EPISODE 277: POWERLESS MEN PRAY 1

  — FEDERATION NORTHERN BORDERLANDS, YEAR: 7298. SEASON: NEW BEGINNING.

  Ai’esha craned her neck, silently watching the marching divisions approach. Her eyes traced the rows of soldiers, passing over the rank-and-file to find the group in the far distance.

  “ The Southern Border General Alexandria Indrius,” she internally mocked.

  Well… well… well.

  “Long time no see,” Ai’esha muttered. Her jaw was set, her expression grim. She didn’t expect a response from her distant opponent. They weren't here for a chat. They would speak through the battlefield.

  Long, slow breaths.

  Ai’esha took long, slow breaths. Around her, the commands of her lieutenants sprang out like a well-oiled mechanism. To anyone else, it was the chaos of pre-war jitters. To Ai'esha, it was a symphony—the tuning of instruments before the first movement.

  Five divisions of Edryans marched forward, across the rocky, hilly terrain. Five divisions of the Federation moved up to meet them. Ai’esha moved too, as did her counterpart, once the armies were a set distance apart.

  The albino Asigbonle moved across the earth, her powerful steps crushing the pebbles beneath her steel boots. Her heavy, two-handed battle axe was strapped across her back.

  They weren’t savages.

  It was only polite to discuss before spilling the blood of one another.

  Behind Alexandria, several figures followed, as was the case with Ai’esha.

  She passed rows of her soldiers, their weapons tightly gripped, their brown eyes tracing her figure as she passed. Many straighten, even if that movement was imperceptible. They did it out of respect. They did it because this was Ai’esha — The Wall.

  No magi armies would pass her.

  No magi armies would pass her.

  That’s the type of confidence she radiated. That’s the type of confidence the soldiers under her command held in the woman.

  Ai’esha’s steps halted. A distance of five meters was between them. Their armies were over two kilometers apart, yet they’d crossed that distance to meet somewhere in the middle in a matter of minutes.

  She studied the woman before her; her height allowed her to easily look down upon the magi woman.

  Matte-black hermetic armor of an angular design. There were no openings to speak of—as if the armor was a single entity and not pieces put together. Red crystals served as the helm’s eyes, while small, tiny holes were present at the mouth. Ai’esha could almost believe this thing to be otherworldly had she not held prior knowledge of who resided within it. It was unnaturally silent for something of its type.

  It was a stark difference to her. A T-shaped opening at her double-horned helm allowed her red-eyes to be displayed in their full glory. Off-white armor differentiated from the standards of her soldiers—even her lieutenants. Her armor was flat, like a white-bricked wall bleached by the sun’s rays.

  “General Ai’esha,” the short figure greeted—breaking Ai’esha from her study of the woman. “You’ve come a long way. Second in place to Ninjaro, but first in terms of heart. I’ve always admired that about you.”

  Ai’esha kept her face neutral but frowned internally. That was not what she expected Alexandria to say. A heartbeat of silence passed before Ai’esha responded with a smile.

  “ Southern Border General Alexandria—congratulations on the promotion,” Ai’esha warmly greeted—as if an old friend had returned after a long trip away. “I’m afraid your trip will end hazardously—I fear you may not return home.”

  Ai’esha waved toward the waiting armies behind Alexandria. Her voice was now cold and hostile. “You’ve brought all these troops into my home, Alexandria. You speak of my heart as if it’s a weakness you can exploit. But look at my eyes. There is no mercy in the red. You’ve brought them here to die for a cause you don’t own, and I’m going to make sure the earth drinks every drop of magi blood until its thirst is quenched.”

  “Oh,” Alexandria mused, slightly tilting her head. “How terrifying.”

  When she next spoke, it was as if she was reading a well-rehearsed list, and she didn’t bother waiting for a response before she left.

  “Any Federation soldier who casts down their weapon and vents their Energy to zero will be granted ‘Displaced’ status. They will be fed and processed according to the Class-Based Constitution and the Treaty of Akoni.

  “Should your lines fail, Ai'esha, we offer a ‘Safe-Conduct’ arrest for you and your lieutenants. You will retain your sidearms as a sign of respect for your history, provided you command a total stand-down.

  “You have until my vanguard reaches the base of the western ridge to signal surrender. Once the first spell is cast, the window closes. After that, we fight until the objective is secured—that objective being the total collapse of your armies and scattering of your soldiers.”

  Ai’esha watched that small, leaving figure. She stood there in silence, her thoughts unknown to the officers that surrounded her. Her fingers curled, her teeth tightly clenched as a hidden anger threatened to boil over. Then, as if a spell was broken, she looked away and returned to her command post.

  Alexandria had a history with all the Arbitrators of the Federation. She was their first relationship with the magi. She was their first experience with command and tacticians outside of their lands.

  Alexandria had been something of a companion.

  Ai’esha would bury her with honors.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  She knew this land better than her. She knew this rocky terrain was filled with cavernous spaces beneath them. Armies could be buried should one not carefully watch their step.

  “What do you think?”

  Dargg, her second in command and Arbitrator of the Federation, quietly pondered. He was older than Ai’esha, nearly by twenty years, and didn’t have the same hot-bloodedness his fellow Arbitrators held. He fingered a gilded compass in his beard—studded with mundane gems that held a hidden brilliance.

  Dargg, the Compass, was someone who always knew what to say, how to say it, and how to have it be the most effective.

  “It felt like she was doing her due diligence. She didn’t really care. Alexandria isn’t someone who would give out warnings. She would strike first. Then, when you are battered and bruised, and only then, would she pose such a question. The fact that she’s done so twice beforehand means either she’s changed, which I don’t believe, or she does so out of respect for another.

