Romulus approached the herald standing between the Blackstone forces and his own Shades with Zerachiel, Isolde, Victor, and the ephemeral Mortarius in tow. An equivalent delegation — minus one since Mortarius was invisible — had departed from the Blackstone side with two knights, a man in boiled leather, and what appeared to be some sort of cleric or priest accompanying them. Romulus didn’t need to see Mortarius’ look of distaste to know the Priest was a follower of Solarius. The obnoxious, colossal sunburst on the robed man’s pristine white tabard announced that readily enough.
The herald departed without the flag when the Blackstone group was about halfway over the open square and the two groups met a minute later in the flag’s shadow. He saw the eyes of his would-be foes dart across his features, then Isolde’s, and then take in Victor’s face. When their eyes went to Zerachiel, he saw one of the knights — the younger of the two, from his youthful features — and the cleric visibly blanch in fear.
The spectral General simply stared at them.
“Good day to you.” The elder knight began firmly, his barbute helm held in the crook of his right arm. “I am Sir Liam Carstaire, appointed General and Knight of the forces of Blackstone. With me are Sir Frederic Powell, Master Harrison Longsight, and Brother Heinrich Ziegler of the Solarian Order of the Gilded Chalice.”
Romulus listened as the individuals were introduced, and inclined his head as he knew was proper. When he opened his mouth to speak however, the expected issue came immediately. The source though was a surprise.
“Greetings Sir Liam—”
“This cannot stand!” Sir Frederic said with a hint of whiny, nasally entitlement to his voice that set Romulus’ teeth on edge. “These creatures are the spawn of Sin! We cannot permit their existence here, Sir Carstaire. Surely you cannot intend to—!”
“What I intend—” the elder knight cut in harshly “—is to try to avoid wasting unnecessary lives, Sir Frederic; including your own! Insulting parties at parley is a direct contravention of that goal, and I will bid you to hold your tongue!”
“Sir Liam, if I may spe—?”
“You may not, Brother Heinrich. I have no doubt at all that what you have to say, these people can already guess. Besides as I’ve stated, this is a matter for Blackstone, not for the Church.” The knight, his black hair streaked with grey, turned back to Romulus and his companions after that. “I apologise. Please continue.”
Romulus found himself liking Sir Liam immediately. The older Knight’s towering height and muscular frame, of a match with Zerachiel, inspired memories of every gallant warrior archetype he’d ever read about. Instead of speaking again, however, he turned to Isolde and nodded to her.
Like the Noble she was raised to be, she stepped forward immediately. “Knight-General Carstaire. It is a pleasure to see you again so soon.”
The four natives blinked at her in confusion for a moment before recognition dawned on their features. The man in boiled leather that Romulus assumed to be an officer among the ‘regular’ troops was the first to key in, followed by Liam and then the other two.
“Lady Isolde?” The older knight asked in surprise. “What has happened to you, you look—!”
“Blessed.” She interjected with just a touch of warning to her voice. “Elevated. Gifted. Yes, Sir Liam: I am all those things and more. I am also, it may pain you to hear, also present to speak to you with terms of surrender.”
“Surrender?” Liam asked with a glance at Romulus, Victor, and Zerachiel. “I presume not your own, unless the world has become far less mad in the last ten seconds than it was prior.”
“Unfortunately my lord, no. You presume correctly.” Isolde turned while ignoring the looks of slack-jawed shock from Frederic and Heinrich and gestured with a black-gauntleted hand to Romulus. “I stand here in service to His Eternal Majesty the Revenant-King, Avatar of Darkness and Herald of She of the End. It is to him that I owe my new gifts, and to him that I owe my faith and fealty.”
She turned back to the four men of her home city, expertly ignoring the stunned looks on their faces. “Now, and in perpetuity. By my father’s own hand did these events come to pass, and by his own doing is the Revenant-King the new ruler of this ancient and venerable city we call home.”
“That is a lot to swallow, Lady Isolde. Especially given your new appearance.” Liam said into the momentary silence that followed. “I admit to some difficulty in believing such a statement. Add your new visage to the mix, and—”
“I hear and understand your trepidation Sir Liam. All I can tell you is that, in spite of the dogmatic lies spewed by certain factions—” she glanced coldly at Heinrich “—I am in fact in sound health and of steady mind. We are at a crossroads, certainly, but you saw the System alert. It announced his coming. This is no more about rumours or speculation. The Avatar of Darkness is here before you and he comes with an offer.”
