Lyse wondered if she felt so comfortable with Sidis because of the Light they shared. That was undoubtedly part of it, but the Light was only one of many things binding them together. Lyse drifted off into a sweet slumber as she reflected on its warmth.
The next Lyse knew, bells were chiming outside her window. It was the second morning alarm—when she usually started her day. Sidis had already departed and was presumably engrossed in work by now.
“I can tell by the bags under his eyes that he’s running himself into the ground...”
Lyse worried that her husband-to-be had too much on his plate. It was probably why she’d been allowed to take his place at the villa the prior day. Even more telling were his midnight visits just to steal glances at her as she slept. If that was the only time he could spare to see her, he was most certainly overworked.
“Let’s see. He at least still reports to His Majesty daily, doesn’t he?”
She wondered if she might lie in wait for him there. Even when Sidis was supposed to be on palace grounds, she hadn’t bumped into him even once. That meant it was time to start staking out key locations to get a glimpse of him. If Lyse could see he still wasn’t looking well, then she would privately pull Alcede aside to discuss balancing his workload.
Lyse got dressed as quickly as she could and inhaled her breakfast before rushing to Egbert’s office. Even if Sidis was already there, she could sneak into the next room and take a peek. When she reached the hallway outside of the office, she hid herself on a balcony that overlooked the traffic outside. She was deliberately avoiding loitering around the stairs lest Sidis find her, as she imagined he felt awkward about having to slip away that morning before she woke. As she waited to catch sight of him...a familiar shriek rang out, followed by a strong shock wave.
“Is it just me, or is this earlier than usual?”
For the past few days, the anomalies with the Light had occurred like clockwork. Lyse found it weird for one to happen off schedule. The thought, however, didn’t last long—for it was immediately followed by another surprise. Lyse’s monsters began bouncing around inside her pocket. They stirred from time to time, of course, but never this frenetically.
“What’s going on?” she mumbled to herself.
Lyse was sure that something most strange was afoot, but nothing could have prepared her for what she saw when she looked outside. For a split second, the Light of Origin was aglow in multicolor splendor. It was like a rainbow bridge into the heavens, both wondrous and brilliant. Then, from up in the clouds, a black mass began closing in.
“Monsters?” Lyse wondered aloud. The tiny beasts in her pocket were growing even more restless. “Hush, hush...”
She reached her hand into her pocket, hoping to feed them some Light to calm them down, but it only seemed to work on half of the creatures.
“Now, let’s see... Which of you is being good?” She retrieved a lupine monster that sat in her palm and looked up at her with big puppy eyes. Something was off and Lyse couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but having even one capable monster meant she could join the battle. “The two of us can do this.”
One of her avian monsters continued to kick up a fuss, so Lyse released it. She then allowed the wolf to grow bigger, climbed up on its back, and leaped from the balcony. Riding the beast, however, wasn’t exactly straightforward. Horses made for stable mounts, but monsters were especially responsive to commands. Lyse made do by having the wolf coil its fur around her legs and waist, which looked rather unsettling but made for a comfortable ride. She had no time to fret about the details, and this was the most practicable solution. The wolf was instinctively holding on to its rider. It even helped Lyse keep her dress down for modesty, for which she was extremely appreciative.
Lyse thus rode toward the Light and the fight unfolding around it. Aerial monsters flew straight at the glowing pillar, leaving the imperials to focus on the monsters attacking surrounding buildings and people. Given the current state of affairs in the palace thanks to the aberrations with the Light, however, there weren’t many knights and court ladies around to defend the place.
“Hey, you have ears sprouting out of you! Get out of here!”
“Eek! This tail is hiking up my skirt!”
Anyone whose mana began to warp retreated in order to prevent the situation from worsening, but that reduced their fighting forces even further. Lyse and her wolf were a most welcome sight by the time she joined the fray.
“If your mana is being affected, please fall back at once!” she ordered. A handful of fighters heeded her.
Lyse then proceeded toward the Light, slicing and dicing monsters along the way. She couldn’t help wondering why her lupine steed seemed to be the only beast unaffected. She saw waves of boars and insects, and even rabbits and raptors in the mix—yet there was nary another wolf. It was odd. There was always at least one when the monsters attacked in swarms like this.
As she surveyed the monsters, Lyse decided she needed to capture an avian for herself. The problem with the eagle-like and crow-like beasts was that even after taming them, they still showed a proclivity for diving into the Light. Her only other option was a chicken-like bird flying about overhead, so she grabbed it and put it in her pocket.
Suddenly, a voice called out to her, “Miss Lyse, please fall back!”
With that, a great white bird—one even larger than a horse—glided overhead like a beacon in a sea of black monsters. Such raptors were employed by the palace as aerial mounts, and on this particular one rode the raven-haired Duke Lasuarl and his wife, Kirstin, who was dressed in a close-fitted jacket with her blonde hair braided into a crown. The couple cleared away the monsters around them with magical fire as they began a rapid descent.
The knights and ladies-in-waiting below let out a collective sigh of relief, but the fight wasn’t over yet. There were still monsters on the ground that couldn’t be blasted away with magic for fear of collateral damage. Lyse gripped her sword tight as she watched the duke and duchess land. That was when the next surprise came.
“Woof! Bowwow! Ruff!”
There was barking from afar, which was disquieting, to say the least. There was usually a dog around the palace (Egbert in disguise), not dogs. As far as everyone knew, there was a special dog who was resistant to the Light—but this was something else entirely.
In short order, a stampede of nearly two dozen dogs rushed out from the villa and into the fray. Lyse instantly recognized their white coats. “Y-Your Majesty...?”
Beholding the sheer number of emperor-turned-dogs was a blow to Lyse’s sanity, but she quickly rationalized that this was for the best. At the very least, it was better than a horde of Egberts in human form. That would give the imperial soldiers some serious pause. Nevertheless, the pack of pups were raring to go. Each of them zeroed in on a target and began unleashing flashes of flame and blasts of blizzards to eradicate the monsters. All the while, one dog stood out in front to lead the group.
That must be His Majesty...