A man emerged from his tower onto his balcony, where two men already stood. The man looked over the balcony, overlooking the small fortification. All that looked at him saw only His mask a fusion of angel and demon, twisted into one. Beside him followed two men, one massive, wielding an axe so massive it blurred the line between blade and bludgeon, and the other smaller, carrying nothing. All of them were clad in dark robes, the fabric swirling in a blend of black and grey. As he gazed outward, he saw the mountain split into two perfect lines beneath him.One stretching to the left and the other to the right, as if the land itself had been cleaved apart. His tower stood at the peak of a greater mountain, where the two lines met, overlooking the divided earth below.

  As he looked down at the army, they appeared like an ant colony, their dark-greyish outfits blending together. The man in the mask began to speak louder. A small, robed figure moved to stand beside him, raising a hand and tracing a slow circle in the air. The wind began to stir, growing stronger, and with it, the man’s words were carried down to the people below.

  ’Where were the gods when we cried out for salvation? Our people ravaged by sickness, bandits roaming free, and beasts and fiends slaughtering our loved ones—all while our gods merely listened, as if our suffering were music to them.′

  ’But no more.’

  ’I will bring back those we have lost an usher into a new age of peace, as prophesied through the ages. We will ascend to the heavens and drag the gods down to the earth, so they may taste the torment we endured. We will take their place and become gods worthy of worship.’

  ’They will beg for the mercy we never received. They will plead, revolt, and fight back, but we will be ready.’

  ’We are the new sons of the mountain kings; the sky giants who fell before their vision could be realized. Now, we rise!′

  Below, the army assumed a prayer-like stance, forming a sideways T with their arms. Their right arms pressed against the middle of their left, while their left hands curled into tilted fists aimed at their foreheads.

  The man turned around, looking at the men that followed him onto the balcony. ’Get the Judgement Executioners into action. It’s time to have him here.’ The two men put their hands against their own eyes, three fingers touching their foreheads, then left the room, leaving the man alone. He looked at nine candles burning, except for one. He walked toward it and placed his hand on the unlit candle.You will be missed.

  Out of the forest, Morsan spoke first. ′I will see you at Iringrit. Bring news of our success and take Methussun to my order for the end he deserves.’

  We could say nothing. Even Albaras did not laugh. He just stared down at his hands.

  Rederick was the only one who dared to move. He placed a hand on Morsan.

  ′Death does not only take the wicked. Sometimes the good leave this world far earlier than those who deserve it. I can feel your pain. The only thing we can do for those we have lost is to take their goodness, absorb it in a way, and carry it forward in their name.′

  Morsan didn’t say anything, maybe he couldn’t. He rode off not even saying goodbye. We let our bodies rest after the tension that had gripped us in the woods. Now in the open where we can safely observe everything. Rederick turned around.Take one final look at the blazing forest. The fire that started from the village was now slowly spreading to the trees. Methussun’s last fire, his spirit burning away the remaining corruption in there.

  Kian looked at all the sadness around him. ’We need to get going. If we don’t move ahead, we’ll get stuck in-’

  ‘Down!’ Rederick screamed, interrupting Kian. His sudden voice startling him. Without thinking, Kian turned toward Rederick. Albaras was looking up at him, confused. Rederick pulled his shield in front of him.

  An arrow whistled almost as if it cut through time, striking Albaras in the back of his neck. He fell to the ground without any resistance. Someone emerged from the woods, an orange glow flickering in his eyes, the only thing visible in the darkness of his cloak.

  ‘Ah, to be expected. Disappointing,’ the man said as he started to run towards us.

  Before any of us could react, another arrow flew, striking Rederick’s shield.

  ’Kid, get out of here!’ he shouted.

  Kianwanted to turn his horse around. But something stopped him from moving. The cloaked man rushed toward Kian, his gaze fixed on the glowing substance forming at the fingertip of them man, pointing straight at Kian. Before anything could happen, Before anything could happen, Rederick charged him on his horse. The man barely managed to touch the horse’s armor before he was thrown back, his handprint remained corroded into the metal.

  Another arrow shot forward, piercing Rederick’s horse in the eye. The beast fell down taking Rederick with him.

  Albaras stood up, turning to face the man. Let the laugh begin, thought Kian. He looked directly at him yet there was nothing.

  Rederick grunted from the ground, ’Kid, go.’

  The cloaked figure got up as if the impact of the horse had done nothing, moving toward Kian once again. Before he could point his finger again, Albaras charged the man. The attacker sidestepped as Albaras swung a fist towards him while drawing his sword with the other, but the man dodged and reached for Albaras hand, trying to stop him from unsheathing his sword. Albaras reacted to it with a headbutt. He hit the figure, who refused to let go of Albaras’s hand, smiling in response after the headbutt.

