Dawning Skye

616 Spartan Death

***WARNING: LANGUAGE, GORE, VIOLENCE, AND DISTURBING CONTENT***

“Like Hell our King’s gonna bend the knee to another!” General Anton yelled, followed by a chorus from the men behind them.

Lawrence felt his stomach tighten as his anxiety rose a hundred fold. Thousands of corpse soldiers stood behind the three, and had encircled their much smaller group. And if being completely surrounded and outnumbered wasn’t bad enough, his men were now screaming obscenities and threats at them.

Realizing their situation, Lawrence held up his hand to silence them, then calmly tried to reason with them; “I don’t think that would be very wise.. If you try to kill my men and take me, then my Senate will Definitely declare war. I don’t think my brother wants to publicly go to war with family right at the start of his rule. It will make him look questionable, at the least, to the other kingdoms. Especially Meccano.”

Both Norvis and Benzo started to laugh boisterously while Stein replied with a small snicker; “That won’t be a problem. Especially Meccano.. You overestimate your importance, Lawrence. And you Far underestimate my King’s reach..”

A wide, malevolent grin stretched across his face as he added; “There’s a reason you’re not here with an army already, even though your Queen is a hostage.”

The words were like a thousand daggers to his mind and heart.. ‘My senate betrayed me?! No, not all of them..’

“Was it Kolesnyk?!” Lawrence shouted, his hurt becoming palpable rage.

Benzo clapped his hands as he sarcastically said; “Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner!”

.....

“Na! That was only partially right!” Norvis chimed in; “We bribed a Lot more than just one!”

“Aye, but that one was pivotal! It wouldn’ta worked if if we hadn’t of gotten him on board,” Benzo yelled, annoyed that Norvis would argue over trivial details in front of their foe.

“Shut it, you two. You’re being rude in front of our guest,” Stein stated before turning back to Lawrence; “As you can see, you have no other choice but to come with us. The only question is, will it be with dignity, or like a struggling child?”

Lawrence stared at the doctor with hate in his eyes as Anton shouted; “I’ve been known to throw a hell of a tantrum! What do ya say, men?! Quietly?! Or kicking and screaming?!”

The over four-hundred mages behind them cried out, taunting and insulting the three traitors before them. Stein and Norvis didn’t seem to care about the childish slanders, but Benzo looked like he was quickly becoming irritated. After just a few seconds of it, he snapped at them.

“Choose, Law! Side with your brother, or your men die here! This is your last chance!”

Lawrence looked at his friend and General, then looked to the men at his back. Their cocky expressions showed that they felt little concern over Benzo’s threat, despite them being grossly outnumbered. They all knew that they were most likely going to die on this mission, and had made peace with that..

Every mage that Lawrence and Anton had selected were seasoned warriors, whom mostly already had grandchildren. They were the best-of-the-best when it came to synchronized attacks, and stood the greatest chance against the mindless horde. As long as they really were mindless..

With a reassuring nod from every visible mage, Lawrence turned back to Benzo and the others with a smirk; “Oh, I’ll support my brother, alright..”

As he reared his horse and withdrew his gun from it’s holster, Lawrence shouted at the top of his lungs; ” For the prosperity of my kingdom and my Father’s: I support King Tidas! The Rightful Ruler of Alcon!”

With that declaration, Lawrence used his horse, and had it kick Benzo in the face. The moment he went down, Doctor Stein and Norvis grabbed him, and dragged him backwards into the horde for cover. Lawrence was shooting at them, but the dead soldiers immediately got in his line of fire, and protected them.

Within a few seconds, all hell had broken loose. The Ruscovic soldiers had dismounted while firing off their long-range defensive attacks, then shifted into their formations. It was like riding a bicycle to them because they’d done it so many times, and even Benzo had been impressed by their efficiency, despite himself.

As the Tanks lined up in front with massive, almost body-length shields, the elemental mages lined the back. Lawrence was in the center, with his soldiers surrounding him as he barked orders. Usually General Anton gave out orders, but this was the king’s mission, so he made all the decisions.

The dead stood unmoving while they readied themselves, which Lawrence found a little unnerving. The goal of a battle was to win as quickly as possible, but that was usually to conserve the lives of one’s soldiers.. ‘I guess when they’re already dead, tactics become less important..’

That was went it donned on Lawrence that they were in far more trouble than he’d realized..

No matter how strong or brave his soldiers were, they would need to rest at some point. Sleep, eat, relieve themselves; these were all concerns of the living, but not the dead. Marco’s army could march across the continent from one end to the other, and never need to stop. It was the perfect army for a person hell-bent on conquering the world..

It took everything he had not immediately surrender, but Lawrence already knew that his men would Never let him. They put their lives on the line for him; he couldn’t turn his back on their honor.. ‘We’re either going to die here, or in Alcon’s dungeons.. I’d rather die with the sky above me..’

