“The Sun King’s revelation served as a warning for what was about to happen, but it did not prepare us for the onslaught that was to come. Black fire as cold as ice rained down on our city. A firestorm of destruction eradicated every shanty, place of business, and opal structure that stood, and all we could do was put our differences aside in an attempt to survive. We learned how to care for one another and put the lives of others before ourselves. Asmodeous could not have thought that amidst all the destruction he wrought, we would rise from the ashes stronger than ever. He also didn’t predict that he would revive what was once lost to us, and we would have no choice but to push forward after our homes were still ash. Facing a Republic that would have rather seen us killed and enslaved than to save their own land from the void, you could say we relished in our rebellious nature more than ever.”
“‘The History of Tyrus: The End of the Fourth Age’ Volume I, Written by King Ashur the ‘Wind Wyrm’”
Aerith walked alongside Willem and Osferth as they endeavored in a quiet stroll through the town. Upon close inspection, she realized that it wasn’t large enough to be a city, and was just a very large town. It was probably the size of a neighborhood in her home city of Balowardshire, but she understood why they were so different in size. Balowardshire was only one of three cities that could be considered the ancestral home of her house, and was incredibly accessible for trade due to its location. While the Sun King was born and raised in Tyrus, his children were raised on the east coast in cities like Balowardshire.
Nazli walked alongside her beloved son Owin several paces ahead of them as they all walked down the main street of the market avenue, the two with their arms locked with one another. Seeing that, Aerith thought she felt a hint of anger. Or was it jealousy? She didn’t really know which one, almost like how she didn’t really know the difference between the two emotions. While she didn’t necessarily object to her betrothed’s seeming ignorance of her existence, Aerith knew that it should be her locking arms with him. It wasn’t so much the lack of attention he was giving her exactly, but the lack of decorum around him not showing her any.
The street this afternoon was jam-packed with people. Citizens grabbing meats and bread from the butchers and bakers, purchasing different medicines for either themselves and their families or their livestock grazing in the pastures outside the city walls, young and middle-aged men alike running out of the smithy with newly sharpened blades eager to run off to the supposed battle that they were going toward in the next week. Upon seeing the royal family leisurely walking down the street, every citizen parted ways as they eyed the prince and his mother leading the charge. Silence traveled through the busy street like a wave that started from those two, the eyes of every citizen traveling back a few paces from mother and son to their lord, heir, and new lady. When met with Osferth’s calm gaze and smile, they smiled in return and bowed before him. Some of the young men ignored the bows of every other citizen, and responded with a salute with their swords held high in its stead.
Aerith turned her head both left then right before whispering, “They seem excited for whatever’s about to come, wouldn’t you say?”
“Aye,” Willem whispered back as he gave a nod to the young men, “young men are always excited to make a name for themselves in combat.”
“Foolish, naive young men,” Osferth grumbled as he gritted his teeth, “I’ve seen so many of our young grow up since babes, oh how I’ve always hated battle.”
Aerith swallowed, she could feel the guilt that was building up in the lord as he clenched a fist as they strolled, but she could not help but press even harder, “you feel responsible?”
Osferth looked at her with a mixture of shock and pain written on his face as he bared his teeth, “is it that obvious on my face? Shit, but yes you are correct Aerith. I had to agree to do something for your Uncle in order to ensure that the betrothal contract is passed successfully,” he looked down to his feet as he walked and whispered, “they’re going to die, all because I wanted this bastard son of mine married. It’s all my fault.”
She felt her own guilt welling up within her. It was not his fault, but really it was hers. They came for her because of a prophecy that had nothing to do with the man she was betrothed to, and only she knew it. What made matters worse to her was that her uncle used her for a mission that she also had an idea on what it was for, and he was going to get so many more innocents killed.
No, it’s not my fault. I’m not the one moving the pieces on a metaphorical board, that’s Arshuc. I’m merely a pawn to him, everybody is.
“What is this war you speak of?” she said with a concerned look, “where did your other son go off to?”
Willem responded before his father could even open his mouth, “Tyrus is where we were called to invade. My little brother is off to the southern part of the state, awaiting all of the minor lords to mobilize and send him their forces.”
It’s always Tyrus. So my uncle plans to use them to flatten the cursed city.
“Didn’t the Dreadbird already decimate them?”
“Aye, he did. However, the council has ordered that he and his host return. We are to meet them there and destroy the city utterly.”
Oremir sat amongst Sindri, Valan, and the rest of his comrades in the crystalline colosseum, watching a group of about fifty Ashmedai sharpen their blades and don their armor before setting out to the source of the screams that echoed through the inside of the mountain. It was time they introduced the tactics taught in Tiarmotae to the rest of the settlements scattered across the mountain range.
Chieftain Ereph slowly limped into view, appearing from the gaping mouth that was the entrance to this structure. Guided by his son, the two men made their way to the remaining Opal Dragons.
