General Lee
"General, we have reports that vampires have been sighted on our flank." One of the scouts said it with as much enthusiasm as they could muster.
I gave him a side-eyed look, before laying back in my chair. "Yeah? What did you expect when we found out they could teleport?"
A bead of sweat ran down his cheek, as he stood straighter. "You already planned for this sir? It should be impossible for them to get through our null-zone. Why are we letting them do this?"
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I let out a deep sigh. "Our army is fractured because the children that call themselves nobles thought they could run this army better than I could. Instead of staying outside and starving the vampires, they ordered the charge and then shot our own troops in the back." I looked at the man, explaining this as though he were a child. "They didn't destroy the sewers because that's where shit goes. They didn't organize patrols to see this sooner, there's no reason for us to worry though."
The scout swallowed hard, "I don't understand, sir. What does this have to do with us gathering up the rest of those loyal to us?"
"We're leaving," I stated bluntly, causing the poor man to blink.
"I'm sorry? We're what?" He asked dully.
"You are going to tell the other army leaders that we're going off to deal with the forces flanking us. After we break through, we're fucking off." I spread my arms wide, "Then we're going to keep fucking off until we reach Fis'Ton. Once there, we're going to clean up the pirates and any other problems the fucking king of this place has planned. The Count is alive, he has a battlefield's worth of blood, we aren't staying for that." I held up two fingers, "Two days, that's when we're gone. Tell those you want to come along, convince your family and friends, but don't tell anyone about the Count. I want this to be as disgustingly cowardly as possible."
Poor Scout dutifully nodded his head and saluted. "Sir, yes sir!" He marched out of my tent, as the next scout walked in. The ones I knew I could trust to carry this out. Even if they weren't bright enough to understand the subtle nuance. I wasn't looking forward to hearing the sneering comments those wealthy pricks were going to say to me. How they thought me dealing with the flank was just light work, depriving me of honor. Those haughty arrogant fools. Children that never had to struggle and climb for the position they were born into.
One at a time, as the armies continued their bloody march. The fat was trimmed by the hour, and less food was needed to feed everyone. I hadn't expected the bugs to be such a threat, though that was on me. The more I heard about this 'queen,' the more I wanted to keep it as a pet. Charles even put a bounty on its head, with another couple of figures likely put there to watch it. I smiled to myself, knowing a trap when I saw one.
The glaring taunt told me to take the vampire that was born from that 'queen.' To use 'Misinformation' to take her form, to bring a portion of the Hivemind into my fold. Unfortunately for the demon king, I had a trick up my sleeve for this occasion. Ever since he started plucking up all the Hiveminds he could. Small talents kept together with one that couldn't be seen by someone using time magic. Decades of planning, for this singular move.
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Guy'Spears
Belts was by my side as we coaxed our thralls into merging. More than a few of them were itching to go out there and fight again. It was strange, being able to talk to them. A week wasn't enough time to figure out how to use our powers, yet it was enough time to learn how to read a little. Writing was something we'd have to pick up later, though Belts was already starting to pick up on it.
All of it was so strange, to sit here and learn. We met a few of the other vampires, it went well for some, others I knew we weren't going to get along with. A whole lot of them complained about not having their chance to prove themselves, while a few others just looked exhausted after coming back from the frontlines. Gray was everywhere though, gently explaining when their time would come, or why they couldn't afford to go out.
Despite how creepy he was, the guy was worth admiring. Everyone seemed to know that if they didn't want to go out and fight, they didn't have to. If they wanted to, then they had to ask and they would try to work something out. It was completely different compared to what we went through. The strange vampire was more than happy to take on the burden and fight more to keep those that couldn't, or didn't want to, from doing such.
A shade died last night, according to one of the Grays. It was eerie when it had happened. All of them just stopped for a second before teleporting away. Everyone was confused, some of us asking if the others knew what was happened. Then a minute passed and those same bodies came back covered in various bits of viscera. It was terrifying to see how calmly they explained what had happened. It was also the thing that gave me a proper kick in my ass.
We couldn't sit here and not do anything. Not while others were out there dying and bleeding to keep us safe. I had thought I was sick of fighting by now, that this damned war took it all out of me. Yet, when I heard that pang of pain in their voice, something sparked inside me. Belts felt the same way. The others we cared about were safe, Ink and Patches were still being taught how to read and write. So many others for all the rest of the White Corps. All those people were spared, just because he was able to save them.
