Chapter 8: The Breaking
Alvaroz had only experienced a breaking twice before. Once in the middle of it, and another when he found a village devastated by it. Both times made him wish that he would never have to experience that kind of horror ever again in his life. Thankfully his experience and the watching of how others handled a breaking helped him get his head together and give him an idea of what to do next.
“Van, Anna, Get Inside NOW!” Alvaroz moved to push the kids into the castle proper, his face a mask of seriousness and determination.
“What’s happening!?” Van asked worryingly.
“No Time! Everything will be explained later! You need to head to the basement with the other non-combatives. Wait for Lorenzo, he’ll tell you what to do next, Now GO!” and with that Alvaroz shut the door. Leaving Van and Anna no other option but to continue forward.
All around them was chaos. The ringing of the bell did not cease. Goblins, hobgoblins, vamps, ghouls, humans, and even a few harpies, ran around to gather what they could. They donned armor and weapons, Van had never seen so many people before and wondered where they all came from.
He wasn’t sure what to do for fear of getting in someone's way. Anna though pulled on him, and with a nod, he set out to do what his father had told him to do. He felt for the link that connected him and the other Annas and pulled them in his direction, conveying with it great urgency. He felt the confirmation back as the Annas beelined for him, even as he moved towards the stairs he felt them converging on his position.
As he moved towards the stairs that lead to the basement he saw Lorenzo and his mother ushering maids and workers down towards safety. Lillia was the first to see him, she rushed to embrace him in a desperate hug before pulling away, her arms like vices.
“Are you okay!? Where is your father?!” she asked, fear in her voice.
“He's fine, he's still outside in the training yard where we were.” Van said, concern in his own voice. “what's going on? What’s happening?”
“We’ll explain everything after we make it through this” Lorenzo interjected, his voice making clear that there was no room for argument. “Right now you need to follow me.” he looked towards Lillia and reluctantly she let go.
“Lorenzo is right, right now you need to follow him to the basement.” she reached out and gently touched Van’s cheeks. “Please stay safe, neither I nor your father would know what to do with ourselves if something were to happen to you.” she placed a kiss on his forehead and let go.
“Don’t worry Lil, he will be safe, you have my word.” With that done, Lorenzo grabbed Van’s arm and practically dragged him along to the basement where a path opened up for them by all the other people trying to get through.
Van looked back as he was dragged along, his mother’s face filled with worry was the last he saw as he went down the stairs. The other Annas had finally caught up and slowly formed a circle around him for his protection.
Down, they went, stair after stair until they reached the large and long hallway that led to the door that led into the family sanctuary where his awakenings were usually performed. They passed the coffins that lined the walls and pushed through the crowds of people to the wall at the end.
Once at the end, Lorenzo looked at Van and gave a nod towards the door. Van’s eyes widened, only a select few were allowed into the sanctum and right now he was being told to let everyone in. he hesitated for but a moment, but the urgency that filled everyone around him had also infected him, and he wasn’t going to get in the way of what must be done.
Van placed his hand on the magic circle that jutted out and felt the familiar sting. The wall glowed and opened, followed by the second and third walls. Lorenzo turned to address the crowd.
“Everyone, may I have your attention!” his voice boomed suddenly and the whispers of the crowd quitted. “deeper in, is the safest place in the castle, but for your safety do not touch anything, nor leave to look into other rooms as the defenses inside will not take kindly to trespassers. We are entrusting all of you to keep whatever you see a secret. Young master Van will be left in charge. Everyone stay calm and move inside.” he then got the crowd moving and ushered them further in.
Van’s face paled when he heard he would be left in charge, he wasn’t sure what to do so he stayed still with indecision. He couldn’t fathom why Lorenzo would suddenly leave him in charge. But then a thought crossed his mind and he realized the most likely reason why.
“A-are you leaving? Shouldn’t you stay to protect us?” Van asked with worry and fear.