The thought made Lawrence’s heart ache for his children. He didn’t want to die, but he’d rather that, then become a puppet for his brother.. ‘My children will be too young to rule, and they have so many enemies around them.. I should have tried harder to convince the senate, but from what those bastards said, it was a lost cause from the start..’

“You have three seconds to wipe that look off of your face, or I’ll smack it off,” General Anton said low to his King, trying to avoid his men hearing them.

Once they made eye contact, Anton glared at his friend and King; “Me and my men will all die here today, but you won’t. You will be taken, but that doesn’t mean you’re Beaten! Break Free! Save our Queen! Save Our Families! THAT is your responsibility as King! Now, live up to it!”

Anton had grabbed Lawrence by the collar of his armor, and was staring him down. Lawrence didn’t flinch, but he did avert his eyes when Anton had said that they were all going to die. He felt incredibly guilty, fully understanding that he was the cause of it.

Right as his eyes had started to cloud over with despair, Anton shook Lawrence, and spoke sternly; “Do not diminish our honor with your self-pity! We are proud warriors of Ruscovic! Our bloodlines go back as far as our kingdom’s roots! We will defend our King, home, and families until we are beckoned back by the gods! This is our choice! What’s yours?!”

As the General chewed out his King, the soldiers only focused on the fight before them. The dead still hadn’t moved, but Doctor Stein and the others had been pushed back to avoid being killed. The entire group of dead soldiers behind them had been cleared, so technically: they could run back to Ruscovic if they wanted.

As if reading his mind, General Anton added; “Don’t even think about shouting that order! You know we won’t follow it anyways! But we will hold them back if you wish to retreat, Your Highness.”

Despite his offer, Lawrence knew that he couldn’t take it; “And leave all the men that volunteered to help me? Fuck that! If we go down, then we go down together!”

A small smile tugged at Anton’s lips; “Now that’s the King we chose to follow! Alright men! Time to show these bastards that they were better off staying in hell where they came from!”

An earth-shaking war cry resounded from behind them before they unleashed their own version of hell on the dead army. Fire balls, boulders, acidic rain, and massive icicles half the size of a person flew through the air, and bombarded their targets. Blood, bile, and charred body parts scattered everywhere as the frontlines of the dead army were decimated.

Lawrence had switched from his gun to a sword, and was standing his ground with the Tanks at their front line. The dead were still unmoving, so the Ruscos wanted to destroy as many as they could before they finally did attack. Hundreds fell, but even more took their place.

Once the first few rows had been demolished, Lawrence and the Tanks would advance. They’d make sure that nothing else was still moving, then begin the barrage all over again. Hours went by in the same manner, and the mages were reaching their limits.

General Anton had a few rotating, to give small breaks whenever in was necessary, but they were all beginning to feel drained. When the last barrage had ended, Stein, Benzo, and Norvis stepped out of the horde with wide grins on their faces..

Doctor Stein, looking more deranged than usual, spoke first; “Do you see how Pointless your struggle is now? You’ve destroyed, what? A thousand? Maybe two, of our soldiers.. We have hundreds of thousands left!”

“Do ya get it now, Law?! You NEVER had a chance to save her! That mangy cat will die in the dungeons! Alone, scared, and crying out for you like she Has been since you left her to die!” Benzo yelled with joviality in his voice.

Norvis laughed like a child while Lawrence felt his anger surge passed his limits. He wanted to run at them and slice them in two, but he was no fool. He knew that they were trying to separate him from the others to make capturing him easier, so he wasn’t about to give himself to them without a fight.

“Do you hold any regrets, Anton?” Lawrence asked, knowing that their end was near.

The General grinned broadly at him; “No a single fuckin’ one, my King.. It’s been the honor of my life to serve a worthy family like yours. Although, I do wish I could’ve met the woman to tie down our King. She must be one hell of a woman to steal your heart.”

Lawrence’s expression faltered; “She’s the most amazing woman in the world..”

“Then don’t give up,” Anton whispered; “Break free, save her, and save our kingdom. I know you can, Law.. Anastasia picked a good man..”

It was the first time that Lawrence had heard Anton say his beloved cousin’s name since her passing, and he was dumbstruck by his statement. Anton had seen Anastasia like a favored baby sister, and was the most overprotective of her when they had returned to Ruscovic. Aside from himself and his children, Anton had suffered the most from his first wife’s death, yet he had looked forward to meeting Shasta.

The sentiment made Lawrence want to cry, but now wasn’t the time. Doctor Stein had stepped forward, and the dead soldiers began to move for the first time..

“I can’t guarantee that you will remain in one piece if you stand by your men, King Lawrence. I control the soldiers, but only to certain extents. You may lose an arm or leg if you stay over there. Why not join us now? I can promise to make their deaths quick and painless if you do.”

The King of Ruscovic glared at the doctor; “Like hell you would! Let’s just get on with it!”

Stein smirked evilly; “You are right about that.. Oh well, I tried.”

Stein lifted his arm, then let it drop...