This story is part of the Wanderer series.
Reaching the top of the hill, which sharply cut off into a sheer cliff, Katsuo and Miyako were faced with a vast vista of the flatlands below. From this height, the expansiveness of the shrubland was laid to bare, uninterrupted for as far as the eye could see. Very faint hints of the passing dusk remained on the horizon, giving way for the night stars to shimmer brightly. Perhaps a kilometer away was the city, cradled by the jagged ruins of their outer city, long abandoned by its inhabitants. The soft glow of the city illuminated their faces as they silently took in the sight.
“Huh! For a city under siege, they sure do burn a lot of fires at night.”
“The Adders was a rich republic before the war,” Miyako reminded. “Their stockpile is bound to be richer than cities we besieged before.”
“Why not do them a favor and set a great big fire for them?”
The princess did not respond. Crossing her arms to clasp her forearms, she peered towards the city as the wind swayed her hair. Though the breeze blew towards them, it carried no sound or smell that could be associated with the city. Only the whistling of the arid wind, cold and bitter now that the sun had set.
Katsuo waited a moment before he took a stomping step forward, impatient to start. He smacked his fist into his palm and twisted it.
“It’s time to stomp out this damn snake!”
Miyako held her chin up, closing her eyes. “Don’t blame me if it bites your leg.”
“Ha! To hell it won’t! Not if I torch it first!”
Letting go of her forearms and dropping her arms to her sides, she lowered her chin back down, pausing briefly, before opening her eyes, revealing two glowing moons. Three black arms swirled out of each pupil, spinning to a stop in unison.
The flame mage flashed her a brief glance, freezing briefly. The release of her aura coursed through him. He clearly felt it. And he could tell, from this intensity, the princess was serious. Clenching a fist tightly by his side, his spirit reignited, returning more vigorously.
“Shall I go first?”
“Be my guest.”
Katsuo took a heavy step forward towards the cliff. “Allow me to show you the fruits of my campaigns!”
Raising his right arm in front of him, he opened his fist and curled his fingers. Resonating his energy, his silhouette began to glow, his hand glowing even brighter as he pooled his power into a glowing ball. It flared to life, fluidly waving side to side as it grew brighter and brighter.
Finally, Katsuo crossed his arm to the left, winding up, then swung it out in front of him. The ball flew into the night sky, into the distance towards the city, leaving a trail of embers like a comet.
Miyako blinked, brows furrowing and eyes narrowing as she observed the glowing fireball with her discerning eyes. It was packed dense with the fire mage’s fiery energy, but not in a consistent manner.
As it reached the peak of its arc and started falling back to the earth, the fireball condensed smaller and smaller before it exploded. However, it was not a powerful burst. No great flash, and barely a sound. Instead, the burst splintered the fireball into dozens of smaller pieces, scattering shards of light over a wide area.
These pieces continued to fly towards the city, their previous momentum carrying them forward, closer and closer to the ground until, suddenly, they all simultaneously sparkled. In a brilliant flash, light engulfed the city surface in a giant arc in front of the two mages as bright explosions rocked the earth. A chorus of concussive blasts barked into the mountains, and a bone-shattering shockwave pounded the cliffside. The silhouette of nearby buildings puffed and swelled as the blast shook off the thin coating of dust on top of them.
Straightening up, Katsuo put his hands on his hips, staring at the glowing landscape as he admired his work.
Miyako looked over to him as he turned around. She had returned to her calm and collective state, brows only slightly more furrowed than her usual expressionless demeanor.
“Scattering Flames.”
“My own version, I would say,” he proudly grinned. “Perhaps ‘Shattered Star’ is more appropriate. It’s not about setting fires that could do nothing but smolder wheat fields. It’s about leveling entire rows of the enemy’s defenses.”
She kept her gaze on him for several seconds, saying nothing. Eventually, she blinked and turned her eyes towards the horizon. “Though it should not be too difficult to revise the instructions to set fires as well.”
Katsuo briefly raised a hand. “Of course, if that’s what you want to do. But you wanted to keep the damage contained, did you not? There’s nothing I can do about a fire once I set one.”
Without waiting for a response, the lieutenant carried on.
“Come on, now,” he prodded her. “It’s your turn.”
Miyako did not immediately move. She would not be hastened by the competitive lieutenant. Instead, she took a deep breath, taking in a broad view of what was in front of her with her aura.
Eventually, she flicked her eyes to a bricked building in the far corner of their designated area. Small and understated, but sturdy. Its build caught her interest, and so did its occupants.
Raising her right arm to cross over to her shoulder, her hand abruptly glowed very bright. A low, pulsating drone rippled the air as her power resonated, pulsing faster and faster. Her long, dark hair started to rise off her shoulders. Then, with a slight twist of her hip, she swung her hand out and threw out a bolt of energy. It soared through the night at high speed, stretching into a long lance as it flew. When the bolt struck the building near its foundation, it did not explode on contact, instead piercing through the wall, leaving a small hole and a kicked-up cloud of particulates.
