Chapter: 6/6
Warning: Death and plot holes.
Disclaimer: read first chapter for it.
.
.
.
.
"Any news of reinforcements, Rohanah?" Seth questioned the moment he stepped in the tent, failing to hide his fatigue as he sat down.
"There is none." Rohanah shook his head slowly.
Taking a pitch of water, Seth swallowed a mouthful and felt the cool liquid smooth away his parched lips and dry throat. He had received few injuries so far but exhaustion from the long battle was starting to sink in. They had managed to keep the imperial army at bay but it was a tight situation.
Seth was unsure how his plan had been discovered. First, Mahaado and Akunadin had pulled army to their camp and demanded surrender of power and military control. In a moment of reluctance to order immediate attack against his mentor, Seth had made a mistake. With his forged tongue, Mahaado called for loyalty, and successfully persuaded soldiers into abandoning him, reducing his army down to two-third. Seth was furious at himself for not seeing it coming. When the battle broke out, they were quickly outnumbered by Mahaado's enforced army. Refusing to retreat, with sheer power and skills, Seth ferociously cut through Mahaado's army and thus kept the moral of his soldiers up. Near dust night, they were in a position of stalemate. The battle lasted for three days before everything ebbed down with both sides strategically pulling back to their camps. He himself was physically and mentally tired, having no rest and not enough food for the last few days.
"It's been a long day. Please get some food and rest, General."
Seth made a vague gesture with his hand to dismiss the idea. "I'm fine. Go and see if the soldiers are properly taken care off. I want to make sure that they're at their best when dawn comes."
His ration was small but sustaining. His nails were cracked with blood and sweat plastered his clothes to his back like a second skin. It was no time for luxury like a long bath and soft bed. He was glad enough for each day that he still could stand, walk and fight.
At this moment, both armies suffered almost equal casualties but having the smaller force, with time, the gap would widen and he would be at disadvantage. He could wait for a few days for reinforcements but his experience told him that it was best to have a quick and decisive victory. He did not doubt of their victory for never once had he lost in a war but he despised endless battles that damaged morality and drained the soldiers' strength. They still had a long war ahead to bring the whole empire down under his heel.
He felt asleep on the chair soon after the ration. His mind wandered into a dream and replayed the conversation between Akunadin and him.
It had occurred on the day he was decreed to march to Euphrates. They sat and talked conversationally by a pool of water lilies as they always did every time he was away. That night, however, Akunadin seemed quiet and almost sad.
"Seth." The man murmured, voice low and quiet. "Have you given much thought about your decision?"
"Yes, Lord Akunadin. This time, I desire with all my heart to go, be it good or ill. I have naught to regret," He replied respectfully.
"Yesterday, upon looking at the stars, I sensed uneasy forebodings on the west."
"The future told by the stars is not to be trusted, Lord Akunadin."
"Still, do look into the future before your departure. Late to change your mind, it is not."
He did not want to start the ritual but he had to obey. Late at night, when the temple was still, in his thin priestly robe, he knelt in front of the fire and prayed. The stones crackled and shifted before changing to blue. The scenes started to unfold in front of his eyes.
He felt like floating and witnessed the horror of mutilated bodies and flowing blood. There were nothing but death. The red earth was covered with limbs, torsos, heads, broken shields and weapons. Vultures flew about, delighting and feasting on rotten flesh. The scene zoomed in and streamed through the littered bodies until it slowed down and eventually stopped to focus on one.
Its widen blue eyes completely were devoid of life, blood streaming from bitten bruised lips, a hand clawing at the heart's location as if in extreme pain, everywhere, including the armor he knew so well drenched in red.
Waking up on his chair, Seth rubbed his temples in a futile attempt to wipe away every trace of the nightmare. It was his death again -- one that did not only dominate his sleep but his mind even during daytime.
