When the army arrived it was a sight to behold. Thomas had never seen anything quite like it. thousands of feet marching in perfect rhythm, guided by officers on taukars. According to Jared, the black suits of armour were empty on the inside. At first he hadn’t believed it, but seeing them now, moving in perfect synchronisation, he changed his mind.

He was standing next to Jared, watching. The army wouldn’t reach the village for another hour, but it seemed they would stand here until it arrived. He touched his head, which had been shaved clean, until not even a single hair remained. “The bald head I could get used to, but did they have to shave off your eyebrows as well?” Anna asked, holding his hand tightly in hers. “Jared said that hair throws his species off, looking more like them will go a long way. I hope.” Thomas responded.

He was nervous, very nervous even. Not as nervous as when he had asked Anna to marry him, but not far from it. “Lieutenant present.” Jared proclaimed. Immediately the scouts that had assembled straightened up. Lieutenant Amon strode towards the centre of the village where Thomas, Jared, Anna and a large group of villagers was staring at the black tide heading for Maplemore. “Would you look at that, civilization is marching towards us.” He said and a couple of scouts laughed.

“Keep it in check lieutenant, these are imperial grounds now, civilization is already here.” Captain Sada said, her face stern. “Captain present.” Jared said a heartbeat later. “Auxiliary Thomas are you ready to perform your duty?” She asked as she turned to him. “Yes captain, I am.” Thomas forewent the salute, she wasn’t his officer, at least not yet. “I don’t see your patriarch. He has been informed of his role in the coming engagement, hasn’t he?” Thomas nodded. “He has been captain, he will be here.”

As time passed and the army neared the village square filled with the townsfolk. Notoriously absent were the priest and his family. He had pointed out to Jared that although the Soles family wasn’t all that well liked there were many religious people among the villagers who would listen to what the priest had to say. Since their first meeting Soles had been using temple days to denounce the foreigners. His words hadn’t fallen on death ears. Thomas had stopped attending temple after the priest had condemned him for his ties with the visius a couple of weeks ago.

He hadn’t been much of a believer to begin with, but it had still stung. His friendship with Will had suffered for it as well. Will hadn’t been able to see how unreasonable his father had been. It had caused friction between the two, and they hadn’t talked since. It was disconcerting to not seen any of the priest’s family or followers.

“Attention! General approaching.” Amon shouted. He released Anna’s hand, giving her a nervous smile. “It is all going to be fine.” He whispered, before Jared led him to his place. His eyes locked on the approaching group of riders. At the head of the group rode a hard looking woman in full plate. She halted about twenty meters from Captain Sada and dismounted. Her escort followed her example. “When she comes over you want to giver her your best salute. That is General Yifat, your village belongs to her now.” Jared whispered and Thomas wiped away a bead of sweat that formed on his brow.

The general strode towards them with a straight back, expensive looking cloak streaming behind her. She stopped right in front of Captain Sada, towering over the smaller woman. “Captain, it seems you’ve done a fine job securing the village.” Sada inclined her head. The gaze of the general moved over to the lieutenant standing next to her, lingering on the injuries on Amon’s face. “It seems that one of your lieutenants is missing.” Sada looked up. “Lieutenant Lapidos is inspecting a possible mineral deposit a few kilometres Northwest. He apologizes for his absence.”

“There is nothing to apologize for, he’s merely carrying out the orders I’ve given him.” The general’s voice was cold and emotionless. Frankly, it was creeping Thomas out. He felt her gaze settle on him, as if those black pools could burn a hole through his skin. “You must be the auxiliary. What is your name human?” Thomas looked up. “Thomas mon Maplemore, sir.” The general nodded approvingly. “It seems you understand our language to some degree.” Didn’t the woman fucking blink? Thomas wondered, it was unsettling. “I practice every day.” He softly said.

