Chương 63: Chapter 62: A Shield's Resolve.

"It's… a lot bigger up close," I murmured, standing in the shadow of a wall that seemed to reach the heavens themselves. I had read about the Great Wall of Aelheim, but seeing it gave texture to the words I had only half believed until now. The giant grey structure loomed almost two hundred feet into the sky, its looming presence casting shadows well past the neighborhoods reserved for members of the City Watch.

It was quite possibly the single most impressive thing I had ever seen since I'd come to this world, and I had a sword made by a God.

"I keep forgetting you haven't seen stuff like this before," Damian murmured next to me, content to let me admire the view.

"If you think this is nice, you should try walking on top of it."

"Is it that much better?"

"You'll see." Men and women walked in front of us in neat, orderly columns. Another man stood at their head, some kind of leader. Their uniforms were mostly black, with traces of dark blue along their arms. Each of them had the Veyne sword and sickle pinned to their chests. It was my first time seeing the men and women under the Veyne banner, save for those who served at the Manor itself.

"My Lady, do you want me to fetch someone?" Estovan said, standing next to me. We had only just passed through a guarded checkpoint to get this close to the wall. My visit here had been a surprise. Not intentionally, but simply because Count Sterling seemed content to make me wait weeks before he let me come here at all. A truly obvious insult, but it was hard to fault him too much, given everything. Doubtless, someone had been sent to relay my arrival to the Count himself, so we would not have to wait very long.

In front of me, a group of four slowly rolled a large ballista towards a lift built along the wall. The ballista itself was twice as tall as a man, with glowing runes carved along the wood. The four men moved it towards a large metal cage, which sealed shut as soon as they went inside. There was a creaking noise as the lift jerked and then smoothly began moving towards the apex of the wall. Perhaps it was best if I stayed on the ground during this visit. Damian nudged my side.

I broke away from my inspection to see Count Sterling approaching in the distance. Click. Click. My vision focused. The man was wearing a uniform not unlike any of the other men here, save that his had more blue flourishes than the rest did. Currently, a tall, spindly man trailed behind the Count, whispering into his ear. Count Sterling did not look very pleased at all. His gaze searched out, met us, and then he only scowled more. Well, that was good to know. I turned my sight back down.

I was getting much better at enduring the whiplash that came from adjusting my senses and then turning them back to normal. That was progress, of a kind. Count Sterling stopped when he was a dozen feet away from our party. He tipped his head, the man behind him giving me a deeper bow.

"My Lady," he said, his tone perfectly flat.

"Your inspection wasn't scheduled for another three weeks. The wall is no place for a stroll.

"This is not much of an inspection," I said.

"I simply came to speak with you, and perhaps get the chance to look out of the walls at the same time." He frowned.

"With respect, Lady Veyne, this is a military fortification, not a balcony. There is nothing over that edge but ash and death."

"Then it's a good thing I am here as the head of House Veyne, and not just a Noble Lady. Wouldn't you agree?" He nodded hesitantly and turned towards Damian.

"It is good to see you again. Your father was just here an hour ago. He practically talked my ears off with all his talk about Cassian." I saw Damian's expression shift, if only for a moment.

"My father does love to speak of him. He is a brother anyone would be proud of." I noticed his right hand clench even as he said the words.

"Just so." The Count nodded, turned towards Estovan.

"I must say, I'll never quite get used to seeing you in that uniform. It feels like it was just yesterday when you fought side by side with us." Estovan had the uniform of the Manor Guard. Which was similar, but not quite the same as the uniforms of the men on guard here. It was pure black.

"My days of fighting on the front lines are past me, somewhat," Estovan smirked.

"That is a young man's game."

"Nonsense. You'd still manage to whip some sense into these young ones," Sterling smirked back.

"You should go and join Gideon with the recruits. The Gods know they could use a good kick in the rear." I cleared my throat, interrupting their reunion. Count Sterling looked at me again and nodded.

"Very well then, Lady Veyne. We can speak, and I can show you the Great Wall." He turned to the man next to him.

"Gideon, you'll have to get the Sergeants to run the drills yourself today. See that they don't ease up just because I am not there."

"It will be done, My Lord." The man, Gideon, bowed first to him, then to me, before he left.

"Estovan, perhaps you should do as the Count suggested," I said. Estovan looked at me, at the trailing Gideon. He seemed to understand, because he only nodded, and then started to follow the man. That just left me, Damian, and the Count. He was eyeing me curiously now.

"Come, Lady Esra." The Count began to walk away, and so I followed behind. Damian stepped back and to my right. He didn't break the silence, and I didn't want to break it first. I realized he was leading me directly towards one of the great metallic lifts. Men either saluted or bowed as we approached. I got the distinct impression that absolutely none of their reverence was for me. We stepped onto the metal platform.

