A Knight's Lilies

“Imperial maniples operate within a strange grey zone between legionaries and special operations units. These hardened shock troops are typically equipped with the, or near to the top of the line equipment. Entrusted with high priority tasks especially during sieges, these troopers experience high attrition rates often not seen beyond that of frontline troops. Conversely, some specific maniples are even chosen to act in unison with the Speculatores, the Traxian Empire’s reconnaissance and espionage element. However, the usage of shock troopers in more sensitive missions does suggest that the Imperial military apparatus might be stumbling into a few hurdles from having spread themselves across multiple fronts.”

- Professor Cladius Salvius, Arterian Academy of War, “Lecture: Examining Recent Events and Logistical Functions”

Sophie stared up ahead, worried about her compatriot. When they had been just with Hanabi, Mila was completely calm and composed, if a little anxious. Now, Sophie could tell that every once in a while, the inquisitor seemed to quiver or tremble a little. In particular, whenever her eyes trailed off to Mila’s enchanted sword, how it would wobble ever so slightly after a dozen steps. She’s not just nervous, she’s worried. But why? She seemed so calm earlier.

But all Sophie could do was shelve the thought as she proceeded down the tunnels. She needed to keep an eye out on the waterways. If their opponents had aquatic capabilities, then they needed to be ready. Though Sophie doubted that they would be able to do much if that was the case regardless. None of the trio were skilled or even prepared for fighting underwater, nor did any of them relish the prospect. Certainly, looking at the saintesses and saints, their heavier armaments practically excluded them from aquatic duties almost entirely.

Sophie could tell that regardless of where their foe might emerge from, today was already shaping up to be trouble. Mila was nervous when she usually wasn’t. Eva looked a little stressed. The saints behind her looked equivalently paranoid as Sophie and the others had upon first entry. Only Hanabi seemed relatively composed, though the frown etched onto the outlander’s face suggested more thoughts were hidden beneath the exterior.

“Maintain formation.” The outlander Aoi muttered from somewhere behind her.

She could hear as the other members of the saint squad shuffle a little, their heavy thunks and clanks of their armor indicating their presence a few dozen steps back in the tunnel.

Up ahead, Mila motioned for Sophie and Hanabi to get closer. The two rallied next to the inquisitor. They had arrived at the entrance to the massive cavern.

The trio paused for a second, trying to listen for noise before Mila signalled for the saints to halt their own advance for now. Without the clanking of armour, Sophie could hear things a little more clearly.

It was the same as before. Beyond the occasional drip of water echoing and the occasional unnerving breeze. There was nothing else. The cave was, for all intents and purposes, still a dead zone.

That was perhaps the most worrying thing of all for Sophie. Her surprised scream at the discovery of the buried skull and subsequent speculating with the other two had clearly echoed across the cavern. Whatever was living here also growled in response. Which meant that they should’ve at least known that there were people around. And yet, no ambushes or traps had been discovered yet. Despite not having taken that long to gather the saints, she still expected some form of response. Especially at chokepoints like this entrance.

Sophie’s gaze darted from the walls, to the ceilings, to the waterways, then all around again. If there was to be an ambush, she wanted it to at least be an engagement done with as much of an advantage as possible. But it feels more and more like this whole place is a trap in the first place.

“Lady Eva, hold your people here. We’ll push on up.” Mila told the others.

“That’s…” Eva clenched her teeth, “Fine.” She finished with a sigh.

Mila nodded her appreciation and gestured for Sophie and Hanabi.

The two joined her and as a group, pushed past where the underground lake had been. Wary of aquatic intruders, Sophie’s eyes never left the water’s edge, nervously shuffling past with the others.

Here, their boots were now stepping into consistently ankle deep water. Each plop and splash became another way for foes to identify their clumsy advance. Yet, even with this guaranteed advantage of their location, there was still no attack, no activity beyond the water echoing throughout the cavern interspersed with hushed whispers from Eva’s group.

A small rocky jut blocked their approach as they circled around to the other side of the lake. From here, they could still see the other half of the expedition, Eva’s people illuminated by torchlight though their faces had gotten blurry. Within visual range, at least.

