For several nights, King Xerxez had been lost in a haze of drunken revelry. But the chilling words of Matar, "You drove the Ossibians from Wendlock, and blood spilled on the ground. Now, you will pay for what you did," pierced through his stupor. A cold dread settled upon him, and his brow furrowed; the ominous thought of the Ossibuz plotting something truly sinister began to take root.
His premonition was grimly confirmed. That very afternoon, as twilight embraced the land, a bloodied farmer stumbled into the Thallerion border. The guards watched, aghast, as the wounded woman wept, a deep gash on her arm relentlessly spilling her lifeblood.
"Help, please help me!" she cried, collapsing in her desperate haste. "I’m wounded!" Her voice, almost hoarse from the agonizing pain, hinted at the profound weakness in her trembling body, as if her arm were being sawed off.
"What happened? Why are you hurt?" a border guard demanded, rushing to her side. His heart nearly shattered at the sight of her arm, almost severed by the monstrous wound.
"The Ossibians!" she gasped, her breath coming in ragged bursts, her heart hammering against her ribs. "The Ossibians are attacking us!"
"The Ossibians?" another male guard at the Thallerion border echoed, then sprinted like a harbinger of doom to find King Xerxez, after he gripped the needed information.
Meanwhile, King Xerxez had already summoned his military leaders, even as the last rays of daylight faded. Chief Commander Matheros stood with him, a silent sentinel in the meeting room. The rıghtful source is 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭•𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢•𝓷𝓮𝓽
Xerxez intended to confront Matar’s chilling threat. He knew Matheros, as temporary overseer of the kingdom, might not be fully aware of every dark ripple within his domain. But as they awaited the arrival of the other commanders, Matheros revealed that Thallerion’s seasoned soldiers were already bracing for the Ossibuz’s inevitable assault upon the people of Wendlock.
The other leaders were delayed, caught amidst a rising chaos outside the chambers. Phalleon, his patience worn thin, seethed at the sheer arrogance of some of the soldiers. He’d unleashed his fury upon them, their stubbornness a bitter taste in his mouth.
"Those damn soldiers! All they do is complain!" Phalleon’s enraged shouts echoed through the halls, reaching Xerxez and Matheros even before he entered. Xerxez, understanding the cause of such an outburst, felt no surprise. As the four commanders entered, the King’s piercing gaze met theirs. Six silent guards stood sentinel at the room’s periphery. "You lot, ensure the kingdom is secured," Phalleon commanded the guards.
"My King, it is good to see you well," Phalleon greeted first, stepping through the doorway, his eyes locking with Xerxez’s. His earlier scowling demeanor softened, though only slightly.
"And to you, Chief Commander Matheros, your presence is welcome. When you entrusted the soldiers to me, they behaved like untamed beasts. Utterly stubborn."
"General," Matheros responded, his tone firm, "how many times must I tell you to show them kindness? Your temper flares because you refuse to understand them." Phalleon and his companions, Catana and Vethor, then took their seats.
"Alright, everyone, listen closely," Xerxez began, his gaze sweeping over each warrior present. He took a deep, fortifying breath. "I truly apologize for these past few days. Perhaps my own struggles have burdened you all." Xerxez’s voice, though cold, still carried the profound sorrow and yearning for his recently departed queen.
"We understand, My King. Do not fault yourself for the stubbornness of certain soldiers," Phalleon replied, his face etched with earnest seriousness.
"In that case, let us commence our meeting—" Xerxez started, but his words were cut short by the sudden, breathless arrival of a soldier. Despite his urgency, he still managed a profound bow of respect to the assembled high-ranking leaders and to King Xerxez.
"Good evening to you all, but I must, with utmost urgency, interrupt your esteemed gathering at this moment," the soldier declared, his head bowed, facing the seated commanders.
"It seems this soldier bears news of great import," Matheros stated, turning slightly towards the breathless messenger. "Speak quickly. Our council awaits." Matheros commanded, and the other leaders nodded in grave agreement.
"A truly horrifying event has unfolded in the land of Wendlock: the Ossibians have savagely attacked the farmers of Thallerion!"
"What!!!" A thunderous chorus of voices erupted, equally shocked by the soldier’s dire tidings. Their brows knitted in a collective surge of fury.
"Many Thallerion farmers have perished." Catana’s hand flew to her mouth, and tears welled in her eyes at the lamentable fate of the farmers.
"And the most pitiable aspect of their suffering," the soldier continued, his voice heavy with despair, "is that their bodies were fed to crows!!!" King Xerxez’s jaw tightened, his fists clenched, and his eyes blazed with a terrifying wrath upon hearing such an abominable act.
"Crows?!!!" Phalleon surged to his feet, a wave of revulsion washing over them all at the sheer depravity of the act. "They fight with such foulness!" Phalleon roared, his brow deeply furrowed in disgust.
Xerxes rose abruptly, his heart heavy with sorrow for the farmers attacked by the Ossibians. Matheros and the others also stood, following Xerxes to the door.
"Let’s go to the farmers there, maybe we can still save someone," Xerxes said, grabbing his sword and asking one of the guards in the room for a gun. "Maybe someone’s still alive."
"Hurry, follow our king!" exclaimed Phalleon, startled by Xerxes’ urgency. He called out to a soldier he saw in the hallway. They mounted their horses and galloped towards Wendlock.