So now we will finally see the god of war, in all his wrath. And they ask us to stop him? Slow him down, aye, we can probably do that at our best. But outright stop him, is there such a way?
“Are you ready, young Oremir?” Ereph asked as he shooed off the guiding hand from his son. Khamaung greeted Oremir with a salute before bowing to his father and organizing the men who were set to move out.
“Your son has taken to his role quite well,” Valan noted, “will he be joining us on this mission?”
Ereph shook his head, “Unfortunately, no. He is far too valuable for me to send out into the fray, and I need someone with more experience in modern military combat like the lot of you to help the army stranded in the settlement below.”
“What is the name of this settlement?” asked Sindri.
“Yadanmotae, one of our settlements of darkness. It is one of our last bastions before Tiarmotae,” the old man muttered, “Since we do not use torchlights that deep in the mountain, you will have to rely upon the riakosend blades we give you. Their pale lights will guide your mortal eyes in the darkness.”
“The last bastion? Are you to send us to an already lost battle?” Sindri asked incredulously. Oremir snapped a cold glare at Sindri, feeling cold anger in him at the young man’s rashness. For Sindri to speak to Oremir like that was no issue, but for him to speak to the leader of an ancient people, as well as a massive army in his territory sickened him. Maybe he should have disciplined him further when they were starting out in Tyrus, and now he felt regret at how he allowed the young man to speak to him.
However, Ereph met Sindri’s gaze with a steely calmness in his black eyes. It was as if he didn’t even view Sindri as a child, but as a mere infant asking a question, trying to learn more about the world.
“Dear child, I value the contributions you and your comrades have brought to my people with immense passion. I only ask for you to teach the men your tactics and formations before the god comes crashing down. I do not wish for you to join them in the battle, for you are to teach and then return with haste,” he said gently.
“Chieftain,” Oremir said, “how many men are we to teach? How many are left?”
Ereph looked uncomfortable for a moment before murmuring, “In Yadanmotae, not many. It was a settlement that held around fifteen to twenty thousand warriors. Not many in comparison to what we once had before spreading our forces out to the other settlements. Now, we have lost thousands. I believe that Yadanmotae has probably lost more than half of their forces. They will have to be a sacrifice to both slow and lead Alysander to us while all neighboring armies make their way in secret over to Tiarmotae.”
“So you wish for us to leave a breadcrumb of bodies that will lead the god of war to a city full of warriors? Just how weak does this riakosend make him?”
Ereph shrugged, “From the reports from messengers, no one’s been able to get within reach to even critically injure him. But one thing is for certain, it has definitely had an effect on his stamina. They say the only reason as to why whole forces survive in the first place is due to the fact that he begins to tire.”
Aye, and the god of war was known for an endless amount of stamina when it came to warfare. Just from listening to the old stories the elders here have whispered, we know that the very scent of blood and steel re-energizes him. However, they were unorganized in how they went about fighting him. We will know what to do, and we will turn the tide in this conflict.
The chieftain pulled him close and whispered, “The Day of the Black Sun will be upon us. We will need you to return to us, my young friends. Only then, can we bless you with the permission to worship our God.”
Oremir looked at him confused, “What do you mean?”
The man smiled black teeth at the Opal Dragon leader, “You will see in the battle why you must accept a God into your heart. It may prove difficult for a mortal to emit, but our god is patient and generous. I have no doubt in my heart that he will bless you with power to attain the dreams you seek.”
Ashur emerged from the tunnel as the sun was setting, the blood-orange hue of the sky enveloping everything the light touched in its cool vibrance. The air was crisp as opposed to the stale air within the tunnel, and he inhaled deeply to embrace the fresh air once more. Ashur noticed how quiet it was as opposed to where they had started in the city, and it somewhat reminded him of his home outside of Bonegate. His calves were sore from all of the walking, and he realized he had not felt this sore since he began his training all of those years ago. He had grown used to his master’s training relatively quickly, and any soreness he had gotten was in his mind attributed to the after-effects of his emission of life-spark. This light soreness without even realizing it until now was from not even using it to walk or run, which had been so long since he had last done it that it had become foreign to him. He sat himself down on the cool bed of grass in front of him and admired how the green blades beneath him soaked in the color of the sunset. He wanted to think about peaceful things for a time, even a brief moment, before he thought about the troubles that lay ahead. Facing the horizon in the West, a large forest laid to his right side about one or two miles away. He had never been there, but he knew that this dark forest that stood like a shadow in the sunset was the barrier. The barrier between Tyrus and Midland, the barrier between his world, and the rest of it.
What Alysander told me to search for did indeed bring forth a nugget of knowledge, but how does that help us exactly? We already knew that there was a mine somewhere in one of the remaining tunnels in this city, but how does the sinking of the old land help us?
Mau and Dyserich sat on each side of him as they watched the sun set behind the horizon. Looking down at the city, they could see all from where they were, the city being at the base of a valley was a large contribution, and upon noticing how high up they were had aided Ashur in realizing the use and necessity of these tunnels. But foremost of all, he was shocked at how high they had ended up. It explained to him why his legs were so sore in the first place.
