The General takes a spear and climb the wall along with his men and Elizel, seeing From the far south the enemy with king Konstantin and the man wearing a black jacket with cut all over his wrist and first in line, he let his spear beside him as the enemy reach the castle they stop and a small division comes to the walls, the man says "hello again general" the general respond with a harsh tone "i do not think there is anything to discuss" "oh dont be so abrupt, we have many things to discuss, for example i want to thank you for letting two cannons outside the village, it helped me greatly to replicate the weapon," Lixin eyes open a bit more "now thats a new expression" he makes a pause and open his arms "general my higher ups have something to tell you,if you and your men come to our side we will give you anything you need and you will leave with all your limbs" "we are following the emperor, we do not bargain with people like you" the man laughs out loud "oh that pride, you remind of me a long time ago, i hope you will have the same pride when i chain you and meke you see your men burn" general quickly takes the spear beside him and throws it with force at the man, the spear almost pierce him before he raise his shield and the flames evaporate it, the man laughs and king Konstantin moves forward, shouting with rage "Elizel coward, today i will cut your throat and i will lead Grega to its glory its deserve, something you could never give us" king Konstantin look with his eyes shinning at Elizel and so does Elizels eyes .
They go back and the man says "I'm going to enjoy this again" Elizel turn and shouts from the walls "Soldiers, ready yourselves" the army approach with their shields forward and surround the village, the general raise his hand and arrows fall but the enemy does not hinder, step by step they continue and they reach the walls, flames starts to expand and from the lines of the enemy lighting appears striking the gates, the general and his soldiers repay them with their cannon, killing many in the mayhem, the man then rush forward raising his shield and the flames consuming the lighting, slowly coming forward with the army on his back, both sides sending rains of lighting at one another.
As the enemy move closer the man slowly let his arm down, showing small burns on his naked arm, the army burn the gate and the two far side of the wall falling, the general quickly look at both side and shouts "Elizel tell a division of your men to focus on the right side, go with them and if anythinf happens evacuate the village" Elizel says nothing and leaves ,The enemy make their first steps inside and from above them flames fall and burn them, the general hear their screams from above, he takes a spear from beside him and look at the man laughing along with king Konstantin running with his horse at the right side of the wall, the man turn his head at Konstantin and the general throws the spear with all his strength towards him, the man deflects it and cannons lock on the general, he swiftly moves and shouts "move" the soldiers turn their gaze at him and in a glimpse the general sees the lighting striking them, their bodies quickly burn and they fall along with the bricks and the cannons, the enemy quickly overuns the place and take the laying cannons, stepping over the dead bodies, the general watch the villagers taking from the ground swords and spears to single Arrows, they form a line and look at the enemy with either scared faces or with confidence and courage while their children run behind the lines and trying to hid or leave from the back gate.
The enemy moves quickly and burns them and the flames expand to the village houses, the general look at the children running and his face stays cold, he quickly take his eyes from them and rush to the right side seeing the enemy entering, the general show his spear and his shield with two other spears sitting behind the shield and pierce the skull of the enemies, Grega soldiers push them and the king Elizel walks to the last lines, the enemy press the cannons but only smoke comes from them, the soldiers push them outside and place their shields above their heads while the enemy burns them, the soldiers on the walls shoot with their bows and cannons.
The general takes heavy breaths and he continues piercing the skulls of the enemies.
The man shows up from the crowd and smile, a soldier gives him a cannon, and lighting comes from it, killing all the soldiers who guard the wall, the general eyes open wide
As he runs on the wall and he sees king Elizel running with his soldiers from the back gate of the village and the man let the cannon and almost raises his shield, the general throw his spear at the man's feet, tearing some of the flesh and making him kneel.
Men surround the man with their shields and a woman fall to her knees and heals the man, the man rise and smile at the general, the general takes the second spear and the man shouts "soldiers kill everyone except this man" The enemy rush inside and the remaining soldiers form lines with their cannons forward and white shields surround the cannons end along with spears.
