Death: Genesis

“I don’t know what to do,” admitted Knight-Corporal Adara. She was a large woman, with heavy shoulders and a thick neck. More than once, she’d been mistaken for a man, which never bothered her as much as some people thought it should. What did annoy her were the rumors going around that she wasn’t entirely human. At times, she’d taken matters into her own hands and beaten people to within an inch of their lives for such insulting gossip.

But in the recesses of her mind, in places she hardly even acknowledged anymore, she knew there was some truth to those rumors. Her great grandmother had been taken as an orc’s mate against her will, and though she had escaped the vile creature’s clutches, she’d been left with a souvenir of that detestable ordeal. Eventually, that souvenir had been born, and fortunately, the baby’s parentage hadn’t been obvious. Sure, Adara’s grandfather had been a bit bigger than most men, with a slightly heavier brow, but no one had ever suspected that he was a half-orc.

In fact, Adara was the first person in her family to truly take after her disgusting ancestor, and though she still looked human, she possessed enough orcish features to give credence to the rumors that had followed her around since she’d hit puberty.

Still, Adara had excelled as a Knight of Adontis, and she had managed to reach the rank of Knight-Corporal. At one point, she was proud of her accomplishments. But now, she only wished that someone else was in charge.

Never was that feeling stronger than when she stared out across the killing field situated before the keep and saw the army arrayed against her small force. She had known they were coming, but her duty required her to stay and defend the pass. It was the only way through to the other side of the labyrinth, which meant that it was an incredibly strategic location. Why, then, her superiors hadn’t given her more knights, she had no idea.

In fact, it almost felt like they intended to sacrifice the fort – and thus, the labyrinth itself, which made no sense at all. Everything she knew – including her instincts – told her that surrendering the Devil’s Pass would see the overall war ending in unconditional defeat. Already, the bestial army of lizards and half-breeds had wrought havoc on the other side of the labyrinth, so it stood to reason that they would do the same in Adontis’ heartland.

“What was that, Knight-Corporal?” asked her second, a weedy man named Derek. He was no great combatant, but he had a knack for organization that few others possessed.

“Nothing,” she lied, remembering her responsibility. “How many other forts have fallen?”

“All of them.”

She fixed him with a glare. “I am aware. How many? Exact numbers, man.”

“Nine. There are six more on the other side of the pass, but if we fall, they will almost assuredly retreat to Montcastle. They will make a stand, there.”

That made sense, from a strategic standpoint. Montcastle was famous for its impregnable walls as well as its defensible position. It was the bulwark upon which the Knights of Adontis had long depended for their power. More importantly, it played host to all the most powerful warriors in all of Adontis, which meant that, if the rabble reached Montcastle, they would surely be defeated.

However, Adara knew that it was far more complicated than that.

For one, any Knight who showed extraordinary ability ended up joining the Radiant Host. Everyone said it was so that they could receive better opportunities that Adontis couldn’t offer, and the implication was that those people would come back to defend their country at some point. But that never happened. Once someone was gone, they never returned, not even to visit. Even so, most Knights regarded it as an honor to be offered such an opportunity, and Adara had often dreamed that she would one day be selected.

It was a fool’s hope.

She could hide her ancestry from the Knights because, at the end of the day, they needed bodies, and so long as she was mostly human, they were willing to overlook the variation under the guise of ignorance. However, the standards for the Radiant Host were much higher, and there was no way they would ignore her orcish features.

The result was that Adontis was far more vulnerable than their reputation dictated. Once, that would not have been the case, but the Radiant Host had been poaching their most talented warriors for decades, and that drive had only increased of late.

“I don’t think we can stand against this,” Adara said, still gazing at the gathered army. There were thousands of them, and she still had no idea how they’d penetrated so far into the labyrinth without raising the alarm. In fact, the first fort they’d hit had been almost directly in the center of the maze, which made absolutely no sense. After they’d downed that stronghold, they’d moved on with a rapidity that suggested they’d already mapped the labyrinth. “None of it makes sense.”

“With all due respect, ma’am, it doesn’t need to make sense. We have our orders, and we are obligated to follow them,” said Derek.

Obligation.

It was such a ridiculous concept. All her life, she had been sold on the idea that she owed her allegiance to Adontis. And she’d bought it, too. She had accepted it as the absolute truth. Yet, for the life of her, she couldn’t understand what Adontis had done to earn her loyalty. If they knew what she really was, they would turn on her in an instant. More, they had abandoned her and the men and women over which she’d taken charge. Worst of all, they had willingly subjugated themselves to the Radiant Host, putting everyone in danger. It was unforgivable.

“Why?”

“Ma’am?”

“Why are we obligated? What have they done for us?” she asked, gripping the battlement hard enough to crack most stone. “They have abandoned us. Weakened us to curry favor with a foreign power. And yet, we are expected to throw our lives away? For what? Why should I defend the undefendable? Why are we here, Derek?”

“It is our duty!” he insisted, glancing around. Some of the other Knights on the fortress’s wall walk had taken note of Adara’s outburst. As they should have – she was their commander, so what she said was of the greatest import.

“Duty is an illusion. It’s supposed to go both ways,” she responded. “It is a bargain of two sides, and as I see it, we’re the only ones living up to our obligations. They do nothing for us, and yet, we are expected to give everything to them. I…”

She trailed off, unwilling to continue. The Knights of Adontis were an institution, and as such, no one ever questioned their contribution to society. Yet, that was precisely what occupied Adara’s mind. She didn’t mind fighting. As her orcish blood dictated, she reveled in bloodshed – often too much. But she had no interest in dying for anyone who refused to make even the smallest sacrifices for her.

“I refuse.”