"No one sleeps tonight!" Xerxes shouted as they rode towards Thallerion. The farmers’ suffering pained Xerxes deeply, and he blamed himself for not acting sooner on Matar’s letter. If only he had studied that letter immediately, perhaps the tragedy in Thallerion would have been avoided.
"Your Majesty, the Ossibuz have their Protector, none other than the Corvus entity..." Matheros said. "We are facing a dangerous challenge."
"I am not afraid of their entity," Xerxes replied, his white horse charging straight ahead. "The nation of Thallerion was not born to be trampled by nations boasting their entities." Xerxes declared with full conviction, addressing Matheros.
The moon peered from behind the trees along their path, and the chirping of crickets foreshadowed a mournful scene ahead. A cold wind greeted them as they emerged from the woods, like the touch of victims pleading for justice against the violence committed by the Ossibians.
Xerxes and his companions found no one alive, only gruesome, raven-torn faces and scattered weapons. Blood, shrouded in horror, became the shadow of the Wendlock land.
"What a waste, we arrived too late. We can’t save them now," said Catana, her heart aching with pity at the horrific fate of the farmers, even the innocent children caught in the land dispute, dragged into it and killed.
"I only took one life from them, why did so many of our people perish?" Phalleon cried, falling to his knees in shock. "You ravens! You will pay!" Phalleon’s voice echoed across the plains, and the hoots of owls in the wilderness sounded and flew away.
"Give them a proper burial," Xerxes said, tears streaming down his face. "We won’t sleep tonight until we’ve planned our revenge. If war is needed, I myself will declare—even right now; I will gamble everything, just to bring justice to these farmers."
Some of the bodies were so dismembered they were unrecognizable as human or animal, their remains intertwined. The once green land, full of crops, now looked withered and severely battered by the Ossibians. Only ashes remained of the rice fields that were just a month away from harvest. Some escaped, but in their extreme fear, they scattered everywhere, hiding deep within the thick forests. Only one woman successfully returned to Thallerion; most are still in hiding, terrified that the ravens might follow them into the deep woods.
Meanwhile, in Ossibuz, Sapar and his men celebrated their successful attack on the Thallerion farmers. The surviving animals from Thallerion were brought in and butchered to be feasted upon during their revelry.
Above, ravens watched the incessant laughter of the Ossibuz soldiers, many of them drunk but still guzzling the wine taken from Thallerion’s storage in Wendlock. It wasn’t refined, but to them, its taste was pure on their palates.
"Hoh, delicious!" shouted the Ossibuz soldiers.
"And it’s so sweet! Wow!" another exclaimed.
"Hahahha, that’s not all you’ll taste, because next, Wendlock will be ours! Hahahahah!!!!" said Sapar, holding a large glass dipped into a huge vat of grape wine. He chugged it down, the liquid spilling onto his beard. He was drenched in wine from his gluttony.
"How do you think Xerxes feels now that Wendlock is destroyed?" asked Fhajo, sitting at a table, pinching pieces of roasted pig laid out by the carvers.
"Most likely, he’s having nightmares right now! Hahahha!" Sapar replied. King Matar stood silently on the palace’s protruding balcony, observing the soldiers feasting on the captured animals from Wendlock. He quietly watched his father from above, his laughter loud and mocking.
They prepared their celebration at night, as was their custom, because in the morning, even the ravens would join their feast. That was merely a disturbance for the Ossibians.
During those moments, the entity of Corvus buzzed into his mind. "Go to Cypriox now. Find out what’s happening, because I have a feeling the Aopudes are looking for the phoenix blood of the man who created the powerful mechanism."
"Don’t worry. I can get there if you let me use blackmist-teleportation."
"First, take the form of a crow so I can send you there in an instant," it said. Matar was immediately enveloped in black smoke, and afterward, a black bird appeared. Matar had successfully transformed into a crow, and while floating in the air, a black mist suddenly appeared and Matar flew into it. In an instant, he was in front of the Cypriox convent.
Matar’s numbers in crow form multiplied and spread throughout the entire Cypriox area, but everyone was surprised by their sudden influx. They thought it was a result of the fierce light that had fallen from the sky, causing chaos among the animals. Matar saw Sentheria walking.
"We’ve been going around Cypriox for days, but my staff can’t find his location," Sentheria said. She stopped in front of a tree.
"Isn’t it possible we’re too late?" said an Aopudes in blue and green clothing with long sleeves. But another one of their companions, also an Aopudes, arrived.
"Elder Sentheria, I’ve found Coventher," he said joyfully. "The thing is, he’s in the Cypriox dungeon. There are guards."
"Well, let’s go, I’ll take care of them," Sentheria replied cheerfully, unafraid of what lay ahead. Sentheria was hooded, so the Cyprioxians there couldn’t recognize her. Only the Vrupercan race had been banished by the kings back then, so for the Aopudes, they weren’t worried if the people there saw them. Many Elanthros were flying above, but what puzzled them were the few black birds, the crows, also flying. A bird loathed by the Cyprioxians, but because of the recent appearance of the light, the influx of birds was dismissed.
"It seems the entity of Corvus is here," Sentheria said to her companions. She struck her staff, which lit up to see the hidden energy watching them. That’s when the entity of Corvus immediately gave an order.
"Mess them up," Corvus commanded.