Thoom!
A thunderous sound could be heard, echoing throughout the battlefield. One that all ears could hear and those with the sharpest of senses could detect. Where it came from was hard to distinguish, as it was mostly muffled by the screams of men and women as battling across the ruined landscape- though rather than ignore this disruption, it was merely noted by those who heard it and shrugged off as nothing. A Thao soldier was knocked mid-air by a stray explosive fired from some weapon of Donian construction, landing on his back nearly unconscious and hazily standing in efforts to get back into the fight that was raging before him. But.. something was off?
Swords were not crossing at this moment, sorcerers and soldiers alike standing in awe looking towards this lone Thao, or rather, in his general direction. Breathing could be heard behind him, it was loud and rough, the smell was bad too, like that of an old dried corpse left for the vultures. The Thao looked to enemy and ally, watching in ignorant confusion as they gawked at something behind him. Was it really that amazing to quell this skirmish? The curious man let this childish curiosity take advantage for but only a moment, turning to see what had been breathing behind him.
“W-what the?...”
He did not register what loomed before him quickly enough, the towering behemoth grabbing the man by his forebody, lifting him several feet in the air. The hands were scaley, spined with a red-stone texture like that told of in fairy-tales to keep children from staying up too late. The razored fingers impaled him with ease, as if the man was fragile in his armor. Who knows if he would have stood a chance, he was caught off guard after all. No. This monstrosity was nothing to be trifled with, and with pride it reminded the surrounding men of it’s presence one last time.
Thoom!
The mere step of this creature caused the ground to quake beneath their feet, knocking some of the frozen in fear off their feet. In respect of the monster’s magnificence the crowd stared in silence, as if waiting to be dismissed by the colossi. And as if on queue, the monster leaned it’s torso towards the ground revealing it’s axe-like reptilian head to the silent audience, eyeing it’s prey for one last time. It then dropped the mangled Thao soldier, he was young, just old enough to be there really. Though the only reason this was recognized is because much of the body was ruined beyond repair, though the face of the soldier remained untouched. And on the Thao’s face was an expression that spoke to the crowd, in a language that every nation could understand. And what that expression said was.
“Run.”
Within Kaien
“Monster?”
“Yes sir, a massive, demon-like beast that came out of nowhere! I witnessed it with my own eyes!”
“Did anyone else see it?”
“Our entire regime, along with Donian Soldiers, and a Thao was actually killed by the creature sir, many of his comrades stayed to fight but it was useless so they retreated as well.”
“As well?”
“That’s why I’m here sir. The pope has established a meeting with all of the military high-ups, and apparently a ceasefire has been declared by the three nations.”
“Strange, alright, thanks for your hard work recruit.. I’ll head to the grand church shortly.”
“Yes sir.”
The soldier went on his way, passing the superior with a very concerned look on his face. Drawing the gruff man’s curiosity more than the idle talk, was the subject of towards the end. “A ceasefire?” Something like this had been unheard of, so, in a rush to fulfill this itch of much needed knowledge the man quickly made his way to the capital’s church.
When he finally reached the place of meeting, paladins had already been guarding the doors of the church. “Name?” They casually asked the gruff, heavily armored man who was clearly a veteran of many battles, more importantly he didn’t really need to give his name, showing his insignia on his shoulder. The paladins quickly moved from their posts allowing the captain of the phalanx battalion entry into the church, and attend the meeting within.
“Alex, you finally decided to come.”
“Roza, it’s been a while.”
“A while?”
“Too long, seems you’re growing..”
Alex’s eyes seemed to drop towards the woman’s chest, lazily, which caused the priestess to carelessly jab a punch at the man’s face, taking it carelessly. Nonetheless, they both looked at one another with a concerned look after the childish confrontation.
“So this talk about a ceasefire, is it the truth?”
“Yes, his holiness just recently returned from the meeting our enemies.”
“And the results?”
“A ceasefire, from all three ends.”
Alex seemed even more concerned with the truth’s confirmation. But he shook off his doubts before giving a lecherous smile to his own superior, pointing to the furthest hallway within the empty church.
“Looks like we’ll be the last to arrive. After you m’lady.”
