"Soon gone is the sun,

The fringed heart feels death's wind only."

- David Gascoyne, " Light of the Sun over Artic regions"

*****

Soundtrack of the chapter: Assassination of Kings, original Witcher III soundtrack

Media: Cady's armor

*****

Chapter Thirty-Seven: A Plan

When Cady walked out of her tent, the crowd scattered. Healers whispered among themselves whilst Warriors stopped polishing their Celestial Blades. All their eyes were trained on her bare arms. Or more specifically, the beautiful tattoo adorning her right forearm, a shape that none had seen for the past sixteen years.

She held her head high. Let them see, let them see the pride of one of the last Walkers. She would not cower before them, she did nothing wrong. She would not bow to their prejudices. For far too long she had hid in their shadows, she now walked free. Cady didn't care that her robes were tattered and bloodied. All that mattered right now was that she must talk to Firaun. She had a Hall to take back from Jasper.

"Where is Firaun?" she asked, her voice rang out, clean and clear over the stunned silence. "I need to speak with him."

"You will speak with no one, Walker scum," Master Calaeno snarled. "You are not invited here."

At his words, Josh scowled, his hand flying to his scabbard. Cady held him back with a terse wave of her hand.

"I don't remember ever asking your opinion, Master Calaeno," she regarded him coldly. She had no more patience for their anti-Walker crap.

The High Priest's face swelled, blood gushed to his face so fast he looked like a bullfrog. "How dare you insult a High Priest, I will have you burned-"

She finished his sentence. "At a stake? Last time I checked, death by pyre is outlawed. We have a war to win, and we need every hand and mind we can get."

"She's right." Firaun stepped out of a tent, his crown glittering on his fair head. "Enough of this Walker-Oracle hate. The Great War has been done with for sixteen years. Wake up, Calaeno."

"But-but-but," he spluttered, struggling to come up with words.

Firaun raised a gloved hand. "I said, enough. Leave us." He nodded to several Starlets, all in full armor by the sides. From their crests, Cady could tell that they were high officers-three Warriors, a Tinker, two Naturams and an Oracle. One of them, a Naturam gave her a friendly nod.

He entered the large tent, signaling at them to follow him. Cady obliged, entering after Josh did. A rectangular table was spread out before them, heavy with a map holding information regarding the structure of the Hall of Oracles as well as war strategies, meticulously planned and drawn out on many pieces of fresh paper.

Firaun tapped a black splotch on the map. "Right now, we're very close to the Hall of Spirits. We'll just need to cross the Darkling Woods and we would be at the Hall's border. Cady, what can you tell us of the Hall's defense system after its fall?"

Cady walked forward. None of the officers flinched as she neared them. Instead, they looked at her with a keen interest, like a rare animal had just materialized before their very eyes. "A Decanate has destroyed the Hall's portcullis, all guard towers were demolished as well as the battlements."

"One Decanate?" the Tinker echoed. "How big was it?"

"As big as a full-grown elephant. And it is an undead creature, hard to kill again."

"Eli told me that the Walker had the Iambicum Trimetrum in his possession." Firaun looked up. "The undead will not die again, not even after you've hacked them into pieces. They will still get back up and hunt you in whatever way they can. The only thing we can do is to burn them into oblivion. Master Tyrese here, one of the best Tinkers in Esvanira has invented an explosive which would blow anything within a five feet radius sky high. Anything or anyone caught in its fire would be obliterated."

"Indeed I have." The brown haired and eyed Tinker clapped his chest proudly.

"Where are the prisoners held?" The Warrior on the right said. "We need to evacuate the prisoners before Tyrese lobs the bomb into the Hall. We can't risk any innocents."

The scene of the undead pouring into the Hall courtyard flashed by Cady's sight, hacking down the Oracles with inhumane strength. No one could survive the force of that attack.

"No prisoners," she said. "Jasper killed everyone."

No prisoners. Her voice echoed in her mind. Jo and Thomas...dead.

I will not cry. I will not break. She swallowed back her sobs and glared at the parchment.

The Warrior sighed, rolling her helmet around in her hands. "War is a terrible thing."

"Indeed," Firaun agreed. "Now, we have an army of forty thousand, mostly Warriors and Naturams. Our Naturams unit will take care of destroying whatever obstacles the Walker might throw at us. Here is one thing we must take note, however. No matter how many we kill, the dead would rise before they even hit the ground. He would turn our army against us."

"Is there no way to subdue the relic's powers, Your Honor?" Josh asked.

Firuan rubbed his eyes. "Only one. Kill the wielder."

"We would need a miracle to even pass through the sea of the undead, let alone reach him," another Oracle commented.

"Always the wet blanket, Haley," Firaun laughed. "We would need a volunteer, someone small and slippery enough to avoid the major battle. We need someone who can take over the powers of the relic and force the army down, someone who is a Walker."

All eyes turned on Cady. Josh threw up his arms. "Whoa, not my sister."

"I'll do it," Cady said, turning up her chin. "I'll kill him."

"It won't be an easy task, Cady," Firaun warned. "You barely escaped alive from him. When you go back, you would have to be extra cautious. Surprise would be your only ally."

"Can you guys please leave my sister out of this?" Josh said aloud. "She's hurt!"

Cady caught his frantic arm. "Josh, I can handle this."

Can you, really? The darkness said. Can you kill the person you love the most?

