Rain began to fall. Clement and Diane were high above Obselok, Diane observed the kingdom with her sharp eyes to tell where Greyhart was being kept.
"Shouldn't we go a bit lower? They might be keeping him somewhere we can't see from up here." Clement wondered.
"The lower our altitude gets, the easier it will be for the guards to detect us. Here is fine, I can figure out where Greyhart is being held." She continued observing the kingdom for a little while longer until she pointed at a spot in the complete opposite direction of the castle. It looked to be a hole leading underground. "That is where they are keeping him." She guided Donovan so that he could fly them over to that area. Before long, however, they were noticed. Several Obselok guards aimed their bows and fired at Donovan. Diane did the same and shot back at them. Clement hid behind Diane in fear of getting pierced by the myriad of arrows.
"Clement! Now is the time to use that spell!"
"Huh? But I only just developed it-"
"We do not have time to waste, do it now!"
"O-Okay!" Clement took a deep breath and concentrated as he held up his staff, the green magic pearl at the top of the staff illuminated. All of a sudden, the dozen arrows flying towards them stopped in motion and began shaking until they had become completely disassembled and fell to the ground. The guards looked puzzled and yet impressed that a mage possessing such complex magic talent refused to fight back. The two continued advancing forward on Donovan. Diane cleared a path forward, while Clement negated all incoming attacks. It was this moment that proved their synergy of not only them planning their way through the crowd of attackers, but also their efficient usage of their abilities.
"You have only mere moments before you meet your demise, Greyhart." Threatened the guard holding Greyhart captive.
"Yeah, yeah, do your worst." Greyhart said, unfazed by all this.
"I'll admit, you're good at acting tough, even until your very end."
"You think I became Prismont's strongest warrior through acting? Hate to disappoint you, but I'm as real as they come."
"Regardless, you're still our prisoner. So if I catch you acting out of line, I won't hesitate to kill you on the spot."
"Tch. I'd love to see you try." Mocked Greyhart, angering the guard further. But before he could threaten Greyhart further, another guard burst through the door.
"Sir! We've spotted more intruders, they're attacking from the sky!"
"Well what are you waiting for? Shoot them down. Seal the entrance-"
A loud crashing noise was heard, followed by a few grunts and screams of the other guards. Greyhart chuckled at this. Anticipating that his teammates would come to the rescue.
"What in the- What happened?!" Exclaimed the guard. He went to go to the exit of the cave but just then, several thick vines grew around the guard and tangled themselves around his arms and legs.
Greyhart stood up, cackling as he broke free of the restraints he had on his arms. "I had a feeling you'd be here to save little old me, Clement." Right after saying this, Clement appeared in front of them.
"Where did all of these cave vines come from?" Said the guard as the vines continued twisting around his body.
"It was easy work, Greyhart. It was one of the spells I had developed alongside her." Clement motioned toward Diane, who appeared from behind Clement.
"We shall release you, if you tell us the mastermind of the attack on Narrowind."
The guard struggled to speak as the vines continued wrapping around his neck, "Like I would know anything about that. You were the ones who suddenly invaded us!" Diane stared coldly into the eyes of the guard, not seeming to show any signs of hesitance. Her stern facial expression appeared to be more deadly than the vines that were strangling him. "Okay, I'll talk, I'll talk already!" The guard squeaked with what little air he had in his lungs. Clement instantly retracted the vines from his neck, but he was still immobile. "The heir! Prince Aelius, he was behind the attack."
"Where can we find this prince?" Questioned Diane.
"We've kept him safe, beneath Obselok castle, no one can reach him except for his most trusted guards."
"Aw, now who's a good little guard, spilling important information?" Greyhart said before knocking him unconscious without an issue. "Now let's move, Prismont's army has to have made it here by now. We can end this battle between kingdoms if we act fast." He said advancing out of the cave and towards the direction of the castle.