The woman’s face briefly twisted in anger before returning to it’s serene expression, offering a curtsy to the man and continuing down the directed hallway, far, far, far, to the very last door of the grand church. The one that would likely be overlooked despite the large oaken doors that granted entrance. Pressing lightly against, the door opened for her, Alex a small distance behind followed. Within the room was a large white table, though only five seats were placed at it it; two on each opposing side, and one at it’s furthest end, this is where the pope sat. The two late comers sat on the empty seats on the left side of the table, and at their opposing end were two people who’s rank challenged Alex’s own. One was the current head paladin of the holy order, a younger man that went by the name of Taelen. The other was an elderly fellow, he was robed similarly to Roza, befitting since he was Archbishop of the Clergy Davitt Lambaughr. As everyone exchanged nods and the traditional greeting of the church being a hand over the heart, the Pope stood to address everyone present.
“By the light, thank all of you. My friends, my allies, the topic of tonight is not of war.. A new threat has arisen, a strange enemy that we have not seen before. I believed that Roza had some insight on this. Roza, if you would grace us with your knowledge?”
The woman stood, before taking a breath and clearing her throat.
“As a summoner I have brought many creatures into our plane, although they are only momentary and finite at my service they seem to be similar to the one that was seen on the battlefield.”
The paladin scoffed, raising his hand before standing.
“Many of my men were out there when the beast was spotted, some of them claimed that Thao soldiers tried to take it down but were child’s play in that thing’s eyes. I’ve seen your summons Rosa, but if it’s like they described to me? That thing is on another level.”
The pope raised his own hand, though it was more of a command to silence the two.
“Davitt, your thoughts?”
“It’s clearly a test of faith from Glan, the creature attacked a Thao man right? They obviously are sent from the heavens themselves, to annihilate heretics and those that commute with the-”
Before the elderly man could finish his rampage, Alex stood from his seat and raised his hand.
“Not to be rude, but I don’t think that is the case Bishop.”
“I agree with Alex.” said Roza, shortly behind him.
“As do I.” said Taelen, grumbling in his seat.
“Well then captain, what is your answer to this strange occurrence?” asked the Bishop.
Although he wasn’t really concerned about the monsters all that much, Alex did have an idea. Though he kept it to himself, and shrugged to his equals and superiors around the table.
“But I do have an idea on how we could get rid of them.” said the Captain.
Heads turned towards the gruff man as he reached into a leather pocket in his armor, pulling out a folded up paper and setting it on the table. Unraveling it revealed it to be a poorly written recruitment roster that asked for talented individuals to take their chances against this threat while the battlefield was dormant.
“What an unorganized idea, I dislike it.” said the bishop.
“Some of my men would probably give it a shot.” said the paladin.
“Unorganized? Would you rather waste our military force while we have a chance to prepare for what comes after, bishop? I give this idea my blessing.” Said the priestess.
The votes were already in his favor, but the pope’s words could overwrite it all. Though the well-dressed man simply smiled, and clapped his hands together at the idea.
“We’ll go with that then.”
Within Thaos
“Such trash, a ceasefire?.. Unheard of, we are people of war, the word doesn’t exist to us.”
“It does, and you will obey it soldier.”
“Our bloodthirsty general is submitting to the other nations demands! Every-!”
Before the man could finish his sentence Zhong had traveled a small distance in front of the man, silently and a sword could be heard resheathing at the general’s side. The following moments involved the impudent soldier falling to his knees, and his head sliding from his shoulders to the grass below.
“I shall be heading to the fortress, clean this up before I return.”
The ranks quickly bowed to Zhong, quickly retrieving the corpse from the ground and carrying it away. The general was travelling at an inhuman pace towards the Thao capital, it wasn’t common for him to be there as he preferred the staging grounds. Soon he reached the Red Fortress at Thao’s core where the empress resides. Opening the oriental doors and entering, he kneeled to the small girl who sat at a throne a short distance before him.
“Hello play-thing, what brings you to my cozy home?”
“Did the meeting go well, ma’am?”
“It was brief, I knew you’d be the most restless over our decision.”
“Then you know I don’t think it’s the right decision.”
“I do, but my answer does not change. Your efforts should be focused on our new problem.”
“The monsters..”
The empress rose from her seat, the two guards at her sides being at ease and walking to opposite sides of the room. She waved her hand towards the general, beckoning him towards her as she reached into a drawer at her side.
“The other nations will probably be following this method as well, so I’ve sent a messenger to both.”
