The Cloudy Chamber in La Chaim Palace, Elsphere, Capital of the Holy Land of Mekia
Several days after the return of the Winged Crusaders who had taken part in the Twin Lions at Dawn operation, Sofitia learned that the villages scattered around Mekia’s eastern border had been wiped out by the undead. It was with a rare grim look on her face that she summoned to the Cloudy Chamber the mages Lara, Johann, and Amelia, along with the Twelve Angels and the senior hundred-wings.
How will the seraph respond to this, I wonder...? Johann stood straight as a rod and motionless in the center of the front row, his eyes fixed on the richly ornamented throne. Amelia was on his left, just as still and erect. For her success in being the only one to slay an enemy commander in the course of the Twin Lions at Dawn operation, she was soon to be promoted to senior thousand-wing.
“The holy seraph!” The guardian’s announcement of the seraph’s arrival rang out. All of them moved as one to greet their liege with homage. Sofitia entered, wearing a scarlet gown that made her appear to be engulfed in flames. Her steps clacked coldly on the stairs of white glass as she ascended them.
“My Seraph.” A deferential attendant held out her silver staff adorned with rings. Sofitia took it, then gracefully lowered herself onto the throne. Her wisteria-colored eyes that seemed to see to the heart of everything now turned to the right of the front row, where stood Zephyr, his false eye gleaming mysteriously.
“Let us not waste time. Please tell me how the evacuation is progressing.”
“My Seraph,” Zephyr answered. “Evacuation orders have been issued to the towns and villages that fall in the path of the undead. At present, four-fifths of the residents have evacuated. I have also stationed owls in the other towns and villages, where they will make ready to evacuate immediately at the first sign of danger.”
“Thank you. I wish for you to continue to guide the evacuation.”
“Very well, My Seraph.” Zephyr lowered his head deeply. Sofitia’s gaze moved on to where Lara stood beside a map on a stand.
Lara took a step forward and saluted, then turned to the guardians and jabbed with the baton in her hand at a black point on the map.
“According to the latest intelligence from the owls, the army of the undead is continuing its march westward. Their progress is slow, but if they stay on that course—” She slid the stick to the left, coming to an abrupt stop at the point marked Holy City of Elsphere. “—in approximately ten days, more than ten thousand walking dead will overrun the holy city.”
The entirety of the Winged Crusaders knew about the dead, but only a limited few—Johann, Amelia, and the Twelve Angels—had a grasp on the most recent developments. As she had expected, murmuring broke out among the senior hundred-wings. Lara rapped her baton on the map.
“Get a hold of yourselves!” she barked, and like a receding wave, the muttering died away. When Lara was satisfied of this, she went on forcefully. “Of course, we cannot allow these impure creatures to take so much as a single step into the holy city. I mean to meet them with the entirety of our forces.”
Amelia spoke up at once. “If we send all our forces, who will defend the city? And, by extension, the seraph?”
La Chaim Palace was half a fortress and surrounded by three strong walls, but these would not matter if there were not enough guardians to defend it.
The response to Amelia’s question came from none other than Sofitia herself.
“Of course, you may assume that the bare minimum of a garrison will remain behind. And besides that, on this occasion I intend to ride into battle myself.”
The tumult of voices from the senior hundred-wings far outdid their earlier reactions.
“My Seraph?! Go to battle?!” burst out a grizzled old senior hundred-wing with white hair pulled tightly back, leaning forward. “That absolutely must not happen! I beg you, be prudent!” The others joined in with their own earnest remonstrations for Sofitia.
Meanwhile, Amelia had lost her usual appearance of impassivity. Her eyes were wide, and her mouth hung agape in a naked display of shock. Johann himself was only hearing about Sofitia’s intentions for the first time now, but he knew that her core philosophy was ultimately to rely on force of arms. As such, rather than being a surprise, it felt strangely right to him.
All the same, as her subjects, it’s not an easy thing to go along with... Johann looked at Lara. Usually, she would have been the first to protest, so it was powerfully disorienting to see that on this occasion, she had her mouth pressed tightly shut.
Sofitia was extraordinarily gifted, even among all the other seraphs of history. It was as though she had been born to reign over the world. If she were to die, Mekia would inevitably descend into unprecedented chaos. Johann, therefore, couldn’t understand Lara’s attitude. But then, in a flash, it came to him.
Ah, you already knew, didn’t you? Going over it again in his mind, it made complete sense. Sofitia would have known, sure as day follows night, that Lara would adamantly oppose her intentions. Thus, she had conveyed them in advance. Though by the looks of it, she isn’t happy about it...
The clink of the rings of Sofitia’s staff rang out through the chamber. As one, her subjects fell silent.
“This time, we are fighting neither man nor beast, but an enemy wholly unknown to us. Some days past I journeyed to the Artemiana Cathedral to find out the true nature of this dark art. I regret to say, however, that I did not arrive at the answers I sought. It therefore behooves me to assess our foe with my own eyes. It is my duty as seraph of the Holy Land of Mekia.”
Her eyes were beautiful, free of all impurity, and Johann could not contain his admiration at the warrior’s spirit he saw burning in them.
Truly our ruler is to be praised. My Seraph, I shall do everything in my power for you as you strike out on this path to supremacy through might.
No one had any further remonstrations for Sofitia after hearing her conviction. They knelt, faces full of determination to protect her with every fiber of their beings.
“Senior Thousand-Wing Johann.”
“My Seraph!”
“You will be the linchpin of the holy city’s defense.”
“This is a great duty, and one I am honored to accept.” Johann had assumed, given how things were going, that the task of protecting the city would naturally fall to him. This was what allowed him to answer without hesitation. Johann was more than willing to believe that the army of the dead was a diversion, and that the empire’s true objective was a surprise assault on Elsphere.
The information the Winged Crusaders had on Darmés was sparse, but it did contain an evaluation of his character. The evaluation had been done by Miranda Khan, the woman ordained as head priest of the Olsted branch of the Holy Illuminus Church. She had met Darmés, and described him to a close relative as a fearful man, well-versed in cunning. Sofitia gave close attention to all information, no matter how trivial it might seem. Johann could therefore appreciate why she would have him, with his affinity for wide-area magecraft, defend the city. And yet...