The next morning came faster than asked for. Outside the sun had pierced the
clouds that were hanging above the capital, sending rays of sun down onto the
manor, as if sending a divine sign. The birds were chirping and the horses were
trampling the gravel road. Dogs were barking and the kids were already out, playing
at the first sign of dawn.
There was a loud noise and knocks on the door.
‘’Who is it?’’
‘’Gabriel. Everything is ready and we are waiting for you two. I will be outside
with Rasiela, waiting’’ Gabriel said and walked off, his footsteps getting weaker until
the sound disappeared.
‘’Let’s get ready, i don’t want for them to wait on us’’ Janine said and started
putting her clothes on. Even though the red dress she wore last night was laying on
the floor and she had tight pants and a tight shirt on, she was still as beautiful as last
night, Kane thought to himself.
‘’I love you so much, Janine. So much that it actually hurts’’ Kane said gently.
She turned around and started crying.
‘’I love you too. Promise me that you will never leave me, not even when we
die. I will find a way for us to bind our souls after death. I never want to be apart from
you again. I'm aching all over whenever you are more than a few meters away from
me’’ Janine said. Kane stood up and walked over to her, taking her in his arms again,
kissing her gently on the forehead and pressing her tight against himself, a tear
dropping down his own face. Strange, he didn’t know he was still able to mourn or
feel sorrow, he thought to himself, wiping the lone tear away.
About half an hour later the group was on their way to castle Krafne, galloping
as fast as the horses would carry them. An escort of about hundred horsemen along
with the trio, as usual, who were running slightly in front of Kane and Janine,
constantly on the lookout for danger. Janine was riding to Kane’s right and behind
them on opposite sides were Gabriel and Rasiela. Kane and Gabriel had half metal
plated armor and pants, greaves and gloves. A plate helmet adorned with long, red
feathers. Gabriel was only different in helmet, as his had half the size yellow feathers,
which were still at least thirty centimeters in length. Walfrid was riding behind them
and was in full mail armour, wearing the same helmet as Gabriel. Rasiela and Janine
had matching studded leather, tight pants and a thin shirt, covered with a studded
leather short coat. Matching hats out of leather, with short red and short yellow
feathers. The outfits were more suited for sorcerers and witches, as they relied on
swiftness and on magic to help them. Armour would just be in the way of casting
spells and controlling familiars. Kane was sitting atop a large black darkmare, easily
able to carry one more adult in armour, while gabriel was riding a brown darkmare
and Rasiela and Janine white darkmares. The darkmare’s were roughly the same as
normal horses but different in two major aspects, namely endurance and strength. In
raw speed, they were a little faster than normal horses, but they could gallop on for
hours straight without rest and could carry far more weight than normal horses,
making them ideal for scouting or for warfare in general.
The general direction of Krafne was to the opposite side of the alley, so the
group had passed the alley, the palace and was now exiting district three through the
outer gates. Four guards were posted at the outer gates and they bowed low as a
sign of respect for the duke and his companions. Kane put a hand up and waved at
them, passing them a moment later and storming through the gates, onto hell.
No one was talking, partially because they wouldn’t even hear each other over
all the noise the horses were making, partially because everyone was nervous about
the upcoming battle and was thinking about how everything would turn out.
‘’Just ahead of that slope is a small town’’ Gabriel yelled after a few hours, to
be heard over the noise the mares hooves were making, touching the stone. ‘’We
should rest there for a little bit, our horses that is’’
‘’Sure, lets do that’’ Kane said and galloped on. A little while later they arrived
at the little town, on the main road going towards castle Krafne, located about
halfway through. The group rode towards the inn and got off their mares, binding
them to pillars just to the right of the entrance.
‘’Boy’’ Kane yelled and a young lad came running. ‘’Take care of the horses,
will you?’’ he said as he threw a silver coin towards the lad and got in, followed by
Janine, Gabriel, Rasiela and Walfrid. The bartender flinched at seeing the trio, as did
the guests, but no one moved even an eyelid, afraid of provoking the strangers.
‘’S...Sir’’ the bartender stuttered. ‘’W… what can i get you?’’.
‘’Calm down. No one is going to get hurt here. I am the duke and i'm on official
business. Please serve us some wine and some meat if you have any ready. We will
be off again within ten minutes.’’ Kane said.
‘’The d...d… duke? You are the new duke? Why my lord, why didn’t you say
so earlier’’ the man said with a crooked smile and ran around the counter, bowin low.
Most of the people at the inn, stood up as well and bowed.