“What?”

“You heard me,” she said, turning to the thin man. “I won’t do it. I’m going to surrender.”

“You can’t do that,” Derek insisted. “I…I won’t let you.”

Adara sighed. Then, as she used her [Flawless Form] skill, her hand darted out, clamping around his neck. Then, she yanked him from his feet and pulled him close. “I can do what I want,” she said. “Or did you think I never knew? You were spying on me all along. I know you’re one of the ones spreading the rumors about me. I’ve known all along. You think I’m just some dumb ogre, don’t you? Well, who’s dumb now?”

At that, she heaved him over the edge of the battlements. Her strength – with her skill enhancing it – was so prodigious that tossing him almost a hundred yards was nothing. Even as she let the temporary enhancement fade, her former second-in-command hit the ground before tumbling to a stop only a few dozen feet in front of the line of reptilian warriors. One of the hulking creatures aimed a crude spear at the fallen Knight and let loose with a pure beam of white light that scorched its way through him.

He died instantly.

Adara turned to her people and said, “We’re not throwing our lives away here. I know you’ve all been brainwashed into fighting until the very end. That’s stupid. Adontis hasn’t given us anything. They stuck us out here in the middle of the maze and forgot about us! I won’t stand for that! I won’t be their tool!” She ripped the insignia of rank from her shoulder and tossed it onto the wall walk. “I intend to surrender. Anyone who disagrees with that decision, now’s your time to make it known.”

A few of the Knights glanced in the direction of Derek’s distant corpse, and they clearly made a survival-based choice. No one voiced their dissent.

So, she raised her voice and shouted, “I want to speak to your leader!”

Some of the lizard-men shifted, then someone yelled, “Ak-Toh!”

Adara had no idea what that meant, but she hoped it was a good sign. In any case, she watched as the beasts continued to move around until, finally, something emerged from within their ranks. At first glance, Adara thought she was looking at a statue, but when it moved, it did so with fluidity that no golem should have possessed.

Moreover, it looked so unique that she couldn’t force herself to believe that it was the product of any human hand. It strode forward, and as it did, she got a little better look at the metallic humanoid. Then, it waved its hand, and a huge, black, and rectangular door ripped itself open. Another metallic being emerged. Than another after that. Finally, a third stepped free before the doorway closed.

The newcomers were bronze, and to Adara’s eye, they were obviously statues. They moved with a stiff gait, but they looked incredibly durable. The original continued forward until he was only thirty yards away from the gate.

“What?” it shouted in a man’s voice.

“Are you the leader?” Adara yelled, looking down on the thing.

“I am.”

“We want to negotiate our surrender,” she stated evenly. A few of her underlings shifted around uncomfortably at her declaration, but her reputation was such that their reactions didn’t go any further than that.

“There is no negotiation,” the metal man stated. “Surrender. We will treat you fairly.”

That was a dubious claim. She had almost a thousand people under her, and there was nowhere to put prisoners. Still, now that she had made the choice – and given it voice – there was no way she could back down. If she did, not only would her subordinates lose all respect they might have had for her, but if they somehow managed to return to the fold of Adontis, then they would certainly inform everyone of her so-called treason. Now that she had chosen her path, she had no choice but to walk it.

So, Adara said, “Very well! Open the gates.”

No one moved, so she reiterated her command. When she glared at the man closest to the gate’s lever, he shrank away and did the job he’d been ordered to do. A second later, the gate opened. Without further hesitation, Adara leaped down from the wall walk and strode through to meet the giant metal man.

Up close, he was even larger than she’d first suspected, and the golems at his side were almost as large. More, they all radiated a level of power that made no sense, given the results of her initial inspection:

Colossus – Level 52

Adara was a veteran, and so, she knew that levels were a poor indicator of power. Yet, she also knew that a level fifty-two should not have felt so overbearing. It almost felt like the world could barely contain him.

“I am Knight-Corporal Adara Joman,” she said. “And I formally surrender to…”

“Zeke.”

“Zeke?”

“Zeke,” he reiterated. “I accept your surrender. So long as your people disarm and give us no trouble, they won’t be harmed. Is that acceptable?”

Adara nodded. “It is.”

“Good,” he said. Then, he raised his arm in a signal, and the lizard men advanced. Interspersed throughout were beastkin who, when they passed her by, stared at her with murder in their eyes. “Knight-Corporal? That doesn’t seem a high enough rank to be in command of a stronghold.”

“It isn’t,” she admitted. “Everyone with a higher rank fled to Montcastle. I suppose because they didn’t want to die.”

“That makes sense. The others made a similar choice.”

“Others?”

“You aren’t the first to surrender, likely for similar reasons. Of the other forts we have taken, three have surrendered.”

“And…they’re still alive?”

“Of course. We are not savages,” he said.

“We aren’t either,” she insisted.

“Tell that to your slaves,” the metal man stated. “They feel quite differently.”

“I have never had slaves…”

“You enabled and defended it,” he said. “That makes you culpable.”

With that, he gestured once again, and a different gate appeared. This one was just as large, and it had a frame like any other door. He said, “Follow me.”

With that, he stepped inside. Adara hesitated only for a second before she followed, holding her breath and closing her eyes as she crossed the threshold. But when nothing happened, she opened her eyes to see a wonder she’d never expected.

It was a huge plaza, at least a mile across, decorated by a series of statues standing on blocky plinths. There were hundreds of lizard people roaming about, though many were far smaller than the huge creatures she had seen outside. Some even had colorful plumes atop their heads and a distinctly feminine shape.

“What is this?” she asked.

“This is the Crimson Tower,” he answered. “Come with me. I’ll show you the Jail.”