Standing atop the fortress, Damian watched angrily as the battle unfolded. He found it increasingly difficult to control his temper, for this misfit army of children, woodsmen, and traitorous Laymen had annoyed him long enough. The time had come to end this war once and for all. But this time, he wouldn’t remain a spectator.
“May the power of the Realmsic Crystal burn you asunder,” he said, revealing it around his neck.
Placing both hands upon it, Damian meditated. Instantly he felt the energy emanating from the gemstone. Concentrating deeper, he followed the sensation as it vibrated through his fingers and palms, into his arms, legs, and torso. With each deep breath, he felt its magical fire rise within his being.
Quietly, before he was even aware of it, the crystal possessed him, filling his brain with rapid visions and images. The knowledge of millennia cascaded from the spiritual Under-Realm and overwhelmed his mind. Within only a few moments He’d seen it all, and had discovered the ultimate truth regarding the Realmsic Crystal.
Unexpectedly, he fell to the ground, clutching his head. Pain seared behind his eyes like fire. He tried to resist the will of the crystal, but it already had him. Like a predator, the power embraced him and refused to let go. Fear flooded his heart like tidewater. He tried to resist the feeling of drowning, but he no longer had control. His body ached. It was as if his soul was being infused with all the original terror that created the Realm’s energy. Curling into a fetal position, Damian convulsed in agony.
What’s going on? Why is this happening?
The answer came to him like a shot of lightning through darkness. The Realm’s energy was imbalanced, therefore the pressure needed to be released.
Using all of his strength, Damian crawled to the ledge of the fortress and painfully pulled himself up. Barely able to support his weight, he stood above the battle. He was only remotely aware of the tremendous bloodshed below. Outreaching a shaky hand, he slightly extended his index finger.
THOOOOOMMMMM!!!!
A solid streak of lightning exploded from his person and ripped across the battlefield. Every combatant within his vicinity was vaporized.
“Wooooo-hooooo!” Damian screamed in relief, for the intense pressure that built within his body had now been released.
“Victory will be mine!” he declared. Raising both hands into the sky, he fired two more continuous streams of lightning. Although it had nearly killed him, Damian had just mastered the power of the Realmsic Crystal. And now, it was time for King Maebus to die.
• • • • •
From amidst the battle, Maebus, Leoden and Kelm saw the lightning blast from atop the fortress.
“What was that?” Leoden asked.
“Just keep moving forward!” Maebus said, panting as they sprinted. “We have to get to him before it’s too—”
Damian suddenly bounded off the top of the fortress. They all halted in their tracks. Maebus watched in utter disbelief as the Warlord free-fell several hundred feet to the ground.
“No way!” Leoden exclaimed.
Maebus too was shocked beyond words, for surely defeating Damian wasn’t going to be this easy, was it? He saw the Warlord’s body impact the ground, accompanied by a heavy cloud of dirt and debris.
Kelm covered his mouth. “Did Damian just kill himself? Was the power of the crystal too much for his mind to control?”
“I don’t think anyone could’ve survived that fall,” Leoden answered.
Still, Maebus was doubtful, for he knew the Warlord did nothing without considerable calculation. Therefore, he focused on the area before them, scanning the dust cloud for any trace of life. Within its center, a figure emerged just as he’d suspected. They immediately saw its red glowing eyes as it stepped forward.
“Whoa!” Leoden blurted, for Damian hadn’t only survived the fall, he looked physically more powerful than before.
“It’s the crystal! He’s using its power,” Kelm stated.
At that moment, the Warlord charged at them. In a blur of speed, he cut across the battlefield before Maebus and the others could react.
“There you are!” Damian exclaimed, knocking Kelm and Leoden to the ground. Maebus swiped with his sword, but Damian caught the blade with his bare hands. Tossing the weapon aside, he grabbed Maebus’ neck and effortlessly lifted him off the ground.
“I’m a patient man. So, I knew this moment would eventually come,” the Warlord proclaimed. His face contorted demonically as he tightened his grip; slowly squeezing the life out of him. Punching and kicking, Maebus struggled to free himself. But he couldn’t breathe. His head felt increasingly dizzy as his surroundings grew dim. Desperately, he held on to consciousness, clinging to it as tightly as Damian clung on to him.
“Let him go!” he suddenly heard Leoden’s voice in the distance. He didn’t see the blow, but he felt Damian jerk forward as Leoden hit him. Maebus fell awkwardly to the ground. He screamed as paralyzing pain shot through his lower body. Intuitively, he cradled his leg. Undoubtedly, it was broken again.
Fighting through the agony, he saw Leoden and Kelm attacking the Warlord, trying to protect him. The young warrior swung wildly with his wood axe, as Kelm repeatedly fired hand-blasts.
“Annoying insects!” Damian bellowed, effortlessly slipping every blow. Dropping back several steps, he distanced himself from his attackers just enough to fire a shot of lightning at them. Neither Kelm or Leoden could dodge it in time. Maebus watched in horror as both screamed in pain and fell limply to the ground.
Beaming victoriously, Damian refocused upon him. Fearfully, the King inched backwards upon the ground as the Warlord crept closer. There was no margin for escape. Maebus’ leg was too badly damaged to run, and there were no weapons within his reach. Only nights ago, he’d dreamt of dying in battle, and now that dream would prove to be prophetic after all.
• • • • •
Consciousness slowly returned to Leoden. He wasn’t precisely sure how he ended up on the ground, or why his entire body ached terribly. The last thing he remembered was seeing a flash of light as he tried to protect the King...
The King!
Leoden rolled upon his side, trying to regain his bearings. Quickly, he scanned his surroundings. To his left, Kelm was knocked out cold; his arms and legs splayed upon the ground. To his right, he saw Maebus crawling away from Damian. The King looked injured and the Warlord was only a few yards from him. He strained with each inch he crawled; his gritted teeth and squinting eyes relayed his physical torment. Damian was gaining upon him, and there was no one available to intervene but Leoden himself.
