Angel Fall - Chapter 1: A Summer Day Breeze

The whirling sands of this dream world start to solidify as distant voices rapidly increase in volume.  From the flat barren land rise two figures.  One a short boy, clearly still very young and uneducated about the world, dressed in the finest regal attire; white puffy blouse, deep purple and pink suit jacket with matching dark purple pants; though oddly he is barefoot. To top it all off he is wearing a dark pastel green top hat covered in pink hearts that appears to be several sizes too big for him yet somehow stays on his head just fine.  The other is a blurry monochrome silhouette of… something tall, even for a human.  Two blurry eel-like appendages wiggle around its hips, and two large masses protruding from her upper back flex with apparent strength.

Something about the boy’s appearance is bothering me, like an itch at the back of my mind that I can’t seem to scratch.  He tilts his head at the phantasm, his shaggy brown hair falling over his hazel eyes.  They are clearly talking, but I can’t understand what they are saying.  Hold on, I also tilt my head when talking to people sometimes… is that…?  I lean in to get a better look. The boy is me! I don’t remember this happening at all, yet this situation feels almost nostalgic.

As if a switch is flipped their words start making sense to me.  The boy- my younger self’s squeaky voice seems far more timid than I ever remember being, “W-why are they doing this? I-I just want to go home… It’s scary-”

	The most lyrical and feminine voice cuts young me off, her words float through the air like notes on a score sheet, “My dearest, I would free you, I truly, sincerely, would if I could.  We could meander through a multitude of meadows, survey seas of summits, patrol through primordial pinewood! The adventures we could have you and I!  But alas, it cannot be, not for me.  One day, my dearest, you will break free of the Queen’s chains, and return from where’th thou came!  You will meander through a multitude of meadows, survey seas of summits, and patrol through primordial pinewood, just not with me.  Then one day you will return to me-“

	“And then we can go adventuring together!” The boy’s face lights up.

Sadness radiated from the women as she lowered herself into a more motherly posture as she placed her hands, at least I think they were hands despite their odd size and shape, on the boys shoulder.

	Sorrow tinted her beautiful voice, “My dearest, it is only for you that I go on in this captivity eternally.  No matter what happens, even if the world turns on you and won’t believe a word you say, and even if they make you wear a crown of thorns upon your head.  If you raise your voice and call for me, I will find you my dear.  I will see you in your dreams, your nightmares too, my love.

	The boy again tilts his head in confusion, “I don’t underst-“

Massive cracks tear across my vision like shattered glass; the pieces falling into oblivion leaving me in an empty void.  A soft early summer breeze tingles my cheek and the ambient sounds of a peaceful early morning begin to wedge their way into focus.  Occasionally a stray ray of light shifts across my eyelids; I guess it is time to get up.

My sore muscles scream in protest as I roll out of bed, my soft cotton blanket sliding off my shoulders and landing on the hardwood floor.  Yesterday’s combat training took a heavier toll than usual on me.  I blame the Valkyries, they have no idea how to hold back even with wooden weapons.  To think we have to deal with their bull shit again today… I massage my legs in preparation for their inevitable beating.

I know Paladin General Viliton is just doing it to help us become better heroes, but it’s rather unrealistic to train against a creature that has the uncanny ability of finding every single hole in our armor from just a glance.  I stand and crack my back.  I guess it’s good training though, targets have started taking us seriously since we killed the succubus general several months back.  It was actually rather insulting before; the cocky fiends wouldn’t really try until their fate was already sealed.

I tenderly slip on my gold-trimmed white Church gambeson shirt and pants, and take my time tying my thick leather boots.  I am really glad that I left armor back at the church barracks, at least now I can stretch out a little bit.  I slowly look around my rather bare room, except for a few books and encyclopedias on monsters and magic, old rusting weapons I don’t use anymore, and dusty furniture.  A small one room house like this beyond the outskirts of a major city isn’t really fitting for someone like me, but I’m not home much so there is no point in spending more than I need too.  With a sigh I force myself out the door, not even bothering to lock it. Not like there is anything in there worth stealing or I can’t easily replace.

The sunlight streams through vibrant green leaves of the old oaks surrounding my home, the smell of dew and storm still linger in the air from the thunderstorm we had last night.  My boots sink to thick mud with a squelch; this is going to be a long walk. Song birds fly overhead singing their merry tunes, the sounds of rustling leaves in the wind, the my heart beat; the Chief Goddess’ music is all around me.  Maybe this is why I chose to live here?

