Inferno Ascended

"Lord Glax!!!" 

That same afternoon, a familiar voice erupted in the fort's dungeon, rousing Glax and the others from a nap. They were huddled in a corner to use each other's body heat, because the cell was cold and damp. 

"Thersos! What are you doing here?" Glax was on his feet immediately. He was happy to hear the voice of an ally. He would be a hypocrite to deny that all his latest thoughts revolved around how to get out of here. He had simply been waiting for the jailer's return to attempt their escape.

It was unthinkable to spend 30 days there, if just a few hours was maddening. He would then take Alexander and Zotikos to the capital, but he wouldn't be a second longer serving the sentence that an idiot with no strategic vision had decided, driven by a feeling of competitive jealousy.

"Lady Pydna sent me here. She just arrived with some people from Rusa! There are only 10 soldiers on guard. The tagmatarchis took practically everyone with him to Stimhena!"

"Oh shit, he really did it." Glax knew 12 hours had passed since they were jailed, but he didn't know how long Lord Arsenio had departed to Stimhena. But they wouldn't be so desperate if it was just a few hours, would they? "He didn't come back, did he?"

"Actually, the horse of one of the lochios that went with him went back to the fort alone…"

"So whatever happened, it happened at least 3 hours before the horse came back," Zotikos did the math for the time it would take for the horse to come back from Stimhena.

"There are no spare men to go check, they say. But it's been at least 3 hours since the horse arrived," the refugee said.

"Open the door, Thersos. I'm the highest-ranking here in this case. Oh, why does no one ever listen to me?" He complained to no one in particular, irritated by the needless deaths.

Would Damiamon Oefer, who survived even greater challenges, be defeated by Lord Arsenio and two dozen men? 

Glax doubted it.

The armorer quickly opened the door, and the prisoners left the dungeon in search of fresh air and light. 

Zotikos asked Glax as they went upstairs behind Thersos.

"Are you going over there to see what happened?"

"Perhaps this is my last task as an Aegeon lochios, but that is what I intend to do, Lord Zotikos."

"Frankly, you shouldn't, Master. I should let them rot in that city…" The vengeful Alekos was passive-aggressively muttering beside him. "It's not like he hasn't been warned. We fucking warned him. Why does he think he's better than Lord Glax? Not even Lord Glax was able to defeat Damiamon on his first attempt…"

"Thank you, Alekos. I shouldn't have challenged him when I know so little. I just learned that, but I wasn't able to pass that lesson on to Lord Arsenio. Measuring your opponents correctly is the key to success. So you can prepare to beat him when possible, instead of wasting your chance uselessly."

"And Mors said I had nothing more to learn by your side, Master!" A new wave of hope and joy took the boy over. Glax felt reassured when he realized Alexander could recover from the experience of being taken prisoner by his own army.

After washing up, the trio made their way to the common room. Thersos had already warned them that some high-ranking Krios and a few dozen soldiers had arrived with Lady Pydna. 

This left the Valosian confused.

If the tagmatarchis intended to accept Rusa's proposal, why bother punishing him?

Glax saw Lady Pydna talking to Lady Nyssa and others at a table.

The hall had only been so full the night Glax arrived at the fort, when the resident Aegeons shared space with Rusa's soldiers. Now, 50 Alectryons were restless waiting for orders, alongside Marbium's hyperetes.

Tychos raised his hand in a sign of greeting when he saw him. But the valosian didn't see Kal right away. 

Glax went to Pydna and the visitors first.

"There has been a great misunderstanding here, and Lord Arsenio has rushed with a party against an enemy of the empire." It was the first thing he said after greeting them.

The two Damastios agreed, and Lady Nyssa took the floor. "Lord Glax, I don't exactly understand the details, but considering the report, it would be best if you, as the only official in the field, lead a team to find out what happened. Unlike other times when the same mistake was made, I recommend a different tactic. See: in the name of Rusa I was allowed to bring 50 soldiers to negotiate a beneficial exchange for both forts. Please make use of these men while they are here for whatever it takes."

Lady Nyssa really had what the Principles called 'grace' to put things down and preserve everyone's face! She pretended not to know the whole situation, that he had been taken prisoner and that Lord Arsenio had made a gross strategic error.

And possibly he was dead.

