Another battle is underway, and I can’t fucking believe my eyes. This asshole has the balls to attack the most sacred kingdom on this continent. The Kromagian southern armies clash with Nite with such intensity, that their voices roar like a multitude of roaring lions.

“Holy cow,” Ulrika says in a soft voice.

“Keep firing until you have no arrows left!” Thyrna commands her archers. They begin sending their arrows in no uniform design. Every arrow I can see hit its target, even if it’s stopped by a shield.

Gosh, you’ve trained them well, mother.

I take out my sword by hand and levitate it over the wall in front of me. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I see Thyrna lean over the wall, facing my way.

“Kaioson, no,” Thyrna says.

“I can help,” I say, keeping my eyes on the fight. Ulrika steps back to let her come up to me. “Thyrna...” When I look at her, she calls my sword to her hand. Ulrika’s eyes pop open in reaction to seeing my sword command to Thyrna’s will.

“If you’re going to help, you’ll need armor.” She tosses my sword into the air. I keep my attention on her as it falls back into my scabbard. “Are you joining him too, Ulrika?”

“I am,” Ulrika says.

“Follow me.” We follow Thyrna back into the building, then towards an armory. “Suit up.” Ulrika and I walk together over to the gold-plated torsos. “Each piece of armor is magically enhanced. It’ll take destructive blows to break the magic.”

“How is that possible?” Ulrika says, touching the torso armor.

“I wish I knew that answer. Kromagians are secretive of their magic.”

“Interesting.” Ulrika helps me put on a whole suit of armor. “How does it feel?” Next, I test my mobility by swinging my sword, jumping, squatting, then mildly activating different magic spells.

“A little bit of mobility lost, but I think I can manage,” I say.

“That’s good.” I help her into her armor, and she does her testing, but her movements are quick with vicious speed.

“Whoa there, Ulrika. You seem like you’ve worn this before,” Thyrna says.

“I was a knight.”

“Really?!”

“Mhmm. When I was eighteen. Served for six years with the Ambargara special forces during Narberth Roven’s rebellion.” Thyrna does this muffle laugh that makes me look straight at her. She stops when we make eye contact but keeps her smile.

“I like your wife, Kai,” she says, pointing at Ulrika. “After this battle, you gotta tell me how you met my son.” Ulrika grins and chuckles.

“Sure!”

“Alright, you ready?”

“Hell yes.”

“Kai?” They both face me to await my answer.

“Time to end this madness,” I say.” Ulrika gives an affirmation head nod while Thyrna rubs her hands together.

“Let’s end this.” Thyrna points her finger at me. In a flash of light, I teleport to the front of the gate. I immediately put my helmet on and look up to the Guardian to my left. It’s frozen, holding the javelin behind it in a ready position to throw. Ulrika ports in, then Thyrna. There’s a sword around Thyrna’s waist and a quiver on her back I didn’t see before. “Kaioson, Ulrika, keep away from Ivaran until we can limit his numbers.” She fires one arrow to her right without looking in that direction. The arrow curves left into the battleground then pulls up into the sky with a cultist at the end of it. It blows up into sparkling glitter. “I’ll provide support, then join when I’m done.”

“See you later,” I say.

“Of course, you will.” Her blue eyes move away from the battle to gaze at me. “Come back to me unharmed, my son.”

Ulrika and I enter into the fray, unapologetically striking down our enemies with extreme force. I use no elegance in the way I swing my sword. Every blow goes through my enemies with ease. My force blast and fire magic come out in lethal volumes. I give no mercy to every single bastard that dares challenge me, my wife, or my people.

“This is unacceptable,” Ivaran says, somewhere ahead of me. His anger is music to my ears. I want him to scream more in disappointment, so I pull out Haleema’s Ivarish Rune and toss it into the air behind me away from everyone. I weasel out to greet Haleema when she enters. Once I move behind the oval cloud, she falls out of it in her battle attire. Her hair is braided in the same fashion that gives her a high ponytail.

“Haleema!” I say. Her ears twitch back before she turns to me.

“Kaioson?” She says, tilting her head slightly. “Is that you?” I pop off my helmet to show my face. She spawns in her staff but doesn’t hold it as she jogs over to me. “Gods, you’re bloody.”

“Look,” I say, pointing at Ivaran through the crowd. “The devil finally shows himself.”

“Are you sure that’s him?”

“Judging by the way he talked to us before the fighting started, I’m positive that’s Ivaran.”

“Finally,” she whispers. She tosses something back up into the portal. First, it pulsates yellow, then it widens into a massive rectangular cloud. A short time passes, and the portal remains open.

“Are we waiting for someone?” Two seconds later, Rhyndac falls out with a partially armored suit. Her dark legs are exposed. She has regular brown boots that reach under her kneecaps. The tip and heel are plated. Her upper body and arms are protected in a lovely polished silver plating. I can’t tell if she’s wearing anything under her legs due to a purple sash wrapped around her pelvis.

“Greetings, Kaioson,” Rhyndac says when she turns to face me. Her face is painted with what I can probably describe as tribal warpaint. The design reminds me of a bird opening its wings out. “Did the battle just start?”

