City of Geltrek, Beltimus...
The wind caused by the descending airship was strong and seemed likely to blow away the soldiers who stood proud and unmoving as waited for the airship to land.
As soon as it did, the sounds of the engine ceased as magic was no longer pumped into it to make it work. The technology of the Beltimian airship made use of a high-grade magic orb to make it work, but since magic orbs were usually unstable, a mage had to be in the airship to control its outflow to not overflow the engine and destroy the airship from the inside out.
The moment the door of the airship slid open, every soldier quickly made a salute before the stairs could even touch the ground.
Shortly after, donning bright golden armor and having two golden swords strapped to his back, with a line of soldiers trailing behind him, the one and only golden general, the most powerful warrior in all of Beltimus descended.
Lieutenant Casper, one of the three lieutenants under Commander David, walked over and took a knee in front of Kel'arun with his head bowed low.
"My lord," Casper said. His tone not withholding how much respect he had for this man in front of him.
"Where is he?" Kel'arun asked without even glancing at Casper.
"In his office, my lord. He refused to leave because he—"
Casper stopped talking when he realized that the famed general had already walked past him with his entourage leaving him there in such an embarrassing manner.
Despite this, Casper knew he could not fault Kel'arun for this behavior. He had just returned from a battle he heard practically destroyed half of the northern region with about a third of the armada gone.
Instead of resting, he came here because of his commander, or more specifically, the decision his commander was forced to make when the colossus attacked.
Casper remained silent as he got up and trailed behind them.
*****
David raised his head and looked towards his door. He could sense two people approaching and a few meters behind them were about a hundred more!
He didn't need anyone to tell him who they were.
Soon enough there was a knock on his door and before he could even say a word, the door swung open and Kel'arun walked inside.
"My lord," David said as he took a knee.
Kel'arun only glanced at him before looking at the spot on the wall where the sword hung. Only to see that the sword's once dark red sheath was now a brilliant white.
He froze as he saw this sight. His eyes fixated on it for about five minutes before he turned to David who shook his head. Kel'arun raised a brow in confusion and David had no choice but to answer properly.
"I ran out after taking down the colossus," David said.
Kel'arun, not believing him, turned to Casper who quickly closed the door before answering.
"A portion of the wall was destroyed and we sustained a casualty of exactly seven hundred and sixty-five."
"Seven hundred," Kel'arun repeated as he turned to David, "That's a big number."
"I understand that the casualties are huge but I had to protect the city," David responded.
"I am not chastising you, David. In all honesty, I thought that you would kill a whole lot more. I'm glad the number stopped there," Kel'arun said with a small smile.
"Unfortunately, the sword is depleted, my lord, we would have to recharge it."
The moment those words came out of Casper's mouth, David's facial expression became dark. He knew this would happen, but it was something he could never get used to.
"That is true," Kel'arun said to Casper before turning to David, "We can't have any of our trump cards inactive during this war. I don't enjoy this either David, but it must happen."
"I understand, my lord."
"And you can get up now if you wish," Kel'arun said and David nodded before getting up. "I'm heading to the capital now, so you will follow me there and we will begin preparations."
"I thought a village had already been selected for this eventuality?" David asked, confused about why they needed to prepare instead of going straight down there and getting this over with.
"The next village is Mudilona. Porter's family is there so we have to inform him so they can leave before we get there. We also need to inform the king and the council that we are doing this," Kel'arun answered.
"Since when does my lord need to answer to the king before doing what he wants?" David knew that the two generals held great power politically in Beltimus. So much so that they did not need to report to the king if they had deemed that an action needed to be taken.
Most times they would only do it out of formality.
"A few things have changed since the king got sick and the council is practically running the kingdom," Kel'arun sighed. "But not to worry, the process should only take a few days."
"I didn't know the king was sick," David said.
"And you still don't. Neither of you," Kel'arun said, pointing to Casper as well and they both nodded in understanding.
"By the way, where are your other lieutenants Commander? I've only seen Casper since I got here."
"Helen is MIA and Ian is leading the search party. We have to confirm their status before we do anything else," David answered.
"Very well," Kel'arun nodded before walking over to the sword and taking it off the wall. The sword wouldn't attack him now that it was docile, but he wouldn't still be able to take it out of its sheath.
Without warning, he threw the sword at David and he caught it with one hand before attaching it to his belt.
"Let's be on our—"
A sudden knock from the door interrupted Kel'arun and as he turned to the door, Casper quickly opened it to see a soldier on the other side who saluted before handing him a large envelope and walking away.
Casper closed the door and opened the envelope, pulling out the papers inside.
"It's a message from the capital," He said. As he read more, his eyes widened in shock.
Seeing his expression, Kel'arun quickly asked him what was wrong. If the capital was under attack, he had to leave here immediately!
"Mudilona... It's gone."