Chapter 36
Chapter thirty-six
The approach to the Third Regiment’s garrison was eerily noiseless, save for the crunch of dirt beneath their feet.
Rynna, Calli, and Kaelith moved cautiously, the weariness of battle hanging like a heavy fog in the air.
Tall, spiked beams jutted up ahead, forming a crude wall around the encampment.
It was more for show than protection. Nothing could stop the army of the dead for long.
At the entrance, a guard stepped forward, his face streaked with grime and exhaustion. He held up a hand to stop them, eyes hollow as they moved between the trio. Brow furrowed, a flicker of doubt crossed his face as he sized them up, barely managing to lift a Source-fueled pulse-checking device.
“You alive?” His voice was rough and dull as he waved the scanner over their wrists.
And when Kaelith stepped forward, the guard didn’t even give him a second glance.
Inside the wall, rough canvas tents sagged beneath the weight of collected rainwater, and wooden beams hastily erected to support larger shelters creaked under the strain of constant use.
The dirt paths between them had been trampled into thick, sticky mud by countless soldiers’ steps, while the stench of death lingered, overpowering the faint scent of wood smoke curling from dying fires.
Men and women moved about aimlessly, their movements sluggish. Some lugged injured comrades; others sat against tents, staring blankly into the distance. Their uniforms, once orderly and disciplined, hung loose and torn, streaked with mud and gore.
Rynna’s stomach twisted as they wound their way through the camp, careful to step over bodies lying in the dirt.
Whether they were sleeping or dead, it was hard to tell.
She caught sight of one woman bent in front of a small fire, cradling a young man’s head in her lap.
His eyes were closed, his chest rising and falling shallowly.
She hummed, though her voice was so faint it barely carried over the wind.
Soon, a large tent with torn Alliance banners flapping weakly from their posts came into view. Two men stood outside, eyes flat, but they gave the trio a nod and stepped aside to let them through.
Inside, Fenn stood hunched over a large map splayed across the table, his shoulders tense, head bowed as though the world's weight pressed down on him.
Two other Hollow-born flanked him, one of them a familiar face.
It was an Awakened from Ember Reach, a couple of years ahead of Rynna, and known for his quick mind.
The other was unfamiliar, a short man with closely cropped grey hair and a weathered look.
“Commander.” Rynna cleared her throat, stepping forward into a rest position, her hands clasped loosely behind her back.
“Rynna.” Fenn’s entire posture softened as he lifted his gaze.
She froze at the sight of him. He looked…
different. It had only been a week, but his shoulders slumped ever so slightly beneath his worn leather armor, and his fingers twitched at the edges of the map as if holding on to the last bit of control he could muster.
His eyes, visible above the mask, carried a haunted, empty look as if he had watched the light drain from his men day by day, knowing there was no victory to be had.
Coughing, he pulled himself upright. “I mean, Awakened Rynna. I’m relieved you made it. Headquarters sent word that you would be coming.”
“Nothing would have stopped us.” It took every ounce of her restraint not to close the space between them and pull him into her arms.
“Us?” His visible eyebrow lifted slightly, his gaze hardening as it found Kaelith.
“And what is so important,” the older man asked, his voice clipped, “that you had to deliver it in person? Hopefully, some way to win this damned war?”
“Yes. That’s why we’re here. Skarn is the key,” Rynna said firmly, her boots sinking slightly into the packed, muddy ground beneath her feet as she looked around.
The command tent was orderly, despite the disarray outside. Weapons racks lined the far wall, each blade and spear meticulously arranged, while lanterns hung from the beams, casting a steady illumination over the neatly stacked provisions near the entrance.
Swallowing, she added, “If we take him out, the horde should collapse.”
Fenn’s eyes widened at the words, then narrowed as his focus shifted to Kaelith again. “That seems too good to be true. Why would they make it so easy to defeat them?”
“It’s not as easy as it sounds, wolf,” Kaelith interjected, his voice breaking through as the first raindrops began to tap rhythmically against the canvas roof. “Skarn is a formidable enemy, and he’ll only reveal himself when he holds the advantage.”
“That’s where Awakened Calli comes in, then, I assume.” Fenn nodded toward her, the end of the table creaking as he leaned against it. “I take it you can find him?”
“I have a better chance than most,” she replied, her attention turning to the maps pinned to the tent's walls, tracking their scattered forces and territories under siege. “But the bigger question remains. Why create a single point of failure in an army that’s nearly unbeatable?”