The young warrior’s gut violently constricted, forcing his heart to rapidly race. Perhaps for the first time in his life, he was terrified. Though his entire body screamed for him to flee, there was but one tiny voice in his head encouraging him to stand and fight. Leoden chose to focus on that one. Perhaps it was from his years of Cyperan training, or perhaps it was something else, he didn’t know. But at that moment, it didn’t matter. He simply honed his attention towards it—blocking out the chaotic battle around him. He concentrated on the stillness within himself, searching for what his clan referred to as the warrior’s peace.
Mentally detaching from his surroundings, he tried to ignore the bedlam of war, and listen only to his internal instincts. It didn’t take long for his mind to fill with its familiar sensation.
He instantly recognized it; the tingling energy. For weeks, it had driven him mad during sleepless nights. It was present on the evening he fled his village. It guided him on the night he snuck into the castle and freed the King. And it was with him now on the battlefield, pulsating through his body. Leoden gave into the sensation. He freed his mind and trusted solely in the magical intuition that called to him.
Through the madness, all suddenly became clear. Underneath his armor, he felt the Mark of the First Wizards burning upon his back. Then, lost within a deep trance, possessed by a higher presence, Leoden stood up and took off running. His
actions were no longer his own. They were now that of the intuition that guided him.
• • • • •
This is it. This is how it’s going to end for me. Maebus fought against the thought, but at that moment, it was difficult to deny reality. Damian hovered over him like a hunter bearing down on his prey, grimacing.
His eyes illuminated from the power of the Realmsic Crystal, or perhaps from the anticipation of what would be his victory kill. He glowered upon Maebus, indulged in drunken pleasure. For Damian, nothing else seemed to exist in the world other than his desire for vengeance; not his Legion, nor his battle, nor Leoden who was sprinting across the field in their direction.
The Warlord was completely caught off guard as the young warrior grabbed a handful of his hair and yanked him backwards.
“Leoden!” Maebus bellowed.
“Get off me, you peasant!” Damian aggressively shoved him, but Leoden barely moved an inch. His eyes possessed a power that Maebus had never seen before. It was similar to that of Damian himself.
The Warlord couldn’t defend as Leoden grabbed his face and began draining the power of the crystal from his body.
“How is this happening?” Damian screamed.
As Leoden squeezed tighter, perhaps with all of his strength, his own body began to glow. The Warlord struggled against him. But the harder he fought, the weaker he grew.
“This isn’t happening!”
Maebus shielded his eyes as the auras of both persons shined brighter. Through squinted vision, he saw Damian’s face contort with rage as he tried to maintain control of the crystal.
“I cannot be defeated!” he proclaimed.
“I will never be defeated!”
The crystal’s energy burst from the Warlord, furiously expelling mystical light in every direction. Leoden was knocked backwards from the impact. Maebus pressed flat on the ground as a wave of power rippled above him.
Within a few moments, the magical light receded, bringing with it an eerie silence across the battlefield. Cautiously, Maebus lifted his head. To his surprise, Damian still stood defiantly, yet his entire body appeared to be frozen in stone.
“Leoden! Kelm!” Maebus called, wiping the tears from his eyes. The Cyperan was nowhere to be found, but he spotted the Wizard lying upon the ground several yards away. Though his leg agonized him, he crawled his way over to Kelm. Gently, he patted his friend’s face until the Wizard regained consciousness.
Kelm rose sluggishly to his knees. “W-What happened?”
Maebus tried to respond, but all basic senses had left him temporarily. Reeling from shock, the only thing he could do was point.
Kelm followed his direction and saw Damian encapsulated in solid stone. Not far from him, he also spotted the young warrior lying upon the dirt, unconscious.
“Go ... go ... to him,” Maebus forced the words.
Kelm pulled himself together and then carefully lifted Maebus, trying not to aggravate his leg. Together, they staggered over to the young warrior.
Kelm gently placed Maebus down next to him. “Leoden,” the King said, but received no reaction. “Leoden!” he called louder. At that moment, the Cyperan’s eyes blinked open.
“Can you hear me?” Maebus continued, gently rubbing his shoulder.
“Are you okay?” Kelm asked also.
Slowly Leoden nodded, “I ... I think so. But my head hurts. W-What ... what happened?”
Tears streamed down Maebus’ face and his voice trembled slightly as he said, “Leoden, you did it. You’ve just ended the war.”
The young warrior rubbed his temples. “I ... I’m not understanding you.”
“Don’t worry,” Kelm said to them both. “All will make sense in time.”
• • • • •
As Maebus spoke to Leoden, and the allied forces celebrated their victory, Kelm approached the stone remains of the Warlord Damian. He removed the Realmsic Crystal that still draped around his neck. For a long moment, he stood in quiet reflection, observing the tragic panoramic of magic and death surrounding them. Due to their bond with Damian, his Legionaries who weren’t killed in battle now shared his fate. For as far as the Wizard could see, his Legion of Warriors stretched beyond the fortress; their last actions captured forever like ancient sculptures.
At that moment, Kelm made a promise to himself. Never again would he allow the Realmsic Crystal to fall into the wrong hands. So help him, he’d see to it personally.
With the gemstone in hand, he listened to the victory songs of the Realmsic and allied forces. And, a few yards away, Maebus spoke gently to Leoden, helping him recount the last moments of the battle. The young man seemed to have no recollection of what had occurred, but he’d single-handedly defeated the Warlord Damian. Kelm, unable to hold back his smile, burst into laughter. For the prophecy had proven true. Leoden really was the Hero of Legend.
Chapter Sixty-One