The Story of Evil: Volume I - Heroes of the Siege (27 page)

Ty hung his head and shook it from side to side. Cassandra shook her head back and forth, understanding. Ty was too hurt to speak about it.

After a moment of reminiscing about the gryphon, which had become like a part of their family, she said, “Remember when you took me up on him to get to know me before I was going to marry your brother?”

Cassandra looked at Kari to tell the story since Ty’s head was still bowed. “I was so scared. It was my first time flying, but when we got up there high above Celestial, and Ty told me I could look down…It was a sight I will never forget. Absolutely incredible. It was breathtaking.”

Kari smiled at the picture she was visualizing. She thought the city was beautiful from the ground.
From a bird’s eye view, Celestial must look amazing.
She had seen artists’ paintings of Celestial from the Valpyrio Mountains, but paintings could never do reality justice. Celestial from above was a sight Kari wanted to experience with her own eyes someday.

“I wonder what it looks like now.” Cassandra said. If she had had any idea how much damage had been done, she would have realized how morbid her question was.

Ty lifted his head up. “It’s bad. Far worse than I’ve ever seen. Did Darren say where he was stationed today?”

“He said he was headed to Ostravaski’s Tower. I only know that because he was complaining about how he was going to miss seeing Steve compete in the Joust.”

Ty buried his face in his hands. His breathing increased rapidly.

“Ty, what is it?” Cassandra asked in a quivering voice.

“Commander Ostravaski’s watchtower. It fell…I watched it collapse when I was in the air on Wildwing.”

Cassandra stood up from the table and started to pace around, muttering to herself in denial. “Darren was in that tower. Darren was in that tower. He can’t die. He can’t be dead.” Out of her mouth escaped the panicking thoughts as they crossed her mind.

Ty sat at the table thinking of how much his brother had been a role model to him and how much he always looked up to his brother, especially after the death of their parents. Ty’s chin was quivering, but he held in his tears. Cassandra stopped pacing and collapsed to the floor, sobbing uncontrollably. Kari moved from the kitchen table and sat down and wrapped her arms around Cassandra. She didn’t know how else to help the grieving woman.

After seeing his sister-in-law weep, Ty could no longer hold back his tears. He got up from the table and went over to embrace Cassandra. Kari let him take her place as she stood up and stepped back.

Even though she didn’t know Darren, she felt her own eyes well up. Kari was a very caring and compassionate person. She hated seeing people in emotional or physical pain.
A beautiful family has just lost their leader. A wife is now a widow. Lucan is left fatherless. A child should be able to grow up provided for, in a loving home under a mother and father. I know what it was like not to have that.

Kari walked over and opened Lucan’s door. His eyes were already red from the tears he was crying. He had heard his mother’s sobs from his room. He knew he wouldn’t see his father again. The boy sprinted to his mother and uncle and joined the emotional, huddled hug on the floor.

Kari left the grieving family alone, walked up the stairs to a loft, and then climbed up a short ladder out onto the roof of the house. Darren and Cassandra’s house wasn’t nearly as tall as the previous building they had climbed, but Kari could still see a good distance from the roof. She expected to be able to see, at least, the top of the inner wall. All she could see was a faint, shifting orange light that seemed to surround the curved, circular edge of the city. A wall of smoke filled the air above it. She thought back to what Ty had said.

If people don’t come out of their locked homes, the buildings will be burned to the ground.
Monsters didn’t care to waste time going through every room in the tens of thousands of houses in Celestial. If no one came out of a locked house, it would be set aflame.

In the distance, Kari saw monster archers patrolling the rooftops of evacuated homes, searching for any people that may have been missed. In the streets, large groups of civilians were being herded like sheep towards the castle, the center of the city. It seemed like every main road had large groups of people on it. They were all heading towards the main road, merging with other groups and being led toward the castle.

Was Ty right? Will we really all become slaves? Or are they just gathering us to kill us all, ensuring a monumental victory in the ongoing war of people versus monsters?

Kari imagined what her life would be like in the coming days, weeks, and months. People in Celestial lived a very systematic life. Every day was exactly the same for most people. They woke up, ate, worked, ate, and slept before starting the process all over again the next day. They always traveled to the same city locations and interacted with the same people. People followed the same paths, gave the same greetings, and purchased the same products from the same merchants.

Everything we have grown so used to for so long will be gone. The people, the places. Some of it has already disappeared forever. We always go to sleep assuming the things we have will be there when we wake up. Why do we take so much in our lives for granted?

Kari wished this attack was all just a nightmare. She wished she could wake up and find out she had only been dreaming. Everything would go back to the way it had always been.

Unfortunately, all the horrors she had seen were real. Never again would she live the life that she had grown accustomed to. An unexpected attack on an ordinary day was forever changing the lives of hundreds of thousands of people on Element.

Kari heard screaming, causing her attention to focus in on a group two streets over. A monster had just ran his sword through the back of a child. The father attacked the monster with a dagger he had hidden in his pocket, stabbing the monster repeatedly in the chest. The child-murdering monster clutched its chest and fell to the ground dead. The father was still savagely attacking it with his dagger even though he had already killed it. An ogre pulled him off of the dead body and crushed his head with a spiked mace.

Kari didn’t know how much more she could bear.
This day will be forever remembered. Mostly through the nightmares it is going to give all of us who survive.

Ty climbed up the ladder through the hole in the roof. He gently put his hand on Kari’s shoulder, trying not to scare her, but she jumped anyway. “They will be here soon. I’m not going to fight back. They will kill Cassandra and Lucan if I do.”

“Who is to say they won’t kill us anyway? I just watched them murder a child in the street the same age as Lucan for no reason.”

