'…. Is…. really… achieve…'
.
'…don't … you… this…'
.
"Ugh…. Again…"
Merlin clutched his head as he stood up from the sweat soaked bed.
"Another nightmare, and I don't remember a thing… what's really going on, dream divination isn't giving anything either" he sighed and walked towards the shower, he stopped before the door, looked around the room as a bittersweet expression made its way to his face, by this time tomorrow he would be departing this place for good, the memories of his time on this world flashed through his mind and he smiled.
"At least I wasn't sent to LOTM, I would be dead by now… haha" he sighed then made his way into the shower.
After freshening up, he summoned his memory and made his way to the cafeteria, this time the place was relatively empty, the few sleepers who were there wore complicated expressions on their faces.
'Looks like it's affecting everyone, hopefully Neph's speech will do a little good to boost morale…'
He sighed and shook his head.
'...Speaking of speech, I should be the one to write that speech, I don't trust those little kids with their ideas'
Merlin reached into his pocket and retrieved a pen and paper and began to write out a speech.
"Should I use Captain Erwin's speech… no not here, I'll improvise then I'll use his speech on the battlefield… yeah I'm gonna be famous for that war speech"
He started jotting down ideas that came to his head concerning the siege, after a few minutes of writing and eating, He was finally done with the speech.
{A/N: Please I'm not Captain Erwin or Napoleon so I'm not good at writing battle speeches… hell I can't even write one, so I used Chatgpt to customize one for me, so please don't be upset if the speech is a little AI-ish. Thanks…}
After eating, Merlin made his way to the training room. As he arrived, the room was also empty as most sleepers were busy setting up their equipment.
He made his way calmly to the archery space, before he picked up the bow and arrows he first reached into his soul sea and brought out all his available shards, they all totalled to twenty three awakened shards, Fifteen fallen shards and the two transcendent shards he got from the labyrinth.
As he brought them out, he sat crosslegged on the cold floor and began absorbing the shards, in a minute he absorbed all the awakened and fallen leaving only the transcendent shards that he picked up and placed back into his soul sea.
"Guess I'll be putting them to use soon, hopefully it works the way I expect…" he sighed at his words then summoned his runes.
Name: Merlin Hermes
True Name: Attendant Of Mysteries
Rank: Dreamer
Soul Core: Demon
Soul Fragments: [1242/3000]
Memories: [Cloak of Mysteries], [Formless], [Siren's Bracelet], [Fur Coat], [Poison bottle], [Stone Sword], [Sunlight Shard]
Echoes: [Spire Messenger]
Attributes: [Fated],[Mysteries],[Mark of Divinity]
Aspect: [Child Of God]
Aspect Rank: Divine
Innate Ability: [Connection]
Aspect Ability: [Magician]
Flaw: [Apathy]
Flaw Description: [The stronger you get the more of your humanity you shed until you become a being of only divinity.]
After staring at them for a while he dismissed the runes and picked up the bow and arrows and began practicing, he shot at the targets for an hour before finally rounding up and leaving the training room.
As he left the room, as he was walking down the hall, he met with Seishan who was waiting outside his door.
"What's the matter, Seishan?" Merlin said as he walked up to her, snapping her out of her deep thoughts.
Seishan turned to stare at him as her thoughts drifted to thirty minutes ago.
…
Thirty minutes ago…
"Don't forget to get all the things we'll need before the siege, and inform the other handmaidens to prepare too" Seishan instructed the handmaiden, Gwen, who stood in front of her.
"Yes Lady Seishan…" Gwen bowed and walked away with measured steps towards where the other handmaidens were.
"That's everything for preparations, According to Nephis, by tomorrow we should be heading out to the crimson spire…" Seishan sighed as she looked at the sun that graced the forgotten shore with its light.
"... Speaking of the end, I still haven't given Merlin an invitation to join the Song domain, I'm sure Mother would be pleased to have someone strong like him…"
She then added silently, 'plus if he comes along I will have an unlimited access to his blood'
She licked her lips slightly as she thought of it, then came the hesitation.
"...But what if he's going with Changing Star?I doubt that girl will come to the Song domain, so if he's going with her, what should I do?"
