I glared at the wall and smashed it with my full might, powered by my inner fire. The enchanted stone, fabled in legends, trembled under my punch and dust swirled in the air, but the wall survived. This was something more than a declaration of war; it was like spit on my face and the worst part of it was the fact that I couldn't wipe it. My anger slowly but surely boiled inside me to the point where fury and wrath took most of my reason away. Someone was making a fool of me.
"Again!" I roared, and the shadow fenrir obediently tried to open the portal into the shadow realm once again.
The shadow on the floor thickened and darkened- it looked like a stain of spilt black paint or tar on the floor. Normally, it would allow anyone touching it to pass, even me, as long as I would stay confined to the unseen boundaries of Avalon. I touched the shade and gritted my teeth when dark lighting hit my hands as I tried to force my way into the shadow realm. I cried in wrath and pain when the impenetrable barrier burned my hands. It was forbidding me from crossing the realms while everyone else could enter.
"Restore!" It was the first time I heard Irene shouting her spells with concern.
She was worried. But I just pushed my hands forward, ignoring the pain, and yelled profanities. I felt the soft touch of the women I love and how Amber and Luna tried to tug me away from the portal, but I just couldn't stop myself in my wrath. But when they both painfully screamed in fear after another lightning bolt travelled through my body, I finally came back to my senses and stepped back.
"I am sorry..." I slowly exhaled, still having their scream ringing in my ears. I managed to contain my rage. "Amber? Luna? Are you all right?"
"Yes..." Amber smiled, seeing me a bit calmer.
"How could you withstand that pain?" Luna rubbed her hurting arms and hands before Irene healed them both.
"The sheer power of wrath, my Dear..." I faintly smiled. "Time for Plan B."
"What do you mean?" Irene looked at the shadow portal and sighed. "You can't go, but we will..."
"I won't allow any of you to go there without confirming your safety. I already lost five highest-level shadow wolves there, so whatever there is, it is powerful." I sighed. "Only Mr Fluffles managed to return and informed me about the huge army of undead down there..."
"Got it!" Marie with Mr Fluffles jumped out of the shadows right next to me.
Without asking stupid questions, I quickly jumped into the shadows, this time passing without any problems. I smiled widely, with a cold and cruel smile when I looked around. Right behind me, Galahad and Stella emerged, followed closely by Amber, Irene and Luna. The next ones to follow were The Flower Girls, who still were clueless about what was going on. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes to focus. Yes... This still was a space within Avalon. A confined space that was torn away from under my rule and influence, but this was still Avalon- and with my presence here, my influence was rapidly wrestling for power with whatever was here.
Before me was some sort of opaque protective barrier on which was dancing the crackling black lightning. It moved from place to place, crackling and buzzing. It was jumping seemingly without an aim or purpose, but it looked wrong- it was almost alive and acted like a guard dog that was patrolling its master's yard. I raised my hand and behind us large shadow portals opened, unleashing almost the full might of the first legion: Legio I Fulminata. They marched in perfect harmony with the menacing thunder of thousands of armoured feet. In front of us, under that protective barrier, was waiting for me a source of all this... spit upon my face. The source of this unholy power, which I once realized was there, became an unbearable stigma that itched like a spot you can't scratch no matter what you do.
"The Flower Girls party, your mission is the direct protection of the Queens!" I ordered them, while we were surrounded by my first legion that moved forward in the silence of the shadow realm.
The fairies of the legion fired illumination spells, brightening the half-darkness of this realm with bright white lights covering the surrounding area in the strange greyish light. The Flower Girls were watching in silent awe and anxiety as the warriors of Avalon marched around them in disciplined, battle-ready ranks. They saw for the first time my legion- unbeknownst to them, one of many I had and the first of many more I planned to rise. They knew the stories of ancient heroes who led armies of mortal warriors against the darkness of the foreign empire. They knew the legends, but knew they failed as well. But here and now was marching the army unseen before in this world- the proud and shining army of light that is going to pierce the darkness. The army with no fear.
The undying army of Avalon.
"Yes, our King!" All five girls bravely confirmed my order, grabbing their weapons. I will not endanger any of them now- they must see and learn.
The shadow realm was a place without normal borders or confines. There was no landscape but some rubble on the ground. No distant sounds of birds or rivers, and without whistling of the winds. It was just an endless plain, drenched in darkness; a land that had never seen the sun or been touched by the gaze of stars. This place was covered with dark fog and a depressing feeling of impending doom, capable of breaking the sanity of any mortal dragged here by the dark and evil creatures that dwelled here. The only landmark in this vast, silent place was the dome. It was enormous and if Mr Fluffles was right, it was full of undead.
"Stella, can you dispel that barrier?" I asked, focusing already on my army that started forming a true battle line. "Please help her, my Queens."
The cohorts formed maniples and a checkered formation- acies triplex, the triple line formed in a fluid and swift manner. The knowledge of my ancient peers drilled into my mind from my previous life- now I know it was sealed and bonded to my soul by Eriar, who knew I would need this knowledge over anything else. This knowledge was at my disposal- the military tactics, knowledge of battles and their outcomes throughout millennia of the bloody history of humanity. The ancient warfare, medieval and up to the theatres of war where drones were fighting against drones. The tactics, as well as various technologies, were at my disposal, ready to be used against my enemies. I smiled viciously while looking at the lines of my army. The portal created by my shadow wolves closed after half of the wolves stayed behind in Avalon and the other half joined the Flower Girls to defend the Queens.
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I wondered if it was a good choice to leave the siege engines behind, but I didn't want to show all my cards at once. This is bad enough that I had to use my Legion so early. My words were not needed, every single denizen was directly connected to me, and I could order them individually. But that also was not needed- I simply imagined a long battleline, the line without a single gap or a weak point. Legio I Fulminata moved as orchestrated by the maestro and stood ready, just waiting for the battle in their positions.
