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The morning after came the effort to pick up the pieces. Or at least pack them away. The village was unsalvageable, everything scorched or too broken to fix. It was probably better this way, though. With the defeat of Guardsman Hirloc, others would come to investigate what could have stopped him when he failed to report. Worse yet, they may send a Guard Captain. Nothing here would have compared to the death and destruction that a Guard Captain would bring with them.

Even with this dark shadow looming over them, however, the sun brought with it a reassuring warmth this morning. The villagers could look on it with a great feeling of relief. The brave knight, Silvia Bunnicus, had arrived at the perfect time. No one would be burying their friends and family today. They would often approach the knight with thanks and gift offerings, though they had no gifts to give, and she politely turned them down.

"No need to thank me for doing the right thing. I simply did what I had to. Nothing more." she would repeat with a kind smiled, walking to the chapel. It was a shame to see that not even this place could be saved, but it must have been a sign that it was still standing in the first place. This was the last thing that those who opposed Emporer Salus could believe in, the almighty guardian Alherita. Silvia stepped through the destroyed door frame and peered inside. She wasn't surprised to see the mouse priestess there, vigilant as ever in her prayers. Even after her extended service last night, hearing the praise and thanks from each villager one by one, she hadn't left.

The priestess sat upon her knees before the idol of Alherita, hands clasped together and her head bowed. If she weren't murmuring her prayers, anyone else would think that the priestess was asleep. Silvia grinned and walked forward, sitting next to the priestess and also bowing her head for a moment. They both looked up at the same time, and the priestess began to speak.

"...I like to think that it was through her will that you came to us. Though they may not be here now, they can still hear us. I take comfort in that thought...I take comfort in knowing that there's someone like you out there, Knight Silvia." the priestess said, looking towards Silvia and smiling widely. Silvia just giggled.

"You don't have to be so formal with me, Cloe. Please, just call me Silvia." she said. She tapped a finger to the top of her head. "Thanks for the healing you did. Those rocks really hurt."

"I may not be a master sorcerer, but I have my fair share of magic. It was the least I could do, but i'm glad I was able to ease the pain Kn- I-I mean, Silvia." Cloe said, blushing embarrassedly and looking back down. Silvia laughed.

"You're so tense. I'm not anyone special. Just your average bunny with a kind heart." she said, grinning widely before standing again. "Everyone is preparing to go. Do you need more time?"

"...Yes...I will be out in a moment. Thank you."

Silvia nodded and left Cloe alone to her final prayers, stepping back out to the gathering villagers. Most of them had luggage or at least a rucksack in order to carry whatever precious things they had, while others had little to nothing. They all, however, had brought together whatever food and water they could find and filled several canteens and packed several spare sacks with the food and spices. They were prepared for a long journey. Silvia tilted her head as she looked around. There was no safe zone for several hundred miles. These provisions would barely provide for a minor relocation. This would be a problem. Unless they could find a caravan or hidden rebel camp along the way, they would run out of supplies before they made it halfway out of Imperium patrol.

"Okay, i'm ready." Cloe said, snapping Silvia out of her thought. The priestess was only carrying a select few items as well, the pack she carried barely large enough to fit a tent and a few changes of clothes. She had changed out of her priest clothing in favor of more casual traveling gear. She wore a rough looking traveling robe over a white cotton shirt and clacks. The slippers she wore looked barely fit for travel, though they were holding together quite nicely for how used they were, so they would last. Cloe had also removed her praying shall, finally revealing what had been hidden beneath. Besides the cascade of silvered hair that reached the small of her back, two large, round ears stuck out of her skull. Her body was very thin, slender and almost fragile looking. A long pink tail swished almost nervously behind her, gray fur covering her body. She had very bright looking sapphire eyes, complemented y her only accessory, a small golden locket that bumped against her chest softly on every breath.

Silvia nodded, Cloe taking her side as the knight addressed the villagers. "Alright everyone. In order to avoid further pestering from the Imperium, we have to start moving west. The further away we get from Oshiru, the better. I warn you now that this journey will in no way be easy. There is even a chance that not all of you will make it. We live in a dangerous time and even more dangerous lands. If you decide to follow me now, you must promise that you will do as I say. I promise that I will not lead you to your demise. It is my duty as a knight to protect everything I can, and that includes every one of you. Understood?" The villagers nodded. Some of them looked afraid, others looked incredulous, but none of them saw any other way out of this. It was either to follow the bunny knight to a possible salvation, or to stay and prolong the inevitable. Without another moment's pause, they began to make their way into the horizon, the mountains at their front and the shadow of death at their heels.

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Hirloc was awoken as a few soldiers came and picked him up, dragging him out of the crater and laying him on the ground. He coughed and tried to sit up, but found it impossible. Even when a few members of the medical team arrived to attend to him, their healing magic restored no instant movement as they should have. Wait...the medical team? He hadn't been given a squad, they were all assigned to the Guard Captains. If they were here, that could only mean...

