THE OCCULT
DIMENSION SAGA
BOOK ONE
THE GATES OF
ILLUSION
PROLOUGE
Ever wonder why there are a lot of
ancient and medieval stories and tales that have mythical beasts, magical
persons, and mysterious worlds? Sure, there are some that occur in recent
history or modern times, but why so much more in the very distant past? What is
man’s obsession with having these legends in a younger Earth? Some people say
our ancestors made these stories up, as a way to explain things that science
had yet to understand. Our superstitious forefathers knew so little about the
environment they lived in, and easily believed the chants and the imaginations
of sages and soothsayers. But that’s not the real reason why.
The reason
is because the Earth actually used to be that way.
Yep, in
the ancient and medieval eras of mankind’s short history on this planet, the
Earth was much, much different than the Earth we know today. All of the
creatures and races of all the fantasy legends roamed the lands alongside
humans. We humans competed for survival against them, as many of the creatures
could have easily wiped us off the face of the planet if they had half of our
intelligence. We had to create devastating magical spells and powerful weapons
that could turn one man into a one man army.
But it was
not meant to last.
For as
mankind departed from the medieval era and started to enter the industrial age,
a fundamental tear slashed through the fabric of the planar dimensions. This
happens whenever a paramount change happens on a global level, and creates two
dimensions, two versions, two realities where just one had existed before. We
exist in just one of these dimensions. There are countless versions of the
planet Earth, countless versions of Mars, countless versions of the galaxy,
always increasing. Some realities are similar to ours, with only a few
differences. Others are so bizarre and nightmarish that you wouldn’t even
recognize the planet.
Our
dimension, the one that we live in, right now, was spawned from that moment in
time, one where magic slowly died out over the years. All magical creatures and
races slowly became extinct. Why? No one knows for sure. But what we do know is
that is why there is no magic left in our world today. The magical Earth went
on its history without ever knowing that a parallel Earth was created. The two
were totally separate from each other, even separate and isolated in peoples’
minds and consciousness.
However,
the magical Earth continued. It didn’t just cease to exist just because our
reality was created from it. No, mankind progressed in technology just the same
as it did in ours. Magic changed as well. Mankind lost the ability to cast
spells from mana. No, they had to concentrate mana into weapons that cast these
spells.
Nations
rose and fell differently than they did in our dimension. Soon no nations that
we would recognize existed. The continents shifted and moved at an incredible
speed, unattainable by our calculations. What would take millions of years for
a continent to move now only took half a century. This brought about immense
damage, and with it, change, to creatures, their habitats, and climates.
Soon,
mankind stopped organizing themselves by nations altogether.[1]
Kingdoms still existed, but those are different than the concept that we today
now as a nation. Cultures rose up that never existed in the Earth that we know.
They had similarities, sure, but these cultures became the defining point by
which people identified themselves by, instead of by race, religion, or tribe.
A culture manifested itself into a faction, by which people still had a
government or a ruler, but that was not where the real authority came from. The
authority came from the faction.
In the
1990’s and early 2000’s, in this alternate dimension, scientists and magicians made
a shocking discovery.
In short,
the Earth was never meant to continue with magic.
Its core
had become unstable because of the huge, overbearing amount of magic stemming
from the people and creatures of the planet. That’s why the continents were
moving so fast. That’s why strange things were happening to climates, like the
seasons of the year all but disappearing. The strain also affected the whole
plane that the Earth existed in. It was causing it to break down; implode on
itself. The Earth was split from a physical sphere of mass, to several gassy,
mystical planar dimensions that stayed together as it orbited the Sun. You
couldn’t just sail a ship from one continent to the other anymore. You’d just
go in a circle around the “mini planet” that your dimension now was, or worse,
literally fall off the face of the Earth. The only way to travel through the
dimensions was through designing airplanes and other flying vehicles that had a
special material around them that allowed them to fly through the preternatural
clouds that hovering about the land and water of each dimension.
Fast
forward to the year 2116. Human cultures had changed and history had been
altered so much that humans even forgot the original name for the Earth. They
now called the planet Erath. The vast majority of people see this as a time of
the end of days. Each organization of humans, whether it be a kingdom, tribe,
or clan, is highly militarized, with close of half of the entire population of
any given group being a soldier, guard, or mercenary.[2]
The dimensions are more unstable than ever. This would make bizarre and
sometimes dangerous things happen to the inhabitants of the land, such as the
very fabric of the dimension breaking in a particular spot. So one would walk
through that spot by accident, and end anywhere from 20 miles away to 20,000
miles away.
All
factions only have one thing in common: their societies are divided by three
militaristic castes that permeate through all aspects of the armed forces. All
combatants are divided into one of three types of fighting styles:
1.
Warrior: these footmen still use hand-to-hand weapons and bows despite it being
so far in the future. Swords, axes, maces, daggers, bows are wielded. The way
how they use these weapons and are still effective against soldiers with guns
and tanks is ingenious. For one, their armor is much stronger than anything
worn in medieval times, so this allows them to take a lot of damage, necessary
for them to close the distance against their ranged foes on the battlefield.
