The Crimson Prince： Awakening 60 Chapter 31: Light's Hope

As the darkness lifted from around Michael, he found himself surrounded by the abandoned cottages of their base of operations. He looked around the small town of ember and was reminded that this was not the same kingdom he had once known.

The few days Will had been away was enough for Michael to ponder the changes his home had underwent. No matter what Leo had told him, nothing but witnessing the destruction first hand could have made him truly understand the gravity of the situation they faced.

As Leo was deep in thought, Michael came up from behind him. "Well, this is nostalgic." He said as he took a deep breath of fresh air. "Its been too long since I stepped foot in Nearwood," Michael lightly tapped himself on the head, "my bad, I meant Ember." Years of familiarity with the name had him at a loss for words. He knew his nephew had changes in place, yet he couldn't help but wonder how the kid was going to resurrect the graveyard of a town.

Looking at the many teenagers that followed him, he could see the same haunting expression on most of their faces. To many, the broken village had been home. Each face turned to a specific cottage with a woeful glance. "This will be the first thing to fix when this storm blows over." He said with a little more emotion than he wanted. "I hope you got what you needed while you were at the mansion."

Leo nodded. He had explained everything to Will's uncle a few days prior, but he knew that Michael had grown in Crystallia. Believing something had changed could only be brought about through seeing that it had.

Michael's eyes roamed the abandoned street with a small hint of familiarity and Leo could see something else as well. His eyes looked mournful as he looked upon the burned cottages that must have belonged to people he once knew.

"Will hasn't given up on this village." Leo stated simply. Michael turned his vacant expression towards his nephew's best friend. "He had me do extensive research on carpentry while I was home."

Leo took his pack from his shoulders and opened it. He grabbed a handful of rolled paper and presented them to Michael. He unrolled them and looked at detailed blueprints that he recognized as newer style houses from earth. He unrolled another to see recipes for mortar and cement. "So, this is where it starts." He said under his breath while handing the papers back to Leo. "Will is waiting not too far from here." He looked towards where he knew Ebonhart lay in wait. It seemed like a normal night, the wind was but a calm breeze. When Michael looked up at the sky, he noticed the absence of stars. "I don't think we have much time."

King Ragnos

A low rumble rang from the darkness outside of the golden barrier. King Ragnos could all but see Aremesis enjoying his catch as his aura crashed against the royal gold like waves. .h.i.tting a pier at high tide. How long, exactly? The king heard a whisper within his mind which didn't belong. How long do you think you can hold me back?.

The King's lip twitched into a faint half smile. He knew he couldn't fool the darkness with theatrics, the golden barrier had already started fading ten minutes prior. He knew he was on borrowed time already.

"As long as it takes." King Ragnos summoned as much strength as he had. The barrier regained its previous s.h.i.+ne, but at a cost.

Jonathan glanced at his old friend for a split second before turning his eyes back to the barrier. "You've looked better." He said as one explosion hit after another.

It was Ragnos's turn to chuckle. "Well I could just let you die and make a run for it." The thought had been ridiculous enough that he had to regain his composure and give Jonathan a serious look. "I will keep us alive long enough for our son to find us."

A silence to match the darkness outside the barrier fell upon the crowd of knights as Jonathan pondered his next words.

"The fact that you can even say such a thing gives me great pride, my friend." His words were quiet, yet steady. The King knew Jonathan had been awaiting a response which swayed in the opposite direction. "Surely, this is not the time to speak of such things."

"You are not wrong," Ragnos looked at the barrier, a small bright crack had formed in front of them displaying a look of content witbin his weary face. "But now is the time we have, and I must use what we have been given wisely."

Jonathan could only roll his eyes. "Even in the midst of h.e.l.l, you still cannot forgo formalities, can you?" He raised an eyebrow at the king. The knights guffawed at the lack of respect their king was receiving, only a personal friend could be so bold.

"Myself and Isabelle were the ones who brought young William into this world, yet I have known him for only three years." The King's tone was solumn and full of regret. "Yet you," He poked a finger at Jonathan's chest while maintaining focus on the barrier. "You raised him with my wife. You were there to teach him, to guide him and not once did you court Isabelle."

Jonathan was taken aback by Ragnos's boldness. "How could you know that for certain?" He knew that the King had been all but locked in his castle for the last fourteen years.