"We are ready, my Lord!" Stella yelled, and I gave her a signal.
Amber, Irene, Luna and Sella held their hands while trying to form an attuned circle of magic. An enormous, multicoloured magic circle formed under almost half of my army. Around the barrier, a ring of magic circles was formed that was orbiting the protective dome slowly. I was too far from them and couldn't hear anything well, but the muffled murmurs were clear indicators they were chanting a spell. I could only guess what powers they wanted to unleash if they had decided to chant this spell aloud. Stella told me that they were proficient enough to use chantless spells up to middle-grade spells and just call the name of the spell for the high-grade magic. If they have to chant a spell now, this magic has to be of legendary tier. One cohort was building a small encampment with a small command tower. I wondered what would be first- my Queens and Stella breaching that barrier or my soldiers completing the tower? From the ring of magic, various projectiles started ferociously smashing the protective dome.
Bolts of lightning, fireballs, icicles, large boulders and more unnamed things collided with the field, seemingly with no effect. The barrage lasted for almost fifteen minutes without a pause and the sound of collisions and heat it created moved the still air of the shadow realm. In the meantime, my observation tower was ready and after walking on it, I saw the first cracks upon my target. With a thoughtful look, I cursed the dark forces that barred me from using my build vision perspective. It would be perfect for this time, but I was not naïve. I took my eagles with me; I would use the eyes of my faithful birds to see the battlefield from above. The magic circle under my forces shined even brighter when my Ladies intensified the barrage. Stella had to fall back to not burn all of her mana. Without her, my Queens could now unleash the full fury of their power. The students had outgrown the master...
The barrier finally collapsed, and the magical barrage ravaged unprotected enemies. The return fire started as soon as the field broke, but the Legio Fulminata fairies were ready. Their protective fields shielded the legion from any harm, and I could finally see our enemy. Mr Fluffles was an excellent scout; he spotted an unorganised mob of differently sized regiments of undead started crawling towards our position. There were mostly zombies... Thousands of them, for sure, have a numerical advantage on their side. But for fuck’s sake! Why zombies?! However, zombies shouldn't be able to cast spells, so I focused on my eagle's eyes and saw there were mages mixed between regular zombies.
I raised my arm, signalling archers to aim. With my hand falling, five hundred archers drew and released their deadly payload. I watched with satisfaction when the first lines of zombies fell, this time hopefully for good. With a simple wave of my hand, l ordered my archers to continuously harass the enemy with the constant rain of arrows. Wave after wave of arrows showered upon the ranks of my opponents, ruthlessly quelling the entire regiments. I made sure to order archers to just shoot arrows without using any skills. The legion would fight as long as possible, hiding its true capabilities- this battle already may alarm my enemies that I am more than I show to the world.
"Flanks forward!" I decided on the attack formation.
It’s true I could stay on defence, but that would give my opponents too much initiative and while I don't have to bother about the morale of my army, the other aspects still apply. Thanks to all zombies mindlessly charging right now into the middle of my legion, I had the opportunity to close them with my flank maniples and close the battle line around them. The centre anchored itself, forming a deep and wide phalanx, bracing its shield wall for impact. The Archers were firing salvo after salvo, felling hundreds of zombies at a time. I looked at the... Battlefield, for a lack of a better word, and I was satisfied with the development of the battle. There was no organisation, no apparent leader- nothing to lead my enemies. My Archers focused now on the enemy mages, who, unable to pierce the protective field of my fairies, tried now to buff the speed of zombies around them. When the first decimated wave of zombies hit my legionaries, they were mercilessly cut down.
From the initial army of over ten thousand zombies, only six thousand survived the bombardment with the spell that shattered the barrier, but they still charged towards my positions. But now the zombies could finally reach my ranks in the melee, but they fought without discipline and focus. Amber, Irene and Luna were resting now after depleting almost two-thirds of their mana. The Flower Girls and their familiars were standing on guard, and I could only smile with satisfaction. I turned my gaze back to the battle, just in time to see the first losses in my ranks. It was the inevitable course of every battle, but their losses were not as painful as they would be if they were mortals. I shook my head. They will respawn in one week.
The enemy finally saw that my force would not bow or retreat and lessened the pressure on the middle of my army at the worst possible moment. Without that many attackers, my hastati formations disengaged without any problems and the second line entered their positions. The prinicipes moved into the battle- still fresh, they ferociously attacked zombies when I ordered my flanks to push forward and crush my enemies. The main zombie forces were trapped between the closing jaws of my formation. Almost cut from any option for retreat, they could only die, and again- they started slowly falling back through the opening on their rear.
"Cavalry! Wide pincer strike on the rear of their formation!"
My skeleton hussars split into two formations and charged towards the rear of enemy lines. The loud whistle of the otherwise still air of the shadow realm buzzed in the feathers of their wings. They moved in a gentle curve that will inevitably lead them straight into fleeing foes. My legion once again shifted and the reinforced hastati returned to the first line just as the first hussar detachment collided with the zombies without even slowing down, trampling and impaling the hundreds of enemies on their large lances before turning gently...
"It's incredible, Theon..." Amber whispered. She was standing near me, watching in awe of my heavy cavalry. Their shining armours looked like fish scales reflecting the scarce and grey light of this place.
"Yes... They are incredible, Amber." The second detachment rolled over the zombies.
I watched with satisfaction the rout of the zombie army, but I was not comfortable yet. It was way too easy. This had to be a trap. As if responding to my thoughts, a large fireball crashed over the maniple that moved to cut off the retreat path of remnants of the zombie army. The barrier of Legio flickered but dispersed magic before it collapsed. I nodded with grim satisfaction.
This battle is not over yet...