The trio’s attention then turned to the rocky ledge. It was just about half a person taller than Hanabi and barely within arms reach if Sophie jumped a little. The three paused, taking a moment to listen for any other activity around them. Hearing and sensing none, Sophie took the first step forward.

“Boost me up.” She whispered to Hanabi.

The outlander turned to Mila, who just shrugged. Giving Sophie a solid ‘hmpf’, Hanabi casually helped lift Sophie up slightly. Just enough for her to grab onto the top of the ledge, hoisting herself up to it.

Steadying herself, Sophie reached down to help Mila. The inquisitor moved in front of Hanabi and was lifted up as well. Despite likely being capable enough herself, Sophie couldn’t help but lend a hand and help her get orientated. Earning herself a small scowl from Mila, the girl at least grunted appreciatively before the two of them lifted Hanabi.

Surveying their surroundings. They found more stalagmites and stalactites as well as two separate openings at the edge of the cavern. Troublesome. Splitting up would be a bad idea and yet… Sophie furrowed her brows, we still have no clue where monsters or enemies might be. Tsk.

Ensuring that their immediate surroundings were safe, Hanabi waved her torch in the air to signal the others that they were clear to advance.

“Split up. Check the path to those entryways. Come back here when we’re done.” Mila ordered, giving the other two a firm nod, “Sophie take the far side. Hanabi, with me to the closest one. Stay vigilant.”

The trio then scouted the nearby area, each member probing a different area as they moved closer to the two openings. For Sophie, the unenviable task of making her way along the edge of the ledge towards the furthest opening filled her with a small amount of discomfort. Yet, in this, she discovered that she was not alone.

Moving parallel to her, Mila and Hanabi were slightly further apart as they headed towards the other entrance. Even from here, Sophie could tell that Mila was displaying a level of nervousness that Sophie wasn’t used to seeing from her. Though she wanted to help, her mind was no closer to a solution than when they had reentered the cave.

Distracted, only now did she feel a shift in her surroundings. Against the backdrop of the chilly if somewhat humid cavern, Sophie could also feel a hint of warmth. Curious, she tried to search for the source, moving closer to the opening in order to take a peek into it. A change in temperature, odd. Something could be here. More than that, the stones here were unusually glossy, almost shiny or slimy looking.

With her sword at the ready, she advanced cautiously into the opening. Taking one last look at the others, she motioned to Mila and Hanabi about her intentions. Hanabi seemed to just shrug. Mila was unreadable, though Sophie had no doubt that the inquisitor had a disapproving scowl on her face. Fair enough.

Gaining tacit approval, Sophie took a step into the entryway and felt an ever growing sense of dread. Though she couldn’t find the words to describe, all she knew was that something felt wrong. Searching the walls and ceiling, her eyes came to a halt directly above her. Gah! What the fuck? Sophie almost jumped, only a semblance of training and willpower allowing her to remain still without sudden movements.

Two yellow vertical slits stared down at her, nearly all but transparent in the darkness of the cave wall. It seemed to flinch a little as she instinctively moved her torch closer to get a better look. Peering closer, she could make out the fact that the creature was a little longer than she was tall, clinging against the ceiling with its skin changing its pigmentation much like a chameleon. By now, she could sense that the creature was more than keenly aware of her and was watching her every move. What is that?!

Her heart slowly started to race as she tried to consider what she could do in this situation. She could run, but she reckoned that it would pounce on her. She tried taking a step back, but it seemed movement agitated it as it’s eye slits narrowed aggressively, making her pause until they returned to ‘normal’, whatever that meant. After the two remained stilled for almost a minute, neither making a move, fate decided to steal away Sophie’s choice.

“Sophie?” Mila’s voice called out, “This end is clear, are you good over there?”

Sophie gulped and continued staring at the creature, dammit.

“There’s…” She began but cut herself off as the creature looked more aggressive once again.

“Sophie?” A more urgent call sounded. Oh no, what should I do?

From beyond her vision range, she could hear that Eva’s troop had arrived as well. Having likely heard Mila called out, her mistress would likely have spurred the saints to move. The clanking and clattering of armour indicating as much.