Seishan bit her fingers at the thought, unbeknownst to her, she had already started making her way to his room, as for why she knew the location, some handmaidens had stalker… followed him and found out the location, because of his looks a few handmaidens wanted to confess to him but She had always deterred them from approaching him, with the excuse of respect for his position.
"Well it doesn't matter, I'll still ask anyway… if he refuses I'll try to convince him with benefits…" she muttered to herself as she reached his door.
Knock…
Knock…
Seishan knocked twice but no one answered the door.
"Is he not inside, or is he asleep… doesn't matter, I'll just wait" Seishan said as she stood beside the door.
After a few seconds, her mind drifted off to thinking about how she could convince him to come to her side, she got lost in her thoughts until a voice snapped her out of it.
"What's the matter, Seishan?" The owner of the voice Merlin stared at her with slight confusion.
After a while of reigning in her thoughts, she replied with a smile "Hello Merlin, I have something I want to discuss"
Merlin stayed quiet for about two seconds then walked to his door and opened it, he turned and said.
"Come in, let's talk here"
She walked into the room looking around, the room was completely arranged and orderly, on the side was a desk with cutting paper, a map and a few ornaments, and on another side was a stack of books, about seventy of them, anyone who walked in would think that the sleeper in front of her was a reading enthusiast, but she knew better, after all she had watched him use a single paper to end the life of a sleeper, not just any sleeper, a legacy, one trained from birth to fight and survive, and the same sleeper did not even get a chance to attack before being killed.
Seishan watched as Merlin walked towards the desk and brought out the chair to sit down before turning to her, gesturing to speak.
Seishan took a breath and made up her mind then spoke with confidence.
"Merlin, when we first met, you told me you weren't affiliated with any clan… I want to ask you again, is that true?"
Merlin held her eye contact without flinching and replied calmly.
"Yes… I'm not affiliated with any clan whatsoever"
"Then how do you know so much…" She asked as she watched his expression.
"That's a secret" Merlin simply shrugged.
She sighed and said.
"Okay I won't pry, but as for why I'm here… Merlin I would like to invite you to the Song domain when we're out of here, I'll talk to my mother and you will have a position equivalent to mine, and you'll be respected by all the clans I promise you"
Merlin stared at her for a few seconds, then averted his eyes supposedly thinking, probably weighing his options.
Then after a while he answered.
"Sure… by the time I leave the forgotten shore, I'll join the Song domain, so hold that top brass position for me.
Seishan let out a breath she didn't even know she had been holding and replied.
"That's a promise… I'll relay the message when I get back, then my mother will send people to invite you over…"
"I understand… thanks" He replied.
"Alright you're welcome" She said as she made her way out of the room.
As she arrived outside, she wore a smile on her face as she walked back to her quarters.
…
Merlin watched Seishan leave the room then he sighed and stood up from the bed then laid down on the bed.
"Looks like I don't have to look for an excuse to go to the Song domain, but I hope that offer won't expire due to my extended stay on the forgotten shore…"
He sighed then sat up and turned to look at the stacks of books in the side.
"Since I'll be leaving here I'll have to stack a whole lot of figurines, for the future"
He first separated twenty books to the side, and sent the rest to his soul sea, he then started carving the twenty books into paper figurines.
After three hours of cutting, he was then disturbed by a knock on his door, as he opened, he saw Sunny outside the door.
"Hey there Sunny, what's up?"
"It's Neph, she's about to start the speech, so she said we should gather around" Sunny said, his voice carrying the weight of the future they were about to change, undoubtedly he too was feeling distressed about the upcoming war.
"Alright give me a moment" Merlin replied as he cleaned up his room, burnt the useless remains of the papers and made his way down the hall with Sunny.
"Feeling odd are we?" Merlin asked as he turned to Sunny who had been quiet through their walk.
Sunny sighed and replied.
"You know if someone told me that this would be my future back then, I would've doubted it with everything I know… but still looking at us, a thousand sleepers about to go against a horde of nightmare creatures, it just feels unreal"
Merlin listened then chuckled.
"At least the odds are better this time…"
"This time?" Sunny turned to him then asked "In the future, how was the siege of the crimson spire?"
Merlin sighed then answered.
