The Shield of Light legion separated into two groups to cross the Transverse Mountains and headed to the north. The two groups then separated into several smaller forces and swept across the plain. Fernando wanted to eliminate as many zombies as possible, and this plan was an effective way to achieve that. After two days, the legion had already eliminated more than a thousand zombies. Most of the zombies were alone or in small groups of less than five hundred. It only took a small squadron of knights to eliminate them. There were only a few injured and they were all taken care of quickly.
Blavi, Ozzic, and Orsie arrived in a nearby village to rest. They were staying by the edge of the town so they didn’t have to face a town ravaged by zombies. Their job was to contact the remaining resisting mercenaries and detect nearby necromancer and zombie activity. Necromancers were very sensitive to light magic and could sense it from miles away. The best thing to do was the have the mercenaries take care of gathering information.
Their next destination was a larger town called Hardikan. According to Fernando’s intel, there were still around six hundred mercenaries there. Most of the mercenaries belonged to Green Wilderness mercenary group. Blavi, Orsie, and Ozzic needed to decide how they should approach the town and whether or not they should allow the mercenaries there to join them at Moramatch. This was the first stronghold they would come into contact with, and they were determined
to do things right.
A dozen riders rode toward the town and stopped just outside of it. Christian jumped off of the first horse and walked over to Blavi.
"What are you doing here?" Blavi asked, surprised.
Christian shrugged. "I’m bored," he said. "How everything going?"
"Good," Blavi said. "If you’re looking for Anfey, he’s over there."
Christian frowned. "What is he doing?"
"Practicing, I think," Blavi said with a shrug.
Anfey was sitting on the ground, staring intently at the fiery longsword in his hand. The sword had melted the snow around him, exposing the dark earth and dried tufts of grass. The sword caused the water to evaporate, and the earth became increasingly dry.
Shinbella watched Anfey quietly from about ten feet away. She didn’t mind the heat but she knew that using combat power could potentially affect Anfey’s concentration. She hated it when people interrupted her practice, so she did not want to interrupt someone else.
Anfey’s grip around the sword tightened. Everything around him seemed to have faded because he was so focused on the elements. He felt the pulsing of the fire elements that made up the sword and concentrated on that. His mind closed in on that pulsing, his heightened senses able to sense the flow of the elements perfectly.
Nearby, a small snake poked its head out of the ground, fooled by the warmth of its surroundings. It slithered out of its hiding place, then quickly ducked back into its hole when its body came in contact with the unmelted snow. Shinbella narrowed her eyes when she
she saw the red glow in Anfey’s hand.
Seeing that the fire sword had changed into a red blade, Anfey finally leaned back and relaxed. The blade’s elements had completely solidified, and it was glowing a dull red light. The sword looked more like a sword that just came out of a dwarf’s forge instead of an element sword. Anfey waved the sword a bit then returned it to the sheath. As soon as the sword was returned to the sheath, the elemental surges disappeared and the heat in the air dissipated. Anfey stood up and stumbled due to sudden dizziness.
Shinbella hurried over and grabbed his arm, helping him stand up straight. "You alright?" she asked.
"I’m fine," Anfey said, nodding. This was a warning to him. He knew that he had pushed himself too far and he should rest. If not, he should at least try another way to practice. If he kept on pushing himself, he might achieve the exact opposite of what he wanted.
"This is the most dangerous thing to practice," Shinbella said. "One misstep could lead you to lose everything. You need to be more careful."
"I understand," Anfey said. He stretched and relaxed his body, which was stiff from sitting on the ground for too long. "Thanks for the warning." He could tell that not only was he physically exhausted, he was also mentally exhausted. He could sense that his inner power had been disrupted. However, he was also optimistic. This was the most he had achieved in magic so far, and he
and he knew he could not relax just yet.
"If Lady Suzanna were here, she would have the same opinion," Shinbella said.
Anfey shrugged and smiled. "You should’ve seen her," he said. "She’s even worse than I am when it comes to knowing her limits."
Shinbella sighed and shook her head. She was older than Suzanna, but she was not as powerful. She could tell that Suzanna must have spent a lot of time pushing herself to the limit and practicing her craft.
Anfey and Shinbella turned to walk towards the village. He narrowed his eyes when he saw the horses, then smiled when he saw who was standing nearby. "Is that Christian over there?"
Shinbella looked at the village and smiled. "Looks like it," she said. She was a senior swordsmaster and her eyesight was superb. Whatever Anfey could see, she could see as well.
Christian smiled when he saw Anfey and Shinbella approach. Then he frowned and asked, "You don’t look so well. What happened?"
"Just tired," Anfey said. "Don’t worry about me. Why are you here?"
"It’s a little boring back in Moramatch," Christian said. "I wanted to check on you guys."
"You’re the overseer," Anfey said with a smile. "You of all people shouldn’t be bored."
Christian shrugged. "Most of the troops are away, anyway. Plus, it’s not like I have any actual power over the army."
"You still do," Anfey said jokingly. "What, do you want to be a general?" Overseers don’t usually have power over an army, but the composition of the Shield of Light legion was very complicated. There was complicated. There was no telling what would happen and what the soldiers would do if Christian really questioned Fernando’s authority.
"I’m good," Christian said. "I don’t need an army. There’s another thing. The Church has ordered Fernando to look for a man. A fugitive."
"Who is it?" Anfey asked, surprised.
"Warner."
"What?" Warner jumped up and asked. His eyes widened and his arms flailed. "Why? A fugitive? What did I do? This must be Salmado’s doing!"
"You killed Cardinal Bergkamp and stole the Book of Life. That is enough to execute you ten times over."
Warner gasped and stumbled back. He sat down on the ground, angry. He knew that it was Salmado and his men who had caused the death of Bergkamp, but what was his word against a cardinal’s?
"Is it from the pope?" Anfey asked.
"No," Christian said. "It’s from the Holy Court." He paused then said, "I also heard the pope is sick."
"How did Fernando react?"
"He is hesitant," Christian said. "He knew that this order was wrong. Warner was Bergkamp’s servant. He couldn’t have killed so many people. Fernando knows this."
Anfey nodded. "Maybe this order is from Bergkamp’s people. They would use it to imply Warner’s innocence. There are too many things we don’t know yet. Warner, you have to be careful."
Warner nodded. He sat on the ground quietly, then suddenly covered his face with his hands and wept. He was a dedicated priest and this order from the Church of Light made him feel like he was betrayed by the very thing he had dedicated his life to.