Prehendo Victoria

[tigerusthegreat]

This turn had been his first since popping that he had felt like a commander instead of a caster. He led his heavy legionawies into the thick of the fight, trading hits with archery and enemy stabbers, and using his tactical knowledge to great effect. There was no need here for foolamancy to save his life, or hippiemancy to keep him from croaking. It was pure and unadulterated combat-mancy, where the only juice one had to worry about was the blood that spilled, and if you were out of that kind of juice, your worries were over.

His stack carved a wide swath through the heart of the enemy defenses, all without losing a man. The initial attack on the walls, utilizing the javelin special attack, had been devastating to the enemy, who expected their archery to hold off the enemy, not have their arrows bounce harmlessly off, and then spears the size of quarterstaffs fall among them. It hadn’t hurt that the enemy commander had been nailed to a tower by a scorpio bolt. The unled infantry didn’t stand a chance to the sheer number of bonuses that were stacking up on Regus’s side.

His stack entered an alleyway, almost to the tower. Once the tower was secured, they could bring in their flyers to finish the job quickly. Even though the enemy shockamancer was dead, it was all too likely he had charged up the air defenses in the area before meeting his fate at the sharp edge of Anex’s discus. The alleyway provided clear line of sight to the courtyard, and his stack hurried through it to reach the city center. As they emerged, an eerie calm settled on the battlespace. Hundreds of birds lined the rooftops and trees, all deathly silent. A lone HitchCock strutted through the center of the courtyard, red plumage marking him as the one directing the birds. The Tippies and Griffies in the trees weren’t very powerful on their own, but the sheer amount of enemy birds in the area made Regus’s head spin. The HitchCock looked at them, and its beak seemed to smile.
“Ack….Ack…..Ack…Ack….Tion!” it cawed, and the sky went black from the birds taking off and filling it.

[tigerusthegreat]

Regus and the rest of his wounded stack held firm against the door as dozens of impacts shook it. It took their combined might to keep the door from bursting open, and letting the flight of enemy birds into their refuge. They had all lost a good number of hits from beaks and claws while trying to get to one of the houses that lined the courtyard. Two of his heavy legionawies were missing eyes, and one was down to single-digit hits. He was facing a no-win situation. They had killed dozens of the birds, but there were still hundreds out there, and that Hitchcock was still strutting around at full hits. Regus looked to his soldiers.

”I’d welcome any ideas as to how to deal with those birds.” Regus said to the others. He was sorely missing Marius, as none of these heavies were willing to step up into a leadership role under him. It meant he didn’t have to worry about anyone second-guessing him, but it also meant the impetus was solely on him to get them out of situations like this. ”Alright, then I guess there’s only one option.” Regus pulled the twit out of his pack, and shook it awake. ”At AnexWP, pinned down in the courtyard. Lots of birds, need support.” The tweet concentrated, and then went back to sleep. Regus put it back into his pack, hoping that Anex received the message.

There was a loud crash, and a dozen birds flew in through the glass of one of the windows. Quick spears downed most of them, but it cost precious hits…hits they could not afford to lose. One of the heavy legionawies put his shield up to the broken window, holding off the birds from coming in. Cracks began to appear at the other window. They could not hold both windows and the door.

Regus ran the numbers in his head. With the bonus from that Hitchcock, there was no way for him to survive this, but if they killed it, or at least made it flee, they might stand a chance. Each bird barely did any damage, but the bonus that Hitchcock gave them is what made them dangerous. A charge across the field to face it was suicide. He needed options, and there were none. He looked around. He had three javelins, a handful of soldiers, and no hope for backup. He gathered up the javelins and the two legionawies with the most hits left. ”We need to kill the Hitchcock. Three javelins, three of us. The rest will cover for us, but we need to eliminate that bird.”

One of them shook his head. ”Sir, it is an impossible shot. We are too far away for javelins to work. It would take an insane amount of luck to hit it, let alone kill it.”

Regus smiled. ”Luck? Luck I can do…”

[tigerusthegreat]

Casting luckamancy on three javelins took a lot out of his already wounded body. He just hoped that it would be enough to croak the Hitchcock, and keep the rest of them alive. He ran some grim numbers in his head…without its bonus, the rest of the birds wouldn’t be as bad…they would be little better than any light flyer, more scouts than attack units. Combine that with the heavy armor of the legionawies, and the hope that Anex got his message….yes, it would have to do.

Regus nodded to the legionawy barring the door. The birds had stopped attacking, not even shattering the other window, but leaving it starred enough that it could not be seen through. The door was opened, and they all fanned out, holding shields and weapons ready, waiting for an onslaught of pecking and clawing that never came. The courtyard was filled with them…still over a hundred birds…sitting….watching them. They made no hostile moves, and the Hitchcock still strutted in the middle of the courtyard. Regus moved slowly towards it, with even and fluid movements. The birds just stared, as if waiting for something. Regus moved his arm back, javelin pointed straight at the Hitchcock. He could feel the other two javelins similarly aimed, ready to unleash their luck in a throw that should be well beyond the weapon’s effective range. He hurled his arm forward…

One of the legionawies tripped, and fell into Regus, knocking him down. The javelin flew up into the air, deflected from its straight trajectory into a vertical one. As the pair came crashing down, the noise of armor on ground rang through the courtyard. The passive birds erupted into a shower of feathers and death. The other two javelins soared through the air, heading straight for their target, only to be intercepted by the soft flesh of a pair of Tippies. Claws and beaks ripped through flesh and tore away hits. Regus felt the stack bonus drop as soldier after soldier was killed in a matter of moments. The griffies ripped through the legionawy that had toppled into him, pecking apart its flesh, trying to get at Regus. One stared him right in the eyes, its sharp beak ready to rip out his eyes when in a flash, its head toppled off to the side.