Warm air brushed against the back of her head and she shrieked. In that split second, she understood. She had been surrounded from the start.

Sophie didn’t have time to swing her blade when the first creature pounced.

Air rushed out of her lungs and pain wracked her body as something likely thrice her body weight slammed against her with all it’s might. Launched backwards, she collided with a stray stalagmite, making her involuntarily gasp for air and provoking the second creature. With a ferocious roar, it attacked. Sophie pushed off the stalagmite just in time as the creature’s claw smashed into it, shattering the stone under the impact. Stars above! That strength!

Scrambling to her feet, she shouted out her warning, “Lizards! Big LIz-”

Her final words were caught in her throat, unable to escape as the first creature practically tackled her. Contorting with pain, she inadvertently let her sword slip from her palm, the grip slick with sweat and too slippery to keep hold of amidst the pain. Damned hells! Ack

“Sophie!” Someone called out.

But she could barely hear them as the creature roared beside her, deafening her.

The two crashed against a group of rocks, the creature’s own momentum sending it to a halt slightly further than Sophie. She herself skidded across the ground, her leather armour tearing in places against the jagged stones that now bit at her flesh.

She spun around, ready to charge at her attack when the second creature rammed her. Sophie had almost no time to brace as she was smashed nearly face first into a wall of stalagmites. Intense pain coursed through her but before she could even take a breath, the rocks broke apart under the assault.

Managing to open one eye despite the agony she felt, she could see the slick dark lake quickly approaching. Dammit-

The rush of water drowned out any other noises beyond the frantic beating of her own heart. The pounding coinciding with the pain that pulsed out from her bruised body. A stinging pain flared up from her arm where she skidded along the cavern floor, expunging a faint dark red mist as she continued to sink, the faint traces of torchlight above barely visible.

She tried to scream as the light was then blocked by the monstrous form of one of the creatures landing right after her. Only to start gagging and choking as the water rushed down towards her lungs. Worse still, the creature seemed momentarily stunned before regaining its composure, its slit like eyes immediately locating her even as she continued to sink. Oh no, oh no, no, no. Help! Help! Anyone!

Sophie’s rising panic dashed what rationality remained away. She began frantically flailing against what felt like a sea of molasses in an attempt to rise back out of the water and to avoid the creature. She rip and tore off her own sleeves in a frenzy and struggled to unclasp the buckles that held her leather jerkin in place. With her uncoordinated movements, she managed to writhe her body out of the creature’s way as it dived at her, shooting past like an arrow.

It only added to her increasing horror. The bubbles left behind in its wake only cementing her fear of the current situation. It was hunting for prey, and she had fallen into its killzone. No matter how hard she pushed her body, she felt as if she wasn’t moving at all, only continuing to sink.

She tried to blink but only winced, her eyes barely able to stay open as she tried to adjust to the water. Her heart grew louder and louder as all other sounds ceased to exist. Only the aquatic hells that she had found herself in reminded her that she was still alive.

But she was running out of time. The fight above, her movements here, the creature smashing into her. Her strength was failing her, and against the crushing force of the water, she could feel soreness erupting from the already bruised muscles. Her lungs too were reaching their limit, her chest reeling with intense pain as she fought to hold on for just another second.

A dark figure passed over her, and she just closed her eyes. Mila? Hanabi? Eva? Hah… she managed to squint, getting a glimpse of the arrow like figure darting above her. The monster… right… exhausted, resignation reigned. Her flailing stopped as she let whatever disheveled scraps of her clothing float away from her. She held her arms against herself and waited. As her body involuntarily forced her to open her mouth for air, she began choking as water poured in.

She retched and squirmed as the assault continued. But there would be no outlasting it. As her throat tightened and the squeeze of darkness grew, she felt a strangely weightless serenity embrace her. Hells… I didn’t even warn Yana to sever it with Ary… sorry. It’ll be a while till I get back.

“Stick together! Watch the sides and roof!” Mila bellowed.

