Three sword-bearing Govians charged Crinnan. He braced himself and quickly raised his sword to block their attacks. Somehow he managed to hold the weight of three soldiers bearing down on their blades with only his own.
Crinnan pushed against his sword to hold his enemies back. As soon as one of them pulled his blade away, Crinnan darted to his left and sliced through where the spine met the skull of one of his foes. He quickly fell to the ground, and as the other soldier turned around Crinnan fired a round into the side of his his and he too fell.
“You must surrender!” The surviving Govian shouted, stepping backwards out of fear. “You can’t possibly...” Crinnan raised his pistol and shot him in the throat. He gargled something as he found himself on his knees flailing about wildly, trying desperately to hold his air. Crinnan shot him again, this time between the eyes and he joined the other two.
Quickly, Crinnan examined his skin for blood. He was not checking for his own, but that of whom he had just slain. He feared exposure for he did not want another Eshaan on his hands… though truth be told, Crinnan felt terrible about how Eshan had been ripped away from him.
“Give up now!” Sage shouted, stepping forward. “You fools will not win.”
“We are not here to talk anymore!” One of the Govians snapped, “You are all going to die now!”
“Idiots.” Sage declared as he stepped toward them, “You fail to understand exactly why you are here. I wager you do not even see the significance of your mission. How many of you know who Crinnan even is?” The Govians looked at one another and whispered amongst themselves. “Furthermore would you be willing to die for this half-blood whom you do not even know?”
The whispering continued and the squad’s new leader stepped forward. “He is the Demon!” He said with his head raised high. “It is not our business to understand the will of his majesty. Our job is to listen and obey. Our questions and personal concerns are irrelevant; the divinity knows best.”
At that, the Govian fired his rifle at Sage. Sage phased out of the way, causing the bullet to hit the dirt behind him. The Govian tried two more times and then realized it was futile.
“How…” The Govian asked but quickly fell silent.
Sage raised his hand and it began to glow a bright orange; a few of the Govians gasped. The leader stopped talking and took a few steps back.
“I would like to tell you all a story of a time long past.” Sage said, “You see before Govia the people were mightier and more intelligent than they had ever been. These ‘Ancients’ as we like to call them had amazing technologies that surpassed anything your dying Empire could ever hope to create today. One of which was called the ‘Cy.”
The Govians remained silent and Sage grinned. That was how he liked it. “You see these ‘Cy’ were machines that did precisely what you are doing right now. They were automatonic life-forms created to serve the Ancients. They had no will, they had no desires, they had no individuality. They did what their programming told them to do without question or regard for cause. They knew not the difference between good and evil. They only knew the will of their master and that was their only priority. You grunts are so very much like these robots, yet you have it within yourselves to be so much different. You see unlike the Cy, you have a will, you have desires, and you most certainly have individual characteristics that make you, you.”
Sage’s words were beginning to make the Govian soldiers restless. Their whispering persisted and there was an awkward uneasiness all around us. Finally their leader spoke again.
“Your words are unnecessary.” He said as he stepped forward and swiped at the air with his hand. “I will repeat myself. You cannot win. You must surrender the demon or we will be forced to…”
“Your blindness is your own doing!” Sage said, stepping forward and cutting the Govian off. “You have the ability to see if you wish. Look, your mission has failed, your leader is dead and Crinnan will not go with you. I am much more powerful than the lot of you combined as you can very well see. I should say that you need to understand that you have no chance. You fools must realize that you are beaten!”
Guntz and Crinnan walked up and stood on each side of Sage. Guntz growled and Crinnan stood silent with his short sword in one hand and a pistol in the other.
“An example has already been made of your greasy Maestre and three of your friends.” Sage said after a brief silence. “You do not have to share their fates. Just turn around and leave us.”
None of the Govians spoke for a moment. Sage’s words had clearly reached them. The leader stared at the ground for a moment and then shook his head and returned his gaze to Sage’s eyes. He had made up his mind.