“Good, I want you at my side every time I have to speak with your people.” She turned to Sada. “Where is the leader of this settlement.” Thomas nervously scanned the crowd for his father. For a few nauseating heartbeats he saw him nowhere, then he spotted his father at the very back of the crowd. Slowly his father made his way to the front of the crowd of villagers. The general’s guards went for the hilts of their swords as Gilroy neared. As tall as the general was, she still couldn’t contend with his father’s height.

“Submit.” The general said, her voice as cold as ice. Thomas quickly translated for his father. Gilroy’s face was grim, Thomas and Jared had walked him through what was going to happen today, but it had been nothing compared to the real thing. His father remained standing. “Submit.” The general repeated. His father and the general stared at each other, eyes locked, unblinking. “This is the last time I’m going to ask. Submit.” Thomas swallowed, before translating.

Slowly Gilroy sank to his knees, his eyes still locked with Yifat. The general’s lips curled into a smile. “I like this one, he’s strong both of body and will. He will make a great citizen.” Thomas translated and Gilroy laughed. “As long as the empire doesn’t increase taxes I don’t have a problem with them.” His father said in Solestian. Yifat looked askingly at Thomas who quickly translated. “Tell him that I have great plans for this region and they won’t involve taxes, at least not yet.” She reached out and offered Gilroy her hand.

He took her hand and she pulled him upright. “Welcome to the empire. Now, there are pressing matters which I need to discuss with my subordinates. I would dine with you later, make yourself available. She turned around and just like that it was over. Thomas released a deep breath he didn’t realise he had been holding. He turned around to talk with his father, when he realised something was very wrong.

He something hot was sticking in his back. He felt the blade twist and pulled out of him. “This sacrilege comes to an end right now!” Somebody shouted, but it didn’t make any sense to Thomas. He twisted his neck to see what was happening, but that didn’t make sense either. Will stepped over him. His friend was holding a bloody knife, his face twisted in anger.

“What is happening?” Thomas whispered, before the world turned black.

Ɏ

Sometimes it was better not to look, but often it was better to keep your eyes wide open. William Soles nodded approvingly at his son as the latter struck down the traitor. “I call upon the heavenly father who brings the light to burn away his enemies.” He shouted as he gathered the light of the Lord in his hands. “Let the heathens be turned to dust!” A bundle of white light seared through the sky, straight for the demon that was in charge. Before it could reach her, another jumped in the beams way.

William sneered as the Lord’s light burned straight through the demon’s armour and incinerated the creature from the inside. “You cannot run from the light, his hand can reach anywhere.” Another creature was incinerated. The village had turned to chaos, just like he had planned. The endless black tide in the distance he couldn’t stop, but he would be damned before he kneeled for the darkness.

“My Lord bring grace to your warriors, so that they may do your bidding.” He prayed as he pointed at Bill, who had been trying to raise his blade. He smiled as he felt the power surge through him. The feeling was as ecstatic as it was painful. There were few moments in which he had felt closer to his Lord than now. He could almost hear the Heavenly Father’s will as he shared this great power with the old man. He could almost see the hands of celestials pushing Bill upright, readying him to fight the good fight one last time.

“Be they the monsters from the plains or the laughing abominations from the south. My blade will stay all and keep the kingdom safe.” Bill murmured as he waded through the fleeing villagers, his eyes locked on Gilroy, who was kneeling next to his traitor son. Slowly his blade, which hadn’t seen use in over thirty years, rose.

Ɏ

Yifat was retreating calmly, over a dozen bodies between her and the hostile mage. “Focus on that mage, I want him dead. Arrest the others. This will be classified as a riot, not an insurgence or resistance from the region. Is that clear?” The officers around her nodded. “Should we prioritize the safety of the non-combatants?” Sada asked. For a second Yifat thought. “Yes, they’re citizens of the empire after all. I want this thing wrapped up within the hour.”

Yifat stopped briefly at the side of a man who had so far been quietly observing the riot. “Mage Chaim, you’re authorized to take down the enemy mage. Happy hunting.” Mage Chaim nodded respectfully. A cruel smile fixed on his face however when his superior moved on. He removed his gloves, revealing scarred hands. Now this was going to have to be done quickly, no elaborate rituals or fancy workings. No, this was going to be quick, dirty and with overwhelming might.