” Aye ya ya ya ya ya ya!” came the battlecry of the Warrior Princess herself. Another flash, and the griffies covering the dead legionawy were turned into so much poultry. Regus pushed the dead soldier off of him, and stood, surveying the field. Birds still flew everywhere, confused and unsure of who to attack. They did not seem to be able to touch the Hippolytes, even though most of them wore nothing but a small bit of leather armor for decency sake. Any birds that neared them were filled with arrows.

”The Hitchcock….you have to kill the Hitchcock, or It will kill us all.” Regus said, looking for the strutting bird to plunge his sword through its neck. The magic discus sparked against the stones near him, as it ricocheted and flew back to Anex’s hand. The birds swarmed into the air, turning and read to strike them as one, combined force. ”Quickly, its bonuses will overwhelm us!” The birds flew down towards Anex’s group as one, mighty stack of beaked doom. Regus shut his eyes, not wanting to see his fair lady ripped to pieces…

”Thou art but a bird-brained brigandine.
To think, a hawk’s intent placed in a pigeon.
Tis madness most befitting a fool or mancer,
But brave Regus, facing fair and fowl alike,
Raising a sole javelin in offering to the sky,
Slew vile cock with his stave’s mighty thrust.
Ease your mind, once you recognize the gravity.”

Regus opened his eyes to see Hamratio petting one of the cooing Tippies, as it sat, nestled on the head of a statuawy in the shape of a nude woman. All of the birds were roosted on the golems. They had all been pacified by some form of natural magic inherent in the statues, though Regus could not begin to think about what it might be. ”I think I need to open a tab at the bank of luck, because you two keep showing up in the nick of time to save me…I wish it extended to my units, though.” He looked down at the stripped corpses under his feet. Bone was clearly visible, as the birds had consumed what flesh they could get ahold of. Hundreds of mutilated bird corpses littered the streets as well. ”What about the Hitchcock? Where is it? We need to kill it!” Regus drew his sword, and looked for his foe.

”Brave Regus, you will not level again by killing a foe twice.” Hamratio said. ”Your first stroke against it was masterful enough to scarce require another.” The caster pointed to the middle of the courtyard, where amidst a pile of broken bird bodies stood the Hitchcock, staring intently at Regus with lifeless eyes. It was still standing, propped up by a javelin that had pierced its neck, and driven itself through its body, tip firmly planted in the ground. Regus’s javelin, that had flown into the air, only to come down, missing any other target but its intended one…

”What are the odds of that?” Regus said with a smirk.

[tigerusthegreat]

He had gained his second level without losing a soldier. His stack had returned unscathed, facing the onslaught of arrows copied by a dittomancer. Attaining level three had cost him his entire stack, and through the early battles, almost cost him the love of his life, Lady Anex, had he not been able to create some healamancy to save her. Level four had cost him a stack of heavies, and the realization that his abilities would not get him out of every situation. Had he just waited, Anex and Hamratio would have arrived, and destroyed and pacified the remaining birds. He would have had a full stack, maybe weak on hits, but alive and ready to march to the next objective. As it was, he was very much alone again.

”The rise and rush of new understanding,
And the woe of realizing what you don’t know.
Tis the problem with levels and leveling,
And the difficulty of letting the mind grow.”
Hamratio prattled on, looking at the now turned birds flocked in the courtyard. Once they had been dealt with, Melanin had been easily taken. The birds had been the last units in the garrison to offer any sort of real resistance. Save for the legionawies, their losses hadn’t been too severe either. Anex had tried to comfort him, telling him how any other stack except the statuawies, would have been wiped out against those birds lead by the Hitchcock. It didn’t help his mood, or his exhaustion. He was completely drained. He had cast three separate effects...three different castings of luckamancy on the javelins. Each had critted, though his was the only one that mattered in the end. It was clear he had drawn too much of his inner power, and now, low on hits and out of juice, he could barely stand. Adding in the emotional toll of losing his whole stack, and he was done for this turn. He simply could not handle anything else. With this glum mood settled on him, Regus retreated into the library of Melanin. He sat with his head on a table, weeping for all that he had lost during the few brief turns since he had popped. He was no closer to understanding the Titan’s will and designs for him, and felt very lost amidst a sea of troubles.

”To croak, or not to croak, that is the question, dear Regus, and you have chosen not to croak.” Hamratio said, coming in behind Regus. ”Ahead lies trouble for you, once the full weight of what you are settles upon this kingdom. You dabble in forbidden arts, but others recognize it as simply a myriad of things they are familiar with. Why so strange that a warlord can cast spells? Is it stranger still that he can cast from every school imaginable? Surely, since other casters can loose a spell from scroll , then you should be able to fling from your mind the workings of all the types of magic…until they see that it is but one kind of magic…a dark kind that all quake in fear from.” The dirtamancer’s eyes glowed dimly in the torchlight of the library.

”Why, dirtamancer, do you speak plainly to me now, when before you were all riddles?” Regus said. There was something strange about the clarity of purpose Hamratio seemed to put on now.

”You are needed, Regus the Great, fool or not. Surely as the flagstones at our feet hold us up, you are the foundation of the kingdom’s recovery. Without your initial stroke, doppelganger arrows would have flooded our capital, and our foray would be for naught. If not for you, our Chief Warlord would be a corpse, long since depopped. Your tenacity and abilities have saved this side many pains, and from annihilation itself. As one of only two casters on this side, I felt a Duty to protect the other one, and with you, the entire side.”

