The Contention

by Jeremy Laszlo

  Less than an hour later, just as Garret left the wall to fight through the crowds and make his way to the palace for another council meeting, Seth burst out from the city gates. Like a pack of wild dogs, those men of his that had already returned to the city rushed him from all directions and fell into even lines behind him. They marched at his back, a vision of power and ferociousness. Seth strode up to the acting commander of the army, now that both Garret and Sulvis were otherwise occupied, and looking through his dark cowl at the man gave him a single order.

  “Call them to muster then stand aside,” Seth commanded, his voice cold and menacing.

  “Yes, your majesty,” the sniveling general replied.

  Seth waited as the command was given and a horn was blasted three times across the manicured lawn surrounding the immense castle. Men and women came streaming from every direction, many running as fast as their legs would carry them, and within the span of only a few minutes, over eleven thousand troops stood before Seth, and several hundred worshippers of Ishanya stood behind him. Seth peered at the vast army, though not with his eyes, and found that the vast majority had sworn allegiance to no god. Today he would do what he could to make believers out of those who were at present reluctant. Mimicking a portion of his own brother’s blessing, Seth unleashed a small amount of his power and poured it into the words he spoke in order to be heard clearly across the massive expanse of ground the troops stood upon.

  “Many of you know me by name alone. You have heard rumors of my deeds. You have heard exaggerations of the miracles that I have performed…or have you?” Seth asked. “Were these merely stories you have heard about me or were they true? Can I kill with a thought? Can I make men more than what they were designed to be? Do I indeed perform miracles in the name of the goddess Ishanya? Yes I do. Though you may never see her face, you now shall see mine.” Pulling back his cowl Seth revealed himself to all those gathered. Though the sun shot pain through his head making standing in the open excruciating, Seth blinked his eyes often to reduce the pain, his sight temporarily lost. After standing there a few moments he then pulled his cowl over his face to restore his vision, and began to speak once more.

  “Many of you are afraid of me, and many more fear the source of my power. Only my own troops know me as I really am, and today I wish to choose a few among you to join the ranks of my troops. Not as a werewolf like the men I have here, but as champions of my own making. I would make you equal to the champions you have seen or heard tales about, and beyond that I would make you more.” Seth paused to let his words settle. Already he could see the soldiers beginning to whisper and nod to one another.

  “Today I shall choose one among you to be a champion,” Seth said putting suitable emphasis on the words. He meant ‘I shall choose, I shall create, I shall make, and not Ishanya’.

  “Today one among you will become more than a man or woman, and through me you will be given strength to strike down our foes. Listen to what you have heard this day. Hear my words well, for now I must choose as time is growing short. Who among you would wish to join my troops and become my first champion upon Thurr?” Seth asked and watched as bodies began to extract themselves from the ranks of their peers. It began as a trickle of bodies, and sadly it ended as a trickle as well. With over eleven thousand in attendance, less than fifty men and woman stepped forth, willing to gamble their lives on the chance that the rumor of Seth being a god was true. Seth strode before the line of people prepared to take the risk and looked each of them over. The truth was he cared not for their physical appearance, but instead he looked inside each one to see if any of them had the ability to wield magic. Two among them did, and stepping back Seth pointed to them and told them to come forward.

  One man and one woman, each with the ability to wield magic, each willing to sacrifice themselves to become something greater than what they were, stood before Seth. He only needed one, and seeing that they both were young, assumed neither of them had children. Having no way to choose, Seth asked them each a question.

  “Are you willing to sacrifice your humanity to become a champion, and become part beast like my soldiers behind me?” he asked.

  In response the young man nodded, and the young woman replied, “Yes, your majesty, I would be honored.”