Since this armor is so heavy, usually men are warriors; very few women can wear
the armor required of a warrior and still be effective in combat. Most wear
special boots of speed that allow them to run 20 or 30 m.p.h. Their weapons
have also been strengthened by science and magic, allowing them to slice
through tanks or shoot magical projectiles towards helicopters, for example.
Some can block bullets and reflect back explosions. Still, even with these
advantages, most soldiers still prefer using guns and vehicles to fight.
Fighting as a warrior requires years of hard training and specialized
techniques. You can give a man a gun and train him to fight in a few months. As
such, only 3% of all fighters throughout all dimensions are warriors. They are
a very small minority in the deadly art of combat.
2. Mage:
these magic wielders use a variety of weapons imbuned with powerful
enchantments, anything from staffs to gauntlets to even some sorts of firearms.
Many do not use the principle magic of their faction. They usually engage their
enemies at a distance, but not as far as soldiers do, as many magical weapons
lack the refined opticals that modern firearms have. Since they have to get
closer to shoot, many employ magical shields to block firearm fire, or even
blast them back. They are more numerous than warriors across the dimensions but
still a small minority compared to the ranks of the soldiers. About 7% of all
fighters are mages. Instead of being backed by conventional weapons such as
artillery and fighter jets, like the soldiers are, mages use giant magical
beasts as their support on the battlefield.
3.
Soldier: these gunmen make up the overwhelmingly majority of any military,
around 90%. Their weapons are most recognizable by us, being assault rifles,
shotguns, sniper rifles, pistols, the works. However, since mankind developed
differently through time than we did, many of these firearms work in vastly
different ways than any firearm we have today. But still others are the same.
The infantry are backed by armor, artillery, and an assortment of aerial combat
vehicles. Many outfit the magical beasts than the warriors and mages use with
huge firearms made specifically for them.
It is in
these dangerous and exciting times that the ultimate battle between good and
evil would be waged for Erak’s survival. Not only that, but humans would
finally unlock the secrets that their new “planet” holds; to finely understand
the chaotic and unpredictable environment that they have lived in for
centuries. In short, mankind would soon discover its destiny…whichever one that
may be. In that case, if there’s more than one possible destiny…is it really
destiny then?
THE FACTIONS
THE HOLY PALADINS
The
Paladins, (also called the Templar), are a faction of righteous warriors and
battle ready priests that make up the strongest faction on the planet Erath.
They are the main vanguard against the demonic hordes that have most recently
taken hold of the Eastern deserts. They are united in their cause in stopping
the demons of the Hellfire from spreading to any other lands and to completely
eliminating them from this plane of existence. They are deeply religious,
following their code of law with the utmost zeal, which strictly lays down what
is permissible and what is forbidden according to the law of their only deity,
which embodies their characteristics of virtue, dedication, and loyalty. With
that however, is the paradox of being the most industrious and technologically
advanced of all of the factions, as many citizens have found it hard to be both.
There have been some cultural conflicts between the more traditional and
religious paladins, and others who have embraced technology and science as
their leader. Being the most powerful of the factions, the Templar has a deep
sense of culture superiority, believing their way of life is superior to all
other cultures, even that of their allies. With this comes a certain amount of
hauntiness.
The Templar are divided into 2 main
kingdoms, the supra-kingdom called Eugenia, made up of a dozen vassal states
acting under one international entity. The other kingdom is Amiciniu, the more
powerful of the two kingdoms.
Principal Magic
Source: Light (Holy)
Name of Warrior
Caste: Paladin
Name of Magic Caste:
Templar
Name of Shooter
Caste: Marksman
THE DEMONS
The
Demons have always been a part of Erath’s history. Wherever a corruption of
culture and an insatiable lust for innocent blood has occurred, the demons have
been a part of it all. They are the ones that seduce and corrupt people to
madness. They jump from faction to faction, taking over their leaders' minds
and plunging them into death and chaos. The demons' world is one of fire,
blood, and suffering. Their culture has no remorse for the largest of misery
inflicted on someone else even if it only brings the smallest of benefits to
the demons. Their celebrations and parties usually revolve around the sadistic
torture and killing of any non-demon that is so misfortunate as to be their
prisoner, which gives the demons present a blast of evil and atrocious ecstasy.
Most recently they have taken over the
desert nations of the supra-kingdom of Jalayya, and are poised to conquer the
rest of the world. They have no qualms about taking the lives of the innocent
for whatever reason. They seek to only enslave and destroy.
Principle Magic
Source: (Red) Fire
Name of Warrior
Caste: Hell Knight
Name of Magic Caste:
Demonist
Name of Shooter
Caste: Heretic
THE WARLOCKS
The
Warlocks are a shadowy culture of dark magic. They distinguish themselves from
the other "evil" factions by not having anything to do with the
undead, as the Necromancers do, and nothing to do with demonic rituals.