“I know, Kari. This is horrible, all of this, but obeying their orders is the only option we have.” It was hard for Ty to give in. He wanted to fight back, but couldn’t because of his family. Ty had just lost his brother. He couldn’t bear losing Cassandra, his nephew, or even Kari.
It’s my responsibility to keep them safe, no matter what the cost.

“Can you help me take off my armor? If they see that I am a warrior, they will kill me instantly,” Ty requested of his new friend.

“Of course,” Kari said as she moved in close to help.

“Thank you,” Ty whispered as he gently stroked her arm. It was a thank you not for currently helping him with the armor, but for being so tender and caring to his family and also towards him when he was disoriented after crashing down into the plaza.

“You’re welcome,” Kari said back.

For a moment the two held each other’s gaze. Kari felt drawn to Ty as she looked into his eyes that were still watery from crying. Warriors were known as strong men who never showed their emotions, but Ty didn’t care about that stereotype. He was moved by the realization of Darren’s death. His tears showed her how much he cared about his brother and the family the deceased warrior left behind.

Ty leaned in towards Kari.

He’s going to kiss me!

She was equally scared and excited. But the attractive blonde-haired Elf only kissed her on the cheek; another way of showing his appreciation for her. A part of Kari wished he had kissed her on the lips. She was beginning to like him, the more she got to know him, but she knew it wouldn’t be a good idea to share that type of kiss.
We’ve already experienced enough drama today
, Kari thought as she helped Ty remove his armor.

Warriors typically wore a six piece metal armor set. The plate was the main and largest piece of armor. It protected the warrior’s torso by covering their chest and abdomen. Gauntlets covered their leather gloved hands and part of their forearms. Spaulders covered a warrior’s shoulders. Some styles covered the upper arm as well. Cuisses were armor for the thighs. Greaves were a thin metal shin guard. Steel boots, which came in optional low or high cuts, protected the warrior’s feet. High cut boots had the greaves built in, so warriors who wore those only had a five piece set of armor.

Helms were optional (just like capes). Warriors tended to only wear the steel head-protectors when they knew they were going into a dangerous battle. Chainmail was rare and expensive. It was only worn by captains, commanders, knights, and the king. It covered the spaces the armor left and was incredibly difficult to cut through.

As Ty took off his blue gauntlets and leather gloves, Kari removed his spaulders. Then she unbuckled the leather straps that held the front and back pieces of his silver plate together. Ty slid out of the armor. He was dressed in a tunic drenched in sweat and blood and typical civilian breeches.

“Could you go get me one of my brother’s shirts? Not even the most nervous man on Element would sweat as much as I have today if he wasn’t fighting monsters. I don’t want to give them a reason to believe I’m a warrior.”

Kari saw the wisdom in his thinking and climbed down the ladder. She found a shirt of Darren’s and brought it back up to Ty.

She could not suppress a smile when she climbed back up onto the roof and saw Ty standing with his shirt taken off. He was incredibly muscular. She could tell he didn’t mind showing off his amazing physique to her.

Kari walked forward and handed Ty the shirt, physically unable to resist the temptation of admiring his body.
Stop staring Kari
, she said to herself.

“Thank you,” Ty said as he overconfidently winked at Kari.

Ty left his armor and weapons buried under a pile of hay on the roof. He came down the ladder and walked down the stairs, looking like an average civilian. The disguised warrior, a still sobbing widow, a child, and Kari, all gathered in front of the door to the home. Ty analyzed how the four of them would appear to the monsters when he noticed a fault.

“Cass, I’m sorry, but you can’t be holding Lucan in front of the monsters. When they see a strong love between two people, they will kill one of them to set an example. Having someone to love strengthens and empowers you. If you see a loved one murdered, it causes you to do something stupid and rash, which gets you killed, or it causes your heart to break. Either way, the monsters get what they want. You’re either dead or defeated. That’s why they break the bond of love by death.”

Kari was surprised by what Ty had just said.
Having someone to love strengthens and empowers you. I had no idea he was that deep and poetic.
He was continuing to impress her.

Cassandra kissed her son on his forehead, “I love you so much, Lucan. Your daddy loves you too. He’s watching over both of us at this very moment. Nothing will happen to you or me. I need you to keep quiet and do what you’re told. Can you do that?”

Lucan was too scared to even say “Yes,” but he nodded his promise to his mother. Cassandra stood up and let go of her son.

Ty looked at Kari. She was clutching her bow to her chest, knowing she could not bring it with her, but hoping no one would notice. Without him saying anything, Kari blurted out, “Ty, I cannot get rid of this!” She was on the verge of tears.

Ty considered her connection to the bow for a moment. “Leave the quiver in the house, but you have to offer the bow to the monster that collects us. Maybe it will be an act of good faith and none of us will be killed.” As soon as he said that sentence, he saw the fear in Lucan’s eyes as his nephew realized that any one of them might be killed within the next couple minutes. The boy started crying again, afraid he would lose his mother or end up dead like his father.

Ty knelt down next to his nephew. “Lucan, you are scared. I see that, but I want you to show these monsters that you…”

Ty was interrupted by screams coming from the next house over. The monsters were getting close. He grabbed his nephew by the shoulders to regain his attention since it had been taken by the awful sounds.

“Lucan, it’s okay to be scared. I’m scared too. But you can’t show the monsters that you fear them. Show them that you are brave. Monsters kill the weak without a thought. They feed off of fear. You can’t cry in front of them. I know that you are strong. You can do this. Someday you will be a mighty warrior like your grandfather, like your father, like me. Being a warrior is in your blood. Harness the anger that you feel at the monsters for killing your father. Use it to fuel the fire inside of you, to keep pushing forward, to make you stronger. Like your mom said, your dad is watching over you. And the three of us will stand by your side as well. We won’t let anything happen to you…I won’t let anything happen to you.”