"A little more than five hundred sleepers challenged the spire, and less than three hundred survived…"
The sheer weight of his words left Sunny silent as he stared in shock.
"I guess you're right, this is an improvement…" Sunny chuckled dryly
Merlin turned to Sunny and spoke with seriousness.
"Hey Sunny, do you trust me…"
…
Inside the throne room, Merlin and Sunny walked through, they were the last to enter as the room held Nephis, Cassie, Effie, Kai, Seishan, Gemma, Kido, Sunny and Merlin. Everyone of interest was available at the meeting.
Nephis then spoke up.
"I've given the announcement for the upcoming speech, but before that, we need to know how far the preparation have come"
Kido spoke up first.
"The net made from the extract of the spiders are already set, and the spear slingshots are ready, moving it will not be a problem"
Nephis nodded to her then Gemma spoke up.
"The guards and hunters are already in place, the new trainees are also ready, I've discussed the battle tactics and formation with them so everything is good on my side"
"I understand" Nephis replied.
"I've given the instructions, the handmaidens are prepared" Seishan gave simple words.
Kai then spoke up.
"The archers are prepared too, there's no problem on our side"
"That's good" Nephis nodded.
Then Merlin spoke up.
"I'll work with the archers, but before that I'll reduce the number of nightmare creatures by about half or maybe more then the army can take over from there"
As he finished the hall became so quiet that even their heart beats could be heard, their shock was well founded. A sleeper just declared himself able to eliminate half of the nightmare creatures that blocked the crimson spire. Everyone there knew Merlin was strong but they never imagined that level of strength was possible.
"He's telling the truth…" Kai muttered subconsciously, but in that silence everyone heard it clearly, and the weight of his words only increased.
"Alright Merlin I trust you… we'll adjust the battlefield to your movements" Nephis replied as she then took out the map and started explaining.
Half an hour later, they all stepped out of the room and headed outside the castle where a little over a thousand sleepers stood, all nervous and tense for the upcoming battle.
Standing behind Nephis, Merlin thought
'Shit, I forgot to give her the speech, well doesn't matter anyways she'll figure it out'
Nephis stood tall with the major faction leaders and cohort behind her.
"Sleepers of the Bright Castle!!, I, Nephis, Changing Star of the Immortal Flame Clan stand before you as your Bright Lord!!!"
The sleepers responded with shouts and cheers
"I implore you!!
Stand Together!!
Look around you…
A thousand souls. A thousand stories. A thousand people who have endured hunger, fear, storms, loss… and still stand breathing on this Forgotten Shore…
That matters…
Because monsters do not understand what it means to endure.
They believe we are stranded, broken, prey waiting for the dark to swallow us whole…
They are wrong.!!
We did not survive this long by accident.
We built fires when there was no warmth. We found food when there was none to spare. We buried our dead, carried our wounded, and rose again every single morning while despair waited at our doorstep.!!
And now… the abominations block our path expecting surrender….
Let them come.
Not because we will fight.
Not because we do not fear what waits beyond that horizon…
But because there are things more powerful than fear.
Purpose.
Duty.
Each other.
Look beside you. The person standing there is not just another survivor. They are the reason you fight. The shield at your back. The proof that humanity refuses to kneel!!
We may not have their claws, their strength, or their terror….
But we have minds that adapt.
Hands that build.
Hearts that refuse extinction.
And when history remembers this night, it will not remember the creatures who hunted us.
It will remember the people who stood on an isolated island, outnumbered by nightmares, and said:
'No farther'
If we must fight, we fight together.
If we must fall, we fall having made the ground beneath us costly.!!
But hear me clearly—
We are not marching toward defeat.
We are marching toward the moment our enemies discover the difference between victims… and survivors who have decided they are done running…
Hold your sword…
Raise your heads.
Let your courage be louder than their screams.
Tomorrow we remind the darkness that humanity is hardest to kill when it has something worth protecting…
Now stand with me.
And let them learn what a thousand determined souls can do !!!"
The crowd erupted with cheers and shouts of determination, from the side Merlin sighed.
"That's some speech there…"
He watched the sleepers chant and cheer, and he prepared knowing that his peaceful days would end by the time the sun rises tomorrow.
The siege would begin.