Rise Of The Celestials

Chapter 13

The person on the horse soon became clear to the eyes. He was wearing an almost similar kind of armor to the group of soldiers on Fraser's side. 

He seemed to be waving his hand wildly above his head. 

Then the real culprits came into view. They looked like jackals but were almost three times the size. 

They were muscular and you could see the dark shade of their skin as well as their shiny and slime-smeared bodies. It glistened slightly in the grey overcast.

There were less than ten of them and they were galloping hard after the person on the horse, carrying on their backs individuals that were just as rough looking.

"Savages?", one of the men said in surprise as he gripped his spear even more tightly. 

Fraser Tarren had a frown cross his face as he squinted his eyes. The man on the horse was running toward them and it was clear that he was from the patrol camp, so whose message had they received a few moments prior?

The group of soldiers there numbered less than thirty and less than ten savages were chasing after the escaping patrol. The savages were brutes but were more prone to ambushes. It was unknown what could be lurking but they had to kill savages anytime they came across them.

"Reid, go now", Fraser Tarren ordered. From his side, a man with a scar on his forehead stepped forward and shouted, "Charge!!!".

A moment later he was galloping to face the savages head-on, with six people followed, charging out with weapons in their hands.

Fraser Tarren picked up the bow and the quiver of arrow he had on his mount and like a trick, he had an arrow notched on his bow. He pulled back and angled its direction slightly up. The savages were about 400 meters away.

Around him, eight soldiers also had their bows drawn to a crescent. On the tip of their arrows was a flame that burned brightly.

It was unknown when they had lit up the arrows but Fraser Tarren's arrow remained ordinary, even as gave the order.

"Fire!!"

His voice was not loud but it was crisp and clear. Immediately there were nine arrows up in the air and right in their middle was an arrow made entirely of flames that tore through the air at a blinding speed.

A shooting star was an apt description for it as it zoomed past the remaining eight arrows, especially with the dark environment and its sky that was overcast with a grey color.

The seven who were charging forward showed no surprise. They even sped up and charged with renewed vigor.

The moment Fraser's arrow hit, it became clear why he was a general with great battle exploits in the City of Nethilor.

The unfortunate recipient of Fraser Tarren's arrow was the savage charging at the back of the group. It simply exploded when the arrow pierced through its body. From that spot, a large flame wall spread out and blocked off the path of retreat for the savages.

The other arrows came howling at them a second later, taking away any time they needed to get themselves back in order.

One of them took an arrow to the forehead and got knocked off its mount, pinned to the ground with fire spreading from its head down its body while another had its mount killed by an arrow, which sent it flying and eventually face-planting in the rough wilderness.

Most of the arrows hit the body of the savages, dealing minimal damage. The savages broke the arrows and pushed their charge to its limits. They looked furious and their mounts were now growling with menacing faces.

"Again"

The soldiers shot another batch of arrows while he did not this time. He still had an arrow notched on his bow as he watched things unfold.

The savages were prepared this time, so they hunched over, protecting the heads of their mounts as well as themselves.

150 meters away from the group, the clash was about to begin when Fraser Tarren ordered, "Bring the light"

A single arrow was shot up this time followed by another from Fraser, a shooting star across the sky.

The first arrow glistened with a bright glow before it exploded just above the savages with a burst of light. Following that was another explosion, this time it hit the savage who had fallen behind the group and was trying to sneak away.

The specter bodies of the savages that had been killed began to fade away under the light.

Then the clash happened. The patrol guard that was being chased, rode past the seven soldiers toward Fraser Tarren and the rest of the soldiers.

Reid who was leading the charge threw his spear straight at the savage leading the rest.

The savage had a fierce expression with a huge ax on its back but it did not hesitate to bend its body to the side in a bid to have the spear miss but it miscalculated and the spear fell unnaturally to the mount it was riding.

The spear dug deep into the beast's shoulder, incapacitating it in an instant. The savage who was not expecting this was sent tumbling forward. 

At this time, Reid and his mount were right before the tumbling savage. Without thinking, Reid pulled his mount up into a jump over the savage.

A clang and scraping sound on metal was the answer to this maneuver and Reid's mount stumbled all over itself as soon as it landed. The savage had dived into the roll and tried to chop the legs off Reid's mount with its huge ax. It had come close but all it eventually managed was knocking off the metal hoof cover and shoe that Reid's mount was wearing.

Reid stopped his mount and hopped off it. He had a heavy hammer in each of his hands as he walked toward the savage, slow steps at first before a full dash.

The savage had also gotten to its feet and was now dragging its ax behind it as it dashed toward Reid. Around the two, it was chaos as the savages and soldiers fought like crazed beasts.