It felt solid underneath my feet, and it was certainly large enough to accommodate three people without feeling small. The railings slowly slid into place, and only then did Count Sterling speak up again.

"It is my understanding that you have approached Count Vance and Count Calloway with some…odd proposals."

"The two of them certainly didn't seem to consider them odd," I said politely.

"Aye…." He trailed off. The platform slowly creaked before it began to rise.

"Have you come here to bring your odd proposals here as well? You will find we have little need of them here." He said dismissively. I saw Damian start to move. I raised a hand to stall him off.

"My proposals are little more than giving the people under my command the tools they need to do their jobs better." I stared up at the man.

"I have no intention of telling you how to do your sworn duty. I merely wish to make it easier." The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Count Roderick Sterling didn't seem particularly convinced.

"With Gold? My Lady, I do not believe you understand what exactly we do here." The lift had risen high now, high enough that just looking down was enough to make something inside me lurch. I knew I'd had a fear of heights and had somewhat braced myself but... this was still higher than even the Sky Circles. The queasiness that came was far worse. Click. Click. I tamped down on the nausea and the discomfort until they turned into dull, insignificant buzzes.

"I do not," I said.

"That is why I am here. So that I may find out for myself." The man didn't say anything more on our ride up. Neither did I. Soon, we'd risen so high that all the people below looked little more than ants. Finally, the lift stopped moving. Behind us, a set of guardrails dropped. Count Sterling led the way, and the three of us followed. We were on the wall then. I had thought the wall might be big enough for a few men to walk abreast. Not so. This was more of a small road.

You might have even been able to drive a small carriage right through it. The absurd scale of this structure was only just starting to really sink in. Then, there was the view beyond the walls. I found myself letting out a gasp before I'd even thought to control myself. The land past the walls wasn't a dead wasteland. The immediate surroundings looked like a sprawling valley. Rolling hills stretched out toward the horizon, dipping into deep ravines and rising into distant peaks.

There was a vast, dense forest to the west, and a wide, winding river cutting right through the center of the plains. It might have once been beautiful. Now it was just wrong. The "grass" covering the plains wasn't green; it was a deep violet that looked sickly. The "forest" didn't have trees made out of wood and leaves. Instead, the trees resembled so many white fingers, stretching towards the sky. Some of the trees were a pure black that shone in the light, almost as if they were made out of glass.

The river might have flowed with water, but even that water was the same sickly violet color as the grass surrounding it from all sides. Then, there was the ash. It was a fine layer of silver dust that seemed to partially coat everything. Occasionally, a gust of wind would make it flow into the air, a trailing stream of silver that moved before inevitably settling onto something else. These were the Ashen Wastes. This was what was left of the Western Provinces. This was my home.

"Your father tried to bring you here once. It must have been two years ago." Roderick Sterling said.

"It is said you threw quite the tantrum. It even managed to circulate through some of the smaller newspapers for a day or two."

"I was a child," I said simply. There wasn't much else I could say. After all, this was long before I had come to take over this body.

"You still are," Roderick said.

"Forgive my bluntness, but until a month ago, you hadn't left your bedroom. Now, you wish to step out and give suggestions on how to do things in the real world." He shook his head.

"Vance might be easily bought, and Calloway easily charmed, but you will find neither works up here." Damian stepped in front of me.

"My Lord, you overstep." He said firmly.

"This is no way for a retainer to speak to their Lord."

"You must see it too, lad," Roderick said dismissively, gesturing towards the land.

"She might have wit, but it takes more than wit to do the task I've been assigned. These walls have held up fine for more than a century. This city could do without the interventions of a child." His voice was firm, though not unkind.

"With all due respect-" Cries went up before Damian could finish. I turned, only to see men on the walls pointing. I followed their gestures, only to see…dark blurs on the horizon. Birds, I think. Though if those were birds, then the reaction from all the men here didn't make sense.

"Those are Ash Wraiths." Count Sterling said.

"Strange to see them so close to the walls."

"Will something be done about them?"

"Only if they come close. They won't." Count Sterling said confidently.

"Ash Wraiths are strange beasts that feed only on mana. They are extremely sensitive to it. Thankfully, there is easier prey to be found in the Ashen Wastes than anywhere near these walls." The small blurs were growing larger.

"That's strange." Count Roderick muttered. He turned and shouted out an order.

"Man the ballistae!" I knew then why those beasts were getting closer. Damian put an arm in front of me. I stepped back. We were a few hundred paces away from the nearest guard tower. Those blurs were moving right for us. Right for me.

"Esra, get back." Damian stepped in front of me. Large arrows fired around me. There were ten ballistae on this side of the wall, and there were enough men to man seven of them. Each ballista required multiple men. Giant arrows streaking with green shot out at the blurs. Some of those blurs fell. Most of them stayed their course. Prey. The men started to reload. I could see the figures more clearly now. They were in the shape of birds, and yet were wrong. Their bodies were sickly and translucent.

