Derosai Azrin
The Republic of Ilasha
Riverin
June 15, 4182 A.D.
7:14 A.M.
Derosai lifted the bottle, filling Crow's glass with her beautifully aged wine, two decades old. He smiled, bringing the glass to his nose and swirling the liquid around before taking a slow and careful sip. He moaned in joy, setting the glass down in front of him.
"Kaval wine, it's such a specialty. Magic infused within so that kavals don't fall ill from the grapes. So much love goes into this wine, making it difficult not to enjoy. This is why I always come back. There is no better host than you, my lady."
"Thank you. I'm a wonder to be around," Derosai said, sitting across from him on the red velvet sofa, in between a tea table with four rubies engraved into each corner.
Her desk rested off to the side of her office. It was large enough to hold a bedroom, a sunken in living room, and a study. It was built for late nights long before she took the position as the vemrin of Riverin.
"As I said before, I have big plans on how we could eliminate the soul devourers, permanently. I know it's a long shot, seeing as our ancestors have been at it for four and a half thousand years, but I'm determined for my son to have no part in this destructive world. Of the high kalris' I'm bringing it to you because I feel that our minds are one on this matter. Others are too concentrated on power, the civil disputes of man, or their own personal ambitions. They've almost pushed the thought of soul devourers aside. It might be because the majority of the world doesn't need to think of them on a daily basis as we do in the republic," Derosai said.
"None of the other high kalris' are in sync with your goals? I find that hard to believe. Many of them would die to bring an end to the soul devourers," Crow said.
"Well, you're not looking at it the way I do. Pardon my raw manner of speaking, but your wife is too consumed with power. Vermont concentrates too heavily on civil matters between lands. Nalick is too bloodthirsty. Jasmine can never be found unless called upon. No one knows where she goes. I have a difficult time trusting a woman who's been in The Order longer than any of the other high kalris', somehow remaining young, and still isn't the paladine even though she probably could've been. And lastly, creator forgive me for saying this, but Eena has fallen into too deep a depression to be considered a reliable partner in this matter."
"And she has good reason for it. What happened to her was terrible and if I ever find out who attacked her, they'll live a very long, very painful life. I don't know how they've hidden their tracks so well, but I will find them," Crow said.
"I agree, however, I didn't come to speak about crimes committed by man. I want to know, are we one on this matter?"
"Of course, we are. I'll do whatever it takes to get rid of those fucking abominable creatures."
"Well, in that case," Derosai took a sip of her wine, "we should evacuate all living societies within this continent into the three great cities. A purge is in order."
"A purge? I don't follow," Crow said.
Derosai leapt to her feet excitedly, spilling the last few drops of her wine onto the carpet. She strode over to her desk and grabbed one of the three round objects on top, a line protruding from its head. She walked back to the sofas and presented Crow with her and her husband's masterpiece.
"This here is our future. The destruction of the soul devourers... along with most trees and wildlife living on this continent. Any that aren't within the walls."
Crow reached his hand out, taking hold of and examining the black ball with intrigue. He tapped the string and spun the ball in his hand, perplexed by what he was examining.
"This small thing is going to rid of the soul devourers?"
"Not just one, but many of them. Many, many, many, many. Too many to count. It would take at least two years, I hope no longer, to build what we need. The soul devourers are unorganized, at least for now, and striking them would prove rather effortless with the right planning. Magic would be involved and so on, but I think it's possible."
"Can you get to the brass of it? What is this thing?" Crow asked.
"I call it, a bomb, an explosive. As you know, we can already cause explosives through magic, but not to such a degree as these can. I've built them in such a way that absorbing magic is their primary ability. With a specific spell, the explosion has proven to become ten times as powerful as it was originally. Through a timed assault and planting these all over the continent, we could wipe out a majority of soul devourers and then kill the rest by hand. I'm willing to give these designs to The Order as long as they're used as they should be, to exterminate our enemy. You're the only high kalris that I believed would listen without trying to steal my blueprints and use them as a weapon of war."
