"Enough!" Sage shouted and stepped forward with a hand raised, "You fools will not win."
The Govian soldiers found themselves unable to move. Sage had used his abilities to turn their NaNe against them and had frozen their bodies in place. He looked around at each of them and shook his head with what looked like a disappointed expression.
"What is this!" One of the Govians shouted with a cracked and fearful voice, "How is this possible, why can't we move?"
"Idiots," Sage seethed, as he stepped toward them, "You fail to understand exactly why you are here. I wager you do not even see the significance of your mission. How many of you know who Crinnan even is?" The Govian soldiers stood in fearful silence, "Furthermore, would you be willing to die for this boy whom you do not even know?"
Light whispering erupted, and one of the soldiers spoke up, "He is the Demon!" He shouted, "He slaughtered the innocents! He has to pay! Our Emperor wants him; our job is to listen and obey. Our questions and personal concerns are irrelevant; the divinity knows best."
Sage raised his hand, and it began to glow a bright orange. A few of the Govians gasped and stopped talking. They trembled with fear, stuck in place by Sage's hold on them.
"I would like to tell you all a story of a time long past," Sage said, "You see before Govia the people were mightier and more intelligent than they had ever been. These ‘Ancients' as we like to call them had amazing technologies that surpassed anything your dying Empire could ever hope to create today. One of them was called the Cy."
The Govians remained silent, and Sage grinned. That was how he liked it, "You see, these ‘Cy' were machines that did precisely what you are doing right now. They were mechanical lifeforms created to serve the Ancients; they had no will, no desires. They had no individuality. They did what their programming told them to do without question or regard for cause. They knew not the difference between good and evil. They only knew the will of their master, their only priority. You grunts are so very much like these robots. Yet, you have it within yourselves to be so much different. You see, unlike the Cy, you have a will, and a drive to live."
Sage's words were making the Govian soldiers restless. They whispered to one another, and there was an uneasiness all around them. Finally, one of them spoke again.
"You waste your breath," He shouted and grit his teeth, "I will repeat myself. You cannot win. You must surrender the demon, or we will be forced to…"
"Your blindness is your own doing!" Sage shouted as he took a step forward, "You have the ability to see if only you wanted to! Look, your mission has failed. Your leader is dead, and you will not take Crinnan. I hold much more power than the lot of you combined, as you can very well see. I should say that you need to understand that you have no chance. You fools must realize that you are beaten!"
Guntz and Crinnan walked up and stood on each side of Sage. Guntz growled, and Crinnan stood silently with his sword in one hand and a pistol in the other, his rifle was slung around his back.
"An example has already been made of your greasy sergeant and three of your friends," Sage reminded them after a brief silence, "You do not have to share their fates. Just turn around and leave us."
None of the Govians spoke. Sage's words had clearly reached them. Their new spokesperson stared at the Elf silently for a moment and then shook his head, returning his gaze to Sage's eyes. He had made up his mind.
"Failure is not acceptable to his Majesty," the nameless soldier declared, "I will not be responsible for such a sin. The glory and beauty of our beloved Emperor cannot be tainted by our shortcomings. For this reason, we will fight each of you until victory is accomplished. If we die, more will come. Our mission will one day be completed. I assure you Elf; we will never die!"
Crinnan rolled his eyes. The devotion that the Govian army had to their Emperor made him sick to his stomach. Watching a person not live their life freely made no sense to him. Seeing them place their faith in such an evil and tyrannical person whom they did not even know seemed absurd. Crinnan could have never imagined living in such a way.
Sage let out a laugh. Not because he was entertained or happy, but because he was so unsurprised at how the Govian acted. Perhaps he gave up on trying to save the Govians.
"You are all thick headed and useless," he snarled, shaking his head while turning his nose up in their direction, "I should say, you must really want to die, is that it? Listen. It is crucial for you to understand this. Unless you surrender right now, there is no chance of you leaving this village alive… Are your lives truly that worthless to you? Do none of you have children? Do you all really wish to die today? I am running out of energy holding you here. Once I release you, you will either die or be free. You must choose now!"