The four men turned from Isolde to Romulus at her words, though with vastly different expressions on their faces. Frederic and Heinrich showed a mix of suspicion, anger, and what he identified with a measure of satisfaction as fear. Harrison and Liam, meanwhile, seemed more thoughtful. The older knight and common soldier both appeared far more willing to think outside of the lines when it came to things such as what Isolde spoke of.
“What Isolde says is true.” Romulus said before anyone thought to interrupt him. “I came to Blackstone not to conquer, but to uplift. This city has long had a presence acting as a smother to the souls of those within, but that is merely a consequence of injustice. The Dark Lady was betrayed and imprisoned, and Death imbalanced with the act. Now that she is free she sent me here to the former seat of her power to put things back to rights.”
He fixed his eyes on Heinrich seeing the smaller monk swallow back words as he paled further. “Solarius and his ilk would see you all bowed and constrained by archaic beliefs in absolute good and evil, and following the dictates of an arrogant blowhard more interested in his own popularity than the good of his faithful. He would control how you act and how you live with no benefit beyond arbitrary and empty words of protection.”
Heinrich finally started to bristle, and Romulus fed mana to his Aura of Darkness.
The Monk let out something akin to a muted whine and said nothing while Romulus noticed the other three adopting expressions in varying levels of mild discomfort.
“You said you had an offer, Revenant-King?” Liam prompted in a diplomatic voice.
“Join me. Isolde has sworn fealty to me, and by her own words her father’s authority is now mine. I have taken fully half his Wardens as my own and the rest are surely soon to follow.” Romulus looked between them as he spoke, noting the guarded nature of Liam’s features, the consideration on Harrison’s, the suspicion on Frederic’s, and the fear and loathing on Heinrich’s. “The only hurdle remaining outside of your forces here is the King’s garrison… but why die for a monarch you have neither attachment nor sentiment toward? Oaths are powerful things, but only when made properly. This city is mine by right and as such your oaths of fealty to the Duke must transfer with them.”
“My father is no longer with us.” Isolde confirmed from beside him. “And as his only living heir, I have given my fealty to the Revenant-King. If you hold true to your oaths to my bloodline, then the man before you is your legal and rightful liege.”
“Preposterous!” Frederic spat out at last. “Absolute tripe! You expect us to just blindly put our faith in this insanity?! Lady Argent is clearly bewitched, and from the sounds of it, you’ve murdered His Grace the Duke! We will never allow such—!”
“Hold your tongue, Sir Frederic!” Liam cut in harshly. The thunder of his voice silenced the younger knight immediately and Frederic’s face paled in fear. Heinrich looked mutinous as well, but appeared to know better than to try to interject. Liam, it seemed, was no Solarian patsy.
“But Sir Liam, I—!”
“I said hold your tongue!” The older knight growled again.
This time the younger man pressed his lips together and said nothing, averting his gaze from all of them.
Romulus focused on the General as he turned back to them.
“What you say gives me much to consider.” Sir Liam said with candour. “I take my oaths seriously, and regardless of your forbidding presence; I know Lady Isolde when I see her. I am old enough to have known her parents in their youth and I see much of her mother in the ferocity of her gaze — changed though it might be. Nonetheless I must consider your words carefully, and consult with my compatriots. Would you be willing to grant me leave to do so?”
“I would.” Romulus said immediately. “But only a brief respite, Knight-General. I am not interested in being stalled.”
“I understand, Your Grace.” Sir Liam said with a nod. “Would one hour be agreeable?”
“Hector’s detachment has yet to engage the Garrison.” Mortarius said from beside him, glancing at Zerachiel a moment before he did so. Romulus took on a contemplative stance while listening to Mortarius speak, to give the impression he was mulling Liam’s request. “Even when they do meet the conversation there will be at least ten minutes for the sake of proper conduct. You have the time, as long as it isn’t pushed beyond the hour allotted. It will also show you to be quite reasonable.”
“Very well.” Romulus said to Sir Liam a moment after Mortarius finished. “One hour, and no less. I trust the System’s timekeeping will suffice?”
“It shall.” The Knight-General agreed. “I shall return an hour hence, or sooner if the fates are good. At that time, we shall decide if there is to be a battle here.”
“Go with my hopes that such won’t be the case then Sir Liam.” Romulus responded with as much charisma as he could produce. “I await what I hope to be good news for both of us.”
“Good luck Sir Liam.” Isolde said from his side.
“Thank you Your Majesty, Lady Isolde.” The large knight said, before turning and motioning the other three to fall in with him.
