Heretic Spellblade

by K D Robertson

  “You set this up to operate even after death?” she asked. She sounded impressed. Her eyes ran over the gate again. “Huh. Quite the dead man’s switch. Well, no matter. I can wait.”

  “What?”

  “I said, ‘I can wait.’ Did you not hear me? Did the fortress falling on your head perhaps damage your hearing?” She smirked at him. “You think a combined army will be enough to stop me, but that’s not how this works. The other Bastions will come to me, saving me time and effort, and I’ll get what I want so much sooner. It’s rather funny how you’ve done my work for me. All I have to do is sit back and wait.”

  Nathan stared at her as she stretched her arms out and yawned theatrically. This Messenger was so confident in her power that she thought she could defeat the combined might of the remaining Bastions of Falmir?

  Then again, she had effortlessly crushed him. Could she pull it off?

  He swallowed. Then dove into his binding stone and did something he had never thought he would ever do. Something he had sworn to never do.

  The Messenger froze. Her eyes met Nathan’s the moment his mind returned to reality.

  “Did you seriously just…” she trailed off and licked her lips nervously. Her dismissive manner from earlier disappeared. She took a step forward, her eyes focused entirely on his. “You did, didn’t you?”

  How did she know what he did? It’s impossible for somebody to sense what another Bastion is doing in their mental world. She should be clueless as to what he had done.

  But she wasn’t.

  “What are you?” he asked.

  “Ahaha, finally, somebody asks the right question.” The Messenger grinned. “I am known as Sister Kadria. But just call me Kadria. You know me as a Messenger, but I am much more.”

  “But you’re not going to answer my question, are you?”

  “You wouldn’t believe me if I did. I learned long ago to place little faith in humans. Your minds are rather fragile, and you’re good at denying reality when it doesn’t fit your preconceived notions. But you can tell that I am no mere Messenger, can’t you? That’s why you’re so troubled, hmm?”

  She took another step forward.

  “It doesn’t matter. None of this does. If you know what I’ve done, then you know what comes next,” Nathan said.

  “I know what comes next. Do you, little human?”

  “The binding stone detonates. A chain reaction ripples through the leylines. The explosion will turn everything in a hundred-mile radius into an uninhabitable wasteland. No plants will grow here. No sorcery or magic will ever be usable here. Everything and everyone will die.”

  Nathan swallowed and closed his eyes for a moment. None of that mattered, given the people he cared about were already gone. He reopened his eyes.

  “More importantly, the portal will collapse. Without magic, and without the binding stone or leylines, no demonic portals can be sustained here. Your army will vanish. Everything you’ve done will be invalidated. This is the end,” Nathan said.

  He made to dive into the binding stone again.

  “Wait!” Kadria shouted. “Do you really think that’s it?”

  “Is this where you try to convince me not to do it?” Nathan sneered. “Don’t bother.”

  “Oh no, feel free to blow yourself up after I speak. But understand, you cannot stop me with this. No magic or technique born from a binding stone can kill me. You will buy time. Losing my army and this portal will hurt. I am impatient, so I can’t say I’ll be happy with the result. But the end?” She laughed. “Hardly.”

  He stared. “You’re bluffing.”

  “Maybe. But I can tell you that the next part isn’t a bluff. You have two choices: die, or accept my offer.”

  For a moment, Nathan wanted to ignore her and finish detonating the binding stone. Her arrogant attitude grated on his nerves. He forced himself to listen to her. He had nothing to lose. Even if she killed him here and now, the binding stone would detonate by itself within minutes.

  “What offer?”

  “You want to save this world, don’t you? Well, maybe not this world,” she said, waving a hand at the ruins surrounding them. “But the world you grew up in. Filled with so much hope, greenery, friends, and lovers. I imagine that’s why you’re a Bastion. You’re trying to stop the demons and Messengers from ending everything, yes? But here we are, in the ruins of your life. The ruins of this world, even.”

  “Are you done?”

