Divine Beast Ascension

631 What Now?

Outside the palace, guards began to scramble into action.

More sentries were officially posted around the sealed city gate. Every guard in the city was either already on the wall to see the lurking threat, rushing to gather the ballistae scattered throughout the city walls, or on edge while waiting for their turn to join the fray.

The citizens were just as worried, if not more! They hurried to their homes. They sealed their doors and windows as best they could. And they prayed to Dominus to make it through the siege alive and well.

But one drunk had already made his move.

During his long wait, Lambier eventually claimed a small, dead-end alley for himself. There was even a makeshift shelter from scrap crates and a large, dirt-stained tarp.

As soon as Lambier heard the city bells, he put the finishing touches on this temporary shelter. Now that the city folk was scurrying in chaos, Lambier stood tall with the dead-end alley to his back and the Prodson Palace in front of him, less than a dozen blocks away. The light of a street lamp stretched Lambier’s shadow deeper into the alley and makeshift shelter.

“... It’s time, Vero.”

Without pause, Oli leaped out of Lambier’s shadow and curled up inside the makeshift shelter.

Oli also started chowing down on jerky rations and some fruits from his void ring. While hidden under the dirty tarp, Oli telepathically asked, ‘Now what?’

.....

Lambier sat down, leaning against the alley wall. He whispered, “I’ve got to wait five minutes until you’re fully hidden. Then, I’m off to handle a couple things.”

‘... And then what?’ Oli mentally asked.

Shrugging, Lambier softly chuckled, “I don’t know. I was told the rest would make itself clear.”

Oli silently nodded, telepathically sighing, ‘I see… so we’re both in the dark.’

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“Both?” Lambier was startled to hear that. “There’s nothing else you’re doing?”

‘There’s one more thing for me to do, but I’ll have to wait a few minutes after you leave and I’m fully hidden in the shadows,’ Oli telepathically remarked.

Lambier’s mild worries instantly softened. “That’s good… Then I’m sure we’ll both find out what comes next in, soon enough…”

For the next few minutes, they both kept quiet. Oli rushed to satiate his hunger after spending most of the day in a shadow. All while they both listened to the cries of the city folk, who were desperate to not get caught up in the imminent battle.

Eventually, Oli stored the last of the jerky in his claws moments before his physical form sank into the shadows inside the makeshift shelter.

‘Okay. I’m hidden.’

Brushing some dirt off his knees, Lambier got up and started stretching. A fresh bottle of wine appeared in his hands as well. “Alright, then I’m off. Wish me luck… I’ll do the same for you.”

Lambier had an easy time blending in with the frantic crowd, though, the number of people in the streets was quickly diminishing.

Already, the bottle of wine was uncorked and Lambier was pretending to drink it while spilling some all over himself. He ran through the stone-paved streets with nary a care. With an army outside the walls, no one cared to pay attention to the useless drunk running through the roads in a mess of spilled booze.

Of course, Lambier knew exactly what he was doing.

A few minutes later and most citizens were already inside their homes. And Lambier was approaching his target.

No one was coming in or out of that building. Just as Lambier had expected.

Lambier tossed the empty wine bottle aside while retrieving a large bottle of whiskey. Yet, the bottle was immediately fumbled, shattering all over the side of a building.

But Lambier wasn’t disappointed. He had already retrieved a matchbook. A second later, one match was ignited and held under the rest of the book. The moment the entire matchbook had caught fire, Lambier tossed it onto spilled liquor.

Fwoosh!

Instantly, that corner of the wooden building was set ablaze. And a second whiskey bottle was thrown at the wall less than a krin away, adding more fuel to the fire.

As the flames began to stretch toward the building’s second floor, black and grey smoke began to climb into the sky.

“The barracks!!”

“FIRE!”

Shouts rang out from all around. The few people running through the street noticed the smoke and flames immediately. And those inside nearby homes were flushed with worry and angst.

At the same time, those inside the massive building were already rushing outside. Over two dozen people exited the building while coughing and covering their mouths.

“Hurry! Douse it in water! Don’t let it spread!” one man shouted between coughs.

Three other men who had just exited the building rapidly acted on the order. Small streams of water appeared around their hands and arms before lashing out against the growing flames.

“The rest of you, hurry to the well!” shouted that leading man.

Everyone else complied, running off to the well more than a block away.

Some citizens also scurried out of their homes, presenting buckets or pouches of water to help stop the fire while it was still manageable.

The flames wouldn’t go down without a fight. But the quick efforts of those water-wielding guards and the batch of water provided by the citizens kept it from spreading.

But even though the fire was mostly contained and unable to spread, the sight of flames of smoke coming from the barracks was a shock to anyone nearby. And the guards on the wall had a great vantage point that made it impossible to miss.

Just when an unavoidable seed of worry planted itself in the hearts of those guards on the wall, another plume of black smoke appeared from a different, nearby direction.

“Another fire!” yelled the first guard to spot the smoke.

“Captain, what’s going on?!” another soldier finally shouted in question and concern.

That captain atop the wall didn’t immediately reply. He gathered and sorted his thoughts first, deducing, *That’s from another barracks. Someone’s already in the city, but why target the barracks? Most of the guards are gone. And the fires don’t seem big enough to threaten the city… What’s going on?”

As the captain was about to speak up to his worried men, another plume of black smoke appeared from the third closest barracks. That stunned the worried guards all the more and further confused the captain.