By the time that Farron reached the front lines of the battle, it was over. A few soldiers still struggled, fighting here and there, but now the focus appeared shifted. Blinking his blue eyes, Farron just stared for a second. All around the open field inside the fort, kneeling in what their booted feet had turned to mud, were dozens of chained elves. He watched as some of the higher ranking members of the rebel army inspected some they had captured. After a second, two were killed and the last put in chains. It seemed random at best and left Farron just standing there in a daze.
"Prisoners? I thought we were going to slaughter them all," a voice said from next to Farron, making him start. The soldier was younger and even more lost looking than he felt. Almost instantly, a harsh voice silenced him.
"Know your place idiot! This is the great Archaedes' plan!"
Farron bit his tongue before he could utter agreement to the other young soldier and quickly trotted away, his sword feeling uncomfortable in his hands. Blood ran down the blade--he'd used it even if he stopped noticing the blows after a while. He'd barely made it two steps though before something caught his eye. Farron froze again, his entire body seizing as if struck.
A tall human pulled a single unconscious elf from out of a smaller building, kicking aside a dead elf in the doorway. Blonde hair slide over the elven man's shoulders, the familiar eyes closed now even though Farron still felt like he could see their brilliant color. "Echildur!" The shout exploded out of him before he could even think to stop it. He felt his feet starting toward the elven man, but a hand grabbed him from behind. Even though he fought it, the grip wouldn't let go of his arm.
"Farron!" Lucille hissed, low enough to not draw even more attention to them. He fought her grip another second more, but gave up when she nearly yanked him off his feet. Stumbling, his eyes left Echildur and he felt as if he woke from a trance. "Stop doing this! You'll kill somebody." Coldness sinking into his heart, Farron looked down. The mud beneath his feet had turned into dry, cracked earth, spreading out for nearly a yard. Even Lucille's dark nailed fingers trembled against his flesh.
"It was Archaedes' order to capture some of the elves so deal with it, okay? Or would you prefer that we kill him?" Her eyes darted to Echildur and Farron had to drop his gaze.
"...You knew?" She knew about him and Echildur meeting in the night? She knew Archaedes' plans that even he did not? Farron wasn't sure which he asked.
"Go inside and see about making it habitable for our people. You can't do anything more here if you lose control of your power." Cold eyes stared at him so that Farron felt his heart skip a beat. Had Lucille always been this way? Not knowing what else to do, he did as she said and turned toward the camp. The soldiers were cleaning things up here already anyway. As soon as they had all their prisoners, they would lock them within cells in their own fort. Apparently the human alchemists were here to stay.
(0) (0) |
|