Some of the soldiers still had their mounts while the savages had theirs stabbed in one way or the other, putting them out of the fight. You could see the order with which they got the upper hand right as the fight started.

Over at Reid's side, the first clash had resounded hard, leaving a reverberating sound in the air. Unlike what you would expect given the difference in weapon size, Reid came up even with the savage.

The ax came around in no time and Reid had to dodge to the side. He smashed his hammers down on the ax that landed beside him.

This sent a hard vibration up the savage's arm, giving Reid enough time to make a spin and smash his hammer in a horizontal arc to the savage's head.

The savage let go of the ax quickly and put up his arms to block the blow which sent it shifting back. 

With the weapon taken away, Reid stood with it to his side, as if taunting the savage to try picking it up. 

Suddenly he felt something wrong. His sense of danger which had been honed by decades as a soldier left him dashing away from the spot he was standing.

As soon as he stopped, he finally saw the sight that gave him that urgent sense of danger. He saw the ax that was stuck in the ground had pulled itself free and was flying straight toward the savage he had just beaten back.

At that moment, he saw an arrow pierce through the sky above, creating an explosion that obscured the sight from view.

"Retreat!!!", He called urgently.

Jumping on his mount that was running to him already, he began galloping straight back to the main group.

The soldiers also jumped onto their mounts and beat a hasty retreat, riding alongside Reid.

They had no immediate enemies because at that moment, their enemies had left them alone, creating a sight that was simply a nightmare. 

"Fortress"

Fraser Tarren ordered immediately with a deep cold voice as he wore a solemn expression. He had felt things were wrong when he heard what the patrol guard said as soon as he reached him.

The flames began to die down rapidly in the distance and a dark figure began to show itself. The figure was unexpectedly not as huge as one would expect given that the savages had all converged into its body. Even the humongous ax that had pulled itself free from the ground had merged with its body.

The figure gave a frightful feeling as its eyes glowed in the dark environment even though it looked like a normal person wearing black; a tall but otherwise normal person.

The specter bodies of the savages that had merged with it were visibly flying around in circles around it, like a dark cloud. Above, the light shower was completely blocked and smothered.

Suddenly the cloud began to expand as it spread fast after the soldiers who were retreating. It was so fast that it immediately clouded two of the soldiers before another fire arrow that had been shot by Fraser Tarren hit and exploded.

This explosion helped hold the cloud back and the two soldiers rode out of the dark cloud.

The figure made no more sudden moves as it pinned its sight on Fraser Tarren. It took slow but steady steps and each of those steps felt like a hammer even though the soldiers could not even hear the sounds of his footsteps.

Fraser Tarren felt it the most as those eyes were looking straight at him. At that moment, he understood something important, this was not an enemy he could face and it had locked him in its sight.

Reid and the six soldiers who had gone with him got back soon after.

The figure was still hundreds of meters away and was still taking one slow step after the other. It felt like the fight had been concluded and there was no escape.

"Send a message to the city. We will retreat to the wildlands with it in sight. Help should come from the city soon"

Fraser Tarren ordered and a few seconds after he stopped speaking, a bird was let loose to fly back to the city. 

The group of soldiers began to retreat slowly, keeping pace and sight with the figure. It was like a solemn procession except scary.

...

In front of the royal library, a platform had been built with tens of chairs on it, as well as an exquisitely crafted throne.

All of the seats had people sitting on them, save for seven of them. The exact number that was meant for members of the royal family and the King.

Suddenly, a herald's voice cut through the murmurings that were the thousands of people who were also in attendance. 

"His Majesty, King Robert, and Her Majesty, Queen Vivienne. The Princes and Princesses of the Nation of Sur" [1]

The murmurings died down immediately as they all bowed. No one was seated, even those who were sitting on the platform were all standing with their heads bowed as King Robert and his family walked up the steps.

"You may be at ease", King Robert said as soon as he took his seat. 

The host of people standing and bowing raised their heads and sat down if they could.

"I am happy to have you all here celebrating the re-opening of the royal library. A new era is coming and we have been given rights to the ammunitions to arm ourselves. 

The Royal Library and the Pagoda of Inheritance are the bedrocks of this nation and as such, every citizen is entitled to them.

The Royal Library has re-opened its doors but order is the best policy. With that said, the library is open to anyone who wishes to pore through its store of knowledge without the need for an entry fee.

The only obligations you have as you enter is that you make an appointment beforehand and when you leave you are to record an important piece of information you learned from the library for others to peruse"

The crowd began to murmur in low voices but they all quietened down with King Robert's next statement.

[1] I tried. If you have a better way to address a King, Queen, and the rest of the royal family properly, I'll be happy to have your suggestion.