"Hirloc. Why am I surprised I would find a shit stain like you here? Of all the reliable Guardsman, they just had to send your pathetic bitch ass. No wonder the mission was failed." a gruff woman's voice growled from a distance. "Sit him up."

The medics looked at eachother before nodding, taking Hirloc gently by the arms before propping him up, holding him a sitting position. Hirloc looked up and grinned again, though there was no confidence in his features. "Hello, Guard Captain Shana. I would prefer that you called me Guardsman Hirloc, but that would require that there was a mutual respect going on between us, wouldn't it?"

Guard Captain Shana stopped just before Hirloc, looming over him. The only chimera within the Imperial ranks, a rare beast that was the result only on dark practices of magic. There was no knowledge of where she came from or how she retained her knowledge, but she was deadly a monster as she was a mind. From her torso up she had the features of a cow, muscular and powerful, built like an true warrior. She a nose piercing of solid gold, which looked amazing compared to her muddy brown fur, black eyes and uncharacteristically sharp teeth. Her black hair was cut short and slicked back, two horns jutting out, looking sharp and lethal as well as maintained. How torso down was another story entirely. It was completely bestial, almost draconian in look though it was covered in brown fur, with a scorpion's tail jutting out the back, midnight blue and deadly looking. At her side she held a long, heavy spear and an even more dangerous attitude. She stood easily ten feet high and was obviously meant to be nothing more than a tank, a position more fitting of a Guardsman. What made her superior?

Shana barred her teeth at Hirloc. "Shut your mouth, you piece of shit. You don't deserve the mantel of Guardsman, seeing how poorly you performed in your menial task. You're to report back to Oshiru for your discharge." She glared at him for a moment, Hirloc holding at gaze. Shana's lips curled into a smirk. "...Which is what I would have said, under different circumstances. See, I never liked you, Hirloc. I never liked your bitch face or any fucking detail about you. I've always wanted the chance to wipe that smug grin off your face."

Hirloc cackled. "And now, when I'm exhausted and beaten from battle, you'll attack me? That's exactly what I would expect from someone like you, cow."

Shana snarled again. "I would be praying if I were you."

"I don't have to. I already know I'm going to hell, just like the rest of us! So come on, cow, let's dace. I sill have some fight left in me!" Hirloc forced himself onto his feet, the healing having revitalized him enough to move again. He clasped his hands together and began to gather energy, the energy crackling and pulsing with a harsh pressure once more. "Let's see how cocky you are when I blow your face off! _ INTERITUM!! _" He fired the energy and landed a direct hit at close range on Shana, her head engulfed in the explosion. She reared back on her hind legs like she was in pain, the medics rushing to her side, fearful for their mistress's injury, would there be one. While everyone else was stunned, Hirloc's laugh rung out still, sounding near the brink of insanity. "THERE! You see?! I can kill even a Guard Captain! To you who said I was weak, you couldn't stop something like THAT, could you? Now they'll give ME the position, this bitch wolf that you hated so much! How do you like that, co-"

The ground shook as Shana surged forward, forepaws slamming harm down on Hirloc, forcing him to the ground with enough power to crack the ground and a few of Hirloc's ribs. The wolf coughed up fresh blood as his laughter turned into a strangled cry of pain, staring disbelievingly up at Shana. Her head, once enveloped by smoke from the blast, was once again revealed, not a single mark on her. She was the one smirking now, looking at the frightened wolf.

"There we go. That's the look I wanted to see, bitch. You finally realize how weak you are. You finally see how much weaker you are than everyone else." She mused. She saw his lips working to try and speak, and she stopped him by grinding her foot into his chest, making him gag and cough up more blood. "Magical resistance. That's one of the very basics the Imperium soldiers learn. Some are better than others, while a select few inherit it naturally. Like me for example, where magic was melded into my very flesh and blood. You're finished, bitch. Even if it weren't by my hand, someone else in the Imperium would 'decommission' you anyway. It'd be much more satisfying to die by your dear Captain's hands...or other means, anyway, wouldn't it?"

Hirloc let out a wheezy growl, his body shaking from pain and fear. "...Then...do it...Kill me, already..."

"That would be too easy." Shana's tail suddenly snaked out from behind her, stabbing into Hirloc's neck. His eyes widened as an intense, fiery pain jolted through his already battered body before everything started going limp. The pain was gone, but he could still feel and he was still conscious. He looked confusedly at Shana before he finally realized what was in store for him, feeling the blood drain from his face and a cold sweat break out as the cowtaur licked her lips. "I'm going to enjoy this. A weak bitch like you isn't deserving of a warriors death..." She leaned down and lifted Hirloc up by his shirt collar, holding him at eye level. He tried to say something, to utter a plea to die any other way, but she heard none of it. She then lifted him higher, giving him a good eyeful as her maw opened wide beneath his feet, saliva dripping from her tongue which rolled out to greet him, throat pulsing eagerly as it prepared to accept him, to slip him down into his fleshy coffin...

