Oktofinitum

Chapter 50

Mirakov

"Look there! The Deserter's ship!" Turo ni Lady Riezl Anne sa isang banda dahilan para lahat kami ay mapalingon doon, "Oh my..." None of us were able to form any coherent words as our eyes lays upon the destruction that the rebel attack has caused to the once majestic palace.

"What do we do?" As if on cue, we all turned to Lady Jorgette who only looked straight at the palace, for a few moments she remained mum for even a reliable leader like her surely wouldn't know how to deal with this kind of mess, "Let's coordinate the situation with the Knights first. Duday, find your father and gather all the knights to organize the men, after that, Yada and Rexel will help you form a search, rescue, and evacuation operation with the Knights who survived. Jenny Mae," she turned to her, "You go with them and deal with the injured and wounded. Wendell, deal with the remnants on that ship, and Jennifer, myself and Mirakov will find Aidan, and the Emperor," she said as if the plan just flawlessly came to her as she looked at us and nodded.

Agad na kumilos sila, lalo na si Lord Rexel dahil siya ang pinaka-mabilis sa aming lahat, bagama't hindi pa siya tuluyang nakabawi sa aming mga naranasan sa disyerto. Lady Wendell urged her Familiar shark and she led us near the sea walls of the palace just enough to enable us to get off the boat, "Let's go," Lady Jennifer called to me. Agad kaming naglakad papasok sa abandonadong pasilyo ng palasyo para sa kaniya-kaniyang dapat gawin, pero hindi ko maunawaan kung bakit ako kasama nilang dalawa pero nasagot ang agam-agam nang magsalita siya, "Use your ability to locate Aidan and Lord Rhodson," I nodded did my best to feel their element. It was a little hard because of the chaos. Some auras are mixing with others, some are faint, as if blocked by something, and some are already dead and gone. There was so many dead bodies laying all over the palace and each time I encountered an aura of the dead, a chilling feeling ran down my spine, "L–lord Rhodson's aura is the north of the palace, atop the highest point but he's weakened... he's aura is faint..." I said and Lady Riezl frantically looked at Lady Jorgette, "Go." Lady Jenny Mae and Elisha, as well as Lord Rexel immediately ran after her and when only the three of us were left, I attempted to locate Aidan's aura. His aura was strong unlike any others, as if the black smoke had no effect on him whatsoever, but I also felt something else, a familiar yet strange aura. I am sure I have felt this strong aura before but I can't pinpoint exactly when, "T–they're west of here..."

Tumango si Lady Jorgette, "That's the ball room, follow me."

"B–but..." Lumingon siya sa akin nang nakataas ang kilay at may halong pagtatanong sa ekspresyon, "they're with someone else... someone v–very powerful."

That was all I was able to say before she immediately ran towards the ball room and Lady Jennifer grabbed my hand to follow her, "Tell me, who did you sense?"

"I can't really tell who but it's strong. Like a power suppressed for a long long time being unleashed at once." Lady Jennifer didn't reply anymore and only looked ahead but her eyes were obviously deep in her own head.

Nang may nakasalubong kaming mga kalaban, agad na pinatumba iyon ni Lady Jorgette. Her skills and swordsmanship is truly unmatched, but this time her movements were in haste. Kapag nakikipaglaban siya tila gusto niya munang pahirapan ang kalaban at unti-unting patikimin ito ng sakit sa bawat paglapat ng dulo ng kaniyang matalim na espada, but now, she was swift and targeted the points that would easily disable the enemy. Isa-isa silang tumumba sa harap namin hanggang sa makarating kami sa tamang lugar, isang engrandeng bulwagan na tila dinaanan ng kalamidad, maraming mga taong nakasuot ng magagandang gown at iba pa ang nakahandusay sa sahig, gayunrin ang mga tauhan, servidores, at iba.

There in the middle of all the chaos stood Aidan, his golden hair gleaming at the lights of the chandeliers, but his expression was different, it was contorted and angry. Opposite him was his father in a protective golden barrier and fallen knights around him, while in front of them was the powerful aura I was truly sensing, "Eileen?"