Riftan was in conversation with Elliot, one hand gripping Talon’s reins. Maxi was about to approach them when Ruth’s urgent voice called out from behind her.
“Lady Calypse! We must tend to the wounded! You must come and help!”
Maxi turned her head toward the sound. A hastily erected canopy stood behind the long line of wagons. Beneath it, injured soldiers lay like corpses.
As she hastened over, she saw that the medics had set up straw mats and were carefully placing more wounded onto them. She counted the number of injured inside the canopy, then moved over to where Ruth was struggling to hold down a soldier’s thrashing leg. The man’s bones were broken, and he was in agonizing pain.
Maxi pinned the soldier’s upper body down, allowing Ruth to set the bones straight.
“We must treat those with heavy bleeding first. If we don’t hurry, they will die of-”
Ruth abruptly stopped, his eyes growing wide as he looked at her.
She was covered in dried monster blood, she realized. She hastily attempted to wipe her face with her sleeve, causing flakes of dark blood to flutter down.
With a sigh, Ruth reached for his flask and dampened his handkerchief. He offered it to Maxi, his voice brusque. “Here, use this. Sir Riftan will keel over if he sees you like that.”
“Th-Thank you.”
Maxi scrubbed her face and handed the handkerchief back to him.
After glancing uneasily at the soiled cloth, Ruth simply tossed it aside and fixed Maxi with a stern look. “What did you get yourself into this time?”
“I used a tracing spell to locate the necromancer, and-”
“Don’t tell me you went to fight a necromancer by yourself?” Ruth exclaimed in horror.
Maxi scowled. “D-Do you take me for a fool? I would never do something so reckless! I was simply going to locate then ecromancer so I could tell Riftan, but when I realized that the spell was coming from within the camp… I surmised there must be a rune there.”
“Hold on,” Ruth interjected, his expression grave. “Let us continue this discussion after we’re done here. I have a feeling it’s going to be a long one.”
Maxi gave Ruth a nod, her face set with grim determination. She focused on attending to the wounded after that. With the monsters driven back and the barriers no longer needed, other mages arrived to help the healing efforts as well.
After hours of bending over patients, Ruth finally straightened his back and wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead. “Thankfully, we don’t seem to have suffered serious damage.”
Both of them were low on mana, so they had to treat superficial wounds without magic. Maxi furrowed her brow as she carefully stitched up a gash on the cheek of a young soldier who could not have been older than sixteen. The rear unit alone had lost about fifteen men, and over thirty more suffered various injuries. The damage did not seem small to her.
“Considering we were caught off guard, I’d say we got off lightly,” Ruth added.
Returning Ruth’s bitter smile with a glum look, she cut the thread and dabbed the suture with a cloth dampened with liquor.
“I’m afraid this is all I can do for you at the moment, as I am currently low on mana,” she explained to the young soldier, her tone apologetic. “The wound… will likely scar.”
“Great!” said the soldier, his grimace of pain replaced by excitement. “When I return home, I will tell everyone that this was the wound personally tended to by Lady Calypse herself!”
Maxi blinked in surprise at the young man’s plucky response. A slow smile spread across her face as she rose. Despite their exhaustion, none of the soldiers seemed to have lost their fighting spirit.
After instructing the quartermaster to distribute beer and bread to the weary, Maxi climbed the hill again to assess the situation. Just then, she heard the kopel blast signaling the end of the battle.
Ruth, who had trailed her without her noticing, rubbed his stiff neck. “Now that the fight is over, the rear unit must also head to Darund.”
Maxi nodded as she looked down at the destroyed wall and the small castle surrounded by soldiers. With the monsters put to flight, the liberated castle swung open its iron gates to welcome the coalition army. The first battle was over.
The mistress of the keep, around eighty of Darund’s inhabitants, and an elderly parish cleric had sought shelter within the castle. With the passing of the lord of the estate, who had fought valiantly against the undead alongside his men, his young wife now assumed charge of the city.
With courtly bearing, she offered her rooms to the officers of the coalition army and commanded the surviving inhabitants to clear away the piles of carcasses scattered throughout the halls. Meanwhile, the soldiers set up camp on the grounds. Darund Castle was nowhere near big enough to accommodate an army of thousands.
Maxi observed the soldiers bustling about before entering a chapel with a knocked-down wall. The building had been turned into a temporary infirmary for the entire army.
Holding a lamp, Maxi moved through the darkened chapel, checking on the sixty or so men currently being tended to. Though none were in critical condition due to the mages’ swift treatment, there was no room for complacency. It was not uncommon for patients who appeared fine to succumb to their injuries the next day.
“There you are, my lady.”
Maxi had been carefully examining a young man’s head injury, made by an iron mace, when she heard the familiar voice. She turned to meet the calm gaze of Elliot Charon.
