Devourer

Chapter 142: Hallowed is the House of War

Ariel circled the castle as she examined the going ons below. The land of the Vampires was a desolate landscape. The name given to this cursed land was Necoronas. The name simply meant “The Land of the Dead”. Similar to locations like the Mugumma Jungle and the Azure Sea, Necoronas was also the final resting place of a fallen Firstborn.

The one that fell was known as the Scarlet King. He was cruel and malicious in ways only the Firstborn could be. His disciples, the ancient Vampires set about to spread what was in their minds the great gifts of the Scarlet King. His followers exalted his teachings and put all their efforts into spreading in what their minds was the truest form of spiritual purity.

Ariel remembers an old testimony from a captured vampire she read in a book. It was rather disturbing to read but at the same time it matches quite well how the Firstborn ruled the old world. The testimony goes as follows…

We must learn what it is to die

To be enslaved, truly and brutally enslaved

Enslaved with no compassion or compunction from our masters

We must learn what it is to be taken to a singular purpose, to a singular will

To truly understand our lack of agency, our lack of control

We must be beholden to will of the ancient

We must accept our place as races of fools

There is only one rule

The rule of the Firstborn, the rule of the King

For his glory

For the Scarlet King

That testimony alone shed light on why the Vampires lived the way they do. They used their blood magic to enslave, creating an army of mind controlled slaves. All that fall into their clutches are turned into chattel or worse. In truth there were only about ten thousand free creatures in Necoronas, their servants however counted in the millions.

Fortunately for everyone else most of those millions were just weak cannon fodder made to be thrown haphazardly at the enemy. They were just there to waste stamina, mana and ammunition in preparation for the real combatants to enter the fray.

The vampires liked to send legions of weak zombies and skeletons as a vanguard into the lands they invaded. Such a large number of undead also causes the air to fill with tainted ether, which debilitates the living. This makes the invasion easier and it also ruins the land as a side effect. The corruption can be reversed with magic but it also ensures that it is extremely difficult to retake any lost ground.

Ariel scanned the desolate landscape below and it looked like the ground was moving. But it wasn’t the soil that was moving, it was bodies covering the land below as far as the eye can see. They were most definitely on the move towards Zarima. It didn’t look like a full blown invasion just yet but the only reason there would be so many vampiric minions on the move would be that a Black Crusade was underway.

“We must report this back to Mistress Uriel.” one of her guards said and Ariel nodded in response.

Ariel would have liked to get closer to the castle but judging by the sheer amount of activity below that wasn’t a wise decision. Ariel wasn’t in the mood to try her luck especially after that little incident with the Syndicate.

So with that Ariel turned around and headed for the world gate. That concludes her mission in Terra, it was a rather uneventful end to the mission but at least she saw it through to the end. As Ariel flew back towards Zarima she saw an army gathering near the border. She couldn’t help but feel a pang of concern for the poor souls below. It appears war would once again return to the desert…

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Count Uxtaul looked down at the training field below him. Count Uxtaul was a forty two year old lizardkin with dark blue scales. He was assigned as the commander of Fortress Dagon on the western edge of central Zarima. It was a terrible posting since it boiled down to a glorified suicide mission. His forces were underarmed, undermanned and overall underprepared to face the wrath of a Black Crusade.

His fort was filled with demoralised soldiers, the reason for poor morale was plainly obvious. Their weapons were mostly cheap steel, most of the army was in leather armour rather than plate. They didn’t have enough mages and there were not enough backup weapons. The only saving grace from what he could see was the fort itself, it was well constructed from enchanted sandstone and would hold well against the hordes of undead.

It was the largest fortress on the western border and it was supposed to serve the linchpin in the western defences so it had the capacity to hold an entire army within its walls. Unfortunately as it stands there were alot of empty rooms…

Count Uxtaul looked down at a particular lizardkin below him. This lizardkin shared his dark blue scales, his name was Skavi and he was Count Uxtaul’s bastard son. Count Uxtaul watched as Skavi grunted as he pushed his blade against the rigid sword of his sergeant. It looked like he was pushing against a brick wall. It’s not that surprising considering Skavi was just a common soldier. Yes he was at least a regular soldier as compared to a conscript but he didn’t have any actual combat experience. The only things he has fought were training partners who had no interest in killing him and training dummies who had no ability to kill him.

