CHAPTER 705: ONE AMONGST THOUSANDS

Who are you? Where did you–How? Who am I? Well, that’s a...I don’t know how to tell you. It’s a long story, and I only remember a handful of memories. One amongst thousands, I was a midguard following the footsteps of Nightsilver. One amongst thousands, I was his party member. But what else now? What else can I scrape out of my empty skull?

Oh, that’s right! I had a partner. She held a shield as a paladin of Athenia, her body shielded me from the horrors as I pierced through their bodies with magic and my spear. We were fighting against that horrid army. A year? A decade? Maybe a century, I don’t exactly remember how long I had been following her with an ocean of soldiers pushing us forward, waiting for their chance for us to fall and take our place in the war.

Yet not an ounce of blood had been drawn from my body, all thanks to her steadfast stride and the silver shield that she carried. Like a sword, she swung it around, throwing the enemy like a bunch of twigs. But alas, her spirit broke against a general as his bare, bony fingers punched through that silver. I leapt forward to parry his strike, but with a tug of the hand, she flung me aside.

Even now, I remember her smile as she looked at me with the blood gushing out of her chest. I tried again and again to help her, but the horrors overwhelmed me. But even through my dying gaze, I watched her stabbing the general with a knife, with only the words of a champion echoing through her lips instead of screams as they did mine.

Only in death did I realize that she’d taken her killer with her to the afterlife. Centuries past, and to this day, the faint voice of her laughs echoes through this mantle of heroes. Her voice carried the same hint of insanity as it did on the day of her death. My flesh and her have rotted away, our souls are trapped, never to escape this place. Unless...a thousand wishes we can grant and earn our freedom, not to mention our aid against a new era of monsters and demons.

However, what should’ve been a thousand and more was now just under it. How much exactly? I couldn’t tell, but ask me and I shall answer but in return you shall grant me–no, grant us our freedom, Darius El’Rouse.

And that was the end of Darius’s dream. Upon waking up on his study, he realized that he’d fallen asleep on top of the mantle of heroes. His mind had drifted to the immenseness of the cape and despite being out of it already, his mind ventured through the darkness within which the souls of every trapped hero were sealed.

"Nine hundred nighty seven..." He whispered to himself.

At first the words meant nothing but then reminded of the spirit’s promise he realized what it meant. A total of nine hundred and nighty seven souls from the war against the demon lord were trapped within that mantle. Ready to serve the hero of now, even though their duty to this world has already been fulfilled. A wish per soul, one wasted by Mercedes’s greed of gold and the other two used to realize what power the mantle holds.

A bit rattled by the experience, Darius ignored his wife’s loving kiss as she placed a cup of tea on the edge of his table. Aelin had woken up before him, and the scent of a fresh meal was traveling throughout the shop. Lost in his own world of confusion, however, Darius stared at the cape, his fingers ruffling through its fabric.

’I don’t feel anything anymore...’ Unlike last night the mantle would no longer serve any other man or woman. It has been used far too frivolously and the souls within refused to acknowledge anyone else as their master but the hero of today. And even then, there were many who wouldn’t bend to his every whim for each soul carried within it, a core deep hatred for the demon lord and the army that carried his will.

Finally snapping out of his own head, Darius looked to the tea cup and then turned to look at his wife working behind the glass door that led to the kitchen and the rest of their house. Through the open frame, his eyes lingered on her bare form, still as blooming and bare as last night. With a sigh, he grabbed his head and turned back around. Picking up the mug, he slid the mantle aside with his free hand and tried to calm his heart with the herbal brew.

It worked pretty well, so much so that even as Raven finally arrived, Darius wasn’t shaken and instead felt a weight lift right off his shoulders. Relaying everything that he’d experienced in his dream, Darius passed the burden onto Raven along with the mantle. The moment the fabric touched his shoulders, once again Raven felt clarity of mind and a tranquil sense of connection from the furthest nerve to the other.

Much like his experience with Umbra, something unknown tugged on him from within. And while the fairy mother and him had a rather agreeable relationship at this point, the mantle was much more rabid, almost like an animal only kept in control by the man carrying the title of a hero. Not to mention the many horrors lurking within his body, they appeared to be in some spiritual conflict with the spirits of the mantle, but with Raven’s command on both of them, they kept to their lanes despite giving each other a metaphorical staredown.

The sensation confused Raven as on one hand it was calming, and on the other a storm was brewing with no signs of letting off. And although he was keeping it under control, one wrong move and who knows what might happen between these warring armies now contained within his body. Not to mention, the fur coat of the general–the mix of it all, was needless to say a paragon of a cacophony.

But the time to worry was gone, as the army was waiting for him at the mansion, his women were already preparing to join him in his travel to this new city, and the royals of Eclanor as well as the demon general were expecting him to visit as soon as possible. Bidding their byes to Aelin, the men headed out for the mansion. Darius had hoped to bring his wife with him but after his dream that night, he decided it was better to just keep company with the annoying blacksmith and the witch during times of war. They could handle themselves in case of trouble, Aelin on the other hand have never been through such a volatile environment.

"How long do you think this war will take?" Darius asked, keeping up his pace with Raven.

"Not long, don’t tell anyone I said this but..." Looking at his friend, Raven sealed his lips for just a moment. "This time I feel like it would either be us or them and the war will be over within a month or two at most."

"That bad, huh?" Darius gulped, his anxiety finally bubbling up his throat.

In response, Raven simply nodded, knowing fully that anymore and Darius might lose his nerves.