Execution

The events of the Light of Death SAGA all come together to a climax. Watch as the various plots and manipulations end in an all out war between two factions, one of might and one of magic.

Inquisitor Zane sat at his study, his brow furrowed as he stared at the five onyx pendants in front of him. A bead of sweat ran down his right temple, his teeth clenched, he needed to figure this out, and he knew he was close. He eyed the pendants, bringing his hand up and releasing a dark spell from his fingertips, the spell connecting to the pendants, his last desperate attempt.

He felt himself getting closer, his spell connecting to the sinister energy behind the onyx pendants. He grinned, would he be the first to do it? The first Inquisitor to commune with her? He felt a rush of magic course through his body, as the pendants reacted to his actions, levitating and spinning around him. He was close, he could feel it, so damn close..

“So, this is how the Inquisitors of the Martial Dominion compose themselves.” Zane’s concentration was broken as he heard a rather familiar voice. “Pathetic.” The voice made his skin crawl, he knew this man, and he didn’t know why he was here. 

Slowly he lowered his spell, feeling the pendants fall to the ground. He glared and turned to the man who had distracted him. “Pixis.” Zane glared at the bald man, eyeing his straight stature. He noted the man’s red robes, similar to Zane’s. He eyed him curiously, “You wear the robes of an Inquisitor now? Did you join?” 

The bald man laughed, shaking his head, “Join the Inquisitors? Become like you? No.” He stood straight, his hands behind his back, left hand behind the right. “I am part of something greater.” He walked forward a few steps, noticing Zane’s reaction. He smiled, “What’s the matter? Is that how you greet your cousin?”

Zane stepped back, grabbing his staff. His eyes darted down to the onyx pendants on the ground, as he quickly used a levitation spell to lift the pendants and grab them, placing them behind his back. He eyed Pixis cautiously, “Why are you here, Pixis?” 

Pixis eyed Zane, his right hand clenching into a fist. His body tensed, but he let out a sigh, feeling his body relax. He smiled, “To start a war.”

“A war?” Zane felt a bead of sweat fall down his face, “It’s you! You’re the one who’s been planting these.. These artifacts. For what? Misdirection? To pit two nations against each other?” He clenched his staff tightly, feeling his body tensed as he glared at the bald man. He began to cast a spell, his teeth grating, “You call yourself my cousin? You are a monster! Do you know how many people could die?!” 

The next few seconds seemed impossibly fast. Pixis stood at Zane’s side with his fist dug into Zane’s stomach. The Inquisitor felt a surge of pain he couldn’t describe, like his insides were being torn apart from within. Pixis leaned in to whisper into Zane’s ear, “The Goddess of Death demands it. Thank you for doing your part. Cousin.” 

Zane fell to the ground, his vision fading. The last thing he saw was a man behind Pixis wearing an Arcane Republic robe. 

--

Nathes and Val took one last look at Val’s hometown. They had somber looks on their faces, knowing very well that this may be the last time they ever see this town. They stood hand in hand, reflecting on their future. 

“We should get moving.” Nathes said, tugging on Val’s hand as he looked toward their carriage. “The quicker we get there the better, I think.” 

Val gave him a nod, “Ok.” She looked at the town one last time, frowning and letting out a sigh. “Let’s go.” 

They both turn to leave - until they head the screaming start. They both instantly turn back, scanning the town. Nathes clenched his fists, “There’s no way the Martial Dominion is already attacking, right?”

Val eyed the town with a look of terror, “No. It’s..”” She stammered with her words, “This is magic. I’ve never felt anything like this before.” She clenched her fists, her eyes wide as she looked at the town.

Nathes eyed her curiously, “Magic?” He looked back at the town then back to Val, the look of horror on her face brought him chills. He took a breath then looked back at the town, “We should take a look.” He gave Val a reassuring nod, “Come on!” 

--

Chaos. The only word that could describe how the camp felt to General Tiberious. He watched as his men panicked, many of them falling to their grounds and retching on the floor. He looked around with confusion on his face, listening to the screams of his soldiers. 

