Emil

  The inside of Emil’s stone fortification was left in a gruesome once the sandstorm had begun to subside. Dark blood drenched the sands, pooling around the enormous carcasses of several sandworms sprawled out along the earth. The creatures somehow looked even more hideous dead than alive, bestowing the vicinity in a harrowing sight with their alien appearances.

  Emil slumped to his knees, heaving. Outside of his walls, the winds of the Saar were finally dying dead. The sand in the air was given the chance to settle as they drifted on calmer currents. Visibility improved, but the air was still chock full in particulate. A scan with Seismic Sense revealed no further presences in their immediate vicinity.

  He wiped his face, mildly disturbed by the dry and flaky texture of his skin. Everything was caked in a thin layer of sand. Particles weighed down on his eyelashes. His eyes were swollen, watering, struggling to clean itself from all the invasive particulates. His lungs didn’t fare much better. A dull burn grated against his chest with every coarse breath.

  Well, that was terrible.

  He shook his head, fighting to regain some composure. The dissipation of the sandstorm was welcomed, but the abrupt tranquility did little to settle his panicked heart. The dangers of the Saar suddenly felt very real.

  “Where’s Taksh?” He overheard Van ask. During the sandstorm, Seismic Sense revealed that at least one person was unaccounted for within the group. Emil was inundated with relief when he spotted Kai and Liesel return with Anna from the vanguard.

  “Dead. Probably chewed up and spat out somewhere,” Kai replied gravely.

  “The sandworms got him. Took one of the camels too and then the rest of them went insane after that,” Liesel added. Her lips were trembling and her fists clenched. It was a far cry from her normal image as the calm and composed Ice Maiden of Belle. “If our Gifts hadn’t been weakened, if the air wasn’t so dry, then we could have—”

  “It’s alright.” Van lifted a hand to stop her from spiraling. “No one blames you. We were all aware of your situations. Taksh was right that we were incredibly unlucky. An unexpected sandstorm accompanied by an ambush by these nasty things? Yeah, we should count our blessings that the five of us made it out alive.”

  “Might have helped if the old man gave us an advance warning that the Saar was infested with giant worms,” Anna interjected while fruitlessly trying to brush herself clean of all the sand.

  “I have a feeling this was a recent development,” Van said, “I don’t think people would have chosen to settle here if the sandworms made frequent appearances in the region.”

  “What even are those things anyways? They look way too big and durable to be natural living beings,” Kai asked.

  “Monsters, if I had to give a guess.”

  “I detected traces of mana along its skin when one of the worms got close. I think that’s a valid assumption,” Liesel told.

  Which implies that there’s a sizeable amount of Azurite lying around somewhere. Emil concluded while listening on their exchange. The sandworm’s appearance at least confirmed that the existence of an Azurite cache large enough to allow the emergence of monsters. The rumors that Troya wanted him and Van to investigate regarding the discovery of a new Azurite mine suddenly had credence.

  “So, what do we do now?” Kai asked, “Our guide is dead. We lost most of our supplies. And we’re in the middle of the Saar that none of us have experience navigating.”

  Van chinned at the sandworm’s corpses. “We have an abundance of food at least.”

  Anna and Liesel both made a face that could wound even the most self-assured man.

  “I think I rather die.”

  “…Starving might be preferable.”

  Van let out a boisterous laugh while slapping the side of his leg in hysterics. “Stop overreacting. If they used to be alive, then they can be eaten. We just need a fire to cook it until it’s edible.” He leaned over one of the corpses and started cutting away a chunk of flesh. “Granted, it might be overly seasoned with sand, but still…”

  He suddenly stood up; his head jerked to the left facing the northern side of the stone walls. Seismic Sense also picked up what he noticed.

  “Emil, how many?”

  The number of pings that returned were mind-boggling. Where did all these presences suddenly come from?

  “A lot. We’re surrounded. Likely people. Approaching the walls.”

  “Friendly or hostile?”

  “No clue.” Seismic Sense only allowed Emil to detect the presence of entities and their relative proximity to his position. He might have been able to infer their sizes based on the characteristic of Seismic Sense’s return ping, but nothing else.

  “Ready your Gifts. Be prepared for a fight,” Van whispered, “Emil and Anna, you have permission to go wild if they’re hostiles. I’ll stay with these two to make sure they’re protected.”

  Kai and Liesel grimaced at his orders. It couldn’t be helped. With their Gifts rendered useless by the climate of the Saar, they were effectively just Ordinary with better physique.