My thoughts begin to drift as I begin my long trek to the barracks, drifting from fleeting interest to fleeting interest.  I am genuinely glad Ninic is doing so well with his girlfriend, I think they truly were made for each other.  Though it is disappointing that he is spending less and less time with us outside of work, it is hard learning spells by myself, I just don’t have the knack for it like he does.

I do know a few useful spells though!  Using my heart as a conduit I can create a shockwave to knockdown beings tainted by demonic energy.  I also can… yeah… that’s about it when it comes to magic, I really do need Ninic’s help.  Tiger thinks it is silly for someone like me to learn magic, says that we should have a role which we must be good at.  I believe that we should all know the basics of each other’s rolls.

In the distance is the Church barracks. Forty acres of meadow and forest just a short walk from my house.  It is the largest training area in all of Olea, and it is the training ground for the finest warriors the Church has to offer.  I could have opted to live in the Barracks like Pops and Twitch, but then I would have to deal with THEM.

Even from this far away I can hear their endless shouting and arguing over who is better at this or that, honestly they are just a bunch of large children in suits of armor.  The Ashar Empire and the Wesau Kingdoms occasionally send their knights here for joint operation training in monster hunting here with us since the Church is neutral territory.  We take extra precautions to make sure the rivalling states don’t kill each other, but that doesn’t stop them from getting in each other’s faces whenever they get the chance.

A pair of rather tall men clad from head to toe in thick gray steel armor with weapons very clearly in fighting positions stood at each other’s throat no more than fifty yards from me.  It is impossible to make out their insignias from here, but they are obviously from the rivalling countries.  I will not have such a lack of discipline slide right before my eyes!

	“Hey shit stains! Who the fuck gave you permission to fight outside the barracks unsupervised?”

The two soldiers turn and snap to attention the moment they recognize my clothing.  I don’t need to be armed or armored to level a pair of dipshits who think they can pull a fast one on us and kill each other, and they know that.

	I don’t let my momentum slow down, “That’s what I fucking thought! You two, with me. NOW!”

On queue as I walk past them they turn in and follow me, heads hanging low in embarrassment.  I swear by the Chief Goddess that some of these men are no more mature than boys.  On the bright side escorting these two idiots to the General will buy me a few more moments of rest before I have to get my ass kicked by Valkyries.  Whatever it takes to be a hero though I guess.

The parade of shame continues in silence except for the echoing clinks of metal plate on plate and the clacks of metal boots on masonry.  The occasional passerby gives us an odd look but never more, everyone knows what it means to be escorted by a Church member like this.  The barracks themselves aren’t that big considering how they house over four hundred people at any given time.  Most of the buildings have been converted into housing, and are no better than what we had at boot camp.  The advantage to living here though is free food and a set routine every day which is nice.

The “Officers’ Den”, as it is called by recruits, looks no different than any other building here with its plaster and wood structure over a cobble and topped off by a thatch roof.  With each step we take I can sense the two men losing their morale.  I push in the heavy hardwood door, a thud marks our arrival to the any officers within.  The floorboards creak underfoot, drawing the attention of the clerk who shoots me a small grin; that sadist.  We reach the General’s office, the tension is palpable as I knock.

	We can hear a muted gruff voice from behind the door. “This better be damn important.”

I shoot the two tits a grin before gesturing them in.  The General looks them over with clear contempt in his eyes.

	“Lieutenant Viliton, you have an important training session today.  I highly suggest you make your to the briefing room immediately.”  The look in his eye says something serious has happened.

I ball my fist over my heart in a salute before taking my leave.  The two foreigners look at me in shock, any trace of fear for the inevitable chewing they are about to receive is gone.  Everyone on the grounds knows who Paladin General Viliton is.  It is not common knowledge however that he has an adopted son, which would be me.  I am told I was found as a child wondering around in the middle of a forest crying for someone named “Melody” who they assume is my sister or other family members.  I don’t remember any of this, my earliest memory was when I turned eleven which was a year or so after they found me.  It has been thirteen years since then.

