by SlyOkami
Erik was high enough that he could see well over the wall and the fields of crops outside too. Off in the distance to the south there was the whispering forest, a dry and dead landscape that seemed to be oozing into the fields, killing crops and other greenlife alike.
He continued to look out at the village, counting in his mind. When Thea finally caught up with him, “What is the date?” he asked her.
“The date?” confused by his question, she asked back.
“The day, the month and the year.” Erik explained as he finished counting.
“It’s January the 5th, Elven age 6, 224.” Thea responded fully.
(“Elven calendar Age 6? I died on February, Age 5, 9…32? Year 932.”) He sighed, the Elven calendar reset every two thousand years. Erikathyr the White fell on Age 5, year 932. It was now a thousand, two hundred and ninety-two years later. (“Age 6, 224…”) Erik pondered, had it really been that long?
Shaking the thoughts out of his mind, Erik turned to face the warrior “How many other villages lay to our east and west?”
“Dozens…But they’ll hit us first.” Thea replied, concern and fear making up her current expression.
“No, demons aren’t like orcs. They broke through your defences, they expect a massacre from now on. Their army will spread out, break into several outfits and invade the land in its entirety.” Erik explained, as he turned to stare out at the village once more “Tell me, Elite knight. Why is there so little of you here? Defending this small village?”
“Because…” Thea wanted to blame the monarch, the greedy nobles and the cowardly military.
But Erik cut her off before she could continue “Common human politics. Sending the weak off as a show of hope, to satisfy the masses. Your higher ups knew this would happen, else if they truly wanted to protect these villages they’d have amassed their armies and marched against the demons. Instead they hide behind their walls. Why? Because they know the demons won’t stay together. They cannot march against that, it would leave their main city defenceless and their army prone to ambush.”
“You mean to say, we’re just sacrificial lambs?” Thea sighed, seemingly already having come to that conclusion herself, somewhere deep in her mind.
“That saying never stuck with me. Sheep don’t just run when a dragon strikes, even while within its claws the sheep will struggle, kick with its hooves, stab with its horns and bite with its damned teeth.” Erik chuckled, amused by her words.
“But the dragons are gone, they thrashed themselves alongside the land…the alliance ended them right after.” Thea spoke with disinterest, dread filling her heart as she hugged the child closer.
(“Gone? Fool, I’m standing right in front of you.”) He thought with amusement, (“This is why I despise your kind. Despaired when the time calls for strength and unrelenting at the most frustrating occasions. Such confusing creatures.”)
“Knight of Druvia.” Erik spoke as he turned back to her, meeting her miserable eyes. “I can help you save these people, but you must trust me. You must answer every question, obey every word.”
Thea placed Lioness down, the child moving to hide behind her while shyly peaking up at Erik. She rose to meet his again, misery turning to resolve. “If it means saving as many as possible, I will charge the demonic army alone if I must.”
Erik grinned widely, (“Careful what you say, I might hold you to that.) he thought. “Gather your knights and the most able villagers. I will speak to them all.” He ordered, his tone full of experience.
Something Thea caught on to, as she saluted out of habit and rushed back down the stairs. Leaving Lioness there with the drake.
Erik stared out the tower, watching her rushing out of the building and starting to gather people. (“Are you watching mother? I may never undo my mistakes. But I will redeem my honour. I will stake my life on it.”) he thought, clenching his fists over the stone brick.
When suddenly Lioness grabbed onto Erik’s new brown shirt, “W-Will you help us sir?…” the child asked. He turned to glance at him, finding Lioness staring up at him in awe, his expression pale and blushed from shyness.
Erik smiled back awkwardly. “Y-Yeah…” before shooing the kid away, “G-Go to your parents now…”. He didn’t like humans, he liked their offspring less.
“Papa and Mama aren’t around anymore…The shades took them away.” Lioness’s gaze dropped, the little boy raising his other hand up to his eyes to stop the tears.
