The Battle of Nishawa: Final Part

Years after he had brought me back to the world of the living, I found myself face to face with the necromancer Arthacyros. Even if I had never seen him before, I had no doubt about the identity of the man in front of me. Setting him addressing me as the ‘prodigal son’ aside, the aura of confidence and sheer power emanating from him was a telltale sign enough.

To my surprise, I realized I wasn’t in any way bound, even if my weapons and armor were taken away. I made my astonishment at this fact immediately clear.

“You treat your prisoners of war well, Arthacyros”, I said, “I expected I would be in chains by now”.

“There is no need to make you more uncomfortable then necessarry, my child”, his voice was low and soothing, with a barely perceptible hint of mocking irony, “You are in no position to either harm me or escape. We shall speak, the battle will end, and I hope you will see the wisdom in joining me on your own volition”.

“Why put such an effort into capturing me? To my understanding, your other creations were made to be more compliant than I. If you didn’t want the prototype running around, why not just kill me?”

“You seem to underestimate how costly it was to create you. Bringing back the souls of the dead is a serious violation of the natural order, and the universe itself fights back if one attempts it. The ritual that produced you took two weeks and twenty-eight human sacrifices. I did not eat or sleep during that time. Four of my pupils collapsed from exhaustion. One never recovered. I do not want to toss you aside if I can help it”.

I was mortified. Never once did I think about what the price paid for my second life was. I had always assumed Arthacyros waved his hands around, chanted something, and that was that. But now that I knew nearly thirty people died to give me this chance, I felt as if my entire existence was abominable. Seeing my terrified expression, Arthacyros smiled.

“Besides, I am not such a cruel father. I only wish what is best for you. Why would you be running errands for some two-bit king, when you can sit by my side, where you belong? If you take your filial duties seriously, you will be richly rewarded”.

“Just like my so-called ‘brother’, Chevalier de Foix?”

“Ah. De Foix. I thought it was lucky to have managed to resurrect a skilled warrior. How wrong I was. He was always trying to twist my words according to his rigid sense of morality. Had he accepted his fate, he might have succeeded in his assignment. Well, he did manage to provoke a war with Manea, which is acceptable for a failure such as himself”.

“So a knight is a failure, but you go through all this trouble to capture a system administrator?” I snickered.

“What difference does it make? The one who captured you, for instance, used to be a copper merchant of ill repute, but he is doing just fine now. You made quite a name for yourself, too. It is because your personality is fit for greatness – you just had no opportunity for it in your first life. Besides, you still have your free will intact. If you cooperate and follow me of your own volition, I am willing to keep you that way. I am beginning to feel this whole geas business is hampering the ambitions of my children. You need only say, ‘Command me, father, and I shall do your bidding; direct me, so that we may reap the fruits of our efforts. ’ If what is driving you is your own desire, you could get much farther”.

“Well, what would you command me to do? And if you are in need of willing servants, why not transfer your lieutenants into more powerful bodies?”

“Those two questions are more connected than you think, my son. If I wish to empower any of my followers, enhancing their original bodies is much simpler than transferring their souls. Besides, the mysteries of the other world are of great interest to me, and that is where I focused my research. I do not seek merely to turn this world into my own kingdom; I desire mastery over life and death itself. More than a mere emperor, I shall become a god among men. I am to pay a great price should I ever die, and I do not intend to let such an event come to pass. Even should it happen, I will not let it last. There will be a contingency in place. Everything else aside, the original intent of the experiment that ended up producing you was to be a stepping stone on my road to immortality”.

“So you aim to trick the demon? Such stories never end well”.

“Ah, yes, you did get to meet my so-called ‘master’. I am disappointed you are terrified of him so. He is merely a creature like you and me, not even able to manifest himself in this world. I intend to not only trick him, but overpower him”.

As he spoke, I heard a huge explosion coming from the direction of the battlefield. I turned around to see that a massive spell had destroyed a chunk of Arthacyros’s infantry, and our heavy cavalry, led by His Majesty himself, was cutting through them like a hot knife through butter.

“Big words from someone who cannot even overpower a two-bit king”, I said mockingly, “The battle seems to be coming to an end”.

“So it is”, responded the necromancer, his expression unchanged. With terror, I noticed smoke and fire from the location of our artillery.

While I was busy getting captured and talking to Arthacyros, the battle continued. Things seemed to be going according to plan, as the enemy’s undead forces were nearly depleted, and King Philoctetes ordered a cavalry charge. It was only when they were well on their way, too far away and focused on the impending clash, that our wizards noticed another source of thundering noise, coming from behind them.

It was an unexpected wild card, a factor nobody had expected – a contingent of five hundred cataphracts, led by General Idris of Shina, who shared his body with an Ifrit, a powerful fire spirit. This secret group of allies remained hidden before the battle, then circled around the battlefield using the cover of fog and positioned themselves for an attack. As soon as our own cavalry became unable to counter them, they charged straight at our back line.

As soon as she noticed what was coming, Claudia began chanting a spell, intending to clear a path for the King before the inevitable happened. The rest of the wizards attempted to defend themselves, but Idris unleashed his Ifrit’s flames, creating a veil that obscured their vision and made aiming difficult. Then, just as Claudia unleashed her magic on the center of the enemy’s forces, the cavalry crashed into our rear, annihilating our wizards and artillery with fire and steel. They didn’t last a minute.

By the time King Philoctetes realized what was going on, it was too late. Already deep in enemy lines, he had no opportunity to order his troops to turn around. He decided to push forward in a last-ditch effort to deal with the head of the enemy’s army. As Idris was preparing for another charge, this time to trample our infantry, His Majesty was making his way towards the necromancer – and me.

The League’s wizards were now fully focused on our knights, and they were thinning in numbers as they approached, but His Majesty made good use of the Twice-Enchanted Blade, cutting a swath through enemy troops. He was getting closer and closer. I was becoming hopeful again.

. Then Arthacyros, calm as ever, lifted his hand and whispered something.

King Philoctetes’ hadrosaur ran into an invisible barrier, launching its rider into the air. The same happened to other riders, and the charge completely lost its momentum. His Majesty got back on his feet and charged on foot.

Arthacyros flicked his finger.

A blade of light flew through the air, and His Majesty’s decapitated head flew through the air. His body made a few more steps before stumbling down. The necromancer nodded at his progeny, and three of them went to help in the massacre of the remaining knights.

It was a stroke of good fortune that the Sword of Orion landed near me, and that Arthacyros’s attention was, for a couple of seconds, somewhere else. I leaped and grabbed the sword. The copper merchant who had previously captured me noticed this and unwound his chain once again. I activated the weapon’s enchantment, and a gleaming blade of light cut through his chain, his armor, and his body. He fell to the ground, cut cleanly in two.

Around this time, Arthacyros realized what was going on, so I activated the other enchantment, sending a powerful gust of wind that he had to protect himself from. A few seconds later, the dust was settling, but by that time, I had already commandeered a fleeing hadrosaur and was running towards the river, trying to maintain a zigzag pattern.

Several bolts of magical energy flew past me. One scratched my arm. Another pierced me through the stomach. A third one hit my hadrosaur, and it shook me off, but I was almost there now. I stumbled the last few steps and let myself fall, rolling down the steep bank and falling into the river.