She forced down all the memories she had with Jasper, every happy moment and every smile they shared. She must make herself hate him. In order to take him down, she must dwell on anger and passion. Emotions would only make her weak and easy to exploit.

"Once you kill him, the bell would fall into your possession. It only answers the call of a Walker. If the army remains standing, you must use its powers to destroy the undead. Do you understand, Cady?"

"Yes." She twisted the golden band on her finger. I will avenge you Eli. Jasper will not walk away from his. Look at all the deaths he caused, all the pain and all the hurt.

The Naturam leaning by a set of amour looked bored. "I assume you have a plan, whatever your name is."

"My name is Cadence," she said. "And yes, I have a plan."

"Let's hear it then," the Naturam said, flinging out his arms. "I would love to hear a good battle strategy."

Cady looked at the nine expectant pair of eyes, took in a deep breath and told them.

*****

"Why must you be so tiny?" Mistress Acheron grumbled, tossing armor after armor aside from a large chest on a wagon. "I don't even think any of the spare armors fit you."

"I'm not tiny," she huffed. "You guys are just tall."

Mistress Acheron, the captain of the Naturam unit pulled out a large chain mail and held it up before Cady. "Nope." She shook her head in exasperation. "You would looks like a scarecrow."

"I would be extremely intimidating," she said. "Armor or no."

The Mistress huffed again, but the wrinkles around her eyes sunk deeper as she grinned. "As intimidating as my son's stuffed bear, I suppose."

Cady dropped her arms to the sides and pretended to be offended. "Hey!"

"I'm just joking," she laughed. "Come here, I might have found something that might fit you."

She had a sleek chainmail armor in her arms. With one elegant motion, she pressed it against Cady's body. The chain links looked like silver, so intricately linked they resembled fish scales. Its two pauldrons were constructed from overlapping pieces of metal, hammered together to imitate feathers.

"Seems like a good fit." Mistress Acheron nodded in approval. "And it looks flexible, although a bit old and rusty."

Cady accepted the set of armor and went to try it on. The gauntlets were a bit too large for her and the cloak too heavy. But the rest fit her perfectly. Josh had suggested that she take off the cloak, for it would get in the way when battle comes. Master Tyrese however, disagreed. He enchanted it with a brief spell, making it ten times lighter.

"When you put this cape on," he explained. "You would be invisible for a short period of time. You have only around fifteen minutes before the spell wears off. I have still yet to find a way to perfect this spell, but we have to make do with whatever resources available."

She nodded. Josh presented her with a wicked Celestial Blade. It was slightly curved and hooked at the top, its vermillion blade finished with a black leather-coated handle. "Here sis, a gift for you."

Cady tossed the blade about in her hands. "Don't you need it?"

"Nah, I've got plenty of swords. The Tinkers make them like they're farting eggs."

She leaned on her brother's shoulder. "Firaun says we attack in a couple hours when first light comes. Are you ready?"

Josh laughed. "Seriously, sis? I'm a Warrior, I am always ready for this."

She punched him in the gut. "Loser."

He grimaced. "Okay, okay, fine. You win."

"That's more like it." She grinned. "Show me what you can do."

He shrugged. "Supernatural strength. I can lift boulders the size of a MPV truck. Imagine the look on Mr. Pete's face if I go back to PE classes and lift half of the gym equipments with one arm."

"He would pray for your soul and ask the demon to leave," she giggled. She felt bad making fun of their extremely religious teacher. But at the same time, it felt normal.

"I actually miss high school," he admitted, kicking a loose stone with his boot. "I was so looking forward to senior year. Everything must have changed."

She nodded. All of her old friends must have grown up, just like she had. Cady held her hands together, watching little curls of shadows dance across her thumbs. It gave her a friendly nod before it continued merrymaking, sliding and weaving, their bodies glistening like black diamonds."

"I don't know why people fear Walkers so much," Josh said, staring at the shadows with avid fascination. "But shadows are beautiful, just like my sister."

"Awe, you make me blush. The shadows send their thanks."

Josh roared, slapping his knees with his hands. "Where do you want to go once all this crap is over? I know for one thing, you're not going to return to the Hall of Spirits. Now almost half the army knows that you're a Walker. You don't have to hide anymore."

Cady had thought about it, for a long time. But the answer never came.

"I don't know," she said. "Perhaps explore Esvanira. I heard that the Da'raan holds pretty interesting festival games on an annual basis."

"You want to go to Da'raan?" he said, surprised. "That place is overrun with Detriments eager to kill us Starlets."

"Traders go there," she argued.

"That is because traders are basically walking sacks of gold. If the Detriments kill them, all their dreams of bathing in liquid gold would vanish into thin air."

"Are you encouraging me or discouraging me from exploring Esvanira, Josh?"

Josh opened his mouth. "I-"

Mistress Acheron walked in, her face carved with determination and order. "Josh, Cady, to your posts. The war begins."

*****

A/N

Unedited chapter ( I have a most mind shattering headache). It's time for payback! Firaun has gathered a really large army in which they hope is enough to crush Jasper's undead army. 

I would like to give my heartfelt thanks to every single one of my readers, whether you're silent or not! I do read every single one of the comments, although I don't have time to reply and trust me, it makes me happy to hear your feedback. :D You guys got this story this far and I love you guys for it.

Next chapter will be the final showdown! *drumrolls*

Bubble tea,

Stef