5-60 Decide by battle

5-60 Decide by battle

It was only a small ray of light of the sun but given the time of the day, it was enough to cause some discomfort, especially when it was shone directly on one’s eyes, even if they were closed.

Aedan stirred, shrugged, before his eyelids slowly lifted in a fluttering manner as if he could bear to keep them raised. Once they were fully opened, the whole world was a blur and it was swirling and swaying. It wasn’t just his sight. His whole body felt the way his sights were, sluggish and heavy. Not only that, his arms were bound together and his whole body was bound to a tree. He tried to yank himself free but ended in only a vain struggle.

This feeling of weakness made him smile inadvertently. This kind of feeling was an old friend. It was as if he was reliving his much too humble beginnings. How many years ago was that, he wondered. He was nothing more than an ordinary person living an ordinary life when one day, demons and monsters started appearing in his world. That was the start of his journey to godhood, a journey that he had no choice but to ensure his own survival.

Aedan chuckled. The trip down memory lane was a melancholic one but not something he should be focusing on at the moment. In front of him, tens of soldiers were running around hastily, constructing a structure of some kind. A teleportation array, Aedan guessed from the types of runes that were etched in each of the array pieces. Going by the engravings on the soldiers’ armour, they were evidently all followers of Aerys.

“You’re finally awake,” a voice said from beside him.

Aedan turned his head, lazily, to the voice. A girl with overflowing golden hair that cascaded down to her waist was leaning against a tree with her arms crossed while observing the soldiers working tirelessly to build the array. Rummaging through his temporary hazy memories, he recognised the girl as Shauna, the one who had taken him from the Rust Faith.

Shauna returned his stare. The scorn and contempt in her tone and eyes were clear to anyone even if they caught only a glimpse. “I didn’t think you would be unconscious all the way. You have gotten weak, false heir.”

Aedan said nothing, not because he was missing a tongue. His tongue had already regrown while he was unconscious, a trait of a True Dragon. Their regenerative powers stem not from magic but from their biology. He continued to stare at the girl without a hint of any sort of intention in his eyes.

“Don’t bother to try escaping or anything like that. I have sealed all of your powers. Even the runes carved into your bones are useless now. You’re nothing more than a sparkless feeble human.”

Aedan shrugged, as best as he could, and turned his gaze back to the soldiers.

Shauna snorted. “What’s this? Nothing to say? You’re being uncharacteristically quiet, false heir.”

Aedan stayed silent. His eyes didn’t waver as he kept on observing the soldiers in earnest.

“You don’t want to talk. That’s fine. Nothing you say would change the outcome anyway. Your precious companion won’t be able to save you. I doubt she could even save herself. A foolish girl, your companion is. Plunging herself into dangerous circumstances one after another without any thoughts. She should be subdued by now.”

Aedan showed no reaction.

“Do you not care about your companion? Or should I say… lover?”

There was still no trace of movement from Aedan.

“Don’t be surprised, false heir. We know a lot about you.”

Aedan, eventually, sighed, before steering his gaze her way. “Is this some new form of torture by the Aerysians? To induce a seizure by babbling all sorts of hogwash?”

Shauna was stunned at first but her composure returned, followed by a snicker. “There it is… the thorns of the false heir. And here I thought you lost your wit along with your powers.”

“Just what is it that you want from me?”

“Are you a fool or just acting like one?”

“Everyone seems to want something from me nowadays. It appears that I have more debt than I realised.”

“Your inheritance,” Shauna answered firmly.

“My inheritance?” Aedan scoffed. “What inheritance?”

“The right to the throne. It is Dorvo’s and you will return the inheritance to him?”

“Why would I, a false heir, receive the inheritance from the supposedly false god? That doesn’t sound very… sound.”

This time, it was Shauna who fell silent.

“Shouldn’t Dorvo, the true heir, have the inheritance by default from the supposedly true god? Why would you come asking for it from the fake? Do you see the logic here?”

Shauna gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. Her eyes bore into Aedan as if threatening to tear him apart with her gaze alone.

“Aerys and Aeryo are two sides of the same coin. Why are we even fighting?”

“Are you honestly asking why?” Shauna growled.

Aedan smiled wryly. “No… not really. It was rhetorical anyway. But still, I just can’t understand you people. Is it so unbearable to not be the ones who stood at the peaks?”

“What would you know about us? Do you think we are a faith that hungers only for strength for the sake of strength itself?”

“Are you not?”

“As expected,” Shauna huffed. “You live a life knowing only the peaks of mountains, not the valleys nor its feet. You have no right to disparage us, false heir.”

Aedan sighed once more. “You know a lot about me, you say? After hearing your speech, I sincerely doubt that.”

Veins were bulging on her head and also around her fists. “It is by Dorvu’s generosity that you still draw breath.”

“It is by necessity that I am still alive and breathing. Can you lot at least be honest with yourselves instead of hiding behind layers of pretence?”

Shauna clicked her tongue and veered her gaze away. “You are a waste of breath.”

“You started it.”

It was taking all of her will to not just burn Aedan into a crisp right here and then. She decided to direct her anger elsewhere before she could reach her limit. “You are taking way too long! We are already behind schedule!” she barked at the soldiers.