The Valosian nodded, and immediately turned to his subordinate. "Lady Pydna, you are in charge of the fort until our return. We can't have just ten men guarding the walls, no matter how quiet it may seem. Unfortunately, I'll just leave ten more here. Organize them to defend and switch turns if necessary." Looking around, he cleared his throat and spoke loud so everyone could hear,

"I need 40 men to leave in half an hour. The rest will remain to guard the fort along with the Aegeons who are on the walls."

:::::::::::::::::::

They reached the hill of Stimhena with the sunset. The Echelians could already see the smoke from afar, and when they reached the path to the mansion at the top of the hill, they could already see a nightmarish scene. At least for Glax. 

Several soldiers were hanging from stakes, impaled or in parts. Even the animals were dead, on the way to the house. Alone or with help, Damiamon took his time to decorate his yard for Halloween, Glax thought.

Crows were already attacking the corpses, and Glax knew that at night other animals would feast. The orbs glowed like soft lamps in the twilight.

The old servants were looting the dilapidated mansion, and seeing the soldiers, they fled into the forest carrying what they could.

The Valosian could not hide the fact that the orbs ran to him, or rather to his artifact. He had already expected this, and had come up with a plan. He had placed the watch in a small satchel, which concealed what the object actually was.

And he lifted the item, leaving the satchel in his hands exposed. That would generate some curiosity, of course. But it wouldn't look like he had anything to hide or fear.

And as expected, the orbs were drawn to the artifact as soon as Glax arrived and ready enough. 

And as had happened before, he sensed a reaction in himself. It was getting stronger and stronger with each soul that entered the clock.

Why it happened was still a mystery to him. As well as why he couldn't change the lashes he took. Was it because when he managed to alter something other than his own action, he didn't have the watch?

Glax moved forward until he found Lord Arsenio's torso on a stake. It had been cut in half, literally. Part of his lower spine was hanging while his entrails were a bloody mess Glax avoided looking at.

The Kroton's orb also jumped to the clock without hesitation.

Alexandre, beside him, muttered,

"Is that why Lord Mors didn't want to give this gadget back? Cool!" And turning to the corpse in front of him, he spat on it shamelessly.

Glax was no longer this angry with the tagmatarchis to do the same, after seeing his sorry end.

For all the horror, what occurred to him now was that Damiamon had gone too easy on him.

It was an even bigger bloodbath than he expected.

Kal captured one of the house servants, and brought him to Glax.

"Lord Glax, this servant said that not long ago the demon vselys fled to Stimhena harbor with his damned box!"

"We… We obeyed him, Lord Kroton, have mercy! We did it in exchange for our lives!" Spoke the servant, in despair and tears, throwing himself to the ground asking for mercy.

"To the port?"

"Yes, Lord Kroton! The vselys has a ship there! We left him there a very short time ago!"

Kal released the man and looked at Glax questioningly. Glax sensed the Alectryons awaiting his decision, however grudgingly.

"To the port!" he yelled, turning his horse to return down the hill.

The port wasn't very far away, they just had to cross the small village, actually. 

The area of ​​the old port that carried the ore and production to other parts of the Echelian States was quite dilapidated. 

They had to dodge fallen obstacles and abandoned buildings due to the events in the village. The violent nature of the sea had caused a great deal of damage to the abandoned piers. 

Night was falling fast upon them, and it was already difficult to see.

Glax urged his horse into a gallop as he saw the small, vselys-style ship slowly pulling away from the pier. The torches lit on deck were getting farther away.

The men with him did the same.

"DAMIAMON!" Glax reined in his horse on the pier, realizing that he couldn't really stop the vselys's escape.

He wasn't even sure he really wanted it.

Narrowing his eyes, he could see the warrior's silhouette on the stern, his long hair blowing in the wind. Some archers in his group fired arrows at the ship, which hit the target but not the vselys.

Then he saw the vselys was raising a bow, and pointing in his direction.

"Uh-oh." Everyone made space beside him immediately.

The arrow hit the wood of the warehouse, in front of Glax. Alexander leaped from his horse and grabbed the arrow, pulling out the message and handing it to his teacher.

Kal brought a torch to him, and Glax could read it. In horrible handwriting and with Stygian grammar errors, it was written.

WHEN WILL YOU COME TO MY SIDE?