by Pedro Urvi
Adamis felt the ground under his feet begin to buckle and crack. “Spheres!” he cried.
“We can’t stay here, we’re too close to the docks,” Sormacus said, and no sooner had he raised his sphere than he felt the impact of a huge rock from an explosion nearby.
Adamis was scanning the water. “They are launching rocks and balls of fire from the other Ring. They are preparing the invasion. They are going to destroy the whole area.”
The buildings in the first line of the Ring, those further in and closer to the water, were beginning to crumble under the Power of fire and rock. The Golden of the House of Water were screaming. Death was falling on them, and they had no escape-route.
A terrible sense of frustration took hold of Adamis. “I cannot remain idle. I have to do something,” he said.
“Leave the city. Seek safety.”
The winter storms broke above the attacking ships which were preparing to assault the rings, freezing the God-Warriors who manned them. The Lords of Fire sent fiery storms to fight those of ice, while the Lords of Earth used their Power to attack the troops of the Golden of Water on the docks of the Fifth Ring. The House of Water defended itself by creating great tsunamis to sink the enemy ships.
“Thank you, Sormacus. But I cannot do that. I must try to stop this madness.”
Sormacus gestured at the burning pier where the God-Warriors of the House of Fire were beginning to land. “It is too late.”
“I will try to reach my father. He will be able to help us. There must be some way of stopping this.”
“I wish there were, but I do not think so, my Lord. Your father will most likely be under attack already. I do not think he will survive. He is on the losing side…”
“Even so, I have to try to stop this catastrophe. And you: what are you going to do?”
“I will contact the Wise and carry out their designs as I have always done.”
The explosions of fire and rock multiplied. The ground was soon unstable under the tremors the attackers were causing. Adamis and Sormacus could hardly stay upright. Buildings were collapsing all around them.
“I understand. In case we never see each other again… I am grateful for everything you have done for me.”
“It has been an honor.”
The two Golden hugged each other like brothers in a lost cause, and parted with the feeling that they would never meet again.
Adamis strengthened his sphere and broke into a run, with everything around him exploding in fire and rock. He saw fifty or so Lords of the House of Fire landing at the main dock, which had already been taken by at least a thousand Warriors. A little to the west the scene was being replayed, but this time by the troops of the House of Earth. The combined destructive power of both Houses was devastating. The troops of the House of Water were falling back toward the Royal Castle.
A sense of something ominous came over him. “Where are you, Father? Why do you not come to help your ally?”
Chapter 32
And so the fatal moment arrived for Men. The majestic army sent by the Gods to kill them crossed the northern forests and began its final advance towards the New Shelter. Between the army of Golden and the coast, where the homes of the Senoca stood, lay a great plain covered with short grass. At the end of it, with their homes and the sea behind them, waited three hundred thousand free men, armed and ready to fight to the death to keep their freedom.
The Golden advanced with a heavy tread, five thousand God-Warriors ‒ a thousand for each House ‒ leading the way in their spotless armor. They gleamed under the rays of the early evening sun with the unmistakable light of victory. They advanced without any trace of fear, chins held high, backs straight, and the looks of Gods. They radiated an aura of power and invincibility that caused hearts to shrink. The men of the five nations knew that these beings were on their way to destroy them and the New Shelter. The Gods would have no mercy and would destroy everything. When the Golden army was a thousand paces from the horde of men, it stopped.
Ikai was watching from the center of the front line. At his order the army of Men started to prepare. Burdin was at his side. The warrior of the Highlands put a hand on his shoulder.
“Today we’re going to kill Gods,” he said with such confidence that Ikai nodded in agreement. His eyes turned to the thousands of men and women of the Highlands at his back and he felt protected. But he knew this was a false feeling; nothing would protect him from the devastating Power of the Golden.
“If…”
“Don’t worry, Liberator, I’ll protect you. Lurama would never forgive me if anything happened to you.”
Ikai smiled at the great warrior, and hugged him gratefully. The two hundred thousand men and women who flooded the plain shifted restlessly, holding their weapons in sweating hands. Hardly anyone was in armor, very few had shields. Most carried bows and arrows, with long knives at their belts of leather or cord. They looked like a great horde of farmers, without order or direction, in clear contrast to the disciplined, perfectly supplied and well-organized army of the Golden.
From the rear of the enemy lines appeared the Lords in their golden carriages, who came to stand at the front of the lines of God-Warriors. Ikai could make out five distinct groups: presumably one for each of the five Houses. They were standing apart, and by the colors of their clothing he could recognize which house each group belonged to. Five carriages moved forward several hundred paces: one for each House.
“What do those bastards think they’re doing?” Burdin asked.
“They want to parley.”
“We ought to kill them instead.”
Ikai smiled at him. “First we ought to find out what they want.”
“And then kill them.”
“And then kill them,” Ikai agreed. At this there was joy on the faces around him.
“I’ll go alone,” he said to Burdin.
“No way.”
“I can protect myself, but not you.”
“Doesn’t matter, I’m coming with you. And that’s that.”
