Steel and Mana

We were set to burn the city.

That was the initial plan, at least. On paper, it was the best, most efficient way to go about it. From the images brought back by the scouting planes, constantly going over it, Horringar was looking to be more and more intact the more we looked. Then, when the Camelot arrived and we scanned the place, there were no monsters inside, not even when we directly pinged it.

But... There was residue of magic, similar to what comes off corpses, so, somewhere, down there, there were monster corpses, which made us unsure what to think. Especially compared to the other ruins we'd seen so far. There is monster residue, but then... where are the nests? Where are the weird shapes or the carcasses? Where are the ruined buildings? Why is everything so... intact? The second wall especially... It looked untouched, just as the barracks, houses, and the inner castle were, all of which were strangely well-kept. That screamed spooky, and I wasn't going to walk into a haunted house.

"We are set up to fire," Oleg leaned over the battle map, tapping a section marked with red ink, drawing a circle around it. "We will use this tower as a visual target guide and start demolishing the ruins."

"Will we use the artillery or the ships?" Mirian asked, looking at him, then turning towards me with a raised eyebrow.

"Artillery," I answered her, "If there is something below, using it as a lure or trap, and it decides to come out, the ships will deal with it."

"I'd like to see that." The Khan chuckled at that, "The worm you left to us was a headache to deal with... but, its body gave us enough materials to prepare for this crusade."

It was a good thing then... No wonder they had so many arrows ready with tips that could easily pierce the bodies of the beasts.

"Then we are ready!" I gave the order, looking at Oleg, "Send the signal to Rashira and the other four artillery groups selected for this mission. Get the weapons set on the Camelot's mark. Send out a squadron to sweep over the city one more time and drop marking flares down for visual confirmation... Then we reduce the city to dust."

It didn't take long for the planes to take off; this time around, they were launched from the Eagle's Nest, as we used two-seater biplanes for the task. Their first pass was clean. When the markers were dropped, there were no fires rising from the ruins, so we didn't hit anything flammable, and most importantly, no sudden shapes were leaping out of the towers or houses, trying to catch the low-flying planes. It was all going smoothly... too smoothly for my taste.

Then the second pass came, and very quickly static crackled as the leading scout came in on the emergency frequency. With the howling wind and the roar of the engine, it was a bit distorted, but still clear enough to hear.

"Command, be advised… We've got movement."

"Repeat." Oleg straightened immediately, "Define movement."

"Not beasts," the pilot said after a pause. "At least… I don't think so. More... Humanoid. Small figures... They are running along the inner battlements, trying to put out the flares with water."

The room froze at once... even I was surprised.

"Repeat," I said, while waving a hand for Kustov to take us closer. Because at first we saw nothing, I pulled the airships back, further away... Now, with us no longer visible, the hiding creatures did come out to play... I just didn't expect them to be humans.

"Humanoid figures confirmed," the pilot answered, again, "Four… no, five. After putting the fire out, they are trying to hide. They're carrying something... sticks, maybe spears. And…" He paused, "They are going underground... and... they are gone. No more movement."

Of course, by the time the Camelot got back to range and we looked at the city again, there was nothing to see. It, once again, looked dead and empty.

"However weird it seems..." Sasha whispered it first, "We got ourselves some survivors."

"Impossible." Mirian's eyes narrowed at once as we reconverged on the Camelot, discussing the new findings and pausing the order to level the city, "More like thralls. The beasts may keep slaves. Cattle..."

"We never see them get that smart." I smiled, shaking my head.

"Yet," The Khan snorted, this time, agreeing with Mirian, "If they are still alive in there, then they are broken savages, from cannibals to mad killers. Burn the city. To the ground."

"Maybe they are savages," Oleg said carefully, studying the frozen stills from the scouting planes, "But mad dogs don't run from their cover to put out fire that could threaten their homes. They're… more like... afraid. The moment it was done, they also retreated, hiding away."

"Well..." I chuckled, "I think... We are not going to fire yet. Call back the planes and take the Camelot up, high enough that we can still observe, but they can't see us."

"What are you planning?" Mirian asked, looking at me, already guessing it.

"We will... spy a little. One or two days, just to make things sure."

We didn't need to wait for long. By the end of the day, feeling the skies were clear, no more strange, whirring monsters flying by, men, women, and children appeared in the inner city at dusk. They were, from what we saw, thin, wearing ragged clothes, some of the young ones nearly naked, while others, the ones giving the orders, in patched hides. They weren't starving, though, because we watched as they dragged the body of a beast, a small one's carcass, out of one of the houses before beginning to cut it up on the main square, before carrying it away. It was like... watching caveman... As for their weapons, they were primitive, even by local standards, but they also seemed to adapt to their situation, as the spears they held were given bone-made tips. I would bet that their arrows were the same.