Oh, so Tyrus being at the base makes it almost like an ant’s nest once underground. I wonder if there are other tunnels not listed on the map that exist…
“Brother,” Mau started, “you were silent the entire trek out of that damned tunnel, what’s bothering you?”
Ashur frowned at Mau as he was silent for a time, a hint of anger at how well his friend knew him. He really did not want to think about it yet, but he had no choice but to discuss it now or have to deal with Mau’s pestering until it was brought up, “I’m just thinking, how long exactly can Alysander hold the Phantom Folk back, and why are they waiting until now to make their move when they’ve been back for so long? What’s their play, and how can I stop it from happening?”
Ashur shivered as he hesitated to ask what was the last question lurking in his mind, “why me, brother? Why me of all people? He says that I have to do it, but there are other emitters out there on the continent. The Dreadbird is just an example, and he worships the bastard. He’s already got an army at his back that’s loyal to him, and I’ve got women and children…”
Mau placed a hand on Ashur’s shoulder, and Ashur could already feel the weight of his responsibilities partially lifted from him in that moment before Mau said a word.
“You’re not alone in this brother,” Mau replied as he stared into the city, a small smile beginning to form on his face, “it’s not like the old days anymore, we’re not alone. Your problems are larger than yourself now, for they are now our problems too. Want to know why Alysander went to you over any of his worshippers or just any other emitter in general?”
Violet streaks flowed through the scarlet sky as effortlessly smooth as the nicest painting, and Ashur allowed himself to be absorbed in its beauty for a moment before responding, “Why, brother? Is it because I was raised here?”
“Aye,” Mau nodded, looking up at the clouds along with Ashur as he almost whispered, “If this is to be the location of their first strike, who better to lead Tyrus than one of its own?”
“He’s got a point,” Dyserich chimed in, “and there are two other points he forgot to mention.”
Both looked at him a bit puzzled, and Mau frowned as he replied, “what am I missing?”
Dyserich raised one finger, “Both those that saw you fight in the Cit and those that were saved in your name are whispering your name in the streets. You may have forgotten Ashur, but word of mouth travels quickly in Tyrus, and the reaction of the people has been nothing short of marvelous. Our people have always been looking for someone… something… anything to latch onto for the hope of something better. Voids, it’s part of the reason why everybody’s joining a gang, everyone wants to believe that it’ll be theirs that makes the change. With you, the citizens that hear your name will come to believe that their best chance is with you.”
Ashur grinned as he patted Dyserich’s back, somewhat relieved at what he had just said, “that’s good to hear my friend, and what’s the second?”
Dyserich grinned back at him as he raised a second finger.
They had returned from their leisurely stroll as the sun had begun to set, and Aerith found herself alone with Owin as he walked her down the hall to her sister’s room. She found it odd for this to be the first time they have been alone together, and while she had so many things she wanted to say, she went against herself and held her tongue. She could not believe that she was actually remaining silent, but she had wanted him to say something first.
Eventually she had won out when Owin had cleared his throat and brushed his long black hair away from his face as he said, “Mother says that you have been studying Igyn. You should let her guide you as you delve further, no one has a deeper knowledge of our patron than her,” then he grumbled under his breath, “not even my bastard father and brothers.”
Aerith decided to use this opportunity he had given her to sprout some conversation, “I would much rather have you teach me, betrothed. How much do you know?”
He almost stopped in his tracks as he shot a prideful glance her way, but he started as he continued to walk, “I know that I am his chosen. The one child in this family he had blessed with the ability to emit life-spark. Mother continues to tell me and the rest of my family how I wasn’t meant to have been born in the first place.”
“I heard the story,” Aerith said, trying her best to hide the groan from his boastful attitude with interest, “you can emit life-spark? That’s interesting, when did you find out that you could?”
“I emerged from my mother’s womb emitting life-spark,” he snorted, “she said herself that when the midwife spanked my bottom to ensure I was a healthy, crying babe, I was enveloped in a dark green aura, the very colors of my house and symbol of Igyn.”
Oh old gods, so he actually has talent? She thought as she almost felt her heart beating out of her chest.
“I know of that prophecy your sister stated in Wemnoth, we all know it,” Owin continued with a smirk, “your sons will be kings and emperors, correct? It is great indeed that my brothers are both either wed or betrothed already, or else you would have gone to them instead of me.”
Damn their wives for leaving me with the worst of the three, and I haven’t even met the second eldest, Aerith thought as she continued to remain silent.
They approached the door to Aurora’s chambers, and she went to open it, but Owin pressed his hand to the door to prevent her from doing so. She was taken aback by the strength in his push, noting that despite his thin frame, he was uncharacteristically stronger than expected.
