Chapter 5: Methodology

Prince Lupin was facing the biggest challenge of his military and political career. It felt like a thousand years ago, he had begun his siege on Welindar, facing those impenetrable gates, and now, living within the palace, his authority as ruler was about to be truly tested. The challenge before him? The insurmountable mountain? Welindar’s fall festival.

The citizens had been hard at work in the fields surrounding the city, harvesting their crops and planting wheat, and now, they wanted to celebrate and praise the spirits. When the citizen delegates approached him regarding the festival, he could not refuse. To do so would make him appear weak in the eyes of his enemies and anger those he sought to govern, fanning the flames of rebellion. This would be the ultimate test of his leadership skills, to organize such a celebration and keep it safe and orderly. It was when his authority would be most vulnerable to sabotage.

That said, this situation was not completely hopeless. Lupin had learned from his father, who made every Knight’s Day a rousing success, and the Pack was all but defeated. Noah was absent, off liberating a prison camp, but his anti-host poison remained the foundation of countless victories. He wished Noah was present to assist, but if there was ever a time for him to demonstrate his rule, it was now.

For days, Lupin worked with his city delegates and advisors, preparing for the festival. Most of the former king’s adjutants disappeared from the public eye when Welindar fell, many joining the Pack, but a handful of public figures remained and were willing to help. There was a lot of work and many arrangements to make. Food and drinks had to be prepared to feed and intoxicate an entire city, entertainment had to be organized, streets had to be cleared and prepped for traffic, and troops had to be ready to put down any trouble.

Too many soldiers patrolling would spoil the festival and lead to potential conflict, but too few would leave gaps in security and give rabble-rousers room to enact their misdeeds. The plan was for the soldiers to remain armored as a show of force, and for the knights to move about undercover, disguised as citizens. There would be no room for error.

The day finally arrived, and fate blessed the city with good weather. The sun was shining, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. The citizens of Welindar filled the streets, drinking, singing, and enjoying themselves. Almost one year ago, Welindar fell to Uther, after which the fighting moved from outside the city to inside, with soldiers battling the Pack, so this merriment was greatly needed. The people drank away their troubles, hoping that soon, everything would gain a sense of normalcy.

Prince Lupin walked the streets in his formal wear, carrying his whip and a ceremonial sword. He was guarded by his knights and accompanied by his ever-present healer, Nell. He smiled and waved to the people, but it was a while before his guards stopped grabbing their swords when they saw someone raise their arm.

“Such a wonderful day!” Nell sighed blissfully.

“Indeed,” said Lupin. “This has been my hope for the city since our victory. In time, I dream for the line between beastmen and mages to disappear, when everyone in Welindar can accept and take pride in being citizens of Uther.”

“That is a beautiful dream, Your Highness,” she replied, looking away so he wouldn’t see her blush. Her dream was much simpler, for the two of them to enjoy the holiday with their fingers interlaced, to be on his arm and rest her head on his shoulder.

“I prefer my dream, a tankard of ale that never goes empty,” said Paulman. “Why is it that magic can make men soar with the clouds, but can’t satiate my thirst?”

“An empty mug is the gods’ way of saying it’s time to stagger home,” replied Reynolds.

“That’s because the gods haven’t met my wife. Why do you think I refuse every opportunity to return home?”

“Now, now, Paulman, you should be glad you have someone to return to,” said Lupin.

“With all due respect, Your Highness, you haven’t met her either,” Paulman grumbled.

“Your Highness, I understand you are betrothed to the Vandheim princess, correct? Are you looking forward to married life?” Reynolds asked.

“I suppose so. I’ve only met her a couple of times, so I don’t know her very well. I can only hope my life with her will be long and happy.”

“Take it from me, it will either be one or the other,” said Paulman.

The prince and his attendants did their rounds, ensuring everything in the city went smoothly. For Lupin, it was important that the public see him out and about, socializing with his citizens. He returned to the castle at midday to prepare for the next phase. Along with the harvest festival, he had scheduled a rally. He wished to address the people and give a speech of a hopeful future. Most festivities occurred in the Town Square before the palace, helping bolster attendance, even if the citizens didn’t know it. Prince Lupin stepped out onto a balcony overlooking the square with Nell and Reynolds by his side. Several soldiers began to blow trumpets at his signal, drawing the crowd’s attention.