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The mountains were home to many creatures, some more dangerous than others. Those that tried to attack the group were immediately fended off by Silvia, and after many attacks they finally managed to find some peace. The villagers set up camp while Silvia stood watch, looking up into the cliffs around them. She could see them moving, wolves and wyvern, lizards and harpies, all of them watching but keeping their distances. They knew that if their brothers and sisters couldn't succeed, they would stand no chance. After the fire was started and the villagers began to prepare their food, Silvia joined them once more. She stood next to Cloe, who helped prepare and serve the food, smiling softly. "We will be safe for the night. I will be keeping watch, so you need not worry. They seem to mean us no harm now, though. They are just hungry creatures. It can't be easy, living in this treacherous place. Unlike us, they must live it every day of their lives." the bunny knight said. Cloe nodded softly.

"I cannot say I understand them, but it seems that they understand us. Our fight for survival, much like theirs." she said, smiling at Silvia. As the last villager got his serving the two got their own, walking a few steps away from the group and sitting down, looking to the horizon framed by mountains. "...Silvia, I've been meaning to ask. How did you get that amazing power? Where is it that you came from that you avoided capture by the Imperium, and even gained the strength to fight against them?"

Silvia smiled, though didn't look at the priestess. "I could ask the same for you and your magic, though I assume that by your priesthood it came with your time with the church. But I digress. Where I am from is of no importance. It was a small village from far in the North. What is important, in reality, is where I gained this power you asked about. I was a guard at Oshiru when the event happened. I saw my Empress die. When Ishad fell, we were to follow. It wasn't a matter of our worth, but our devotion to Ishad that needed to be stamped out. We were outnumbered, Salus would have never done what he did unprepared. It was a massacre, not just for the soldiers of Ishad but for many of Oshiru's citizens. I was laying on the ground bleeding to death, the last I remember, before I lost consciousness and awoke once more in a dark room."

She waited for a moment, letting the shocked looking Cloe absorb this information, before continuing. "I was taken by a small resistance group who managed to escape Oshiru at the last moment. We fled by bought over the sea to a small island far away from the main continent. It was a few of the other soldiers, including myself, a few mages and their High Priest, and a handful of citizens. We spent days in that hole in the dark, not knowing how things were going inland. When we finally received word of the horribleness that Salus was bringing upon what was once our home, we knew that we had to do something. That...is when the High Priest suggested the forbidden art."

Cloe's eyes widened even further. "The forbidden art...Soul Magic?"

Silvia nodded. "Only few are capable of using it. And even for those that can, they can use little to none or end up killing themselves or becoming corrupted in the process. I was one who could use little to none, thankfully. An individual's soul is too fragile to take the strain of such a powerful magic for an extended period of time. There is...a work around, however. A method even more forbidden than Soul Magic itself..."

"...Consuming the soul of others...Adding to your own so you can become more stable, more powerful..."

"Consuming is a harsh term. It is more of an assimilation of souls given by a sacrifice or stolen by a corrupted soul mage. I am nitpicking, I know, but what came next made it hard for me to swallow as well. There were too many of us and we knew that the chaos would spread to us eventually. We would have surely died anyway if we tried to escape, the Imperium's eyes having spread their line of sight even as far as us. There was little argument when the grim truth was presented, and given that there was only one of us who had a chance to stand up to the Imperium at all...they would have rather given their lives, their souls, to me as citizens of Ishad, of Oshiru, than as victims of Salus's evil. So the ritual was begun.

"The knights went first. I remember there were five of them. I wasn't well acquainted with them, but I knew them when they had gone through training. I was their adviser for a time. They told me...they told me they were proud to be a part of the resistance, of my resistance. That I would be the liberator, and crush Salus's Imperium. That I was the chosen child of Alherita. It made it easier for them to give in, to release their life to me. I felt their essence seep inside my body and merge with my soul. It was a painful experience. It felt like my body was on fire, my bones straining and threatening to break from the force. It really felt like my body would split with the addition of five other beings living inside me, one with my own essence, but I finally was able to will through it. Their mark formed on my body, soon after." she said softly, tapping a finger to the tattoo of the sword on her left arm. Cloe blinked a few times.

"So that is what it is. That's why it was glowing before. So that armor...that is them? Their manifested souls?"

She nodded again. "The different lives inside me took different shapes and forms after they fully merged with me. It took me several months to fully utilize the souls of the knights into the form you see now, and even longer to fully maintain it as I can. Time there was a blur to me. Everything was happening so fast that I forgot even what day it was, what year it was.

