<div>


    <div>


    <h2 style="text-transform: uppercase"> </h2>


    <div>


    Goslin’s new role came into play only a few days later as the Eldians marched across the empty plains. They were nearing the border to Loft when he spotted a strange formation in the distance.


    "What is that?" Asken asked.


    Goslin raised his hand to shield his eyes. "Is it people?"


    Whoever they were, they were quickly approaching. Goslin saw that there were six of them. Figures in full plate armor carrying weapons. The figures weren''t on horseback but traveled faster than a horse could gallop. They were also much taller than the average man.


    "Pyromancers, ready to fire!" Goslin shouted.


    The Eldian soldiers scurried around him. They knew that any command from Goslin meant that they were under attack from a monster. Goslin note that the six giant men carried different weapons. In the first row, one carried a two-handed blade easily the length of two full-grown men. To its left, a giant ran with a spear the length of a tree. The next held a bow, knocked with an arrow the size of a ballista projectile.


    In the second row, one used a sword and a shield, a second carried a wicked-looking axe, and the final armored monstrosity lugged around a hammer big enough to crush a horse in a single swing.


    "Burn them!" Goslin shouted, and fire erupted from the six pyromancers who’d gathered. Fireballs hurtled through the air and crashed into the first row of monsters. To his dismay, when the smoke cleared, Goslin saw that all six creatures were still charging toward them. They were unscathed.


    Goslin missed Kax at that moment. Indestructible weapons wouldn’t have gone amiss in a situation such as this.


    One of the monstrous knights stopped and drew back its bow. It fired at the pyromancers, but Goslin darted in front and held up his shield. The arrow exploded in a rain of splinters against the pitch-black surface.


    Goslin lowered his shield to discover to his alarm that the giant knights were upon him. They moved with cat-like grace, barely making a sound. The metal in the armors didn’t clink or grind.


    "To me!" Goslin barked. A huge two-handed sword-blow swung at him, but Goslin ducked under it and thrust out his sword. The blade sunk into the knight’s armor like it was flesh, and a clear liquid dribbled out. Other than that, his sword had little effect.


    A second blow came from above and Goslin threw himself to the side, pulling his sword free.


    "It isn’t armor!"


    He struck again at the knight’s leg, cutting a deep groove that made his opponent stumble.


    "Pyromancers retreat!" Goslin bellowed. "Soldiers, overwhelm them!"


    Asken appeared at his side, his heavy mace crashing into the knee of the knight attacking Goslin. The monster fell and Goslin brought his sword down on the creature''s neck. His sword struck with a dull thud and pain reverberated up Goslin’s arm. He dropped his sword.


    Goslin grimaced.


    Soldiers screamed. He watched as three men were crushed beneath a massive hammer blow. Arrows flew from the knight with the bow, obliterating at least one Eldian soldier with each firing. A speck of something dark approached in the air up above them, but the sun made it difficult to see.


    He brought down his shield against the fallen knight’s head, crushing it into a paste of clear, slow-flowing goo. Disgusted, he stood and turned to find a new opponent. The knight with the axe was already mid swing, the terrible weapon a fraction from cutting off Goslin’s head. Reflexively, Goslin raised his shield.


    Someone pushed him hard and Goslin yelped, stumbling back and tripping on the fallen knight. He watched as the giant cleaved Asken in half.


    "Asken!"


    Goslin rushed to his friend, the light was long gone from his eyes. An arrow hurtled through the air. He blocked it without looking, keeping the axe-wielding knight in focus. The giant had already turned away to massacre more Eldians.


    "Die!" Goslin bellowed, striking out, first with the sword he’d picked back up, then with his shield. His sword bounced off the knight, but his shield crushed the monster''s leg, causing the huge knight crumple to the ground. Goslin struck out with his shield again as the knight fell, catching its head before it hit the ground. After the blow, only transparent liquid remained.


