by Brandon Chen
“Well, I’m overjoyed at how much faith you’ve put in me,” Ramses murmured, turning right through one of the corridors to find a squad of Persian soldiers rushing at the trio.
Ramses slowed to a stop but Kira quickly leapt in front of him, swiping her staff. A bolt of lightning scintillated from the tip of her weapon, snapping outwards and sizzling the first Persian soldier, causing the other warriors to gape at the magical assault. Kira jabbed outwards once more with her staff and released another surge of electricity that crackled, individual bolts branching out and spreading as bright energy filled the hallway with its dazzling light. The bolts charged straight through the Persian soldiers, making the hairs on their heads prick straight up. Within a second of being struck, the warriors were on the ground convulsing and writhing about until finally they lay still, smoke rising from their unmoving bodies. The miasma of burning corpses filled the hallway, but Ramses didn’t seem the slightest bit disturbed and leapt over the Persian bodies, pressing onward. Kira followed closely.
Tetsu winced and inched over the corpses, quite disgusted with their deformed, smoldering bodies. But the shouting of other approaching Persian soldiers prompted the mercenary to sprint after Kira and Ramses with haste. Reaching his two companions, he saw that Kira and Ramses were ruthlessly dispatching any soldiers that they came across without so much as a spoken word.
Bodies of slain soldiers lay sprawled across the ground and Tetsu found himself jumping over dozens of corpses, finding it hard to keep up with how fast the two Magi were dispatching enemies. “Where are we going?” Tetsu shouted over the sound of Kira’s snapping energy magic.
Ramses slid to a stop in front of a door and was about to grab its golden handle when he looked down. Soaking into the mat at the bottom of the door was a pool of blood that was seeping from the other side of the door. His heart sank and he gritted his teeth, grasping the handle and throwing the door open.
Kira and Tetsu stumbled into the room behind the Magus and turned to see that the slaves that Ramses had freed were now slain and lying on the ground. They lay in a heap on top of one another, their arms entangled in a cluster of bloodied, unidentifiable flesh. Kira raised a hand to her mouth, ready to throw up.
Tetsu mashed his teeth, tearing his sword from its sheath as he stormed forward through the room. Stepping behind Ramses, he turned and saw that a man was slowly approaching a defenseless woman, who was shielding a young boy from the perpetrator. The man had an eye-patch and was wielding a sickle-like dagger, the blade curved like a crescent moon. “Bator?” Tetsu recognized this man. It was that mercenary from Yuusus, the one who had assaulted him at the bar with his cronies. What on earth was he doing all the way in Persepolis?
Bator turned his head and recognized Tetsu, grinning and revealing his wicked teeth. “Oh, wow. Aren’t I in for a treat? The great mercenary of legends has blessed me with his almighty presence. Oh, except this time he isn’t drunk and isn’t stealing from women! What a riot!” He chortled, twirling his dagger in his hand with profound expertise. Tetsu was surprised; the man hadn’t nearly been this skilled with a weapon the last time they met. “You know, I didn’t know that Aleysha was your sibling until I did some research. The wench has been stealing my contracts for months now. But with the power that Zahir has granted me, I don’t have to worry about being outshined by weaklings like her anymore.”
“Zahir?” Tetsu growled. “He offered you power?”
“Oh, he offered me more than just that!” Bator grinned, holding out his arms as if he were hugging the world in thanks for his great fortune. “He offered me aggrandizement. Wealth, a home, a commanding position, protection, strength, and an opportunity to work for the empire that will dominate all of Dastia.”
“You’ve joined the Persians?”
“Who wouldn’t? Why would I stay a part of a neutral community of damned mercenaries that are just scraping by with change earned from dangerous contracts? That lifestyle just isn’t worth it. The Persians were going to storm into Yuusus and take all of that anyway, and soon they’ll have all of Dastia in the palm of their hand. I’d rather be on the winning side, thank you very much.” Bator smirked, pointing the tip of his curved dagger at Tetsu. “But you, you’re different, aren’t you? You don’t mind a challenge. Perfect. I’ll give you one and this time the odds won’t be in your favor.”