”Why play the cracked fool, then? You could just withhold whatever information you desired…you certainly withheld a great deal from me.”

”I wasn’t sure until today what you were. My madness is merely the crazy side of my mind at play. Such a play is the thing, to avoid the concerns of the king. The election lights shine on you, Regus, for fate has not designed you to die just yet. I am no predictamancer, nor oracle, but I can sense the fate in you. You must find the three patrons, if you haven’t already. I am told that Homero, patron of the Erf itself, lives in an old theater near Tusconus. Conveniently, that is our next target. Once we take it, you may ask him what you must do. I fear our ways will part soon, whether through death or other means, I do not know. ”

Regus considered the caster for a moment. ”You are a true friend then, Dirtamancer Hamratio. Perhaps one day songs will sing of your deeds.”

Hamratio bowed. ”My lord, you are the Prince of this Den, and I am merely the Prince’s friend.”

[tigerusthegreat]

Hamratio’s words had stuck with Regus during the short march to Tusconus. The dirtamancer rode on the back of a quadrapedal statuawy, juggling a trio of small rocks the entire way. Regus stared at him in disbelief….that he could maintain an air of calm after revealing what he was doing…keeping information from his ruler. It was so casual, deliberate….it made Regus wonder about what others were thinking of him…of what Anex thought of him.

”I’m keeping you close by me, Regus….I have a bad feeling about this one, and after the surprise of the last battle, I don’t want any repeats.” Anex said. She was very calm, as she was before every battle. It suited her in a way, though Regus hoped that one day he could ensure she never had to worry about another battle. It was a fool’s hope in erfworld, but one he could try to hold on to…a happy life without war, without losing good people to stupid circumstances. ”I’ve got you protecting a group of Vewites. With your bonus and mine, they will be quite formidable, if not limited in range. The plan is simple, we keep the enemy on the walls croaked or with their heads down, while the legionawies and pwaetorians bring up the ram and break through the gates. Not an elegant plan, but a simple one.”

”How does it feel being a level eight whatever-you-are, Warrior Princess?” Regus asked her, clearly startling his Chief Warlord. Schooling her features, she smiled.

”Level eight is much like level seven…bigger bonus…more hits…more attack…” She spoke coyly. ”Guess you must feel the same about level four.”

”I’m catching up to you, when we started this race, I was six levels behind you, now I’m only four.” Regus smiled back at her. ”Not quite the baby warlord you had to watch on his first turn popped, huh?”

The city of Tusconus loomed ahead of them. The city had a very heavily reinforced gatehouse and high towers on its walls. Regus considered their plan, and wondered if Anex had known the particulars of the city’s defenses when devising it. It seemed like a poor strategy, considering the Vewites couldn’t reach anything on the towers, and Anex’s hippolytes would have a hard time killing anything that far away. Pwaetorians would not survive long under barrages from archers on those towers, and legionawies would not do much better. A lump formed in his throat as he imagined another stack of soldiers being lost.

”Damn.” Anex said. ”They spent quite a bit to upgrade those walls…they knew we were headed here.” She seemed distraught. ”I don’t think we can take this city.”

”We’ll have to find a way…its our Duty, after all.” Regus stared at the heavily fortified city, fear gripping his stomach.

[tigerusthegreat]

Regus stared at the unrolled velum. The spell made no sense to him, but he understood what it did. It would, upon casting, reduce the enemy’s walls by one level. In this case, the walls were the equivalent of a level five city, though the city itself was a level three. The enemy had invested significant amounts of money into these walls. It was possible to upgrade walls above the base city level, but it got very expensive, and raising them two levels above the city was usually unheard of. The Espaignians knew they were losing this war, and they put up Tusconus to stop his forces cold. A single casting of this spell would help, but it was a numbers game. The walls would be a little lower, the towers in reach of Anex’s archers, but they would still take heavy casualties. Besides that, he could not cast the spell. That was a simpler issue, as he had a skilled dirtamancer on hand. Regus looked up, and sure enough, Hamratio was staring at him.

”Your mind is a torrent of troubles, m’lord.
A sea of swarming synapses.”

”Indeed it is, Hamratio” Regus thought. ”Can you cast this spell?”

Hamratio looked at the scroll. ”Yes, I can cast the spell from the scroll. If I burn all my juice, I can cast a similar spell if I use most of my juice. However, I would not be able to effectively command the statuawies if I did so, I would be too spent.”

Regus did the numbers in his head. Reducing the city by two levels would make it a level three fight. There were a large number of enemy archers, but that was expected. Level three walls would have towers high enough his vewites wouldn’t be able to hit anything on them. His mind reeled at possibilities, and he found one…one that was very appealing.

”Stack up, we’re moving into the enemy hex.” Regus smiled, and walked back to where his units were stacked alongside Anex and her hippolytes. ”Stack up, I have a solution.”

”A solution that won’t get us all croaked?” Anex asked. ”How did you pull that off?”

”Just wait and see.” Regus said, ordering his units to the hex boundary. ”Hamratio and myself will need some cover, so do what you can to keep the enemy archer’s heads down.” They quickly passed the hex boundary, and the city and its tall towers rose high above the ground. Arrows started raining down around them, but luckily they weren’t very accurate. Still, one lucky shot would badly wound Hamratio. Regus moved his stack near the statuawies that Hamratio was huddling behind, preparing to use the scroll. Regus took shelter next to him, and saw Anex’s archers unleash on the walls. He knew nothing hit at that range, but it kept the enemy down, using the cover of the towers to stay alive.