Lixin watch the man walking with his head up, Lixin raise his shoulders and his spear, the man shows his shield along with the flames reaching the height of Lixin, he slowly moves back and the man moves forward burning the bricking wall, the general rush at the stairs seeing two me blocking his way, he takes his spear and throw it on the one of the right deflecting it and swiftly taking another and rushing to the man, piercing his kneel and the other swinging the sword and Lixin raising his shield and the spear beneath him piercing his stomach and falls and the others trying to swing his sword with Lixin piercing him on the stomach and letting a scream.
The general continues and he sees the man burnjng the walls and in a glimpse The man starts running with his shield down, his skin burnjng and leaving dark marks, the enemy soldiers slowly surround Lixin and the man shouts "do not lay your hands on him, he is my new subject" the soldiers swiftly move back and look at the man with terror on their eyes, the man slowly walks at him and Lixin looks around seeing the soldiers still surrounding him from a greater distance "move idiots, i said he is my new subject" the soldiers leave quickly and the man slowly raise his shield, the general look around him seeing small destroyed wooden houses at his left side, he rush at them and the man follows him but their gap only furthers and the general rush behind the houses, the man raise his shield and the flames instantly burn the wood, leaving no ashes behind, Lixin continues running at the buildings further and soon the man sees he is surrounded with buildings, he continues burning them and Lixin moves righr with him following his steps, they then turn again and again and soon most pf the buildings are burned, the man turn again and again seeing the few planks that are left,nhe turn again and again and suddenly he hears the planks falling, he look at then seeing the empty space and the dead grass or thr remnants of the grass, The man look at his black skin on his arm and small holes revealing the bones and metal .
He hears again planks falling and he lookk around him and suddenly The general moves two planks that covered his body and show from behind and throw his spear, the man deflects it with his shield without the flames coming out, his arm violently comes back and the general show in front of his face, both strike and deflect one another with the man making each step back, the general continues to hit harder than the previous time
And he pierce the man's shoulder and throwing him on the ground and still smiling.
He raise his shield and the general jumps back, no flames come out and the man rise still smiling at the general he raise his arm and says "enslave him"
The general gets surrounded and men walk slowly towards him, he raise his sword and before he could attack The end of the spear hit the general on his kneels and falls, the man comes closer "this was an interesting experiment" and points his finger on a cannon "tell me general, what do you see in this cannon?" "A weapon" the man laughs loud "so narrow-minded, you see it only as a tool of destruction but this thing is the beginning of so much more, its powder can be used for so many things, for example I can use it to the food to enhance its flavour" he walks to a kneeling soldier, the soldier start breathing heavy enough for Lixin to hear it and he starts moving back, the man gently place his cloves and green and black powder and takes a seed, he gently touch the mans face and smile at him.
