The knight continued on through the desolate hills and ancient battlefields. Some of the land was so devastated by magic that it may be decades more before it fully recovers. He saw no signs of habitation until he finally came upon a section of road that was not churned up. It was paved but poorly maintained and split to head north, south, and east.
He was compelled to travel east, so he gripped his ax and trudged forward. It was some time before he began to see farmsteads dot the landscape. Some were abandoned and empty, and a few, he saw the faint glow of candlelight through the windows. The knight stuck to the road and continued heading east.
After another hour of traveling, the knight saw in the distance the lights of a massive city. It was familiar to him, but he could not place where. He heard the sounds of many travelers, and then the smell of smoke wafted through the holes of his great helm.
“I could smell?” he wondered. He hadn’t noticed before.
The smell of smoke meant one thing. The city was under siege! The knight’s vision zoomed in, and he saw winged human-shaped creatures battling in the area and hundreds of civilians fleeing the city on foot. Another ability that he discovered the armor had. He left the road to avoid being seen as he continued to follow his compulsion to find the Gifted One.
As he walked in the shadows, he focused his vision on zooming in and studying the flying creatures. They had red leathery skin with black bat wings, and their heads were canine-shaped with two small horns and jagged teeth. Their sinewy arms and legs ended in claws, carrying barbed spears.
LESSER CAIZENE DEMON
THESE ARE THE FOOT SOLDIERS TO THE DEMON HORDES OF THE ABYSS. NUMEROUS, VICIOUS, AND EXPENDABLE. THEY ARE OFTEN FOUND ON THE MORTAL PLANE AS THEY ARE SMALL ENOUGH TO TRAVEL THROUGH THE RIFTS AND ARE EASILY CONTROLLED BY SUMMONING MAGES.
The knight trudged through the uneven ground that ran along the sides of the road, and soon he saw the fleeing refugees. They were a rag-tag group that represented the standard races of the imperium; dwarves, humans, halflings, and elves. They fled with what they could carry, and the knight could hear the crying of children as the crowd rushed as fast as their legs could carry them. At the rear of the crowd, Caizene demons would swoop in and stab the poor unfortunate stragglers.
One demon with a spear in its clawed hands was standing over a pleading family. It howled in glee as it raised the barbed weapon. Something in the knight sparked a memory of a past life where he knew he battled evil creatures. The warrior burst from the shadows and slammed his enchanted ax into the demon’s chest. The creature screeched and tried to fly away, but the knight struck it again. The enchanted edge buried deep into the creature’s collarbone. The Caizene glared at the knight with hate-filled eyes that dimmed as it died.
Two more demons howled as they dove in with barbed spears. The knight deflected one spear attack and struck the creature in the jaw with the butt end of his two-handed ax. The second demon’s spear pierced the thigh armor plates, and purple magic oozed out of the wound. The knight, without flinching, grabbed the demon by the neck and slammed it to the ground. The monster frantically clawed and scraped as the knight chopped down with his ax. Black blood squirted upwards in a fountain as the other demon recovered from the blow to its jaw. The knight deflected and sidestepped a barbed spear thrust and countered, catching the monster in the chest with his own jab. It tried to flap away, but the knight fluidly pulled the ax back and chopped down using arms and hips to deliver a fatal blow.
“Thank you!” A man said, tears in their eyes.
“A Templar? Have the gods returned?” Another person asked.
The fleeing refugees were starting to gather around. The knight had no time for them as the compulsion pulled him eastwards. He chopped down one more time to ensure that the demon was dead as he recalled that they could heal fast. The knight spun and walked toward the flames of the city as the tear in his leg armor closed.
ARMOR: MAGIC REMAINING 92.75%
The streets were chaotic as buildings were aflame, and colorfully dressed mercenaries fought against the red tabard Legionnaires. In the air above, the Caizene demons circled and swooped, their spears clanging against the shields of the Legion. The colorful mercenaries and the demons were the invading force! The knight realized as he walked through the alleyways and crowds of fleeing civilians. The people would stop and stare at the knight. Some would reach out to touch his armor, but he ignored them and trudged forward.
The streets were cobblestone and lined with buildings. Without fighting and bloodshed, the city would be a marvel of architectural and magical ingenuity. Magical lights illuminated the streets, and some of the buildings were dozens of stories tall. The knight found himself before a wide plaza lined with trees, and in its center were ornate fountains and carved stone benches. Arched buildings surrounded the plaza, and fighting could be heard just a few blocks away. It moved in an unpredictable pattern leaving a swath of destruction in its wake, and eventually made its way toward the plaza. The knight ducked into a shadowed alley between the buildings as combatants raged and battled each other. Arrows shot down demons, and magical blasts of fire engulfed troops on the ground. The battle raged with a cacophony of clanging steel, exploding magicks, and screams.
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The Legionnaires were routed in the plaza, and the fight ended with the colorful mercenaries and the demons being the victors. The Caizene flapped their wings and flew off, leaving eight mercenaries to rest in the plaza. The knight studied them. They wore flamboyant armor with frills around their shoulders and wide-brimmed hats. Their armor consisted of heavy colorful padded cloth and mail. Compared to the Legionnaire’s armor, they were not as well equipped, but they had the demons supporting their ranks. The eight looted the corpses of the Legionnaires and their own fallen compatriots.
