Chapter3: Part1 Havok’s troops had the city of Kirai in sight. He called a halt, and used a device that Avalon had made out of crystals to get a closer view of the city. The city looked pretty peaceful. The few guards that were responsible for the city were at the gates and different posts along the wall. Everything looked normal. People streamed in and out the gates. Kirai was a few hours from the big trade city of Tanimura. It was a town full of wealthy merchants and Inn’s for travelers. It was now a bit after noon, and merry people who had just enjoyed a pleasant meal walked the streets. Havok signaled for someone to bring him more ale. Everyone watched as he drained the cup. He drew a savage looking battle axe and raised it in the air. “Attack!” The troops charged toward the city. “I want the guards heads on pikes outside the city within the hour,” he told the general at his side. “It shall be done my lord,” he answered. Havok rode up to the city behind the first wave of troops. The guards had quickly closed the gates, baring the way. Havok blasted the gates open with his bioelectric magic. He had no patience for a long fight. This city would be no challenge like Tanimura could have been. Tanimura counted with a large contingent of guards. This city would be pitiful in comparison. Within the hour the city was his. He rode down the streets of the city, looking about. Frightened women and children watched him from doorways or windows. Most of the men in the city had elected to fight and were now dead. Havok hadn’t killed many, his troops did most of it. The general rode up to him. “Sir, it is done as you commanded. All the uniformed men’s heads were cut off and placed on pikes outside the city.” The young general looked pleased at his victory. “Look about you general. You did not kill fighting men like you and I. You killed someone’s husband or father. There is no joy in our victory.” The general sobered a little. “Get all the women and children out of the city and then burn it down,” Havok ordered at last. Havok sat on his horse, looking across the plain at the burning city. The heat f the flames could be felt from where he sat. The women and children of the city fled in the direction of Tanimura. Havok watched them go, with fear in their eyes. He turned to his troops. “Most of the me you killed today were good men. Men who weren’t fortunate enough to be born in our empire, but good men nonetheless. Our victory is the means to an end. To our freedom. It isn’t a victory we can be proud of, for it was a slaughter of peasants. But these are the beginnings of a time of war. A time were we must become as ruthless as our enemies.” Havok’s words were filled with wisdom and compassion. These troops came mostly from his lands, being of his people. He wanted to teach them so that not only could they fight, but they could make wise descisions on their own. After all, his surviving this war wasn’t guaranteed. Without an heir, one of his warriors possessing magic would inherit the crown of Jessra(his kingdom). He knew of a few such warriors among these men. His general was one of them. He wished to educate them like an older brother in case he was killed. It was part of his nature to be so. The melancholy infused in him by Deadpool’s warning of a trap also had something to do with it. “Let’s return to our homes now, and train for our next battle.” There was no cheering, just the quiet leaving of a host of war. Quite son after they left, the army that had indeed been waiting for them at Tanimura arrived at the ruined city. Aeka looked out the turret window. The sun was falling. Her Empire should have two victories on it’s belt by now. Her Empire, it gave her such pride to think of it that way. They would finally be something she could feel pride in. She hated the skulking and hiding that they had to do in recent years. The took Nytshade’s and Darque Foenix’s insults without complaint like sniveling cowards. She had hated that so much. The cool breeze of the falling night caressed her, calming her temper. The clouds moved peacefully across the darkening sky. She hugged her arms to her shoulders, which her deep blue gown left bare. Her raven hair was draped across one shoulder, and it moved slightly in the breeze. Her hair was slightly restrained, being held back in a half pony tail to keep it out of her eyes. She only wore two ornaments with her dark and subtle beauty. One was the short necklace Psishot had given her. The there was a blue pendant that hung on a long chain down to the ribs of her gown, slightly above her flat stomach. If anyone were to see her from outside, standing at the window like that they would have thought she was an enchanted maiden from some child’s fairy tale. Ryoko entered the