”I hope your plan is a good one, Regus the Great.” Hamratio said with a smile. ”Two casting of this spell will not be enough to win this for us.” The scroll disappeared and the whole hex shuddered. The walls and towers of the city visible shortened, and the gatehouse became less impressive. Anex’s archers struck a few enemy archers square on. ”Now for my contribution.” Hamratio’s hands glowed with a dull sheen. ”Reductio.” The walls, towers, and gates shuddered again, reducing to the size of a normal level three. The towers were still beyond vewite reach. Anex’s hippolites were hitting several enemies square on. The enemy archers were all low level, no match for the knight-class hippolytes. The gate still had some murderous defenses, and would not be easy to break through. ”I fear doubling the spell has not been enough.”

”Doubling the spell?” Regus said, and the idea hit him firmly. ”That’s a good idea.” Regus’s hands glowed with a dull sheen. He wasn’t sure exactly what he did, but the world shook, and several of the towers disappeared. Those that remained were short and stubby. The walls were level two, and archery could shoot directly into the level three city.

Anex looked over at him. ”That is an interesting strategy, Commander.” Other stacks came in from the hex behind them, legionawies, other archers, and a group lugging a heavy ram. They went straight for the gate, taking only a few shots from the archery that remained on the short towers. Most of the enemy archers were dead or had retreated into the city’s central tower, that was still standing at a tall level three. Regus patted Hamratio on the back, and took his vewites to the gate, covering the advance of the ram. His troops hurled spears into the few archers manning the gate, toppling them into the garrison, croaked. The gate barely held against the first strike, and caved in completely. The garrison was theirs for the taking.

[tigerusthegreat]

The garrison fell quickly to the combined forces of their stacks. Reducing the outer walls, where the enemy had focused its defense, had made the battle little more than a mop-up. Careful circulation of stacks had prevented any losses against the enemy hardpoint. Once again, Regus found himself in a liberated city, looking through remnants of enemy occupation, wondering what their next battle would be like. His thoughts were interrupted by Anex sneaking up on him.

”M’lady,” Regus says with a smile. ”I didn’t expect to see you tonight. Is something troubling you?”

”The enemy is trying to negotiate with King Sixtus.” She said. This was the first time since Melanin he had seen her without her stack of hippolytes. She seemed somehow incredibly fragile, but fierce as a flame. It was striking to see her as both a warrior and the woman he knew her to be.

”Peace would be good. It would mean we could rest and not worry about survival day to day.” Regus said. The efforts of duplicating Hamratio’s spell had drawn most of the energy out of him. It was very difficult to fight a battle all day on top of casting massive spells. He didn’t even understand how he had copied the spell, besides the fact it was dittomancy. With the SSCUBA gear, he at least understood what he was doing. This was something altogether different.

”That they are asking for peace troubles me. They have hurt us bad, it is true. We cannot keep up this pace. We wouldn’t have been able to take this town without your spellwork, and Hamratio’s of course. ” She looked absolutely exhausted. ”If we stop fighting now, they will come back more powerful and destroy us. We need a decisive blow, or at least to kill that carnymancer. They should be bankrupted by building up these walls, but I have a feeling that he had something to do with it.”

”Making the city count as a level five to build up the walls. Once they are built, they are built and the city can be level three again…” Regus pondered aloud. ”Effective way of making us waste time and resources on a fortress city, but that would cost a lot of juice to effect a whole city. The spells today only effected the walls, and Hamratio and I are both drained, and that is with using a scroll on top of it.”

”I’m too tired to listen to you ramble on about magic, dear Regus.” Anex said. ”Why don’t you come with me to bed? It will be a while before we get something as nice as the beds here. We will be in the field for some time.” She gained an impish grin, which seemed to wipe away her weariness, and took him by the hand.

”Who am I to refuse such an order?” Regus said, and she led him to her chambers, where a very soft bed cushioned their activity, even if it creaked with every motion.

---------------------------

Regus was wide awake after their activity, with Anex sleeping on his bare chest. He wrapped his arms around her, and she moved slightly in her sleep. He felt simultaneously at peace and strongly that something was wrong. He knew the real reason he wasn’t sleeping wasn’t the recent activity…it was the feeling that sooner or later he had to see what Homero would have to say to him. Hamratio’s actions also deeply worried him. He was trying to protect him from some fate that would befall him, and was pressing him to speak with Homero. Dewey X had warned him about Homero, and that puzzled Regus. Too much was going on that he did not fully understand, and it all seemed to revolve around how he was to impact his side and this part of the world. It troubled him greatly, as all he wanted was a quiet life, enjoying living it with Anex by his side.

He looked at the sleeping Chief Warlord. She had the faintest of smiles on her lips. If he were to get up and leave her, she would awake either when he moved or when she noticed him missing. It would not end well, either way. With no move to reach the theater Homero called home anyway, he decided the better choice was to remain a pillow for his Chief, and try to fall asleep himself. There would be plenty of time for fate and prophecy with the morning’s light. For now, he would enjoy the erfly treasures he was entitled to after such a victory.

[tigerusthegreat]

He felt bad lying to Anex about where he was going. He had told her he was taking the vewites and scouting the surrounding hexes for enemies, and this was technically true. His true purpose was finding the amphitheater that Homero called home. Even then, if Homero proved hostile to him, he would have found a hex with enemies in it. His stack quickly ran low on move while searching. His own move being two higher than the rest, he ordered the stack to wait as he entered one last hex. It was a thickly forested hex, but the presence of an old road, much worn and disrepaired, still kept its move cost down. He followed the road for a short distance.