“Pray that my older brother dies in combat, my dear,” he whispered to her, “and I promise, with my powers I will make you a queen one day. After all, I should be the lord of Midland over both brothers. They’re too soft, they are not true apprentices to the patron of our ancestors, they do not have you, and they do not have Igyn’s blessing.
As soon as he released his hand from the wooden door, it swung open to show Aurora on the other side wearing her nightgown. Her look had both Owin and Aerith awestruck at her beauty, her auburn-colored hair displaying an intense warmth as it sat on her shoulders, and her cool blue eyes shooting an icy glare at Owin served as a contrast that looked absolutely stunning. Both Aerith and Owin’s eyes traveled down to the nightgown, which was a loose fit, but still outlined the curvature of her waist and bust.
Aerith felt Owin’s eyes turn to her as he started to size her up in comparison, and chuckled to himself before saying, “Lady Aurora, you look stunning on this brisk autumn evening–”
“Flirtation is unnecessary and unbecoming of a man betrothed, especially in front of his soon-to-be wife. Thank you for bringing my sister to me, lordling,” she interrupted. Aerith cringed at the last word she said, for she knew that her betrothed would not take that well at all after all of the gloating he had just done to her.
Owin’s response was a simple scowl before bowing to Aurora, “As you wish, Seer,” he turned to face Aerith, “I will take part in your tutelage of my patron. Your lesson will begin when you arrive back at your chambers.”
Aerith stepped into her sister’s room and Aurora slammed the door in his face, she couldn’t help but giggle at how her sister handled the situation.
The sky had begun to get darker and the moon had started to rise as Dyserich smiled at Ashur and Mau and wiggled a second figure in the air, “Did you guys catch today’s date?”
Mau was silent as he stared up at the rising moon for a moment in an attempt to remember, before slapping Ashur’s arm in surprise. Ashur turned to face him and saw his mouth agape, only to turn back to Dyserich at the sound of his cackling.
“It’s the end of the month,” Dyserich started with a wide grin.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
At his response, it took Ashur less than a heartbeat for himself to realize what Dyserich was saying. He grinned as he said, “the bloodpit will open.”
Dyserich nodded, the smile refusing to fade as he replied, “aye, the first one since the Opal Dragons died. All leaders of the minor gangs are sure to participate to make a name for themselves, and the leaders of the larger gangs are sure to do the same so they can control.”
Mau stroked his chin as he muttered, “aye, he has a point. There’ll be so many, Vanescar will have no choice but to split the tournament into multiple days.”
“Has he done that before?” asked Ashur.
“Aye,” Dyserich answered, “when Oremir participated, we had so many participants that it was split into a week-long event. Now, there aren’t as many people in the city since that bloodpit event three years ago, but your name has stirred up a lot of fighters to come out of hiding, both old and young alike.”
“He’s not wrong,” Mau said, “for a lot of our youth and veterans, the explosion of your name has proved to be quite the enigma. The barkeep at the Mellow Skunk said that everyone is eager to see what you are like. The whole city is going to be watching this event. Other states have their lords who rule through inheritance, our Republic has a council that is elected through status and importance, but we elect our leader through the bloodpit.”
Are there any other cities, states, countries like us out there? How many are left where the ones to rule are the strongest? You saw much of the world before you arrived, Vanescar, and you taught the three of us much as children. Can you answer my question? Will your heart ache to see me finally enter the blood sport between cutthroats that you have cultivated and returned to prominence?
Neirin sat above the exits to a tunnel that led to the outside of the city. The moon lit the night sky and cast a silvery reflection on the luscious grass. The area was quiet, being so far enough to be removed from the noise and lights of the city. He liked the quiet, usually the squeal of kids or the shouts of someone else would fill the air, but not this night, not where he currently was. The only noise he could hear were his own thoughts. Since he knew what he was looking for, he found it relatively easy to spot the disguised hole in the dirt below. Along with three other young lads around the age of seven, eight, and ten, they stalked the exit for any sign of someone attempting to enter and leave. An old, abandoned shanty stood firm in front of it, and it was from there that they decided to start their stakeout. From sunrise to sundown, Neirin sat alertly while new women and children would come to replace the other three every twelve hours. In the two days that they had been doing this, he had heard so many new names and seen so many new faces that he thought for a brief moment that he would go mad if they couldn't find the slaver and were forced to remain on stakeout.
In his eyes, we had an understanding. If you were trying to veil it, Ashur, you did a pissy job. You knew, by the old gods you knew what you did.
Whenever he got tired, he thought of his conversation with Ashur and it would jolt his senses like if someone snapped his arm or held his feet over a fire. It angered him that he hadn’t spoken to Ashur yet, it angered him that he’s helping the man who killed his father, but it angered him beyond belief that he’s still so angry about all of this.
I know you had no choice, I even told Rhamy that I understand what had to be done.. So why am I still so angry? When this is all over, I have to talk to him. No, I need to talk to him.