brightly light turret room like the whisper of the wind. Her hair was piled elegantly, but practically, on the top of her head. She wore a pale green dress that hugged her hips. “Any sign of Kiyone yet?” she asked her friend. Aeka stepped away from the window and sighed. “No. Not yet. She was supposed to return from information gathering at sunset.” Ryoko nodded, with a pensive look in her round eyes. “The troops are ready though?” “As ready as I can make them on such short notice. I’ve armed them with the weapons Kiyone left, but I’m hoping for a few more days of training before they have to see any action.” Ryoko sat down in a little stool and sighed. “Our young wizards are troublesome. Magic is so new to them that they are brash and do strange things. They can be such a handful!” Aeka nodded in sympathy. Then both girls took one last look out the window before leaving for dinner. The new of Clarion’s defeat hadn’t had time to spread far before nightfall. It was at sundown when Deadpool and Clarissa arrived at the BHE’s palace with his unconscious body. Blink* and SuperGrover!!! were very upset over Nemesis’ death. Blink took one look at Clarion after hearing the account of the battle and then rushed off somewhere. SuperGrover!!! paced anxiously wondering over the Empire’s future while the medics oversaw Clarion’s condition. ShockWave sat outside the door of Clarion’s room in tears. She had grown fond of the quiet power Clarion exerted when he was around and his pitiful position frightened her. Gomurr stood near the girl with a comforting hand on her shoulder. Deadpool took it all in calmly. He had done his best. At least he had managed to warn Havok. Maybe the day wouldn’t be a complete loss for the Empire. Clarissa sat by Deadpool, coolly assessing the situation. Clarissa was a quiet girl, but smart and somewhat ruthless. If she had been born with magic she could have become a person of power, even being born poor. She had a determination about hr that had flowered on her trip with him. He was considering keeping her around for a while. She made an interesting companion. After a few minutes ShockWave stood up and left, brushing past everyone. Deadpool shot Gomurr a questioning glance, but the mystic just shrugged. Women... go figure, thought Deadpool. He had already made a quick stop at a village doctor to see to Clarion’s bleeding. He and Clarissa knew that Clarion would be lucky to even survive that night. “We have to think about what to do next in our war. Once you start these things there’s no turning back,” said Deadpool ominously.
Chapter3: Part2 It was dawn in the kingdom of the Triad. Or at least it would have been dawn if the sky hadn’t been so dark on stormy. Lightning flickered around the turrets of the castle where the Triad resided. Very few people were awake at this hour. Just a kitchen boy lighting the flames the cook would later use to make breakfast, and a lonely old woman sweeping the hallways. Ryoko was awake, but still lying in her bed, her eyes closed in meditation. She wore a pale yellow nightgown, and her silky red hair was pooled on her pillow. A fire slowly burnt out in the fireplace. A sharp knock on the door made Ryoko start up. Kiyone burst into the room, clothed all in brown leather. She had just gotten back from her scouting and looked very distressed. “Ryoko gather the wizards now!” she yelled as she pulled open the door that connected to Aeka’s room. Ryoko jumped up and hastily got dressed. As she pulled her heavy violet cloak over her head she heard Aeka yelp in surprise. Aeka ran into Ryoko’s room, pulling her clothes on as she went while Ryoko pulled her supple leather boots on. “Harbringer is sending an army to attack us! They are but an hour away!” yelped Aeka. Ryoko jumped off the bed, now fully dressed. “I’ll set up the magical defense,” she said running out of the room. Ryoko flew down the steps, taking them two at a time. When she reached the area where the wizards had been given quarters she was sprinting like an experienced racer. She felt glad that she kept herself in good physical condition. So far she wasn’t even winded. She pounded on the doors were the wizards bunked, yelling for them to get up. The doors opened and sleepy eyed people peeked out. “Get dressed now! We have to prepare for a siege!” Kiyone ran out of Aeka’s room, she used her magic to make bright lights appear in the servants room, rousing them from slumber. They immediently got up and dressed. She had warned them to be ready and the weren’t going to disappoint her. The all gathered in the dining hall, where she was waiting for them. “We have to prepare for an attack. All supplies must be brought inside the walls. The weapons must be fetched for the soldiers and we have to close the