  “Listen for a minute, will you? I’m selling you on this,” Kadria said, glaring at him.

  “Your sales pitch is kind of shit.”

  She ignored him. “What if you could save that world? Go back to before everything had fallen apart and stop the world from falling apart? A second chance at life, but with all of your current knowledge and ability. Would you take it?”

  Silence reigned.

  Nathan didn’t breathe. Couldn’t. He stared into space as he tried to comprehend her words. Everything faded into nothingness around him as he fell into fantasy.

  “Are you saying you can send me back in time? Messengers are capable of that?” he asked.

  “If we make a deal, then I can send you back to the world you so desire to save, instead of this ruin.”

  “Why me? And why offer such a deal if you can destroy the world so easily?”

  “Because I don’t want to destroy the world. Our objectives aren’t too dissimilar. Neither of us wants this world. You want to save and live in a world that hasn’t been despoiled by horrible demonic armies. Would you believe that I want the same?” Kadria raised an eyebrow at him.

  He looked around at the ruined fortress. “No.”

  “I said you wouldn’t believe me.”

  Nathan frowned. Her statement irritated him because it was true. If what she was offering was possible, did he have a choice? A chance to save everybody who had already been killed by the demonic hordes was something he had only dreamed of.

  And if she was lying, then he could detonate the binding stone regardless. There was nothing to lose.

  “Fine. But why me?” he asked again.

  “Because you’re the first Bastion I’ve met who’s been able to bypass the protections of the binding stone like this. They’re not supposed to explode, you know. If they could, then the world would be in too much danger to let any random human manipulate them. So that makes you my best candidate for what I want to do. Anything else?” she asked.

  “Anfang,” he said. “I want to go to Anfang. Not Falmir. If you can actually send me back.”

  She tilted her head to one side and held a finger against her bottom lip. Slowly, a grin crept across her face.

  “Ah, I see your game. The Anfang Empire. The first great nation to fall, and the beginning of the end. You think you can stop it from collapsing, and thereby stop the demonic hordes from ever taking hold? Amusing. I know exactly the time and place to send you, then.”

  Kadria rushed forward. Ignoring his instincts, Nathan remained still. Every part of his body told him that he was about to die. The power oozing off her terrified him. His very essence screamed that she was vile, and he was making a mistake.

  Her hand grasped his, and he felt something reach into his mind. He gasped. That feeling vanished in an instant.

  “I just needed the connection,” she muttered. “But you are cuter than I thought. All that dust and blood does you no favors.”

  Nathan looked away. His eyes fell on a half-broken statue of the Watcher Omria. He averted his gaze.

  Did he have any right to gaze upon the figure of the goddess when he had now become a heretic? He was consorting with a Messenger.

  He could still detonate the binding stone. It would only take a moment.

  “And done,” Kadria said. “See you on the other side.”

  Nathan opened his mouth to say something. No sound come out, and he realized he couldn’t hear anything. White light crept over the edges of his vision. Kadria vanished a moment later, leaving him
to stare into an endless white void.

  Then all thought stopped. Nathan Martel ceased to exist.

  Chapter 3

  Dappled sunlight filtered through the dense canopy of leaves high above. Birds chirped and tweeted as they flitted from branch to branch. The bubbling of a brook could be heard in the distance, although it couldn’t be seen.

  It was a calm day in the middle of spring. A carriage trundled down a bare dirt road through the forest. No horses drew the carriage, and it seemed to propel itself through some form of invisible power. The carriage was fully enclosed, and the windows couldn’t be seen through from the outside. The exterior was painted black, with faded and cracked silver trims and regalia.

  Nathan opened his eyes and found himself staring out from within this carriage. He spent several seconds staring out the one-way windows. Taking in the sight of an undisturbed and peaceful forest. Only the trundling of the carriage broke the peace.

