Tenebris Renasci: A World of Magic and Gunpowder

Lance was ruthless in his attacks against the imperial infantrymen. He broke arms, legs, and skulls. Their screams filled the air, mixing with the sounds of gunfire and the shouting of orders.

As Lance lost himself in the fight, he felt his hairs standing on edge. His instincts jumped into overdrive as he scanned his chaotic surroundings. 

And there he saw them, a squad of imperial mages rushing towards him and his comrades with blitzing speed. Their hands engulfed with world energy, it crackled in their hands as it swirled violently.

"Shit!" Lance hissed as he pushed away the soldier he was fighting, running towards the mages in hopes of closing the distance before they could fire their spells. 

Seeing Lance approaching them, the mages stopped in their tracks and formed a line.

Standing shoulder to shoulder, the mages aimed their hands toward Lance and fired off their charged world energy.

Seven white orbs of violent world energy began soaring toward Lance at a blinding speed. They crackled and popped in the air.

As the orbs approached Lance, he dropped to his knees and slid underneath them. As the orbs of energy passed over him, he could feel their heat and warmth as they burned the air above him.

He then quickly rose as the orbs of world energy crashed behind him, the blood and bodies of imperial soldiers flying overhead in the resulting explosion.

The mages quickly moved to prepare another round of spells, this time with smaller orbs of world energy, but they were too late.

Reaching their line, Lance grabbed the closest mage by the side of her head. He then placed his revolver on her chin and fired a shot right through her skull, blowing out her brains, the blood splattering on everything and everyone.

The mages were shocked for a brief moment, before becoming overtaken with anger and rage. "Damn you assassins!" One yelled as he clasped his hands together, a vortex of world energy forming around his hands.

Lance wasted no time in kicking the mage's knee, forcing him to buckle and lose his balance. Lance then grabbed the back of the mage's head and threw him toward his comrades. 

As the mage crashed into the others, Lance pointed his revolver and fired three shots.

The bodies of three mages fell, all with holes in their heads. 

Two more mages rushed Lance as he finished off the last of the three mages from before. 

One grabbed his arm while the other rubbed their hands together rapidly, creating electric sparks and arcs around his hands.

Lance narrowed his eyes as he tried to break out of the mage's grasp. However, the mage held onto Lance firmly, refusing to let go. 

Lance aimed his revolver towards her, but he was too late. 

The mage who charged his hands with world energy, thrusted them towards Lance, sending both him and the mage that held him flying. 

The arc of energy crackled and danced around the duo as they crashed into the ground, tumbling back. 

Pain seared through his limbs as the breath was knocked from his lungs. As he finally settled down, he could hear Sophia shouting at him. 

"Are you alright my lord!" She said while looking at him, instead of focusing or reloading her weapons. 

Lance sat up quickly as desperation swirled within him, he opened his mouth to speak but was caught by surprise when the mage beside him, locked him in a chokehold. "Ye– gyah!"

Her grip was firm around his neck, causing Lance immense discomfort and making it harder to breathe.

He first reached for her hands to her off, but her grip only tightened.

Narrowing his eyes and growing increasingly desperate for air, Lance reached back for a punch directly in the mage's face. 

She tanked the first punch, weakened at the second, and finally released her grip on the third.

Lance immediately pulled away from the mage and caught his breath, breathing heavily he grabbed at his chest and retrieved a knife. 

He then turned around to face the mage who held her face and groaned in pain. 

Narrowing his eyes at the sight of the mage, Lance kicked her in the gut and forced her to the ground. 

She collapsed to the ground as she cried in pain and agony. "It hurts." She cried in anguish, "It hurts!"

Lance gritted his teeth as he placed his foot on the mage's neck and flipped her over. 

As he did so. He was greeted with that face of a frightened young girl who was no older than fifteen. 

Her nose was broken and bloodied, her eyes welled with tears as she shook uncontrollably. She stared at Lance with fear and despair, eventually closing her eyes tightly as she slightly turned her head.

Lance sighed as he closed his eyes, kicking the mage away. 

She rolled around on the ground for a moment, before stopping. She then remained frozen on the ground, her body still trembling with fear.

"Lord Lance!" Sophia shouted. "We need to go!"

"How?!?" Camilla shouted as she fought off a mage, "They'll just shoot our backs if we run away!"

Suddenly another wave of imperial soldiers flooded the complex, "form ranks!" An officer shouted as he pointed towards the pathfinders' position.

