~They're back?~ Lucius thought to himself in disbelief. "But that's not possible, how did they get through the necromancer's decay?~ he pondered. It wasn't making much sense, so after saying his goodbyes to Sherlin he followed the guards.
There was a very real possibility that the necromancer had sent illusions here to deceive the members of the den. After all, if it had managed to send him to a mindscape, then it may very well be capable of creating illusions as well.
After running for a short while, he noticed a crowd coming into view toward the end of the main tunnel. The civilians murmured whispers of pity and despair as they swarmed whatever it was that deserved this much attention.
"What's going on here?" Lucius asked as he tried to get through the crowd.
Those members that noticed it was him whispered words of respect before parting to let him through. In this way, he managed to make his way to the front, where he found Shamira staring at the scene in front of her with tears in her eyes.
"Good god," Lucius whispered in disbelief.
In front of him and Shamira lay Five Chames warriors, the biggest he had ever seen besides Shavak. Their bodies were covered in tar-black rashes that excreated an unpleasant purple fluid. The fluid itself released a rather sour smell, which was only intensified by Lucius's evolved senses.
All but one of the warriors groaned in pain, and from the markings on that particular warrior, Lucius could tell it was the chief.
"-Princess, I think this is my end," Lucius heard the warrior groan, his voice so soft it was almost a whisper.
Whilst he pondered whether or not to use his solar cleanse to heal them, he questioned how they had come to be in this state.
~Did they just walk through the decay zone? Was that seriously the level of thinking their chief warrior could manage?~ he thought to himself hesitantly. It was difficult to believe that someone in such an important position could make such crude decisions. By this point, Shavak, Avankor, and a few members of the council had arrived as well.
Shavak and the council members stared in silent shock, unable to even fathom what the group could've gone through to fall victim to such wounds. Avankor however, having seen decay firsthand, wasn't so surprised.
"We have to get him to the pod," Avankor said, already walking past Lucius to pick up the ailed warriors. However, that wasn't wise.
"Don't touch them. The decay could spread to you too," Lucius warned, before removing his crux. The crowd was in awe at the sight of the tennis ball-sized sun, as it zipped toward the warriors, before letting out a burst of light.
With that, the decay on the warriors began to disappear, until eventually even their wounds were gone.
It had been a while since Lucius cast spacial solar cleanse, so he had forgotten just how much of a toll it put on him. Healing all five of them had completely drained him, in fact, his fatigue was so intense that he nearly lost his footing.
"Y-You can heal even this much?" Avankor asked in stupefied awe.
"They'll need some time to recover their energy," Lucius replied, noticing that all of them seemed to have fallen asleep right after their treatment.
"I think I myself need some rest," he whispered, a gnawing thought already plaguing his mind.
With the exhaustion of his solar reserves came a new urgency. There was a need for him to replenish them as soon as possible as it was too risky to stay long without them. Especially when the den was so deep in necromancer territory.
"Havon, King of the Sun," one of the Chames in the crowd whispered.
Lucius looked toward where the whisper had come from, surprised by the suddenness of it. ~King of the Sun? You'd think Pagan was here,~ he thought to himself, a little sad at the remembrance of his child.
However soon after someone else whispered it, and shortly after that another, until nearly everyone was chanting it.
Lucius was surprised at this, there seemed to be more people on his side now than just a few days ago. However, just as Lucius would've expected, those councilmen who supported Shavril remained silent. Though the clear awe in their eyes betrayed their intention.
In spite of all the chanting, Lucius paid more attention to Shavak. His people were calling someone else a king right in front of him. No doubt it was going to cause some sort of friction between the two of them.
However, it seemed Shavak was lost in thought, with a sort of confusing expression on his face. It was an expression Lucius often saw on Pagan when he performed magic. Though he doubted that Shavak and Pagan could even share similar thoughts.
"Who are you?" a voice called out from behind him, as he was about to speak to Shavak.
It was the chief warrior, and from the way he stretched his words, it was obvious he was running on fumes.
Shamira had him laid on her lap, with tears of joy on her face. It was obvious to Lucius that these two were more than just friends.
"Havon," Lucius replied after some thought before the chief passed out from exhaustion.
**
The warriors were taken to Avankor's healing pod to run a quick check-up. It seemed that the fluid he used was quite effective at confirming the health status of those placed inside it. Something that Lucius planned to examine himself when he got the time.
Whilst he waited for the warriors to wake up, he decided to finish his map. Sherlin had 10 pieces of leather similar in size to the first he had shown Lucius, meaning that he could create even more maps for separate missions.
However, it was still a priority to secure more of them. If not more for his commune than this one.
After he finished his map creation, he decided to take a rest before he and other members of importance were called to the war room. Apparently, the chief warrior had awakened and wanted to share what he had seen.
As everyone was taking their seats around the table, the chief walked in with Shamira behind. This seemed to please Shavril as he had a satisfied grin on his face.
"I greet you wise Advisors," the chief began, the whole time staring straight at Lucius. "I come back to the den a failure, the hunt did not bear fruit. Ten warriors were lost in this hunt... good warriors" he continued, now breaking eye contact.
"Forgive me chief warrior, but can you go more into detail? Eh- for record's sake," Sherlin asked. It seemed he was already making use of words and concepts Lucius had taught him.
The chief warrior remained quiet for a moment, it was clear from his expression that the ordeal he had undergone was not one he'd like to remember.