Erik leaned away slightly, paling, not knowing how to deal with Lioness. He briefly watched the poor child start to weep, sighing as he placed his hand over the kid’s head. “Mine are gone too.” He admitted, (“And I fear I’ll never see them again.”) His own eyes becoming bleak.
Lioness wiped the tears from his eyes, then stared up at him again. “Will…will the shades take everyone?” he asked, his tone worsening.
Erik’s smile faltered, as he gazed down at the kid. A being so weak, so helpless it had to attach itself to others. From a young age Erikathyr was left to his own devices, learning only when he wished to learn, making reason of the world in his own way. The grownups only ever pointed directions when he asked for them, and he was the one that had to pick. Right or wrong.
They would be proud when he made the right choices, solved the correct puzzles, figured out the way to cast certain magic. But not a word when he made mistakes. Left to figure them out on his own. Dragons were wise from a young age, so expectations of him were astronomical.
But he failed, in the most miserable way he failed.
These weak creatures he looked down upon, why were they so important? To the point that nature itself did nothing to stop their damage. Why were these humanoids so protected? That was what enraged Erikathyr before and what confused him still now.
And if it meant protecting them himself, Erik decided he’d find out. He wanted to know, he wanted to learn. Humans, dwarves, elves, half-beasts, mers and even orcs. What was so special about them that his own kind gave their existence for?
Erik turned to gaze out at the gathering villagers, as Thea waved at him from below. “Do the shades scare you child?” Erik asked Lioness, then glancing down at him.
Lioness nodded, his eyes widening from the horrors that were his memories.
Erik crouched down before him, raising the child’s droopy face to meet his eyes “Then all demon kind must scare you?”
Lioness nodded again, as tears now freely leaked out of his eyes.
Erik smiled, “Do I scare you child?” he asked calmly.
“N-No sir…” Lioness responded, his voice cracking.
“I killed demons. Yet you are not afraid of me, but instead afraid of the demons? You make no sense child.” His smile grew into a grin, “I’m much more terrifying than some puny Devil. So dry those eyes of yours, straighten your back and clench your heart. For if shades come, I’ll swat them like flies. If fiends charge, I’ll butcher them like cattle.”
Erik rose, and Lioness’s gaze followed him. “If a Devil does come? Well…” Erik chuckled as he took the first step down the stairs, “A Dragon doesn’t lose sleep over a loud-mouthed imp.” He said with finality. Then descending the stairs, to later be followed by Lioness. The child having wiped the tears from his eyes, he gripped tightly onto Erik’s shirt, following him.
Ch 4 - The siege of Beckton
Erik walked out into the village’s dirt roads, seeing hundreds of villagers standing around with Thea and five other knights at their lead. Lioness immediately rushed to grip onto Thea, as she approached Erik alongside the other knights.
“Erik, these are my comrades in arms.” Thea began gesturing at each, “My younger sister, Kayle Selene.” Kayle was shorter than Thea but with similar features, long light-brown hair and dark brown eyes. Unlike her elder sister, Kayle wielded a longbow.
Thea named off the other four, Simon, Nerick, Victus and Kim. Yet Erik did not pay much attention to either, putting the names to memory albeit doubting he’d need t
o remember most.
“And this is the village mayor, George Kolev.” She gestured at one other man that walked forth with them, an elderly human with greying short hair but a strongly built body.
George forwarded his hand to Erik, a human gesture of friendship he remembered before taking the man’s hand. “Colonel Selene tells me you’re a trust worthy mage? How do you intend to aid us get through this apocalypse?” George asked, his eyes sullen, his smile barely a hint of hope to show. His tone, full of dread.
Erik stretched his fingers after the hand shake, the man was strong for his age. He then spoke with a raised voice for all to hear, “I am Erik…Fireborn. A traveller from afar, a caster of magic and a study of demon kind. Escaping the hell that is about to be upon you will be no easy task.”
Everyone turned to look at him, silent as to hear him clearly. “Escape now and you shall be trampled over. That much I can assure you. What I cannot assure you is that you will all survive. It is a fact, many of you will die.”
