The End of Eternity

Insanity

"Have you heard the news? Our heroes in shiny armor were wiped out by a pack of wolves." The man smiled, his joy could not be missunderstood, he was very pleased with any misfortune as long as it befell the knights of The Silver Sword. "Wiped out again, pathetic."

"I say strike now, without their magic, they will fall like leaves in the wind. Just how much force have they dispatched to that place already? A hundred men ? And they are still unable to take control of the area. And we ? We are stuck here as the "auxiliary forces", because we lack training and have no magic. The world changed and we should change with it. We are now the main force of Castello di Montagne, not these tin dummies. Everyone . .. "

General Lexus Marc Laelianus listened to the gossip of his men. If the two guards in front of his tent knew he could hear them, they would have surely kept their mouths shut. He could not blame them for what they thought, he did not think much differently. With all the magic gone, the balance of the world was shaken. From an auxiliary force, his men became the main force of the city. The knights did not want to hear it, but it was the truth. His men were much less trained than the knights, but what for ? It was easy to handle a spear and it was still an effective weapon, especially when used in a formation, or in any large scale battle.

But the change they had been all waiting for was comming quickly. He looked again at his desk, where he left an open letter. The letter was from some nobleman from Castello di Montagne. He wanted to hold a meeting, he had planed to invite some wealthy and powerful men from the city too, but Antonius was going to be excluded. He usually did not like this kind of shady secret business, but this time there was no danger at all. They were supposed to meet in his camp, among the thousands of his men, he could not imagine anything safer.

The era of knights was about to end. He could clearly see it coming.

* * * *

Razorclaw was sneaking along a wall towards his hiding place, he managed to get himself near the alcove in which was a device he was searching for. He groped in the dark, finding quickly what he had come for. He gripped it tight, it would have been a pity, if he fled without using it. He needed to make himself indisposable in the eyes of his master. Up until now it was not difficult, he was a cunning rat.

He was returning slowly, constantly looking around . It would be a problem if anyone saw him. What is a surprise attack good for without a surprise ? He held a small heavy round sphere in his hand with its surface covered in letters and symbols he was unable to read. This was originally an experimental bomb created by Blackpaw. He gave him a separate mission to test it in some place away from the prying eyes of his enemies. He considered it to be paranoid, but who was he to judge the chief shaman? It was going to be Razorclaw's parting gift for the human filth.

He was in the middle of the room when he heard shouts. He stepped on a stone rubble near him to see the cause of the commotion at the entrance. Breathless, Razorclaw watched as the only man he could communicate with was impaled with a spear.

"That's it, It is time to abandon this sinking ship." He carefully pressed the three blue spots, exactly how Blackpaw had shown him before and threw the sphere onto the barricade, where the rest of the knights and wolves fought to the death. He did not wait for the explosion and run to the portal, it was time to return to his master. His mission was a success, Blackpaw did not care about the lives lost, he cared only for his assets and he would be surely pleased with all the information Razorclaw obtained.

The rat smiled as it jumped through the portal, at the same time, an explosion tore apart the barricade along with the flesh of its defenders.