"The mages were the next to merge. The experience wasn't so painful, but there was more of them, ten in total. It took even longer for me fully accept them, as willing as they were. I knew none of them personally, which made it harder for me to accept even the fact that they were willing to lose their individuality, their life, to me. After them, there was only the High Priest and myself left."

She didn't realize it at first, but she felt a warmth and wetness upon her cheeks as she paused to collect her thoughts again. Even after all this time, she still couldn't talk about this experience without being reminded of the pain of knowing that their lives lay inside her now. That they lost everything because of the Imperium, because of Salus. Silvia wiped her eyes and took a deep breath before continuing, feeling Cloe place a hand on her shoulder. Silvia placed her hand over the priestess's.

"He I knew personally. We spent a lot of time talking to eachother about philosophy and other teachings. I would sit in on his classes, where he trained the other mages. While I was suffering from the pain of merging with the others souls he was always there by my side, holding my hand, conversing with me, anything to get my mind off the pain. He was like a father to me, when I was alone in the city of Oshiru, training to be a knight. He, too was to give his life to me. It was more than I could bear, and I begged him not to do it, to keep his life and stay by my side. He simply smiled at me, and told me that I would never be alone. That the faithful of Ishad were now inside me, inside my heart and soul, supporting me on my journey. I would never be alone, so long as I stayed true and faithful to Alherita and fought for the people who Salus murdered and suppressed. He was but one man, but my heart and soul never ached for anyone else more than they did for him.

"Finally...it was done. I walked to the exit of the bunker and stepped out to the first real rays of sunlight for the first time in years. It took my eyes and body a moment to adjust to them, to register the warmth, to remember what it was like to see in real light again. I made my way to the boat, maintained after all this time, and without another moment's hesitation, I pushed out to sea. The boat was laden with supplies gathered from around the island. It was very lonely on that ship, but at night when I would sleep I could hear the voices of those who had become one with me. Encouraging me, speaking with me, extending their love and support to me...I can still hear them sometimes...It soothes me, whenever I feel sad or alone..."

Cloe moved to hug Silvia, who was crying a bit harder now. She laid the knight's head upon her shoulder and ran a hand through her hair, trying to soothe the bunny knight's woe. "...There is no point in regretting what had to be done back then...They realized that if they tried to go out and fight, even all together, they could do nothing individually. Their strength would have been dwarfed by the Imperium, even if they spent all that time training. They knew that the only way they could fight back was through you, Silvia..." she said softly. Silvia nodded, hiccuping gently as she rubbed her eyes once more. "You are defending the lives of those still faithful to Ishad, who wish to take their homes and lives back from he who took them away. It is your strength and courage that shines out, the souls of those who would fight for the same ideals only making you stronger. It is as the High Priest said. You are never alone. You, Knight Silvia Bunnicus, embody Ishad's last line of defense. You will be the one we turn to in the darkest hour, and I know that you are the one who will save us all. I have faith in you, Silvia. And they," she placed a finger upon Silvia's chest, "have faith in you to."

Silvia smiled, hugging Cloe back, the last of her tears running dry. "...Thank you...I know I am no monster, though I wish it wouldn't have to be that they died just so I could gain the strength to fight...But I know...I know that it was for the best..." She held on for a good few moments before finally letting go, grinning at Cloe now. "I will be the knight that defends everyone. I won't lose a single life, so long as I can fight. Thank you, priestess Cloe. For everything."

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As night fell and the fire was put out, two Imperium soldiers watched the sleeping villagers, observing them and registering every face before returning to their officials. Two Guardsman led a unit of ten grunts, one a white furred bear with a deep scar over one eye and the other a black furred vixen with deep red eyes. The two scouts knelt before them before speaking. "Report. They are most certainly the ones from the village Hirloc failed to purge. They have a knight with them, but she is separated from the group. They won't expect a surprise attack."

"Understood. Send word back to Guard Captain Shana. Reinforcements won't be necessary." the bear grunted softly, getting to his feet and cracking his neck, checking his armor and running a finger along the blade of his axe. The black vixen grinned.

"You certainly seem eager, Shi. I didn't know slaughtering weaklings was so amusing for you." she mused, the bear she called Shi glaring at her.

"Shut your mouth, Novis. This is a mission, not a game. Keep your head straight, or you may end up like Hirloc did." he snarled, Novis simply waving it off.

"You're so uptight about this. Fine, fine, I'll 'keep my head straight'." She licked her lips and grinned at Shi. "The knight is mine. You can take any others you like for yourself."

"I have no problem with that." Shi said with a shrug, the both of them and their unit moving forward without another word, weapons poised and ready, sights set on the unsuspecting villagers. The shadow of death of looming heavily on them now, the moon giving light, surely, to a soon to be horrific scene...

_ END OF PART II _