Harrison inclined his head respectfully and turned to follow Liam, having been silently contemplative throughout the exchange. Sir Frederic glared at them all before following, and finally Heinrich turned to join them — but not without a parting statement.
“You cannot defeat my God heretics.” He said with fervent belief. “Even if you take a small victory here, the Legions of the Light are endless. He will see you destroyed, and your foul Goddess chained once more.”
“He will certainly try.” Romulus responded simply as the monk departed, and filed away the fact that Heinrich had known something of Lilith’s imprisonment. Perhaps there was a greater complicity to Solarius’ actions within the Church than he’d first suspected.
Romulus turned to his companions when the natives had departed and immediately looked to Isolde. “Liam seems like an absolute giga chad.” He said without thinking about it.
The look of bewilderment on her face that had reflected on the others made him realise his mistake quickly.
“Slang.” He said with an apologetic smile and mental admonishment for breaking character. He’d been very careful with staying ‘true to the environment’ until his excitement had overtaken his sense. “But in essence, the Knight-General appears to be someone I find myself immediately respecting. He’s intelligent, rational, and clearly understands how to conduct himself with dignity. In my world he’d be considered someone out of a heroic storybook.”
“Sir Liam is well-known for his honour and integrity.” Victor agreed from Isolde’s side. “If these ‘giga chads’ you speak of are as honourable as you infer Your Majesty, then I would also agree that Sir Liam would be among their number.”
Romulus fought to keep his expression neutral as he nodded his agreement, and pondered whether or not he’d just unleashed very unfortunate vernacular upon Eternus.
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Sir Liam won’t allow deliberations to take more than the hour agreed.” Isolde said on the heels of Victor’s statement. “He also won’t delay beyond the point of decision. In the end it’s his call, but if he wants to cede authority to you my King, he will need his subordinates on-board.”
“That man already made up his mind.” Zerachiel intoned in his deep bass. “It was in his eyes. He chose to believe the Inquisitor was who she was before her Kiss and he thus is bound to adhere to her words. If his officers concur with his assessment Sire, you will have this army as your own.”
“If that happens, then taking Blackstone will be far easier and holding it far less taxing.” Romulus said with a nod. “People will always respond better to familiarity than anything else. Your Shades General, are not my idea of a proper peacekeeping force even ignoring your limited manifestation.”
“On that we agree, my King.” Zerachiel replied with a nod. “My soldiers are formidable, but they are weapons of war not peacekeepers. You will need the native population on your side to secure this place as your own in truth.”
“Your part in restoring it will help.” Isolde added a moment later. “The people are not blind. They saw the System message, saw the light from the Necropolis, and saw you marching out from it. They know that the reshaping of this place, and the wonders it brought are by your hand. Only a fool or liar would say otherwise and Blackstone has never tolerated either for long.”
“And what of when I rename this city?” Romulus asked with a curious glance. “Will they still appreciate it then?”
“That is the privilege of rule.” Isolde responded confidently. “You may dictate a city’s identity any way in which you desire, if it is yours to be dictated.”
“You will have use of my forces for three more days yet, Sire.” Zerachiel said thereafter. “There are of course ways to extend our presence… but in such a circumstance I fear you would be sacrificing more than you would be willing to pay.”
Romulus raised an eyebrow at the Shade but chose not to probe further, and instead turned to where Sir Liam stood surrounded by his subordinates. He noticed Heinrich and Sir Frederic talking by themselves a little bit away from the group and shuffled that away in his mind. He’d need to keep an open eye on the two of them.
“All we can do now is wait.” Isolde said into the contemplative silence. “And hope that they make the smart decision.”
Romulus nodded and stepped away from his company. When nobody followed him, for which he was thankful, he turned his back to them and spoke instead to Mortarius while looking up at the boiling storm clouds. “How did you know that Hector hadn’t engaged?”
“Zerachiel is connected to all the other Shades.” Mortarius answered simply. “He and I can speak both outwardly and inwardly.”
That confirmed one of Romulus’ suspicions at least.
“I could probably discover the same through my Warmaster interface, I’d assume?”
“You could.” Mortarius agreed. “Though again, now is a poor time to begin experimenting. You cannot simply play around with it and hope. One wrong order or incorrect deployment and you will kill your own forces as surely as the enemy’s blades.”
“I understand. I take it I’ll need to use non-lethal wargames to gain a proper understanding of its use?”
“That would be ideal, yes. The Shades would make fine proxies for that after all is said and done.”
Romulus nodded and stroked Lightsbane’s hilt, to which the Runeblade offered a thrum of appreciation and eagerness. It at least was hoping that the Blackstone forces didn’t see reason. Bloodthirsty sword. The inherent loyalty of its responses was more than endearing enough that he didn’t really mind though.
