The Call to War

Chapter 6

Arthur followed Virion as they ran down the corridors on their way to the teleportation gate. Before they could even see the room, they saw severely wounded adventurers being carried on stretchers to the infirmary, while those with less severe wounds sat on the floor treating themselves or by others.

Virion and Arthur made their way through everyone, both looking for one person in particular, Tess.

"Damn it where is she?" Virion asked, his voice laced with concern.

"Maybe she hasn't made it through yet," Arthur guessed as he feared the worst.

Arthur continued to make his way through the sea of faces as he looked for someone familiar. As he approached close enough to to actually see the gate, he saw Theo lean up against one of the walls before sliding down to the floor.

"Theo!" Arthur yelled as he pushed his way through everyone.

"Arthur?" Theo said between breaths as he saw him approach, sweat pouring down his face. Beside him were one of his teammates, as well as Tess' team.

"Where's Tess?" Arthur asked, his voice near panic from seeing the rest of her team.

"She was right behind us. She was helping Clare carry Jerry while I carried Thomas," Theo replied.

"There," Stannard said as he pointed. "There's Tess."

Arthur looked in the direction Stannard pointed, and saw Tess and Claire helping get Jerry on a stretcher.

"Tess!"

Tess looked around and saw Arthur pushing his way to her.

"Damn it, why does he have to see me looking like this?" Tess thought to herself. Her clothes were torn and filthy, her hair was a mess, and a combination of mud and blood was caked on any exposed skin.

Upon reaching her Arthur quickly took her into a tight hug. "You're alive," Arthur breathed out as he was finally able to calm down. "Are you ok?"

"Nothing major, but a lot of others weren't as lucky," Tess replied as she looked around.

"What happened?"

"An ambush," Helen said as she walked up. "There must have been another tunnel they were hiding in, because no sooner than the camp walls were down they attacked."

"It was chaos. Captain Drogo managed to organize a large enough group to form a defensive line and ordered everyone else to retreat through the gate you guys left," Claire added.

"Tessia!" Virion called out as saw his granddaughter. He raced over and took her into a hug. "Thank the gods you're alright."

"Commander Virion," Arthur said, significantly louder than was needed. "There are still troops pinned down so everyone else can evacuate. Permission to relieve them so we can save more lives!"

Many eyes were on Commander Virion now as they awaited his decision. Arthur purposely spoke so loud that everyone could hear as to force his hand. Arthur's rage had been boiling, first Elijah, then the fleet. A duel wasn't going to make him feel any better, he needed to kill some Alacryans.

"Just so you know, that wasn't necessary," Virion quietly told him, seeing right through his plan. "Permission granted Lance Arthur, under the condition you make those bastards think twice before ambushing us again!" Virion yelled, making sure everyone knew who he was.

"Let's go Sylvie!" Arthur called out through their bond, and started running.

Everyone that heard what he was about to do got out of his way, as Sylvie jumped onto his shoulder. Arthur jumped up, and flew over everyone and into the gate.