The Ancients

by Adam-Clay Webb

  “Icilda…”

  With a wretched countenance and a sharp spear of splendid ice, the Icemaker stared down at him with a chill in her eyes.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” he asked, then made another effort to break free.

  “You cannot escape. You are bounded with four of my father’s bracelets. Your hands are tied with copper rope, and secured with steel chains.”

  “Wh—When did--”

  “I will ask you this once, Lex Leo,” Icilda said, then stooped down before him with a stiff glare.

  “Ici--”

  His word was broken by a swift slam to his face. His head jammed into the tree and then slunk down. He groaned. He was sure he felt his skull crack. The pain was sharp and quick. He felt the girl’s cold hand grab his face and press the back of his head against the tree.

  “As you are, your consciousness is very fragile. Don’t make me kill you just yet,” she said. She released him and stood up. “Those magicians. Who are they? And why the hell didn’t you make us aware that--”

  “I have no idea--”

  Lex pressed his head back in a frightful flinch as Icilda rushed at him with the spear, making a jab that stopped a hair’s breadth away from his forehead. He gulped. Icilda’s hand was shaking. She looked unstable enough to kill him on impulse.

  “Because of you, Artaco--”

  A red cloud of mana appeared just behind Icilda, accompanied by the all too familiar puffy sound and pungent smell. Icilda’s eyes widened. She turned swiftly, immediately swinging her spear.

  A quick hand cloaked in fire arrested and quickly vanquished the Icemaker’s weapon.

  “Azar! Thank Heavens!” Lex exhaled deeply, still clenching is teeth in pain. “Clover!” he cried out, as the clearing red mana revealed her.

  “Lex!” she gasped, seeing him tied up and bleeding. She grabbed Icilda by the throat in a movement too swift for the Icemaker to parry. Her nails sunk into Icilda’s neck, causing blood to run down into her clothes. Her left hand, still at her side, glowed with blue mana.

  “Clover, don’t!” Lex called out to her.

  Icilda grabbed firmly to Clover’s hand.

  “If you freeze her, I will turn you to ash,” Azar said calmly. Fire raged about both his hands.

  “Clover, let her go. Tend to Lex!” Azar said. Clover released Icilda and pushed her off, then ran over to Lex and fell down on him, kissing him while she loosed the chains and ropes.

  “I take it you are Icilda? This seems like more than just friendly training here,” Azar said.

  Icilda turned her attention to Clover and Lex, who were obviously more than just casually happy to see each other.

  “Lex told me about you,” she said, turning back around to Azar.

  Lex was finally on his feet. He threw the bracelets down on the snow, and immediately his strength returned. “Icilda was just showing me a new way to get stronger,” Lex said.

  “Actually I was about to kill him,” Icilda said.

  “Why you--”

  Lex held Clover back. “Relax,” he whispered to her.

  “He-- What now?” Icilda, along with everyone else, looked up at a strange light in the sky.

  “Oh shit,” Azar muttered. Lex too knew exactly what that streak was. The bolt of red lightning tore down from the skies and crashed just meters away from them, clearing a cluster of trees and starting an immediate forest fire.

  “You ignore me for a little red light?” a chilling voice appeared.

  Everyone stood frozen by the sheer aura of the two. Kizer walked up to the gathering, red sparks still flashing about him.

  “Kizer and Oga,” Lex muttered. Clover latched on to him.

  “Is this how you begin?” Azar asked.

  “Not quite,” Kizer said. “For the moment, we just need a little time with these two,” he said, pointing over at Lex and Clover.

  “Oga, please see the others out, and set up a barrier. We don’t want anyone shifting in.”

  With that, Oga motioned his hands, and Azar and Icilda became encased in white mana. They then vanished as Oga forced a shift upon them.

  Lex’s eyes blackened, and immediately twelve wings appeared on his back. He stepped in front of Clover, whose mana was by now roaring about her.

  Lex’s eyes caught the small movement of Kizer’s right foot. That instant, thick bars were erected from the ground around him, forming a cage about them.

  “Oga,” Kizer said.

