by D N Meinster
Amelia shuffled through the rows of soldiers as she made her way to the waters. They only had supplies for weapons or armor, not both, and most had chosen weapons. Many were left unprotected. Some had fashioned body armor out of wood. She spotted the occasional metal vest, which she’d enchanted at its owner’s request.
The fear on all their faces was palpable, but it was not the only emotion on display. There was joy and excitement along with the apprehension. Many had waited a decade for this day. Some had thought it would never come.
Amelia didn’t want to let these people down. They were ready to return home and so she’d brought about that opportunity. She’d gotten them all ready best she could, but, in the end, the plan’s success would depend on her. Was she a match for Neanthal? She didn’t have to kill him but merely wear him down. Yet, even with that technicality, she was unsure of her capabilities.
She may have been the most powerful mage, but Neanthal was not a mage. He was something more. If she thought she could take him down on her own, she would’ve done it before their exile. But she was not so sure.
What if she and Hatswick faced him and lost? What then?
All the people around her would most certainly die. Aergo’s family would undoubtedly face execution. Ghumai would be lost and the Great Bastion would be vulnerable. She’d have let down not only a king but a goddess as well.
The responsibilities of all her power had never overwhelmed her before. But now, it weighed on her so heavily that it slackened her pace as she moved through the lines of soldiers.
There was no turning back. Everyone was in place. All of Ghumaic history had led to this moment. Defeating Neanthal would save the present and the future. And Amelia had been thinking a lot about the future since Grace told her about her great-granddaughter. Did her presence mean victory was inevitable? But what if she gave up right now and refused to fight? Would her great-granddaughter cease to exist?
Amelia pushed those thoughts aside even as she spotted Grace near the shore. The time to worry about what may yet come was beyond them. They had to focus on what they could do now. That which she’d put in motion could only be realized if they were triumphant.
Amelia patted Grace on the shoulder as she came to the head of the legion. “Take nothing for granted,” she whispered to her.
Next to her was King Shine, dressed in green armor that was a duplicate of his father’s. Standing by him was Prince Slythe, the spitting image of Aergo, who was fashioned in silver armor. The General Commander stood on his other side, covered in durable wooden attire and wearing a coconut around his neck. Accompanying him was Pila, who had taken on an entirely green appearance for the occasion.
“It’s strange not having Rant at my side,” Shine said as Amelia took her place next to him.
“He’s where he needs to be,” Amelia replied.
The General Commander grunted.
“I remember when my father was in this same position,” Shine went on. “Leading the charge against Neanthal. Or he was supposed to until his plans were discovered and he was put on the defense. Neanthal knew he was coming and attacked first. Do you suspect he knows we’re coming now?”
“Suspect it?” Amelia asked. “I hope he knows.”
The General Commander turned to the Grand Mage. “Would you like to say a few words before we march?”
“They don’t want to hear from me,” Amelia replied. “They want to hear from their king.” She looked to Shine.
Shine had barely given a pronouncement since they’d been on the Twilight Isles. And she wanted him to give a speech? He was not eloquent or inspiring. This invasion was not happening because of him. He was not taking on Neanthal by himself. Why would she want him to speak to them?
“You should,” Shine replied.
Slythe nudged his brother in the arm. “Come on.”
“It will be important that they remember who their leader is once this is done,” Amelia stated. She touched her staff to the sand by Shine’s feet and, like a geyser, it lifted him to a viewable height.
Shine looked out upon the army they’d assembled. His might be the last voice they’d ever hear. He needed to make his words count.
“I remember when my father was king,” he said in a raised voice. “I remember peace between the kingdoms. I remember coming to these islands for vacation. I never thought I’d stay here longer than a deck. Now, it feels like we’re leaving one home for another.
“But I also have not forgotten the people we left behind. While we stayed on beaches, they stayed in chains. For us, exile was like a holiday. For them, remaining in their homes has been a nightmare.
“Neanthal knows we’re coming for them, but he believes himself to be a god. He thinks he’s immortal. So do his followers. I cannot wait to prove them wrong!”
A muffled cheer broke out from the audience.
“Today, we free our brothers and sisters, our wives and husbands, our children. Today, we save Kytheras, Faunli, Terrastream, and Belliore! Today, we kill a god!” Shine withdrew his sword and the soldiers before him rattled their weapons.
The geyser sputtered as it lowered Shine back to the shore. “How was that?”
“Aergo would be proud,” Amelia said. “Shall we?”
She got nods from all around and proceeded to the perimeter of the seas. Amelia lowered the bottom of her staff into the waters, but, before going any further, a white flare erupted from the crystal into the sky.
Amelia watched it, and, once she was certain it’d been viewed, she went ahead with the next step. The channeling crystal turned a pale blue and she closed her eyes and willed the Unending Seas under her command. She heard nothing but the waves tossing about; felt nothing but the warm waters prickling her skin. From the point her staff touched the sea, she demanded that it succumb to ice.
An eerie silence fell as the waves ceased and the waters stilled. There was but a narrow coating of translucent ice spreading out at first. And then, between Noon and Kytheras, there formed a white road made entirely of frozen water.