    Another arrow streaked toward the Eldian troops. It punched a hole into a group of archers who’d focused on peppering the knight carrying the massive hammer. Five Eldian archers perished from the arrow. The knight with the hammer hadn’t slowed, despite looking like a pincushion. Eldians swarmed the monstrous knights and fought bravely, hacking at their legs with swords and axes, thrusting spears into their bodies again and again.


    The knight with the sword and shield toppled first, collapsing on top of several soldiers. Goslin heard bones crack under the monster''s weight but was unable to help as he was under a flurry of attacks from the one carrying the long spear. It kept its distance, dancing back on limber legs each time Goslin tried to close the gap. The knight’s head, or its helmet, looked like it had been crafted to look like a horse’s head. The small holes for its eyes showed only darkness beneath. Was there actually some sort of person in there, or was it just a construct controlled by the ooze?


    Frustrated, Goslin pushed forward. He failed to notice the hammer knight''s attack until it was nearly too late. Only the blur of motion warned him, and he raised his shield to block the swing. The heavy strike sent Goslin flying into the spear knight. Air rushed out of his lungs, and he bounced off the knight and hit the ground, getting a mouthful of dirt. He struggled for air as he rolled over onto his back. A huge foot came rushing down at him and he flipped up his shield. The knight''s foot broke on impact.


    The monstrous spear wielder fell. Goslin got to his knees and then his feet, scrambling desperately for the knight''s head. The other knight swung its hammer in an arc above its head, crashing down and spraying loose dirt in all directions.


    Fire streamed from the pyromancers, all joining to engulf the hammer-knight. The steady flow of flames caused the monster to sizzle and pop inside its hull.


    Only two more remained. Goslin avoided a flailing limb from the downed knight. It was like this one understood what was about to happen to it, showing an intelligence Goslin hadn''t seen in the monsters they’d fought before, excluding the kozimuz, of course. Still, it didn''t matter if the knight knew what was coming or not. He smashed the rim of his shield into the knight''s face, cracking it open like an egg. Transparent ooze flowed out, staining the grass, and the horrific knight stopped its flailing.


    Goslin turned to face the last remaining knight—the archer. It fired over and over again, each arrow striking its mark.


    Goslin raised his sword and pointed at the knight. "Charge!"


    Before taking his first step, the air crackled.


    Without warning, lightning crashed into the knight archer, obliterating it. The armor blew apart, splattering the ground and everyone around it with translucent goop.


    He gazed into the sky. It was clear, not a cloud in a sight. How?


    Goslin shielded his eyes again and peered into the clear sky. There was that speck in the sky. It grew larger as it drifted down toward him. A man with a sail strapped to his back. "Wade."This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Goslin took solace that Asken looked peaceful when they carried his body away. He’d been one of the few brave enough to follow Goslin from Kleotram and had proven himself as a good and solid man repeatedly. Hopefully, Goslin would be able to do the same before it was his time.


    Lana''s friend landed in a heap of rope and canvas, swearing, and pulling himself free from the debris.


    "Why aren''t you wearing any clothes?" Goslin asked, aghast.


    Wade pointed at his undergarments, chest heaving from exhaustion. "I''m. Wearing. Clothes. It''s. About. The. Wind. You. Wouldn''t. Understand."


    His breathing calmed. "Anyway, that''s the first thing you want to say? No ‘thank you Wade’, ‘great job saving my life Wade’, or ‘how are you able to use lightning, Wade?’”


    "How are you able to use lightning?"


    Wade shook his head. "This isn''t the time for that." He put his arm around Goslin’s shoulders. "It''s a good thing I found you. We need your help."


    "We''re coming this way to ask you for help."


    "Great. We’ll help each other. We''ve got your small friend with us, Kax, was it?"


    "Kax? What is he doing in Loft?"


    Wade stopped, went back to his equipment, and wrapped himself in the piece of canvas he''d used to fly.


    "You will have to ask him that. He just showed up out of nowhere and started demolishing the enemy. To be honest, he kind of saved our sorry hides. Also, we have some new friends. Rhinn friends."


    "Sounds like we really have a lot to talk about. Let''s go find the commander."


    "That''s not you?" Wade asked. "Then why am I wasting time talking to you? Take me to your leader!"


