Year 2: The Scorched Remains - Chapter 5

Slowly, the next three weeks passed without any major events for the Summoned Heroes, though things were far from going well.

Tensions had continued to rise among them, as Yve and her team stood by Hailey and swore she was innocent, whilst others like Talon remained sceptical.

Most didn’t vocalise their thoughts on the matter, but the looks they gave one another and her said all they needed to. Duncan, as well as the other team leaders, had tried to come up with plans to get everyone back on the same page and work things out, but they never got past the planning stages.

Hajime had started to distance himself, and Akane had become much less vocal. She no longer met with Kayleigh to discuss potential spies within the heroes or their allies, and she often kept her thoughts to herself during training.

Dante, noticing the growing rifts in the heroes, had spoken to them about it and tried to reaffirm what their united goal was, but it fell, mostly, on deaf ears. Duncan tried to encourage them too, but faced similar results.

Amen’s betrayal.

Hailey’s past with the Demon Emperor.

The rifts growing between teams and teammates.

Everything was slowly spiralling downwards.

With no other choice, King Alexander ordered them all on their assignments early, dispatching them to five different camps along the south-east border. There was no longer any need to try and disguise that the camp Leomare had was one of the possible sites of the invasion, so they sent the heroes to fortresses along the border.

“Maybe if they spend some time apart, they’ll come to appreciate what they had,” Alexander said with a great heaviness to his voice to Hiiragi.

***

Barth was a recently constructed wooden hill fort twelve miles from the south-east border with the Demon Empire.

It was one of eighty-five like forts that had been hastily put together and manned in a similar fashion to the stone castles protecting the northern border. At the top of the hill were the officers’ quarters, the storehouses, the armoury and the keep for honoured guests to stay in which was surrounded by a wall and a ditch; then, there was space for the soldier’s tents and the medical staff. They too were protected by a tall wooden wall and a deep ditch. Finally, beyond that, there was a third wall with guard towers, siege machines, artillery and wells with an even deeper ditch surrounding those walls.

Though it was a recent build, it had only taken one month for construction to complete.

“The locals were motivated to finish as quickly as possible,” General Caroline told them. “Count Barthlow wasn’t an idiot; he knew there was always a chance his invasion would fail, so he sent riders to the nearby loggers and miners with handsome sums of money to build forty of these forts along the borders. The local lords heard, learnt what had happened to him, and built the other forty-five, with the help of the alliance’s forces of course.

“This one, Fort Barth, was named after the count to honour his sacrifice, and to thank him for everything he did for us,” General Caroline said proudly.

“How many soldiers do you have here?” Duncan asked.

The general’s dog ears twitched a little, poking through the gaps in her plate helm. “About two thousand, give or take. Not as many as Leomare’s camp had, rest peacefully old friend, but we’re mainly here to hold the enemy up and buy time.”

“…That’s a bit of a bleak outlook,” Stephanie said.

General Caroline laughed. “Well, on the upside, we aren’t part of the forces that will go east when the time comes. We’re here as a contingency, Harmonia forgive us if the invasion does fail. Well, the way I look at it.” She stopped and smiled happily at the six of them. “With you guys on our side, I think we’ll probably end up being the first to welcome you home and congratulate you.”

Everyone smiled back except for Dao Chen, though not one of those smiles was overflowing with happiness.

***

“…You know, if you two want some alone time together, I can go,” Brenda said to the couple holding hands.

“It’s fine, Brenda, really,” Stephanie assured her. “If anything, it’s good to have a friend like you nearby.”

Brenda smiled thinly. “Well, I get what you mean. Still, I honestly don’t think there’s another traitor.”

“Not at all?” Duncan asked.

She shook her head. “I think there was just Amen and it was a cruel joke pulled on Hailey that the guy she used to know was reborn. I’m no movie critic, but either that was the greatest acting performance in the world, or she was actually broken that day.”

“…Yeah.”

“Still though, Amen of all people.” Brenda sighed.

“Still can’t believe it?”

“Not really. It’s just…he was so nice, you know? One time, I was out shopping by myself and I lost my purse. I was looking all over the place for it and then Amen saw me, asked what’d happened, and then spent the whole day searching with me. We found it after six hours - he said he’d come out to try and buy Hajime a gift, but he could just come back tomorrow and buy him it then.”

“…That wasn’t an act at that point for him.”

“Well, so he says.”