castle gates. All the people in the city have ten minutes to get inside before the gates are closed. Anyone else must be left outside, the enemy is almost upon us.” There was little murmuring over the harshness of such orders. They trusted their leader, and rushed to their tasks. Kiyone had been out all night, scouting. She had discovered the army stealing a march on them. The would have reached the castle by midnight if Kiyone hadn’t managed to delay them. They had been sneaking through the forest to avoid detection, and it almost worked. Almost. Kiyone wasn’t about to let anyone take her kingdom from her and her friends. Harbringer was personally leading this army. He would die for daring to assault what was hers. One thing worried Kiyone though. The army would have take a while to get to where they were. That meant this attack had been prepared for a while. She was afraid it also meant that they knew about the rebellion. The implications that brought were too much to contemplate. She’d have to sort it all out later though. Now she had work to do. Aeka was in the courtyard, where the troops were gathering. She pulled her hair back in a ponytail, and put her armor on. She yelled orders to the troops who were doing the same. They manned the walls. Archers went to the turrets. Others were sent to the wall, with special hooks besides their weapons. Those would be used to repel any ladders or ropes the enemy used when they tried to get into the castle. A few remained in the courtyard on horses, ready to mount an offensive if they got the chance. Aeka would take up the position above the gates. She would herald the opposing army. A short sword and a bow with arrows were the weapons she brought with her. She saw the gates closing, leaving many people trapped outside in the city. She called for them to leave immediently, but didn’t regret the closed gates. The castle was the priority. That was what Harbringer would be after. Aeka looked behind her, at the courtyard. Ryoko had gathered the wizards there. The put up a defensive spell around the castle. She could feel the tingle it caused in her skin. Aeka wore her leathers, with her shining silver encrusted armor on top. Her dark hair blew in the wind that the approaching storm raised. So far there had been plenty of thunder and lightning, but no rain. Aeka prayed it would rain. Defensive capabilities were marginally increased in the rain. At least from a physical assault... While all this was going on, ShockWave was alone in the Great Library. She hadn’t seen Gomurr or the others since she had run crying the previous evening. The sun was slowly rising behind the distant clouds. It was early yet. ShockWave was angry. Her green eyes danced in rage. Gomurr had said that Clarion was the fate warrior. That he would lead them to victory like the prophecy said. The old mystic was wrong. Clarion was probably dead by now. Without the prophecy there was no hope of victory. The enemy had surprised THEM! The advantage was now lost. Her beautiful kingdom would fall... Her green fields burnt, her people starved and dying. It broke her heart. That was why she cried. Because she had doomed her kingdom and her people. The Emperor and Darque Foenix would be merciless. She shuddered at the thought that occurred to her. She thought of giving herself to Foenix in exchange for leniency for her people. He wouldn’t keep his word though. She may as well save herself the horror. She would die fighting. That was what she did now, in a way. She was going through the books of prophecy, searching for something that would help. She couldn’t get one thing off her mind though. The prophecy Gomurr had told her was untrue. If Clarion was incapacitated or dead then Blink would become their leader since Nemesis was killed. Blink had light brown hair and eyes. The prophecy said that the female Fate Warrior would have those attributes and she would lose. ShockWave was searching for away around it. She was searching for another prophecy by the same mysterious person. She needed to find another prophecy signed with the Ñ. So far she hadn’t found anything. She wanted to scream in frustration. She got out another dusty old book. The book had a dark green cover, and was falling apart. She opened it carefully. The words were blurred beyond comprehension. She sighed. Some of the books were like that. It frustrated her. But something caught her eye as she was closing it. It was the letter Ñ signed at the bottom of the page. She looked at the book more closely. A few lines were still visible, but not understandable. She realized that the words weren’t just blurred and faded, but written in a different language! This could be what she was looking for! She had to find Gomurr and see if he knew the idiom.
