"Awaken…."
"…."
"AWAKEN!!"
Valcroy's eyes opened wide, his covered with sweat, breathing roughly, blurriness cleared, a experienced a headache like someone smashed a hammer against his head. He looked at the clear sky, might be next morning or that he lost consciousness for a moment.
"Ugh."
He didn't continue thinking for long as he let out a painful groan while sitting up.
"Huh?"
His eyebrows shot up. Surprised, Valcroy looked down, he didn't know what happened; before he wasn't even able to move a muscle a moment ago, but now he could. Did something change while he was unconscious or…
"I'm dead."
He uttered, but then got rid of the thought. The headaches reminded him he was very much alive. He moved his hand around, the weakened feeling from before gone, moreover he felt a little strong. Clenching his fist, Valcroy was lost in thoughts, his eyebrows scrunched, like they were trying to find the reason for this development.
His hand unknowingly moved to his chest, even his subconsciousness was trying to find an important part of him.
Hmm?
His eyebrows lifted, feeling no rhythm, and a missing heartbeat could do that. He first looked to his left and found the silver globe missing. With his thoughts jumbled up, he came to a scary conclusion.
"Did they implant the silver heart in my chest?"
He abruptly looked down, removed the bandages from his chest, hoping he could prove himself wrong, but it only become more concrete as he looked at his closed chest and a long scar over it, a reminder, or a medal? Depends.
He wanted to tear it open and see inside as the strange empty feeling from before started coming back, eating at his psyche. Just as he was about to do that.
Swish*
He heard someone moving the tent curtains and entering.
Gasp*
She let out a loud gasp and walked hurriedly toward Valcroy, asking, "what are you doing?"
"Checking." Valcroy mumbled, his hand on his chest, almost on the verge of tearing it, his mind wandering off.
"Checking?" The lady repeated after him and saw his hand over his chest. She heaved a sigh, like she understood what was happening and said, her mouth curled up a little, maybe trying to give him a reassuring smile, "Everything is alright. You are all healed up."
"How?" Valcroy asked, growing a new heart or even transplanting one was not something that can be done on a whim, and even if it was done, the cost of doing so and finding a right person was almost impossible. He owes someone his life now.
But there was one doubt still lingering. If, against all odds, they managed to grow or get a new heart for him, then why was he feeling like this? So empty.
"No one knows other than young master Erik."
Valcroy, whose mind was filled with thought, felt he heard something wrong.
"Can you repeat that, please?"
This time, his attention was on this blonde, whose hand was glowing as she moved her hand over his body, seems to be a nurse as she did her check up.
"I know it's unbelievable, but it's true. You had less than a day to live. But young master Erik performed a miracle."
The blonde's mouth curled up into a smile when she saw disbelief on his face. Everyone had the same expression when they heard that, her included, but here he was, a dead, living.
'How is this possible?'
The sentence kept on repeating in his mind, not even resisting the blonde's push as she laid him down and hovered her hand over his chest. She was just as curious and wanted to see how Erik pulled this stunt.
Ahhh*
Valcroy's thoughts were interrupted when he heard the nurse wail in pain. He looked at her, more so, at her hand that had a burned mark like she got electrocuted by something. His mouth opened as he looked at her hand, but she beat him to it.
"It's nothing."
She uttered, running away. Valcroy was about to ask her if she was sure, but she had already left the tent, leaving behind a confused Val.
He sat up once more, giving his chest one more look, and he seemed to have found the culprit for the burning hand of the blonde. His bandages were burned, showing a circular tattoo over his chest that was fading slowly, but he could make out what it looked like.
Concentric circles, spiraling from outer circle to inner circle. Inside the inner circle was a triangle, which had a ⛨ over, which was a ⛌ mark. Someone didn't want anyone to peek inside. (A/N ⛨ means protection and ⛌ means forbidden in the Veritasian language.)
As the circle faded completely, leaving behind a scarred chest, Valcroy kept his eyes over it as a thought occurred in his mind: 'What did young master do that would require such privacy? Is it?'
He shook his head as the thought of a silver globe in his chest appeared. That was just not possible. He was so lost in thought that he forgot about the voice that awakened him.
Planted one leg on the ground and then the other as he stood up, only to end up almost falling down, face first, but his hands saved him from that fate. His legs were numb from lying down for such a long time. Using the bed as a crutch, he stood up.
He remembered doing something like that with a curved sword in his nightmare. He officially considered the other world a nightmare, what else could it be?
Even remembering the blade-like wind that caressed his cheeks, like one wrong movement and his head would not be on his neck anymore, made him shiver. He distracted himself from remembering what he encountered there, with anything he could see.
Controlling his shivering body, he took deep breaths, the empty, uncomfortable feeling still there but a little less now. Ensuring that he wouldn't fall again, he let go of the bed but before he could take a single step…
"What are you doing?"
Upon hearing the familiar voice and the question, he turned and saw the blonde from before, her hand good as new. The mages were good. He saw her look at him with a raised eyebrow as she walked toward him. Moving him back to his bed, and said, "You should not move around. Although you are out of danger, moving around might affect your organs in adapting to the change."