Amelia opened her eyes and plucked her staff from her icy creation.
“Will it hold?” the General Commander asked as she moved into his proximity.
“Why don’t you check?” she responded with hollow menace.
The General Commander walked up to the ice sheet and stuck his leg out onto it. He pounded it with his foot a couple times before fully stepping onto it.
Amelia was the next to join him on the glacier. “You must all stay behind me.”
The General Commander grabbed the coconut hanging from his neck and blew into it. Like a horn, it emitted noise that signaled the soldiers to move out.
They were all on the march, crossing the frozen sea and heading to Kytheras. Some slipped and slid, but most were able to keep steady as they went. Not once did the ice break or even crack.
The closer they got to Kytheras, the more the sky lightened. Amelia could see what was awaiting them on the other side. Demibeasts lined Kytheras’ frozen ports, joined by squads of Ifta and even humans.
But the creatures were not inclined to wait. As they recognized just how sturdy the ice was, they began to run out onto it.
Amelia held up her hand and the General Commander blew into his coconut twice. Understanding the signal, the soldiers behind them came to a halt.
More than a hundred demibeasts were charging right at them. Even some plated had taken after them.
She let them get close; close enough to hear their growls and to see their claws tear up the top of the ice.
And then Amelia plunged her staff into the glacier. The entire sheet of ice in front of them cracked and crumbled back into the seas.
The demibeasts whined and howled as the waters swallowed them up. The plated merely sank.
Even as their desperate splashing continued, the seas began to freeze once more. The white road back reformed, trapping the enemy within and rendering them harmless.
“They won’t fall for that
again,” Amelia warned, raising her staff. “Pick up the pace.”
The General Commander blew into the coconut, and they all resumed their course.
Amelia was correct and the rest of the Thalian forces remained on solid land as they waited for them to arrive. More had amassed to replace those they’d lost, but someone was missing. Neanthal was not leading his forces. Instead, a pale and nearly transparent figure appeared to be at the head.
“Peransic,” she muttered as they got closer.
“Where’s Neanthal?” Shine asked.
Amelia had only two theories. He’d either figured out their plan and was trying to interrupt it, or he was so confident in his victory that he didn’t even bother leaving Castle Tornis. It wouldn’t be long until they found out which was true.
Shine had Aergo’s sword in hand. Slythe had formed a double-bladed sword to wield. The General Commander had an oversized axe in his possession. Grace and Pila readied their staffs. And the enchanted swords and shields were taken up by the multitude of soldiers.
Even though they all sped up on approach, time itself seemed to slow down. Sprinting didn’t seem to get them any closer. Every breath took an hour to exhale. They were stuck in the runup to battle, their nerves never subsiding; their goals just out of reach.
And then, the moment the first weapons clashed, everything sped up, like time was overcompensating.
Shine’s sword landed in the crook of Peransic’s sickle.
Slythe’s sword was entwined by Peransic’s chain.
The General Commander’s axe sliced into the belly of a demibeast.
Grace and Pila let loose concussive blasts that cleared the plated Ifta from their path.
The first screams rung out as the demibeasts tore at the armor-less soldiers.
Amelia cleared the way forward with ease. With a touch of her staff, the demibeasts would revert to formless black smoke. As a dark cloud surrounded her, the plated charged through. These, too, she effortless defeated with a swing of her staff. Those that got too close fell apart and crumbled as they transformed into dirt. Those wise enough to stay back only lost their plates.
Peransic proved an adept opponent as he yanked Slythe’s sword from his grasp and deflected another strike by Shine.
“Neanthal has bestowed upon me the honor of ridding the Tunsev line from this world,” Peransic taunted them.
Slythe dove for his sword, but Peransic yanked it back, hitting one of his demibeasts in the process.
He thrust his sickle at Slythe, but Shine successfully knocked it sideways and even managed to jab Peransic in the shoulder. It felt like hitting air, and Peransic merely stepped sideways to remove the sword from his body. There wasn’t even a wound where it’d struck.
“You’re outmatched.”
Amelia noticed the King and the Prince struggling with Peransic, and they were not the only ones in trouble. The General Commander had fallen back with the rest of his troops, as they were being overwhelmed by demibeasts and plated. Arrows were being launched from deep within Kytheras, taking out the soldiers who did not see them coming and failed to raise their shields.
“Grace, take out the archers,” Amelia called out.
Grace and Pila had made it further inland than any of them. But before either could follow Amelia’s instructions, they were struck by black lightning that left them flat and unconscious in the midst of battle.
Amelia rushed over and conjured up a barrier that protected them all from another bolt of black lightning.
Rayla Tath emerged as the source of the attack. She was dressed in spikey black and red armor from head-to-toe, with horns appearing to emerge from her waist, shoulders, and forehead. Her attire matched her staff well and hid her hair along with the rest of her features. Only her face peeked out from the intimidating metal.
“I bet you thought this would be easy,” Rayla spoke. “That the Goddess would clear the way back for you. But Neanthal saw you coming. That is why I’m dealing with you while Urto deals with Hatswick.”
