The Song of Eternity
Canto 1
Parm: The Forsaken Realm
Verse 12
Power Overwhelming
On the eve of destruction…,
Destiny shares a conversation.
On the day of fire…,
True power is let free.
Deke stumbled through the streets of Haven. Amarant had woken him earlier, telling him to hurry and get prepared for battle, that the enemy would arrive later in the day. Finally he found himself at the armory and stopped to inspect his gear. He sat down under a tree and spread out the gear the dwarves had given him. The chain mail was no worse for the wear, but the sword was ruined. He chuckled and pitched it to the side.
"You should watch where you throw things," Kuja said as he carried the sword back over to Deke and sat down, inspecting the weapon. "What happened to this weapon?"
"Nothing big, killed the majority of an ogre ambush party, the usual," Deke explained as he began to stuff the good pieces of chain mail back into his bag. "Kuja, right?" he asked as he extended his human hand.
"Right," Kuja nodded as he shook hands. "You don't remember anything?" Kuja asked Deke.
"Nope. The only thing I really know how to do is fight, apparently. Did we meet on Gaia?"
"I don't think so. There is something about you though. I don't know what it is, but I could swear I know you from somewhere," Kuja admitted.
"I know the feeling. I get it every day. It's knowing that you should be able to recall something, but it's just out of reach. The way I get through it is to just move on. Just grit your teeth and trust that what you are doing is right," Deke finished as he brushed himself off and got to his feet. "Nice to meet you Kuja, but I need to sober up, grab a sword or two, and get to the front lines."
"Don't get yourself killed out there."
Deke chuckled to himself. "Now why is that funny?" He asked himself as he entered the armory.
-------------------------------------------That afternoon------------------------------------------
Deke and Kuja looked over the battlefield from their respective positions. Deke, with the dwarves, staring out across the battlefield at the ogres. Kuja, hovering in the air, looking at the undead army. Deke hadn't seen any of the others since his conversation with Kuja in the morning. Kuja knew that Eiko and Pearl were in the back, readying their curative spells and the others were somewhere on the front lines.
The enemy continued to march, the ogres to one side, the undead to the other, and the human desert forces in the middle. Greatly out numbered were the dwarves, Haven's army, and the few knights that could make it in time. When the armies were fifty feet apart, all hell broke loose. The forces charged each other with an animalistic fury, hungry for battle.
Kuja floated in the air, assessing the situation as the undead shambled towards the waiting knights. The ogres and humans were already fighting, but the undead were too slow to stay in synch. When the undead were twenty feet from the knights, Kuja acted. He raised his hands, and fire swept through the undead ranks. He concentrated all of his power on his spell, making it spread like wildfire throughout the ranks of the undead. He noticed through his peripheral vision, several smaller fires starting deep in the undead ranks. He concentrated on the scene in front of him and finally caught a glimpse of Deklin as he teleported himself around, casting the destructive fire spells, slashing a few zombies to bits, then escaping.
Kuja lost his concentration as a ballistae bolt tore through the sky. He barely had enough time to dodge the blast, but the momentary lapse allowed the fires to weaken to the point where the undead could put them out. "Damn," he swore as hurled balls of fire at the advancing force. Eventually he shifted his gaze to the sky and stopped hurling fireballs. "Oh, shit," he muttered as he braced himself before the gigantic undead dragon's claw stabbed into his midsection, and threw his to the ground.
Kuja held his midsection as he got to his feet, trying to think past the pain. The dragon landed in front of him and it's rider dismounted. "You must be the one they freed from my palace," Lim-Dul taunted as he drew a thin black sword. "You must understand, I want to kill you myself, it's a matter of pride."
"Then you'll understand why it's a matter of pride for us to kill you and end your perversion of life," Deklin spoke as he came into view with a ball of fire hovering an inch from his hand.
"Surprise, surprise," Kuja smiled as he removed his hand from his wound, revealing pink unbroken flesh.