Lorenzo looked a little sad, almost guilty even as he looked down on Van. “ I’m sorry Van, but I need to go up there and help your parents” he placed a hand on Van’s shoulder “don’t worry, we’ll be fine, there is nothing we can’t do together,” he said confidently with a smile, though it seems to be more said for his own sake then Van’s, it still calmed Van down somewhat.
Lorenzo gave Van one last squeeze and turned towards the stairs “step back, and I’ll show you what I mean.” he said with determination. He pulled a staff from nothing and took a step forward. Power began to course through Lorenzo and the staff as they both began to hum with power. He then started murmuring to himself and his eyes became half glazed. He turned to Van and gave him a confident smile “good thing I have been practicing up on my necromancy.”
A massive pulse of energy flew from his staff and soaked into every coffin that lined the wall. Slowly at first but with greater speed, magical power wormed its way into the coffins and they began to glow with a dark light. With a creaking sound, the doors to the stone coffins opened letting out massive skeletal figures in black armor and burning blue flames for eyes.
Lorenzo blew on his staff and looked upon his work with pride. For Van’s part he was internally freaking out even as he was fascinated and the Annas moved in closer to protect him, though they looked a little scared as well. Lorenzo saw their fear and tried to soothe it.
“Do not worry, they will not attack you, they are the last line of defense. Or rather, second to last line of defense if we count on you closing the wall.” he then took a more serious tone. “Van you need to go in and close the wall behind you, do you understand? Whatever you do, do not open that wall.” Lorenzo stared into Van’s eyes as if to convey the seriousness of the situation.
Van hesitated but nodded.
“Good. I have to go now, but trust me when I say we’ll get through this. Stay safe.” he then moved towards the stairs but stopped before climbing up. He looked behind and made a motion for Van to go inside and close the wall.
Van hesitated once more, but Anna pulled him in deeper. Once inside he finally forced himself to close the wall. He stared long at Lorenzo until the wall finally closed in and blocked his view.
-
Alvaroz stared hard at the sky as if trying to close the cracks that formed from the thin air through sheer force of will, only to be disappointed when they refused to go away. One of the vamps that worked for him waved to get his attention as he ran towards him panting.
“Sir!” the vamp said out of breath. “ the guard captain at the northern town gate says that there is a horde of monsters trying to get in, and they refuse to leave even after being fired upon. What do we do!?”
“Tell the captain to let the monsters in,” Alvaroz said in a firm voice. “ they are not to be attacked but aided.”
“Sir!?” The vamp looked at his master in disbelief, unsure if he heard properly.
“LET. THEM. IN. NOW! They are not to be attacked whatsoever! Anyone who can wield a weapon is to do so immediately, anyone who cannot fight is to get out of the way! I want the guard captain of the castle to report to me immediately and every soldier and militia armed and ready. We are in a state of total war! Now Get To It!”The vamp paled but nodded as he left to tell those in charge of their orders.
Alvaroz turned his gaze back at the sky. There were more cracks than before and a swirling color that cannot be named or placed filled the gaps in between. The scene hurt his eyes and brain as his mind tried to contemplate something truly other and outside all known thought.
Slowly the cracks opened, one particularly large crack burst open revealing a long grey head with multiple eyes. It stared at the ground in hunger as it watched what it considered it prey run around. It was soon followed by its large three-clawed arm, widening the crack, and revealing more of its grotesque body. Its six limbs, trying to wiggle its way through the small hole giving a peek at Its true size, one that clearly indicated how massive it really was.
Other cracks formed beside the creature and starfish flower-like abominations and aberrations wiggled out. Not as big as the creature but still larger than the average person. With red and black colors and one giant bulbous eye in its center. Around its eye, stamen like appendages reminding him of some sort of sick twisted flower grew. The creatures floated gently down all over the place. Both in the castle and in the castle town. Screams could be heard as the creatures grabbed people with their stamens and injected the tip into them, while other abominations just infolded their bodies around their victims, never to be heard from again.
