The Hero of Legend

by Demethius Jackson

  By the thousands, the Legionaries fell into formation as Damian’s silver panther came to a halt before them. Their ranks extended the length of the land, surrounding the entire exterior of the fortress. Never had Damian felt so determined as he hopped down from the saddle of his silver war beast. With a single hand raised in the air, he greeted his men. Despite receiving word of his surrender of the Realmsic Castle and his hasty retreat, they collectively cheered for him like a conquering hero returning home.

  As the hot air blew dust into their faces, Damian stood before them as a fortress of solitude and power. He took the Realmsic Crystal from around his neck and raised it high toward the sky.

  “They cannot win!” he declared.

  His Legionaries chanted wildly and pounded their fire swords on their armor. Damian confidently walked through the ranks of the cheering warriors, heading toward his fortress. With his panther strolling by his side, he climbed the steps of the entrance while his mind raced through a number of potential battle scenarios. He’d deliberately forced the Realmsic alliance into a long, burdensome pursuit across Damisted, in hopes of wearing them down. Now, with his fresh infantry, along with the stragglers who fled with him from Centre Pointe, he intended to pummel Maebus with the full force of the crystal. Damian donned a fake smile as he entered the fortress. Like his enemy, there was much at stake for him, and this battle would be for all or nothing at all.

  • • • • •

  Weather-worn and exhausted, the Realmsic alliance—led by Maebus, Kelm, Leoden and Normandy, arrived at Damian’s fortress. Standing a significant distance from the structure, Maebus couldn’t believe his eyes. The fortress, erected completely of stone, stood before them ominous and menacing. Leoden too seemed moved by the structure as Maebus watched his normally calm smile transform into an angry scowl. Normandy suddenly gripped his chest as if his heart ached, then his eyes filled with tears.

  “Normandy,” Maebus began to console him, but the General shook his head.

  “This fortress represents everything that is wrong with the Realm,” he said slowly, breathing heavily with each word. “Its presence is nothing more than a beacon of hate. I swear to you, on the blood of my family, and by the might of the First Wizards, I will dispatch this fortress with extreme prejudice…” Normandy removed his hand from his chest and clenched it tightly into a fist. “Just as I did General Thane!”

  Normandy’s words were chilling, and sent a shiver straight down Maebus’ spine followed by a pang of sadness for Thane. All things considered, the General was a resourceful soldier. Enemy or not, Maebus could appreciate that.

  Kelm shook his head at the fortress in disgust. “When did Damian even have time to build this?” he asked their group.

  “Apparently the Warlord has been a very busy man,” Leoden replied.

  Maebus gazed upon the massive formation of Legionaries as the winds carried their war cries across the land to their own position. No doubt they’d been waiting here all along, dying of a thirst for blood.

  “It’s here that we either live on, or die,” Maebus said.

  As their group surveyed the landscape, the Realmsic infantry assumed their combat positions. The trek of thousands across the barren lands had proved more than challenging. But not a single soul had made the journey only to falter now. Together, the forces of the Realm and the Western Nations stood unified, ready to lay it all on the line.

  “How would you like to proceed?” Normandy asked, snapping to attention, standing bone straight.

  Maebus looked at the people before him, his friends, his brothers. Their journey of trials and tribulation all came down to this.

  “Give word to the allied Commanders. Send all troops forward immediately.” Maebus then looked straight into Normandy’s eyes. “Afterwards, I want you to take command of our entire Realmsic infantry. Hit the Legion with everything we’ve got! Kelm, Leoden and myself are going directly after Damian, so we’ll need you to keep his fighters away from us.”

  “Aye, Commandant!” Normandy smiled and saluted. Maebus returned the salute and then extended his hand. “Without your help, we may never have gotten this far. Fight well, General. This ends today!”

  Normandy gripped his hand. He then grabbed the reins of his horse and mounted. As he gained control of the steed, he looked down upon the faces of his comrades.

  “All, or nothing at all!” he shouted before taking off. Together they watched as he galloped away to lead the charge of the allied forces.

