The Princess Who Went to War

Chapter 20 - Eldrich Abdon

[Calysta]

"Sorcerer of Ice and Snow, you say?" Ayu asks as she patches up my foot. I nod. 

"Ah, Abdon the Great." Ayu says, as if remembering just who I am talking about. 

"You knew him?" I ask her, shocked. She chuckles as she shakes her head.

"I did not know him. But there was not a person on the land who has not heard his name." She replies.

"He was the most powerful Sorcerer of the time, but also the vilest. His ice destroyed everything in its wake. He wiped down entire villages." She adds as she continues to tend on my foot, making me wince from the sharp pain. 

"It was a rumor, until now that he had a son." She says as she gets up from the stool and starts mixing tonics beside the bed I'm sitting on.

"A rumor?" I ask, repeating what she had just said. She nods. 

"He took in a wife. But she left him only a few months into their marriage. A lot would say it was because of his bad temper and violent attitude." Ayu adds as she hands me the tonic she had mixed. I quickly drink the entire bottle. 

"I never thought it would have been possible. And for him to survive after a hundred years? It must be Abdon's magic that made sure his son would live to this day." Ayu says as she takes the empty bottle from my hand and sets it back down on the table. 

"From the rumor, the son had lived with Abdon's wife and they fled together. Then again, it was just a rumor." Ayu mentions. I was about to ask more questions, when the infirmary's door bursts open and a few people comes in, carrying a man.

"Another injured soldier has been found!" A healer exclaims. I quickly get off of the bed to offer it to the soldier. They carry him in, and he's bleeding badly from a cut off foot. 

"I must take care of this." Ayu says as she quickly join the other healers to be by the soldier's side. 

I quickly move back to give them space. I look towards the door to see Gwen waiting for me. I walk towards her and out of the busy infirmary. 

She drapes my cloak around me, as I was still wearing the nightgown I was wearing the night before. I tie my hair into a low ponytail for the meantime, keeping it away from my face. 

Outside, the sun is already up and the squires and soldiers hurry about, as the search for those dragged by the goblins still continue. 

"Are you alright, Caly?" I look to see Ulysses ask as he walks towards us, looking at my bandaged foot. 

"Yes. Ayu has patched me up pretty well." I reply as I smile at him. 

"You should get that cleaned too, Uly." Gwen says, pertaining to a scratch Uly has on his arm. Looks like it was from a goblin. 

"They're busy with much urgent patients." He replies as he tilts his head to take a look at the busy infirmary. 

"I can do it. I'll get supplies inside." Gwen says as she heads in. Royal Guards are also trained on first aid and basic medical care, in case the Royal on their watch is injured and there is no help available. 

"Have you seen Gabriel and the others?" I ask him, confused as to why he is here alone. 

"They're on their way. Ser Remnand asked them to report. Especially Gabriel, as he was on the wall at the very beginning." Ulysses says. He furrows his eyebrows as he looks at me up and down, realizing I am wearing just my nightgown under the cloak. 

"Were you at the wall too? You and Gabriel didn't have your armors on." He says. I panic, unsure of what to say. 

"We just talked." I reply, but quickly realize this sounds more like a silly excuse rather than the truth.

Ulysses only smiles as he raises one eyebrow at me. I roll my eyes at his insinuation. 

"Sit over there, Uly." We turn to the door as we hear Gwen's voice. She is carrying a tray of items and directs Uly to take a seat on a wooden bench right outside the infirmary. 

Ulysses quickly follow Gwen and take his seat as she starts to tend to his wounds. 

"Is Gwen the newest healer recruit?" Randall asks as he approaches, chuckling. Behind him is Gabriel. He was opening his mouth, as if wanting to say something but I quickly turn my head, knowing that Uly is listening. 

I turn to see him smiling coyly at me. I glare at him in return, wishing he'd stop. 

"Take a seat, Randall. Let me take a look at that too." Gwen tells him. I look back to see that he too, has a scratch on his arm. 

Randall only looks at it and laughs, "This is nothing. Gabriel has scratches all over. He wasn't wearing an armor." He says. 

I look over at Gabriel to see that his shirt has been ripped in all places and small amounts of blood has soaked through. I remember that he was grappling with a goblin hanging on his head at one point.

"You must get that checked inside." I tell him, worried of the possible complications of goblin scratches, considering how much there are. 

"Would you please tend to Ser Elwood?" I ask a passing by healer. 

"Yes, Your Highness." She replies as she gestures for Ser Elwood to follow her. 

He looks at me before ultimately going with her into the infirmary to get treated.

"You're up next, Randall." Gwen says as she finishes patching up Uly. Randall quickly takes Uly's seat as he stands up. 

Uly smiles at me as he stands, making fun of me again. 

"You must get that checked." He makes fun of me as he passes by me. 