He almost felt fate twisting reality around him. In front of him stood a stone bowl, with seats carved into it. In the center was a raised stone stage, with two figures on it. He could tell they were mere dolls, animated by dollamancy. One was clearly representing Delphine, bared breast and all. The other was a simple male figure, wearing a toga and holding a long scroll.

”Dearest Fate, things of the erf are my domain, and you should not interfere in them. I claim the erf as my own, and by the Titan’s mandate, it is mine to control and work as I see fit in fulfilling our mandate.” The male doll said to Delphine.

”Homero, I will not interfere, except as it is demanded I do by fate itself. I will allow those of the Erf to choose their own fate, but by the Titan’s will I must nudge them here and there. You know this to be true, dear Homero.” She flew into the air, and hovered near the ceiling. The doll, Homero, began pouring out a pitcher of water onto some dirt, and made small human figures out of clay.

”Delphine, you know he cannot be left to make the Erf in his image, that is the domain of the titans.” A third doll appeared, lowering itself out of the sky to Delphine’s level. Regus recognized it at Dewey X.

”We must leave him to his designs, and use our titan-given powers to influence his creations as we will.” Delphine said.

”What do you think of my play so far?” A voice said from behind him. Regus turned to see a human version of the Homero doll standing nearby. Enthralled by the performance, he had not noticed him.

”It is interesting, Homero.” Regus said. ”She sent me to find you, though Dewey X thinks I shouldn’t trust you.” He wasn’t sure why he said these things, but they seemed to fit.

”That does not surprise me. Delphine has always thought she could control me, and Dewey X knows he cannot.” Homero seemed tired. ”I have waited some time for you to see me, Regus the Great. More turns than you can fathom. You have had many forms, but this one suits you best.” The words unsettled Regus, as they echoed what Dewey X had said.

”Why is it important for me to speak with you? What does this change?”

”It changes everything. You believe you are a warlord who can cast spells, but what if I were to tell you that it is the other way around? You are a caster who can command units?” Homero smiled as Regus’s jaw dropped. ”You think you have less juice than a caster of your level would, and this is partially true. Each turn, you begin with a firm thought in your mind that you are a warlord, and in doing so, you are a warlord. You cast a spell subconsciously to become a warlord for the turn, leaving most of your ability tied up in the martial power you manifest.”

”That seems quite ludicrous. I can cast a spell without thinking? When I have such trouble casting any other spell?”

”It is not that hard to believe, especially if the spell was in your school, and the others were outside it.”

”What kind of spellcaster can change what he is? A Changeamancer? Carnymancer? ”

”Nothing so simple, dear Regus. The only caster that can change what is” Homero grinned. ”You are my greatest creation, the world’s only Retconjurer. You will break the world and reform it in a way that I see fit.”

[tigerusthegreat]

”I’m not a puppet on a string, Homero.” Regus’s voice rose in anger. Without thinking, his blade was in his hand, and it was thrust forward into the gut of Homero. The Demigod of Erf looked shocked that Regus had struck him. The expression stayed on his face as he slumped to the ground. ”My secret must not be known, but my life is my own. I will find my own path.” Regus cleaned his blade, and sheathed it. The theater around him seemed to melt, as did the body of Homero. Regus turned his back on the scene, and left the hex. He stacked up with his Vewites, and returned to the city in silence.


As his stack entered the city, Regus spotted Hamratio in the process of creating a new statuawy. The form looked oddly similar to that of Homero, and that sent a chill down Regus’s spine. He sent his stack to the barracks and he approached the dirtamancer. ”Interesting statuawy. Where did you get the ideo for the form? ”

Hamratio looked down from his work and smiled. ”Dear Regus, did you think you could kill a god? It is good that you know you are independent, but you have angered the Lord of Erf. This is my attempt to appease him, so he would not destroy you and our entire side.” Hamratio continued to chip away at the block of marble.

”I did not intend to. My anger got the better of me. I cannot believe what he said was true, and I am nobody’s puppet. What I do, I do for myself.” Regus turned and walked away to find something to eat.

”Dear Regus, even a caster of your sorts cannot overcome your fate. A master luckamancer could not hope to do that.”

[tigerusthegreat]

Regus stayed up long into the night, reading every book in the library of Tusconus that dealt with magic, the creation of the erf, and that made any reference to the three demigods that were taking such a direct hand in his life. His encounter with Homero was extremely troubling. He knew that Homero had told the truth, but him being a Retconjurer felt….dirty. Retconjuration was a banned study. There was a cult that understood its workings called the Deletionists, but they only understood them so they could ferret out those that attempted to learn, turning them to their side, or croaking them. Deletionism was the only allowable form of Retconjuration, as it simply made it so something no longer existed, not changing the nature of the thing. In any case, he thought it best not to run across any of these Deletionists, lest they attempt to remove him from existence. The books on theory and history melded together in his mind, and his eyelids got very tired. He was hoping to find a way to test his abilities, perhaps by waking up and not being a warlord, but as he drifted off to sleep, his mind lost the focus he needed. His dreams were troubled by visions of Hamratio leading a squad of steel statuawies, chasing after him. They yelled out: “Delete! Delete!” as they chased him, perfect images of Dewey X, and Regus dove inside a giant blue box for cover. The blue box flew through the darkness, suspended by strings, held by Homero. The twisting made him sick, but he could not awake from the dream.