  Oga stretched his hand forth and the dark-brown bars became covered with gold writings. Lex grabbed his head suddenly as a whirlwind of pain and confusion grabbed him. He fell to his knees and grabbed on the cage. The bars he grabbed sent a dreadful shock through his body. He cried out; the pain he was feeling felt like it had breached his physical body, and leaked over into his very soul.

  Even through his inexplicable suffering, Lex noticed that Clover, instead of being in the cage with him, was being held by Kizer by her neck, her body already limp a dead-looking.

  “Nooo! Clover!” Lex bellowed. “Maximo!” he called. He tried to summon his allies, but to no avail.

  “Oga, an axe,” Kizer said grimly. And indeed, a massive battle axe appeared in Oga’s hand, not one forged of mana, but a battered axe of wood and iron. He handed it to Kizer. Kizer then set Clover against a tree. Vines appeared and held in her in place. Lex noticed Clover’s hand twitch. Then she opened her eyes. She gasped, as if just realizing what was happening. She squirmed and fidgeted, but she could not get down from the tree, neither could she summon any magic.

  Kizer then swung the axe back while looking straight at Lex.

  “No! Kizer!” the boy hollered through the intense and miserable mayhem that had overtaken his body and mind.

  “Are you going to save her, or will you stand there and scream all day?” Kizer taunted. “Oga. Leave us.” Oga nodded and vanished in a white cloud. “It seems your plan is to let her die,” Kizer said, then made a hefty swing.

  At this do-or-die moment, every ounce of strength within Lex was harnessed, and over a thousand wings burst forth from his back. A massive pulse of darkness spread from him and darkened the entire forest. With angelic speed, the boy moved as such that the axe, being swung, was essentially still. He knew he could easily intercept the axe’s swing, and the dark aura around would turn the axe to nothing. That much was uncomplicated.

  But then, even in the sudden exponential burst of power and speed, Lex felt his body grown cold, and then numb. His grand aura, even his wings seized their motion entirely. And then, with his speed now cut to zero, Kizer’s axe completed its journey, and jammed deep into the tree, severing Clover’s head completely.

  By this, the darkness that had swept over the forest disappeared. Lex stared down at the most horrific sight he had ever endured. A nightmare itself, Clover’s head rolled to a complete stop. Lex’s heart stopped for a moment as he looked down at her still-open eyes. His vision was slightly whitened. The whitening and the dense cold he was feeling suddenly computed. Lex realized that he was in a prison of ice. Even as he had moved with the power and speed of the Zagans, in one brief moment, he was made into a statue.

  “Lex,” a voice said, a voice he felt a strange connection to. He finally took his eyes off the dead girl and looked up. Standing beside Kizer was the man with yellow hair, the same Icemaker who had saved him earlier.

  “I made a mistake, Lex,” the Icemaker said. “And I had to pay for it. It was you or her.” With that, the Icemaker was cloaked in a white mist, in which he disappeared.

  Lex’s eyes once again settled on Clover’s head. They then drifted scaredly to her body, which by now was drenched in her blood.

  “I will leave you be,” Kizer said. And a bolt of red lightning came down from the sky and took him away.

  This isn’t real… Lex thought. He kept his eyes open, but his vision darkened. Until he could see nothing. He then heard the sound of thunder. As light returned to his eyes, he saw three men ma
de of darkness stand before him. “Clover is dead…” Lex finally muttered. The place shook as black bars appeared around Lex, and formed a cage around him. Lex looked though the bars at the three Zagans.

  “Lex…” Maximo’s voice came forth. Maximo’s voice sounded like a plea. Then, the men of shadow became as a mist, and floated up into the heavens. Lex watched as the spirits swirled about in the empty sky until they formed massive black clouds. The boy grabbed on to the bars that were above his head. “Come,” he said calmly, and the clouds burst, releasing a black rain that spread across the indefinite scape of Lex’s soul.

  ***

  Kizer and Oga sat patiently as everyone filed into the large room. “Now that everyone’s here,” Kizer began. “Today, we will start phase one of the purge.”

  There was some mumbling amongst everyone.

