Bone, Blood & Flame

The air above Valemire's palace courtyard screamed. Not with wind, but with the unholy shrieks of hounds and the chilling clatter of bone on stone. The sanctum, twelve pillars of golden light, moved with terrifying synchronicity. Holy blades flashed, shattering femurs and spines, purging necrotic energy with each strike. Mitchell's voice boomed like a war drum, directing the defense, and reinforcing the shimmering holy barrier that contained the lich's summoned horde. But the tide was relentless, the two-headed hounds lunging with unnatural speed, their empty eye sockets fixed on the defenders with mindless hunger, their riders, skeleton warriors with experience better than regular guards.

Caelum didn't see the horde. He saw only the lich - a robed skeleton standing in the middle of the courtyard, just behind the horde. Its bony fingers weaving intricate patterns in the air, summoning yet more horrors from swirling portals of green flame. He appeared before the Lich. Crimson Rem, thick as blood and radiating a furious heat, surrounded Caelum's body. He had unlocked the hidden power of the Valerius blood, the power of the First King, Threner. It wasn't the controlled aura of a disciplined warrior; it was a corona of raw, unadulterated grief and rage.

Caelum threw a kick at the lich's head, his leg covered in condensed crimson Rem. The lich blocked with his hand but was knocked some paces back. Its eyes flared as its forearm split into tiny pieces and fell to the ground. Riven, ash-grey Rem flaring defensively around his broadsword, was a heartbeat behind, a grim shadow to his prince's blazing fury. He appeared behind the lich and swung at it. The lich immediately cast [Bone pikes], sending large sharp bone pikes out of the ground. Riven narrowly avoided losing an eye and pulled back.

The lich seemed cornered, as Caelum was in front of him and Riven was behind him. Its eyes moved over to the bbattlefieldand it didn't like what it saw. The summons were being killed off rapidly. It summoned two more liches and took their core, turning them into a pile of bones. With no wasted motion, he swallowed both cores.

A red orb encompassed it. The ground cracked under the gravity of the Rem pull from the orb. Its bone shattered and rearranged as it evolved to a High Lich. It came out of the orb and cast [Summon]. Two portals appeared simultaneously and two skeleton warriors, clad in complete armor walked out.

"Kill them" The high lich commanded.

Both skeletons lunged at their respective targets, swords covered in red Rem. While Caelum and Riven were occupied, the high lich flew up into the sky, "Valemire shall fall by my hands".

It started chanting and drawing intricate patterns. A huge portal appeared in the sky-zombies, skeleton warriors, hounds, spiders, giant bats- rained out of it.

The sanctums pooled together their Rem and created a dome above them, shielding them from the monster rain. The Saintess stepped in front of her sanctums and cut her palm with her dagger. As the blood touched the floor, a circle formed around her and the spell [God's Apostle] was cast. Her entire body turned golden like an astral projection.

She stretched a finger towards a horde of zombies and said,"[Blaze]". In an instant, the entire path she pointed went up in searing flames. She faced another horde and repeated the same thing. Whilst she did this, Serena was healing the sanctums with [Heal]. The Saintess lifted her eyes to the high lich and cast [Lightning]. A bolt of lightning, fell from the sky, through the portal to the high lich. The lightning destroyed everything in its path. The high lich cast five [Shield], four [Barrier] and [Bone wall]. This combination of spells reduced the lightning's power, reducing the damage.

The Saintess returned to normal and fell to the ground. Her Rem was almost gone. Any longer in that state, she would have died. Seeing this, the high lich roared and all the monsters directed their attention at the sanctums and the Saintess, including the skeleton warriors fighting Caelum and Riven. With nothing on him, Caelum went straight for the High Lich.

"Caelum where are you going, Serena is in danger!"

"If we take care of the summoner, the summons dies!" Caelum shouted back, eyes blazing.

With a conflicted look, Riven followed after Caelum, sparing a glance at the horde headed for the others.

The radio on Captain Elena crackled with static, distant screams and gunshots. She gripped the handset, knuckles white, her voice hoarse but steady despite the tremor running through her. Behind her, was the weakened Saintess and some wounded guards.

"Captain Royce to UN Command Alpha! Repeat, Captain Royce to UN Command Alpha! We have a Lich and a full necromantic assault on the palace! We are currently engaging but we are critically undermanned! We need immediate reinforcements! Any available RSF units, regulars, anyone! "

The response that crackled back was ice water down her spine.

"...Captain Elena... Command Alpha acknowledges... Situation understood... Negative on reinforcement at this time. All frontline RSF battalions are engaged in Britain. The nearest military assistance ETA is 50 minutes. You are... on your own. Hold position. Alpha out."

The line died. Elena slowly lowered the handset. The silence was deafening, broken only by the muffled sounds of battle - the shrieks of bone hounds, the concussive blasts of Sanctum holy magic, the sickening crunch of bone meeting steel. On your own. The words echoed. They'd just lost the king, their primary ally. The heir was consumed by grief and rage. And the cavalry wasn't coming.

Leon's Hellcamp

The trainees were cleaning gear under the harsh floodlights when Ghilaine entered with orders. Thirty heads snapped up, eyes wide with shock. Ghilaine, her face unreadable but her white Rem subtly flaring. Leon entered after her, battle-ready

"LISTEN UP!" Leon roared, his usual sarcasm replaced by a deadly seriousness that froze the blood. "Drop the polish rags! Combat gear, NOW! Full kit! Weapons hot! Move like your lives depend on it - because they do!"