She was just making things up, but Valcroy listened, he was already dizzy just from standing. It seems his new heart was really taking its time to adapt.
He laid down, closing his eyes, resting like told. The blonde, after seeing that he was fine and well, left while rubbing her hand. The burns from before scarred her mentally, giving her a scare of a lifetime. She walked away, finally making her mind.
........
While Valcroy was asleep, the rest of Iron'Heits was not. Tension palpable, everyone's nerves taut to their limit. The bursting and bustling was nowhere in sight. Something was wrong. In fact, everything was wrong.
It has been over 3 days since the explosions. Following which a curfew was implemented, this resulted in the current situation, a ghost city, beside the guards that patrolled, not a single soul could be seen. No one dared to come out of their houses, something made them afraid.
While the citizens were afraid, the guards and knights were going through a different roller coaster of emotions. The ones stationed on the wall had their nerves on the edge as they saw a sea of people camping outside the city. This was the army of the Free Alliance, the only ones that dared to attack an empire.
Soldiers from different lands stood together, their varied armor and clothing. Most infantry wore chain-mail that caught the light with a muted shine, paired with leather tunics in earthy greens, browns, and blues. Higher-ranking officers and elite units stood out in polished plate armor decorated with symbols from their homelands.
Cloaks in vibrant reds, purples, and blues fluttered in the wind, each color representing a different region. Helmets ranged from simple steel caps to ornate crests, while archers and scouts preferred hoods, lending them a quiet, menacing presence.
Their weapons—gleaming swords, tall spears, and heavy halberds—prepared to tear the soldiers of Iron'Heits a new one.
Beyond the soldiers, a vast sea of tents sprawled across the landscape, reflecting the size of the Free Alliance's army. Tents, like the army, were browns, greens, and blues and many other colors, blending into the surroundings.
Larger command tents, marked by colorful banners of different nations, stood out even from the distance. Smoke from the cooking fires could be seen choking the air, bringing a sense of calm before the storm. Only a single fuse was needed and the army, like Ants can easily take over Iron'Heits, the only thing standing before them and the city was one person, General Kendrick Frostborne, who hadn't shown himself since the start, which many high ranking in the Free-Alliance uncomfortable.
While the tension on the walls was high, the mansion of the said person was shrouded in silence, like it had no connection with the outside world. Even if the entire city burns to the ground, this mansion would still be standing.
The only noisy place in the mansion was the war room, or some might call it a strategy room. Many important figures, mostly representing the army and other trades of life, were here. Arguing about what their next step should be.
"We can easily wipe them out with the Land Shifter." One suggested.
"If we do that, the Iron'Heits will need over a decade to come out from the losses alone." The other shot it down
"He has a point, not to mention that loss of life will be extraordinary." He supported the second guy.
People argued, save some who were there to enjoy the drama, like whatever happens to the city has nothing to do with them."
A Colonel, bushy brows, thick beard and mustache, brown eyes grumbled as he cursed, "Bastards."
He cursed in a low voice, only the ones near him heard that, but they were used to him saying that, a young woman, seemed to be in her mid-twenties, brown hair, brown eyes, and fair features, quipped, "Sarge, if they hear you. You'll be spending another week in the IronPeaks."
Colonel Collum, upon hearing that, cursed under his breath once more, but it was almost inaudible, earning a giggle and laughter from those who knew him.
Just then, the door of the war room opened, making them shift their eyebrows, some in intrigue while some frowned, but soon everyone settled when they saw who it was.
They all stood up, put one hand over their chest, on a crest that many officials had over their chest, of the royal family, and bowed slightly.
"Young master Erik."
Erik nodded indifferently, he walked closer to the table, where the map of the city and the surrounding area was unruffled.
He tapped on it, making it turn into a 3D structure, turning the map into a holograph. He then tapped on the sites where the explosions occurred. These explosions alone destroyed half of the city's granaries. But there was more. Other than targeting the granaries, they cut off their escape routes as he widened the areas which showed the secret tunnels collapsing one after another.
This made many's. especially those who had intrigued expression, expression hardened. They thought they were safe because of these secret routes.
"Why weren't we informed about the tunnel collapse?"
Many asked, one can feel discontent in their voice, but Erik didn't utter a single word. He was there to show them the mirror, how they see it and react. He didn't care. The colonel wanted to laugh out loud when he saw their expression, but knew that it would only result in his misfortune, a date to the IronPeaks.
After Erik was done with that, he turned to colonel Collum and asked, "How many did we succeed in capturing?"
Collum didn't dare dilly dallying, he saw the crest over Erik's chest, the crest of General Kendrick, and answered, "Over 20. They were trying to poison the water system and..."
He stopped as he took a deep breath and continued, "Completely sealed the city."
His words made everyone's expression ugly. Their minds raced as they thought of ways to get out of this city.
Erik nodded as he assessed their situation. They could not send the message out, and it would take over a week before the royal capital could sense something was wrong, so reinforcement was off the board.
"We are sitting ducks here."