With her omnipresent eyes, Miyako saw the bolt fly through the earth floor of this small building and strike the wall of the underground room, startling the three men sitting around a table as earthen debris rained down from the ceiling. Eyes slightly widening, Miyako implored the bolt to rapidly expand.
Seeing nothing but dust kick up from her attack, Katsuo leaned forward and squinted at the distance. He blinked when he saw the building suddenly and violently fracture, a bright magenta explosion shooting high into the sky like a geyser, peppering the nearby buildings with brick fragments. The explosion was quick, leaving no remaining light. Just a dust cloud and a crumbling rock pile, the building continuing to collapse inwards into its weakened foundation.
“Huhhh? What was that?” Katsuo quipped with a slight taunt in his tone. “All that for just a small explosion?”
“There was a group of enemy officers in there, hiding away underground,” she replied simply, lowering her arm back to her side. “That was good enough for me.”
“Ha!” he expelled. “Weren’t we supposed to cause chaos and destruction?”
Miyako’s eyes briefly scanned the area, looking for more storage units or men in uniform. “Nothing else here interests me.”
“There’s plenty more people, I’m sure.”
“None of them are officers.” Blinking, she slightly glanced towards Katsuo’s direction. “They’re all on the other side, out of effective range. Why did you choose such a civilian-populated area?”
Katsuo loudly chuckled. “Always going for the heads, I see. You’re not going to impress any imperial general that way.”
“I do not need to make a show to faze my generals.”
His amused expression tempered, his thick brows pointing down again. Rolling a shoulder with a sigh, he stepped forward.
“However… you must remind them, every once in a while, who holds the power in this world. Otherwise, they will become lost in their own strength, believing they can pull our strings.”
Miyako blinked in surprise, giving him a brief glance. Katsuo did not notice, as he brought up his arm to charge another shot.
“Fear is the only language humans understand,” he growled as his energy resonated. “And there’s nothing more effective at instilling fear than destructive magic.”
Throwing out another fireball, he watched it fly into the city with a stern frown.
“These men who once shackled us like beasts… We must dare them to never contemplate such an option ever again.”
A boom echoed in the distance, quickly followed by another ensemble of various bangs and explosions. The princess did not watch this time, her eyes drawn down as she pondered deeply on his words.
Abruptly, she looked up. Her aura agitated with the presence of fast-moving subjects. In the distance, she could see soldiers running down the walls, towards the canons stationed near their outlook.
Eyes glowing brighter, she brought an arm up along her side, hand pointed down with fingers outstretched. Behind her, three seals formed, coalescing energy from her aura and condensing them into three glowing lances. With a swift forward flick of her arm, she sent the lances flying out in a cone, each of them flying true towards their intended target. They hit the cannons before the soldiers could reach them, startling them to stop dead and approach no longer. These lances stuck there, doing nothing else, until Miyako eventually let them explode, seeing the soldiers were not keen on approaching any further.
“It would seem we have been spotted,” she assessed.
“Ha! Let them file in!” Katsuo expelled. “What can they do from this distance?”
Miyako sensed another sudden presence, this time from behind, where her aura was less concentrated and less sensitive. She briskly turned her head, glaring over her shoulders. However, with the loud, grinding footsteps against the stony ground and the clanking of metal armor, it did not take her long to realize the presence was benign. It wasn’t trying to sneak up on them. It was a friendly soldier. Katsuo, seeing her turn and also hearing the hurried footsteps, turned around.
Rushing up the hill was a single soldier, in imperial armor. He dashed up directly towards them, making haste without acknowledging their gazes. Katsuo frowned as he got closer.
“Princess!” he shouted without even coming to a knee on the ground.
The flame mage stepped forward before the soldier could continue.
“What are you doing here, soldier?!” Katsuo demanded. “Can’t you see we’re busy?!”
Shocked by his outburst, the man took a step back. “S-sorry, lieutenant! B-but… an urgent report from the capital has arrived!”
They both stopped still, uttering a silent murmur of surprise. Miyako took a step to the side to better face him. The messenger’s ghastly expression perplexed them as to what the news could be, given the dominating position the army had over the enemy. His expression only warped with further dismay as he began.
“The Great… General… Xin Asahi…”
Miyako’s eyes widened. The name, which under common circumstances drew a loving affection from her bosom upon its articulation, sent a chill down her spine. A name, of which was normally accompanied by respect and admiration, now shadowed with horror. Her heartbeat accelerated. Vision narrowing, the world slowed to a halt, the howling wind disappearing into the background as the words left the messenger’s trembling lips.
“… was slain…”