Even while I walk through buildings heading off into the forest reminiscing about times long past, I can hear the General shouting out the unfortunate targets of his fury.  The first thing I remember is Viliton taking me to this very compound and teaching me how to hold a sword properly.  I wouldn’t say learning how to fight was easy, but it certainly came naturally to me.  I had been accepted into the ranks of the Church’s Paladins by sixteen, and became a commando by eighteen just like Ninic.  I guess he is kinda of walking in my footsteps.  Maybe I should mentor him or something.  I’ve always wondered what it would be like to be an older brother.

Some twenty yards into the forest just past the final building of the compound stands a brown canvas tent big enough to fit an entire platoon of men.  Looks like this is going to be a big mission, I wonder how many other teams will be training with us.  I brush open the entrance flap expecting to see at least three other commando teams, however it’s just us.

	Twitch’s arm drapes over my shoulder as I approach the table placed in the center of the tent, “Glad ya could join us, you ready for dungeon crawling?” His thick oceanic accent slaps me with confusion.

	“Dungeon crawling? What business do we have in some cave or ruin, and on such short notice for that matter?”  I’ve heard of emergency missions being assigned, but never have I been a part of one.

	Pops looks up from the map of the Deepoak forest which is just north of our current location, New Carlisle, “Rumor has it that this forest is haunted, however this is not entirely true!  Only the ruins that are scattered throughout the forest are haunted.  Now normally that wouldn’t be a problem, but Lord Tancernal’s son decided to go missing in one of these ruins and made it our problem.”

	Tiger growls across the table to Pops, “Why haven’t the royal guard not taken care of this?  We are not some lord’s toy soldiers.”

	“Excellent question Tiger! The General asked Lord Tancernal that himself.  The great lord apparently sent a contingent of royal guard two days after his son was supposed to have returned with the orders to send a message as soon they retrieved the boy or needed reinforcements.  It has been a week since then and the ruins are only half a day’s ride from here, though it probably took a group that size a day and a half!”

	Ninic has been quite this whole time, just standing in deep thought across the table from me.  He finally speaks up and says what is all on our mind, “For an entire contingent of royal guard- which is what, like fifty to seventy-five men? To get eliminated so quickly that they don’t even have time to send for help… What could possibly be in that ruin?  It must be trapped to all hell at the very least.”

	There is only one creature vile enough to be capable of something like this, “Liliam.”

	Pops is no longer smiling, his tone much more dire than I’ve ever heard it before, “You better hope you’re wrong Smiles, or humanity might as well be fucked.”

The room goes quite again as we think the situation over.  I can only see this being caused by a Liliam or a large horde of monsters.  Deruella is by far the closest liliam to us. But her last known location was in her corrupted country half a continent away from here.  There are more than a hand full of countries between us and her, so if she were to come this way we would have at least heard of it.

	Twitch slams both palms on the table in a morbid excitement, “It could be either a group of lichs or a Sabbath sect!”

	Ninic’s face is scrunched into a frown, “The Sabbath wouldn’t have that much power unless it was a blood moon… However a group of lichs seems highly probably.  The location fits as well, ruins tend to be dark, damp, and quiet places.  Now they likely have a massive reverse harem to constantly pump them full of spirit energy.  This must be rectified immediately.”

	We all nod our heads in agreement, but it is Tiger’s smooth Zipangunese	 accent that breaks the silence, “So how do you suggest we proceed in eradicating these monsters, retrieving the ‘hostage’, and exfiltrating without losing anyone, friend?”

Ninic blinks in surprise, it isn’t often that he is the one spearheading the creation of our plan of attack.  Tiger did touch on an important matter though.  If the situation is as it seems, then dozens of people have been captured, and likely mind-broken to an extent, by these creatures.  Not to mention that they are likely well on their way to becoming incubi.

We do have a way to cleanse people of corrupting demonic energy, but that is only if deep down they want to be purified.  The farther gone a person is, the less they want to return to being human.  Those who cannot be purified are generally killed.  There have been a few oddball cases of incubi working with the church, but that rarely lasts long.

	“Well… OUR job is to retrieve the Lord’s son, what was his name again?”

	Pops answers the question the rest of us have been wondering, “The fuck’s name is Lorodim. 5’6”, slightly overweight white male with “very nicely” combed brown hair, and blue eyes.  He should be the most nicely armored or dressed person there, assuming they haven’t decided to turn him into a toy or some shit!”

	Ninic nods his head at Pops, picking up where he left off, “R-right.  Well since this is a rescue mission I think it would be better if we used demon silver weapons in case they force any of the hostages to fight us.”

