"Move along, stupid fleshling!" commanded a grumpy Polykenas.
Nero watched as the masses of humans were brought into their camp. "We have at least a thousand captured humans," muttered Xersies, who stood beside him.
"To be exact, there are 1,172 captives, at least according to our last count," corrected him Ester from the other side.
"My apologies, of course," replied Xersies. "Then let's hope that at least a few of those 1,172 humans, according to our last count, can give us good answers."
Nero remained silent and listened to his generals as they spoke. His thoughts began to drift away.
"How are the tortures progressing?" Xersies now asked.
"Somewhat well," answered Ester. "Most break before we've even really begun, they are, after all, weak mortals with their fragile minds. Yet to my surprise, there are some who can endure more. They even offer actual resistance. But nothing that a few squeezes with the pliers or some cuts with the scissors cannot resolve."
Xersies nodded. "What about that female human? This Sophie?"
"Ahhhhh," said Ester. "The offspring of that Gerald? We have not touched her, as our Duce ordered us."
Nero was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard his title. "Yes, no one touches the daughter," he said calmly. "I will take care of her myself later."
Ester nodded, "As you command."
Afterwards, they fell silent, "Forgive me if I go too far, but is everything alright, my Duce?" asked Xersies, who had noticed that Nero had seemed distracted lately.
Nero's gaze flicked to Xersies. "That is not something you need to worry about, Xersies," he said flatly. "And now come. Ramor has just arrived!" he commanded, as he saw a commotion run through the crowd of Polykenas in the distance.
Nero rose into the air, closely followed by his two generals. The camp of the Polykenas stretched for kilometers and was constantly expanding.
They were about five kilometers from the gates of the city of Gloris. A thousand scouts were distributed around the entire city wall, hiding in the forests or flying through the clouds, always out of sight, but always in position to observe every exit from the city.
Since the Polykenas had set up their camp, dozens of humans had already tried to escape secretly, but they had caught them all. They had also intercepted every delivery of supplies and every person who tried to reach or enter the city.
Nero flew on and soon saw a group of Polykenas who had just arrived. It was the Copper Patron, led by Ramor.
When the old Polykenas caught sight of Nero, several symbols lit up on his body, and he took off. When he reached Nero's height, he bowed.
"Greetings, my Duce," he said politely. Nero only nodded in greeting, "Ramor, let us get straight to the point. What do you make of this?" he asked, pointing at the massive symbols on the wall. Ramor flew closer, Nero and the others following him.
First, he looked at the thousands of humans gathered on top of the wall. His gaze was cold, but he said nothing; instead, he went straight to the huge symbols on the wall.
Nero watched his expression.
"I do not recognize them..." he murmured.
He traced the lines with his fingers as if he were painting them in the air. Ester sighed, "So you are useless again?"
"Be quiet!" snarled Ramor. "What do you know?" he grumbled. Ester hissed, and the two broke into an argument. Xersies looked at them, annoyed.
"Normally, your quarrels do not concern me," said Nero with a cold but sharp voice. "But today I lack the patience. Ramor, can you help us or not?"
"My apologies, my Duce," Ramor apologized and bowed. He glared angrily at Ester, but the latter ignored him. Ramor snorted and continued. "I do not recognize the symbol, but judging by its form, I can roughly guess what it does. It seems to be a kind of protection. I have carved similar symbols into the walls of our fortress, though they are heavily modified. The symbols on our wall are designed to create an invisible barrier that keeps all biological beings away. It was a kind of last defense, as they also prevented Polykenas from entering or leaving the fortress. But these symbols are completely altered. Fascinating, this art of symbolcraft..." Ramor's eyes gleamed.
"Could you just tell us what they do?" grumbled Ester.
Ramor was about to retort, but when he saw Nero's icy stare, he restrained himself. "Be that as it may, these symbols here seem to repel all biological beings that are non-human. Well, birds, flies, even plants or leaves blowing in the wind. Of course, polykenas are also included in this. In addition, they reinforce one another, which makes their effect incredibly potent."
"And can you do something about it?"
