The Ninth Prophecy

The kingdom was tired of warfare. People just wanted it all to end. Karos was once again faced with a threat. But this time, they knew: if the city falls there will be no mercy. The fall will not mean only a change of a king, but annihilation of all, of the straightwalkers as a race. Entire army of the realm gathered in Karos. Troops from Baan Senicore, Nox and Venegor answered the call, as well as all of the demi-lords. Even the layun joined the cause free of charge, for the first time ever. All flags were now united in the face of one great threat. The notorious army of the urh and the Koprites was at the doorstep. Their drums, although much lazier than Faris’s when he charged and making only a damped sound, struck fear in the hearts of the Karosians. Of all the battles this one was the one which would seal the destiny of the straightwalkers, once and for all. The ultimate fight between the two forces was about to commence.

The darkers were led by the mysterious sorcerer. For the first time they had one ultimate commander. All they could see from the gates is that it was a hooded person. The sorcerer was standing behind and commanding the troops. At the walls, Faris, Damius, Goras, Raavi and Hadera were watching nervously. Axion was behind them with the remaining living horions, guarded by Sethon and his people. He was only to strike if the enemy breach becomes inevitable. Faris didn’t want to risk horion lives unless it was absolutely necessary. Escape routes were organized and many of the commoners, women and children, had already left the city by sea.

“Yesterday’s ceremony helped us relax a bit before the battle today,” Goras spoke in a relaxed voice, as if nothing was going on.

“Yes, my friend. Little joy always helps. Yesterday we rejoiced, celebrated life. Today, we fight for it. Today, we must stand firm and do all it takes to save our kingdom.” Then, Faris turned to his army: “My fellow friends, arrow’d officers, soldiers, commoners. Today is the day. Today we will prove ourselves worthy of the land we inherited from our ancestors, even if that land is to take many of us today. We shall only return to it. Today, it will be clear why our kind has survived by the will of The One. Today, we will die, but we will live on too. Today they will die and we will make sure that there are none of them left to live on! Today, let us offer our lives to The One, but let none of us give our lives before serving the urh to The One first! Those who survive today will live on to tell to their young ones the story of a great victory. Those who die will be the fabric of those stories and they will live eternally!”

The sorcerer on the other side spoke nothing. His gestures were unanimously interpreted as commands by all the urh and the Koprites. As the awesome enemy army came closer, the defenders threw at them all they had. The first row of argorite riders who galloped towards the walls were consumed by the fire of black blood with which a meticulously camouflaged ditch going across the field in front of the city was filled. One accurately placed Hadera’s arrow which was on fire was enough to start the flame which devoured the entire front row of the enemy. However, this didn’t seem to distract the urh at all. They just kept walking on. Few of them fell down to, practically extinguishing the fire with their bodies, there where they fell. Those who came behind them simply walked over their bodies. Then, it was time for fireballs and heavy rain. Heavy rain did little damage to the enemy, killing few and injuring some more. When the enemy was all too close, a rain of arrows descended upon them.

By the time they reached the front gate, the darkers had lost many, but they still had many to fight on. The forces of the realm used fire cloaks trying to fight them off but it did little damage. “Protect the gate! Seal it!” Faris yelled. Just at this moment a heavy metal construction was released from above the gate. It was practically a metal shield which enveloped the gate. It was made of Galian metal. This encouraged the defenders who were now even more dedicated to the relentless pounding of the enemy beyond the walls. Faris was sure that it would be enough to secure his victory.

As he was observing the enemy lines, he noticed slight commotion in their ranks. He was shocked when he realized what was happening. The Koprites had captured the horion which was missing. The animal was strapped and blindfolded. Its shrieks of suffrage were horrifying. The urh brought the animal close to the walls. Suddenly, Faris realized what they were up to. At first he hesitated to give the order because of the empathic relationship he shared with these creatures. Finally, he ordered the defenders: “Shoot the horion! Kill it!”

But, it was too late. When the animal was brought close enough, shielded by the urh, a Koprite stabbed it in the back with a spear. Out of despair and in an attempt to defend itself, the animal let out a loud scream. As the animal exhaled, its head was turned straight towards the wall. The wall turned white. The urh then immediately slid the animals throat, still not before it got a chance to freeze to death a couple of them. Moments later, some dozen of urh came charging in with a large battering ram. The wall shattered at the place where the animal laid dead almost instantly. The wall was breached. The defense of the city started to crumble. Horions stepped in and managed to throw off the enemy, but this only lasted a little while. The strength of the enemy was overwhelming.