"You had me worried for a moment Diane, I thought you actually wanted me to… kill him." Clement said following Greyhart.
"Had that man not cooperated, would you have spared him?"
"If he didn't say anything, I would've let him go. I just don't see any good reason to end one's life if they were simply doing their job.
"Your mercy may one day lead to your own life at stake."
"Hey, don't say things like that, all I'm saying is that I can't see the logic behind that method of needlessly shedding blood."
Before the three managed to make their way out of the cave, they found themselves surrounded by rows of guards. All of them had their bows drawn and about to fire, before Greyhart threw his arms up and asked Clement a question:
"You still have one more trick up your sleeve, eh Clement?"
"That's right." he waved his staff and from the magic pearl emerged a golden light, blinding all of the surrounding adversaries. Then, the three noticed the presence of a very helpful ally. They got on top of Donovan as he took to the skies once more.
"So you did decide to make use of the griffin I had given you." Greyhart said, impressed.
"His name's Donovan." Clement added.
"And you gave him a name? How polite of you."
"Greyhart, let us focus on our task." Diane suggested.
"Haha, right you are, Diane. Alright then, to the castle we go!"
"Not yet. I sense the presence of another threat coming from the central area." Warned Diane.
"That so? Well we best put a stop to that before any more collateral damage. We're here to stop Obselok, but we don't want to cause too much trouble." Greyhart said as he guided Donovan over to the center of the kingdom. As they were leaving, Clement noticed another important issue.
"Chimeras!" He yelled impulsively.
"What about them?"
"They are all still in that dungeon we entered before. If they get released, they would be a danger if they were sent to battle."
"Correct. But the one we are heading towards is a much more dangerous threat." Noted Diane.
"Then… I'll face it myself." Concluded Clement.
"And you're sure that you can deal with all of them by yourself?" Greyhart said, concerned.
"I'm not certain if I can do it, but I know I have to."
"I could go with you if you would prefer." Offered Diane.
"Appreciate the offer, but no, you two go help with whatever is going on at the central area. Brother could be fighting over there as well."
"You go for it then!" Greyhart cheered. Clement nodded and began hurrying over to the dungeon.
. . .
Cas found himself falling onto an abandoned alleyway in Obselok. The magic stone Arianne gave him warped him to the right location, he seemed to be near the gate. He got up off the ground before realizing that he still had a broken rib and an open stab wound. He could barely move an inch.
Then, he saw a few men on horses enter through the gate. Cas looked to see that the Prismont army had all made it into Obselok. He noticed that one of the horsemen had Evan with him, who noticed Cas immediately.
"Cas? Is that you? You're alive!" He joyfully shouted, before getting off the horse to assist his friend in his weakened state.
"Great to see you-" Cas said before coughing up more of his blood.
"By the gods, you're hardly standing." Evan held up his staff and began channeling holy magic to heal his injuries fast. "You're lucky you ran into me, otherwise I wouldn't want to know what you would be like."
"I'll be just fine, I won't allow myself to fall here. And about Arianne, she won't be assisting us in this battle, she's left."
"She tried to harm both of us… was she really lying to us this whole time?"
"Her goals were different from ours, that's all. I talked to her and she doesn't appear as bloodthirsty as she was."
"Let's hope she doesn't cause any more trouble. Now come on, we have a battle to end." Evan said sternly.
As the two made their way past the marching soldiers, they noticed a crowd of ordinary people rushing by in the opposite direction.
"Are they fleeing?" Cas asked.
"When we arrived here the knight captain ordered residents to stay indoors, why aren't they listening?" Recalled Evan.
"Let's go see what it is." He said, grabbing Evan by his robe and dragging him along with him.
"H-hey wait! Can't I just assist you from afar?!"
"Don't be like that. You said we'd end this battle, remember?" Cas said nonchalantly.
"That doesn't mean dragging me to death with you!" He yelled back, digging his heels into the ground. However, Cas' strength clearly outweighed his resistance.
