Chapter 85: Inevitable

“Every battle is won before it is ever fought.”

• Sun Tzu

 

All of Kazar and its surroundings had gathered to see the troops leave. Men, women and children covered the entire plaza in a sea of humanity. They hid every balustrade and adorned every window. The great press of folks stared at Viv, standing before her pulpit, with laser focus. The silence was deafening.

There were almost four thousand people gathered here. Kazarans old and new, refugees and mountain tribes. An Yries detachment waited by one of their converted drills while the Hadals stuck to the roof like strange growths, faces hooded and blades hidden. A squad of heavies formed a superfluous cordon near the town hall entrance where she stood now. Witch-pact marksmen hung back, face veiled over their brand-new uniforms. The white and gold of Neriad reflected the light of the noon sun in the distance, near their temple, with the handful of nobles on their warhorses. Everyone had come.

By her side, the representatives of every faction waited in grim silence for her to begin.

“Right.”

//Your Grace?

Viv almost jumped in surprise.

//I would like to say a few words.

She opened her mouth. Closed it again.

//Please.

//It is quite important.

//We have waited to do this for too long.

//We can wait no longer.

//And it must come from us, not from you.

“Solfis?”

//Please.

//Trust me.

“Well, sure, if you insist. Sound enchantment?”

//That will not be necessary.

The golem took a few steps forward and when he spoke, his alien, organic snarl filled the entire plaza and the streets beyond. It was loud and very, very clear.

//People of Kazar, hear me.

//I, the last defender of Harrak, will speak now.

//You have seen me many times, but you have seen a golem.

//I am more than just a normal golem.

//My name is Solfis.

//I was made by my master Irlefen in Harrak almost six hundred years ago.

//And I remember.

//I remember everything.

The golem walked softly over the ground, his gaunt frame towering over even the most massive of heavies. He shifted and adjusted his balance in a dance that Viv knew was pure affectation, and yet the show of humanity soothed the gathering. They knew Solfis. They had seen him fight by their side. They had seen him drag creatures that could slaughter whole villages out of the heart of the forest, distributing the boon of meat to the needy. He was no longer an alien being, but an ancient and mysterious protector. A benevolent ancestor.

A local god.

//Once upon a time, Harrak was a flourishing civilization ranging from the marches of Halluria to the Far Sea.

//Imperial couples ruled over ten million souls from atop the Great Ziggurat.

//They ruled with an iron fist, but they ruled justly.

//It was a nation where the grandson of a roadmender could become a baron and a baron, a slave, on their own merits.

//Men and women could grasp the stars through skill and effort.

//Life bloomed from the great forests of the north to the fertile southern plains.

//The land behind you was covered in orchards and wheat fields as far as the eye could see.

//While north of here, men and women pulled ore from the belly of the earth so that every laborer could wield iron tools.

Solfis stopped, spine bent as if overwhelmed by memories. Viv was no longer sure of anything.

//But Harrak died.

//I was there, and I remember.

//All the living fell, the life stolen from them.

//The land perished.

//And the purple blooms of Harrakan roses turned to ash under my fingers.

//It only took an instant.

Silence.

//My master fell from his garden chair.

//I could not wake him up.

//I tried everything.

More silence. People didn’t even dare to breathe.

//I fought the undead.

//I fought for three hundred years, until the last drop of mana from the last salvaged core could no longer sustain me.

//I fought over the corpse of this great nation, knowing it would amount to nothing, in the end.

//I was doomed.

//And the memories of Irlefen were doomed with me.

Another long pause.

//But then, I was found by a young outlander lost in a world of gray.

//She dragged my core through the desert, over a month.

//Step by step with the strength of her arms.

//I believed again.

//And I was right.

//Because I found you.

Solfis straightened and spread his arms with sinister benevolence.

//It may seem like the nation I served has perished.

//But I tell you now, Harrak is not a population, or a land.

//Harrak is an idea.

//And ideas are immortal.

//So long as there is one left who carries them.

//I am Solfis, and I remember everything.

//And now, you too, remember.

//You remember the techniques and laws your ancestors developed.

//But more importantly, you remember the mentality that turned Param into a beacon of civilization.

//United and powerful.

//You remember.

//You will pick up this flame and turn it into a great inferno.

//You will revive what was once lost.

//The lands of Harrak will be green again.

//We will reclaim it from the deadlands.

//And we will make. It. OURS!

Kazar roared. The mountain roared. The deep bellow rolled over the hills like a great sonorous tide and with it, it carried the rarest meaning mankind could achieve: unity of purpose.

//Harrakans, are you ready to reclaim your legacy?

“Yes!”

//THEN KNEEL.

//Do you swear to become citizens of Harrak, to uphold its laws, and to stand against its foes?