‘’Don’t mind me. Get up and get back to your own business’’ Kane said, a bit
more sharply than intended. The group went back to what they were doing, but
obviously talking about the duke and his companions. The group got their drinks and
drank hurriedly, and ate. The mood was generally low, not because they thought they
would die, but death and war generally made people feel somber. A bit later, they
were on their way again, riding off towards castle Krafne in a long column. There was
almost no talk from then on. Everyone was getting mentally prepared for the battle
and the carnage that was going to happen soon. Their faces were dark and absent,
their moods somber, as if getting ready to get slaughtered, the group rode on.
A few hours distance from castle Krafne, the group noticed smoke coming
from where a little village should have been. They dismounted their mares and
silently approached the woods and blended in with the nature around them. Alpha
shifted to a smaller, less noticeable form and walked ahead, slowly, scouting for any
threat. Kane was walking just behind him a few meters with Janine and Rasiela
walking in between him and Gabriel, who brought up the rear. Gabriel and Kane both
had their soul forges out and were awaiting an attack every moment. Some fifty
meter into the forest, Alpha heard some voices and stopped.
‘’Wait here. I am going to scout ahead, alone. I hear voices and ruckus. If i
send you an affirmative telepathically, you can come after me.’’ he said and strode
off, like a little puppy. Kane just shrugged, thinking how looks could deceiving.
Alpha was crawling towards the clearing where the village was located,
silently, using the bushes to his advantage. The ruckus was loud and there was the
crackling of burning wood. He peeked his head through the bush, just enough to see
what was going on and was stunned, unable to move his gaze from the scene that
was unfolding in front of him. A group of soldiers were having their way with girls, not
much older than Anya, in front of a crowd of dead villagers. Most of them were stuck
to big stakes, with slit throats or wrists, bleeding into the dry soil. The girls were
screaming, trying to defend themselves but no effort was enough to defend
themselves against the stronger soldiers. Alpha’s vision blurred and rage fell over his
eyes.
He charged headlong out of the bush, reverting back to his usual height of
about two meters and ran towards the group of soldiers, jumping into their midst,
cutting up the group with his sharpened tail, cutting through their armors like through
butter. After the first moment of shock was over, the soldiers backed off and drew
their weapons. Alpha growled low and jumped on one of the soldiers, pinning him to
the ground, ripping off his head with his mouth. The other five soldiers that were left
from that particular group charged Alpha who just cut into them with his massive
claws, cutting through their armour and breaking their weapons, tearing off limbs and
gutting them. A few seconds passed and they were laying on the ground, strewn
about, dead.
Everything seemed to stand still and for a long moment it did. The main force
of about a score of soldiers had noticed Alpha and were mobilizing, getting up on
their horses or donning their armour and weapons, getting ready for battle. Alpha
stood silently at the spot he firstly appeared, assessing the situation. Slowly but
steadily, the group of soldiers approached Alpha, encircling him, but keeping their
distance.
‘’It is just one wild beast, men. Encircle it and pierce it with spears and arrows.
Approach!’’ he yelled at his men. Alpha smiled and summoned his soul forge,
towering higher than the tallest building around him. The soldiers were stunned,
unable to move out of fear and awe. What a magnificent creature, yet so frightening
and dangerous. Alpha didn’t let their gawking bother him and he positioned himself at
the outer edge of their formation, went back on two feet and propelled himself
forward, right into the oncoming crowd of soldiers. The enemy line got shattered
upon his soul forge's crashing into the soldiers. Any soldiers within a diameter of
about ten meters wide from the place of impact was either crushed, gutted or just
gone. The soldiers threw spears, shot arrows, but everything just bounced off Alpha’s
armour which he had on in battle mode. The soldiers started panicking and were
throwing down their weapons and running in all directions. At that moment two
groups of fifty soldiers each on horseback approached from both entrances to the
village square where everything was going on. One smaller group of about twenty
soldiers tried to rush past the newcomers, but Walfrid had proven himself by
choosing his best soldiers. None of the fifty soldiers was even harmed, after cutting
down all twenty enemy soldiers.
The rest tried to flee but Kane and the rest had herded the soldiers in, roughly
a few dozen left. The lone man who had talked was still on his horse, unmoving,
mouth wide open. A moment later he lay on the ground, his head split into two. Kane
had summoned his infinite blades and hurled them at the enemy, felling them until
only a handful of enemy soldiers were left. Their armour was dripping with urine and
the stench was almost unbearable. How the hell did they manage to wet themselves
within a few moments of battle.
‘’Cowards’’ Kane said to his group. ‘’They prey on the weak and on those who
cannot defend themselves, but show some teeth and they piss themselves of fear.
Capture the last few alive, they're far more worth to us alive than dead. Information
and plans, that is what we are after.
