"Could anyone tell me what the Z plan means?" Cassandra asked.
"Ah, you are still here?" one of the men turned to her.
"I was appointed to guard the ring. If you don't need me, I'll leave," Cassandra said.
"And where would you go?"
The looks of everyone standing near the table pointed at her.
"Um... back where I came from," Cassandra replied.
"And that is...?" one of the men asked.
"To the east, to the Wall of Sorrow."
They all stopped and stared at Cassandra, most of them stunned, some as the high general admired her.
"Don't you want to stay here with us?" the general said flirtatiously.
"This girl may be the only one of her kind, and apparently she's with us. So we should give her protection," the high general said while staring at the general.
"Of course, sir... I meant it that way."
"I appreciate your... offer, but I'll go," Cassandra retired and was leaving slowly.
"Wait! We didn't want to scare you. What's your name?" the high general asked.
"Cassandra."
"Stephan wouldn't be happy that you left without saying goodbye," the flirting general said.
"What?"
"My soldiers caught him as he was sneaking through the city. But if you stay here, I could let him go..." the general continued.
"You son of a whore!" Cassandra drew her sword and jumped at the general.
The others tore them apart.
"Let me go! I'll kill you all!" Cassandra was shouting.
"General, sir. Shall we...?" the soldier asked.
"No, let her go!" the flirting general ordered.
"Well, she has some courage," the high general smiled.
"She does, I like her more and more. I will release your Stephan, but you'll both remain in the city," the general offered.
Cassandra looked at the general and the high general in confusion.
"This is a good offer, for an attempt of murder. I can't help you, I would go against my own principles and the law," the high general whispered.
"Shall I just stay...?" Cassandra asked.
"Yes. It would be a pity if someone like you died somewhere in the wild."
"Under these conditions, I accept," Cassandra replied.
The general approached her. "One more thing...."
There was uneasiness in Cassandra's eyes.
"I want to be your protector!" the general said so that everyone present could hear him.
The confused expressions of everyone around did not give Cassandra much confidence, because she had no idea what it meant.
"Are you sure, general Fairn? Do you know what it means?" the high general asked.
"Of course, otherwise I wouldn't offer it. So do you accept?"
"I... I don't know what that means..." Cassandra said uncertainly.
"Oh, sure. She can't know, she's just an ordinary... Um..." one of the generals laughed and stopped only because of general Fairn's murderous gaze.
"General Fairn has just offered you his protection. If you accept, laws will apply to you, as a citizen of the Imperial City. In addition, anyone who harms you in any way will answer directly to him. From the moment you'll accept his offer, general Fairn will be legally obliged to protect you," the high general explained.
Cassandra hesitated but assumed it was one of Stephan's release conditions. "I accept."
"Great. I hope everyone will tell their soldiers," general Fairn said and stepped back from the table with Cassandra.
"Uh... So, now to the deal..." Cassandra said.
"Ah, sure, release the mage," general Fairn ordered several soldiers.
"How did you even know about me?" Cassandra asked.
"Let's say Stephan foresaw your action. And now, will you fulfil your part?" general Fairn asked.
"Sure, I'll stay in the city," Cassandra replied, though she had no idea what she was going to do.
General Fairn noticed her indecisive look and smiled. "You don't know what to do, do you?"
"Uhm... No, I don't know."
"General Fair? I hope this event does not prevent you from performing your duties, we have enough work here now," the high general turned.
"Of course not, sir," general Fairn smiled ironically.
"These soldiers will take you to the house. Don't worry, you'll be safe there," general Fairn waved on soldiers.
"In the darkest hours, in the hardest times. I will stand firm and still, I will defend this land. I'm a shield against the evil. Even on the threshold of death, I will tightly hold my sword..."
"Stop those stupid babbling, warden! It won't help you anyway!" Maxim called in the middle of the camp.
"It increases morale. We will not hold on for much longer…" general Rengar replied while piercing the Dark One.
Each stab into the Dark One's chest released a strong crackling sound.
"We should retreat to have a better chance," general Rengar said.
"Was that a proposal or an order?" general Maxim asked.
"I will not retreat before you do," Rengar replied.
"Hah, that will never happen!" Maxim laughed.
"Damn maniac..." Rengar muttered.
The outside of the camp swarmed with the Dark Ones, only two generals and a handful of their elite soldiers remained in the centre of the camp.
"I think it's time for Plan B!" General Maxim said.
"Is that something I don't know?" Rengar asked.
"Haha, you don't know a lot of things, warden. Plan B!" Maxim shouted on the soldier, and he climbed onto a wooden makeshift tower in the middle of the camp and fired a flaming arrow into the outer ring of the camp. The whole circle was flared with the burning heat of amber coloured fire.