"Pitiful creatures, always reliant on magic," Lim-Dul scoffed. "What would you do without your magic?" Lim-Dul smiled as the ball of fire disappeared. The dragon took the opportunity to swing it's tail at Deklin, sending him flying backwards over the city wall. "All alone, what will you do without your magic?" The necromancer laughed as he raised his sword.
"Whatever I can," Kuja replied as he closed his eyes and dug deep within his being for any mana or power he could muster. "I will not fail!" Kuja shouted as his body turned as black as night.
"What is this?" Lim-Dul backed away curiously as he watched Kuja's transformation.
Kuja concentrated on nothing but destroying the necromancer in front of him. Small points of light appeared all over his body, shining like they were coming from deep within his body. As they got brighter, Lim-Dul could feel the power in the air. Finally they erupted from Kuja's body, spraying blood as they left. The beams of light drove through Lim-Dul, his dragon, and continued going on into the combined armies, until they exploded, leaving small craters and killing dozens. Kuja could feel himself being carried off the battlefield as he passed out.
Deke rushed into the battle with a short sword in each hand, and a veritable arsenal strapped to his body. As he battled against the ogres he continued to dodge all blows that came his way. He saw a pair of dwarves in trouble and hurled the swords end over end until they embedded themselves in the backs of a pair of ogres. Not pausing to admire his work, he removed the battleaxe from his back and started swinging it into the crowd of ogres with all his strength. He clove through three or four ogres at a time, creating a wedge for the dwarves t use in their offensive.
The axe got stuck in an ogre and he had to leave it as he saw the flames on the other side of the battlefield die down. Frowning, he began to throw daggers from his belt and cloak and until he was out and two dozen ogres laid face down around him. He grabbed for his last weapon, a wicked four foot long sword.
He got back to work, cutting through the ogres, until he came to an area with one huge ogre surrounded by a dozen of what looked like royal guards. The large one grunted and the guards charged him at once. He was forced to backpedal a bit as he had to defend himself with both his sword in his left hand and using his metal hand/arm as a shield. He dodged a blow from one of the guards, then as the ogre tried to pull his sword from the ground, Deke punched through it's skull, killing it.
The others stepped back, unsure of themselves, giving Deke a momentary advantage. He pressed his attack, cutting his opponents down to six faster than they could react. As he swung again, taking out another pair of ogres, he felt a sting in his gut he knew instinctively to be a sword wound. He angrily hurled his sword at the offending ogre like a javelin, then punched in the skull of another, taking the guards down to two. Weaponless and injured, they charged him from separate sides, forcing him to dodge one side's blows and to block the other with his metal hand. Finally he delivered a kick to one, knocking it back, and turned his attention to the other who was frantically trying to pull it's sword from the ground. Deke held the ogre there as he karate chopped, severing the arm. He pulled the ogre's sword from the ground and hurled it at the last guard, impaling it's skull.
He walked over to his original weapon, pulling it from the corpse, then turning his attention to the one the others were guarding. "What the hell are you supposed to be?" He asked as he eyed up the enormous ogre.
"I am Daggoth, Chief of the ogres. Tell me your name, so that I know what to call you after I tear your head from your body," the ogre replied.
"Travis Starmore, Deke, I really don't know anymore. I wouldn't worry about it too much, you won't live another minute," Deke smiled as he went into a fighting stance.
"You really think you can beat me human?"
Deke shrugged as he sheathed his sword. "I'm sure I can, but I'm just saying that the energy blast heading this way is going to get you before I get the chance." Deke smiled as the ogre's eyes opened wide and he turned to see Kuja's energy blast impact his face, then continue on. Deke looked at the headless body and laughed. "Now isn't the time to lose your head. Wait, maybe you were to headstrong. You'll never get ahead that way." He ducked as an ogre swung an axe at him. "Everyone's a critic," he chucked before heading back to the battle.