I wake up the next day to a horn. I desummon the armor memory I've been using for its elemental protection and I summon my normal armor. I got it in my third nightmare, a corrupted terror my cohort had to team up with a nightmare transcendent to kill. Even then we barely survived the fight. I pull my jacket on over the armor, fixing my hair and other parts of my appearance. I leave my tent, there's a very loud hustle as everyone prepares for battle. The young saint, i can't quite remember his name, hands me a paper baggy while he's running around. Its what most would call food. Quite the nice 'breakfast' I've got it seems. They aren't even bold enough to offer good food as penance for sending us off to battle. No matter, i will deal with what I've been given. That is what all legacies are taught to do. I start walking to where storms last hope is grounded. I pass by all kinds of things. I see a lot of the midnight actors guild members around. That seems to be most of who survived, a even larger survival rate then the fire keepers, there's a lot to suspect.
"Hey saint lightning dork!"
I start running, unwilling to deal with her taunting today. I make it to storms last hope, even with how loud it is, one sound is clear, humming. I look up at, seer of the infinite swinging its legs on the railings on the ship. Saint dread is on the ship yelling down, war is standing on the same spot beast had in a mocking mimic of someone far better.
Everyone finally gets on storms last hope. Its about 80 people. I sit closer to the steering rune ring. Saint dread yells at just about everyone
"hey jackass don't touch that unless you want to be one hand down"
"oh I know it won't blow your hand off, ill remove your fucking hand if you keep touching that and YOU put that down or else"
"dont you dare, I will step out this circle and crash the whole citadel!"
"By the gods your all stupid."
Someone sits next to me
"oh hello saint morgan"
she waves me off
"no need to day saint just call me morgan"
I nod
"you've been well?"
She smiles, its a little hard to tell under the helmet, its a very pretty smile, even if a little too familiar.
"I have been. I see you've also... been well"
a pleasant lie, i look terrible. The migraines have been getting worse and I've gotten far less and worse sleep.
"I have been. Do you think this raid will go well?"
She nods
"we have a sovereign with us, I've got no doubt."
My eyes land on war, I've got doubts, not that we will face anything too strong but of them.
"Yes i suppose we should do well. Its our first raid after all."
The dreamgate finally opens and the ship flies through, its nice to be warm at least. I grip my Jian in my hand, its not a weapon I ever use lightly.
"Okay all of you free loaders, get the cannons ready or get the hell off!"
I look over at morgan who without much of a care gets up, walks to the edge and jumps off. I get up speed walking over. I look down, its one of the minor farming citadels, rice is what it grows the saint of this place is quite nice sadly, and one of the three we will be raiding today. To bring our whole force seems insane but okay. I summon a set of boots, one sound familiar and I jump. Wind throws my hair everywhere before I summon my helmet. I fall faster and faster until I active the feather boots slowing myself down enough to not take damage. I cut a arrow in half and I turn into my transcendent form. I go as fast as possible knocking out each and every member of the local awakened. A wave of metal washes over the walls destroying it. I turn back into my human form, I lift a small mirror
"over reporting in, south is captured. Over"
after a few seconds someone comes online
"over, north is captured. Saint is going to south"
I look at morgan who gets into a battle stance. I desummon the mirror and I lift my jian. I dodge a throwing spear that almost hit me in the head. I burst forward from side to side dodging fast moving spears. I make it to saint rainbow mirage swinging the flat down. Her form flows around it and she readies for a counter attack. I duck down and morgan swings her hand into the cheek of the saint. She shows no reaction to the pain. I slow her down and I active the enchantment on my jian and I swing it into her head knocking her out. I summon the mirror
"over, saint down! Over"
after a minute
"over. citadel taken, evacuate! Over"
i nod to morgan, she summons a set of metal wings made by whats left of valor, I active the winged boots and I grab her hand. She flies me up onto the ship with her.