  “Father, didn’t you say that you are giving us more time?” Aven asked desperately.

  “That time was conditional. And the condition has not been met,” Kizer said. Aven looked over at Yuki, who wore, as far as possible, an emotionless face.

  “And what about Wizard?” Aven asked. “We should at least delay until we find him.”

  “There will be no more delay,” Oga voiced. “We will not concern ourselves with Wizard. The sacred city is out of his reach. That is certain.”

  “One way or another, he will surface,” Kizer said. “But as Oga now said, he is not our primary concern.”

  “So do we start killing today, father?” Argros asked, the bloodlust plain in his voice.

  “Notherland has by far the strongest, and most compliant army in the world, due to their ties to Oga. He will persuade them to fight for us instead of wasting mana to control the minds of over a million soldiers. We will use the Notherlandian army to help us with the purge, and then we will dispose of them. While the Notherlandians are in foreign lands fighting for us, I will send forth a portion of my army there to wipe out the civilians. For the first phase of the purge, I will deploy each of you to destroy specific threats. Meanwhile, Oga will remain in the shadows and strengthen the Notherlandian army.”

  “And you, father?” Aragan asked.

  “I will summon and manipulate my own elemental army, which will sweep over every corner of the world. When the first coat of cleansing is done, only a stubborn few will remain. Oga and I, as well as the rest of you, will take care of them and finish the purge.”

  “Sounds like it’s all in a day’s work,” Witch said.

  “Far from it,” Kizer said. “Our goal is extinction. We must be meticulous, so that none survive. It will take weeks, but we will comb every inch of the planet, and cleanse it all. It only takes the survival of two humans to create a future wrinkle.”

  “Understood,” Aragan said.

  “Oga, go and brief the Notherlandians,” Kizer said. “Meet with the government and the army. I will remain here and brief the others on their missions. After your meeting, go and gather the allies we have formed, and bring them here so I can give them specific orders.” Kizer took from his clothes a tiny hourglass that measured probably four hours. Oga grabbed it and disappeared.

  “Allies?” Aragan asked, sounding upset that he had to share the killing with even more people.

  “Yes,” Kizer said. “Some countries, while they are not prone to war and are not known for their military strengths, have very sturdy defences that would take some time to whittle down. I have met with the leaders of these countries, and they have agreed to help us with the purge from the inside. By disabling their armies, we will make a more efficient sweep over their lands.”

  “And why would any leader agree to such?” Aven asked.

  “Well, Oga and I have approached all of the leaders,” Kizer said. “After realizing who we were, of course, none of them dared to blatantly defy us, but we could easily read those who would actually co-operate. For those who we did not see fit to put our trust in, we erased their memories of the meeting. For the others, who we have bribed with the chance of living in the new world, they will meet with us today for directions,” Kizer said.

  “You two have been quite busy behind our backs, haven’t you?” Aragan said, sounding displeased.

  “You children need not be involved in everything,” Oga said. “Just do your part, and things will go smoothly.”

  “Are you trying to threaten us, Oga?!” Argros raged, standing. But Oga just sighed. Kizer completely ignored his son.

  “Even though not every leader will be on our side,” Kizer continued, “we have scouted at least one assistant from each troublesome sector to work from the insides. For our plans to proceed perfectly, Argros, we must put our differences aside and work as a unit,” he then said scoldingly.

  ***

  “Don’t worry, I’ve made it so that he cannot see us,” Vis said. Clover stared blankly at the drenched, empty Lex, who just stood there looking up at the skies. Azar stood beside her.

  Tears ran freely down Clover’s face. “What have we done…” she muttered.

  “It is necessary,” Azar said. The black water was already above their ankles.

  “How much water does it take to fill an infinitely large space?” Vis asked Azar.

  Azar’s brows furrowed. “Such a room could never be filled,” he answered.

  “But in a matter of days, it will be,” Vis said, then snickered.

  ***

  Hours Earlier…

  “Your questions will have to wait,” Vis said dismissively. “For now, we must turn our attention to Lex Leo.”

  “Lex? What about him? Is he in trouble?” Clover asked, already almost panicking.