  “However,” Dargg continued, smiling and nodding to soldiers as they returned. “Her deliverance was meant to off-balance you. To make you angry—to make you make mistakes, it succeeded. Let me organize the opening salvo. Alexandria was closer to you and the other younger Arbitrators—she does not know me as well.”

  Ai’esha closed her eyes but nodded. She certainly was upset by Alexandria’s words. She had kept her anger thoroughly hidden, but it was better to let Dargg do the opening commands in case whatever trick General Alexandria was planning only worked with Ai’esha in command.

  Dargg immediately sent orders through the mental link, shifting the five divisions and their formations ever so slightly. It wasn’t enough that their positions completely changed from one formation to another, but it was enough so that they would be able to react to any sudden changes or commands.

  Ai’esha watched this silently, her elevated position in the rear allowed her an excellent overview of the battlefield. The voice of Dargg was like a soothing elder as it issued commands.

  She didn’t know when or by whom the first move was made, but the air was suddenly filled with earth and flame. The five divisions of the Federation were spread out in a crescent while the remaining armies under Ai’esha’s command were over two kilometers away. She and Dargg were somewhere in between.

  The early evening sky lit up with countless fireballs that arced toward her soldiers. Dargg simply lifted his hands, as if in concert with the five divisions, and the earth rose around them—large slanted slabs that blocked the descending fireballs and forced its explosive power upwards.

  The air shimmered with heat, and Ai’esha’s eyes widened in consternation. The magi weren’t planning on bombarding them with spells until defeat, were they?

  Just from a glance, dozens of earth slabs were shattered, while the status of the soldiers behind them was unknown. The magi attack wasn’t indiscriminate, but concentrated at the front of the crescent.

  Just the temperature alone wasn’t something most could handle. Ai’esha could see soldiers in the front line struggling. She questioned her Battle Cognizant Officers.

  “BCO—what are our casualties?”

  “Estimated 200 dead and 1,500 lightly injured with only 75 serious injuries.”

  The response was immediate and put Ai’esha’s heart at ease. That wasn’t a lot for a large-scale attack. Ai’esha shook her head. She truly was affected by Ai’esha. Her heart continued to calm, her silent gaze on the battle ahead.

  A second volley emerged from the Edryan Army ranks. And, much like the first, it was countered by the earth. Dargg continued his performance, his voice issuing commands and preparations. In the rear of each army, a small division of soldiers stepped forward. They wore gilded robes, but large, mechanized gloves covered their arms, extending nearly past their shoulders.

  Energy Casters.

  The much-improved version the Federation had kept hidden for years. Understanding Mind and mana was a difficult task, but Energy was a much simpler type of power to wield. Its requirements were low, so long as you could generate an internal force—a force most people already held. It was like shifting from passive breathing to active breathing to unlock the power.

  This internal force required a medium, and unlike mana, energy quickly dispelled once it left its medium. One of the reasons mana was so dominant was its ability to consume the mana in the air for its sustain—that, and what Ai’esha’s army was experiencing now… its wide range, destructive capabilities.

  “Cast Mountain Shaking. Destabilize the surrounding ground,” Dargg commanded.

  The first counterattack between the two finally happened, putting Ai’esha’s heart at ease. She continued to allow Dargg to dictate, but she had completely regained her state of mind. She watched coolly from her position. She would not take over commanding as Dargg was well into his element, and there was no need to yet.

  Energy charged. Ai’esha felt the air grow warmer. It was the earliest months of spring, the chill of winter left, but the heat of summer was already present from their actions.

  The ground rippled. An electric-like charge extended from the hands of the Energy Casters, through their gauntlets, and through the ground quickly approaching the divisions under the command of General Alexandria.

  It passed underneath the five divisions in a silent ripple, barely disturbing the ground under their feet. The moment it passed them, the ground shook and rippled, ripping large chunks of melted stone, dirt, and rocky fragments in an increasingly growing wave.

  It started small, first ten meters.

  Twenty.

  Sixty.

  Its growth is like that of a mountain boring its way upwards and towards the endless blue sky.

  Mountain Shaking.

  When cast by one person, it held that ability. When cast by a group, it turned into something else entirely. Ai’esha felt an excitement churn in her as she watched the receding structure.

  “The Mechanisms truly provide a great increase in strength and range,” Ai’esha commented.

  Dargg smirked, his words full of worship and praise. “It is thanks to the efforts and research of Demigod Isiro that such achievements are possible. He has given way for the Asigbonle to match the renowned magi and their magic.”

  His smirk grew as he continued, the pride in his voice unconcealed. “So what if they have magic? Do they believe this is a bygone era where the world feared them? Heh, mayhaps if this were a thousand or so years ago, or an age where their previous prowess was still present.”

  Ai’esha nodded in agreement. “Mechanisms allow a great range for our abilities—far greater than that of Sins and Virtues. The Federation doesn’t need external influences to give us the power beyond mortality to face these types of threats.”

  She let out a sigh, her thoughts going to her cousins—one of the reasons for her earlier behavior. Seeing Alexandria, this Southern Border General who claimed the capture of Forger’s Keep struck a deep nerve. They couldn’t even inquire about the situation of the Arbitrators or soldiers. The magi hadn’t spoken, nor had the Federation inquired. There was no communication between the nations other than on the battlefield. From what Ai’esha knew, many were still alive but now in the lands of Edryan.

  “I only wish Ninjaro hadn’t held back at Forger’s Keep and Isiro’s Hammer. With proper weapons, Asan and Mojo would not have fallen.”

  Ai’esha folded her arms, her thoughts vexed at the decision of Ninjaro to hold their advanced weaponry back in order to deal a fatal blow.

  She hoped that the decision was worth it.

  All she could do was whisper a prayer to Demigod Isiro—victory would favor them.