Arcana Series - Hierophant

Kadish

Two weeks.

This is the total amount of time needed by both Sirza and Kadish to adjust their plans. With the recent attempt of Obelisk to take both of their kingdoms down, the warring kingdoms have created a kind of unspoken agreement between them. Both focusing their troops to march towards Obelisk which they would crush. All while still keeping a safe distance between them because, there was also a chance for this unspoken truce to be broken any time.

At that moment, General Lear Marcus marched with his troops. They have finally entered the borders of Obelisk and, unlike what they expected, there weren’t any soldiers who suddenly went for an ambush. Something which he found weird after the scouts reported that they saw activities of the Obelisk soldiers on those parts.

“Where are the soldiers that you spoke of?”

“They were definitely on these parts earlier sir.” The soldiers assured him.

“Is there a chance that they spotted you?”

“No sir. Even if they happen to be scouts, nobody could easily see through our Mist Cloak skill.” One of the scouts mentioned.

This got Lear thinking for a moment. All the soldiers stopped with their march momentarily as their general tried to connect the pieces of information on his head. The enemy soldiers have been reported to travel on foot, without any mounts. Yet he and his soldiers didn’t hear any movement when they closed in. Meaning, the said enemy soldiers probably moved out a few minutes after his scouts returned to make a report and, if this is the case, then there is one possible direction where the enemies have marched. Back to safer parts of Orin forest namely, parts closer to the kingdom of Obelisk.

“Okay that settles it men.” The general said, momentarily halting his horse as he faced his soldiers. “Our enemies couldn’t have gone far. We will continue marching forward and, as soon as we see any sign of life, we’re going to take it.”

The soldiers screamed a war cry. There was no use being secretive at that point because they were already in enemy territory. And with their numbers, it would be easy to detect them.

“Keep a sharp eye everyone. Remember, our enemies are making use of devils in their ranks. It won’t be that easy to take them down.” The general added. After all, the poor Kadishian soldiers who fell victim to these Obelisk devils weren’t even able to put up a fight. They were mercilessly massacred until the general himself came to dispose of the pests.

“But we aren’t easy to take down as well. Right?”

“YES SIR!” The soldiers all screamed

“We need to show Obelisk who it is that they are messing with. The other troops will reach us soon. But until then, we need to secure more lands. Do I make myself clear?”

“YES SIR!”

“Good. Now, onwards!”

At this command, the soldiers began marching forward again. They didn’t know how near the next camp of the enemies are but, Kadish isn’t known for taking things slowly. With the superior number of soldiers which gives them an advantage, they march on without fear. And, in no time at all, they finally found their first targets.

A group of soldiers who seem to not be expecting their appearance. There are fifteen of these in total. Not enough to pose any real threat.

The general didn’t waste any time and made his soldiers charge forward. With arrows being shot at the Obelisk soldiers as the general himself went in for the kill. Drawing his spear as he stabbed one of the soldiers with it. Yet something unexpected happened. Instead of his arm feeling flesh being pierced through, his spear seem to have met nothing but air – something explained as he looked at his target which turned into a thick cloud of smoke.

“What?”

The other soldiers encountered the same thing. With the general witnessing it all until, the whole battlefield got covered in the same smoke. One which thickened quickly as they felt a sudden gust of wind push even more smoke in their direction. And so, in less than five minutes, the general and his men have been placed in a situation where they had zero visibility. But general Lear thought that this would be fine.

“Huddle together men! They cannot kill us if we are close to each other!”

“Yes sir!” The soldiers said in unison as they proceeded to doing just this. Yet, this proved to be a flawed move on their part as they felt rain begin pouring down on them.

“Rain?” The general thought but, even before he could fully understand the danger that he was in, a strong lightning struck down.

This immediately spread from the general unto all of his troops. Taking them all down in a single strike as, the mist finally cleared out. Revealing three knights who had annoyed looks on their faces.

“It really did work as that kid said.” Nathan commented as the soldiers of Obelisk came out from the surroundings.

“Yeah. I hate to admit it but, everything about this is perfectly executed.” Helix added.

However, their victory was short lived because, in a few more seconds, general Lear stood up. Along with him are a couple other soldiers. This being done through the use of a barrier which was casted at the last second. Allowing Lear to shield himself and some of his men to a certain extent.

But Lear and his men needed to take off their helmets because, these have been heavily damaged by the lightning strikes. If another is casted over them, then the metal on their armor would simply amplify the damage even more and, the one part which they can’t afford to get double damage are their heads.

“You must be the knights of Obelisk.” Lear said, picking up his spear. “To use such an underhanded tactic as this, have you no shame?”

“You’re a general right? You should know full well that all is fair in war.” Nathan mentioned.

“Killing me and my men here would just increase the tension between our kingdoms more.” Lear commented. “Are you sure that you are making the right choice?”

“Now, who said anything about us killing you?” Helix had a grin form on his face.

At the mention of this, general Lear felt something sharp sting his neck. He then heard groans made by the soldiers who were still standing up at that time.

“What did you just do?” The general asked, beginning to feel groggy as his vision started dimming out.

“That’s a little something that our tactician prepared for all of you.” Nathan told him. “Sleeping needles as he calls it.”

Lear dropped to his knees. The other Kadishian soldiers have already fallen victim to this but, he refused to yield to the effects anytime soon. Forcing his body to get up once again. But as soon as he was back up, he felt another sting to his neck, increasing the effects he was experiencing at that moment.

“Like you said, killing you and your men will only increase the tension between our kingdoms more. So, that’s what we’ll be avoiding.” Helix said as Lear tried his best to adjust his eyes to what was happening. With the Obelisk soldiers finally coming closer as his unconscious men were being tied down one by one.

“You...will not...get away with this.”

“Look at you acting all tough.” Nathan commented. “I gotta admit, I would’ve loved fighting you myself but, that would mark us clearly as your enemies.”

With one final effort, Lear tried to get back up again. But as soon as this attempt became evident, he felt one last sting on his neck. Making it the last one as, the general finally fell to the effects. Dropping to the ground, with his consciousness fading completely as Azed made one last comment.

“You will be the bargaining chips that would restore our peace.”