Lies. It was all lies. He did not believe in a fixed future in which everything obeyed accordingly. He held power in his hand and it meant undefeatable. Although he desired victory, initially he had no intention to engage in unnecessary slaughter of the imperial army. Yet, there was but one choice -- the moment dawn came was the moment his three white dragons were released from the Realm of Shadow for ultimate destruction. Following Mahaado's defeat, he would lead the army and push on into Waset where the Empire of Kemet located. From his calculation, within a month, the whole Kemet was his.
Unable to return to sleep, Seth looked out from his tent. There were faraway whimpers of the sick and wounded, pacing of guards and shifting of unrest soldiers. All the noises soon faded away when the night turned old. He stood to see the very first light shine upon the starry sky. The rising desert sun was a red hue which spread brighter until everything was dyed in red.
His arm reached forward unconsciously as if touching that circle of light and he saw the pale skin of his arm turned crimson red. It was an omen for the upcoming day but he found a moment of peace and serenity.
When the last dark shadow was swept away, Seth took his spear and stepped outside where he knew Rohanah and his soldiers were waiting.
Standing upon a dunk of sand, Seth faced Mahaado and Akunadin, seeing the same weariness and sleep deprivation etching on their faces. Their cavalry, infantry and archers had taken positions somewhere behind them and on both sides, ready for actions.
"Traitor! How dare you show your face again? Shouldn't it shame you to betray his Highness and the land that you grew up?"
"Destroy everything that will stand in your way, Seth. That is the only way to power and victory," said Akunadin in a solemn voice.
Seth narrowed his eyes to slits at both of them. Wasn't that asking death for oneself?
With a sweep of his hand, he pulled his Millennium Rod from his belt as his lips already chanted the holy ancient words. In a moment, the earth cracked and the sky darkened until the only light came from a column of white light from his position. The ferocious growls came first before the white dragons took shapes from the light, spreading their wings around him protectively. Bathing in the power and familiar comfort of his dragons, Seth opened his eyes.
Opposite him, Mahaado was glowing in bright purple and the Magician of Fantasy emerged, proud and tall.
As Seth was still surprised at the demonic shape and size of the dark Magician, Mahaado initiated an attack directly at the third dragon. It writhed in pain and from Seth's mouth, blood spew forth.
Uttering a curse, Seth quickly ordered retaliation. The combined burst stream did not reach its intended target for Mahaado had escaped. His soldiers, however, had not. Sand dug up from the attack fell like rain -- rain of sand, blood and body parts. There came screams of terror as soldiers abandoned their posts and ran for their lives.
Just as Seth was about to attack again, another kaa appeared on his left and suddenly, he realized it belong to Akunadin. Quickly, Seth withheld the order as Akunadin screamed at him.
"Destroy me, Seth. It matters not to you who I am. Have you forgotten my teaching about the triviality of all things except power?"
The old man's eyes pierced through him, speaking of thousands things. His hand clenched as his body trembled uncontrollably.
Couldn't. Couldn't. This was the one thing he could not do. He would be more willing to cut away his limb than to kill the one who had fostered him for years. That was his mentor, father and friend. At that moment, Seth saw pain and despair in the wrinkled face and he knew that he must do it to ensure absolute victory. Still, it was an impossible act.
"SPELL OF FANTASY!"
A dark circle of purple was closing up on him and his white dragons. It started to turn suffocating. In a panic, he realized that he was imprisoned. The seal was not over three feet in radius, erected like a continuous wall around them and left not much room to move. He pushed against it and got burnt in the process. He heard a battle cry from Mahaado and turned back to see the other priest go into a slaughter. As if in a dream, he saw his best soldier, Rohanah, slay and his army in a disarray before being crushed by Mahaado's army fierce revenge. As the sun beat down on his back at noon, most of what was left of his army had switched side.
Standing in front of him with blood running down from his arm, Mahaado said. "You've lost. Surrender, Seth." The voice was strong and commanding, a contradiction to Mahaado's weary appearance.
Seth stood quietly in the confine of dark magic. Soon, he started laughing but the tang of blood in his mouth and the pounding pain on his chest transformed his laugh into a hoarse cry. His dragons growled behind as their claws bit into his shoulders and thighs. He found those comforting gestures which calmed his turbulent mind down. He had learnt hard lessons when he was young and knew by heart that there was always a way out if he managed to survive. At this moment, although he could not get out, Mahaado could not get in either. The seal was strong but it would not hold forever. The only thing that mattered here was time.
