by S D Huss
“Complacency kills.” Daniel echoed words from his old platoon commander.
Avria nodded, then turned to Daniel. “You don’t have to do this, you know? We won’t survive for long after it's done.”
“I don’t think that matters, Avria.” He said, doing his best to smile. “Honestly, I’ve been thinking about my existence since I got to your world, and I’m not sure I was meant to live this long. Every day I’ve lived here felt like borrowed time… so… fuck it, right?”
Avria stared at him, studying him and his resolve.
“I’m sorry about Oros…” He said before she could speak. “He was one of my only friends here. He deserves to be avenged.”
She blinked a tear away in her eye but looked away toward Alektor. “He will be.” She paused, preparing herself. “And thank you, Daniel…, I’m glad I didn’t have to do this on my own.”
“No one should die alone.” He said darkly.
With that, she took a deep breath and pressed her hands together. “We both hit him with everything we have. Then we charge in and finish him. Understand?” She said, her face straining.
“Got it.” He said, closing his eyes to focus.
The air around her seemed to vibrate with the power she was building up, and Daniel once again saw how terrifying this woman was in power. There was a screeching crackle around her, and she opened her eyes to meet his. As one, they turned the corner and blasted with all of their strength. Daniel’s crimson flame erupted from his hands and spiraled toward the King’s back. Avria’s blast of lighting was several times the size and tore the ground up where it passed. As they both struck their mark, a blinding flash of light burst and all went silent.
Daniel fell to one knee, gasping for air, but was grabbed by Avria, and hauled up. “We’re not done yet!” She yelled, and they charged into the glowing furnace they had created.
The rear part of the Rexunii force that engaged the Lokkadonian barracks had been shocked by the massive attack. There were bodies of Dae scattered all around the street, and hundreds of warriors were dazed and confused. Avria charged in with her spear in hand to do as much damage as she could, but as she cleared the smoke and flames, she skidded to a halt before a man she thought to be obliterated.
“No…” Avria said, as Daniel stopped beside her.
Alektor stood before them, his face unreadable, and his body completely unphased by the massive attack. Even his six guards were unaffected, looking as though they had hidden behind him for protection.
“What are you!?” Avria screamed, her rage flowing out.
“Avria Regios,” Alektor said, his voice calm and unrelenting. “I must say I am surprised to see you here.” He examined her, covered in blood. Her ceremonial uniform torn and tattered. “You are a resilient one.”
She lifted her spear and pointed it at him. “I'll kill you for what you’ve done here. Rexunii scum!”
Daniel lifted his blade as well and Alektor’s gaze turned to him.
“You must be Daniel.” He said. “The other human who came with Reku.”
“Where is that traitorous scumbag?” Daniel spat. “Last I saw he was running for his life.”
Alektor ignored his words and continued. “You cannot hope to win. Your city has fallen, your Hego is dead, and you have no chance to defeat us. Lay your arms down, and we will relent. Convince your warriors here to surrender, and they will be treated with respect.”
“We will never surrender.” Avria dashed toward him, her weapon launching another blast of electricity ahead of it. Daniel blinked as she attacked, and in an instant, she was brushed aside by a wave of fire that scorched everything around him. Daniel choked from the smoke and coughed uncontrollably. -What the hell is this guy?- he thought, looking for Avria in the flames.
Seeing her form on the ground, he dashed as fast as he could to get to her. His legs surged with the Dunamis, and in moments he was next to her, but now face to face with Alektor. Daniel reeled, surprised the man had moved so quickly, so he swung his blade at him. The Rexunii king swept his hand again, and fire burst from it to engulf Daniel and Avria at his feet.
Suddenly there was a blast of energy that deflected it to the side. Alektor looked up in shock at the culprit, and Daniel turned to see Gro’ak snarling at him. He was much larger now, at least the size of a building, but looked as though he had been severely wounded.
“Human!” He bellowed. “Come to me!” The ground shook at the presence of the Spirit, and Daniel grabbed Avria’s smoking body in his arms. As he ran toward Gro’ak, he fell into a portal of light, much like he did when he remembered first coming to this world. He fell through it and landed on a grassy field. He had broken Avria’s fall with his own body and groaned in pain.
As quickly as he could, he sat up and examined her. “Avria.” He said, trying to be as calm as possible. “Can you hear me?” he felt for a pulse on her neck, and let out a breath of relief when he found one. Her chest rose suddenly, and she took in a breath with a gasp, her eyes shooting open.
“Dan…” She said, looking around in confusion. “What…? What happened?”
“I don’t-” He was cut off by Gro’ak, who grew from the ground to their left.
“I had to intervene…” He said, in his usual imposing and terrifying voice, but more subdued.
“Wait.” Daniel sputtered. “Intervene? You couldn’t help protect the city? Why didn’t you kill Alektor?”
