Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince

As the guard captain finished rolling along the ground, the others drew their weapons and surrounded Lucius in a semi-circular formation. He made no moves to engage the others and simply stood and waited.

Before making his move, he had realized that a handful of people were watching them. A few of them stayed just outside of his sensory range and he felt like a few others had managed to evade his nose and ears. However, the one he was waiting for was making his way down from the wall to join the other guards.

"Stop at once!" A loud voice boomed, making everyone sheathe their weapons immediately.

The voice came from a man that Lucius had not spoken with directly, but was somewhat aware of. He participated in various training drills for the military and the guard units at the capital and many people knew him as a very harsh instructor; hence the rapid response to his command.

The man himself was Commander Arturo Hiroth and he was considered to be the right-hand man of King Aleksander. Though Lucius was not completely sure why, the leaders of the Five Kings Union wanted to stay on neutral terms with him as much as they could. Of course, Lucius was gambling with that behavior at this point in time.

"Lord Lucius Kane," He said with a stiff bow, "please beg our pardon for the captain's behavior. I will be more than happy to let you into the city. If you would just follow me…"

His response was mechanical and forced and that made it clear that he had no desire to help Lucius at all. Luckily for him though, Lucius did not care about his tone or politeness since he got what he wanted.

The group followed Commander Arturo through a series of smaller doors separate from the main gates which were much larger. They were the doors and pathways used by the city guard for changing staff without interacting with the public who was entering and exiting the city.

"As you have heard we are under attack." The commander explained, "Whoever is behind it launched a blitz attack from inside our city and specifically targeted the Arcadios Royal Academy. Unfortunately we haven't been able to route them with…"

"I don't care." Lucius cut the commander off in his explanation.

Commander Arturo had started to walk in the direction of the school, likely believing that Lucius would help them sort the situation out. However, he had no interest in that. Lucius's only concern was ensuring that his mother and Kalliope were okay at the embassy.

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'Lyrah is there too I suppose…' he thought to himself with a sigh. He found it inconvenient that he was starting to think of her in a positive light. The feelings he held were nowhere near a sibling or even an acquaintance. Rather, if something happened to her, then he would feel that it was simply unfortunate.

Arturo's jaw dropped as Lucius led the group away from the academy and towards the Eroan Embassy without another word. Lucius continued to stare forward despite the man's shouts and complaints at his behaviors. Eventually the mountain of a man threw his arms up in resignation and continued to the academy on his own.

"Are you sure that was wise, my love?"

"I need to check on Mother and Kalliope."

"As you say."

Wordlessly they continued to the embassy where they saw the Eroan guards fortifying the building. Outside of it there were a handful of corpses wearing strange robes and masks over their faces. They had been piled in one location but no one wanted to burn them until they had been properly searched.

"Lord Kane!" One of the Eroans ran up to him panting. "It's chaos sir. The academy is up in flames… Lady Kalliope…"

Lucius felt his heart stop momentarily. "Where is she?"

"At the academy sir… we tried to…"

Before the man could finish his sentence, Lucius had already taken back off towards the academy. Without hesitation, Rena was already on his tail. Jade and Natali stayed behind as Desmond moved to follow.

"No! Stay here. Protect my mother and Lyrah!" Lucius barked at him.

Rena was keeping up but only barely. She cast enhancement magic on herself to keep up, but it almost wasn't enough. "I am sure… she is okay." The woman panted.

He continued to stare at the flaming walls of the academy with his nose honed in on any hint of Kalliope's scent. If so much as a whiff of her hit him, he would instantly adjust his trajectory. As he was, it took no time at all for them to make it to the barricade that the Arcadios military had set up.

Between the two sides, no one was exchanging either an arrow or spell. There was an uneasy calm between them. The military knew that if they pressed, they risked the lives of those inside. The enemy knew that if they attacked, it would force the military's hand.

"Lord Kane…" Arturo grumbled. "So kind of you to join us…"

"I'm going inside." Lucius stated.

"No!" the commander shouted. "There are many noble sons and daughters inside that school. If we provoke the enemy into…"

Lucius was no longer listening to what anyone was saying. Rena gripped onto him, but he continued to move, dragging her along with him.

"My love, please… remain calm. I am sure…" Rena tried to calm him, but it wouldn't work. He already smelled it.

She followed his gaze and his hand as he pointed to the top of the walls. She could only faintly make out several large streaks of red along the stone. "That is her blood." He said simply.

The storm above continued to swell and the wind began to pick up once more. The walls of magical fire, which had completely resisted the storm until now, began to flicker and fight against the storm. Lightning crackled across the sky and thunder shook the earth.

"Lucius… please calm down." Rena pleaded. "You can't do this here. We have to be smart about this."

He continued to ignore her words as he drew his weapon from his back. A ring with a gem blacker than night appeared on his hands while his shadow danced beneath him. Lucius saw his reflection in his lover's eyes and noticed the twisted grin on his face.

"Hmmm…" He muttered. "Interesting…"

The ring imbued him with a strange power. It felt as though his connection to his mark felt stronger and more stable. Grimm chuckled in the back of his mind as Lucius came to realize this. 'If you find more… you can have a lot more fun.'