Closing his eyes, Seth sat down on the sand and went into meditation, allowing the noises around slide away like water over stones. The sun burnt hot during daytime and the earth froze at night. With no water and food, Seth preserved his strength by sitting still and focusing on the nothingness he created in his mind. His white dragons wrapped themselves around him like a shell and covered him partly from the severe weather. The world stopped moving as they curled around but time tickled away.
Soldiers switched turns to guard around the seal. Their taunts, insults and curses could not disturb his well-mediated mind. Everyday, Mahaado would come to demand his submission while Akunadin simply observed him behind the separating boundary.
Seth bided for time as he stayed in the half-asleep, half-awake state. By the third day, he started sensing a mounting weakening of the seal. Before dawn of the fourth day, he rose up and shattered the seal around him like broken glass.
The white dragons spread their wings wide as their roars echoed a corner of the desert, swirls of red sand floating in the air from the beating of wings. Standing on the other side of the field were not only Mahaado and Akunadin but Keith, Isis, Shadah and Atem.
Great. His Highness and the whole priest entourage were here. There was no need to dig up every corner of Waset for them. Seth felt his eyes burn, his blood boil from quiet rage and an insane bloodlust. He could not wait to kill them all, every single of them. No begging for mercy or quick death.
Seth waved his arm, signaling an attack. Immediately, they were pushed back. Isis and Keith quickly raised defense and sustained the second attack. The other priests' kaas circled around his back and employed their agility to approach and strike. More blood trickled down from a corner of his lips. Seth swayed on his legs as nausea threatened to bring him to his knees. Still, he stood and ignited another burst stream which threw most of the priests fall on the ground.
From his peripheral vision, Seth saw the Magician of Fantasy and in a flash, the dragon blew forth. Instead of the burning form of the Magician of Fantasy, it was a feminine shape of a kaa which had covered the Magician of Fantasy in time.
"MANA! MANA!"
Foolish, he thought as his dragons deflected the energy balls from one of the kaas.
/Attack. Attack. Attack. Right. Left. Behind. Right. Tired, can't see anymore./
Seth could feel his strength draining away from him. It was sheer will that kept him on his feet and fight.
All of the priests were gathering at one place behind Keith's shield now. He did not know what they were intending and he did not care. The only thing he knew at this moment was destruction and thus, ordered his white dragons to unleash their continuous burst stream on the shield.
In a moment, the shield was down but there was a strange golden light behind it. He could see naught except the vague shapes of Shadah, Akunadin, Isis, and Mahaado standing in a star-shaped circle with Atem as the center. All of them were holding their Millennium Items as if performing a spell.
His white dragons aimed for the circle but the attack was reflected. The golden light was emitting too bright until he thought his eyes would go blind. When the light died down, there were clatters of chains and in front of him stood Exodia the Forbidden One.
Towering over them like a mountain, the giant tore off the chains around its arms and yanked off the shackles. The brutal act, its grotesque shape which shook with extreme power made him tremble and immobile. Eye widen as fear coursed through him, he watched a glob of golden light grow in Exodia's hand until it blurred away the sun and his dragons' white blue light.
/This is the end. Farewell, mother./
It was his last thought before everything explored. Pain raked through ever fiber of his body and all was immediately shroud in empty darkness.
THE END
N/A: It's the end, folks. I'm glad that it ends exactly like what I intended when I started the fic. I may write a story following this but it's better for the priest to be dead.
YamiTai: It's not quite right. Good guess though.
lll: Thanks for the review.
wouldnt-you-like-to-know: That's it. I hope I don't disappoint you.
mimic: I did.
Dream Destructor: Update was slow. I have no excuse. Well, actually, I do XD. I was busy sewing costumes for Anime Expo 2005.
guess who: It's finished. Thanks for the review.