“The Lady of Darund is hosting a banquet for us in the great hall,” he informed her. “Your ladyship should attend too.”
“That’s all right. I’d rather eat he”
“Sir Riftan has ordered me to fetch you,” Elliot said firmly.
Maxi stared at the knight’s adamant face for a moment before sighing. As they stepped out of the building, a light snowfall fluttered over them from the darkened sky. Maxi brushed the flakes from her face as she walked past the guards, each holding a torch to light the path.
The castle courtyard was alive with soldiers feasting on a late supper. Sweeping her eyes over those eating by the braziers, Maxi crossed the courtyard and ascended the wooden steps. Soon, she found herself in a warm, candle-lit hall.
She stopped at the arched entrance and looked over at the long table in the center. Riftan sat in the seat of honor near the fireplace. Ursuline and Hebaron were on his left, and Richard Breston and Baltonian aide were on his right. The remaining seats were occupied by Kuahel Leon and a man who appeared to be his aide.
The urge to turn around and walk out struck Maxi at once. The air was thick with the aroma of sumptuous food and drink, but the atmosphere around that particular table was fraught with tension as if bloodshed would erupt at any moment. She doubted she would be able to eat anything in such company.
Elliot was oblivious to her distress. “Allow me to escort you to your seat, my lady,” he offered with a genial smile.
He led her next to Riftan, who keenly studied her face as he pulled out a chair for her.
“You look tired,” Riftan remarked.
“I-It was an exhausting day,” Maxi replied awkwardly as she sat down.
He filled a silver goblet with wine. “I heard you found and destroyed the rune supplying the undead with magic. Are you unharmed?”
Maxi stole a glance at Kuahel Leon’s impassive face. So he had not mentioned the fact that she was nearly killed.
“Yes,” Maxi said, nodding. “I’m sure… you were also informed that the monster responsible was hiding among our men. We know they are capable of disguising themselves with magic now. More could have infiltrated our army, so we must check the identities of every soldier in the-”
“That is being done as we speak,” Kuahel replied with an air of detachment. His frosty eyes landed on Richard Breston, sitting crookedly in his chair, and added, “I have given strict instructions to thoroughly verify the identities of the northerners. What happened today will not happen again.”
Breston, tearing a large piece of meat gripped in his fist, snarled with an ill-humored smile. “What are you implying? That there’s a problem with my army?”
“The monster was disguised as a Baltonian soldier,” Kuahel replied dryly. “This would not have happened had you managed your men properly.”
“That’s how you want to play it, eh?” Putting down the slab of meat, the northerner scoffed as he wiped his hand with a napkin. “Let me remind you that none of this would have happened if Osiriya hadn’t allowed itself to be robbed of Sektor’s stone. A lot of nerve you have, to sit there pointing fingers when it’s you and those Reformed Church clerics you serve who put the entire continent in this mess in the first place.
“Balto refused to send reinforcements during the Dragon Campaign, so you have no right to criticize the loss of the stone,” Kuahel retorted, a hint of contempt on his lips. “Before you attempt to condemn me or the church, you should reflect on whether Balto was ever a true ally to the southern kingdoms.”
“Enough,” Riftan said, putting an end to the increasingly scathing argument. “We are not here to squabble, so cease this pointless battle.”
“Well, if it is by order of the supreme commander, then of course I must hold my tongue,” Breston replied sarcastically.
Riftan shot him a cold look. “I have no intention of taking Leon’s side, but you can’t deny that most of your soldiers are unidentified conscripts. Since Balto is closest to the Plateau, it would make sense for the monsters to infiltrate Balto’s army. Everyone in your unit will be subject to inspection by the clerics.”
“I will not condone such discrimination.” Breston leaned forward and slammed his fist on the table. “We came all this way in the Seven Kingdoms’ defense. I will not stand for such dishonor! Balto will not agree to any inspection unless every unit is dealt the same.”
“Every unit will be inspected in turn,” Riftan replied, his voice scrubbed of all emotion. This time, his gaze landed on Kuahel Leon. “And you are prohibited from giving unauthorized orders from now on. You are no longer the supreme commander of this army. I am. I will not have you walking in and telling my men what to do.
“I have no interest in challenging the Council’s decision,” Kuahel replied flatly. “My objective is to reclaim the dragon stone. That is all.”
“Even if you do get it back, there is still the question of whether the church should be entrusted with its safekeeping again,” Breston said spitefully. “Especially as their incompetence has now been revealed to the whole world.”
That set off another nasty spat between the northerner and the Temple Knight. Losing her appetite completely, Maxi lowered her spoon. She would have preferred to dine on stale bread and watery porridge in the barracks.
