Beyond?

“One may walk alone, one may fight alone, one may die alone, but one should never live alone.”

-Inscription on the statue at Tri's central square.

***Free City States of Nict, Tri***

***Azir***

“It still doesn't feel right. This army is like a gigantic formation made out of mindless monsters.” My mother complains at my side. Karsen, Stella and Louise are also here with me and I am glad that our friends decided to fight for us. We are watching the arriving enemy forces from the city walls of Tri.

We thought that our biggest problem would be handling the enemies if they split up. Tri is by no means a small city and even if it has city walls, manning all of them sufficiently is spreading our troops very thin in this case.

The round city wall has several layers which indicate the city's slow growth over the years. Each time the space got too crowded with buildings another layer was added and so the city grew slowly like an organic being.

If the southerners are smart, then they'll split up into small groups and try to break through the walls at several different positions at once.

But it doesn't look like they intend to do anything like that. Instead they are amassing their forces in front of our city. I would love to let my satellites fire some projectiles into their ranks, but we are running low. Our targets have to be carefully chosen in order to save up ammunition. There is also the fight at Penta where the Eddin might need the artillery.

“You are right, they are acting strange.” I have to admit that my mother is right. The enemy army is moving in absolute silence and without a single soldier out of line. Of course that's what you would expect from an army with highly trained soldiers. The problem is that our opponents aren't highly trained soldiers. Many of them are armed with pickaxes, scythes, shovels and sticks. Of course there are many soldiers with real weapons too, but a sizeable part of the enemy forces seems to consist out of peasants. At least thirty percent of their army are farmers. “I am sure those are civilians who were forced into service.”

“Yes, but no army with untrained elements can display such a cohesive movement.” Karsen objects vehemently, gesturing at the enemy troops. “They are all moving like a well oiled machine. It's like... it's like...” His expression darkens. “Can you control hundreds thousands of people with mind magic?”

I chew on my lip to distract my mind from the stunning display in front of us. “I don't know any reason against it and our foe displayed no qualms about using enslavement magic.”

“They are using the Master's Word. One of the old Emperor's artefacts! That must be the reason!” Stella concludes. “It fits the situation.”

If they are really controlling those people with enslavement magic, then we are in deep shit. I don't even want to think about what happens if they decide to overrun us. There is no way to stop a force like that without relying on them to break because of taking too many casualties.

My eyes wander over the fields which are located around Tri. Even if the enemies have spread their forces thin to avoid our artillery, they are still destroying the soil by marching over it.

“If only they weren't so passive; the waiting is killing me.” Varda complains. “Maybe we should throw the first stone?”

“We shouldn't throw the first stone. It's counterproductive in this case.” Karsen shakes his head. “Every second we can hold out brings the flying fortress a little closer to Penta. The fortress is too slow to count on moving it to Tri in time, but once the battle at Penta is decided we can move our forces to Tri. Once we can concentrate our forces this battle is as good as won.”

“Assuming we and Penta can hold that long.” I counter with a grim voice. “Originally I had hoped that they would lose a lot more people during their endeavour through our forests.” My plan of jumping right between the enemy army sounds really stupid right now. The armour should protect me, but there are simply too many enemies for me alone.

Fortunately I made quite a few improvements on my father's city while I was still helping him out from behind the scenes. Changing a few orders in written form wasn't a big deal.

And the best thing is, because of his dyslexia he only found out that I ordered the improvement of our defensive facilities after they were done. What can I say, I simply wanted to test if meddling with the city's affairs is possible.

“Something is happening!” Stella points at a big carriage which is being pulled in front of the enemy army. It's more like a big elevated platform. On top of it is a robed figure with huge black wings. The wings remind me of a certain person which welcomed me to this world. I cast a vision spell on myself to study the person in detail.

His face is pale and bony, while his eyes are just white marbles in his head. “That guy is is creepy.”

Suddenly he decides to speak, enhancing his voice with magic. His voice sounds loud and clearly audible across the distance between us and him. “Listen! People of Nict! The days of the Empire are returning! Lay down your weapons and accept the Master! He is the one true god you should listen to! Forsake your false beliefs and return to...”

I ignore the preaching of the figure and face the others instead. “Can I order an artillery strike?” It would take just a second and we are free of this annoying fellow.

Valda shakes her head. “Don't waste ammunition for someone who is only talking.”

Stella points at the winged figure. “But he is clearly one of those dark magicians. Is he not? We have a duty to free the world of people like him!”

“We'll fight them soon enough.” My mother answers, ending the argument.

“Let's talk about other stuff, listening to this guy is annoying. How are your kids doing?” Karsen asks.

Stella smiles. “Great! They are prodigies with outstanding magical talent! Just yesterday I was forced to seal their magic. They started using it subconsciously.” She says with a proud voice.

The practice of sealing a child's magic is very common under mages. Unlike adults a child can use magic instinctively, a skill which is lost with coming of age in many cases. While it's a very sought after skill for adults, having an emotionally unstable child which can cast spells on a whim is... a threat to the child and everyone around it. So sealing their abilities is a common way to keep them under control until they are mentally fit enough to wield their powers.

“Really? But aren't they just a few weeks old? Even the Siorda start to use their ability at the age of one at the earliest. You really have to look forward to being the parents of outstanding talents.” Karsen raises an eyebrow.

Something clicks in my head and I remember that Karsen's better half is missing. “Where is Talia? I was wondering why you two aren't together.”

“Pregnant.” Valda states with an emotionless voice.

“Really! Why don't I know anything about it?” Stella calls out.

My mother answers fast and precisely. “Because I grounded her. She isn't even officially in a relationship with Karsen and simply gets herself pregnant. Do you have an idea how that looks for our clan?”

Karsen loses his head. “I swear it was an accident! And I am trying everything to get my clan to allow me to marry into yours! I'll take responsibility!”

Valda shrugs her shoulders, not even looking in his direction. “Then do your best. As long as I don't have an official statement from your family she stays at home.”

Whoa, Mother is cruel.

“I have to visit her as soon as possible.” Stella comments the situation, commiserating with Talia. “My poor friend must be having a bad time.”

“That's the point of grounding someone!” My mother calls out.

I pat Karsen's back. “Don't worry. My Mom has a great heart, she won't execute Talia.”

“Execute?” Karsen pales.

“Though I can't guarantee for someone who doesn't belong to the clan. I would pay attention during the coming battle. She may miss her target and hit you instead with one of her spells. Don't turn your back on her.” I point out and smile.

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