“Step away from my family!” Ramses snarled, but suddenly Bator’s image flickered and the man appeared right next to the Magus, driving his knee heavily into Ramses’ solar plexus. The wind coughed up from Ramses’ lungs and he lurched forward, his eyes bulging and his face paling as saliva forcefully spewed from his mouth.
Bator’s hand moved with blinding speed as he cracked a hard punch into the back of Ramses’ head, slamming the mage into the floor with a swift motion. It had all happened so fast that Tetsu didn’t have time to react. “I hate when weaklings make demands. Now I understand why it was that you were so stubborn on that day, Tetsu.” Bator looked to Tetsu and smiled slyly. “You wouldn’t listen to me because I was insignificant, I was weak. And the weak will always be bullied, they will always be shoved down with no hopes of ever getting back up because it’s the strong that dominate this world and take everything. I see that now and I’m glad … I’m glad that I’ve become strong!” He cackled as he whirled his dagger and brought it tearing down towards Ramses’ back with lightning speed.
Kira was about to rush forward and strike Bator, but suddenly stopped and watched as Tetsu practically teleported across the room and halted Bator’s movement by grabbing the man’s wrist, stopping the blade inches from jamming into Ramses’ spine. Kira’s eyebrows went up and she smiled. Tetsu had used the Sands of Time to let him move with enough speed to halt Bator’s attack. Bator’s magic seemed to allow for him to move with supernatural speed, so fast that it was blinding to the ordinary eye. That was most definitely an advantageous form of magic, for Bator could strike down other mages before they could even use their powers. But it wouldn’t work on Tetsu if he could slow time.
Bator glanced at Tetsu with utter surprise, his hand shaking as he attempted to drive his dagger into Ramses’ defenseless body. But he couldn’t overpower Tetsu, who still had his wrist in an iron grip. The one-eyed man looked to Tetsu’s left hand, which held a diamond hourglass, one that he recognized from the bar. “You really are a nuisance,” he snarled, pulling his blade back and stumbling away from Ramses’ body.
Kira had guided Ramses’ family across the room and towards the doorway where they stood, waiting to see what happened next. Ramses stirred lightly, clutching his stomach in agony, and began to slowly push himself to his feet. “What a punch…,” Ramses choked out.
Tetsu held out his sword. “Alright, the two of you need to get out of here quickly. I’ll hold this cyclops off. Just make sure that you get out of the castle. I’ll meet you guys somewhere in the lower city.”
Ramses hesitated, not sure whether or not leaving Tetsu was actually a good idea. Could the mercenary actually handle one of Cambyses’s new Magi? Ramses did not recognize this new mage, but it definitely seemed like he and Tetsu were already acquainted somehow. However, Kira had already led Ramses’ family out of the room and was escorting them through the corpse-filled hallways of the castle. It seemed that she was willing to put her faith into her friend. Perhaps Ramses should do the same. “Alright, get out of this in one piece. We’ll be waiting for you,” Ramses said, limping out of the room to follow Kira.
Tetsu shifted over to the door, blocking the exit for Bator as he whirled his sword. “That’s the plan,” he muttered as his eyes shifted from dark brown to gleaming red.
Bator laughed as he watched Tetsu. “The Shokugan, how rare. It’s no wonder they’re off executing the whole lot of you Hayashi scumbags. You’re a bunch of freaks!” He pointed his sickle to the doorway behind Tetsu. “Do you really think your friends are going to get far? The other Magi are already on their way. You and all of your friends are doom
ed and have been from the very beginning.”
Tetsu smirked. “Then I suppose I ought to deal with you quickly so I can go and dispatch the rest of your new Persian friends.”
There was a flash of movement as Bator completely vanished, bursting at sonic speed straight for Tetsu’s body. Tetsu’s hand tingled as the Sands of Time activated, the golden sand slowly trickling down the hourglass until barely a grain was falling per minute. As time began to slow, Tetsu saw that Bator was still moving at a normal pace. The Magus was now in front of Tetsu, slashing his crescent sickle through the air at the mercenary’s throat.
