While their fighting force had been eradicated, they still had unknown strength and magical resources that we could not underestimate. I formed a squad of the most elite warriors at my disposal and we rode off the neutralize the threat.
The first step was simply a matter of finding their remaining villages and settlements and burning them to the ground. For this, we employed bandits and mercenaries. Unfortunately, they were highly inefficient and we often had to clean up whatever Perditans remained. However, we soon began to see this weakness as a potential opportunity.
We’d intentionally allow some of the Perditans to escape, placing spells that allowed us to track them as they fled. Allowing us to discover more settlements to repeat the process.
After a mere year of this false peace, the people of Regemendax grew weak of will and of body. They wanted their soldiers back home and their money. They didn’t see the danger that I was so familiar with. We began spreading rumours that the Perditans were planning rebellions, that they had attacked small settlements. I despised the need for secrecy, but it was necessary to appease the ungrateful peasantry.
Despite our efficiency, the king was unsatisfied. He demanded we expedite the process or abandoned the mission. He saw the Perditans as being a defeated people, no longer a threat. But I knew better than he, for I had fought them myself. No, we’d never be safe until every last one had been eradicated.
And so, through the particular skills of my prized apprentice, we were able to infiltrate their ranks. Rannulfus disguised himself as one of their own and stoked the flames of rebellion. He convinced them to gather together so that they may summon another monster to ravage the land. All so that we might interrupt their foul ritual and put an end to them once and for all.
Finally, after five long years, the moment had come. My warriors and I rode out to where they had met in the forest. Torches raised and swords at our side we encircled the remaining Perditans and set their camp ablaze. It was not long before we had driven the last of them into a corner, when I saw an elderly woman who looked near the brink of death as it was. I paused a moment, wondering if I ought to let her live out her last days with this display of Regemendax’s unquestionable might, so that she may warn any others who might oppose us.
That moment of hesitation would become my greatest regret.
In the hag’s last breaths, she uttered a sound I cannot describe in words as a bitter cold came upon us. The fire was instantly snuffed and my companions’ flesh began to harden and turn to stone. As I saw the light fade from young Rannulfus’ eyes, I raised my blade and brought it down upon the witch’s neck.
Her head came clean off and rolled several meters before stopping. Her unblinking eyes looking directly at me, and her mouth in a crooked grin. “For you,” she said, “A far worse fate, until you make things right… you shall…” and then her lips ceased to move.
It would not be for many years that I discovered the nature of the curse she placed upon me.
And even longer until I realized what I must do.
“A thrilling read, isn’t it?”
We all froze in place as we heard those words. All except Katherine.
“Mak! Run!” she shouted as she leaped at Guildmaster Vincent as he rounded the corner.
He casually blocked her sword with a bare hand, “A lovely blade, but you’ll have to do better than that,” And with a wave of his hand, he conjured a massive burst of flames.
“Run! That’s an order!” Krimsun shouted as she thrust a hand forward to block the fire.
Reggie grabbed the journal and papers, pushing them into my arms, “Go! You have to do this!” he then began running towards the city, only to be intercepted by several guards.
I was frozen once again, we stood no chance in a fight, but there was no way we could all escape. Only I could. Did I really spend years learning magic just to use it to run away again? I was still helpless to save those I cared about.
I looked at Katherine, she did her best to block The Inferno’s strikes, but couldn’t keep up. She shot me a glance that sent me back to reality.
A look I’d seen before, though never in such a deadly circumstance. It wordlessly communicated what I needed to hear.
I nodded back as I created a portal and escaped just as another fireball hit. Tears welled up as I entered my little pocket of magic. “Useless, useless, useless,” I said to myself, banging the journal into my face.
I led them right to us, I should’ve known he’d follow me, he clearly knew I was hiding in his office. If they weren’t killed now, they’d surely be executed. It didn’t matter what Krimsun said before, they fought the Guildmaster directly, and there was no coming back from that.
After wallowing in grief for who knows how long, I finally exhausted my capacity to cry. I wiped the tears from my eyes and took a drink from my waterskin. As I did, something fell out.
It was Gus’ poem.
“I could’ve sworn Reggie had that,” I said, “Did he place it on me before I escaped?”
I began to read it again, slowly taking it in. As I came to the end, I let out a weak chuckle.
“Continue our story” I scoffed, “Some tale this turned out to be,”
And to think, Gus really thought I’d have a chance at becoming a legendary hero. Now I’m a fugitive and the rest of our team is dead or captured. I never even finished writing about what we had done. Even that crazed general wrote down his…
I paused a moment and looked at the journal, the cover was a little singed, but the pages were all intact.
I opened it up and started pouring through, searching for answers. There just had to be something that connected The Inferno to The Obelisk.
…It would not be for many years that I discovered the nature of the curse she placed upon me.
And even longer until I realized what I must do…
… my curse, was life itself…
… I was to wander the world without ceasing, never seeing the next life until I set things right. I must pay the toll for my actions…
Every hair on my body raised. It was unthinkable, yet answered so much. Guildmaster Vincent The Inferno was in fact General Acheron!
The journal entries became sparser over the decades, centuries, millennia! As he sought out ancient relics of the Perditans in an effort to find out how to cure his immortality.
I skipped through, looking desperately for the answer he came to. Finally finding it a thousand years ago.
…At last, my salvation is at hand. My debt must be repaid as it was incurred. Of this, I have no doubt. For to make things right as the hag commanded, I must resume my former role as an eradicator of peoples. But this time, my blade would be used on my own people…
…After so many years of searching I have begun to unravel the secrets of the Perditan Relics. In order to truly destroy the Mendaxis in their entirety, I must summon one of their monsters. They are formed from the raw negative emotions of those who have been slain. However, the Perditans have been dead for many centuries, so picking the right concept to forge a monster, or “Pathorex”, from would be crucial…
…It occurred to me recently that I had forgotten the names of most of my companions that died alongside me that fateful day. I despised myself for it, truly I have done them a great injustice. However, in my self-loathing, I had a stroke of genius that shall lead to my redemption. The concept will be that great dishonour. I shall dub my Pathorex, “The Forgotten” and dedicate my time to scrubbing the memory of Perditans and their destruction from history itself! No matter how long it takes.
“The Forgotten,” I said aloud.
I knew what I had to do. This would not, could not be the end to our story.
ns 15.158.61.12da2