She leapt to the side as one of the monsters charged at her. Before it could follow up, an arrow and a bolt pierced into the creature. It let out a horrific roar and reared its hind legs. Mila growled and recovered. She threw herself at it and tried to cleave into it. To her horror, the creature’s skin proved resistant and she only managed to lightly cut into its scales.

Hanabi led a quick followed up and forced her sword into the thing from behind. As it tried to abruptly turn, the outlander began pummeling its head, the lizard thing writhing under the withering flurry of blows. Seizing the chance, Mila used her blade to pry off a few scales and jam it into the creature’s meaty head. It tried desperately to escape, wiggling this way and that, but to no avail. With another twirl of her blade, the creature lay still, it’s bulbous slit like eyes focusing on her one last time before it perished.

But she had little time for reprieve as the others struggled on. Tatsuki was smiling gleefully as he had one pinned with his shield and hacking away at another with his axe. The saintess Tsugumi and saint Natsuki were both skirmishing with a lizard, their spear and longsword barely finding purchase against the scales. Inquisitor Grorok kept any approaching the others way. Eva meanwhile, was despondent but caught in a rage, the girl throwing herself at one as she repeatedly stabbed one of the creatures.

Only now did it truly sink in for Mila why the church revered the saints so much. Truly, beyond human. Their current situation was slowly shifting against them. Sophie had found the tunnel they needed, but she had been thrown into the lake with one of the lizards. From there, more had poured out, their scales hard as rock, dagger like teeth, and eyes filled with only an insatiable hunger.

“Sensei! Come back!” Aoi called out from behind.

Eva was wading forward by herself, a fury triggered by the group witnessing Sophie’s untimely collapse. Mila felt herself tremble a little, her worst fears becoming realized once more. When placed in command, people around her died, and there was nothing she could do. It’s happening again.

“Mila!”

Lost in the fog in her mind, she only half registered the voice calling to her, spinning around to find Hanabi violently shaking her shoulder.

“Mila! Light spell, now!” The outlander demanded.

Caught off guard but not completely off the deep end, Mila hurriedly nodded. “Right. Right.” It took a moment to understand what she was asking for but Mila caught on soon enough. Standing on top of the lizards corpse to give herself the best shot of lighting up this section of the cavern, she shouted only a single warning for the others, “Be careful of your eyes!”

It was an awkwardly delivered phrase but she didn’t have time. Holding her hand out and sketching out the symbols in her mind, she began chanting the arcane spelling, “Exreadlo Heinaotus Helaotux!”

She felt the air around her buzz and hum with mana. The arcane energy near the shrine pouring into this room as it searched for the one who had the gall to call forth magic. She felt a slightl pushback as the spell’s unexpectedly enhanced feedback sapped her energy. But with the tingle at her finger tips, she clenched her eyes shut as the world exploded into a never-ending whiteness.

Hisses, screeches, alarmed cries came from the lizards and the saints. Her energy dispersing the holy light in ever direction, the blindingly luminescent spell leaving an imprint of a few rocky shadows even behind her eyelids.

Exhausted but alive, she gingerly managed to force open her eyes and found that it worked. Most of the lizards were not used to such intense brightness and seemed to be stunned as they clicked and hissed at random. The saints were only a little better off. The battle frenzied Tatsuki had been blinded as well, so too were the two archers who failed to listen to the warning. But the others recovered quickly enough.

“Now! Go! Go!” Mila tried to rally them

.

Heeding her call, the remaining saint and saintess charged forth and began prying scales away with their weapons before plunging a cold metallic tip deep into the fleshy bodies of the lizards. Hanabi joined with Mila’s assault and opted for the simpler method of blunt brute force as she found a large rock and dashed it against one of the creatures. Mila herself being the originator of the spell was a bit more prepared for the aftermath, unsteadily moving forward but striking with a deftness that nonetheless saw her blade slide in between scales of a panicked creature. The lizard’s soft confused croaking almost making her feel bad until she remembered that Eva was still separated from them.

Leaving the outlanders to the task of finishing them off, Mila darted between openings to reach Sophie’s mistress. Eva’s rage had seen that she ignored Mila’s warnings and was now left flailing around as she tried to nurse her eyes back to normal. She was nominally surrounded, the light having thankfully blinding the creatures near her as well. Even in her crippled state, her hands connected with a blinded lizard and she began letting loose her fury against the beast, mauling it in the same way in which the creatures had likely intended to maul them.