Gray never hid anything, unless he had to. I knew Ink's bloodline would manifest after she agreed to become a vampire. It was the final step, that she chose to accept the curse after what was stolen from her. Patches had to forgive Wheels for what he had done, to see those that harmed the ones she cared for as patients and nothing more. It was the only reason the bastard was still alive.
Hammer was able to make vampiric weapons from what I understood. He folded his blood within the metal, allowing us to steal life from our enemies. Yeah, some of the bloodlines were kind of hard to wrap my head around. Point was, he didn't just kill anyone off after they weren't useful anymore. I doubted that Patches could forgive Wheels. This was all too complicated.
"I swear, if you keep thinking too much steam will come out of your head." Belts gave me a playful grin, as the big thrall twitched one of its bladed arms.
I smiled back, "Yeah, I'm not the thinking type. Just, you know? All of this, it's weird."
Belts gave me a soft nod, resting his eyes for a moment. "Yeah, I know. It is weird, but it's like you said. If we let things stay the way they are, we will lose. The fact that we're doing this? Well, it seems like we already made our choice, even if we're calling this practice."
"Yeah, I'm scared though. Promise you'll stay safe?" It just felt right to say those words.
He chuckled, "Be safe on the battlefield, okay?" He looked at me with that cheeky smirk he always had when I said something stupid. "Don't forget your launch, it's just like harvesting." Belts stuck their tongue out at me.
I couldn't stop myself from laughing, the big thrall joining in. He could feel our emotions, we could feel what he was feeling. There was something Belts felt towards me, something I couldn't put into words. Belts felt the same way, I knew we couldn't let the other die. I wouldn't let it happen. All we had to do was listen to what Gray asked us to do and he'd keep us as safe as possible.
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Guy'Belts
That dopey grin was made for his face, it belonged there. One of the Gray vampires showed up, teleporting as they tended to do. They were watching, always looking through the bugs. It wasn't hard to figure out, not when he knew things they shouldn't. At least they were polite, letting us have our moment. Spears got up first, as he should, he was supposed to lead after all. Foolish man, wonderful oaf. I was glad I couldn't blush anymore, not that he ever noticed.
Words were said, empty things. 'Go out and fight, please.' The same things the drafters would say if we were attacked, only we were here. Only, Gray didn't use weapons to force us to fight, he just asked. Our thrall lumbered forward, the cold slowing it. Not that it mattered, the more it moved the warmer it would get. Disgusting thing, made of others. Flesh molded together, knots all over its body from joints and skulls not finding a proper place. Brutal thing, no hands, just swords made of black bone.
It was cold, dew froze on the walls giving them a strange glinting shine despite the darkness. Only, we could see in the dark now. My heart would have skipped a beat, had it any beats to skip. Spears held his hand out for me, offering to help me climb onto the thrall's back. Stupid man, so foolish. I used the knotted flesh for purchase, footholds to climb up. I offered a hand in turn, and he took it, of course, he wasn't that foolish. We sat atop the disgusting monster, its loping gait taking us where we needed to go.
The cold didn't bother us anymore, it only slowed us at worst. I moved this body next to his, my foolish friend. It felt warmer, it felt right. Even if this body felt wrong, oh so wrong. The air smelt older, far too old. Memories were missing, things didn't add up. Deep in the back of my mind, I knew. Spears didn't notice, he failed to notice a lot. That's why I was here, to see the things he missed.
'Misinformation' felt so familiar, 'Tolerate No Traitors' did not. Lies nibbled at the back of my neck, screaming that it was wrong. I rested my eyes, while Spears pulled me close. "Don't push yourself, okay?" Came his foolish voice, filled with genuine concern and a desire to protect. Jerk! Bastard! I pressed further into his embrace, his arms my castle.
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"Only as much as we need to, don't be stupid." It was important to tell him not to be stupid, the foolish man. He laughed it off, as he always did. I could feel his power, washing over the other thralls. Gray didn't mind, his emotions buzzing with other more important things to focus on. It wasn't long before I could feel the sour notes of metal on metal, iron made my skin crawl. Not anymore, I suppose. Something was there, despite how my body felt.
I opened my eyes, using the mirrors to see the enemy. It didn't matter who was opposing us, they just had to die. Spears wanted to ride our abomination into battle, that part of him urging him to lead. A part I hated, one I loved just as much. Buzzing came from the buildings nearby, those explosive buzzers. The wood inside the buildings groaned, ready to collapse with popping notes. Our thralls surged forward, all together in a proper group.
