Chereads / Regnum Deorum / Chapter 10 - The Storm's Shadow

Chapter 10 - The Storm's Shadow

In the Kingdom of Osoroshi, where anger clung to the very air like a curse, the skies churned with

tempests. The once serene land now echoed with the cries of the oppressed, their hopes crushed

beneath the iron heel of the Dark Saints –an order steeped in malevolence and forbidden arts.

Within the shadowed halls of the Dark Saints' citadel, whispers swirled like smoke. Their meticulously laid plans had unrevealed, threads severed by a nobody –a mere mortal who dared defy their dominion. The demon, once their captive, had been slain, and chaos seeped through the cracks of their power.

Kael –the name they despised –loomed large in their thoughts. His deeds were legend: the blade that

cleaved through their wards, the eyes that saw beyond illusion, and the heart that beat in defiance of

their tyranny. But Kael was more than a thorn in their side; he was the embodiment of their failures –the

man who danced on the precipice of their demise.

And then, in the dimly lit chamber where shadows clung like cobwebs, a figure emerged –a man whose

faced remained veiled, his features lost to memory or magic. His voice, a rasp of authority, cut through

the Tension. "Kael," he intoned, "is no mere nobody. He is the architect of our fate. I have seen his flames

at first hand, and I must say, we need him. We must kidnap the boy and milk his mana out of him."

The Dark Saints shifted, their eyes narrowing. "Are you kidding me?" one dared to ask. "But he is one of

the ANTs, we cannot possibly get to him that easily."

The veiled man responded, "That will not be a problem. The ANTs are self-absorbed insects, I am one of them after all."

Silence settled, heavy as the judgement of gods. The high ranking officials, five of them, exchanged

glances, their loyalty tested.

Together, they wove their treacherous plot. Within the labyrinthine corridors of their citadel, they

whispered secrets and forged alliances. The inside man –a shadow with a heart tainted by ambition –had infiltrated the ANTs' ranks, his loyalty swaying like pendulum. His mission: to sow chaos during the

tournament of rookies, when the eyes of the realms would be upon Motherland.

Kael –their elusive quarry –was the fulcrum of their machinations. His blood held ancient truths, and his

blade bore the scars of battle beyond memory. The Dark Saints believed him the key –a living cipher to

unlock their past and reshape their future. His abduction would tip the scales, unravelling the delicate balance power that held the Ten Kingdoms in check. The Dark Saints would rule Tellus and be the front of the military that will take humanity to the new world.

As the sun dipped below the horizon, foot soldiers of the Dark Saints gathered. Their leader, a man

known by the name, Enantio in the group, shouted orders, "Today we stop operating in the shadows.

Gathered those that are capable and let's wage war on our mortal enemies."

His troops were skilled magic users, many of them possessed the most peculiar spells, from compound

elementals to reality defying spells casters. Osoroshi was a kingdom between Kaldaria and Forgemire in

the east, its citizens were miserable and mistreated on top of being abused on a daily basis. The ANTs

were aware of the livelihood in Osoroshi but they were blind to it being a base of the Dark Saints,

nonetheless, they couldn't interfere in a rogue nation's problems. As far as the ANTs were concerned, Osoroshi couldn't prosper under poor leadership. Compared to Forgemire's liveliness, Osoroshi was a perfect shadow for him.

As soon as the soldiers made the first step toward their goal, news of the Dark Saints' movement fell to

Neith's door. She quickly analysed the information and notified the Supreme Commander of the matter.

This tournament was going to hold a lot of high ranking officials and some nobles were going to gather here, it made sense that the Dark Saints would make their movement at a time like this.

Harold was just with his decision making, he calmly processed the information fed to him and made a

bold decision, to kill a giant, one must cut its legs. The giant was the Dark Saints and the legs were the

foot soldiers.

Harold put a lot of trust in Neith's Intel, not even once has she been wrong. The soldiers around the

border were doubled twice. His aim was to make sure that not even one soldier slipped through. After all, Motherland is an HQ of the military, only a fool would attack a snake head-on.

The gates of Motherland were being flooded by the visitors from different kingdoms. Many were coming

from faraway lands as Motherland was at the centre of them all, the commotion at the border was

getting intense as people were being scanned and searched as if they were terrorists, a vile but necessary method to avoid a sneak attack from within the borders.

Harold was a man of strategy, but Enantio was not different from Harold. He knew that the borders in

Motherland will be heavily guarded. Motherland is meant to be an impenetrable fortress, and he knew

that.

Enantio, also known as the man within the ANTs deliberately fed Neith wrong Intel to cause commotion.

The ten rookies of the ten kingdoms, including Kael, were on their way to Motherland. All eyes are on

Motherland, the military is focusing all of its power on defense, a defensive against an unconfirmed

attack on their HQ.

If an enemy protects his head, that leaves the rest of his body open for attack. This was Enantio's

strategy, to let the ANTs focus on Motherland whilst the rest of the countries of Tellus were unprotected.

Their leaders were going to Motherland as well, leaving their homes with the most basic of defenses.

The Dark Saints had one target, that is Kael, but that doesn't mean that they have to abandon their older

plans. They wanted to cripple the ANTs as well, and now was the perfect moment to attack the giant

while he is not looking…