Ascendance The Original Lands Book 1

My heart dropped to an all time low as my mother crumbled to the ground.

I couldn't breathe nor could I think straight. My worst nightmare was happening right before my eyes. The constant gunfire or one of the large mechas moving over and shielding us from further fire could not even bring me out of my stupor.

I vaguely heard Zurlian screaming my name, but still, my eyes remained on my mother, who turned a closer shade of snow by the second.

I felt myself being shook, I looked and saw Zurlian shaking me lightly.

"I'm so sorry, but we have to go, my lord," he explained, anguish seeping into his voice, "The Lancers have detected several enemy units heading this way. They will be here in moments."

Zurlian glanced at my mom. His gaze lingered there, then he slightly shook his head. It was very subtle, but I still caught it.

That was all the confirmation I needed to understand that my mother was gone from my life forever.

With a quick nod towards the body, one of the Knights sheathed his weapon and picked my mother up, carrying her gently. Zurlian turned towards me, "We'll make sure she receives a proper burial and full honors. And we will bring justice down upon those who did this."

There was a hint of resolve and... anger mixed in with Zurlian's words. I nodded and dried my tears.

I will grief for my mother later. For now, I have to get Allen to safety and learn more about my role.

These people f.u.c.k.e.d up now. They hurt my best friend, and then they ruthlessly tried to kill me and took my mother. I will bring the full force of my new might down upon them. They will regret giving birth to a demon this day, I thought.

I steeled my resolve and gestured towards the dropship in an unspoken command.

Zurlian and the Knights moved forward, more shots snapped by, some landing perilously close. Others missed by a wide margin. The robots and other Galian soldiers quickly took down the shooters.

I turned back towards the mansion, one last tear falling down my cheek, then turned back and headed towards the landed dropship.

Zurlian and several others waited for me.

I don't understand, but I snapped when my mother died. I can't explain it at all, but I feel no longer stressed. My heart is heavy, as heavy as it has ever been. But that is a burden I will carry, I'll find out about the new power I will be granted. And I will bring change and a reckoning.

I noticed that several of the Galian soldiers lacked the capes that the Knights wore. The soldiers saluted, hand over heart, as I walked by. One of the soldiers helped me aboard the ship. It could easily seat several dozen men. I picked a random seat towards the back and sat down.

The seat was as comfortable as it could be, and as exhausted as I was, I enjoyed it as it was. One of the soldiers walked towards me slowly, then he knelt in front of me.

I raised a brow at him but said nothing else. He reached past me and pulled several straps over my shoulder, I could tell he was being gentle. Trying to make sure the straps weren't too tight or restricting, then he snapped them together.

I didn't even think of strapping them together. Just goes to show how tired I am.

I looked at the soldier and nodded my thanks, he stayed there in position, remaining on a knee. Then, he reached towards his helmet and pulled it off.

I felt my eyes widen, and my mouth remained gaped for what seemed like minutes.

Tirieal's grim face greeted me. A hint of sadness swirled in his sharp, almond eyes, his golden hair was slightly rumpled from his helmet.

"Let me start off by apologizing to you, my lord," he began, his voice firm but somehow gentle. I was still trying to process all of this. My mind suffered from a sort of jet lag. "We were unable to make it in time to save your mother before she was shot by Wulf."

My head jerked at the traitorous agent's name. For the first time since my mother died, I questioned if it was really Wulf who shot her or some other enemy.

"Wulf... Did it?" I stuttered out the words.

Tirieal nodded, his eyes never leaving mine. "He aimed right at you, one of the Lancer pilots saw him right after the shot was fired. Unfortunately, he escaped, the Lancer had to move to cover you as soon as the shot was fired," I could hear the hurt in his tone.

My eyes once again watered up, releasing small creeks of tears that ran freely down my face.

I tightened my hand, forming a fist, and then in one quick motion, turned around and hit the wall of the ship we were in. I needed something, anything, to help alleviate me of these feelings.

I kept my fist against the wall for several moments, painfully aware that it will be bruised in the morning. Then I turned towards Tirieal, "Are any efforts being spent on finding Wulf?"

Tirieal shook his head slowly, "We have not the resources right now. At this moment, only the four Talons and this ship were given clearance to evacuate you guys. I apologize sincerely," Tirieal lowered his eyes to the floor. I leaned back in my seat and covered my eyes for a few moments.

Moments later, I heard others approaching, so I looked up to see three more figures. It dawned on me that if Tirieal was here, then the others might be...

At that moment, they knelt in front of me, not unlike Tirieal, and withdrew their helmets from their head. Kirieal, Vourn, and Nyzal looked at me, a spark of determination in their eyes.

"Guys, what are you doing here?" I asked, barely able to keep the distress out of my voice. The weight of everything was crushing the breath out of me, this was just so much. Maybe there's a chance this is a dream, a slight one but still a chance.

Kirieal soon proved me wrong. She gently placed her hand on my arm, and I could feel the soft sensation of her fingers. This was too real to be a dream. Her hair was fixed into a bun, she looked so gorgeous with it.

Tirieal spoke up for them, "Maybe we should start from the beginning. We're one of several hundreds of teams sent across the world to find you. Our team happened to come in contact with you first."

