Tenebris Renasci: A World of Magic and Gunpowder

Go find cover!" Lance shouted as he took a defensive stance. 

Marcia moved quickly, scrambling to her feet as she ran over to Alexander. "Come on!" She said, grabbing his arm. 

Alexander didn't respond, his body trembling in fear as his eyes examined the increasingly chaotic scene before him. 

Grand Mages began popping up one after the other, blasting apart wagons, soldiers, and anything they could get their hands on.

White flames engulfed the entire area, smoke filled the night sky, and the scent of fresh blood filled the air. 

Marcia gritted her teeth as she dragged Alexander away to cover. Ignoring the unfolding battle between Lance who began charging the blitzing Grand Mage.

She moved towards an overturned carriage that was being defended by Ambur infantrymen. 

As she approached, the soldiers quickly took note of the duo, with one of them quickly moving to assist Marcia.

The soldier, a young man no older than twenty, reached out to grab Alexander.

"Hurry." He said urgently, moving himself to the right of Marcia to shield her from any shrapnel on the rogue energy blast. 

The trio quickly regrouped with the other soldiers, who looked just as panicked and terrified as Alexander. "What do we do now?" One soldier asked as she hunkered down behind the overturned carriage, "We can barely fight normal mages."

"Goddess, it all just happened so fast."

"The pathfinders are dead, they couldn't even stop them… we're fucked, we're so fucked."

The soldier who brought Marcia and Alexander to their cover, tugged his lips in a perplexed frown as he poked his head out from cover. "Napoleon and his daughter are still fighting, maybe…"

Suddenly there was a horrified shout from Camilla. 

"Noooo!" She cried out, her face covered in blood that wasn't her own. 

Napoleon stood with a hole in his chest.

The mage he was fighting, had charged his fist with world energy and bored right through his chest. 

The mage laughed excitedly as she ripped her hand from his chest, her hand bloodied.

Napoleon dropped to his knees, blood flowing from his chest like a river.

His face was that of surprise and confusion, almost as if he couldn't believe what had happened. 

He then dropped to the ground, falling face-first into the mud.

There was a deafening silence as Camilla looked towards the mage who killed her father. 

The two women stared at each other briefly, their eyes locked.

Camilla opened her mouth to curse the woman, to swear vengeance, but her jaw was ripped from her face by another mage who blindsided her. 

Bone, tendons, and flesh were separated from each other, as her jaw was pulled in a similar fashion to breaking free bread. 

The female mage said with a laugh as she pointed her bloodied hand towards Camilla, whose tongue swung freely as she took a few steps back.

Camilla stared at her hands, which trembled violently and were covered in blood. 

She then looked up to the female mage who laughed at her, and finally to the mage who held her jaw.

The mage said as he waved the bloodied jaw like a treat for a pet. He chuckled as he threw it to Camilla. Her jaw popped her forehead and fell onto the ground, shortly followed by Camilla herself.

"Oh… oh shit." The soldier from earlier whispered to him as he quickly turned away from the horrific sight. 

Ben and Lance, who were still embroiled in their own scuffles, barely managed to even glance in the direction of their fallen comrades. 

Ben, for his part, opted to dodge and weave his opponent, as he knew for a fact he couldn't take a Grand Mage in hand-to-hand combat.

But he also knew that if he backed up too far, the Grand Mage would just cast a energy blast, and kill him on the explosion.

Meanwhile, Lance was going toe-to-toe with his opponent, filled with a burning passion to protect his son and his comrades. 

Right, left, uppercut, Lance moved with speed and power. He worked his mage like an expert boxer practicing on a punching bag.

After finishing off the Camilla and Napoleon, the remaining mages looked towards Lance and their comrade. 

The female mage said as she crossed her arms. A grin on her lips.

Her comrade nodded in agreement.

The female mage scoffed. She said with a laugh before turning her attention to the overturned carriage where Alexander and the others were.  

The male mage frowned. He then looked back to the chaos and carnage that unfolded behind them, in what was once the Front line.

He said before dashing off back into the chaos.

The female mage chuckled as she watched her comrade run off, before turning her attention back towards the overturned carriage. 

She dashed towards the carriage, jumping into the air and Landing atop it. 

As her boots made contact with the carriage, the soldiers, along with Marcia looked up to the Grand Mage standing over them. "Hi." She said in their native language with a sick grin. 

The soldiers panicked and moved to aim their guns. 

The mage chuckled as she created a finger gun, and charged the tip of her finger with world energy. 

