“Are you sure?” Legon asked. She nodded her head in the affirmative. “Ok, it’s your funeral,” he said.
Emma blanched. “You think we are gonna die?”
Legon laughed. “Yes, I’d say so, but that being said I don’t think it will be the Empire that kills us. Sash is going to have both our heads.”
Emma smiled. “Don’t worry, I can take her. I’ll protect you.” She winked and walked off.
Legon was right, of course, and a few hours latter a haggard Sasha approached him. Her face was still pale from the episode she’d had that afternoon. “What did you do?” she spat.
“Sash, relax, you're going to give yourself another one.”
That was the wrong thing to say. “I’m going to what? Don’t you even try that. Why did you tell, or I should say order Emma to come? Do you want her to die?”
“Look, she will be with us, first of all, and I’m not planning on us dying, and also, she has the right to go if she wants. She’s lost in this too, and she may not be able to do much, but I dare say assisting you will at least comfort her. Furthermore, you aren’t going to the front line after we land, so she’ll be safe with you.”
Sasha scowled. Her emotions told him he was winning. She wasn’t happy, but couldn’t find a way to make an argument otherwise. “Are you ready to go?” she asked, changing the subject.
“Yes, Ise is already at the docks,” he breathed out. “You know, if you stayed here so would Emma.”
Her face softened. “Not a chance.”
“That’s what I thought. Can you try to see that it’s like that for Emma?”
She sighed. “Yes. That’s why I’m not going to fight you anymore.”
They made their way down to the docks. Emma was already there waiting for them. She wasn’t going to be left behind. Also present were Legon and Sasha’s parents. Legon’s mind flashed back to when they left Salmont, to the hopeless look in his mother’s eyes and fear on his father’s face.
Before he could say anything, his mother came up and hugged him, kissing his cheek. “I am so proud of you, but come back to me.”
“I will.”
His father shook his hand, holding back his emotions. “We’ve spent some time with that Rachel girl and we’ve learned some things. This might not be the best farewell, but you’re my son, and you’re to change this land so…” he straightened up, “come back to us with your head held high in victory.” Iselin was with them and Edis looked over at her. “And you just come back, sweetness,” he added, giving her a wink.
Legon beamed, promising that he would not come back until the job was done. As the ship left port, Legon was filled with a great sense of terrible purpose. His frame almost shook with it, as if fate had been saving this day for him.
The coast faded away and Legon turned to look at the fleet that was waiting for them.
The sun was setting when Legon sat down at a desk on the ship. A memory from what felt like a thousand years ago bloomed in his mind. He thought of the first time he addressed his people. That day he felt sick with fear that he would make a mistake, that the people wouldn’t like him and think him a fool. That was not the case now. Long ago Legon shed his fear of the masses. Today it wasn’t that he was to deliver a message that made his mouth drier than any desert; it was the message itself, its significance. A marble-sized crystal hovered in front of his lips, glowing blue. It would carry his words to all of the resistance. His mind ran with the inflections he would use to move people, the pauses to make the listeners think, and the words, words that were formal and stately—nothing like day-to-day communication.
He took a deep breath. “Today we stand as if at the edge of a great cliff. Behind us is nothingness, a land of waste and sorrow. Below us, the jagged rocks of life, of possible failure and death. But also there is water, a stream that if we but travel down it we will find ourselves free. We have stood at this cliff’s edge long enough. We have looked to the jagged rocks and held ourselves back, but no longer. We find ourselves compelled to act. We find the edge of the cliff breaking away. If we stand fast we will slip to the rocks below. If we jump we will land in the river.
“This land has been ravaged by cruelty and hate. It has been soaked through by the blood of the innocent. It is their blood that cries out this night. It cries out against those that hurt, maim and make afraid. It cries out for justice. It cries out for mercy. Are we to stand fast and have our hands stained with this blood? Are we to ignore the demands of justice? Or are we to put ourselves in harm’s way? And are we to stop the pain and sorrow of the innocent? This I say to you: this is what I, what we intend to do. As we jump from this cliff’s edge, we hurtle ourselves into the unknown. Some of us, perhaps all of us, will find the rocks. But even if all of us should perish in this struggle, I say happy day, for it is better that we die fighting wickedness than turn away from that which is right.
