, as her subjects, it’s not an easy thing to go along with... Johann looked at Lara. Usually, she would have been the first to protest, so it was powerfully disorienting to see that on this occasion, she had her mouth pressed tightly shut.
Sofitia was extraordinarily gifted, even among all the other seraphs of history. It was as though she had been born to reign over the world. If she were to die, Mekia would inevitably descend into unprecedented chaos. Johann, therefore, couldn’t understand Lara’s attitude. But then, in a flash, it came to him.
Ah, you already knew, didn’t you? Going over it again in his mind, it made complete sense. Sofitia would have known, sure as day follows night, that Lara would adamantly oppose her intentions. Thus, she had conveyed them in advance. Though by the looks of it, she isn’t happy about it...
The clink of the rings of Sofitia’s staff rang out through the chamber. As one, her subjects fell silent.
“This time, we are fighting neither man nor beast, but an enemy wholly unknown to us. Some days past I journeyed to the Artemiana Cathedral to find out the true nature of this dark art. I regret to say, however, that I did not arrive at the answers I sought. It therefore behooves me to assess our foe with my own eyes. It is my duty as seraph of the Holy Land of Mekia.”
Her eyes were beautiful, free of all impurity, and Johann could not contain his admiration at the warrior’s spirit he saw burning in them.
Truly our ruler is to be praised. My Seraph, I shall do everything in my power for you as you strike out on this path to supremacy through might.
No one had any further remonstrations for Sofitia after hearing her conviction. They knelt, faces full of determination to protect her with every fiber of their beings.
“Senior Thousand-Wing Johann.”
“My Seraph!”
“You will be the linchpin of the holy city’s defense.”
“This is a great duty, and one I am honored to accept.” Johann had assumed, given how things were going, that the task of protecting the city would naturally fall to him. This was what allowed him to answer without hesitation. Johann was more than willing to believe that the army of the dead was a diversion, and that the empire’s true objective was a surprise assault on Elsphere.
The information the Winged Crusaders had on Darmés was sparse, but it did contain an evaluation of his character. The evaluation had been done by Miranda Khan, the woman ordained as head priest of the Olsted branch of the Holy Illuminus Church. She had met Darmés, and described him to a close relative as a fearful man, well-versed in cunning. Sofitia gave close attention to all information, no matter how trivial it might seem. Johann could therefore appreciate why she would have him, with his affinity for wide-area magecraft, defend the city. And yet...
I’d really prefer she didn’t expect too much of me... he thought. My mana reserves are the lowest of the three of us, and all my spells burn through it like crazy. He let out a mental sigh, then his eyes met Sofitia’s. She was smiling. Not that it was anything new, but she had apparently easily read his thoughts. Being her subject might just be a curse as well as a blessing. All Johann could do was smile apologetically back at his great ruler.
“We rose in challenge to the empire,” Sofitia announced. “Now, to my horror, they have chosen to retaliate with methods that blaspheme against the Goddess Strecia. I will not tolerate the loss of any more of my people.” Sofitia’s face was hard as she glared down at them from atop her throne. All her subjects felt themselves bound by an overwhelming force of will that filled the whole of the Cloudy Chamber.
Lara took up where Sofitia left off, pointing to a spot on the map. “In accordance with what the seraph has told you, we, the Winged Crusaders, will meet the dead at the Ceirass Plateau and decide this once and for all.”
The Ceirass Plateau lay to the east of the holy city. It had singular geography within Mekia, with small hills laid out like the web of a net. By positioning their forces on the various hills, they would have an unquestionable advantage in both offense and defense. As far as Johann was aware, there was no better region that lay in the path of the oncoming dead better suited to an engagement. Everyone in the Cloudy Chamber must have known that. As such, not one raised any objection.
“We are to march three days hence. There is little time. Each of you is to make ready with all haste.”
“Yes, ser!” the others answered as one, their brave voices echoing in the Cloudy Chamber. Sofitia returned her staff to the care of her attendant, then rose from the throne. Here, she closed her eyes and crossed her hands over her chest.
“May the blessings of Strecia go with you.”
At daybreak three days later, atop a six-wheeled chariot that shone with a dim gleam, Sofitia stood clad in magnificent light armor. In front of Johann, a force of forty-five thousand stood in perfect formation.
“In the name of the Goddess Strecia, we shall see our evil foe consumed by holy fire.” The sight of Sofitia standing there, her voice pure as a clear stream, moved many of the guardians to tears. With her dignity of bearing that revealed not a trace of fear, she looked every inch a warrior.
“Well, then, Johann. I leave the holy city in your hands.”
“You may count on me, My Seraph.”
Sofitia gave Lara, who rode with her in the chariot, a smile, the signal for Lara to call in a ringing voice to move out.
