-Chapter 1, Is this the end?

  “Honor is a fickle thing; it is an invisible currency that is valued only by those who claim to carry it. Yet the ones who value it the most, are often the first to deem it worthless”

  -Unknown soldier, year 1274 A.S. (After Sundering)

  The ground bucked and heaved underneath the armored feet of Androlis Maxon, the violence of the motion nearly enough to send him sprawling to the ground. Planting the but of his spear and leaning heavily on it, he managed to maintain his balance. His breathing was deep and heavy as he took a moment to lean against his spear, taking what time he could to recover. A screeching roar was the signal to he and his remaining soldiers that their brief moment of respite was over, quickly followed by a form leaping through the many jagged gaps of the estates wall.

  The creature was the size of a cart, shaped like a hound and covered in scales with two lengthy and barbed whip-like tails. Soldiers bearing the silver and bronze colors of his family moved to intercept the creature, yet it simply leaped over. Its twin tails lashed out as it sailed over them, the barbs lashing the neck of a soldier who went down gurgling.

  Androlis gritted his teeth and raised his already bent and damaged shield and waited for the creature to reach him. His ‘blood manipulation’ skill would have been enough for him to save the soldier, to keep him from bleeding out until someone with a more dedicated healing skill arrived. However, he simply did not have the energy to spare on such an endeavor, especially not with the Lieshgon barreling down on him.

  Timing his movements, Androlis thrust his shield forward to catch the lieshgon’s momentum, the creature's sheer weight enough his feet scraped backwards against the stone for over a meter. Snarling and acting faster than the creature, Androlis charged his spear with his skill ‘retaliation’ and punched an arm thick hole straight through the creature's chest. A pained cry escaped its throat, and it thrashed weakly, not realizing it was already dead.

  Androlis withdrew his spear and resumed leaning against it, still breathing hard and grimacing at the energy expense. The eight remaining soldiers spread out in the damaged courtyard of his family's modest estate were all in similar states. Two had moved towards the fallen man and attempted to help him stop the bleeding, but it was already too late.

  He glanced around, noting the nearly destroyed wall and through the gaps and entirely missing sections he could see the city. It was not faring much better than his home, entire sectors nothing more than piles of rubble and corpses. The sounds of battle echoed throughout the air, shouts of pain and war mixed with the screeching and roars of creatures similar to what lay dead next to him.

  Despite the sheer size of his home city of Venilar and it being nearly a thousand kilometers from one side to the next, Androlis has no issue seeing the truly colossal creature that rampaged towards the city center. The thing of terrifying proportions had the rough appearance of a dragon, that is if a dragon was the size of a mountain with multiple heads, dozens of legs and long bone spikes instead of wings.

  His mind worked overtime as he struggled to come up with a solution to the situation that they were all in, all while continuing to wrestle down the guilt. Unfortunately, the only answer he had that could lead to them surviving longer than a glass was a full retreat and evacuation. Perhaps if they could gather a large enough force from the other city states, it could be possible to come back and take back what remained of Venilar.

  “Fall back!” he called out to his eight remaining soldiers and gestured towards the modest manor that stood partially damaged in the center of the ruined courtyard. Too tired to argue, they all fell in behind him as he jogged to the front doors.

  Pushing the well made wooden door, Androlis held it open just enough for his soldiers to make their way inside before he shoved it closed. He slapped his hand onto a barely visible glyph carved into the frame and in no time, two thick metal bars slid in place over the entrance. With a sigh of relief, he turned to assess the physical and mental state of his soldiers, yet he barely got a glimpse of most of them either sitting or leaning against the walls.

  The only one besides himself who wasn’t sitting or leaning was perhaps his most trusted sergeant, who was currently holding his blade up towards Androlis's neck. He locked eyes with Sergeant Rollins and could see the man was just as exhausted as the rest of them, yet the rage that filled the man's eyes is what currently fueled him to act.

  "This is all your fault Commander” Rollins growled out his teeth grinding in the process and the rest of the soldiers looking up and over at the altercation.

  Androlis couldn't help but notice that not a single one of them actually moved to defend him or stop Rollins, and he couldn’t blame them, or Rollins.

