Chapter 4:
Imperial capital, palace, royal bed-chambers;
Much to Kane's, and everyone else's joy, survivors had emerged from the massacre. They came from sewers and wells, hidden rooms and secret passage-ways, even a few from hay-stacks.
None had come out until the rain began to stop so Kane's soldiers had not found anyone during their initial progression through the city. The second time they scoured the town for the few beastmen and other creature's corpses to bring back and show emperor Kane the species they had found...all but 2 were beastmen.
The days following the events of Alkor'lan, Kane was in a rather foul mood. He had not been able to destroy the non-human army and to make it somewhat worse, he was unable to find them either. Though he doubted it was needed, he had stationed a sizable garrison at the nearly destroyed mountain town in case of a second attack.
He was depressed about the slaughter and his inability to reap vengeance on those who had attacked his nation, perhaps more so for considering the non-humans tribes incapable of such.
Though most died, the feats of his battle with that dragon-lord had further promoted his 'divinity' among the priesthood and other people that worshiped him as a god. Oh, if only they could accept him as a powerful person with their best-interests at heart instead of some kind of godly being!
The pirate attacks continued across the continent however, buying him extra time before his human enemies made an open attack against Carthax at least. The downside was that his, and everyone else's for that matter, logistics were severely hampered.
Trying to relax enough to nap he rolled onto his other side in his over-sized, yet luxurious bed. A soft almost unheard noise was heard as he rolled over, stopping when he did.
*Great, another assassin on top of troubling thoughts. I suppose i should have some fun with this one...*-Kane thought.
Kane summoned Goujian under his blankets and cast a silent TIME-STOP.
Taking his time he sat up and stretched a little, taking his 'time' before walking over to where the noise was heard. She was still in the shadows of the low light-giving sconces placed around the chamber.
A woman had been 'tip-toeing' towards his bed, holding a black-coated dagger behind her back. She seemingly only wore a nightgown, though he could 'see' there were nice curves underneath. Under the gown she wore the typical tight-fitting outfit that seemed so typical of the majority of assassins, the exception being that it was near-see through!
*She must have convinced those in the hallway she was here to 'please' me...*-Kane thought with an accompanying chuckle.
*If that's the case...*-Kane thought amusingly before impaling Goujian into the floor.
...
TIME-STOP ended and the assassin finished her mid-stride 'tip-toeing' before her eyes widened in shock. Her target was no longer in sight and she was naked!
"~Lookin' good~"-Kane said lecherously from behind her.
The assassin whirled around with her dagger raised to plunge the poisoned blade into the man. Kane quickly grabbed her arm by the wrist, twisted it back and down behind her. The sudden pain made her drop the weapon before Kane used his Telekinetic ability to toss and embed the blade into a wall on the other side of the room.
"Are my guards outside alive?"-Kane said on the off-chance she had killed them instead of lying.
She looked towards the door before answering, "Yes".
"That's good...any chance you'll tell me who sent ya?"
Silence met Kane, who performed a manuever to pin both her arms behind her in an 'x' before lifting her off the ground to look her straight in the eyes. He knew this had to be unpleasant, especially from the way she gasped.
"Well?"-Was all Kane said.
The woman just looked to the side, refusing to look him in the eyes, silence is all that came from her.
"Very well then"-Kane said before turning with her still off the floor, he got in behind her before she started thinking of kicking him, and 'gently' smashed the front of her into a nearby wall.
"I dislike being ignored"-Kane said irratatedly and 'slammed' her into the wall again to drive his point home.
"I will never betray a client!"-she said, though a bit muffled from the wall and a broken nose.
"I like that resolve of yours...but"-As Kane said 'but' he pressed his 'man-hood' against her backside, "how long will that last i wonder?"-Kane continued his taunting.
Since he doubted she'd crack under threat of pain, he decided to threaten rape.
He didn't plan on actually doing such of course, but it did make him think of something a priest had mentioned to him. Something about siring heirs...he'd been asked if he'd ever take an empress, but he knew right away what they were getting at...children.
He still wasn't sure about that. After all, he had a daughter back on earth, he wondered how she was doing now that it'd been years since he last saw her...
Besides, he'd met the Slane Theocracy's 'God-kin' some years back. They were the descendants of children that were sired by players who'd arrived centuries before, though the players seemed to be worshiped as gods...
The assassin whimpered at the thought of being 'used' by this man as he seemed to be getting aroused. The very man she'd been sent to kill, to prevent thousands from dying at his hands, more so than he was already accountable for, and!
She steeled herself against what was to come..."Never!" she muffle-yelled against the wall.
Kane smirked as his thoughts of his past life were interrupted by this fearless assassin.
Kane then swung her around and let go so she flew over and onto his bed. "Good resolve, no fear...i like people like you..."-Kane said playfully with smirk still in place as he took his time walking towards her.
