Author's Note: As of June 27th, 2016, the entire fanfic has been rewritten. That means this chapter, all that came before it, and all that follow it now contain different content that they did previously. You are strongly encouraged to go back and reread the entire fanfic from the beginning, as the revised continuity may confuse you if you jump in part of the way through.
Faldr Milzaek stood near the edge of the tree line. To his right, the sun began to inch its way over the horizon, painting the sky a myriad of reds, oranges, and yellows. The imposing stone façade of the Norgabard, Glaian's mountain fortress, jutted out from the face of a cliff several hundred feet in front of him. It was an impressive feat of engineering, having been carved straight out of the rock face of the Yadrek Mountain Range just before the Wadralian invasion one thousand years ago. As Faldr was admiring the combination of tranquility and bellicosity, his earpiece crackled to life, and General Victor's voice once again filled his ears.
"Alright Faldr, you're just on the edge of what we've been calling the "blackout radius". Glaian somehow procured military grade communication's jammers, so we won't be able to talk to you after this point, though we will continue to monitor your progress via satellite surveillance. Glaian also happens to be in the middle of another one of his televised speeches at the moment, so you'll have a good audience for your duel."
"Thanks, Vic. When I get back, we really should go buy some drinks and catch up." Faldr remarked as he prepared himself for what he was about to do.
"I'm looking forward to it. I'll see you in a few hours. Good luck-." Faldr. Stepped forward. General Victor's voice cut out. He was on his own from this point forward. If he didn't play his cards right, there would be a massive civil war, and thousands upon thousands would die.
"No pressure." He laughed under his breath. As he was about to exit the tree line he felt the air move to his left. "Alright, come out. We've trained together, and fought each other too many times for me to not notice such an obvious maneuver." Out of the shadows to his left stepped former lieutenant Nibet Trenya, former terrorist, master assassin, X'lish's sister, and the sixth member of Faldr and Jigafta's team back when they all worked for the FIC.
"Faldr Milzaek. It's been awhile. Kept up your skills in retirement?" She mused. Her hair was longer than her sister's, and just as ebon. Her one distinguishing feature was her right eye. She had lost it in a raid against her former employers, a terrorist organization known as the Order of the Hollow Soul, after she joined the FIC, and had taken to wearing an eyepatch over the wound ever since. The eyepatch she currently wore was emblazoned with a purple and red eye.
"What the hell is this?" Faldr asked, more furious than surprised at his sister-in-law's sudden appearance. "You leave over a year ago, in the middle of the night, to hunt down any remaining members of the Order, and then you go completely dark. And now you're stalking me through the Northern forests on my way to kill Glaian Nagratek with the symbol of the Order proudly displayed on your eyepatch. Please tell me this isn't what I think it is."
"Who, easy there. I hate the Order, we both know that. The eyepatch just lets me blend in easier around here. And I didn't join Glaian's "crusade" if that's what you're implying. Well, technically I did, but that was just to get Glaian to trust me. As it turns out, Daniel has spent the last twenty-five years hunting down the people who funded the Order, with little success. Now that Glaian's popped up on the radar, he sent me to infiltrate it a year ago to dig up anything I can find. Given my past history with the Order, I had no trouble being accepted as one of them." She stepped forward. "Now here's the important part: If you kill Glaian now, I get nothing, and this problem doesn't go away." Faldr stared at her.
"I've got orders, directly from the President, that say Glaian needs to die today. And besides, the Order is gone Nibet. Kelkaid, Jigafta's brother, your father, they're all dead. At some point, you need to move past what happened with your eye."
"Oh like you're one to talk. We both know that bullshit about the President is just a pretense. You're only here to get revenge on the Nagrateks for the death of dear old daddy, regardless of whether or not Glaian is actually related to Kelkaid." They both stood in silence for a moment.
"If we sand here calling each other hypocrites all day, I'll miss my best chance for carving out Glaian's throat. Now if you'll step aside, I can get to work." Faldr tried to walk off toward the Norgabard.
"Wait!" Nibet shouted. She grabbed his arm to stop him from moving forward. In response, he grabbed a gun at his belt and whirled it around, aiming it at her face. The movement was enough to get her to back up and open her palms as a gesture of good will.