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”Awake, Regus! This is not a time to dwell on idle dreams.” Hamratio shouted in his ear. Regus woke with a start, the dream still firmly lodged in his mind. ”You must away, dear Regus, there is no rest here for you, save a rest that will leave you quite incarcerated.” The cracked caster shoved a pack into Regus’s hands. ”Go as far away as your move will take you, and I will stall them. I will say you went for a walk and will be back soon, that you wanted to find some flowers for Lady Anex….a rose, or some other named thing perhaps, but you should go at once!”

”Hamratio, what are you talking about?” Regus looked in the pack and found it stuffed full of field rations. They would keep him on the road for four turns or more. It must have taken some doing for Hamratio to get ahold of so many rations without raising suspicion.

”Dear Regus, you are a soldier in mind and form, but form means little when they look beyond to see the man beneath. The King received a little bird today, from our dear friend the Carnival Clown you met in Mediol. He spoke of a wish for peace between our sides, even giving up a few cities that would mean dozens of turns of battles to reclaim, if we can at all, and all for a single price. They want your head, Regus, and all the wonderful things it can do.”

”Surely the king would question giving up a low level warlord in exchange for such peace?” Regus slung the pack over his shoulders and settled his sword and shield around him.

”He did, and the Carnymancer told him the reason why. You see, our dear carnymancer is also a dabbling Deletionist, and he wants you deleted.” Hamratio hurried to the door, and slowly opened it. ”The King was outraged that you are what you are. He swore to deal with you himself, but the Carnymancer insisted that he be present to oversee your demise. Dear Anex will be receiving orders to apprehend you and await the arrival of king and caster alike, which is why it is vital for you to go now.”

”Anex….” Regus thought, wondering if she would even obey such an order. ”I can go to her, she would run away with me, and we could start a new life on some distant side.” Regus headed to the window, sliding one leg out of it.

”Regus, you are a Retconjurer. No king will take your allegiance, the Deletionists will hunt you until they remove you from existence, and even though she is a tough lady, Anex would never be happy abandoning her side, especially to run from it and fight against it. It is heartbreaking for me to see you two like this, such tragedy is not my forte, but it will be best for her if you leave and not force her to confront you.”

”I guess you are right. I would still liked to have said goodbye.” Regus lowered himself down into the bushes outside the window. There was a small gate nearby that was unguarded at ground level. That would be his best chance of escape.

”I will say your goodbyes in time, my friend. Good luck.” Hamratio saluted Regus, and Regus merely smiled. With a nod, he headed for the gate, slipping out of the city, and into the hex beyond. He was a fugitive now, on the run from the side he was popped into. The only side he even knew. He was a fugitive, an outcast, and a barbarian.

What was worse is that he is a retconjurer, and a danger to the entirety of erf itself.

[tigerusthegreat]

Chapter 4: The End of the Beginning

Regus had wandered for three turns. The first had been the most disconcerting. As he ended his move, his livery had disappeared, replaced with the brown of a barbarian. He was no longer of a side, merely a barbarian trying to survive. The rations that Hamratio had given him would keep him for another two turns. It felt disconcerting to have no treasury, to rely on rations instead of food being popped. It felt strange that, until he ate, any scratches or bruises he suffered did not heal. He had no plan, no goal except to keep as far ahead of the search parties as possible. Now he was between two enemies, the forces of Espang and Vatima….Vatima as an enemy, there was a difficult thought.

The forests of the Tima peninsula had thinned to open hills. If he was being closely followed, everyone would be able to see him clearly as he crossed those hills. The Espangians had cities to the west, and most of Vatima was to the south. To the east were the Tottoms, but any of those cities could be switching hands, so the border could be anywhere in the next turn. That left north as the only viable option…an option that meant hiking up several mountains. Mountains with no chance of scavenge and only two days of rations left….one of which would get him to the mountains, giving him one day in the mountains to find help. With no option left, he headed north, hoping to find a way to survive.

[tigerusthegreat]

Regus has made it to the mountains without being detected. Hamratio’s warning, and the full turn of move he had before the search had been called had kept him safely ahead of the Vatimans. The mountains posed a whole other challenge. He had one turn of field rations left. After that, every wound he suffered would remain, until he could find enough forage for upkeep. Most barbarian commanders disbanded units to keep others in top fighting form, either harvesting edible units or simple disbanding them to reduce the payroll or make rations go further. He had no purse, and had no more rations after tonight. He was also heading into a dangerous environment, where exposure alone could kill him in a single turn, let alone the several he would suffer through it. His only hope was to find a pocket side in those mountains, or perhaps a shortcut through them to the other side, where there must be work for a barbarian warlord.

Regus began climbing the steep ascent of the mountain hex. Climbing a mountain was nothing like traversing the foothills or forests of Tima. It was much more like fighting an enemy. Each foothold he made drew a lot of strength out of him, and each foot he crawled up the side of the mountain left him feeling more drained than any spell he had cast. He kept thinking how easy it would be if he was mountain-capable...how simple it would be to cast a spell and change himself and jog through this hex and into the next, bounding on legs that knew the mountain as well as the plains. He knew that wasting juice would not be a wise thing. It was enough to get into the mountains, the Vatimans would never think to look for him there, and conserve his juice for a fight, or finding forage later.

After several hours of climbing, he had made it to a third hex within the mountain range. He stopped here, resting to decide his options. His options were bleak, he could continue directly into the mountain range, an option that would deplete him of the rest of his move, and eat up some of his move for the next turn, or head into a ravine, where he could see an old, disused trade road. From the histories he had read, he knew that once there were two merchant kingdoms, whose names time had forgotten, that did great business through that very road. It had been called the Alpine Way, and served both kingdoms well until one decided to send an army down it to sieze the other’s wealth. They had collapsed the road’s entrances, leaving the rest of it to fall victim to landslides and avalanches. It was a risky choice, because if he knew about it, then others did as well. However, even if it was unblocked for only a hex or two, he would get much further following that road than climbing blindly through the mountains. He would also have a better chance fighting on the even terrain of a road than the unsure footing of a mountainside.

