Chapter 29 - Tons

  Stepping out of the training grounds and into the empty corridor, Cillian inhaled deeply, attempting to dispel the lingering adrenalihat surged through his veins. The air was thick with the st of sweat aermination, remnants of the grueling session that had just cluded. As he moved forward, Luxana emerged from the shadows, her presence illuminating the dim hallway like a sunbeam pierg through a opy of trees. Her smile radiated warmth, remi of a sunlit summer meadow, inviti mischievous. Before Cillian could gather his thoughts or respond to her sudden appearance, Luxana closed the distaween them, ing her arms around his ne an exuberant embrace. The world around them faded; it was just the two of them in that moment. Her side profile was striking, framed by casg locks that veiled her eyes, while her smile liantalizingly close to Cillian's ear. In a hushed tone, she whispered, "Be not deceived, my esteemed Prince, for I, too, am gifted with the blessings of sight and hearing, and thus privy to the maations that surround us." A chill danced down Cillian's spine as her words hung in the air, ced with an idertone. Despite the uling chill her words invoked, he couldn’t help but smirk at her audacity. With a ge pyful motioousled her hair with his bare hands and replied softly, "While it is undeniable that you possess the ans of vision and hearing, it seems, regrettably, that their utility pales in parison to the futility of your urained loquaciousness." Their banter was a dance—a delicate interpy of wit and underlying motives cloaked in smiles.-A Ferior- The manor buzzed with an uncharacteristiergy, a palpable tension that thrummed in the air like the distant tolling of a bell. Maids scurried about in a flurry of soundless hustle, their movements swift yet graceful, like leaves caught in a gentle breeze. Desding the grand staircase of the Moonlit Edifice, I couldn't help but observe the heightened sense ency that had overtaken the manor. Maids and servants flitted about, their movements betraying a sense of nervous anticipation. I exged a curious gh my two dy-in-waiting and the two doll-like maids who apanied me dowaircase, each of us silently w about the cause of the otion. The grarance hall, normally a serene and weling space, was alive with activity. Voices echoed off the high ceilings, their tones hushed and furtive, as if wary of disturbing some fragile bance. I swept my gaze across the se, my intrigue piqued by the subtle air of mystery that hung over the proceedings. Seems like somebody's visiting. I think I should get bay room, there's no saying who or what this person mgiht be ing after being aware of Cillian's absence. I thought, just as I was turning babsp;And then, like a discordant note slig through the delicate silehe front door thundered open with a resounding thud almost deafening the people around. Cillian strode in, his slender frame ed in the dark hues of his blood-streaked uniform, his posture unnervingly straight and shoulders squared beh the weight of battle’s aftermath. Deep gashes marred his pale cheeks, still fresh and bleeding, and his once-pristine blue and white attire was a ragged colge of dried, crusted bck blood and streaks of brilliant red, glisteni beh the delier’s cool light. His hair was a tangled mess, streaked with the battlefield’s crimson, as though the blood itself had woven into the strands, bonding with him as if it belohere. I watched him as he passed with an eerie ess, his gaze fixed downward, face impassive and silent, hands buried in the depths of his pockets as though seeking soce there. What are the Tons you ask?In the shadowed recesses of the empire’s fotten lore, the Tons emerge as nightmarish phantoms of a bygone era. T over mere mortals, these colossal beasts resemble wolves twisted by dark sorcery, their massive forms cloaked in a matted, bluish-bck fur that absorbs the light around them. With razor-sharp es jutting from their gaping maws and slithering tohat taste the air for the st of fear, they strike terror into the hearts of those who catch a glimpse of their glowing red eyes—deep pools of malevolehat seem to pierce the very soul. Born from the corruption of mana stohese creatures are the grotesque offspring of bck magic, their existeestament to the dark forces that threaten to e the empire. Once fio the pages of history, the Tons have broken free from their a slumber, driven by a hidden fortent oation. Whispers of their return haunt the night, a chilling reminder of the empire’s vulnerability. inating from the enigmatic forest of Mun in the north-west, they now wreak havoc upon the tral nds, their insatiable hunger for human flesh fueling their