by Luka Petrov
Agnes asked Balfomeir, “So, any mage who was at a level 18 or higher could easily beat the Demon Lord?”
Balfomeir responded, “As I understand it yes. Now you see, a wizard, sorcerer, or druid, any magic user, would have to have channeled their powers in such a manner it would take a lifetime of learning, prayer, or what have you, in order to do this. Lord Abraxas set his plans into motion and now is the time the King of Gilmore prepare his mighty army for the onslaught is about to come. Lord Abraxas will show no mercy. His army, invading the great city of Gilmore. He will seize control by any means necessary. Even if he has to sacrifice a few of his mighty subjects.”
“Besides the ultimate magic user to save us, what else will happen?” I asked.
“What is Lord Abraxas plan? In the past, he could have seized the empire after he slaughtered the Emperor, Lord Udoros Strifelaugher, at any time he wished, but he waited and took his sweet time. Pitting everyone against each other within the kingdoms. After Lord Abraxas murdered Lord Udoros Strifelaugher and his family, he took the Emperor’s head, and paraded it in the streets on a stake, causing mad panic and hysteria.”
“That is horrible!” I shouted.
“After the death of the Emperor, there was no one to guide these fair people. There was a constant struggle for power between the subjects, eventually leading them to form smaller kingdoms within the former empire. This made it very easy for Lord Abraxas to gather his mighty army from the Abyss and plunge the realm into a long war between the demonic and the living. It is written that this is the second coming of the Demon Lord. The future of this realm is one that will end in chaos and destruction, and my dear children, I believe the end is nigh.”
Agnes, the most sensitive of the bunch began to have tears stream down her face, “Nigh?” she asked? “We are close to having our universe destroyed by the Demon Lord?”
“Aye, my sweet lass. Legend has it that one by one, each king will fall to Abraxas’ mighty power, eventually surrendering control, and enthralling these innocent people. The King of the mighty village of Gilmore will end up sacrificing himself in order to save the greater good. Lord Abraxas will not kill us, but in exchange for the King’s soul, Lord Abraxas will allow us to live, but he will have everlasting control over King Harold. The Demon Lord will conquer each of the kingdoms in the realm as well as each of the magic schools. Because of the sacrifice King Harold will make, Gilmore will be allowed to remain,” explained Balfomeir.
“That seems very honorable,” I concluded. Knowing fully well I was not capable of merely surrendering myself over. After all, I have to save this entire universe and get all the glory. That’s why I made that deal with the figure in the afterworld. If I became one of Abraxas’ minions, who would know that I gave my life for them? I would merely
“Extremely,” Balfomeir confirmed. “King Harold is the most honorable man I know. He knows of his fate and is prepared to sacrifice his soul when the time is right. It is an honor to give one’s own life to those that they protect.”
Cecily interjected, “This King Harold bit seems a little too good to be true.”
Balfomeir defended Cecily’s assertions, “What do you mean dear girl?”
“I was always told if something is too good to be true, it probably is,” she replied.
Balfomeir continued to pry, “So what are you suggesting?”
“I find it hard to believe that King Harold will sacrifice himself just because it is the right thing to do and for the greater good as you said. You mentioned that he is aware of his fate. So, he knows right now he will spend eternity as the slave of the Demon Lord. I just don’t see him giving himself up to save all of us,” Cecily enlightened.
Balfomeir responded, “Well, sometimes we sacrifice for the greater good and those who we are put into place to protect. With great privilege comes great responsibility.”
Balfomeir said, “Oh! Before I forget, let me get the names and addresses of your parents and family. I will send a raven to each of them letting them know that you are here and safe. Once they confirm that you are who you say you are, I can release you to them.”
We each gave Balfomeir our names and addresses, being I was a local citizen of Gilmore, they sent a horseman to my family’s home to let them know of my whereabouts. I was certain that they were worried. I was positive they had heard of the attack on Draererth and probably feared the worst of me.
While Balfomeir was in the middle collecting Walter’s family’s names and addresses, an explosion rumbled the ground that our cots were on. “What was that?” Agnes shouted. That explosion sounded very close to us.
Balfomeir in a calm tone said, “Wait here, I will find out what happened.” Balfomeir drew his sword out of his holster and softly stepped to the main door of the barn which exited toward the center of the kingdom. The explosion, however, felt as though it came from the other side of the barn.
Walter cried, “I am getting tired of these explosions.” He curled his knees to his chest and placed his forehead to his knees, “Every time there is one of these explosions, the Demon Lord has something to do with it. This must mean that he is here. I am too young to die,” he said while he sobbed into his knees.
The truth was, how old is too young to die? In my last life, I was only a few years older than I am now, and that was painful, lonely, and I did not feel as though I had the control in what happened to me. I surely did not want to go through that ordeal again. I also did not want to be subjected to having my soul destroyed and be responsible for the destruction of all the souls in this universe as well.
Surprisingly, Agnes was the calmest out of our bunch. I had suspected that she may have started doing relaxing meditations because she was often the one to overreact in crises such as this, “Agnes, you seem very calm. Is everything all right?”
