A.N: Sorry for the late update again, I'm still dealing with surgery stuff. Next update might be a little late too but I'm hoping it's not
Ishin's rage could be felt from a mile away, poignant as if it were smoke in the air. From the moment he had caught sight of the Beast in Liman, his anger had not abated and Harudan had been wondering when he would come into his full potential. Of course, the God needed someone by his side to stop him when his anger took control and Harudan was more than happy to be that person.
That being said, calming down an enraged God was just as hard as it sounded. Ishin almost hadn't listened to him in the middle of the battle and for a long desperate moment, Harudan had been sure that they would lose Liman and the majority of his army. But then Ishin had seen reason, understood what the cost of his actions would be, and targeted only the Beast that was Promised.
It had been beautiful to watch the battle, especially from his position on Ishin's shoulder. The second time around, it had been slower, easier for him to understand what was going on, even with the carnage spread by Ishin. The contrast between the walls of the town, on fire and filled with screaming people, and the stronghold on the distance had taken his breath away. It had been so quiet by the stronghold, as if there had never been a battle. The only sign that there had been was the occasional piles of rubble from the trebuchets and catapults.
They'd stayed in Liman for a night, leaving a few battalions behind to make sure the people didn't rebel. Considering most of their soldiers were dead and the majority of the young and old had been on the water, Harudan doubted there would be much of a fight. His army had no boats to go and bring the others in so they would have to stay out there to starve and die of their own stupidity.
It didn't matter much to him anymore, not when he was so close. The majority of the towns he had taken hadn't fought back against the occupation of his army and when given the option, some had joined his ranks, like those in the border town he had visited with Jonin long ago. He had more than enough of the Askari on his side that when he finally took the throne, there would be plenty of people on his side.
The march to Ziya was a slow one, even when Ishin carried him. With every second, the butterflies in his stomach grew worse until they were a constant swarm that didn't allow him to keep down any food. He wanted to be there right that minute and not a second later, but they were still over a day away.
General Juna walked next to him, as silent as ever, while Ignis flew above him. Jonin should have been on his other side, but instead, all he had was the sword he would use to cut down King Ouron and his family when the time eventually came. All four of them. The King, his wife and their two children. He would finally be rid of all of them, the Princess included.
And while he did that, Ishin would get rid of the Beast that was Promised, the only thing that threatened to stop him. After that, everything would be the way it should be, with him running all of Vishera and looking after the people the way they should be. He didn't have the one person he wanted by his side, but at least he had achieved his goals. That had to be something, didn't it?
But there was nothing he wanted more than Jonin by his side. He would surrender to the Askari if it meant getting him back, but it was impossible and he had to learn to live with that. He would spend the rest of his life trying to make Jonin's sacrifice a worthwhile one.
Ishin had shrunk down to a form a few inches taller than him and hadn't said a word since they left Liman, just walked at his side like a sulking child. He had wanted to kill the Beast when they'd seen him in Liman, but he'd failed and Harudan knew that he was blaming him. If he hadn't stopped him from destroying the whole city, maybe the Beast would be dead.
There was never a guarantee. Not even the tornado of flames had been enough to stop him. After that, he'd disappeared as if he'd never been there in the first place. How Ishin had spotted him in the first place, he didn't know, but he'd lost him quickly after the tornado disappeared. Somehow, Ishin still knew that he had failed and the Beast was still alive.
"You'd see it," Ishin said when he'd asked. "There would be a great burst of power because the Beast isn't supposed to die. The realm would be in shock."
"If he's not supposed to die, how are you going to kill him?" Harudan had asked. General Juna had been getting the army to prepare for the march towards Ziya.
Ishin had looked at him as if he was stupid. "Just because he's not supposed to die doesn't mean it's not impossible. I will kill him, he's the only thing standing in my way, your way too."
And that was the last thing he had said for hours upon hours. Ishin wasn't the most talkative being, but he always seemed to have something to say. It was strange not to hear him speak for so long. After Liman, there were things they needed to talk about, considering how close they had come to destroying the city the moment the Beast had shown himself.
Ishin hadn't told him about the extent of the Beast's powers. Somehow, he had survived the blows the God dealt him and the creatures that had come racing across the snowy fields towards them not long afterwards. They were illusions, that much had been obvious from the way Ishin's arms had fallen through the beast that had reared up towards them, but there was no way an Askari could cast anything that powerful. It had to be the Beast, but he had never thought he could create anything so strong.
Harudan needed answers and Ishin's silence was getting irritating. He also needed to tell him to not let his anger get the better of him when they finally reached Ziya. The Beast would no doubt be there and that meant there was a chance that something could happen, something that could end with the destruction of the one place that couldn't be destroyed, the place he needed to rule from when he finally took over.
"Ishin," he said and the God looked at him, unimpressed. "There are things that need to be discussed."
His heavy tone made General Juna eye him warily. Speaking so rudely to something like Ishin probably wasn't a good idea but even he needed to learn that his actions had consequences. He'd spent a long time convincing Harudan not to destroy all of Minisia only a few days beforehand and then almost gone back on his own word the first chance he'd gotten.