Three Grays were here, one on the ground fighting with that jar on his head. Two others observing, ready to intervene as needed. Blue Banner, a safe place to start compared to the others. Small thralls surged forward, magic striking them as the enemy had learned. Spells were cast by those in the front, Aether singing to the tones of their soul. I hummed my song, looking ahead. So many things could happen, it made me feel sick. I pointed, urging Spears to follow the path I saw. The one where we both lived, unlife wouldn't be as meaningful without him.
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Guy'Spears
Belts shuddered as pain surged through us. I did my best to take everything I could. The small thralls weren't too happy to be pelted with fire, lightning, pebbles, and all the other shit they were hurling at us. The big guy started running, he didn't care too much. It didn't take long for him to crash into the enemy line, bone blades swinging. Some people were lucky enough to die from the blow, while others were just tossed away with broken bones.
A part of me had hoped it would feel better to be on the winning side. That part of me died, as I heard the men and women scream as the big guy kept moving forward. The smaller thralls caught up, putting the hurt people out of their misery. I made sure to look around for anything dangerous coming our way, though it didn't seem to matter.
Everyone beneath us wanted to kill whatever was in front of them. They didn't pay attention to the two vampires riding atop the big thrall no one could hurt. Even if we were shaking from the collective damage that our thralls were taking. We routed the enemy, pressing them back until Gray shouted for us to pull back.
The injured were dragged away. They were probably going to be turned into thralls and used elsewhere. I saw a white banner in the distance, a group of people surging forward and slamming into the blue boys. It was insanity, people killing people. Then the screams grew worse as a tattered orange banner was raised. From our spot on top of the thrall, we saw something that made me freeze.
A monster with pale skin was standing there in the middle of the battle. A wave of fire killed the Blue and White Corps in front of us, the ground charred and free of blood. The flames stopped before they could even touch one of our thralls, they stopped when they licked Gray's claws. I stared at those silver eyes, the dreaded black hair twitching. An armored monster had taken the field with a display of power.
It looked at us for a moment, it had torn wings that used to be colorful. It turned its back on us and disappeared. Gray was shaking where he stood, only to turn towards us when I thought about approaching him. "Did you see that? What did you see?"
I swallowed hard, "A monster?"
"You mean the wave of fire it unleashed? We don't know what you're asking." Belts calmly stated.
Gray slumped, "Yes, the fire. Tell me, does your army have a tradition of keeping monsters they find?"
Belts and I looked at each other, then back at him. I rubbed the back of my head, "I don't know, I think some tamers might have a talent to just make a monster blindly loyal to them." It was kind of unsettling to see how shaken he was.
"There were tents in the Black Corps we weren't allowed to go anywhere near. We thought they were breeding pins for the riding drakes, but maybe they caught things to run tests on?" Belts offered, while Gray just went still.
He laughed in a strange way, one that had goosebumps rising on my arms. "Quite, yes, that would explain a bit. A talent using 'Misinformation' to fool myself. Still, it is possible. I'll be certain soon enough." He stroked his chin, before facing the new enemy starting to trickle in.
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Gray The Grand
Talents were as varied as the different races were. Our 'queen' was seen in multiple instances, cleansing the battlefield with orange flames. Seeing her like that, was enough to move the shades into different emotional states. Most of them wanted to raze the enemy camps, if only to kill whoever was responsible for showing us such a thing. Just as we had infiltrated the enemy with spies, so too had they infiltrated our numbers.
All of them were unwitting spies, as that strand of magic made it clear they were only watched and heard through. I had a small list of fifty names, each of them equally compromised. Each 'spy' was guided away from more sensitive areas, they were fed false information to lure the assassins into traps. Our Queen wasn't here, yet I knew something subtle was worming its way into our memories.
The more we thought about it, the more likely it was slowly becoming. Some talent working to slowly corrupt our memories, while being unseen. It was merely a matter of time before we succame to the cancer spreading through us. It would leave us blindly following the enemy army, following the false queen and whatever they needed us to do. We all felt it would be better to die than serve such a thing, only our hesitation stemmed from the fact that our true Queen might save us.
Thinking about it, it made sense that the enemy would escape through a breach in those of us flanking them. Then they'd likely head to Fis'Ton to capture our Queen if they had talents for such. Only, they did not know how powerful she was, how quickly she could grow. Our Queen grieved the loss of those that passed, if we didn't give her this singular chance to save us, we would hurt her.
A vote was called, so many of the shades chose the option to die than being used in this way. Forty percent of us voted against the plan going forward. The other sixty agreed to give our Queen a chance. If she couldn't save us, then she would destroy us all. It would hurt her, but she was the one we trusted. Our strength was a fraction of her own, so there was no danger to her.
