AGNOMAKHOS
by Ulquiorra9000
Chapter 13
"Jaina! I'm glad you're here."
Chari, one of Meletis' oracles, smiled with relief when her old friend walked into the oracles' temple. Located near the Siren Sea's shore, the temple flowed with Thassa's ethereal blue mana, ebbing and flowing with the tide. Jaina, as an Army captain in her armor and cape, stood out among the blue-robed women here, but Chari didn't mind.
"I got your messenger bird. What's this about?" Jaina asked. She stood next to Chari, arms folded.
"I saw something, and you need to see it too," Chari said. She reached out and channeled her meditative blue mana. With one hand clasped on Jaina's forehead, she closed her eyes and helped Jaina peer into the future.
Only hours from now, as Jaina saw it, red-robed people gathered in an abandoned warehouse in Lexethes, a trade town affiliated with Meletis. Many people there supported the rebellion, and they gladly accepted Agnomakhos' leaders as they plotted the council of Twelve's downfall.
Chari's vision roved around the town and Jaina saw a number of archers and ambush squads posted in the town's outer buildings, as well as in trees along the road. Any unsuspecting Army force would be ambushed and driven away with ease.
Not anymore.
"I'll tell the colonels right away," Jaina said when Chari cut the vision. Her eyes were hard like steel. She clenched her fists. "This is our chance to set things right."
"Good luck out there," Chari told her.
Jaina laughed. "How much worse than Rafael can they be?" She sobered. "But yeah, the rebels are more... tricky than the Shadow League ever was. If we catch them now, they'll be right in my hands."
*o*o*o*o*
"Nothing to report, sir." Ulga, captain of platoon two, finally returned from his patrol with his men in tow.
Kulla stood in the marketplace's open center, watching the citizens go about their business. Recent skirmishes against Agnomakhos caused a rise in patrol duty, and none took that more seriously than Kulla. So, nearly all the platoons of First Battalion now swept Meletis' center while the other battalions watched the rest of the city.
Kulla nodded. "Cover route two, then. The patterns of recent attacks suggested more today. I want to be ready."
"Have the other platoons seen anything, sir?"
Kulla shook his head. "No, not yet. Now get out there."
"Yes, sir." Ulga motioned to his men, and all twenty-one of them marched off to sweep the streets.
The waiting is the worst part. When will the attack come? And from where? Kulla scanned the streets, but all afternoon, he had only seen people buying and selling goods, laughing, children chasing each other... all the usual. The most exciting thing that had happened was a woman asking Kulla for personal protection, even taking his hand and imploring his aid. He had politely declined and told her that the Reverent Army was always there to protect.
Kulla only had a split-second's warning. His white mana, attuned to defensive measures, screamed a warning just before an arrow sliced through the air, headed right for him. He sprang to the side and tumbled, but he still felt the arrowhead scrape his right shoulder. Pain flashed from the wound, but Kulla ignored it.
The arrow thudded into a butcher's stall, quivering with leftover energy. Nearby people screamed and scattered, and the butcher hastily ducked for cover. Kulla leaped to his feet, already fastening his 16-inch blades to his wrists with leather straps. He flared up his white mana and channeled it into his blades, which glowed with concentrated, razor-sharp energy.
But something was wrong. As the people fled in terror around him, Kulla felt a sudden chill in his arm, a numbing and heavy sensation. Frowning, he ran his fingers along the wound and saw the problem; black and blue mana festered in it, flooding his body with magic that sapped his strength. And all the while, the sensation crept across his chest, filling him like cold water.
I don't have long before I'm incapacitated! Anxious, Kulla drew a flare gun from his belt, aimed it high, and fired. A red firework went off to rally his battalion for battle, but just as he fired it, Kulla saw vicious explosions tear through the city. Temples, inns and shops alike buckled as detonations blasted through their walls.
The whole scene was horribly familiar. It's just like when Agnomakhos stormed the prison! They're trying to scatter us!
Before Kulla's platoons could converge on him, his white mana warned him of another incoming attack. This time, Kulla sprang to the other side and crossed his blades in front of him like an X to protect his head and neck. He was just in time; a second enchanted arrow slammed into his crossed blades, its mana sputtering as it fought to get past Kulla's defensive enchantments. Kulla winced and braced himself against the sheer pressure of the attack; any second now, the arrow would break through.
Gods damn it! With a heave, Kulla wrenched his blades aside and redirected the arrow's momentum. Like the first one, it veered off and punctured a stall, and Kulla saw its mana corrode the wood around it. The rotted wood crumbled to the street, smoking with black mana.
Kulla's eyes swept the rooftops, hunting down the archer. No doubt a professional was at work here; no ordinary mage or archer would deliver arrows like that. Perhaps Agnomakhos had hired a mercenary? It wouldn't surprise him.