"Let. Go." He said, lacking any trace of emotion.
"I'm trying to help you." She said, more annoyed than concerned. She had never known Faldr to kill someone who hadn't had a hand in the death of his father. "I may be after information, but I want the prick dead as much as you do. I think there could be a way for us to both get what we want."
"Suppose I believe you. How will you help me take him down?" As he asked the question, Faldr's grip on the gun tightened. He lined up her head just to the left of the sights. If he made a move, she would instinctively dart right to avoid a bullet. It was a pattern he had picked up on as soon as they began training together.
"I'm assuming the President isn't a big enough idiot to send in an assassin, so you're probably here to duel Glaian. Correct?" Faldr nodded his head slightly. "Good. In that case, Glaian will want me to fight you. A subordinate against a subordinate. At some point during the fight, long enough in to make it look we're fighting for real, I'll expose my stance. That's when you sweep my legs and kill Glaian before he can react. When he's dead, I'll be next in line. As a disgraced warrior, I won't be able to lead our people into battle, and anyone who would wish to do so would have to kill you and me first."
"Will that work?"
"It's how the situation would have gone down regardless. I'm just giving you a heads up."
"I'll go along with this. For now." He holstered his gun. Breathing a small sigh of relief, she sunk back into the foliage and relayed her final message as she disappeared.
"I'll head back before Glaian notices I'm gone. Remember the instructions. This is our only chance. The fate of this continent and our only chance to get at who was really responsible for the Order's crimes rides on the outcome of this duel. Don't falter." She was gone. He started breathing easier. He used to be able to take her in a straight up fight no problem, but she had been active for a year, and he hadn't. He wasn't taking any chances, even if she claimed to be on his side.
He left the tree line and started making his way toward the fortress. The front entrance, a large set of arched wooden double doors, was deserted. Everyone must have been inside listening to Glaian's speech. Or they were so smug in their isolation they hadn't considered the possibility that they could be attacked. In either case, their stupidity made Faldr's job easier.
He pulled several small breaching charges from the pockets on his combat armor, and placed them around the doors. He backed up to get himself clear of the blast radius, and drew two knives from his belt. After he was suitably prepared, he detonated the charges. The door was shredded instantly. Immediately, Faldr charged in.
Meanwhile, Glaian stood, wearing the same cloak he always did when addressing his men, on a podium in the middle of a courtyard that was, in actuality, a cave before the Deyavara clan sliced the mountain face in two to build the Norgabard. As a result, it was somewhat circular in shape and had stands built around it so it could double as a colosseum for hosting ancient duels of honor. Before the door exploded, Glaian was in the middle of speaking to a crowd of his zealous followers, being filmed by several cameras a news station had anonymously donated them, and being broadcast all over the country via a hacked satellite feed.
"This so called government has taken "painstaking lengths" to make sure that our "traditionalist" brothers and sisters are treated fairly. But I ask you: What is fair about the continued, unspoken, and outright ignored persecution of our comrades in the west? Or the fact that renewed hostilities arose shortly after another member of the dreaded House of Bone rose to power as the new President? This is not inclusion, but a slow and painful return to the old ways, a gradual re-institution of treating those of us that refuse to spit on our heritage as second class citizens of a culturally dying people. And now our children worship stories of that glorify the exploits of humans! HUMANS! Our ancient enemy! They destroyed our ancestors by the thousands and paved the way for Argus the Betrayer to establish his poisonous legacy, and yet our children sing their praises as if they were some race of savior gods! They are a nest of vipers that we welcome to our shores with open arms and that our children's educators romanticize with fervor! We must drive these ideas from our people's minds and tear down the cursed House of Bone that erodes our sense of being and culture! We must purge this human plague from our households, our homelands, and our hearts! We must-" Glaian's frothing rant was cut short when the door across the courtyard from his exploded, sending a large crowd of his men flying.
As everyone in the courtyard, save for Glaian, reeled in shock, Faldr emerged from the smoke running at full speed. By the time anyone noticed he was going after their leader, he was practically within arm's reach of Glaian. He pointed one of his knifes at Glaian's face and began to speak.