However, the Warlocks have been on the Paladin's side in as many wars as they
have been against them; their loyalty stems from self-interest and survival
more than devotion to an ideology. Whichever side can help them the most,
that's who they go with. This is natural due to the fact that they are the
rarest and therefore the weakest of the factions because a group of Warlocks
tried to take over the Paladin country of Amiciniu 30 years ago, in the
bloodiest revolution the kingdom had ever faced. The Warlocks almost won, but
the Paladins put their revolt down, and in the sectarian cleansing that
followed, the vast majority of the Warlocks were killed. The Paladins killed
any Warlock they could come across, even ones that had nothing to do with the
uprising. Only a few survive in enclaves across the planes; they do not have a
kingdom of their own. Many gave up their culture in exchange for whichever’s
they lived with, for a safer life with no persecution.
Warlocks have an
insatiable lust for battle, hence why many of them are sell-swords and
mercenaries in whatever faction they reside in. Many factions openly
discriminate against Warlocks, for they see them as a violent, unpredictable,
angry people, and so, their unfairness is warranted.
Oh, and they love
heavy metal.
Principle Magic
Source: Purple Fire (Spectral)
Name of Warrior
Caste: Shadow Knight
Name of Magic Caste:
Warlock
Name of Shooter
Caste: Assassin
SOUTHERN NATURE
Also
known as the Tropical Nature, this faction inhabits the vast jungles and plains
that are below the dimension cloud that is Amiciniu. Their faction is also a
supra-kingdom, made up of near a dozen separate smaller kingdoms. They are the
descendants of the colonists that came from the Northern Nature faction, after
overpopulation had occurred in their lands. They are the most peaceful of the
factions and the least technological developed, as their culture demands a
close, harmonious relationship with nature, (hence the name of the faction).
Many of them see they cannot advance in technology past a certain point without
damaging their environment to a point that they are not willing to tolerate. In
the balance of technology and industry advancement versus nature, nature always
wins. Their society shapes people to be very laid back and not quick to rash
thinking or decisions. They are also the most isolated, being in the far south
of the planar sphere. Much of their land is still unexplored to this day. They
are known for their beautiful architecture amongst the lush jungle foliage.
Their healing magic is also one of the best among the factions, only comparable
to the Paladins.
Principle Magic Source:
Lightning (Water for non-lethal combat)
Name of Warrior:
Ranger
Name of Magic Caste:
Druid
Name of Shooter
Caste: Amazon
THEURGISTS
The
Theurgists of Jalayya inhabit the great Eastern Desert and the lands
surrounding it. They are a mystic people who have the closest relationship with
pure magical energy, without any of what they would call the corruption of any
elements. Magic is much more present in their culture than any other. They are
an emotional, religious, and an impulse driven people. Many outside of their
culture see them as bizarre and backwater-ish for staying with magic instead of
embracing technology. Sadly however their kingdom has been invaded by the
demons, and now is locked in a bitter and terrible civil war: With the demons
and their Theurgist allies on one side and the Theurgists backed by the
Paladins on the other. The Paladins have had to outright invade many parts of
the kingdom, to battle the demons that their Theurgist allies could not battle.
Theirs is a land torn by strife and hatred. They look towards magic as their
salvation.
Principle Magic Source: Pure non-elemental magic
Name of Warrior
Caste: Spell-sword
Name of Magic Caste: Sorcerer
Name of Shooter
Caste: Insurgent
BARBARIANS
The
Barbarians inhabit the savannah and jungle lands south of the great Eastern
desert. They are broken up into either small independent kingdoms or one of
several dozen tribes. Orcs, Cat-people, goblins, and humans all make up these
fiefdoms and tribes. They are in constant, ever shifting war with one another
over land and resources. It is the Wild West of the world today. True to their
name, Barbarians love to fight. Prowess in battle is a celebrated trait from
childhood. Tribes often go to war with each other for the sole purpose of
honing their war skills. Their principle magic is not an element, but rather,
they use magic to shoot anything from daggers to spears to bullets at speeds
unattainable without magic. The magic is a telekinesis that moves metal. Like
Warlocks, they are also good mercenaries, as long you feed and pay them well.
Principle Magic
Source: Metal
Name of Warrior
Caste: Barbarian
Name of Magic Caste:
Battle Mage
Name of Shooter
Caste: Hunter
NECROMANCERS
The
Necromancers are the terrifying and bone chilling masters of the dead that
inhabit the single kingdom of Rineck, in the cold and barren wastelands. Death
is the central concept of the Necromancers' culture. Most of the creatures and
people in this culture are undead in some hideous form or another. Those are
who are alive are simply in the process and preparation of becoming undead. The
Necromancers' love for suffering, torture, and death are only rivaled by their
demon allies. No one wants to get captured by Necro soldiers, for very few ever
return from one of their prisons. Those who do...are never the same. Their
plane of existence is an unnerving one to travel through: it is always night.
The sun never goes up. It is always...dark.
Despite their culture’s closeness with
the undead, not all Necromancers are evil. Some are peaceful who only practice
their deadly rituals on people who have voluntarily offered to undergo it. They
don’t bother anyone else. Needless to say, many people do not even give a
Necromancer a chance to prove himself/herself as not a maniacal killer. Like
the Warlocks, in any land where they are the minority, they are usually
persecuted greatly, which only increases their militant ways to defend
themselves.