Tetsu lashed out and chopped Bator’s wrist with a fierce blow from his hand. The Magus’s hand broke into a spasm before dropping the dagger. The action was so swift that Bator hardly even had any time to react before Tetsu drove a sinking kick straight into the mage’s stomach, launching the man backwards. Time resumed at its normal pace and Bator crashed down loudly onto a glass table, shattering the household item with his weight. The mage reached up and grabbed his throbbing head, groaning. His hands were sliced from the sharp glass beneath him. “You filthy mongrel! I can’t wait until I peel the skin from your mutilated scalp!”
“Oh, that sounds like so much fun!” a voice called from behind Tetsu. “Can we join?”
Tetsu grunted, jerking around to find Jafaar and Sahad both sauntering in from the hallway to converge on his position. His heart thumped and he bit his lower lip, knowing that there was no way that he could defeat three Magi at once. He had to find some way to escape. Tetsu glanced at the diamond hourglass in his hand. If he used the Sands of Time correctly to mount his magic carpet, he could potentially get out of this situation alive. No, that was risky. Tetsu still didn’t know what magic Jafaar and Sahad had. It was best if he outsmarted them somehow. He pointed his sword at Jafaar and Sahad suddenly, causing the two Magi to stop their advance. “Stay back!”
“Oh! You got me! I’m totally scared now! Please, mister, don’t cut me with that dull sword of yours!” Jafaar burst out laughing.
“Put that needle down or I’ll bash your face so hard that no one will be able to recognize you for the rest of your miserable life,” Sahad gnarred.
Tetsu glanced at Bator from the corner of his eye and smiled, jamming his sword into his sheath. He held his hands up into the air and turned back to the shocked faces of Jafaar and Sahad. “Alright, alright! I give up.” He stuck out his tongue. “That’s what you wanted me to say, right?” Suddenly, the mercenary vanished completely.
Sahad blinked in puzzlement, taking a step backward. “What? Where the hell did that runt go?”
Jafaar scratched the back of his neck, tilting his head to the side. “I’m pretty sure I just saw him there. Huh.”
“You idiots! He’s using the Sands of Time so that he can escape!” Bator bellowed, scrambling to his feet. “We’ve got to get after him, now!” The Magus bolted through the hallways with a surge of speed, rushing after Tetsu, who surely had dashed out of the room to try and get away.
Sahad spun around and grunted. “Jafaar, we should go too! Cambyses will lop off our heads if we don’t capture Tetsu.”
“Eh? L-Let’s go!” Jafaar yelped, scrambling after Bator with Sahad.
Little did those fools know that Tetsu had just hidden himself in the closet in the Ramses’ room. The warrior peered through the cracks in the closet door’s wood, scanning the room to see if the Magi had really left. It was empty and silent for a moment. Suddenly he heard footsteps echoing in the room. He gulped and slunk back further into the closet, melting into the darkness. A mysterious man strolled into the room and examined the pile of slave corpses in the corner of the room. He then turned his head to look at the broken glass table on the floor, raising an eyebrow.
Tetsu’s eyes widened when he recognized the man. Zahir. The Magus then looked straight at the closet door and smiled. Panic exploded through Tetsu’s veins and he shivered. Damn it, he’s found me! How? Tetsu unsheathed his sword swiftly and burst from the closet, charging straight at the mage. Time froze entirely as he activated the Sands of Time. It was much more taxing for him to freeze time completely but he would only need a second to kill the Magus. This was his chance to finally kill Zahir!
Zahir’s eyes suddenly flickered to life, making Tetsu’s heart leap to his throat. How? You shouldn’t be able to move! The mage reached out and grabbed Tetsu by the neck, despite the fact time had been completely frozen. The Sands of Time rolled out of Tetsu’s twitching hand and clattered loudly to the floor. Zahir’s eyes gleamed with malice and he smirked, eying the hourglass curiously. “So you managed to outsmart the other Magi using this magical item. Smart, Hayashi scum. But your tricks won’t work on me.” He released a burst of black magic into Tetsu’s diaphragm, sending the man flying backwards into the closet.
The mercenary smashed straight through the wall and landed hard in the parlor of another noble family. Tetsu rolled on the ground, grabbing his stomach in agony. A burning sensation rippled through his skin and he gasped for air, tears glinting in the corners of his eyes.