His thoughts were interrupted by a muffle in the grass, and he looked over to see the tunnel exit turned to its side. A large man with bronze skin crawled out of the gaping black hole in the ground wearing a black cloak. He began to survey his surroundings, and Neirin was forced to duck underneath the roof’s covering. A few heartbeats past, and he heard the shuffle of boots sound farther and farther away. He lifted his head and continued to eye the man as he kicked one of the lads awake.
“Wake up, run to Ashur. Now. He agreed to remain at the end of his tunnel for the night in case we needed to find him. If you sprint as hard as you can, you might be able to get him in time for him to assist. We found the man we’ve been looking for,” whispered Neirin.
“Really?” the ten year old boy yawned, “Are you sure?”
“Now,” he snapped, sending another kick into the boy’s ankle.
The boy jolted upward and climbed down the shanty before breaking out into a sprint. By now, the seven and eight year olds were awake.
“You two,” Neirin pointed at them, “Stay here. If he comes back, and I don’t return, you’ll need to watch to see if he decides to come back or not.”
Fully awake now, they nodded their heads in response. Neirin dropped off of the shanty’s roof, landing on both feet like a panther, before following Torcall’s trail. He was following a hundred paces behind Torcall as they both walked up a hill until he started to smell smoke and cooked meat. Seeing a line of smoke coming from somewhere above the hill, Neirin went onto his stomach and crawled up until he was able to peek his head over and see who was at this campfire. He almost gasped loud enough to draw attention to himself when he saw the wyvern standing on its hind legs. The beast’s silhouette looked enormous in front of the darkness of the forest, the moon’s light shining just faintly enough for Neirin to make it out. He could see the horns jutting out of its forehead, and when it snarled he saw teeth the size of small swords gleaming in the faint light of the camp’s fire. An olive colored man in a black cloak stood in front of the wyvern, his back to the beast as he scowled at the incoming Torcall.
“This is to be my last night, little sister,” Aurora said, “I am to leave early, and before I go, I would like to talk with you one last time. I apologize for not being by your side earlier today, since I felt the wind call that name earlier, I had no choice but to dive into my meditation.”
Aerith had forgotten about that until Aurora’s mention of it, “Oh yes, on our journey here… What was it saying to you again?”
Aurora sat herself down on the bed with a tired look on her face, Aerith could hardly believe how ragged her sister truly looked in the eyes, “I… I do not know, Aerith. I mean, I know the name that the wind hissed, but none of my abilities could track someone with a name like that.”
Aerith sat herself beside her sister and held her hand, “Your premonition is good enough to see into anyone’s future, but wouldn’t it be harder to see the future of someone with just a name?”
Aurora shook her head, “in Wemnoth, we are followers of the dead goddess of wind, Nitya. Her marvelousness lies in the fact that though she is dead, her essence remains through that of which she had bestowed upon this world. Her body is gone, but the wind remains, pushing us ever forward. But I don’t get it, why whisper a name to me, yet hide all premonitions of him from me?”
Aerith was a bit taken aback by the rising frustration in her sister’s voice. She did not mind reading about the old stories of the gods, but to hear them spoken about in the present tense like they still have a hand in the lives of mortals today felt unfathomably surreal to her. However since she saw her own future through the aided emission of her Aurora, she had to see the world in a different light. Us mortals are not alone in this realm, even after the final battle of light and dark.
“You didn’t answer my first question, what was the name?” asked Aerith.
A light breeze blew in through an open window behind them, and Aurora snapped her head toward it as if someone were breaking in. Her eyes widened as she clutched at her own arms in a self-embrace and whispered in a shrill that sounded as if the wind itself had spoken to her, “Ashur.”
“Ashur,” Aurora whispered once again, “Nitya, she’s calling out to me… Whispering his name over and over again in this breeze… Tell me sister, what do you see?”
Aerith blinked in confusion, “See? I see nothing, why? What do you see?”
Her older sister reached out toward the breeze and looked as if she were caressing it like she would a child’s cheek or a small animal, “The air is its own aura, and it is gravitating toward you. Its color is faint, so faint that even my eyes can barely make it out, but it is there.”
Aerith was speechless, she felt the wind brush against her skin, but she did not feel a chill from it despite the season being a brisk autumn. No, if anything the wind was warming her, protecting her from the mildly cold temperature that filled the room from the open window just a few moments ago. She felt a slight alarm as her sister pressed a hand to her breast, just over her heart with her eyes closed and whispered, “close your eyes, we’re going back to that premonition I had, and I want you to say that name.”
She did as she was instructed, closing her eyes and emptying her mind with everything except for that name, and she found herself enveloped in a blinding flash of light.
Mau sat in silence with Ashur and Dyserich above the exit to the tunnel they had ventured through earlier. It was getting late, and soon they would depart on their separate ways and head to their homes for a good night’s rest. The soreness in his limbs had seceded as he laid on his back and watched the moon slowly make its way around the horizon, starting in the west and inching its way toward the east.
