Arcadia: prolouge

Prologue

Baking heat lapped over the parched valleys like waves on a beach, it had almost been a year since the valleys had seen any form of moisture touch its dry and cracking surface, today however was different. Dampness and the smell of rusted iron rose from the blood that covered the valleys burnt ground, for a battle between the kingdom of Symphonia and the legions of the Necromantia was taking place under the gradually setting sun.
Both forces consisted mostly of armoured infantry supported by magical and conventional artillery. The Necromantia themselves were assisted with machines of there own creation they named Stahlleiche, tall and skeletal in appearance and black and white in colour they were abominations created by forbidden magic the Necromantia were infamous for.
The fusing of a corpse and machine was how the stahlleiche were born, allowing the Necromantia’s mages to have full control over them using necromancy on the part of the being that was once human, creating a creature capable of cutting down five men with a flick of it’s black, knife like fingers attached to it’s bone like elongated white arms.
They advanced, ploughing through the Symphonian soldiers, meeting no resistance until they came against the sixth division. The sixth division was consisted of Armbalante, driven suits of armour each the height of six men, making them large enough to crush the Stahlleiche with their feet and eviscerate several of them at once with their swords.
Above the valleys aridity and two warring forces the great airship Yggdrasil bore station, reinforcing the main army and supplying aerial support from its hangars and covering fire with its cannons. And on its bridge stood Symphonia’s reining monarch King Michael. With eyes of sapphire blue he looked down the aisle that of the Yggdrasils main bridge, before him a dozen technicians at a dozen screens relaying information to and from the battlefield and before them lay a display screen showing the pandemonium that lay below the ship.
Looking upon the chaos below him King Michael wished that he could of been anywhere but here, he would much rather be sat by the Flusso river that ran through the capital, sipping cold wine in the shade in hiding of the summer heat. It seemed unfair that he had to deal with the situation at hand but to be fair a situation such as the one before him was inventible at least once in every Arcadian Kings reign. He remembered that his own father had gone into a battle similar to this one, when the Necromantia had began to make their first appearances five years ago, he also remembered it being the last time he ever saw him and could not shake a familiar feeling that he had on the day that his father died.
Still, the Necromantia were a force that had to be stopped, more so now than ever before. The reason being was a month prior to the battle of the parched valleys; the city of Algesia along with a small section of countryside had disappeared and was replaced with a smoking crater. Those in the nearby town of Cirale had reported seeing the death god Mortis descend from the heavens and burn the city from the land with his gaze. Their claims however were dismissed as delusions brought on from the trauma of the catastrophe, and what had destroyed the city was speculated by the Symphonian military to be an experimental airship.
Finding the culprits however was no hard task as the Necromantia claimed responsibility soon afterwards on the broadcast networks, which had always been their way. When they first appeared half a dozen years ago, they hijacked the airwaves, announcing themselves to be bringing in a new age for the world. However their means and specific actions to what they wanted to achieve were all mysteries, no one knew what they specifically wanted and how killing masses of people would achieve said goal.
The only good thing about a mobile weapon capable of levelling a city is that it leaves behind a vast amount of energy residual which allowed the Symphonian Military to track it straight back to its return point. Of course it was to be expected for the facility where the weapon was docked to be heavily guarded, which is why King Michael called upon to deploy the Yggdrasil the Symphonian kingdoms flagship. Alongside the king on the ships bridge stood his mentor and head of the Symphonian Mages Guild and Military Academy Albedo Sontor. Michael couldn’t help but feel slightly relived to have his old teacher by his side; after all he was one of the world’s most powerful mages which reassured Michael in the skills that Albedo had taught him. The council had voted that Albedo come along with Michael as well as bringing over two dozen mages from the guild as magical support for which they were almost certainly going to need considering who their opponents were. The mages were currently placed in several drop-ships outside the battlefield, if anything magic related were to happen they would take flight as would King Michael and Albedo.

‘How goes the battle Helmsman’? He asked one of the men at the computer screens
‘Not so good your highnesses he said swivelling around in his chair ‘at the moment things are about even but we wont be able to keep this up for much longer without additional reinforcements’.
‘So we are outnumbered’? Said King Michael ‘very well’ he nodded ‘tell the Mages to deploy’
‘Cancel that order’ said Albedo ‘and continue to deploy aerial support’ he turned to Michael ‘you don’t move your strongest pieces until you’re sure you’re going to lose Michael’ he said.
King Michael merely replied with a simple yes, Albedo had never steered him wrong before whilst he was in the academy and he knew that now would be the best time to listen to any advice he had to give.
‘It seems that that tracking the weapons energy signature back to its origin of launch proved useful then’ he said ‘but where exactly is this facility that it’s supposedly docked in’?
