Warsong | Celeste Academy Series Book #4

Chapter Twenty ⚜ Demon Artifact (pt. 1)

People hid in their homes and left the streets like scared rats scramming into crevices. On the other hand, Keelan's group quickly navigated the city and got to where the signal was fired. The city's soldiers and some common knights arrived in the scene as well, standing by the gates of the baron's manor—probably to keep out any curious spectators from entering. They did not recognize anyone from Valeriana's group, looking at the way they dressed, and expressed confusion at their presence.

"Excuse me," said one soldier as he squinted at Eres' face. "But this isn't a place where you should be."

"I'm a continental knight dispatch by the High Lord Dillian and these are my assistants, they're all common knights." Eres flashed his badge to prove his standing as a continental knight, completely taking the local soldier aback.

His eyes widened in realization and he subtly stepped back a bit, his head bobbing downwards in apology. "P-pardon my disrespect, sir. I didn't mean to." He breathed. "But I do feel your face to be familiar. Forgive me for not being more careful."

"It's alright, tell us what happened here." Eres pocketed the badge once more and turned his full attention to the soldier.

"This woman," he began, pointing to the girl crying on the other side. "Came out after ringing the alarms. It seems when she woke up that morning from a nightmare, everyone else were in a coma-like state of sleep. They refused to wake up and when she tried, someone slapped her senseless."

"What? Who would do that?"

"The one asleep, apparently. According to her, they were exceedingly violent. She went to check on the others, but they were in the same state save for one other man who eventually blocked the others so that she could escape. It's definitely strange."

"So what have you done?"

"We've already sent reinforcements inside. We didn't want to send in too many men in so we're out here to keep out any curious civilians."

Valeriana tried to get closer and sent her own aura to scan the place. The manor had a large courtyard and with her limited coverage, she had a bit of difficulty finding anything worth noticing. Just a few moments in, as Eres talked with the soldier, she felt a sudden flood of something she wasn't happy to feel.

"There's a demon inside," she said, tugging at Keelan's sleeves with urgency. "We need to get in there."

"A demon, you say," Keelan whispered, lowering himself to talk under his breath.

"There's demonic energy. It comes from that room over there." She pointed at the third window by the second floor whose curtains were drawn shut. The main source of the energy seemed to be originating somewhere around that area. Although she wasn't sure of the accuracy, her guts said she was probably right.

"Then we'll need to enter." Keelan turned to his older brother inquiringly, waiting for his decision. "Kavá, what must we do?"

"We must do as you said," Eres replied with ease. He then turned to the soldier who had previously blocked their path. "We'll be going in. Any broken formalities will be addressed later. Don't send any more inside unless the situation calls for it. We must keep casualties at the minimum."

"No problem, sir."

"Who entered?"

"Our division knight leader headed in," the soldier answered. "With a team of ten aside from himself."

"Alright, let's not wait."

They went through the gates. This time, none of the soldiers blocked their path. They traversed the baron's courtyard and entered the main door.