“Failure is not acceptable to his Majesty.” The nameless leader said, pounding his shielded hand into his chest. “I will not be responsible for such a sin. The glory and beauty of our beloved Emperor cannot be tainted by our shortcomings. For this reason we will fight each of you until victory is accomplished. If we die more will come and our mission will one day be completed. I would like to assure you Elf; we will not die.”
Crinnan shook his head. The devotion that the Govian army had to their Emperor made him sick to his stomach. Watching a person not live their life freely made no sense to him. Seeing the anonymous soldier place his faith in such an evil and tyrannical mortal whom he did not even know seemed absurd. Crinnan could have never imagined living in such a way.
Sage laughed. Neither because he was entertained nor because he was happy. Perhaps he was so unsurprised at how the Govian acted that he could not help but laugh. Perhaps he gave up on trying to save the Govians…
“You are all thick headed and useless.” He said, shaking his head and turning his nose up in their direction. “You must really want us to kill you. Is that it? Listen. It is crucial for you to understand this: unless you surrender right now there is no chance of you leaving this village alive... Are your lives truly that worthless to you? Do none of you have children? Do you really want to die today?”
The soldiers were restless. The murmuring continued and a few began to take a few steps backwards. Their leader snapped at all of them in Govian, and they got back in formation. “We will not be intimidated by your sinful ways!” He growled at Sage,” We are the mightiest army in the entire world. You are subject to us by law! Why, you probably have outlived the century allowed to you by the gracious and all-powerful Emperor! Your time is up! Your life ends now!”
Sage hummed and casually swiped at the air with his hand. A thin beam of orange elemental flame emerged from each of his fingers in a moments time; fast enough to nearly prohibit perception. The beams swirled into one and ripped through the center of the loose-tongued Govian and into a soldier behind him. The leader staggered backwards and gazed at his chest in disbelief.
“We are…” he said as blood began to stream from his lips, “we are… invincible…” he blinked twice and fell to his knees. Before he could blink a third time his face hit the dirt. He was dead.
All of the Govians stared at Sage; amazed. None of them knew what to say and one ran off into the woods. Sage turned to Crinnan and made an awkward face. “I did not mean to kill two of them.” he said and chuckled, “I was only aiming for the leader.”
Crinnan noticed the soldier that had been inadvertently hit by Sage’s blast was lying flat on the ground, reaching his hand in the air. He cried and gargled, blood was pooling beneath him. Sage shook his head.
A white light began to envelop Sage’s hand. The Govians stepped back out of fear of another blast. After a moment of charging, Sage held out his hand and flicked the light at the struggling Govian. Two moments later, he was back on his feet.
The village was silent. The tensions were high, everyone was on edge. The healer looked at the healed and the healed stood in silent awe. He touched his ripped and broken armor and looked at Sage who wore a stern face. “Will you surrender now? Will you take your life and run?” Sage asked him.
As he felt the
new skin covering the wound that Sage had accidentally inflicted on him, the soldier inhaled deeply and looked down at his hands. He began to cry and bit his lip. “I cannot…” he said as tears streamed down his face. Sage closed his eyes disappointedly and flicked his hand once again at the Govian he had just healed. The soldier fell onto the ground in a burning heap and Sage sighed heavily.
“Must it truly be today?” Sage asked the remaining Govians with his eyes still sealed. “Can none of you take your own life in your hands?” The soldiers stood silently, neither moving nor saying a word. Sage’s eyes opened fiercely and he looked at them all.
“Answer me!” he shouted and threw his fists down. The Govians jumped back out of fear of more NaNe power. Guntz snickered.
Crinnan watched Sage talk to their enemies and wondered what was going through his mind. He could not believe that Sage was giving them a chance to leave and survive, that was beyond him. All his experience told me that letting the enemy survive today was letting one of your own comrades die tomorrow.
