Serial
84: Edge of the crater
March 21st, 33 S.D. 11:31 Henron, Central Plains
By the time WOLFWIND had approached the battlefield, the conflict had already passed. They arrived only to witness its aftermath. Ahead of them, a thick brown haze filled the air as dust and earth hung over the land like a cloud. Even though a series of terrible explosions had detonated hours ago, the debris still clung to the sky. Beyond the murky distance, all things remained impenetrable, unknown. What they could see, however, was a large group of Sventa soldiers slowly pressing their way towards Losha and her team.
As seras frequencies grew stronger, Losha recognized one individual in particular: Prime Lead Delri. She assumed these survivors were the First Division in that case. With each of their horses powered by blue-blitzing speed-steps, WOLFWIND dashed along the plains to join them. Riding up to Delri, Losha came to a halt before the officer. Her right arm was bloodied and hung limply in a sling. Her eye-patch was missing as well, leaving her white left eye exposed. Delri looked up wearily at Losha, managing a brief smile.
“Good to see you again, Wolf. But... I really wish I could have said that four hours ago, before all of this.”
“Delri... What happened here?” Losha asked, quickly swinging off Izel and walking to the Prime Lead.
“That blasted relative of yours...” she scowled.
“Relative?” Losha frowned.
“Prime Lead Levias. That hot-headed fool. He took the Second Division and pushed deeper into Henron on his own. He went some kilometers out there. I told him not to charge in so fast, to give his units a chance to rest. But then he encountered Govan’s forces. We tried to reach the Second Division, but they were already under attack. I pulled back before we could suffer heavy losses as well.”
“How did they attack you?”
“There was already so much stuff in the air, I do not think anyone got a clear look at it. But we know it was some kind of bright light. The ones we could save from the Second Division, the few we happened to find, they claim it came from a sword. I do not know what this means, however.”
Losha tightened her fists as she looked at the ground for a moment. “So, it is true then. It had to have been serialization.”
“What?!” Delri asked, jerking forward. Pain surged in her side, evidenced by the slight wince she gave as she looked at her arm. “Losha, I thought serialization was something only you knew.”
Losha shook her head. “There are other serialists in this world, but I know what happened here. Henron seems to have developed some sort of weapon that allows them to use serialization, or at least a corrupted version of it. In Navaran, I believe I met the man behind the project. He was an ambitious fool who did not realize the sort of power he was dealing with.”
“Wonderful,” Delri said, sighing. “Now they can match our greatest strength: you.”
“No, they cannot,” Losha firmly denied. “They have little understanding of the art, just the basics at best. They are not versed in the higher precepts like I am. I shall not be outdone by reckless people who know next to nothing about serialization. It is my job to ensure the art becomes something peaceful, something that helps people. It does not belong on the battlefield, not like this. I will not tolerate seeing this abuse. If they think their little device can even equal my powers, they are sorely mistaken.”
Delri looked at Losha, attempting to smile at first but wound up wearing a rather pained face. She stepped up to Losha, putting her hand on her shoulder, letting it slide off to the side as she passed. “You... should have seen what happened to our army, to our fellow clan members. It was like a god had ripped through soil and soldier alike. Everything was shredded, then burned and blasted. It was only a few salvos, but it felt like the whole shrieking world was ready to disintegrate right before my eye. I have seen what you are capable of, Losha, so please believe me when I tell you that this thing is dangerous, even to you.” The Prime Lead turned to the side, looking out over a group of injured personnel lying in the grass.
“We would have been caught completely in that madness. Govan, at least for the time being, has chosen not to pursue us. It is possible he wants to wait for better visibility. We were about to make a full retreat once we had gathered ourselves, but now you have appeared. You obviously intend to change the situation quite a bit, but I would like to know exactly how.”
“Our objective, WOLFWIND’s primary goal, was to stop you from fighting the new Henron government. We were going to take along any soldiers that would agree to fight only Govan. Anyone else would have been forced back into Sventa.”
“So, you really planned to take your own course, independent and contrary to the Tabran, to our laws?” Delri asked with a sideways glance.
“Their plan nearly killed you and everyone else. Sa, I am defying the will of our highest political body. I will do so until this war is put to rest.”