So the thought of him going off to fight a legion of million undead soldiers was a rather daunting prospect. However, at least he signed up for this…

Count Uxtaul saw Skavi’s blade slip and the next thing he knew he had been disarmed. The handle slipped from his fingers and the edge of the sergeant’s blade appeared at Skavi’s throat.

“You need to do a lot better than that if you want to survive the living dead.” his sergeant spat as he lowered his sword and pointed at his sword that was lying in the sand.

“Sorry sergeant…” Skavi replied sheepishly as he reached for his sword.

“Ah never mind, we’ll take a break for now.” his sergeant replied with a weary shake of his head.

“Yes sergeant.” Skavi replied as he picked up his sword.

Count Uxtaul sighed as he decided to head down the stairs to the training field. He wished he could have taken better care of this young man but as a bastard there was little he could do. So all Count Uxtaul could do was give him a little help here and there…

“Skavi.” Count Uxtaul said and he saw Skavi turn around in shock before instantly lowering his head in a bow.

“Raise your head, I told you I don’t like the bowing and scraping.” Count Uxtaul replied. The count was a strongly built man and even at his age he was still very skilled with a sword.

“As you wish my lord.” Skavi said as he raised his head.

“Come, I need a companion for dinner.” Count Uxtaul said as he turned away and Skavi instinctively followed. In truth Count Uxtaul has been feeling increasingly isolated out here on the border. So he has been seeking his bastard son’s companionship more and more. Plus Count Uxtaul felt he wouldn’t live to see the new year so he would rather end his life with as little regrets as possible.

“I saw you fighting, you are improving.” Count Uxtaul commented as he gracefully walked across the sands of the training field. Count Uxtaul looked back over the training field and saw soldiers sparring. All of them doing their best to prepare themselves for what was to come. They had a mere one hundred and fifty thousand soldiers here… the fortress could accommodate almost five hundred thousand.

“The sergeant is still much better, I wonder if I will ever be as good as him.” Skavi replied humbly.

“You are pretty good considering your lack of formal training. Your sergeant is a veteran that had faced down the Armazaftund on numerous occasions. Your loss to him is not surprising, few face the children of the Old Mother and survive.” Count Uxtaul said.

“The Armazaftund… if only we could send them against the vampires…” Skavi muttered in response.

“Now there’s an idea…” Count Uxtaul replied with a small laugh.

“Perhaps we could lure them into the red sands?” Skavi suggested.

“That is more a final gambit. That is if the children of the Old Mother will even be interested in a giant mass of rotting flesh and bone. They might just kill our kin and leave the dead alone.” Count Uxtual replied dryly.

Count Uxtual sighed as he continued heading towards the command building. He has been wracking his mind for a way to see his army through the coming battle. However, the problem was that at the end of the day, they simply did not have the strength to hold this position. His Emperor has commanded him to hold this position so if he retreated he would be branded a traitor.

The problem was that he was short a few thousand mages and a hell of a lot of equipment. An extra hundred thousand veteran soldiers wouldn’t hurt either…

“You know Skavi, I could get you posted somewhere else. No sense in you dying here along with me.” Count Uxtaul said as they slowly began to ascend the stairs to his personal room.

“Thank you for the offer, but I signed up for this. Besides if the Black Crusade rolls over Zarima where would I run exactly?” Skavi replied with a chuckle.

“Perhaps to the east? Maybe the Averlonian Empire would take you. I am sure that’s how it is going to play out. All the refugees need to go somewhere…” Count Uxtaul said with a sigh.

“I would rather die among the golden sands of my home fighting for my kin. It's better than fighting and dying in a foreign land for a foreign Empress.” Skavi replied calmly.

“Our lands do not deserve you Skavi. If only we treated the youth of this generation better.” Count Uxtaul said with a sigh as his mind wandered to the corruption of the courts. That was part of the reason he decided to take this faraway post. Count Uxtaul could think of no worse fate than hiding in that cesspit while his home was swallowed by the dead.

