Looking skyward once more, standing on one of the balconies of the palace of Osonor, Salia lets out a sigh again. In her..."studies," she had become privy to the goings-on of the world prior to the chasing out of Krussin of the Elves. She ponders upon the things she had heard more recently though--rumors of a great and unexpected conquest down south. Her thoughts were turned to the King's son, Azandar again. She had no idea that less than 2 months would pass before they would see each other again. She had always looked up to him, as he had appeared to her to be just and righteous.
"Salia!" She nearly jumps at the sound of her name being called, and quickly makes her way to the voice--the head-servant of the King.
"No lolligagging, Salia! There is much work to be done!" Salia bowed her head in apology.
"Right away!" She scurried away to her next task...
***
Having left Dolor not a few weeks prior, where he had constructed a custom-built airship, Azandar read the next chapter in one of the many novels he had picked up for this trip, while the ship flew on what essentially equated to autopilot. Having read through one the previous few weeks, interspersed with piloting the vessel, he kept boredom to a minimum.
He thought of the old gang--Ruby, Hikaru, Thorin, Roderick, Mutiger, Armella--and a pang of homesickness overcame him. He suddenly wished that he had bonded a little better with each of them. He turned his attention back to the book he was reading, and continued.
"The sentries were all set, but not all of them were present as the ranks shifted uncomfortably. The funeral procession had not yet reached the rendezvous point yet, but they were to arrive soon nonetheless. This worried the commander, who had spent the better part of two days instructing his officers on how to train the troops for a funeral procession. The death of the King of the land had been a shock, to say the least, for all the land, and it was especially hard for the royal family.
'Alas,' mumbled the commander under his breath, 'that such days should be upon us.'"
Azandar stopped there, and breathed a sigh, pondering as he looked ahead at the expanse of sea before him.
"Alas indeed," he muttered to himself as he marked his place in the book, and, setting it aside, pulled the autopilot lever back to the OFF position, and took the steering stick in his hand again...
***
Salia was finishing up some polishing work when the news began to filter in through the servants' gossip. Pausing only briefly, she continued working but listened in as well.
"Did you hear? He has returned, hopefully for good this time!"
"The Prince is back?? But how?? Why?? Eh, it matters not. He has returned! That is joyous news, and how his parents will be so!"
Salia smiled to herself, muttering under her breath. "You've come back."
***
Trenfield. It hadn't changed since those vagabonds appeared, but it was little more than a warzone, now. Having been utterly inspired by that Dwarf's power and courage, standing up to the Rhenese soldiers and guards like that...she had taken courage of her own, and, using her long, long-standing skills and abilities, began to train the people of Trenfield to fight underground.
Speaking of underground, the place was nearly impassable...if you were a Rhenese soldier. Teaching the people to speak in tongues of a bygone age, Selrin had mustered what amounted to a resistance--quiet and subtle at first, then raging. All communications to the outside world had been cut off, and she had made sure that the moorings that held all the Rhenese ships had been cut off, so that they went free...now, it was a stalemate, but she had the bastards where she wanted them. She knew they would offer a treaty, or blow the city up. Either way, the Resistance would outlast the storm...
***
"Keep the barricade! We shall outlast them!" A masked figure was standing, greatsword drawn, at the head of what appeared to be a small army of revolutionaries. They were holding the line fiercely against the Rhenese forces on the opposite end, and would not let them pass.
"Hold the line! Do not give in," she shouted once more, and ducked with uncanny speed as the opposing forces opened fire upon the barricade. The infamous Shrike had returned, and would seek to wreak havoc on the forces of Rhen.
A large, trundling steam powered mecha, a heavy Dredge Class mech, comes stumping around a nearby building. Its footfalls cause the ground to tremble, and it levels its huge 305 mm cannon at the barricade. It fires, the sound like thunder cracking in the air, and the round whistles past, smashing into the barricade.
Selrin and several of the front line soldiers jump out of the way as the round from the cannon hits the barricade, utterly destroying it. Cannons from the rooftops fire back at the mech, and send it reeling.
"Fall back to the main barricade!" the masked figure cries.