AK - The Alchemy Kingdom

Chapter 142: A sad song

Year 4, Summer, First Month, First Week.

Lew sipped through the cold ale and enjoyed the cooling and numbing sensation. The last two weeks had been really exhausting, ironically he had only unsheathed his sword to train the agents. He never expected that being Head of Defense and commanding the missions at this side of the mountains would be this consuming. He took another sip praying to be spared for an hour at least, but his secretary suddenly appeared from the backroom, crashing all his hopes.

What is it now?

Sir, target alpha is moving west

The Fighter stood up faster than he should, but a quick circulation of energy through his body prevented him from losing all face.

Are they really leaving?

We only know they are moving west, Sir.

As long as they keep moving until they get out of our forest, I dont mind how you call it Whos on them? Is there any Adventurer on their route?

Without noticing, Lew had left his mug behind and was going towards the commanding center on full Head of Defense mode.

The shadow, Sir. All the active Adventurers are hunting outside their range, Sir.

The magic operator didnt take his eyes off the receiver, which was sparking non-stop, indicating that massages were being exchanged on lightning time. The operator finished the exchange before turning to Lew and explaining:

Sir, they continued moving west on normal speed. They should enter our range in 20 minutes.

Unfortunately, even if the Mercenaries were leaving, they would need to pass close to the AP again.

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Ask someone to wake shadow two, if they move too close we need someone to keep eyes on them while the shadow baits some nice beasts their way.

***

My Lady, please! My men are already suffering from poisoning We need to go back fast

The sound Mage stared at the Mercenaries leader for a few seconds, considering if she should make him mute forever. Unfortunately, her Master preferred to be diplomatic, instead of just silencing everyone on his way. She deeply disagreed with his methods, but would never disrespect or disobey the Lord of whispers, spokesman of the sound Mages, the deafening Warden of the Wind region, the first sound Mage to finally seat on the wind throne.

Sadly, she, one of the strongest tunes, had failed him. A funeral march played in her mind, as she remembered the time he saved her. Her family had already succumbed to the fate of using their sacred voice for the amusement of other Mages. Singing under the cover of richness and luxury, they were nothing but slaves, doomed to never chant the highest note of their existence, forever unable to complete their symphony. In the silent despair, he appeared and took her out of the mediocre life of rhymes, and taught her the most beautiful and complicated melodies.

The mission was clear, sweep through the forest and leave nothing unheard, and so she did. But nothing appeared, not a single rumor or whisper. They met a small group of Adventurers in the borders of the forest, but they knew nothing about the place or the villagers, she made sure they screamed all their secrets before dying. She wanted to look for them past the mountains, maybe they hid there, but the Wind Lords orders didnt leave room for interpretation. Now, it was time to go back and face her failure.

They walked for days towards the exit of the forest while the sound Mage still tried to locate something, anything. She sent the sound servant flying through the trees to look for clues, any sound that could mean something, but ended up finding nothing. When she had given up, when the colors of the trees already marked the nearing exit, the servant sang a tune she knew of too well. The music of life started to play inside her again.

***

Sir, we have a problem.

Lew, who was just waiting for the confirmation that the Mercenary group had left the forest to take some needed rest, almost fell from his chair after hearing those dreadful words.

Whats the report?

Sir, the shadow reported the Mercenaries suddenly started to run towards an unknown group some kilometers from their position.

How did we missed this?

The Fighter felt a headache coming.

Sir, they just entered the shadows reach. Unfortunately, the Mercenaries found them first, probably the wind bird spell thing Whatre the orders, Sir?

Lew calmed himself and made a quick decision, preserving their concealment was the priority, so the shadow could only interfere indirectly.

Shes authorized to act indirectly, her concealment is the priority

However, the operators expression suddenly turned complicated, which made Lew pause.

Sir, the unknown group is one of our Adventurers, Heidis group

A knot formed on Lews throat killing his command midday. He felt especially close to the group, Heidi and the Fighters could be considered his friends, and Chris wasnt too bad. A minute passed as he considered what to do, maybe they didnt need to do anything. The group had two Mages, they could probably fend against another Mage.

Sir, your orders?

Shes The shadow should only intervene indirectly, the priority is keeping her concealment. Report if the situation changes.

***

Samia waited for her orders, behind a tree 200 meters away from the groups. She would prefer if their partners could escape alive, but she wasnt particularly close to them, nor would she morn if they died. Fortunately, her orders came before a fight broke and she wouldnt need to risk her cover to protect the group. Even though she was confident in Lews ability to command, she couldnt help but fear he would let his relationship with the Adventurers cloud his judgment.

Because of the sound blocking effect, she couldnt hear what they were saying, though the animosity between the two groups was evident. Then, the peace was finally broken as the sound Mage launched her attack. Samia could guess the waves crashing against Chris Wind Shield, was a sound attack. The enemy Mage seemed irritated by the result.

The Fighters started to spread away from the Mages gripping their weapons tightly when a Fire Ray was launched against the sound Mage, who dodged it by jumping to the ground. The fire Mage appeared to curse as the fallen enemy stood up smiling. The red hood fell back revealing the struggling appearance of the fire Mage, who felt to her knees pressing against her throat desperately. Samia finally understood why sound Mages could be so dangerous, she was again thankful for her concealment and the sound blocking effect.

The wind Mage seemed to hesitate between attacking the enemy or helping his beloved. Fortunately, he was smart enough to launch an attack instead of giving his back to the enemy. Chris sent a strong breeze to distract the enemy as he propelled himself forward. The woman looked surprised by the sudden move but quickly started to cast a fast spell.

Chris choose to push himself even faster instead of protecting against the attack. His expression turned ugly as his ears started to bleed, but the sound Mage was also helpless against the knife that stabbed through her stomach. Chris fell back, still shaking while the enemy Mage checked her wound incredulously. She tried to cast a spell to finish the wind Mage but was apparently interrupted by dizziness.

Samia looked around and saw that the Fighters were also struggling to fend off the enemies with double their numbers. Unfortunately, nobody would move to help the Mages and they would probably die.

Chris struggled to perceive what was happening around him. The attack had taken his hearing and confused his mind. When he was finally able to comprehend the situation, he turned to his enemy, who was finishing a spell to claim his life. His first thought was activating his innate spell, but it wouldnt help him much, so he started to cast the simplest and fastest Wind Shield he knew while praying to be fast enough.

The bleeding sound Mage smiled as she finished the last part of her sound spell, but suddenly, a strong pain on her back stopped her casting. Then, her vision blurred and she fell.

Chris smiled relieved. The sounds of battle kept ringing around him, but he couldnt hear them. Neither could the figure who stepped out of the dark to retrieve a knife.