Crow placed the bomb on the tea table, biting his bottom lip and nervously playing with his hands. He eyed the bomb a couple of times, a look of disgust passing through his gaze.
"Do you disapprove?" Derosai asked, sitting across from him.
"No, it's a good idea. Some concerns of mine frighten me. If these were to be built in a two-year deadline, mass production would be in order, meaning thousands would know how to craft these... bombs. No matter if we rid of the soul devourers or not, they will become a weapon powerful enough to lay cities to ruin. A power no man should hold."
"If you have any other way of destroying our common enemy, I'm all ears," Derosai said.
Crow rubbed his forehead, "no, we'll take it, but for now, give me time so that I can find trusted people to work on this without The Order's knowledge. If Alice was to hear of this, she would undoubtedly use it to her advantage against political rivals. I don't want this weapon on the market. If everything goes well, we'll destroy the bombs by the end and erase everyone's memory of the invention."
"Whatever works for you. Would you like to see it in action?" Derosai asked, grinning.
"Sure, but first, one thing confuses me. Why give this weapon to us? I know you're a defector. It took me awhile to figure it out, but nothing stays hidden from my eye forever."
Derosai's eyes widened and her hand instinctively grabbed her glass of wine, bringing it to her lips before realizing that it was empty. Even as she placed it back down on the table, her fingers stayed interlocked with the glass and her gaze remained glued to Crow.
"And did you turn me in to your wife?"
Crow stared at her, as if studying her. For the first time, even though she had known of his skills long before their six years of friendship, she shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. His silence told her all that she needed to know.
Derosai swallowed deep, a lump forming in her throat, "I thought we were friends. I would've expected you to come to me first."
"We are friends. It's the only reason we're sitting here without an army surrounding this base. She doesn't know. Now, answer my question. Why give us this weapon instead of The Defectors? They could obliterate our armies from the sheer surprise of a new weapon such as this," Crow said.
Derosai released her glass and exhaled a breath of relief.
"Civil disputes don't concern me. I pretend well, but I don't care who sits on the throne of Alatine. Defectors, The Order, a random king or emperor, it doesn't matter. I will give my knowledge and advice to anyone that I believe shares my goal. That goal has always been the same, killing off the race of soul devourers. I want to live in a world that no matter the tyranny, there's no fear of losing one's soul. The stripping of the afterlife into eternal nothingness, it's the worst crime."
"Is Carnade a defector? I was going to speak to him after you," Crow said.
"There is no need. He has no loyalty to The Defectors and carries no love for them," Derosai said, avoiding the lie with truth.
"Fine, I won't turn you in. I believe your words and by the end, I hope to have your support against The Defectors. They need to be disbanded before The Order can officially retire."
"Don't expect my support. When the soul devourers are no longer, I'll be leaving to retire with my husband. However, he doesn't believe it's going to be so easy. He thinks that this plan will fail even though he was half of the mastermind behind it."
"Why does he believe that? How do we avoid failure?" Crow asked.
"It's a feeling, that's all. He thinks another dark war is looming over the horizon and the only way it will end is by the extinction of one race or another."
The office door smashed open, a soldier of The Order she'd never seen before rushing in. His armor was wet, a mixture of red and black blood soaked into his armor, a drawn sword in hand. A deep four claw scratch was cut into his exelian steel armor. His breaths were heavy, but as if adrenaline was controlling him, no pain seemed to register. The badge of two blue suns was strapped to his right shoulder, signifying him to be a galth.
"Ma'am, we've been breached."
Both of them jolted from the sofas. Crow grabbed his staff and sword while she retrieved her great sword. Crow aimed his staff at the soldier and chanted.
," and as if he wasn't a mage, nothing happened. He gawked at his staff, taken aback. "That's impossible."
"What happened?" Derosai asked, her words rushed.
"I tried to heal him. My magic couldn't surface. Something is containing my power, keeping it within me."
"With all due respect, sir, ma'am, you need to follow me," the galth said.
