Year 2: The Scorched Remains - Chapter 7

Life moved much slower for Penny after her brother’s death.

Murdered at the hands of rebels, Henry’s body had been taken back to the Dread Keep and had been buried in a small stone tomb on top of a hill with a gorgeous view of the Northern Hills.

Penny had wept for days after that, but now she was focused on something much more important to her.

At thirteen years of ago and without a friend or living family member left, she was the youngest applicant for the Dread Knight program and under the personal tutelage of Tres, one of the Five-fingered Hand of the Demon Emperor. Her circumstances were rare in the wider world, but weren’t uncommon within the ranks of the Dread Knights.

“I was once a slave before Lady Mania rescued us,” the blacksmith who forged her training sword told her. “We were taken by the Sons of Tartarus for all sorts of purposes, and we probably all would’ve died terrible deaths if it wasn’t for the Demon Emperor. Two of my sons, Parker and Will, died while we were slaves - now, it’s just me and Keith, though he’s too young to understand what happened to his big brothers.”

Stories like those helped convince Penny that she was standing on the right side of history, that she hadn’t made a mistake taking Tres’ hand back then, for betraying Princess Raeanne.

While most of the Dread Knights used the underground training rooms to practice and refine their skills, Penny had been invited to train with Jessica, Lucy and Cain in a courtyard today.

The three adventurers had become famous across Themis once following their supposed deaths at Stonefall, but then became infamous across the world after they’d become Awoken.

Lucy, the swordswoman, was fighting a mock duel with Penny, with the former using two swords while Penny only had one.

Every time Lucy went for a strike, a second one wasn’t far behind, keeping Penny constantly on her toes and fighting a losing battle.

“Remember, the point of the exercise isn’t to win, but to follow your opponent’s movements,” Lucy reminded her as a wide slice missed Penny by centimetres. “Don’t just follow the blades.” Two swords clashed. “Follow my eyes, my footsteps, my centre of gravity, but try not to do it consciously.” Penny stumbled and fell onto her back, tripping over a small raise wall behind her. Lucy sheathed a sword and offered the former maid a hand. “And try to mind your surroundings too.”

Penny nodded, taking every word to heart, and picked back up her sword, steadying herself in a new defensive stance.

“Your footwork needs practice too.” Lucy planted her other sword in the dirt, then moved behind Penny to fix her posture. “You’ve got a good grasp of the basics already, but you’re not confident in yourself. I understand why - you’re training to be a Dread Knight, as strong as Tres or Hilda one day, but.” Lucy hugged Penny from behind. “You don’t need to rush it. Hilda was a very, very special case and Tres still thinks himself inferior to the other Five.

“Take your time - find your own pace and rhythm, and you’ll do great, okay?”

Penny nodded again.

She still doesn’t want to open her heart up again, Jessica noted. Well, there was probably a time where I used to feel that way, after that weakling who I’d planned to marry died so easily to the Awakening Process. She sighed and put a hand to her cheek. The weak don’t have much value to his majesty, but I can’t tell her that.

“…Let me guess - you want to repay his majesty for what he’s done?” Cain asked.

Penny meekly nodded.

“Nothing wrong with that, perfectly normal,” he continued. “Every single Dread Knight thinks that way, as do almost everyone who works here. See those three maids there?” He pointed to Penny’s left. “That’s Monika, Lisa and Ivy - they’re all here for different reasons, but Ivy used to be a servant of the Kelseys, those horrible people who tortured slaves for fun and beat them to death.

“Ever since his majesty took control and made this castle the Dread Keep, she’s been one of the hardest working maids the world has ever seen. Monika and Lisa might be here for different reasons, but they’re working hard for the good pay they get and to provide futures for those they love.”

Jessica nearly burst out laughing when Cain said that last remark, for the futures of those lovers of theirs hung on a knife’s edge and dangled closer to the blade’s tip with every passing day.

“Everyone’s got that drive, just like you - you don’t have to do everything by yourself. You can lean on those around you like us.” He smiled reassuringly at her as Lucy stroked Penny’s back. “We’re on your side.”

At first, Penny was about to nod silently again, but she instead whispered, very softly, “Thank you.”

I wonder. Jessica thought, observing the girl getting flustered over the attention Lucy and Cain were giving her. Is it gratitude towards his majesty or her desire for revenge that fuels her? Either way. Jessica covered the disgusting smile creeping over her lips. She’ll be useful.

***

“A-allaric, don’t you have work-?”

“Shh,” he said gently. “I can’t hear her kick-Ah, I just did.” David laughed as he felt his unborn daughter kicking against his wife’s belly. “That’s our daughter…that’s our daughter in there.”

“A-a-allaric, it’s embarrassing! Dad’s right there, as is the doctor and my ladies in waiting!”

