The Golden Dawn

by Billy Wong

  Then they were out in the sunlight, and backed across the valley floor while the swarm continued to chase. Now that there was room to spread out, some of the monsters tried to run forward to their sides. But as they were about to be surrounded, the forces of Severil and Ostuh which had hidden just outside the ravine made their appearance, melee attackers rushing down to strike at the horde's flanks while archers and ballistae rained down steel from above. As per Becca's orders, the ballistae targeted large creatures first while bows concentrated on fliers, quickly thinning the cloud of winged ones that fluttered from the cave. The monsters' pursuit slowed and halted, as under heavy assault they were forced onto the defensive.

  "Now we can launch our counterattack!" Becca said cheerfully, discarding her second spent quiver for another replacement she'd had her reserve fighters carry. She put away her bow however, and drawing her sword ran forward to join the front ranks.

  "Where are you going?" Julianna asked as she jumped aside from a titanic wurm's diving bite and ripped a long gash in its side with her outthrust spear as it passed. She darted at its head while it writhed in pain, plunged the pole deep so that it stilled.

  Becca slashed down two pouncing dog-boars, kicked another high into the air where one of her archers' arrows skewered it and whistled in admiration of the fine shot. "Going to find Lord Monster-Friend." She must mean the hooded man. "I have some things I'd like to ask him."

  So did Julianna, but taking down as many giant beasts others might struggle with was what she and Keith had agreed to focus on for now. She hopped back from the stomp of a cyclops and stabbed it in the knee. "Alright... and unless his answers are unexpectedly good, bring back his head." She spotted Keith moving to engage a floating mouth with myriad spiked tentacles, and figured she should be ready to lend a hand. Wishing Becca luck, she charged after the backpedaling cyclops and drove her spearpoint up through its groin, then turned to see if her love required assistance.

  #

  Killing many monsters as she wandered among the thick of the fighting, Becca finally came upon the hooded gray-haired man as he jerked his weapon free from the corpse of one of her warriors. He had opened the top of his staff to reveal a head like that of a spear, only looking less like metal than a shard of bone. "So you do fight personally?" she said, drawing his gaze. He had an odd smell about him, a sour stench she couldn't quite identify. "You wield a spear like the old lady too. But I doubt you'll be as tough as her."

  He met her carefree gaze with his hard one. "You come to slaughter my brethren unprovoked. Is this the so-called morality of humans?"

  Becca scowled. "Unprovoked? Don't try to turn this around on us. You sent your 'brethren'—say, why do you call them that?—onto my lands, killing many of my citizens while riling up suspicions against our neighbors. And you call that unprovoked?"

  "What proof have you that those which attacked you came from my flock? You assume things you have no knowledge of, blindly stumbling forward in search of a future. And yet you place your foolhardy race above others? It is laughable."

  "You're saying they didn't come from you, but we tracked them to your hideout. Don't think you can distract me from the truth with words! What's with you talking down to humans anyway? Aren't you human yourself? Who are you to collaborate with monsters like this."

  Slowly, he grinned. "I have the appearance of a human, but I do not share your lowly origins. As for who I am, you may call me Father."

  Becca took in what the moniker implied and recoiled. "Father?! Are you saying what I think you are? But how's that..?"

  "I am the consciousness of he you called the Father of All Monsters. When his flesh was scattered, I was the piece of it the bulk of his sentience survived in. While our bodies may be separated, our purpose remains as one. We will overthrow humanity which has unjustly persecuted us, and reclaim that which belongs to us."

  Though bewildered by the revelation of his identity, if indeed he wasn't lying, Becca pushed aside her shock to resume the debate at hand. "Again, why do you put all the blame on us? Haven't your uh, offspring attacked us countless times? They prey on helpless travelers including women and children unable to defend themselves, and yet we're not allowed to fight back?"

  "You do not know the history. Millennia ago, my past self merely wished to live in peace with his children, sharing the world with your ancient ancestors. But humans felt our race took up too much of the land, and slaughtered us in order to claim more and more for themselves. This angered the Father of Monsters, so that he attempted to retaliate. His fury proved to be in vain, as despite putting up a cataclysmic battle, he was finally sealed away and his offspring exterminated. That is, until the mages of the One Army broke his seal and the Father walked the earth again. Is that friend of yours with the spear not the one who slew my past self? Why does she not use her magic in battle?"

  She wasn't sure if Julianna could access the same level of power she once had even if she wanted to, but either way wouldn't give away anything that might help Father out. "She's a proud warrior, so she doesn't resort to that unless it's desperately needed. Besides, no need to concern yourself with her. I'm the one who'll send you to hell today." She whipped the bow off her back and shot a trio of arrows at his face.

  He caught them all in one hand and tossed them aside, making her stare. "You are extraordinarily skilled for a human being. But the depth of your experience is but a puddle next to my ocean."

  "That didn't exactly stop Julianna, did it huh?" she snapped. "Since you've become so small, it's time for me to add your name to my resume just like her!"

  "Get him, Becca!" Jermain called from close by, having returned to the fighting with a pink bandage around his thigh.