They sprinted through the halls of the base, decorations scattered along the walls. Ancient paintings, statues, and artifacts of the old republic and ancient Ilasha, preserved through the protection of The Order. If it wasn't for their diligence, all the history of Dalin Mavrone's time, a last name she longed for, would've been lost long ago. Some of the artifacts, specifically a painting of ancient Ilasha, of Ashalist in its beginning, reminded her of him, comforting her in time of stress.
Soldiers from all around the base rushed toward the mages study. Magical weapons, history, and spells of all kinds filling the study to the brim. Other than the vault which held The Order of Riverin's wealth and the most powerful magic items in the city, the study was the next best place to target.
Derosai was the first to burst through the doors, followed by Crow and then funneled in by other soldiers of varying ranks. Some were dressed in armor, but others, similar to her and Crow, wore their comfortable military garb with their badges and colors, but were unprotected through its fabric.
A white light overtook her vision, followed by a powerful impact crashing into her chest. She grunted as her back smashed into the wall behind, squeezing her eyes shut. Even while closed, all she could see was white, the beaming brightness agonizing. Black dots formed through the white, slowly disappearing as she pushed herself to her feet. She stumbled forward, flickering her eyes open as she struggled to see mere feet in front of her.
Derosai's grip tightened around her blade as her senses tingled. A sense that once disgusted her, but no longer did. Soul devourers. They were around, but impossible to see.
She stepped forward, holding her hand out so that she could feel where she was moving. From the sides, she heard low grunts and moving as the other soldiers pushed themselves to their feet.
"Watch out," Crow shouted.
Wind whistled by her face, the slashing of a blade moving through flesh, a sound she knew all to well, followed by the hissing of a soul devourer. She swung her blade forward, aimlessly trying to strike her target, following the stench of their rotten flesh.
"Whoa, back away and don't fight if you're going to swing your sword like a maniac," Crow said.
Derosai stepped back, her vision slowly clearing just as the screams of a nearby soldier erupted. The soul devourer attacking him growled before the sound of teeth sunk into flesh, chewing through meat and attempting to devour the soul, silence becoming as the cries ceased. If the soldier had been of The Legion of Souls, the devourer would've been successful, but his blood was of The Order, an officer, and his soul was protected.
Crow's figure came into view, fighting on his own. Four vilths laid on the ground, another feasting on a soldier near Crow while five others fought him. They were man size with outstretched backs and moving on all fours, the first of the soul devourers, with foot long claws capable of tearing through exelian steel, no ears and no nose, just holes. As all devourers did, they had rotten flesh and pure black eyes. The creation of Dalin's touch to man, a curse inflicted onto him, plaguing all of Alatine.
Most of the soldiers were squinting their eyes, remaining at the back with her. It was impressive how many Crow could eliminate on his own, all while blinded himself. It was said that Akroth's had heightened senses, even beyond their ability to read people, but she hadn't believed it until now.
Derosai rushed to his side, slashing with precision and digging deep into the vilth feasting on one of her men. The exelian steel moved through the devourer as it would hardened material, difficult to cut through in one motion. Unlike man, their flesh was like armor, basic steel almost useless against them.
Derosai stepped back, a vilth jolting toward her. It was like an animal on all fours, very quick, but with her enhanced attributes, bearing the blood of The Order, she could comprehend its speeds better than most.
She plunged her sword forward, impaling the vilths torso and protruding the blade out the other side. It hissed and screamed before its body limped over, black blood enveloping her blade as she tore it free.
Her gaze snapped to the centre of the mages study; a circle of corpses formed around the power source of the city's great walls. It was a rod of pure blue magic, six feet around and extending through the top of the base, hundreds of feet into the sky, built by Dalin thousands of years ago.
Twelve kakrothik soul devourers laid dead within the circle of dead mages. Each kakrothik held a staff, physically the weakest of the devourers, slender, and other than their rotten flesh, they could almost be mistaken as human. Their only useful attribute to their kind was the resistance they had to magic, but otherwise, they were never difficult to slay.
