The Gauntlet is Thrown

Eight days had passed since we departed from Freehold. Everything had been smooth sailing up to this point. Ten thousand soldiers, two pegasi, two dozen chariots, and thirty ships had made their way to the middle of the Summer Sea. Gihri suggested that we sail directly up the river leading to Wast. I told him that plan was incredibly stupid and something his father would have done, that it most certainly would have led to a trap. We needed the element of surprise.

I insisted on Tedori, the flying steed who trusted me, traveling with me. He and I had developed some sort of bond which only grew as we ventured further into the unknown.

“Who’s a good boy?” I asked him as I fed him some charred grass. Tedori whinnied as he accepted my gift. “Your feathers are doing pretty well,” I told him, noting to myself that his feathers had nearly fully grown back to their former glory. Though he was grateful for the food, I heard him stomp his hoof into the deck of the ship several times. A wave crashed over the side of the ship, soaking everyone who was unfortunate enough to be standing outside, including myself and Tedori.

“Hmph,” Tedori scoffed as he tried to shake the water off him.

“I guess you were trying to warn me of something,” I said. The pegasus merely snorted in response.

“Demons off the starboard bow!” a soldier shouted.

“Port around,” another soldier commanded. “Don't let them see us.”

So the demons were tracking us. Off in the distance, though, I could only see a single ship rolling past us. One ship full of demons would not have been much of an obstacle against our ten ships. Nonetheless, it did seem a bit strange that they would only send one ship out to scout. One of the soldiers hastily cast a barrier spell in an attempt to conceal us.

All the while throughout this journey, the Demon Lord Ayya loomed over all of our heads, mine in particular. He had already defeated me twice by this point. Another defeat was not entirely out of the question. This, however, had to be done. If we did not strike now, we might never get another chance.

A few more demon scout ships dotted the water throughout the day. Otherwise, nothing was out of the ordinary. The seas did gradually become chopper as we traveled through the Demon Lands, but we paid no attention to that change.

After so many days of traveling, the city of Wast finally came into view over the horizon. Instead of being surrounded by walls like many of the cities in our lands, Wast appeared to be completely defenseless. The demons instead focused all of their efforts into building tall, majestic buildings and statues. A statue of the Demon Lord Ayya watched over the entire city, a golden sentinel staring down all who came across it.

Ipas continued to study what the seer stones showed her. Her tail wagged back and forth slowly as she became lost in whatever she was looking at.

“What are you looking for?” I asked her.

“The Demon Lord's throne,” was her response. “I know what you're trying to do. If we can get there quickly, you will be able to challenge him to single combat.”

“Where is it?”

“Surprisingly unguarded,” she answered. “It oversees a place called the Fighting Pits. The stones showed me that he is currently there… waiting…”

“Then that's our play,” I told her. “We should dock here.”

The river remained quite calm, leading Gihri to insist, “We must continue forward. If we depart now, we will lose any momentum we might have.”

“So you want to announce our arrival before the entire world?” I asked him.

“No matter which route we take, that is exactly what we are doing,” Gihri told me. “It is best to maintain some kind of safety.”

As we continued to approach the city, everything remained unusually calm. Too calm. It was almost a sleep-inducing kind of calm.

I consulted Ipas on the matter, “You don't suppose this is some sort of trap set up by the Demon Lord, do you?”

“The city does appear to be empty,” Ipas noted. “The stones are showing me neither an army waiting for us nor civilians acting like nothing is happening. The city is totally empty, save for the Demon Lord himself.”

“Keep your eyes peeled,” I told everyone within earshot of me. “Demons can be very…” A sudden drowsy feeling swept over me, one that I knew all too well. “Very…” A big yawn escaped me.

“Halliyah?” Ipas asked.

“Are you okay, Zikatta?” Gihri added.

There was nothing anyone could have done. By the time any of them knew what was happening, I had already collapsed onto the deck of the ship. The sleep spell caught me off guard, but it did make sense for the demons to use it. By knocking me out of commission, it would have been much easier for the demons to launch a defense of the city. It also gave the Demon Lord yet another chance to finish what he started so long ago.

•

When I opened my eyes again, I found myself inside a village. There were two long rows of buildings, one each squeezed between a cliff and one side of a river, connected by a series of wooden bridges. The smell of honeyapple filled the air. Late summer…

“This place is familiar to you, is it not?” a familiar voice asked me. I turned around to see Tomosse… No, not Tomosse… I saw the Demon Lord Ayya standing on the roof of one of the village homes. As always, he had that smug looking grin on his face, one that made me want to attack him right away. I made an attempt to do so, but he vanished before I could get myself going.

“Where are you, coward?” I asked the Demon Lord.

“I will be asking the questions around here, thank you very much,” the Demon Lord replied. “I asked you if this place was familiar to you.”

“The village of Dirat,” was my answer. “My childhood was here.”

Speaking of my childhood, a group of kids came running down the nearest bridge trying to take control of a small ball. If I remembered the rules of this little game they played, they were in two teams of seven. The goal of the game itself was for each team to get the ball to their end of the bridge and touch the ground with it. There was much running and jumping and tackling and pushing others into the water, though one team would always cry “Foul!” whenever that happened.