The man starts shaking, screaming as he fall and the plants start to grow from his nose, ears and mouth, his scream stops violently and the Grega soldiers start shaking in fear and king Konstantin looks with wonder, the man's smile reach his ears and whispering laughing as he look at the corpse of the man, he place his ear slowly to the man's mouth and says "excellent" the man raise his head and his hands saying with passion "You see this is the beauty of science, combining and altering things to make something new, innovating the world and ourselves" he slowly walks to the general but the general eyes stay open and fierce "Science is art " the general respond fast and harsh "what do you want exactly?" The mans smile does not fall and whispers "i want you to join us, help us unite the world and free ourselves from the chains that keep us shackle" Lixin says with pride "im loyal to the emperor untill my death" "you see general, death is not an option for you, you will stay here for an eternity until your mind begins to succumb and everything and everyone you know will be dead like your mind" "my mind is not weak like yours" "thats what i said, but after countless lives my mind started to fall but i still found something to retain me, and i will show you as a witness to my greatest creation" he walks to one of the cargo, taking from the chest a large gloves, small metal plates that slowly place them on the glove, along with a small round object on his back and wires connected to the object and the the glove, he bury his hand on the chest again and takes out a crystal, the general look at it thinking of shakufu, the man point his hand at soldier "come one, do us our honour" the mans arms start producing lighting and he points them at the object and it starts shinning, seeing the energy flowing with incredible speed, the man place the crystal infront of his eyes and screams "let us see the beginning of a new era, starting now" the electricity runs through the crystal and the man look carefully through it and to the general, he laugh and his smile instantly fade as he throws the crystal down without even getting a scratch and he starts screaming on top of his lungs, everyone who could cover their ears and the man starts yelling "countless lifes and still useless" he tear his flesh with his nails, the soldoers come and grab him along with two others uraising the ground and moving the cyrstal back to its place "i will punish you, leave me now"
The soldiers raise their spears, coming closer with one step at the time, the man rush at them and touch one of the soldiers with the glove and the flesh of his hand starts to melt, the soldier scream and the man does the same with the only change being the sinister tone, the others slash his skin but he continues melting countless soldiers and in the end the injures start becoming heavy and he falls to his knees murmuring but no one understands what he says.
The soldiers take him inside one of the houses and king Konstantin leans back with his horse, and watch as the man shake his body and scream "release me now" they broke his object and the wired along with the glove, the man bite the soldier in the neck, tearing a part of his flesh and his teeth becoming red while the soldier falls.
Two more come carrying chains and wear them to his neck and hands, carrying him a bit further and letting him shake and scream
The enemy drag the general to the center of the village looking at the small wooden houses and making him kneel, letting the doors open and watching over him as more of his comrades come shackled and screaming or savagely looking at the enemy, they all enter and they shut the doors, a soldier light the torch and look at the general with a cold stare, throwing the torch at the building and the fire slowly expanding, the screamings of men echoing beside their last words "for the huagjin" the general look with unbreaking will seeing the ashed of the fire expanding higher and higher.
As the fire dies clouds start gathering around the village, the first drops start, and soon the drops increase, falling gently on the general head as he look at the burned bodies with the same look.
The rain stops and the cold night arrive, and he is still on the ground, the man Comes walking at him, he look at the general with a smile "Don't you feel it? The mind eroding and the madness strucking you?" The general says nothing and his eyes stay the same "it has begun" he leaves and goes inside, and the general continue to stare with the same look.
The sun comes up and his stomach starts purring, the hot sunrise even more and his throat starts feeling dry, the man comes again with a bucket of water, shaking it in front of Lixin's face "come now your thirst has started to become unbearable, don't you want some?" The general says nothing "come take some" he throws the water on his face and the general's mouth continues to be closed "I have to give you credit for your sheer will and my graduate for giving me these marvelous tools, I have learned so many things and the seeds will soon start to bear fruits" he whispers "almost all of the seeds" his smile reach his ears and starts laughing hysterically, he takes from his cloth one knife colored with stained blood, he starts cutting his arms and no voice of pain is heard from his mouth, only his laugh, he takes a deep breath and says "tell me general im interesting on asking you, what is the most important to you?" The general continues to keep his mouth closed and the man says "by your look and your eyes I have to say your devotion is the most important" he makes a pause and his pupils expand, he laughs louder, piercing everyone's ears "thank you for reminding me something from my past" the man laughs again and cuts himself faster and deeper, after he finish the cuts he says "goodbye general" and leaves to one of the larger building, only some meters larger from all the other small ones where soldiers guard him
The sun sets and the enemy start throwing wheat, making two circles that surround the village,
The general push his arm fecklessly, from the south horses are seen carrying buckets and Klaeben first in line with the Grega general, the man comes
Close to the general "all of these desperate attempts for one man" he moves further "they could be the ideal subjects only if they came two days later" he moves further and open his arms high looking at the moon "let the slaughter begin" the enemy gets their cannons and the man equip his gloves along with a small cannon in his other arm "let's see if it will work" the army moves closer, the man sets his canon high and when the first men step to the wheat the man pulls the trigger that is in his tumb, a flame sets high on the wheat and the general's spine shiver and his heart beats like crazy, the fire starts expanding and traps the men, Klaeben shouts "shoot them now" Lixin push the chains and the man whispers at the general's ear "it has begun" the general push harder, seeing Klaeben rushing forward.
