Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince

Shouting and crying people along with the barking of orders among guards and soldiers echoed throughout the streets outside of the Eroan embassy. Some of the servant staff were ordered away from windows as they tried to peek at what was going on.

Kalliope stood with the embassy guards and tallied up her men. Unfortunately she was at least two heads short. Two of their King's Shadow subordinates were unaccounted for and were likely on or near the academy grounds. Whatever was going down must have prevented them from bringing word to her.

She silently cursed to herself because she felt responsible for their well-being. If they had gotten hurt while following her orders to monitor the academy grounds, then she would be directly responsible for anything that happened to them. Of course, in their line of work conflict was inevitable and often led to death or injury… She was still concerned for them.

Though Lucius thought of his men as tools, Kalliope simply couldn't. She had to make sure they were okay. All of her attempts to reach them through their communication crystals provided no answers. It could mean they were already dead or too injured to respond. Or it could mean they are surrounded by a high concentration of mana and the messages couldn't get through.

"Lyrah, Lady Rubellia," Kalliope whispered, "Stay here, I have to get to the academy. Some of my people are missing."

"No," Rubellia cried out, trying to grab her by the wrist. "It's so dangerous out there… if you get hurt…"

"That's my job. It is also my job to make sure my men are alright." Kalliope answered, cleanly breaking away from her grip.

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Since the door was already barricaded shut, she immediately headed to an upper floor. Once there she opened up a window, double checked that her equipment was equipped and that she was wearing her armor properly. Satisfied that she was up to snuff, Kalliope leapt out of the window and landed solidly in the streets of the city.

Her bestial body allowed her to take the impact in her knees with little effort. The people running through the streets stopped for a moment to stare at her in awe. There was a little bit of a storm rolling in so there was wind making her hair and the fur on her wolf-ears flutter a little.

From what she could tell immediately, there were not really any issues along the streets. Occasionally there would be a single psychopath screaming about 'throne of creation' and 'fiery truth' that would be swiftly put down. However, it seemed the concentration of their forces were around the outside of the academy.

The guards were being kept at bay by a series of magical walls of fire that the enemy continued to cast to keep the city's forces from advancing. Most of their dedicated magic users were already inside the academy itself, so the soldiers were having a hard time getting earth or water mages that could beat down the barriers.

"This is like hell on earth…" Kalliope whispered as she looked at the walls of the school and the pathway up. Walls of fire littered the roads and [Fireballs] were being launched from the gates. Whoever it was that was behind these idiots had planned well.

"[Lux: Enhanced Leap], [Lux: Enhanced Speed]"

Kalliope quickly cast enhancements on herself then triggered her shifting ability. Starting at her neck before trailing down to her hands, fur sprouted out of her skin. Kalliope's fingernails turned into claws and her muscles twitched and grew to twice their normal size.

With a massive roar, she jumped over the first then the second [Fire Walls]. Enemy mages fired spell after spell at her to stop her advance, but they were outmatched by her speed. Still, there were too many of them to face directly so she used her Arts to assist her in getting over the wall. "[Beast Arts: Iron Claw]!"

The claws on her hands took on a metallic shine. At the same time she jumped onto the wall and sunk her strengthened claws into the stonework, using it to assist her in scaling the academy's defenses.

Unfortunately, this slowed her down enough for a [Fire Bolt] to strike her in the center of her back. She felt the skin underneath her armor begin to boil and crack. Blood leaked down her leg, trailing from the injury. Most likely it was able to pierce a piece of her armor, but she could not let that stop her.

Another spell struck her shoulder blade, but adrenaline, her enhancements, and the shifting kept her from feeling too much of the pain. Gritting through it, she finally made it over the top and was able to land safely on the other side.

Once over the top, she saw a number of students and staff holding off against the robed attackers. Kalliope rushed over since her [Iron Claw] was still in effect and slashed across the back of a few of them, cutting through their skin and bones like butter.

"Lady Kalliope!" One of the students shouted. They appeared to be one of the Marked Ones that attended Wally's classes and had recognized her.

Kalliope gave the students a quick nod before asking, "Where are the other students concentrated?"

They all pointed to the main building where they had been trying to get to while being harassed by arrows, fire spells, and the odd robed fanatic. Based on their screaming and shouting, this seemed to be a mass attack by the same people that have been terrorizing cities and villages all over the continent.

"Alright, let's get there as well. We need a solid location to hold on," Kalliope stated quickly. She could feel her adrenaline leaving her and the pain in her back was beginning to intensify. "Has anyone seen any beastmen?"

All of the students shook their heads, making her curse in frustration. She could not smell them either. With all the smoke and blood in the air, it was nearly impossible to differentiate between the various other smells.

She shook her head clear and rushed towards the main building with the people she rescued. On the short trek there, she had to use four of her five daggers that she kept strapped to her thigh which left her with one more there and then one in each boot. By the time they reached the building, the pain in her back was almost unbearable.

The students and staff inside the building saw them and allowed them entry. Once inside, Kalliope immediately noticed one of Lucius's least favorite people: Thomas von Petra. They locked eyes for a moment before she felt her vision go blurry. The pain and stress of fighting and running with her injury became too much and her body gave out the moment she was able to rest.