Transcendence?

by Andur

  They didn't come out of their hiding after Andrus failed to sneak up on me. But they are good! Probably I won't find them if they aren't too close. Andrus was always a dumb idiot. That's why father wasn't afraid of him becoming stronger than Areth and overturning the house.

  I kneel down while trying to feel for my brother's soul. But it's already gone. “He was the spare part anyway? No need to shed a tear for him?” I call out to provoke them. No reaction.

  So I grab my brother's body at his ankle and start dragging him towards the big bonfire which was once my ship. “You know. I always liked the tradition of burning the dead. You don't have to look after something troublesome like a grave!” I talk loudly to myself.

  In Mislow there is a strong belief that you have to be buried with your face up into the sky. Otherwise you can't meet the gods to go in to your next life. Of course I know that this is bullshit. But my family members don't share this knowledge.

  After I arrive back at the bonfire, I thrust the body of my brother into the flames with telekinesis and place my hands in my pockets. Still no reaction. I guess he really didn't mean anything to them.

  Probably I should think about which spell they need so long to cast. I doubt that they are idle while watching me. My only chance lies in breaking their mind magic. And the fight in the vicinity is dying down. So I don't have much time.

  I concentrate on the souls around me. But whatever my father and my brother are doing seems to interfere with all my senses. Suddenly I feel a sharp pain on my upper left leg and look down. Something cut me!

  There wasn't any indication that one of them came close to me! Damn this mind meddling shit! Another cut opens on my shoulder and I turn around to grab whoever is there. My hand wipes through empty air. I take a deep breath and devise a plan while drawing power from the small mana crystal.

  I start to channel the power of the mana crystal through my aura. If they are using mind magic, then they have to meddle with me through small, almost unrecognisable threads of mana. I just have to emit enough power to break those connections.

  My body starts to emit a visible outburst of power while I am draining the mana crystal. In the distance, I see a group of soldiers approaching and thrust my hand at them. They are blown away like toys.

  Then something breaks and it's like fog is lifting from my mind! I turn and see my father with a raised sword in front of me. The sword swings down, while my hand thrusts upwards and catches the blade. The strong battle aura, which I am currently emitting, protects me from being cut.

  “One moment is deciding.” I whisper at him and cast my favourite shadow spell. It's a mind magic which lets the victim experience his ultimate fears. Everyone has something which he is afraid of, however irrational it may be.

  For a moment my mind is fighting with his. He is experienced and blocks my attempt, but I know his tricks. He used them countless times against me. During all this time I found his weakness, but I never dared to use it as a child. It would have most likely meant my death if I had failed.

  But there is no reason to hold back now. This is a battlefield and I am no child any more. So I stab my mind into his unguarded spot.

  Tendril's expression becomes haunted, then he starts to scream. He turns in a circle and runs off into the big bonfire. “That's how the great master of the house of Arenzien meets his end.”

  I ponder for a moment over the death of my father and analyze my feelings. But there is no regret. A hated person, who tried to kill me, died. There is nothing more to it.

  I look around and finally find Areth standing in some distance. He is holding a sword like my father. A smile appears on my face and I walk into his direction. “Why are you so hesitant brother? Shouldn't you have helped your father.”

  “Why should I have cared for someone like him? It's only beneficial to me if he dies. Now I am the head of the family!” He smiles at me.

  “Not for long!” I start to cast a wind fist to deal with the last nuisance, which is called my family. But from one moment to the next, my body goes limp and I drop face first into the dirt. What's wrong with me!? I can't move at all!

  “Father was an idiot to go close to you after we managed to apply the poison. But he wanted to deliver the final blow himself.” I hear Areth's steps coming closer.

  A kick from him turns me onto my back and he places the tip of his sword on my chest while standing above me. “You know brother. To be honest I never really cared about what you do, or don't do. You gave up on our house and went away. That was the best thing that could happen to me. So who cares what you do up here in the north.”

  “Bastard. I will haunt you!” I press the words out from between my lips.

  He looks down at me. “But right now you are the leader of a heretical group and there is much fame to gain by slaying you.” He raises his sword to stab it down into my chest.

  He is filling my field of vision and I curse him for having to see his ugly visage during the last moments of my life.

  *Thud*

  But then a big, man-sized stone hits him from the side! It's unspectacular, but fast and effective. A dull sound marks my brother's end. I force my eyes to the side and find my brother's upper body completely crushed by a big solid piece of rock. Nothing but his feet are looking out from under the thing.

  Then another face appears upside down in my field of vision, completely filling it from above.

  “~Hi, daddy!~”

  “S... Sera?” What's the critter doing here?

  ~I pestered mom until we went to look for you.~

  “I said you aren't allowed to crash your ship anywhere!” Celestial's voice shrieks into my ears and I wince. “Get up! We have to get out of here!”

  “I can't … poison!” I force the words out of my lips.

  Celestial gives me a quick check up, then she throws me over her left shoulder like a sack of rice while carrying Sera under her right arm.

  “You are nothing but trouble!” She continues her rant while running at unbelievable speed towards the Southern Col.