Aeka ground her teeth as the castle walls shook. The battering ram had been repeatedly pounded against the gates. She had almost fallen out of her position on the wall above the gates several times. She shot or froze the men wielding the ram numerous times, but more just kept coming to take their place. Ryoko and her wizards would launch huge fireballs at the enemy army, but more often than not portals kept opening to turn the fireballs against the castle. Aeka knew that it was Harbringer’s magic doing that. But so far the castle remained unbreached, thanks to the magic fortifications the wizards had put up. Kiyone worried Aeka though. She was about to embark on a dangerous task. She wanted to sneak out of the castle and kill Harbringer, putting a swift end to this attack. There was a great risk involved. After all, Harbringer had some telepathy. He would sense her if she got near enough. He had enough men out there to cut her down in the blink of an eye as well. But Aeka had to admit that they were getting no where. The gates and spells wouldn’t hold forever. Once the castle was breached an overwhelming number of enemies would sweep in like a wave of death, killing all in their path. Ryoko was exhausted. She had the strongest magic of the wizards, so in order to accomplish anything it required a vast amount of energy on her part. Aeka knew that Ryoko couldn’t keep it up forever. She could collapse any second now. Aeka knew her men would fight valiantly to save their castle and homes, but it wouldn’t be enough. Kiyone would have to take the risk. The frustrating part was that Aeka could do nothing to help her. She grabbed on to the edge of the parapet as the castle shook with the force of the battering ram once again.
Kiyone walked through the muck of bodies that lay around the castle. The archers had done good shooting before the arrows ran out. But now all her valiant men could do was sit in the castle and wait for the enemy to breach the castle walls. They were waiting to die. Harbringer’s numbers had increased from when she spied on him in the forest earlier. He must have met another of his armies after she had left. Now there was no hope that they could win if thy gained the castle. Kiyone would prevent that. She wouldn’t let her men die. When she and Aeka and Ryoko had become the rulers of the Triad they had sworn to never let their people come to harm. They swore to lay down their lives protecting them. Kiyone would keep her vow. If she managed to cut Harbringer down the army would flee in confusion or surrender without a leader. Harbringer was young. He had no heir to ride to battle with. There was no one to legitimately take over his army if he fell. She only had to find him. The troops waiting out here to storm into the castle were a bit disorganized. It seemed that Harbringer was the only one leading the army. He probably used his telepathy so he wouldn’t need lieutenants or generals in his army. Harbringer didn’t like to give his underlings any kind of power at all. That would be his undoing. The chaos that would form at his death would give her victory. If only she could find him... It was a noisy mess all around her. Men talking, waiting in battle positions, drawing and sheathing swords, the occasional sound of a bowstring been drawn back and an arrow taking to air, and the repeated boom of the battering ram. The gates wouldn’t hold much longer... The storm made everything dark and murky. The ground was slick with mud. All the men crowded around in formation made it hard to see very far ahead. At least no one had noticed her yet. She spun around, trying to see. Suddenly she was sent flying by a hit on the side of the head. She landed with a splat, sprawling in the mud. “Come to kill me have you?” said Harbringer angrily. Kiyone got up quickly. “I have come to kill you, you evil bastard!” “Oh, I’m the evil one right? Your pathetic empire attacks mine and you expect no from of retaliation?” Kiyone shot a blast of light at him which he telekinetically deflected. His men looked up. “I can handle her,” he said quietly, and they all turned away. “You’ll be surprised to know something Kiyone. You see, we knew of your evil plans. We were ready for you. Nemesis and Clarion are already dead. You will be the next to die! Your kingdom will be my reward for serving my empire so well.” She felt tendrils of his power insinuate themselves into her mind. Dammit! Didn’t the necklace she had protect against this sort of thing? She thought as she tried to fight his intrusion. The necklace must only prevent Foenix from entering their minds. A stupid oversight on their part! Even though Harbringer wasn’t a very powerful wielder of the mind magic’s, he was stronger than Kiyone’s internal defenses. He was slowly gaining control of her. Out of the corner of her eye she saw his men breaking their formations and looking around confusedly. He could no longer control them. He was using all his powers on her. Just a second before he took control of her mind, Kiyone hit him with a bright light force that caught him off guard, vaporizing him and some of the men behind him. All the other people were suddenly blinded. The attack came to a grinding halt. Kiyone collapsed on to the mud.