Most of the kids were human, though there were also Lykosi and Lagosi kids and even a demon kid in the group as well. They all seemed familiar to me, though I had long forgotten all of their names. One child immediately stood out to me with his snowy white hair. That was me at probably eight years old. Judging from the memory, I was particularly close with the demon boy. He and I had some sort of friendly rivalry going on considering we were fiercely fighting for control of the ball.

“I got it! I got it!” the younger me shouted as he secured the ball and sprinted towards the end of the bridge. “Scored down!”

“No fair!” the demon boy cried as he reached the end of the bridge. “How were you so much faster than me?”

“I wasn't faster,” the younger me countered. “I just found the opening first. Had you found it sooner, I think I'd be in the water right now.”

The demon boy answered by tackling the younger me playfully.

“It is an interesting thing,” Ayya told me, “watching your memories compared to your present situation. How do friends turn into enemies and enemies turn into friends?”

“Why do you want to know?” I asked.

“What did I say about asking questions?” he asked in response. “Can't I want to learn more about the world I'm trying to take over?” As long as he was just some disembodied voice, I was not able to touch him, let alone get my revenge on him. “These look like they were beautiful times.”

“These were beautiful times,” I agreed. “None of us had to worry about wars or squabbling royals or whether the harvest was going to be successful that year.” A tear tried to squeeze out of my eye.

“Do you miss those days?” the Demon Lord asked. “Do you yearn to return to them? I can grant you what you desire most. All you have to do is ask.”

“I do,” I admitted. “But it is not possible. Time changes people. It changes the land. Some changes cannot be undone.”

“That is a good answer,” he told me. “You have passed the first test. Let us continue.”

•

We were now in what appeared to be the meeting hall in the village of Andawas. A large group of people, some of whom I recognized as fellow villagers and others looked new to me, had gathered around someone at the center of the hall. Much like with the royals from previous meetings, the people there squabbled amongst themselves.

“The village of Borza refuses to ally themselves with ogre invaders,” someone shouted.

“We did not invade,” an ogre who sounded quite like Giorg countered. “We are offering our assistance to your cause. The real enemy is the elves.”

“We did not ask you to offer your assistance,” the man replied. “The elves had been good to us up to this point.”

“Why then did they suddenly decide to attack us?” another man asked. “Clearly, the true enemy is the elves.”

“What is this place?” I asked Ayya.

“The questions are mine to ask,” he replied, “not yours. But if you must know, we are inside your mind, the place where the memories of the past, the concerns of the present, and the dreams of the future reside.”

At last, I stood up from the center of the group. It was very strange to see myself in this vision. I did not remember anything like this happening before, so this must have been a dream of the future.

“You just continue to be full of surprises, Hallie,” Ayya continued, using that nickname he created for me that I absolutely hated. “I thought for sure I had killed you when I threw you off the walls of Luwas fifteen years ago. And then you came back. I was absolutely certain I killed you when I rammed my sword clear through you and tossed you off that ship. And yet here you are again. How do you keep coming back?”

“The many villages of Neshi and the ogres fought together,” the imaginary me told the crowd. “The ogres should be rewarded for their bravery. But the elves do not take kindly to having their pride hurt like this. There will be many more battles yet to come. As much as it pains me to say it, the only way out of this situation is to fight back.”

“With what army?” another man asked. “We were lucky only a small force was sent out this time. If the elves take their revenge, we won't be prepared.”

“Then we must become prepared,” the dream me told the group. I was shocked to see myself taking charge so readily. That was something I had only seen myself do on the rare occasion. “We need to get organized so we can be ready for when the elves return to take what they have claimed for themselves.”

“We must declare ourselves a nation once more,” a woman stood up to say. “It is the only way we can excuse what's happened today in the eyes of the other nations.”

“Aye, we should rule ourselves again,” an older man followed. “The warlords are soon to be defeated, which will allow us an opportunity to unite.”

“But who shall lead us?” yet another man asked. “The royal family is dead. The last King saw to that personally.”

“What do you want?” I asked Ayya.

“What do I want?” he asked, mocking me. “Trying to do things my way clearly is not working, so I'm considering doing things your way. Single combat, the way your so-called gods demand. But first, I must determine whether you are worthy to face me.”

The first man then stood up and pointed at the dream me. “This man shall lead us. He organized the defense of Andawas and led our small force to victory. Surely, he has what it takes to lead our nation restored.”

Shouts of approval erupted from the crowd. “King Dan! King Dan!” The crowd roared as people stood up and cheered and clapped their hands. Dan… It had been quite some time since I heard that name. I had forgotten that these people had never learned my true name. The dream me sat down in reverence to the crowd who had just chosen him to be their King. “King Dan! King Dan! King Dan!” they continued to shout.

“Those people seem to really like you,” Ayya told me.

“Why do you show me this future?” I asked him. “It is such an evil thing.”

“You're the one who created this dream,” Ayya answered with a giggle. “Is it such an evil thing to want to help your people? You are such an interesting little creature, full of fear and regret, but also ambition and rage and contradictions.”

“But that ambition does not include seeking power,” I told him. “Rini tried to tell me I would make a good king, and I told her I did not want it. I will help my people as long as this weary old body of mine allows, but I will not become a ruler. My quest begins and ends with defeating you.”

“Perhaps the day will come when you cannot refuse such an offer,” the Demon Lord told me. “That is, of course, assuming you can pass my final test and defeat me.”