There was an indistinctive roar of approval from the kneeling crowd. The words varied but the intent was clear.

//Do you swear to obey your rightful rulers, to fulfill your duties, to rejoice together in times of fortune and stand side by side in times of need?

//Do you swear to follow the Heiress to the Throne as she leads you in battle against the invaders?

The cold claws of inevitability grasped Viv’s chest as thousands of eyes turned to her. She was in the spotlight. She could not move. The crowd was galvanized and primal. They recognized her, the one who had guided them through the desert and brought them back with steel in their fists. They knew who she was, what she had done, what she could still do, and they approved. They howled that approval to her now and the sound of so many throats jolted her like a slap, but she didn’t dare to move. The point of no return had been crossed a long time ago.

//Then I, Solfis, recognize you as such.

//INDUCTION PROTOCOL ENGAGED.

//CHANGE ‘KAZARAN’ STATUS TO ‘HARRAKAN CITIZEN’.

//CHANGE ‘MOUNTAIN TRIBE’ STATUS TO ‘HARRAKAN CITIZEN’.

//CONDITIONS FULFILLED.

//CHANGE ACCEPTED.

//NEW IMPERIAL SETTLEMENTS RECOGNIZED.

//CAPITAL STATUS TRANSFERRED TO KAZAR.

//RISE, CITIZENS OF HARRAK.

Ban met Viv’s eyes as he grabbed a flag, unfolding it with ceremony. It showed a white pyramid inside of a circle over a field of black. It had been planned all along. More flags were raised by soldiers, unfolded from windows. She had seen those flags before in history books, the symbol of a fallen nation now flying again. Funny how things tended to repeat themselves.

//HARRAK ETERNAL!

“Harrak Eternal!”

//CITIZEN, THE CITY IS UNDER THREAT.

//TO ARMS, HARRAKANS.

//WE MARCH.

The newly-minted citizens rushed to their houses to grab their spears and makeshift armors. Every trained militia joined down to the last shoemaker, soon merging with the ordered lines of regulars, then the hooting squads of Yries crossbowmen pushing their war machines. The torrent of people walked in massive, disciplined columns into the Deadshield Woods, and where they tread, the beasts and monsters fled for their lives.

***

The Enorians crashed into the clearing like waves upon the shore. Talan stood upright and unbending because the others needed to see him that way, but the youngest member of the squad just sat on the grass where he was.

“Stand up Salz, this ain’t a picnic,” corporal Regor said.

“Sorry sir, just… one moment please.”

It wasn’t technically insubordination so the corporal let it go. They were all exhausted. Ten days through hell, the last three spent going as fast as possible or risk running out of water again. Over a hundred fatalities. Dozens of casualties, some of them still unable to fight properly because of debilitating injuries. By some miracle, Massine had kept everyone alive and going after the loss of Ereon, but only barely. A professional army had left Anelton to restore order, but it was a mob that now spread over the open ground in squad-based clumps, exhausted, hurt, dirty, but alive. And they had done it. Kazar was within walking distance. They could get there tonight if they forced it, but the powers-that-be would most likely declare the rest of the afternoon to be a resting time.

“Dinner can’t come soon enough,” someone said

“Don’t let your guard down now. This is the largest camping spot since the fucking butterflies. I would be surprised if there were no traps,” the corporals answered, vigilant.

The earth casters were using their remaining mana sparingly, testing the ground for traps and circles. Who knew what other nasties the witch had in store? Talan surveyed the land. The edge of the forest stood a hundred paces away across a field of wildflowers. The ubiquitous black mana tree-things popped here and there, defacing the land and reminding them of her horrifying presence. To his left, the road went on. The army was still spilling forward like a water leak, blue tabards stained and all weapons out despite the fatigue. They were ready for anything, Talan thought.

The meadow was eerily still. The outer squad advanced with sluggish speed across the grass, testing the ground for pitfalls and finding none. The earth mage kept chucking charged stones across the land to find hidden circles or magical constructs. Again, nothing. It was far too good to be true. Far too good.

An order to stay put came from behind. Talan agreed wholeheartedly, his vision filled with images of pinpoint bombardments or other shenanigans. They still hadn’t seen any of the elite, except the assassin who failed to escape. The witch had something planned, for sure. He looked back and saw the royal carriage entering the valley in all its majesty. Massive and intimidating, it could anchor any formation with its powerful enchantments. The soldiers milled before and after it, wary, unsure of which calamity would be unleashed upon them this time.

Talan almost missed it, when the sculptures melted. He didn’t know why he turned back precisely at that moment, only that he didn’t trust the forest. His inspection skill guided his eyes with divine providence, searching, finding nothing, until…

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