  He started, leaping high enough to hit his head on the roof of the carriage. Cursing, he sat back down. His hands ran across his body. He no longer felt any pain, and his wounds were gone. Not from healing, but as if they had never happened. He was no longer covered in dust and grime from the collapsed fortress. Blood no longer caked his face, arms, and hands.

  He froze. His uniform was black.

  Had it worked?

  Had that Kadria woman been telling the truth?

  Nathan examined his uniform thoroughly. He was wearing a black and silver officer’s uniform, with the regalia fitting of a Bastion.

  This was the uniform of a Bastion of the Anfang Empire. Officially, their colors were black and gold, but the Empire considered the color gold a symbol of the royal family. As such, the military wore silver as a sign of subservience to the Emperor and the Archdukes.

  The carriage showed signs of belonging to the Empire as well. And Nathan had a duffel bag of belongings that did little to dispel the illusion that he had gone back in time. If this was fake, then Kadria was a master illusionist.

  Nathan swallowed and leaned back against the worn seats. Almost a minute passed as he let his thoughts wander. He had failed. His fortress had fallen. Everybody he had loved had died. Everything he had accomplished had been for nothing.

  Had he truly been given a second chance? A chance to prevent everything from going wrong?

  He sat bolt upright. Would he have the chance to find them all again? Jafeila, Vala, Narime, and the others? More than anything else, they were the driving force in his life these days.

  If he had gone back to the time of the Anfang Empire, they’d be much younger. So would he, in fact. He’d been a teenager when the Empire had been invaded by its neighbors and all out war had broken out across Doumahr. A teenager apprenticing as a Bastion, thrust into a war that nobody really understood.

  Something shined from within the bag. His bag, he remembered. Things didn’t feel right, but he needed to remember that this was now his life. He must have a past in the Anfang Empire, and a family here. How else could he be a Bastion in the Empire?

  Reaching down into the bag, Nathan found a small hand mirror. Was he so vain in this life? Small jewels decorated the outside of the mirror. On the back was an inscription. A family motto, signed with what he somehow knew was his mother’s name.

  The mirror was a gift from his mother, he realized. No, a way to remember her. He wasn’t vain. It was simply a way to remember lost family. Nathan grimaced at the thoughtless way he’d insulted the person whose body he’d inherited.

  Somebody moved in the mirror. Nathan looked closer and realized it was himself. But that was impossible.

  After all, that somebody looked far too much like Nathan did before he had come back. Shouldn’t he be much younger?

  Nathan blinked. He carefully analyzed his features and checked his hands. Despite his assumption, he looked almost identical to his old self. When Kadria had sent him back, he had somehow thought that meant he would become young again.

  Stupid. She said nothing about that. He was still in his thirties, but sent back in time.

  After putting the mirror back in the bag, Nathan took the time to think. Actually think. Since arriving in this time, he had been making assumptions and jumping at everything. He needed to stop for a few minutes and assess everything he knew. And everything he didn’t know.

  He had a rough idea of where he was, but not when he was. Exactly how many years in the past had Kadria sent him back? If the Anfang Empire was still intact, that meant that all out war hadn’t broken out.

  In Nathan’s youth, the world had been relatively peaceful. Nations still bickered. Wars were still fought. But the network of Bastions kept the demons in check, and there were no massive invasions by demonic hordes. No Messengers capable of defeating several trigem Champions effortlessly. In fact, trigem Champions were so rare that they were considered legends, known by name across the entire world.

  All of that changed when the Empire started a war with its northern neighbor, the religious Order of Trafaumh, known by most as Trafaumh. While the Empire’s armies were busy in the north, another nation had invaded from the east. The Empire began to collapse, its Bastions falling, and the resulting loss of protection allowed hordes of demons to escape into the world.

  The Empire’s capital of Aleich fell, and a Messenger tore apart most of its lands. It took years to vanquish the Messenger, by which point more Bastions had fallen, and more demonic hordes had taken root. War had become normalized, and the collapse of the world began.