Ikai shook his head and reluctantly accepted. He walked three hundred paces and stopped. Burdin was one step behind him. The mental message reached him like a blow.
Are you the leader of this rabble? demanded the Lord of the House of Fire.
“Yes. My name is Ikai.”
The Lords exchanged looks of surprise.
You are wanted. You escaped from Alantres.
“Well, here I am.”
And where are the other fugitives?
Ikai shrugged.
That attitude will not help you. He gestured behind Ikai. Neither you nor those slaves.
Ikai did not flinch at this. “What do you want?” he asked.
You are insolent, and insolence is payable in blood.
“I don’t fear you. I’ve already fought one Lord of the House of Fire. And I’m still alive. On the other hand, he isn’t.”
The golden face of the God turned to one of rage and incredulity.
That is not possible!
“Nor was reaching the Eternal City, or saving one of the Chosen, or escaping from there, or freeing a Boundary, or freeing all Men…would you like me to go on?”
I shall roast you alive for this!
Ikai did not flinch. He locked his gaze on that of the Golden. “Your proposal?”
The God could not manage to subdue his feelings, and was making a supreme effort not to attack him. The Golden on his right, from the House of Ether, spoke in his place.
The proposal is that you all turn yourselves in now. Without resistance. The punishment will be relative to the crime committed. It will clearly be exemplary, but many will live to serve again. If you refuse, you will be obliterated. No one will survive. Those are the orders we received from the High Kings before we left. We have to see that they are carried out.
“I will tell my people.”
Make them consider it. To fight us is a folly that will cost all your lives. You, more than anybody, k
now the destructive power we possess. You have seen it. You know it. Make them think carefully. There are hundreds of thousands of men who are about to die. It is a confrontation which they cannot possibly win.
Ikai said nothing, but turned on his heels and left. Burdin placed himself at his back to protect him with his own body. He went to stand before the expectant tide of his people, ignoring the Golden, who were watching him from afar. He activated the communication bracelet and addressed the five peoples.
“Listen to me!” he shouted, and there was absolute silence. “I bring a proposal from the Gods. They want us to surrender. They say that if we do so the punishment will be dire, but that many will survive to serve again as slaves,” A murmur of protest began, and instantly turned into loud refusals. Ikai gestured for calm and went on: “If you refuse… you’ll be destroyed. Nobody will survive. They’ll obliterate us.” He wanted to make this very clear, so that everyone would know what they were facing.
A sepulchral silence followed his words. The fear was patent on the faces of many. The shining enemy army was before them, an army of all-powerful Gods.
Again a murmur began among the sea of men and women, a murmur which became stronger little by little. It turned into a shout, with fists raised.
“We won’t turn ourselves in!”
“We’re free men! We’ll never go back to being slaves!”
“We’ll fight!”
“We’ll die as free fighters!”
The shouts became deafening: thousands of throats calling out that they would not give up, that they would fight. Ikai listened to them, his heart filled with pride. Against all odds, with destiny itself against them, facing an impossible task, knowing they would die: even so, they would not surrender.
“What’s your answer?” he shouted at the top of his voice. “Fight or surrender?”
“Fight!” three hundred thousand throats thundered in unison. The sound was so great that earth and sky seemed to shake.
Ikai turned toward the Golden, who were watching. He spread his arms wide and with a wave indicated the men and women who with their arms raised were still shouting whole-heartedly to the sky.
The message from the Lord of Ether reached him.
I am sorry it has to end like this, said the Lord of Ether.
“They prefer death to being slaves,” Ikai said into his bracelet. “The proposal is rejected. We won’t surrender. We’ll fight.”
Sorry? said the Lord of Fire. If what they want is death, death is what they shall have! And we appreciate your bringing all the slaves. He smiled triumphantly. You are saving us the trouble of hunting and killing them.
“We’ll see at the end of the day who dies and who lives.”
The Lords began to mobilize themselves. Ikai joined the People of the Highlands and unsheathed his sword. He raised it to the sky, then with his other hand he picked up Idana’s horn and made it ring out in a single long call. It was the signal for all to prepare themselves. With orderly movements the sea of rebels divided into three large groups, with Ikai in the central one, just as they had planned. The lines of God-Warriors did not move, while the God-Lords advanced in their carriages to join their leaders and formed themselves into five groups in front of their lines. Ikai counted two hundred and fifty nobles: fifty for each House. A shiver ran down his spine. Their combined destructive power would be terrifying.
“What are they doing?” Burdin asked.
“They don’t want to waste time. The Lords are going to destroy us from afar by using their Power.”
“Cowards! Let them come and fight hand to hand, like a true warrior!”
Ikai shook his head. “They won’t get their hands dirty with our blood. For them it would be demeaning. They just want to kill us as quickly as they can, as cleanly and easily as possible, so they can go back to their Eternal City.”
“The swine!”
The God-Lords wasted no time in beginning to use their Power. They were so powerful that their auras started to radiate with an intense gold which became visible to all. The rebels watched in silence. The wind vanished from the plain, and with it first birds, then a moment later all the other animals. A grim silence fell on the battlefield. Everyone knew what it meant. Surrounded by that golden radiance and in the midst of that ill-omened silence, the Golden seemed true Gods. Murderous Gods.
