by K R Leikvoll
I reeled as I bled out. I called on every force imaginable for the energy to stand once more. The shadows answered as they always did. They guided me back up, but I was too injured to debate on continuing. I had never slipped through space in between layers of existence as Vince frequently did before that moment. I was not sure how I did it, or what allowed me to evaporate and appear down the palace steps away from harm. I would have tried to flee further if I hadn’t been so pathetically weak.
Varnoc must have sensed my despair, or perhaps seen the serpent in the sky, for he was at my side out of nowhere. I was sitting in front of the massive Ortos statue, coughing blood and hallucinating images in the smoke and flames. I almost killed him. Not because I didn’t realize who he was, but because the desire to sacrifice was beyond being subdued.
“Lazarus,” his voice said somewhat desperately and fearfully when he saw my injuries. He was not prepared when I used the last bit of my willpower to lunge at the exposed part of his neck. My fangs dug into his flesh like it was paper, ripping away to give me what I required. It was painful to regrow my arm, but after I satisfied my debt, it was as if I never lost it. I discarded Varnoc carelessly onto the stone as I stood to scan the battlefield below us.
It was utter chaos and not necessarily the kind that played in my favor. At some point during my scuffle with Gradelkine and Leora, reinforcements had arrived. They wore different armor – painted the northern shade of Remula’s blue – making them noticeable among the sea of black and tan. It had turned the tide of the battle in Uxe’s favor to my dismay. I had expected them all to flee north, not to aid their southern neighbor. I was willing to bet they had welcomed those from Diam with open arms if it gave them insight to our impending attack. It caused so much rage to build in me, I could not help screaming and slicing into the statue of Ortos in my fit.
“You must tell Typhlon to order our forces to the east and retreat. No losses,” I hissed, pulling Varnoc to his feet. He forced my hand off of his breastplate and held it in his grasp, even when I tried to rip myself away.
“What will you do?” he asked, eyeing me up and down. Though I am sure I looked near death by how coated in blood I was, my wounds were healed enough to continue.
“I will hold them off while you fall back. Expect to meet me in the outskirts,” I declared, finally wrestling myself from his hold.
“That is suicide, Lazarus! And we cannot fight without you.”
I put a blade of War, as unhappy as it was, to his throat.
“Don’t try my patience. My words are absolute, Stonebreaker.”
He seemed somewhat startled to hear me call him by his less intimate name in my anger. I watched him swallow uncomfortably and back away. He peered down below at our numbers that were easily a third of the mass of Zaarians.
“I will return to your side once I relay your orders to Typhlon.”
“Don’t you dare disobey me. Ever,” I demanded, pushing into a pressure point on his neck and forcing him to his knees. “I will not perish. Now, leave and don’t return.”
I kicked him as hard as I could in the back, launching him into the fray where he could not continue to argue.
As much as I wished to follow him into the thick of warriors murdering each other, my annoying opponent Leora emerged from the palace behind me with a furious look on her face. The Zaarians may have been momentarily winning, but the fire had done its intended damage to the infrastructure of Uxe. I did not feel I could be blamed – I got the idea from Morein himself. The stone buildings might survive it, but not what was contained within them.
“This ends now, demon witch,” she yelled with ferocity, tears streaming down her face.
While she wasted moments speaking, I gathered flame into my hands, sending a firebolt at the multistory statue. It crumbled on impact, falling backward in the direction of the Emperor’s guardian. She had to jump out of the way but was still hit by a few pieces of stone. I used the precious seconds I had without her following to join the conflict below us.
The warriors of Uxe and Remula were not expecting someone as skilled as me to come crashing from above in a flurry of flame and steel. Weapons were no match for magic as it ripped apart their ranks with ease. I heard the call of our hunai, or war horns, overhead ordering my retreat which meant Varnoc must have done his duty.
