Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince

Faylin had spent the better part of three centuries in service to the royal family of Aedrider. In all of those long years he had earned the merits required to ascend to the rank of general. Though he had not commanded any great armies in war, he had led more than his fair share of forces against rebels and bandit armies.

Over the centuries many upstarts had both risen and fallen around him. They shined brightly and burned out quickly, but in the end he still remained, strong and steadfast. Though his methods were far from spectacular, his performance was consistent and reliable.

When he received word from the capital that he was going to be supporting the command of a young boy who was not even twenty, he figured them to be another one of the bright stars who would quickly fizzle into nothingness.

Faylin had heard of the infamous Titan of Eroa and having met him, his opinion remained the same. His ideas were grand in scale and unpredictable. Yet they relied just as much on luck as they did skill and timing. Such tactics were grand in scale but were not repeatable. Such fantastic leaders would eventually run out of 'revolutionary ideas' and fail spectacularly.

Even knowing that, having to sit through and assist in implementing no less than two of these plans for Lucius grated upon Faylin's soul. The incident at the river made brought Faylin the closest he had ever been to losing his temper. He had nearly tried to slay the woman on whom the plan hinged.

Tried being the operative word in the scenario. One glance was all it took to tell that she would have been able to end him with a flick of her wrist. Even before she had wrapped the water rope around his body, his instincts screamed at him to retreat. It was only when he found himself bound that he fully registered the threat to his own life.

After that incident, they had sent word to the capital regarding the results of the river flooding. Faylin had expected the capital to condemn Lucius's actions, but their only response was to request a continuance of communication regarding their advance further south.

After that they located a supply depot within an old-growth forest. It was a relatively famous forest known as the Unending Grove. It was famous for being one of the oldest forests on the continent with most of the trees being well over ten thousand years old. In the center of it was a massive clearing that housed a famous village known for growing rare herbs with amazing healing properties. Discover hidden stories at empire

Ayalla's rebels had coerced the natives of the village to allow them control over it and turned it into a supply depot. Since the forest was too thick to navigate, the only reliable way in and out of the village was through two, pre-cut paths. Any other attempts to move through the forest would result in people getting lost or being killed by powerful monsters that inhabited the woods.

Lucius and Faylin spent the better part of a month setting up the necessary pieces for his latest plan. It was yet another one where he refused to share the exact details of said plan with anyone else, even his own close friends. One of whom had come down with an unknown condition at the time.

The only thing that Lucius had requested from him was direct command over their force's rangers and scouts. After he spent a few days separating out the ones he felt had the most promise, he continued to train them for a few weeks after requesting supplies from the capital.

Once the mysterious supplies arrived, he and the selected soldiers disappeared into the woods for days before returning. Out of the twenty that went in, five did not return. Unfortunately for Faylin, one of the ones who did return was Lucius himself. Lucius then instructed Faylin to split their armies in half and position them outside the two paths leading to the ancient village in the forest center.

He tried to explain that Ayalla's people inside would not need to exit within any of their lifetimes and that they only needed to wait for backup to arrive once they notice supplies stopped moving. However, Lucius simply smiled and told him to be patient.

Three days later, Faylin awoke to a strong smell of smoke. At first, he just assumed that fighting had broken out, so he rushed out of his tent in a hurry, completely donning his armor. Other people around him were similarly confused, but no one was attacking.

One thing that was off was a strange light that was brightening the sky at the time. As dawn approached, the light grew even brighter and the smell of smoke worsened. Somehow, Lucius had set fire deep within the Unending Grove and had set it to completely encircle the village within, forcing its populace and occupiers to flee.

The fight was short and bloody with nearly no losses on their own side, but the damage to the ancient forest was devastating. It would be centuries before the forest even partially recovered and the concentration of mana within the woods was decimated.

When they finally rejoined forces, Faylin felt yet another urge to attack Lucius, but knew that it would have been futile. When asked how Lucius pulled this stunt off, he simply informed him that he used basic heating crystals used in elven technology to pull it off. He relied on the insane concentration of mana within the forest itself to forcefully activate the crystals passively.

Him and the scouts and rangers spent days implanting these crystals in hundreds of trees around the circumference of the forest to slowly start the fire without any obvious signs of tampering within the woods.

Again, Faylin filed a report to the capital. Again, they simply responded with a request to keep them updated. There were times where he questioned his loyalty. If Princess Lethaya were so willing to sacrifice so much to win this battle, was she really right for the kingdom?

Was it really worth it to burn their history to the ground, drown their people into oblivion, and permanently scar the surface of their land in order to win?

Those dark thoughts pervaded his mind for weeks more as they fought, tooth and nail against Ayalla's armies, who had been fighting a losing battle. Without a solid defensive line and supplies, they simply crumbled like paper in a child's hand. It was only when they happened upon villages closer to the border that Faylin understood the truth of the matter.

While he was concerned about what happened to the elves on the river, the health of an ancient forest, and the lives of a city full of criminals and slavers… Ayalla's armies tore families apart, murdered innocent men, women, and children, all in the name of purity.

The first village they stopped through after leaving the Unending Grove was essentially barren. Only a handful of people were living there and each of them looked dead inside. After Faylin spoke with the village chief, he had learned that Ayalla's territories demanded the removal or execution of impure elves. Those who resisted, died, those who did not were carted away.

Learning this new information let Faylin look at Lucius in a new light. Though he had sacrificed lives, the elves who remained on the river did, in fact, choose the risk of remaining in a warzone. The trees in the Unending Grove would be replaced once more and the people living within the village at its center were now free.

Even Seteste could be forgiven as most of the residents were criminals and slavers who had been allowed to fester so close to their 'illustrious' capital.

What Lucius had done was not for the greater good. He had no desire to help the elves. His only goal was to return home. If Ayalla had been the one to promise him this, then they would have fought on opposite sides of the war. However, what he had done paled in comparison to the blatant evils committed in Ayalla's name.

Now, they stood outside the southern territory's most powerful city. It was a bastion of trade and a veritable fortress when compared to the places around it. Ayalla's southern armies had no where else to run. Once the city was taken, trade could be reliable reconnected with the human nations once more, allowing Lethaya to finish the war against her sister.

"General Faylin!" A runner hopped off of a horse and saluted him honorably. "Sir, we have confirmation that Lord Kane and Lady Snow have entered the city. If I may, sir, what is it Lord Kane wishes to accomplish?"

The runner was but a boy, maybe fifteen or sixteen. He was a half-elf from one of the caravans they intercepted that was transporting the 'impure' away from a village. Many of their soldiers now consisted of volunteer soldiers who joined their cause in freeing the southern territory. The runner was one such boy.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

In his eyes there was genuine concern for Lucius's well-being. Though somewhat misplaced, all the soldiers like him supported Lucius's campaign as the leader of the army that would give them all their freedom.

"I don't know," Faylin answered honestly with a shrug and a defeated smirk, "But I'm sure it will work out."