Tales of Eleutheros

Katrina opened her eyes, and the first thing she saw was the damp stone ceiling of a cave. She blinked in confusion for several moments before attempting to sit up, something she immediately regretted when her abdomen flared in pain.

“Stay down,” Delmos said, sitting next to her. He was tending a pot of something that smelled delicious. Katrina perked up at the fragrance, unable to remember when she last ate. She laid her head back down on her rolled-up cloak that he had fashioned into a pillow for her.

“Where are we?” she croaked. “What happened?”

“You survived.” Delmos turned to her with a bowl of soup. “Here, drink this. It will help heal your wound.”

She reached out and noticed that the usually humorous and boisterous man was serious and solemn. “Delmos, what happened?”

He didn’t say anything for a long moment, just hung his head and shook it. “We lost everything… the city, our families… Avria, apparently, she was killed by Alektor… Dan too. That’s what people are saying.”

“What?” Katrina shot up, enduring the searing pain. “You’re lying, it’s not possible.”

“That’s not even the worst part,” he continued. “Survivors of the battle in Rexun have started to trickle back; there aren’t many. And details of his victory have come to light.”

Katrina didn’t say anything. Her eyes began to well with tears at the thought of her lost friend and master.

“The one responsible for their victory was Robert.”

She shot him another look. “What?”

He took a drink from his own bowl of soup and continued. “He learned some strange new abilities; he’s able to animate the dead, to create illusions, to mask whole damn armies.”

“No.” The tears began to stream down her face now. “You mean…”

“Yeah… he was the one who controlled Oros’ body when he killed Agron… the son of a bitch killed our Hego, got those bastards into Vul De Rah, and pretty much single-handedly butchered our whole army in Rexun. They never even knew what hit them, the survivors said a second force materialized out of thin air behind them and broke their back. Oros turned to fight them, but Alektor… that…” He swallowed hard. “He killed him, burned him alive with his Dunamis.” He looked at Katrina, his eyes full of rage. “I didn’t think there was any Dae alive, save an ascended, who could kill Oros with their Dunamis. He was… he was powerful.”

Delmos wiped his mouth and placed his bowl on a stone next to the pot he used to cook. “My father made it out, though. I guess that’s the only good news I have. We’re separated from them, though.” He pointed to the small cave’s opening. “We have the survivors of the palace guard who fought with me, most of them are injured and useless. And about fifty survivors from the battle in Rexun, all tired and weary from their travel back. We ran into them by chance. There is a camp outside, but they aren’t in any condition to fight. We have to rest up, heal up, then… we’ll see.”

Katrina laid her head back down and wiped her eyes. “Avria… Dan…” she said quietly. “What are we going to do now, Delmos?” She put her hand on his. “I’m sorry about Avria, I…” The words couldn’t come out. She wanted to be supportive, but she was once again broken.

“I know,” Delmos said. “I mean, she was a mean and terrifying bitch, but she was my sister and always looked out for me. Always defended me when I was in trouble.” He sighed heavily. “And Dan… that poor bastard.” He stood up. “Once we’re healthy enough to travel, we make our way to Vul De Mar. It’s to the north, somewhere. I’ve never been there, but hopefully, King Yomin isn’t a coward like everyone thinks he is. If he’s useless? Then maybe to the Torre’, who knows… damn it all! I’m not a leader. This was Avria’s thing. I just make jokes and look pretty.”

“I heard you were a pretty good officer,” Katrina said, earnestly. “Daniel said it was your leadership that won the day against the raiders.”

“Sure.” He scoffed. “It was Dan and his crazy tactics from your world. I just took the credit, which was fine with me, but now that things are on my shoulders?” He sighed. “Great, now I’m sighing like Dan. Look what he’s done to me.”

“We’ll figure something out.” She sniffed, wiping away more tears. “We have to.”