Finally the two of them arrived at his private room. Count Uxtaul opened the door to see a figure facing the window. The figure was a female lizardkin and she was dressed in ornate gold armour. She was wearing some of the finest wargear Count Uxtaul had ever seen. He could see a pair of ornate rapiers at her waist and he saw the large pink fins on the side of her head.

“Count Uxtaul, a pleasure.” the pink scaled lizardkin said as she turned around revealing a pair a eyes the shade of sterling silver. “Who are you?” Count Uxtaul asked as he approached. He could sense her power, though she was most likely an intruder Count Uxtaul knew if she wanted him dead there was little he could do to stop it. Having been a soldier he knew how to gauge an opponent's power and this woman was far beyond anything he has ever encountered.

“Have you noticed that this building was rather empty?” the mysterious woman said offhandedly as she leaned against the wall and stared at him.

“We are undermanned, I instructed the servants to dispense with the needless grandeur. Afterall we are all dead men, noble or beggar, we all die the same.” Count Uxtaul replied calmly as he shifted his gaze to the table before him that was plated with some rather simple offerings of food.

“Rather simple fare for a commander.” the woman mused as she gazed at the four plates of food.

“Four is the minimum by protocol, so I had one plate filled with plain bread.” Count Uxtaul said as he approached the woman.

“May I know who you are? It is poor manners for us to speak any further without any proper introductions.” Count Uxtual said as he stopped in front of the pink scaled lizardkin. He knew she has somehow ensured no one would be nearby to eavesdrop. But still knowing the manpower shortage Count Uxtual imagines that it shouldn’t be that hard to arrange such an outcome.

“House?” the woman asked.

“I thought you would know what house I am from considering you are the one that sought me out.” Count Uxtual said.

“I do not care about your blood house, I care only about the one that matters.” the woman replied as she narrowed her eyes.

“Ah, I see you follow the old ways. Forgive me, few follow the old ways in recent years.” Count Uxtual said as he placed his hand over his heart.

“Glory to the House of War.” Count Uxtual said and in response the woman smiled.

“Hallowed are its Halls.” the woman replied as she held her hand over her heart.

“Good, you will do.” the woman said as she reached into her pocket and held out a medallion.

Count Uxtual froze the moment he saw that medallion. Any Lizardkin would know that medallion, long ago there was an order of knights that served the Goddess Mahaila. This was their symbol. Legends said that back then even the Emperor of Zarima would have to give respect and consideration to the knights of the goddess of war.

“It’s for you.” the woman said as she offered him the medallion.

“Is this truly alright? My companion…” Count Uxtual began but stopped once he turned around to see Skavi frozen in place like a statue.

“A simple spell, the less your son knows the better.” the woman said.

“You know?” Count Uxtual asked taken aback.

“I know more than you could possibly imagine.” the woman said as she put the medallion into his hand.

“You who was sent to die, do you have the strength to live?” the woman asked her silver gaze threatening to pierce right through him.

“What do you want?” Count Uxtual asked as he narrowed his eyes. Something was very wrong, but given the current situation it could hardly get much worse all things considered. The only reason there hasn’t been out right rebellion was that even a successful rebellion would just waste precious resources, resources they do not have.

“The old legends say the goddess of war will return to the golden sands when the hour is darkest.” the woman said as she took a step back after handing him the medallion.

“Now returned she has, and once again the goddess has need of the loyal and virtuous to stand with her against the coming darkness. This land is corrupt and the rot must be scoured from its festering flesh.” the woman said.

“And you require me to be part of this? You speak of rebellion.” Count Uxtual said, although he held no love for the crown he needed to be sure that this woman truly held the key to salvation.

“Look to the medallion, it will tell you when and where we will meet again. Your four fellows already have their own medallions. You all have a choice, you can all continue to serve the Emperor with no empire and die a dogs death. Or you can stand with Zarima and remind the world of the jewel of the golden sands.

We bear the blood of the dragons, we will not go quietly into the dark.” the woman said as she took another step back into the shadow and Count Uxtual saw her form start to shimmer.

Glory to the House of War

Hallowed are its halls…