Lord of the realm

Chapter 208: In time

The air itself had changed. Pressure was building, like a storm approaching at impossible speed. And from above, growing louder with each second, came a sound.

Wing beats.

Massive wing beats, each one powerful enough to shake the trees.

The refugees looked up, and through gaps in the forest canopy, they saw it.

Ba’narussa descended through the trees, her divine presence making the demons recoil instinctively. Seven heads, each one focusing on different sections of the demon formation. Wings that seemed to fill the entire sky. Scales that shimmered purple, silver, and gold.

And standing on her back, power radiating from him in visible waves of golden-red energy—

Jaenor Arkwright.

He leaped from Ba’narussa’s back while she was still twenty feet above the ground, his merged power cushioning the landing. He hit the forest floor with an impact that cracked the earth, creating a small crater, and straightened slowly.

He rose slowly, radiating power that made even the Black Orcs take involuntary steps backward.

His eyes blazed with golden-red light shot through with deeper colors, and when he spoke, his voice carried the layered quality that suggested realities converging.

"You were saying something about eating children and playing with women."

He took a step forward, and the ground beneath his foot vaporized from sheer pressure.

"Please. Continue.

I’m fascinated to hear how you thought that would end well for you."

The Black Orc leader had frozen, its earlier confidence completely evaporated. He could literally see the energy flowing out of Jaenor like a raging river, bursting with sheer dominance; even the demons and people fell to their feet, unable to stand in front of him.

"You... you’re..."

"Jaenor Arkwright," he confirmed, his voice dropping to something quieter but infinitely more dangerous.

His power flared brighter, his wings spreading wider.

"So here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to die. Quickly if you surrender. Slowly if you make me chase you."

He smiled, and there was nothing human in the expression.

"Your choice. But choose fast. My patience is limited, and I’ve had a very long flight."

The demons looked at each other, at their leader, at the divine beast, and at the boy who radiated power that shouldn’t exist.

And as one, they broke.

They scattered into the forest, abandoning formation, abandoning coordination, driven by pure survival instinct to just run.

Jaenor didn’t chase them.

He didn’t need to.

Ba’narussa’s seven heads struck simultaneously, each one targeting a fleeing demon with precision that defied her size. Fangs closed on bodies, tearing them apart. One head breathed actual fire—not metaphorical dragon fire, but real flames that consumed three demons in seconds.

Jaenor himself moved with speed that made him effectively invisible. One moment he was standing in the crater. The next, he was among the demons, his hands formed into blades with origin aura that cut through flesh and bone with equal ease.

The Black Orc leader tried to coordinate a defense, to rally its companions into something resembling resistance.

Jaenor appeared behind it before it could finish shouting orders. His blade, formed from unified energy that transcended normal aura, took the creature’s head off in a single clean strike.

The battle, if it could even be called that, lasted perhaps ninety seconds.

When it was over, thirty demons lay dead or dying. Not a single one had escaped. Not a single one had landed a blow against their attackers.

The forest was silent again, but this time it was the silence of shocked awe rather than threatening danger.

Jaenor’s power receded. He turned toward the refugees, and his expression softened from battle rage to something approaching normal humanity.

"Is anyone hurt?" he asked, his voice returning to singular rather than layered.

For several seconds, no one responded. They were too shocked, too overwhelmed by what they’d just witnessed.

Then Thessa, the young witch, found her voice.

"No... no one’s hurt. You saved us. You actually..."

She seemed to run out of words.

Jaenor’s group were dismounting from Ba’narussa now, spreading out to check on the refugees and to provide reassurance and practical assistance.

Morgana moved directly to the civilians, her healer’s instincts taking over.

"Anyone who is seriously injured, come to me. Children who are traumatized, bring them here. We’ll help however we can."

Rena was already organizing, getting people water, helping resettle children who’d been dropped in the panic, providing the kind of practical support that combat prowess couldn’t address.

Jaenor approached Thessa, noting her youth and obvious inexperience.

"What are you doing in these woods?" he asked.

"I was taking them away."

"Are you the witch assigned to this village?"

"Yes. The Coven said... they said resources were stretched thin. That I’d have to manage."