‘Beneath where we fight’ Said Albedo ‘according to the readings the energy signal suddenly cuts off where our forces are currently situated and not off a few kilometres distance away our scans found an abnormality in a rock formation which turned out to be a hologram’
King Michael seemed somewhat taken aback from this recent piece of information
‘You mean to say you’ve found an entrance’? He said
‘That is correct’ said Albedo in a patient tone ‘several special forces squads have been sent within the facility for recon already, we should be making contact with them shortly’
‘And why did the council decide not to place me in charge of this recon operation’ said Michael his voice tinted with outrage.
‘Because the council has entrusted you with command of the battlefield Michael, not the special forces’
‘I am the King’ Said Michael accidentally letting his anger seep out for a moment ‘do the council not trust me, is that it’?
‘No Michael it is not’ Albedo assured him ‘it is merely that this is perhaps the greatest challenge our kingdom and your reign will possibly ever face and you cannot win this fight on your own’.
King Michael thought to say more, about how it seemed it was Albedo who was running the entirety of the situation at hand and that he was merely here as a figurehead to please the public, to reassure them that their king could protect them. Five years was how long Michael’s current seat as king had lasted, but the council could still not see that he was competent for the very role he was born for. The King went to open his lips but before anything could pass through them static buzzed through the bridges intercom system and a faint image appeared on the large display screen at the end of the bridges walkway. The interference eventually clearing displayed a soldier donned in traditional gold and blue of the Symphonian kingdom.
‘This is recon squad three reporting in sir’ said the soldier
‘What’s your status soldier, do you have a confirmed visual of the target’ said Albedo
There was a haunting pause before the screen panned to an empty pit which seemingly went down forever.
‘Negative’ said the soldier in cold voice.
‘Then where’s the weapon’ Said Michael.
Suddenly the hairs rose on the back of Michael’s neck, he could sense the sudden wave of emergency and terror emanating from Albedo who quickly snapped his neck in the kings direction.
‘Tell all forces to retreat now Michael’ he said in a voice that freighted him. The reason being it frightened him so was that it was full of a state he had never seen his mentor in before. Panic.
‘Why what’s happening’ he said almost choking on his own fear.
‘This thing can cut off any energy residue it produces Michael, that trail we followed to this silo was nothing more than a feint’ he said. ‘This thing was never in its silo, it’s been waiting for us up in the sky even before we got here’.
‘But the scans and radar’ Michael stuttered
‘This thing is impervious to scans and radar Michael’. Rage. Another emotion the king had never seen in Albedo.
‘How do you think it managed to destroy Cirale without being detected?’
A long Silence fell upon the bridge, only to be broken by more static and another voice from the intercom.
‘Your highness we have a situation to report’ came a voice of military hardening. Michael slowly turned from the eye-lock he held with his master to the soldier displayed on the screen.
‘What’s happened’ he said.
‘See for yourself your highness’ sad the soldier.
The screen flickered and then moved to show the Necromantia’s forces standing like statues and staring into the sky as if expecting a sudden storm to come. And how right they were.
‘Helmsman’ said Albedo calmly to one of the men at the screens ‘set the ships shields to maximum’.
And it was then he saw it, breaking through the clouds and coming to a halt above the battlefield, it had to be as large as the Yggdrasil and was almost spider like in shape and ebony in colour. What was the weapons top had descend head first; its top as it were was shaped like a skull, below this was a ring of identical skulls which ran around the base of the weapons neck, each with its own skeletal arms and hands protruding from their jaws clasped together as if in prayer. Over half a dozen larger copies of the smaller skulls limbs lined the weapons insect like abdomen alongside equally skeletal legs.
For a moment it merely hovered above the battlefield as if observing the two armies as a child would observe an ants nest. Then it opened its eyes, the shockwave hit the Yggdrasil with such force it felt as if someone had swung a hammer the size of a skyscraper into its side. Blinding light and deafening thunder rolled throughout the valley, it was all Michael could think about until the emergency alarms and the voice of Albedo yelling for a damage report woke him from his trance.
‘How are we holding up’ said Albedo trying to make himself herd over all the noise.
‘All shields are down sir, we won’t be able to take another hit like that’.
‘Very well, all main cannons open fire’ he ordered.
A barrage of energy flew from the ships side, only to bounce off the weapons now apparent shields.
Michael rose to his feet and took his cloak from the captain’s chair.
‘Charge the Mjolnir cannon and tell all mage units to deploy’ he said to the helmsmen
‘Michael what are you doing?’ said Albedo
‘That thing just killed several thousand of our men as well as its own allies, if we don’t do stop it now it’ll wipe out the entire kingdom, and it might not even sop there.
Albedo grabbed him firmly by the arm
‘Michael you don’t have to do this’.
‘Yes I do’ said Michael ‘I’m going to protect my people like I’m supposed to and prove my worth to the damn council’.
Albedo went out to grab Michael’s other arm but he was already gone.
On the roof Michael stood looking out at the mushroom cloud that had stood were the battlefield had been, and the weapon which had now set itself upright.