  “Kelm, are the Crucifers prepared?” Maebus asked.

  “Indeed.”

  “Great! When our charge begins, unleash their uncompromising fury.” Maebus then turned to Leoden, who up to that point was keeping a close watch on Damian’s Legion. In the previous battle, the young warrior had proven to be every bit as skilled as the Realm’s most experienced soldiers.

  “Leoden!” Maebus called, grabbing the young man’s attention. “It goes without saying, you fought extremely well back at Centre Pointe. However, I need not tell you that the worst is yet to come.”

  Maebus took a step forward and placed a hand upon his arm. “I don’t pretend to understand the intricacies of magic and prophecy, but I do understand the skills of a good warrior. One way or the other, you are our best chance for victory. Therefore, I’m not letting you out of my sight!”

  Leoden smiled, nodding his appreciation, but before Maebus could continue, a bright flash of light stole their attention. It appeared as a speck in the distance. But before they knew it, a screeching fireball was upon them.

  “Scatter!” a soldier yelled just before the fireball impacted their vicinity. Maebus, Kelm and Leoden were thrown back by the blast. Sliding across the sand, Kelm twisted his body upward and regained his footing. The enemy had fired the first shot. Now it was time to return the favor.

  “Crucifers, engage!” Kelm commanded as Maebus and Leoden picked themselves up.

  Instantly, a Realmsic inferno lit up the sky. Maebus watched the fire as its smoking mass trailed toward the fortress. Wasting no time before the retaliation impacted their ranks, Damian’s Legion began their final assault. With fire swords in hand, they ran indiscriminately towards the allied forces.

  “So much for strategy”, Maebus thought.

  Drawing his battle sword for perhaps the very last time, he pointed it forward.

  “Engage the enemy!” he commanded. “Attaaaaaack!”

  Upon horses and on foot, the allied and Realmsic forces charged unflinchingly into battle. With the Crucifers providing continual air support, their plan was simply to overrun the Legion. Maebus saw Normandy racing toward the head of the pack, galloping at full speed toward the approaching Legionaries. As if filled with rage, he whipped the horse’s reins, speeding faster until finally he and their soldiers plowed into the first rank of Legionaries, scattering them like dust in the wind. Moments later, both oppositions crashed into one another with the devastating sound of banging and clanging. The second confrontation had begun.

  Within the midst of battle, Maebus gained his bearings. “To the fortress!” he yelled to Leoden and Kelm.

  The sounds of combat were deafening, yet the three pressed forward through the sudden madness. Only engaging combatants if necessary, they were determined to make it to Damian.

  With his battle sword, Maebus hacked away at combatants as if they were untamed wilderness. With Leoden covering their sides with his wood axe, Kelm took up the rear, firing magical blasts at anyone not armored as an ally. Glancing several meters from their location, Normandy had abandoned his horse. Towering over his opponents, he punched Legionaries with his bare hands.

  Maebus couldn’t help but laugh.

  Chapter Sixty

  Standing atop the fortress, Damian watched angrily as the battle unfolded. He found it increasingly difficult to control his temper, for this misfit army of children, woodsmen, and traitorous Laymen had annoyed him long enough. The time had come to end this war once and for all. This t
ime, he would not remain a spectator.

  “May the power of the Realmsic Crystal burn you asunder,” he said, removing it from around his neck. Placing both hands upon it, Damian instantly felt its energy emanating from the gemstone. Closing his eyes, he concentrated, following the sensation as it vibrated through his fingers and palms, into his arms, legs and torso. With each deep breath, he felt its magical fire rise within his being. Quietly, before he was even aware of it, the crystal possessed his mind, filling his brain with rapid visions and images. The knowledge of millennia cascaded from the spiritual under-realm and overwhelmed his mind.

  His eyes opened wide.

  “Ah, I understand now!” Damian could barely whisper.

  At that moment, he’d seen the ultimate truth, and now knew the secret of the Realmsic Crystal.