Siryn paced anxiously in her throne room. Her castle was one of the nearest to the BHE’s stronghold. She was the first to receive the disastrous news of their loss and Clarion’s condition. She had cried when she heard of Nemesis’ death. They didn’t even have a body to bury and honor. But now her red-rimmed eyes held a look of fierce anger in them. She had quickly summoned her War Council. They were putting the army together right now. Many of the other kingdoms didn’t have a weapons cache or a standing army. After all, the Empire of the Dawn had made both those things illegal. But Siryn had always been a close friend to Deadpool. He had taught her a few things. She had a secret army, and plenty of weapons made and then hidden away. She was assembling men right now. Those arms were being distributed. She was going to ensure that the next strike in this war was hers. She would have a victory. She would avenge the death of the queen.....
The Emperor pulled on his black gloves. H was in a dark bedchamber. The heavy velvet drapes were closed, so the room was virtually without light. Some would say it was as black as his heart. That was nonsense though. He knew his heart wasn’t black. He wasn’t evil like many thought, he was ruthless. Ruthless in the way that he was superior to them all. He was smarter, stronger, perfect. They hated him for that. His intellect governed his every decision, the way emotion governed all of theirs. He did things because they were the logical step towards his own well-being and ambitions. There was no malice in him when he killed. He didn’t enjoy killing or making others suffer like his underling Darque Foenix did. He didn’t get pleasure from using and hurting people for little or no reason like the lovely Nytshade. No, he did things with the cold precision of a careful and dedicated man. That was why no one had defeated him in all the years he had lived. That was why they never would either. He turned back to his bed. A lovely blonde lay there, naked in innocent sleep. Her name was Joelle. She was as gentle as a breeze and as sweet as the sweetest flower. She loved him, he knew. He sat down on the bed beside her. She didn’t even stir at his added wait. She was the perfect lover. She had never denied him. He placed his fingers on hr temples. It was too bad she had to die. He squeezed until he crushed her skull. Red blood and bits of brain covered his gloved hand. She didn’t even feel it, she suddenly and quietly died. It was a shame it had to come to this. Her company had always been quite pleasant. The problem was that Joelle had been pregnant. She had been carrying his child. Now both she and the threat were eliminated. He would not have a child until he was ready to die. Otherwise, the child might grow to oppose and kill him. Indeed, one of the prophecies had said that very same thing. He wasn’t going to allow it. He had many years left in him, many things to accomplish first. He could have simply killed the child and kept the girl, but she loved him so that she had wanted the child. Indeed, she had hidden the child’s existence from him. Only the telltale extra mind had given her away. No one would be able to hide such things from him. Her attempt at doing so made her a danger. He had plenty of other girls to turn to for his pleasures. He didn’t really need her. Doom, the Emperor of the greatest empire in the realm, stood and left the room leaving the body for the servants to dispose of. He had other things to attend to. H needed to meet with Nytshade, not only to discuss how Darque Foenix was healing from the cut Deadpool had dealt him, but also to demand answers to as why she hadn’t been with the other army, defending his lands. She had allowed for one of his villages to be burnt, and she would pay dearly for her failure.
Back to Main Page: Back to Story Page: Chapter2: |