After another week had passed, it was time for the chosen ones to return to the capital of the kingdom. Together they had gone through the tough training, helping each other and experiencing an emotional roller coaster.
"Are you sure we are ready now?"
"We can't be anymore ready than that. Time is running out, who knows what has happened in our absence. Always remember, if it really comes to a battle: Protect yourselves if you want to protect others. Even if it is hard for some to accept it, our goal is Leo and no one else. Even if you have to make sacrifices, we have to stop him at all costs."
"You are beginning to sound like our enemy does. Don't get lost in your anger and abandon us. Only together can we use this power, we trained together so let's act like it."
"Now we still have to find out where Grae is. I wonder what he was learning during that time."
"Follow me but be warned, he's not the same."
Kirazil had entered the hall and listened to the group. Everyone was confused, curious, and preparing for their reunion. Kirazil went ahead and stopped in front of a large chamber. From outside, the clang of a sword could be heard as well as a battle cry. Carefully she opened the door and showed them the "new" Grae. His hair was completely white and his sword glowed in a bright light. His eyes were colder and his look far more serious than the group was used to. Again and again he struck at black shadows until finally only a pile of ashes was left of them. They did not attack Grae but served him as a training dummy. When the four of them understood what Grae had accomplished in the last few days, they were amazed and surprised. They noticed that the whole floor was full of ashes and his armor had small black spots. But after a few seconds, a bright light shone, cleaning up the stain. With each shadow he defeated, a black mass moved onto his armor, which was cleaned up by the light shortly after. There was no part of black magic left, as if he had forcibly gotten rid of it.
"Your trials were very tough, but his was far more cruel. I would never have thought that he was still alive, let alone in one piece. At the sight of it I realized a few things again. This training method was used as cruel torture in the past. His black magic was his downfall in the end. Every shadow he defeats is for him like a person he knew. With so many shadows, it will most likely be his soldiers who lost their lives in battle. The black magic portrayed them maliciously and wanted to drive him crazy because of it, every day he was hearing endless voices in his head. He couldn't concentrate anymore and so it got worse day by day. The amount of ash is not even comparable to what it used to be. Back then, the victims managed to defeat just four to five of these shadows, but with the amount of ash, he must have defeated about a thousand. Every single one of them was a cherished person of him, his willpower is unbelievable, no one endured so much torment. The goddess noticed this as well, as you can see from the light. In the beginning he was all alone, but with time she helped him to stay sane. See the runes that form on his weapon, these are the signs of the Goddess. He is truly a chosen one of the Goddess, even if he is only a simple soldier. The Light has dedicated itself to him as he has dedicated himself to the Light. Grae can no longer perform magic by himself, it is the Light that gives him the strength and makes him push forward. As you master the light and can use it, this light will protect him and give him the strength he needs to survive and protect himself. He will be a great support, don't let him down."
Grae defeated one last shadow before taking a deep breath and holding back his sword. The light disappeared and his hair returned to normal. His pupils returned to shape and outwardly he was back to his old self. From now on he was a completely different person, a greater threat than anyone could have imagined. Though this ability was limited by time, in this period he was as good as unbeatable.
"They never have and I'm sure they never will. From what I can see you guys are fine."
"I don't know if we can say the same about you. How are you feeling?"
"To be honest quite overwhelmed and exhausted. I think I need to catch up on some sleep..."
The next moment Grae fainted and fell into Blade's arms. In all that time he had hardly gotten any sleep, another reason why Kirazil thought he should have been dead. She prepared a sleeping place for him and gave him a potion that calmed and relaxed his body. She ordered Gekorat to keep watch over him while she spoke to the four one last time. The group looked at her in confusion, having noticed all day that Kirazil had anxiety inside her. She seemed much more stressed and was very rude to them. After three days Grae finally woke up, he looked like a refreshed person and his appearance was normal again. Suddenly Kirazil and Gekorat rushed into the room, they had packed up the group's things and handed them over.
"Leave immediately, the malice is getting closer, hurry up! Concentrate on the present. From now on you must be completely focused if you want to survive."
Suddenly, everyone noticed a great restlessness within them. The light in their bodies began to flicker as if something was disturbing it. A great danger was approaching, only they had a chance to stop it.
With each step towards the capital, they were feeling worse, but each of them was completely focused on the things ahead of them. When they saw the capital from afar, they noticed a great commotion, it sounded as if all the people were yelling loudly. They ran as fast as they could to the main gate of the city. The soldiers were already waiting for them and sent them into the city without a word. The whole folk had gathered to listen to the king's speech. Men, women and children, every person came to the center of the city. This time the attendance was not voluntary, it was an order from the king himself that each and every one of them should listen to him. Grae and the others pushed their way through the crowd, when the king saw them he rejoiced before his people and ordered them to stand beside him. The entire group was completely confused, never before had the king acted like this. It looked as if this time he was wearing a mask in front of the people. When Grae saw who was standing on his other side, he had a bad premonition. The archmages along with all the other generals were standing in a line. When he caught sight of Soran, he saw his counterpart gritting his teeth with a face filled with rage. As silence fell, the king delivered his speech, saying words that no one had expected.
"Hear my voice, thou king is speaking to you from this moment on. I have very important news concerning the whole kingdom, nay, the whole race of humankind. There lurks a great danger that is getting closer and closer to us. This threat has appeared before, but for a long time it has been locked away. Once again, it has returned to spread terror and fear. I'm talking about the Erezal, some of you know this name, for centuries it has been passed on through speech and script, but its significance has never changed."