  Please be friendly.

  Emil let out a nervous breath as another scan of Seismic Sense went out. The interlopers were just a few feet away from his fortifications. Sweat streaked down the side of his head, carrying with it the grime and sand accumulated from the sand storm. He was exhausted. Hungry. Thirsty. As the sand in the air settled, the nauseating sun above reared its head. The heat was suddenly unbearable. The last thing he wanted was another fight for his life.

  The earth tremored.

  The northern side of his walls suddenly collapsed. Broken fragments of stone flew from the thunderous impact. Amidst the rubble, Emil caught a hint of mana crackling in the air. Exalted. There was no other explanation for how his walls could have been destroyed so easily aside from the use of explosives. But he would never mistaken the sound and smell of incendiaries after living his formative years in Lower Dannan’s industrial district.

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  The dust settled and the culprit was revealed. A dark-skinned goliath towered at the makeshift entrance. Gharian. Emil detected numerous presences behind him. The man’s face was twisted in a bloodthirsty snarl. His demeanor screamed that he was itching for a fight. Bright tattoos decorated the side of his neck, intermingling with the innumerable scars accumulated on his body. The distinct patterns continued down his broad shoulders and across his formidable chest.

  The Zal’Khari. The vivid tattoos were unmistakable. Emil clicked his tongue. They were one of the three major tribes within Gharia. Militaristic. Violent. Extremely hostile towards Ardairans. Taksh’s warnings blared in his head.

  “If you encounter the Zal’Khari, don’t hesitate. Fight or flee, but make your choice immediately.”

  Emil hesitated.

  His eyes met with the goliath at the front. Something seemed to change in the Gharian’s bloodthirsty gaze. Anger. Ire. Vengeance. The latter finally spurred Emil to move. He stomped ahead, just as the goliath let out a savage war cry. Numerous Zal’Khari warriors stormed through the gap of the stone fortification in response, creating a vicious crescendo as they poured into the interior.

  “It’s the Zal’Khari!” Emil screamed as he launched himself at the torrent of hostiles. Seismic Sense’s information had severely underestimated their numbers. There were enough men in front of him to make a small battalion.

  The thunderous draw of bowstrings caught his attention. The sound snapped with synchronized resonance as the skies suddenly darkened with arrows. At the same time, Zal’Khari warrior rushed forward with their deafening war cries, taking advantage of the parabolic trajectories to advance unimpeded. It was a calculated and practised assault.

  But Emil was Exalted.

  “Fragment!” he yelled as his right hand lashed out to deliver a storm of stone missiles. Simultaneously, his left hand arced backwards, drawing a crescent line that was followed by an ascending stone protrusion. The shape formed a makeshift shield against the oncoming arrows.

  Missiles then blasted into the crowd of Zal’Khari foot soldiers. Blood-curdling screams filled the battlefield as limbs and flesh were blown apart by the lethal stone fragments. Emil spared no effort. There were too many enemies in front of him to be merciful. Taksh hadn’t lied about the Zal’Khari’s aggression towards Ardairans. The malice in the goliath’s eyes was one that he was all too familiar with. This wasn’t a conflict that could be resolved with discussion and diplomacy.

  Arrows soon pelted the top of his stone shield like a stampede of rain. Fractures emerged and pieces of stone flaked off, but Emil continued to reinforce the shield. He was grounded in place, but he was under no immediate threat. The Ordinary Zal’Khari warriors were nothing but blood bags.

  The goliath Exalted isn’t moving yet.

  He narrowed his eyes while maintaining his assault. The Zal’Khari continued with their advance with reckless abandon. The number of bodies on the sands grew by the dozens. But the amount of foot soldiers rushing at him never seemed to cease.

  Emil grew unnerved as the carnage went on. The gruesome deaths of their comrades should have devastated their morale, but the Zal’Khari only seemed emboldened. Their war cries grew louder, more vicious, more bloodthirsty by the second. They became faster. A single stone missile no longer stopped their advance. Even if their limbs were ripped apart, they continued to drag their bodies forward with what arms and legs still remained attached to their torso. Those incapacitated at the vanguard also began to throw themselves in front of the oncoming missiles to allow the ones behind them to advance.

  …What the hell?