  “You led us all into that den of death. Your pride and your hunger for glory blinding you to the risk’s” Rollins spat out the blade inching closer to Androlis’s neck. “Everyone tried to warn you, to explain to you the risks and what could be the consequences if it didn't work. Yet you still did not listen, even with those of us you claim to trust the utmost.”

  Androlis made no move to keep away from the blade or show any hint of defending himself. Instead he merely met the rage filled gaze of his most trusted sergeant with his own, nothing but guilt and shame the only things that could be seen within his steel gray eyes.

  “Look at what you caused,” Rollins continued, “Look at where we are now, most of the force is dead, the city is being destroyed and a hells blasted corruptor is free and rampaging everything it sees.” His tone only grew in volume as he spoke, the final parts practically shouted.

  All eyes were now on Androlis after Rollins tirade and more than a few of them held a similar resentment as the facts were laid about. Androlis did not blame them, and nor could he for he fully agreed. Everything that was happening in the current moment, everything that has been happening for the past half day was entirely his own fault.

  “You are absolutely correct Sergeant Rollins” He said after a long moment, his tone soft and somber. “All of this death, all of this destruction was my doing, and even if I were to live a hundred lifetimes it would not be enough time in order for me to atone for what I have done today”

  His blatant confession seemed to catch Rollins by surprise as his blade lowered slightly and the rage simmering in his eyes dulled to also reflect a hint of confusion.

  “I let my pride cloud my judgment today and everyone else has been paying the toll. I let arrogance guide my actions into believing I could be the hero who changed the world, to make it brighter for the future.” Androlis stated, a small smile crossing his lips at the last part, a hint of wistfulness in it before it faded completely. “The events of today will forever be my sins to bear, and mine alone. Yet my goals have not changed, I seek to make this world brighter and as much as I agree that I deserve it, may you please lower your blade so that I may at least attempt to atone for my sins.”

  He never let his gaze waver away from Rollins so that the man he was placed all his trust in for the past two decades could see the heavy guilt held within his eyes, as well as the conviction to do better. The two men stared at each other all while the ground continued to shudder, and the walls trembled. Long moments passed with neither one of them wavering until Rollins slowly lowered the blade to be held back down by his side.

  “I doubt there could be anything you could do that could bring me to forgive you Commander” Rollins began, his tone more calm and steady, “However, if there has been one thing I have learned about you in the years we served together is that you are a man of your word. If you are standing before me claiming that you seek nothing more than to atone and fix your mistakes, then there is little that can make me doubt your conviction to the task.”

  Androlis let out a heavy sigh as he finally let his gaze lower to the floor as he fiddled with the straps on his shield, ensuring they were tight. E He had honestly thought Rollins was going to skewer him right then and there but he would not waste this opportunity to fix things.

  “I don’t have much of a plan that can let us pull a victory out of the abyss” He started as he picked up his spear from where he leaned it against the wall to close the door. “Truthfully, the only option I see for us to have any chance of reclaiming Venilar and minimizing future deaths is to make a full withdrawal. Once we have regrouped we could work to put together a much larger force as well as gathering higher ranked champions. We will need a massive and powerful army in order to deal with all of this.”

  Rollins was nodding along but still frowned and said “Something like that may work if the only issue was the monsters, but you set loose one of the Forsaken Corruptors of all things. It will take the direct efforts of the creator or some of its direct champions to possibly be able to handle such a threat.” Some of the man's anger had leaked back into his voice as he spoke and Androlis was honestly surprised the man had even calmed down at all. “Honestly the only thing that I think would actually succeed in saving everyone is returning to this morning and beating some sense into you, Commander”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  Even with the current situation Androlis couldn’t help but smile and chuckle softly at how brazen Rollins usually was with him. His soft laughter died on his lips as his eyes went wide, an idea blooming in his tired mind.

  “Rollins you brilliant man!” Androlis exclaimed before rushing past all of them and towards the stairs bounding up them.

  They all rushed after him, confused and shouting questions but his mid journeyman body had him up the stairs to the next floor. He was already shooting down the hallway before the rest of them were climbing the stairs. Not bothering to stop, Androlis crashed through the door of his old bedroom, uncaring of the splinters and chunks that chewed into his old bed. With a slight grunt of effort, he grabbed the side of said bed and heaved it up and across the room to slam into the wall.

