Losian: Chp 113 – Arkthame

Returning to the farm, the farmhands waved to us. Baen explained the situation to the rest of the farm, while Lapi joined me to take a look around the perimeter. She kept step beside me, watching the forest with keen eyes and pricked ears. “Sorry we didn’t bring you with us, thought they’d need you more here in case something happened.” I said absently, slowing every now and then as I Delved.

Lapi bumped up against me, her jaws gently clamping on my arm as she pulled me to rest. I turned to her, and she held my gaze. I sighed, dropping to a knee as I ran my hand through her fur. “Sorry, this isn’t very much like me I guess.” I said. “I came across three other dire wolves you know? Kinda like cubs.” I grinned. “Maybe sometime they might come down to meet you if you’re willing.” Lapi snorted, lifting her head to lick the side of my helmet. I laughed. “I’ll be fine, in time, trust me.”

Lapi huffed a little, unhappy, but let me go, the perimeter at least seemed sound, but considering how long it took me to circle the farm it could well have approached from a different side while I was circling. I doubled back towards the farm. Baen was organizing something with Baer, Teb instead nowhere to be seen. Perhaps he was finally passing off his duties, would be about time.

“With the winter being here they’ve got the time to spare for watch rotations.” Baen remarked, gesturing to the others, who wielded spears and torches. “We’ll be closer, and if they see the chimaera we should be able to get there in time.” He said nervously, his thumb and index finger rubbing his bowstring. “Most of them are in pairs, but the fire should deter the chimaera all the same…”

Don’t jinx it… please. I thought to myself. It was practically a foregone conclusion for it to be hunting them, that was why it was here of all places. If we were lucky it might have gone for the ettin’s corpse after we’d slain it, but ultimately that was unlikely. The Aesor was comfortably placed against my chest. With everyone around me, I needed to be careful. The discomfort could well cause anyone near me to make missteps, and that could have terrible consequences.

I circled the buildings counter clockwise, watching the lights from each of the torches as they were carried by the farmhands. “Hey ah… sir?” I turned to the voice. It was the woman who had asked about the Aerathi. I spared another glance at the torches, but nodded to her. “I was jus wondering… about the Aerathi.” She started. “Now that they’re here and all… what’re they gonna do?” She asked.

I arched an eyebrow. “From what I’d heard… they’re going to make peace.” I said, thinking back to when I had met that person in the forest. In hindsight, a risky move, but I suppose I wasn’t exactly in the most stable of moods when I’d arranged it. She folded her arms, unsure. I nodded, I hadn’t trusted their intentions at the start to begin with either. “I don’t have a reason to doubt them, if they wanted to subjugate us they could’ve done so easily.” I noted. “That they arrived so late was… problematic.” I gritted my teeth. “But ultimately welcome. I think they’ll do the world some good.”

She mulled it over, thinking as she stared past me at the walls. “I don’t like it.” She finally admitted. “It sounds weird I ken, but they’re so… powerful, if they ever changed their minds we’d be goners for sure.”

I nodded. “Can’t disagree with you there, but on the bright side, it should make things safer, maybe even mend relations between the other races.” I sighed. “I suspect a lot about the history of the world, but it’s not really all that important now, their intervention is what prevented us from being overrun by the Edratchi, that will have to suffice for now.”

“I guess…” She said, turning to the side, and freezing in place. I blinked, cursing as I turned to look at the perimeter. One of the torches had been snuffed out, and something was loping towards us, pouncing at the woman. Without thinking, I pushed her aside with my right hand, trying to draw my sword with my left hand in an underarm stance. The wound on my arm slowed me, and the chimaera slammed into me, knocking me down and jamming the sword back into its sheath.

I quickly raised my right arm as its jaws closed shut, and screamed as I felt my gauntlet collapse into itself, bones cracking under the force of the bite. A paw pinned my chest to the ground, claws digging into my flesh. I struggled, sending a knee into the creature’s throat, before lunging my left hand towards the chimaera’s eyes. I dug in, prying my fingers under its eyelids as it tried to tear my right arm away from my body.

It tossed me aside with a flick of its head, and I quickly drew my sword in a reverse grip with my left hand. The world spun as I tried to focus on the chimaera. A growl and a hiss sounded from… somewhere, but my eyes flicked easily to sudden movement, and I turned to the side, making the most of my reach. The blade jammed itself into the beast, and my wrist screamed in protest. I slammed my body weight against the hilt, eliciting a pained yowl. The blade wrenched away from me as the chimaera whirled away.