Regus climbed down the mountain hex onto the road beside it. It had once been a mighty highway, and it dwarfed the barbarian commander. This road could handle columns of siege engines marching abreast, not to mention legions of heavies. An empire with a road network of this sort would rule as far as its roads could reach. Regus felt the road with his hand, trying to evoke some sense of its magical origins, only to find something very strange. The road was not built by a spell or by a unit like pwebians…it had been laid down stone by stone by a veritable army of laborers. It had not popped into existence, but had been constructed piece by piece. It was strangely comforting to him, to be walking on a path that was so unusual to the way things were normally done…a strange warlord on a strange road. He explored the road’s hex and boundaries, and found what was once a way-station along a bend near the hex boundary to the north. Now it was a crumbling ruin, anything edible long since rotted and no signs of wild animals disturbing the snow that covered the whole hex. Still, the crumbling walls were shelter, and Regus set up his camp there. Pulling out the last of his field rations, Regus thought it was as good a time as any to burn the juice he had for the day. Concentrating on the loaf of bread, he tried to duplicate it with dittomancy. He felt the drain of energy he associated with a successful spell, but the bread remained the same, and no extra loaf appeared. Regus frowned at the bread. He imagined a purse full of gold that he could use to pay his own meager upkeep. It would keep him on the road for days. Again, he felt the energy leave his body, but no gold appeared in the empty pouch he had fashioned himself. He had tried these spells each night, and they had never worked. Originally, he thought it was a fluke, but he was certain something was keeping him from casting these spells now. What it was, he wasn’t sure, but it had to be exceptionally powerful, and it had been with him since becoming a barbarian.

Regus ate the bread he had failed to duplicate, feeling his energy return with each bite. Tomorrow he would have to conserve his juice as well as his hits unless he found food. He would not regain either without food. As he ate, the cuts on his arms earned from climbing and slipping too many times to count began disappearing. He settled his cloak around him and fell asleep, dreaming of Lady Anex, and the life he could no longer have.

[tigerusthegreat]

A screech in the night woke Regus with a start. Unsheathing his sword, he stepped out into the night, ready to fight off whatever had come across him. The heavy snow had turned into a thick sleet which blinded him, and clung to his shield and armor. The screech came again, and Regus turned to meet it. Out of the sleet came a pair of Snow Angels, vicious winged women clad in skimpy lingerie. Snow Angels were one of the many reasons being caught in a snow storm without shelter was almost always deadly. Most men were drawn to their perfect, pale skin, especially with how much they showed, but Regus’s mind was firmly on how he would not be able to regain any hits lost in this battle.

The two snow angels swooped down at him, and Regus barely had time to dodge out of the way. They came around again, lightning fast, and a pair of claws raked along Regus’s back armor, freezing it solid. It hadn’t cost him any hits, but it slowed him even further. He knew that unless he was able to stay warm, and keep from getting hit like that again, he would die from exposure before the end of the fight. As the pair came by again, Regus swung his sword, catching one in the wing. She tumbled to the ground, causing snow to burst into the air. The snow was stained red, and Regus ran towards her, ready to finish her off before she could rise. The other snow angel caught him with a full body blow. She clutched him tightly as she took him high into the air. Everywhere her skin touched, he felt freezing cold. It drew the air from his lungs, and froze his limbs. His sword fell from his frozen hand, and tumbled to the ground, far away. She looked down at him, and moved her blue lips close to his, ready to give him a kiss of death. Regus could only think of Anex, and how he was failing her. Here, he would die, being kissed by a nearly naked woman. As his mind slipped to darkness, he could only think how wrong it was, how he should try to do something about it…

Fire exploded from every part of him, burning the snow angel, and causing her wings to melt and her lingerie to burn away. She screeched in pain, and plummeted to the ground far below. Regus had a bare moment to enjoy his victory, before he realized that he too was very high above the ground, and it was coming up fast. He guessed it was a fortunate thing that the battle had ended this way. He had only a few hits left, and crashing into the ground in his condition would either kill or incapacitate him. There was such a small chance that he would survive this on his own, and be able to walk away from the landing. The ground came ever closer, and he only wished he had been able to say goodbye to Lady Anex before he left her. He felt the cold draw into him again, as whatever magic he had unleashed had finally died out, taking with it the last of his juice. It didn’t matter now, all that mattered was the snow-covered ground that was filling his vision.

He hit the snow with a wet smack, and the world went dark.

[tigerusthegreat]

”The flaming star awakens, sisters. Tend to his needs.” A woman’s voice called through the darkness. Regus opened his eyes slowly, taking in the darkness around him. He was underground, he could sense that much. It was cold here, colder than the snow had been outside. There was movement in the darkness...shadowy figures that watched from the edges. His chest and neck ached, and his skin was tender to the touch. He sat up, looking down at the bed below him, made of feathers and packed snow. His uniform, changed to the brown of a barbarian, had been burned and blackened to ash. His armor was scorched, and he felt very vulnerable without his sword and with only one hit left.