Among people, Sage was something of a phenomenon. The value he put on all life, not just his own, was higher than most. His charisma and excitement were a rare trait as well. Perhaps the years of solitude had done that to him; perhaps he had been born that way. His intelligence and wisdom constantly fought to outdo each other. It was hard to find a rift in either... He was indeed a prodigy.
“This is my final offer!” Sage said, extending his hand to the assemblage of soldiers. “Please go home. You will not die if you do so. If you stay here… we will be forced to kill you.”
The Govians stood like statues. Crinnan looked at them and in some of their eyes he saw fear. Fear of Sage, fear of death… perhaps even something more. In the rest of their eyes, however, Crinnan saw nothing. No emotion at all; he wondered what sort of beings the body of the Govian army was made up of.
“We decline your offer!” One of the Govians shouted, “You do not understand that you cannot stand against the might of the Empire and have any hope of winning! We will fight you until every last one of your barbarian corpses lay at our feet. Prepare yourselves to pay for your sins against his benevolence!” The soldier pulled down the visor on his helmet and stood ready to charge with his sword. Sage sighed and shrugged his shoulders.
Crinnan watched silently as Sage kicked a stone away from himself and stared into the dust. He looked returned the look, only spoke.
“I tried.” Sage said as his hands began to glow with the power of the NaNe, “Know that I am not a senseless, mindless killer Crinnan. Know that I understand the value of life… and that I tried.” Sage stared at the Govians and with neither word nor sound started to run directly at them. Crinnan was quick to follow.
The sound of his boots slapping against the ground was all Crinnan heard for a moment. The breeze blew through his hair as he charged toward his foes. His footsteps were light and intentional, his resolve great. He began to hear himself breathing; he could feel the steady thumping of his pulse in his temples. His hand was sweating as he raised his sword to strike the foe that dared lock gazes with him.
His first kill of the night tried to stop him but Crinnan batted his weapon away and thrust his blade into the Govian’s chest. As he pulled his weapon from his enemy another one charged. Crinnan fired at him and he went limp and crashed to the ground.
Crinnan raised his blade to strike another down and something caught his eye. He saw about twenty more soldiers emerge from the forest, all equipped with rifles. Crinnan swore and ran to find cover just as the spray of bullets and light beams began to pepper the area around him.
He was hiding behind a pile of rubble and rusty metal. He could hear bullets hitting all around him. Soon enough, Guntz flew over him and scrambled up beside him. Guntz looked at Crinnan and glared.
“Here.” Crinnan said, handing him Jeph Scaven’s AB34 he found in the Toraan den earlier, “Can you shoot?” Guntz nodded and shouldered the weapon. Crinnan sheathed his sword and held both pistols, ready to fight.
Guntz leaned out and opened fire, Crinnan did the same. He got off a few shots but as soon as the two peeked their heads out, the Govians began firing on their position. The two ducked back behind the pile and waited for the firing to stop.
“Dammit!” Crinnan whispered, “What the hells...” He considered his situation for a moment and then stopped. Amid the gunfire he heard something, a higher caliber semi automatic weapon being fired. He peeked out from behind his cover and watched as Govians began falling one by one. Somebody was picking them off from a distance.
“Cover me.” Crinnan said to Guntz. Guntz nodded and peeked out from his side. Crinnan stood up and began firing.
The Govians were confused. The unknown sniper was picking them off faster than they could recoil. Some were scrambling for cover while others were trying to return fire to either Crinnan, Guntz or the sniper. One dropped his rifle and fell to his knees.
Sage ran up alongside Crinnan and began blasting away with his NaNe. Between the four fighters, the Govian reinforcements were made quick work of. It was a massacre, and a victory. As Crinnan slid his pistols into their holsters, Sage looked at him and shook his head.
“We need to get moving.” He said with a serious expression. “Now.”
