Lucius' ran straight without stopping, his breath came in ragged gasps as his boots pounded against the dirt roads, each step driven by a single, urgent thought of finding Adeline. The images of the battle, the flashes of light, the cries of the fallen, all blurred into nothing compared to the pressure of reaching her. The chaos of the town of other civilians clearing the debris and the dead ignored by his mind.
His eyes narrowed, scanning the area ahead. The closer he got, a familiar corner. He saw bodies piling up of the fallen Zwerg all across the street and some citizens too. Blood pooled in the dirt, their twisted forms still in death. Lucius' grip tightened on his blade.
His pace quickened, his breath ragged. He rounded the corner to the square where the houses lined up like each building standing, quiet, as if nothing had happened. But Lucius could feel the weight in the air, the stillness that settled in after a storm. He hoped everything would be ok "Any minute now" He thought. The moment of truth.
He reached the edge of her home, his heart now in his throat, his eye almost popping away from what he saw.
Medibots hovered in the air and he thought the worst, their soft mechanical hums filling the air, a stark contrast to the chaos outside. They moved with precision, their glowing lights flashing as they scanned the houses, their task clear. Around one house, there was a splash of blood.
And there, in the center of it all Adeline.
Her body lay lifeless, surrounded by a circle of Medibots, their mechanical hands working over her in an attempt to save her, but Lucius saw the wound and he knew it was already too late. His knees nearly buckled as he stepped closer, his gaze falling on the still form of the woman he not long ago broke the heart of.
Her mother at this very moment too has appeared. And when she saw her voice erupted loud, raw, and wailing "Adeline! No! My baby, no!" She was kneeling beside her, her face contorted in a horrible mixture of disbelief and grief.
Her cries were guttural, a scream that ripped through the air with the force of a tidal wave. She leaned over her daughter, hands trembling, desperate to touch her, to pull her back from the abyss, but the finality of her daughter's stillness struck her down. "Please, no, not my Adeline, please!" Her cries cracked with a pain.
The sound of her grief was suffocating, like a storm that swept over everything, drowning every thought, every breath. Lucius felt as though he were being crushed under the weight of it. His chest tightened painfully, as if someone had wrapped chains around his heart and pulled. He wanted to run to her, to stop the pain, but he couldn't move. The sight, the sound, everything held him captive.
It didn't stop.
Adeline's father stood a few steps away, his broad shoulders stiff and unmoving, as though carved from stone. But his eyes those eyes betrayed him. The man who had always been the picture of strength was standing on the precipice of a despair so deep that nothing could pull him back. His eyes were bloodshot, but he held himself tall, his face a rigid mask. "Lucius," he muttered hoarsely, his voice thick with grief, but his tone still trying to maintain control. "I... I don't know what to do."
His lips trembled, his hands clenched tightly at his sides. He stood in the doorway, silent, trying desperately to stay strong for his wife, for himself. But Lucius could see it, see how the edges of the mask were beginning to crumble, how the strength was bleeding out of him.
"You two were about to be married," he whispered, voice catching, looking down at her body as though he couldn't believe it. Lucius felt his stomach twist.
–
Lucius laid on his bed thinking and staring blankly at the ceiling, his hands resting at his sides. The weight of what had happened today pressed down on him, and though the room was calm, the storm raged in his mind.
A soft knock at the door broke the silence.
"Lucius?" It was his mother's voice, gentle, hesitant. "May I come in?"
Lucius didn't answer at first, but after a beat, he nodded. The door creaked open, and his mother entered, her face soft with concern, but there was a quiet strength to her steps. She crossed the room and sat beside him, her presence a comfort.
Without a word, she put a hand on his shoulder.
Lucius didn't cry, didn't speak. He just sat there, numb. His mind whirled with regrets, with the fact that Adeline, Adeline was gone.
"I'm so sorry," his mother whispered after a long while. "I know how much she meant to you."
Lucius' jaw tightened, but he didn't respond. His thoughts were clouded, the grief mingling with a gnawing anger he couldn't quite place.
The door opened again, his uncle Konrad stepping in, his face a mask of concern. Konrad, despite being only around forty, bore the scars of war. His gaze was hard, the eyes of a man who had witnessed too much death, his posture rigid from years on the battlefield. His hair, still mostly dark blonde almost brown, was cropped close, a practical cut for combat, and a scar traced his jawline.
"Lucius," his uncle said with a nod, his voice measured but lacking its usual warmth. "We need to talk."
Lucius didn't move. He didn't want to talk, but he knew he had no choice. His uncle Konrad motioned him to follow, and they walked in silence toward his grandfather's office. As soon as the door opened, Lucius saw his father and grandfather seated, their faces grim. The fact that both were present, and his uncle had called in a meeting, meant this was something serious that even affected him.
Lucius crossed the room slowly, the weight of his thoughts dragging him down. He pulled out a chair from the table and sat, folding his hands in front of him, keeping his eyes downcast on the polished wood.
Grandfather, pointing at a map littered with markers: "Look at these points of attack. Too coordinated for just the Zwerg. Who stands to gain if we fall?"
Lucius' chest tightened, but he said nothing, keeping his gaze fixed on the table. His father leaned forward, his expression heavy with concern.
"We believe the Zwerg within the townsquare were just a diversion," his father added, his voice low but steady. "Before the main army arrived, these ambushers likely sought to destroy our drone network, cripple our defenses, and make us vulnerable. If they succeeded, it would've left us exposed to the main army. All of this was done in secret, if they had succeeded no one outside would have suspected anything, just savage tribals attacking and killing us off."
His grandfather's sharp eyes cut to his father. "It's clear these savages were pawns."
Lucius' hands tightened into fists, though he kept his emotions controlled. "You think this is connected to some outside force?" he asked quietly, his voice barely above a whisper.
His uncle shook his head, his expression grim. "We don't have all the answers yet, but it's the only explanation that makes sense. Whoever is behind this has been quiet for some time, but now they're making their move. This attack doesn't feel like a random raid. Someone is trying to stop us before we solidify the alliance with House Eltz."
Lucius' brow furrowed. "But who would do something like this?"
"We don't know yet," his uncle admitted. "What we do know is that someone is afraid of our influence. This marriage will not only strengthen our bloodline but also benefit house Eltz, and this attack could very well be their way of sabotaging and stopping it"
Lucius absorbed the words in silence and he frowned, the weight of the accusation settling heavily on his chest. "They want to kill me, don't they?."
His grandfather's sharp gaze fixed on him. "That's exactly what we suspect. It's probably one of the Eltz rivals. They know that the union with House Eltz would solidify our and their position, making us too powerful for them to challenge. If they kill you, Lucius, they destroy the marriage, and the alliance and with it, any chance of a united front. It's an all-out effort to sabotage us before we can strengthen our hold."
A heavy silence fell over the room, the gravity of the situation sinking in. Lucius could feel his stomach churn as guilt clawed at him. She is dead because of me, he thought, his chest tightening. If I had been faster, stronger, or seen the signs sooner, Adeline would still be alive.
"They may strike again," his father concluded, his voice cold with resolve.