The Legions of Binoria put in play the cooperation that had evaded them during the first clashes of battle. Mairek watched as the circling Legions drew back and regrouped. They organized themselves and renewed their press with heavy infantry wielding larger sets of armor and bigger shields standing at the front line and having light infantry attacking from random gaps that appeared within their line. Archers stood behind the light infantry and let loose arrows that sailed onto the mass of the Talisi Green Army from over their own Legions, forcing the Talisi to have to raise their shields to block the arrows as the Army's bulk compacted from the heavy infantry sandwiching them on all sides. On top of all this the Talisi also had to parry the calculated attacks by the light infantry from the sudden gaps that formed from the linked shields of the heavy infantry. All in all the Talisi Green Army was placed on the defensive and without room to attack they suffered heavy losses.
Mairek's rigorous thrusts of his spear was easily contained by the heavy infantry soldier whose shield covered the length of his entire body and was locked to his fellow Legionnaire's similar shield. The shields would part in a sudden sequence and an attacker wielding a sword would slash and draw blood each time then the shields will lock once more and the heavy infantry would push a step forward over the felled Talisi.
Thrust and take a step back, thrust and take a step back. The futile dance that Mairek and the Talisi Army played served only to give them the false guise of control. In truth, they were as good as dead. They could feel it as their backs pressed harder into each other, as the reach of their spears became a disadvantage as the inability to thrust came about due to lack of mobility under the press of the heavy infantry. Their bodies were packed so close together that it became impossible to raise a shield that wasn't already in the air. The Talisi Green Army was packed into a cauldron that was set alight. Screams of the dying filled the night and somewhere within the mass of Binorian Legions, Ishar faced the same fate as the Talisi he fought for.
There was no mad laughter or the confident banter that had quelled the Talisi's sanity. Their bloodlust had been replaced by fear as the inevitable approached, the amber gleam of their eyes had faded back to green and dread lurked beneath. Nohj did not howl or laugh, Dhiliaf did not claim war as his purpose, they each fell into a repetitive sequence that involved pushing against the shields all around them, pushing with their hands as their spears became useless, waiting for the shields to part and someone to cut them down. There was no mistake that Ishar was already dead, why else would his God's presence depart?
"Dhiliaf no!" Mairek hadn't been paying attention, the play of time was unfolding and he could not bear witness to it and at the same time be a part of it.
The blessing of Madness had left them thrashing in the deeps, all hope gone. Dhiliaf pounded on an infantry shield, his arms pressed to his body as the Legionnaire pushed him further back. Dhiliaf let out a roar and matched the strength of the Legionnaire, they remained stuck at an impasse with neither of them moving. Suddenly the heavy infantry Legionnaire tilted his shield sideways and Dhiliaf stumbled forward to meet a swords tip through his throat and spine that emerged out of the back of his neck. Dhiliaf dropped to the ground, blood bubbling out of his mouth. His eyes fixed on Mairek right before the heavy infantry Legionnaire locked his shield back with his fellow heavy infantry and pushed forward, walking over Mairek's friend.
"Why don't you call your God?" Nohj screamed at Mairek from beside him. The look Dhiliaf had given him as he died spoke of the same question. But how could he call his God? He was a witness. That was all he was. The last time he'd altered fate had brought about the death of the entire sect of Red priests. And even if he wished to repeat the same thing regardless of the consequences, how was he going to stop Binoria? Would he scream for them to pause and clap whenever he ordered them to? It was absurd. There was nothing he could do. Nielda's blessing only made him a witness.
... there are no limits to a God's blessing.
Ishar's words echoed in his mind. In two seconds a shield would ram into Nohj, pushing him back and into the line of an approaching arrow. He heard as the shield hit his friend's body, he heard as the arrow whistled through the air to impale Nohj's eye. Mairek faced the Centala flowers crushed on the ground as he took in the whole play of time, he opened his perception to the whole battlefield and could even make out a ring of faded chaos where he believed Ishar lay. Without turning to Nohj, Mairek reached out a hand and caught the arrow an inch away from Nohj's eye. The White Beard Regiment soldier blinked rapidly as the barbed tip hovered above him. Mairek felt the workings of time push him out of its loop, the shields before him parted and four light infantry soldiers thrust forward with their swords. He watched as death reached out for him.
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The Legionnaire she faced was suddenly complimented by two others, flanking him on either side. She tried to dance back, implement a Form of Sleight that would heighten her dexterity in evasive techniques that would ensure she remained at the edge of the blades but she was not as adept at the Form as she was with Awe and Pride. A sword plunged at her thigh as another simultaneously swiped at her head. She blocked the head swipe and felt as her blade vibrated under the impact right as the other sword sunk into her leg.
Edda limped back and raised her sword to parry a thrust at her midriff, she cried out in pain as she put weight on her favored leg and fear engulfed her. The rush of recklessness born out of freedom from inhibitions had vanished, leaving her vulnerable under the weight of all that was happening. Around her the Talisi died as the light infantry Legions of Binoria worked in tandem to bring about a one sided slaughter.
The central attacking Legionnaire kicked her as his swipe failed to connect. Edda dropped to the ground and was surprised to find herself lying next to a kneeling Rehny. It appeared the Talisi circle around their King had been broken and she'd been unknowingly getting closer to where Rehny and King Gans had been as she'd fought. She looked into his vacant eyes that could no longer see her. She decided to focus on him, one who was as those stepping closer to deliver the killing blow yet also so very different. Wait.. What's tha
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Ishar groaned as Vayin Vigon took his right arm and broke it at the elbow over his knee. Tears welled in his eyes and he let them fall with a laugh.