“I would have…” He grumbled. “But they… had an ancient spirit with them… somehow… I tried to fight her… but she would have killed me… I took an opportunity to escape, and save you in the process…”
Avria tried to sit up but winced at some burns across her left side. Daniel held his arm out and helped her up. “They had a spirit?” She said weakly.
Gro’ak slumped. “The creature is ancient to even me… she was a terror to us and the Dae… many thousands of years ago… why she has chosen to follow the whims of a Rexunii king… I do not know…”
“Thank you, Gro’ak.” Daniel finally said. “Is everyone else alright?”
He shook his head. “That… I can not be sure of either… her presence has masked the city… there is nothing more we can do, but escape this place, and go to a more secure location…”
“I can’t leave.” Avria protested. “My brother and father are still in there, Katrina is too! We can’t just leave, we have to--” She winced again, holding her wound.
“Calm down, holy shit.” Daniel chided. “I’m sure they got out of there. Your dad was putting together the withdrawal plan when we left. They’re probably on their way to one of the other cities as we speak. So don’t worry.” he looked to Gro’ak. “What now?”
chapter 48
Robert stared down at a pool of red blood behind a barricade in the courtyard of the palace in Vul De Rah. His mind was numb from the battle and the terrible guilt he felt for what he was now wholly responsible for. -That’s a lot of blood…- He thought, using his deductive reasoning to conclude that it could only be Katrina’s. Daniel was facing off with Alektor during this little skirmish, and there are only three people here that he knew of that bled red. He held in his sorrow, knowing he would have plenty of time to reflect on it later.
“She lives…” Dio’Mar said, appearing on his shoulder. “She has made her choice though… and it was not you…”
“You’re back,” Robert said, his throat dry. “You had me worried, you just disappeared on me.”
“I’m touched…” She said blithely. “Gro’ak and I fought in the spiritual realm… we would have destroyed this city if it had been here, and we both could not risk that…”
“I know he isn’t dead.” Robert continued, walking toward the palace. “He saved Daniel from Alektor, apparently.”
“He managed to slip past me, once he knew he would not win… his only option was to save his human… and hide.” She hissed. “I will find him again… do not worry. He will probably go back to his forest…
and rally support against me…”
Robert nodded and entered the palace, remembering the first time he walked in the large doors, being escorted by Oros and Boros. He strode through the halls, bloody and littered with the bodies of warriors and nobles. He found his way to the throne room, where he saw Alektor standing on the throne platform, looking down thoughtfully at it.
“I have dreamed of this moment…” Alektor said as Robert approached. “The moment where I would vanquish the evil tyrant of Vul De Rah, and sit on his throne with his blood soaking the floor beneath it.” He extended his hand to touch the smooth stone it was made of. “But here I am… and the feeling I imagined is not here. Only the emptiness of this chamber, of those who loved him, of those who tried so hard to kill me because of what I had done.”
“Not just you,” Robert said.
“Reku…” He turned to him and narrowed his eyes. “I must apologize to you… I had thought to capture Daniel, but in the end, he chose to die rather than to submit. And… I do not know where your… former mate, Katrina, is. I’m afraid the only trace we have of her is that puddle of blood in the courtyard. She may very well be dead.”
Robert shook his head. Holding in his emotions.
“But you have also shown me,” He continued. “That there is much I need to work on as a ruler. There are sides and perspectives that I find difficult to see.” He took a deep breath, and finally sat on Agron’s throne. Leaning back in it, he rested his arms and looked as regal as he possibly could. “I will heed your counsel, and the people of Vul De Rah will not suffer harshly. You have my word on that. However, we will investigate any mistreatment of my people while in the service of them. They will be held accountable.”
Robert nodded, and let out a breath. “I suppose that’ll do…”
“How fares Demessa?” The King asked.
“She’s alive…” Robert responded, clenching his fists. “Damn Avria…”
“Go to her.” Alektor continued. “She will need your strength.”
◆◆◆
Robert made his way through the ruined corridors of the palace, absentmindedly avoiding pools of blood. The violence that he so adamantly avoided on his own world had become so commonplace here that he now was barely affected by the sights. He approached one of the royal chambers, a place he vaguely remembered. The room was large, with beds and tables that had been brought in to turn it into one of the many field hospitals created to tend to the countless wounded warriors who were left in the wake of the battle. Robert walked past the dozens of bustling medical Dae that did their best to tend to the groaning and pleading warriors, easing their pain with their own spiritual energy. Near the back of the room, lying on one of the larger beds, was Damessa. The right side of her face was covered in bandages, leaving a hole for her eye. Robert could see small areas where her blue blood had seeped through the cloth wrapping, and wounded tissue that was not completely covered. She met his eyes, and turned away, as if ashamed of being viewed in such a vulnerable state.