I did exactly as I said I would, blocking the line of defenders from accessing my forces while they fell back to the southern gate. There were more trying to bring me down than I had ever experienced; I was not able to slow for a single moment lest I give anyone an advantage. Bodies fell at my feet. It felt like they were immediately replaced the moment they perished. It was endless and War loved it. I did not.
Using the Dark Essentia for such an extended period of time was wearing on my mind. Its voice was loud and demanding, wanting more than what I had the time or ability to give to appease it. I wanted to stop to taste my foes with an intense aching Varnoc’s blood had been unable to cure. I had to focus on each swing through all of the distractions.
Swipe after slashes, the waves never ceased. My allies were far enough away for me to eventually break away from the mass and escape down a side alley. I turned into shadows and moved as far as the darkness would let me between space before it spat me back out. I could hear the residents defending their home on my tail as I sprinted through the twisted pathways. I remember thinking I should have spent more time devising my attack when I was in Uxe instead of buying Vincent gifts. It had not paid off in the slightest.
In spite of my poor planning, I still sincerely believed I would be capable of escaping the city with ease. I leapt over the walls and followed the river channel, but it did not matter. One wrong turn and I was backed into a corner. The roaring fire destroying the wooden houses greeted me if I went forward. The mob was behind me. It was beyond a frustrating moment. I remember growing temporarily numb as I tried to decide what to do.
If I extinguished the flames or channeled my ability to travel through it unscathed, I would be able to successfully get out of the city. The only issue was that it would put me on the far western side of Uxe and out of reach of my allies. The other option was to fight until a break in their lines gave me an opening to cut into another alleyway and make my way to the east or south. I had been so consumed at that moment I had failed to pay attention to which paths looped back with each other and every building appeared the same, more or less.
I cursed and removed Misery, wishing to annihilate as many as I could at a distance. I invoked a wall of flame to hold them off, creeping closer to the channel and flames behind me. Their lines filed into the narrow alley despite the bodies they had to climb over to reach my flames. I nocked my last arrow and counted my enemies. There were too many to move through. I would have to flee to the west and hope Varnoc and Typhlon could handle things without my presence.
I released my final crystalline arrow, conjuring shadow while it flew through the air. As it passed through the wall of fire, it burst into pieces, showering the front line of my foes with a glassy death. I put Misery around my back. With a wail of the Void to temporarily stun them, I vaulted into the river.
Only, I was unsuccessful. When I neared the water, a sharp, painful tug ripped me back toward my enemies by my ankle. I hit the ground hard, sputtering from the force of my armor. As useful as it was for blocking most attacks, it was burdening to stumble around in constantly. I was fighting my way in the direction of the river again when another strike hit my back.
Leora had finally caught up. Whip raised, she took advantage of my awful positioning. I tried to catch her next strike, but when the whip wrapped around my arm and its blades cut into my ungloved, regrown flesh, a spark of electricity shocked me nearly back to my knees. Though she was not an elementalist like Gradelkine, he had taught her some of his abilities.
Truth be told, I was exhausted. I could not stop her from flinging me into the stone wall of the nearest building, untangling her weapon from my wounded f
orearm. Without arrows, it would be difficult to close the gap she had between us. Could I risk crossing the space with War while she had hundreds of warriors at her back, ready to slit my throat? It was a precarious situation with hardly any way out. I summoned War once more, hoping I could deflect her next blow and jump into the river.
“This is the end of the road for you, demon. Your allies have abandoned you and left you to die,” Leora declared, causing the warriors around her to roar with delight.
“Abandoned?” I chuckled. “If that is what you wish to believe.”
“I don’t believe, I know. It is a shame they won’t be here to witness your punishment.”
She did as I anticipated, striking with a powerful flagellate aimed at my face. I parried the thickest blades of the whip toward the center. It hit her weapon back successfully, giving me enough time to turn to the channel.
Once more I tried to jump in, but I was impeded. The water shot upward and in my direction, freezing into ice harder than diamond. A burst of silver wind revealed Gradelkine blocking my only exit. To say I was merely cornered is an understatement. They both knew as well as I did that I was trapped.