“It’s been a few minutes,” I answer. More people come out. Some I recognize like, Zadock, Hayden, Lyra, then other Paladins, join in. The last person to enter is Emdal. He’s wearing the same armor in the battle from before. “Wow, Haleema, did you signal an army?”

“Just the ones who the Paladins see of their top warriors. We use a Xeth (Chaos) rune to call for them,” Haleema says. I’m impressed with the devices the agency has.

“Ivaran, where are you!?” Emdal yells to the top of his lungs as he charges into the battle. Everyone charges with him except for Haleema.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Well shit. Do you have a plan, Kaioson?”

“Kill as many of them as we can, but try to avoid Ivaran until the numbers dwindle,” I say in the ordinance of Thyrna.

“Alright.” Haleema twirls her staff over her head, and it sprinkles down white sparkles. A complete set of knight-style armor morphs on her body like it’s burning onto her. The helmet is the last object to complete the set. “Let’s go!”

I return into the heat of the battle, slaying orcs left and right. Upon charging my sword into one orc’s chest, I hear Ulrika’s heavy low grunts to my right. She clears a group out of her vicinity and lets out a scream to the high heavens. Her entire body crescendo with lightning, and her eyes glow a bright blue. When she finishes, she continues fighting. I lose sight of her, yet her battle cry leaves me petrified with a slight bit of amazement that she can yell like that. Her powers manifest in a burst of lightning explosions and streams I can spot in the crowd.

A heavy smack to the left side of my face brings me back to the awareness of where I am. The magic protects me from most of the force, so I’m able to return a lethal blow to the orc’s face that hits me. Their head gets ripped off their shoulder as their body slumps back. Out of the corner of my eye, further into the field, Ivaran ascends into the air.

“All of you are failing me!” Ivaran shouts. I look around to see what he sees. His fighters retreat as the Kromagian pursue them. “You’re all useless!” He swings his arms up over his head. Every single orc and champion vanishes in black smoke.

“Did he just kill them?” A man whispers behind me.

“Ivaran!” Emdal says, somewhere to my right. I try to search for him but find Ulrika instead.

“My love,” she says, jogging to me. Ivaran and Emdal screaming at each other breaks my reunion with her.

“You’re under arrest, you piece of vile shit for the innumerable amount of crimes you’ve committed!”

“Your persistence is admirable, Emdal,” Ivaran says, raising his arms out. “But I’m done with these endless shenanigans.” Black smoke fumes out of his palms. It shoots up into the sky, creating a single gigantic dark cloud cover over us. It blocks out the sunlight enough that some of us have to use fire to light up our surroundings.

“What are you doing, Ivaran?”

“Securing my victory.” Purple lighting strikes the ground, electrocuting anyone that did not see it coming. The lightning arcs away from me because of Ulrika’s recently unlocked power. We remain in the protection of a field of electricity until the surge stops. A lot of Kromagians fall over, yet every single Paladin remains standing.

“And then there were few,” Ivaran boasts. I get on the ground to check the fallen knight’s vitals. There’s an opening under their helmet I put my finger under to touch the vein. My heart pauses momentarily when I can barely feel a pulse. The magic of the armor must’ve prevented an agonizing death.

“Thank the gods,” I whisper. I slowly stand back up and stare at Ivaran’s detestable smug grin. “He’s insane.” Suddenly, in a blink of an eye, he is face to face with me.

“I’m insane?” I step back to take a swing at him. Ulrika goes for a punch but misses when he warps back to the sky.

“Lucky fucker,” Ulrika says through her teeth. Dark voids with a slowly swirling purple glow appear on his flanks. I count six objects floating. Then, out from the darkness, people step out armed to the teeth.

“Paragons, secure my win,” Ivaran commands. One of them flies directly at Ulrika and me, tackling us away from everyone.

“Hello, Paladins,” she says. Her voice is high-pitched with an echo effect.

“We’re not Paladins,” I say, blasting us free from her grasp. Ulrika recovers before I do. She goes one-on-one with the Paragon. I attack the Paragon’s right flank, but her defense is on par. We can’t land a single hit, nor can the Paragon.

“Wow! You two are good!”

“Shut up, bitch,” Ulrika says. She fires lightning at her, but the Paragon deflects it into me. I don’t get shocked by it, and it leaves me confused as to why. “Nice try, idiot. My power will not hurt him.”

“I bet this will!” She blasts me with a powerful force that cracks the shield around my stomach. I fly back, skidding on my back across the sand, but use my sword to send me back. My sword narrowly misses their rips but goes through their cape.

“Fallback, Kaio.”

“What? Why?” I say. Ulrika walks over to me with both hands on her sword as she tilts her blade at the Paragon.

“Your abs are exposed.” I check to see what she’s talking about. There’s a fist-sized exposed hole on the left side of my stomach.

“Oh, crap...”