"Come along then, little King," Ishin said and wandered off to the side. The fact that something like him had any sense of privacy was astounding but he shrugged and followed nonetheless.
Most of the army walked behind them at a steady march, Juna and their most trusted at the front, meaning there weren't too many places they could go where they wouldn't be overheard by someone. Not that it mattered that much in the long run. If people overheard and realised that he was the one in charge of the powerful being, then it would be better for him.
Harudan usually struggled to read the expressions on Ishin's face but in that moment, he could see the irritation in the set of his face. "You're angry," he said and Harudan scoffed, narrowing his eyes at the way to flames at the end of his hair exploded with a bright blue.
"I'm angry? No, but I am disappointed," he answered and raised an eyebrow at him. It was like talking to a child, it was strange. "You were angry."
"What is this, a lovers squabble?" Ishin snapped and Harudan's jaw clenched tightly. He hated that his mind drifted immediately to Jonin when it shouldn't have. He needed to focus on other things.
He took a deep breath, trying to keep calm. "You did not tell me the extent of the Beast's powers," he said, his jaw still clenched. "You let your anger get the best of you. I thought you did not want to see Minisia destroyed."
"I want to see the Beast dead!" Ishin roared and it took everything within him not to jump back.
"Then why don't you go after him?" he asked. It was a simple enough solution. Ishin moved fast, he could go after the Beast and make it back in time to aid in the battle for Ziya. If that happened, then taking the city would be far easier.
The God was silent for a moment as they trekked across the snowy fields, passing the occasional tree. "I know where he is, but I can not reach it," he said and there was so much anger in his voice.
"Why not?"
"He will be with the eldest of us, Teremtys. They put up barriers from the rest of us a long time ago, waiting for the Beast to arrive," Ishin explained. "There is no way for me to get through. If I want to face the Beast, I will have to wait until he comes to me and when he does, he will be at his full power. If you had let me kill him-"
"After you told me not to make you destroy my new country? No, I wasn't going to let you. You hit him with everything you had and he still survived," Harudan said with a shake of his head. If Ishin couldn't defeat the Beast, then what was the point of him? He certainly couldn't do it, not as one person, not with how powerful the little monk had become.
Ishin glared at him and looked as though he wanted to be rid of him right that moment. It would only take a second too, if the battle of Liman had been anything to go by. "That was not all that I had. I did not expect the Beast to be so powerful so quickly. I will not make the same mistake again."
"No, I should hope not," he replied, resisting the urge to sneer. The Beast needed to die if he wanted to win the war, the Princess too, but only because he and Jonin had failed at that so long ago.
The God stared out over the fields. In the distance were the beginnings of the crystal pillars growing out from the river. They were the smallest of them, the pillars growing bigger and bigger the closer they got to Ziya, where the river wrapped around the city in a rough circle. It was like a God-made wall, but it wouldn't do much to protect them when the battle started.
The flames at the tips of Ishin's fingers were a bright blue, fluttering uncontrollably. "The Beast has the powers of all five Gods, myself included. I never thought he would be able to withstand what I can do, but I was wrong. He is stronger than anyone, he can heal himself in an instant, create illusions so terrifying that it would cause the failure of the heart. You saw that last night."
He had. The monsters that had attacked them. No one had been directly killed by them, there'd been no blood, no real contact had been made, but people had still dropped to the ground. Harudan hadn't been able to make sense of it at the time. After the whirlwind of flames Ishin had released on the city, everything had turned into chaos. He'd known it was the Beast, but he hadn't understood what his power had been. Illusions, of course.
"It will be hard, but I will stop him. If the realm is to be the way it should be, the Beast needs to die," Ishin said, his anger turning into seriousness. "I will make sure you get what you wanted, but if things are destroyed in the coming fight, do not be angry, there is no other option."
Harudan sighed. "You shouldn't let your anger get the best of you. Is that not what you said to me?" he asked.
"You would dare use my own words against me?" Ishin yelled, turning towards him, but Harudan didn't flinch. The God stopped and stared at him with a look he couldn't decipher. "You are right, which is unexpected. I should have been able to defeat him then and there, but I was wrong. I am angry and seeing him had shocked me more than I thought it would. There will not be a repeat."
Harudan was satisfied enough with the conversation. He knew what the Beast could do, how dangerous he truly was, but he had to trust that Ishin could defeat him. Jonin never should have been sent after him, no wonder he had failed. It would be one of his biggest regrets but when Ishin defeated the Beast, at least he could say that it had amounted to something.
Even with their conversation over, they didn't move back to the rest of the army, happy enough to walk off to the side. When they reached Ziya, the Beast would be at his full power, but so would Harudan and his army. There was no way he would fail, he couldn't, not after he'd come so far and sacrificed so much.
Ziya was close, the end of the war was close and then all he had to deal with was the rest of his life. Ruling over two countries, dealing with the fallout of the war, it would be hard, but he could do it. He had to, even if he would be alone, because there was no way Nerin was going to stick by his side once the war was done. He would be like Turian, barely a Prince, living on his own. But it didn't matter, Harudan could win on his own, rule on his own, live on his own. He had no other choice.