Summoned to a Shattered World

Birthright Chapter 22 - Dying Embers

The three of us followed the tunnel back up to the cellar. It was difficult to tell how much time had passed while we were underground but it felt like we'd been gone a long time. We reached the ground floor to find daylight shining through the windows. Judging by intensity of the light, only one of the suns was up. Which meant it was around dawn or an hour or two later.

I sighed. Our time below had been exhausting enough, now we had to do battle with Lord Sarinknell? I was going to be pissed if I didn't get a long rest once this was all over. Surely I deserved one. I wonder if I could get paid leave. Or, y'know, paid at all. That'd be nice. Did subjects get paid in the feudal system? I wasn't sure. And that was assuming there was a system like that there.

As we crept through the halls, Tagath bringing up the rear, we heard the sound of battle from outside. Who was fighting outside? Had the Tertiums already come this far? I turned to Elmidath to ask what we should be but she looked as lost as I felt. There probably weren't many decisions to be made at this stage anyway, not until we had a better idea of what was happening.

I told the other two to wait and peered out the window. Armoured Primis soldiers fought against the bestial Tertiums. I recognised several of Lord Sarinknell's troops but they were supported by others I'd never seen before. The Primis refused to give ground but their formation was collapsing in the face of the Tertiums' superior size and numbers.

A Primis soldier dropped, a javelin protruding from their chest. A weapon? None of the Tertiums I'd seen used weapons. Looking beyond the score or so of invaders I saw a pair of more humanoid figures. One held a bundle of the long javelins while the other was raising one of the weapons to throw.

Were they the ones leading the Tertiums? They didn't seem to be giving orders, but it was possible they were controlling them telepathically. Despite his men being cut down, I saw no sign of Lord Sarinknell. Had he already fled? It looked like only a matter of time before his forces were overrun. In a way that was good for us, but I doubted the Tertiums being the enemy of our enemy would earn us any mercy from them. If Lord Sarinknell didn't show himself soon, he was either fleeing or already one of the casualties.

Seeing no immediate threats to us, I brought Elmidath over to get her opinion. Her eyes darted across the battlefield as she took it all in. Once she'd gotten an idea of the situation she moved away from the window. "I think we should hunt down my uncle. I'm sure he's still here."

"What about the Tertiums?"

"We can deal with them later, this is probably the best opportunity we're ever going to get. We can't afford to waste it."

That didn't do much to sell me on the idea of sabotaging our defences during a battle, but she was probably right that this would be our best opportunity. "Fine. Any idea where he might be?"

"Probably somewhere on the upper levels. There's no need for him to go out to meet the Tertiums personally. If I know him, he's likely preparing something to turn the tides of the battle."

I glanced back out the window. Whatever he was planning on doing, he'd have to do it soon. The Primis were on their last legs, looking like they might crumple any moment now. How was he planning to avoid killing his own men? Surely he'd need a large-scale attack to have much impact on the battle at this stage.

I shook my head at my own foolishness. A Demon Lord wouldn't care about something like that, not when his life and holdings were at stake. As we headed for the stairs upward, Tagath excused himself. "I think you two can handle things from here, I'd rather not get caught up in the battle if it's all the same to you."

I turned to look back at him. "I thought you were going to help us."

"Well, yes, but I'm not sure how much help I'll be when there's a battle raging. It's not really my field of expertise."