Chapter 9: Part Two
The King III
22nd of Ramlia - 346AG
14:00 - Township of Lithaan
“Make it stop!” Ema’as screamed as she hugged her head between her forearms. Her cries were louder than the cracked exhaust of the truck they were riding in. Tears of blood streamed from her eyes and down the dark skin of her face. Her body was smeared with shit and piss from her unending writhing and her voice was hoarse from her screaming.
“It doesn’t stop!” Yarik, the other thirst stricken Vampre angrily growled. He was hungry, irritated and annoyed. “Not until you do!”
“Fuck you!” Ema’as shouted, spitting in Yarik’s direction. “You did this to me!” Yarik growled and put his palms over his ears. He wanted nothing more than to rip her throat out so that he would never have to listen to her ear piercing screams again. And then, he wanted to get out of his cage and rip the throats out of everyone in Eon’s army.
“By Igo.” He said, licking his lips at such a delicious idea. He thought of sinking his fangs into the throats of everyone who dared look at him. His body trembled at the thought of the hot blood running down his own throat, he yearned to feel it on his hands, on his skin… it was enough to make him hard.
Yarik felt the truck he and Ema’as were being transported in come to a stop. He heard the driver kill the engine and wondered where they were. All he knew was that the entire camp had been packed up. He had heard his guards whispering something about a Demon in Izla’Axi and assumed the Demon had something to do with their current journey… but he was not sure.
“We’ve stopped.” he said. He was feeling the itch of the thirst begin to spread over his skin. He scratched at his already scraped up arms and for a moment thought about his growing appetite. He looked at Ema’as and saw his near future. Groaning, he slumped down into his shit covered cage and waited for whatever was about to happen.
“Lithaan…” Eon said as he stepped out of the truck he was riding in. “A town older than anyone here.” He looked up at the crown of the Lithaani Sentinel which towered over the village and smiled. “I remember this place.”
Eon stepped toward the stone walls his convoy was parked before and ran his hand along them. “Oh what protection these walls once provided.” He said. He looked up at the top of the walls and then back to his army. “No longer I fear.”
“Acolytes!” Eon shouted, turning back to his convoy, “Come, join your king! Let us survey that which we will soon conquest!” At that, every vehicle door opened and Eon’s army began to assemble behind him. He clapped his gloved hands together and watched as his hundred fifty or so crudely armored followers approached him.
“Today, my children, you shall
test your mettle!” He announced. “We have pillaged, we have plundered… we have laid waste to the already wasted and found no glory! Today we claim our first true victory! We will grow our force, replenish our resources and kill all those who may stand in our way. And tonight while you all rest I, your saviour and King, will bring back the Demon!” Eon’s army cheered and those who had guns fired them into the air.
“You there!” Eon heard a voice shout from above him. He turned around and scanned the walls, looking for the owner of the voice. Finally he saw a troop of rifle-equipped AGRA soldiers looking down at him.
“Ah!” Eon replied, “What fine additions you will make! Have you come to open the gates for your new king?”
“Lithaan is under the protection of President Cade of the AGRA Triangle Corporation.” One of the soldiers shouted, “Depart at once!”
“Your President’s protection will not be of any help to you.” Eon said, holding his arms out. “And I, Eon, have little time to persuade you… join me willingly or painfully die and then join me. Remember, only the willing can find glory.”
“You will never make it through the walls!” The AGRA soldier declared, “They have stood for…” Eon clapped his hands together and the wooden gates blasted apart, sending splinters in all directions. The AGRA soldiers went silent.
“Well fuck the hells out of that!” One of them shouted, dropping his rifle and raising his hands. “I’m not about to die for this shitty town.” The other AGRA soldiers quickly followed suit.
Eon chuckled and turned to his army. “Take Lithaan!” He commanded. “Kill the weak so I may make them strong. Enslave the strong so that I may make them mine. Go, now!”
“Who’s hungry?” Yarik heard a voice ask. His stomach felt like a mess of knots and he was quickly growing more and more fatigued. To say he was hungry would most certainly have been accurate.
“You’re feeding us?” Ema’as asked frantically, “Are we going to eat!”
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