A Fractured Empire VII

Julian grimaced at the sight before him. Tears swelled in the eyes of Linley - One of many knights in training. The blisters on his face disfigured the young male, making it hard for a person to tell if this was even a person.

As Julian looked at the young male, he could see the fear creeping up in his eyes. Julian would be scared too if he were the Linley.

Julian's white clothes were dirty and smeared with blood, it was a sight to see. Andrew died just like the others Julian worked on as he tried to find a new cure. He was the only one working right now, because it was far too dangerous to have any assistants with him. At least if he failed, he would die down here along with them.

Julian would do what he could to prevent this from spreading, but it was already a daunting task with the limited supplies he had.

'Think Julian, think! What other supplements can I use? What have you not tried yet?'

Julian asked himself as he turned from Linley who was strapped to a table.

Tools of various sorts lay spread out on a small table covered with a cloth. All of them were items he used to experiment on the people that came before Julian.

His eyes landed on a flask full of purple liquid. It was a compound that he deemed a failure, but looking at it now. Julian settled on an idea.

"The priests always stated it was impossible to create a potion to cure all wounds, and that only their blessing and chants could work. If I can find the right amount of herbs to use, maybe... just maybe I can create something that would work here."

Julian's mind worked, as he identified all the herbs that went into creating any healing potions. Most of them were not here right now, but that was ok, he had a little to work with. Next, he took those specific herbs, their properties and compared them to what went into making Devil's Dust cure.

The core herb that was in both was a flower named, Jade Lotus. A simple flower that poisoned people by reducing the rate their cells reproduce. This effect only worked when directly digested, but it was able to work in both the healing potions and the cure.

Julian still had a few of those here, but why did it work? He honestly had no clue, and it drove him insane just thinking about it.

If people actually knew they were drinking a concoction with poison in it, they would not drink it. Yet, it still managed to save so many lives.

The ground beneath his feet shook, as a few of his flask dropped to the floor and broke.

"Damn, they don't give up do they?"

Julian spoke aloud as he wished those damn rebels stopped launching boulders at them already. This was the third time, and he just wanted it all to end.

On the ground, Julian noticed his failed potion mix with a dark blue substance, creating a lavender color. It interested him, as he wondered what caused this to happen and what the effects would be.

The potion he was trying to create was already a failure, as it did not cure anything let alone all wounds. And the mixture it came into contact with was concentrated Zaline, which was an addictive drug.

The two did totally different things, but for some reason, Julian seemed to have sparked an idea.

His body moved as he started fires under the empty flask on his alchemy table.

A smile was spread on his face as he looked back to Linley.

"Pray to Mother Nessa that this works."

--------

Harald swung his sword in a swift motion, and with it, a head went flying. As the last body dropped to the ground, he looked at one of his comrades and nodded. They already knew what had to be done. He was just glad this was over with.

"I can't believe those fucking guards let these amateurs take control of the city gates. They should be ashamed of themselves."

Harald mumbled to himself, but the other knights that came with him heard what he said.

He was not wrong either, their opponents did not put up much of a fight. When the city gates were taken over, Harald expected some powerful enemy. Yet, all he got were fifty villages dressed in leather armor with flimsy spears. The few that were dressed in proper armor must have equipped it once they killed the guards. Even then, they were still lacking in skill.

"Um, there seems to be a problem. The gate won't close."

One of the instructors said out loud as he started fidgeting with the lever that controlled the gate. It was stuck and he was unsure what was wrong with it.

"What do you mean the gate won't close?"

Harald asked as he strolled over to the man.

Pointing towards the lever, the man suggested Harald try it for himself. Harald did, and sure enough, he found that there was something amiss.

"Can we break it?"

Harald asked as he glanced around.

"We can, but we don't know if that will shut the gate. Want to give it a try?"

Another instructor spoke up in reply to Harald's question.

"Yeah, break the damn thing. Better broken and unable to open, than being unable to close."

Harald said.

The man nodded his head. With his gauntleted fist, he punched the area where the lever was, causing a hole to appear in the thick stone wall. Unlike what they were imagining to happen, nothing occurred. The steel gates did not shut, causing Harald to sigh.

That sigh only lasted for a moment as his ears twitched. He could hear the ground rumbling, and it was not only him who sensed this. All the other instructors looked up to see what was going on.

Outside of the gates, a cloud of dust was coming their way. However, they knew that it was not a dust storm, that did not happen in this part of the empire. The rumbling was something else, numerous footsteps is what caused such a phenomenon to appear.

"May Nessa shine down upon us all."

One knight quickly prayed as he moved his hand across his chest with his eyes closed. A few others did the same as they could not see how many were exactly coming. However, they were coming.

"Lee, go inform the headmaster of what is about to happen here. We need reinforcements or else we will all perish. I don't care how skilled we are, against those numbers we will tire out before we finish them off."

Lee was a slim knight, but everyone present knew that he was the fastest out of them all. About time Lee reached the headmaster, they all would be fighting this horde of people. Hopefully, they can hold them off.

"Divide into ranks, block the entrance. We need to hold for as long as we can."

Harald gave the order, and the instructors moved forming a shield wall at the open entrance.