Her eyes fell on the runic blade of Goujian embedded into the floor near the end of the bed. Kane stood still and looked from her to the blade and back again.
"If you can dislodge the weapon and swing it at me...i'll...i'll let you go free and...un-changed"-Kane said
The woman was doubtful and confused at the last part, but, none-the-less she dived off the bed and for the handle of the weapon.
Using her momentum and all her strength pulled/pushed the weapon, expecting to dislodge it, continue forwards in a roll with it and behead the arrogant man before her who simply stood there with an insufferable smirk on his face.
She had instead only nudged it however and now ended up on her back with her bruised arms still holding onto its handle.
Shock, the weapon would not budge further!
Starting to move and then stopping as if held by an unseen force...she looked towards the man with hate-filled eye's. "What are you doing?!"-she yelled at him.
"Nothing, Goujian probably just considered you unworthy is all"-Kane simply said and to her confusion expounded on why;
"Goujian is not bound by the laws governing space and time and thus cannot be affected by them, though it can, though limited, effect space-time itself. The wielder of Goujian is effectively able to control time, even age itself"-Kane finished as he walked to the disbelieving woman that now opted to go retrieve her dagger on the wall since the sword was unable to be dislodged.
*That's ridiculous! A sword that controls time! Ludicrous!*-She yelled in her mind as she raced toward the wall and looked back...
Kane watched in seemingly slow motion as she raced towards the dagger that was doubtlessly laced with poison. Reaching out for and grabbing hold of it with fear in her eyes. Kane moved to and raised Goujian out of the floor with ease and then pointed it towards her "REVERSE TIME".
The woman appeared to run in a backwards motion as she came back to Kane. Ending the spell and moving in front of her as she jumped backwards he waited for her to jump forward again and now towards him, not away.
"!"-her eyes widened as Kane appeared with the runic blade pointed down and left hand on top of the pommel with his right out-stretched to grab her once more as she finished her jump.
"Impossible!"-she cried unable to cope with this.
"Just you wait", "AGE ENHANCE"-Kane said as he watched in amazement as the debuff, now reality and true to its name, made the woman before him age rapidly till she had grey hair. Releasing the now old assassin, she dropped to the floor in a rasping heap.
"I must've aged you at least a good 50 years or more just now...just look at all that grey hair!"-Kane teased the woman.
"No way...it shouldn't be possible"-she panted, now finding breathing difficult. As she had aged it felt like all she had ever done had been done repeatedly, all at once, several times over within each second, but she was becoming soo tired beyond that...
*soo sleepy*-she thought before realizing he may have taken nearly all her life-span.
"You look tired...perhaps i took too much?"-Kane mused aloud at her.
"AGE REVERSE"-Kane said, raising the blade and pointing it at her.
Watching this spectacle, of an old woman become young again, he took it further. Instead of bringing her back to around the 20's he brought her back to what he could reasonably guess to be about 9 or 10 years old.
He was somewhat hoping she'd remind him of his daughter, he was disappointed though, he should have known better.
"Hmmm"-Kane mused that if others learned of her entering to 'please' him and left as a 'child' all kinds of rumors would begin. The question was: would it be worth it? Would the amusement outweigh the problems? Probably not, but he needed something to liven up the palace.
*Screw it, why not? A would-be assassin turned adopted child...well, adoption can be decided later i guess*-Kane mused as the 'child' seemed to be hyperventilating in contrast to previously having difficulty to even take a single breath.
Using Goujian, Kane cast "SKIP" and appeared in the hallway outside to the great surprise of his 'guards'.
"Did i ever inform you that i would have a guest? Also, seriously? What kind of man do you think i am anyway?"-Kane began a short rant at the assembled royal guards.
Sighing he decided to tell them; "The woman you let inside was an assassin, though now she's nothing but a wizened child. Please go find some clothes that'll fit a kid" -Kane said to the confusion of his guards.
"Now, please"
Two guards ran off to find the clothes asked for while Kane led the rest of the royal guard detachment inside to see a woman's clothes on the floor nearby and some blood on a nearby wall. In the middle of the room, near the bed, was a young girl on her hands and knees breathing heavily.
"I first turned her into an old woman before this and it seems the stress of taking and giving back the years, along with changes in her physical form, have caused her beleaguered state. Though, i don't think...she'll die from it as she seems to have recovered somewhat already"-Kane told them.
The 'girl' looked up, ignoring the gaurds, at Kane with terror and wonder, and, an accompanying, trembling lip...
*Is she gonna cry?*-Kane thought by the expression she had as she looked up at him...
"Ahahahaha, don't tell me your gonna start crying now...~little girl~"-Kane teased...
