Dawn of Arcane Destiny

Chapter One Hundred Six

Soldiers are disciplined, strong, and brave. And most importantly, fight till they're free. That was something that both Drayce and Caelum had been told when they were first drafted. He had cursed that mantra, praised it, even lived by it. But in that moment, it had more meaning than Drayce ever thought it would have in his life.

Surrounded by black and bleeding demons all around with a total of nine guards and Caelum, they stood no chance. They knew that. Soldiers should have shown up by now. Drayce suspected that the runner had been killed before he could report to General Amsworth. No matter. They were on death's door anyway. Drayce just hoped Lillia was safe.

But then they stopped.

The Soulless stopped moving. They stopped chanting. Even their snarls and hisses had creased. Drayce exchanged a look of bewilderment with Caelum. Then they retreated. The thousand or so demons fled.

Drayce and the others stood in a stunned silence. It was as if his body refused to accept his sudden survival. "End of the first wave, then?" he said.

Caelum nodded. "I guess we live to be maimed later."

"Someone's feeling cheery."

"Side effect of almost dying a grotesque death."

It was as if the adrenaline left all of them all at once. Everyone sagged. Some let out belated cheers of relief. Suddenly Drayce felt the full extent of his injuries. He pressed his hand to his shoulder injury that hurt like nothing else. At least it has ceased bleeding.

Caelum stumbled and sat down hard on the ground. "I swear."

Drayce waited. "You swear...was there more to that sentence?"

Caelum shrugged. "Probably. I'm too tired to think of what it was."

Drayce chuckled slapping him on the back. "Well Non knows how long we have till the next attack. We need to prepare." He looked at the exhausted men. "I'm going to get some strong tea and something better to wear than a nightshirt and leather armor."

"Good idea." Caelum said as Drayce helped him to his feet. "I'll send for the General again. He very obviously did not get my first message."

"First let's go make sure everyone is safe and get first aid out here." Drayce said as he helped Caelum limp to the castle.

***

When Drayce saw two demons running down the stairs, his heart skipped a beat. Within moments they both lay haphazardly dead on the stairs. Both Drayce and Caelum broke into a run, skipping every other step.

The door to his room was completely broken, splinters of wood laying on the floor, the hinges cracked out of the wall. The barricade inside had been thrown aside and the multiple chairs and table lay all over the room.

But that's not what made Drayce stop short. It was Lillia.

"Lilly." Drayce breathed as he stepped over multiple pieces of wreckage.

She knelt next to the bed, sobbing. Her nightgown and bare feet were covered in Soulless blood. Her wrists and ankles were bloody with her own blood from the shackles she had somehow escapes from, but the chains on her ankle shackles had just been severed, leaving the cuffs there.

He saw the body of the guard he had sent to the room laying dead not far away. Caelum was picking through the wreckage inspecting the bodies.

Drayce leaned down and touched her hand and almost got his face taken off by a sword in Lillia's other hand.

"Woah." Drayce exclaimed stumbling backwards.

She gasped, dropping the sword. "Sorry." She looked around as if she was just coming back to reality. "Are they all gone?"

"For now." Drayce said sitting on the bed and pulling her up beside him. She leaned heavily against him. "Are you okay? What happened in here?"

From the other side of the bed came a muffled cry. Caelum walked over and moved the covers off the babies. He chuckled "I see the babies survived in their armor of blankets."

"Thankfully." Drayce said.

"I'm going to check on Ella and Cassian." Caelum said making his way out of the room.

Lillia started to cry again. "They—they broke in and Oran killed most of them and unlocked one of my shackles before he—he died. There was two more and I got my shackles off just in time, but then then they just left. I didn't know why. Sure as Zavian, it wasn't because of me."

Drayce squeezed her shoulders "I'm so sorry, I should have unlocked you and sent more guards. I'm so glad you're okay." They sat there, neither saying a word before Lillia finally lifted Thorin and handed him to Drayce, and then picked up Roselen. Both babies settled down pretty quickly.

"How long do we have?" Lillia finally asked.

Drayce shook his head. "I don't know. But we need to be prepared. We would all be dead if they hadn't retreated. Caelum and I were going to go down fighting." He sighed looking down at Thorin. "I still can't believe we're alive."

Drayce glanced outside and blanched. "Lilly, what time is it?"

"Seven."

"It should be light by now, right?"

"Yes, I suppose, why?"

Drayce stood and walked over to the drapes and opened them showing the sky. It was dark, the stars gleaming. But that wasn't the weird part.

All moons were present.

Lillia walked up beside him and stared. "They're all there. But how—"

"I haven't seen any moons in the sky since we visited the gods' sanctuary. But now..."

The moons, shining their golds, silvers, blues, and mauves. They hovered in the sky in a close line, bathing the sky in dull light.

"Was this part of the prophecy?" Drayce asked.

"Seven moons merge." Lillia muttered, looking up at Drayce with wide eyes, "It is. Once they merge as one, they'll be gone forever. The gods will be gone. We need to destroy Keir before they do."