    Once they all gathered, Wade told them of his and Lana’s journey through Loft.


    “You’ve done well, Loftian,” Landé said.


    Wade shoveled food into his mouth as he spoke. “So, we’re in agreement? Join forces?”


    Landé held out his hand. “We are.”


    “So where do we strike first?” Wade asked, reaching out to clasp Landé’s hand.


    "The tower," Goslin said.


    “Tower?” Wade asked.


    "We are not far from The Burning Tower of Firemagi. We need to raze it to the ground. Destroy it once and for all, and all the pyromancers hiding within its walls. There is no coming back from this, not for them. We might even discover the reason for their involvement with the rhinn priests."


    Wade and Landé stared at him, wide-eyed, then looked at each other and smiled with grim determination. The same feeling that had flared in Goslin’s gut when he first thought of it. They weren''t far from the tower, and it wasn''t much of a detour, no matter what they wanted to do after. It would be a serious blow to the pyromancers, he thought, and to their legitimacy.


    Eldsprak without pyromancers was a strange thought, but a welcome one. The world would be better with them exterminated, like the rats they were.


    They met up with the Loftians before the sun hit its zenith the next day. Lana wrapped her arms around him and squeezed, a welcoming smile bright on her face. It looked a little strange as Goslin was more accustomed to her usual petulant scowl.


    "Good to see you, Gos."


    "Good to see you, Lana," Goslin answered. It truly was. With Kax gone, he’d been alone and isolated from the rest of the group. Perhaps it hadn’t been such a great idea to split up and go their different ways.


    Kax stepped up, gave Landé a nod, then turned to Goslin. "I’m sorry, but your father and your brother, Erken, are dead. I found their bodies with the king’s."


    He handed over two heavy rings, one belonging to Goslin’s father and the other to Druk, the King of Eldsprak.


    A mass of emotions flooded through Goslin. He had no idea how he felt about losing his father and his brother. Erken was a bastard, had been a bastard, to Goslin his entire life. Out of the tumult of emotions, he felt relief most of all. Shame flared in his chest. He pushed it down.


    "Thank you for telling me, Kax," Goslin said, looking at the black streaks creeping up from his friend’s neck. It looked like frozen flames burned into his skin. "Are you well?"


    Kax grinned. "I’m great. Always great."


    Lana gave him a worried look, but then introduced a tall, broad-shouldered rhinn man. "This is Thys, he commands the rhinn who came to our aid. You’ll want to hear what he has to say."


    Kax held up one finger. "Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. The rhinn emperor is dead."


    "What?" Thys sputtered.


    "Sounds like we have a lot to discuss. Why don’t we do it somewhere a little more private?" Landé asked, gesturing for everyone to follow.


    "What’s Nothing doing here?" Lana asked Goslin.


    "Turns out, he was the leader for a rebellion," Goslin said.


    "Rebellion?" Lana asked, her eyes jumping between Landé and Goslin.


    It took some time to share everyone’s stories. Goslin told of how he’d buried Hart, met with Gunnar and Fredrik before falling in with Landé. How they’d fought rhinn and monsters, just like the Loftians, and how he’d learned of Heylien’s affiliation with the rebellion.


    Lana spoke of meeting Heradion again, learning her new power, and fighting the gateway warriors. A young boy followed her around, almost like a puppy, and she introduced him as Tre, a pyromancer who’d joined them after running away from his superiors, and who’d been invaluable in the fight.


    Goslin shook the boy’s hand and noted the intensity burning in the young pyromancer''s eyes.


    Thys told them about the divide in the rhinn ranks. His very presence proved his words, but his story still bordered on the unbelievable.


    "The priesthood has gained too much ground," Thys began. "They brokered the deal with your pyromancers, and their influence grew from it. The fire mages would take Eldsprak to rule. Rhinerien is dying and, to survive, the rhinn would need to settle here in Maydian. If your friend’s words are true, that means the priests have assassinated the emperor, a good rhinn and a strong leader, for their ambitions. They grow bold."