The man sets the other circle in fire and Klaeben left alone facing the army, the man comes forward and shouts "another one who touched the crystal I presume, I can see it in tour eyes after all" Klaeben gets his cannon and shoots, the man raise his shield and the pink flames roar, the lighting goes behind the man and he moves his foot forward almost losing his balance, the man starts feeling his temperature leaving his body, he press the shield forward and the flames almost burn Klaeben being one step back from the flames.
The man shouts "all this time for nothing, whatever you try to achieve it will fail" Klaeben laugh and from the sky flaming rocks fall along with dust rising, the man press his shield forward but hears no scream, he starts feeling again his body becoming cold, the dust is almost gone and the man sees soldiers coming from all directions and the fire almost settled down with the grega soldiers throwing buckets of water with the help of preaka while the shields protect them from projectiles.
The soldiers continue pushing with their horses, and the enemy stands side by side raising their spears, more lighting comes from the north, east and west and the enemy starts flying and dying
The man shouts to one of his soldiers "use the bombs now" Klaeben watch beside him and sees bombs appearing and lighting up, he raise a wall and gets sent back, Ai comes to him seeing his eyes flickering and starts pushing him with her hands, the man rush at them and as he raise his shield Fenhua comes from behind and slash the mans back, the man fall to his kneel, Fenhua strikes again and the man bashes the shield at Fenhuas sword, the man brings his canon in front of Fenhuas face and as he press the trigger and a stone wall comes between them and both fall back.
Ai goes beside Fenhau and look at his red face and the wounds on his forehead and then looking at Klaeben breathing heavy with blood coming from his nose, mouth, ears and eyes, the man's eyes slowly open up and he gets up seeing his own dying, he raise his cannon and lock at Ai.
Ai starts running and the man repeatedly press the trigger killing soldiers of the enemy along with his own, Ai comes back again facing the back of the man and grabs fenhuas and Klaeben's arm and pulls them away, Swaiwan in the back lines oush an enemy with his shield and between them an explosion happens and both are sent flying back
Anjian takes the bow and shoot at the man's shoulder, he pull it from his wound and laughs as he raise the canon again and before he raises it eirana comes from behind and the man raise his cannon, blocking the sword with the cannon breaking in half.
He steps back and from his pocket he takes a seed and place a black and grey powder, he then runs at Eirana and as he approach her he sees a spear beside him, he throws the seed and open his arm and before he grabs the spear pierce his stomach, the man falls down and quickly men come at him and surround his body and placing their shields in front of them.
The general look at the battlefield, all the soldiers gathering at the man's body as the general and his own stand against him with their shields raised, the general takes Ai and Klaeben and two other soldiers take Fenhua and the general shouts "kill them"
Arrows and spears fall as the enemy protect themselves and drags the man and
King Konstantin looking from his horse the general at the others with a flame in his eyes.
The enemy leaves and the general look at his army kneeling and trying to stand, men crying over the bodies and others piercing the ears of their comrades with their scream, Lixn cross his arms and says "take care of your comrades and yourselves" and they reorganize.
Klaeben and Fenhuas's eyes start opening, they raise their head and the
The general gets stares at Klaeben with threatening eyes, Kaeben look at him the same way and Ai comes beside them offering them two flasks of water, Klaeben takes it looking at her and Fenhua winks, they drink and Fenhua asks "how are the others?" Ai look behind her with a smile and Fenhua sees a man above Swawan with his wounds slowly vanishing.