The debate erupted immediately after we reviewed our findings at the end of the second day, seeing that the inner city of this long-lost fortress was still alive with approximately a thousand people. That didn't mean they wouldn't die out, but... only slowly. Who knows how many initially survived, only to be whittled down to this number, possibly about a thousand?

"I still say to end their suffering." Mirian said, biting her lip, "This is a trap, and if not, it is still a disease. They'll be half-crazed... Letting them live risks infection, not just to the body but also to the mind. Kill them, honor their memories, and then move on."

"We can save them," Sasha snapped back, sharp enough to make heads turn before she fixed her posture, continuing in a more amicable voice, "They're individuals and they are survivors. People can endure more than you think..." She muttered, and I knew what she was remembering, "If we can feed ourselves on monster flesh and keep our minds, then so can they. We owe them a chance."

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"The insanity," Mirian answered, not offended by the initial outburst of my wife, "Comes not because they eat monster flesh, but from what they endured. Decades of degradation and fear... Three... THREE long winters... That leaves nobody sane in a place like this, cut off from everything."

"Although I agree," Oleg's voice was somewhat neutral, "If we kill them, we end a story that's lasted twenty years behind enemy lines. That's something we shouldn't do lightly... Maybe we could hear them out... If they can still speak our language. And if we save them… we need to be conscious of the dangers it brings."

"I am with the Empress of Ishillia on this," The Khan snorted, shaking his head, "You Avalonians have soft hearts... These are not people anymore. They have lived in hell, hmph, they are still in their hell now. What they need is a quick relief, allowing them to move on from this suffering without realizing it. That is the... how do you say it? Humane way."

For now, I just listened, but didn't speak yet, letting all of them voice their thoughts. My eyes were primarily focused on the images, watching a cluster of survivors help with transferring the meat into the main castle, probably going underground there, because I could see no light escaping any of the windows. The way they worked together, with figures clearly giving out orders and directing them, showed that they were not yet animalistic or completely mad. There was an order, however primitive it may have looked. They managed to kill a small beast and even harvest it for their use. Another point in favor of them being more than savages.

The city of Horringar may have been left to rot, but those who were stuck in here survived this long... That is admirable.

"Oleg," I finally spoke, "Cancel the bombardment."

"Yes, My Sovereign." He saluted, asking no questions of why or what.

"We establish a perimeter," I continued, my voice final, looking at the Khan and Mirian, who offered no argument in turn, "For now, we stay with the airships out of sight, and then we make contact tomorrow, on foot."

"Not today?" Sasha asked, making me look at the afternoon sun.

"I'd prefer the morning... If they've survived twenty years, they can survive one more night. We'll see what humanity remains in them when the sun rises..."

...
....
......

Come the following dawn, from above, the party approaching the outer walls of the city looked insignificant, no more than a squadron of Avalonian soldiers. Of course, for the uninitiated, looks were deceiving, and they were probably going to scare the locals nonetheless. That's why there were three... more human-looking figures sandwiched between the tall and muscular troopers. One of them was Lancelot, who was acting as the soldiers' on-the-ground commander, while on his left and right, Leyla and Arthur were there to serve as the envoys of Avalon first and foremost.

Reaching the walls, the marks of the past decades were easily discernible on it. There were dozens of places where nature had caused the water to seep into the mortar, expanding in the winter and slowly but surely tearing the parapets off. The nearest of the two towers they could see looked to be in a horrible state, too, with its top probably blown away in a battle and crudely replaced, which subsequently collapsed in on itself. The main gatehouse had lost its mouth entirely... the stone around it was blown out, its chunks spreading inwards, the iron gate no longer found anywhere, and the whole thing was now overgrown with vines and moss.

"Careful..." Lancelot waved a hand, and the group stopped, sending soldiers first to take a look. Good thing he did, as they found traps hidden there, including ropes and plates that would sink as they stepped on them, all set out randomly and concealed by the rubble and foliage. If they had walked into it, there would have been a rain of bone-made arrows flying at them.

"This proves Mom's idea," Leyla muttered as they were led through by the soldiers, determining the safe passage. "They aren't savages."

"We will know more when we meet them." Arthur nodded, agreeing.