Chaos erupted. Trainees scrambled, boots slipping on dew-slicked grass, fumbling with armor clasps, stuffing magazines into pouches with trembling fingers. Allen strapped on his scavenged gauntlet, the metal cold against his skin, its faint pulse feeling ominously stronger. Mia checked her pistol with methodical, terrifying calm, her ash-grey Rem coiling around the barrel like smoke. Leon stalked through the frenzy, barking orders.

"Jax, heavy support Rem - front and center! Mia, Allen - you're with Ghilaine! Fast reaction! The rest of you ash-blacks, suppression fire! Blues, destroy any missed by the suppression fire! Mages, fry anything that gets close! NO HEROICS! STICK TO YOUR PAIRS!"

A modified V-22 Osprey, engines howling, descended onto the parade ground before they were fully ready. The ramp slammed down. "GO! GO! GO!" Leon bellowed, shoving the last stragglers aboard.

Inside the vibrating belly of the aircraft, the reality sank in. The bravado of training vanished, replaced by stark terror. Some trainees hyperventilated, gripping their rifles like talismans. Others prayed silently. Jax looked green. Mia stared straight ahead, her knuckles white on her pistol, the ash-grey Rem swirling restlessly. Allen felt the purple energy churning in his gut, reacting to the palpable fear. Ghilaine stood near the ramp, radiating a cool, focused calm that was somehow more terrifying than Leon's shouting.

"ETA five minutes!" the pilot yelled over the intercom. When they got close to Astralis, where the battle was, one of the gait bats crashed into one of the wings of the aircraft. The turbulence caused many to panic. "Engine one out! I repeat, engine one out!" The pilot yelled over the intercom.

Leon grabbed a handhold, his face grim in the dim red light. I guess this is our stop. Welcome to hell, recruits. This ain't the range. Those things out there? They won't hold still. They won't care about your form. They will try to tear your guts out. Remember your training. Watch your buddies. Shoot straight. And for the love of everything you hold dear, control your Rem! Burn out now, and you're dead!" He locked eyes with Allen, then Mia. "That darkness you carry? That rage? Point it outwards. At them."

The Osprey door opened, and they saw it: Valemire's capital city, Astralis, dark as where the power grid had failed, other areas lit by fires. And the palace - a beacon of golden light shimmering under a holy barrier, surrounded by a seething, clattering ocean of bone. Crimson energy flared violently in one spot, illuminating the silhouette of Prince Caelum and Riven locked in a furious duel with a robed skeletal figure on a balcony.

Leon roared, shoving the trainees out,' GO! GO! GO!"

Ghilaine, Allen, Mia and a few others had jumped out when a bone dragon crashed into the aircraft, forcefully ejecting and scattering them. The explosion scattered those who had already jumped. Allen stumbled out into chaos. The noise was overwhelming - the shrieks of the undead, the roar of flames, the concussive blasts of Sanctum magic, the panicked shouts of trainees. The stench of decay and ozone choked him. A skeletal warrior, missing half an arm but still clutching a rusted sword, lurched towards him, jaws clacking.

Instinct, honed by relentless drills, took over. He raised his rifle, finger-finding the trigger. Sights. Breathe. Squeeze. The Rem-infused round (standard issue) punched through the skeleton's skull, exploding it into bone fragments. The body collapsed.

He didn't have time to process it. Another was on him. Then another. He moved, firing, parrying with the rifle stock, the purple Rem flaring defensively around him. He saw Jax, roaring, his black Rem amplifying his strength as he smashed skeletons apart with a heavy Rem caster. He saw two blue-Rem users using a tag team tactic on some skeletons. He saw a Sanctum fall, overwhelmed by a pack of two-headed hounds and offered aid.

And then he saw Mia.

She was separated, caught near a collapsed colonnade. Three skeletal warriors closed in, bony fingers reaching. Her pistol barked twice, ash-grey blasts obliterating two skulls. The third was too close. It lunged, blade raised.

Mia didn't flinch. Her eyes, wide and terrifyingly empty, locked onto the creature. She poured her Rem into the pistol, causing it to overheat and chucked it at the skeleton. "Die"

The gun exploded like a grenade, turning the skeleton to ash. The explosion sent some shrapnel of gun parts into Mia's arm due to proximity.

She used her Rem to strengthen herself and pushed the colonnade off her. Mia stood amidst the drifting ash, breathing heavily, her Rem flickering wildly around her like dark fire. She looked down at her arm, at her blood-soaked sleeve, then up, her gaze meeting Allen's across the carnage. She nodded at him, unsheathed her sword and disappeared in the battle.

Allen encountered one of the armored skeletons. It was missing an arm and its armor was very damaged. Allen flexed his hand and the gauntlet turned to a sword. They lunged at each other. Though battered, the skeleton still proves to be a tough opponent. After battling for 5 minutes, Allen drove his sword through the chest where the core was. The sword thrummed and absorbed the core. All the experiences of the skeleton were immediately transferred into Allen's mind. He fell to the ground, convulsing in pain. A flash of memory came, "You won't have your way demon." He passed out due to the pain.

Above them, on the balcony, Riven grabbed the arm of the lich and bound it to put High Lich in place. Caelum roared, a sound of pure, unadulterated agony and fury. He smashed his fist through the Core. His crimson Rem flared like a dying star, engulfing the Lich in a blinding conflagration. The explosion lit the night, casting long, monstrous shadows over the trainee's first, horrifying taste of real war. They weren't soldiers yet. They were survivors, drowning in fire and bone, the rigid walls of their training crumbling against the onslaught of hell.