“Presenting His Royal Highness, Lupin Oxam Vilard Albion!”

The announcement was met with scattered cheering and applause from his sparse supporters. Lupin took a deep breath, once more going over the speech he had been up late planning.

“Ladies and gentlemen! Children of Welindar! I, Prince Lupin, am proud to celebrate this harvest festival with you! This has been a challenging year, with many adjustments having to be made by all, but whatever burdens you carry, I carry with you, for you are my people, my citizens, and my family! At one time, we were enemies, fighting over land, but now, under the flag of Uther, we are united! I came here not to rule, but to lead! To join the north and the south, the east and the west, into one tribe!

Each morning, I wake up hoping that the fighting stops, that the violence ends, and that we can put down our weapons and embrace each other as a family. There are those who wish the bloodshed would continue, who wish to resume the war, to which I say—”

“What say you, Prince?!” a voice challenged.

Lupin looked down to the Town Square as the crowd parted, revealing a figure. “I am Kaisen the Liger, here to return this city to its natural order!”

That name sent ripples through the crowd, the name of a legendary warrior, but Lupin did not give in to intimidation. “The war is over. The fighting has finished. Now is the time for us all to come together under one banner, to become one tribe.”

Kaisen turned to the crowd and raised his hands. “Comrades! Sons and daughters of the spirits! How long are you going to let this outsider rule over you?! We are the free people of Handent, the blood of the wild flows through our veins! In Uther’s eyes, we are merely rabid animals to be hunted for our pelts! Remove the collars he has put on your throats! Do not let yourself become pets, showing your bellies! Do not let your children become beasts of burden for Uther’s nobles! You are either my allies or his slaves!” Several people began to cheer and chant, raising their fists and stomping their feet. Kaisen was winning the crowd.

“Enough!” Lupin boomed. He gave a flick of his wrist, and dozens of bows were immediately aimed at Kaisen, and countless swords were drawn, ready to cut down the intruder. “You are a terrorist, taking what was supposed to be a day of celebration and cheer and making it all about you and your lust for power! You can either join us in the future or have your body lost in the rubbish pile of history!”

“Foolish boy, you don’t have a future! You claim to defend this city and its people, but how can you protect them when you can’t even protect yourself, your stolen castle, or your men?!”

Kaisen pointed up as darting shadows began crisscrossing the city. All eyes were drawn up to the sky, filled with hundreds of black wings blocking the sun. Beastmen of the raven tribe were swarming above Welindar, and they didn’t come alone. Clutched in their talons were Lupin’s soldiers, their limbs bound, flailing like worms on hooks. The insurgents released their payloads, dropping the men to their doom.

In the city streets, the soldiers were dropped with careful aim, being impaled on statues, lampposts, and flag poles. Their bodies were displayed for everyone to see without harming the citizens. They fell like rain at the palace, screaming in terror before their lives were snuffed in the resulting splatter. Everywhere Lupin looked, he could see his men falling, hear their desperate cries, and feel the thump of each impact in his chest as if he had been dropped.

“What say you, Prince?!” Kaisen once more boomed, standing with his arms outstretched. “You demand peace after bringing war to our gates and filling our streets with blood! Allow me to return the favor!” Kaisen then crouched down and launched himself forward, not towards Lupin on his balcony, but towards the row of soldiers underneath. He moved with frightening speed, and his fingers, already tipped with flesh-ripping claws, exuded fields of mana that took the form of scythe-like blades. “Flesh Carver!”

He easily cut down the troops, his claws ripping through steel, bone, and muscle like wet paper. The soldiers nearest him closed in from all directions with their swords, but he dodged all their attacks and countered with monstrous slashes. The archers’ arrows were similarly useless. Kaisen could dodge them, bat them out of the air, or block them using soldiers as human shields.

Lupin drew his whip, but Nell stopped him. “Sire, we have to get you out of here!”

“The leader of the Pack stands before me! I will not let this opportunity slip by!”

“If something happens to you, then not just Welindar, but all of Uther will be in jeopardy!”