“I don’t think it matters either way,” Stephanie said, clutching Duncan’s hand tighter. “I know who I trust and I don’t doubt anyone on this team at least. Especially not you two.”

“Ah, that’s sweet.” Brenda rubbed Stephanie’s head roughly, leaving it in a bit of a mess.

“That’s the part where you say you too or express a similar sort of sentiment.”

“I know.”

“…I want to be like that, but…” Duncan trailed off as his head drooped. “I just keep thinking about ‘what ifs’ and things like that. I love you, Stephanie, and I really do trust you from the bottom of my heart, but then I just think…like what if the stuff people said about Hailey is what-”

Firmly, Stephanie grabbed Duncan’s cheeks with both hands and forced him to look at her, less than three inches between their noses.

Then, she kissed him, hard, repeatedly, and nearly pushed him onto his back all while Brenda awkwardly looked away.

After thirty seconds, she stopped, panting a little to catch her breath, and then hit their foreheads together.

“Ow!”

“That’s my line, Steph, what the-?!”

“I’m not Amen!” She declared quite loudly. She finished catching her breath, sighed and said, “I’m not using you, Duncan. I love you, I really do, and I know things are tough right now and we’ve barely had any time together alone-”

“Not alone, just for the record,” Brenda mumbled.

“But I’m not going to betray you. No one on this team will. I know it’s hard to get out of the mindset of hypotheticals, as that’s what drives me each and every day to study as much as I do. What if I found the secret to Blake’s rings? What if I learnt of a secret underground network of tunnels through the Dragon’s Spine Mountains? What if tomorrow one of us dies? But worrying about all of that without moving forward gets you nowhere.

“You have to keep moving and facing things like this, not running away. If you’re scared about something possibly happening, tell me and we can discuss it together. Not just me, but Hajime, Kayleigh, Brenda and anyone else you can call a friend. All this worrying and letting ourselves get divided is just wasting time, time we could be using to go on a fun date or to train, or to study…or to have a date…or-!”

“Steph, I think he gets it.” Brenda pulled on the other girl’s collar gently. “Also, was right here when you tried to jump on him.”

Flushed bright pink, Stephanie tried to deny that accusation, but Duncan grabbed her hand and said, “Thank you, Stephanie. I needed that.”

“Well, what straight guy wouldn’t from a girl like that.”

“Brenda!”

***

As their official tasks didn’t start until tomorrow, all of the team had free time to do whatever they wanted with.

Feng Li went to practice with his bow, Blake went to play with the soldier’s children, Duncan, Brenda and Stephanie were hanging out together in their room, and Dao Chen went to survey the camp.

She was examining every inch of it, memorising even the tiniest of details into her head.

The number of soldiers stationed in each part of the fort, their weapons, where the tents were, how many beds were in each tent, where the best places would be to sneak into the fort undetected, where the best place to start a fire was to let the grass ignite and engulf everything in flames.

Eventually, she reached the medical tents and her feet came to a natural stop.

The tents were far bigger than any of the others in the fort, though that was to support the sheer numbers of patients inside.

I’d heard that clashes at the border weren’t uncommon, but we’re still a dozen miles away from the Demon Empire. Talon said she’d heard of scouting regiments riding east and coming back, so maybe that’s who those guys in there are. Some of them. She narrowed her eyes. Won’t survive for much longer.

Even from a distance, Dao Chen’s keen eyesight did not disappoint.

In her old life back on Earth, she had seen many of the same injuries before.

The bruises around the face, chest and upper neck.

The bandages wrapped around one eye, with blood and a touch of puss oozing through the material.

Men missing limbs, women with crutches struggling to stand.

There were one or two sobbing in a corner, clutching onto something dear to someone they had lost no doubt.

“Every world’s the same,” she whispered.

It’s just I’m not the one who-

She cut herself off as flashes of the day she died surfaced, of the alleyway and the blood trickling into the storm drain.

I’ll just get something to eat.

***

Just after lunch, an alarm rang out.

“General Caroline, a host some four thousand strong have been spotted moving towards us!”

“What’s in their ranks?”

“The same as before. Undead, the Machai, some of the Hysminai.”

“Sir, new information!”

“What?!”

“T-t-t-to the west, another six thousand approaching a-a-a-and! And! There’s Dread Knights with them!”

“Dread Knights?!” General Caroline repeated. “Send word to the camps near-!”

“There’s a general with them too, sir! Abaddon the Cruel is leading them!”

***

“That’s definitely one of his generals,” Feng Li reported, squinting at the horde to their west.

