Crests, falling

Erinara

I had teleported us into the city’s confines, just as planned.
“It appears I have overestimated my skills”, Fyor grunted, slouching to the ground.
Two arrows stuck wedged inside of him, one in his right abdomen and one in his left thigh, “At least my body was able to protect when my skill was not”, he coughed.
Jin quickly carried Fyor to a nearby alleyway, propping him against a wall.
“Erinara”, Jin said.
“Already on it”, a radiance of molten gold surrounded me, “I can’t use my shadows like this.”
“Understood. Excuse me, master Fyor”, Jin swiftly ripped the arrows out of his mentor’s body.
Fyor grit his teeth in pain, before slightly easing up due to the healing effect of my light.
I retrieved a packet from my tunic and handed it to Jin.
“Grind this to dust. Then infuse it with mana. It's the component for the antidote magic. Don’t worry about it not being a rune, just use the same concept. Gather magic and make it move into the powder”, I stated. I also told him the required arcane words. Jin hesitated for only a second, before starting the process of the antidote spell.
“If I stop focusing on my healing light, the wounds might prove too gruesome. You’ve got this, Jin.”
Jin had closed his eyes in focus. I could see mana slowly flowing into his hand from the air. He managed to charge the powder with enough magic to activate the required threshold, even though a large amount of mana had been lost in the process. Speaking the arcane words to activate the spell, he let the powder float toward Fyor.

Fyor, in turn, was flicking his eyes between his student and me in utter astonishment.
Within a few minutes, the wounds had closed enough to get him out of mortal danger.
“You can use magic, my boy?”, Fyor asked, “and Erinara, you can heal? You have my deepest gratitude.”
“I had a great teacher”, Jin said calmly, “though I didn’t expect to be able to do this either.”
“You had all the tools, you just needed to put them together. And if I’ve learnt one thing from sparring with you, it’s that you learn quickest when the situation is dire”, I said.
“Most fascinating”, Fyor stated, “I thank you once again”, then his voice took on a more serious tone, “since the councilmen were so quick in showing their true colors and we managed to escape in such a short time, it should take the citizens a bit longer still until they have gathered. I will move to my defined location, you have healed enough.”
Fyor began leaving the alleyway.
“Don’t get yourself killed, master Fyor”, Jin said.
“After being saved twice, I hardly think that would be fair of me.”
He disappeared, making his way to group up with Ebiron for when the next phase began.
Jin and I had taken it upon ourselves to defend the eastern part of the kingdom.
For the two of us, the fact that we had to escape so quickly was a bit of a detriment, as it gave the enforcers more time to catch up with our location.
But for now, all we could do was wait and see if the plan worked.

We waited in silence for a minute. Then I took a step closer to Jin and leaned into him.
“This is for protecting me”, I said, brushing a kiss against his lips, “and this is for caring about what others call me”, I kissed him again.
“…You don’t need a reason to kiss me”, Jin bashfully said after a short silence, a soft redness appearing on his face.
My heart immediately pounded with heavy strikes. I stared at him with wide eyes and heated cheeks.
“Yeah. I guess not”, I voiced weakly, then becoming quieter still I added, “Then, how about one more time?”
Jin embraced me dearly.
“I really can’t wait for this battle to be done with”, I breathed.
“Soon, my love.”

During our brief stay in the alleyway, a shift was occurring in the kingdom.
It had started with an upsurge of fear, then justification of the council, then worry, and finally doubt.

From the citizens’ point of view, massive rips appeared in the fabric of reality all of a sudden, surrounded by wisps of shadows dancing around their edges. The men and women looked up in horror, worried that the land of warlocks had initiated an attack on the public.
Then, just as quickly as the darkness in the sky appeared, it started filling with color, and sound, even. It portrayed the legendary hero Eaglecrest, standing next to a young man bearing the same crest in his armor, and a young woman with unnatural horns and markings on her body. Opposed to them stood multiple men that seemed to belong to a branch of the military nobody had ever heard of. That was, until three prominent members of the council of crests stepped forward, referring to these mysterious men with a name steeped in fear: ‘Enforcers’.
Was the event they were witnessing an attack? Why was a legendary hero in dispute with the council? The war didn’t exist? The councilmen defined the citizens as puppets? Why did they attack out of nowhere? The enforcers weren’t a myth? Were they truly just, as per the legend, if laden with such sadistic bloodlust? When Eaglecrest got shot, a sphere of darkness suddenly surged around the heroes and the woman. It collapsed in on itself, making them vanish. Was this an attack? Something else?

Then the scenery within the hole in reality shifted to reveal three people, seemingly in a large room.
One of them, a man with black hair bound into a knot and ears too long to be human spoke up:

“Noble citizens of the kingdom of crests. I am Ebiron, an executive of the land of warlocks.”
The word executive sent a shudder throughout the public. Many considered these to be the last words they’d ever hear.
The man continued to speak:
“What you have witnessed is the true face of the royal council. The war, that you pay for in blood daily, exists no longer.
I will not act like the warlocks have been free of sin in the past. We let the council prolong your people’s suffering with ‘fated duels’ of false prophecy. It would be a lie to say we didn’t fight in the duels, but I swear we never killed. Someone else did that, who could it be?”, the mysterious man spoke with a calculating dark logic, clearly insinuating the enforcers, “We wish to end this senseless conflict and turn to peace. The royal council is barring the way.
If you do not believe me, that is your choice to make. If you have any doubts about the actions of the royal crests, go ahead and ask them about it. We have sent an envoy of previous ‘fated duelists’ who had taken refuge in our land after the royal lineages tried to backstab them. Our actions are done in affiliation with Fyor Eaglecrest, Leptarus Lioncrest and Sera Bisoncrest.
On all of our honor, I swear that we will protect you from any harm the council will try to inflict on you, if you so choose to question them.”

The scene in the ominous magic changed again, this time revealing four large open plazas near the stronghold that the royal lineages resided in, deep in the heart of the kingdom.
In two of these images stood the heroes Lioncrest and Bisoncrest.
As the spell changed to showcase multiple locations, no sound was transmitted any longer.

At first, almost everyone believed this to be a twisted tactic. After all, the warlocks were told to be conniving, heartless monsters that assault them just for fun.
But then the seeds of doubt started to sprout.
If the warlocks had power to disappear in thin air, and create vivid imagery in the very sky, what would an actual assault look like?

The first people to rally were those who had banded together with Sera Bisoncrest years past. They had seen a hero be shackled and thrown into a dungeon for speaking her mind. The sight of Bisoncrest freed and in reach fueled them to rush to that location. The flame in these peoples’ heart was easily set ablaze again, having only waited for kindling.

Two military departments were the next to consider the executive’s words as truth.
The first group of theirs to move was led by a recent recruit of the name of Gawir. These people trusted in their faith in Fyor and Jin Eaglecrest.
The second group, who called themselves the pride of Leptarus Lioncrest needed but more of a glimpse of their leader to rally.
Following their example, multiple more joined.

What started as a small trickle had turned into waves of people as soon as the fated duelists, members of families, friends and communities who were thought to be long dead in the face of a bloody war, had miraculously returned.
The warlocks had stayed true to their word immediately.
With living proof confirming the warlock’s story, many more citizens from all backgrounds rallied, marching toward the royals’ stronghold.

A multitude of emotions as wide as one could think affected every citizen in of the kingdom, ranging from fear, confusion and apprehension to curiosity, disbelief, dependance and even devotion.
They all, however, had but one question in mind:

“What was truly going on?”