The other three nodded in a union. "Once we found you, we were given orders to watch over you until we could secure you," Tirieal lowered his eyes once more. "Unfortunately, your government thought it a good idea to move and secure you. It's possible they thought to talk you into supporting this country more when you came into power. Instead though, several of their agents lay dead, and they realize that not all are as loyal as one might seem."

Vourn spoke up, "A foolish action honestly, I think we should teach them a lesson or two."

Nyzal shook his head. "Fool, have you forgotten that his majesty has also originated in these lands? Use your head before your muscles." I saw invisible daggers from Nyzal's eyes flying straight at Vourn, who looked thoughtful.

Tirieal sighed, "I realize it might seem like we befriended you only out of orders, and at first, that was the truth."

Kirieal placed her other hand on the shoulder of her brother, and continued for him, "We soon found out that we didn't even need orders to befriend you, you're a kind person and we all feel we would have done it without the orders being given. I acknowledge that we haven't known you for long but," she shrugged, and I couldn't tell, but it looked like she slightly blushed, "you're an amazing person, my lord. All of us are fully devoted to you."

She smiled a radiant smile, and at that moment, some of the weight just disappeared. Maybe I couldn't believe all of the things they were saying, but I could believe they were here for me and would always be here for me.

I cleared my throat, as my eyes once again began to water. "So um, are you guys part of the Royal Knights?" I asked, curious if I'd have these four with me more often than not. They had my trust, and I did hope I could converse and get to know them better.

Tirieal answered for them again, "We aren't unfortunately."

I waited for him to clarify. He didn't disappoint me, "We're in the Tracker unit for Galia. We work in squads of four, and our missions usually involve tracking high profile targets or collecting information. You'd call us spies."

I felt myself sink slowly.

"However," he continued, the making of a fierce grin on his face in the process, "It will be a trackers unit that can follow Wulf's trail. With your permission, I'd like to volunteer my squad."

Tirieal's back straightened as he said this, as did the other four. I looked into each of their eyes and could easily see determination burning there.

"I'm not really sure on how the chain of command works in Galia," I admitted while looking straight at Tirieal.

"That's easy," a familiar muffled voice said. I turned to look and saw Zurlian walking up. "You have complete control over everything in Galia. Military, Government laws, Trade, anything you can think of. The thing about that is that even though you have full control of everything, there are people you can appoint to run things for you, according to some guidelines you may set for them in their selected office." Zurlian now had his helmet back on.

"By the way, Lord Folduin got held up back at the fleet. He wasn't able to make this run. He told me to give you his apology, and that he will see you soon."

I nodded and then noticed what lay behind him, my heart sank as I saw my mother's body lying lifelessly on a set of seats. Allen was out on a stretcher opposite of her on the other side. Soldiers were working on, wrapping him up in bandages.

The rest of the soldiers were now boarding the ship, and within minutes, the back hatch raised up, though wasn't shut completely. A soldier stood on the edge of it. Seconds later, I heard a sound. It sounded like a fan running, and moments later, the ship started shaking and I could only assume it took off.

I turned and looked out a window that was a seat over, and moved there. Spotting my school friends still kneeling, I was mentally reminded to order them to rise, so I did.

They got up and continued watching me eagerly.

I looked out the window, as the mansion yard grew smaller and smaller. I've never been on a plane before, so this fascinated me. It's the small things that matter, I suppose. I noticed that two of the mech things were flying on this side of the ship. I assume that the other two were on the opposite side as well.

I thought over Tirieal's earlier request. On one hand, I would do anything I could to get my hands on Wulf. But on the other hand, I didn't want to risk the few friends I had, even if they were sent to find me, I had a hard time believing that they would hurt me or even betray me. I felt like I could trust them.

Within moments of internal debating, I finally chose my answer and turned back to Tirieal.

"Tirieal, I would like you to find Wulf, and bring him back alive if possible," I said, I could see his and my other friends eyes sparkle. The fire of excitement and determination was stronger than ever before, "However, I want you to prioritize yourselves living more than Wulf. His capture is worth a lot to me, but your lives are worth more. If you have a hard time knocking him out, then kill him."

I never in my life thought that my voice could descend to such a low temperature, nor did I ever think I could give such a ruthless order.

With the loss of my mother, though, I no longer cared. Something snapped inside of me today. I'll bring the full force of my newly acquired power down upon those who have done my family injustice.

Tirieal and the others knelt again, their fists hitting the floor beside the knee that steadied them, creating a small tch sound. I thought it was kind of cool.

"We hear and obey!" they shouted in union.

I nodded at them, unsure of what to say in response to that, so I told them to rise and turned around, enjoying my view of the now passing landscape.

I cut off the voices of the men around me, including Nyzal and Vourn arguing over what food was better in the United States.

I pulled my view from the lands and turned to look at the men. Many of their heads were turned in my direction, I assume they were glancing at me.

When I noticed them, they quickly redirected their gaze elsewhere, as if they had been caught doing something they shouldn't have. I have read about Empires in history and fiction novels, but I had no clue as to how this one worked, nor was I aware of how past Emperors treated their subjects.

This is something I will definitely study into. Maybe I can have Zurlian teach me a few things about all of this. Hopefully, he could do it or find me a sort of tutor. I'd hate to become the leader and be completely ignorant of the nation and it's past leaders, laws, and wars.

No, if I was going to become Emperor, and these people were going to place their trust in me, then I would live up to their expectations and lead them the right way. I will learn everything there is to learn about them, and I will do my utmost best.