The Exiled King

Chapter 25 - What Was Lost

"He took Lirya!"

Altein's head snapped up as he heard Jason's voice faintly carried along the winds.

So that's why I feel like this, He thought absentmindedly as he crushed demons to the ground, entombing them in hard packed dirt.

It had felt like he'd just lost something he cherished—something he hadn't known he was missing until Lirya's power had decimated the battlefield. It was clear that as she had awakened fully, so had some kind of dormant connection between them. Altein had felt an incredible strength surge through him for a moment and in that moment he felt like nothing could stop him.

As soon as Garyth had captured and contained Lirya's powers, Altein immediately noticed the shift in his powers. He'd been overwhelmed with a feeling of desperation to find what he'd lost. Some emotion akin to fear surfaced in him at the thought of being unable to regain what he'd lost.

Altein felt like his heart was being squeezed as he could do nothing but watch as Garyth disappeared into a portal. He forced himself to ignore the feeling and continued fighting the demons, who had dissolved into a disorganised mess when Garyth disappeared.

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"We have to go and find her!" Jason cried, and Taryn frowned.

It was rare that Jason was so vocal about his feelings and he'd always been the type to do what was best for them all.

I don't know what's going on... but something strange definitely happened, Taryn thought.

I felt something earlier and now I feel like I've lost it...

Taryn felt like something was constricting his heart, but he brushed off the feeling and watched Jason carefully. Jason had been acting strangely—though it was hard to tell given that he had come back from the dead and been possessed. It was like a gut instinct of sorts and Taryn felt it was best to keep an eye on Jason.

Jason stumbled to his feet, his wounds fully healed and stepped toward Taryn.

"Hey, where are you going?" Taryn asked cautiously, stepping in front of Jason warily.

Jason's eyes looked nearly unfocused as he mumbled, "We need to find her... we need to find... Lirya..."

Taryn reached out and grabbed Jason, holding him firmly and said quietly, "We can't look for her right now. We need to get rid of the demons first. You understand?"

For a moment Jason just stood there, trembling a little. Then his head slowly inclined in a nod and Taryn breathed a sigh of relief. He loosened his grip and gave Jason a light pat on the shoulder.

"Let's just finish up the demons and we can find her," Taryn said, turning back to face the battlefield.

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It was utter chaos. Not only had Lirya's powers destroyed the ground and eliminated countless demons, but they had descended into a disorganised mess with the absence of Garyth.

The ground was soaked in rusty crimson, with splashes of golden blood near giant corpses. There was a foul metallic stench emanating from the battlefield, and Leus scrunched his nose, trying to ignore it.

The stench was overwhelming the further into the battlefield he went and resisted the urge to gag and turn away. Instead, he gritted his teeth and felled another demon as it came at him.

I'll... kill as many demons as I have to... to protect Dargon and to survive, Leus thought with a grimace.

This war had made him a murderer—and though the demons were grotesque in appearance and violent and bloodthirsty, it felt wrong to Leus to be killing them all. They outnumbered the guardians by the thousands and yet the five of them were turning the battle in their favour. Even after Lirya was taken and Leus felt the drain of the connection, the guardians still held their own. It was as if they were the murderers massacring all the demons.

Deep down, Leus knew he shouldn't have these thoughts. And he certainly shouldn't pity the demons—he'd seen what they'd done to the innocent elves and heard what they'd done to the rest of the kingdoms. But it was so eerie how strangely easy it was for the guardians to push the demons back.

As his mindless thoughts continued, a demon warhorn blared and immediately all of the demons turned tail and ran.

A... retreat? Leus wondered, stopping in his tracks.

In the distance, Leus made out a giant portal swirl into existence and the demons ran through it.

Leus immediately turned back, feeling no inclination to chase them down. There was something more important lingering in the back of his mind. Lingering in every thought and every motion—a desperation to retrieve what was lost. He'd done his best to suppress this new and foreign feeling that he was almost certain was connected to Lirya in some way, but now that the demons were retreating and he had no valid excuse to push back those thoughts, the feeling returned in full force.

I just don't understand why I feel this way, Leus thought, for he knew his feelings for her were not romantic.

Well, I suppose I do see her as a sister of sorts, He mused, And as guardians we are almost akin to family. It doesn't explain this insanity I feel, but I couldn't leave her with that monster anyways.

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Beneath the temple, four pairs of eyes peered incredulously at the archangel who'd just changed forms in front of them.

A moment of stunned silence ensued, followed by a tentative question posed by Leyon.

"So... what happened to Aidan Illuen?"

Cress' luminous green eyes peered at Leyon and shrugged nonchalantly, "He's inside me. We share bodies. Well, to be specific, I borrow his body. But that's entirely beside the point."

He pointed to each of them in turn and said, "You lot are sitting around here doing nothing while that devil incarnate of a mage warps in a demon army and drags the guardians around. Don't you have better things to do than waste your time in this damned tomb?!"

At Cress' words, Adrian felt a flare of that same emotion he'd tried to suppress.

He's right, He realised, We're just wasting time. We could be on that battlefield slaughtering each and every one of those wretched demons!

Adrian nodded tersely at Cress and addressed the others, "He's right. Before he... passed... father told us to find the guardians. I'm sure he meant for us to aid them in protecting Dargon from the likes of that man!"

He could see that Zaiela wasn't entirely convinced, but she had always abhorred any notion of war, so that didn't particularly surprise Adrian. Adrian could see that the others looked convinced.

A little more quietly, he added, "I swore upon my father's grave to kill every last demon. I will avenge my family!"

Leyon's eyes darkened at his words and an unreadable expression crossed his face and Zaiela's face clouded with grief, though she kept her composure. A heavy silence fell upon them, then Cress got up from the floor and started to leave the egg chamber. The others followed suit and they ascended to the chaos above.

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