“I ask now, what is it that you will do? Will you jump with me? Will you fight with me? Will you become a force that will sweep over this land and cleanse it of the plague that is now so fully engulfing it? Will you go in harm’s way? I know you will. I know this people, and I know your hearts, and that is why it is my honor to fight alongside you, and even if needed, to die alongside you. Over the coming months and years we will face many trials, some that will seem to us to be unbearable. But if we exercise our faith in what is right, we will rise above our trials. We will beat back our foes. We stand as a light on the horizon. We must burn bright if we are to push back the darkness, if we are to bring the innocent out of the dark and into the light. This is our mission, our fate and our purpose, and in this purpose we will not fail.” The crystal stopped glowing.
Legon stood and walked out of the tiny office he was in. Iselin, Sasha and Emma were waiting on the other side of the door. “How did I do?” he asked.
* * * * *
Sasha stood on deck, Emma next to her. It was early in the morning, the air cool.
“You need to try and calm down,” Emma said.
Sasha knew she was right. She always had more episodes when she was under stress. This morning had been no different, except today she could not afford to be sick. It hadn’t taken them long to meet up with the human fleet from Manton, and now they were on the dawn of the largest invasion in two thousand years. No, she could not afford to be sick today.
“I’ll be fine, thank you Emma.” She turned to her. “You have been an amazing friend to me over the years. I love you like a sister, you know that right?”
Emma nodded. “You too,” then, “What’s it like?”
“What’s what like?” Sasha asked
Emma shrugged. “Battle.”
Sasha stiffened. “It’s going to be the most horrific thing you have ever seen. After today you will not look at the world the same way again.” She didn’t want to scare Emma, but she wasn’t going to shelter her either.
* * * * *
Emma tried to take Sasha’s words to heart. Her eyes cast around the fleet, seeing the ships plot along like an unstoppable force. She then looked to the horizon, seeing a line of dots that would soon become ships, and she wondered which was more powerful, an unstoppable force or an immovable object? An alarm sounded telling them to prepare for battle.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Crimson Tide
“The altar of freedom and peace is soaked in blood, that of the good and the evil. This is a simple truth. The question becomes, if your blood was to grace the altar, which would it be? Good or Evil?”
-The Great Defeat, Secunum Renovatie
Legon watched as Sasha and Emma made their way quickly back from the bow. Ahead lay the largest fleet the Cona Empire had ever commissioned. Above it flew ranks of Ascended. Leaching light from the sky, they hung like a dark cloud over the Cona fleet. In the distance were the high sea cliffs of Noris. Iselin’s mental touch was warm, a soft farewell. The only true fear he had was knowing that if one of them should die, they hadn’t been connected long enough for the other to die as well.
Mage stood next to him, his fox familiar sitting next to Bill, Legon’s familiar. Legon rested his hand on the pummel of Tento his Fenna.
“Are you ready?” Mage asked.
Connected to Legon, Bill stood in answer and paced back and forth on deck. The ships were taking shape on the horizon. He heard a call from Sydin and the fifty Elvin Ascended broke away from the fleet. The battle was starting.
Legon looked up, watching the V-shaped formations pass, their armor reflecting back the light of the waves. Across the expanse, the Iumenta were doing likewise. The Iumenta were outnumbered, but not as much as Legon would have liked. So captivated was he by the approaching conflict in the sky that at first he didn’t notice the ship starting to accelerate. When he did, he turned his attention back to what lay ahead for him.
The rest of the guard was on deck now and all moved closer to the bow of the ship. The familiars wailed as they turned. Bill’s form shifted; his teeth grew as his body grew and swelled. The fiery fir along his neck flared into a mane. Legon patted the shoulder of the lion next to him.