We land on the deck of the ship. There's a hustle all around as everyone gets back up. Next citadel will be group two. Last citadel, mine, will be group three. I look at heat seeker who soon lifts a familiar jewelery box, they open it and the whole citadel disappears. The ship flies into another dream gate going back to the military citadel. It flies for a bit then the citadel reappears as the box is opened. Its... necessary measure to force them all into the snow domain. Anyone put into that box is put into the snow domain if the one controlling the citadel is part of the snow domain, thus with the snow domains passive immunity to elemental damage they will live, not comfortably but live they will. Morgan looks down from the ship.
"Caster"
"hmm? Yes?"
She doesn't look up, her tone is light but there's something behind it.
"Small question, but what was he like after the third nightmare?"
I look at her
"who?"
She sighs
"mordret. What was he like?"
I lean on the railings. It takes a bit to answer
"compared to before the third nightmare, he seemed to find peace. Not that he didn't hate valor, but that he found peace. Although he did start trying to make others angry more for fun"
she nods
"peace..." I
look at her as she pushes off
"don't think too much about it. I'll start loading the cannons."
I don't follow but I do add
"siege engines actually"
even now some of that pedanticness from the original rubbed off on me.
A new dreamgate opens. This citadel has no saints, its main produce is wheat, and its defenders are the scarecrow clan funnily enough. I load the siege engines, goodness my hat is off to those poor artisans of the dreamer army for having to carry these, although those had been lighter, not using... what wood do these even use? Its far far heavier and they hold insane enchantments far easier then what is normal. I look down as one engine shoots i watch as a the shapes of the Saints fall, hope a certain saint falls on her head and breaks her jaw shutting her up. Knowing her she'd just heal herself and keep going. The siege engines hit the walls shaking them, making openings for the attackers. I blink and I go back to loading the cannons.
"Over, north secured. Over"
i run to load another, i get close enough to hear the humming once again. I leave as quickly as possible, it sounds too off, no maybe? Too weird? Not quite, too inhuman. That seems about right, how can one be at such peace, even now? I keep loading. Its tiring.
"Over. Unexpected saint, its saint elderwood. Over"
thats guide of the dead, she's a healer, how is she going to win? I hear a sharp gasp from a younger woman with a quiet
"father..."
I don't look her way, i met her right before the first domain war.
"Over. Saint down. Over"
already? Oh thats unexpected at best. How in the hell did she beat a saint so fast? I know she fought a awakened monster that attacked the medical tent almost one verses one during the siege of the crimson spire but, she wasn't going to win and was barely staying alive. I seem to have underestimated her.
"Over. Citadel captured. Over"
storms last hope ducks down getting closer to the ground. The saints land on the deck, like the first the citadel disappears.
We go through another dreamgate back to the snowy wasteland. I lean on the railings.
"Hey jackass."
I look up
"saint guide of the dead"
she groans
"just call me Avery. Your pompous insistence to call everyone by formal nicknames is getting annoying."
I frown trying to keep annoyance out of my tone
"you said to call you that"
She gabs a finger into the breastplate of my armor
"what do you have politeness drilled into your bones?"
There's a long awkward silence.
"Fuck your a legacy of course you do. All of you are like that. A little bit of a freak"
I sigh
"anything you want or?"
She chuckles
"it beat a saint on my very own, you had help from morgan, now whos so much better?"
"You."
She stops just staring at me
"what?"
"You definitely did more to capture that citadel then I did mine."
Her face changes to one of mild annoyance
"now your being humble? Wow just wow. Like 10 years too late."
And she storms off. I understand why she dislikes me so much. Not long after the movie we had a argument and I said some very distasteful things. Her hate is my fault, fully and absolutely. A dreamgate opens and the ship goes through.
We finally get to the last and hardest citadel, my citadel. I take a deep breath
"listen up you dirty freeloaders, you'd best get ready! We will be facing the king of nothing. Dont you dare get taken as a vessel or I'll go to shadows realm myself and make you come back!"