Delri laughed aloud for a moment before breaking out into a coughing fit. “Damn dust... Sometimes, I wish I could act so freely. For such a nice, young woman, you are especially unreserved. If you plan on taking down Govan, consider the First Division at your disposal. We have no interest in fighting Liveta, nor any need to. For us, she shall be an ally, as it should have been ever since the Ganglan Pass.”
“You give me your support so easily,” Losha smiled.
“The Tabran can lick the dirt off my boots. The circumstances have shifted. I am making decisions on my own from now. As I see it, you are the best option we have. Besides, you are someone we can all put our faith in.”
“What about the Second Division?” Losha asked.
“You mean what is left of them,” Delri corrected. “Most are dead. Few can fight. The rest are injured. For all purposes, the Second Division does not exist anymore.”
Losha spun around for a second, taking short steps towards the haze as she covered her mouth. “Shrieks,” she whispered as she came to a pause. Had so many thousands truly been wiped out? “It was really that bad?” she wondered out loud before shaking her head.
“Delri, I can sense the Henron beyond the cloud. By the volume of seras frequencies, I would say just one of Govan’s orders remains over there.”
“Heh, I figured. Once the air settles, they will come and finish what they started,” said the Prime Lead.
“No. There will be no more fighting here,” Losha said as she walked back to Izel. She reached into a sack and pulled out her Wolf of War pelt. “Enough souls have perished today.”
“What are you talking about?” Delri asked, tilting her head curiously.
“Govan himself has left. I met him once in Navaran, so I remember his seras frequency. He has already departed, probably for the capital. He left a Core Lead behind to command the order over there, apparently.” Losha turned to Delri as she pulled the pelt snugly over her head. “This is most fortunate for us. That officer is none other than Vita Jas Henron. He and I have an agreement. He vowed never to face me on the battlefield. If that man has any ounce of honor, he will not raise arms against us.”
“Hmph,” Delri said with a shrug. “Another crazy plot by the mad Wolf herself. Well, I suppose you have made wilder things happen before...”
“Tami, Faima, Yega, you all stay here for a moment. Help this division recover. I am going for a stroll.”
“Sa, commander,” Tami nodded.
“What? You are going solo again? Nothing good ever happens when you do that,” Yega complained.
“Just come on,” Faima said, pulling him by the collar, nearly throwing Yega off his horse. The trio trotted out of sight.
“I will be back in a bit,” Losha said to Delri. “And I may as well take care of this cloud while I am away.”
Every now and then, Core Lead Vitna found himself staring across the plains, looking deep into the dusty veil. Each time, he recalled the “battle” that had taken place. What he had seen though could hardly have been considered a fight. It wasn’t even slaughter. It was outright annihilation. By merely aiming the serasword at his enemies, Govan had cast a ray of light over the combat zone. Mere instants later, the Sventa had been engulfed in a flash. The attack tore apart both field and flesh as the ensuing explosions left a crater. Almost instantly, the air had been polluted with fine particles of dirt and ash. It were as if a bomb of immeasurable proportions had been unleashed.
Vitna was almost certain the sword exceeded anything the Gandians had ever deployed in their wars, and that side of the Continent was particularly known for its destructive technologies. Sansat had been true to his word; the serasword was something that had no comparison. It was a terrifying weapon without peer. He sighed as his soldiers waited for the smoke to pass. The success of the serasword was only making his position that much more difficult.
Meanwhile, Losha braved the thick curtain. As soon as she’d stepped in but a few meters, she was entombed in floating powder. To preserve herself, she projected a kinetic force-field around her body, pushing everything away from herself. The series gave her room to breathe freely as she moved ahead. Although she could not see well, she used Vitna’s seras frequency as a beacon. After a short while, the land sloped downwards at a steep dip. The once verdant grasslands were suddenly transformed into soot and raw earth. By her estimate, the hole she found herself in was at least 30 meters below the rest of the plains. Losha had once thought Nabel had been exaggerating when he said serialization had the power to reduce whole mountains, but the demonstration before her proved every utterance of his words.