I took the moment to catch my breath, there was nothing I could do now, it would either rush me again and wreck my other arm, or give me enough respite to dodge its next attack. I shook my head, trying to clear it, and took in my surroundings. The chimaera had been distracted, an arrow sticking from its side, just a few centimetres from its heart. I darted to where I’d been standing before, scooping up the Aesor as it dodged Baen’s next arrow, and prepared another pounce.

The blade flared to life silently, a solid, sharp blue blade once again formed over the hilt. The chimaera’s eyes flicked towards me, and I lunged, plunging the blade deep into its chest. It spasmed, collapsing to the ground, its breathing coming in ragged gasps as its claws raked futilely across the rest of my armour. I flicked the blade towards its skull, and it fell still. I toggled the Aesor off again, and the brilliant white blade dissipated. I leaned myself against the chimaera’s corpse, steadying myself.

I let out a deep breath. “Is everyone okay?” I asked, holding in my pain as I scanned the area. Baen nodded at me, his eyes never leaving my right arm. The others seemed stunned, and Baer walked around, checking the others for wounds. Fortunately, it seemed I was the only one injured. I spared a glance at my right arm and grimaced. The gauntlets had pinched inwards, blood seeping out of tears and cracks that lined it, and ordering it to move only made my fingers twitch. I’ll take a look at that once I’m alone… Definitely looks like it’s going to be bad. I thought to myself.

It was Gornath that had been taken by the chimaera. If the chimaera had simply taken him alone… perhaps we would never have found it. I’m sorry. I offered some basic prayers they used as the others buried him. Baer added his name to the tree, scratching the words into it with a dagger as the others bowed their heads.

I took off the gauntlet in an empty room Baer had shown me to, resting my arm on the table. I hissed in pain as I peeled the strips away, and blood spilled onto the table. I didn’t even know where to begin, the arm was completely mangled, skin torn off at different parts, bones jutting at uncomfortable angles. Walk me through this Page. I thought, gritting my teeth as I prepared myself.

[You need to set these bones here and here.] Page notes, overlaying my vision with neon yellow where the nanomachines had located the major portions. I grunted in pain, digging my fingers deep into the wounds to push them into vague alignment. [Right.] Page paused. [You’re going to have to realign your hand as well, I suggest using your armour as a brace.] I complied, reshaping the armour to hold my arm snugly in place while leaving the bottom half exposed for me to work on.

Baen walked in at this moment, gagging at the sight. “Kio help you… Why don’t the potions work on you?” He asked as I began to move strips of flesh to where they should have been. “Surely, with everything you’ve done, there would be no god that would maintain a curse like that on your person?” I barked a short laugh.

“Trust me. This has absolutely nothing to do with gods. I’m a special case, and that’s all you’re hearing from me.” I let out a small hiss through my teeth. “I know what I’m going to do now. Really with who I am there was nothing else I could be.” I started to ramble. “I wanted to hide away, maybe become a farmhand somewhere, but this world… that won’t be allowed.” My fingers fumbled, and I gasped as my fingers dug painfully into flesh. Two sharp pains from my left wrist and my right arm. “There’s always going to be slimes, ettins, all threatening every last settlement. I can’t ignore that, and being a hermit in the woods will only mean I get worn down and killed young.”

I chuckled ruefully, moving strips of skin back into place. “It may well be fate, but knowing that something is predestined doesn’t mean I can live with any other option. Maybe when I’m finally old enough, finally weak enough, I’ll be able to stop, knowing that I’ve done all I could.” I seal the gauntlet into place, locking it rigidly to prevent all movement. “But until then, I guess I really am an irregular…” I shook my head, leaning heavily onto the table. I heard no response from Baen. “Think you can get me a bucket of water?” I asked, gesturing to the table. “It’s going to stain otherwise.”

“Oh, yeah, sure.” I slung my arm against my chest while I waited for him to return, grimacing as each movement sent jolts of pain from it upwards. The punctures on my chest weren’t even close to life threatening, mostly just small gashes where it had pierced the armour. “I’m glad I guess.” Baen said when he returned. “Maybe you won’t be as morose now that you’ve figured it out?”

I gave a tight grin. “Maybe I’ll do that after this has healed up.” I said, gesturing to my arm. He hesitated for a moment, looking out to the wilderness. “I’ll be fine going alone, a quick wash will stop me smelling like blood and it’s winter, there’s not much out there now.” I shifted my gaze to where the chimaera lay. “Except that, it’ll feed everyone for a while I guess.”

