Mist clung to the ravine's steep walls, swallowing the moonlight that flickered on the river below. The air surged with screams and the grinding screech of steel against demonic constructions, their rune-etched shapes tearing through a Sarfin regiment pinned in the Eldren hinterlands. Toji knelt on a shale rock, his dark cloak moist with dew, eyes riveted on the mayhem. His nano-magic thrummed, a quiet current tracing the constructs' violet runes—echoes of Eldren's poisoned stones. This ambush, Voryn's archives had warned, was no casual raid; it was a premeditated strike by Thalren's governor, Kaelis, to restrict Gulmund's trade route and feed the flames of revolt. Frankie stooped low, his breath fogging the icy air as he adjusted a rune-stone between shaking fingers. "Thalren's mercenaries wear Kaelis's sigil," he added, voice keen with desperation. "This is the governors' move—targeting Sarfin's loyalists to weaken the crown." Elian braced against a boulder, his slender form rigid, eyes probing the ravine's shadows for movement. "Kaelis is Helmund's dog," he continued, voice low. "But why hit a trade battalion? Doesn't add up." Toji's jaw tightened, his wrath for greed—for men who plotted carnage for power—burning like a furnace. Voryn's reluctant confessions in Eldren had presented a fragmented kingdom: governors like Kaelis weaving hellish webs, their towns humming with symbols related to the Project. Yet the motives blurred—power, demons, or something deeper? The confusion gnawed, but the battalion's cries urged action. Toji clutched the Marveth relic in his pocket, its spiral glyph a gentle tether to his God's call: defend life, not ambition. "We hit now," Toji replied, rising. "Frankie, bind the runes. Elian, thin the mercenaries. I'll take the constructs." Frankie nodded, his focus deepening as he stroked the rune-stone's edge. "I'll need a clear shot to disrupt them." Elian cracked his knuckles, a small smirk dissolving his strain. "Clear shots are my specialty." Toji led them down the ravine's slope, nano-magic twisting light to disguise their descent. Below, three hundred troops fought in a disintegrating crescent, their pikes bloodied, mages' light-bolts sputtering against six constructs—hulking amalgams of steel and flesh, their red eyes blazing. Thalren's mercenaries, clothed in black-and-gold, flanked them, chopping down stragglers with savage efficiency. Toji's senses detected sixty foes, outnumbering the survivors two to one. He signaled, and they hit. Toji sprang into the conflict, a nano-blade forming in his grasp, its energy edge humming with lethal precision. A construct charged, its claw ripping the air. Toji sidestepped, nano-threads whipping its arm, and slammed his blade into its core. Sparks exploded, the beast crumbling in a fiery mass. Frankie raced to a protruding rock, his voice rising in an ancient chant. The rune-stone blazed, casting a lattice of light that snared the constructs' runes, their violet pulses diminishing. "Keep them off me!" he yelled, sweat dripping on his brow. Elian dashed through the tumult, a blur of action. He tackled a mercenary, trapping him against a shale wall, fist raised. "Who's pulling Kaelis's strings?" he demanded. The man sneered, blood on his teeth. "Thalren's just the spark. The fire's coming." Toji faced two creations, their runes flaring despite Frankie's spell. He evaded a claw, nano-magic driving him onto a ledge. His blade severed one's leg, toppling it, but the second roared, its fist smashing stone. Toji's wrath surged—greed had produced these monstrosities, defiling life for power. He constructed a nano-shield, hexagonal panels absorbing the hit, and lunged, slamming his blade into the construct's chest. The battalion's captain—a woman in damaged armor, her spear shining with blood—rallied her people. "Hold fast!" she yelled, her eyes catching Toji's, a glimmer of hope in their depths. The soldiers staggered, constructs breaking their line. Toji reached her side, nano-blade destroying another creation. "Fall back to the river!" he ordered. "We'll cover you!" The captain nodded, yelling commands. Her warriors retreated, wizards creating light-barriers. Frankie's chant became louder, the constructions halting as their runes flickered. Elian eliminated three mercenaries, their bodies crumpling, but others emerged from the mist, blades drawn. Toji faced the remaining two constructs, their movements jerky but unrelenting. He wove between them, nano-threads binding one's claws, then rewrote the other's rune mid-pulse, nano-magic rewriting its energy to implode. The construct fell, circuits sparking. The last lunged, but Toji's blade pierced its core, silencing its roar. Frankie's spell peaked, and the creations froze, runes obliterated. He slumped, gasping. "Thalren's glyphs match Eldren's," he remarked. "Demonic, layered deep. Kaelis is neck-deep in this." Elian rejoined them, wiping blood from his cheek. "Mercenaries are down, but they talked like this is just the start. Kingdom's fracturing." Toji examined the ravine. The battalion reached the riverbed, damaged but alive, their captain establishing a perimeter. The constructs lay in ashes, the mercenaries' words echoing: The fire's coming. Confusion squeezed his chest—Thalren, Eldren, Gulmund—how many governors were tainted? What pushed this rebellion beyond greed? The captain approached, her spear placed in the soil. "I'm Myra, 4th Battalion," she said, voice steady despite exhaustion. "You turned the tide. Who are you?" "Toji," he said, dissipating his nano-blade. "I fight for truth, not crowns." Myra's gaze sharpened. "The Lightbringer. Marveth's shield." She turned to her soldiers, voice rising. "This man saved us from Thalren's treachery! Honor him!" The troops yelled, their cheers reverberating through the ravine, a raw, defiant sound. Toji tensed, the weight of their hope pressing against his resolve. He served his God, not their admiration, yet their words held a truth he couldn't deny: they needed a sign. Frankie watched the crowd, his expression torn between awe and worry. "They're calling you a savior," he replied gently. "This could shift the war." Elian kicked a broken rune-stone, his expression wry. "Or paint a bigger target on us. Kaelis won't let this slide." Dawn broke, casting a pale hue over the ravine. The battalion escorted Toji's troop to a fortified camp, where couriers disseminated word of the raid to Gulmund, Eldren, and beyond. By lunchtime, locals arrived, their faces worn but eager, offering grain and handmade charms. A Gulmund smith knelt before Toji, his voice shaking. "You're beyond the Ten Gods," he remarked. "A blade for the people." Toji stepped back, hand brushing the Marveth relic, its glyph cool against his skin. "I'm no god," he continued, voice hard. "My God fights for life, not worship. Stand up." The smith rose, eyes gleaming, and the crowd's chants grew: Lightbringer, savior, greater than gods. Frankie drew near, voice low. "They're desperate. Helmund's lies, Kaelis's ambush—they see you as their answer." "Or their doom," Elian replied, surveying the horizon. "Governors don't like heroes who don't bow." Toji's nano-senses sensed a faint pulse in the relic, a memory of Eldren's glyphs, Thalren's constructs, Voryn's half-truths. His hate for greed—for those who built diabolical traps—burned, but the conspiracy's scope evaded him. Why trade routes? Why now? The Project loomed, a shadow binding governors to devils, but its master remained secret. Myra delivered a wrinkled map, her voice determined. "We're marching to Gulmund to report Thalren's treason. Join us. The city needs you." Toji caught her gaze. Gulmund, where the Project's roots festered, where solutions waited. His faith propelled him forward—not for fame, but to cut through the lies endangering White Star. "We'll come," he said. "Not for need, but for truth." As they went out, the crowd's chants swelled, a flood of hope and burden. Toji went in quiet, the relic's pulse steady, his God's light a guide through the oncoming storm. Gulmund loomed, a crucible of secrets, where the governors' rebellion would rise or shatter.