The golden radiance began to change. In the Lords of the House of Fire it turned red, brown in those of the House of Earth, blue in the House of Water, white in the House of Air and translucent in the House of Ether. Five Golden Houses, five Elemental Powers that would bring death to Men. And destruction descended upon them. The three groups of rebels watched the sky blackening. Murderous storms formed over their heads as fear began to take over their bodies. Rays of fire and zigzagging bolts were followed by deafening rolls of thunder. A hurricane wind struck the front lines. Men and women were hurled through the air. Colossal tornadoes appeared out of thin air in the center of the plain and came toward them. The winds they created sucked in everything around them.
Fire began to rain from the heavens over Ikai and his group in the center. A winter storm broke out over the group to his left, freezing everything it touched. Under the group on his right the ground began to tremble with the onset of an earthquake that would swallow them up. A mist that would devour the souls of whoever it came in contact with began to surround the three groups, blocking their way. There was no means of escape; they were being attacked from the sky, the earth and the air, and beyond. Panic spread among the rebels, who were about to be utterly annihilated.
Ikai gave two long calls on the horn. In reply, the Children of Arutan rose from among the Men. They had stayed crouching, hidden, so as not to be detected. They were scattered throughout the groups, covering the greatest area possible. They raised their arms to the sky and used their Power. A beam of brown-green light issued from their arms, rose and widened to form a great dome which came down to the ground. A hundred of these domes appeared, covering the rebels in the three groups.
“Everybody get inside the protective domes!” shouted Ikai.
The storm of fire fell on them. It reached those who had not run under cover in time, who burned amid screams of horror as flames devoured their lives. But the fiery storm could not pierce the domes. The rain of fire and fiery bolts fell relentlessly on the men, but was unable to penetrate. The icy storm fell on the first group, but met the domes and found its way blocked. The third group saw the earthquake fade away beneath their feet within the protection offered by the domes. The ring of deadly mist hurled itself against the rebels it surrounded. Ikai and Burdin had to step back and seek cover under one of the domes. Those unfortunates who had not managed to get under cover were devoured by the deadly mist.
The God-Lords stared at the domes in surprise. This was something they had not been expecting. But they took action and attacked more intensely, determined to break this defense. They launched huge fireballs which burst on impact and created scorching flames, fiery meteorites that rushed down from the heavens to crash against the domes with devastating impacts of rock and fire. The icy storm produced a rain of sharp stakes of ice which fell on to the domes, while at the same time the temperature dropped vertiginously so that the grass was soon covered with frost. The men huddled together inside the domes. Those who found there was no room for them were frozen alive. The tornadoes crashed against the defenses, seeking to break them and suck out the men and women they were protecting.
Anxiously, Ikai watched the monstrous creations of the Lords. He knew that with each attack the domes were weakening and the Children of Arutan were having to send more of their Power to strengthen them. But seeing the tremendous battering they were receiving, he guessed they would not last for long. Either they would be destroyed, or else their Golden allies would run out of Power before long. It was time to act, or else they would all be lost. He put the horn to his lips and sounded it three times. The fear and chaos which were assailing the reb
els huddling under the domes vanished at the sound of the horn. Those who carried bows readied them and aimed at the God-Lords.
One of the defensive domes gave in. Hundreds of men, together with the Child of Arutan who was maintaining it, died in flames. Ikai cursed silently. With a lethal whistling that filled his soul with hope, a hundred thousand arrows left the domes and sped through the air to fall upon the God-Lords. He followed their flight, holding his breath. An instant after impact, the Lords covered themselves and their carriages with solid spheres. The arrows hit the spheres with a metallic rattle and were unable to pierce them.
Ikai sighed deeply.
“The bastards are covering themselves!” cried Burdin.
“We already expected that.”
“What do we do now?”
“We use Aruma’s gift.”
“The God-Witch?”
“Yes. We need to have faith.”
“I don’t believe it’ll help us. She’s one of them. You shouldn’t trust her.”
“I trust her.”
Without losing his calm, Ikai repeated the call. This time the archers put their hands to their waists, where they carried flasks of leather and wood. Inside was Aruma’s concoction. Behind Ikai, in the middle of each group, the rebels opened Aruma’s barrels. They dipped their arrows in the contents as the storms intensified above them. Another of the domes gave way before the impact of one of the tornadoes. Five hundred rebels were sucked out by the devastating force of its winds and died.
The rebels released their bows, and another hundred thousand arrows flew from inside the domes and fell on the God-Lords. Many were caught in the storms and failed to reach their goal, but even so, many thousands reached their target. The God-Lords saw them coming. But they felt no fear behind their defenses and ignored them, focusing instead on killing the rebels.
And the unthinkable happened!
The arrows pierced the defensive domes of the Golden. With muffled moans of surprise and horror, the God-Lords were struck by the arrows. Horses and Lords fell to the ground, writhing in pain.
Before the stunned stare of the God-Warriors, their Lords died riddled with arrows.