Principle Magic
Source: Green fire or poison
Name of Warrior
Caste: Death Knight
Name of Magic Caste:
Necromancer
Name of Archery
Caste: Marauder
NORTHERN NATURE
Northern
Nature is very similar to the Tropical Nature faction, being as the Tropical
people were originally part of the Northern, but moved south due to the ever
expanding Paladin kingdom creating population issues for their neighbor. Some
of their caste names are the same. Their architectural style however is much
different from one another. This faction is of the one kingdom of Lyrina. They
are also not very industrialized, instead drawing their power from their
preservation and close relationship with nature. They are a reclusive faction,
not going outside their borders very often except to do trade. To think this
faction is "girly" or "feminine" is a rather deadly
mistake, because while it certainly can be in some cases and applications, that
doesn't mean they can't fight. Many invaders have driven into their lands,
thinking them easy to defeat...and then they are never heard from again.
Principle Magic
Source: Earth
Name of Warrior
Caste: Ranger
Name of Magic Caste:
Druid
Name of Shooter
Caste: Bard
THAUMATURGIES
The
Thaumaturgies inhabit the dirt lands and the snowy capped mountains in-between
the kingdoms of Jalayya, (to the south), and Rineck, (to the north). They have
several kingdoms but none of them are in alliance with any other; in fact, they
have little to do with one another. They prefer to study their magic books and
practice spells all day long. They are a very scholarly and abstract thinking
culture; talking with one for a long period of time might prove to be
maddening. The Thaumaturgies and Theurgists used to be of the same faction, but
their view on magic split them into two. The Thaumaturgies did not see a
problem with using elemental magic that was suitable to their climate and
fighting style. The Theurgists believed only using magic in its purest form,
devoid of any elemental tainting, was the correct way to use it. This divided
them so much that the Thaumaturgies left and went up to the plateaus and
mountains north of the Great Eastern Desert. It may seem like a trivial matter
to an outsider, and certainly not one to leave one’s kingdom. However, you must
remember, to Theurgists and Thaumaturgies, magic is like religion. Churches
have split because of objectively small issues but ones that the adherents
cared much about. The same case happened here.
Principle Magic
Source: Ice (Air for non-lethal combat)
Name of Warrior
Caste: Monk
Name of Magic Caste:
Wizard
Name of Shooter
Caste: Rune Launcher
EXCERPT FROM
THE PROPHECY OF
THE BANISHMENT OF
TIME
Fire will consume the
world,
Down to the very
core.
Memories will be
obliterated,
And none know why.
A sickness will
follow, a spine-tingling
Panic of dread and
tremors,
Wrong, wrong, a
terrible wrong,
Two heroes will
emerge,
One light, but not
necessarily good,
And another dark, but
not necessarily evil.
One holds the key to
extinguish the Fire,
While the other holds
the key to the core,
To fix the world that
is now crumbling before you.
But how will they
meet?
Look how the pawns
scurry about,
Trying to keep their
glass world from shattering.
You know nothing of
which you exist in.
If you could only
know the truth,
Of who the invisible hand
is,
You would only feel
one thing:
True. Primal.
Unbridled. Fear.
CHAPTER
1
DEPLOYMENT
ALLON MAYFRED
9:55
A.M. AN OFFICE BUILDING
DOWNTOWN IN THE
CAPITAL WESSIN OF THE
PALADIN KINGDOM OF
AMICINIU
I remember the exact time I got the
email that announced the deployment that would change my life forever.
It’s not often you say that, because
emails are usually not life changing.
It was easy to remember, because of
course, each time you open an email, the time it was sent is in the top right
hand corner of the email window.
Let’s back up. First, an introduction
before we delve into this. I’m Sergeant Allon Mayfred of the Marksman Caste of
the Amiciniuan Army.[3]
I currently work at the administrative headquarters of the Army in Wessin. I
was wearing the standard uniform for Marksmen: black dress shoes and matching dress pants and shirt
that were the colors of our faction, a yellow-ish white color.
I
guess some physical descriptions would be helpful in imagining what I look
like. Well, I have pale skin, just under 6 feet tall, and pretty solidly built.
I’m clean shaved[4],
have blue eyes, and my sandy brown hair is cropped in a buzz cut. I also wear
glasses.
There’s
nothing that really stands out about my office; it looks like any standard
modern[5]
office: cubicles with low walls, desks with tablets and docking stations,
conference rooms, the works. I work on the 8th out of 10 floors of
the building. I’m semi close to a window, which is nice, especially for a
pleasant spring day like today was.[6]
Anyway,
back to the life changing email.
It
was from my battalion’s major. In 2 weeks, we were going to be deployed to the
Barbarian dimension, to the fiefdom of Solsmore.
Attached
is your deployment information. We will meet at 3 p.m. for our live orientation
and further briefing materials.