We retired for an early night once the blood was taken care of, the others would take care of curing and disposing the body and hide. By the time I’d woken the next morning, the chimaera was nowhere to be seen.

When I stepped back into the guild house in Torven, everyone was in, for once, there hadn’t been any pressing jobs. It was quieter now, with so many gone away. “Kael? It is you!” Numen exclaimed, walking over and almost managing to give me a hug. I stepped back, eyes wide as I shifted my injured arm away. “What in the hells happened to your arm?” Numen asked, eyes widening as she noticed the sling.

Losian: Chp 112 – Arkthame

Baen eyes blinked a few times, sliding to look at me with a somewhat thoughtful expression. “I’m… not sure what to tell you. If you chose what you wanted to do… then… does it matter?” He winced a little, eyes slipping away from mine. “I mean… we do what we have to right?” He gesticulated a little. “Sometimes things don’t work out, but that doesn’t mean there’s something against you.”

I shrugged, shaking my head. “I suppose that’s true, but doesn’t really solve everything I’m thinking about. I suppose that’s a problem with how I explained it really… It doesn’t matter, it’s something I’ll figure out eventually.” I’ve got all my life to consider it after all. I thought to myself bleakly. An awkward silence started between us, broken as Baen reached into his pocket.

“Oh, they gave me the badge a while back when I was checking in.” He said, fishing it out to show me. It looked like a ceramic version of my own, without colour. I’d kept mine away after I’d left, couldn’t bear to throw it away after all the work they’d put in. “It’s like every time I visit the chapter they have something new to show me.”  He mused. “It’s pretty awesome, I think at the least even if the military does get back into patrols and the like we’ll still be called in for mapping and exploration.”

I nodded, that was probably the main reason why it had been encouraged, to give us something to do once the war was over, so we wouldn’t end up as idle swords hanging around. As it was, we, they probably wouldn’t need to consider downsizing for a while. They’d probably be supplementing the military patrols for the next twenty years at the very least. “That’s true, though I wonder how many people will stick around now that they’re not really needed anymore.”

Baen shrugged. “I’ll remain here.” He said. “Quite a few others will as well.” He remarked thoughtfully. “I probably don’t need to tell you this, but after what you did with the dragons the number of volunteer recruits is now greater than the original irregulars.”

“It’s not my work. More should be laid at Cale and his group’s feet than I, alongside Frejr, Qent, Numen, Azarint and Rince.” I asserted irritably. “All I did was start the discussion, they sought out the other races, negotiated to have them ally with us against the greater threat. Does no one realize how uncomfortable the hero worship makes me? Even more how undeserved all of it is.” I sighed, this wasn’t helping. “I don’t think they’ll be coming here tonight. We should get some rest.” I said simply, straightening myself and walking off. Lapi followed me, curling at my feet as I fell asleep.

The next day, Baen asked me if I would help him seek out where the ettin and chimaera might be. I accepted, mostly because I couldn’t refuse. We picked up the tracks of the chimaera at a nearby stream. No new snow had appeared overnight, and it was easily visible. Snow crunched under my knee as I knelt to take a look at the prints.

“It’s pretty large.” Baen noted worriedly. He wasn’t wrong… The last Chimaera I’d fought had left prints only two thirds this size. Normally with creatures like these they would’ve gone into hibernation, there wasn’t nearly enough food for them to keep going like this. Unless there was something I was missing from the picture…

[What if due to the Edratchi they were unable to feed enough for the winter?] Page queried. [If that is the case, they might become desperate enough…] To go for the closest food source they can find? I wondered, frowning. “We need to find them soon.” I said. “It’s probably hungry and irritable from the winter, and the fact that it’s not hibernating isn’t anything good…”

“Right, we need to get it to leave before nightfall?” Baen asked. I nodded. “What about the ettin? If they’re both here for the same reason we might not be able to take them one after the other.”

I shrugged. “It won’t be a problem.” I said. “If the Aesor doesn’t scare it away it’ll kill it in short order.” Baen looked taken aback. “Hmm?” I cocked my head at him. “I’m not going to have anyone die while I can do anything about it. Chimaeras are tough bastards that I’d rather not go into an extended fight with… and I’ve already had someone die to an ettin because I wasn’t fast enough.” I sighed, pushing myself onto my feet. “Let’s get this over with.”

