A Bored Lich

Reinforcements. Somehow the thought of help had been drowned out by his desperate struggles. The Knights' Academy was just on the other side of the mountain range after all. "Reinforcements, huh?" Lance said. He lay flat on his back, the center of the slaughter. He unconsciously overlapped the faces of his students on the demon corpses. The students would be lying just as still if he found them, and just as quiet.

He could still hear screams coming from the academy, signs of an ongoing battle. It wasn't quite over yet. The demons had an objective, and Lance knew exactly what and where it was. There could only be one thing that would draw an attack that large, the map. "You can get in through the base of the academy." Lance let out a pained groan as he reached over and rolled up his sleeve to expose his Allpass. "You'll need me to unlock the obsidian door with this."

"You mean the door in the jar room?" The blonde-haired boy nodded in understanding. "So that's what we needed. We tried to break the door down but it was too tough, even for Frey." He gestured to the giant.

'I thought the students of the Knights' Academy were supposed to address their superiors with respect,' Lance thought as he looked at the blonde-haired boy and Frey. 'And how did they know about the memory chamber?' He scanned the vacant surroundings. "Are there more of you hiding somewhere?"

"Well actually," Frey stepped forward but the girl elbowed him in the ribs.

"We saw the damage and rushed over," the girl blurted out as Frey keeled over and clutched at his side. "We will need your help to get through the academy." She offered a hand to Lance, who stared at small bits of entrails dangling from her fingers. "Oh grow up. If you can't handle this much, then you will never make it through your magic academy."

"You knights," Lance sighed as he grasped the hand and was lifted to his feet. "Mages have their fair share of troubles too." As soon as he tried to steady himself, his knees buckled. The girl did not let him fall. She shuffled him towards a tree and leaned him against it before stepping back.

She flashed a grin: "Says the man who can barely stand on his own two-" Her eyes fell to Lance's arm, and the smile vanished. "...legs." Lance slid his sleeve down by reflex but it was too late. She had seen the scar.

It was like the last bits of hope died inside of him. He prepared to answer a question everyone always asked about it - to tell the same story for the thousandth time. He gritted his teeth. 'I don't have time for this.'

The girl looked him in the eyes with a short, pained silence that told a story of its own. She wiped her hand on her shirt, and thrust her hand forward: "My name's Elero, Elero Mech."

"Instructor Lance," Lance said as he shook her hand. 'Suspicions aside, these people are strong.' he thought. 'They wiped out a squad like it was nothing. I can't wait to see what the full force can do.' His quick, shallow breaths slowed down. To regenerate mana, he had to be calm. 'This can work. There might be an army of demons, but the Acrin Kingdom has an army of their own.'

Frey stepped forward: "My name is-" He paused and whirled around. "Thomas, what are you doing?"

Thomas, who Lance assumed to be the blonde-haired boy, ripped his gaze away from one of the corpses and looked with wide eyes at his superior. He stood oddly still after the remark, which ended when he let out a loud belch. "Sorry what'd you say?" He wiped a blotch of blue blood off his lips and patted his stomach.

"Frey," Elero sighed. "You said you would watch him."

"He went off on his own," Frey argued. "I had to let him get a hostage to find out what the demons are up to. It's not like we planned to find someone out here."

"Thanks for that," Lance chimed in. "but we should not waste any more time." He scanned the vacant surroundings. "Where are the rest of the reinforcements? Frey, where are your men?"

"My men?" Frey asked. "My squad was dissolved after the year-long war."

"Wait," Lance let himself slide down the tree. His robe, still soaked in freezing muck, stuck to the bark. "Don't tell me. You are not an instructor or one of the general's apprentices, are you?"

"I am a disciple of General Alexander just like the other two," Frey shrugged.

"Where are the others?" Lance repeated. He gestured back to the academy. "There is an army of demons in there, killing my students. You said you were reinforcements so where are the rest of you?"

"We're them," Thomas said. "I know we don't look like much but we did save you so quit your bitching, as my master often said."

"Why did you come here?" Lance barked. "Why not go and alert the Knights' Academy?"

"We want Doevm back." Frey blurted out. Lance's outburst seemed to ignite something within the giant. "It will take us too long to go across the swamp. We want to grab him and go. Are you with us or not?"

"Doevm?" Lance repeated. The recent memory was a fresh wound in his mind.  "That's right, he did go by that name when we took him. Unfortunately…" He summarized everything; the memory loss, the name change, and Cerlius's unfortunate demise atop the academy.

"Knowing all that," Lance continued. "Do you really intend to go in there? It is gone, all of it. I do not want anyone else to die. I am begging you. Go back to the Knights' Academy and get the rest of the army out here. It is the only option to save what little left there is to save." Frey, Thomas, and Elero all looked at each other, and a weight pressed down on Lance. "What aren't you telling me?"

The three nodded to each other. Thomas stepped forward and took a note out of his spatial ring. "The Knights' Academy should be able to see what's happening. Considering the generals' speed, we don't know why they're not here. We have an informant from another faction within the Knights' Academy. This is the last thing he gave us."

The note read: "Do not return. This is goodbye." Fresh blood dripped from the corner.

"What does this mean?" Lance couldn't help but ask. The three opened their mouths but he almost didn't want to hear an answer.

"It means we are all the reinforcements you're getting."