Blah
blah blah and then the email went on for a while longer, and then ended with
some inspirational Templar quote and motto, SEMPER FI for the faith! Sorta
thing.
I
felt of a wave of different strong emotions from many different parts of the
email, which the end result was feeling very confused because I didn’t know how
to feel about it. First, about the deployment in general. I mean, I got back
from my last deployment 5 years ago, so it’s not like I was being sent out
right after getting back. Our kingdom has been fighting the Demons in several
dimensions for 13 years now, so it was normal for soldiers to have multiple
tours of duty.
I
can’t really say that I enjoy combat or don’t enjoy it, it’s a complicated
relationship. I don’t revel in killing Demons, as I think killing anything,
even it is Demons, shouldn’t be celebrated. But these are Demons we’re talking
about. I could go on and on about why it is good to exterminate them wherever
we can. They destroy and kill anything that isn’t them, without qualms about
following any rules of war or killing non-combatants.
Anyway,
I’m digressing. The real thing in this email that alerted me was the fact that
Rayzar Baelon and his mercenary group was stirring up trouble in Solsmore.
Rayzar
Baelon. How to summarize all my thoughts about Rayzar Baelon. He is a very
unique individual. He was born of the Nature faction; his mother was from the
Southern faction and his father from the North. He was born and lived in
Amiciniu. Until he was 15 years old, by all accounts, he was a normal kid.
But
at 15 years old, his life took a turn for the worst and tragic. All Paladins in
Amiciniu know his story; that’s how much of a national headliner this was. One
of his high school teachers, Talin Depert, had Demonic sympathies. He was
outraged at the current war between the Templars and the Demons on the western
edge of the Theurgist dimension. He could not believe that we wanted to
exterminate the Demons and purge them of the Theurgists’ lands.
He
became so outraged, that he took a group of his students, including Rayzar,
through the clouds of the dimensions in a vessel, to the Theurgist’s dimension,
to fight on the Demons’ behalf against the Templars. A traitor, in a summary.
Why he thought the students, only 15 or 16 years old, would be good fighters
against hardened Templar warriors is beyond everyone. Many of them got killed.
But
not Rayzar. He had found his calling in a bizarre turn of events. Exposed to
the Demon’s religion and sadistic ways, he proved to be quite the warrior. He
killed several Paladin soldiers and wounded dozens more in the months that he,
his classmates, and his teacher were in the Theurgist lands. Long story short,
the war ended after several months, the Paladins defeating the Demons in that
particular war. That ended in 2105. Rayzar was injured in a battle, but not
before leaving the lands. Using his connections made in and skills honed in
through the war, he started his own paramilitary organization.
He
betrayed his kingdom; he, like Talin, switched sides from the Templar side to
the Demon side. His rebel group, aptly named “Renegade,” traveled from
dimension to dimension, fighting for the Demonic cause wherever the Demons
popped up to try and take over a kingdom. I personally fought against him and
his squad on my first deployment to the Theurgists’ dimension in 2108, and
again on my second deployment to a remote part of the Thaumaturgies’ dimension
in 2111, (the Demons tried to establish a foothold into that dimension; we beat
them just last year).
And
so Rayzar and his Renegades have traveled the dimensions ever since, killing
and massacring wherever they show up, and causing quite a headache for us
Paladins. He is not the only drive the Demons have; they have and are causing
plenty of trouble for us without Rayzar at all. Still, everyone wishes he would
just get killed in combat and his organization would crumble, because he’s been
just such a major thorn in our side for several years.
The
extraordinary thing about it: Rayzar is so young to be doing all these amazing
yet horrible acts. He is only 26 years old, a year younger than me. He is
definitely the poster boy for the concept of an “evil boy genius.”
I
knew from the outset that this deployment, with him in the mix now, would not
be an easy or uninteresting one.
Little
did I know exactly how interesting it would be.
Later that
afternoon…
3
p.m. arrived a lot faster than it usually did. A few minutes before, I got up
from my desk and walked to where my commander and the rest of my battalion
would be for the live orientation. It would be in the large auditorium
downstairs on the second floor. This was the only room in the entire building
big enough to hold everyone from my battalion at the same time. I walked past
other departments and offices that were in-between my desk and the elevators.
Then, I took the elevator down.
I
arrived at the auditorium. Some soldiers were already seated, spread out
amongst the hundreds of seats. I saw Emnu, who was another Marksman, and my
best friend. He was sitting near the front, as usual, like the dork he is. He’s
short, scrawny, pale skin, freckles on his face, light brown hair cut in a buzz
cut, and wide, thick rimmed glasses. He has a childish buck tooth grin when he
smiles.
Emnu
is my engineer. He is infantry, but he doesn’t do the heavy fighting like I do.
Instead, he is my support. He runs comm or if he’s in the field with me, he
controls the drone that assists me in battle, for example. So, the fact that he
is small and scrawny doesn’t matter as much.
“Hey,
what’s up man?” I asked him as I tapped his hand and sat down next to him.
“Hey
Allon” he said cheerfully, (as usual), “I’m good I’m good man, how about you?”