Agnes replied, “I have come to the realization that whatever will be, will be and I do not need to get myself worked up over things that I cannot control.”
“That seems very mature of you,” I replied. It seems like it was yesterday that you were so homesick that and inconsolable that you had to spend the day in the infirmary.”
“That was the old me. This is the new me. I’m not going to let an evil overlord shake me. We are going to find a way out of this. I will see to it. I have new confidence since we beat those mariliths during the encounter when we left Draererth,” She replied. I admired her newfound fortitude.
Cecily was by far the most adventurous out of our group up to this point. She enjoyed making the rules up as she went. She would blaze her own way if she could. Cecily said, “I think we should leave. This is the first time that we have been left unsupervised. This can be our moment to get away,” she explained.
Me, being as lawful as the come said, “Cecily, I appreciate your enterprising attitude, and I want to leave here as well and see if Hamon is all right, but the King will clear us. And we will be sent home today. The King said that he would work as fast as he could to get us to our families once he realized that we are not a threat.”
Cecily replied, “I do not trust authority. The only thing that I trust is myself.”
Fair enough. We were under the control of another authority, and anything could happen. This is my king and the man that my dad had worked for decades. I have nothing but the utmost respect for King Harold, and I believe he is one of the most honorable men in this universe.
Yves was quiet I believe she knew what the explosions were. “Yves, are you, all right? You’re awfully quiet.”
“I remember the last time we had heard explosions like that. That was when you got me to get the rest of our friends and to evacuate the Draererth. I know what those explosions are. That is Lord Abraxas with his army. I have no doubt.”
We were silent for moments, waiting for Balfomeir to return. He never did. The other soldiers in the barn had left shortly after Balfomeir, and we sat by ourselves, scared and fearing for our lives. I heard alarm bells ringing throughout the village. T
he horsemen, who were members of the Gilmore army, announced to the fine people of Gilmore that the Demon Lord is coming. They rode right by the barn and we were able to hear them. It was clear that Gilmore was under a state of emergency.
My friends and I peeked through one of the windows in the barn that opened up to the village square. We could make out the villagers taking refuge. Families pulled their children inside their houses, shop owners locked the doors and pulled in the surrounding people, and the vendors at the square abandoned their carts for shelter. I worried about my parents and Emma, but realized if what Balfomeir told us was true, the Demon Lord’s army will not enter the village wall, and everyone inside should be safe. We were protected by the great army and if the prophecy was true before the village would be pillaged and burned, King Harold would surrender himself, saving us all.
We watched from the barn window as great warriors, mages, archers all come together in the village square to discuss battle tactics.
We watched from a window that opened to the outskirts of Gilmore. There we watched the armies mobilize with soldiers mounted on horses, the greatest warriors that Gilmore had, archers, and the village’s mages. They all gathered at the north wall, prepared to battle the Demon Lord.
From the barn window, the others and I were able to see the mages cloaked in purple and black robes with hoods, signifying they were about to battle. The archers prepared their arrows by lighting the incendiary bag of gunpowder on fire that was attached to the shaft of the arrow, ready for them to hear the call from the general who was elevated in a watchtower.
The ground trembled as an army of 70,000 moved forward. The enemy invisible as the army marched toward the empty field. I had never seen anything like this. Thoughts filled my mind of the unseen foe and I became consumed by fear. How could an army march toward an enemy that they could not see? Yet, we watched from the safety of the barn. We watched, a symphony of steps, each perfectly aligned with the one next to it, even the most ignorant of souls would know there's an army marching onwards.
Up close it was the squeaking of leather and jingling of chain mail which overpowered all other sounds. The creaking of wood and metal of the cannons being wheeled out could be heard only faintly and the voices of the soldiers were all but drowned out completely.
Virtually all soldiers were talking to each other despite the surrounding noise. It seemed most were eager to fight the battle they were marching toward. The soldiers appeared to relish the thrill of war, no matter the outcome. The entire army was as one, as if they all shared a single mind with a single purpose, which was to crush their enemies and defend the village of Gilmore. It was a spectacular sight to see.
The front was led by eager charge units armed with sword and shield. Foot-soldiers followed them armed with two swords, who in turn were followed by elite foot-soldiers armed with spears and large shields.
They filled the ranks with dozens of other warrior regiments, including various charging units, several bomb units, different types of archery units and various flanking units.
The General of the Gilmore army, whose reputation preceded him, General Yapal, one of the most fearless men in all the land, kept a close watch on the horizon from the watchtower, and before any of us could understand or mentally conceive what was about to transpire, a flash of bright violet light emerged from the horizon on the field.
A seething deep violet crack opened in the atmosphere, throbbing with malevolent power and gusted foul fumes from another realm. It happened in mere seconds, a sound like tearing silk. A burst of glittering colors filled the sky. Then, an army of chains of gold and long lustrous blonde hair, supple oiled skin and emerald scales filled the horizon. The mariliths vaulted across the portal and sailed across the mass of Gilmore soldiers.