It didn’t take us long to pick up traces of where it’d been. Blood splattered snow was easily visible, and the carcasses even more so. Skull’s cracked open for the brains… Ettin, has to be. Even the bones have been snapped to get at the marrow. Nothing much left of it… They’re probably still hungry. I stood back up, quickly putting several feet between myself and the corpse. The way I’d made my armour, it gave me time before the smell permeated, but once it had… I grimaced. “Do we follow?” Baen asked, gesturing to where the footsteps led.

I hesitated for a moment, then nodded. Of the two, the chimaera was more dangerous, an obligate carnivore, there was only one thing that bastard would be going for. However… this carcass was fresh, which meant that unlike the chimaera, we had a real chance of catching the ettin. Baen led the way, and once we’d left the vicinity I removed my faceplate to let the air circulate. Surprisingly cold air assaulted my face, and I turned to Baen. “Are you fine in this?” I asked, a little surprised.

He nodded curtly. “I’ve been in worse.” He remarked, forging ahead. I replaced my faceplate.

“I’ll take your word for it.” I said. I trusted him to know his limits, if he didn’t, he’d never have lasted so long here anyway. We followed the trail in silence from then, didn’t need to alert the ettin after all. Periodically I would Delve, looking past the trees and snow to try and find the ettin’s soul, even obscured by the trees.

Once I had, I reached out, tapping Baen on the shoulder. He stopped, turning to me quizzically. That way. I gestured. We’d gone deeper into the wood than I would’ve liked personally, but Baen seemed to know where he was going. I drew my sword, for now, the Aesor stayed sheathed, I had a sneaking suspicion that where I last fought using it was now a dead section of forest.

Baen looked in the direction that I had pointed, pausing for a short while. Then he unslung his bow, shifting his quiver to his belt. He gestured for me to lead. The ettin was in fitful slumber, it looked leaner than the ettins I’d seen before, not quite emaciated, but approaching the boundaries. I hid the sword under my cloak, and crept closer.

I placed my foot down, and a crack rang out in the silence. It was ice under my feet. A thin pane that had formed after a small fire had been put out, covered by old snow. I steeled myself as the ettin roused, eyes falling onto us. It moved to stand, and I darted forward, trying to get a strike in at its neck. It roared, brandishing a large branch. An arrow slammed into the creature’s eye, and it jerked, the branch clipping my sword instead of sailing over my head when I ducked down.

I let go of the sword as my wrist twisted painfully, and grimaced as I closed. It roared, one hand reaching up to pluck the arrow from its eye, and the other tried to swing the branch back towards me. I closed the distance, deflecting the blow upwards with my right arm. I swung myself over the creature’s shoulder, then reached for the back of its skull.

It had taken me a while to figure some things out. The armour had always been predominantly just that to me, but recently I’d gotten to thinking, and this was as good a situation as any to test it. I increased the heat capacity and conduction of the outer layer to my left gauntlet as I pressed against the base of its skull. The temperature to it plummeted, and I could feel the thick, tough skin beneath my palm freezing. I pulled one of the throwing knives from their sheath with my other hand.

By itself, it would hardly penetrate, it was more likely to get stuck on the outer layers, but if I could remove it… The ettin shifted its hand off the arrow shaft, trying to shift its head away from me, and I detonated the same outer layer of my gauntlets. I’d never have done this before, because I had always worried that they wouldn’t be recoverable, until that Edratchi burned it for me and put that to the test… My wrist cracked back, and I winced as the skin on the ettin frayed apart, revealing fat and bone, I slammed the dagger in, hoping that the creature shared a biology with me.

It thrashed, throwing me off. I rolled to my feet, snarling. Too much to ask I guess. Another arrow slammed into it, same eye, within the centimetre. I blinked. The ettin now stood up, and I plucked one of the fan-like pieces from the shield on my left arm by the tapering end. I pressed a few fingerholds into it, and sublimated the edge to a molecular razor.

It swung the branch again, and missed, the loss of its eye messing up its aim. I moved in close, rolling past its heels and slicing at the tendons. The blade passed through like a hot knife through butter, slowing for just a moment as it passed through bone. The ettin screamed, turning to face me, it raised its branch just as a soft wet thud came from behind its head.

It rocked on its feet, unsteady, and I quickly scrambled away. The ettin toppled over, landing flat on its face, the arrow shafts in its eye snapping against the ground and bouncing away. A single black-shafted arrow glistened with blood, protruding from where I’d stabbed it with my knife. I took deep breaths, calming my nerves as I walked over to pluck my dagger from the remains.