The people panicked, there was whispering everywhere, which only increased the fear. In the texts they were portrayed as death itself, as the disgrace of mankind, as cursed beings.
"They are the arch-enemy of mankind, the horror that wants to steal our souls. Their power has not diminished, on the contrary. The first encounter with them showed what they are capable of. We were unprepared, defenceless against their blood vengeance. Without mercy they wanted to slaughter us. But now they will pay for it, although we lost the first battle, but this time we directly win the whole war."
There were mixed opinions among the people about those words. Some cheered him and agreed with his words. Others thought of the many victims they had suffered in the last battle. Many of their family members and new soldiers died. The Archmages noticed the commotion and spoke to those among the people who had doubts about the king.
"There is no need to fear and panic, this time we have the upper hand. We know the enemy's strategy, have studied their tactics and weapons. By reading all the scriptures, we have analyzed their weak points and determined methods by which we shall exterminate them. Behold, we have the chosen ones on our side."
He pointed at the group and was cheering them on. But he had other reasons for doing this.
"This time, however, they need your help. For centuries, humanity has helped each other in trade, in finding resources, in hunger and hardship, and in battle. That's the kind of help we must get now. We are in need of more soldiers than ever before, we have to be superior in numbers in order to achieve guaranteed success. Therefore, from now on we will not simply appeal to volunteers but also to commands. We will draw lots from now on to see who will be allowed to participate in the glorious battle. The whole kingdom shall participate in this honor, everyone will get a chance. Whether from near or afar...EVERYONE is welcome. However fear not, there are certain requirements that must be met. Starting tomorrow we will be checking all men who are 14-50 years old and deciding if they are worthy to join us. We will move out in a week, by then 1000 new soldiers should be recruited. The ones left will serve the kingdom as before and pray for its welfare.
With these words, the people broke into a great uproar. They screamed in the direction of the king and the chosen ones, begging the group not to take them to war. But from now on there was a military duty in the whole kingdom, it was the worst thing that ever could happen.
The women and children started to cry, soon they would not see their husband and father again for a long time or at all. It was terrible, their hearts broke and they sank to their feet. All their lives they were faithful, worked real jobs, learned a good profession and were a part of society. But now this very image was to break into a thousand pieces.
The chosen ones and Grae were speechless, never in his life would he have thought that this nightmare would happen. It was not a reasonable decision, lunatic to the point of insanity. There was fear written on the faces of the soldiers, Grae developed an incredible anger, however in front of the people he could not simply expose his opinion. After a few minutes, the entire entourage made its way back into the palace. Once the doors were closed, Grae stood in front of the king and literally shouted at him. He had snapped completely, no one had seen him so furious.
"Your decision is pure madness. How do you imagine it to be a quick easy march through the battlefield? We lost so many soldiers in battle and now we're supposed to attack them again? This is pure suicide, none of these simple men have ever held a weapon in their hands and now they are being forced to walk towards their deaths? This order is mindless, without any logic or reason. What has happened to you? Is your hatred for the Erezal so great that you have replaced your brains with blind rage and foolishness?"
Everyone was completely dumbfounded. Nobody had ever talked to the king like that before. Grae spoke to him as if he was a little child. As if the commander was above the king and would trample on his decision. Even the king himself was both astonished and enraged by his words. Gritting his teeth with his clenched fists he shouted in Grae's face.
"You dare to speak to me like that? You're just a mere little soldier and nothing more, completely worthless and inferior in to me. I think it's time to show you your place, don't think I'll show you mercy. The days until the battle will be hell for you! Arrest him, lock him in the chamber and get the toys."
One of the archmages fulfilled his order, he bound him with magical chains and punched him deep in the stomach. The others watched as their companion was imprisoned. They saw his hair start to turn white and they prepared to attack the mage. The next moment, however, the glow disappeared and Grae told them through their minds not to do anything. As of now, they will have enough problems to focus on. Afterwards, the king ordered them to leave him alone and to move out of the palace. Still completely shocked, the four discussed their future.
"Damn it what was that earlier?! Why are we suddenly the bad guys, we've been loyal to him all along and now we're being portrayed like this? Grae is right, the old fart really hit his head!"
"Not so loud! There are still soldiers here to hear you."
"I don't care, let everyone hear. I'm tired of serving him when he spouts such nonsense!"
"There's nothing we can do to do about it so deal with it. First of all, get rid of your anger and calm down. It's hardly possible to talk to you!"
"Luke is right, our situation sucks. We have no choice but to comply for now, first we have to get Grae out of this prison somehow. He won't execute him but he will surely torture him for his words. So think of a plan, we can't strike right away so don't even consider it."
"I have an idea but we need help for that. I will try to get backup by tomorrow, there is nothing more we can do today. Don't get any ideas Blade, or you'll get us into this shit aswell. None of us will argue with the king and we won't use our powers, is that clear? That time will come, so think of something else for now. If I were you guys, I would go to my friends in the city and tell them what really happened.Soon we might not have a chance to see them again. Prepare for rage and curses from all sides, this week won't be easy for us either."
It was Marah's announcement that woke up the group, everyone gaining a bit of clarity. Before they parted for the day, they made a promise to each other that they had made many times over the past few years: Whatever happens...each of them will survive, that's how it's always been and that's how it always will be.