Using the broken end of a spear they had picked up along the way to aid him, Damian walked side by side with the other sleepers as they steadily approached the main keep, with the dreadful undead tyrant having been vanquished the undead sentinels patrolling this place seemed to have lost their sense of direction and unity, their ability to fight together significantly weakened and their level of coordination was at an all time low.
Although this did make their journey much less perilous there were still a number of sleepers with terrible injuries which balanced out the scales, they were headed towards the final ring of the city, its tall towers and wide ramparts made it an excellent place to make camp for a few days as they waited for their soldiers to recover their lost strength.
The main keep, the large castle carved from pristine white stone, carved with ornate details and decorated with banners long since turned to dust and rot, its was the most beautiful thing they had ever seen in their lives, the level of work and detail which much have happened to construct such a place was nothing short of incredible, for it to still be standing after all this time was a testament to how the world was shaped by those who dreamed it to be different.
After many grueling days of fighting for their lives they would soon find a way home, or so they hoped in their hearts, Damian didn't know if this hope was due to Jest or was simply born from the desire to reunite with the ones they left behind but it was enough to the point where they could almost taste their victory.
Of course most of them were battered and bruised and some even maimed to the point of losing a limb or two but they still had the will to fight, even if their bodies failed them they still hoped for salvation from this dreadful hell, Damian longed to see his family again, to be in their embrace and hold them so very close.
***
The tower they had claimed as their camp rose above the towering outer wall of the fortress, displaying the Mirror like lake in all its utterly deadly glory, the sun hanging overhead threatening to begin its descent at any moment in order to welcome the dark embrace of night. Their plan was to watch the main keep for the next few days as they recovered their strength. There was little point in hunting any more creatures at this stage as the risk of injury outweighed the small increase in strength they would receive.
They needed everyone in as good of a condition as possible before they fought the vermillion beast, the dreaded dragon guarding the way back to their world, sleeping on the roof of the mighty caste, having made a nest at the highest point.
The castle rested on the edge of the mountain the entire citadel rested upon, with nothing behind it beside a sheer drop into the dreadful waters below, from as high as they were the entire structure was laid bare in front of them, its ingenuity was nothing short of impressive from afar and most likely even more so up close, the many twists and turns would make it difficult for any force to find their way through which was why they needed to study it as best as they could from here. There was no telling how protective the dragon would be of its territory so they decided it would be better to not test it until they were left with no choice.
***
The next few days were rather uneventful for the sleepers, having hidden themselves away high in one of the towers they spent most of their time preparing for the siege of the mighty keep, letting most of their memories spend as much precious time in their souls in order to be as in good of a condition as possible. Warden had been hard at work to improve the more mundane aspects of their formation by creating what he could with the materials at hand, it wasn't much but having a stable place to perform his craft really made it feel like he could focus more deeply in his work which occupied most of his time.
Jest and Jasper were on guard duty together most of the time which was the worst possible situation for anyone else in their immediate area, the constant exchanging of terrible jokes and ideas on "Better" jokes made most others avoid them when possible, by now most people had come to guess what the young man's flaw was and tried their best not to judge him too harshly for how he acted.
Meanwhile Damian was mostly left alone by this point, his body now covered in the beautiful plate armour of the Forsaken duty, his body had mostly recovered from its physical injuries yet his soul was taking far longer to heal, the turbulent waters of what people were calling the Sea of soul or simply Soul Sea had calmed down from a storm to a raging current whilst the cracks in the start above were slowly filling themselves in as time passed.
He knew that he wouldn't be at full strength as they fought the dragon yet he didn't want to slow the force down any more than necessary, besides even at only a portion of his true strength he was still stronger than most other sleepers so he wasn't too worried, if they could fight he certainly could as well.
The sleepers watched the keep intensely as the dragon awoke once again, quickly flying off into the dense forests in order to achieve its goal, what that goal was they did not know but it seemed to hold a grudge against the ancient forest as it unleashed its fury in the forms of waves of neverending fire from above.
Soon once again it was roosted high on the mighty castle walls with a large abomination in its maw as it happily ate away at what would they hoped would become its final meal, the rest of that day was filled with a steady unease which felt like it was building with every hour that passed, with none of the sleepers able to sleep that night, as the morning came Jest and Warden returned from a short outing they had taken at the break of dawn, Warden stood tall, standing on the edge of the ramparts as he looked out over the sleepers as he spoke,
"I will not lie and tell you that today will be without loss. The enemy we face is formidable and will likely end in the death of many of those who surround you now. But today is not a sad day in our history, today will mark one of the greatest achievements humanity has ever faced! Today both the ones who live and those who will die will be remembered as valorant heroes of humanity!
Champions of change who fought until there was nothing left to give and continued to fight anyway in order to allow the living to continue on with their memory engraved within their souls. Today is the day we lay claim to this impenetrable citadel and return to the world we call our home. Follow me and together we will make sure that the people who gave their lives for us to be here today and those that pave the way of tomorrow mattered in the eyes of the world, raise your weapons with me as we carve a path to our valiant victory."
The sleepers erupted raising their weapons high at their leader's words, as they began the march towards the Castle.