Faris came down from the wall to face the swarming enemy troops. He gave the order to the guards to let loose the prisoners who were working in the mine. Most of them tried to run for their lives. Faris heard a horion scream and fall. Turning around, he saw an urh, twice as big as all others, hold the animal and smack it off the rocks. In this moment of distraction another urh came from behind and grabbed him by the neck. Faris tried to push him off, but his struggle was futile. One more urh appeared. The two grabbed Faris by his arms in desire to rip the king apart right in front of his troops.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a man wearing only a helmet for protection jumped up on the back of one urh and stabbed the hideous being in the eye. The creature let go of Faris in pain. With incredible skill, the man threw a pickaxe at the second urh, hitting the creature right behind the ear. The urh stumbled and fell dead. Faris got loose. The one-eyed urh was trying to grab him again, but the same man jumped on its back again. The urh shook him off and, while he was on the ground, hit him with a rock in the head. This gave Faris just enough time to pick himself up and put all the strength he had in him to deliver a deadly blow to the wounded enemy with a mace he took off another dead urh at the battlefield. He approached the dying man who saved his life. When he took off his helmet, he realized that it was Thrax. Faris didn’t know what to say, what to think. Thrax just nodded his head and said: “Go!” That was the last word he spoke. Faris got up again. Looking around, he could see the army of the realm getting crushed by the enemy. He called for a horion. One of the few surviving animals came and picked him up. Axion joined him in the sky: “What do you think we shall do?” he asked Faris, clearly being out of ideas himself. Faris replied: “You will do nothing. I will,” tapping the sword at his side.

- “Have you rubbed it with the stones as a told you?”

- “No, I haven’t.”

- “So, what do you intend to do with it. As soon as you pull it out, it will attract tons of metal!”

- “Precisely. A lot has been said about the urh fearing the curse of the Red Rock breach. Let’s just see if there is anything to it.”

- “Faris, no! Whatever you’re thinking, it’s too dangerous!”

- “Don’t worry my friend. It is all about exploring our possibilities and pushing the limits, right? Who better to serve by example then the king,” Faris said with a smile on his face and dove down on the animal’s back.

- “Don’t. Faris!” Axion yelled, but Faris was already too far to hear him. The horion surged right down and flew into the tunnel of Red Rock. The huge urh saw it happen and went running towards the entrance of the mine, throwing around the defenders in the process. He was joined by two other urh whom he called to assist him. The three started beating on the entrance and taking down the beams, obviously in hope it would all collapse.

Damius was fighting alongside Maedur. He shoved Maedur and pointed towards the entrance. The two started making their way towards the entrance, assisted by several soldiers guarding their side. When they got near, the urh started coming from the other side attempting to push the defenders further away from the mine.

Meanwhile, a horion had taken Faris far into the mine, all the way to its end. Faris dismounted and put his hand on the wall of the mine, as if trying to feel its pulse. “This is it, my friend,” he said to the horion, grabbing the handle of his sword. He could feel the ground beneath his feet tremble, although unaware of the struggle going on at the entrance.

Back outside, Maedur and Damius were desperately trying to distract the giant urh and his helpers. Maedur picked up a lance: “Damius, I am going to try and hit it in the eye. I need you to get the bastard’s attention so he turns towards us. Then I will throw the lance. I need him to turn!”

Damius was unsure: “He’s too far. You can’t possibly be sure that you will hit the spot!”

- “Do you have a better idea?!”

Damius didn’t reply. He just started screaming. The urh didn’t turn. Then he grabbed a rock and ordered few other soldiers to do the same. They threw the rocks in the direction of the urh. One hit the giant in the leg. This was enough to make him turn. Maedur quickly threw the lance in the fearsome darker’s direction. Before it reached him and his eye, the urh turned back. Instead, the lance hit him in the ear. Nevertheless, the outcome was just as effective. The giant screamed and stumbled. All urh fighting in the proximity turned to see what was happening to their champion.

Damius seized the opportunity and broke through, running at full speed at the gate. Just as the urh was to get up, Damius jumped up and kicked him right in the chest with both his legs. The darker fell down again. Damius swung his mace and hit the huge urh in the other ear. The high tone of the scream let out by the urh was almost unbearable. The darker tried to get up, but was visibly shaken. Damius then grabbed a dagger and jumped under the urh’s feet, slashing the tendons behind his heels. The darker fell down for the third time. In a manner of a stone-cold executioner, Damius came up to the darker and killed him with a strong mace blow directly in the forehead. The darker champion was dead. The entrance was safe, for now. Before other urh could get to him, Damius was picked up by Axion and pulled up behind him on the horion’s back. Axion had no other option but to go straight into the mine with his horion too. He was now racing to reach the end of the mine. The sorcerer ordered the urh to follow and tenths of them went into the mine behind him.

Back at the end of the mine, Faris was preparing to execute his plan.

- “Stand back, my friend. You might want to find some cover,” Faris said to the horion, but the animal just stepped forward and spread its wings, trying to shield Faris. Faris said nothing. He tapped the animal and then closed his eyes for few seconds. He pulled out the sword and drove it right into the rock in front of him.