"We got more trouble!" Another pathfinder called out, pointing to the newly arriving soldiers.

"We can't stay here!" Another called out.

"Clock is ticking lads!"

Lance was overwhelmed, his mind running a mile a minute as the situation continued to deteriorate right before him. He didn't know what to do. 

If he ran, they'd just be turning their backs on their enemy, making them easy targets.

But if they stayed, they'd all die.

"Shit, shit, shit!" Lance hissed, smacking the sides of his head as he prayed for an answer.

"I'll hold them off!" Sophia shouted, "You need to get out of here, NOW!"

Lance quickly looked up with shock and disbelief in his expression. "What?!?" Lance shouted, "No, I'm not leaving you!"

"Lance, you don't have many options!" Sophia shouted, her revolvers spitting lead at an unprecedented speed.

The pathfinder she stood over took care of his fair share of imperials too. "I'm okay with going out with a bang Lance!" He shouted, sniping a mage with a headshot. "But you can't die here!"

"Lance, we need to go!" Camilla shouted as she already began backing up, firing off her rifle with speed and accuracy.

Camilla's urgent voice broke through the chaos of battle. Snapping Lance out of his haze of thoughts. 

His heart sank at the thought of leaving behind Sophia and his comrade, but it became clear that either a few of them would die, or everyone would. 

"Alright." Lance said with a pained expression, "fall back, fall back!"

With Lance's orders, the remaining pathfinder's began their retreat. 

They weaved through the chaos of the factory, navigating with precision and urgency hoping to outrun the impending explosion that was about to occur at any moment. 

Finally, as they just narrowly escaped the blast radius, the first charge went off, and what followed was an explosion that rocked the ground beneath them. Turning around to see the carnage, a large cloud of orange and black quickly rose to the sky.

What followed was a series of explosions that erupted in a series of blasts, flames, and fire crawling toward the sky as debris scattered across the area. 

Lance and the others continued running as fast as they could, the heat of the explosion warming the back of their necks. 

The mission, though costly had been a success. 

— — —

Elise stood before Lance with puffy eyes, her tears still fresh on her cheeks. "So you left her to die?" She asked softly, her tone weak and voice cracking.

Lance nodded solemnly, that's exactly what he did. "I'm sorry Elise, I wish there was something I could have done, but at the moment, I… I panicked."

Lance then lowered his head before Elise as he dropped to his knees. 

Elise watched his with a broken expression, she expressed nothing but sadness and heartbreak.

Lance prostrated himself before her, placing his head in the dirt. "Please forgive me, Elise, I… I can't go through life knowing I failed both of you, not when you looked up to me like you did, so please, I am begging for your forgiveness."

Elise frowned as she closed her eyes. 

To see Lord Lance bow before her was twisted and made her want to cry even more. This was the man who had given her and her sister everything, a home, a job, and even a high-standing position.

He promised them and delivered them so much, yet he barely asked for anything in return. Elise knew deep down that her sister's death wasn't his fault, she knew that if was up to him, Sophia wouldn't have been anywhere near the frontline.

It was the empire and commander Napoleon who killed Sophia. It was the war that killed her sister.

What this understanding, Elise sighed deeply. "Please don't do that, my lord." She said softly, "A man with f your stature shouldn't lower yourself before me."

"It's what I must do to repent Elise," Lance replied. "I never want you or anyone else in my family to think I find you disposable, it was you who helped me build what I have." Lance began to tear up as he continued. "It was you who helped birth and raise Alexander and Ava, it was you and Sophia who taught my oldest sons respect and swordsmanship, you Elise… you are as much as my family as my wives, my children, you are my daughter!"

Elise heart ached at Lance's emotional and impactful speech.

She knew the bond they shared was mutual, she knew Lance loved and cared for her.

So why… why did he lower himself before her?

This was too much.

Elise took a step back from Lance, overwhelmed by the death of her sister and Lance lowering himself before her, she broke down into tears. 

Wrapping her arms around herself she wept and controllably.

Lance quickly looked up from the ground to see Elise holding her to the ground crying. 

Without wasting a second Lance sprung up from the ground and approached her. He placed a hand on her back and began to comfort her. "It's okay Elise." He said softly, "It's okay."

"She's gone, Lance!" Eli's cried out, looking up at him with tears pouring from her eyes. "My sister is gone…"

Lance continued to soothe Elise, hugging her tightly. As Elise cried in his arms Lance felt a presence of someone watching from a distance.

Looking up towards his mansion, he saw his son Alexander looking at him through his room window.