“Oh, crap indeed,” the Paragon says, giggling in that weird high voice. “I’m going to shatter that armor into pieces.” She rapidly punches the air in front of her. Each punch leaves a floating blue orb. I instantly recognize what is going to happen, so I counter it with a Delayed Gasam. Our power collides, kicking up sand between us. In the cover of the sand, she grabs my helmet where my face is and charges up the same attack I did. Ulrika knocks me out of the way, using her body and wind to quickly take me out of harm’s way, but part of her left shoulder gets hit.

“Ugh!” Ulrika grunts. Her shoulder is exposed. The skin is red. I regain my footing to combat the Paragon in another violent sword fight.

“Ulrika, are you okay?!” I say.

“Yeah,” she responds with a groan. During the moments of swinging my sword, I take brief glances to check her condition. Her left arm is down, and her shoulder is up.

“Damn devil.” The Paragon laughs like a crazy mad witch, then suddenly, she warps to my right, looking at the battlefield. Her smile is gone as she talks with someone I can’t hear or see.

“What? Why...? But I’m not done with these two... Did she say that?” The Paragon says.

“Hey! Who are you talking to?” I say.

“Today is your lucky day. Apparently, Zadione has better plans than taking Xanlos’s kingdom, and oh boy, this’ll suck for all of you.” In a pop of bright purple light, her essence turns into particles that wither in the sky.

“Kaio,” Ulrika calls out in pain. I rush back to see what’s going on. “Gods, my shoulder.”

“What’s wrong with it?” I ask.

“I think that bitch broke it.”

“Head back to the gates and find someone to treat you.”

“What? No! I can still fight. I got another arm, Kaioson.”

“A snapped bone is not a thing you can ignore.” I reach for her sword, but she backs away from me.

“Kaioson, I’m staying here.”

“Ulrika...”

“Darling, this is nothing. I’m a very strong woman. I can take the pain.” I don’t like how she’s fighting through it, but for the sake of her plea, I won’t push her away.

“Kaioson, Ulrika! We need your help,” Haleema yells.

“What’s going on now?” Something glows pink in the distance where most of everyone is located, but the visibility is too dark to see what it is.

“Stay close to me,” I say, guarding her left side as we jog to the glow. “What’s going on, Haleema?”

“Emdal! The Paragons have him trapped in a forcefield while he takes on Ivaran by himself!” Haleema says. She’s wildly throwing everything she has to break the barrier. Everyone is doing the same thing in some fashion, whether it’s magic or weapons, but it isn’t giving in. “Kaioson! Ulrika! Help me!”

“This isn’t working,” Ulrika says. She backs away, sheathing her sword. “We’re wasting our mana.” I see her point and redraw from assisting.

“Damnit! Keep trying!”

“It’s useless.”

“No! Emdal!” One by one, the Paragons take turns hitting Emdal with various sorts of magic as he defends himself from Ivaran. Emdal and Ivaran’s mouths move but I don’t hear anything they’re saying. “Leave him alone, you bastards! That’s not fair!” The constant barrages begin to take their toll on him. He can’t react quickly enough to avoid Ivaran swings. I can’t stand to watch his impending demise, so I excuse myself from everyone. Haleema’s screams send shivers down my spine.

----------------------------------------

Maybe about a minute later, I hear a low whooshing noise. The fog disappears, and the sunlight breaks through. Haleema’s cries are the only voice I hear. I fear the worst has happened.

“Damnit,” I yell, slamming my helmet on the hard ground. A surge of pain pulsates in my abdomen, where the Paragon blew a hole in. It hurts enough for me to watch how I breathe to prevent worsening it. Ulrika stands next to me without making a noise. It kinda startles me how unexpected she showed up. “You scared me.”

“Sorry about that,” she says. I look at her, but I’m tempted to watch what’s going on in my peripheral.

“Did they..?”

“They did... in the most brutal way. I advise you to not look at the body.”

“By the gods, what the hell was this all about!?”

“I don’t know,” Ulrika answers in a calm voice.

“This made no sense. He sends an army at us, replaces them with fucking Paragons, then vanishes with Emdal dead?!” I’m so furious I’m boiling in the sun. The pain in my abdomen is getting worse every time I take a breath.

“Easy.” Her calm voice is confusing me. Why isn’t she heated like I am?

“Why aren’t you mad?”

“It’s pointless to rage at this random event.”

“Then what should I do, Ulrika? I am angry and... confused; sad.”

“First, breathe.” I put myself back in a stable mood after a minute of calming down.

“This was supposed to be a peaceful trip for us.”

“I know,” she whispers. She takes off her helmet and says, “Come here and give me a kiss.” I give her one, then we rest our foreheads on each other. “After we tend to our wounds, we’ll need to discuss future operations against Nite with everyone involved.”

“Is this war advice?” She nods with a small smile.

“It’s my best advice for what’s happening. But, of course, others will react differently, so stick with my judgment.”

“Okay then. Let’s get you to a healer. Your shoulder is looking bad.” I escort her with a hand around her waist back to the wall. My curiosity gets the better of me, so I look over my shoulder to see everyone else. Every Paladin stares down at Emdal with Haleema kneeling over his body while the Kromagians tend to their people. Today feels like a significant defeat than a victory.