The skin on the back of the skull flaked apart completely as I pulled the dagger out, hard chips on one side and wet skin on the other. I pulled the pieces of my armour back, spreading them across my gauntlets to where they should be before doing the same for my shield.

Baen scrutinized the back of the ettin’s skull, turning to me with a look of confused wonder. “I thought you didn’t do magic?” He asked, pulling the bodkin arrow out of the ettin’s brain. He grimaced. “I… am not looking forward to cleaning this.” He muttered under his breath. He picked out a dagger from his side, turning the ettin’s head.

“I don’t.” I replied, cleaning the dagger off with the snow and a cloth. “That was something new, figured it was worth a shot.” I picked up my sword from the ground, sheathing it. “Next time I’ll remember to let you take the shot before I do something stupid.” I said ruefully as I flexed my wrists. My right hurt a little when I rotated it, but the left felt broken. A day? I asked Page.

[It’s a fracture, and since I doubt you’ll be a good patient… make it two.] Page remarked.

“Yeah… sorry.” He replied, pulling the remains of the arrows out of the creature’s skull. “Pick up the chimaera’s trail from where we left off?” He asked.

I shook my head, looking to the canopy above. “We’ve tracked this thing long enough for the sun to go up and come down again… We should head back.” I said. “It’ll be hunting again soon.”

Baen nodded. “Right.” He said.

Plagiarised

Edited the title to make it fit more with the content. Might make a proper Thoughts post on Copyright Infringement in regards to ebooks and the like soon.

Edit2: It’s finally been taken down, took me about 2 weeks for it, and not even a notification from Amazon, had to check it myself. Still, it’s down now, for which I’m glad.

So… today I learned that Losian is apparently popular enough to be pirated. See here.

I’m actually of very mixed feelings about the act of this piracy myself. On the one hand I’m pleasantly surprised that it’s garnered the attention it has, on the other I’m absolutely disgusted by the profiteering this Koren Rabe has done. People are being scammed into paying for what they could otherwise read for free.

However, I have decidedly one minded feelings in regards to how he went about it. The Last Archmage? Really? Of all the dumb names… The MC doesn’t have magic! Well… not magic as we know it anyway, it raises a question I’ve asked myself, is that teleportation and dimensional manipulation “science” or “magic”? Anyway, beyond that there’s an image of a woman in black with wings, which corresponds to no known character in my entire universe. “Change the course of fate”, “Conquer”, the MC does none of those things dammit… I can’t help but feel like my story’s been violated.

Ah well… best form of flattery and all that… Though imitation and copying are two decidedly different things.

Losian: Chp 111 – Arkthame

I spent the night outside in the forest, a blazing bonfire to keep myself warm. I didn’t fancy staying in those houses for the night, their roofs strained under the weight of the snow. It was only a matter of time before they collapsed upon themselves. I gathered up more branches, wiping off the snow and poking at the flames, before settling onto a cloth I’d laid over the snow.

I know exactly what I had hoped to find here, clarity of action, purpose. Maybe just someone to validate the things I’d done, but in the end I’d half assed everything, and that made this impossible. If I accepted that staying to aid the war effort had been the right thing to do, if I accepted that what I’d done as an irregular was right, then I also had to damn myself for not taking action sooner. In the same vein I could just as well turn it around, if I hadn’t been so invested, so… involved, so passive to be dragged along… I’d be gone, and the world would still be saved.

That left me here, with no real resolve to stay or run away. What was there to run from? Everything that I wanted to leave behind was in my mind and there to stay. I scowled, laying myself on the ground. I fumbled at the Aesor, pulling it out and flipping it in my hand. The runes were an ornate mix of colours, white, yellow, blue, red. Part of me wanted to reach out in the aether and tear the magic to pieces, but it was Gaven’s last work, and perhaps his finest.

Losian: Chp 110 – Arkthame

I couldn’t gauge a response to my words, the faceplate, coupled with their lack of bodily cues, left them inscrutable. “I see.” They replied finally. “In a way you’re correct… Their opinion might matter more in regards to the world, but you aren’t part of their politics. You lack the myopia that would otherwise affect them, while we are too far detached. Our war was fought to protect them from our machinations, now for the ‘Greater Good’, could we really decide to perform them?”