Zhong looked at the parchment taken from the drawer closely, sighing at the recruitment paper and handing it back to the young woman.
“We would have no shortage of applicants. How would we wittle down those who are worthy and those who aren’t.”
The empress shrugged, before returning to her throne and lazily slumping back into it.
“That’s for you to decide, oh great general.”
Zhong again bowed to the ruler of his country, before making his way to the entrance for departure. The guards that had dispersed returning to their posts, and the doors opening once again. The air was a lot thinner outside that building, letting the general inhale like a newborn, only to be caught off guard by an old friend.
“You look rather relieved…”
“So I finally think I’m safe, and the Merchant Queen rises from the mist.”
“Oh don’t sound so unhappy, we’re in the same boat after all.”
“What do you mean Fang?”
“Without war, there’s no business for me, and no fun for you.”
The general grumbled to himself before raising his hand, and walking off. He had work to do, finding some volunteers for this suicide mission.
Within Doniaeth
“Such imbeciles, I can’t believe I had to breathe the same air as that old pervert and that bratty child. Sif, here please.”
“Yes sir?”
“Bring the lead-engineer here.”
“The one that was recently recruited into the military?”
“Yes, the young boy.”
The silver-haired woman dressed in maid attire quickly exited the Alchemy Lab, one of the many rooms of the Fleshworks, the central government building of Doniaeth and the building housing all minds searching for a cure to mortality. It reeked of death, and brought tears to the eyes of the newly assigned assistant to the leader of this country his majesty Damon Krump. This place was not for the weak-minded however, and she quickly looked to escape this building of nightmares. As she exited the building, the air outside was not much better, but something that all Donian people were used too. Smog filled air, the sky blackened with fumes from the nearby factories and forges throughout the land. It left the nation in a seeming eternal twilight as the sun was never really up, though the constant mechanics of the city kept it alive even during the night. Though still, the maid scurried through the capital towards the ARC Development Lab where many of the brilliant minds gathered to marvel at Rhys Welch’s work, many were soldiers of the land learning to create his machines for the battlefield.
“Mr. Welch?...”
“Hmm.. Yes ma’am?”
“His majesty has called for your attendance.”
“Why?”
“Something about the meeting he attended recently.”
“Oh.. Probably about the ‘monsters’ I’ve been hearing about. Okay, let me finish tuning this guy for the battlefield and I’ll be on my way.”
“B-battlefield.. No one’s said anything to you about the ceasefire yet?”
“Nope, but thanks for the heads-up. I’ll be on my way shortly.”
The boy quickly wiped his blackened hands with a nearby cloth, patting himself down and pulling off his work apron that was a few sizes too big. The maid patiently waited as the boy gave himself a check-up, patting him pants to shake the few mechanisms caught in them, and setting his gloves on just incase the Alchemist’s hands were covered in blood or something. After he had finally finished he nodded to the maid who was somewhat unhappy about his quick preparations, smiling half-heartedly to the boy and offering him to lead the way. When they reached the Fleshworks the boy seemed just as disgusted as the woman, though didn’t make as much of a fuss as the girl, opening the doors and entering first out of courtesy. When they entered the man had been shortly in front of them within the hallway garbed in medical scrubs and a facemask, seemingly stained with blood along his pants.
Upon noticing the two enter he pointed to the maid, who was escorted back out of the building where as Rhys was brought with Damon back towards the Alchemy Lab.
“So, have you heard about the meeting yet?”
“I was just informed recently, what do you need of me sir?”
“You’re a respected person Rhys, your name is well known throughout our land.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Well, we are going to need some creative people out on the unoccupied battlefield getting rid of our little problem.”
“You don’t think I’d waste my time with monsters, right?”
“Of course not! But I know that with a reputation like yours, you might be able to get the word out and recruit some thrill-seekers.”
The boy seemed unhappy at how manipulative this man before him could be, but saying no was out of question and silently nodded to the alchemist.
“Excellent. Now go make some fliers and have some of my maids hand them out throughout the city.”
Nodding again, he saluted his leader before exiting the room of his own accord. Out of the corner of his eye he could see that the man had been operating on a Thao woman within the lab, it was sickening that she was still alive, but what could he do? Making his way down the putrid hall, hearing the screams of men and women, he walked towards the entrance deafly. Ignoring the reality of the nation he lived in.