In reaching the very bottom, she started to see bits and pieces of the Second Division: rifles, swords, scraps of uniforms, but at first nary a body turned up. As she would later find out, there were in fact a fair number of human remains scattered across the site. Some had managed to survive Govan’s strike, but lost in all the dust, they had long since suffocated. While she began her climb out of this wretched pit, Losha ever wondered just how much seras had been released to cause such damage. The young serialist could only guess uneasily, worrying if she herself had that kind of strength. If she didn’t, the battle with Govan would come as a most difficult task...
Nearing the surface once again, Losha raised her hand straight towards the heavens. A bright, blue glow enveloped her fist as a fierce wind churned around her. Using another kinetic series, she summoned a miniature storm. The air whipped to the south, blowing away large portions of the cloud. In seeing these forces come to life, the closest of Vitna’s troops backed off from the front. They scrambled to a safe distance, only turning in time to observe a single shadow slowly emerging from the depths. Panicked, the soldiers fumbled for their weapons as they looked at one another.
“Get in position!”
“Who is that?”
“Ugh, the wind!”
“Snap out of it, we got company!”
“Eyes up folks.”
One last gust flared up, throwing the nearest soldiers to the ground as the shroud disappeared. With Losha’s image revealed to them, the Henron recognized who she was in an instant. In disbelief, a number of them warily stepped backwards while the others halfheartedly drew their weapons. Unconcerned with the rank and file soldiers, Losha made her way straight to Vitna. The Henron, fearful and uncertain of her presence, dared not attack. Instead, they simply parted, giving her wide berth.
“Core Lead!” said a Range Lead near Vitna, gripping the high officer’s shoulder and pointing. “That is...!” he choked.
“I know,” Vitna said calmly, almost with a sense of relief as he adjusted his hat. “Tell all units to stand down.”
“What?!” the Range Lead exclaimed.
“I have been anticipating this. At any rate, what could we really do to her?”
The Range Lead frowned and shook his head. “I am far more preoccupied with what she could do to us.”
“Be at ease. She just wants to talk.” Vitna ushered himself past his own soldiers and stopped before Losha. “It has been a while, sa, Losha Holvate Sventa.”
“Just a few months, Vitna Jas Henron,” Losha replied, standing but a meter from the Core Lead. “I believe when we last met, I had you agree never to meet me on the battlefield again.”
“True, but to clarify, you specifically said as your enemy.”
Losha cocked an eyebrow briefly. “Then are you saying you are not against me?”
“Sa. Furthermore, this is no battlefield. Just look behind you; this area is a waste, a graveyard. I believe I have satisfied the conditions of our deal.”
“If you do not wish to fight me, why are you here? Why were you with Govan when he attacked?”
“It is not as if I could just up and leave the Prime Lead, nor could I have prevented him from carrying out his actions. None of us fought your people today. It was only Govan and that serasword. Sventa never even got close to us before he let that device loose. He left us here to guard against any pursuers while he went to the capital.”
“Serasword?” Losha asked. “Is that the name of Sanblat’s project?”
“I think you mean Doctor Sansat. Sa, that thing is his design and creation. It uses some sort of unique stone to power itself, and from there is can let the wielder perform serialization.”
“A stone...” Losha trailed off, remembering the black rock she’d seen in Navaran. “What an idiotic thing to make, this serasword.”
“Now, Ver Holvate, what exactly brings you here?” Vitna asked.
“You will let me and my people pass, that is, unless you wish to do battle. I came to have your response. Will you stand up or stand aside?”
Vitna looked at her, then at two of his Range Leads. “Unfortunately neither option quite suits me,” the Core Lead said. Losha’s eyes flashed for a moment.
“Vitna, what are you saying?” she demanded.
“I am saying I would rather stand beside you,” Vitna smiled slyly as he folded his arms.
“You mean, to join with us, and by extension Liveta?”
Vitna nodded. “Sa. This is something I decided on a while ago, but your arrival makes things much smoother.”
“And why switch sides?” Losha questioned. If the officer’s intentions were indeed genuine, she wanted to be absolutely positive. “Whatever drives this change of heart of yours?”