  The first wave of Zal’Khari arrived. Up close, Emil could see their wild and bloodshot eyes glaring at him with rancor. There was an indescribable insanity in their gazes as though they had been possessed by a frenzied urge to kill. Their screams thundered in his ears, their bloodlust like a roaring wave pressing against his chest. With the ferocity of rabid dogs, the Zal’Khari lunged.

  Swords, daggers, and spears crowded his view. There was no coordination to their assault. It was pure, unadulterated chaos, yet somehow, they managed a degree of cohesion that gave him little room to maneuver.

  Emil stomped the ground. An array of stone spikes skewered the first row of warriors. The rest filed through the gaps of bodies and stone, undaunted by the gruesome screams of their comrades. Bulwark forged a sword and shield as he met the Zal’Khari in melee.

  Squelch!

  He sliced off a limb. He shattered someone’s kneecaps. He bashed one of the warrior’s face so hard that their skull seemed to cave in. He attacked on instinct. The bloodlust in the air naturally settled him into his Steiger training. The movements ingrained in his body were brutal and efficient and he delivered them without an ounce of remorse. Malice had to be met with malice.

  Still, he was getting pushed back. The pressure mounted. No matter how many bodies he felled, the Zal’Khari remained relentless. A single lethal strike wasn’t enough to stop them. They thrashed with an undying fervor even as life slipped out of their mortal vessels, desperate to land just a single hit on their enemy.

  Are they not afraid of death?!

  Even in the midst of his battle trance, Emil was growing horrified at their apparent lack of fear. A thought gnawed in the back of his mind. After deflecting innumerable attacks, he noticed a pattern. There was an intent to the Zal’Khari’s insanity.

  They’re aiming for my Azurite pendant.

  The stone dangled from his neck, glowing each time he drew on the mana dwelling within. True, if he no longer had the Azurite in his grasp, then he was no stronger than an above average Ordinary. It was a viable way to defang an Exalted.

  In theory.

  In practice, no Exalted ever relied on such a crude method due to its impracticality. Getting close to an Exalted in combat was already almost a death sentence. On the other hand, Azurite accessories were small and often wore near the head of the Exalted. If a person could get close enough to remove the accessory, then it was usually more efficient to attempt to deliver a decapacitating blow instead.

  Absurd.

  His sword split open the chest of an oncoming Zal’Khari. The tattooed warrior staggered backwards, but stood his ground, refusing to fall. Emil’s follow-up slash took away from both of his arms. Unafraid, the warrior screeched in pain before launching himself at Emil’s neck. Their jaws were open, teeth bared as though trying to bite away the Azurite pendant. Emil smashed his shield into their head, flinging them several feet to the side. A nasty crack echoed as their skull shattered from the blow.

  I have to take off their heads.

  His breathing grew ragged. The waves kept coming. Where was Anna? How about Van, Kai, and Liesel? If he was alone fending off this group, then they must have been occupied with their own horde of enemies.

  Mid-swing, he caught the glint of a straight arrow soaring right at him from the corner of his eyes. Amidst all the flash of steel and blood, he had nearly missed it. Emil dipped his shoulders as Bulwark instinctively formed armor over his body. The arrowhead barely grazed the edge of the shoulder. A small sting. A minor trickle of blood. Emil barely felt the pain. But it was the aftermath that disturbed him.

  For an instant, Bulwark spluttered out of control. The materialization of his armor had been disrupted. He felt his connection to mana suddenly severed for a split second.

  What the hell was that?

  His eyes darted around as his mind was thrown into disarray. The foreign sensation lasted for an instant, but the insidious feeling of mana being ripped out of his control sent him into a panic.

  The arrowhead. It has to be.

  He sustained no other injuries. Nothing else changed about his body besides his growing exhaustion. Even then, his control over mana had never been abruptly cut off like that. The only other time he experienced anything remotely close was handing in his Azurite pendant before entering Thanatos. The reminder led him to the logical conclusion.

  Archanum. The arrowheads are laced with Archanum.

  It was the only known substance that could halt an Exalted’s control over mana. Emil had heard about its usage as a drug to be ingested, but not as a weapon that could disrupt an Exalted’s abilities. Why the hell do the Zal’Khari have Archanum? If his conclusion was correct, then they were suddenly in a lot of trouble.

  “Be careful! Their weapons might have Archanum!” he yelled over the chaos before cutting down another pair of warriors.

  The crowd of Zal’Khari foot soldiers suddenly parted. Emil narrowed his eyes at their abrupt retreat until he saw who they were making room for.

  The goliath Exalted finally started to move.