“Which one?”

“Does it matter?” Dao Chen spat at Blake’s question, infuriating the younger girl.

“It does a little,” Brenda interjected. “The Alliance has records on all of them, but they’re sketchy at best. That Xi Shi was very strong, but not all of the others are at that level.”

“She’s right,” Stephanie said. “Based on what I’ve read and what I’ve heard from Dante’s reports, the inner council of the Demon Emperor range in strength. They’re all powerful, but not everyone’s on Xi Shi’s level.”

“Which means we can beat them,” Duncan confidently told them. He took a deep breath and looked them in the eye. “I know things have been rough lately, and that everyone’s got their own thoughts and opinions and darkness to deal with, but.” Duncan exhaled slowly. “We’re friends. I’ve spent so long killing myself trying to wonder who I can trust, if one of you guys could be lying to me, and then it hit me - this is exactly what the Demon Emperor would want us to be doing.

“He’d want us divided, at each other’s throats, unable to get stronger, unable to work together to unite and take him down…It’s not like I’m not scared of him, and it’s not like I’ve been able to forget that night, and I doubt I’m alone, but I know that we can do this. Honestly, right now, I don’t care about saving the world - I just want to get along with my friends and make a difference.

“And…I’m really hoping I’m not the only one thinking like this.” Embarrassed by what he had said, Duncan turned red and hid his face. “Oh my god, I did it again. I just said all this crap and look at me, I can’t even-No, wait, don’t look at me! It’ll make me more embarrassed!”

Stephanie and Brenda were the first to laugh. Then, Feng and Blake. Even Dao Chen cracked a rare smile.

“Ah, Duncan, Hajime was right about you.” Brenda hit him hard on the shoulder in a friendly manner. “You’ve just got ‘Protagonist’ flowing through your veins. Way to inspire the troops! Next time, we’ll get some proper inspirational background music for you to.”

“Brenda-!”

“Still, thank you.” Brenda knocked their foreheads together and then drew Surtur. “Right! Let’s show those bastards what we’re made of then!”

“Is it me or has Sister Brenda changed all of a sudden?”

“…Honestly, I think that might be her real self and she’s just been hiding it a little,” Stephanie whispered to her.

“Leader - do your job and lead on. Take responsibility for your actions like a proper adult, don’t just spout hollow words,” Blake urged on.

Dao Chen simply shrugged and nodded at Duncan.

“Okay…then, everyone, our target is the enemy general, Abaddon,” he said. “Take down as many enemies on the way as you can, but protect one another as we move as a team. Let’s go!”

This will also be a good time to test that theory I and Kayleigh have had about your closest aides, Demon Emperor.

***

“General, Lord Duncan and his team are pushing through the enemy lines towards Abaddon!”

“…They mean to distract or destroy the commander whilst we handle the leftovers? Alright! Soldiers of the Alliance! Our heroes are outside those walls, fighting tooth and nail for us. Do not let them show us up! Show them and the demons at our door the might of the Free People’s! Show them your hearts and stab them in theirs!”

***

Together, the team of six carved their way through the battlefield.

Skeletons and demons fell left and right, as each member covered one another’s gaps perfectly.

At the front, Duncan led the charge, supported by Feng Li’s arrows and Stephanie’s constant barrages of magic. In the rear, Dao Chen covered their flanks as Blake supported them with her black magical spears. Brenda floated around the middle, going back and forth between both groups whenever necessary.

Gargoyles swooped in from above, clutching undead goblins in their claws.

The goblins were dropped on top of them, but Blake’s spears skewered them long before they landed. The flying beasts themselves became pincushions for Dao Chen’s feathers.

A group of eight Machai lurched forward. Duncan dispatched two with great haste, using the runes Ehwaz and Raidho to increase the speed of his strikes and the movement of his body. Brenda moved to protect Stephanie and killed another three, whilst Stephanie and Feng Li finished off the stragglers.

Like that, working together, moving fast, but not too fast, and covering each other’s backs without exhausting themselves, they made their way through to Abaddon.

While they had heard the stories and all read the reports on him, the demon’s intimidating presence more than lived up to his reputation.

He stood three metres tall; he was extremely muscular and wearing plate armour that looked as if it’d been forged by volcanic rocks.

Planted before him in the dirt was his mighty sword, a claymore that was just as intimidating and large as he was. His eyes burnt like a roaring fire beneath his helmet and just by standing on a hill above him they felt the oppressive aura radiating from him.