  Falmir had been the last nation standing by the time Kadria attacked Nathan’s fortress in the Far Reaches. Every other country had fallen to the Messengers, and their lands left to rot in the hands of the demons. Kadria had been right to say that Nathan didn’t truly want to save that future.

  But back in the past, before the Empire had fallen? There was so much opportunity here. All of Nathan’s friends and lovers were still alive. And he had a chance to avoid some of his past mistakes.

  Nathan’s biggest problem was that he didn’t know exactly when or where he had been sent back to. He was a Bastion, so he could claim a binding stone and use that to gain more power and Champions. But if he was in the wrong place, then he couldn’t stop everything from going wrong.

  He didn’t know where this carriage was taking him, either. Was there even a binding stone nearby? Although he had remembered his mother in this timeline, he found it difficult to remember other things.

  There was no sign of Kadria. She had said she would see him on this side, so where was she? Somehow, he knew that he had unleashed a true monster into the past.

  Perhaps he should have let himself die and trapped her in the future. If she needed a talented Bastion in order to travel back in time, then did he do the wrong thing to allow her to travel back with him?

  He shook the thoughts off. This was his chance to fix things. He would deal with Kadria when he found her.

  Absently, he reached into his mind to see if he could feel a binding stone. As expected, the connection wasn’t present. There was no overwhelming presence of something ancient and overwhelming threatening to consume his very essence.

  But there was an odd feeling he hadn’t felt before. Like he was tethered to something he couldn’t see or feel. Whatever it was, it never became more than a strange feeling in the back of his mind.

  Nathan knew something or somebody was tied to him in his mental world, but he couldn’t see who or how. Was this Kadria’s work? Or a lingering aftereffect of losing access to his binding stones?

  The carriage slowed, pulling Nathan from his thoughts. He put everything back in the duffel bag and closed it.

  When the carriage stopped, he opened the door and stepped out into the ancient ruins of a fortress. Lichen and moss grew over mountains of limestone. The ruins were thick with grass and trees. The remains of a keep, maybe three stories tall, stuck out like a sore thumb in the rubble. Nathan saw the worn-out interior of the keep in places, where the w
alls had fallen away.

  He knew this place. Almost any student of history did.

  “Oh! Are you Nathan Straub? Sorry, I mean Bastion Nathan Straub. Sir,” a youthful voice chirped. It sounded familiar to Nathan, but he initially wasn’t sure why.

  He turned to face the speaker. A young beastkin girl wearing black-painted armor, with a scimitar at her side. Her black cat ears twitched constantly as Nathan watched, and she scratched her cheek. She had a massive bushy tail, which swished back and forth faster with each passing second, kicking up dust from the ground. Her legs twisted back and forth. She placed her arms over her chest nervously, hiding her hefty bust from view. But she couldn’t hide the rest of her generous curves, particularly in her tailored uniform.

  “Um, am I right? You’re wearing the uniform of a Bastion,” a much younger Jafeila asked slowly, looking at Nathan through upturned eyes.

  He continued staring at her.

  When had Jafeila been this cute?

  Nathan blinked. Wait, Straub?

  Something clicked in his memory, without Nathan even thinking about it. His surname wasn’t Martel in this timeline. It was Straub. He had inherited the surname of an Imperial noble, as well as the body of one.

  “I am,” Nathan said. He paused despite himself. He’d naturally spoken in Imperial, the native tongue of the Empire, rather than his birth language. Was this another effect of whatever Kadria had done to send him back, just like these memories of his new life that were rising within his mind?

  He shook the discomfort off. “You’re Jafeila?”

  “Eh? You know who I am?” The beastkin’s tail and ears shot bolt upright before flattening. “Sorry, I mean—yes, I am. Champion-in-training Jafeila reporting for duty, Bastion.”

  It took considerable effort for Nathan not to stare at Jafeila in shock. She had never been so cute and nervous before. He felt that he was seeing an exotic animal that must be cherished and protected. A side of his lover that she had never spoken to him about and that he had never seen.