The dark figures came closer, settling into his focus. Regus tried to defend himself, but his weak arms could not do anything. He noticed his shield was missing as well. The figures moved out of the shadows, and resolved themselves as Snow Angels, one naked with burned wings, and the other with a large gash down her side and her top soaked red with blood. The voice came again from the darkness. ”Soul of fire but heart of ice. He comes in our time of darkness to crack the frozen heart of the world.” The two snow angels offered him a cup, filled with crystal clear water, and a plate with a white fruit of some sort. Regus realized just how hungry and thirsty he was, and took the water, gulping it down. The fruit did not last much longer, and as soon as he lifted it off the plate, the snow angels retreated to the shadows.

”He comes to serve us, sisters, as we serve him. The Mistress of Fate sends him here, to wear the crown of ice and flame. Raise a song of flame and frost.” The angels returned, bearing between them a crown that looked woven from ice crystals. It glowed with an inner light, as if flame was captured within its crystal. Regus was enthralled by the crown, it seemed to call to him. He could not move, as the two angels brought it to him. They set it on his head and he felt the bitter cold and searing flame from the top of his head to his toes. Then a voice came from the crown itself.

”The king has returned to us, sisters.”

[tigerusthegreat]

With the crown upon his head, Regus felt his consciousness sway away from the erf. He was pulled into a void, which was washed over by ice storms and flames. He knew he was communing with the crown itself, and it was a very strange feeling.

”You have returned to us, my King, but you are not yet complete. You know what you are but you have no idea how to become what you must be.” The voice in his head said. Suddenly she appeared before him. She was a snow angel, with one side of her body burnt black, and the other pristine white.

”What do you mean? I am not a king I am a warlord…”

”You are a retconjurer, my King, and you are not a ruler only because you want to be a warlord at the moment. Your plaything is the fabric of reality, and you can be whatever you like.” In her hands appeared the crown that Regus knew rested on his head. ”You can make others whatever you would like. Change a being like myself into a magical item, and leave it to wait for your return.”

It churned Regus’s stomach to know he could not only change the nature of himself, but of others as well. Turning a unit into a magical item…a living being into a crown…was disturbing at best. ”When you say I have returned, what do you mean? I have never been to this place before. I was popped a Vatiman unit, before becoming a barbarian.”

”When you left us, my King, you assured us of your return. You taught us what we would need to know, and buried the kingdom in ice and snow. As the ages have passed, the snow has retreated to these mountains, where the lost capital is hidden by it. You told us that you would return, before leaving for a distant land with three hundred mighty warriors. We felt your loss, when you were croaked in a mighty battle that shook the erf itself. Our numbers have dwindled, as have the snows. We have scoured the erf for your coming, and you have come to us. Take your place as our rightful ruler.”

[tigerusthegreat]

”I do not know how to be a ruler.” Regus said to the snow angel/crown. ”I am a warlord at best, and a caster at worst. I don’t even know how to stop being a warlord, let alone become a ruler. It is like asking a stone to become a bird.”

”My king, you have commanded stones become birds, and barren lands become fruitful fields. You were once like a titan, standing astride the world and remaking it as you willed. Retconjuration is the craft of the Titans themselves…to change what we are, to become whatever is needed, that is the duty of the Retconjurer…that is your duty.”

”I don’t know how to be a ruler. Every morning I wake up as a warlord, without trying to be. It is like the very nature of myself is set so firmly as a warlord it cannot be anything else. How could I be a ruler then?”

”When you first came to us, long before I was ever popper or transformed into this crown, you learned how to be a master at retconjuration. You learned every spell the discipline had to offer, and became the first among your fellow casters. That was before the deletionists rose up. They hated your power, lusted for control over your discipline. One by one they deleted the retconjurers…your friends and allies. You were the last they hunted down, before you shielded the erf itself in ice. Such a powerful spell took all the might of your empire to cast, and left you drained and weak for the battle ahead. You faced the deletionists, and killed most of their number in single combat. They cast their spells, but found you protected against their magic, for you had become a thing of fate itself, wrapped in a veneer of erf and boosted by the power of numbers. The battle was a beautiful thing to behold, until the thinkamancy link faded out, and the side turned barbarian. We never knew what became of you, my King, except that we waited for the day you would return, as predicted. In that time of need, this crown was to be placed upon your head, and the knowledge it contains granted to you.”

”The knowledge….to turn myself into a ruler.” Regus mused. It was a powerful gift the crown offered, and if he could truly become powerful enough to face off against entire groups of casters, he could storm Vatima and take Anex from them. She would serve his empire…an empire that did not shun the practice of retconjuration, but embraced it fully. ”Teach me what I must know.”

The snow angel before him turned into a blinding light that seared into his eyes. He opened them onto the snowy cavern where the two snow angels he had battled still waited to serve him. He could sense exactly what forces of magic brought them into being. It was a greater version of the magical understanding he saw out of the corner of his eye. Looking down at his hands, he could see the raw fate magic pouring over them…it wasn’t merely magic, it was potential. He reached down into the erf itself, and felt the awesome power of the snowstorm, and the raw strength of the mountains around him. It was immense and overwhelming, and it faded as quickly as it had come.

The crown’s voice came from inside his head, now. ”The turn starts, my king, and you must be a ruler now. That was a taste of what it is like to be a caster, like you should be before deciding what you will become. However, the spell I know, the one you taught me long ago, will leave you as a ruler until you are powerful enough to face your enemies. You must be trapped in order to free yourself.”

He felt the magic flow over him…potential being turned into firm facts…fate being dialed to a specific decree, and his erfly body firming up. He felt himself getting stronger, more imposing…his mind opened to new tactical opportunities, and his head filled with numbers. He could sense that he was standing on a capital site, and with a mere thought, he created a city there. The world around rumbled as it took shape.