Memories

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That evening Celine and I clashed wooden swords during practice. Usually there would be some higher-up commanders in the training ground to monitor us, but that day there were no watchful eyes. I appreciated that. It helped me speak more freely.

“Who did you face during the attack on the village?”

Celine dodged my attack and brought her sword to my ankles. I sidestepped and jabbed it away.

“That mage Malek and his demon army. I also met that bitch Ekta,” her fighting got fierce as she mentioned the demoness’s name. “She gave me one hell of a fight, then retreated when she saw we were winning.”

I dodged another two of her attacks. Then a third and a fourth. I realized with a start that I was now on the defense.

“Why were they desperately fighting for that village anyway?”

“Why? To protect demon kind. There’s nothing more to it.”

“Did losing to Ekta piss you off?”

That made her angry. She came onto me with more blows than I expected. Splinters of wood flew off as the swords hit each other.

“No,” Celine growled. “I almost won. She was just afraid in the end.”

I waited until her next attack landed, jogged to the left and brought the smacked her wrist with the tip of my sword. But she was quick. She switched the sides of her weapon, and pointed it at my throat.

She won.

“Ha!” Celine grinned. “You might be good with a lot of things hero but not sword fighting with me.”

“True,” I said, retreating back and giving a grim smile. “I’m lucky you are on my side.”

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The demon king’s magic was very simple to understand. Instead of runes he used tattoos. They were the tattoos I had seen in my body.

People like Ekta had only three to four tattoos that could be used, but I was different.

“Twenty Six of them,” she explained, devouring the soup the old man brought to us. “There are twenty six tattoos around your body. They all start with a unique letter and all do a specific function. Just like those damn union has their runes, you have your tattoos. But, you stand at an advantage.”

I edged forwards in my seat. “Explain.”

“The Rune Mages of the union can use only one rune at a time. But you have the ability to use three at the same time. You just need to learn to cast them.”

“How fast can I learn them?”

“You can’t learn all twenty six. But I’ll teach you the most important five.”

A few hours later I stood at the gates of the village, watching Commander Larg’s army drag away their dead and prepare for a second round. The wingedlings who assisted us were perched on the rooftops of the houses, but the villagers didn’t seem to mind them. I flinched when a child picked up a rock and threw it at one creature. But it didn’t attack back. It snatched the rock from thin air and threw it into its mouth.

Funny how the winged beasts who tore off humans like paper a few minutes ago were suddenly tame towards a little boy.

My eyes caught Malek shuffling in the distance. Behind him there was a queue of young men and women dressed in loose clothing. I walked in that direction before Ekta came out of nowhere and stopped me.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“He’s preparing the army. It’s much better if you don’t head that way.”

I pushed her hand and moved near. Malek stood at the very front of the queue. He swirled his staff, and each time he did, red sparks flew out from its tips. There was a large magical circle in front of him, glowing with a blue hue.

The man at the very front of the queue stripped his clothes until he was naked. He stood at the center of the circle, and Malek muttered something while swirling his staff. A short while later he clasped his hands. Sparks fissured out from the circle and the man bent down screaming.

I watched in horror as cracks appeared in the ground and a scaly red hand emerged out from it. The rest of the creature’s body slowly pushed upwards through the cracks. Its head was maligned, with two eyes on its left and one on its right. A forked tongue darted out behind the sharp teeth, and its hunched back made it touch the ground on all fours.

As the man’s screams died, the demons screams echoed. It lurched back, and crawled behind the wizard.

What sort of twisted magic is this?

I turned to see Ekta studying me. I hid my expression with a look of confidence.

“What is he doing?”

She stood beside me. “Like I said, we are Legins. Our blood has the ability to summon demons from hell with the right kind of spell. Malek’s magic allows our souls to fuse their souls with a soul from hell. All under his command.”

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I watched a woman strip and approach the circle. She underwent the same ritual, and when she screamed and fell down, another demon climbed out from the same cracks of the ground. It’s hair and nails were longer, it’s skin was more pale, and it gave a deadly scream to the sky.

“So Malek can cast a spell on you and summon a demon too?”

Ekta grimaced. “There are people like you and me who are special. Our blood cannot be infused with his magic, we gain power from the tattoos carved to our bodies. But these people…their souls are exchanged with souls from hell.”

So that’s how the demon king got his army.

“What happens when the demons are killed?”

“That depends on the binding. Sometimes it kills the human soul. At other times, it cripples them permanently.”

I shivered. All the demons I had been killing these years were demons summoned from human souls. Humans with hearts, thoughts, and families.

“Innocents-” I muttered, then realized Ekta was listening closely.

I paled harder than the demon beside me, but she wasn’t looking at me. “They aren’t being forced to do it. They come here willingly. They want to prove their strength to you.”

She was right. No person in the queue seemed to be dragged in there. With each transformation they seemed eager until they got their own turn.

In the distance there was another battle horn. Malek turned his head in the direction of the sound, and started muttering faster.

“They are coming,” Ekta said, drawing her blades.

“Yes,” I gave one last look at her. This would be the last time I’d be near the demoness. I was getting tired of the twisted magic, or perhaps it was my own guilt clawing up my throat. That didn’t matter. In the end, I’d be meeting Celine, and I would get answers for a long list of questions I had.

****

This time I had more time to prepare the battlefield. I had a few scouts survey the area and found Celine was approaching from the front with the Union Army. No tribesmen were spotted.