“So what will you do now that I’ve given my opinion?” I asked, folding my arms and squaring my shoulders. “I’d hardly be able to watch every one of you, even with your force small as it is. As you said, I’m an outsider, hardly with the infrastructure or the personnel to enforce anything.” I’d still attempt to check in now and then, but if they swallowed this… it’d keep me safe…

They shook their head. “I won’t do anything to you.” They sighed. “And for what it’s worth I’m trying to make sure we don’t walk that path. Much as he may malign the bureaucracy, this isn’t a case for blind action.” They sighed, reaching up to remove their faceplate. Crimson catlike eyes caught mine, she smiled slightly. “It’s somewhat interesting to see his old and new personalities clashing.” She said.

Losian: Chp 109 – Arkthame

I stared up at the canopy, shutting my eyes against the light. The situation was absurd, I had given up the chance to return for absolutely nothing. Well, you were right. I shouldn’t have stayed. I thought to Page. It had been silent since the fight, not a word since the Aerathi had made the whole thing a fruitless endeavour.

[You could not have known.] Page said after a moment’s deliberation. [Despite it all you made your objective to save them, and with all you knew there was no other way to do so.] I arched an eyebrow, and Page sighed. [Despite it all you made mostly the right choice to achieve your objective, and it was a cruel twist of fate to make your actions obsolete.]

Well, I’m not letting you say I told you so later on. I thought back, trying to crack a smile, but instead biting my lip as I struggled to either laugh or cry. Teal lay down beside me, stacking her hands above her stomach as she lay beside me. At times she seemed to want to speak, but in the end the silence stretched out, a heavy smothering presence.

Losian: Chp 108 – Arkthame

It gave a harsh laugh. “So you speak the tongue.” It said, a vicious grin on its face. “I had given up on finding any other than the dragons.” It twirled the sword. “But your bravado reveals a rather disappointing intellect, the gods do not exist child. No gods were there when my predecessors carved their way from our prison, it was no god that turned us back. There is only man, beast and magic.”

I didn’t reply, steadying my blade and putting my injured foot behind me. The Edratchi walked over to me, letting the blade trail on the ground, wisps of shadow and crackling energy between the earth and the blade. As it drew near I moved to swing at it, the nice thing about aether, it couldn’t be blocked, or… it shouldn’t have been possible.

Its blade met with my own and halted its advance, my swing had carried little force, and the blade was easily stopped. It pushed me back, and I stumbled backwards. Its blade had pushed against my own… Aether was incorporeal… How? “I told you… Magic changes for me.” The Edratchi said, voice a low growl. “Your rules are not mine, and when we take this world we will make it our own.”

Losian: Chp 107 – Arkthame

Its eyes tracked me, and it roared, charging forward. I dashed to meet it. To hurt that thing was simple, I just needed it to enter my range. As its feet stomped onto the ground in front of me, it howled, the magic that formed what passed for its feet unravelling and scattering. The mana itself split and flowed around me like a stream against a rock.

The creature backed away, spreading out its arms with another howl. The air whistled, and the earth shifted beneath me, water seeping out from the rapidly cracking earth. The earth around me didn’t change, but the water spilled in all the same. As I glanced down at my feet in confusion, the water surged up, attempting to wall me off.

I moved forward, every step causing the walls ahead of me to fall. It shifted back some more, and a wall rose ahead of me to freeze outside of my range. I approached it and swung my blade, the ice blurred, shattering as I kicked it. I sprinted forward, managing to sweep at its feet with the Aesor.

Losian: Chp 106 – Arkthame

I sat up, bolt upright. Now? I thought. Why? I stood up, careful not to wake the others. For a moment Numen stirred, shifting a little before turning away. I stepped out of the tent, shaking my head to clear it. Page was right, the portal was open, I could feel the faint pull at the edge of my mind, pulling me away from the warzone.

I stared at the horizon, rubbing at my wrists. Now… it had to happen now… I thought to myself. Most of the army was still asleep, though the walls were still fully manned. I began to pace, idly wondering if the demon army needed to sleep. Though if they didn’t this war would probably have been over already.

[With the portal open, we can leave now.] Page said. [Why are you hesitating?] It asked. Its voice shocked me, not least because of what it had suggested. You want me to just… abandon them? [They do not need you to hold the line. From what we have seen the behemoths they talk about have yet to displace the army.]

Losian: Chp 105 – Arkthame

We landed beside a group of blue tents set up behind the front. The soldiers paid us little heed, used to the dragons travelling to and fro. In fact one of the dragons was there now, a majestic looking golden dragon which seemed to have a ‘beard’ of scales. “Child.” It said warmly in their tongue, nodding to Teal. It looked happy at that, moving forward for a quick nuzzle after we’d dismounted.

