Siege

this beast that you're after will eat you alive (v)

That night and the night after, the mines remained desolate of any signs of Amarantha's troops. The winter wind blew and fogged the mines from their distance but it showed enough to know they were not coming. As Keres started to dig her boots in the deep snow, the rest followed; their journey back home with their shoulders slumped had commenced.

The bright lord fisted his fists in determination as he tried lifting up their morale. "Fret not. We will surely catch them next time! May it be on their next escape route, or where they ran for refuge."

"Aye!"

The journey back to their estate was almost peaceful and quick when a shadow flew past the two nobles as they trekked the knee-deep snow atop their mounts. When Keres looked up, she caught the sight of a lone crow flying over the sky. It cawed once, the sound echoing over the snowy pine forest.

"That crow..." she trailed off as her eyes followed its movements. The crow flew lower and as she squinted; she saw something white on its feet... what is it? It cawed another one and dove into their group. The other flinched at the bird's alarming behavior. It dove straight to her. She could see it.

"My lady! The crow-"

All panicked voices paused when instead of pecking her viciously as it neared her, it merely landed on her shoulder. The sable creature tilted its head once. Her gaze went to its feet to confirm what she saw earlier and it was what she thought, paper. The paper was tied to the crow's feet.

"A messenger crow," she announced to her troops so as to ease their mind. Thomas nodded while Eli matched her horse's pace to pry further. He said, curiously, "Who do you think sent this crow? I doubt it'd be any of us... we're not that loved by animals, well, save for Lilith I presume."

Keres untied the message and unfurled it, warm anticipation boiling her blood as she read the missive. It was short and concise. The message, however, is anything but light.

'The ministers have taken father and mother to the Capital for the funeral procession. They are to be buried in the royal cemetery. Carmilla, Euryale, and I shall come with them.'

The sounds of their horses' hooves filled the desolate winter mines as they galloped through the woods.

· • —–٠ ☀ ٠ —– • ·

From the mountaintops sat a young man, his feet dangling over a cliff, as he noted the change of pace of the travelers. From dawn, he had been eyeing them from a bird's eye view. The sun appeared over the horizon, highlighting the man's golden hair and his blue eyes as clear as the ocean, yet also held secrets as deep as the sea.

"I wonder... will she listen to me now?" he murmured to himself and stared at the sun, whispering, "What do you think Xenon?"

And as if responding, the sun shone brighter—almost prickling the skin. The mysterious man could've sworn he also saw an eye open on the Sun. When he looked back, however, it was just the plain old orb of fire.

The man scoffed, hiding his amazement.

"Coward. I shall check for myself, then." He dusted himself and languidly stood up from the cliff, the high altitude challenging his mortal body. With a big leap, he jumped off the cliff and let himself freefall for a few seconds until feathers appeared on what was his skin and a large beak protruded in what should've been his mouth. 

A large, golden-beaked passerine bird braved the strong winds of the northern Odrivellian mountains as it elegantly flapped its ivory wings. The same crystal blue eyes pierced through the mists and spotted the company of the Trivith siblings. From above, he followed them and waited...