"You did well," Jaenor said sincerely.

"Kept people organized, maintained defensive positioning, and prepared to sacrifice yourself to buy them time. That’s all anyone could ask."

Thessa’s eyes filled with tears—relief, gratitude, and delayed terror all combining.

"Thank you. Thank you so much. If you hadn’t come—"

"But I did come," Jaenor interrupted gently.

"And you’re safe now. All of you."

He raised his voice so the entire refugee group could hear.

"Where were you heading? What’s your destination?"

Constance, the Miklaghil elder, stepped forward.

"South, toward the county seat. Hoping to find imperial forces and proper protection. But we’re hours away still, and after this..."

She gestured to the demon corpses.

"I don’t know if we can make it."

"You can," Jaenor said firmly.

"Because we’re escorting you. Ba’narussa will scout ahead and clear any threats before you reach them. My companions and I will maintain perimeter security. Nothing else touches you. I promise."

The relief that flooded through the refugee group was almost physical. People who’d been holding themselves together through sheer will finally allowed themselves to believe they might actually survive.

"Who are you?" a child asked, perhaps eight years old, staring up at Jaenor with wonder that children could still feel despite witnessing horror.

"I’m Jaenor," he said, crouching down to the child’s level.

"And that—" he pointed to Ba’narussa, "—is my friend. We’re here to help."

"Are you a hero?" the child asked.

Jaenor paused, considering that question more seriously than it probably deserved.

"I’m someone who fights monsters," he said finally.

"Whether that makes me a hero, I’ll let other people decide."

He stood, addressing the group again.

"We rest here for thirty minutes. Eat, drink, and catch your breath. Then we move, and we don’t stop until you’re somewhere safe. Understood?"

Nods and murmurs of agreement.

As the refugees began settling into temporary rest, as Morgana tended to those experiencing shock, and as his companions organized security, Jaenor moved to where Ba’narussa rested.

Morgana appeared beside him.

"That was close," she said quietly.

"Another few minutes and those demons would have started killing."

"I know," Jaenor said.

"Which is why we’re staying with these people until they’re safe. The mission to Barok’jnar can wait a few hours."

"The Mother Supreme won’t like the delay."

"Then she can come out here and tell me personally," Jaenor said flatly.

"I’m not leaving three hundred civilians exposed while I chase political objectives. That’s not who I am."

Morgana smiled.

"Good. Because if you’d said otherwise, I’d have been very disappointed."

They stood together in comfortable silence, watching the refugees slowly recover from their terror, and Jaenor felt certain he’d made the right choice.

*

After ensuring the refugees from Miklaghil were safely on their way south with an escort of local militia, Jaenor and his companions turned their attention to the larger threat.

They flew northwest on Ba’narussa, following the trail of destruction the traitor legion had left. It wasn’t difficult to track burned villages, slaughtered populations, and devastation so complete that even from the air, the scale was staggering.

"Three villages," Morgana said quietly, her voice tight with controlled fury. "Three complete villages wiped out in less than a day. Hundreds dead, maybe thousands."

"And the legion’s still moving," Jaenor observed, his enhanced vision picking out details from their high vantage point.

"They’re not stopping to consolidate or fortify. They’re just destroying everything in their path."

Thessa, the young witch who’d been protecting Miklaghil, had provided critical intelligence before they departed. She’d described how she heard that the witch sisters killed every single one of the humans, not even leaving a single soul in the imperial land.

"There were two witches who led the slaughter," Thessa had said, her voice shaking. "Battle witches, both of them."

She’d also provided estimates of the legion’s composition. Two hundred corrupted witches. Three thousand demons. All moving with coordination that suggested extensive planning and a clear command structure.

Now, from Ba’narussa’s back, they could see the legion ahead. A dark mass moving through the forest like a plague, leaving only death in their wake.

"We engage," Jaenor said, his merged power already beginning to gather.

"Full assault. We hit them hard enough to shatter their formation, then deal with their leadership."

"That’s a lot of enemies," Taeryn pointed out.

"Even for us."

"Then we’d better fight smart," Jaenor said.