  The decision was made. Seth looked over the young woman as she was one last time, committing her image to memory before he began the alteration. She was perhaps sixteen with sandy-blonde hair and a face covered in freckles. She slumped her shoulders slightly in a stance that said she was not confident with who she was. All of that was about to change. Selecting pieces from the menagerie within him, Seth began to alter the girl’s appearance first, as this was the easy part. Wave after wave of power he sent into the woman, selecting individual portions of the auras he contained to alter specific traits. As she began to transform she screamed out in ecstasy as the power rushed through her body. A pair of Seth’s men quickly hurried in and ripped the woman’s clothing from her body leaving her completely exposed as she shrank to the ground to lie writhing in the pleasure coursing through her. She tossed and turned so much it made it difficult to see the entire transformation, though the skin upon her legs below the knee had obviously changed, and her hair had vanished momentarily only to be replaced with what appeared to be feathers. Again and again Seth poured power into the girl to get the desired effect he wanted, all the while saving the best for last. After several long moments Seth paused in his actions to allow the woman a moment to recover. When she did, she rose to her knees somewhat unsteadily, still panting for air. An audible gasp arose from the thousands gathered and Seth was not even finished yet.

  Pouring into the girl yet another portion of an aura within him, Seth lent this part even more power and watched as the girl struggled to stay upon her knees as bulges began to form upon her back. From these bulges, limbs began to form as the flesh of her body stretched and worked to conform to the new appendages. As these appendages grew the flesh upon them altered slightly, and sprouts sprang from the flesh, instantly covering it completely. The sprouts grew in size and quantity until her back and new wings were completely covered in newly grown feathers. The girl trembled as a shiver ran down her spine, and weakly she unsteadily climbed to her modified feet to put herself upon display before the thousands who had gathered. There she wobbled for a few minutes as all around inspected her.

  The head of a slightly humanoid, hawk-like bird now sat upon a human torso where a pair of bare breasts remained as well as all of the woman’s previous reproductive organs. Her arms remained unchanged, as did her thighs, if u disregarded the feathers but her lower legs and feet had been transformed the most. Starting just below the knees, the girls flesh became hard and was now colored in a deep, earthy yellow tone. Her feet had been replaced by immense talons, each ending in a razor sharp point. Beyond that the most obvious change in the girl was the addition of her wings which she flapped experimentally, slowly, attempting to get used to the new appendages.

  Already Seth looked around to those gathered and noticed a change. Some of the army had already sworn themselves to Ishanya, and more yet had sworn their allegiance to Seth, though the numbers were still few. Seth was not surprised; he had simply created another beast of a person at this point. Now it was time to make a champion of the beast, and this was a bit trickier. Seth reached within the woman and found the miniscule pattern that Garret used to size shift. He could not recognize it by sight but instead managed to find it by going to its expected location. Approaching the avian woman he had created, Seth extracted a few threads of power and drew upon her flesh the symbol for ‘command’. Telling her the prayer to repeat, he secretly programmed the symbol. This one he placed directly between her breasts. The other thread he used to form the symbol for ‘contain’ and this he sent within her body and connected the pattern that would cause her to increase in size with the symbol he had placed upon her chest. Then, the process completed, Seth sent into the girl more than a lifetim
e of extra power and watched as it was absorbed and contained within the symbol beneath her flesh. Though it seemed like a lot of power, it would likely only be enough to sustain her size shift for about a day. If his plan succeeded, it would be enough, at least for now.

  Stepping back, Seth gave a command to his first champion.

  “Now pray to me,” Seth commanded and watched as the girl raised her hand to her heart and spoke the words she had been told loudly with pride.

  “Lord Seth, grant me the power to defeat my foes,” the avian girl shouted, and without a moment of hesitation a concussive boom echoed across the field as the girl exploded in size to four times her regular height. Now standing over twenty feet tall, with each lazy flap of her wings, giant plumes of dust arose and the soldiers nearest the avian champion were forced to shield their faces.