"The answer is simple," Ragnos smiled. "You still maintain your aura, which means you still support your king." Jonathan looked as if he were going to say something, but the King cut him off with a wave of his hand. "You raised my boy to lead without even knowing the proper lessons, you taught him to be strong yet also, you taught him compa.s.sion. I could not have wanted for any other teacher for William, nor any other kind of father."

Jonathan was struck by the praise his old friend had been giving him. Though he had done right by Will, he was waiting for the king to vent his frustration upon him for taking his son in the first place. "We are both proud if the man we raised then." He said simply. "So lets both survive this darkness, if only to see the king he will become."

Leo

"Regroup!" Leo yelled across the large contingent of both darkness and his men.

Along the kings road a mile away from Ember, Leo and his group came across a knight that had been on patrol. The moment they laid eyes on the man, they knew something had been wrong.

The knight drew his sword and charged their group. Michael met him with an ice lance, blocking the attack. As soon as the weapons net, more knights came from the woodline to join the attack. Within minutes, an ambush had a.s.saulted their small force.

"They must be under the control of Aremesis!" Michael yelled out as the small contingent of weilders regrouped. "We can't kill them!"

"It might be too late for that." Leo said while his weapon met the cold steel of an advancing knight's blade. He noticed a line of sliced flesh along the knight's jugular. "Darkness can only rule over the dead."

Realization flooded Michael as he held off another knight who tried to get under his defenses. "Then it has to be this way." He said solemnly as he created bolts of ice above him. He had purposefully held back for the sake of saving the men. "Leo," he motioned his head towards his nephew's friend while parrying a blade with his ice lance. "Maybe you could use these."

Leo sidestepped a knight, bringing him behind his enemy. Looking at the ice shards, he focused on each one, creating a small vortex surrounding them. He released the shards in each direction, each one making a path through the horde of animated corpses.

None of the knights fell, but huge chunks of their armor and flesh were torn from them as the ice made its way through the ma.s.s of enemies. No matter the damage, they continued to throw themselves at the group of weilders.

"It's no use, they just keep coming!" He yelled out to Michael. "We should fall back to Ember and regroup!" Looking around the horde of enemies, he began to see familiar faces. It was not only knights attacking them now, but also fallen allies. Their lineage weapons had taken on a dark rusted black appearance and their eyes had become milky white.

"I don't think that's an option at the moment." Michael said as he too began to see the new addition to the enemy offense. "I doubt the spreading corruption would wait for us to take our leave."

Leo began to see the hopelessness of the situation before him. No matter which way he turned, the enemy had the path blocked. They were now surrounded on all sides, the knights were blocking their path forward, and now the turned wielders blocked their path from escaping.

"I owe you a drink if we get through this." Leo said as he smirked at his older friend.

"You might have to wait a few years for that." Michael said with a smirk.

As they stood back to back, the horde slowly began to close in on the dwindling group. Leo could make out smiles on the animated corpses that still had mouths and knew that the puppeteer was having a good laugh at them.

'You have ten seconds to make peace with your G.o.ds.' A voice rang out within Leo's mind. 'Take heart, your usefulness will start the very moment the light leaves your eyes.'

The horde stopped moving as the voice echoed within the minds of each of the living.

"We survived all of it just to die here?" Leo heard a voice behind him, he was glad to know someone other than Michael was alive.

"No." Leo said with a surprising amount of courage in his voice. "The moment everything turns to s.h.i.+t, you have to believe there is a way out." He said as he turned to his friends. "In any tale, darkness never wins. There is always something surprising and unexpected that happens before all is lost."

As he spoke, he noticed flashes of white light headed in their direction from Ember. With each flash, he could hear cries of agony getting louder. "Something like that." He said with a smirk as he once again went into his defensive stance. "If we die today, its because of our lack of faith. So do me a favor, turn around and face your enemy until there is either no one left or your arms are missing."

The horde of the dead began to close in once more, but before they could reach, the light found its way to the center.

Leo could only shale his head in amazement as he looked at the source of light. Within the blinding light stood a brown haired girl of fair complexion wearing a white tank top and brown cargo shorts.

"I never would have guessed this." Leo said with a chuckle. "Did you enjoy your vacation?" His eyes lit up as he welcomed her into the battle.

"Admit it, you missed me." Bianca smiled as she held a white and gold staff which swirled with a white aura.