Alvaroz drew out his sword from within and prepared his aura. First red then blue then turning it finally purple and feeling his power increase. With just a swing from his sword, nearby abominations were cut in half. Sadly, it didn’t seem to kill most of them outright.
“My Lord!” Alvaroz turned to see the guard captain of the castle run towards him with a group of several dozen others followed by his wife carrying her staff. “ we have done as you asked and let the monsters in.” she hesitated “ are you sure that's a good idea?”
It was Lillia who answered “we have experienced this before, trust us, it's for the best. When a breaking is happening, even the worst of enemies put aside their differences to combat the threat. If a besieging army was out there, we still would have let them in without a fight so that we all can increase our chances of survival, fully expecting them to leave and return to the status quo once it's done. The monsters are the same, they are coming inside to seek shelter just as much as to increase the chances of their own survival by working with us rather than against us.”
Alvaroz nodded “what she says is true. Right at this moment, the only threat we have is the ones falling from the sky. Not only that, but we must kill anyone who has been infected by those abominations. Once a breaking is over, they will all fade away, all except those whose corpses have been converted into abominations themselves. We must send a warning to all our neighbors, even those we consider our enemies of what's happening so that they can prepare for the worse.”
He then started pointing out some soldiers and giving them orders. “I want you to get word to the harpies to attack the abominations as they fall.” pointing to another “You will tell the captains that I want all non-combatives to hide themselves away until this is over. And you will send out the messages to warn our neighbors of what's happening. As for everyone else I want you all to defend the choke points that we have practiced for invaders, just keep in mind that they're also coming from the sky. Finally, if the abominations do not disappear, then they are not dead. Keep attacking and work together in groups until they fade away. Also, be careful because the infected will no doubt rise as well, they will not disappear, so just to make sure, burn them until there's nothing left, is that understood!.” Alavroz said with dead seriousness.
“Yes Sir!” The soldiers saluted and ran to obey his orders without question.
“What should we do?” Lillia asked.
Alvaroz thought about that for a moment. “let's wait for Lorenzo, after that we should just stay back a while and give orders with the exception of those areas needing our immediate help. We need to make sure we can direct people as needed, not to mention…” he looked up at the largest abomination that had yet to fall. “ I think only we can take care of that.”
“I wish Thea was here. It would be so much easier then.” Lillia said quietly.
Alvaroz nodded before smirking “well there always next time” he joked.
Lillia rolled her eyes before a small smile also graced her lips, some of the tension leaving.
The two of them waited there, eyes locked on the creature above just as its eyes seemed to be locked onto them, deeming them the biggest threat. Alvaroz gave orders as he stood and waited for his friend to show up. The harpies doing their best with the abominations still in air and those on the ground doing the same. Every so often, Alvaroz will swing his sword and cut down a few of the creatures, and Lillia would raise her staff, and heal any nearby allies, and cast magic shield on them as well to protect them, increasing their chance of survival. They gritted their teeth, even as their beautiful town was destroyed around them, and saw the fires and heard the screaming.
Finally, after what felt like forever Lorenzo showed up. “Sorry I'm late, I went and got an empty essence orb. Figured it would be useful for later, perhaps for Van.” Lorenzo said.
“That's not a bad idea...” Alvaroz said “but such things could wait, our priority should be the threat to our home, not the orb. I don’t want you to put what little we can gain ahead of everyone else’s lives. Do you understand?” Avlaroz chided.
“Sorry, your right...” Lorenzo said properly chastised.
“Can you shoot down the lead abomination?” Lilia asked, pointing at the creature still stuck above them. “If we can kill it, then the breaking will end sooner. If it stays up there or is not killed, it can be days or even longer before it all ends.
Lorenzo gave a feral grin. “No problem. Thankfully it's not that big of a breaking. I could kill this thing in my sleep.” he then brought out his staff and started chanting. A large magical circle began to form in front of him and he pointed it towards the sky where the large creature was. Within a few seconds, Lorenzo shot a large lance of energy, hitting the creature straight in the head making it recoil and roar in pain.