“What did Zerachiel mean by extending the Shades’ presence?”
“The Well.” Mortarius said immediately. “If you sacrifice three lives for each Shade, you could in theory make them permanent residents of this plane, tied to your own life force or to the Well. The problem of course, is that they require constant fuel to sustain their corporeal bodies. When actively at war it is not a terrible idea since they can use your slain enemies as sustenance. When not engaged in constant combat however…”
“They use me or the Well.” Romulus concluded with a sigh.
“Correct.”
“I would estimate over three thousand Shades to be no small level of drain on resources.”
“Correct again.” Mortarius said with a nod. “It would cripple the Well or cripple you. Either one is not worth what you gain, no matter how prolific they are as soldiers.”
“Something for emergencies then.” He frowned as he thought it over. “It seems odd to impose such a great cost on attaining permanency for each of them and then make their presence unsustainable.”
“Balance.” Mortarius said simply. “Even Gods have rules they must follow, and the Shades fall under divine purview. The Dark Lady rarely speaks of her Father, but it is He that imposed the laws that govern the Six. All I know is that His rules are more or less immutable.”
“Interesting…” Romulus said as he turned toward the Blackstone forces.
Mortarius fell silent after that, and Romulus was content to let him do so. His eyes flickered to the System-clock in his top right, and he noted only ten minutes had passed. He suppressed a sigh as he turned back to his companions and started walking, hand idly stroking along Lightsbane’s hilt. He had given them an hour, and an hour he would wait.
The time would not be wasted.
The moment he rejoined the others he called for their attention.
Then he started to plan.
࿇ ࿇ ࿇ ࿇ ࿇
The hour passed quickly while Romulus and his companions spoke, and when the five minute mark arrived his HUD pinged to alert him. As his eyes noted the time he turned to look to where Sir Liam stood with his subordinates still. As if also alerted by the System, the older Knight finally slashed his hand down to cut off what appeared to be an emphatic argument from Sir Frederic and another of the Knights, with Heinrich lurking behind them.
At the Knight-General’s gesture the two knights seemed to subside in their arguments and stalked away with Heinrich in tow. It wasn’t hard to see the physical details, though Romulus found his enhanced hearing was not quite up to the task of discerning the disagreement. He could suspect its nature however, and that gave him a surge of relief: Sir Liam would be choosing an option that infuriated Frederic, which meant good news for Romulus and his companions.
“They’re coming.” Isolde said from his left, drawing the attention of the rest of the group as Sir Liam turned toward them.
Once again it was Harrison, Sir Frederic, and Heinrich that accompanied him. The latter two however seemed to do so with faces of controlled calm. Perhaps it could even be called resignation. Another good sign.
Romulus relaxed his hand on Lightsbane’s hilt and stood at what he believed to be a casual parade rest as Liam approached with his compatriots, and came to a halt a polite distance away.
“Knight-General. I take it you have come to a decision?” Isolde prompted.
“We have, my lady.” Sir Liam replied. “After discussion, it has been decided that the path ahead of us is clear: Our oaths compel our adherence to proper procedure, and in this case, the fealty owed to the man you call the Revenant-King.”
Romulus glanced at Heinrich while Liam spoke, noting the look of focus on the monk’s face as he stared at something beyond Romulus. The man must have been hating his new reality, to look so intently at all of nothing.
“These are glad tidings, Sir Liam.” Isolde said with clear happiness. “It will be an honour to have you at our…”
“Something is wrong.” Mortarius muttered from Romulus’ side as Isolde spoke.
A glance at his predecessor showed a look of concern on the wraith’s features.
“What is it?” Romulus murmured as Isolde and Liam continued to speak.
“I can feel Light-aspected mana weaving around us. It’s faint and subtle… Enough that I can only sense it given my nature as a former Avatar. I doubt even Zerachiel can fully feel it, but it’s there. The Monk is doing something.”
“Then we need to stop—”
A sudden burst of light cut off Romulus, and before he could react, he heard Isolde cry out and the sound of Zerachiel snarling. When his vision cleared, Zerachiel stood with his blade impaled in Sir Liam’s chest, Harrison was face-down on the ground bleeding from his back, and Victor had his sword locked with Sir Frederic’s own, which was already bloody. Confusion and suspicion dominated Romulus’ mind, until Heinrich’s voice filled the area.
“The traitors have broken the truce! Sir Liam has been slain! We are betrayed!”