“I’m
doing fine” I replied, “Just trying to process today’s news.”
“Yeah
I know” Emnu said, “No matter if we’ve done this before, it’s still a powerful
feeling…you’re like ‘Oh shit, it’s gonna happen again.’”
“For
sure” I said, “…Well, at least Solsmore is not as crazy as our first
deployment.”
“Well,
it isn’t right now” Emnu said, “But now with Rayzar there, it’s bound to get
more intense. You know just as well as I do how he can incite stuff.”
“Yeah”
I said grimly, “It’s sad but true.”[7]
We
chatted for a few more minutes as the rest of the troops entered the room.
Then, the lights went out, the stage lit up, and our commander walked to the
middle of the stage from the side behind the curtains.
“Good
afternoon ladies and gentlemen” he said.
We
all saluted him.
“At
ease” he said.
We
stopped saluting him.
“This
is the orientation for our deployment to Solsmore” the commander said, “For
veterans and new blood alike, it will be a dangerous and challenging task. I’m
not going to sugarcoat anything. That’s how us Templar deal with things.”
“Our
mission is to assist the Solsmorian troops in quelling the Demonic insurgency.
We will do so in a variety of tactical roles. Sometimes we will provide support
to Solsmorian ground troops, other times, we will go in with them. It will all
depend on the tactical situation at the time.”
“As
you know, the Demons have been spreading into the Barbarian dimension for
several years. Having close to 3/4s of the entire Theurgist dimension, the
closest dimension to the Barbarians, this is their natural stepping point to
spread. Solsmore has been combating an insurgency for approximately 3 years,
and we already have 500 Paladins plus their support already stationed in
Solsmore, helping the authorities combat them.”
“Well,
one battalion is due to return home soon, and King Okurn has ordered that
another be sent on top of the battalion replacing them. So one is being sent
back home and two are being deployed, and we're one of those two.”
“You
all should already be up to speed on the background information needed for this
deployment, a.k.a. on the Barbarians, on Solsmore in particular, the history of
this insurgency, etc. The only other major piece of information to be added is
the Renegade Demonic mercenary group, headed by Rayzar Baelon, arrived in
Solsmore several weeks ago. They spear-headed this latest drive by the
insurgency, which is why the death toll has spiked so suddenly.”
Soldiers
grumbled and cursed under their breath at the hearing of the name of Rayzar
Baelon. Most of them hated him just as much I do. But more than that, deep down
in their hearts, many of them were afraid of Rayzar. None of them would ever
admit it; that is not what a soldier does. But they feared him because Rayzar
has killed literally hundreds of Templar and Paladins single handily in the
various wars we have fought against the Demons in the Theurgist’s dimension.
There’s a reason why he is legendary, and why he is the symbol of the
resistance against us.
In
addition to his exploits in the battlefield, Rayzar committed an assassination
8 years ago so bold and so devastating to our Templar kingdom, that everyone
around the dimensions was shocked that an 18 year old could’ve pulled it off.
In short, Rayzar went undercover into Wessin, underneath the noses of all our
intelligence agencies. Somehow,[8]
using demonic magic unknown to us, Rayzar transformed into the ultimate Demonic
flying beast, the Crimzon Dragon, a hulking scaled red dragon with glowing
yellow eyes and launching an inferno of fire from its maw. He attacked the
Royal Palace, where our king at the time, King Geonaan, and his entire royal
entourage of advisors and lords were. Everyone was caught completely off guard,
as Rayzar transformed just feet away from the Palace grounds. The Royal Guard
and Geonaan fought bravely, but Rayzar killed our beloved King, his entire
entourage, and many Royal Guards. By the time reinforcements came, Rayzar had
transformed back into his human form, and vanished in the chaos that had
engulfed the capital.
That
was 8 years ago. Now, we would be fighting the same demon, in a land familiar
to him but not to us. And he has 8 more years of combat experience than at the
time of the assassination. Reports say he, being 26, is at the peak of his
physical and magical condition. And he has a small army of demonic mercenaries
at his command. That is what we’re up against.
“Our
deployment will be the same as any deployment is: 10 months” our commander
continued, “New comers, you will find all the resources you will need to
prepare for deployment in your information packets. Sergeants, as always, you
will instruct them on what they need to do to succeed. You already know the
ropes so it is your duty to help those who don’t.”
“I
have complete confidence in your ability to succeed and defeat the Demons” our
commander was finishing up, “We have defeated them twice already in the past
decade, and we will defeat them again. Our gods, our faith keeps us safe in
these troubled times, and gives us the strength we need in order to save our
kingdom from the clutches of evil. Many of our brothers and sisters have died
on the battlefield; let us honor their sacrifices by finishing the fight.”
“Now,
let us conclude by saying the Templar motto.”
We
all chanted the hymn that guides our society; that we also hear only 10,000
times a day.
Duty
keeps us bound.
Faith
keeps us pure.
LIGHT
KEEPS US UNITED.