“The old age of Henron is dead,” Vitna said, hanging his head. “It died with Heigon. All that is left is Govan. The system we used to have, the way Henron operated, it was flawed at its very core. I cannot say we saw the best times under the strict rule of our autocrats. Govan, however, always believed in Heigon’s way. If Govan succeeds, we will be right where we were: stuck in a mess. My clan deserves better than that. My people deserve to have a decent future. To that end, they trust this army to look after their welfare. Returning to the old regime will not fulfill the obligations I swore to Henron.”
“You mean your Ordinal Oath?” Losha asked, recalling the concept of nobility instilled in the Henron army.
“Sa,” Vitna nodded. “We all knew Heigon’s policies and actions were generally detrimental to our clan, but few of us felt capable of changing that. Too many influential people under Heigon’s command benefited from his poor leadership. Govan, however, is different. He is loyal to a fault and thus blinded by his own sense of duty. Heigon, for all of his failings, was a dear friend to Govan. He became both mentor and companion to the Prime Lead. However, Govan promised to follow and defend him, to the end and beyond, which brings us here.”
“Hmm...” Losha hummed, absorbing this information. “But why wait until now of all times? If you wanted to go against Govan, you could have done so days ago, sa?”
“Still skeptical?”
“I have to be to accept your offer. The final battle is looming large, and I cannot afford to have any surprises.”
Vitna laughed loudly for a moment. “Please do not think of me as another Ano. To fall in with you just to stab you from behind later... That sort of thing befits that old fool, not me.”
“Very well,” Losha said. “However, I am still waiting for your explanation.”
“Sa. We were on the verge of invading Sventa. I had planned to pull back, to leave Govan and Lisk to fend for themselves. One order alone would not have stood a chance. But Govan’s serasword was a problem. The Prime Lead was embedded with my troops at the time. I intended to steal it, but I could never find the opportunity. I could not have taken it by force. The result would have been much the same as that.” For a passing moment, Vitna looked to the side at the hollowed pit.
“When we left, I decided to find some other way, like have Sansat do maintenance work on it, then kill the doctor while it was in his possession. That man is stubborn though; he said it was in perfect shape. I was beginning to wonder what to do when this incident happened. Govan told me to stay here; I do not have access to the serasword anymore, but at least the Prime Lead is not behind my back. My units can act freely now. I figured we would find you and press for your assistance. I did not know if you were still in Capital City, Sventa or wherever, but at any rate I needed some distance between Govan. Fortunately, we stumbled upon each other soon enough.”
“Indeed, fortunate,” Losha said.
“Govan has to be stopped. The serasword is something that should not exist. There is a reason why serastone was located on the Lost Grounds. I see now that our ancestors were right to seal off that land. We should have never invented such a dark weapon. With tales of your power and that of Govan’s sword, I fear we may have brought about a new chapter of warfare upon the Central Plains.”
“I will not let that happen,” Losha said adamantly. “It is true this conflict has forever changed the face of battle, but there is also the chance to establish an unprecedented peace between our clans. Serialization has the power to improve our lives. I will not see it used to sow destruction among any one of us. When this is all over, I will show you just what kind of world my art can make. In the meantime, I will start by putting this senseless war to rest using my skills.”
“So, you trust me then?” Vitna asked.
“You have kept your word thus far. I shall grant you my confidence. Even if you had some trickery in mind, I can handle whatever it may be. But I want to believe you are earnest about this. With you on this side, our alliance dwarfs Govan. Both Sventa and Henron are practically against him. We should leave at once to catch up, but first I want you to talk to Prime Lead Delri of the First Division. If we are going to strike Govan, we will need to cooperate closely.”
“You want me to go into your ranks, right now?” Vitna hesitated. Losha simply turned to the side as if she were ready to leave. “I see. I suppose I have no grounds to complain. You walked into us by your lonesome; I should likewise do the same.”
“It is not a lion’s den,” Losha said, facing the great pit. “No harm will come to you. Trust is mutual after all. If you will follow me now.” She started off into the crater.
“Sa. Into that...” Vitna mumbled, looking down as he tugged at his hat.
“Some dust still remains. I will move it for us. It looks worse now that I can see this place all the more clearly,” Losha remarked as she began her descent. “Watch your step, Core Lead. Your feet can easily slide through the ashes. And be careful of the bones."
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