The creature then opened the cracks even further and set itself on a freefall towards the ground. It aimed for the insects that dared to harm it. In great anger it smashed into the ground causing debris to fly out every which way.
Alvaroz, Lillia, and Lorenzo already saw it coming and had moved out of the way. Alvaroz then began giving orders to the nearby soldiers to surround the huge creature who revealed itself not only to be massive but to have flower-like appendages on its back that looked similar to the smaller creatures attacking the castle.
Alvaroz yelled “spearmen, surround it, don’t let it run away! Archers, fire at will! Do not stop attacking it! Everyone else keep your distance! We will be the ones taking it head on!”
“Lillia!” Alvaroz shouted
“On it!” Lillia then got to work buffing her husband and Lorenzo, making them faster, stronger, and increasing their defenses by creating magical shielding that protected all of their body. She then created a link between her and them, one to Alvaroz to transfer some of her excess energy for stamina and aura, and mana to Lorenzo so he can fire off more spells. Essentially acting as some sort of battery for the both of them.
Feeling the energy flow into him Alvaroz charged at the creature head-on, his purple aura flaring. Lorenzo prepared another lance of energy and fired it, right at the face of the creature one more, gouging out some of its eyes angering it further.
The creature still saw Alvaroz charging it and so took a few steps back to create distance. As it did, it was pierced by the many spearmen that had moved to prevent it from fleeing. Angry it began to shake its body and smaller versions of the starfish flowerlike monsters fell loose and floated towards the surrounding troops to attack. Some even went to the wounds on its body and face and began to take their place as replacements. Healing the giant abomination some. It then lunged forward unexpectedly to take Alavroz unawares, but instead, Alvaroz was expecting it and swung his sword to lop off one of its arms as he stepped aside.
It roared in pain and confusion as a creature so much smaller than it took its arm. Even angrier now, it then bellowed and exhaled a reddish spore like substance from its mouth as it moved away from the bigger threat. Uncaring now of the other little threats that got in its way. It used its tail to swat some of the nearby soldiers behind it, crushing a few so hard their entire bodies broke, killing them instantly.
“Everyone Hold Your Breath!” Alvaroz shouted, growing angry himself at seeing some of his soldiers dying but being cautious of the gas-like substance that it just spewed out. Not that it was something to worry about for long.
Lorenzo, using his many years of experience, upon the very second he saw something leak from the monster’s mouth had already started preparing a countermeasure, having dealt with these kinds of things before. He casted a gust of wind to throw the spore cloud sky high, all the while shouting for any nearby harpies to scatter from the area near them so as not to get caught up in the creature's attack that was now floating uselessly upward. He finished by using the winds to concentrate the cloud into one spot before igniting it with a large fireball. The explosion rocked the area around them, yet all it did was make Lorenzo thankful that the fireball actually destroyed it, instead of making it worse.
At the same time that Lorenzo was taking care of the cloud, Alvaroz wasted no time in attacking the monster while it was distracted by the fact that its spore cloud was so easily taken care of. Alvaroz ran low and brought his aura up even as he hid its presence so as not to draw attention. He snaked his way under the head of the monster and unleashed a truly massive attack, severing the head clean off.
The creature had no idea what happened, one second it watched as his cloud was detonated, the next its head was on the ground. It tried to roar, but nothing came out and it slowly started to fade away.
Unfortunately, the body of the creature seemed to have gone berserk without its head. And it started to run every which way, colliding into people without a care. The starfish flower-like monsters were flung off all over the place, but some began making its way back to the stump where its head used to be and started acting like pseudo eyes. It then turned around back at the people who harmed it and rushed them. Using the tentacle-like stamens to attack all three and anyone else in the way.
“Lillia!” Lorenzo shouted
“On it!” Lillia then began chanting and a giant spell matrix formed right in front of the creature.
“All available mages help my wife!” Alvaroz shouted as he cut the connection between him and her so that she may use all of her power on the monster. Lorenzo did the same and started to prepare an even larger spell himself to finish off the creature for good.