  The bombardment must have thinned the enemy army considerably. There isn't much which is obstructing her path.

  I mull over the situation while being given a lecture by Sera on how important it is to check for poison once you are wounded. She assiduously ignores the fact that I couldn't have done anything about the poison anyway!

  55 - Vae victis!

  Norfolk, Nord-Capital City

  The Jarl

  “ … The army from Mislow got crushed. The same goes for the assisting forces of the Inquisition and various other feudal lords who assisted them. There are still about twenty thousand of them remaining, but they have no possibility to break Sarn's defence. And without their supplies, they have no chance of laying siege to Sarn.”

  The spy-master finally ends his explanation and bows to me. So many things are happening at once and there is no chance of keeping complete track of them all.

  First the attack from Mislow, then the betrayal of those long eared bastards. And even the mages of the Inquisition joined the fray.

  My wives are sitting at my side. They listened too and have worried expressions on their faces. The third one is looking at me like saying ~told you so~. It bothers me. What should I have done? These are uncertain times and the long time of peace on this continent came to an end.

  I scratch my belly while thinking about the spy-master’s words. And then there is this story about the attack on the Academy. If the reports about the attack by Phenex are true, then we lost another important location to the Immortal Empress.

  My second wife pats my hand from the side. She was always the most empathic one, she always knows when I have gloomy thoughts.

  Aaahh... why do all the other rulers have to be so stupid. To abandon your capital and take all your fighting forces somewhere else without knowing the enemy's abilities. This Norent Grant must have a birdbrain without comparison.

  Surely my doors will burst open any second now
and he will be here, starting a rant on how negligent I am. Probably he doesn't even know what happened to his capital. I wonder how an inexperienced person like him became the head of the Inquisition.

  From the few times I met him, he seemed quite emotional too. He doesn't have the qualities of a leader at all.

  *Bam*

  The doors to my throne room fly open and like I prophesied, Norent Grant is standing there. Sometimes I am afraid of my own foresight. My guards move immediately to block his path.

  “Insolence! How dare you to block the path of the Inquisition!? Are you in league with those heretics, who defy the way of life we upheld for hundreds of years?!” He starts screaming at them and I signal the guards to let him come closer.

  “Norent. I am sure you are aware that this isn't your own house! And you are seriously stretching my good will after declaring war on us!” My voice echoes through the throne room.

  “The Inquisition didn't declare war on anyone! We are just aiding a rightful cause to stop the downfall of our whole world!” Norent answers with an angry voice.

  “Yet your mages assisted the kingdom of Mislow! Which declared war on us! I have it black on white!” I grab a document on the table at my side and wave it at him.

  “I wonder why I am even speaking to you! A homeless bastard, who even acted without a proper declaration of his intentions!” I am the one who is screaming now.

  “The Inquisition isn't homeless! How dare you to defy us! We control the Academy! Our city has the most knowledgeable mages of the entire world.” He is turning red now.

  I cough and grin at him. “Oh, so you don't know that the Academy fell to Phenex while you took all your fighting forces somewhere else?”

  Norent's mouth opens and closes a few times like a fish. “That's impossible! The Academy is untouchable in the desert! And the Gates are well defended! The guards would shut the Gates down if a fighting force came through! Preposterous!”

  I shake my head. “Apparently you forgot that the ruler of Phenex is a mage beyond imagination. She got access to the Gate network and invaded your city after taking out your guards herself. My spies just reported it to me. Maybe you should think about implementing proper information networks.”

  “How did you even get this information? We haven't heard a word from the Academy!” He sneers at me.

  I shrug my shoulders. “Maybe you are relying too heavily on the Gates? My spies always preferred to use other means of message transportation too. That being said. I repeat my question of why I am listening to you. From my point of view, you are nothing more than a terrorist.”

  “Even if the Academy is temporarily in foreign hands, that doesn't change the Inquisition's cause! This is a holy war in the name of the gods! You will immediately command this Ascathon to lay down his demonic weapons and stop his heretical actions, accepting the cleansing of his entire principality!” Norent is becoming red like a tomato.

  “No.”

  My answer is simple and final. It's a waste of my time to talk with an animal like this. I wave my hand and signal the guards to remove him from my sight.

  Two guards grab him at his hands from each side. They lift him half a metre into the air and turn to start walking.

  “Don't touch me!” A sudden flash of light blinds me and both guards are flung away from Norent. They hit the walls with an ugly sound. “I am the chosen hero of the gods! I received their divine blessing! And now I see clear about all of you! You Northerners were corrupted by the blasphemy of Sarn!”

  Other guards enter the room while the remaining ones ready their weapons and I raise my hand to erect a barrier.

  “I will start with eliminating the demon's head.” Norent turns towards me and the mages start casting attack magic at him, but he evades with an unbelievable jump and lands between the guards who tried to shield me.

  My third wife immediately conjures a fireball and throws it at Norent, who is dismembering my protectors like toys. Two swords of light appeared from nowhere in his hands. They cut through weapons and plate armour like they were made out of paper.

  The fireball of my wife is deflected by the weapons and impacts behind Norent. Then he jumps at us and I muster all my power, throwing my personal ice fist spell at him. The shard of ice hits him head on in the chest and he is thrown backwards, landing on his back in the middle of the room.

