BloodStar

A marching line of Heraklinos soldiers all outfitted in the same armor moved through a line of readiment outside the Sage Palace grounds. Each soldier from the Secutor Legion received a Sage Empire shield. The shields were tall and slender with a black onyx-like coating with a ki-made by-product from cursecraft.

Secutor stood with a shield in his hand, “So these are the legendary Sage shields? How do you have so many of them?”

Secutor’s counterpart, General Kublai, stood adjacent to Secutor and admired the shield, “The late Master Erika Sage practiced her cursecraft day-in and day-out. I think she knew the world was coming to a head of war, and she meant to be ready for it. However, she had no Master to teach her, so she tried to bridge the gap with sheer time spent practicing.”

Kublai sighed, “I’m not sure she would’ve ever reached the height of Mastery seen by the Sage Masters of old.” He chuckled and looked to the side at Secutor, “You think your Heraklinos Masters are powerful? They are nothing to the likes of a true curse Master. Imagine being able to cripple your opponent before they ever stepped foot on the battlefield. Summon their weakness at a whim. Increase your power at will. The Sage Masters of old only ever defeated themselves. They sacrificed too much.”

Secutor chuckled with Kublai, “And yet it was Master Jarek Heraklinos who ultimately brought Empress Victoria BloodStar to her knees.”

“Oh fine. We can agree that it took both Heraklinos and Sage Masters to end the previous war.” Kublai’s expression went from a pleasant demeanor to one reflecting the reality of their situation, “And yet here we are, without a Sage Master. How does this turn out for us?”

“For us? It means death. For Master and Lord Heraklinos… I’m afraid we won’t be around to see.” Secutor looked back to the shield silently.

Kublai took note and continued, “The surface is coated in a material that results from a by-product of cursecraft. As I was saying, Master Sage practiced so often that we had a veritable mountain of cursecraft waste. I would gather that no one alive knows how it works anymore though I can tell you that it does work somehow.”

“And just what does it do?”

Secutor took several feet back and held the shield up towards Kublai.

Kublai then fired a ki blast at the shield. Upon impact, instead of exploding, the ki blast disintegrating into a thousand harmless smaller ki particles that diffused away into the air.

Secutor looked at the thousands of particles as they drifted away like fireflies into the calm air, “Incredible. No explosion? Just diffusion back into the ambient air?”

Kublai smiled, “Precisely. A gentle way of de-arming an otherwise deadly attack. One has to wonder if the effect is a direct result somehow from Master Erika’s kind heart.”

Secutor slammed the shield into the ground planting it firmly so that it may stand on its own and then asked, “If this were a typical war, I’d be thrilled with this unique ability. As it is, I must ask. What does it do against bloodbending?”

“Nothing. Absolutely nothing.”

Secutor gave out a long sigh, “I see. In that case let us hope Xenia herself doesn’t come alone to finish us all at once.”

“Afraid of the big bad BloodStar? I never thought I’d hear a man who seeks death so fervently to be so afraid of it.” Kublai gave a wry smile at Secutor.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“No, Kublai. No. This is my first time in a very long time to venture out from the Heraklinos Palace on active duty. We royal guardsmen just want some action first. That’s all. And I’d quite like to try my hand against Xenia’s whipped pup before she kills us all.”

“Who? Nero?”

“Yes, Nero. That hulking oversized blowhard calls himself a Champion Gladiator, yet he only fights second and third-rate fighters from within his own empire. I tell you… I’d like to step into that ring and beat his tall ugly ass in front of his own people and his very own empress. That would put him in his rightful place.”

Kublai laughed at Secutor’s remarks, “You think you could wipe the floor with him, really?”

“No offense to my Lord’s strength, but Jacek is said to have beat him on the shores of the BloodStar Empire when he and Vega retrieved Peter from BloodStar Castle. I’ll admit Jacek is leagues stronger than me using his Perfect Warrior technique, but in base form… give me a break.” Secutor didn’t laugh or smirk after his comments, and he held his words with the weight of what he believed to be true.

Kublai cleared his throat, “Two considerations. One. Jacek was using a ki stone given to him by Erika I believe when he defeated Nero. Two. Nero is a BloodStar Immortal now, much more powerful than he was back then. You surely have accounted for these facts though, yes?”

“Oh yes, Kublai. I’ve accounted for both. And there’s nothing I’d love more than to make my Master’s job easier by killing Nero with my own hands, so he can focus on only killing Xenia. Something he’s done once before and will do once again.”

The two men looked on to their soldiers aligning themselves in columns and blocks in two different legions after receiving their shields.

Kublai began to speak; however, the blue sky overhead suddenly dimmed.

Both men turned their heads away from the palace and towards the city center several miles away.

The sky was actively darkening with more and more crimson red seeping into the sky as a small spinning ball began to swirl in the sky over the city.

As both men watched, thousands of small spinning vortexes of blood whirled up from the ground and through the sky as they fed into the rapidly growing BloodStar overhead.

Secutor frowned and grimaced, “She’s here.”

Kublai nodded, “And she’s already forming a BloodStar. BloodStar battle tactics 101.”

Secutor pat his friend on his shoulder, “Trust me. When she fights Master Heraklinos, she is going to need it.”

“Yes. I know Master Heraklinos fights with the will and the purpose to avenge Master Sage. I trust in him.” Kublai then turned his back to the BloodStar and faced Secutor, “In our work of readying the material to make these shields, we also came across one extraordinary stone in Master Sage’s inventory. It must have been made as a gift to Lord Heraklinos.”

Kublai unraveled a white cloth and revealed a glistening stone in the palm of his hand, “It is a ki stone. Just like the one Jacek used to defeat Nero on the shores of BloodStar Castle. Here. Take it. I will leave it to you as to whether to use it for yourself against Nero or somehow survive to gift it to your Master. The hour at which we discovered it was too late to arrange anything prior. It is in your hands now, Secutor.”

Secutor reached out and grabbed it. He looked at the stone as he moved it around in his hand feeling the warmth radiating off of it, “Thank you, old friend. But why not take it yourself in battle?”

Kublai closed Secutor’s hand around the stone and smiled at him, “Oh you thought I was giving this to you for free?”

Secutor furrowed his brow and cocked his head, and Kublai smiled back at him, “In exchange, me and my men take the vanguard position.”

Secutor tried to shove the stone back in Kublai’s hands, “Keep your damn stone. We’ll march together.”

Kublai shook his head, “The city streets from the palace are large enough for only one of our formations. If we march together, half of our men will be sitting ducks. So, you keep the damn stone. And may the ghosts of me and my men lend you strength.”

Secutor put his hand on Kublai’s shoulder again, “Do you know what they call my legion?”

“Yes, the royal guard. Meant to guard the Heraklinos palace at all costs.” Kublai answered immediately as if it were a silly question.

“I mean within our own ranks.” Secutor smiled, “We call ourselves the Dogs of War. Let us send you off.”

The sky had turned a dark yet vibrant red as the blue sky had all but been blotted from the sky with the sun shining through the massive BloodStar serving as a prism for red light to wash over the sky and the land.

Secutor turned to face his legion, and shouted, “General Kublai and his finest soldiers of the Sage Empire will take the Vanguard! As our equals! As our brothers in arms! Send them off! Release the Dogs of War!!!”

Secutor then threw his head back and howled into the red sky, “Ahhwoooooo!! Ah-Ah-Ahwooooooo!”

His howl was promptly followed by the howling of 10,000 men in unison. They continued the chilling howl of war as the Sage Empire soldiers marched towards the city center. Marched to their deaths.