Kinaire;
The citizens of the island nation looked up in wonder at the great obelisks that every city had at least one of in wonder. They were currently emitting a powerful energy beam racing out from the tops in multiple directions, these directions were towards the nearest towns and cities that also had an obelisk.
What they didn't know was the purpose of these great monuments. For how could they? Gilgamesh rarely ever explained anything.
These obelisks connected to and supported each other, creating a vast grid, or network, of magical energies precisely tuned for Gilgamesh's control as he could influence his will upon them. They served as both a warning barrier and an offensive tower that would lash out with enhanced LIGHTNING's at any who would dare threaten the homeland of the Kinaire nation. They were a first and last line of defensive and offensive fortifications. Today was the first experimental testing of operational functionality.
They were powered by the 'spark' as it was known there. Those who were born that could use arcane magic would inevitably become 'monks and priests, along with alchemists' within the nation. Few knew the truth as only a few learned their innate abilities through trial and error as teaching others was a state offense when it came to those with the 'spark'.
Gilgamesh had kept his people in the dark about magic, as his predecessor had, to further cement his own rule over the worthless masses. Now, those with the spark had a real purpose; to use their 'essence' to fuel the obelisks of old. The only real question was how long a given number of them would last to power any given one.
He was about to go to war with the mongrels of the world nearby but didn't want them to set their filthy feet upon his lands. Any ships nearby would be blasted apart from massive arcing bolts of energy fueled by the 'sparkers' 'essence'(mana).
There were just enough of these individuals to house 60 per obelisk. 20 were needed to fuel it but the length of time they'd be able to manage it was still in question. Though most of the energy itself came from the world around them, they still required a...tribute so to say.
Those trying to fly in would suffer a similar fate of course and those who used stealth and trickery to sneak in were in for their own surprise.
Today, as luck would have it, a great fleet of pirate ships descended upon the port cities on the coast. Lucky for him.
"How amusing! Entertainment at last!"-Gilgamesh said gleefully as he watched through an artifact that was, perhaps, from another age or even world. It was in the form of a mirror, allowing the user to view things from great distances away.
Currently, a massive bolt of energy lashed out from an obelisk and obliterated a large ship in the middle of the invading fleet. Debris, among other things, rained down and flew outward from the explosion onto or into other ships just before another ship suffered a fate much the same as the first.
A cold smile lit his face as he watched the carnage flow on the mirror.
"I do hope the sparkers' last long enough to destroy them all"-Gilgamesh said slowly.
"I do so like to see things through to the end..."
Southern alliance:
These pesky pirate attacks along the coastal cities were, irritatingly, successful. Trade and logistics for their massive army was disrupted, resulting in food shortages across the lands. Cities heading towards food riots and outlying villages being at the mercy of bandits and monsters.
A hindrance, a set-back in their...his plans to destroy or claim the lands of Carthax after dealing with Emperor Kane. He'd sent at least a hundred assassins after the man in the past year to no avail. The institution responsible for training them had begun refusing him as everyone they sent were never heard from again. 'Too many losses, we need a few years to recover', they had informed him after allowing their new protege to undertake the now-suicidal mission after volunteering for it.
Her skill with poison and stealth were now, currently, unrivaled within the 'assassins guild'. It was said that she could not be heard, even by a mouse, for a mouse would make more noise then her. He doubted it but had said nothing. That was 3 weeks ago now and reports of a demi-human and dragon-kin attack on a mountain town in central Carthax presented both troubling news and opportunity to attack.
An alliance of all non-human races was bad news indeed, especially one that included dragons, for obvious reasons. They were numerous, more powerful than the average human, and many would actually eat humans...so yes, not good at all.
Then there was the opportunity that came from it. With the Empire of Carthax busy repelling such a force, the 'alliance' forces could push into Carthax territory within immediate reprisal from that Kane. Though little has been reported other than that he fought a dragon-lord and its kin in the skies above Alkor'lan. He hoped his latest assassin would finally due the deed after a year of failure from those sent before her.
As Lao contemplated on launching an assault he sipped his tea just as the insufferable Roman barged in.
*I thought he'd still be repelling the pirates...what n"-Lao was thinking when
"We should attack now! While they are being attacked from the north!"-Roman yelled as he barged in, feeling justified in his logic.
"I was just musing over doing that, though the emperor Kane can seemingly move vast distances in the blink of an eye, and can even bring others with him too. We need to-"-Lao
"Attack now! We can fall back if you insist or if the battle goes poorly, but either way i'm here to tell you that i'm making a move...with or without you"-King Roman announced.
Sighing, Emperor Lao placed his tea back down and stood. "Very well, but i advise hit and run tactics till we know what response to expect from Carthax"-Lao advised his idiot counterpart.
*I hope you get an arrow in your gut you fool!*-Lao shout-stared at the back of the king who was already leaving.