10. An Exit

"Humanity will not surrender as long as there is still a single ray of hope."

The emperor.

When Leonor and Lodtrack finally arrived, everything lay in ruins; the blue sky could be seen through the debris. Leonor desperately searched for his father among the remains, while Lodtrack tried to make him see reason: his father had died, possibly taking his enemies with him.

Leonor knelt and burst into tears upon finding his father's charred crown, with no trace of him. He remained motionless for a few minutes, trying to process everything. Lodtrack combed the area, looking for the bodies of his comrades or any sign of them.

He spotted Vindicta in the distance; a shiver ran down his spine, and he tried to approach. However, upon hearing the metallic footsteps of soldiers, he grabbed Leonor and positioned himself behind a large stone, allowing them to observe without being noticed.

Dozens of enemy soldiers arrived through the corridors (or what was left of them), wizards, healers, and warriors of all kinds and races, but not a single ally. Everyone had perished in battle, leaving only Lodtrack. The enemies cleared the rubble, much like the duo had done before. One of the soldiers tried to grab Vindicta from among the debris, but she was embedded and didn't seem to budge. Several soldiers pulled in the hope of claiming the artifact; they were petrified when the ground trembled, and from it rose a mass of charred and deformed black flesh with bright red eyes that Lodtrack knew well.

In its arms, it held the lifeless body of the old Alwarmu. Little remained of what had once been the warlock, as most of his body had disintegrated in the explosion. The soldiers shifted uncomfortably and continued searching through the debris, with the misfortune of being killed by several explosions that erupted from the ground.

Veronica struggled to get up; her legs trembled desperately, and her hair was singed, but she seemed perfectly fine after receiving an explosion of such magnitude. Some Bucullatus also emerged from the ground, and more than half of them had died.

The witch seemed to scream and command her soldiers. Lodtrack couldn't hear, and Leonor sat on the ground crying. They seemed to be looking for something. Veronica approached the demon and her master's body, and Lodtrack would swear she smiled upon seeing the corpse. The witch took the spear and began healing her demon.

The Bucullatus and the soldiers searched desperately, fearing what would happen to them if they didn't succeed in time. A soldier raised his hand and shouted for them to approach; he looked like a dwarf, although it was hard to tell with the armor. The Bucullatus, Veronica, and the demon, who looked better now, approached.

Among the rubble, Draco's destroyed body could be seen. His head was gone, but his armor was intact and easily recognizable. Lodtrack stifled a scream and almost lunged at them as he saw them starting to take things from his master, but this time, it was Leonor who calmed him down and indicated that they should leave. Lodtrack obeyed.

Veronica felt extremely weak, despite having already drunk several cámelio containers. She had spent almost all her mana reinforcing the shield, and still, the explosion had managed to affect her slightly.

She cursed constantly; bad luck for anyone who stood in her way, as she was determined to turn them into a rat, at least until she saw Grigori arriving almost crawling, with a hemorrhage in his abdomen and missing one of his arms.

“A broken toy,” she said boredly, “it's useless.”

“No, please, give me another chance,” the elf begged desperately, lowering his head and prostrating himself on the ground.

“At least tell me what happened to you,” she ordered; the elf told her what had happened with the guard and the noble “it means they managed to escape, idiot!”

Veronica was about to pulverize the trembling elf on the ground. Fortunately, a soldier called her and pulled Silo out from between some rocks, unconscious next to a strange orb.

The witch seemed to calm down upon seeing another of her ‘toys’ alive with her precious artifact. She looked again at Grigori, thinking about what to do with him. What good was a one-armed archer to her? But he was also her best hunter and assassin; besides, if she let those two escapes, her entire plan would be ruined.

“I'll spare you,” decided the witch. The elf's eyes sparkled “but you'll have to do something to earn it.”

Veronica opened her bag and took out a couple of things: the disjointed leg of some large bird, salts, threads, and a needle.

“Endona aftá enkos antikíe, kai qe anikatasi ta chatoi,” she recited softly. The animal's leg levitated to rest on the elf's laceration, salt scattered over his wounds, causing him to howl in pain. The thread and needle also levitated and began to sew the abdominal wound until it closed; the skin began to unite until there was no trace of the cut. The needle also sewed the animal's leg to the elf's arm; both began to merge, the leg changed slightly to have a more human shape, although only with 4 fingers and feathers protruding.

Grigori lowered his head, grateful, and looked at his mistress with admiration. He knew what he had to do. He was about to leave when he was stopped by a mysterious voice.

“One moment, folks,” it was a deep voice that caught Veronica and Grigori's attention. In front of them, the orb was levitating, and shadows around it showed the silhouette of a man.

“Lord...” Veronica knelt and lowered her head, leaving all her followers stunned, who imitated her example. “It's a pleasure to see you again,” her voice was not entirely sincere, but the entity seemed not to mind.

“How good it feels to be back on the earthly plane,” he breathed deeply. “You look good, my dear. I like the fiery style,” he laughed, finding it amusing while no one else did. Veronica raised her head and forced a smile.