The soldiers were restless. The loud one snapped at all of them, ordering them to be quiet, "We will not be intimidated by your sinful ways!" he growled at Sage, "We are the mightiest army in the entire world. You are subject to us by law! Why you probably have outlived the century allowed to you by the gracious and all-powerful Emperor! Your time is up, Ancient! Your life ends now!"
Sage casually swiped at the air with his hand. A thin beam of orange light emerged from each of his fingers in a moment's time, fast enough to nearly not notice. The beams swirled into one, ripping through the center of the loose-tongued Govian and into the soldier behind him. Sage released his hold on him, and the soldier staggered backward, gazing at his chest in disbelief.
"We are…" he choked as blood began to stream from his lips, "we are… invincible…" He blinked twice and fell to his knees. Before he could blink a third time, his face hit the dirt. He was dead.
All of the remaining Govians stared at Sage, amazed. None of them could say anything. Sage turned to Crinnan and made an awkward face, "I did not mean to kill two of them," he admitted with a smirk, "I was only aiming for the leader."
Crinnan noticed that the soldier who had been inadvertently hit by Sage's blast was lying flat on his back with his hand reaching into the air. Sage clearly no longer had a hold on him. He cried and gargled as blood pooled beneath him. Sage shook his head at the sight.
A white light began to envelop Sage's hand. The Govians breathed heavily out of fear of another blast and after a moment of charging, Sage held out his hand and flicked the light at the struggling Govian. Two moments later, the soldier pushed himself up off the ground and stared in wonder at his healed body.
The village was silent. The tensions were high; everyone was on edge. The healer looked at the healed, and the healed stood in silent awe. He touched his ripped and broken armor and looked at Sage who wore a stern face. Sage spoke, "Will you please surrender now? Will you take your life and run?"
As he felt the new skin covering the wound that Sage had accidentally inflicted on him, the soldier inhaled deeply and looked down at his hands. He began to cry and bit his lip, "I cannot…" Sage closed his eyes disappointedly and flicked his hand once again at the Govian he had just healed. The soldier fell onto the ground in a burning, screaming heap and Sage sighed heavily.
"Must it truly be today?" Sage called out to the remaining Govians with his eyes still sealed, "Can none of you take your life in your hands?" The soldiers stood silently, neither moving nor saying a word. Sage's eyes opened fiercely, and he looked at them all.
"Answer me!" he shouted as he angrily threw his fists downward. The Govians gasped out of fear of more NaNe power. Guntz chuckled.
Crinnan watched Sage talk to their enemies and wondered what was going through his mind. He could not believe that Sage was giving them a chance to leave and survive. That was beyond him. All his experience told him that letting the enemy survive today was letting one of your own comrades, or even yourself die tomorrow.
Among people, Sage was something of a phenomenon. The strange value he put on all life, not just his own, was higher than most. His charisma and excitement were rare traits as well. Perhaps the years of solitude had done that to him. Perhaps he had been born that way. H
is intelligence and wisdom seemed to be constantly trying to outdo each other. It was hard to find a rift in either… He was indeed a prodigy.
"This is my final offer!" Sage called out, extending his hand to the assemblage of soldiers, "I have only moments left before I release you. When I do, please go home. You will not die if you do so. If you stay here… we will be forced to kill you."
The Govians stood like statues. Crinnan looked at them, seeing fear in some of their eyes. Fear of Sage, fear of death… perhaps even something more. In the rest of their eyes, however, Crinnan saw nothing, no emotion at all.
"We decline your offer!" one of the Govians shouted, "You do not understand that you cannot stand against the might of the Empire and have any hope of winning! We will fight you until every last one of your barbarian corpses lay at our feet. Prepare yourselves to pay for your sins against his benevolence!"
Crinnan watched as Sage silently looked down and kicked a stone away from himself. He sighed with frustration and disappointment and looked up at Crinnan.