  Seth watched as the wave of air crashed upon the soldiers, and within an instant, both his need, and the need of the goddess he served, were satiated. Seth had gathered more than a thousand new worshippers, and Ishanya nearly as many. Now, when the battle started, Seth would have a constant influx of power. It was a terrible way to get it, but those that were going to die would die whether or not their power was promised to Seth. At least this way he could use that power gifted to him to sustain his champions. Many now wanted to be blessed by Seth, and he would see to it that several were, but first he had somewhere he needed to be.

  “Decide for yourselves, soldiers of Valdadore, what it is that you believe, for tomorrow I shall create more champions. Who among you will strive to be one?”

  With that Seth turned and spoke quietly to his champion who quickly prayed once more and resumed her normal size with a pop. Together, Seth and his champion entered the city, his werewolf soldiers rushing ahead to clear the way.

  Seth spoke to his new champion the entire way to the palace. During the journey his men managed to find appropriate attire for the woman, dressing her in lightweight leather armor that would not impede her wings. Seth learned the young woman’s name was Eve, and he also learned about her life prior to coming to fight for Valdadore. As they neared the palace itself, Seth paused outside the structure and spoke briefly to his newest creation.

  “Eve, I know that before today you were a strong woman, but you lacked confidence in your appearance, thinking yourself plain in comparison to others. No matter what the case might have been, now you are a magnificent creature, a blessed champion for myself and Valdadore. Hold your head high, hold your shoulders back, and show everyone that you are proud of what you have become.” Seth prepared the woman mentally, pumping up her self-confidence. He gave her a few more orders, encouraging her to teach herself to fly in the days to come, as well as preparing her for another act.

  Feeling that all was ready, Seth left Eve with his soldiers and entered the castle alone. Making his way through the various narrowing courtyards, Seth finally entered the palace to find Jonas and another one of his troops waiting patiently, each of them carrying armloads of various weapons and armor. Now it was time to show those in charge of Valdadore that if they could delay the enemy a little longer, there was hope of winning this battle.

  *****

  Ishanya smiled to herself deep in the plane of the gods as hundreds of new tendrils stretched across the nothingness to connect her to her latest followers. Her puppet Seth must have performed another wondrous miracle, though the goddess knew not what it might have been. Ishanya cared little for the day to day happenings of Thurr, as they were but a fraction of an instant to her. She had more important things to attend to. Already her following was growing at an ever increasing speed. Soon the other gods would become aware of her once more; soon she would have to deal with them. Already Ishanya’s peers could feel the change in the world they had created, and working to restore the balance, they poured energy into champions of war in hopes of garnering new followers.

  War was like a drug to the gods; like an addiction that constantly needed satiating. Life began and ended upon Thurr constantly, and as such the gods’ powers were constantly in flux, but the sudden surges that came with war were intoxicating. Each god desired the power they had loaned to the flora and fauna of Thurr, but more than that, Ishanya had taught them that it was possible to garner more than the share spent in return. In order to keep a balance upon Thurr, and keep the gods as equals in the heavens, war was a necessity. As one god gained a larger following, it was inevitable that his power would grow. Thus the other gods would create champions as a means to gain more followers for themselves, and also kill the followers of the rival god.

  Had Ishanya never learned the secret, champions and war would not be necessary for the gods. Such as it was, however, those among the immortal plane had each begun to covet more power for themselves. Each one of them strove in secret to destroy their rivals and peers. Each of them, like an addict, was willing to go to new lengths every time to feel the thrill that came with a surge of power; a surge that only came as their own followers died en masse.

  Ishanya knew that the heavens were ripe for the picking. For a while she would need an accomplice. She pondered deeply who to choose. Who would stand beside her to lay to waste the other gods? Who among them had the most greed? It would be a decision that was not quick in the making. Ishanya knew she would need to study not only each of her peers, but also their chosen champions to see which of the other gods was most like herself. Thus she began to tug at puppet strings long in the making to create war on Thurr so that she might study those she wished.