Back behind them, the urh that were chasing Axion and Damius stopped, feeling something odd was happening. Their axes, batons, swords and other weapons started to shake in their hands. As if by magic, they were yanked out of their hands and flew towards the end of the tunnel. The urh also heard some noise behind them. As they turned, they were slashed and hamburgered by hundreds of pieces of metal - mostly weapons - which were flying through the tunnel at enormous speed. They were all attracted by Faris’s mighty sword. Axion and Damius who were just ahead were racing for their lives now. Axion saw the metal rain close in on them. First pieces already reached his horion’s tail. Axion looked to the sides. Few hundred feet ahead he noticed a small belly in the corridor. It was the place where the miners would rest and put away their tools after their shifts would end. Axion yanked the horion to the side. Just as they pulled aside, somewhat of a wall of metal passed by them. As tons of metal reached the end of the tunnel, it rammed the wall of the tunnel where the Ex Causa Liber was driven in by Faris. The impact was so great that the wall of the tunnel bursted. Light appeared and air from the other side gushed in.

As the air wave from the other side bursted out of the tunnel at its entrance, with a big cloud of dust pushed ahead of it, the darker creatures, including the urh, started dropping like flies. They were dying as soon as they would get in contact with the air. Within seconds, the darker army was eradicated. The only one still standing in the middle of the battlefield was the sorcerer. As the invisible breeze spread through the kingdom, within tenths of seconds it reached the Doomed Dome. The Karosians watched the dark air of Dome evaporate and vanish into the skies, all followed by screams which could be heard all the way back in Karos. These were the screams of the remaining darkers who stayed under the Doomed Dome.

Back in the tunnel, Axion and Damius were covered by a pile of debris and dust, but still alive. As the storm calmed, Axion got up, extending his hand to lightly wounded and bruised Damius. By this time, Hadera, Maedur and Goras had caught up with them. “Quickly, let’s find Faris!” Axion said to the two. The three men raced down the tunnel, leaving even the horion behind.

When they reached the point of impact, they could tell nothing at first sight. Piles of rock and metal were all around, with no sign of Faris. Axion silenced the group. Finally, they heard a moan. It was coming from one corner. As the men removed several stones, they saw the tail of a horion. But, Faris was still far down. Axion looked behind the pile. On the other side, there stood Ex Causa Liber, still standing driven through a big rock which now stood alone and separated from the wall in the center of a small field that formed after the impact.

- “Bring me the sword,” Axion commanded. Goras reached for it first, but he couldn’t get it out. Hadera pushed him aside and tried, but she was of same luck. Maedur failed to pull it out, although he was even assisted by Axion. “It’s hopeless, we’ll never get it out,” Goras said. Damius approached silently and grabbed the handle. The sword came out like it was pulled out of butter. “It must be that my hands are covered in rocks and small metal dust...the sword is attracted to it,” Damius said, almost as if he was apologizing.

Axion told him not to waste time and to smash the rocks with the sword. Damius obeyed. Within minutes, they were able to uncover the horion. Underneath it was Faris, still shielded by the dead animal. “Faris!” Hadera screamed. Trying to pull him out, the bunch realized that Faris was not in good shape. The metal pierced him in several places and he was all crushed by the weight of the rocks. Blood was coming out of his mouth. Axion kneeled down beside him, as Maedur and Damius struggled to pull the hysterical Hadera away.

- “My lord. You have succeeded. The enemy is defeated and annihilated. The race of the straightwalkers has prevailed.”

- “We...we have succeeded my dear friend,” Faris whispered. - “I just hope that I have paid my dues. I have to go now, you know, and I a hope The One will give me a break when I come under His wing.” He even tried to smile. A tear went down Axion’s face, although he did everything in his power to prevent it.

- “You will be rewarded, there is no doubt about it. But, what will we do? We need a king, you know. The royal bloodline lives through you. You can’t leave!” Axion tried to get Faris to fight on, to hold to his every breath.

- “That’s not so. Here, in this company is one of you who is worthy of being called a king and he is of the same, royal blood,” Faris said.

In an even weaker, barely hearable voice, Faris continued to speak. Axion leaned even closer. Faris continued whispering to his ear. The others weren’t able to make much out of it. They just heard the last thing he said:

- “I feel that I must leave now. It is my time to rest, at last. Take good care of my lady, Axion, and...” Before he could finish, his soul parted from his body. Both in shock, the frozen Maedur and Damius let go of Hadera who threw herself on Faris’s chest and wept. Her cries intertwined with the sounds of rejoicing which were coming from the city of Karos where the people were celebrating the glorious victory, unaware of their king’s destiny.

Sometime later, two men came running to them. At first, they too went numb after seeing their king dead.