“This is Karacun.” Teal said to us. “My mentor, they have been the one organizing our attacks. Also the best warrior I’ve known.” She said, she turned to Karacun and began to speak in her own tongue. “I am bringing the Seraph to see their leaders.” It said, to which the golden dragon looked down at the group, cocking its head curiously. I nodded, taking a simple bow.

“You can understand me then?” The dragon spoke, a low rumble that echoed in my chest. I nodded, gesturing over to Teal. “I see… The land before us is far more dangerous than it used to be, exercise caution.” It dipped its head at me, before turning back to the rest of its brethren. I looked over to Teal, inclining my head towards the blue tents.

The inside of the tent held about four to five people. One of them was a man with grey in his hair, he wasn’t in armour, but from the way the others looked to him as we entered it was clear he was the one in charge. “They really didn’t sell you too short…” He said absently. His eyes shifted to Azarint. “It’s been a while old friend. Nice to see you’re still alive.”

“It’s good to see you as well captain.” Azarint said, a genuine smile on his face. “You’ve done well for yourself.” The other man snorted.

“Maybe, personally I figured you were going to have words with me about the Republic.” He said with a tired smile. Azarint shook his head.

“We never had the luxury of questioning and guiding our superiors even when we served.” Azarint said. “And in fact you were never related to the parts I disapproved of, so that would’ve been wasted effort.” He shrugged. The man shook his head, turning to me.

“Well, in any case, you must be the Masked fellow I’ve heard about from Cale.” He said, turning his piercing green eyes to me. “Even after what he’d said, I wasn’t expecting you to be here…” He rubbed his chin. “I assume this is about the giant abominations we’ve had coming out of the portals.” He said blandly, looking out towards the Edratchi. I cocked my head and he gave a tired smile. “Trust me, you get used to it. It’s an endless stream of horrors.”

Azarint hefted up his axe. “A friend gave these to us and told us to help you out.” He said. “That man holds an aether blade.” He said, pointing to me, then looking to Frejr. “I would suggest we leave it to the general how to utilize our abilities.”

Frejr agreed with a nod, while Numen mumbled assent. Rince looked over to Frejr before nodding as well. The general looked over to me with interest, while one of the other people blanched and stared at me. “Huh, that will be helpful…” He said. “Are there any limitations to the use of your weapons?” He asked, leaning forward onto the table. Qent seemed to hesitate, and I took the lead.

“The aether weapon will require me to be almost entirely alone.” I said. “Anyone close to me will get their souls damaged or outright torn apart. The moment I turn it on, the Edratchi are likely to focus entirely on me.” I added. “Left alone I’d carve a straight path through their ranks. Lasting until the nearby aether reserves start to diminish. From what I read, you’ll want to put most of the other weapons together, they draw on separate elements, so they’d run out quickly unless they have the others around to balance their usage. The bow can stand alone.”

Qent cleared his throat lightly. “He’s pretty spot on there, basically both groups will be really good at causing a huge ruckus, but only for a short period of time, and if we’re close to each other that time becomes even shorter.” He cautioned.

The man stared at the map for a moment. “Hmm… that changes things…” he mutters. “Lone, do you remember those plans we’d originally suggested? We might be able to adjust them back again, could you come over here and sketch it out?” He said, turning to one of his subordinates, before turning back to us. “You’re welcome to remain for the planning period if you want, but otherwise you can go to rest and prepare.”

Frejr and Azarint stayed behind, whilst the rest of us left to set up camp. “Azarint sure seems to know a lot of people in weird places.” Rince said. “Remember that time we had to visit the Breath of Sky? Hard to believe he knew one of their current leaders.”

“I don’t remember that.” I said, pursing my lips and thinking back. “Who even are they?”

“Oh, you weren’t there at the time.” Rince said. “You were at the Republic. They’re a group of mages, we got called in when they and the Tower got caught in a uh… dispute.” He explained. “Azarint helped make sure it didn’t go further than that, otherwise we’d probably have had to fight them…”

“No thanks to my brickhead of a superior.” Qent said with a sigh. “Who’d have thought a mage could be so dumb…”

“Well the rumours do say that Azarint used to be a part of some old order or something.” Numen said with a smile. “A stalwart protector until the nation fell.”

“You put way too much stock in rumours.” Qent said. “He’s most likely one of the soldiers displaced by the wars of Neath. We lost a lot of records from that time, we don’t even know how many nations there were to start, but at the very least the Republic wasn’t the only one that large. Makes you wonder if Cale came across any nations that got cut off from us.”