  Chapter 12

  Passed Tests and Unexpected Guests

  This council meeting was much akin to the previous one and didn’t tell Garret anything that he did not already know. Though many within the war room still talked amongst themselves, Garret did not hear the words they spoke. Instead he ran through the mental list in his head for the thousandth time. Though he hoped it would not come down to a siege, the kingdom was abundant in food. As the stores were collected and brought into the city itself it became apparent that Valdadore was a wealthy realm in the way of provisions. Here the land was fertile, and fertile land made for good crops and good herds. So well was the city provisioned that several warehouses throughout the city had to be repurposed to store the excess that was on hand. Spears and shields were in excess as well as of late. People continued to flow into the city, either to help with the war effort, join the army, or to hide in case Sigrant’s forces made it this far. Garret’s councilors assured him, though, that the influx was near an end. In fact, most of the council believed it unlikely that the army would grow by another thousand persons. An army of twelve thousand was formidable, but even so was likely less than half of the enemy they faced. But Garret was informed that, even without proper time to train, if they used the methods shown to them by Seth, his army could face even more perilous odds and survive with the tactics they now used. This was great news indeed except for one small thing. This belief was built upon the understanding that both opposing forces were equally unblessed.

  Much in Valdadore was in abundance, but there was one glaring hole in the defenses that would not be overcome by training. The army had too few champions. The battle mages were powerful, and Seth more powerful still, but as for blessed melee troops the kingdom was lacking. In fact, besides Garret himself, only four others were blessed for battle; two of his own knights, and two blessed by the god Vikstol. Both of the latter were retired soldiers without any real prowess beyond the fact that they were reluctant to fall before their foes. Though Garret knew the kingdom was lacking in heroes, there was nothing he could do about it. Rising from his seat at the head of the table in the war room, Garret was about to dismiss the council meeting when the door to the room burst open.

  Holding his tongue, Garret watched as his twin entered the room flanked on either side by one of his overly large werewolves. Each hairy man carried various armor pieces and weapons, and without so much as a cursory glance to anyone in the room, Seth strode to the head of the tabl
e to greet his brother.

  “Is everything in order, brother?” Seth asked, pulling back his cowl.

  “As much so as is possible,” Garret replied, the concern heavy in his voice.

  Every conversation in the room had ended as soon as Seth marched through the door. All eyes now fell upon the king and his brother. Seth had attended none of the meetings as of late; his whereabouts and actions had been much of a mystery. For this reason everyone listened intently as the brothers spoke to one another, hoping to glean some information as to the Death Mage’s doings.

  “I have brought to you what I believe to be the answer to our current troubles,” Seth stated, gesturing to the arms his men carried.

  “We have armor and weapons in ample supply so I must assume that these particular pieces are special in some way?” Garret questioned.

  “I have enchanted each piece with magical abilities, just like the torches and candles here in the palace have been enchanted.”

  “What can they do?” Garret asked, his tone changing abruptly as all in the room leaned closer.

  “A great many things. It would be easier to show you than to tell you, and these are but a few of the pieces I have managed to create,” Seth replied.

  “Show us then.”

  “I can,” Seth said, “but, I need two volunteers, who are unlikely to be hurt.” Seth smiled wickedly at his brother in anticipation.

  “Very well Seth, myself and Horace should suffice, I suppose.”

  “Yes.”

  “What do we need to do?” Garret asked.

  “First we must slide the table aside to make some space, then I will need you each to don a piece of armor,” Seth answered.

  Within moments the councilors shoved the massive wooden table against one wall and stacked the chairs upon it. Lining the other walls, those in attendance watched for over an hour as the king and one of his knights donned pieces of enchanted armor or took up enchanted weapons while Seth first explained the purpose of each enchantment and then had the wearer demonstrate. Some items absorbed magical blasts of fire; some emitted bright blinding light. Others burst into flame or became awash in lightning. One sword when dropped returned of its own accord to the armored glove it had fallen from. Seeing this, Garret threw the sword across the room and watched as several of his council members were forced to duck as the weapon changed course mid-flight, and circled back above their heads to return to his hand.