    "You know much, my friend," Goslin said. "Did you gain this information from your calling as a gateway warrior?"


    "Swords of Wyndemir is the rhinn name. As you can probably tell, it is the militant leg of the same organization as the priesthood."


    "Does that mean you believe in Wyndemir?" Kax asked. He leaned back in his chair, one leg over the arm rest, munching on an apple Goslin had no clue where he’d found. "Do your eyes go purple?"


    "We’ve seen the purple eyes," Wade said.


    Landé leaned in. "As have we. Right before being attacked by monsters."


    "Wyndemir. It is not a matter of belief," Thys said. "Not anymore. I have never held the faith, not once since being born with the talent for traveling. Not even when the animals stopped breeding, and our crops failed, did I believe."


    "But now you do," Kax filled in. "So do I."


    "You do?" Lana asked.


    Kax took another bite, chewed, and swallowed. "I’ve seen one of the priests, the one who killed the emperor, use a horrible creature as a tool. There was something about it, like it wasn''t a monster before. It was changed. The priest was changed too, all gross and covered in boils and sores."


    "That doesn’t prove a thing," Lana argued.


    "Wyndemir is the father of chaos and corruption," Thys said, speaking loud enough to silence everyone else. "The beings you call monstrosities are his forerunners, and the priests have some rudimentary ability in calling them. It is the reason why I left."


    "You’ll have to explain your reasoning with a little more depth, rhinn," Landé said.


    Thys glared at him but didn’t argue. "The priests of Wyndemir sow chaos and corruption in his name. They wanted to transform the gateway warriors into something else, something grander. Me and some of my fellow swords did not wish to be turned into monsters, so we left and brought those who wanted to join us. We’re here to fight on your side, but make no mistake, our god is coming, and he is coming soon."


    "Coming from where?" Tre asked, his voice soft.


    "Right," Goslin agreed. "If Wyndemir is in Rhinerien, couldn’t he just come through the gate?"


    "I don’t know specifics. We were only taught the dogma," Thys said. "But he’s not in Rhinerien. He’s being called here by the priests somehow. That’s why he was coming to Rhinerien before, but no longer."


    "Maybe we should have kept our own gods," Kax said, sourly.


    Goslin disagreed. "No. We fought them and we’ll fight this one too."


    "How?" Lana asked. "Sarien’s father left. Heradion doesn’t seem to care, and where is Sarien anyway? Shouldn’t he have returned by now?"


    "He’ll return," Goslin said decisively.


    "We will defeat Wyndemir by defeating the rhinn and its priesthood," Landé said. "If they can truly corrupt their own men into terrible beasts, they must be stopped by any means necessary."


    Everyone turned to look at the commander of the Eldian forces.


    "How?" Lana asked.


    Wade struck his fist against his own palm. "We’ll beat the bastards any way we can!"


    "He isn’t wrong," Landé admitted, with just a hint of exasperation. "If the priesthood is calling this Wyndemir here, we need to destroy them and those protecting them."


    "I will gather rhinn to aid you. Perhaps we possess a slim chance of winning," Thys said. "My soldiers will follow the foul-mouthed aeromancer. Treat them well." With that, he was gone.


    Kax got to his feet and ran to the tent opening, shouting. "I freed some rhinn in Fyrie, see if you can find them!"


    He shut the flap, turning with a shrug. "I’m not sure he heard me."


    “So. The tower?” Wade asked.


    First, we’ll destroy The Burning Tower of Firemagi," Landé said. "Then we’ll bring the fight to Fyrie."


    "What about Loft?" Lana asked.


    "The priests of Wyndemir and most of the rhinn forces are concentrated in Eldsprak," Kax said, sitting back down.


    Landé had the last word. "Loft will have to wait. Once we attack Fyrie in force, the rhinn forces in Loft will travel to aid those in Eldsprak’s capital. It’ll be all out war. When we win, Vinden will be empty. Perhaps all of Loft will be."


    "The tower," Wade agreed.


    Goslin heard Lana mutter a single word. It sounded like "Mia."