"Sorry to interrupt you, oh great "All-Consuming"." Faldr smirked. "My name is Faldr Milzaek. President Phoncible has decided that enough is enough, and sent me here on his authority to challenge you to a duel by the old traditions. If I win, your group disbands and your sentiment is thrown into the wind. If I lose, the president will accept any terms you see fit to impress upon him to alleviate the troubles of your people." Glaian casually moved the knife aside with his index finger. He barely managed to keep his rage contained. His lieutenant, however, lacked such control
"You dare to enter our sanctuary, spit on our sacred laws, and then use them in the name of a false ruler to try and deceive-" The bone standing next to Glaian began to shout, but Glaian quickly cut him off with a wave of his hand.
"Izaroth, that's enough. I can handle this myself. Go join the others." He looked at his right hand man. Izaroth nodded in response.
"Of course, Lord Glaian. Whatever you require." With that, he left Glaian's side and took his place in the stands. Glaian turned back to face Faldr.
"You would have me give up my glorious quest to reassert our traditions and renew our people's pride because the President wishes it?"
"Actually, I want to fight you because I never got to properly pay your old man Kelkaid back for what he did to my dad. But when you lose, you're group has to leave. Never to take up arms again. I don't know about you, but I'd prefer we do this with some measure of honor."
"Your father? That's a rather trite motivation for vengeance, considering I was not involved in his demise. But I shall indulge your delusions nonetheless, for this is a perfect opportunity to demonstrate my cause's superiority."
"So. You'll fight?"
"Yes, vermin, I agree to your terms. But on one condition. Since the President has sent a warrior in his steed, I will do the same. You remember your former colleague, Nibet Trenya? She will be your opponent." Nibet stepped out of the shadows toward the back of the colosseum.
"Fine by me." Faldr could hardly contain his excitement. It was happening just as Nibet had said it would. Glaian retreated to a second set of wooden double doors, this one on the other side of the courtyard from the first. He made a hand gesture to someone at the top of the fortress, and the podium descended into the ground forming a flat base for the duel. Faldr and Nibet lined up on opposite sides of the ring facing each other.
"Begin." shouted someone serving as the ref. It occurred to Milzaek that this setup was way too quick for them to have not been notified ahead of time about his arrival, but before he could develop that thought further Nibet leapt at his throat with a forearm length blade. He caught her hand just before it slit his throat, but she instantly dropped her other arm and punched him in the gut. He caught that one too, and brought his knee up into her chest. She twisted away from it, forcing her hands out of his grip, but not before he wrenched the blade from her hands and brandished it as his own.
He slashed at her head from above. She darted to the right, as he knew she would, and he curved the arc of his sword to account. She ducked underneath his corrected attack, and caught his hand with her left as it passed over her. Springing back up, she attempted to kick him square in the face. He caught her foot and slammed it on the ground behind him, bringing the rest of her with it. As she traveled through the air, she pulled on the hand in her grip, spinning Faldr around in the process and knocking him off balance. He let go of her foot, and she let go of his fist. Both of them regained their footing and resumed the fight.
He darted toward her left knee cap. She grabbed for his arm. He slipped his foot between hers. She had given him an opening. He twisted his leg and she fell to the ground. Instead of killing her, he threw his blade straight for Glaian's face before he realized what was transpiring. Or so Faldr thought.
With a fluid motion, Glaian grabbed the blade with his hand inches away from his face. In Faldr's bewilderment, Nibet drew a second blade and plunged it deep into his stomach. His mind screaming with pain, Faldr watched in silent horror as Glaian turned towards the camera filming the fight. With his dying breath he tried to form the words "Fucking Traitor!" and spit them at Nibet. Unfortunately, all that came out was a low, indistinct guttural noise. With his vision and consciousness facing, Faldr Milzaek fell to the ground. The last words he heard were those of Glaian, Last of the Nagrateks, the All-Consuming:
"Brothers and sisters, this cowardly assassin sent by the treacherous House of Bone has just made an attempt on my life, violating countless laws of our heritage. This villainous act will not go unpunished. This violation of everything that snake Phoncible P. Bone claims to stand for will not go unreciprocated. This declaration of war will not go unanswered!"