It made him think of the old tales his mother, Ashur’s mother, told him of Cereus the moon goddess. The second eldest child of the sun god Shigrasil and the land goddess Qoagi behind the wind goddess Nitya, it was her birth that made it possible for the oceans to form, and from that the other gods and goddesses were able to be birthed into the world. The ancient Ashmedai stories of the Age of Gods and Men tell of how important she was in aiding her brother Eysus in uniting the gods and goddesses against the darkness in the void. Mau wondered if Eysus and Cereus were doing the same thing now, if Alysander was not the only one to know that the darkness had been awakened those many centuries ago when the Sun King destroyed the balance of this world.
What he would not give to learn more of the war that ended that age, to learn of the strategies the great Ashmedai armies of old used to combat their brethren that had fallen to the side of darkness. Maybe those strategies were outdated, and humanity has superseded them in military strategy and efficiency.
Or maybe they did not need them with the gods at the height of their power. Mother spoke of how every Ashmedai at that time had the ability to emit life-spark to the point where if they had existed today, they would have ruled the entire world. We only have an emitter and rekindler, but they probably pale in comparison to what the Ashmedai were before the gods fled to the realms created upon their births.
Ever since Ashur first departed, Mau often asked himself what was true strength in this world they live in? Was it the size of one’s army, for even the greatest of forces would break at a seemingly endless wave of manpower? Was it the power one possessed within their heart, the willpower and ability to life-spark of a charismatic individual like the Sun King? Was it a brilliant mind, for the one who can fight with his mind is always multiple steps ahead? Or is it a combination of the three? Mau did not know, and the thought of an individual possessing all three was unfathomable to him. No such being was so perfect to hold all the keys to success, he thought it might have been the Sun King, but now he was not too certain. The man might have had it all, but he had forced the gods to exit their realm for the first time in multiple millennia to crush the mess he had made, and it was all downhill from there.
Even if he did have three, I suppose nothing lasts forever. A kingdom that was the center of the world in so many aspects: culture, trade, military might, and divine power crumbled to dust and faded to a very distant memory because he lost whatever he had that made him powerful. I will try to build something with Ashur, but how far that goes, and for how long, only history and the gods know…
Yes, he had doubts. Even after what Ashur had done a few nights prior, he still had his doubts. But that was who he was, and it was something he took pride in. He was unapologetically the skeptic in their group, and for the sake of tempering expectations like a blacksmith would when forging a sword, he would make sure that Ashur and his growing following do not lose sight of what is and what is not within their grasp.
I have to, because if not me, then who else?
He heard the sound of light footsteps in the grass, and he looked to his right to see a young boy running up the hill towards them. Mau looked over to Ashur, who was already on his feet and running to meet the boy halfway. Mau and Dyserich gave each other an alarmed glance before getting on their feet and following after Ashur.
“Who are you with, lad?” said Ashur. The way he talked to the boy sounded very fatherly to Mau, which was a surprise because they both grew up without one. It made him realize just how much they have grown since all those years ago, and it made him feel old. It felt like yesterday that they were the lads running around.
The boy dropped to his knees and began to vomit, and Ashur knelt beside him and patted his back as he gasped for air. After a few moments he choked out the words in between, “I’m with Neirin! I’m with Neirin! You need to go to the tunnel you assigned him to!”
Ashur nodded, “I know where he is,” he turned to Mau, “gather our men and head for Cyclos, meet me there!”
“Will you be able to handle it alone?” Mau asked with a concerned look.
“He’ll be able to handle it,” Dyserich said with the utmost confidence, “we need to move, Mau.”
Before Mau could even respond, Ashur exploded with a translucent silver aura and moved almost as fast as lightning down the hill toward the Cyclos tunnel. Mau spat, hating that they were practically going into this blind, but he had no time to make a plan, they just needed to act before things get worse. Turning his back to the bolting Ashur, he nodded to Dyserich and broke out in a sprint toward the city.
‘I sense immense fear, father,’ Grandyt said to Arshuc as he hissed at the kneeling Ashmedai in front of them, ‘He’s hiding something.’
‘I think it’s just from our presence,’ Arshuc echoed in both of their minds, ‘Just from our names and appearance, he would be remiss to not quake in his boots considering he has to give the details of his failure.’
“You lost around two hundred people, Kibair,” he growled as he motioned for the Ashmedai to rise, “I want all of the context behind your failure, or there will be dire consequences.”
“Yes sir,” Kibair whispered as he stood, his eyes failing to meet Arshuc’s, “the Jade Knights are no more, all but the few soldiers watching over Cyclos tunnel’s captives remain.”
“How many captives do we have lying there?”
“Not enough sir, we only have sixty in chains.”
Arshuc sighed as he rubbed his brow, “You were from a rival tribe of my own, yet I took you in. I vouched for your usefulness in front of the council, Kibair. You exist solely for this purpose, and the only reason you aren’t food for Grandryt is because we still have a need to use you for.”