They reached the center of the kingdom, where there was a giant circle of empty space. Except, there appeared to be levitating chunks of stone descending from the sky. Observing his surroundings, Cas noticed the figures of about a dozen mages casting spells. The spells were all making the stones move around and slowly merge together. More and more giant rocks appeared and formed into an enormous monolith that resembled a human figure.
"I-it can't be… they're making a giant out of stone!"
"What?"
"Creating a giant is considered a taboo among mages, this must be a last ditch effort to eliminate us. This is no good, we can't fight this!"
"Maybe so, but running away isn't an option anymore." Boldly declared Cas. He unsheathed his sword and climbed up the buildings to get a reading of the best possible plan of attack.
The giant had immediately identified Cas as the largest threat and swung its arm towards him, crushing several buildings in the process. Cas quickly dodged and ran at his fastest speed along the rooftops. The giant was still focused on him, it had the strength to swing one of its arms at Cas that was nearly able to catch up to him even at top speed. He unsheathed his sword and swiftly sliced it through one of its hands, although it was hardly of any avail as his blade only cut halfway.
Rain had been pouring down on the kingdom for about half an hour now, Cas felt his body soaked everywhere, and yet he was still focused on taking down the stone giant, which remained his only obstacle.
"Every attack of yours is futile! Foolish knight of Prismont!" Yelled one of the mages controlling the giant, almost as though it were controlling a string puppet. Then, it suddenly clicked in Cas' head.
He rushed across the rooftops, avoiding the giant's attacks as well as he could. He then centered his vision around where he heard the voice. It was there he noticed a black cloaked mage levitating above him. They seemed a bit too out of reach, but Cas continued to observe the area. He searched every nook and cranny to find higher ground but there wasn't anywhere near that would allow him to get an upper hand on the puppet master.
Bell chimes could be heard from the center of the kingdom. He paused momentarily as he thought he could recognize the sound they were making. They reminded him of the bells that could be heard at the magic church in Prismont, only slightly different. Then the sound of a choir reached his ears, they were melancholic and yet had a certain vigor and intensity.
All the while the music made Cas lower his guard for a moment, which allowed for the giant to deliver a direct strike at Cas, launching him back a wide distance. The attack instantly knocked Cas unconscious, and the velocity at which he was traveling caused him to crash into the wall of another building. At a glance, it would be believed that the fight between Cas and the giant was over, but within his mind, Cas remained as strong of a fighter as ever.
Gently opening his eyes, Cas awoke to see radiant golden sunlight surrounding him. But even more important than that, he awakened right in front of his mother. Her voice enveloped his soul in a warm and peaceful feeling.
"You got into more trouble, Cas?" She asked calmly, she never scolded Cas despite how much of a reckless and rebellious child he was.
Cas watched as his younger self walked up to her, arms crossed and head turned away. "I didn't!" He shouted. "It was the right thing to do!"
"Oh really? Who told you that?"
"I don't know. I just know that someone said that a kid was possessed by an evil spirit, like the ones in our stories! So I had no choice but to beat that kid up." Cas had been genuinely confused on why the thing he did made everyone mad at him.
"You trusted in someone who you didn't even know?" She laughed, this had irritated Cas very much.
"No! It's just that… when I become a knight, it'll be my responsibility to protect everyone from evil." Cas admited.
"Come here, Cas." His mother invited him to sit with her. She looked at the bruises he had on his face and gently touched his cheek. "Now listen, it's perfectly okay to trust someone who you know well. But please remember to think twice before placing your trust in someone you hardly know, 'kay?" Cas kept his head down in shame. "You said you're going to become a knight, right? Well then promise me one thing: be more than just a knight who follows the orders of those above him, do what you believe is right."
Cas thought to himself for a moment, before he finally looked her in the eyes. "I understand, mother."
This memory had stirred something within Cas' heart. At last he could remember why he pushed himself to his limits each and every day.