  “Lex Leo, in a sense, is at the centre of this war,” Vis said.

  “Well of course, he is the boy of prophecy,” Clover said proudly.

  “He has within him four Zagans. But the strength of his power can in no way match those we are up against. As it is, any one of the sages could fight him to at least a draw.”

  “The sages are really that powerful?” Azar mused.

  “Remember, they are the children of Kizer. They are not to be taken lightly.”

  “Then if our strongest weapon is barely strong enough to take down one sage, we stand no chance,” Hawthorne worked out.

  “That is why I have come up with a plan to make Lex ten times stronger than he is in a matter of days,” Vis said.

  Azar laughed at hearing this.

  “What is your plan?” Viknor asked.

  “We must take full advantage of the Zagans’ power.”

  “And how so?” Viknor asked eagerly.

  “You see, the Zagans within Lex are nothing like Zagans who dwelled in Zaga eons ago. I know Lex had told you about the revelation Juventus had showed him regarding the origins of The Seven.”

  “Yes, but… How could you possibly know of this?” the dumbfounded Azar asked.

  “Please pay attention,” Vis said. “The original Zagans were the embodiment of darkness and vileness. Juventus and his brothers were like them, but after they left Zaga and found our corner of the universe, they became transformed. As they became guardians, and as they served the planets in our system, they slowly lost touch with their true selves.”

  “You mean they became weak,” Viknor said.

  “Yes.”

  “But the time they spent as guardians is a drop in the bucket compared to how long they lived in Zaga,” Azar said. “How were they so weakened then?”

  “Because one ray of light can obliterate all the darkness in this room,” Vis explained. “As they grew attached especially to us humans, they came… humane. Naturally, they weakened. So much so that even men defeated them.”

  “Kizer and Oga,” Azar said.

  “Yes. And now that they have dwelled within Lex, their strength has dwindled even more. Lex’s kindness and conscience have been more than just a single ray of light for these Zagans.”

  “So what do you plan on doing to Lex?” Clover asked worriedly.

  “Lex
must be plunged into darkness.”

  “You want to make Lex evil?” Clover asked. “Absolutely not! Forget it!”

  “Clover! Let’s at least hear him out,” Azar calmed her.

  “You, dear girl, are the most essential part of this plan. Without you, this would not be possible,” Vis said.

  No-one understood.

  “More than anything else in the world, you are what Lex holds dear to his heart. With all of the darkness within him, it is you who make Lex strong enough to hang on to himself,” Vis explained.

  These words hit Clover hard. “… Me?” Tears welled up in her eyes. “He still…” She smiled, and tears fell down her face.

  “So what are you suggesting we do?” Azar asked, finally sounding worried.

  “Lex must lose himself. Furthermore, he must feel a hatred that is strong enough to possess even the Zagans, and revert them to their previous selves. Lex’s hatred and will must also be strong enough that the Zagans’ own vileness will become enslaved by his.”

  “He needs to watch clover die,” Azar said.

  “Yes. I could make him see every single person he cares about destroyed, but it becomes problematic if pushed too far.”

  “Azar, what the hell are you two saying?!” Clover blasted.

  “Relax, girl. Vis is a master of illusion,” Viknor said. “He will only put Lex into a dream.”

  Clover thought about this for a long moment. About Lex having to watch her die. “Lex did watch me die some years ago,” Clover said. “He did become stronger at the moment, but nothing compared to what you seem to be expecting.”

  “And for a few reasons,” Vis said. “Firstly, the amount of darkness he now possesses is far greater than he previously did. Also, the current Lex is far more capable of feeling hatred than the Lex who watched you die years ago. Even since the Black War, the Zagans’ darkness have seeped into him, as he himself can more ably relate to the feelings of darkness.”

  “I see,” Clover said. But it was clear that she still had strong reservations about the whole idea.

  “Lex is currently in a cave of ice made by the Ice Sage. Yuki saved him when he was attacked by the Shadow Council.”

  “Shadow Council?” a curious Hawthorne asked, hoping she wasn’t the only one who had no idea what Vis was talking about.