Twitch grumbles something inaudible, probably a curse.  I can sympathize with him; it is impossible to kill with anything made with demon silver, not to mention they give our weapons a sickly pink hue.  When something made out of demon silver strikes an object containing spirit and/or demonic energy, instead of dealing physical damage it drains the object of those energies.  Once a person or creature’s spirit or demonic energy is depleted they lose the will to fight and collapse.

When the Demon Lord learned about the properties of this ore, she immediately declared that all monster soldiers under her command would now be using it instead of steel.  To the uneducated mind that may seem like an advantage to us.  However now there is a fate worse than death awaiting those who fall before the Demon Lord’s ranks.

	I don’t like where this plan is going, “That is assuming we get into combat.  I suggest we all use plated leather armor with footpads for maximum stealth.  What do you think?”

	“Ah, yes.  I agree, stealth will be our greatest advantage.  So blackened plated leather for decreased visibility, footpads for silent movement… Maybe smear tar over our weapons to get rid of that silly pink, and remove any possibly glow?”

	Pops, the most knowledgeable on our team on anti-monster weapons and tactics, leans forward to get Ninic’s attention, “Tar is a good idea! Unfortunately it will also decrease the effects of the demon silver by placing another surface between it and whatever it is striking.  I mean that effect is why we still wear armor against the Demon Lord’s soldiers instead of running in naked!  I would suggest we still use tar, but rather coat all metallic non-striking surfaces with it.”

	“Let’s do that then.  I also suggest we strike at night to further increase our chances of infiltrating without being detected.”

After a few more moments of silence we all nod our heads in agreement; there isn’t much more to do now besides prepare.  We all head our separate ways, though Ninic decides to stay in the tent to study the map some more; probably to plan our vector of attack.  I need to think all of this over, so I head to my meditation spot deep into the training grounds.  Old trees tower above me, yet still sway ever so slightly to the wind’s whispers.  Off in the distance the tree line breaks and opens up to large meadow; my special spot is just beyond that on a hilltop overlooking a small pond.

A cold wind rushes against me, and I get this tingling sensation on the back of my neck.  It is almost like… I can feel someone watching me.  The soft clinking sound of armor tickles my ear as a hand gently presses down on my shoulder.  I tense up immediately by reflex, but after a few moments my brain catches up and I relax.

	“Good afternoon Lavina.”

	“You seem worried, what bothers you Lance?”

Lance.  Caroline was the only other person to call me by my first name.  It is… relaxing to hear it again.  The hand slides off my shoulder as Lavina floats to my side.  We walk in comfortable silence to my serene resting location.

I lay down on the large boulder on the crest of the hill that overlooks the calm waters of the barrack’s small pond.  Lavina sits down on her heels next to me, her heavy blue plate armor clinking as she sways.  Her four milky white wings are folded tightly against the small of her back yet as the wind blows my way the scent of roses tingles my nose as her silky white robing envelops me like a blanket.

	“We’re going north tomorrow for a rescue mission.  Some Lord’s son got himself kidnapped or whatever.  Lots of powerful monsters and slaves, low chances of success or survival		, the usual.”  I steal a glance at her.

	Her blonde hair flowing from underneath her ultramarine blue helmet with gold trimming, covering part of her flawless milky white stoic face.  I can feel her deep blue eyes on me before I see them.  “You will be fine, I believe in you.”

I close my eyes and let the heat of the afternoon sun warm my weary bones, another emotionless response.  Ever since she took a notice in me I’ve been making a game out of trying to get some sort of emotion out of her.  Even after long hours of her beating the shit out of me in training, and she always insists on being my sparring partner, she doesn’t even show remorse for going so hard.  On the one occasion she broke my hand I only got a quiet apology.

She is the sister I never had.

I can still feel the tingling sensation of her eyes drilling through me, but I ignore it.  It must be boring for her to be cooped up here all the time.  Valkyries used to be allowed to come with us on operations, however after several incidents of them becoming corrupted and kidnapping their favorite hero, they were restricted to training inside the compound.  I feel sorry for her.

There are few days as peaceful as this for me, it would be a shame for me to waste it by worrying about the future.  The warm summer breeze brings with it the sweet aromas of flowers and Lavina.  The almost lyrical chirping of birds in nearby trees act as a sweet lullaby, and soon my consciousness slips away.