  Rollins and the rest came pouring into the room in time to see him smash his fist through a section of the floor and tear it up. Reaching down he retrieved a small box barely large enough to hold a pair of boots and simply dumped it out. Papers, loose coins and trinkets tumbled back into the hole he created until he cried out “I knew it!” and snatched an object out of the air as it fell.

  He turned around and triumphantly, as well as carefully, held up a chipped and ancient looking stone tablet. Rollins glanced between the piece of stone and the face of his commander who gazed at it as if it were the most important object the world has ever known.

  “This” he said softly and finally looking up, “This is what I believe is the key to solving everything and ensuring today and future days like this will never happen.”

  That declaration got Rollins and everyone's attention, them all taking a second look at the ancient stone. They could all see there was writing engraved into one side half of it being standard, while the rest was something none of them have ever seen. Being the closest, enough to read the portion in standard, Rollins read out loud.

  “Whomever holds the Tablet of Return, shall possess the power of true return. Infuse the tablet with both power and desire, and you shall return to a previous destination.”

  He looked up at Androlis with confusion, not quite understanding how a teleportation artifact will save everyone or do anything he just claimed it could.

  “How is this going to solve anything?” he asked, some heat returning to his tone, part of him wondering if Androlis was seeking to escape.

  “This is the tablet of Return” Androlis gleefully answered looking back down at the item, “This was one of the first artifacts I discovered early in my adventuring days, and the first one I found in the ruins of the Primelorn of old.” Rollins' eyes grew wide at hearing its origin but still held some doubt, waiting for his commander to continue speaking.

  “I kept it close thinking it would just make for a good escape item in case of a true emergency or dire situation” Androlis explained ignoring the fact that Rollins tightened his grip on his blade and tensed. “However it was what you said that gave me the idea to return to stop me.”

  Rollins loosened his grip as he began to understand what Androlis was trying to explain, “You don’t mean…” he trailed off as Androlis excitedly nodded, “You mean to tell me, you believe this old piece of stone can perform the highest levels of magic, that even our greatest mages can’t achieve, and send you back in time?”

  “What I believe is that there is a chance” Androlis answered, confidence the only thing that could be detected in his tone as he ran his hands over the rough stone surface. “This tablet specifies a return to a previous destination. It doesn’t say anything about that being just a place. There is the possibility that it could be a previous destination in time as well.”

  The look on Rollins' face indicated he didn't feel as hopeful about this theory as Androlis did, yet after a long tense moment where he stared hard into his eyes, he sighed and shook his head.

  “Only you can make something so ridiculous sound possible” He chuckled softly then looked up while rubbing his face. “What's the plan Commander?”

  Androlis smiled at the level of trust Rollins was still willing to place within him but got down to business. “If all goes well the plan is simple, I will activate the tablet and return to the past where I will change events in order for the events of today to never occur” He explained with a shrug. “If it doesn’t work, we use my family's tunnels in order to escape the city where we should be able to make contact with the remaining companies as well as city states. With that we should be able to amass an army large enough that even a Corrupter won't stand a chance”

  Rollins nodded at his words but soon asked, “What day will you be returning to?”

  Androlis opened his mouth to answer but paused, realizing he hadn't thought about that and took a moment to figure out when would be the best day. The choice he found to be easier than he thought when he actually thought about and confidently answered with “The day of my choosing. That will give me sufficient time to prepare, as well as giving me the opportunity to choose different skills and build my power better”

  Rollins nodded after a moment of thinking it over and even the remaining soldiers shared glances and looks of approval. “I can see the logic behind that Commander, but what about the rest of us? One thing that comes to mind is most of us will be nothing more than infants or children.” Rollins said, his eyes going wide, “Will any of us keep our memories?”

  Androlis could only shrug, “I’m not entirely confident I will end up keeping all of my own” He started looking back down at the tablet and he added, “Something tells me I should, at least most of them at least. However even if none of you do I will do everything in my power to seek you all out and find a way to get them back to you”

  “I suppose that is reasonable enough” Rollins sighed, “Then you should know that I grew up in Hook City, and joined the allied forces right after my choosing. It shouldn't be hard to find me from there.”