“Then why are we listening to you?” Asked one of the knights, Nerick if his mind served him right.
Erik turned to the spearman, “Because, I can at least show you the path to where some will survive. And better some than nobody at all wouldn’t you say?” Nerick did not respond and so Erik turned back to the rest. “Retreat is a fine course of action, but premature retreat will only cause your destruction. Instead I have an alternative suggestion.”
“Here, you have walls. Resources, knowledge of the terrain and the advantage of it.” Erik gestured around at the village, “You will not run. No you will stand here, in this village. You will fight.”
“Fight? Are you mad?” Exclaimed one villager, “If we stay we’ll be slaughtered!”
“No, if you run you’ll be slaughtered.” Erik corrected with a stern tone, “You will never make it to Druvia alive. None of you will. The fiends alone will run you down like lions chasing cattle. But if you fight, then at least you stand a chance.”
“What chance do we stand?” grumbled Nerick once more.
Erik glanced at him, then at the rest of the village. Morale was non-existent. Worse so the villagers themselves began whispering to each other, of how the walls were too short, the gates too weak, how the army of demons will barely feel their bones as they step over them.
“Yes, the walls are short. Yes, your gates are puny. But do not mistaken yourselves. What marches towards Beckton will not be the entire demon army but a chunk of it, as the rest breaks off to raid the entirety of this land.” Erik explained, raising his voice even more to speak above the whispers.
He glanced at the walls, “You aren’t alone either.” Deciding he needed to do something about the morale. “You say these walls are too short?” Erik smirked as he kneeled down where he stood, placing his right index finger into the dirt beneath him. He drew a circle, designed the interior with strange twists and turns before inscribing stranger characters within.
He stood once more and took a step back, “You, place your palms over this circle.” He told Nerick, who looked at him with confusion while pointing at himself. “Yes, you.” Erik repeated, and after a nudge from Thea the man did as told.
Kneeling with his back to Erik, Nerick placed both his palms over the circle. “Don’t move, don’t say a word.” Erik said, as he kneeled behind the man and placed his right palm over Nerick’s back. Erik felt the mana suddenly surge through his right arm and into Nerick’s back, retaining control over it he used the man’s body to lessen the impact over his own. Flowing the energy down into the circle, then into the ground below.
Erik chanted, “Earthen spirits grant us your favour, such as you raised mountains, lend us that power.” Infusing his voice with mana as not to use his draconic tongue. “I summon forth your energy, I summon forth your element. Earth School; Fortress of Stone!”
He let go of the man’s back right after ending the chant, standing up with a slight numbness in his arm and a brief moment of dizziness. Nerick on the other hand, fell back onto his ass, sweating profusely as he took several drawn out and weary breaths.
“You say your walls are small. I order otherwise.” Erik spoke as he gestured forwards, suddenly the brick walls exploded upwards. The earth beneath it had begun to rise, flowing upwards while retaining the wall’s shape. It grew, several dozen meters higher it grew.
“Let us see a fiend leap over that.” Erik smugly exclaimed, as all stared in awe at the now ninety feet high wall of stone. About thirty feet thick all around it also had long staircases along its side, going all the way up to the top while stopping every two storeys, taking through a doorway and inside the stone wall itself. The gates though were not stone, but instead solid iron and three feet thick. A tunnel from the outside taking to each of the two.
Feeling the numbness slowly dissipate, Erik turned to face George as he also spun about, staring at the wall in awe. “With my aid, I will make sure that the people here survive. As many as possible. But, I cannot force you to fight. You have to decide for yourselves.” He said.
Erik did just as he was taught, not to hold their hand and force their way. No, Erik gave them an option, and it was for them to choose.
George’s gaze fell upon him, studying the man that looked all too young to be this powerful a mage. A man that comes with word of doom if they escape, and hope of survival if they fight… Should he trust this man? Should he bet the lives of his entire village to this man?