Kibair swallowed as his eyes rose to the standing wyvern who growled as it bared its sword-like teeth at him, “Sir, I apologize profusely. I just… It makes no sense, sir. How a damned militia of washed up soldiers was hiding someone of such extraordinary talents and skills is absolutely unbelievable to me, and I saw it. One man just blew through all of our forces like a storm and by the time I was ordering Eideard to flee to Cyclos it was too late, they had already breached the Citadel.”
“Extraordinary talents and skills?” asked Arshuc, puzzled as he crossed his arms, “a life-spark emitter, here in Tyrus?”
“Aye, and a damn follower of Nitya at that!” Kibair almost hissed in a whisper, “An Aros tribe member, I’ve only come across one in all my time in this city. She never mentioned anything about any other members hiding throughout the city.”
“Well of course she wouldn’t, why would she? The entire tribe was exterminated, voids I was there searching for Nirvana for two years. A son perhaps?”
“Aye, it could be possible. How should I handle this sir? Do you intend on prolonging your stay after hearing about this?”
Arshuc shook his head, “No, I have other matters to attend to, such as speaking to our partners in Samir. What I expect from you is to focus primarily on killing this bastard before he ruins any more of what we have planned. Leave the captives underground and move them out of Cyclos when the Dreadbird and his host have tamed this city. Is that understood?”
Kibair hesitated, “It’s going to be harder than expected to get to track and get to the man. His name has already begun to spread through the streets as Ashur, and I know of where he meets with his men. However, from what I’ve heard on the streets is that he is shadowed by a veteran. The veteran would be no problem, but facing off against another life-spark emitter as well can prove difficult, sir.”
“I don’t care what you have to do, Kibair. So long as it’s done and you’re still alive to ship the population out, that’s all that matters,” Arshuc said as he glared at the Ashmedai, his hand grew cold as sparks rippled from his palm when he aimed it toward the sky, “would you rather face my wrath, or his?”
Arshuc awaited his response, and for a moment he thought that Kibair might actually attempt to fight him there. After all, you can only step on a man’s neck for so long before he decides to do whatever it takes to beat you off of him. He had come to that realization for Tyrus too, for it was time for Tyrus to be officially erased from existence. Alas, the time for combat never came, and Arshuc almost felt disappointed that it didn’t come. Kibair fell to one knee and bowed his head, “your wish will be my command, sir. I will kill the emitter as you ordered.”
Damn the voids, I actually wanted you to try me, Arshuc thought as the sparks dissipated from his palm when he clenched his fist.
‘So much bloodlust, father. I can sense it oozing from him, but I can still feel intense waves of fear. We aren’t alone,’ Grandryt whispered as he raised his snout, ‘Aye, I can smell another.’
‘Ready up for me to mount, it’s time we depart,’ replied Arshuc. The wyvern rested down on its belly as Arshuc climbed its scales like a ladder up its side until he was on its back, saddling himself onto his mount like he would to a horse.
“There’s someone eavesdropping on our conversation, probably a subordinate of this emitter you spoke of,” Arshuc growled from above, “Kibair, I suggest you make use of him. He could lead you to this boy. Do not make me return here, for that means that you have failed and thus forfeit your life to me.”
The vision Aerith was thrown into was the same one from the one she was in a few days prior. She was on a cliff, the sky mottled with dark gray clouds. However, there were some drastic changes to the vision she was in now compared to what she saw before. The city to her right was still as majestic as she remembered, with some towers carved entirely out of opal at the bottom of the valley reaching out to dwarf her from where she was standing. The stone hut that was in front of her in the first vision was nowhere in sight, and when she turned around, she saw a large forest behind her. To her right were three young adults, two of them looked like a spitting image of her aside from the color of their hair. Both of them had her hazel eyes, nose, and high cheekbones. The other two, who she had assumed to be his older brother and younger sister, looked more like someone else. All three shared the dark hair of the man kneeling in front of them at the edge of the cliff. The older brother had tears in his gray eyes, and was holding a baby in his arms. Looking down, she noticed that she had two babies cradled in each of her arms.
Twins, she thought. Gazing into the eyes of the babies staring up at her flooded her with a wave of unexpected emotions, love, guilt, shame, sadness, fear, anger, self-loathing. She could not fathom why she would feel this way as the children set their infantile eyes upon her, and it took more effort than she expected to break their gaze and lift her head up to stare at the man in front of her. The wind swirled lightly around her and this family and heightened in its intensity as it reached him while he stared across the horizon. The sword he was leaning on was whispering something as gusts of wind were emanating from the blade, and she realized that the breeze she was feeling was coming from this weapon that pulsated in power. She opened her mouth, and found for the first time in either vision that she was able to say the words.
“Ashur?” asked Aerith, wincing as she said it. She did not know why, but her heart stung as she called out the name and saw his head slowly turn around in response. She met his gaze and felt another wave of various emotions, a deeper love than what she felt when she stared at the twins in her arms, a slight jealousy, and an overwhelming amount of guilt and sadness that overshadowed that jealousy she had felt. Aerith saw tears flooding from his silver glowing eyes, staining his cheeks, and she realized that her eyes had become a mirror to his as she felt tears running down her cheeks as well.