"Burn in holy fire, you unbelieving beasts! Haha!" Maxim yelled.
"General Rengar!" the soldier ran to them.
"The Wall of Sorrow's army needs your support troops!"
"You were lucky, boy," Maxim laughed.
"We'll all join them soon, don't worry about it," Rengar said.
"All right, and when will that be?" the soldier asked.
The two generals stared at him.
"He meant that they are dead, you idiot," Maxim said.
"Well... So, I'll go back," the soldier said.
"Hardly now," Rengar replied.
"At least we've really beaten them up! Imperia Invicta!" Maxim exclaimed.
"Yes, we've killed a lot of them. Imperia Invicta, brothers," Rengar replied.
Merill ran out of the forest and saw a burning circle around the camp.
"I came too late..." Merill muttered and ran to the camp.
Merill ran to the hill, where he had a view over the camp and the Dark Ones. He spotted a hooded man holding an artefact and attacked the very core of their army, the man who led the army, rather than battling into the camp. Merill sneaked towards him.
The sky was red, like blood running down the bodies of exhausted soldiers.
There was a deep voice heard in the camp.
"Muhahahahahaa! Worthless worms! Defend yourself as you want, you cannot stop this storm anymore. Congratulations on defeating the first wave, the second part was not even planned to be honest. Come, my children! Finally, after centuries you have an opponent! Hahaha!"
A strong gust of wind quenched the fire, and strange monsters began to emerge from the small arched gates that appeared in the camp and were joining the Dark Ones.
"Tight formation!" Maxim ordered.
The two generals formed a tight circle with the remaining soldiers.
"Listen, how is the Wall of Sorrow doing?" Rengar asked the soldier.
"When they sent me, they were still holding up, but the Dark One's were constantly strengthening their attacks. Apparently, without support, they will come down here," the soldier replied.
"They've surrounded us, we have to get to the other side to get in touch with them," Rengar said.
"Hah, leave it to me!" Maxim laughed, and with a powerful scream he ran up against the crowd of the Dark Ones, breaking their ranks like a battering ram, and completely ignoring their attacks, Maxim created a path.
Merill started the attack. He killed several Dark Ones and rushed into battle with the Dark One's leader. He knew it was Caden, but he was surprised anyway. The fact that his friend became the leader of his enemy's army. The Dark Ones retreated and formed a circle, as if they didn't want to interfere, something on Merill scared them.
General Maxim cut through the crowds of the Dark Ones and threw them away as if they were garbage bags. Countless times he was stabbed in his legs. He knelt down and pierced the Dark One who had planted the wound, then he was stabbed in the back. Maxim swung his sword around him and mowed the Dark Ones as a grass, but more of them rushed on him. He was stabbed again several times. From the last of his strength, he was swinging his sword around, but the last attack was fatal to him. He was stabbed in the back again. General Maxim fell on the ground.
General Rengar and the soldiers finally came to him and killed the remaining Dark Ones. Rengar knelt to Maxim.
"I failed..." Maxim whispered.
"No, your courage saved us all," Rengar replied.
From the last of his strength, Maxim tore off a pendant that was hidden under his severely damaged chest plate. There was a rag doll on it. He set his open hand with the doll to Rengar.
"Save her... Brother..." Maxim said exhaustively.
"Do not be scared. I'll defend her with my life, brother..." with a tear in his eye, Rengar accepted the burden, knowing it was not just about the doll.
"General! Our army from the Wall of Sorrow is retreating! All the generals have fallen!" the soldier announced.
"You monster! How could you betray us like that?!" Merill called with a powerful blow.
"My eyes finally opened. You stand in the way of building a new world, a world where no one will worry about his life!" Caden shouted, and returned the attack.
"No one will be afraid for life. Because everyone will be dead, you idiot!" A series of Merill's attacks led Caden, still holding the artefact, out of balance.
Merill pushed Caden on the ground.
"Fool, you should have run away when you still had a chance!" Caden exclaimed while rising from the ground.
Between them laid the artefact which Caden had dropped. Merill's sword lit up.
"No... Merill don't. You'll kill us all...!" Caden said, and Merill struck the artefact with his sword.
The vast wave of energy threw them all on the ground, the sword shattered like glass, only the handle and a small part of the blade with gemstone was intact. Merill laid on the ground, he could hear rifle shots, but his hearing was too subdued to really identify it. Merill saw the figures above him.
"Plan Z... Plan Z..." Merill muttered, hoping that potential allies wouldn't mistake him for the Dark One.567Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC5U483ocK0
