Erya's Holy Warriors

Nono excuses herself to go to bed soon after, and I am left with my thoughts. Though, honestly I have made up my mind about her long ago. I trust her, as weird as that sounds. Even though she was planted, and she owes her allegiance to the enemy, I trust her, personally.

When Karina comes to change watch in the early morning, she rekindles the flame and settles in for the last hours until dawn—not that there is an actual dawn here. No daylight filters down into the fog and we’re using a small, magical clock that Safrim brought to tell time.

The mood is somber as expected, as we pack up after the night in the ground. I renew the blessing before we head out. Erya’s influence feels fainter here, somehow, the power flowing through me, when I pass it on, weaker. Maybe it’s because the light can’t reach this place. It’s still enough for now.

Today’s walk is depressing and quiet. Nono winks at me when I look at her questioningly. Is she keeping the small demons away? Less trouble, but also less experience points. Are regular people from this world even getting experience points? Another thing to ponder.

Surprisingly, the fog lightens the farther we get from the frontlines, until it looks just like a heavily overcast day. We can see further, but we are also spotted more easily like this. Karina leads us on the way to Granlal, and we finally arrive at the ruined remnants of a once medium sized town on the banks of the river. Plants have reclaimed the rubble, vines and large flowering plants growing from every corner. It’s incredible to think it’s only been a few years since this area was lost.

To reconstruct a building here, in the shadow of the castle turned garrison on the hill, would be suspicious, so we retreat to the cellar of the town’s largest inn, setting up our camp in between the leftover barrels, all empty by now.

It’s eerie, walking through the ruins. I’ve seen photos of cities after a war, razed to the foundations, but being there yourself, seeing the remnants of a once lively town reduced to dust, hits you so much harder. Safrim told the truth when he said that the demons prevent people from returning by destroying everything they need to live. It makes sense now, why so many of them are crowded in Atol, why they are rather squeezed together than out here.

With our supplies stashed away, we split up, scouting the area… though somehow we don’t encounter a single enemy. It makes sense to not expend any energy guarding places no human would tread, but I’m expecting traps on every corner regardless. Large plant growth hides our tracks as we circle around the hill, on which the castle turned garrison is situated. I am walking together with Nono and Karina. Safrim is on the prowl with Poru—every group with someone who knows the area a little.

Karina leads us through alleyways, in between the remnants of stone walls, and empty doorways. We stop suddenly when she spots a tree, large branches hanging over the remains of several broken carts.

“That is the large pear tree on the town plaza. It was maintained by the church of Erya right behind it.”

“There are pears on it even now!” I marvel.

“Yes, the plants seem to thrive out here. I wouldn’t believe it if I didn’t see it myself,” Karina says. “Though I wouldn’t dare eat the fruit.”

“Why not?” Nono asks.

“With the demonic influence all around, it can’t be healthy…”

“And what do you suppose the demon king’s troops eat? The ones that do eat, that is.”

“I don’t know. Plundered supplies?”

Nono approaches the tree and resolutely picks a pear from one of the low-hanging branches. She hands it over to me.

“Here, have a look, Mr Appraiser.”

I hold out the large, heavy pear and concentrate on it.

[Pear]
Type: Fruit
Attributes: None
Durability: 10/10
Age: 3 months

I concentrate on it more intently, but no additional information or notes pop up.

“It’s a regular pear.”

“Huh.”

With a glance at Nono, I raise it to my lips and take a bite.

“I take that back. It’s an exceptionally good pear. Considering it hasn’t seen the sun, it’s amazingly sweet.”

Karina takes the fruit from my hand and takes a bite as well.

“We can take some with us on our way back to the inn,” Nono suggests.

“Sure,” Karina relents.

We walk through the ruins of the church next, and I don’t feel Erya’s presence here anymore. In the church gardens we take position between the herbs, a sweet aroma enveloping us.