“Forgive us, milady. We are all trying our best,” one of the soldiers came up to Shauna and answered.

“Try better, unless you wish to be the one to explain to Dorvu about our tardiness?”

“No, milady! We will double our efforts!” Saying that, the soldier quickly returned to his post and gave the orders to hasten their work some more.

“All this foolery aside, there is something I’m very curious about.”

“What?” Shauna retorted in a huff.

“If your objective is me, why do you attack the royal army? It’s foolish no matter how I look at it. Attacking the army has only put you in a stricter time constraint.”

“I did not attack the royal army,” she grumbled.

“Ah… I see. A dissent. Such a shame. An ugly thing an internal conflict is. The first sign of a collapse. Even the strongest empire fell because of internal conflict.”

“We are the children of Aerys. We will not fall into ruin just because of such trifling conflict.”

“I’m sure you won’t.”

“Savour all you can for now, false heir. Once Dorvu is done with you, your end will not be swift or painless.”

“Then allow me to make use of the time I have left. Who’s funding this?”

The question seemed to strike a nerve as Shauna’s shoulders jumped. “We have our own ways,” she answered after some careful consideration.

“I didn’t ask how. I asked who. Since you deflected my question, I can only assume it is someone unassuming. Someone that no one would think of.”

Just then, a man appeared from the tree, strutting out in a leisurely manner as if he had just come back from a leisure walk. He was dressed in a similar fashion to Shauna. He wore robes and trousers, both lightly armoured. He had brown hair that he let grow until it extended below his shoulders. It was unkempt, much like the beard that covered half of his face.

“Wilson,” Shauna chewed on that name. “You finally showed up… and you showed up all alone. Where are the ones you took away from me?”

The man named Wilson shrugged. “Dead, captured, either one of those two.”

“You took away half of the forces given by Dorvu just to attack the Royal Army and only you returned? All for what?”

“For justice. The kingdom played a huge role in the Aerysians’ downfall. They must pay.”

“Have you gone mad? You’re putting the cart before the horse. There’s still an hour before the array is completed. Can you guarantee that we won’t be discovered by the army within this time?”

“If we are discovered, we can just fight. They will need thousands to defeat us and they can’t march such a large number of soldiers through this forest in under an hour.”

“You underestimate the others too much, Wilson. They don’t need thousands. All it takes is just the appearance of a few Elite Knights and we are done for.”

“The Elite Knights are no match for us Apostles.”

“But not for our siblings.”

Wilson chuckled. “What does it matter? If they die, they die. It is their fault for being weak. Strength above all else, that is the creed of Aerys.”

“Divided we fall. That is how Aerys was forgotten by history and you are repeating it.”

“Aerys was not forgotten. Her children were. And that’s because her children were weak. We must root out those that are unworthy and those who wronged us. Otherwise, we would once again be forgotten by time and history.”

“Who do you think you are, Wilson? You’re going against Dorvu’s orders.”

“Dorvu has gone soft. He’ll sooner join the Aeryons than become the Grand Apostle of Aerys.”

“That’s funny considering how you got yourself beaten thoroughly by someone who has gone soft.”

Wilson’s grin faded.

“This either speaks volumes of Dorvu’s strength or it speaks little of yours. Choose.”

Wilson snickered. “You have gotten bold ever since you obtained Dorvu’s favour.”

“I have gotten better and more. Lest you still have yet to notice, I have completed our original objective while you were out settling your personal grievances.”

With contempt written all over his face, Wilson glanced lazily at Aedan. “So this is the false heir. He’s nothing much. What a disappointment.”

Aedan smiled. “For someone who’s nothing and a disappointment, the lady here did spend quite a lot of effort to make sure I’m bound and incapacitated. It’s excessive, wouldn’t you agree?”

Before Wilson could say anything, Shauna intervened. “I hope you will not be stupid enough to undo all the spells I have cast on him just because of a meagre taunt.”

“Of course, I won’t. Do you take me for an absolute fool?”

“I certainly did,” said Aedan. “Well, it was worth a try.”

“What did you say?!” Wilson roared.

“Wilson, calm down. Don’t be tricked by him. Dorvu has told us about this. You will be playing right into his hand.”

“Yes, that’s right. You are playing right into my hand, the hand of someone that you disparaged so badly but you can’t help but take his words to heart. Why? Because deep down, you know you are nothing just like that false heir that you mocked immensely.”

“You fucking—”

Contrary to Aedan’s expectation, it was not Wilson who struck him but Shauna, and he struck him right in the jaws.

“Argh!” Aedan yelped. With all of his Arcane Arts sealed, the mere punch of a high-level individual was enough to give him a concussion. If he wasn’t a True Dragon, the punch would have taken his head clean off his neck.

“One more word and I will have your tongue,” she warned. “If you think we are so easy to manipulate, think again. I doubt Dorvo needs you whole, so you better behave yourself now like a good little dog. But of course, by all means, one more word. Give me a reason to have your tongue.”

Aedan meekly raised his head and managed a grin. “W-well… have at it.”

“Y-you…” Shauna stammered. “You’re mad. But fine. I’ll oblige,” she said and took out a knife with an edge that gleamed clearly and glaringly when it caught the sun.

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