Standing in the centre of them all was a soul devourer bearing the same perception as man, watching them. He was hairless with dark rotten flesh, a slight upward quirk to his lips. White magical lines, alike a tattoo, circled every part of his body, engravings written within. Like a man would, he wore a red and black trench coat. A crow, similar to any other rested on his shoulder. It was the first time she'd seen a creature with a soul remain unharmed while touching a devourer.
She turned to the side, plunging her blade into the last of the vilths. Black blood pooled from the other side of the monster's throat, gurgling between hisses as its life faded away.
Crow took a deep breath, stepping over the corpses and staring at the trench coat devourer in awe. The rest of the soldiers in the room surrounded the circle, pointing their blades at the creature. He glanced around, his pure black eyes piercing into their souls.
"Stay on the other side of the circle. This looks like a ritual, one of which we don't know the power of," Crow warned.
"Shall the party begin?" the devourer said.
"How did he-" the soldier nearest Derosai whispered.
The devourer turned and just as he did, Crow picked up a spear from the ground and threw it at his back. The spear stopped midair, floating behind the devourer, a blue essence flowing around the weapon.
"Naughty naughty," the devourer said.
The spear turned around, whistling through the air and spiraling toward Crow. Derosai pushed him aside, the spear imbedding deep into the stone wall behind them, bending the exelian steel.
The devourer placed his hands on the power source of their city's barrier, runes forming through the air without chanting or the need to carry a magical anchor. Cracks ripped across the floor and the ground rumbled like an earthquake, making it near impossible to stand.
"We need to stop it," Crow shouted over the rumbling.
"We can't. We need to retreat and warn the city," Derosai screamed, knowing what the creature was. Her husband had spoken enough about the twenty four, hidden from the world since the dark war, and the most powerful of the soul devourer race. They had been her only concern when it came to the bomb plan.
"It's too late for that," the devourer hissed, smashing his palms against the power source.
The runes floating through the air smashed into the power source, glowing a vicious red. As if spirits, everyone could see the souls tear their way out from the mage's corpses and fly toward the runes, screaming before absorbing into them. The same happened to the kakrothik souls, but they weren't afraid or in agony, welcoming the sacrifice.
A burst of wind pushed them all back, barely managing to stay on her feet. When she looked up, the power source was completely red, cracks running along its edges. It was the most frightening thing, the power Dalin warned her of, the true power of the devourers.
"Now the party begins," the devourer hissed as he turned around. For a moment, it was as if she caught a glimpse of sympathy in the crow's gaze. "I'm Ithal and I will be one of your hosts in the show to come. Today will be glorious. The beginning of a new age, cleansing the old. The dawn of paradise is upon us."
Crow stepped forward, throwing his sword at Ithal. The last thing she saw was a wicked smile before the devourer vanished. Crow's sword smashed into the red beam, bouncing off and skidding across the ground.
"Fuck," Crow growled. "What was that thing?"
"The city's end. We need to warn everyone. We need to evacuate them, now," Derosai said.
"My magic has been supressed. I can't communicate with Alice for reinforcements and I can't magically evacuate the city. We need to form a defense at the wall while we figure out the situation," Crow said.
Derosai darted her eyes to the side as crashing echoed through the city, followed by screams.
"Sir, you might want to come and take a look at this," the soldier that had originally retrieved them said.
Derosai sprinted to the window, Crow beside her. Beyond the fences of The Order's headquarters, they had a perfect view on the gates of Riverin. The great hundred foot tall gate laid on the ground, blood pooling out from under it. Soldiers of The Order and Riverin fought together, surrounded as soul devourers pooled in through the opening. Maygull's and uralth's flew overhead, the only two species of soul devourers with wings, moving further into the city and attacking civilians.
"Am I sleeping? Is this a nightmare?" Crow whispered, his face paling.
"Dalin was right. The bombs won't be enough," Derosai mumbled, turning from the window. "Gather the troops. We need to defend our home and its people."