He was unsure, Erik had saved Thea’s life, a knight sent here to aid the villagers in evacuating… So he turned to her, “What do you think, lady knight?” he asked. “If what he says is true, then fighting is our only chance. But that begs the question of how true his words are.”
Thea was staring up at the wall, her eyes shining with a hope that hadn’t been there before. “It’s been two days since the last attack. A harassment that had occurred each morning or night. I too find it suspicious. To be completely honest Mayor? I believe him.”
George sighed, as he caressed his greying beard. “Tell me Erik Fireborn. What do you get out of this?” he asked, turning to meet his eyes. “I like to think that I’m an excellent judge of character. And you do not seem like the empathic type.”
“M-Mayor!” Thea objected.
“No, knight. He is correct to assume so.” Erik said as he met George’s eyes, “Indeed my objective is not the defence of your people but the contrary. My goal is the destruction of all that comes to corrupt nature. And at the moment, the Devil’s kin are at the very top of my extermination list.” He explained solemnly. “Our objectives simply seem to align.”
George hummed thoughtfully, trying to discern anything about Erik. Was it revenge against the demons that he wanted? No, he saw something similar in his eyes but not quite the same. He had seen the eyes of vengeance before, Erik did not wear them. No, Erik had something else in his eyes, something else in his heart that George could see.
Erik was out for blood, but not for any sort of vendetta. What George saw in him was a thirst for redemption, a resolve to redeem himself.
“Very well then, we are in your very capable hands. Mage.” George said, turning to stare up at the wall once more. He knew what it felt like to want to redeem a mistake. It was a powerful force that drove many, even him at some younger age in the past. (“But will it be enough?”) he asked himself, remembering also his own failures.
* * *
Several hours later
7:00 PM
Nerick stood above the wall, staring off at the dead forest in the distance. The weariness of before having dissipated, it was replaced with a thirst for action, as an unknown energy flowed through him. What was it? He did not know, but if felt like a rush of adrenaline that he had no control over.
He glanced back at the unknown mage below, standing next to the stone well alongside their platoons priestess, Kim. (“If this works…Lord be I’ll buy you as many drinks as you want.”) Nerick grinned, trying to calm his own nerves with humou
r.
“There!” suddenly exclaimed Kayle from below, the only archer remaining in their platoon. She was put in charge of the villagers wielding bows, while he was in charge of those at the very top who wielded long spears.
He turned to look at the forest, and sure enough as night fell the demons began marching out. His heart sank, true to Erik’s words it wasn’t the entire army but there was still more than a thousand monstrosities walking right towards them.
Alongside the fiendish beasts there were also other creatures of hell. Dark shadows that oozed about the demons wielding long pitch black and jagged blades, shade-wraiths. Tall humanoid creatures, shorter than the normal fiend these had bodies of black armoured carapace and leathery black wings, pit-fiends. Then lastly there was the abominations, humans or any other kind of non-demonic sentient being, corrupted to the core and turned into a servant. These were thralls, and they made up most of their numbers.
Nerick watched as the small army gathered outside the village’s fields, every step they took the corruption flowed out further, killing all matter of crops and drying the land of life. They stopped, forming a long line of horror.
From the very centre walked out a different being altogether, humanoid still but taller than even a fiend. This creature had molten red skin, shining bright gold and violet from the raw energy that flowed through its body. It wore a crimson set of armour that shone of just as much corrupted heat as its own body while wielding a similarly demonic axe.
“Aww, the humans made their wall taller.” The demon purred, amused and elated at the challenge. His voice permeating the air, not loud but through his magiks, reaching their ears nonetheless. “Know my name, measly rats. I am Jekozon, Demon Lord of my sire’s, servant of the Devil King Azruxan.” He swung his axe ahead of himself, the weapon’s blade trailing violet flames behind.
Jekozon raising his axe forward, the fiends roared hungrily, the shades hissed thirsty for blood and the pit fiends bellowed their war cry. “And for the Devil King Azruxan, I claim your souls.” The army charged forwards, thralls rushing ahead of anything else, running on all fours with greater speed than any human possibly could.