“Can you see the path running up the hill on the left side? That’s the main approach. The demons probably don’t need it, but there are also humans in the demon king’s army, who have to travel like every mortal. I don’t know of any other way in, and the main path is out in the open.”

Nono looks up into the sky and observes the clouds above the castle.

“Someone is conducting a ritual in there. The fog is being channeled down,” she says.

“You’re right. Well spotted. They likely have to replenish the ones we killed off, especially the centipede.”

“So there are more mages than usual?” I ask.

“Hard to tell. We don’t want to attack them outright anyway. We’re not equipped to fight a dark mage, who is powerful enough to create the centipede. No, we’re just here to annoy them enough to be able to shift the frontlines in our favour. With less demons on the border, the fog will lessen and we can advance. Safrim already sent word to the camps and they’re ready to move. It might not be much, but every bit of gained ground will raise the atmosphere back home and give people hope to keep trying.”

Karina is evidently well versed in the matters of this demon war and the living conditions of the people her father leads.

“We’ll go this way until we meet up with the other group. Take a note of anything unusual or any possible approach.”

I put my hand on the rubble next to me and look down at the text that appears.

[Skyblue Church of our Lady Erya]
Type: Place of Worship
Attributes: Light
Durability: 2/150
Age: 356 years

The ruins still know that they were once a church, then? I wonder how that works. Could I even rebuild something that forgets what it is? How long does it take to forget? I could collect all my power, manipulate this building and reconstruct a place of light in this town, a place to rebuild from. It’s a soothing thought, even while standing in the middle of all this destruction. And if our plan works, it may take even longer to do this, because the attention of the demons will be centered right here.

Even if no sunshine filters down directly, it’s still a marked change when night does fall. We can’t light anything in fear of discovery, so we carefully climb over the broken stones and push away large blades of grass to reach the meeting point near a large, dark boulder, which has always been laying in the shadow of the castle. Safrim and Poru are already there, hiding away from prying eyes, though I doubt anyone has an eye on this dead town.

“Granlal seems like it was a great place, once upon a time,” I say.

“It was a lovely town, yes,” Karina says. “I miss it dearly.”

I know she’s not only talking about the place.

“What did you see on your way?” Safrim asks.

“The main approach is open and free of vegetation. We can’t enter the castle through there. But I’ve seen that the western approach is completely overgrown. Before, you couldn’t climb up the bare stone wall, but now it should be possible.”

“I see. I’ve seen similar places and had the same idea,” Safrim agrees. “Did you read much about war tactics, Miss von Vale?”

“Anyone in the city does. We should all be prepared.”

Safrim nods.

“We will infiltrate the castle this way, set fire to the structure and then flee as fast as we can.”

“Can’t we just throw fireballs at them from a distance?” I ask.

“If you were one of the most powerful mages in the land, maybe. As it stands, we need to be closer than that.”

“We’re not the best team for this, are we?”

“Yuki! Don’t you dare talk bad about Erya’s Holy Warriors!” Karina counters immediately.

“About who?”

“Erya’s Holy Warriors! Good, isn’t it? I’ve been thinking about a group name for days.”

“Are you serious?”

“Very. Every famous party has a name. Think about the Yellow Eagles or the Five Dastardly Dragons.”

“She’s making those up.”

Poru shakes his head. “She’s not.”

“I was always a fan of the Five Dastardly Dragons,” Nono says.

“Et tu?”

“Come on, Yuki. I thought long and hard about it. It’s perfect.”

“I’m not so sure I want that strange goddess’ name in my team name,” I say.

“That’s blasphemy. Again,” Poru says.

I throw up my hands. “Fine. Who’s in favour of Erya’s Holy Warriors?”

Everyone raises their hands. Even Gale. He grins at me as if he’s voting just to spite me. I didn’t know cats could grin like that.

“Okay. Erya’s Holy Warriors it is.”

“Yesss!”

“Childish…” Poru whispers and earns a slap to the back for it.