NOVPUB[Prior to David's journey to Valemir County.]
The leaden sky wept over Thistlebrook village, rain lashing down upon thatched roofs and muddy streets with vengeful intensity. Imperial soldiers moved with methodical precision through the settlement, their armor gleaming despite the downpour, each house methodically searched and then marked with chalk, the bureaucratic efficiency of the Solarian Empire's justice system rendered in stark white against weathered wood.
"Where is she?" The captain's voice carried above the storm's fury, his weathered face tight with frustration as another search came up empty. "Six houses remain. She couldn't have simply vanished."
Behind him, a young lieutenant saluted smartly despite the rain streaming down his face. "Sir, reports from the eastern perimeter suggest no one has left the village since we arrived. The girl must still be here."
The captain's gaze swept across the remaining structures—humble dwellings whose outward appearance gave no hint of rebellion or sedition. Yet somewhere among them, a fugitive hid from imperial justice, a danger not for her deeds but for the knowledge she possessed.
"She worked in the governor's household," the captain reminded his men, voice pitched to carry to all present. "She has heard things not meant for common folk. Knowledge that Councilor Verath considers a threat to imperial stability."
What the captain didn't mention was that the girl had likely witnessed the councilor engaging in rituals that would horrify even the most jaded imperial official. Verath's recent conversion to "alternative spiritual practices" had been noted with concern by those who monitored such things, but direct evidence remained elusive.
Until this girl. This servant with unfortunate timing and exceptional hearing.
"Sir!" A soldier emerged from a modest dwelling at the village's edge, dragging a struggling woman by her arm. "Found her hiding in a false wall panel. Clever little rat."
The woman, barely twenty summers old, with striking azure hair that marked her as having trace amounts of celestial lineage in her bloodline, fought silently against her captor's grip. No pleas for mercy, no protestations of innocence, only the grim determination of someone who knew exactly what imperial justice meant for those who threatened the powerful.
The captain approached slowly, studying her with clinical detachment. "Rina Celestade," he pronounced her name like a judge delivering sentence. "By order of Councilor Verath, you are to be remanded to imperial custody and transported to the capital for formal questioning."
Rain plastered Rina's hair against her pale face, azure strands forming rivulets that resembled tears her pride wouldn't allow her to shed. She stared back at the captain, her unusual golden eyes, another marker of her mixed heritage, burning with defiance.
"Is that what we call execution now?" she asked, her voice surprisingly steady. "Formal questioning?"
The captain's expression didn't change, though something flickered briefly in his eyes—perhaps recognition of a truth he preferred not to acknowledge. "Secure her for transport," he ordered, turning away. "We depart within the hour."
As soldiers moved to bind Rina's wrists, a deafening crack split the sky. Unlike natural thunder, this sound carried intent, a single, perfect note that hung in the air like struck crystal before shattering into deadly resonance.
The soldiers nearest Rina stumbled, disoriented by the sound that seemed to vibrate through their very bones. Some dropped to their knees, blood trickling from ears and noses as the invisible force disrupted their inner equilibrium.
"Protect the prisoner!" The captain barked, drawing his sword with practiced efficiency. His eyes scanned the village square, seeking the source of the attack as rain continued to pour around them.
In that moment, the downpour... changed. The captain felt it first as a subtle shift in pressure, then as a wrongness that raised the fine hairs on his arms beneath his armor. The raindrops slowed, hanging suspended in the air as if time itself had paused, a moment of unnatural stillness before horror erupted.
A soldier screamed as the suspended water suddenly solidified into countless tiny blades, each no larger than a sewing needle yet imbued with unnatural sharpness. They punched through imperial armor like paper, finding gaps between plates, penetrating eye slits, sliding beneath gorgets to pierce vulnerable throats.
Three men collapsed in that first assault, blood mixing with rainwater as it pooled beneath their fallen forms. The remaining soldiers formed a defensive perimeter around their captain and the prisoner, weapons raised against an enemy they couldn't see.
"Black magic!" The lieutenant shouted, his voice cracking with fear as he pointed toward the village's edge.
A figure stood there, partially concealed by the curtain of rain, a woman in flowing black, her form seeming to absorb what little light remained in the storm-darkened day. She approached with measured steps, each footfall causing the ground to shudder subtly beneath imperial boots.
"Lieutenant," the captain ordered, struggling to maintain his composure, "flare signal. Now."
The young officer fumbled with the signal flare at his belt, finally extracting it with trembling fingers. He struck the ignition cap against his armor, producing a shower of sparks that should have triggered the emergency beacon. Nothing happened.
"It's... it's not working, sir," the lieutenant stammered, striking the flare again with increasing desperation.
"None of your signals will function here," came a voice like midnight velvet, somehow audible despite the storm yet seemingly originating from everywhere at once. "Nor will your suppression totems or warded blades."
The approaching woman raised one elegant hand, fingers uncurling with deliberate slowness. As she did, the earth beneath two soldiers liquefied without warning, swallowing them to their necks before resolidifying, trapping them in grotesque parody of planted seeds. Their screams were cut short as the ground continued to compress around them, bones audibly cracking under the immense pressure.
The captain's well-trained discipline began to fracture as the methodical destruction of his unit continued. Whatever this was, it wasn't conventional magic as taught in imperial academies. This was something older, rawer, more fundamental, the kind of power that gave rise to children's nightmares and ancient taboos.
"Formation Theta!" he ordered, falling back on military training in the face of supernatural horror. "Anti-mage protocols!"
Six remaining soldiers moved with practiced coordination, drawing specially designed daggers inscribed with counter-magic runes. They formed a perfect hexagon around the captain and prisoner, each soldier driving their blade into the muddy ground while chanting the suppression incantation they'd been taught would neutralize hostile spellwork.
For a moment, it seemed to work. A shimmering barrier rose from the planted daggers, forming a dome of protective energy that pulsed with steady blue light.
The woman in black paused, head tilting slightly as she observed their defensive measure. A smile curved her perfect lips, not amusement but something more predatory, like a cat watching a mouse deploy paper armour.
"Imperial counter-magic," she remarked, her voice carrying easily through the barrier that should have blocked all external sound. "How quaint."