Later that
evening,
The
orientation, or briefing, or whatever you want to call it, went into the
evening, longer than I usually stay at work. This was to be expected and what
was needed, because there was a lot to go over in a short amount of time. It wasn’t
until 6:30 p.m. that Emnu and I exited our building.
Wessin
looked like any other modern Templar city[9]: Wide, open, clean streets that, for the most
part, crisscrossed the city into square grids. Like all factions, the
architecture was a blend of modern and medieval buildings. Sharp, glass covered
skyscrapers was dotted around downtown, amongst office buildings and banks made
out of marble that was a beige and gold colored mix. One such building that was
almost gothic in its architecture was across the street right in front of me as
soon as I exited my building. My building was of modern architecture; a big
rectangle 10 stories high.
Emnu
and I took the sidewalk to the left towards the closest monorail station, as we
do every day after work. We take the same line home; he just gets off a few
stops before I do. He lives in an apartment with two other roommates. The
apartment was still in the downtown area but was a ways from the center of the
entire city. I lived in a townhouse just on the border between downtown and where
the suburbs start.
As
Emnu and I walked towards the station, for some reason, I took in my
surroundings a lot more than usual. I guess it was because I knew that in a few
days I would be leaving, and so, almost subconsciously, I started noticing more
of what would soon be gone.
Even
though I’m used to the beauty of Wessin, (because I’ve lived here for several
years,) every once in a while I’m still mesmerized by it. The sun was setting,
spewing its bright yellow rays over the marble streets and sidewalks[10]. Shadows of the flying cars above sped all
across the lit ground.
Oh
yeah, we have flying cars. I better talk about that.
These
flying cars looked just like the regular cars on the ground streets. In fact,
many of the flying cars could switch to ground driving with the push of a
button. People needed to be able to do this because outside of the big
metropolitan centers of our kingdom, we have not built flying lanes for cars to
fly in. We don’t need to in places where there is not enough traffic to justify
building flying lanes.
Anyway,
so these lanes were high above most buildings, at the same height of the
majority of the skyscrapers. A lane was a path of electromagnetic fields,
maintained by a substance that was clear yet partially visible, like glass.
These lanes were thick enough to be seen by drivers of flying cars, so they
know where to go, yet clear enough that they are not a solid substance. The
cars float several inches above the electromagnetic fields by maintaining a
magnetic field of the same charge.
So
with having a good amount of traffic above in the skies, this relieved the
congestion down on the ground streets. Granted, we still have bad traffic jams
and rush hour congestion, but it would be unbearable without those flying
lanes. And we have buses and the monorail to help out to.
The
monorail is the best and fastest way to get around the metro area, because it
is a modern monorail that, by, again, using magnets, can travel to 200 m.p.h.
in a very short amount of time. The rides between stops are only 15-30 seconds.
The station we were going to, Li-Fed Plaza, was two blocks away from the
building I worked at. Not a bad walk at all. It was a sunny and slightly cool
early autumn evening. I treasured the mild temperature, for in a few weeks it
would turn cool with getting more into autumn.
All
types of people walked the sidewalks. Our kingdom, being the most prosperous of
any other, attracted many immigrants from all of the other dimensions. Our
population were mostly humans of fair skin, but we have a lot of black humans
also and of every shade of skin tone in-between. We also have a lot of species
that are just as intelligent as humans, and co-exist with us. Many lizard
people from the Tropical Nature faction, (their proper names are Iksars),
Djinns and Ifrits from the Sorcercer faction, and Orcs and Cat-people from the
Barbarian faction all lived in our kingdom, especially in the downtown
metropolitans that dotted the lands. Most of the people I saw wore suits or
other formal business attire, as this was the business and government sector of
the city. Many others wore some sort of traditional Templar garb, such as robes
or loose fitting cloth shirts and pants.
“You
know, I’m really gonna miss this place” I said to Emnu as we approached the
monorail station.
The
station was just a platform up two stories from the ground. I got out my
monorail card from my wallet.
“Don’t
we always?” Emnu said as he did the same.
“Yeah,
but I feel it more already than I ever did before for the first two times” I
explained as I swiped my cards across the sensor at the one of 8 turnstiles to
enter the platform, “Compared to deployment, Wessin will seem like heaven.”
“Got
that right” Emnu replied, right behind me, “We’ve done good for many years to
make it to where we are today, us in particular, but the Templar on the whole.
You read about what happened in the Warlock Rebellion and you just shudder.
This kingdom hardly looks like the one that existed 30 years ago.”[11]
I
could only nod in agreement as we got to the platform. A few minutes passed,
and then a monorail train came speeding into it. It was sleek, with the front
car almost in the shape of giant bullet. The metal was shiny and thin, and had
streaks of blue and purple amongst mostly gray. The seats all had seatbelts; it
went way too fast for people to stand and hold onto a pole like older monorails
or metros did.
In
a few seconds we were off, shooting down the monorail track through downtown.
The view, which I didn’t get to see for very long because we were going so fast
and would be at the next stop in only several seconds time, was one that I
never got tired of. And the fact that I only got to see it for a few seconds
only made me savor the moment even more. To the right was the Wessin harbor,
housing all sorts of boats, commercial, private, military, etc. On the upper
levels of the harbor was where the various aircraft and starships were housed.