Lupin struggled to calm himself, but put away his emotions and his weapon. “Soldiers, evacuate everyone from the Town Square! All knights, kill the intruder! Do not let him leave the grounds alive!”

His troops rushed to fulfill the order. The soldiers, clearly outmatched by the ferocious warrior, retreated and went to work, herding the citizens out of the area. At the same time, knights circled Kaisen with their weapons and magic ready.

“Puny weaklings, hiding behind your steel and gods! None of you has what it takes to bring me down!”

He rushed towards Paulman, charging his axe with mana and swinging towards the beastman’s neck. Kaisen dodged the swing and reached out with his claws, about to end Paulman’s life before being struck by a blast of fire from another knight. He flipped through the air, wreathed in flames but avoiding severe burns, and as soon as he landed, a spearman tried to skewer him. Kaisen grabbed the spear before it could reach him, then roared as his head transformed, becoming like that of a tiger. He opened his jaws wide and crushed the knight’s skull, helmet and all, then threw him aside.

A water bolt from Reynolds’s crossbow struck him in the back and then exploded in a flameless burst, ripping out a chunk of flesh and making him stagger, but it was only for a moment. He turned to the balcony and opened his mouth, with a sphere of mana forming between his beastly jaws. “Lion’s Roar!” He launched the sphere like a cannonball, aiming at Lupin. The prince leaped back with Nell and Reynolds as the mana bomb obliterated the balcony, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the palace.

“His wound isn’t healing. He doesn’t have a parasite!” Reynolds cursed.

“Then how is he still standing?”

Three knights attacked Kaisen, swinging at him with their swords. Kaisen dodged the first slash, spinning around and slashed the knight’s face using his rotational momentum. His claws, alight with mana, tore the man’s head open. The next knight attempted a cleaving strike, but Kaisen sidestepped and then countered with an uppercut slash, ripping him open from crotch to throat and spilling his guts into the street. The third managed to scratch Kaisen, but the beastman turned around and kicked him square in the chest, knocking him through the air while spitting blood.

Kaisen then got down on all fours, his legs transforming to a quadriplegic form and mana radiating from his limbs. “Beast Mantle.” The mana condensed around him, taking the form of an enormous lion that he wore like a costume. He then took off, zooming around the Town Square at high speed, dodging magic attacks and cutting down knights one after another. What few arrows and spells managed to land were stopped by the mana shroud, protecting him like armor. He wasn’t stopped until Lupin’s chain intercepted and slashed him on the cheek, succeeding in cutting through his shroud. Kaisen turned and faced the scowling prince.

“Well, well, look who came down from his balcony. Don’t worry, Prince. You’ll get your turn soon enough. For now, I’ll leave you to bury your men, the men that you let die. Wallow in your failure and dread my return.”

“Don’t think I’ll let you leave so easily.”

“As if you could even stop me in the first place.”

Kaisen then rocketed towards Lupin, who attempted to intercept him with his whip. However, he was not fast enough and saw the beastman’s claws approaching his face. Lupin’s life flashed before his eyes, and he felt a sting of pain and a splash of blood as Kaisen shot past him. Rather than his throat slit, he had received a cut on his cheek to match the one he gave Kaisen. If the beastman had wanted, he could have obliterated Lupin’s skull easily, and Lupin would have been powerless to stop him. The bitterness of that fact hurt worse than the wound itself.

“You’re too weak to rule this city or even be a challenge for me. I know it, you know it, and the people know it. Cling to the delusion of power while you can, for it is all you have. I’m going to bring your whole world down upon you. Until next time, Your Highness.”

Then, with a running start, Kaisen leaped onto the roof of a nearby building and fled, leaving countless bodies behind. The ravenmen above, having delivered their cargo, likewise cleared the skies. Reynolds and Nell ran over to Lupin.

“My Lord! You’re hurt!” Nell fearfully exclaimed.

She tried healing the wound, but he stopped her. “It’s just a scratch, save your strength for those who need it. Paulman, you and Nell take care of the scene here. Scour the castle, remove the dead and heal the injured. Reynolds, come with me. We need to collect the bodies and make sure order is maintained in the city.”

He walked away quickly, not wanting to hear any arguments, and Reynolds hurried after him. “Sir, please, you’re bleeding. We need to tend to it.”

