The Dark Path (39 page)

“Does he still live?”

“I believe so. He still rules over them.”

“We shall have to change that, but not today. There are things I must complete first.”

“You would go up against them all?” Shingami's tone actually held disbelief.

“No.” Gen turned to look down at Shingami. “You will. I will give you the tools you need. Nothing more.”

“Why would you help me with my vengeance?” Shingami finally met his gaze.

“That man ordered my father's death.” Gen's eyes burned with hatred. “I've long ago forgiven the one that carried out the act.” Shingami felt his body grow cold.

“Thank you.” Shingami paused a second and bowed.

“Come to me in a month. I will give you the tools then. Until that time, do not mention it.” Gen turned back to face forward. The group was just coming up over the hill. When he stood atop it, Gen raised his fist and the army came to a halt. Gen dismounted and chanted a few words of a far-sight spell. The figures lined up before the temple sprang into view. They all appeared to him as Meeka. They all held their various weapons but each had her face and figure under the armor. Gen ended the spell and shifted into magic view. He saw the complex web that extended out in a sphere from the temple to end a short distance in front of him. He turned and motioned to Thomas. Thomas came to him.

“I'm going to go ahead. When I reach the gates, march the army in full speed to attack the enemy. Send two sections to come around to outflank them. Make sure that none escape.” Gen turned back again and began to walk away.

“What do you mean you are going to go ahead? There are five thousand troops there!”

“Look at them closely and tell me what you see.” Gen's voice sent chills down Thomas' spine. He had never heard his friend more angry. He turned quickly and chanted the same spell Gen had used moments ago. He ended the spell as blood rushed from his face. “They are all Marcus.”

“Then I'm sure you can figure out who they appear to be to me,” Gen said through clenched teeth. Gen didn't wait for Thomas to respond. He took the few steps to the border of the spell. Reaching up, he turned the backs of his hands together and pushed them through the spell. He grabbed the weave of the magic and pulled apart. His gauntlets started to glow red with heat.

Gen screamed in rage and tore again at the weave. His gauntlets were white hot when the spell ripped open. A sickening sound echoed through the valley. All the mages, save for Gen, fell to their knees. Thomas had felt like the magic inside of him had screamed in agony. He had never felt anything like that before, and never wanted to again.

The spell before them exploded outward. Gen began chanting again in words that again sounded impossible to speak. The chanting went on a long time and Thomas wondered how it seemed that Gen didn't take a breath throughout it. Out in front of Gen, a small dark sphere appeared and began growing. Thomas stared at it in confusion. It was darker than the night sky. Gen chanted till it was twice his size then motioned with both hands and the sphere began to glide, gently, down the hill toward the enemy. Gen walked after it calmly. Thomas watched in confusion till the sphere touched the first line of the army. He heard the screams and saw with enhanced vision that everything the sphere touched vanished into it. Gen walked behind as it slowly erased a path through the center of the army. As the enemy tried to circle around and close up behind the sphere, Gen motioned with his hands and the sphere flew forward at lightning speed. It erased a path clear through the temple before Gen ended the spell. Over a thousand enemy solders had just been taken out, simply erased. Gen walked on calmly toward the tower. A few soldiers attacked him. Gen was a blur as he drew his sword each time and killed the enemy with a fluid motion. After the tenth such kill, the soldiers stopped attacking. When Gen had reached the entrance his sphere had made in the temple, Thomas turned and ordered the army to march. Thomas then went with Marcus to join the groups manning the siege engines. This was going to be a slaughter.

Gen walked through the entrance he had made and looked up. He cursed under his breath. The sphere had erased the stairs leading up. The center of the tower was hollow. The only floor inside was the top floor. Gen stood under the stairs and bent his legs. He jumped and just managed to hang on the bottom step. He pulled himself up and began the long ascent to the top.

Thomas watched from the siege engine set up on the top of the distant hill as the two armies collided. He was right. It was slaughter. Thomas had ordered the engines not be used until necessary. The undead troops marched stoically through the Eremians, methodically killing as they closed in on the center. Thomas had vomited so much that he thought there was no way he could have anything else in his stomach. Beth walked up beside him.

“I'm going to go help him.” Her tone offered no chance of argument.

“How will you get through the troops?”

“Easy. I won't go through them.” Beth turned to face him. “Slap me.” Her tone was calm but she had clenched her teeth.

“What? Why would I slap you?”

“Your mother was a whore.” She spat on his face.

“My mother was a kind and gentle lady.” He wiped the spit from his face.

“Slap me!” She screamed at him.

“No!” He screamed back. He felt his anger growing.

“I saw Marcus with another man yesterday behind the greenhouse,” Beth taunted.

“You lie!” Thomas was seething. Before he knew it, he had grabbed her and slapped both of her cheeks red. Beth lay her head back and screamed as her skin turned red and the scales grew once more. Her left hand returned to a claw. She reached up and pulled her robes off. Thomas jumped back as wings tore through her back. She reached out when all was through and grabbed the front of his robes. She pulled him close to face her.

“Next time don't take so long.” She kissed him on the forehead and leaped away from him. Her wings unfolded and she flew semi-straight over the troops.

Thomas vomited again as the adrenaline pumping through him dumped to his stomach. He forced himself to turn and watch the battle once more.

Gen climbed the marble steps slowly. His enemy knew he was coming so there was no reason to hurry. There were no windows in this part of the tower. The white marble walls lit the inside of the tower with a faint white light. Gen could feel the presence of the god of ambition watching him here in his temple. Gen smirked. He wondered who had the greater ambition here today, him or his enemy.