- “Speak up!” Axion said to the two who had fixated their eyes on Faris. One of the men turned and spoke: “My lord, the sorcerer...the sorcerer is still alive. What should we do?”

- “I don’t know. Ask lord Damius, he is your new king!”

Everyone turned their eyes toward Damius. Damius himself was like thunderstruck.

- “Are you sure? Me... a king?”

- “Yes, I am sure. It is the will of our revered king which must be obeyed. As king Faris wisely noted, speaking in his last breath, Damius is not worthy only by king’s will and by his own bloodline, but even the sword chose him.” All kneeled before the newly promoted king of the realm.

- “I... I don’t know what to say!”

- “Surely, you don’t want those to be remembered as your first words uttered as king of the realm!” Goras spoke in a voice which could be described as reprimanding.

- “No! You are right,” the still baffled Damius spoke.

- “The king needs a few moments to think. This has all been an overwhelming experience. Give him some time,” Axion spoke in defense of Damius.

- “No, Damius. Goras is right. The kingdom needs a king and I will do my duty. Justice cannot wait, especially not now. Take me to the sorcerer.”

As they were walking, Axion spoke to Damius again: “Before you deliver your verdict, you should know about Faris’s last wish. ” Damius stopped. “Tell me, what is it?”

- “It has to do with the sorcerer...I was surprised, too. Faris was very mysterious. I couldn’t quite get what it was. He asked us to show mercy. He said: ‘The sorcerer - if he still stands, he should be punished, but not killed, just imprisoned. Study him, don’t just kill him. Listen to the message of the sword.’ These are his exact words.”

- “I am confused. First, he names me his successor and then he asks from me not to execute the greatest criminal in the kingdom, the one who tried to exterminate our race! He wants us to learn from him?!”

- “I know. His mercy truly knows no boundaries. He doesn’t want us to learn from him. He wants us to examine him.”

- “Yes, but even if I wanted to, how would I do that? The law is clear. The only possible penalty for attack on the kingdom is death. Am I going to start my reign by breaking our laws? What kind of a message will that send to the people, especially having in mind that we are talking about this particular criminal, the greatest one of them all?!”

- “I don’t know what to say. It is clear that your wisdom and your skill of reconciling the opposites will be put to the ultimate test on the first day of your reign.”

The two continued walking on. As they walked outside of the tunnel, they saw the sorcerer standing right by the front gate. A ring of guards had their swords pointed at the sorcerer, surrounding the mysterious person. The guards accompanying Damius and Axion spoke out loud: “Make way for Damius, son of Daors, king of the realm of the straightwalkers, slayer of the urh, fulfiller of the prophecies!” Everyone bowed down. Damius was confused by the gesture, still much unaware of his new duty and the rituals that come with it. Still bitterly angered, walking between tenths of bodies, Damius approached the notorious villain and pulled his hood down.

The expression of anger was instantly substituted by an expression of shock. Damius was shocked, because there before him stood Sheda, the very woman Faris had expelled to the edge of the Dome. Damius looked at Axion, but he was just as stunned. She was bold, without a single hair on her head, but still easily recognizable without the hood. He took a deep breath and spoke: “I, Damius, king of all the straightwalkers, judging by the Laws of Wars, sentence you, Sheda, to death for betrayal, mutiny, murder and several other accounts which will be written down upon execution of the sentence.”

The crowd cheered. Damius turned towards Axion and looked down. Then he lifted his arm and, as everyone was silenced, continued: “Also, because of our great victory in which light has prevailed over the forces of darkness for all eternity, from this day on, I declare today’s day to be king’s supreme holiday!” The crowd cheered again, but Damius raised his hand again: “According to our tradition and our laws, I invoke my royal right to pardon one soul sentenced to part from its body. Accordingly, I suspend the delivered death sentence to Sheda the Illuminator and change it to a lifetime in chains! The criminal of this kind doesn’t deserve to get away as easily as dying would allow it. You will therefore spend a lifetime in suffering and agony, chained until your last day. You will spend your lifetime in the dungeon, without seeing daylight for the rest of your days, as it justly suites you!”

The crowd was silent. Axion shouted “Hail the king!“, and everyone joined in saluting the king, even more ecstatic than earlier. Damius was relieved. Within moments, Hadera, Goras and the others emerged from the tunnel. Six soldiers who were walking behind them were carrying Faris’s body. As they appeared, the crowd went silent again. In a somber mood, Faris’s body was passed and carried through the masses, by the people of Karos. All eyes turned towards Faris, Damius allowed a couple of tears to roll down his cheek. He then went to the front of the procession and, along with Goras, Maedur, Axion, Dokal and Sethon, carried Faris’s body to the entrance of the king’s tower, where he was laid down. All citizens were given a chance to mourn the king and all other brave soldiers who gave their lives until the next day.