What is happening? Why am I feeling this way? I have not cried since the death of my mother, and yet I cry for reasons unknown.
His eyes met with hers, and then they traveled to the twins in her arms. They started to fuss and cry as they started to squirm in her arms, and upon hearing their cries, Ashur sank his head. The breeze she felt intensified to a strong gust, and she felt the cold from it. The oldest son nestled the baby he was holding deep within his cloak and stood in front of her. Facing his father, his long black hair rippling through the wind, he spoke to her without facing her, “go back, this does not concern you. Not yet.”
Aerith was confused, did he know that she was merely gazing at a premonition? Or was he speaking on something she simply did not know? She was frozen behind him, trying to learn what he meant when he turned to face her. His face was stern, and suddenly she felt like a helpless child before him as he pressed a hand to her chest.
‘Return home with the children, now,’ he rumbled into her mind as he handed the baby in his left arm to his sister, ‘only I can take the pain he feels right now.’
In a panic, she turned around to run toward the forest, but as soon as she turned her back to the young man, she was enveloped in another darkness. Only the howl of the wind remained.
Ashur came sprinting to the abandoned shanty, where he saw the heads of two boys peeking out over the roof’s ledge to see him arriving. The two boys looked anxious as he looked up at them.
“Which direction did Neirin go?” he shouted as sweat ran down his temples. He was panting heavily, and was exhausted from the run here. He used up a decent amount of life-spark to emit as he ran, he did not want to miss this chance. He could not miss this chance.
Both boys were trembling in fear when one of them raised a shaky hand and pointed toward the forest resting atop the valley to the east. He shook as he shakily said, “Neirin followed the man up the valley towards the forest, but sir… We–we saw a monster fly out from there. It was so big, it blocked the moon!” They were shivering in their fright so bad that Ashur’s pity almost made him ignore what they had just say until it struck him like a club.
His eyes widened, big enough to block the moon? Voidic fuck, did he leave?
Ashur took a deep breath and put on a smile for the boys, “reinforcements should be on the way, lads. Don’t you worry, everything will be alright.”
“You’ll get Neirin back, right?” one of them asked.
Ashur nodded, “I’ll do everything in my power to do so. Stay here for now, and await the reinforcements. Point them in the direction of the forest, like you just did for me, alright?”
Both boys started to tremble slightly less, and gave a shoddy salute in return. He smiled at their resilience, they may have seen something fantastically terrifying, but they kept their composure relatively well especially for children. He gave a salute in return, and started to sprint up the hill. He did not want to emit any more of his life-spark until he ran into some trouble, for he did not know when he would come to need it.
The bronze skin that Neirin and Drake mentioned concerns me. If he is an Ashmedai, and one like mother, this could prove quite troublesome.
Trailing behind the ten thousand men that Ereph sent along with them, each of whom bearing a pale green crystalline blade and spear, Oremir and his Opal Dragons cautiously maneuvered in the darkness in attempt to follow the dimly lit trail the Ashmedai were setting in front of them. Living in Tiarmotae, a city that actually shined brightly in the glowing splendor of riakosend, Oremir felt like he and his men were spoiled and shielded from the true darkness that lay beyond the city, in the cavernous void that was the inside of the mountain. Leaving the city, they had started on a steep descent down the mountain, and for most of the day, they had just been on a constant descent. They had gone so far down that the light of the city had vanished in the darkness, and it led Oremir to wonder just how deep this mountain was. The light that emanated from the newly gifted blades of Oremir and his men were only bright enough to shine a pace in front of them, and with their lack of knowledge of the terrain and lack of eyesight that was adapted to the darkness, they had lagged behind the ten thousand men. Valan was counting to himself in a whisper to keep the time for them, since it was impossible to discover what the time was in a place like this, and by the time he had reached the twenty hour mark, their human eyes had begun to acclimate to the void. But then, he realized that it wasn’t necessarily his eyesight that was improving, but that he saw a large settlement far below that was lit entirely in a ghostly emerald green.
“I think we made it,” whispered Oremir to Valan. His partner’s face was masked in a shadow from the dim light, and Oremir could make out that he was teetering on the edge of a mass of anxiety.
As they continued their descent, Oremir asked, “what is troubling you so much?”
“I’ve just been thinking about it,” Valan muttered, “we’re fighting a god, a void fucking god! Ereph sent ten thousand of his men to die, and he sent us as well.”
“We’re not supposed to fight,” Oremir replied loud enough for the rest of the Opal Dragons to hear, “we’re only here to teach, observe, and retreat. And on top of that, we probably do not even need to teach. If they are to die anyway, then I will just tell one of Khamaung’s lieutenants to teach the army stationed here.”
“I don’t know Oremir,” Valan whispered, “I’ve just got a really bad feeling about this.”