Legon’s eyes flicked up, hearing the roars of many dragons. Bolts of magic shot from the Elf and Iumenta dragons, streaking across the sky. Wards flashed and the air crackled with the sound. Still closer they drew, more and more magic was flying until finally the two forces collided with each other.
Legon tore his eyes from the fight in time so see hundreds of ballistae bolts being fired from the Pawdin fleet. Across from him one of the few Iumenta ships fired, sending a brilliant blue bolt hurling toward them. There was a crack as it collided with the green wards of the ship. The Cona fleet did not fare as well. It appeared that only the Iumenta ship was being protected with magic.
Wards flicked over him as everyone in the group placed stop all wards on each other, preventing anyone from being injured by crossfire. He gripped Tento and pulled the blade from its sheath. Wind blew in his hair as they raced to the Iumenta ship.
“It is unlikely that there are any other ships in this battle that have this many powerful Venefica on board. That will make us a strong tool, but also a high priority target,” Mage said.
Legon crouched to leap.
Just a hundred yards or so now
. The smooth ceramic hull of the Impa ship slid through the water at them, unafraid of its wooden counterpart. Right before the ships hit, Legon and his guard jumped. The ships met with a crunch. Legon’s forward movement kept him and his guard hurtling through the air toward the other ship. The Iumenta were doing the same.
The air filled with the sound of metal and stone grinding together. Legon used magic to lift himself higher, as he rocketed toward an Iumenta. He lifted himself, bringing his knee to the filth’s head. The Iumenta raised two fenrra to deflect Legon’s knee. At the last moment, Legon forced himself down and swung Tento at the Iumenta’s unprotected abdomen. With a squelch and gurgled scream the blade cut the Iumenta in half.
Bill was on the deck of the Iumenta ship before Legon, with two other familiars. They were all fighting the same gray bear. The animal’s fire fur was rent and then re-formed almost instantly. Legon turned his attention to the aft of the ship as he ran across the deck. The sheer number of Venefica in Legon’s guard was easily overwhelming the Iumenta.
Legon knelt, dodging a blow, and spun, facing a silver haired Iumenta, its yellow eyes full of hate burning against the gray skin of it’s face. The Iumenta gritted its teeth, giving it an even more wolf-like appearance. Tento collided with the thick, flat blade of the Iumenta’s fenna. Grey light oozed from him.
So this is the bear’s
Venefica,
he thought. Legon gritted his teeth and lashed out. Every attack met opposition. The Iumenta countered with a spell that surrounded Legon with mist.
He’s a Biologic like me!
The mist was poison. Quickly, Legon held his breath, but felt one of his wards being slightly tested. The Iumenta’s eye’s bulged. Biologic’s were rare and not extremely affective in combat in general, but they had a few tricks up their sleeves.
Legon took the Iumenta’s surprise as an opportunity. Power flowed out of his hand down the length of the blade, altering the wards for Biologic attacks. A grey flash arched from the Iumenta. Legon blocked it with ease, not feeling a drain on his own power. He had been right to assume that his opponent would use more Biologic spells.
Legon countered with a convulsing spell of his own. It was deflected by the other fenna. Again he attacked, but this time with a simple breaking spell. It was unaffected by the fenna and cracked against the Iumenta’s own wards. As the Iumenta’s wards failed, he raised his blade to block Legon, who caught the eye of one of his guard.
“NOW!” he yelled. The Iumenta’s head turned just in time to have a ball of emerald fire engulf him.
* * * * *
Iselin left Legon with a warm touch and refocused on the task at hand. Sydin was in command of the Pawdin Empire’s Ascended. They flew in V formations in the direction of similar Impa formations. The order came to separate from the fleet. The air was a strobe of wards as everyone put stop all spells in place for their own magic on the other Ascended. Her wings spread up as she accelerated. Her armor felt constricting.
The ships were behind them now. Hers was one of the lead formations. Iselin locked eyes with a brown Ascended across the void. Their mission was simple: first, break the line and open a gap so that the others could make it to the coast, and then, kill everything.