Many bodies littered the floor as Tiberious felt a strong urge to cough. He brought a hand to his mouth, his eyes scanning for any hint on what was going on. Then, he saw the bodies twitch and stand. 

He eyed them cautiously, “Soldiers! Report!” He yelled, noticing the odd way the bodies moved. They turned to face him slowly, their skin pale, their eyes white. He unsheathed his sword, this is necromancy! He thought to himself, knowing well its effects on the human body. 

The zombies lunged toward Tiberious, but he quickly cut them down with skilled swings of his sword. He grit his teeth, noticing that the entire camp was locked in combat, the dead versus the living. Tiberious coughed, feeling his lungs heavy. 

He made his way to the living soldiers, “Regroup! Form a defensive line on me!” He commanded as the men instantly responded to his command. Together the living soldiers struck down wave after wave of their comrades, hearing the unholy sounds of their deaths fill the air. 

Tiberious scanned the area until 5 figures caught his attention. They wore different colored robes, with the unmistakable insignia of the Arcane Republic on each of their robes. He glared at the mages, “You!” He accused, “You did this!” 

One of the mages, a man who had a hunched stance, lifted his hand up, releasing a torrent of energy, causing Tiberious and his men to crumble to the ground. He looked up at the five mages, each wore a different color from the various Arcane Republic mage factions. His brows tightened, sweat building on his face as he got back on his feet.

“Soldiers! Kill these traitors!” His voice boomed as his men stood, he charged, only to be met with a force of magic that pushed him back. The hunched man let off a grin, his face covered by his hooded robes, yet his putrid teeth were visible. Tiberious felt his body weaken as he tried to get back up, his soldiers also struggling to get up. 

The group of mages turned and walked away, leaving Tiberious and his men to their fate. Tiberious felt hopeless, but he wouldn’t stagger. He slowly stood, feeling adrenaline spiking through his body as he picked up his sword and eyed the zombie horde approaching. 

“Soldiers! Today, we fight off these evil mages. We will make it through this, we will live to have our revenge!” He let off a roar, as the remaining soldiers stood to their feet, weapons ready. “For the Martial Dominion!” 

The group let off a unified roar of defiance, charging at the zombies. Tiberious grabbed a nearby torch, setting the ground on fire and kicking the undead to the growing fire. He noticed they died quickly when struck by flames. “Burn it all, burn this whole place to the ground!” 

The command brought Tiberious a sense of bittersweetness, but he knew it was the right choice. This camp was meant to be their forward operating base in this war, but now all that mattered was survival. The men worked on using the nearby lit torches to burn the camp down, throwing the zombies against the raging flames. 

---

Val and Nathes arrived into town, the sounds of screaming and panic filled the air. Nathes unsheathed his sword and Val mentally prepared her spells. They stepped into the town, alert, cautious.

Several zombies appeared and lunged themselves at the two. They worked as a team, Nathes holding them back with his sword and Val finishing them off with various spells. They stepped further into the town, watching as many of the citizens ran. 

Nathes took a deep breath, calming himself. He turned to Val and saw the look of dread on her face. Tears falling from her eyes. She looked at Nathes, “Who did this?” Her voice shaky, “I’ll make them pay!” 

She walked forward, her fists clenched as fire swirled around her hands. She began to throw fire spells left and right, cleansing the town of the zombies. Nathes watched, desperate. His eyes darted left and right, scanning for any possible sign of the cause of this. He shook his head, right now what mattered was cleansing the town. “Let’s kill these zombies!”

---

Pixis stood, his arms behind his back, eyeing the chaos. He wore no emotion on his face, only a stoic expression. Lythan on the other hand stood to his side, his hunched figure shrouded in a blue Arcane Republic robe. He had a wicked grin, enjoying the chaos. The two stood in silence, no words were exchanged between them.

To their left and right stood three other individuals, their faces shrouded by the hooded robes. Pixis narrowed his eyes, surely this is what she wanted. It’s what she showed him. This would lead to war, one step closer to freeing her. “Our job is done here. Let us go.” He said, turning and walking off. 