Lillia then casted her spell the second the abomination entered the circle, chains of light followed by a giant magical barrier formed around it, preventing it from moving or escaping. Nearby mages gave their power to help her sustain the spell, while others gave power to Lorenzo as he slowly created a giant fireball right above the now maddened creature.
Alvaroz watched the last moments of the monster, only interfering when one of the small flower-like creatures tried to attack any of the mages as they prepped their spell. Once enough power was accumulated, Lorenzo dunked the massive fireball straight down on the creature.
The creature tried to run away. But the chains and the barrier were too strong for it to leave with any ease. It was slowly burned alive leaving nothing but ash that began to fade away. Lorenzo then lifted the orb he talked about earlier, and a strange fog or mist like substance flowed from the fading creature into the orb.
Once done, Lorenzo sighed in relief. “The breaking should end in the next few hours,” he said, turning his gaze towards the sky and the slowly healing cracks. “ Now we just need to survive till then and clean up this mess.” he finished looking at the many dead bodies that lay around and the many flower-like monsters that were still very prevalent around the castle. “Even if the lead abomination is destroyed, that still wont stop some more from falling through the cracks or the ones that have been infected.”
Alvaroz agreed and began issuing orders to the nearby soldiers to remove the wounded and to go help anyone that seemed to be in trouble. Then turning to his wife “I’m going to go on ahead to the town, to help any civilians that need it. Do the two of you think you can handle it on your own here?”
Lillia nodded “don’t worry about us, you go on ahead, we can handle things here without you.”
“Wait! Before you go.” Lorenzo threw a small orb which Alvaroz caught easily. “Please be sure to gather as much essence as possible, we can use it for later.”
Alvaroz nodded and turned away towards the town. Running through the gates, his stomach churned a little at the destruction he saw around him. Several people were dead, worse, some of the dead were rising with red and black flowers and vines on their body, moving to attack anything living, even the trees were not safe from them as the flowers and vines strangled and infected them.
“We're going to have to burn a lot of this down if we want to make sure nothing of this survives, or perhaps Lillia can do a large scale cleansing. That would probably work for the better.” Alvaroz though.
Just then a large feral wolf attacked one of the shambling infected nearby, it tore its way through its flesh leaving it in bloody chunks that could not move anymore. Some of the flowers wilted and faded away, yet some still survived and tried to instead latch onto the wolf instead.
Alvaroz didn’t even hesitated. He moved and cut the remaining flowers from the corpse and prevented it from harming the wolf any further. The wolf looked at him with large feral eyes before giving a huff and looking for its next target.
Alvaroz smirked a little at that “if we were in the wild, it would have tried to kill me. Breakings really do make strange bedfellows.” looking around him, he saw that he wasn’t the only one working with monsters, some of his soldiers and militia were helping another giant wolf out of fallen houses, just as a giant bird was helping a mother and father protect their child from a group of abominations.
“It's complete chaos... But.” he looked at the scene in front of him, his blood pounding in his veins a feral grin on his face. “It's been a while since I let loose.” he then shook his head, glaring at the starfish monsters with pure anger in his eyes. “I’m going to kill every last one of them. They’ll pay for harming my people.” And with that, he got to work.
It would be some time later till all of the abominations were dealt with. After cleaning them out of the castle and castle town, they set to work, working with the animals, beasts, and other creatures to uproot and deal with any outside the walls, including in the forests and plains.
The breaking was over, but the cleaning still took days to complete, and after everything was done, the truce ended, and the animals and beasts moved back towards their home without complaint. Before leaving Alvaroz ordered them to be taken care of and fed equally as if they were longtime allies. Making some complain about their food stores, but Alvaroz, Lillia, and Lorenzo refused to budge on the matter. Saying that it's just how a breaking works.
Van was finally allowed out of the basement once everything was taken care of and his father, mother, and Lorenzo made doubly sure to increase his training regime so that he can better take care of himself in the future.
For now, peace had returned to the barony.