Phoney couldn't believe his eyes as Faldr Milzaek fell on national television. He hadn't even considered the possibility that Faldr would lose.
"What just happened?" Secretary Freeman asked, unable to process what he was seeing. "What in the hell just happened?" Secretary Deyavara began violently shaking, borderline convulsing.
"Are you alright?" Phoney asked. "I know Glaian got us, but this reaction is a bit… extreme." As he worried about his advisor, Phoney recalled that Daniel had been acting off the entire day.
"I… It's… The…" He stammered. Suddenly he became much calmer. "It's nothing. I'm fine." He straightened himself back up.
"They knew he was coming." General Victor thought to himself aloud. Everyone in the room could hear him. "Everything from Nibet's convenient appearance to the podium and the ref. It was set up ahead of time. Which means someone tipped him off to our plan." He turned to face the other three people in the room. "Gentlemen, we have a traitor in our midst."
"Yes you do." Daniel chuckled. Suddenly he drew a handgun from his coat and stuck it in Phoney's face. "Reciprocation!" He shouted. A gun fired. Daniel's body crumpled. In the doorway stood Archibald holding a smoking handgun, a look of frantic terror on his face. As Daniel's body collapsed on the ground, Archibald breathed a sigh of relief.
"Please tell me you guys weren't just screwing around, and that I just shot the Secretary of State for an actual reason?" Archibald looked highly confused.
"Archiblad? Not that I really care, but what're you doing here?" Phoney asked, still processing that Daniel had tried to shoot him.
"Someone tried to breach our security systems a moment ago. I fought off the attack, of course, and then I traced it back to its origin point. It came from the Norgabard, so I rushed over here to tell you. Then I see Daniel aim a gun at your head, and I just sort of…" Archibald looked at the ground sheepishly.
"Well, Archibald, you did well." Phoney paused for a minute to let the events of the last two minutes catch up to him.
"Soooo…" Archibald looked around the room. "What exactly was happening in here?"
"We're at war." General Victor muttered solemnly. Secretary Freeman stayed silent.
"Pull yourselves together." Phoney began issuing orders. "General, I'm promoting you. You're now General of the Army, in charge of all of our armed forces. I need you to coordinate a nationwide defense against Glaian's incoming campaign. Julius, I need you to call Admiral Haenkos and tell her she's been promoted to Fleet Admiral and that she needs to mobilize the navy as soon as possible. If Glaian wants a war, then we'll give him a war."
Jigafta stood in front of the entrance to a cave. All around him was sand and rock. The crystal in his necklace began to glow. "Shard." Jigafta spoke into the darkness in front of him. "Are you there?"
"In a way." A voice floated out of the darkness. "I can send you my consciousness for a short time. What did you need?"
"It always freaks me out when you guys to that." Jigafta laughed.
"And you are so different?"
"I suppose not." Jigafta shrugged.
"In the past five years we have suffered two separate near-awakening incidents. Things are stirring."
"I know. That's why I'm here. We're about to get hit with a third. Very soon. And this one, if I can't stop it, it's going to have serious repercussions. It's time to put all of our time and effort to good use. I'm doing my best to prevent it on my end, but you need to tell Breshet to prepare for a worst, and I mean worst, case scenario."
"What exactly is going on over there? Last time we spoke, you said everything was going to be fine."
"Yeah, well the last time we spoke I was under the impression that we were both good at our jobs. But there's an active Nightmare Entity in play again, so-"
"That can't be right." The voice interrupted him. "They're all still trapped on my end, and there shouldn't be any more."
"I'm fully aware of the situation, but someone had to have activated the nightmare egg I was recently made aware of. Tell me someone other than a Nightmare Entity capable of such a feat."
"I can't, but we've accounted for them all. Expect for…"
"It's not possible. I killed him myself. I just… I need you to trust me. Get Breshet moving, and start prepping the Cipher. I've got to go."
"Not so fast." The voice stopped Jigafta from leaving. "I need to catch you up. A lot has happened in the Valley since the last time you were here, after all."