  But my spell isn't done yet. Ice starts to enclose Norent in a tight embrace to rob him of his freedom.

  The Inquisitor doesn't yield to his fate. With a mad fury in his eyes, he breaks free and slices the throat of a guard who tried to attack him.

  He thrusts his sword at another one and an orb of arcane energy shoots out and punches right through the guards chest. Then Norent turns towards us and summons another orb, which is flying right at me.

  I raise both my hands to put all my power into the barrier, damn this body and my weakness! The orb punches through the barrier, but from one moment to the next, my third wife is in front of me and blocks the spell.

  Then she topples over and blood starts to spread on the floor.

  “Nooo!”

  I scream and throw another ice fist at Norent. The Inquisitor evades while running towards me and I throw myself out of my throne to look after my wife, who cared for me despite my body.

  Other guards try to block Norent, but the Inquisitor mows them down like grass.

  I grab my beautiful wife's hand while my first and second wife are trying to hold Norent off and other guards enter the throne room.

  Norent kicks my second wife, who is flung away like a toy and slices at the first, gutting her. I summon an air cushion where my second wife impacts and cast an ice shard at Norent in defiance.

  The Inquisitor evades with ease and is above me in the next moment. His swords of light slice down at me and I try to protect myself with my right hand. But the hand is amputated like nothing and deep cuts open in my chest.

  Pain burns my entire being and I hear someone screaming in a strange mixture of pain and rage, until I realize that I am the one who is screaming.

  An arcane missile impacts on Norent's back and throws him against a wall. New arriving guards are shooting attack magic in all forms at him, but a strange light is protecting him. Although the massive onslaught finally seems to show effect.

  Norent rolls to the side and gets to his feet, propelling himself forward and jumping through a window.

  Yeah! That's right! Run from my guards you insane bastard. Whichever gods you are worshipping, they aren't mine, nor the gods of my people.

  I smile while patting the face of my third wife and close her dead eyes with my remaining hand. “Sleep well Wera.”

  Then my second wife is above me. “Ibrahim! Oh, my Ibrahim. What has this monster done! Heal!” She casts healing magic at me, but the wounds which were inflicted by those weapons of light don't close. They must have a strong curse implemented in them.

  I grab my second wife's hand and smile at her. “Natasha, don't cry. What about Adele?” My second wife shakes her head while her chin is trembling.

  “You have to be strong now.” I cough and blood is coming up my throat while my vision is getting blurry. “It's not like we haven't foreseen something like this. Keep calm and remember the parchments in my chamber? I am sure you will get this bastard and avenge us. You just have to use someone … who is stronger than him.”

  Natasha doesn't answer and presses her cheek against mine instead. I smile and embrace her with my arm. There is nothing bad about dying. Except for the pain, but it doesn't hurt as much as before. I will simply close my eyes and dream about fine women like Natasha, Adele and Wera …

  “Be strong Natasha…”

  …

  56 - Aftermath.

  Norfolk, Sarn-Valley, Southern Col

  Ascathon

  “The clean-up will take us quite some time.” I look down at the pass-road and wince. “What a waste. This is a major trading route. Look at it now! It will take us mon
ths until a carriage can pass the col again.”

  “If a certain someone had been faster, then there would be less damage. We had to bombard it to rubble in order to keep the enemy troops at bay.” Den throws an accusing look at me.

  I am currently sitting in a wheel chair. The fucking poison was strong, I still can't move properly. Not even Celes could do much with all her medical knowledge. After she carried me back, she took some blood samples with her needles and cut some tissue samples off of me too! It took quite a while and I had the feeling that she was actually torturing me. Then she ran off to analyse them.

  I was placed in a camp bed in her tent. At least some guards could organize the wheel chair for me.

  So I headed out to take a look at the situation. There are still plenty of enemies left, but their supplies got destroyed during our bombardment. They are currently executing an organized retreat back the way they came.

  It doesn't make any sense to me to hinder their retreat. They are leaving our land and that's exactly what we want. There will be more than enough deaths on their way back. Reaching the next town by foot will take them about two weeks.

  Walking such a distance without food is harsh. I guess most of them will turn into bandits and rogue elements on their way back. Our intelligence says that the principality on our southern border assisted them with supplies, so I have no qualms about letting the retreating army loose on my neighbours.

  “There he is!”

  I look around and see Celestial with Sera. “Argh! No! Not again! Den, hold them off while I flee!” I turn my wheelchair and start turning the wheels with my arms.

  “What's wrong.” Den looks confused in Celestial's direction.

  But I don't get far. Celestial materializes out of thin air in front of me and I bump into her. Looking back, I see that Sera is waddling into our direction. Celestial's skills become more frightening each day!

  “What are you thinking!? To run around in a condition like that!” She grabs the grips of my wheel chair and turns me around. Back into the direction of the medical facilities!

  I grab the wheels and try to hold them with all my might. “I am okay! The poison is weakening and I can move my arms just fine!” But Celestial relentlessly continues to push the wheelchair forward.