  She dashed straight at him, shooting arrow after arrow. He batted them aside with his spear, but just as she got within range and he stabbed at her head she left her feet. She jumped forward into a low dropkick, so that his point passed over her face while her boots slammed against his ankles. He fell forward towards her and she swung an elbow up, which collided with his temple and sent him spinning away. He landed in a crouch, bared his teeth in a sneer. She ran at him again, leapt into a rolling downward kick he warded with his shaft. Before she landed on the ground, she loosed an arrow which scratched his cheek as he barely leaned aside. He swung the pole at her face. She ducked, shot an arrow at his ankle he hopped over and blocked a knee rising towards her jaw that nonetheless drove her back. He missed a thrust, but followed up with a haymaker that split her lip and knocked her reeling back.

  She wiped blood from her mouth. "Lucky shot. You won't have the same luck again."

  "On the contrary," Father said. "Your agility is astounding for a human, and I am unused to fighting in this body. But as I adapt, your chances grow ever less."

  "Big talk! Let's see if you can live up to it."

  They charged one another. She somersaulted over a missed thrust, tried to put an shaft in the back of his head only to have him duck. Fast reflexes. She landed and he pressured her with a flurry of jabs, giving her no time to nock another arrow as she frantically dodged. His spearhead sliced her shoulder once as it passed over it, but the close call gave her the opportunity to put distance between them with a kick to his stomach. She put two arrows to the string and lined them up with his eyes. He deflected one—but she hadn't released the other, and quickly snapped the bow down to shoot at his belly. He just lowered the spear in time to deflect it. Darn, maybe she should've gone for his knee or man parts instead. He darted in, swipes and pokes of his spear putting the bonelike tip perilously close to her body. It grazed her a few times, opening wounds that stung but did no hindering damage... yet. She spun aside from a stab and punched him stumbling away, got off a shot as he turned at his chest. Yet he put his arm in the way, the arrow transfixing his forearm but ignored as he came on again.

  She dodged more blows, grabbed the stuck shaft and wrenched it sideways causing him to yelp. As he slowed in pain, she pushed him away with a kick to
the hip and pinned his arm to his side with another arrow. He tore it free, but his grimace told her he was wearing down. She met his increasingly sloppy assault with greater confidence, dancing around his strikes while peppering him with punches and kicks. She stunned him with a boot under the chin, then an arrow aimed at his eye creased his scalp as he just dropped under it. He snapped her head back with an uppercut and thrust at her throat. She used her bow to catch his pole and wrenched it aside, missed with a leaping kick at his head but twisted around in midair and landed another to his shoulder.

  He recovered too quickly, the blow not staggering him enough, and stabbed hard at her middle. She scrambled backward, sucking in her stomach, but his forward movement outpaced her. The spear punched into her middle, and she gasped as she clutched the shaft. Searing fire filled her torso, spreading out from where she had been penetrated so it seemed to engulf her. Her vision blurred, and the strength drained out of her knees as they threatened to buckle. "No," she moaned, "I can't lose like this..." He ripped the spear out of her with a twist. Without it inside her supporting her, she found her legs didn't work. She toppled back, the sky flying past overhead, and distantly felt her back hit the dirt.

  "Your Majesty!" Jermain shouted, sounding frightened while she lay there choking on warm salty liquids. She shuddered on the ground, her body growing cold.

  "Oh no," Julianna said from somewhere far away. "Becca's been defeated."

  Father's pained yet triumphant voice reached her ears. "Who's next?"

  Becca screamed and lurched upright, spat blood out. It hurt excruciatingly and she couldn't see well through the tears in her eyes, but her pride wouldn't accept her staying down while she still drew breath. She set her shaky legs far apart to lessen the chances of falling, blood running down them from the rent in her abdomen, and raised her bow again. "Next? Defeated? Why would any of you count me out that quick? It's just a pinprick, this unholy father is about to get excommunicated!"

  "What are you babbling about?" Father asked.

  "Never mind. I guess for the simple minded, I should just say I'm going to kick your ass."

  She hear Keith laugh. "Takes after you, doesn't she?" he said, no doubt to Julianna.

  "Hey, don't lump us together! I'm my own person, with amazing bow-work that's more elegant and better to watch than your crude spears!"

  "You will run out of arrows," Father said.

  "Then I guess I'll just need to make the ones I have count."

  He advanced carefully on her while she took aim. They were both pretty hurt at this point, though hers was worse if the feeling of fluid filling her innards was any indication. Still, she felt no desire to ask for help. Let them all see the queen of Severil's resolve... Father took a quick step forward, and she released her bowstring. He sidestepped before realizing she hadn't actually loosed, the arrow still between her fingers. She smiled bloodily while he shook his head in annoyance. Now he charged. She let her arrowhead drift from side to side as if unsteady, then just when he was about to reach her, spun to the side and shot. He turned his head in the direction of the arrow fearing some trick only to watch it fly past a random gremlin's head. Her foot lanced up over his dipping spear, and her boot crashed against his jaw.