I will be awaiting your safe return. Johann and the six guardians who were staying behind with him to defend the city held their salute until the chariot was out of sight.
The Winged Crusaders rode forth from the Holy City of Elsphere to meet the army of the dead. They arrived at the Ceirass Plateau just on schedule. On Lara’s orders, they spread out into formation atop one hill in the net after another. From atop her own steed, Amelia observed the formations alongside Sofitia up in the chariot.
Blessed Wing Lara never disappoints. This should be over in less than half a day. Amelia was genuinely impressed. Then, from her left, someone called over to her with a laid-back air totally unbefitting the charioteer.
“Heeey, Amelia.”
Amelia ignored this.
“Ameeelia.”
“This is a battlefield,” she finally snapped back harshly. “You will address me by my rank.” But she knew all too well that with Angelica, any reproach was a wasted effort. Angelica, indeed, showed no contrition. Instead, she puffed out her cheeks.
“If you heard me the first time, you shouldn’t have ignored me. It’s not a good quality, you know.”
Finding herself on the receiving end of a lecture, Amelia lost herself in a heavy, drawn-out sigh, then groaned. “Fine. What is it?”
“Did you see these walking dead everyone’s talking about?”
“No. I’m afraid that they did not appear where I was.”
“You didn’t, huh...?” Angelica said idly. “But like, walking corpses? Super gross, right? I’ve been wondering, do you think they bleed when you cut them?”
“I couldn’t say,” Amelia said icily, in the hopes of ending the interaction, but of course it had no effect on Angelica. The woman was always the same, and it was this that drove Amelia so utterly up the wall. She heard a quiet chuckle and turned to find Sofitia gazing down at her from the top of the chariot with amusement. In a panic, Amelia bowed her head.
“My Seraph, this was an indecent conversation to have in your presence. I cannot apologize enough.”
“You have nothing to apologize for. On the contrary, I was glad for the chance to see a different side of you, Amelia.”
“My Seraph, I...” Amelia was overwhelmed by shame.
But beside her, Angelica, not at all in the tone of a subject addressing her liege, said, “My Seraph, did you know Amelia actually loves pretty clothes?”
“Oh my! Does she really?”
“Angelica!” Amelia said angrily. The guardians around them all glanced over dubiously, but Amelia glared at each of them, and they quickly looked away. Clicking her tongue, Amelia then turned her glare on Angelica.
“You are not to trouble the seraph with such frivolous matters.”
“Oh, come on, it’s fine. Besides, I don’t think it’s frivolous,” Angelica added, pouting unhappily.
“The pair of you are such good friends. I am beside myself with envy.”
“Yes, My Seraph! Amelia and I are the very best of pals!”
As Amelia clenched her teeth, Sofitia said, “Thank you, Angelica, for teaching me something about Amelia I never knew. I hope you will teach me many more things.”
“Of course, My Seraph! I have loads more to say about Amelia, looooads! Oh, just you wait!”
“I am looking forward to it.”
Amelia’s ears were unpleasantly hot, but she couldn’t bring herself to complain as the other two chatted away happily. Just then, she caught sight of a guardian galloping toward them. They brought their horse up in front of Amelia, then slipped lightly to the ground before dropping gracefully to one knee.
“Senior Thousand-Wing Amelia, I come with a message from Blessed Wing Lara. You are instructed to move into position.”
“Tell Blessed Wing Lara her message is understood.”
“Yes, ser!”
Amelia dismounted, then faced Sofitia. “My Seraph, it appears we are ready. I will take my leave of you here.”
“I look forward to the news of your success.”
“As you will it, My Seraph.” Amelia saluted, then mounted back up. She pulled up alongside Angelica, then brought her lips to the other woman’s ear. “The dead will never reach here; indeed, I will give my life before I ever allow such a thing. Still, if worst comes to worst...” She paused. “You understand, don’t you?”
Angelica’s face turned serious. “Don’t worry. I’ll see the seraph safely through this, even if it kills me.”
“You,” Amelia said slowly, “do not have my leave to die. You are to protect the seraph and yourself.”
“What, you’re allowed to risk your life but not me? Isn’t that unfair?”
“Not in the slightest.” Amelia stared directly into Angelica’s eyes. They widened in surprise, but then Angelica beamed like the sun.
“Always so demanding, aren’t you, Amelia? But I hear you.” She tapped her chest confidently. Amelia said nothing more, only nodded. Between the two of them, that was enough.
Amelia’s pale blue hair danced to the gentle music of the wind as she galloped along.
“Now, then,” she murmured to herself. “Will the music I play be pleasing to the dead, I wonder?” Her lips curved in a cold but lovely smile.
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