relentless assaults. Each attack is a symphony of chaos, the ground tremblih their weight as they surge into vilges, leaviru in their wake. The air this with the st of fear and blood, as families are torn apart, their screams eg through the night like a mournful dirge. Yet, amidst the encroag darkness, a flicker of hope remains. Those who dare to rise against the Tons must harhe purity of holy power, eling the strength of their aors to front these abominations. The csh between light and shadow intensifies, for in this battle, the fate of the empire hangs perilously in the bahe Tons are not just beasts; they are harbingers of a reing, and only the bravest souls will stand against the tide of despair that threatens to engulf all.As he passed me without uttering a single word, I felt a chill run down my spihe male servants trailing behind him wore expressions of fusion and fear, they followed in his wake, ready to leap into a, but Cillian paid them no mind, moving past them as if they were mere shadows. Uo tairawist of bitterness ament swirling in my chest, I called after him, voice tight but ced with a wry smile that I could feel stretg ay face like a mask. "I must end you, My Lord. Amidst the chaos, you still found a way to seal my powers," I said, my voice calm but tinged with an edge of irony, as though I were praising a particurly galnt foe. I faced the door where only the servants stood, their perplexed faces mirr my own turmoil. It was the night I had dreamt of Cillian killing me—his betrayal etched into my mind like a scar. He had taken advantage of my vulnerability and cast magic circles to prevent me from using my powers. A crack had revealed itself just ho, probably due to loss of e with the source. I could sehe fading link to Veles, but it was too te to reestablish any true power. All I had left were paltry remnants of fire, enough to spark warmth but not even close to wielding anything substantial. I turned my head slowly towards Cillian, and I felt a sudderision crackle in the air between us. Upon hearing my voice, he halted abruptly. His hands still tucked within the bloodied pockets of his uniform as he turned his head slightly to the left, gaze drifting downward until it pierced through mine—a gaze so inte felt as if it could slice past my flesh and bone, and could uhe very fabriy soul. The world slowly seemed to fall away, as though my very soul was id bare beh the weight of that gaze. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, SOMEONE SAVE ME! PLEASEEEE! SOMEBODYYYY, HELP! HELP! HELP! PLEASEEEEEEE!” An old woman’s voice echoed through the chaos, her frail form sprawled in the blood-soaked mud as she cwed her way forward, fingers leaving trails i earth. The Tons surged around her, monstrous figures with twisted limbs and grotesque visages, their dark, viscous bodies moving like a ing mass of shadow and decay. They loomed over her, teeth gnashing, cwed hands reag out to seize her. Amidst the chaos, Cillian moved like a specter. His sword fshed, a gleaming arc of silver that cut through the thick darkness of the Tons, sshing them down one by oh a brutal precision. His face was as impassive as ever, his eyes cold and focused, ands spilling from his lips in quick succession, his voice cutting through the cacophony. “LEFT WING, EVACUATE BOTH SIDES IMMEDIATELY! RIGHT WING, TAKE THE ELDERLY AND CHILDREN TO THE CELLAR. TRAL WING, RAISE PROTE CIRCLES AROUND THE PERIMETER! THE REST OF YOU – FIGHT!” The se around him ure chaos; noble sons their faces strained and blood-spattered, each bearing their family crests, shouted orders to their own squads, and the ground was a morass and a tapestry of death and blood and broken bodies, human and Ton alike. The st of iron and decay thi the air. One of the nobles, a man with hair as dark as midnight and eyes to match, yelled at the others with urgency. "DIN'T YOU HEAR HIM? EVACUATE THE PEOPLE FAST! WE DON'T HAVE TIME TO SPARE. His voice was raw with urgency as he directed his men. "MOVE FASTER, WILL YAH?" Cillian’s focus was razor-sharp, his gaze sweeping the age before log onto his sed-in-and, Ian, who had dark blue hair that fell over his brow, and sharp, battle-worn eyes glinting bck as obsidian. (The same person above) “IAN!” Cillian shouted, his voice a anding pulse in the night. "MAGIC CIRCLES, NOW!!!!!!!!!!!! FASTERRR!!! Ian’s hands shot up, swirling with are energy, intricate patterns as arcs of energy coalesced around him, the shimmering magic circles bursting ience, with deadly precision as he positiohem to stem the onsught, glowing against the blood-soaked earth. Beside Cillian, anure fought with fiertensity, his back pressed to Cillian’s as they sliced