Amelia’s eyes glowed as green as her channeling crystal. She did not reveal any hint of the concern she had for Hatswick and the guardians that were accompanying him. Instead, she taunted back. “If it isn’t half the Sinful Three. Soon you’ll be down to one. But I’ll give you a chance to join us before I finish you.”
“Join you? Neanthal let us meet our parents for the first time. He’s unleashed our full potential. I don’t need to join you. I’m already more powerful than you!” Rayla sent another bolt of black lightning at Amelia.
Amelia conjured up another barrier to block the attack.
Meanwhile, Slythe finally got his sword back, and both he and Shine were faster than Peransic as their blades weaved past his defenses and nicked his gray body. The only problem was that Peransic showed no sign of injury.
“Why won’t you die!” Shine screamed as his sword passed through Peransic’s wrist.
Slythe uncoupled his sword and broke away from his brother as he took care of a couple of plated humans who were moving in. They were covered in the same black armor as the Ifta, but they were like poorly trained miniatures. Slythe was able to disarm them and shove his blades into the crevasses at their shoulders.
When he returned to his brother, he found that he’d knocked Peransic’s sickle away but was now caught in his chain.
Shine’s wrists were bound together by the same chain that enwrapped his sword. Peransic moved in and began to wind it around his neck as well.
Slythe dove at Peransic’s legs but slid right through the transparent being. As he lied on his stomach, he saw the sickle was within reach. He discarded his own swords and reached from the handle of Peransic’s weapon.
As he took hold of it, he heard the King sputter and choke behind him. Slythe rose back up and, with one swift motion, skewered Peransic with his own sickle. The tip of it broke through his chest, and he stared at it like he didn’t know what it was or where it had come from.
Slythe shoved the rest of the curved blade through Peransic’s torso. A deep silver liquid oozed from the gash and covered Slythe’s hand as he punctured his enemy.
With Peransic frozen in shock, Slythe hurried to remove the chains from the King’s neck.
After a coughing fit and a few deep breaths, Shine spoke. “What do you know. He does bleed.”
Peransic was no longer a transparent being but was instead a solidly silver one. His features disappeared as his blood seeped through every part of his body. For a minute, he appeared to be a shiny gray statue. And then, like a rapidly melting ice sculpture, he dissolved and splashed into a puddle on the ground.
Slythe and Shine were only able to ogle the remains briefly before the battle caught up to them. Peransic would be little more than a stain on some boots.
The General Commander and his warriors were advancing on Neanthal’s forces. They’d broken through the waves of demibeasts and were taking on Ifta and traitors on solid land. Though the enemies’ weapons were mighty, their shields held up no matter how deft the blow. And though the plated armor was dense, their swords refused to crack as they attempted to penetrate it.
The General Commander’s magnificent axe could crack the plated with an intense strike, but it was retrieving the weapon from an impaled Ifta that was problematic. As he tugged at the axe, he saw another barrage of arrows coming toward them.
“Incoming!”
Amelia heard the shouts of the General Commander but was unable to provide aid as Rayla’s assault continued. She hadn’t let up, but the barrier continued to hold. If only Grace or Pila recovered, but they were out cold.
“I’m gonna tear you apart again!” Rayla growled.
A black rock as large as a Twilean cabin launched from her staff and smashed into the barrier. Even that was not enough to break it.
Exhausting her efforts from a distance, Rayla charged at Amelia’s position. The sin mage’s eyes were an illuminated black, as was the channeling crystal in her staff.
> This is what Amelia had been waiting for. Not only were Amelia’s eyes and staff glowing green, but her entire body appeared to be covered in a green aura.
Rayla launched herself at Amelia’s barrier, and Amelia stretched her arm through it and swung her staff into Rayla’s head. A line of green light hung in the air and traced the path of the staff as it led to the sin mage’s decapitation.
Rayla’s head hit the ground with a clunk while her body collapsed at Amelia’s feet.
“It was a good effort,” Amelia remarked. She revived Grace and Pila with a touch of her staff and they shifted away to take care of the archers, as she’d originally asked.
Still aglow, Amelia broke plated after plated with a graze of her staff and a flash of green light. Clumps of black dirt piled around as she cleared the way for more soldiers to make it into the city.
There were cheers as the remains of Neanthal’s forces turned about and retreated back to Castle Tornis.
“They’ll surround the castle,” the General Commander noted as he regrouped with the King and the Grand Mage.
“If he comes out…” Shine gazed worryingly at Amelia.
“You leave him to the mages.”
“She gonna keep glowing like that?” the General Commander grumbled as they proceeded.
Amelia had no intention of letting up until the battle was done.
As they’d predicted, their momentum was halted outside of Castle Tornis. Treatis Square and beyond had been packed with demibeasts and the remaining Ifta and traitors.
From atop the castle, more archers launched arrows, while some sent spears down onto their army.
Amelia looked for Grace or Pila, but neither had returned yet from their last mission. So she took it upon herself to shift there.
They shot their arrows at her right away, but they disintegrated the minute they touched her green halo. Another tried to plunge a spear into her chest, but he was yanked off the side of the castle by invisible strings.
