New Immortal

“These plains are ours! This is our homeland and no Stellwin dog will ever! Ever! Dare step foot upon our soil after this day is done!” I thunder, my voice amplified by the sorcerer’s spell. Banging shields and the roars of men greeted my voice.

“Hail Prince Felix!”

“Hail Prince Felix!” they chant in unison. I raise my hands to stop they’re cheers and I look out across my army laid before me. “We shall smite them with such a mighty blow that their cities across the great sea will shudder and collapse!” I shout raising my right arm clenching my fist in the air. The thousand cavalrymen that I commanded immediately took to their mounts, and the sound of a thousand feet touching stirrups filled the air. I gestured to the large infantry force marching towards our position atop the raised plateau.

“On my mark!” I cry out drawing my curved saber. Honor guards moved forward flanking me; they were the sons of nobles. Bred to be strong and without fear which showed now as we faced an army of Stellwin a country who fielded the strongest infantry forces in the world. The suns hot rays beat down upon us and sweat started bead upon my brow, but I dared not wipe it off knowing my men could mistake it for nervousness. I take a large deep breath and the knight mages in my ranks take note of this and start readying their spells.

“For Periria!” I roar kicking the sides of my horse and riding forward sword pointed in the direction of General Peregrine’s army. My battle cry was echoed a thousand times over by my men now charging behind me. Lightning arced out from my knight mage bodyguards smiting the front ranks of the infantry. Arrows followed suit riddling our enemies’ shields as we draw closer. They are only a hundred paces away now and I can clearly see the determination stamped on everyman’s face. I scream a wordless scream pulling my sword arm back to prepare for the first strike, then the shield wall in front of us shifts. Now a wall of lances faced us and there was no stopping my charge. I was going to die, I thought to myself, and with that I felt my body collapse around a wooden lance. Everything went dark.

I opened my eyes, but I didn’t feel them open. I didn’t feel anything except the cold which was an oddity as Periria is always hot or at least pleasantly warm. I get up feeling light, what happened and then it came to my and my arms flew to my gut. I looked down and I saw to my horror my crumpled body on the ground below me. I had become a ghost I knew it the second I laid my eyes upon my dead body. Sorcerers had taught me all about the after life I looked about my ghost person studying my horrifyingly disfigure body.

I looked around the battlefield, many had died on the lances and the infantry had broken our charge then slaughtered us by the hundreds. Broken shields and swords layered the ground, we had been defeated and I felt the shame gnawing at my gut. It would only be a matter of time before Death arrived and took me to the afterlife where I would rest or suffer after his judgment. I wasn’t going to let my afterlife hang in the balance of fate and I reached into the folds of my ghastly armor and pulled out the charm. It was still there and would still work if my sorcerers were correct. I waited hand resting idly on my saber; the distant plateau glowed in the light of numerous camp fires where the Stellwin army now rested. They would die by the end of this night.

His footsteps were silent, but I could clearly here them regardless. I turned around facing Death in his blackened robes, his cowled face, and his scythe that had claimed all before me. “Well you know why I’m here” he rasped with a voice barely audible over silence. I only smiled, my saber appeared in my hand before he could say anything else and I lunged forward point first. He jumped back and brought his scythe over his head then brought it down. The scythe slashed the air where I had been only a moment before as I rolled to the side.

“You should stop trying to escape death.” Death said mockingly, his voice now the only thing clear in my senses. It was overpowering but, the charm in my armor kept my mind free of his power. I darted forward feinting to the left with my saber, he moved to block it sending his scythe out in front of him in a parry. At the last second I pulled my saber in, twisted on the spot and kicked out with my right leg knocking the scythe from his hands. He lunged desperately to grab it but I slammed my saber into his back sending him sprawling to the ground. I snatched up the scythe feeling its power coursing into my ghastly form making it solid once again.
“No, you musn’t do that!” cried Death realizing my intentions as I took out the charm from my armor.

“Oh but I shall!” I cry defiantly wrapping the charm around the scythe raising it over my head. “All who were once dead! Now rise to be undead!” A blinding flash filled the air and a thousand ghastly forms rose into the night, the once grand army of Periria had risen from the realm of the dead.

“Now my comrades! An army of Stellwin rests upon our plateau! Let us take it back and then and only then shall we return to our ever rest!” I roar. “Charge!” and a thousand war cries cut into the night once again, met moments later by the screams of horror.