The soldiers hurdled them together, binding their legs and hands with a
wrapping, holding them in place. Meanwhile Kane and Alpha were scouting on
opposite sides for more possible enemies in the vicinity, but it seemed to be clear for
now. When they got back, the survivors were grouped to one side and being taken
care of by Rasiela and Janine. The surviving group was only a few underage girls
and a few women, barely above the age of twenty five. Kane’s face changed colours
over and over again, looking in between the few prisoners and the surviving girls.
‘’Would you like to see them suffer the way you did?’’ Kane asked abruptly,
looking over to the girls. They just stayed quiet, probably afraid of him.
‘’You have nothing to fear of’’ Janine said, kneeling down beside the girls. ‘’He
is the new duke of Kravnje. We are on our way to castle Krafne, to take it back.
‘’Take it back? With the hundred four of you? You idiots, we have more than a
hundred thousand soldiers, and a full company of soul forgers. To add to that, we
even have a squad of monsters! Yes, adult monsters! And you want to stop them?’
Kane let him finish talking before walking over. He motioned for the man to stand up,
who in defiance complied. Kanes infinite blades summoned around him and the
man’s eyes went very wide, the moment he saw what was going to happen. The
blades swarmed the poor man and shred him into thousands of pieces, blood and
gore splattering the few remaining enemy soldiers who started crying and screaming
out of sheer terror. One jumped up and started begging for his life.
‘’Please, i beg of you! Spare my life and i will tell you anything you want to
know!’’ he yelled in despair. Kane seemed to think it through, then asked him a
question.
‘’Did you touch any of these ladies here behind me? Or any others in the
village?’’ The man didn’t seem to know how it mattered, but shook his head lightly.
‘’No sir, i did not. I am too much of a loner to care about women, and i detest
blood and violence, so i didn’t do anything to anyone here, i swear on my newborn’’
the man cried out. Kane turned around and walked towards the girls and kneeled
beside Janine.
‘’Please, tell me if you have noticed him doing anything to any of you. I just
need one prisoner, and i rather have one i can treat decently if he deserved it’’ The
girls were quiet for a long moment, then two of them looked at each other and
nodded.
‘’My lord, we noticed him earlier getting a beating from the man who was on
horseback earlier. Why, we do not know. I know the other man was yelling at him for
being an inbred moron who loved peace more than his king’’ one of the older girls
said. Kane gave her a warm smile and nodded his head in appreciation, then walked
over to the crying man again.
‘’Why did he beat you up?’’ Kane asked him.
‘’Huh? Who? My commander?’’
‘’Yes, your commander’’.
‘’Well, umm, i was asking for them to spare the women, or at least the
underage girls. It’s a crime against humanity to treat them like they were’’ he
answered and lowered his head, all colour and hope draining from his face. ‘’I… am
sorry, mister, for not being able to do anything to help them. I wish i was stronger so i
could have prevented it. You see, i have a little daughter at home. I never would have
wanted what happened here to happen to anyone. All i could do was think about
what i would do to someone if they did that to my little girl when she grew up, or my
wife. I wish i could have stopped them, i really do!’’ he cried out, bursting into tears
and sobbing. He fell over to his knees and screamed as if someone was cutting him
in pieces. Kane put his hand on the man’s head and patted him.
‘’It is never too late to repent. Tell me all you know and help me prevent them
from doing this to anyone else in the kingdom. Will you help me? Do you wish for
salvation?’’ Kane asked the man, gently. The man looked up, his eyes red and face a
mess. The man nodded his head and stopped crying, almost instantly.
‘’Yes, please. I will do whatever you want me to, just let me repent!’’
‘’All right. First off, look behind you and tell me if any of the men are like you,
worth sparing?’’ Kane said to the man. The man looked behind him and then back to
Kane.
‘’No. They are demons. Each of those three has killed and raped more than i
can remember. Not just here, but also in Krafne and other villages along the line we
took’’ Kane stood up and called for Egeryon.
‘’What do you want, human?’’ he replied
‘’If i let you take over for a few moments. What is the worst you can do to
cause as much pain as possible and still let someone suffer for as long as possible?’’
Egeryon thought for a moment and then replied.
‘’Hmm, i think that you would not like the answer, but, i would probably cut off
their limbs and gut them, leaving them to die. If done properly, they should be in
excruciating pain for a long time, which for them would seem an eternity. Or i could
let them rot for a long time, their limbs being consumed slowly, falling apart.
‘’All right, do it. Go ahead with those three there’’ Kane approved and let
Egeryon take over.
‘’At last, some fun!’’ Egeryon yelled out, using Kane’s voice. Immediately
everyone present from Kane’s group knew who had control. Alpha came a little
closer, standing between the group and him, in a protective posture.