Eventually the stairs ended in a large iron-bound door. Gen reached up and knocked with the back of his right hand. The sound echoed through the large empty tower. The door opened slowly on well oiled hinges. Gen walked through into grand living quarters. The center of the room had been cleared of any obstacles. Aaron stood in the center of the room. He wore the armor of an Eremian general. The only thing out of place was that Aaron wielded a hand and a half sword instead of the gladius.

“I see you've finally come home.” Aaron's voice grated on Gen's nerves. Gen had shifted his vision as he entered the room but he could see no spells active other than the ones on Aaron's armor and weapon. They were basic spells of protection. Gen smirked at the rough weave of them. They looked as though a child had cast them. The hairs on the back of Gen's neck stood up and he instinctively dove to the side. A small ball of fire bounced off the shield on his left arm. The ball had come from behind him.

“So that is the game,” Gen said a hint of anger in his voice.

“This is my game. My rules. My playing field. I'm afraid you will not live through the day.” Aaron's tone was mocking.

“You are forgetting something,” Gen said quietly.

“Oh? What am I forgetting?”

“No one says I have to play by your rules.” Gen suddenly vanished from the room. Aaron looked all around from where his illusions hid him. He cursed under his breath. Where had he gone? He wasn't using another illusion. He stepped toward the center of the room and fell to his knees in pain. It felt as if his soul were being ripped from his chest. Gen stood directly behind Aaron though not exactly in the same plane of existence. He was in the shadow world, the land of the dead. His right hand was embedded into Aaron's heart and he was ripping toward him. He knew that Aaron was helpless back in the tower. Gen didn't have time to waste playing games with his enemies anymore. He was so sick of playing fair to the enemy. Gen ripped Aaron's soul free and held it out before him. The soul looked at Gen with sheer terror in its eyes.

“I win,” Gen said and with his bare hands ripped Aaron's soul to shreds. He made sure that Aaron would not pass on to any of the other worlds. He would not be able to come back as another form. He stepped back through the barrier and into the tower room. Aaron's body lay in a heap on the floor. Gen drew his katana and with a clean slice severed Aaron's head from his body. He picked up the head and walked to the door. As he was crossing the doorway, he felt a presence at the window.

“It's already done. Follow me if you must,” Gen said without looking back.

“Yes, Master,” Beth's voice returned to him. Gen walked down the steps. He hoped the battle would be over soon. He had other enemies to kill yet today. When Gen walked back outside, bodies covered the ground. It looked as if almost every Eremian was slain. He looked over and saw that the only fighting left was over to his right. A circle of undead surrounded a lone Eremian soldier. The soldier swung a war-hammer again and again. Each swing crushed the skull of an undead. Each undead he destroyed fell to be replaced by another. Gen commanded a halt. All the undead stopped instantly. The soldier destroyed a few more before he realized they were no longer attacking him. He stood leaning on the handle of the hammer and panted. Gen silently ordered the undead and they parted to give him a clear path to the soldier. The Eremian looked to be in his early forties. He was missing one eye. The wound appeared to be recent. When Gen entered the circle of undead, the soldier wearily picked up his hammer once more.

“I guess this is it then,” the soldier said sadly. He saluted Gen then stood at the ready. Gen tossed Aaron's head at the soldier. The man caught it deftly and turned it around to see who it was. When he recognized his general, he looked back up to Gen.

“Take the head and go home to Eremia. I will send some soldiers with you to make sure you make the journey. Tell your leaders there that they are to send no more soldiers into this land. If they do, I will add them to my army.” Gen ordered a hundred undead to travel with the soldier and protect him till he arrived at Eremia. With that said, he turned and started to walk off. The soldier called out and stopped him.

“Why would you spare me?” The soldier called.

“Think more on how you are going to live your life now. You fought here with honor but you should have left with Peleus. Now leave before I change my mind.” Gen walked away from the soldier and back up the hill to where he knew Thomas waited. When he arrived, he stood quietly beside his friend. Beth stood off to the side and gazed down upon the battle field. Her wings flexed impatiently.

“Is it done?” Thomas asked quietly.

“Aaron is no more.”

“That isn't what I asked.”

“No, it is not done. I must go to a cave southwest of here. That is where she is.”

“We will go with you then.” Thomas reached up to put a hand on Gen's shoulder. He found that he couldn't grip it though. It was like a force covered Gen and wouldn't let his hand get closer than a hand-span away.

“Take the students and return to the Schola. Show them around and tell them how things are done here. Offer them the chance to stay and be taught. I will be back before the dawn.” Gen walked over and mounted his horse once more. He rode silently away. Beth followed without comment, the blades in her claws appearing and disappearing absently.

“Have you ever seen spells like those he cast today?” Marcus asked from beside Thomas.

“No. The books at the Schola cover nothing like what he has done today.” He turned to face his love. “What did you feel when he broke that illusion spell earlier?”

“I felt as if my soul cried out in terror.” Marcus' brow furrowed in a deep frown.

“I've seen Gen undo a spell before. I didn't think that you could rip one apart.” Thomas shivered. “I thank the gods that I am his friend. I can't think of anyone that could stand against him now.”

“He will come back Thomas. Have faith in him.” Marcus put his arm around Thomas.

“I know he will come back. That's not what worries me. I'm worried who he will be when he returns.” Thomas gave Marcus a quick hug then pulled away. “Come, let us do what he said.” Thomas turned and walked over to the nearest group of Gen's students.

When Gen arrived north of the cave, he saw the dragon waiting on him.

“I take it that victory was yours?”

“He is no more.” Gen's tone was flat.

“What took you so long?”

“He was inside the temple. I had to go to him. Sorry you had to wait.” Gen reached up and scratched the jaw of the huge dragon's skull. “What news of the cave?”

“The dragon is a black one, fairly young. I didn't recognize him. I don't believe he saw me. He sits at the entrance to the cave waiting for you I would guess.”

“I don't have time to deal with him. Do you think you can take care of him on your own?”