The twenty Dread Knights that had been with him had formed a circle around the heroes, sealing them in a large ring with the demon general.

…He’s not as powerful as the Demon Emperor was, but this pressure. Duncan swallowed hard. It’s difficult to breathe.

Are all of the other generals like this, too?

“So, you are the Summoned Heroes I’ve heard so much about?” His voice was demonic in nature, just like his very being. He scoffed. “You’re weaker than I imagined.”

…Maybe I was wrong. Maybe Kayleigh was too; maybe it was just a one-time win.

In seconds, Duncan’s resolve had started to falter.

The memories of the Demon Emperor were still fresh in his mind a month on, and that fear, that overwhelming, paralysing emotion, had returned.

His hands started to shake and he nearly ordered the retreat.

Then.

Just before Duncan could buckle under the pressure, someone stepped forward and threw something at Abaddon.

No one on the Demon Emperor’s side reacted to the projectile, not even as it bounced off the demon’s armour and fell to the ground unceremoniously.

“General Abaddon.” Feng Li stepped forward. “I challenge you to a duel.”

“What?”

“Feng, what are you-?!”

“Brother Duncan.” Feng shot him a quick look and smiled reassuringly. “The great General Abaddon here deems us too weak to be worthy opponents. Surely, though, General, as one warrior to another, you cannot ignore a duel when challenged, or else you’ll appear cowardly before your subordinates.”

Still, Abaddon remained indifferent, though he did snort loudly at Feng Li’s provocations. “Do you really think any one of the Demon Emperor’s servants gathered here would call me that?”

Feng’s smile faltered a little, but he kept a brave face, even as a bead of sweat rolled down his forehead. “No, but what would your emperor say? Unless…” Feng looked around them at the encirclement the Dread Knights had made; there were two large gaps, an easy escape route should they need to flee. “You won’t attack us? No, you never had any intention of fighting us in the first place.”

“Like I thought,” Duncan whispered.

“Wait, what’s going on?” Blake asked.

Stephanie saw the gaps too and gasped a little in frustration, grinding her teeth together. “Even after all our training, they still-!”

Dao silently fired eight feathers at Abaddon, but he lazily moved his head out of the way; the feathers were then sliced out of the air by two Dread Knights.

Anxiously, Duncan asked, “Why won’t you attack us?”

“Because there’s no need to.”

“No need, or because you’re not allowed to?” Feng Li’s question drew Abaddon’s gaze towards him.

“What do you guys mean?” Brenda asked.

“Sister Kayleigh’s observations regarding the Demon Emperor’s inner council are most interesting. After the incident with Fenrir and following the attack at the Rivers House, she hypothesised that the Demon Emperor had given special orders to his council not to kill us.

“In theory, we are the greatest enemies that the Demon Lord could possibly face here in Aangapea, yet he leaves us alone. The official statement he’s given is that there’s no sport in it, but that doesn’t change the facts, does it, General Abaddon?”

With a chuckle, Abaddon shook his head. “Do you think yourselves geniuses for figuring out something so simple?” Abaddon unfolded his arms and put both hands on his sword’s hilt. “The Demon Emperor commands and we obey - the Summoned Heroes are not worthy prey to kill. Wait until the time is right; then, the slaughter can begin.”

“…Your arrogance could be your undoing,” Duncan taunted.

“Oh? Do the Summoned Heroes wish to die again so soon?”

“What, just like your boss?” Dao Chen’s aggressive outburst caught everyone by surprise. She’d barely said ten words since they’d arrived. She grinned haughtily and took four steps towards Abaddon. “I wonder how many of them-”

“The Demon Emperor said not to kill you.” Abaddon’s aura flared. “He did not say I could not take your tongue!”

“Then, take it.” Dao Chen shifted her feet as the cloak swayed behind her, more feathers ready to shoot.

“That said.” Abaddon’s aura vanished. “He did say not to harm you until then too, if possible.”

“Then.” Feng Li spun Pinaka in his hands and drew back an arrow. “We could attack you for hours without fear of reprisal.”

Abaddon sighed “The Demon Emperor said I could retaliate if necessary. By all means, heroes, show me how weak you are.”

“I, Feng Li, former sword of the great Liu Bei and now servant of the great hero, Duncan Wilson, declare that I shall slay you here today, General Abaddon.”

“…Feng Li, huh?” Abaddon chuckled. “If you want me to remember your name.” He lifted his sword out of the ground and into his right hand. “Then do your best!”