I roll my shoulders, I ready myself, maybe I should stretch they always did after all, and I jump off. As I fall, I pass by the falling snow. I almost want to close my eyes, its familiar. I land on the ground with about 40 other people. I grip my weapon but nobody comes to fight me. I start walking everyone knows the layout, somehow. I will not look a gifted horse in the mouth. I nod to another saint, i go to my office. I'm sure what i will find. Sitting on my desk, is a dead person. The first saint to die in this domain war.
"Oh caster my friend!"
I grip my sword
"oh no need for that. Beast is here with me and, well I would rather not have to deal with any of their threats, knowing that their soooo keen on going right on through with them"
I point my jian at him
"what do you want king of nothing."
He waves his hand
"nothing much, your lucky im so much nicer then I used to be, before I would have killed you for letting that mirror shard be destroyed but, under that kind of threat who could blame you?"
War had demanded it, then crushed it in front of me
"anyways. He is coming. Get out while you can. Take the citadel and run, its component and location aren't valuable to me. Its worth less then the effort to keep it."
He is? Oh no no no. I run out of the office. I yell to the closest saint
"The dreamspawn is almost here!"
There's a visible ripple as everyone starts getting away from the citadel as quickly as possible. I active my boots, morgan grabs my hand, Saint summer knight is here too it seems. We land on the deck in a roll.
I look up at the sound of clapping and slow steps. I scramble to my feet at the sight of Asterion standing there.
"Oh my! Two whole citadels gone."
He looks around at all of the Saints.
"And where to? I just can not tell. I can guess"
next to him is, of course it is speak softly carry a large sword after all, its nightwalker, who seems disinterested. I grip my sword, a hero, a god even. To say that that man being here is half as bad news as Asterion being here is, is a understatement. A hand lands on my shoulder, cold and made of porcelain clad in dull supreme steel, it then drops a small object into my hand. War had moved. They toss the box to morgan as they walk past me. Asterion smiles opening his mouth to speak but war moves faster. Turning into a cloud of snow they slam into him wind pushing back even nightwalker. The two supremes fall from the ship, the sovereign of hunger is torn apart like he's being eaten.
I get up and I rush to meet nightwalker, a black gem fuses into my armor, it turns colder then ice. I slow down the movement of essence within the air just around nightwalker making the barrier weaker. I feel my arm start getting pulled from my body, so I turn to ash and I keep rushing forward. Runes light up all over the ship the distance between me and him being limited, as well as his essence being quickly taken rapidly, used to power the ship around him. My, held by ash in a vague human form, sword meets a fishing spear, his weapon of choice.
"Stand down. You can have your citadel back kid. Lord Asterion is kind enough to give it to y-"
I slice at his jaw and he's forced to dodge. He's strong. But he attacked at our home base. Countless aspects rush to meet him. Nightwalker jumps back, and off the ship. I follow after him. I land on the ground, I'm quickly getting too old, I need to speed up. As I go to swing again. Asterion appears, trying and failing to get away from war. He doesn't look distressed. That makes him look far less human as he is mangled, torn limb from limb like a wild animal got to him.
"A self healer. I know how to kill one of those, keep going until they die... however. You've got too much essence, it comes back too fast as well."
The voice comes from the cloud of snow. After a second chains of ice bind the mangled supreme. Wind picks me up and throws me into the air so fast I almost black out. I land on the ship, my body hurts quite a bit. Right after war arrives back on the ship turning back into their normal form and a dreamgate opens. The new citadel is placed down. Plans are drawn up. Avery appears briefly healing me, she doesn't say anything. I can tell it wasn't because of Asterion. I step off of the ship finally.
"You"
I freeze in place. I turn back to see war, and behind them looking quite uncomfortable is Morgan, Saint dread, and the new saints of elderwood
"you all will be taking a new citadel. A temple to shadow god from the original kingdom of snow."
They toss two more gems to me.
"Take the citadel. Do not fail me."
A small dreamgate opens, the temporary cohort enters it.