I stood with Unit 7, heartbeat like thunder in my ears, assembled outside the fort—ready. Muscles tensed as I waited for the inevitable call.
Clinking armour, shifting boots, soft mutters and hoarse laughs echoed around me, the final breaths before the storm.
Then Thanason's voice split the air. "SQUADS ONE, THREE, AND FOUR, ADVANCE!!"
"That's us," Felt muttered, just loud enough for us to hear.
I drew a deep breath, and we broke into a brisk march. Not yet a sprint, but on the verge of it—each step quivering with the promise of a charge. The air turned thin as I stepped through the teleportation gates, the familiar sharp coldness slicing through me. The world shattered in a blinding blink of yellow light.
Staggering slightly, I appeared near the foot of a vast mountain range.
For a moment, awe stilled me.
There they were—the great natural border of the west. Mountain peaks disappeared into the clouds, their snow-capped tips like spears piercing the heavens. Between two of the giants was a narrow corridor through the pass, one of the few ways into the western territories.
Unfortunately, Fort Lanai stood guarding it.
Since my transfer, I'd learned a little of the fort's history. An ancient sentinel. Said to be built when men first crossed this continent. A fortress that had never fallen.
Not once.
True, it had never been tested by someone of Thanason's power. But even then the prospect of toppling it fell daunting.
Even from this distance, I could feel it—an air of ancient immovability. It stood stubborn and eternal, carved into the spine of the world itself.
Gritting my teeth, I pushed into a jog to catch up with the rest of the unit.
Blinks of yellow light shimmered across the field as more units teleported in. From above, we must've looked like shadows spilling across the earth, sweeping toward the stone behemoth.
For a moment, I hoped we hadn't been noticed.
But of course, we were spotted immediately.
Mana surged from within the fort, followed by roaring fire. Comets screamed down at us, hurled like the wrath of some forgotten god.
Behind me, our artillery mages answered in kind—lightning lances and gouts of flame launching skyward in chaotic rhythm.
The air stank of burning earth and mana. Smoke rose thick from where the land had been savaged, a choking fog that blurred sight and sound. I could barely keep track of who I was running with.
And yet… every attack we launched fizzled out.
Through the smoke, I caught a glimpse of blue—a shimmer along the fortress walls. Ethereal light spidered across its surface, glowing like the skin of some ancient beast.
The magical barrier was active.
"It's not working!" I shouted, hoping someone important could hear me.
"I... don't think it's supposed to," Noah yelled back, somewhere to my left.
Then came a flash.
A blinding yellow light formed in front of me. I staggered, shielding my eyes as the shape of a man emerged from the glow.
Thanason.
He raised his sword, the blade humming with more than magic—it pulsed with intent. His voice was soft, barely a whisper. Yet I heard it clear as day.
"Scatter."
For a breath, nothing happened.
Then he fractured.
Light exploded from him, shattering his form into a thousand shards. Each one streaked through the air, bypassing the shield completely.
I stood frozen, jaw slack.
[POV: Thanason]
With a groan, he reformed inside.
The air within the barrier was cooler. Quieter. Rebels stared at him, frozen in place.
Thanason let them.
Two figures stepped forward. He recognized them from the dossiers—Commander Ravix, long black hair and shoulders like boulders, warhammer sparking with lightning. And beside him, Commander Elsira, draped in shadows, her staff humming with unstable magic.
"Bad idea, Thanason," Ravix said, calm and casual. "You'll die here."
"You're welcome to try."
Elsira's lips curled. "You sure you want to dance?"
He smiled wider. "Can you dance blind, little torch?"
He raised his hand.
"Refract."
[POV: Arthur]
Moments after Thanason vanished, the world disappeared.
Not dimmed—gone.
Only sound told me I was still alive. My limbs still moved, but everything else was swallowed by absolute black. Even the air felt... off.
I slowed, worried I'd run into something—or someone. But I didn't stop. Standing still felt more dangerous.
Panic clawed at my chest.
What the hell is going on?
[POV: Thanason]
"Coward!" Elsira's voice pierced the dark. "Face me fair!"
Thanason didn't reply.
Ravix grunted, his hammer flailing, lightning cracking with every blow—wild and desperate.
With a smile, Thanason struck. His blade slid through the slit in Ravix's armor. The commander howled once—and then dropped.
Elsira spun, blind and helpless.
Then the lightning struck her from within.
Her limbs jerked. Her voice cracked. She screamed—and fell silent.
Thanason exhaled, stepping back from the corpses.
In his hand was a small cylindrical tablet, runes etched into its metallic surface.
He placed it at the center of the courtyard and released his spell.
With this, Fort Lanai has fallen.
[POV: Arthur]
Light returned.
The world flickered back like the moment between nightmare and waking.
Noah stood beside me, his eyes wide with reverence or disbelief—maybe both.
Inside the fort stood General Thanason, haloed in ruin. The forcefield behind us still shimmered, but it now pulsed inward—trapping the rebels inside. It was a slaughter. Our soldiers, somehow already within the walls, tore through the defenders like blades through cloth.
"What the fuck…" I whispered.
Commander Scarlet stepped forward. "Impressive, isn't it?"
"What is this? How…?"
"Refraction," she said. "He bent the light. All of it. He masked the placement of a teleportation beacon inside the fort. The same forcefield that protected them—"
"Now traps them in," I finished softly. "So the whole time, we were just… bait?"
"He needed their eyes on us while he eliminated the commanders. With their chain of command broken and their forces divided between a visible threat and an invisible one, the battle was already over."
The magical barrier flickered.
Someone inside had deactivated it.
Thanason rose from the courtyard, his armor slick with blood. He looked like a battle-worn angel.
A bloody, ugly angel—but an angel nonetheless.
His voice rang out:
"Fort Lanai is ours. Today, we carve a path through this rebellion. Today, the mountains bow. Tomorrow, so will the rest of this damn rebellion."
I couldn't help but a feel a surge of hope in his words. In his hands, the oh so impenetrable fortress had fallen in what...moments?