Lord Ruthven, charmed by the scene, chuckled. “Don’t worry about it, Lilith. This is a happy occasion, isn’t that right, doctor?”

“Yes, Lord Ruthven,” the vampire doctor said with a smile. “Lady Lilith is completely healthy, as is the child, and she should be ready to give birth in a few months’ time. At the earliest, within two months for a safe delivery. Congratulations again, your majesties.”

“Thank you, Doctor Mattheus,” Lilith said. “And I’m sorry about the undignified display my husband has shown you today.”

“It’s natural that the emperor should be this happy - the heir of the empire has been conceived and will be born to such loving parents. If I didn’t fear for the child’s safety, I would love to tell the world this joyous news.”

“We can’t have that now, doctor,” Lord Ruthven reminded him. “As great as this news is, we cannot risk the enemies of the Demon Emperor learning of the child’s birth. It could increase their efforts to undermine his authority and perhaps even give them idiotic notions of trying to assassinate the baby.”

“If they did that.” David raised his head off his wife’s belly. “I would burn this whole world to the ground.”

Everyone gulped at that image, for they truly believed his words and knew he had the power to do so.

“No one here is to speak a word about this to anyone outside this room to anyone. Not to the council, not to your guards or friends, and not to anyone outside the Dread Keep. Is that understood?”

“Yes, your majesty,” all but his wife replied.

“Good. Lord Ruthven - I hope you don’t get any funny ideas about trying to turn my daughter into a puppet ruler for the Vampire Court to control.”

“I would never dream of it, your majesty. Such a thing would be-!”

“I am, of course, joking, father-in-law.” David smiled and stood from the behind, gently brushing his wife’s hair with his hand. “I know you are loyal to me and that you love your daughter the most in this world, though I do hope you have some affection spare to spoil your first grandchild.”

“Then, you intend to let me see more of their faces and soon?”

“Dad! Allaric!” Lilith turned red; then, she saw the laughter on her ladies in waiting’s faces. “All of you, stop it! I-It’s perfectly natural to have-!”

“Were you a weaker man or if my daughter did not love you body and soul, then perhaps I would have considered it,” Ruthven mused. “Of course, I would never dare move against you, your majesty.”

“Dad, don’t even joke about it,” Lilith pleaded. “If you ever did that, I’d hate you forever.”

“…That threat hurt far more than it should have.”

David laughed and kissed Lilith’s forehead. “I don’t suppose you have an idea for a name yet, do you, dear?”

“…W-well, I did have a few but…hmm…” She pouted a little. Then, after taking a small breath, she said, “H-how about Thea?”

***

While unconfirmed, there is a high chance that the Empress Lilith is pregnant.

The short scrolled was rolled up and tied with a thin piece of string, before being put into a capsule attached to the foot of a carrier pigeon. After walking ten minutes away from the Dread Town, Princess Raeanne’s spy let the bird go and watched it to confirm it was flying north.

From there, it would reach another agent and then pass between two more, before a rider would personally take the message to the princess and the main rebel force.

The bird flew for forty-five miles and landed at a remote hunting lodge manned by three people.

A woman let the bird in through the window, petted it, fed the bird, then took the scroll from it.

“…Get the ink and paper - we need to send more copies imme-”

Eight arrows flew through the window, two pierced the bird’s abdomen and four planted themselves in the woman’s body, instantly killing her. The two other rebels grabbed their weapons and tried to run, but three heavily armoured soldiers were waiting for them.

The soldiers were wearing thick iron plate and carrying one handed axes and shields.

“Who are you?!” One of the rebels demanded.

“We’re the Demonic Legion,” the soldier’s leader said, “And this is now our base.”

“No-!”

The two rebels fought valiantly, but were hacked and subdued; one died while the other slowly began to bleed out.

“Why…?” The man spluttered. “Why are you…fighting…for him?” The rebel spat at them as he flopped onto his front. “With…us…we…we…”

“The money’s good and the work’s easy. What more does a man need?”

The leader didn’t even bother to put the wounded man out of his misery. “Send word to the Dread Keep - let them know we’ve got the relay station in our grasp. No messages from Raeanne’s precious spy will reach them.”

“What about the letter and its contents, sir?”

“Did you read it?”

“Yes, si-”

The leader cut the man’s throat, much to the shock of his remaining subordinates, a squadron of nineteen others. “What were your orders, soldiers?”

“…Collect the messages but don’t read them.”

“Good, some of you were listening.” Their leader sighed. “Gather their notes; let the Ravens decide if there’s anything of value in them. If not, we burn them. Drag the corpses outside, chop ‘em up and let the wolves have them. Now!”

The Demonic Legion - the latest addition to the Demon Emperor’s army were made up of people from all walks of life.