"If it were only these symbols, it would not be a problem; you could just destroy them if you damaged the wall, but they are part of a gigantic network of sigils. Still, it is possible. Every chain, no matter how long, has a weak link, a spot that is easier to destroy. I just need to find it, and from there, I can deactivate the rest of the symbols. And once I have deactivated the protection, you can simply destroy them."
"So you need time at the wall?" asked Xersies. "How long?"
Ramor sighed. "It may take less than a few minutes or more than several hours, depending on how complex and methodical the system is. But if whoever drew these symbols designed them himself, then the chain of sigils will be very profound. Perhaps this magician is on the same level as me..."
"Either way, we must first wait for the other three armies. That could still take several weeks. Until then, we will try to get information out of the prisoners. Once we have the strength, we will find a way to give you enough time."
His generals remained silent, all of them observing the wall.
Ramor nodded, an unintentional snarl escaping him as he bared his teeth before continuing. "In the meantime, I will look for another way to overcome these symbols. What I do not understand is why they did not hide the symbols. I made the symbols in our fortress invisible, so that their effect could not be guessed and countered. But they left them in plain sight, as if to intimidate us. But that is simply... careless and foolish."
"Perhaps their sigilcraft is not that good after all," muttered Ester.
"Or they are so good that they know no one can bypass the symbol," replied Xersies with a heavy voice.
Nero remained silent, observing the humans on the wall. He narrowed his eyes as he spotted a person on the wall. The man stood out from all the others. His golden armor reflected the sun shining like a beacon. Nero tilted his head as he looked the man directly in the face.
Nero smiled, "And that must be this Gerald, then."
He paused briefly. "It is probably time that we question his beloved daughter."
---
"There, do you see them?"
Heimdel, the old scientist, gave a telescope to Gerald. He wore armor, but it was old and rusty; a sword hung sheathed at his side, but one could tell it had not been drawn in a very long time.
It was a stark contrast to Gerald, whose armor was completely golden.
A huge axe stood beside him; a strange aura emanated from it.
Another person stood next to him, though he was completely inconspicuous compared to the general.
It was a man with black hair already streaked with many gray strands.
The man wore no armor or weapons; he was dressed in a plain brown robe tied at the waist with a rope.
The man was muscular, though not as much as Gerald, yet remarkable for a man of his age. On his forehead, the symbol of the sun had been branded, a sign that he had once been a member of a monastery.
He had a proud face, his hands tucked into his sleeves. He was the only one who stood on equal footing with Gerald.
Gerald raised the telescope to his eye; the other closed. He saw four figures flying in the air. There were the same three as last time, in their midst again that young man. But this time, another figure was with them.
He did not stand with the others on the dark cloud. Instead, he was held aloft by something else, which Gerald could not make out. But he suspected it had something to do with the glowing symbols on his body.
It seemed to be an elder of these beings. He was so gaunt that his bones were clearly visible beneath his pale skin. He had light gray hair, but his eyes were just as yellow and glowing as those of the others of his abhorrent, unholy kind.
"Do you see the symbols on his skin?" asked Heimdel, worried.
Gerald nodded silently. "They seem to have brought him because of the symbols on our wall," muttered the old scientist worriedly.
The church adherent next to Gerald said nothing. He just looked straight ahead, seemingly not interested in anything that was going on.
"Let us hope these heathen magicians are at least somewhat competent..." grumbled Gerald, but suddenly fell silent as he saw the young man look up. Gerald was a man who had faced his share of darkness, but nothing could prepare him for the icy chill that ran down his spine when the young man's black eyes locked onto his. In that moment, a deep sense of foreboding washed over him, as if the very air around them had thickened with impending doom. It felt as if he was not looking into the eyes of this young man, but into the eyes of a much older and much more evil being.
"I saw earlier how the newcomer, that old one of those demo... those things, bowed before the young man. The longer I watch them, the more I believe that he truly is their leader."
Gerald heard Heimdel, but the warrior would have known it even without his words.
The old priest cleared his throat, a seemingly small sound that immediately silenced Gerald and Heimdel. This was the first noise he had made since climbing up onto the wall. The priest opened his mouth and said, "Whoever this young man is, he is not normal... and in my opinion, he is the biggest threat."