“Don’t ask me to stop. After everything that just happened, I don’t have the luxury of sitting around and being pampered.”

A squad of soldiers and knights was assigned to guard the prince, all that could be diverted from the castle effort. He and Reynolds rode through the city as a show of force, searching for any Pack members striking while the iron was hot. Several trouble-makers were trying to get the people worked up, shouting that now was the time for revolution while standing atop the corpses of the dropped soldiers. Fortunately, none of the citizens had been injured in the attack, but that meant Kaisen retained the public’s support. In their eyes, he was the hero trying to overthrow the Utheric tyrant.

Lupin and Reynolds were quick to arrest anyone causing a scene while they worked to gather the dead troops. Each one left a bloody mess, a monument to Lupin’s weakness. There were a few survivors among the dead, soldiers struggling to breathe as blood streamed from their wounds and their shattered bones ground together. Young men begged for help from Lupin and his soldiers, their faces streaked with tears as they deliriously cried for their mothers, while the older men on the precipice between life and death murmured the names of their wives and children that they would probably never see again. The people voiced their frustration as Lupin and his troops worked to save the few they could.

“Get out of our city!”

“Death to Uther!”

“Free Welindar!”

Those who spent the festival intoxicated were the most vocal, but weren’t alone in their opinions. All of Lupin’s attempts to unite Welindar with Uther were falling flat. He ignored their angry shouts, not wanting to escalate things. While removing a body impaled atop a statue, the crowds turned violent.

“Sir, orders?” Reynolds asked as stones and debris began raining on the soldiers’ shields.

“Ignore them. We’ve got the body, we’re moving on,” said Lupin. Riding on horseback, they moved to the next location.

“Sir, don’t you think we should stop the festival?”

Lupin sighed and rubbed his temples. If he stopped the festival, it could lead to a riot, and he wasn’t sure he had the manpower to stop it. However, such violence was already a distinct possibility after everything that happened. Between the dropped bodies and Kaisen, everyone would question his strength and ability to rule. Today’s events would be gossiped and argued in every tavern in the city, with devious minds now seeing an opportunity to strike.

“The festival will continue, but any and all planned events are cancelled and with a sunset curfew. I want the patrols tripled with full armor.”

Per Lupin’s orders, the celebration was allowed to resume, but after everything that happened at the castle, the people had lost much of their spirit. No speeches were permitted, no performances or plays, nothing that might give the Pack another audience. The festival was halted at dusk, with everyone ordered to return to their homes, going to bed wondering what kind of city they’d wake up in.

There was no rest for Lupin or his troops. Not only had numerous soldiers been killed and wounded in the attack, but the body bombardment had damaged the castle. There was a mountain of things to be done, and those laboring were shocked to see the prince working beside them. Unable to remain still, unable to wait, he forced himself into every problem and project, trying to help wherever he could.

The feelings of weakness inside him made him feel sick, his failures and uselessness weighing heavy on his shoulders. He worked his fingers to the bone to distract himself, performing any menial and laborious task that would make him feel like he was accomplishing something, that he still had agency in the situation.

Even when night fell, he could not relax. He spent the evening pacing back and forth in his chambers, pondering his next move. Not only did he have to worry about the Profane, but now he had to deal with Kaisen, a seemingly unstoppable warrior who had just humiliated him in front of the entire city. The public was turning against him, not that he ever had their support to begin with. He was the ruler of a city that hated his guts. Down below him, the castle infirmary was filled with wounded soldiers, with few healers and potions to go around. Each man lying in those beds, wracked with pain and fighting off Death’s cold fingers, was someone he failed.

He groaned in frustration and sat down on a couch by the window, rubbing his temples to try and ease his building headache. A single candle burned in the room to not make the pain behind his eyes worse. His thoughts were then interrupted by a gentle knock on the door.

“Your Highness? It’s Nell.”

“Enter.”

The door opened, and she stepped inside, smiling nervously and carrying a bucket of water. “I still need to heal your cheek. How is it?”

Lupin touched the cloth stuck to his face to cover the wound. With everything going on, he had forgotten to properly treat it. “It’s fine, it doesn’t hurt anymore.”