“I am a god now. You ought to get on your knees and grovel before me, mortal,” The god extended his hand, pointing at Tetsu with his index finger. “That’s the least you can do for infiltrating my territory.”
“A god, huh?” Tetsu grumbled, pressing his palm to the ground as he forced himself onto his knees. This guy claimed Ahriman’s power? Did that mean that Darien had failed? Tetsu clenched his jaw and squeezed the hilt of his sword as he sprinted straight at Zahir. “Like hell I’ll ever bow to you, bastard!”
Ahriman swung his hand and an invisible force smashed into Tetsu’s side, sending the mercenary crashing into a wall on the far side of the room. Pain erupted through Tetsu’s arm as he slid to the ground, coughing. Ahriman walked forward, eying the struggling man with pity. “Without that hourglass of yours, you’re weak. You’re a simple swordsman just like the rest of the peons in this citadel. There is no difference. You are just a human.”
Tetsu’s hands balled into tight fists at his side and he turned his head to see that his sword rested on the floor far away from him. There was no way that he could reach for it without Zahir killing him. His eyes flitted to an unbroken expensive vase that was lying on the ground next to him. He snatched the vase and hurled it straight at Zahir.
Ahriman extended a hand toward the pot and it exploded into a thousand pieces. But the pieces did not fall to the ground; instead, they levitated magically in the air. The sharp parts of the vase slowly began to turn towards Tetsu, pointing straight at the injured mercenary.
“There he is!” Bator yelled, staggering into the room with Jafaar and Sahad close behind him. The three Magi stopped and stared in awe at Ahriman as he controlled the pieces of the broken vase with his dark magic.
“This is the result of all of your efforts, valiant warrior. You do not give up no matter what the obstacle and do not succumb to pain, no matter how harsh. Humans like you are able to achieve much in this world, for their persistence allows for them to reach a height above others. But against gods, you will never be victorious. I’m glad that I get to be the one to erase the hope from your eyes, Demon Mercenary.” Ahriman snapped his fingers and the pieces of the vase shot forward and buried themselves into Tetsu. There were dozens of heavy thumps like bullets pounding into his body. Blood splattered onto the wall behind the mercenary and the man’s head slumped forward limply, red liquid dribbling down his chin and onto his lap.
Ahriman glanced over his shoulder at the three shocked Magi, lowering his hand. “What of the other infiltrators? I expect that he was not the only one responsible for the incursion on Persepolis.”
“R-Ramses has escaped with his family and the female mage,” Sahad reported, averting Ahriman’s authoritative gaze. “Two Magi were slain by their hand along with two squadrons of Persian soldiers. They’re somewhere within the city, though. The gates have been shut and we would be notified immediately if someone tri
ed to flee Persepolis.”
“Alright,” Ahriman said, beginning to walk out of the room. “Clean up here and begin a search for those fugitives. I won’t punish you for your failures here because I’m in a good mood. But the next time a simple human tricks you idiots I will mount your heads on my wall, do you understand?”
“Y-Yes, sir!” the three Magi stammered in unison.
“It’s milord now.” Ahriman glared at the Magi over his shoulder before leaving the room. He opened and closed his palm as he strolled through the silent hallways of Persepolis’s castle. Ahriman’s power was beyond imagining. Even Sacred Treasures like the Sands of Time were useless against him now. With this power, he could make anything happen! Ahriman smiled. But first he would need to eradicate the two gods that were on his tail, Ares and Mithra. The two gods of war would surely be coming after him. This was good. Ahriman knew that he needed to test the extent of his strength on someone anyway. Why not have it be two foolish deities?
Falling Stars
Cambyses tapped the arm of his throne as he watched Zahir saunter into the room. He was surprised when he saw that the Magus did not bow before him upon entering but he said nothing. “Were you successful then, Zahir?”
The man’s lips peeled into a nefarious smile. “My name is Ahriman now.”
Cambyses smirked. “Did you run into any trouble?”
“Ares was there along with his friend, a demigod. I do not yet know who her parent is but I doubt that she’ll be a real threat. Yuu betrayed the empire to return to Darien’s side. I believe that their party will arrive at Persepolis’s borders relatively soon.”