Tipping the Scales

30

Lukas didn't get a chance to recover from the battle as Apollo pressed them onwards. After all, they still had a mission to finish. There was doubt surrounding the outcome of their plan though – if the non-humans knew about it, they could prepare their defences, meaning the distraction was all for nothing. They had no option but to push forward though, as many Garrison lives had already been lost and they weren't going to get a better opportunity to take the city.

"Keep up," Darnel hissed at Lukas, who was lagging behind the others. They had reached the steepest point of the climb up the mountainside and were having to use their hands to scramble up. One misplaced step could lead to a long tumble back down the slope. The plateau at the summit was in sight only a few metres ahead.

"How is this a sensible place to live?" Lukas said to Remy, who was escorting him up.

"There was an expansive tunnel network and many openings entering the city a few years back. But those were all filled in once the siege began." Remy was patiently waiting as Lukas carefully made his way up.

"Do all non-humans use the same yellowy magic?" Lukas asked.

"Just the non-humans from this city, they use Earth magic."

"That would've been useful to know," Lukas muttered under his breath. He raised his voice for Remy to hear again; "at least we now know that my mana can absorb that as well as fire magic."

"That was always a risk, but a calculated one," Remy agreed. "It would seem that no amount of magical resistance will prevent you from getting through their barrier, so long as you can produce the large quantities you promised."

Lukas looked at her anxiously but she was too distracted by the climb to notice.

By the time Lukas crested the lip of the mountain, the rest of the squad had made it up. Apollo was waiting impatiently for him.

"It is time."

"What- right here?" Lukas stammered.

"Remy, sort him out," Apollo shrugged him off, moving to organise the rest of his squad.

"We are at the upper wall Lukas, this is where the defences are thinnest." Remy rested a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

Lukas looked at the wall of rock ahead of them, which wasn't visible from the base of the mountain. They stood on a thin flat area which circled the base of the wall like a ring around the entirety of the mountain's summit. This was the barrier he was assigned to breaking through.

"Are you ready?" Remy asked, trying to hurry him along without applying too much pressure.

"I wasn't expecting it to be so soon," Lukas looked from side to side at the great barrier in front of him. There was a dim yellow glow of mana encasing the rock along the whole length of it. On the other side lay a city full of non-humans. He could only imagine what it may look like – a city within a mountain – though this unknown made his task seem even more daunting. He had no idea what he was going to find on the other side.

"No more waiting, we act now," Apollo demanded. The rest of the squad members were stood to one side, watching Lukas expectantly. All the pressure that had been mounting up at the back of his mind suddenly came to the forefront, weighing heavily on him. This was his one defining moment. He didn't know what would happen as a result of this, good or bad, he just knew he had to do it. For the people of Rosehallow, if not for himself. One thought kept playing across his mind: the non-humans killed my parents. That was enough justification, right?