  Kian could only watch as suddenly Rederick stood before him’I said, go.’ he yelled. ′What about you?′ Kian asks as he looked at the arrows sticking into his back and shield, they were not there a moment ago.Rederick slapped the horse forcing it to move as. Kian tried to halt it for a moment or thought he did as his was just frozen in place. His horse rode off as Kian looked back, looking at Rederick falling to the ground as a massive frame had thrown him into the air.

  Albaras grabbed the man’s hand with his own. Yanking it toward its owner. A wet, sickening crack rang out as bone pierced through the skin, the fingers pointed now at the man himself. A spray of white liquid burst from the bone, splattering against Albaras’ armor. The metal sizzled as it corroded.

  If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

  The man smiled. ’This is fun,’ he said while looking at his hand.He disengaged. ’How long ago had you some fun? Albaras.’ he said teasingly.

  Albaras drew his sword. ’Who said I had ever fun’. Before Albarascould strike, a massive figure emerged in sight. Cloaked in darkness, it seized Albaras sword arm, prying his fingers apart with terrifying ease. With its other hand, it plucked the bat-sword from his grasp as if it were weightless hurling it aside.

  Snarling, Albaras drove his free hand into the giant’s frame. It staggered back a step, then let out a loud, playful laugh.

  With a single motion, it grabbed a piece of its cloak at the shoulder and ripped it free. The fabric billowed into the air, only for an arrow to slice through it mid-air, pinning it to the ground before the wind could claim it.

  Beneath the cloak stood a muscular woman, her body wrapped in tattered cloth and jagged scraps of armor. Her wild red hair whipped in the wind, framing a face lit with playful innocence and bloodlust. She laughed: a sound both teasing and hungry for violence.

  Albaras responded with an uppercut to her chin, sending the enormous woman staggering backward. He advanced as she tried to regain her balance with a laugh.

  Meanwhile, the man with glowing eyes took aim at Albaras’s helmet, mimicking the same motion he had made at Kian. A white liquid shot from his finger like an arrow, striking Albaras’s helmet putting a dent in it. Enough force to break the bones underneath the armor.

  Albaras reflexively jerked his helmet away from the hit as if flowing with the blow. The woman charged in, pulling out a massive sword. One that was larger than herself. The handle alone was as big as her arm. Its guard was a circular, leaf-like barrier, tall and slender. Its edges curved outward, mimicking the organic shapes of nature. A central ridge ran along its length like a spine, culminating in a raised, polished dome that caught the light. Around it, delicate knotwork spiraled outward.

  She struck Albaras in a blind spot, the blow slamming into his helmet and sending him crashing to the ground meters away from where he had stood.

  The woman looked toward the cloaked man as he straightened his hand. The white liquid that had splashed earlier now coated the torn flesh, sizzling as it melted itself back together. When the liquid vanished, burn marks remained across his wrist, dark and raw like scorched veins.

  ’He could’ve given me some fun.’ Why step in?′ said the orange-eyed man.

  ’If you think you can have the battle to yourself and savor it, you’re wrong. I won’t let you feast alone.’ The woman retorted with a smile, challenging him.

  The man snarled. ′Always disappointing, working with you. Why can’t you be more like Kelvanya? Holding back, stepping in only when needed, so I can have it my way.′

  An arrow flew past and struck the ground. The man picked it up and read the message aloud: ’Follow the kids, idiots,’ the woman laughed, putting her sword back and hiding her frame beneath the cloak. Both began whistle with two horses appearing from the woods one that was massive with the color brown with white while the smaller one was completely black. They mounted up and rode off, following Kian’s trail.

  ′Rederick, get up. They’re gone.′

  Rederick pushed himself from the ground. ’I got Kian to leave,’ Rederick said. ‘He made it out,’ Albaras continued, as if finishing the sentence′Now we need to move as soon as we can.′

  ′Why aren’t we dead, Albaras? Why did they leave as soon as we hit the dirt?′ Rederick said as he removed some ribbons to put around the arrows on his back like a lasso and pull them out one by one.

  ′Not important enough, most likely.′ Albaras retorted. For some reason they want the boy.’

  ’You mean Kian.’ Rederick said. ’For a long time you know his name and you still call him boy.’

  Albaras turned to Rederick. ’He hasn’t lived long enough to earn a name.’