  "Made you look!" she said while he tottered back. She nocked two more arrows, saw he had already shaken off the impact and glared at her. Jumping high into the air though it felt like doing so made damaged tissues inside her tear, she loosed. The shafts flew low towards his gut and groin. He swung his shaft downward to swat them down, but this left his head open while she descended. She brought her foot high and swung it down with the force of a small meteor. Her heel hammered into the top of his skull, and she heard bone crack as he was driven facefirst into the ground.

  She landed on her feet, almost fell but caught herself. Bent with agony at first, she straightened, flinging her hair back. "I am victorious," she said, and her men roared their approval as they redoubled their efforts against the bestial horde. "My foot is an irresistible hammer!" Under her breath, she added, "Although, it does rather hurt..."

  Chapter 9

  "My queen stands tall and proud!" Jermain cried, striking the head from one gremlin followed by another while Becca basked in her triumph with chin held high.

  "The energy of youth," Keith said heavily, looking spent as he dragged his sword from the carcass of a giant spider. "We're no match anymore."

  Julianna rolled her eyes at him. "Speak for yourself." Although, she had to acknowledge she could muster little enthusiasm for this kind of thing nowadays. "Besides, you're only thirty-eight. You should be a champion for the older generation instead of whining about being too old."

  Becca coughed wetly. "Is he still out of shape?" Julianna grinned in admiration while the young queen planted a foot on the enemy leader's back. She could fight, though beating a diminished Father still wouldn't equalize their resumes as Becca claimed. She drew back an arrow pointed at the base of his skull to make sure he was finished for good. Just before she loosed, a smooth male voice called, "Stop! I wouldn't do that so hastily if I were you."

  Keith cleaved the neck of a naga whose bite Julianna had just blocked, and they looked together with Becca towards the sound. A tall and well-built man in his late twenties with slicked back yellow hair stood among... the monsters, holding a wide curved sword to Gilbert's throat. He wore white plate armor under a heavy cloak, which completely covered his left arm. These bad guys sure liked their cloaks. Much of the fighting stopped, monsters inexplicably backing off and humans turning to watch the drama.

  "Now if you'll be so kind," the blond man said, "release Father and surrender to us, else the Premier won't see another day."

  "We can't surrender!" Becca replied without a second thought. "They're monsters, you really think they'll take us prisoner? If we give up our weapons, we give up our lives."

  "She's right," Keith added. "They'll just kill us if we surrender." Unable to disagree, Julianna nodded.

  "I figured you wouldn't go for that." The new arrival—or had he been hiding among their ranks, an enemy in disguise?—smirked. "How about this? You let us retreat, with our Father of course... well, not my father, but anyway... and I won't kill this sniveling coward." He pressed the edge of his blade tighter against Gilbert's skin, and he whimpered.

  Becca shook her head. "But it's the Father of All Monsters! We can't let him go, who knows how much of his power he'll regain in the future if we do? Getting the stupid Premier back won't be worth that."

  Julianna was torn. On one hand she didn't want to deprive Ostuh of its leader, but on the other hand "Father" might become an even graver threat if not finished off now. Then she smiled. "You choose, Becca. You're the highest ranked one here, considering I don't sit the throne anymore."

  "What?" Gilbert demanded, sweat running down his face. "Julianna, if I survive this you'll never hear the last from—no!"

  Becca pulled the arrow back again. Then she stopped. "All right, fine! If I let him die without even trying to save him when there are people watching, the relationship between our countries will be ruined for gods know how long. So they can have their smelly father, and we'll just hope we can stop them later." She picked Father up by the back of his garment, carried him a few yards and hurled him at the white-armored man's feet. "By the way, tell your father when he wakes up that he lost to the youngest and weakest of the High Knights, and isn't shit."

  "Weakest?" Keith whispered to Julianna. "I didn't think that had been settled."

  "She's just being fake humble to scare them, in case they don't know anything."

  "Good choice," the white-armored one said. He nodded at an insect-man, who put Father over its shoulder and carried him away.

  Julianna snorted. "Now give Gilbert back!"

  "Now now, let us retreat first and then we'll send him to you." The monsters had begun filing back into the cavern. "By the way, you might want to know that another army is marching north through Plasbias right now, o
n their way to conquer your precious Aerilea."

  Her eyes bulged. "That's almost the exact same plan King Galen used three years ago." He too had distracted Severil with an attack from elsewhere, while moving his main force through one of the less defended nations to strike at her home. "Who the hell are you?"

  He snickered at her anger. "I am Nero, he who inherited the goals of the great king you name. Under me the One Nation rises once more!"

  "So that's a new One Army marching on Aerilea?" She looked sidelong at Keith. "But shouldn't you have been keeping tabs on the southern lands to have advance warning if one started being raised again?"

  "Er, we did. I guess they must've done it in secret."

  "Why on earth are you working with the Father?" Julianna asked. "Don't you realize he wants to wipe all humans off the continent, not just Aerilea and its allies?"

  "The Father you knew, who sought to destroy everything in rage, is not Father of now. He and I have come to an understanding that once the continent is united, he and his children will have a place for themselves where they can live in peace. The One Nation has room in it for all races after all, human and inhuman alike."

  "Do you really trust him? He's carried his grudge against humankind through ages, do you believe he won't turn on you after you've won?"

  Nero winked. "Maybe I've accounted for this possibility."