There! Kulla's eyes locked onto a woman in dark leather clothing, standing on a temple's sloped roof with a bow in her hands. She apparently saw him watching her, for she waved cheerily and reached for another arrow in her quiver.
Kulla wouldn't stand for mockery. He tore across the marketplace toward the woman's location, trying to ignore the cold numbness that spread through him. His muscles felt heavy and sluggish as he ran, and his blades' enchantments were already sputtering and flickering from the strain. There wasn't much time.
Shouts filled the air and Kulla skidded to a halt. Everywhere, just as Kulla's platoons converged on the marketplace, over a hundred red-robed figures swooped down on them. Swords clanged together and spells blasted against each other as the true Agnomakhos assault began. Both Army warriors and rebels feel to the street in bloody heaps, staining the brick streets with fresh blood.
And judging by the more distant sound of battle and spells, the other battalions were under attack, too.
Jaina's task force had better capture the rebel leaders soon. I won't stand for any more civil war! Clenching his teeth, Kulla resumed his run to the temple archer, carving a path through the streets and using roof eaves as cover.
"You think you can catch me?" the archer hollered gleefully. "Too bad, mister colonel! You're mine!"
I know that voice! It was that of the woman who had approached him earlier, desperate for his help. If only he had known then...
Kulla decided to play her game. "You will pay with your life for crossing the Reverent Army," he called out. "Unless you're willing to come quietly."
The woman laughed. "Sorry, pal, but I play for keeps. Come and get me! Let's see who's faster!"
Ordinarily, Kulla would be certain that he was faster. But as the woman's dark mana coursed through him, he felt that he was going to be the prey here.
One slip, and he was dead.
*o*o*o*o*
I hope I'm not too late!
Panting, with her heart thudding in her chest, Olivia led her platoon through a wide street and found a battle already underway. A platoon from Fourth Battalion crossed blades with a squad of rebels, but before she could do anything, Olivia saw a tough old man approaching.
The man had gold armor plates and an assortment of strange weapons on his back. A wicked grin crossed his face as he prepared one of his weapons for combat, and before Olivia could shout a warning, the man lunged. His weapon, a four-foot-long wooden rod with a curved blade, slashed right through a hoplite. The hoplite's bloody pieces tumbled to the brick street.
Desperate, a battle-wise mage threw up white mana barriers to block the gold-armored man, but the other rebels took this chance to push the platoon back. All the while, the gold-armored man advanced and shattered the barriers with one sweep of his weapon.
Then, to Olivia's horror, the man impaled the platoon's captain with one thrust of his weapon. The man watched in contempt as the captain spat out blood and went limp, then tossed the dead captain aside.
Olivia turned to her men. "Cover the platoon," she said grimly.
"What about you, sir?" a mage asked.
"Let me handle him." Olivia waited until her men reinforced the Fourth Battalion platoon, then called out to the armored man. "Hey! You! Why don't you try me for size?"
The armored man stopped and turned. His eyes quickly scrutinized Olivia's petite frame and he nodded. "You're obviously more than meets the eye," he called out. He twirled his weapon like a baton. "Let's see what you've got, girl."
Warily, Olivia unsheathed her massive broadsword and circled around the man, drawing him away from the hoplites and rebels. No need to get her men caught up in this; they had enough to deal with already.
The armored man cleared his throat. "My name is Argyros. And you?"
"Olivia, captain of fourth platoon, First Battalion," Olivia grated. "And I'm going to take your life."
"We'll see." With a single spring, Argyros was suddenly upon Olivia, already bringing down his hafted blade.
Primal green mana flooded Olivia's right arm and it swelled instantly, giving Olivia the strength needed to meet Argyros' blow. Her broadsword swept up and caught Argyros' own blade, trembling with effort. Olivia scowled. Just how strong is he?
In a flash of movement, Argyros released his left hand and seized a knife at his belt. Still holding Olivia at bay with one hand, he slashed with his knife and Olivia barely had the time to evade its sharp edge. However, as the knife passed by her, two more blades shot from the handle, forming a W shape. One of the extra blades sliced open Olivia's chest. Blood soaked into her uniform.
"There is no weapon I do not know, no fighting style I do not recognize," Argyros boasted. He withdrew his hafted blade and took a few steps back. "That broadsword is not going to save you, Olivia of First Battalion."
"Shut your mouth!" Although Olivia's green mana was already sealing her wound, she felt a chill as she considered her situation. Argyros was one tough fighter... and he still had another weapon fastened to her back, a medium sword with a black handle. What could Olivia do?
Why, my duty, of course! Olivia gripped her broadsword tightly and prepared for the fight of her life.