  Unexpectedly, Damian fell to the ground, clutching his head. Pain seared behind his eyes like fire. He tried to resist the will of the crystal, but it already had him. Like a predator, the power embraced him and refused to let him go. Fear rose in Damian like bile. He tried to resist the feeling of drowning, but he no longer had control. His body ached. It was as if his soul was being infused with all the original terror that created the Realm’s energy. Curling into a fetal position, Damian convulsed in agony. It felt like his limbs were being torn apart.

  What’s going on? Why is this happening? The answer came to him like a shot of light through darkness. The Realm’s energy was imbalanced, therefore the pressure needed to be released.

  Using all of his strength, Damian crawled to the ledge of the fortress and painfully pulled himself up. Barely able to support his weight, he stood above the battlefield, only remotely aware of the tremendous bloodshed below. Outreaching a shaky hand, he slightly extended his index finger.

  THOOOOOMMMMM!!!!

  A solid streak of lightning exploded from his person, and ripped across the battlefield. Every combatant within his vicinity was vaporized.

  “Waaaahoooooo!” Damian screamed in relief, for the intense pressure that had built in his body had now been released.

  “Victory will be mine!” he declared. Raising both hands into the sky, he fired two more continuous streams of lightning. Although it had nearly killed him, Damian had just mastered the power of the Realmsic Crystal. It was time for King Maebus to die.

  • • • • •

  Upon seeing the lightning blast from atop the fortress, Maebus, Leoden and Kelm paused in their tracks.

  “What was that?” Leoden asked Maebus.

  “Just keep going forward!” he yelled. “We have to get to him before it’s…”

  Damian suddenly bounded off the top of the fortress. Maebus watched in utter disbelief as the Warlord free-fell several hundred feet to the ground.

  “No way!” Leoden exclaimed. Maebus too was shocked beyond words, for surely defeating Damian wasn’t going to be this easy, was it?

  Maebus saw the Warlord’s body impacted the ground, leaving a massive crater. With it, a heavy cloud of dirt and debris exploded into the air.

  Kelm covered his mouth with his hand. “Did Damian just kill himself? Was the power of the crystal too much for his body to control?” he asked.

  “No one could have survived that fall,” Leoden answered before Maebus could.

  Still, Maebus was doubtful, for he knew the Warlord Damian did nothing without considerable calculation. Therefore, Maebus focused on every aspect of the fortress, scanning for any trace of life. He watched the flow of the settling debris cloud, only to discover something within the center of the impact crater. To his surprise, a figure lay shrouded in the smoke. Through the dust, the figure’s eyes glowed terrifyingly red. It was all Maebus or the others could see until the figure took a single step forward from beyond the smoke.

  “Whoah!” Leoden yelled. Damian had not only survived the fall, he physically looked more powerful than ever before.

  “It’s the crystal!” Kelm stated. “Damian has succeeded in utilizing the Realmsic Crystal. Now he’ll probably…” Kelm paused before completing his thought. At that moment, Damian charged them, sprinting from across the field.

  “Maebus, Leoden, run!” Kelm shouted. Maebus grabbed Leoden by the arm, shoving him away, just as Kelm covered their retreat with several magical blasts. But the Warlord was already after them. In a blur of speed, he cut through the battle. His eyes illuminated red with vengeance.

  All around Maebus, the battle waged onward. Fleeing from Damian, navigating through combatants, he’d never experienced so much chaos, so much carnage. With men fighting in every direction, and with the thick barrels of smoke rising from the Crucifer impacts, he could scarce determine which direction was up or down.

  Maebus’ head began to pound with pain. Before he knew what was happening, he found himself being yanked backward by the metal collar of his armor.

  “There you are!” Damian exclaimed. Maebus struggled to get away, but the Warlord was now too physically powerful.

  Grabbing Maebus’ neck, he raised him high into the air. His face contorted demonically as he tightened his grip; slowly squeezing the life out of Maebus, who struggled desperately to free himself. But his head grew increasingly lighter. His surroundings grew dimmer as he began to lose consciousness.