Then one by one, she shot each soldier in the head in quick succession, their bodies fell limp as their guns fell into the dirt. 

"Now." the mage said as she dropped to the ground. "What to do with you little missy." She said with a spine-chilling chuckle, staring down at Marcia.

Marcia moved to stand between her and Alexander, who was mumbling to himself in English, his golden eyes lost and his face filled with panic and confusion.

"Oh, how cute." The mage said with a giggle as she crossed her arms. "Is that your partner?" She asked with a tilt of her head. "Or are you just good friends?"

Marcia narrowed her eyes. "He's my everything." She said with a cold tone, before screaming loudly. "Lance! Behind the carriage!"

The mage chuckled as she swiftly palmed Marcia's face with her hand, gripping it tightly. "Wrong choice!" She said with a grin, before lifting up Marcia with one hand and throwing her into the carriage.

Marcia flew through the carriage and landed far on the other side, her small body tumbling in the air before she crashed back first into a bolder.

The impact bloodied her back and her small body fell limp. 

Lance's eyes widened as he traced Marcia's flight path. He snapped his neck to look at where she was thrown from. 

And there he saw it, a Grand Mage lifting his son from the ground and into her arms. On her face with an expression that made Lance's stomach churn.

"Get the fuck away from him!" Lance shouted as he sprinted toward the Grand Mage at a blinding speed. Lance arrived at the scene in an instant and quickly moved to secure his son. 

With an elbow to the face and a kick to the knee, Lance secured Alexander from the reeling mage. 

He then jumped back from her, gaining as much distance as he could. 

"Ughh!" The mage from earlier made a loud frustrated noise as she massaged her nose. 

Lance narrowed His eyes, his mind racing.

He knew that the only thing that mattered was getting Alexander out of danger, but he couldn't just run away with him, as the mages were to surely follow. 

He could stay back to fight, but then Alexander would be at risk of getting snatched up again.

If only he could be two people… wait, Ben!

Quickly checking his surroundings, Lance saw that Ben was still fighting against his opponent, although he was barely holding his own. 

Lance, with his heart pounding in desperation and adrenaline, knew he had to act fast. 

He tightly cradled Alexander in his arms and sprinted towards Ben as fast as his legs would carry him. "I'm getting you out of here buddy, if it's the last thing I do." 

Ben, spotting Lance running towards him, sidestepped the incoming attack from the mage he was brawling against. 

Then with a quick series of faints, Ben outmaneuvered his opponent and moved to join up with Lance. 

"Get Alex out of here now!" Lance ordered, his tone filled with desperation and fear. "I'll cover for you."

Ben, without hesitation, scooped Alexander out of Lance's hands. Ben knew exactly what he had to do. 

With Alexander secured in his grasp, Ben used his agility and speed to run, as fast as he could.

Both the female mage and the mage Lance were fighting earlier moved to close in on Ben, while the mage Ben was fighting moved after Lance.

But Lance, ever the experienced Pathfinder, was prepared to protect both Ben and Alexander with every ounce of strength he had. 

Lance first sidestepped the mage who was approaching him, before punching him in the back of the neck. 

As the mage slightly retreated from the brutal and awkwardly placed punch, Lance moved to intercept the second mage.

He threw himself into him with everything he had, forcing him to the ground. 

Lance, without waiting for the mage to retaliate, quickly scrambled to his feet and moved after the final mage, while the two from before started to recover. 

Lance knew he had to catch the female mage before the other two caught up, under wise Ben, and by extension, his son would be under continued pressure.

Charging the female mage with every ounce of energy he had left, he tackled her into the mud, throwing her down forcefully. 

Then, forcing his knee on the neck of the struggling mage, Lance looked up to see Ben sprinting into the night. "Run!" he shouted, "run, and don't ever look back!"  

Ben tightened his grip on the trembling Alexander as he obliged to Lance's wishes, sprinting as fast as he could, without taking a second to even glance back. 

Lance then, turned around to see the two other mages approaching him with hands charged full of world energy. "You're done!" One of them shouted in anger.

A bitter smile crossed Lance's lips as he swiftly rose to his feet. He was most likely about to die, but as long as his son was safe, then it was worth it. "See you soon, Sophia." He muttered under his breath as he prepared to face the mages. 

— — —

Ben had been running for hours, his breath heavy as his arms and legs grew weak. 

Yet he didn't dare stop, not after Lord Lance's sacrifice, how could he? 

He needed to get Alexander to safety, he needed to get him to the Daname mansion.