"Still, you laugh. Retreat further into Madness, it is your only consolation." Vayin Vigon said as he took Ishar's other arm. "I will do to you what you did to my son." Ishar watched helplessly as Vayin straightened his left arm and prepared to bend it over his knee. Ishar tried to focus on Ovek, seek out the part of him where the God's touch dwelt. All he found was the pain from his broken knee and arm, grabbing his conscience and rendering him incapable of focusing on anything else. He laughed once more as Vayin observed his blue tipped fingers. "I will harvest your hands, wear them around my neck to ensure all remember you and this night."
The blue tipped fingers suddenly changed their blue hue and started glowing a magnificent purple and pink. A blinding magenta light shot up into the night sky, rivaling the moon's glow and bathing everyone in its glare from somewhere upon the Ganidan Plain. Ishar turned his head in the direction the pillar of light came from and saw as the Legions withdrew from that place, running and screaming in fear.
*Wasn't that where Gans and Rehny's bodies lay?* Ishar wondered.
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A pillar of magenta light shot into the sky and the swords coming at Mairek froze. Silence engulfed the whole Ganidan plain, nobody moved as all were rendered immobile. Mairek turned his head to the direction of the pillar of light that pierced through clouds. A distant bird that had been illuminated by the light remained frozen mid flight. From beside him a God spoke, forcing Mairek to turn.
"It is her." Nielda said. The God stood with his arms clasped behind his back, his dark skin with spotted stars was bathed in the same magenta hue as everything else and the cloud of white smoke floating above his head danced about. "She has chosen a mortal, not as a champion but as something more. She's bound herself to him so that what's left of her can belong fully in the mortal realm. Her physical essence already remained here upon her death, so now her spirit can transverse once more but her mind will be housed by the mortal” Nielda cursed and shook a fist in the direction of the pillar of light. "What has she done! The mortal is now immortal, a terrible thing I would wish on no one. We can only hope it isn't his love that has paid this price."
Mairek hesitated before speaking. "Nielda, sir.. Uhmm.. My God. Please save me from," He gestured at the swords frozen in time as they plunged at him. Nielda stood between him and the swords and the God eyed them before facing Mairek.
Nielda's midnight dark face twisted into a scowl. "Umph.. I have come here to witness the rebirth of a Goddess not to squabble in petty mortal affairs. You got yourself into this mess you can get yourself out."
"But your blessing spells death once I leave the flow of time." Mairek found himself desperate once more before the arrogant God.
"Blessing? I've heightened your perception, not christened you as my son. Besides, time is an illusion, an agreement between everything that exists, ignore it and you shall live." Nielda said.
"What?" Mairek asked while blinking in confusion.
"If the sun delays in rising, does that affect time? If people quit recording the passing of time will they be able to continue from where they'd left off? If born and raised in a place without any knowledge of time, will you be burdened by it? The only reason time exists is because it's an agreement, between two people to meet at a certain place during a certain period, between the celestial and the worldly. Just an agreement." Nielda turned away from Mairek and started stepping onto air and rising higher off the ground. "Ignore time, that's the secret."
"But aren't you the God of time?" Mairek asked. "Isn't your whole identity based on this? Wouldn't ignoring time negate your existence and purpose?"
Nielda turned back, opened his mouth to speak then closed it. He considered for a moment then said.
"Listen here you little shit." He walked back down through empty air to come to stand before Mairek.
"Nobody's going to stop believing in time just because you ignored it, I will live forever." He hesitated. "And by ignoring time you simply gain power over it, that's what I've been trying to tell you." The God turned away and a breeze carried him off the ground. "You're my champion, I am obligated to teach you and so I have. Consider this to be your first and only lesson. Feel honored for few have had the privilege to be taught by me."
"I'm going to die, aren't I?" Mairek muttered while turning his head down, refusing to meet the God's green eyes that occasionally flashed blue.
"Yeap." Nielda said and snapped his fingers. Time resumed its natural flow and the swords plunged at Mairek.
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"Impossible." Vayin Vigon said in a feminine voice. Red eyes facing the source of the magenta light. Vayin let go of Ishar's arm and it dropped to his side. "She is dead! This is impossible!"
Ishar raised his left hand that the King had let go off. He angled it over Vayin's naked chest, right above the distracted King's beating heart and pressed his palm to it.
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Ishar found himself standing on the usual black sandy ground. Everything around him a comforting black save his amber tunic that reached his ankles. He was overjoyed to find he could easily move his limbs once more and his right arm that had been bent awkwardly was straight and his knee did not hurt. He twisted around, looking for a chained or entombed Vayin Vigon only to find Ovek beside him. The God's lean muscled arms were folded on his naked chest as he observed straight ahead of him with his complexion and hair same as Ishar's.
"We are fucked." Ovek said. Ishar wondered what the God meant when suddenly four glowing orbs of light appeared in the darkness where Ishar assumed the sky was. They were burning like the sun and were spread out evenly above them, casting a golden glow over everything. The ground sprouted golden hued grass and a warm breeze blew the golden grass in concentric patterns all around them. In the distance, two figures approached with leisurely matching strides. "Meena is stronger than me, of course she would overcome my domain." Ovek said. As the two figures neared Ishar realized that the male looked nothing like Vayin Vigon. His eyebrows were too bushy, his build too bulky. His face too burly. A rugged appearance that likened him more to a warrior than a king. The only similarity between him and Vayin Vigon was the towering height.
"Who is that? Where is Vayin Vigon?" Ishar asked while looking around.
"That is Selarch Vigon, have you never wondered why Meena only chooses from the male lineage?"** Ovek asked. "Vayin Vigon was no more the minute Meena's blessing came upon him, Vayin relinquished his spirit and gave his body to his ancestor as his father did before him and so on. Selarch has just been living for centuries in the bodies of his male descendants. Meena can never afford to let her lover go." Ishar audibly swallowed as he watched the pair approach. Ovek was indeed right. They were fucked.