“Well if he did we sure didn’t hear about it.” Rince said. “Wouldn’t that be something though? Wonder what they’d think of the dragon.”

“Probably the same thing I did: We’re going to die.” I said. “I can’t even imagine how anyone managed to take them down before.” I said, shaking my head. And with their ability to blend in, to morph… They could probably take us out in a day… “Somehow I feel like we’re missing more of the story than usual…”

“Well it’s not like it matters right?” Numen said. “They’re on our side now, and they seem friendly enough. I mean, Teal’s been helping us even though she doesn’t have to, she’s practically a member all on her own.” Well she actually technically is… just not in dragon form.

“She’s been helping out?” I asked, arching an eyebrow.

“Well… it feels like a her…” Numen said. “I think…”

I thought back to when she’d taken the form of that noble girl. “Well… I guess I can see it.” I said, an amused smirk on my face. “What’s she been helping with?”

“You name it really. Ettins, Wyverns, no point in her going after slimes or dires though, she herself says that her size prevents her from going after those.” Numen explained.

“What about that girl that was with me last time. Has she been back for more work?” I asked.

“Occasionally?” Numen said, putting a hand to her chin. “She doesn’t come around that often really, and recently she’s been coming around less and less. Though really, we don’t need her around that much, there aren’t nearly enough jobs here, she’d probably find more at other towns.”

I nodded. It made sense at least, after all Teal would know if there were jobs that needed to be done at the time. We set up the rest of the camp in relative silence, sweeping away the snow and cursing every time we slid on an icy patch. “You guys notice the soldiers looking at us right?” Rince said, after we’d finally started our campfire. I turned quizzically to see some soldiers surreptitiously looking at us. When they noticed my gaze they turned away.

“Best we can hope for I think…” Numen said. “Remember when that guy came back to Torven to talk to Hakten again? I didn’t think anyone could exude so much disapproval without saying a word…”

We heard Azarint before he arrived, the snow under his feet crunching along with the dirt. “We’ve decided on something of a plan.” He said. “It would be best if you came to give your opinions as well before we assign the roles.”

I stepped into the tent, looking over to Frejr who stood next to the general. “Good to have you here…” He said, his eyes still focused on the map. “Lone, walk them through the plan.” He said, gesturing to the man standing beside him. As he raised his eyebrows he continued. “It was your plan after all, you’d explain it better than I could.”

He nodded, clearing his throat. “Right… So when the dragons came we’d considered this plan before, though eventually we had to discard it. More than half of our men were fighting nausea every time they went up there. Not to mention the other problems.” He gestured to the map.

He tapped on the map. Gesturing towards the section between the two forces. “The plan in this case is to use a three-pronged attack, with you and the other irregulars taking the leads here and here.” He said, pointing to two parts of the map a bit away. “They’re fully entrenched, so flanking them is nigh impossible, instead we’re ostensibly going to commit to using you to take ground from them. With the dragons we couldn’t hold the place, advancing our men under the auspice of dragon fire wasn’t helping anyone.”

“Ostensibly?” I asked. “So you’re going to try to smash their lines then? With a group of reserves?” I pursed my lips, staring at the map.

“Something like that. Once they’re committed we’re going to pull back. Then let the dragons take out the centre with as much fire as we can get. After that, have the lamias follow their worms underneath them to secure a foothold.” He said, pausing. “Oh… we haven’t told you about the spectres in the scarred lands have we?”

“… I shouldn’t be surprised, I’ve heard the casualty reports.” Azarint said. “That much death… must have created an unprecedented number of them…”

“The real problem is that the death of the demons created their own spectres, they’re different, smarter, more powerful, and when we first brought down one of those behemoths…” He shuddered. “Half the fighting will be on them alone.”

“Not if they come for me…” I said quietly. “Are they still mostly mindlessly hostile?” I asked. Lone nodded. “Then that’s what we’ll do… The Aesor will take them out, and I’m not as easily affected by them anyway.”

“Well I don’t have a better plan, I’m in.” Numen said, Rince nodded agreement.

“The plan will probably change once the battle starts.” The general said. “Watch the banners, Lone will walk you through what they mean. We’ll try to get ready as soon as possible, most likely tomorrow.” He said. “Get some rest.”

We walked back to the tents we’d set up, Numen passing out the rations we’d brought with us. We spent most of our time on our equipment, finally falling to sleep after our food. No need for watches this time, especially in the encampment.

I was woken up sometime around midnight.

[The portal.] Page said. [It’s open.]