As the group followed behind Neil, they witnessed the mangled bodies that had been massacred without mercy. The cruelty made their stomachs churn, but they had to keep moving regardless. They did not know how Neil had sensed a survivor, but they did not ask any questions.
He was not a man to say such without being sure.
Neil stopped as he entered what seemed to had been the chambers and bared witness to piles of corpses. In the centre, were spikes of ice- a clear sign of use of mana and on it was a woman, impaled right through them all. Her face looked sad, yet graceful at the same time, giving off a vague sense of royalty and authority. Not far behind her, was a man clad in Royal Linen, a greatsword in one hand, the other hand outstretched as if trying to reach for the woman. A dark sword made out of dark flames was planted right on his chest. It gave off silent ghostly sparks of flames, that seemed to just be an added insult to the now dead King.
The Four couldn't help but to avert their eyes from the scene in front of them. The appearances made them aware of who they were; The King and Queen. Jin couldn't help but throw up. Even though the rest did not, this scene was far too grotesque compared to the deaths they have witnessed before.
"Mordain, take Jin outside, we will handle the rest here," Neil said in a calm tone.There was a tension in his face, subtle but there. The way his jaw clenched slightly, the way his mouth stayed in a tight, unreadable line. He looked like he wanted to react, maybe even scream, but couldn't afford to. Not here. Not now. He had to stand strong as the leader he is.
You could see it in the way a muscle twitched near his eye, or how still his hands had gone at his sides, he was saddened and angered by the horrid scene in front of him. Was it all necessary? Was the killing just for pure enjoyment? Questions haunted his mind, their echoes sounding almost ghostly, as if the dead were speaking right next to his ears.
"Velka, let's move on." He said as they started walking towards the corpses of the King and Queen, looking for faint signs of life from the other bodies. Velka soon stood in front of Renard's unconscious body, inspecting him.
"I found him!" She said as she immediately knelt next to him, checking his state. His clothes were tattered with gigantic holes and on his chest, one could still see the wounds heal as scars were slowly disappearing.
"Take him outside, keep him warm and tell Mordain to check his state. Jin shall focus purely on healing him." Neil commanded.
"What about you?" Velka asked, her voice low, shrouded in worry.
"I will at least, lay these bodies here to rest where they will not be disturbed." he said. As Velka went outside, a green spell circle filled the entire chamber floor.
"This is the least I can do for all of you," he said silently as green flames ignited, covering the entire chamber with green flames that burned silently.
Outside, Velka carried Renard carefully, placing him down on Mordecai's cloak.
"What the hell happened in there... His organs are completely shattered, it is as if he was also under the same fate as the..." Mordain said, his voice heavy.
"There were some melted spikes I noticed. He was also impaled." Velka replied as they looked at the young boy. A boy so young, yet already taken through hell, a hell they did not even want to taste.
"It is a miracle he is actually alive. Seems like he has healing attributes." Velka said.
"No, that's not it," Jin said as he placed his hand on Renard's head.
"This mana healing him. It is not natural. That means... He is an Aetherion." He replied, a hint of shock in his voice.
Aetherions are sentient beings chosen by the Sovereigns; vessels molded to carry their will. They're mortals, yes, but ones who've been granted divine authority and the ability to generate their own mana via a second cognis. It was correct to say that they are indeed rare, to the extent that many believed they were myths.
"An Aetherion? What makes you say so?" Mordain asked.
"The mana circulating around his body is foreign and not the same as natural mana. Also, dark elves are known to have very low magical reserves and capabilities. Given the current state of his body, his normal cognis wouldn't have been able to process all that mana to heal him up to where he is, and you can already see that, his cognis has been completely exhausted." Jin replied.
"He most likely used it to its full capabilities to search for people to help, that's how Neil was able to sense him then." Velka commented.
"For now, I will focus on supplying him with natural mana and healing him. The two of you can go look around." Jin said.
***
Velka and Mordain walked around, marking and collecting food supplies, books and such as they buried and prayed for the corpses in their way. Some were buried, others burnt as there was nothing much to bury.
"Where is Neil right now?" Velka asked as she casted a spell circle under some items they had collected. The heaps of books sunk inside the spell, as if being swallowed.
"Knowing him, he most likely is going around doing all he can to put everyone to rest." Mordain answered as they kept walking towards what now looked like a mining area.
"Seems like this is the place where the blacksmiths and other artists used to work." He mentioned as they looked at the anvils and other tools lying around, together with unfinished weapons and unprocessed cores.
"Yeah. Can you sense where the bodies are?" Velka asked.
"Yes. Seems like there were fewer people on the outsides, most were near the centre. And as for the ones that are here.. All of them are under rubbles."
"Meaning they were just workers who were in their workshops. But this," Velka said as she looked at the pattern of destruction. "These parts look like an after effect of a powerful explosion, seeing how some walls are actually ashes right now. The rest look like a result of a shockwave. Seems like they used a large scale explosion spell."
Immediately starting their work, they started clearing the rubbles.
Slowly and steadily, they soon approached the destroyed shop of the old blacksmith.
"I only sense one here." Mordain said.
"Okay, let's find him and lay him to rest."
***