“It seems,” Kaelith began, lips pursing, “that my former apprentice isn’t very trusting of his new ally. This is his leverage.”
“I wonder where he learned that.” Fenn’s tone was flat.
Kaelith ignored the comment. “It is a weakness we’d be fools not to exploit.”
“We,” Fenn echoed as he looked from Calli to Kaelith again, his eye briefly lingering on the Source-restricting cuffs at Kaelith’s wrists before drifting to the torn, blood-stained remnants of his clothes.
“It seems your trip wasn’t exactly uneventful.”
“No, Commander,” Calli cut in. “My unit was attacked by a horde of the dead. I was lucky that Rynna and...” she curled her nose in distaste, “the prisoner found me when they did.”
“A horde? Already past our defenses?” The older Hollow-born looked up from the map, skepticism etched into the deep lines on his face. “You must be exaggerating, girl. We’ve blocked them at every passage and paid for it in blood. Besides, you wouldn’t be here if there were that many.”
“There were hundreds,” Calli shot back, her voice shaking as her fists clenched at her sides. “My whole unit died keeping them off me.” Her eyes flickered toward Kaelith. “The traitor...he stopped them at the last minute and held them off until Rynna got there.”
“So let me get this straight.” The younger Hollow-born, Arthur, scratched his chin.
“A ‘horde,’ as you call it, came upon you, wiped out everyone in your unit, and this one”—he gestured toward Kaelith—”just happened to show up in time and then decided to stand between you and an army of the dead?
Holding them off long enough for...” He paused, a mocking grin creeping across his face.
“Another Awakened to arrive and, with a prisoner wearing Source-restricting cuffs, wipe out ‘hundreds’ of our own dead Hollow-born warriors?”
Fenn stood now against one of the tent’s pillars, his arms crossed, but remained silent.
“Commander, I can’t decide which part of this story is more ludicrous.” The young man chuckled. “I know you have some sort of relationship with this woman”—he glanced at Rynna, “but…”
“Enough,” Fenn growled. “Calli is speaking the truth, at least as much as she remembers.”
“Commander, you can’t seriously believe—” the older Hollow-born began, but Fenn silenced him.
“I said enough, Henry. Do you think I would be so easily fooled?” The clouds swirling in his left eye dissipated, revealing the silver Wolf's eye beneath.
Henry’s face tightened as he took a step back, his shoulders hunching under Fenn's fierce regard. “Of course not, but that doesn't mean the snake hasn’t manipulated them.”
Fenn turned to Rynna, his eye blazing as it locked onto hers. “Does Calli speak the truth? Is that what happened?”
“Yes,” she answered, her heart sinking as she realized she couldn’t tell whether his distrust was a calculated display for his officers or genuine. Either way, it stung.
“Then how did you dispel the horde?” Arthur asked, his voice filled with doubt. “I’d believe it if one of the legendary Demons did it.” His eyelids crinkled in suspicion. “Did you disarm his cuffs?”
Rynna met Fenn’s gaze, her voice calm. “Kaelith’s cuffs are still locked. They haven’t been tampered with. He nearly died protecting Calli before I got there.”
“And you had just let him wander off on his own?” Henry asked.
“I asked him to scout for a campsite for the night,” Rynna explained. “With his Source power sealed and the army of the dead out there, it was in his best interest not to stray far. He knew there was no chance Guide Fenn would release him if he came here without me.”
“Makes sense,” Henry grunted in reluctant agreement. “But how did you, barely an Awakened, manage to deal with that many enemy combatants on your own?”
“Fire.” She shrugged. “It’s not something I can use often, let alone to that degree, and it nearly killed me…”
“It did kill you, Rynna,” Calli whispered, her voice barely audible.
“Well, if that’s the case, I got better. But when I saw my…” Her gaze flicked involuntarily to Kaelith, who, by some miracle, had remained silent through the entire interrogation. She swallowed hard. “When I saw my friend in trouble, I reacted.”
“Commander?” Arthur asked, still unconvinced.
“It’s entirely possible.” His eyes never left hers. “But I’ve never seen it on this scale before.” He swallowed; his tone was…sad. “That fast?”
He wasn’t talking about the fire.
“It was so fast,” Calli added. “Before we even knew what had happened, we were surrounded by nothing but ash for over a hundred yards in every direction.”
“Ember Reach’s been playing games again.” Henry crossed his arms. “Keeping that kind of power a secret.”
“Stop.” Fenn’s strangled voice cut through. “The past doesn’t matter. We’re at war. Victory and survival are our only concerns now.”