Passing the gate, the squad fanned to either side of the trio, weapons angled down, constantly scanning the ruined houses and buildings as they passed by them. The city beyond the wall had once been a ring around the hill. It had narrow, snug streets where people had probably fought, fled, and died, and afterward, nature did the rest, cleaning it all away. But... the clues were still there... Overturned braziers, barricades thrown together, blocking alleyways as they looked into the side streets. Looking through some of the holes and empty windows, they could see mounds of skeletons in there, probably the dead, just thrown in there and then forgotten about...

It was like that everywhere. Just as Leon said, it was a ghost town. But then they reached the gate of the secondary wall. It was the exact copy of the first gate, but this one still had its iron teeth, clenched together. There was no way to lift it by hand or squeeze through the holes in its body; those were too small for that.

"The mechanism seems intact," Arthur said as they examined what they could see from their position.

"Why don't we just fly over it?" Leyla offered, making Lancelot clear his throat.

"What about us?"

"Scale the wall?" She offered with a grin, and although they probably could do that... It would be exhausting. And time-consuming.

"I can open it." Arthur chuckled, glancing at the two, "The absence of dust and decay here indicates that they are using this gate, so... Leave it to me."

Without waiting, Arthur simply reached out, invoking the magic within him and turning the gate weightless. He used one of the first formations his father had ever encountered and one of the first spells they had learned, making himself levitate while still being little toddlers.

"Done." He chuckled, reaching down and, with one hand, as if the ten-meter-high metal gate was nothing, began lifting it. "A bit stuck..." He muttered after it stopped a meter off the ground, causing the soldiers to join in and finally push it upwards, forcing the mechanism to give way.

As a result, the metal groaned like a beast, echoing throughout the city. Somewhere inside the wall, a weight banged against something, making Leyla moan, pinching the ridge of her nose.

"Now they for sure know we are coming!"

"That is not a bad thing," Lancelot offered as the gate was raised high enough for everyone to pass under it.

The inner ward opened into a cleared space behind the gate. Probably a parade ground, as it was paved with massive, but faded blocks. The barracks were to their right, their roofs patched in mismatched tiles and rafter ends, or whatever people found to use. To the left, there was a long hall with its doors locked tight and its windows boarded up from the inside. Straight ahead, the road led to the old keep on its own mound, but it looked empty.

But only for a brief second.

The noise had indeed drawn the people out, having its doors flung open. First came men, with spears in hand, with leather stitched to linen and hides hammered onto old armor, their messy hair roped back with gut threads. What followed them were the figures of teenagers with bows, boys and girls alike, appearing in the keep's windows and on its balconies. Those who were probably the leaders wore old military helmets. They were dented and re-riveted multiple times, the city's crests long scuffed and barely visible on their sides. No matter where Leyla or Arthur looked, everywhere they saw desperate patchworks. Be it barbs tied onto shafts with sinew, a bone knife tucked into a belt, a quiver patched with raw leather, a boot mended way too many times, or a cloak cut down from something else to fit a smaller back... it was the definition of patchwork.

But... their faces looked... healthier than expected.

The moment they appeared, the Avalonians took three steps into the square and stopped at Lancelot's raised hand, lowering their weapons but still covering Leyla, Arthur, and Lancelot. It was a silent stalemate for a minute. To break the weird standoff, Lancelot stepped one pace forward and lifted both hands out from his sides, palms empty, showing he wasn't here to cause trouble.

"Sis?" He whispered as he passed Leyla and Arthur.

"They are... afraid..." Leyla mumbled.

"And confused," Arthur added, "But I don't think they will attack. I don't feel aggression in them."

"I hope..." Lancelot answered, "Jila was already hysterical that I wasn't bringing her along, so she can't protect me... don't make her tell me: I told you so." Standing at the front now, Lancelot kept his arms raised, looking at the 'soldiers' standing before him. "We are not here to cause trouble! Do you... even understand me?"

As he asked, the people continued to look at him, then at the Avalonian troops, and finally at each other. In the end, one of the leading figures walked forward, spear in one hand and a round shield, made from cast iron, in the other. He didn't get too close, but, compared to many of the others, he was still one of the better armored and dressed of the bunch.

"We... do..." He said, his voice a bit hoarse, watching Lancelot with apprehension in his eyes, but also... with a strange hope in them, something he was trying to push down and not letting it overwhelm him. "Are you... Death?" He asked, glancing at the soldiers behind him, "Because... you made us wait... a long time if you are."

"No, we aren't." Leyla said, stepping forward, followed by Arthur, giving the man her best smile, "We are from Avalon... And we are here to kill all the monsters."