  One by one the other soldiers spoke up, explaining where they all grew up, what their full family name was and a general direction of their life. It was a good deal of information to be all at once but Androlis had no issue committing it to memory with his mid Journeyman mind.

  “I swear on my name as a son of house Maxon, I will find you all. I am truly sorry for what my actions have unleashed today, what I allowed my pride to do. Thank you for allowing me this chance to atone for my sins on this day.” Androlis opened up to them all, looking each and everyone of them in the eye. He wanted to go on, to truly explain to them how proud he was of them and how he felt no greater honor than serving with those as loyal and trustworthy as them.

  He didn’t get the chance to continue as there was a violent crash that shook the entire house, nearly tossing some to the floor. Echoing screeching cries filled the air and Rollins looked at each of the soldiers, receiving a nod from each of them before he stared hard at Androlis. “Fix this Commander” he stated firmly and gave a quick salute that was mirrored by the others. Without any other word, they all charged back out the room and down the hallway.

  With a sad smile at the men and women he was proud to call his soldiers, Androlis wasted no time in pouring his power into the tablet the day of his choosing planted firmly in his mind. He started to read the second phrase of the tablet, his voice seemingly able to perfectly pronounce each syllable the instant his desire to read it was confirmed.

  Power flooded throughout his body, circulating into and back out of the tablet as each alien word passed his lips. Each word felt as if his ability to speak came slower, his mouth struggling to form the syllables with each passing one, yet he pressed on. He finished the first line of five, his body locking up as the force of the magical energy coursing through him seizing up his muscles and yet he still spoke.

  Shouts of battle and cries of pain both human and creature echoed back up the hallway and into the room as soldiers and scaled monsters clashed at the top of the stairs. Androlis dared not to let himself get distracted feeling the tablet's magic only increasing in potency and he finished the second line and started on the third. A strangled scream filled the hallway, and he forced himself to focus on the tablet, on the words that passed his lips, words that came slower and slower. The fourth line began as the screams of humans only increased, ones of pain mixed with rage fueled by determination.

  The air around him hummed and vibrated with unknown magical energy as it poured out of the table to surround him, shimmering and thrumming. As the fourth line finished, Androlis instinctively knew he had reached the point of no return. He would either finish reading, or the magical backlash would be enough to level the city and its surrounding area. There was a small part of him that entertained the idea of letting that happen, after all he wouldn't need to return to the past if the corruptor and the majority of its minions were vaporized. He mentally shook his head and began to read the fifth and final line.

  Magical energy of the likes he had never felt before twisted and warped the air around him forming a shimmering bubble. More cries of pain and yelps of agony filled the hallway and Androlis could only watch as his soldiers were cut down one at a time. One of the larger scaled creatures broke past the remaining two, only for one of them to leap on top of it. The soldier roared in fury and pain as he embedded his broken sword into the beast's hide only to be dragged down the hallway with it. The creature charged towards Androlis all while the soldier clinging to its back and yanking a dagger from his belt to sink it into the creature's gut.

  Screaming in rage the soldier stabbed the creature repeatedly, needling his small blade in and out of its softer, more vulnerable flesh all while it dragged his bleeding body down the hall and towards the room. The creature's steps slowed with each stab, its legs finally giving out at the threshold and it collapsed. Yanking his blade free from its back, the soldier let out one final victorious cry and buried the broken blade into the creature's head.

  The soldier was drenched in blood, wounds crossing themselves across his body as he climbed off the creature's body. It was obvious they were in an immense amount of pain, yet he stood proud and tall as he looked towards Androlis. Blood spurted from their mouth as the soldier slammed his fist into his chest in a perfect salute. As the final word of the fifth line tumbled from his lips, Androlis strained his body and pushed through the magic that held him in place returning the salute.

  The final image burned into his mind was the pride of that soldier as the light faded from their eyes, yet their body refused to fall. Androlis vowed that he would find them all and ensure their sacrifice will never be forgotten. His vows made, and the sight of the soldier's body in front of him, Androlis tried to brace for what came next when everything simply ceased to be.