Chapter 7 (Part 2)

Zenebe’s tears flowed freely in the present. He opened his eyes and watched in awe as the gigantic mass of water he accumulated rained down in a controlled fashion onto the burning gate. It was as if he had been in a trance, ruminating on his failures while pulling off his gravest undertaking yet. Sook cheered and patted his shoulder as the trio watched the fire slowly die under the gentle rainfall.

“I didn’t know you were capable of doing something like that,” Dulani said while her eyes fixed on the water mass.

“Honestly… I didn’t either,” Zenebe panted lightly.

Pirouz flew down in front of the tree line, hovering in place before them. “We took care of all the thralls on the north side! The fire over there was much smaller so we managed to put it out ourselves. I’m honestly amazed you were able to tame this inferno. Zenebe, you truly are an arcane genius.” Zenebe gave Pirouz a thumbs up. “But enough self-adulation, we must go in and assess the damage. I believe the thralls managed to infiltrate the Eastern side. The adventurers agreed and soon enough, the angels were carrying them over the massive walls they had managed to protect.

“Hey Pirouz, were the thralls that you took down also immune to fire?! ‘Cause we threw ours into the fire and they just walked back out!” Dulani shouted through the night wind in order to be heard.

Pirouz responded, “The fire we angels of Ydalia use is not normal fire. It is an arcane fire enhancement that we cast on our weapons. We draw our power from our patron God, Atchar; whose flames burn away all impurities and filth. Whatever dark twisted power controls these pests, it is susceptible to Atchar’s righteousness.”

Pirouz and the group arrived at the garrison headquarters in order to learn where they were needed next. Soldiers hurried up and down the hallways. The group arrived in a large meeting room to find Borzou giving orders to different cells; two large fountains adorned the walls of the meeting room. Water poured out in vast quantities from the mouths of stone beasts.

Pirouz stood at attention and addressed Borzou, “Commander Borzou! We have returned from our excursion to the Silent Basin and we protected both the northwestern and southwestern gates from the thralls!”

Borzou turned and looked at the group coldly.

Dulani looked into his eyes and her body suddenly tensed up, “Wait! It’s a trap!”

Borzou motioned to his soldiers with his hand and in a second, angels surrounded the four of them, swords unsheathed and ignited.

“What is the meaning of this, Borzou?!”

“Silence! Very shortly after you left, the thralls invaded from the East. The Righteous Asha was abducted and his private guard was slaughtered. Am I to believe that this timeline is purely coincidental?! A dirty Varanian infiltrates our borders shortly after the thralls first appear. Then as soon as she leaves my sight, Our Holy Symbol is taken only for you to come charging back as if you are our heroes, meant to deliver us from this catastrophe?! I think not, there’s too much smoke in the sky of our Lord’s great city for there to be no fire. Seize the fork-tongue and its two companions immediately!”

Pirouz stepped in front of them, “Sir, this is madness, my soldiers and I were with them the entire time. They have done nothing but help people since I’ve met them!”

Borzou simply shook his head, “Your two soldiers reported to me already and they both corroborate a story which contradicts what you’ve just claimed. I am at my wit’s end. What you have done is tantamount to treason against our nation. Men, Sergeant Pirouz is a traitor! Arrest her along with the other three.”

“You three must escape from here! I will hold them off as long as I can!”

The angelic soldiers began marching forward, igniting their swords. Borzou was giddy, he wanted these miscreants to resist, he wanted an excuse. Luckily for him, they were going to give him one.

Zenebe spun his staff around himself, pulling the water from the fountains and forming a wall around them, “Absolutely not. We will not run and hide while you are killed by your own people!”

One of the soldiers stuck his sword into the water, his magical flames extinguished immediately.

Borzou called out, “Be wary men, that hydrosophist infuses magic into the water, it can actually extinguish Atchar’s flames!”

Dulani drew her katar. She was clearly nervous given their circumstances, “I really don’t like when you make decisions for us like this!”

Sook transformed, prompting some disgusted gasps from the soldiers, “Pirouz didn’t abandon me when I needed help, we won’t abandon him, so you’re overruled here, Dulani.”

“Ugh, you bleeding hearts are going to get us killed for sure. If not today, then soon.”

Two angels flew above the wall of water, drawing their bows and firing flaming arrows down from the opening. Zenebe quickly closed the top, forming the circular wall into a dome and redirecting the now extinguished arrows off to the sides.

Pirouz drew his sword, “If you will not leave me then we shall fight together, and maybe, if Atchar is with us, we will survive. Are you three prepared?”

Dulani was the first to speak, “Oh, I’m ready. Ready for you to owe me big time after this!”

Zenebe focused magical pressure inside the water dome before blasting it out in all directions with great force. The soldiers were pushed back, their weapons drenched and extinguished.

Pirouz held his sword out in front of him at a downward angle and placed his left hand over the hilt. He then closed his eyes and focused, pulling the sword up with his right hand while keeping his left in place so the sword passed behind his palm. The sword, inch by inch, ignited into radiant orange flame, burning brighter and hotter than his new companions had seen before that moment, “One thing. Borzou is mine.”