Chapter 118: Trapped
"That's strange, I can't find Lord Aldritch anywhere." Rindher said, looking around before settling his eyes on Khal who was standing in front of him.
"Same." Khal answered, "and who are they?" He asked, the hand on his sword, threatening.
"Oh yeah, this is Ames, my comrade that we've been looking for ever since, I and Rykia. I found him in the palace's dungeon alongside these two. Supposedly, they are the princesses of the kingdom." Rindher explained.
"Princesses…" Khal spoke, his word hinting at something.
Rindher moved closer to Khal and spoke in a low tone, one that would be impossible for an ordinary person to hear. "Yeah, we might need them as hostages later on, and they seem to want to stick to their fuck buddy over there too. Perhaps, they're not so fund of their family. They are birthed from a concubine."
"I see…" Khal said in a low voice as his hand relaxed ever so slightly on his sword's hilt. "I've not been able to sense our Lord for a while now, it is possible that he has been taken somewhere, be careful. As you know, we carry on with the mission and trust he will take care of himself." Khal reminded Rindher of Aldritch's own words.
"Wait, wait, wait, hold on. What do you mean by that? You mean he's gone? Like elsewhere? What if something has happened to him and…" Before he could finish, Khal cut him off with a stern look.
"No what the odds maybe, there is no one in this lower world that can achieve something like that, not on our lord, not even on us." After saying that, he turned and left without saying another word.
Rindher for one was well surprised for a moment before regaining himself. Even though Khal was right, he was only partly right, and Rindher couldn't help but think that he believed too much in Aldritch's strength.
'Even we are not all powerful in this lower world, he still needs protection at the very least.' He thought to himself, referring to Aldritch. Burying his concerns, he employed Ames and his girls to search for the king while he took a different route to do the same.
Since they're mother was at the very least, favoured before the king, there was a possibility she would be taken to wherever the safe space was, and if that happened, she would definitely leave a clue for them.
Outside the palace premises, Rykia and Maggie stationed closer to the church to stop any advances from them. Instead of being reactive, they're plan was to be proactive and take the lead in most of the matters during the entire operation.
Maggie had those under her, the chivalrous saints, carry on a separate task so she could be rid of them for some time. They're resistance to do certain tasks was of course not well received by anyone, especially Maggie herself.
Being a person who was very goal driven and would follow orders to the T as much as she could, being in command of a group of people who claimed self autonomy wasn't really practical. In the end, she only had to put up with them for a bit longer, as she had other plans in mind for such people.
"Where is Alec? Has he gone to pass the word to the church?" Maggie asked Rykia.
"He has, though… it doesn't seem to be going well." She said to Maggie.
In a lax but commanding tone, Rykia gave the order for everyone to ready themselves. Being vampires, everyone heard her loud and clear despite their distance as they surrounded the church. In such a quiet and calm night, communication was very easy and smooth.
All of a sudden, taking away the quiet, Alec, a tall man with a thin build came bursting through the main doors of the church. His fitted black trouser and loose brown shirt which he wore under an unbuttoned black overcoat gave the feeling of an action scene in some movie.
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His body was sent flying some tens of metres away, coming to a stop only because of Maggie's intervention as she used her hand to cushion him.
"Are you ok?" She asked, not as much concerned, more like a formality.
Hearing her cold voice accompanied with her stern expression, Alec could only muster an exasperated sigh, "apart from by caved chest and shattered ribs, I'm pretty much spotless." He said, forcing a little tired smirk on his face as Maggie dragged him behind and laid him on the ground.
Maggie walked back beside Rykia, standing before the main doors of the church that remained open after Alec's body was sent flying through it. As they stared, they watched a young lady emerge from the church, wearing fancy looking armour that had a white cape attached to its back, reaching her thighs.
The armour looked almost comical, being even bulkier than the regular armour worn by soldiers.
Merely looking at her, she needed no introductions, as only the holy maiden of the church would have access to such weaponry.
Nevertheless, Rykia was a bit surprised. "Is she supposed to be the holy maiden and a magician? Why is she dressed like that?" she asked rhetorically.
"The armour makes her look stronger than she probably will be. If it's fear she wishes to instill to fend off her enemies, it has failed then. I'll take her, you guys can handle the rest." Maggie said, her eyes fixated on the holy maiden.
Rykia gave her a quick look from the side of her eyes, a smirk almost forming on the side of her lips. 'This girl is so eager to prove herself.' She thought to herself.
"Very well then, you'll have a few people to assist you if the need arises." Rykia said to her.
While the holy maiden was outside as a bane for the intruders, she was not the only one capable enough to engage in a fight with enemies of the church.
Instead of waiting for the rest to show themselves, Rykia gave the command for the vampires to step in and seize control of the church, at that very moment, the holy maiden gave a similar command, for the order of Templar knights to stand their ground and defend the church.
A full blown battle was about to begin, and none of the parties seemed to be backing down.
…
While all that was going on, at that same moment, Aldritch found himself in a stitch, as he seemed to have been trapped within a barrier that prevented him from leaving, and unfortunately for him, he could not use teleportation magic, so that was out of the question. He tried different methods to leave, both flying and even digging, but the barrier happened to be a sphere so it was impossible.
The entirety of the space encapsulated by the barrier was enough to hold two proper towns, showing just how skilled and powerful the caster of the magic spell was.
Even then, after making his way back to where the tattooed woman from before was, he could not even attack her properly and engage in a proper fight, since she kept teleporting around, evading his strikes and avoiding direct confrontation.
At this point, he concluded that the kingdom's defence system was quite adequate, being able to trap an enemy until they died of hunger if possible, or surrendered themselves.
Even in such event, he was having the easiest time trying to reach the levitating woman who had as well forced him into a game of tag. Naiha and Helga were the ones in serious trouble, perhaps, facing the most danger than any other person at that moment. Danger that could not only ruin their lives, but even erase their very souls.
After the initial crack through Naiha's defensive barrier, the endless white space Helga found herself in began to shatter, crumbling down bit by bit all over to reveal the true image hidden behind that veil of false illusion.
Helga found herself amidst a horde of demonic looking monsters and creatures that were out for their lives, her's and Naiha's.
As for where these monsters came from, both of them had no idea. All Naiha knew was that her subconscious was drawn to this fiery pit of hell, and ever since, she had been trying to fight off the constant horde of aggressive demonic creatures that wanted her dead by all means possible.
The entire play of her losing control was only a ploy by whoever the master mind was to drag her and another into this place to kill them. As for why, they had no idea yet.
At that moment, they had completely lost track of time as they tried to survive, not even caring much about what was going on in the real world. If they were to perish here, would the actual material world matter anymore when they can't exist in it?
"We've been at this for days, there's simply no end to it… I, I'm starting to get fatigued." Naiha complained.
"Yes, now that you mention it, I noticed it too." Helga said, raising her head up to look at the endless maroon clouds that covered the sky above.
'We don't get hungry and tired, but suddenly we feel fatigued.' She thought. The only possible reason would be something that had to do with their souls, but then again, none of them really knew of any deep knowledge concerning the soul.
All in all, they were in deep soup, and the main ingredients were yet to be added, and the pot of soup, stirred.
"I can't help but think, this is the doing of the great mother."