Anjian walks beside them and look at them with her mouth and eyes neutral.
Klaeben asks "where is king Elizel?" "He is safe, at the castle, I will send him a letter later to inform him of the situation" Klaeben rest again and time pass.
Ai wanders outside and look in the distance a silhouette kneeling at the hill with the bodies, she slowly starts walking and as she reach the hill she look to see if she can go around but the bodies reach further from the sides, she takes a deep breath and soon she walk through the lines of bodies, trying to step beside them but there is no open space or its too deep to place her legs she walks on them as lightly and gently as she could,looking the bodies covered with dirt and at the black armor of the enemy and the wings of the Grega soldiers, she raise her head and sees Eirana again pushing the bodies wtih force, llacing her hands deep into the holes she make, Ai walks towards her and look at her hands digging at the bodies and moving them, she look up and sees eirana showing gritting her teeth.
Ai says in an almost audible voice "are you searching for your brother?" Eirana look at her and nod her head repeatedly "yes, but you don't have to worry about it, go and do whatever you have to do" Ai try to bend her needs low enough but without pressing them on the bodies of the dead, gently and slowly taking the corpses and placong them beside her, Eirana continues to dig deeper and says "you will distinguish him by his bald head and large nose and ears and his tall silhouette" Ai continues to move the bodies one by one as the sun continues to fall.
Soon the night consumes the light and Eirana gets up "Ai it's getting late, you must go back" Ai move another body and says "and what are you going to do?" Light comes from Eiranas hands and legs "I will stay looking for my brother"
"I know the lights do not consume much energy, but how long can you keep them?" "Until I find my brother, now go you have to see the others and sleep" Ai yawn and hides it with the back of her palm, she continues to move the bodies and Eirana comes above her "you must go back" Ai look at her and says "I can stay here all night"
Eirana push her gently "please leave, I don't want to burden you" Ai gets up still with her smile "if you think that's a burden then I will leave, but please take care of yourself after the search" Eirana nods her head and Ai embark, she moves above the corpses with cautious steps and as she let behind her the last one she look with the edge of her eyes Eirana desperately moving the bodies and throwing them like dolls, Ai eyes and lips lower and she continues at the tent and look at Anjian and Swaiwan sleeping and Fenhua talking and making jokes as Klaeben lay on the wooden bed, Fenhua notice her and welcomes her, Ai smile at him and listen to his jokes but soon falls on the bed, sighing Klaeben and whispering "you look tired today" Klaeben open his lips and whispers back "leading an army is even harder than I imagined" Ai spread her hands over Klaebens back and he let his own rest on Ai.
The sun sets high, the group dismantle the camp and beds, placing each part on the ground and Klaeben rise his hand and the dirt starts slowly moving along with the part of the camp and beds and driving them close to a horse and a carriage and a small drop of sweat drops from Klaebens arm and the general says "let's leave and hunt him now that he is vulnerable" Klaeben says "you seem to despise on a personal level"
"He is our biggest threat, if we kill him then Konstantin will follow and Grega will become our Allie" Klaeben takes his eyes and Look intensely at Ai "how is Eirana?" Ai sigh with her eyes almost closed and says in a low voice "She hasn't left her camp until a while ago and her face looked pale" Klaeben touch Ais shoulder gently "I'm sire you will bring her back to her senses " Ai faintly smile and shake her hand.
They start mounting south and after three days they pass the mountains and free the village with no resistance from the people and continue further down taking more villages as they move at the flat golden terrains with the green mountains in the distance and in front of them the high rock towers with men all over and the grey walls hiding everything inside.
the general look at the army and says with a wrathful voice and a fast pace "we will camp here for tonight and with the first ray of the sun we will wreak havoc" the others say nothing and suddenly from the walls the man is seeing, he raise his arm and point with his finger at them along with holding a small object on his hand, the general look at him clutching his arms and gritting his teeth.
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