through the Tons in seamless coordination. Kryll, his green hair wild and tangled with dirt and blood, his purple eyes bzing with a terrible resolve, shouted over his shoulder as they moved in tandem, cutting down Tons with brutal efficy. Their movements synized and ruthless. “CILLIAN!” Kryll called out, his voice strained. “The situation is getting out of hand, not only the knights but also the mages are draio the core. Their mana is depleting faster than the speed of light. At this rate, none of us will survive.” His voice was drained, breathless from the stant onsught. Cillian turned slightly, his gaze icy but calm as he regarded Kryll with a hint of dark humor in his blood-smeared smile. “Is that a death wish, Kryll?” Kryll ducked, narrowly avoiding the jagged cws of a Ton that lunged for him. “Definitely. As long as it’s less than yours!” he shot back, his voice tinged with dark humor as he sshed upward, the sound of bde tearing flesh resonating with a siing squelch. His sword plunging deep into the creature’s putrid flesh with a satisfying bsp;"I see, then, very well..." Cillian murmured, retreating from the melee as he broke away from the frontline, falling to one knee, his hands moving to press against the ground, fingers spying across the damp, blood-drenched soil as he whispered an intation, his voice barely a mutter beh the roar of the battle. Blue light fred beh him, sharp and searing as a circle formed, crag with raw power. The earth trembled as his mana surged through it, feeding into the spell as his eyes rolled back, turning an unnatural, milky white, empty and bzing like a fire from another world. A shimmering blue and white aura ed around him, swallowing him in its holy radianbsp;And then— *SHWASHHH* In a blinding instant, light exploded from him, radiating across the battlefield in a wave of pure, unyielding energy. The Tons screamed, their cries shrill and guttural as the wave of holy energy bsted through them. The white light sliced through the battlefield, annihiting every Ton it touched, the sound of their bodies tearing and disiing in the fierce, uing light. Flesh and shadow alike were obliterated, and the monstrous cries gave way to an eerie, hollow silence as the light burned away every st trace of the darkhat had pgued the town. Screams turo echoes, and echoes faded to silence, until all that remained was the aftermath of the holy power’s devastating wrath. As the st echoes faded, Cilliao his knees, his body swaying, and for a heartbeat, he seemed to hover on the edge of colpse. "Cillian," excimed Kryll as he surged forward, catg him just as his legs gave out, l him gently onto the blood-soaked ground. Cillian’s face was ashen, his lips parted as he struggled to breathe, his chest heaving with the exertion. A thin rivulet of blood traced down from the er of his mouth, a stark line of crimson against his pale skin, his eyes unfocused and dull. In that moment, the battlefield y in quiet devastation around them, the stillness punctuated only by the faint, lingering tendrils of light fading into the night, like the st dying embers of a storm now passed.Luxana, her ethereal beauty momentarily faltered, experienced a sudden and violeurn to corporeal normalcy. Her enrged eyes, windows to a realm beyond mortal prehension, abruptly tracted to their natural state. The abrupt transitio her reeling, her equilibrium shattered, and she would have succumbed to gravity's cruel embrace had it not been for the swift intervention of her ever-vigint dies-in-waiting. From his lofty perch upon the grand staircase, Cillian gazed down upoableau with an air of imperious disdain. His tenance, a mask of cold indifference, betrayed not a flicker of as he turo tinue his ast, leaving the se of Luxana's distress in his wake. Lyriana, her voice a gentle whisper tinged with exasperation, sought to pee the fog of Luxana's apparent disorientation. "Yhness, what's the matter?" she inquired, her words a lifeline cast into the turbulent waters of Luxana's sciousness. In that moment, as if struck by diviion, Luxana's head snapped upward, her voice ringing out with a crity that belied her previous state of disarray. "CILLIAN. Ahere were Ahere!" The procmation hung in the air, heavy with portent and urgenbsp;Cillian, his retreat arrested by the force of Luxana's outcry, turned back with an expression of revulsioched upon his features. "What?" he spat, the single sylble dripping with pt. Before Luxana could eborate on her cryptic decration, Cillian's form became a blur of motion. With a dispy of superhuman agility, he unched himself from the staircase, his body arg through the air in defiance of the ws of physibsp;To be tinued...