The whip and the wizard’s abilities came at me from different directions at once. I leapt into the air to dodge both, but only succeeded in evading Leora’s attack. Gradelkine altered the ice in the air, forcing it to melt and refreeze when it was close enough to puncture me. Like before, it tore into the parts of my body exposed. I was ready for the explosions following that time, forcing fire to coat my form to melt it before it could. The distraction made me fall victim to Leora’s following lash. The blades were perfectly positioned as she cracked it, slashing me across my face and blinding me with blood. My eyes were only just spared.
Over and over, I was unable to escape her flogging. She aimed for my head and chest. All I could do was cover myself as best as possible until Gradelkine’s magical gravity threw me in the direction of the crowd. I tried to maintain my hold on War, but my lack of balance made me succumb to their attacks.
I thought perhaps the pair might allow the warriors and defenders to murder me in an act of justice. More fists and feet I could count made contact with my gut as people jeered and screamed in their false victory. I knew it was erroneous. I always found a way out, I just had to wait for the opportune moment. The noise became a distant buzz. My blood was obscuring any sight I might have had. Even though they were doing all they could to incapacitate me, I never feared for my life.
Naazvaba does not give false prophecies, and this I knew to be truer than anything else.
A couple of men grabbed me by my bladed shoulder plates and pulled me from the mud so Leora and Gradelkine could examine me. Ice as hard as stone kept my feet still while the old man clasped a strange set of rustic cuffs on my arms. Oddly, I was immediately fatigued. Though I mentally attempted to summon my blades into my hands, they refused. Whatever the metal was made of was nullifying my abilities.
“The only way to stop evil is to kill it at the source,” Gradelkine stated firmly, removing a charm from his hair. It irradiated green sparks in his hand, drifting near my crippled face.
I did not have much knowledge on life-based magic, as it was an Ortos (or Orta in the south) source considered foreign in Evya, and illegal in Duskwraith. For some reason, my body reacted as if I was being exposed to the light when it was in contact with my flesh. He rubbed it against my cheek, causing an acidic burning to erupt on my face. I did not scream nor recoil – I stared up at him with pure malice.
As our eyes met, I had a flash of him choking on his own blood while I removed his heart from his chest. It was somewhere cold and bare of nature, almost making me forget about my stinging skin. Was it the future or was it my desires I desperately was trying to will into existence?
“Enough! Aresius will want to deal with her himself,” Leora snapped, knocking Gradelkine’s crystal away from me.
“Are you mad, Leora? Look at what this woman has done! She is too dangerous to be kept alive!” the wizard gestured to my fallen foes. I cackled at Leora’s somber reaction to the sheer number. A random soldier must have had fragile emotions, for he tried to strangle me and had to be ripped off by his friends.
“She will not live,” the guardian replied, turning to her companion. “But her life is the Emperor’s to take, not yours.”
Gradelkine and Leora looked back to me, where I stood pinned with a smile on my face.
There was nothing greater than Azotl, and only a fool would believe themselves to be greater than that absolute.
I was taken to Aresius’ chambers by Leora immediately following their discussion. Gradelkine parted – he was off to try to extinguish the flames wreaking havoc on the western side of the city. I knew my plan had worked more than effectively. Even if I had not won the first stand, I was victorious in making the city largely uninhabitable. The men pushed, shoved and hurled stones at me as I walked up the palace steps. Leora had to be vigilant in my protection, lest I be killed by the angry citizens that lost their home.
Aresius was waiting in the tribal, fur covered throne room with a woman and two children: a boy and a small girl. All but Aresius were crouched in the corner fearfully as the fighting raged outside. When the young Emperor saw me and Leora, his expression grew relieved. The woman practically jumped into Leora’s arms she was so happy to see her alive.