"I tried," Sage whispered, as his hands began to glow with the power of the NaNe. The Govians started to move again, and Sage looked to Crinnan, "Know that I am not a senseless, mindless killer Crinnan. Know that I understand the value of life… and that I tried." Sage stared at the Govians and with neither a word nor sound he started to run toward them. Crinnan was quick to follow.
For a moment, the sound of the bottoms of his boots slapping against the ground was all Crinnan could hear. His footsteps were light and intentional; his resolve was great. The breeze blew through his hair as he charged toward his foes and he began to hear himself breathing. He could feel the steady thumping of his pulse in his temples, and his hand was sweating as he raised his sword to strike the soldier that dared lock gazes with him.
His first kill tried to stop him, but Crinnan batted his weapon away and thrust his blade into the Govian's chest. He roared as he pulled his weapon from his enemy, and another one charged. Crinnan raised his pistol and shot him. The soldier's body went limp and crashed to the ground.
Crinnan raised his blade to strike another, but something caught his eye. He saw about twenty more soldiers charge from the forest, all equipped with rifles. Crinnan swore and ran to find cover, just as the spray of bullets began to pepper the area around him.
He was hiding behind a pile of rubble and rusty metal. He could hear bullets hitting all around him. Soon enough, Guntz dove over him and scrambled up beside him. Guntz looked at Crinnan and glared.
"Here," Crinnan said as he handed over his rifle, "Can you shoot?" Guntz nodded and shouldered the weapon. Crinnan sheathed his sword and drew his second pistol.
Guntz leaned out and opened fire. Crinnan did the same. He got off a few shots, but as soon as the two peaked their heads out, the Govians began firing on their position. The two ducked back behind the pile and waited for the firing to stop.
"Dammit!" Crinnan whispered, "What the Hells…" He considered his situation for a moment and then amid the gunfire he heard something. It was the sound of a higher caliber semi-automatic weapon being discharged. He peeked out from behind his cover and watched as Govian bodies began falling one by one. Somebody was picking them off from a distance.
"Cover me," Crinnan shouted at Guntz. Guntz nodded, stood up and began firing.
The Govians were confused. The unknown sniper was picking them off faster than they could recoil. Some were scrambling for cover while others were trying to return fire to either Crinnan, Sage, Guntz or the sniper. One dropped his rifle and fell to his knees.
Sage ran up alongside Crinnan and began blasting away with his NaNe. Between the four fighters, they made quick work of the Govian reinforcements. It was a massacre and a victory. As Crinnan watched the last soldier fall, he slid his pistols into their holsters. Sage looked at him and shook his head.
"We need to get moving," he wore a serious expression, "Now."
Chapter Eighteen
Eon III
22nd of Ramlia – 346AG
19:00 – Village of Lithaan
"Make it stop!" Ema'as screamed as she hugged her head between her forearms. Her cries were louder than the cracked exhaust of the truck they were riding in. Tears of blood streamed from her eyes and down the dark skin of her face.
"It doesn't stop!" Yarik, the other Thirst stricken Vampre angrily shouted back. He was hungry, irritated and annoyed, "Not until you do!"
"Fuck you!" Ema'as wailed, spitting in Yarik's direction, "You did this to me!" Yarik growled and put his palms over his ears. He wanted nothing more than to rip her throat out so that he would never have to listen to her ear piercing screams again. And then, he wanted to get out of his cage and rip the throats out of everyone in Eon's army.
"By Igo," he cursed, licking his lips at such a delicious idea. He thought of sinking his fangs into the necks of everyone who dared look at him. His body trembled at the thought of the hot blood running down his own throat. He yearned to feel it on his hands, on his skin… it was enough to make him hard.
Yarik felt the truck he and Ema'as were being transported in come to a stop. He heard the driver kill the engine and wondered where they were. All he knew was that the entire camp had been packed up to move out. He had heard his guards whispering something about a Demon in Izla'Axi and assumed he had something to do with their current journey… but he was not sure.