‘’You three, for today, you are my playground, and you have been bad, real
real bad’’ he cried out in joy, laughing and screaming for a few long moments. By
mere thoughts alone, he lifted the three men who were watching him with terror and
pain in their eyes and started rotating them in the air. summoned a fiery blade and
positioned it next to them and slowly cut their limbs apart, piece by piece, while
instantly closing most of the wound due to the heat the blade was emitting, then their
bodies and what was left of their limbs started rotting, with great speed at first, but
after the rot had set in good, he dropped them to the ground, the stench already
setting in. Their screams were silenced but their pain was ever alive. They would
have a long time to think about all they did and then they would go to meet their
maker. Egeryon was still in control, relishing the agony of the dying, never feeling so
much pain and agony in his long life before. Then he relinquished control and
disappeared.
‘’What is your name’’ Kane asked the lone soldier.
‘’Herald’’ the man answered, stuttering. His face a mask of anguish and fear,
his whole body trembling. Never in his life did he witness something like what
happened here, now, in front of him. That was good, since that meant he would
cooperate fully, honestly, knowing what awaits him if he doesn’t.
‘’Follow me, Herald’’ Kane said and turned away from the man, walking
towards a little house on the far edge of the town. Kane sensed Alpha stalking behind
them and smiled, with affection for the wolf, no, his other half.
‘’What would you like to know, my lord’’ the man said stuttering as he sat in
front of Kane. The man was a bit older than Kane, his late twenties, bald and slim. He
looked far older than he was, ageing pretty badly. He had a stubby beard, probably
from not shaving for a few days, since they came to castle Krafne, which added
again a few more years to his appearance. A long pointy nose and brown eyes, thin
arms and legs. He looked more like a prisoner than a soldier.
‘’Tell me about the leaders, who leads the army and how did it come to be?’’
Kane finally asked after a few long moments of observing the young man.
‘’Well, i am not so sure. The overall commander is the king of Kefir’s only son,
Dalterion. The sub commanders are generals Brice and Abdel. They lead each of the
kingdoms side of the troops. Of course, general Abdel is the closest advisor to
Treblis’s king, as the man didn’t have any sons of his own, he took a personal
interest in Abdel. That much is common knowledge. Nothing is strange in these
terms, but what is strange, is that an older man is leading the monster squad as well
as the forger squad. It is said that the man can summon monsters and the like.
Before meeting you, i wouldn’t have believed it, but after meeting you, my lord, i am
able to believe in everything’’ Herald said, coming to breath. He proceeded to take a
sip of the wine Kane had poured him and went on with his story.
‘’Regarding the how it came to be, i think that the kingdom of Treblis had a lot
of money in the treasury of the kingdom of Kefir. Instead of paying them back, they
offered them you. In fact, the sum of money involved is so outrageous, i don’t think
enough money in this world exists to pay Treblis back. The older man hails from
Kefir. You know, the one with the monsters. It doesn’t make much sense though, as
we hadn’t heard of him before this campaign’’ Herald said and stopped again to sip
some more wine. He looked into Kane’s eyes and looked away after a few moments,
scared of what he found there. Utter darkness and hatred, violence and malice.
Sweat began trickling down his forehead and face, slowly. Images of death,
destruction and a world in despair ran before his eyes and then he crashed to the
floor from his chair, screaming, in agony. Kane stood up and ran towards him, to see
what was happening, but he kept shoving Kane away, not letting Kane touch him. A
few long moments later everything stood still again, no more images, no more pain,
no more despair. Only himself laying on the floor in a pool of his own sweat and urine
with Kane standing next to him.
‘’What… happened?’’ Kane asked, not knowing how to approach the man.
‘’I do not know’’ Herald said softly, as if afraid of someone other than Kane
hearing him. ‘’I saw you and utter chaos. You were killing indiscriminately, burning
people, towns, commanding monsters. It was so real’’ he said with a whisper.
‘’Has this ever happened before, Herald?’’ Kane asked, interested in what just
happened.
‘’Yes, my lord. One time, when i was a kid. It was about a future event that
happened ten years down the road. Back then i saw a group of soldiers pillaging a
town, raping the women and killing the men and elderly. A big wolf appeared and a
hooded person, as dark as the night. Almost as if surrounded by a thick fog. I think
that person was you, now that i think about it. You see, my name used to be Harold,
but after that event, the priests renamed me into Herald. They must have known
something i still do not. Maybe i am clairvoyant?’’ Herald said and burst out in
laughter, fainting a moment later. Kane’s mind raced. How was this possible? Okay,
there were monsters, magic and all kinds of things happening, but clairvoyance?
That was a whole new level, and atop of everything, he had seen Alpha and himself.
How and why, that would stay a mystery for a while longer, he guessed, as the man
was out stone cold. Kane walked out and called Janine over, telling her everything he
found out and what just happened. She walked back towards the group of girls and
her companions, while Kane walked back inside, trying to wake Herald up.