Necromancer's Descent

63 - The Abandoned Army

Rosalin's Point of View

I breathe in the thick air, as I glance up at the grey skies looming over us.

The courtyard of Avenfort, which was last filled with merchants and bustling with energy, now seems almost empty.

Other than the knights reporting to their newly arrived Lords, there's... no-one...

Just an eerie silence that makes my skin crawl. The colorful merchant tents have been replaced with white tents with the symbol of a plant seedling on the side... but it's clear that the inside of the tent has been stained with dark liquid. 

"Johannes!"

I jolt as Henrietta snaps at Johannes angrily, and then look to Johannes who's just looking back at Henrietta with disgust in his expression.

"I'm going inside. If you care that much, then you should take care of them," Johannes snaps back at her, and then follows straight behind Mia, while everyone else is still busy getting reports. Why is he taking reports? I don't see any green capes from the knights of Troyfort either. I feel a knot of worry in my stomach. They said the supply route was attacked, right? Were they guarding the transport? Were they sent out first?

I remember sir Southcreek's little pony, and the Troyfort knights' large muscular horses.

They might have been the first to arrive at the attack too. If they were, then it's likely they would've taken the brunt of the attack. I bite the inside of my cheek and then look to Johannes again. His refusal suddenly taking a possibly new meaning.

How many are dead? Is Azzo dead?

"Where is sir Azzo?!" Henrietta calls out, her narrowed eyes searching through the few knights like an angry lion, and her hand closed into a tight fist. I can't tell if she's angry with Johannes for his atttude, or Azzo for not showing up, but it's clear she's unhappy with the situation. She did express her dissatisfaction with how Azzo acted towards Johannes, so she's probably thinking he didn't show up on purpose... but... I don't think he'd do that, since he promised Theodore he'd take care of Johannes. 

"Sir Azzo is in the triage tent, milady!" one of Henrietta's knights call back to her, pointing at one of the bigger tents in the courtyard, and my heart sinks in response, and bite the inside of my cheek softly.

Henrietta's expression shifts from anger, to surprise, and then to concern, before she sets off towards the triage tent, and I hurry after her. But triage? They said the attack happened two days ago, so for them to still be in triage is quite bad, isn't it? Considering it's a world where injuries can be instantly healed. At least to an extent. Are they completely out of mana?... and why is the triage tent the biggest?

We turn the corner of the tent, and I freeze up as I see Alice slumped on the ground curled up like a ball in front of the triage tent, looking pale and cold. Her white and green robes stained red with blood, soaked on one side, and stained on the other, like some grusome avant-garde painting.

"Alice?"

She doesn't react when I call her name, and her eyes look so... empty...

I snap for my breath, and hurriedly kneel down by her side as I feel a rush go through my body.

"Alice!"

Her eyes don't focus on me, as I press a couple fingers to her neck to test for a pulse. I press my lips together and focus to feel the pulse, but all I seem to feel is my own instead. Am I pressing the wrong place?

Calm down.

"Alice?"

I call again, as I press a bit harder, and try to focus on my fingertips.