"We've stopped," He was feeling the itch of the Thirst begin to spread over his skin. He scratched at his already scraped up arms. For a moment, he thought about his growing appetite. Groaning, he slumped down into his shit covered cage and waited for whatever was about to happen.
***
"Lithaan…" Eon declared as he stepped out of the truck he was riding in. "A town older than anyone here," He looked up at the crown of the Lithaani Sentinel which towered over the village and smiled, "Oh how I remember this place."
Eon stepped toward the stone walls his convoy was parked before and ran his hand along them, "Oh what protection these walls once provided," he mused. He looked up at the top, then back to his army. "No longer I fear."
"Acolytes!" Eon shouted, turning back to his convoy, "Come, join your king! Let us survey that which we will soon conquer!" At that, every vehicle door opened and Eon's army began to assemble behind him. He clapped his gloved hands together and delighted as his hundreds of crudely armored followers approached him.
"Today, my children, we shall test your mettle!" he announced to the army that had assembled before him, "We have pillaged! We have plundered! We have laid waste to the already wasted, and found no glory! Today we claim our first true victory! We will grow our force, replenish our resources and kill all who stand in our way. And tonight while you rest, I, your Savior and King, along with the rest of our force, will bring back the Demon!" Eon's army cheered. Those who had guns fired them into the air.
"You there!" Eon heard somebody suddenly shout from above him. He turned around and scanned the walls, looking for the owner of the voice. Finally, he saw a troop of rifle-equipped AGRA soldiers looking down at him.
"Ah!" Eon replied, "What fine additions you will make! Have you come to open the gates for your new king?"
"Lithaan is under the protection of President Cade of the AGRA Triangle Corporation," One of the soldiers shouted, "Depart at once!"
"Your President's protection will not be of any help to you," Eon held his arms out, "And I, Eon, have little time to persuade you… join me willingly or painfully die, and then join me. Remember, only the willing can find glory."
"You will never make it through the walls!" the AGRA soldier declared, "They have stood for…" Eon clapped his hands together, and the wooden gates blasted apart, sending splinters in all directions. The AGRA soldiers went silent.
"Well fuck the Hells out of that!" one of them shouted, dropping his rifle and raising his hands, "I'm not about to die for this shitty town." The other AGRA soldiers quickly followed suit.
Eon chuckled and t
urned to his army. "Take Lithaan!" he commanded, "Kill the weak, so I may make them strong. Enslave the strong so that I may make them mine. Go, now!"
***
"Who's hungry?" Yarik heard a voice call out. His stomach felt like a mess of knots, and he was quickly growing more and more fatigued. To say he was hungry would most certainly have been accurate.
"You're feeding us?" Ema'as asked frantically, "Are we going to eat!"
"You will eat, or you will die," a guard said as he climbed into the truck, "We are taking the village of Lithaan. You two will join the Lycaani and Maas'Eon. Our ground forces have already marched into town… you are to kill the weak."
"The weak?" Yarik repeated, "Why the weak?"
"So that our king may make them strong," the soldier replied. "Do you understand?"
"Yes!" Ema'as replied, "Yes, yes. Let's go. I can't stand this fucking hunger any longer!"
"Very well," the soldier unlocked Ema'as' cage, and she, to his surprise, immediately pounced out on top of him.
"Get off!" he screamed, but it was too late. Ema'as quickly sank her fangs into the throat of the soldier, and ripped it out, creating a gushing well of hot blood.
"Hey!" Yarik shouted. He rattled his cage and grunted loudly from hunger, "Save some for me! Let me out! Don't fucking drink it all!"
"You ate already!" Ema'as scowled, holding out her arm for him to see his bite marks, "You can fucking wait!"
"You bitch!" Yarik howled, "You greedy fucking slut!" He pounded on the bars and hissed, baring his pointed teeth.
Ema'as continued to eat. As she consumed the blood of the guard, she could feel her strength returning. She was surprised at how delicious it tasted. She had never once been as satisfied with a meal as she was at that moment. After a few minutes of ravenous eating, she leaned back and caught her breath, turning her head to look at Yarik.
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