“Good, then you won’t mind me pulling off that rag and giving it the care it needs.”

“That’s not necessary, it’s just a scratch.”

“Please, Your Highness, you really expect me not to fulfill my duties? I am your healer, after all.”

“And you’ve been busy healing everyone wounded today. A little scratch on my face is nothing compared to the damage you’ve had to fix. You should rest, you surely need it.”

“If it really is so little, then it will be easy for me to mend. Despite my truly debilitating fatigue, I’m sure I can scrounge up enough strength to mend your cut.”

Lupin chuckled. “Very well, I’m in your care. Please proceed.”

Nell approached and sat on the couch beside him, placing the bucket on the floor at their feet. “Let me just gently peel this back.” She gingerly pinched a corner of the makeshift covering and slowly pulled it down, with Lupin trying hard not to wince from the cloth sticking to the wound like it had been glued. “Ooh, that is grisly. I definitely need to clean that.” She reached into the bucket, pulled out a wet cloth, and gently wiped away the dried blood. “For shame, Your Highness, walking around with such a mess on your face. You’re lucky it hasn’t gotten infected.”

“It’s fine, nothing to worry about.”

“You just don’t want me to fix it because you think a scar will make you look tougher to everyone.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You can’t hide it from me. There is no one who looks at you more than I do.” After cleaning the wound, she placed her hand on his cheek, and a gold aura began to radiate from her palm, mending the damaged flesh. “How does that feel?”

“Better.”

“If something hurts, you’re supposed to tell me. It’s my job to ease your pain, whatever form it comes in. Please, what is troubling you?”

Lupin sighed. “I’m just wondering if I have what it takes to make this city a part of Uther, if it’s possible to win the hearts of the people. I knew when I came here that I would not be loved, but I thought that if I worked hard, made their needs my priority, I could earn their respect. Now I’m wondering if the best I can hope for is to be feared, and what kind of man I’d have to be to make that happen. It’s not the kind of man that I want to be.”

“I know you don’t, and that’s why I respect you, why your men respect you. You didn’t come here to rule, but to lead, you said it yourself, and there is not one person who has served under you that doesn’t believe it.”

“Yet I can’t make the people believe it. No matter what I do, in their eyes, I’ll just be an invader who stole their city. And Kaisen, he doesn’t just want me gone, he wants my head on a pike. He wants to build a throne atop a mountain of skulls, and I don’t have the strength to stop him. I’m afraid there are problems not even your magic can solve.”

She cupped both his cheeks. “But I’ll always try.”

Neither Lupin nor Nell knew how it happened, whether he leaned forward or she pulled him in, but their lips met. All was still and serene until, finally, they separated.

Nell touched her fingers to her lips and blushed, turning away. “Forgive me, Your Highness, I didn’t mean to...”

“N-no, it’s my fault.”

“I should go.”

She got to her feet, and for a brief second, she wished he would grasp her hand, just as she had wished it when they were enjoying the festival. She didn’t know how badly he wanted to. Still, the moment passed, slipping between their fingers like every moment before it, and Nell likewise departed from the prince’s chambers. Little rest came to Lupin that night, but it was not thoughts of his enemies that kept him awake.

He woke up the next day with little strength, but weakness was a luxury he could not afford. Though his attendants greeted him, Nell couldn’t meet his gaze. He still wasn’t sure what to say to her. At the moment, however, his most pressing matter was Kaisen. As long as he was free, the Pack would endure. Even if he could find him, subduing him was another matter. Yesterday he had shown just how powerful he was. Even without a parasite, his strength and killing ability dwarfed that of the fiends. Noah and Valia were his best bet, but there was no telling when or even if they would return.

He spent the morning organizing search parties, putting out a bounty, and questioning prisoners. Unfortunately, no one knew his whereabouts; if they did, they weren’t talking. The prisoners addicted to Elutrin threw out some leads, but none panned out. In the afternoon, Lupin had a meeting with his representatives. They were the top merchants, craftsmen, farmers, and religious figures in the city, and without them, the only way Lupin could hold Welindar was with his hands drenched in blood. He didn’t trust them, and vice versa, but that’s why he kept them around, so that he could keep a close eye on them.

“If any of you know anything about Kaisen the Liger, I need to know now.”