I could see right through their skin, at the blood that flowed inside them. Their one eye was fixed directly on me. I closed my eyes for a fraction of a second. Click. Click. I stomped down on my spike of panic, replacing it with absolute calm. I condensed mana into my limbs, even as I shot my arm out to the side. I condensed as much mana into my limbs as I could, until they'd started to emit a faint blue glow of their own. I didn't call forth the Godblade, not yet.

That was a last resort, one I truly hoped I didn't have to use. Three of the beasts were already diving over the parapet. They opened jawless, circular maws, emitting a high, wheezing shriek that made my bones rattle. A dark blue light streaked from the nearest ballistae toward the three of them. Pure mana. At the same moment, I felt a violent tug from within. A wispy, dark blue aura began to pull freely from my skin. Gritting my teeth, I violently forced my mana inwards. Slay. The Godblade whispered.

"Get behind me, damn it!" Damian roared. He threw his hands upward. A thick, curved dome of dark earth and stone erupted from the stone walkway, curving directly over the two of us. Crash! The Wraiths slammed into the earthen shield. The stone groaned. Dust rained down on my hair, but the barrier held firm. I looked at Damian. He was gritting his teeth as he channeled mana. The beasts were doubtless trying to eat the mana from his defense.

"Can you hold them?" I asked.

"Yes," Damian grunted. I heard the heavy thwack of crossbows. The sharp, tearing sound of steel cutting through flesh. The bestial screams of creatures suffering from pain. A Wraith bypassed Damian's dome, banking sharply to move around the side. Its elongated claws reached for me. I let some of my condensed mana flare to the surface. For a fraction of a second, the air around me turned suffocatingly heavy. The Wraith actually froze mid-lunge. Even a beast could know fear.

Could hesitate in the face of realizing its helpless prey was perhaps not so helpless at all. I moved to swing my hand. I wondered what would happen if I struck the thing with this much power. Before I could, a jagged spear of rock shot from the side of the dome, skewering the Wraith straight through its wing. The beast shrieked, pinned in mid-air, thrashing wildly to break free. It flapped its wings as it started to fall to the ground. A blur of dark blue and black got to it first. Count Sterling moved fast.

In his hands was a massive, two-handed broadsword that glowed with a bright blue light. The beast tried to nip at him. He stayed just out of range, and then he struck down horizontally. The pinned Wraith was cut cleanly in two. Its shrieks died instantly as its two halves hit the stone. It didn't bleed like a normal animal. As its body separated, a geyser of pale, viscous fluid erupted from its insides. It vaporized almost instantly, filling the air with a foul stench.

"Kill the stragglers!" Sterling commanded, not even pausing to watch the beast die. Crossbows fired again. There were more screams, more sounds of ripping flesh. I saw another of the wraiths try to move in from the other side, only for three crossbow bolts to slam into its head from behind, piercing it through. Then, it was over. The men cheered. Damian sighed, and the wall in front of us crumbled into dust. Besides the two corpses on either side of me, I didn't see any other Ash Wraiths. The skies were clear.

Count Sterling lowered his broadsword. He didn't sheathe it immediately. His gaze dragged from the dead monster to Damian's panting and finally settled on me. His eyes were slightly wide, his grip tight on his hilt. He was staring at me like he was looking at an entirely new person. He must have felt my mana when I'd used it to make that beast hesitate. His gaze was searching. I simply smoothed a wrinkle from my skirt and met his stare.

"Are you unharmed, Lady Veyne?" Sterling finally asked.

"Thanks to my retainer, I am quite all right." I said. I turned to look at Damian. Perhaps it was just my imagination, but I thought he stood a little taller than he had before.

"Indeed. A capable young man. He reacted quickly, with no fear. He moved to protect his Lady, and did it without wasting any mana." Count Sterling said.

"Thank you, My Lord." Damian tipped his head. Was he…blushing?

"And you weren't afraid." Count Sterling stepped closer, inspecting me.

"That pressure just now... You were about to kill it yourself."

"I was certainly about to try. I trusted him, and I had a contingency," I said.

"Only a fool ever chooses to rely on only one weapon." Count Sterling stared at me for a long moment. With a sharp, sudden motion, he slammed his broadsword back into its scabbard and offered a crisp, perfect salute, the kind I had seen his own men give him.

"I will keep that in mind. Let us continue the inspection, Lady Veyne," Sterling said, gesturing down the length of the Great Wall.

"There is much I would like to show you." I began to follow him. I heard Damian start to follow me.

"And My Lady... if you do have any suggestions, I would like to hear them." It was hard not to smile.