“Good to see that you’re up.” He said, taking a seat next to her. “Have you eaten yet?
She took several moments before responding, inhaling deeply with her eyes closed. “I suppose I should thank you, Prince.” Her voice was ragged. “You saved me…”
Robert said nothing, he just looked at her, nodding.
“We have taken the city then.” She added.
“Yes.” He said. “Alektor is enjoying his victory in the throne room.” He gestured to the wounded around them. “We took a beating though. The Lokkadonians didn’t give up this place without a fight.”
“This was their home.” Demessa adjusted the pillows she was using to prop herself up. “They fought for it with conviction and strength, but in the end we were victorious.”
She studied his face, guilty and filled with conflicting emotions. Seeing this, she put her hand on his, gently trying her best to comfort him.
He flinched at the touch but accepted it. “I’ve lost everything from my old life now. Completely. I was confident in what I did, after seeing what I saw.” He shook his head. “But now… I just feel like I have done something terrible.”
“Terrible?” Demessa asked, grunting in pain as she sat up further. “You have freed tens of thousands of people, Reku. You have done something that none thought possible, that all in Eleutheros thought to be madness; this was all because of you! Don’t think for a moment that what we did here today was terrible.”
“All the death.” He said in frustration. “All the pain, look at what we have done to this place.”
“Every transition is a painful process, filled with uncertainty and regret. You're not the only one who is thinking what you are. I assure you that your brother, the King, is fending off his own guilt and turmoil now.” She squeezed his hand. “The Lokkadonians were murderers in their own right, oppressors, and violators. Go outside, walk among the Doulos you freed today. Accept their thanks, and their praise. Hear the stories of the atrocities against them. Then… you come back here and tell me that what you did was terrible.”
Robert looked at her for a long moment. Wounded as she was, she was still breathtakingly beautiful. Her battle against Avria to protect him was one of the many things that prodded his guilt, but he knew she was right. Daniel and Katrina had chosen to side with these people, who casually stood for something he hated. He had lost the only connection to his old life, but now he had a new one. He lifted his hand to Damessa’s wounded face and cupped her exposed cheek. She looked at him, confused for a moment, but was interrupted by a kiss he planted on her lips. Robert pulled away and stood, leaving Demessa speechless. With that, he smiled at her and made his way back into the palace halls.
◆◆◆
Katrina opened her eyes, and the first thing she saw was the damp stone ceiling of a cave. She blinked in confusion for several moments, before attempting to sit up, something she immediately regretted when her abdomen flared in pain.
“Stay down,” Delmos said, sitting next to her. He was tending a pot of something that smelled delicious. Katrina perked up at the fragrance, unable to remember when she last ate. She laid her head back down on her rolled up cloak that he had fashioned into a pillow for her.
“Where are we?” She croaked. “What happened?”
“You survived.” Delmos turned to her with a bowl of soup. “Here, drink this. It will help heal your wound.”
She reached out and noticed that the usually humorous and boisterous man was serious and solemn. “Delmos, what happened?”
He didn’t say anything for a long moment, just hung his head and shook it. “We lost everything… the city, our families… Avria… apparently, she was killed by Alektor… Dan too.”
“What!?” Katrina shot up, enduring the searing pain. “You’re lying… it's not possible.”
“That’s not even the worst part.” He continued. “Survivors of the battle in Rexun have started to trickle back; there aren’t many. And details of his victory have come to light.”
Katrina didn’t say anything. Her eyes began to well with tears at the thought of her lost friend and master.
“The one responsible for their victory… was Robert.”
She shot him another look. “What?”
He took a drink from his own bowl of soup and continued. “He learned some strange new abilities… he’s able to animate the dead… to create illusions… to mask whole damn armies.”
“No…” The tears began to stream down her face now. “You mean…”
“Yeah… he was the one who controlled Oros’ body when he killed Agron… the son of a bitch killed our Hego, got those bastards into Vul De Rah, and pretty much single-handedly butchered our whole army in Rexun. They never even knew what hit them… the survivors said a second force materialized out of thin air behind them and broke their back. Oros turned to fight them, but Alektor… that…” He swallowed hard. “He killed him, burned him alive with his Dunamis.” He looked at Katrina, his eyes fu
ll of rage. “I didn’t think there was any Dae alive, save an ascended, who could kill Oros with their Dunamis… He was… he was powerful…”
Delmos wiped his mouth and placed his bowl on a stone next to the pot he used to cook. “My father made it out though… I guess that’s the only good news I have. We’re separated from them, though.” he pointed to the small cave’s opening. “We have the survivors of the palace guard who fought with me… most of them are injured and useless. And about fifty survivors from the battle in Rexun, all tired and weary from their travel back. We ran into them by chance. There is a camp outside, but they aren’t in any condition to fight. We have to rest up, heal up, then… we’ll see.”