“Once again, you accuse us conspiracy because you have nowhere else to turn,” a dog-headed nobleman grumbled.

“Conflict only brings profit if you are in the right business, which we are not,” said a man with feathers instead of hair. “Most of us lost a great deal of money due to yesterday’s interruption. The harvest festival is supposed to be one our biggest days of the year, and Kaisen’s outburst ruined it.”

“He’s not doing this without help,” said Lupin. “Someone is supporting him and I need to know who. I need to know his strengths and weaknesses. Who is he?”

“Kaisen is a berserker, nothing more,” Welindar’s top banker, a man with gills, said. “His mother was from the lion tribe, his father from the tiger tribe, but as for lineage, he’s a nobody. He has as much claim to the throne of Welindar as I do. He earned his reputation on the battlefield with his tremendous power, but that is all he has.”

“Frankly, someone like him taking control would be a disaster. He has strength and charisma, but it takes far more to run a city,” a scaled beastman said.

“If you truly believe that, then it would be in all of your best interests to help me find him. Regardless of his posturing, he is a tool of the Profane, and his ascent would bring only death and horror. If you value your lives, let alone your positions, use every asset at your disposal to bring him to justice.”

Before the next person could speak, a great tremor shook the castle, and thunder echoed through its halls. With his heart dropping into his stomach, Lupin rushed to the window, where he could see a pillar of smoke rising from the side of the castle. He knew where it was coming from.

“All of you stay here! Do not leave this room until it’s been deemed safe!”

Lupin ignored all objections and rushed outside, with Paulman and Nell chasing after him. They met Reynolds at the scene, who had a grim expression and looked pale. “It’s bad, sir.”

They stepped through the door to Noah’s lab, utterly destroyed and now exposed to the elements. All the tools and equipment had been blown to smithereens, bricks were shattered and crushed, and corpses lay strewn about. The ground beneath their feet was more than just scorched; it was saturated with dark energy, and standing on it felt like they were standing on their own graves. The air had similarly been turned into a toxic miasma. More than simple smoke, every time Lupin breathed it in, he felt like his body and soul were being poisoned by a malicious will. This was cursed earth, unsuitable for any life to grow.

“Damn it, it’s all gone. This room was our greatest weapon against the Profane!” Reynolds swore.

“They knew exactly where to hit us,” said Lupin, talking with a handkerchief over his mouth to try and filter out the noxious air.

“Your Highness, look at these bodies. It’s the researchers and assistants!” said Nell.

The corpses lay strewn about belonged to the men working under Noah, though they were hard to recognize. Not only had the explosion charred their flesh, but it corrupted their bodies as well. They were lying about in gnarled, twisted forms, with mutated skeletal structures and deformed tissue. Even their faces were contorted, showing monstrous features growing like tumors.

“Their limbs were bound. This wasn’t done in an instant. Whoever’s behind this took the time to make sure everyone was gathered here to kill them all,” said Paulman.

“That’s not all we lost,” said Lupin, examining the shattered remains of glass tanks. “Some of the fiends Noah was experimenting on have disappeared. This wasn’t just an attack; this was a rescue.”

“Noah’s gone, the lab, the assistants! How are we supposed to fight now? The Profane could march right through the city gates and we can’t stop them!” Reynolds exclaimed.

“We have enough poison to last until Noah returns,” said Nell.

“If he’s even still alive,” Paulman countered.

“We can only hope. Either they planned to do this when he was gone because they’re afraid of him, or he managed to slip through their fingers. For now, we need to find out who destroyed the lab. This magic wasn’t done by any fiend. This is the work of a ghoul-type host, one who could circumvent the raised palace security and knew about the lab, its contents, and the people working here.”

“You think there is a traitor in the ranks?”

“I do. I imagine that there are at least a few beastman spies among the castle servants who have leaked info to the Profane since the beginning, but that’s not what I’m truly worried about. What’s to stop the Profane from recruiting from our side? Once given a parasite, hosts will sell their souls to keep them. Reynolds, get me a list of every man and woman stationed within the palace grounds and make sure they’re accounted for. Paulman, lock down the palace. No one gets in or out and everyone stays where they are until I give the all-clear.”