"You test my patience, Uly." I tell him, smiling sarcastically. He chuckles at my reaction. 

"You learned this at the Palace?" Randall asks Gwen as she continues to tend to his wounds. 

"This is a part of our training." She replies, focused on what she is doing. 

"Well, you're doing a terrible job." Randall says, making fun of Gwen. 

He immediately grunts as Gwen ties the bandage tighter than normal.

"I bet you regret saying that." Uly says as he laughs. 

"You're all done. Go get a tonic inside to make sure you don't develop any infections." Gwen tells them. They simply nod as both of the head inside the infirmary. Gwen stands and turns to me, looking at me from head to toe. 

"I'm sorry." I tell her, knowing full well she's about to scold me for being out in the middle of the night with nothing but my nightgown on. 

"You should have at least told me where you were going!" She tells me. 

"I awoke from a bad dream and didn't want to wake you. I was out to get fresh air, then the attack happened." I say. 

"And why were you with Gabriel?" She asks me, raising her eyebrow as she crosses her arms on her chest, having her own suspicions. 

"Gods, Gwen. It was a coincidence that he was at the same spot." I reply. She raises her eyebrow further, not believing me. 

"Really!" I try to convince her. She sighs as she drops her arms to her sides. 

"You should get changed." She tells me as she places her hand on my back and we start to walk towards the quarters. 

I change into gear when we arrive at the quarters, and sheath Talassia into its scabbard. I tie my hair into a braid and loop it around itself. 

Once done, we make our way outside. We are supposed to have a meeting with Ser Remnand once we get our injuries tended to and the damage to the wall has been properly recorded. 

Gwen and I make our way into an already crowded Command Room and find Gabriel and Randall right by the door. We stand beside them, opting not to make our way all the way to the front seeing how crowded it is. 

I look around and it seems that all the knights and their right hand men are present. I look to the far right to see Kalah right by the corner of the room. 

"Our worst fears have come into reality. We have confirmed the existence of a wizard." Ser Remnand starts, and everyone in the room starts murmuring. 

"Do we know what kind of magic he controls?" A knight with brown hair asks.

Ser Remnand shakes his head, "All we know is that somehow, he is controlling all these monsters we've been seeing around our perimeters." 

"Has the other borders reported any similar activity?" Another knight asks.

"No. This is only happening here. Our best guess is that we are the gate closest to his territory." Ser Remnand replies. 

"Do we know where that is?" Ser Rem asks. There is silence, before Ser Remnand replies. 

"No." He says as he sighs. 

"Don't we have Sorceresses to track his magic? Why aren't they doing anything?" A right hand man of one of the knight asks. 

"If it's so easy, why don't you do it, dipshit?" We all look towards Kalah who spoke. 

"We had no idea a Sorcerer's existence was possible until today. The bigger question is, why is there a living Sorcerer 100 years after the Great War?" She adds. It is silent, and then everyone starts to murmur once again. Each speculating how a Sorcerer could have survived all these years. 

"Kalah and I will work our best to track him down. But there are a lot of things we'll have to figure out, like what his magic is." I speak up. The man who had spoken about our lack of action looks in shock in the sight of me. 

I guess he had no idea I had entered the room, and was expecting me to be right in front instead of back here. 

"I will be reporting today's attack to the Palace. For now, let us tend to our wounded, bury our dead, build back what has been destroyed and continue training our troops." Ser Remnand tells everyone.

"The Palace will be sending troops this way once they get the news. The General of the army ought to be here in a few days time with a reinforcement. That much, I can promise you." I tell them, confident that this will be the course of action that my father will be taking. 

"Everyone, head out. I will call for more meetings with you later on." Ser Remnand says. Gwen, Randall, Gabriel, Kalah and I stay behind as the others slowly make their way out. 

Once it's just us left, I approach Ser Remnand. 

"Atticus must still be on his way back. Try not to alarm him do not alarm him with the news. He'll likely turn back to get here once he finds out." I tell Ser Remannd.  He looks at me, unsure. 

"We can't have the direct heir to the throne in danger, Ser Remnand. He should be safely in the Capital." I tell him. He nods upon hearing this. 

"We'll think of a way to find Eldrich Abdon, one way or another." Gabriel says, looking at Ser Remnand, and then at me, as if to reassure us. 

"We will. Magic always leaves traces. It is impossible for him to keep us from finding him forever. He's been hiding from 100 years and showed up now, he's surely ready to be found." Kalah adds. 

"We have to eliminate him as soon as he can. He poses a great threat to the Kingdom and our people." I tell them. They all nod. 

"I'll meet you lot after dinner. We may be able to think of a way then. For now, get rested, have some food." Ser Remnand tells us. 

We take our leave and make our way out of the Command Room together.