It did not appear that the mercenaries would move any time soon as wine was being passed among them. But the knight couldn’t wait as the compulsion urged him. Luckily, the mercenaries were distracted, and he could sneak through the trees within the plaza. As he crept, the knight noticed something odd about the tree before him. There was a distortion to it, and the knight curiously poked it.
SHADOW MAGIC
ILLUSIONS ARE A SUBSET OF THE SCHOOL OF SHADOW MAGIC. MAGES THAT CREATE ILLUSIONS TAP INTO SHADOW MAGIC TO DISTORT LIGHT AND CREATE FALSE IMAGES. MORE ADVANCED SHADOW MAGIC ALLOWS THE PRACTITIONER TO TAP INTO THE REALM OF SHADOWS, WHICH INTERTWINES WITH OUR DOMAIN. THIS CAN ENABLE THEM TO CREATE QUASI-REAL EFFECTS AND EVEN PHASE AS THEY TRAVEL BETWEEN THE TWO PLANES OF EXISTENCE.
The knight recalled that he disliked shadow magic and would have snarled if he had a face. The poke in the illusion caused a ripple effect that extended a few meters to either side.
“Oi, look at this!” One of the mercenaries called out.
“That there? They ain’t one of us,” another responded.
The illusion before the knight rippled and cleared away to reveal an odd scene of a large metal and steel cart covered in runes and with a mechanical contraption at its back. A green-skinned orc was lying on his back under the coach. A bone pale human with midnight hair stood holding tools that they were handing to the orc, and sitting on top of the cart was a blond-haired elf female. All three of the strange trio looked up in shock at the knight and the mercenaries.
“By the devils! Look at our fortune!” One of the mercenaries cried.
“The cart and the knight’s armor would catch us all a pretty penny,” another added.
Another laughed with an evil glint in their eye. “I want that elf lass.”
The mercenary was awarded a sharp kick to their shins from a broad red hair dwarf mercenary maiden.
“Ow! I was just joking,” the thug exclaimed.
“Nuff talking, gents. Let’s go claim our fortune,” the dwarf lass roared.
“Oh crap,” the elf said as the half-orc scrambled from under the cart.
The eight mercenaries armed with halberds, axes, maces, and shields charged the knight and the odd trio. The knight deflected a spear thrust and countered immediately with a sharp slash across the attacker’s face. At the same time, another mercenary attempted a tackle and was met with a hard knee that shattered their nose and teeth.
A mace slammed into the great helm causing the knight to wobble as a battle axe buried into his elbow. The knight dodged a tackle, deflected with the haft of his Dane ax a halberd thrust, and pivoted his hips to counter with a devastating chop that split a mercenary’s head in half.
Initially, six mercenaries had charged the knight, while two went after the odd trio in the motorized cart. Of the six that attacked the knight, three were dead and dying. The two turned their attention from the cart and joined the other mercenaries to encircle the knight. They were less reckless this time as they feinted, jabbed, and only committed when there was an opening. After a moment, it was clear that the knight was going to lose as an accumulation of dents and tears were starting to appear in its armor, and magical purple ooze leaked out.
“Dat ding even alive?” The dwarf maiden asked as she blocked the knight’s ax with her shield. She carried a war hammer in her right hand.
The knight swung the large Dane ax around his head like a whirlwind that caused the mercenaries to take a step back. This created a space for the knight to lunge at one of them and break their formation. The mercenary deflected the knight’s ax with their shield but stumbled onto their back as the knight jumped over them and was no longer surrounded.
The mercenaries rushed to try and re-encircle their opponent and, in doing so, allowed the knight to exchange blows with two of them. There was a ruthless give and take. Parry, deflect, counter, resulting in another mercenary falling to the floor without their head.
Four mercenaries remained, and the knight had to pay a cost for his assault as the dwarf maiden barreled into him with her shield. A halberd struck him heavily in the helmet, and the dwarf smashed his knee with her hammer. The knight fell to the ground and was quickly overwhelmed by a barrage of thrusts and bashes.
A loud grating sound caused them to pause and look up to see the mechanical cart active and moving. The heavy steel and wooden vehicle barreled into two of the mercenaries and crushed them underneath its heavy wheels. The pale black-haired person was waving their arms and chanting.
“Kill them!” The dwarf ordered but was knocked down by a zombie Legionnaire.
The half-orc leaped out of the cart and swung a heavy sledgehammer that the final mercenary was able to dodge easily. The sledgehammer was not designed for war, and it was etched and covered with glowing runes. It was designed for enhanced demolition. The half-orc struck the ground, which sent a shockwave that knocked the mercenary over.
“Help me with him,” the half-orc said as he grunted to lift the knight.
“Shouldn’t we focus on fleeing instead? It clearly does not look to be alive,” the bone-pale human said. They spoke with a lisp.
“He saved us!” The elf responded and helped the orc to lift the knight onto the cart.
The dwarf mercenary finished off the zombie, and the other mercenary rose from the ground.
“Hurry up then!” the pale human cried as they reached down from the cart to assist with dragging the knight’s heavy frame into it.
The orc scrambled up into the driver’s seat with a clattering of gears, and the cart fled away.