Our enemies were turning on each other, leaving the frontlines as safe as they could be. The Count had to have known this was going to happen. He didn't utter a word as we told him our plan. Perhaps, he didn't care. We were leaving his 'family' after all. We would get to go back to our 'queen' after this battle, as he promised. We would have lamented the irony if any of us cared for such a petty thing.
The grief we felt was reserved for those shades that didn't make it. The ones that were slain by some obscure talent we couldn't see or predict. Their very souls were torn from our web, unable to revive through another body. Each battle became more dangerous. It was impossible to tell what a talent did until after it was done. We could sense the magic, we could tell it was a talent being used, but the dangerous ones were just another one activating among the hundreds. Specks of magic compared to the thousands using Aether during our conflict.
Casualties were kept to a minimum, yet two bloodlines were lost tonight. The time had come to end this battle. Teleporters activated to carry all of our shades to the backlines of the enemy. We stalked through the darkest part of the night, having watched their patrols for over a week now. We entered tents, silently slicing the throats of those sleeping. Other shades discreetly assassinated guards before tossing the bare bodies into teleporters that had been used.
Slowly, we clothed ourselves in the attire our enemy wore. Ghost bugs silently landed on others that slept to ensure they never woke up. It was the correct choice to feed the spies false information about how and when we'd attack their flanks. A few final targets were gagged before they to were teleported back to the Count's manor. A final parting gift, a small plea in the hopes that he and the Queen wouldn't fight. If we died by her hand, then her anger might land on him.
The Count deserved it, yet it wasn't his actions that would bring this about. We had our vote, we made our choice. Flames flickered within the enemy camp, shadows cast with its subtle dance. We avoided the fires surrounded by soldiers that took the time to drink. Large groups were avoided, as two hundred bodies continued their silent march.
All humans slept, if they couldn't react, then it didn't matter how powerful their magic was. Tent by tent was emptied, life snuffed out with every silent opportunity. The Invisible Corps was no more after thirty minutes, the civilians facing a gentle death as opposed to a brutish one. We continued, slowly killing more soldiers, their bodies placed inside the tents we snuffed out. The teleporters were put on reserve for those few targets we sought out.
It was easy, to have a ghost sting an enemy and make them drowsy. Then a twist of their neck so they couldn't scream, followed by a clawed hand covering their mouth. A clean slice as blood magic allowed us to keep the whole affair clean. Very few sparked their magic, yet we only struck when no one could see them. So many of them felt they were safe, as the purple tents were in sight. I could smell the feast that was being thrown, the nobles laughing and cheering as some performers danced atop their tables.
Then a bell was rung, and one individual with a talent to be unseen shook the string back and forth. With one alarm going off, others started to wake up, more alarms went off despite a quick murder. This mission was suicidal, yet it was what the other forty percent agreed to do. After all, if we died here then we did so in service to our Queen. One of the shades used the dark armor of the Black Crops to continue ringing the alarm. Other shades were chased by the armored ones with torches raised as they shouted.
It was in human nature to not look too closely at one's allies after all. The bells continued to ring as we moved towards the sources of the sounds to assassinate those ringing them and slowly replace those people with my shades. Torches were thrown at tents, in an attempt to make it seem as though the alarms were only to let others think it was for fire. Confusion grew, as guards drew their weapons to attack those being chased.
The forty percent died, their souls passing on without a body to return to. The rest of us slowly moved around to give reports based on what happened. A few of us slaughtered important targets before losing a body or two. The second round of alarms went off, while we moved on to the other army.
Red banners were raised despite the time of night. Many of the tents rolled up, as wagons ladened with rations and goods were guarded by alert soldiers. Their discipline was on full display as they stood there with very few blindspots between them. Just as we struggled to figure out how to infiltrate, we heard the order given for them to move out. The wagons began moving, as we moved towards the back. Then we saw her, our queen tied to the back of the wagon.
A familiar connection reached out to us, asking us to talk to her. We knew it wasn't her, yet we couldn't deny that voice. Something was keeping us from even thinking about attacking her. Even as we slowly walked towards her, moths drawn to a flame. A group of Black Corps soldiers came to meet us, as they casually sauntered over. My last act of defiance was to sever our web from the rest of the Hive, the bugs were without a leader. We forgot what was precious to us, the logic we had used to get to this point. If we were certain it wasn't corrupted, we left it with them for our Queen to find later.
Only, one of the Black Corps members pulled out a dagger and slew me on the spot. Much to the confusion of the others around us. I felt my being torn from the web.