  They both looked around in silence not wanting to continue pushing each other at least Rederick didn’t he went to his horse. It lay on the ground, whimpering, an arrow still stuck through its eye socket. Emachigo, Albaras’s horse, stood further away, spooked but unharmed. Albaras began walking toward him just as another arrow flew. He raised his hand, catching it. Albaras took a look at the arrow as Rederick pulled the arrow out of his horse, eye with it.

  A cloaked figure approached, wearing a cloak nearly identical to Kian’s, its colors blending seamlessly with the surroundings.

  ′Listen first, before you do anything existence,′ the figure said.

  Rederick tried to circle behind her slowly, just as Albaras began speaking.

  ′Why should we listen to the one that tried to put us under with arrows?′

  ′We only need to the kid just for a moment.′ She removed her hood, revealing a blond-haired woman with eyes like frozen glass deep blue.

  As Rederick moved to close the gap, she spun and fired an arrow at the ground in front of his feet. He stopped instantly. Her gaze met his, and he felt a chill crawl down his spine. Almost as if Albaras was trying to make it look like he spared her life.

  ′Alright then,′ Albaras said, adjusting his stance with hands in the air. ′Let’s talk.′

  Rederick kept his sword aimed towards the women. While Albaras sheathed his. She aimed her bow at Albaras, even though he was disarmed.I would have done the same, but how did she know to target him over me?

  Her cold glaze went over. That boy is needed by the new lord. Just temporary. We need him since they have the same connection to the aethereal plane. To reach the gods. To turn them human. To let them be punished for all the evil they let pass.

  ’The gods? You people want to reach the gods.’ Rederick said. Keeping his mouth shut before his mind reeled off to something offending.

  Her eyes swept over to me. Leaving Albaras into a blind spot. ’The gods have taken from all of us, and we want it back or take something from them.’ Albaras spoke up now, ’You cannot deal with the gods, they are just like devils only then from upstairs. Don’t try to take a boy with you for something that can never happen.’

  The women looked back at Albaras. ’What deal did you make? We can make sure it come true this time. It is just one boy. We are not even making a deal. Don’t you want to see the gods beg for mercy as so many others did for them.’

  For the first time Rederick heard any kind of real emotion in Albaras voice. ′You will not take the boy for dreams that will never be.Do not steal innocence to use it for your own.I know what you are. It is what we be, what we will ever be. Demons made flesh, like in forbidden times, ages ago when the sky was closer to us.Killers who can never go home, for we have forbidden its existence by our actions.No one could ever understand what we’ve seen, what we’ve done, believing it to be our right, even though something deep within us tells us otherwise. We are the Ever-Walkers. Never stopping never finding.We only continue.′

  She closed her eyes for a second.′That means you’re against it, then.′ Slowly, she walked backward, step by step, toward the forest. ′You people will see, the boy will overcome nothing. In the end you will be wrong.′

  Rederick looked atAlbaras. His eyes locked onto her.Then the laugh began.

  In the open woods, there was no echo, no tree or leaf to catch it. It didn’t bounce; it spread. Upward to the heavens. Down into hell. A sound like a virus.

  Before the laugh could reach her, she had already loosed three arrows.Albaras stopped the arrows with his arm as it penetrated it.He walked towards her as he moved his other arm over the other arrows to knock them off.

  Rederick took this chance. Closed the distance. Ready to tackle her.

  She turned as if feeling a presence creeping up on her blindspot. An arrow hitting Rederick’s shoulder. It pierced his armor, it was lucky it didn’t go deep.

  Rederick reached her, slamming into her and tackling her to the ground.In that time She stabbed an arrow into a gap in Rederick’s armor. The pain hit hard spreading fast as it was gone. It was enough to loosen the grip, she slipped away in the tumble down.Using the arrow to push Rederick out of the way. Moving out of the way making as fast a gap between herself and Albaras laugh.

  She backed off fast, loosing several arrows at Albaras. None of them landed as intended. Albaras didn’t even needed to put his hand to block it it was as if the laugh made the arrows fly off.

  Then the laugh reached her. The moment it did, she froze— Even those dead eyes was looking like it had fear. SheWhistled for her horse, out of the forest a Brown horse came out in blue cloth. She swung onto it, and rode west without looking back.

  ’Get up.’ Albaras said. ’We need to go fast.’

  ′Albaras, I can’t move. Go, protect Kian get him home safe.′ Rederick could not move a muscle in his body the armor was too heavy everything felt too heavy. He could only feel his eyes. ′Bring him back Albi.′

  ’Don’t you worry. She will lead me to them, and I will get him back.’Albaras rode away while I could only lay down.