Some, such as mercenaries and cutthroats, wanted to earn more for their skills. Others were too poor to afford even a piece of bread a day, so the prospect of having a roof over their house, access to a bath every day and a strong wage was appetising.

A lot were desperate to earn a lot of money to feed themselves or their families.

However, they were expected to do a lot in exchange for their salaries.

Orders were absolute - mercy was unacceptable against the Free People’s Alliance or the rebels.

Their armour was heavy, but they were expected to run and fight in it nonetheless.

It was a gruelling and gruesome job, but to those who managed to join their ranks, it was worth it.

***

Hermes’s tower had grown taller.

Due to the number of ongoing research projects and increased need for additional space, the Demon Emperor had permitted for his tower to be extended in height and width. More storerooms and laboratories were built, more test subjects were caught, and more beasts were brought in to breed.

There were rarely any willing visitors to the court wizard’s part of the Dread Keep, not even the Machai, Hysminai and other creatures that came through the portals Hermes had created wanted to stay long, but the wizard cared little.

For Hermes Trismegistus, the most important thing to him was that he could research in peace and achieve results for the Demon Emperor.

Nothing else really mattered to him, least of all the opinions of his fellow generals.

However, today, he had two guests, neither of which he noticed approaching.

“There is quite a strong…stench here, Lady Mania.”

“You have our resident whack job to thank for that, Amen.” The succubus covered her nose and mouth, but it didn’t help. “Battlefields smell like a field of roses compared to here, Hermes.”

The mage ignored her taunts as he poured liquids from one vial to another, shaking them once he was done. Then, he dropped small golden coloured pellets into each, observing and noting down their reactions.

“Another failure,” the wizard muttered, scribbling furiously in one of his many notebooks.

“Amen, meet Hermes Trismegistus. Before Xi Shi joined us, he was our most recent addition.”

“A pleasure to-”

“I honestly wouldn’t even bother,” Mania said with a wry smile. “He’s so obsessed with all his research projects that he constantly misses out on council meetings, despite being warned several times. Next time, I’ll ask Xi Shi to drag him over.”

“That would go directly against what the Demon Emperor has asked of me, Mania,” Hermes said, not turning to look at them. He started preparing more liquids from various flasks and bottles. “My research is what will keep us well ahead of the Alliance.”

“Assuming it bears fruit.”

“Which it will.”

“What sort of things is he researching, or has he researched?”

“Well-”

“Right now, young traitor.” Hermes held up one of the small golden pellets he had lying on his alchemist’s table. “I’m testing the effects various poisons and substances have on metal, specifically material that is used to forge parts of the empire’s arms and armour. If this metal has stronger natural properties than the ones we currently use, then it would be ideal for the miners to bring us more of it to arm the empire’s forces.

“In the corner on your right are collections of herbs and plants from the Dragon Spine Mountains, many of which had never been retrieved before the undead and giants were sent to explore and discover them. They could, potentially, give us new poisons or healing potions, or something similar, once that research concludes.

“Across from you in the far corner are stacks of brains retrieved from the dead Banners of Themis; I’m currently working on creating golems that could be powered by those brains, though the blacksmiths have yet to finish forging the prototypes.”

“Because they are busy finishing the Demonic Legion’s equipment,” Mania said. “It takes quite some time to make several thousands suits of armour and weapons.”

“One can and should be spared for this project. A hundred men made of metal could destroy a thousand wearing it without exhausting themselves.”

“If it works.”

“If there’s nothing else you’ve come here for, then I suggest you both leave,” Hermes said.

“Come on, Amen, let’s-”

“You remind me of someone I know,” the former hero said, smiling a little.

“…Who?” Mania asked.

“One of the other heroes,” Amen said. Hermes’s hands stopped moving. “Stephanie - with all due respect, she was quite similar to you, Lord Hermes, in how fanatical she was with studying and researching anything and everything. Across those months I spent with the heroes, Duncan often chided her for staying up all night with her nose in a textbook, trying to learn something new. She was quite passionate about making Blake’s rings more useful.”

“…Go on,” Hermes said; it was obvious from his tone that he was genuinely interested in what Amen had to say about her.

“She’s a mage too, just like you, Lord Hermes. I believe, at one stage and maybe even still now, she was trying to learn a language, improve her own spells and their powers, help Blake unlock her full potential and receiving her education on Aangapea, all while doing the normal hero stuff the monarchs assigned us.” Amen laughed quietly to himself. “To call her obsessive would be an understatement, though I understand that her new relationship with Duncan has changed that a little bit.”

“Everyone changes when they’re in love,” Mania said.

“…A researcher…a passionate researcher.” Hermes repeated those words dozens of times to himself, before trailing off, leaving the other two in the room slightly worried.

After talking to himself for a minute, he suddenly stopped and turned to face them.

“Mania.”

“What?”

“Do we know if the Awakening Process works on heroes?”