Berk Stonehelm
"—Delsin!!!?"
"HE'S BACKKKKK!! THE LANCE GODSPELL IS BACK!!!"
The crowd erupted in cheers as Lance Godspell emerged from the swirling, eerie portal, its edges crackling with unnatural violet energy that hummed like a tiny storm. And right behind him came Delsin—and he looked... fine...?
People surged forward, bodies pressing closer.
"Hah—Delsin!" I shoved through the people, elbows flying as I carved a path forward, my heart pounding like a war drum and just when my hand was about to reach out for my little brother...
I stopped, and so did everyone. All went dead silent, and some even stepped back in fear.
"Oh nah..." My mouth went dry. "I ain't tripping, am I?"
No.
I wasn't.
Not one but two Scythes. Stepping out of the portal right after Delsin.
One bore a pair of inky horns, long and spiraling upward much like a rare elder impala's. The other had a shorter, darker pair of horns that arched much like a crown.
"Oh, F*ck!"
"SCYTHES!!!" People ripped out the word before I could take the risk.
I hurled myself forward, fingers grabbing Delsin by the shoulder and yanking him back.
He stumbled, and I didn't slow down. I dragged him along like a rag doll as I forced my way through the panicked crowd.
"WHATTHEFUCK! WHATTHEFUCKWASTHATDELSIN??!!" I shouted, my voice cracked into a frantic blur of words, too fast and loud for anyone to follow.
We didn't stop running until the panicked shouts faded far behind us and finally stopped near the refugee camp where the elves and humans were taking shelter.
"Boy, I just saved your life! This dwarf just saved your life!" I spun him around to face me, hands on his shoulders, brushing off dirt and dust from his clothes. "Look at my hands, Cuh!" I shoved them in his face to show him how shaken they were.
"..."
"F*ck! Alright now, tell me wha—" Before I could utter another word, Delsin collapsed against me. His arms looped exhaustedly over my shoulders, his legs gone loose like silk.
"...Ughh..."
I caught him, holding him as if carrying a giant toddler. "Sh!t, easy now, little bro... Had a long day, huh?"
He nodded against my shoulder. "...I had..."
"Yeah, I got you..." I patted his back once and twice, then gently pushed him right back up to his feet, keeping a firm hand on him just in case he folded again. "Are you standing? Or are you about to fall again?"
"I'm good." A pause. "I think."
"Home?"
He took a deep breath and then exhaled. "Yes... home."
"Let's go," We started moving, "And when we get there, you're going tell me everything. Lance Godspell. The Scythes. All of it."
"Fair."
"And start from how you even ended up in that portal in the first place."
"...Okay, but... don't tell mom." He said weakly.
I snorted. "Yeah, of course, I ain't telling her sh!t! The poor woman already got enough to worry about."
"Thanks, man."
"..." I gave him a short nod. Silence between us lasted for a few steps when Delsin dropped me some questions as he began to be aware of how destroyed everything was around us. "...What happened, and how long have I been gone anyway?"
"Not sure. About a day....?" I shrugged. "Long enough to make your mama worry sick. Things got insanely crazy the past hours. We got attacked by a bunch of unstable lunatics from Alacrya that caused... too much death. And you know what's even crazier?"
"...No."
"There were also some people from Alacrya—regular folk. Not mages. Just poor kids, women, and elders." I let out a laugh. "Sh!t, they might be the only few among all Alacryans who are intelligent enough to realize that their god is actually a tyrant. And I'm not sure how they got here tho."
"And what happened to them...?"
"I thought general Wykes would kill them all but he didn't. The dude just locked them up instead."
"...Huh."
"And there was a retainer with them too."
He stiffened. "A retainer?"
"Mmhm, but we'll talk about that when we're home." I glanced ahead and nudged him forward when I noticed we were slowing down.
***
Bairon Wykes
"What the f*ck is the meaning of this, Leywin?"
Arthur didn't look bothered in the slightest. "It's fine. They're our allies."
"...Allies." I took a proper look at the allies he mentioned, and all I saw were the two clearly very high-ranking individuals of the continent that want to invade ours.
And then there was the girl.
...Caera. I was told that she got herself into that portal of Arthur's.
"Come on, stop frowning at me like that. I thought we were friends now." Arthur casually answered, glancing around while his people were looking at him, their almighty Lance Godspell, standing where our enemies were standing. "Can we talk somewhere else? Where is Virion?"
"No! I can't stay here!" The white hair scythe spoke up as she ascended from the ground. "My people need me—I need to—"
"By your people," I cut in, my voice flat. "Does that include the one retainer in the name of Cylrit?"
She stopped as she slowly floated down. "What...?"
"What do you mean Bairon...?"