The
golden rays of our setting sun reflected off the waters of the Western
Dimensionia Sea, making them seem almost white and not blue at all. The rays
also reflected off the glass enclosed skyscrapers to the left of the rails,
seemingly illuminating several blocks of streets. As a manly man, I have no
problem admitting that it was quite a beautiful sight to see.
I
got home to my townhouse just a few minutes after 7:00. It is only a 5 minute
walk from the monorail station to it, so it was great for commuting. It was
built out of bricks that were a reddish-orange, with areas around the windows made
out of a beige marble. Our wooden door was a bright red.
Our?
Oh, I forgot to mention that I live with my girlfriend, Aymine. She is a year
older than I am, and she’s an Administrative Assistant for a local consulting
firm. We’ve been dating for almost a year and a half, and living together for
only 2 months. She’s been the first girlfriend that I’ve lived with, which has
been an exciting yet challenging experience to say the least.
I
had not been dating her the last time I got deployed; so for her, me being
deployed to Solsmore would be a new experience for her. Of course, she knew
from day one that dating soldier always meant the possibility of me being
deployed. She said she would be fine with it, but it’s easy to say that when
it’s not actually happening. So I wondered, how will she take it??
I
unlocked the front door, not with a key, but by simply swiping a card on a
scanner where, in the olden days, the doorbell would be.[12]
The door opened, and I walked inside. Our foyer was very small, barely big
enough to be even be called one. The walls were a very light gray, almost
white. Immediately to your left as you walk in are the stairs to go up. In
front is a small narrow hallway that led to the kitchen. To the right was our
living room. I saw the lights on in the kitchen, so I knew Aymine was already
home.
“Hey
hun I’m home” I hollered as I came in.
Aymine
peered her head from around the corner, giving me her charming blissful smile.
She had sharp brown eyes, pale skin like mine, and dark brown hair. She was
wearing her usual work clothes: a white dress shirt, a black skirt that was
just above her knees, and black high heel shoes.
“Hey
there sweetie” she said cheerfully as I gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, “I
just got home a few minutes ago, so I didn’t have time to cook dinner.”
“That’s
okay” as I put my briefcase on my seat at the table, “You cooked last night. We
need to eat these leftovers in the fridge.”
“Okay”
she replied, “How was work?”
“Oh
boy, here it comes” I thought.
“Well,
I have some very big news. It’s not necessarily bad or good, it just will
be…difficult” I said carefully.
“What
is it?”
“In
a few weeks, my battalion will be deployed to Solsmore” I said.
I
looked at her. She didn’t show any emotion as she thought about what to say.
“It’s
because the demon insurrection has gotten a lot worse recently, isn’t it?” She
asked.
“Yeah”
I answered, “Rayzar Baelon and his gang showed up, and are doing what they do
best.”
“Damn
that Rayzar! He’s taking my honey away from me!” She pouted as she put her arms
around my neck and kissed me.
I
managed a smile.
“Yeah,
duty calls” I said.
She
went back to the counter.
“It’s
okay” She said, “I know this will be difficult for both of us, in different
ways. But you’ve not been deployed in 5 years, so we should consider that
fortunate.”
“Yes,
I’ve had a good run, haven’t I?”
She
smiled and nodded.
“If
it’s for the good of our kingdom, then I accept it” She said.
[1]
For reasons we’ll find out later, (well… you’ll find out later, I already know
the reason. Duh).
[2]
The natural response for a good number of humans to go grab your weapons when
faced with fear.
[3] Is
that a lot of weird words at once? Sorry, it’s Erath. Better get used to it.
[4]
Which shows my baby face.
[5] Of
course, you have to remember that the word “modern” means something different
to you than it does to me. I’m a century in the future compared to you.
[6]
Different dimensions have different seasons. Some have stopped having seasons
altogether. The dimension of the Paladins has 3 seasons: Spring, Fall, and
Winter. Sorry, no Summer anymore.
[7]
Hey, I’m your life, I’m the one who takes you there! Oh c’mon, I couldn’t
resist!...Oh, I guess for you peeps who aren’t into heavy metal, this is
completely making no sense. Hint: copy and paste the first sentence of this
footnote into Google and see what ya get.
[8]
Rayzar has admitted publically that even he’s not entirely sure how he did it,
because he hasn’t been able to do it since.
[9]This
faction is the closest to our civilizations, especially Western civilization,
so you will see that many aspects of its society and culture are easily
relatable to us.
[10] Remember,
each dimension is a little different in relation to weather, climate, etc.
While our sun would set with deep orange and purple colors, in the Templar
dimension, the sun set with different colors.
[11] I
am 27 years old, Emnu is 25. We were both born in the midst of the Warlock
Rebellion but are both too young to remember anything about it. By the time
were old enough to start remembering things, the Rebellion had been crushed.
But we would hear all about it from our parents, our neighbors, our older
friends, our teachers, etc.
[12]
These cards were given to us when we purchased the house.