  All Maebus could see was Damian’s glowing red eyes staring into his own. “Today is the day of your demise,” Damian sneered.

  “Nooooooo!” Maebus heard Leoden scream from behind.

  Damian suddenly fell forward, instinctively loosening his grip. Maebus fell awkwardly to the ground and smashed his leg against the sandstone. He screamed as a paralyzing pain shot through his lower body. He tried to rise to his feet, but his previously injured leg had been re-aggravated.

  He leaned against the rocks, watching Leoden fight Damian as hard as he could, trying to protect him. The young warrior swung wildly with his wood axe, but Damian blocked every blow with his bare skin, as the crystal had made his flesh as tough as iron. Not a mark was made by the impact of Leoden’s blade.

  “Annoying insect!” Damian bellowed. With barely a motion of his hand, he smacked Leoden backward, sailing him yards across the battlefield. Damian returned his focus to Maebus. Only a few nights ago, Maebus dreamt he would die in battle, and now the dream proved prophetic after all as Damian stalked toward him, fire in his eyes.

  • • • • •

  Leoden rubbed his aching back. He watched in terror as Damian pursued King Maebus, but he had been knocked too far away to intervene. Frantically, he searched for Kelm, but the Grand Wizard was occupied defending against the slew of Legionaries trying to kill him. Normandy also was nowhere to be found. There was no one else available to stop Damian but him.

  For the first time that Leoden could remember, he was scared. Yet, he forced himself to overcome his emotions by focusing on his lessons from the Cyperus Clan. Despite the chaos surrounding him, he concentrated on the stillness within himself, searching for what his clan referred to as the warrior’s peace.

  Mentally detaching from his surroundings, he tried to ignore the bedlam of war, and listen only to his internal instincts. It didn’t take long for the young warrior’s mind to fill with that familiar sensation. He recognized the energy. For weeks, it drove him mad during sleepless nights. It was present on the evening he fled his village. It guided him on the night he snuck into the castle and freed the King. And it was with him now on the battlefield, pulsating through his body. Leoden gave into the sensation. He freed his mind and trusted solely in his instinct; his magical intuition.

  Through the madness, all suddenly became clear to him. Ripping off his armor, he felt the Mark of the First Wizards burning his back as if illuminated. Then, lost within a deep trance, possessed by a higher presence, Leoden took off running. His actions were no longer his own. They were now that of the intuition that guided him.

  • • • • •

  Several yards away, Maebus lay defenseless upon the ground. Damian grinned malevolently, watch
ing him squirm in agony. Vengeance filled Damian’s face as he stomped toward him.

  Within moments, Damian hovered over him. Like a hunter bearing down on his prey, he steadied himself for the kill. Glowing in the power of the Realmsic Crystal, in the pleasure of the final strike, Damian seemed unable to sense what Maebus now saw: Leoden, sliding through battle in their direction. Nor did he seem to feel the young warrior approach from behind and grab a handful of his hair. Before Damian could react, Leoden was yanking him backwards.

  “Leoden! Leoden!” Maebus screamed in fear, but his cries were ignored.

  Damian spun around, enraged. “Get off of me, you peasant!” he yelled.

  Damian tried to shove him away, but even with his augmented strength, Leoden barely budged an inch.

  Leoden, apparently possessed by a magical force, proved to be as strong as Damian. He grabbed the Warlord’s face with his hands.

  “How is this happening?” Damian screamed. Maebus saw the Realmsic glow dimming from Damian as if the power of the crystal was being drained from his body.

  As Leoden continued holding on, squeezing tighter with all of his strength, his own body began to glow. As the energy intensified, its magical glow began inching from Leoden’s hands back into Damian’s body. The Warlord struggled against Leoden. But the harder he fought, the weaker he grew.

  “This isn’t happening!” Damian screamed.

  Maebus, still upon the ground, shielded his eyes as the auras of both persons shined brighter.

  Through squinted vision, Maebus saw Damian’s face contort with rage as he tried to maintain control of the crystal.

  “I cannot be defeated!” he shrieked.