Mila reached the raging berserker and tried to avoid her. Instead, methodically executing the blinded lizards while she still had the chance. But as she cut into a third, she could tell that their stirrings were growing less panicked. They’ve recovering, damned hells!

A blood curdling brutish roar echoed across the cavern that made her blood chill. She turned to the source as Inquisitor Grorok practically tore on of the lizards in two. Skin, bone and scales collapsed in a pile on the ground, the green bloody pile letting out a foul scent she could smell even from here. In a ritualistic way, he beat his chest and let loose another orcish warcry.

To her surprise, shrill alarmed cries rose from the lizard ranks. Their claws and feet skittered across the cavern’s walls and floors as they slowly began to retreat. Confused as much as she was amazed, she looked to the Inquisitor who just shot her a look of, ‘later’.

Annoyed but mostly thankful. She rushed over to the girl still beating up the dead lizard.

“Chameleon piece of-”

“Eva! Eva! Steady on. We’re good now.” Mila grabbed the girls hand.

Her eyes widened as the girl practically swung her in a small circle before finally coming to a stop. Eva’s unfocused eyes blinked a few times, staring at Mila but not registering her presence. As the older girl started panting a little from her exhaustion, Mila could see her filtering between rage, confusion, and worry.

“Eva, hey, Eva!” Mila managed to sputter out after recomposing herself.

“Hah… hah… Mila?” Eva winced as she tried to open her eyes properly, focusing on Mila.

“Eva. It’s me. Yeah. Breathe.”

Eva did not do as told, simply staring mutely at her before shaking her head and looking down at her lizard gut covered hands. She didn’t seem to be in shock as Mila was expecting, just a sense of forlorn acceptance that somehow evoked more dread than she had thought.

A sudden spark of life seemed to revitalise the girl’s sense of urgency as she looked around the cavern. Her eyes examining every nook and cranny.

“Sophie? Where’s Sophie?” Eva demanded, her frown returning, a growl in her voice as her hands now gripped Mila tightly on the shoulder.

“Gah, Eva! Careful!” Mila winced at the sudden pressure, trying to pry Eva off to no avail.

“Where is Sophie?” Eva repeated.

“Water, stars, she went under, remember? Nothing came back up yet.” Mila gasped.

Eva immediately let go and looked ready to dive in herself. Stars above, these people… Bracing herself in case of an aggressive reprisal, Mila scampered up and quickly tried to hold Eva back.

“The hell? Let go. I’ll find her myself.” Eva snarled

Mila sighed as a sense of weariness overtook her. She was tempted to let it go ahead, almost. She carefully chased after Eva and tugged on her arm, earning her a scowl in return, a rare occasion for her.

"What?"

"Not now, Eva. Your people need you right now." Mila tried to soothe the agitated girl.

"Sophie's still down there."

"And neither her nor the monster has come back up or shown any signs of violence based on how the water looks." Mila reasoned, "Right now, we need to make sure we're all good to go and what to do next. She is an, unfortunately an acceptable loss."

"Acceptable loss?! You-" Eva hissed, the fury in her eye burning ever brighter.

Mila wilted a little but did not back down, "And we both know she will make it back, no matter what." Mila hissed back.

Eva looked ready to speak but held back, though the hatred in her eyes was enough to make Mila doubt her own resolve. She had at least caught the hint.

"If she hasn't surfaced yet. We can hope that it means a current will drag her or her body somewhere else in this cave."

"And if it doesn't?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there." Mila lowered her voice and avoid Eva's withering gaze, "Jumping in the water randomly won't do us much good either. We need to properly figure out what to do now that we know we're not alone."

Eva did not respond, merely glaring at her and the lake before finally grunting and offering a conciliatory nod towards Mila. Relieved that she had soothed the outlander for now, Mila allowed herself a tiny sigh. She's not wrong though. We have no idea where this lake might take her and if she's stuck at the bottom... Mila shuddered, let's hope that doesn't happen.