Ten

Fifteen

Twenty five

He stopped counting, he forgot whether he was keeping track of the seconds that went past, grains of sand trickling down the hour glass to mark the passage of time, or was it the number of bodies pilling all around him? His spear had been halved by a Legionnaire who'd taken it upon himself to rob him of his weapon, sacrificing his life so as to give Binoria a chance to put him down. How foolish. Didn't the Legionnaire see the gap he created in time by slashing at the weapon instead of at him? Didn't he feel time's resentment at his failure to deliver the killing strike? Time did not bow to compromise. Its will was efficacious towards its purpose, and woe unto you who failed to serve time's goal. The gap created by the Legionnaire was filled by more of his kind, and all who stumbled into it met instant death at the hands of the Talisi fighting beside him.

The Talisi Green Army saw their chance, delivered by the young lad belonging to Sergeant Goki's Regiment. They crowded in the direction Mairek walked as all around him bodies fell as his hands moved in a blur, delivering death by the touch of a short spear. The Talisi thrust their spears with renewed vigor in answer to their war hero's valiance, keeping a wide berth of Mairek for they could see the blue glow of his eyes and knew the touch of a God was in their midst. The Talisi poured out of the hole Mairek had created within the Legions that had surrounded them. Like puss out of a boil, they poured out, flanking Mairek to ensure none attacked from behind. They stole glances at him as Legionnaires fell all around him, the tip of the short spear piercing helm eye slits and the weak links between armor plates. Mairek delivered death with precision and the Talisi witnessed in awe.

Mairek smiled and the three Legionnaires before him hesitated before they lunged. Their swords were longer than his shattered spear and their shields were sturdier than any the Talisi had but his glowing blue eyes spoke of a vast power that held them back, a power that stemmed from the simple thing that brought the smile to his face, Ignorance. Their swords were longer, with a bigger reach? He ignored that. There was no way to dig around the large shield to deliver the killing strike? He ignored that too.

The texture put in place by time so as to give reality a certain touch lost its purpose before his eyes, nothing mattered, the texture was but a facade put in place by the belief of the masses. All could be ignored and in so doing the one with the big shield was suddenly pushed forward by an impatient Legionnaire behind him and Mairek immediately knew when and where to thrust with his short spear, right at the neck where the armor had worn out. Before the man hit the ground the other the Legionnaire to the left had the short spear sticking out of his eye socket, before he even registered his death the Legionnaire to the right suffered the same fate, half spear through the eye, driving into the back of the skull. Mairek jerked his weapon free of the Legionnaire and the three bodies dropped to the ground in negligible intervals.

Then, everything stilled.

He wanted motion, to dance some more and command the working of time with blissful ignorance but the Legionnaires did not move to engage him. They stood out of reach, eyes fixed on him, a bewildered look on those without helms. His smile faded as realization dawned on him.

"Ignorance works both ways." Nielda said from beside him.

Mairek turned and faced the God who stood with his arms crossed over his dusk colored tunic. "Time will now ignore me?" He asked.

"Alas. It's the price of being free of it." Nielda said. There was something to the God's green eyes, a certain gleam as if he was regarding a masterpiece, something he had molded from nothing.

Nielda waved a hand and time resumed but slowly, too slowly. Talisi soldiers ran on either side of the God and his champion as they stood staring at each other, but the amount of time it took for a boot to meet the ground so as to propel a body forward was just too long.

"What are the consequences?" Mairek asked.

"Of what?"

"OF WHAT YOU HAVE DONE TO ME! OF WHAT I HAVE BECOME!"

Nielda shook his head from side to side. "Don't raise your voice at me, boy. I was there when this world was forged into existence. I saw the pillars holding up the realm forged from the sun's nucleus get put in place. I am not to be talked to in such a manner. You wanted to live? I told you how to and now you have lived. You should be kissing my feet and offering to lick my armpits not yelling at me."

"Gods you’re such a diva." Mairek said and ignored Nielda's raised brows. He turned and regarded the Talisi army whose slow pace had them crushing into the immobile Legions who stood like statues. "What's happening here?"

"What is a diva?"

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"It's a type of bird."

"Mmhh. Well," Nielda pointed at the slow ongoing one-sided battle. "Time has discarded those who'd failed to prove its existence by delivering your death, they are trapped within an inability to act and the Talisi have been fed a singular purpose, time has taken a hold of them and is using them to discard of its failed tools while ignoring you as it does so. But in so doing it hopes you'd acknowledge it, and once you do it will seek to kill you. The blessing of Nielda is upon the Talisi who have witnessed me through you, better than Ovek's blessing of lunacy, right? "

Mairek watched as Nohj raised his spear in an upward thrust crunching through the metal helm of a soldier who took several seconds to drop. At the other end was Sergeant Goki, one of his eyes was missing but the other had a faint blue glow to it. The Sergeant held a sword in hand, his face twisted into a savage snarl as he chopped down immobile Legionnaires with slow arcs of the blade ... Ovek's blessing? Mairek's eyes widened. ISHAR!