“What the fuck happened?!” Romulus demanded as Heinrich and Frederic raced back toward the Blackstone lines, where troops were blowing horns and shouting frantic orders to ready their forces.
“Sir Liam drew a sword and attacked Lady Isolde.” Victor said with clear confusion and anger. “But it was strange… He wasn’t holding a sword after the General impaled him.”
“I don’t understand…” Isolde said as she knelt next to the wounded Knight-General. “Why?”
“I… Didn’t…” The wounded man gasped, eyes darting between them rapidly as blood filled his lungs and bubbled on his lips.
“Illusion magic.” Mortarius said from beside Romulus as they watched, drawing Zerachiel’s attention as well. “That must have been what I sensed. Solarius’ domain is Light, which lends itself to illusion among other schools of magic. Brother Heinrich could easily have crafted a convincing illusion visible only to those of us here.”
Romulus’ eyes widened at the final point, and he cursed internally as he looked over Liam’s wounded form.
“It was illusion magic.” He said out loud while grinding his teeth. “The monk used fucking illusions to trick us into thinking Sir Liam attacked, but let his forces see the actual reality. It must have looked as if Zerachiel attacked completely unprovoked.”
“That motherless son of a whore!” Victor swore.
Leaving aside the contradiction of the insult, Romulus glanced back at the Blackstone forces. “We can’t do anything about it now. Grab Sir Liam and Harrison, and we’ll head back to our lines.”
“You want to take them with us?” Zerachiel asked in surprise.
“Sir Liam was clearly prepared to follow his honour, and me by extension.” Romulus replied firmly. He had seen the cost of wasting such men in too many novels, shows, and movies to repeat the mistake. “As for Harrison, he’s been stabbed in the back. If nothing else, that tells me he may have been less-than-amenable to the betrayal.” His voice firmed to one of authoritative dictation. “Take them with us. We’re going now.”
No more argument followed and the group bid a hasty retreat toward the Shades, whose formation resembled a mix between a greek phalanx and a roman testudo with a front line of interlocked and layered shields and lowered spears, while the back lines held their own shields up to divert incoming arrow fire. When Romulus and his companions approached the line the spectral warriors smoothly parted to let them in, before flowing back into formation behind them.
Sir Liam and Harrison were handed off to two of the Dark Templars while Romulus turned to Zerachiel. “The battle is yours. I’m out of my depth right now. I already gave you my thoughts while we were waiting. I trust you to execute them if or how you feel necessary.”
Zerachiel gave him an appraising look and then graced him with the ghost of a smile. “Humility, wisdom, and ruthlessness all encompassed in one so young. Very well my King, I will stand as your General in truth and not name alone.”
“You’ve had to do the latter beforehand?” Romulus asked before he could stop himself.
“When I lived, I served your predecessor.” Zerachiel said with a glance at Mortarius, who studiously ignored him. “I am not too arrogant to admit that I was outclassed.”
Romulus took care to remember that statement as he glanced at the impassive visage of his spectral mentor. After a moment of consideration he nodded. “Then I will endeavour to surpass that example in honour of your compliments, General.”
“I have no doubt you will Sire.” The Shade replied with finality before bowing and turning away to begin barking commands.
“You know what has to be done.” Mortarius said before anyone else could interrupt. “The Dark Faith is about strength at its core. No Revenant-King worth Her love can stand behind others in such times. In future you will have to take a more measured approach to the prosecution of war, but now is not one of those times. It is time to be more than just another eloquent monarch. More than a charismatic leader.”
“I have to show them.” Romulus concurred.
“You have to show everyone what it means to face a Revenant-King in battle.”
“For Her.”
“For yourself.” Mortarius said with finality.
Romulus understood what he meant. Even now part of him questioned whether he could really do what he needed to. For all that he’d thrown himself into the ‘role’ Eternus had given him, there was a part of him that was still the twenty-three year old history major from Earth. He’d never done more than the usual schoolyard scuffles and those were poor comparison to a real fight. He had to smother the doubts and the only way he could was by definitively proving to himself that they had no basis in truth. At least not here, not where he had come to be more than he could on Earth.
He’d wanted to seize adventure like the humans of old. Now was his chance.
“Isolde!” Romulus called as he turned and found her already at his side and waiting patiently.
“I am here my King.” She answered calmly.
“Bring me to Liam.” He said levelly. “I have something I must do before this battle starts in earnest.”
“We only have minutes at best.” She warned.
“It will do.” He said. “Take me. Now.”
She complied and Romulus followed her as the first horns began to sound.