I placed the shields at the front, archers on the roofs of the houses with a shield bearer to guard them from Celine’s arrows and then the spearmen behind the shields. The swordsmen were kept at the very last.

“What about the demonlings?“ Ekta asked.

I watched Malek arrive with a small army of demons behind him. There were at least twenty of them. I should have killed the bastard when I had the chance. That would save the Union army from a lot of trouble. Without the mage there was no demon army.

“You are free to command them,” I said, diverting my thoughts. In the distance I caught the silhouette of the Sperlan army, with Celine at front. “Leave the commander to me.”

The plan was simple. The shields at the front will slow the attack as much as possible, and I’ll use whatever magic I’ve learned to divert Celine’s attention. As soon as I manage to talk her out of it I’ll stand a chance to give an order for a retreat and flee back to the union. That was the easiest way to end this fight without further casualties.

“Archers!” Ekta yelled.

I looked up to see arrows raining down on us. Celine had started firing.

The shields came up, and the spearmen and swordsmen ran under them for protection.

“Dalos!” Ekta raised her hands to cast a shield, but it didn’t have enough of an area to reach me.

I lifted my own hand, calling upon the spell Ekta had taught me.

Devanse

A pale red light glowed in my hands before expanding around me. It morphed into a half-red orb that touched the ground. The arrows fell harmlessly upon my newly created shield.

So much power in my hands, I looked at my palm in awe. I could feel the energy coursing through my body. I had enough power to shield the entire army if I could.

Before I could try the Union soldiers clashed into the front ranks.

“Dalos, command!” Ekta reared her horse back as it neighed. “Why are you standing there?”

“Just leave the girl to me,” I said, snapping the reins of my horse and charging towards Celine.

I heard Ekta scream my name behind me. But I didn’t issue any orders. I didn’t know what to do. If I commanded the demon king’s army to fire back I would lose Union soldiers. If I stood still Celine would break the front ranks and attack the innocent villagers.

My only choice was to speak with Celine with soon as possible.

I felt something soar above me and saw the winged gargoyles swooping down on the archers of the Union. I heard screams in the distance.

I focused my eyes on Celine at the middle of the chaos. She was on her horse, swinging her sword at a spearman who desperately tried to trip her off the animal.

“Celine!” I yelled.

She looked at me for a moment, and the spearman poked the edge of his weapon at the animal. The creature reined and pushed her back to the mud. I leapt forwards from my horse, landing in front of her and casting the barrier at the same time. The spearman plunged his blade at the defenses of the shield, then paled as he saw me.

“Leave her to me!” I growled.

He whimpered and mixed back in with the chaos of the battle. There were fights all around me. The spearmen were pushing the Union soldiers on horses and the swordsmen clashed weapons with each other, yelling curses. There were still a few tribesmen who were smashing through the front ranks, but they were soon met with Malek’s demon army. I only saw body parts being ripped apart from both sides.

I looked away and focused my attention on Celine.

She stood up, spitting out mud and sheathing her sword.

“Who are you bastard? Another one of the demon king’s generals?”

“I need to listen to closely what I say,” I spoke slowly, knowing Celine was a bad listener., especially in the midst of the battle. “I am Ceron. The demon king used some magic to trap me inside his body. I need your help.”

Celine cocked her head at me, then broke into a laugh.

“I see you are one of the insane Generals. What magic do your practice? Sweet talk? Illusion?”

“Listen,” I snapped. “I don’t have time to explain everything. You have to trust me.”

Celine charged. I sheathed my sword just in time to block her first few attacks. I kept moving back until I hit my own shield.

I pointed my free hand at her and called another one of the tattoos.

Airos

The air rippled, and Celine was blasted back with a sudden force. She hit the edges of my barrier with a groan and fell butt-first to the ground.

Thank god the demon king could cast three spells at once. I was never good when it came to sword fights with Celine.

Celine stood up spat out mud. “Fucking bastard!”

“Listen to me-”

She gripped the belt that hung loosely above her pants.

Bloody hell she has her runes.

“Ignos!” she yelled.

A column of fire roared at me. I extended my hand and called out another tattoo.

Ikos

The fire was met with sparkles of ice that sprang out from my fingers. The flames fizzled out, turning into a hazy steam in front of me.

I knew Celine wouldn’t listen so easily. But I had one trick up my sleeve.

“Fine! If you can’t believe me, I’ll tell you something only you and I know,” I yelled. “You first fought with me when we were ten. Right in front of the Lament Riverbank. You defeated me with three strikes, and then decided to teach me.”

I waited until the mist cleared. Celine stood on the other side with a surprised look on his face.

“What else do you know?” she glared at me, her voice lowering.

“You got drunk exactly one year ago during the Harvest Ceremony,” I continued, walking towards her. “You have a tattoo at your back of a demon’s skull being pierced by a sword. You hate dances but love to mingle with the nobility. Should I go on?”

I was near her. And I was glad to finally be with someone I know. In that moment I didn’t care about the chaos of the battlefield.“Do you finally understand? I don’t know what sort of abomination Dalos placed on me. But we need to get out of here to find out.”

Celine lowered her head. “Yes, I understand. And he told me exactly what you would say.”

He?

I felt her blade plunge through my stomach, tearing my armor, ripping through my flesh and emerging from the other side. I heard Ekta scream in the distance. But then my thoughts frizzled as I puckered out blood.

“Demon king Dalos,” Celine grinned. “I finally killed you bastard!”