“I thought we all might perish,” she said as she wept. Her words caused me to roll my eyes. How foolish they were for thinking catching a demon was the same as killing a demon, or that a tactical retreat was a loss! It mattered not, for they were only delaying their inevitable deaths.
“I would never allow the city to fall, Shalra,” Leora replied with a firm hand on her shoulder. Aresius had little patience for their bittersweet reunion, though. He was far more interested in my presence.
“I nearly didn’t recognize you, Warden Lyon,” he taunted, nearing my face to examine my solid crimson eyes.
“Careful, my liege – she bites,” Leora said uneasily, pulling me back from her Emperor.
Aresius glanced at his guardian and nodded. “You and Gradelkine have done our country a great service today. She is an invaluable prize. Do you think Lord Vincent in the east would bargain for her release?”
His words caused my insides to twist… though, it might have been my wounds. The last thing I wanted was for my Master to be given power over my fate. It would be silly to think he would save me; he would have expected me to get myself out. I never wanted to be at his mercy, even knowing I might die at the Emperor’s hand.
“No. I think it is a mistake to keep her alive. I have seen her abilities firsthand. The only way we can be sure she won’t destroy the city is if we execute her,” Leora replied in a vicious tone of voice that demanded to be heard. At this, the Emperor nodded in agreement.
Leora and the guards held me still after they removed my breastplate, while Aresius decided which spear he wished to use on me. I suppose I thought I might die at that moment, but I was oddly unfearful. Perhaps it was Lord Nakarius’ presence making it seem like a worthless attempt on their part. When he selected one made of a chorta bone, it appeared I had no chance of escaping. He put it to my throat before deciding on a different approach. A moronic one. Aresius plunged the spear into my chest. It threatened to pierce my heart, but he was careful to only vastly maim me.
He slashed repeatedly, leaving deep lacerations where the whip hadn’t. He was frustrated, as were most others in the room that I hardly reacted to his actions. Pain was not the same anymore. Though I would be lying if I said I was beyond experiencing it, my time being buried and subjected to flames made everything else seem pale in comparison. His final move, a stab into the pit of my stomach, was the first one to cause me enough anguish to groan from the pain. Aresius removed the spear and wiped the blood from my stomach. He held his stained black fingertips to my face.
“You bleed like the rest of us,” the Emperor snarled before launc
hing hard fists into my wounds. “Take her into the dungeons. We will sacrifice her to Ortos in the morning. Perhaps our pleas will finally be heard.”
As if he could hear something he disagreed with, Gradelkine appeared in the room in a cloud of silver. He paced over to us and knocked his staff against the ground.
“No, Aresius. She must die right this moment,” he tried to reason. “She is as dangerous as Leora stated.”
“I appreciate your aid to our city, wizard, but do not tell me what to do. It would be a waste not to sacrifice her to Ortos. Our crumbling Empire is overdue for a miracle, and this woman was brought to us at an unprecedented time of need,” the Emperor replied with irritation in his tone.
“I agree with the old man,” I choked out, still holding my wicked smile. “Kill me or you will regret it, little King.”
Leora’s armored knuckles hit me in the face hard enough to make me quiet. The Emperor considered my opinion. He was young and callous, believing I was trying to use reverse psychology on him.
“I think not, Warden. Criminals don’t get to choose their fate in my Empire,” Aresius stated, likely for the entire room. He redirected his focus to Gradelkine with a rather irritated expression still beyond being helped. “Prepare the city for evacuation. My family will follow your convoy in the morning. We will return to rebuild once Duskwraith is defeated.”
“Let’s go,” Leora growled, trying to pull me behind her. It was difficult to walk while I bled out, forcing the guards to have no choice but to drag me to the dungeons.
It was significantly emptier than my previous visit. Every cell was unoccupied except for the third to the end. I was not able to study them properly, as I was desperate to avoid the one where Lydris was once kept. It did not matter, for I was entirely incapable of defending myself as much as I wanted to fight.