He drew the sacrificial knife from its sheath. It was dirty, rusty and covered in old bloodstains. Its cut was painful and lesser creatures might have caught a disease from it, but he was protected. He washed his hands with the black blood that was running from his wounds. There were no chants, or prayers or spells, he had no intention of guiding his gift. There was only the blood and the gift. He breathed in deeply and he felt the gift yearning to be used and to use him. His eyes turned a deep dark purple and he gave in.

Ɏ

Bill’s blade bit deeply in Gilroy’s back, followed by a pained howl. The odd thing was that the howl hadn’t come from Gilroy, but from something further up ahead. His surprise had less than a second to register before Gilroy’s gigantic fist smashed into the side of Bill’s face. The old man fell on his back, his eyes growing big as they stared at the giant who was towering over him. “This is your doing.” The giant growled. Before Bill could so much as answer a boot crushed his windpipe.

Ɏ

Something was happening. Something unholy. William Soles thought as his heroic last stand reached its crescendo. He looked at his son, who was fighting off one of the demons. The demon was better trained, but with the light of the Lord in him his son was not an easy opponent. Not that they were winning. He knew that, the enemy knew that, but most importantly the Heavenly Father knew it too. He was granted more and more power, even though it was burning him up from the inside.

Something cut him and he screamed. The cut had come out of nowhere. Confused he looked around, light gathering in his hands. The world seemed to quiet down until he could hear only his own breathing and heartbeat. Then there was laughter. It was a sound he hadn’t heard in a long time. Not since the wars. One that still haunted his dreams. “No, this is a trick. They aren’t here.” He screamed as he released a wave of energy, throwing his enemies of their footing.

The laughter just continued, sharp, unpleasant, mad. “Priest Soles it has been a long time.” From between the demons a human stepped forwards. “Impossible.” William whispered. “Merely unlikely my old friend. Now it is time that we pick up where we left off. Tell me, does the flame still scare you?” Blue flame unkindled in the man’s hand, followed by a bout of mad laughter. “No, No, No you are not real. This isn’t happening. You are dead. I killed you.” He sputtered. “Are you sure? Chopped a few limbs off did you? You know my people just shrug that stuff off. Come on Soles, let’s dance like it’s the old days.”

Blue fire consumed the man as he ran towards the priest. “Lord grant me strength.” He started, but after the first four words it became hard to speak. Blood was streaming from his mouth. He looked down to find a sword struck through his chest.

Laughter filled his mind.

“Looking good there Soles.” The burning man said, but those weren’t the words he spoke. The words spoken were in a harsh language William Soles didn’t speak. The flames went out and there wasn’t a human standing there at all. Mage Chaim pulled the sword out of the priest’s chest. Taking a moment to savour the human’s blood on his tongue. He ignored the disgusted looks of his fellow soldiers, they didn’t understand. He looked at the dying priest with contempt and curiosity. It was a pity the man didn’t speak his language. He would have like to know what the man had seen in his final moments.

He saw the human’s chest rise one last time, before becoming still. He bowed over the corpse to get a better look at the priest’s eyes slowly glazed over. He made a mental note of investigating further into the biology of these creatures, before surveying his surroundings. They had suffered a few casualties, but nothing severe. The riot was as good as over, which meant his job was done.

Something however caught his attention, a human lying on the ground, surrounded by both visius and humans. As he got closer he recognized the human. The lack of fur on his head set him apart from the others of his kind. He wasn’t his objective. Before Chaim could leave however his gift stirred, urging him to take a closer look. Not at the furless human, but at the female human at his side. The longer he looked the more sure he was. He grabbed a soldier, who gave him a contemptuous look. “Treat the wounded human on the ground, he’s an asset. Also take that human to my tent. Use force if necessary.” The soldier spit on the ground, but then went to follow his orders.

Chaim cast a last look at the female human. There was no doubt, she had the gift.