Time resumed its normal flow. The God of time faded back into the sky to spectate the beautiful unfolding of fate. Indeed he had missed the joy of the gentle push, pull and nudge. The playing with fate and the creation of destiny. Locha had stolen it from him, severing his ability to weave fate, but that didn't mean he was completely incapable of doing so. Nielda watched as his champion stood still, Talisi soldiers passing him and shouting triumph at his face before heading to spill the blood of an already conquered foe. His champion, What was the little shit's name? Ah, doesn't matter. I will call him Diva for he too is like a bird. The boy was listening, perceiving all that was happening upon the Ganidan Plain. He leaned his hand back, clutching that despicable half spear, aiming at a point in the sky that Nielda was coincidentally floating at. With a shout Diva threw the half spear and Nielda watched it sail just beneath his feet.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Vayin Vigon brought the sword down upon Ishar's neck. His grey eyes sparkling with triumph. The night hadn't gone as expected but victory was always imminent. He was after all the chosen one of the most powerful Goddess. The Goddess who loved only him, who chose him above all else. Who showered him with favor and genuine shared love. Yes, that will never change. A half spear came out of nowhere and dug through his sword arm right before he struck at his victim, bringing his swipe wide of the Kolotian and resulting in the sword falling out of his grip. He observed with shock the splintered end of the spear protruding from one side and its barbed end emerging out of the other side of his arm. Pain flashed through his arm and blood painted his pale skin crimson. Legionnaires who stood witness to their King's supposed triumph over the Kolotian gasped with shock and took a collective step back.

Vayin Vigon lifted his left hand, signaled with two fingers with his eyes still on the Kolotian. A coincidence. He decided concerning the spear jutting out of his right arm. A sword was tossed at him but right before his palm gripped it a full spear came out of nowhere and hit the pommel of the sword, sending it whirling around until its sharp edge skinned the bicep of his left arm. The Legionnaires and their King all turned in the direction the spear had come from.

In that direction where Vayin Vigon faced. A Talisi young man stood with a spear in hand with several fellow Talisi soldiers surrounding him in a protective circle, each holding two spears as all around them other soldiers drove the Legions further away. The soldiers had witnessed the lad they surrounded turn the tide of battle, and they continue to witness as his glowing blue eyes focused on the Centala flowers as he maintained a statue like pose. They had all made an unspoken agreement to stick to the lad's side, willing to give their life for him and also do his bidding. And at the moment, the lad needed spears.

Mairek observed the ground, perceiving all that happened in the battle. Pride, he decided, was the reason Vayin Vigon could not give the simple command to take out Ishar. He had to do it himself. Mairek could hear his friend's steady breathing, Ishar was still alive. The signal was given by the King for another weapon. The Goddess of Order did ensure time worked in the King's favor and a direct attack on Vayin Vigon wouldn't work but the brief proximity to chaos, to Ishar, allowed a blurring of the lines that rendered action from a place of either order or chaos susceptible to outside interference. And it is there Mairek aimed, he leaned back again with a fresh spear in hand, tip pointing at the sky with the other hand outstretched before him. He launched it into the sky with incredible God like strength, feeling as the weapon cut through the air in a wide arc that shattered the vambrace of the soldier whose outstretched arm was about to hand over a sword to Vayin Vigon. He smiled as he heard the Binorian King curse. He straightened his empty hand and another spear was placed into it.

Mairek could not maintain this forever, that he knew, just long enough for that burning music he could feel, hear, taste and see, that was heading towards where Ishar and Vayin were. An unstoppable force he could only describe as a raging symphony that twisted time's working into a glamorous alignment that spoke of an emotion within him that he thought he'd long since forgotten, something he'd only ever felt with Jesna.

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In the furthest distance from what was happening in the middle of the Ganidan Plain where the champions of Gods converged. At the outskirts of the Legions a Telinete Rhino bellowed with frustration due to an endless chase, tearing circles through the Legions and bringing disarray to ordered ranks of Legionnaires who had been standing witness to a failing battle while awaiting the order for them to engage. Carrot enjoyed the run through the Legions. The female, Cabby as his friend called her, was extremely angry at him for not facing her in a fight to the death. His friend had assured him that her chasing him would be much more enjoyable than all the cabbages in the realm and indeed it was. What wisdom his friend held. Cabby bellowed her challenge once more but Carrot ignored it, not wanting to seem desperate. Carrot sprinted straight for the things wearing red metal that struggled to flee from him yet failed to do so, giving Cabby no choice but to follow in his wake. He hoped she was taking note of his speed and dexterity, very important attributes for a male including his thick carapace behind that was thicker than any male's. Being chased by a female was an amazing experience, he would recount everything to his friend when they met again. His friend, one whose wisdom and knowledge of all things surprised even him.