He pushed off the Yggdrasils hull bursting out into the sky with great speed, as he flew the mages he had dispatched before shot past him like black arrows, ramming to a halt in midair their capes flapping in the wind and then began to throw spells at the weapon but to as much effect as the Yggdrasils cannons. Michael positioned himself several meters before reaching the weapons shields, hitting it feet first before beginning to run down its side, energy crackling beneath his feet. Michael almost tripped and fell as the shield gave way underneath him, he looked up to see the Yggdrasils hull had opened like a flower to reveal the Mjolnir cannon which was the cause for the weapons shields suddenly failing. Michael landed on an outlaying platform on the weapons side; he held out his hand, a small white light began to form in his palm it grew in size and its intensity become so great it was as if Michael was holding the sun itself. As the ball grew, Michael could feel himself getting weaker, the world around him seemed to fade, colours and light gradually disappearing, only the yelling of Albedo’s voice in his mind remained, telling him to get out of there. He clasped his fist around the ball and drove his fist into the weapon its surface rippling like water.
The numerous skulls on the weapon contorted and looked as if they were screaming in agony, smoke billowing from their jaws as the weapon began to fall down to the valleys ground. As the weapon landed it split and cracked like rotten wood, raining pieces of metal onto the sand. There was a blink of light and the sand in the valley turned to a sea of glass under the heat of the explosion, The Yggdrasil was thrown down into the surrounding mountains before coming to halt at one of the many bases.
Smoke and the crackle of broken electronics wafted through the air of the bridge, as the crew picked themselves up Albedo sat in silence where he had landed when the Yggdrasil had crash-landed, ignoring the pain in his arm and staring at the display screen. The screen showed what was left of the valley but it was not the sight of destruction though that told Albedo what he already knew, it was the silence of Michael’s mind.

The following night the Capitals streets were filled with life and celebration, whilst the sky filled itself with the dance of lights from armadas of fireworks.
Albedo looked down upon the city from the royal palace, his arm still felling numb from where the Wight mages had healed it after the rescue ships had arrived at the Yggdrasils crash site.
‘If only they knew, he thought, if only they knew that this ‘’peace’’ is merely temporary, then they wouldn’t be so merry. Unless we find where they are, the Necromantia will surely build another, more powerful weapon once they have the resources’.
He sighed, he had not meant for is thoughts to be so bitter, but considering the circumstances how could anyone blame him. Raising his wine glass to the city’s skyline and the night he said ’here’s to you Michael, foolish apprentice of a foolish master’.
Albedo shivered as the cutting wind brushed past him and decided to return to the party inside the palaces main hall, where the figures of the Kingdoms power celebrated their freedom from living in fear.
Having walked halfway across the room before hearing his name being called out by a familiar voice, Albedo turned to see Commander Rosum a portly, balding man of middle age beckoning him over to a small crowd of lords and ladies. Albedo raised his glass for the second time that night, unlike the smile he had on his face which he had been using all night.
As he was in no mood to answer questions about who would be next in line for the throne, Albedo considered walking out altogether, but then he thought of Michael, and he knew that he would not want him to give everyone the cold shoulder.
At first the conversation was full of condolences and grieving for the former king, but as Albedo expected it quickly turned a corner into the question of who would be the new Monarch. ‘So Albedo’ said Commander Rosum taking a sip from his glass ‘you’ve been teaching the princes magic ever since they could talk’ he said. ‘So it should be you who knows who will be next to don the crown and sit on the throne better than anyone’ ending the sentence with a smile that told Albedo he needn’t disappoint. With reluctance Albedo began his lip-service, ‘It shall be the youngest son’ he said ‘Ciara will be the one to take the next rule of house Sabedona as by order of his fathers final wishes’
‘Ah’ said a surprised councilman ‘I thought it would have been, his older brother, Ymir, after all he does runs several war-factories whilst Ciara whittles away his time with his travels’.
Albedo narrowed his eyes ‘it was his fathers will’ he said irritably to the councilman ‘and we shall respect that’ he said. ‘Besides, what Ciara lacks in life experience he makes up in knowledge and rational decision, and as for Ymir, it as you say, he runs several war factories, and therefore has enough power even without claming the throne.
‘I see’ said the councilman calmly and then gaining sudden interest in his fingers as to avoid Albedo’s gaze.
‘But where are the two brothers?’ asked a noblewoman ‘should they not be here mourning their lost brother?’
‘Ymir is currently inspecting his factories’ Said Albedo ‘whilst Ciara is currently in the Far East, I have however been reassured that they have been informed of their brothers passing, and will be within the city in the next day or so to hold a memorial service for him’.
‘Then in their absence’ said Commander Rosum ‘let us do it for them’ and holding his glass high he called ‘a toast’ the other guests followed suit ‘To King Michael’ he said ‘he was our friend, our monarch and our saviour, he gave his life so we could keep ours. And so from this day hence he shall be forever remembered as the sacrifice king’.