WHO: Lintu, Galen, and Roche WHAT: Homecoming, Part Two WHEN: The early evening of the attack and hours after the pulse WHERE: Ashelle WARNINGS: A smidgen of gore
CHAPTER ONE HOMECOMING part two
The sun has almost set and twilight begins to fall. The fighting has begun to die down, the invaders taking to their blades than turning to run. Attempts at capturing prisoners prove to be in vain but that didn’t stop the navy from pressing their advantage and trying. The firing at the castle had stopped and an tense peace permeated the castle.
It’s not long, though, until rushed footsteps made their way to Lintu.
“Prince Lintu,” breathed a guard, sweat on his brow as he ran to the Prince. He bowed and looked to the prince, uncertainty and a twinge of fear in his eyes. “The Captain has requested your assistance with… You’re needed immediately.”
Of course it was too much to hope that the peace, strained as it was, that had settled over the city signified the end of the conflict. All of it was putting Lintu on edge (and if anyone said anything about ruffled feathers, they might just get a first hand experience) and for not the first time he reflected on how different Ashelle was to his own Echo where the idea of conflict on this scale was so far removed it seemed as though it happened in other worlds entirely.
So he thought he was somewhat justified in jumping as the guard burst into his rooms, interrupting the haphazard attempt he'd been making at bandaging some of his injuries. Doing his best to mask the concern, Lintu rose and straightened his clothing into place, settling his wings around his body in a way that made him seem slightly larger and more intimidating.
"We'd better not keep the Captain waiting then, if it's that urgent. Lead the way."
The guard nodded and lead the way, the fading sunlight glinting off of his golden armor as they moved through the castle. There was no tarrying, not pausing, even if it was clear eventually where they were heading.
In no time at all, they stopped right in front of the King’s quarters, a huddle of guards surrounding it. Sir Galen, captain of the castle guard, stood there, features drawn into a grim line as he watched two of his guards heave a battering ram into the door. The door refused to budge. Seeing Lintu arrived, Galen looked only a fraction relieved.
“Prince,” he bowed before gesturing to the door. “It’s ensorceled, my liege. We came to alert the king to the turning of the tide but we haven’t been able to open it. It hasn’t been opened since the attack started, and no one has come near the door. My guards have made sure of that.” The quickly nodded. “We… I thought it best to call you immediately.” Much of the family was versed in magic, but Lintu was renowned for being the best, and that was what was very much needed at that moment.
A cold feel settled over his heart the closer and closer they got to their destination. He'd hoped in vain that perhaps they were turning off along the way but Lintu knew that wasn't likely. And, he reminded himself, he should have expected it as well. Their father had disappeared since before the attack had happened, sooner or later there was going to be a call to get in to his quarters or, perhaps worse, to find information another way.
So faced with the door now, Lintu sighed and gave the Captain and his men a sympathetic look. "I suppose it was too much to hope that Father might have heard you knocking and just opened it."
His sense of humour was something he knew that the men likely didn't appreciate right now, so Lintu wasted little time in moving closer to the door, pressing his fingertips against it and tracing against the lines of power he could sense, touch as gentle as a spider testing a web.
"You'd best stand well back. While I hope this will be unimpressive, I wouldn't put it past Father or anyone else who might have had a hand in this to make sure that anyone attempting to get in would have a hard, not to mention dangerous, time doing so." He hoped it was just Roche's way of making certain he was left alone and nothing dangerous in trying to undo it, but Lintu wasn't quite trusting enough to assume it would be safe.
"Oh and please don't go contacting Mira or Sebastian just yet, will you? The last thing I need is someone deciding to throw themself in the way of whatever might happen here."
Once he was sure that there was enough distance between himself and anyone who might be in danger, Lintu turned his attention entirely on the door in front of him. He'd dispelled a fair number of magics over the years and there were really a few ways he could do this; though mostly they boiled down to the safe way and the fast way.
He thought this called for a bit more speed considering. Reaching into his pockets, he drew out a little bag of simple supplies that could be used for almost any kind of magic and drew out a tiny paper bag filled with raw sea salt and a mix of powders he'd gotten from various Echos, then spread his wings. It was partially out of habit - it looked impressive and he knew it - but this time he also plucked a long flight feather, at least the length of his forearm and held it like a sword.
Now came the hard part. In a burst of motion, Lintu tossed the salt bag at the door where it exploded and the spell hung in the substance immediately reacted, binding and hardening the magic it came into contact with as his mind focused on the spell strands around the door being cold and brittle, breakable and the base for another spell that he was already building as rapidly as he could, chanting under his breath as the salt clung to the air. Cold and weak around the door, fire-hot and powerful bound in the feather. A sword pulled fresh from the forge in his mind as he swung it down at the door and the spells there, knowing that if it worked all would be rent asunder, raw power tearing it all apart.
Regardless of what fallout that might cause.
The spell holding the door fast crystalized and hardened with the spell materials, the physical form glinting against the light from the blazing wall sconces. In the next moment, they shattered, falling away like shards of glass before disappearing into nothing. The energy holding the door locked dissipated, all traces of it gone from Lintu’s purview. The door sagged slightly without it and Galen took it as his cue. Stepping around Lintu, his hand drawing his sword, he reached for the door handle. With a look to his guards to make sure they were following suit, they opened the door.
There was no backlash as he'd expected, but as Galen reached for the door, Lintu grabbed for his wrist and stopped him.
"Wait, it feels too easy." Saying nothing more, Lintu slipped past to push the door open the rest of the way, bracing himself for another spell or worse.
Lintu braced himself, but there was no traces of magic to be found in the room. There was no massive energy, no huge tingle, nothing that big. All the magic had centered around the door, strong enough to keep a certain calibre of people out, and now that it was gone there was nothing but the mundane. Except for one small bit of the room.
Stepping forward, he’d survey that the setting sun was peeking through the open windows of the king’s chambers. Facing the door sat a lush bed, gold and white sheets and drapery falling from the four posters donning it the large expanse. To the right was a writing desk, high back and cushioned chair neatly tucked under it. A salon couch and other chairs dotted the rest of the corner for the few times that Roche took meetings in his chambers. The door to the farthest right continued on to his wardrobe and bath.
There on the floor lay Roche, perfectly still. He was dressed as he was when he took his meetings after his breakfast with his wife. The crown that had sat upon his head had fallen to the wayside. There was the slightest clench of his hands. The marks of scratching at his neck - his own nails doing it, it seemed from the way they fell upon his neck and chest. His eyes were wide. His expression, furious. It would seem that the king had been attacked in some manner.
There was also the matter of Roche’s right eye being missing.
Roche’s handsomeness had be famed throughout all of Ashelle and echoes, and much talked about, but the most interesting feature was his eyes. While the left was a warm brown, his right was a cool and clear blue.
And now in its place, a hollow hole oozing blood was all that remained, the faintest traces of an unknown magic circling the area where his eye had been.
The fact that there might be a trap in the room was forgotten as Lintu spotted the shape of his father's body on the floor. Immediately he rushed to his side and checked for any signs of life, anything that could suggest that Roche had somehow escaped the fate he feared. But as each attempt to find something failed, his face became more and more ashen.
"He's… he's dead. I never thought… How could this happen?" Lintu shook himself. "I have to tell my siblings and his wife. We'll need to try and find out what happened, who did this."
His brow furrowed then. "And importantly, who saw him last."