The large portal opened up from the Abyss, sending legions of mariliths into the barren field just short of Gilmore to take over the village. Through the purple portal, a sea of mariliths descended from the Abyssal dimension, flooding the field.
The lead mage from the Gilmore Tower of Mages, after realizing what they were up against, frantically thumbed through the pages of a spell book, looking for abjuration spells to close the atmospheric wound that bled these wretched creatures. “Stand your ground! Hold them back!” General Yapal shouted from the watchtower to the foot soldiers. It appeared he realized that the lead mage was not prepared for a battle such as this as he cast a nervous look at the lead mage and not appearing to be reassured by the stark expression of panic on the lead mage’s face.
The demons surged outward from the gateway trailing sticky strands of ghoulish slime as though they had been birthed from a lake of ooze. The mariliths wielded swords in each of their six arms. The sound of whipping metal clang throughout the valley as the mariliths continued to hurl themselves across the portal’s entrance.
The mariliths were all female, with a human torso and a serpent tail. The appeared to be close to human, but with reptilian scales over their bodies. My friends and I battled them before we had ventured to Pronerth and witnessed the damage and the wrath that was brought unto that school. I’d imagine that Draererth would look similar now.
Mariliths were one of the most difficult of enemies and a demon who could deal out damage. It was a miracle my friends, and I made it out alive during our encounter with them.
The army of mariliths presented themselves in a line as they approached the Gilmore army. They must have had 10,000 deep as the gold and green snake ladies came closer, each with six weapons.
I remembered the mariliths from our final battle before we made it to Pronerth the night before. These demons were a harem I wanted no part of. I also remembered reading about them in one of the many books that Hamon forced me to read. Thankfully for my eidetic memory, I could recall the page in my mind.
Judging by the stats that these demons wielded, it seemed impossible that my friends, and I could stave off their ambush. Perhaps, luck was on our side yesterday. Or, we had a larger force acting on our behalf.
We watched the army of mariliths descend on the army of Gilmore. Mariliths swung their swords, mortally wounding several of the soldiers. Mages, who were part of the mage army, cast spells fully aware that mariliths were immune to poison, therefore they cast ice frosts, which would yield the most damage. Mariliths were resistant to cold, fire, lighting, bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing from non-magical attacks. Magic was the best and most effective use against the mariliths. The archers had retreated, leaving the mages to summon their powers and cast spells of fire and lightning bolts.
The mariliths wielded different weapons in their arms. Some had six long swords, while others had two long swords, two rapiers, and two free hands to deal out magic. Others carried daggers instead of their free hands.
The mariliths lunged at the charge unit, who were set out as the first attack. They easily tore into their bodies of the charge unit with their large fangs, spraying liters of blood into the air and entrails spilling over the field. As the foot soldiers, who followed the charge unit attacked the mariliths, out of fear and not being able to control themselves, hastily retreated from the demons who were gnashing on the bodies of the formerly eager charge unit party, many of them impaled by the spears of the elite foot soldiers who were stationed behind them.
The elite foot soldiers screamed and held back the retreating foot soldiers, forcing them to hold their ground. “Hold the line! Hold the line!” General Yapal shouted from the watchtower. Mariliths stormed the watchtower. This did not leave General Yapal with many options as a horde surrounded him. Elevated above the battle, the general took a glass vial of Alchemist’s Fire out from his utility belt and toss it overhead at the marilith that was within a 10-foot range of him. The vial smashed and broke at the foot of a marilith, erupting in a blue flame. A plume of blue smoke spread across the horde.
The general made direct contact with one marilith. Much like the runes, I could see and understand, I also saw how much damage each combatant took. T
he general could deal 1d6 points of fire damage. To the surrounding mariliths, the general could deal out 1-point fire damage to the three surrounding mariliths from the splash whom were within five feet of the targeted marilith.
The mage began the chant, one hand holding a lofted, yellow-crystal orb. In the other hand, the opened spell book. Eldritch sigils surrounded him, crawling in spidery spirals across the plane. His eyes fixated on the violent energies of the Abyssal portal as mariliths closed in on him and his colleagues.
The haunting screech of the marilith’s gleeful laughter echoed across the valley and up the mountainside where my friends and I watched above in the barn. We watched as the lead mage felt an impact on his forearm while wielding the yellow-crystal orb to cast a spell. Yet he continued his waving motion, as he did not flinch, aiming to complete the incantation. The lead mage focused on finishing the formula intended to trigger the spell, and probably thinking he had simply dropped the orb in the commotion did not realize that his hand fell along with it, holding on to the orb as it landed on the ground. A dark scarlet fountain in place of where his hand once was set the other mages into a frenzy as they fled for their lives.
The lead mage dropped his spell book and fell to his knees. A marilith seized the spell book and said, “Lord Abraxas will be needing this,” as she gathered the book up from the ground and giving a cackle to the lead mage. The marilith’s laughter turning into a snarl as she flashed her long, serpent tail as she turned after acquiring the book.