The rest of the group followed Pixis without a word, Lythan however stood behind, relishing in his work. He wondered if they’d be smart enough to know the Onyx Pendants were enchanted with a plague virus. Regardless, he impressed himself. The fun would end soon, though, so Lythan turned and followed his comrades in death away from the area.

---

The town was soon cleansed of all zombies. Val let off an exhausted sigh, falling to her knees as she looked around. She still had no answers, no explanation on why this happened. Nathes stood beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder. No words needed to be exchanged, they both felt the same thing.

His eyes darted to the hillside where he saw the burning Martial Dominion Camp. He frowned, wondering if they were hit by the virus too. He had friends there, not many, but he did consider some of the men there worthy of his friendship. 

He looked down at Val, who sobbed quietly. “Let’s bury the dead.” He said softly, moving to pick up the dead bodies and place them in a pile. His mind occupied, wondering who would do such an evil act.

Val looked at Nathes, frowning. “Whoever did this is a powerful mage. Maybe the Martial Dominion is right, maybe there are Necromancers in the Arcane Republic. But why? Why destroy a small village? For what?” She shook her head, looking around. She closed her eyes and concentrated, scanning for any lingering sources of magic.

She found something, an odd lingering sense of magic that she couldn’t quite understand. She focused on it, walking towards it as Nathes watched her. He followed her in silence, not wanting to interrupt her concentration. 

The trail of magic led her into a nearby tavern, straight to the attic, where she found an Onyx Pendant. She scanned it, “Isn’t this what the Martial Dominion was looking for before?” She turned, looking at Nathes.

He eyed the pendant, “Yes.” He clenched his fists, was the Inquisitor doing something good here? “Looks like they missed some. What do you see in it?”

She scanned it long and hard, “I’m not sure, but I sense dark magic here.” She shuddered, feeling sick just touching the stone. “I need to investigate this further.”

“Is it safe?” Nathes asked, concern on his face. 

“Yes. The spell in it has already been consumed.” Val eyed it, “Come, I have much to research. We will find out who is responsible for this!”

---

General Tiberious lay on the ground, exhausted. He lost many men, most of his men. He leaned against what stood of a wooden building, most of it burnt to ash. His eyes scanned the area as his lungs worked to keep him alive. 

He felt his raspy voice come in and out, slowly. He felt weak, like death was approaching, but an unrelenting anger churned inside of him. He refused to die, he needed to figure out who did this and why.

As he started to feel himself drift he saw an approaching group of soldiers. Martial Dominion? He looked closely and saw the imposing black armor of the Weapon and Combat Masters. He smiled, they’re here. He wouldn’t die without telling him what they saw.

It felt slow, he saw them approach, hopping off their horses and walking towards him. Several Lightbringers rushed to his side. He felt their holy magic enter his body, cleansing his body of his wounds. He still felt weak, but he wouldn’t doze off, not yet.

“General Tiberious.” The voice was confident and strong. 

Tiberious looked up at the man, “Weapon Master Xandiv.” He spoke through a raspy voice. He let off a cough, feeling the pull of death slowly leave as the Lightbringers healed him.

“What happened here?”

“We were betrayed by the Arcane Republic. I saw them do it. I don’t know how, or what they used - likely their cursed magic, but they turned our men into zombies. It took all we had to fight off the wretched creatures. Then they just left - I don’t know where they went.”

Xandiv eyed Tiberious cautiously. He looked around and scanned the area, looking at the burnt wooden camp. He then looked back at Tiberious, “You are absolutely certain it was the Arcane Republic?”

“Yes!” Tiberious growled, “They wore Arcane Republic robes! It was them! I saw it with my own eyes!” 

Xandiv gave him a nod. He turned to look out into the horizon, the outline of the Arcane Republic capital coming into view. “Then it’s war. The Military Governor will have it no other way.” 

Tiberious turned, following Xandiv’s view of the city. He let off a cough and closed his eyes. He did his part, now he rested, for soon he’d be back in battle.