The road back was oddly peppered with rustled trees and bushes. At times he could spot monsters in the distance dashing or running from place to place. It made him extremely nervous and worried for the farmers and herders.

 

He even summoned his clones and outfitted them with all their gear, but through it all, not a single monster strayed into the road or tried to attack a cottage.

 

A deep unsettling feeling dug into him the whole way. Monsters weren't supposed to behave this way, they would hunt humans or livestock, but these monsters didn't do anything.

 

It was like they were gathering, somewhere. Shit that is what they are doing. For what? Alex hurried his steps, almost running by the time he glimpsed upon the city walls.

 

Sliding across the gravel road and upending the rocks, he swiftly dismissed his clones away from anywhere they could be seen and gathered their clothes.

 

Breaking out of the shrubb he had hidden himself in, Alex squinted at the wall and saw that there weren't only guards on it but also men with black armor.

 

Alex withdrew his breath at the sight, knowing full well that those were one of her Majesty's army groups. He gulped and worriedly walked below their gazes as he approached the gate.

 

Act like you are an ordinary Vanquisher coming back from his hunt. He prepared himself and gave a smile to six army soldiers stationed at the gate.

 

 "Hello Gentlemen, what appears to have gotten you out of your barracks." Alex smiled genuinely, his eyes tracking their swords and feeling jealous at the fine make. Here he was stuck with swords that would chip and crack at the slightest touch, and they had black iron enchanted swords.

 

"None of your business citizen. Why are you entering the city?" The soldier in the front asked, his blue eyes striking against their black helmets.

 

"Coming back from a hunt." Alex's answer was curt, rather disliking how the man just dismissed his question.

 

"Your Vanquisher card." The soldier demanded, Alex grumbly pulled out his card and handed it over for inspection. 

 

"Valid." The soldier stated and gave it back to him. "Be warned, Vanquisher, that all awakened are obligated to participate during a siege. Failure to comply will result in execution."

 

"So there is going to be a siege!" Alex grinned and was sad to see the guy give him a cold shoulder. 

 

Jokes on the dour fucker, he wasn't even in danger of dying with his clones. If an army or monster horde ever came, he would welcome it as long as the walls held. Afterall, it was just more experience his clones could gather.

 

The streets were empty aside from mages erecting walls on the roads, patrolling the sky or setting up towers all over. Alex couldn't help but gape at the speed at which the city was transformed into a fortress.

 

And he even saw a man protesting for the army taking his two stories as an archer. It was good to say he had only gotten off with a trip straight to the dungeon cellars.

 

The most marvelous construction was a massive spire being built in the center of the city. He saw as three flying mages levitated a giant gem into the spire's top, and even from this distance he could see the runes and enchantments inscribed upon its surface.

 

The slums were surrounded with walls. Each neighborhood was contained and provided with what looked like twenty soldiers each and a mage. Not that Alex ever thought they did it out of some moral obligation, but rather to protect the wealthy district from any direct path.

 

He entered through the newly constructed gate and quickly hid between the alleyways. Not that he needed to since all of the streets were empty. Entering his house from the backdoor, his heart stopped when saw his mother and her bed missing.

 

Alex expression turned fearful and he almost kicked down the door to the outside when he saw himself, or his clone, snoring from his position on the chair.

 

"YOU FUCKING INCOMPETENT!" Alex kicked the chair on which the clone was sleeping on. The clone rolled on the ground and drew the twin rapiers he had.

 

The silence was deafening, Alex staring down in anger at the clone while the latter wore a flabbergasted mask.

 

"Ah boss, you ok?" The clone said and sheathed the twin rapiers.

 

"Am I fucking ok? No I'm not you idiot, where is my mother!" Alex shouted, his hands gripping the shirt of the clone and pulling him up. The clothes tore at the seams at the weight of the clone.

 

"Dude, calm down. Our mother is safe, she is ok, she is just in the old church." The clone hurriedly said. "Father Orkon is protecting her."

 

Alex breathed in deeply and closed his eyes. Breath in, breath out. He let go of the clone and tiredly sat into a chair.

 

"I'm hungry, make me something good and talk about this whole shit show." The clone nodded sympathetically and lit a fire, throwing in a thatch to speed it up.

 

"Well, a crier came into the neighborhood telling everyone that a monster horde was coming towards the city." The clone put two eggs into a stove. "At that moment no one knew what to do, but Father Orkon, carrying this badass crystal sword and this glowing blue halo, led all the residents of this neighborhood into the church's cellar."

 

"Is mom safe there?" Alex asked as he gladly accepted the salad the clone had made.

 

"She is, you know the old lady father used to hire to take care of mom before we learned to do so?" Alex nodded. "I gave the old lady some coins and the medicines. Mom is in safe hands, and if I dare say it, the safest place not in the inner districts."

 

"Why are you so sure of that?" Alex questioned.

 

"You should have seen Father Orkon, the sight was just incredible." The clone had this long gaze. "It was like, like…like walking along a legend or a saint."

 

Alex gave the clone the stink eye.

 

Seriously?

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