Give me your wounded, your poor,

Your huddled slaves yearning to find rest,

The plagued refuse of your teeming shores,

And I will give Saadian victory.

- High god Verethragna

The ragged, mismatched gaggle of men and women stood in rough formations of approximately a thousand each, before the massed Saadian lines. No two were dressed or armed alike, some clutched at rusty scimitars, while others clung loosely onto crude metal clubs. Some were slaves at the end of their usefulness, while others were condemned criminals or disgraced courtiers. Many suffered from incurable diseases and sported missing limbs or heavily disfigured features. Countless had perished during the long relentless march to the front, and even the strongest among them tottered on their last legs.

But these people all possessed something in common, they were all volunteers who had journeyed from the furthest reaches of the Saadian Empire to the battlefield. Some, to win the freedom of their loved ones, while others to clear their name or to redeem their clan’s honor. And their eyes were filled with pride and determination as they each clutched at a plain drinking horn while struggling to remain upright on the barren windswept plains.

Twenty veteran commanders, each with hair as white as snow and well past their prime, stood courageously before the Legions and raised the horns in their hands.

“This is where we burn them!” the commanders chanted.

“We come from dust; we return to dust,” the people replied.

“This is where we fight!” the commanders roared.

“Our lives for theirs, our souls for theirs,” the people answered.

“Onward, to victory! Eternal glory to Saadian!” The commanders ordered as they drank deeply from the horns in their hands.

“Death be our power, flames be our shield,” the people responded as they lifted the horns to their lips.

A pallid silence fell upon the gathered people as twenty thousand and twenty hearts were stilled, twenty thousand and twenty souls were extinguished, and twenty thousand minds were emptied. Then a dark black smoke billowed from their bodies as their very flesh burst into flames. And the twenty Burning Legions raced forward swiftly through the plains, in perfect synchrony, to ford the Waters of Merom.

…

“Xerxes,” the alternatingly snarling and smiling wolf shrieked as she brandished a talisman at the approaching emperor. “I will avenge my sister!” she howled as her body glowed with power. The skies darkened swiftly with billowing storm clouds and a bolt of lightning scorched towards her foe.

“You’ll have to do much better than that, little girl.” The Lion of Saadian snorted dismissively as he strode straight through the crackling arc of power. The bloody runes etched on his skin glowed brightly and his skin steamed from the heat, but he remained otherwise unscathed by the witch’s ambush. His eyes narrowed as he assessed her coolly, “I don’t like slaughtering children and it must be excruciatingly painful for you, just being so close to me. Return in ten years, and I will grant you a merciful death.”

“If only you showed the same compassion to my sister,” Laura spat as she drew out yet another charm. Then she began chanting as a ball of concentrated flame gathered between her hands.

“Too slow,” Xerxes mocked as he dashed forward to snuff the blaze within his fist, “this isn’t a street performance, little girl…”

The wolf smirked silently behind her mask as the lion pounced, and her power surged tenfold, a split second before his hand could curl around her flames. The fire elongated into a rope that twisted swiftly around his body, and scorched hungrily against his naked flesh. As the lion roared in annoyance at her deception and struggled to break free, the wolf conjured a dozen frozen icicles and flung them at his immobilized body. Then the ground split open beneath his feet and he was plunged deep into the dirt. And the witch rained down a concentrated spear of light before sealing the opening with a charm. “How’s that? You Krall forsaken…”

Before she could complete her sentence, a hand shot up from beneath the soil and locked around her ankle. And the earth beneath her exploded as Xerxes burst out and lifted her upside down in the air, “Enough! I have a battle to fight, you should return to your parents. It would be a waste to slay you here.” He reprimanded as he spanked at her behind with the blunt back of his blade.

“Your minions slaughtered all my relatives in cold blood!” the wolf howled as she twiddled her fingers furiously behind her back.

Xerxes shook his head sadly, “I’m sorry.” He apologized, “My Empire is vast, and even I don’t have full control over what my people do. Please don’t take it personally, don’t throw your life away for revenge. You must have already recognized the vast unbreachable gulf between our Talents.”

“You lie,” Laura accused, “this land will be your grave!” Suddenly, the wolf vanished from his grasp and reappeared five hundred meters behind him. She brandished a bloody red talisman and thrust her hands into the ground before her. And the earth trembled as her already boosted power rose threefold and a field of blood red icicles sprouted from the ground around the emperor and raced towards his undefended body.

Xerxes’ eyes widened in shock as the spell hurtled towards him, then he unleashed his Talent with a roar and shattered the ice with his magic. “It appears that I have to take you somewhat seriously after all,” he murmured regretfully as the ground was soaked with a hissing red rain.

The wolf snarled, “This is just the beginning!” she taunted as she withdrew another talisman. A ball of sticky darkness congealed slowly in her outstretched palm as she began chanting out another incantation.

“Too slow again,” Xerxes jeered as he closed the distance in a heartbeat and slashed down with his gleaming blade.

“You are really stupid, aren’t you?” Laura smirked as she tossed the spell in Xerxes’ face as he neared. The magic splatted and dissolved into a horde of scrabbling inky spiders that scuttled into his orifices and blinded his senses. Then she darted forward soundlessly and stuck a talisman on his chest, even as he staggered back in confusion. And she dived desperately away from him and pressed her body tightly to the ground, while conjuring a glowing shield. A thundering explosion split the heavens and dug a massive crater at the epicenter of destruction, the raw violence ravaged the ground like a mighty earthquake and knocked the gathered armies off their feet, and the immense psychic concussion that followed brought all but the most Talented to their knees. Laura rose slowly to admire her handiwork, “Did I get him…”

Xerxes buried his fist deep into the princess’ stomach before she could continue, and her slim body was flung wildly into the air. She hit the ground and bounced repeatedly before coming to a stop in a tangled heap. “Surrender, this is your last warning!” the Lion of Saadian demanded.

The wolf rose up defiantly and mustered all her power. Then she brandished another bloody red talisman and chanted, and a sickly green mist began materializing around her. The lion began charging forward instinctively, but he paused and frowned warily as he quickly reconsidered his options. He sighed before pointing his glowing staff at his opponent, “High gods of Saadian! Answer my…!” He commanded as he poured his power into his glowing scepter.

“Pigheaded fool, you immobilized yourself!” Laura snickered as she gestured at the magic strewn chaotically across the ground. Suddenly, all the blood that had been sprayed out, seemingly at random over the battlefield, coagulated into a single gigantic talisman beneath their feet. And Xerxes stuttered mid-chant as his eyes widened in abject horror and his partially unleashed magic spun wildly out of control. The wolf laughed as she gesticulated rapidly in response and the emperor’s leaking mana was sucked out swiftly to fuel the growing catastrophe accumulating around him.

“First Symphony, opening sonata. Flames of Sacrifice!” Laura sang. At that one instant, all the magic, all the aura, and all the Talent on the battlefield was concentrated into a tiny incandescent pinprick before the Lion of Saadian. Then the unimaginable power howled and consumed him utterly, “Even Dagon’s statue couldn’t have survived that,” Laura muttered, “that was enough power to raze an entire…”

Xerxes coughed and choked as he stumbled from the smoking epicenter of desolation, his charred blackened outer skin flaked from his body like the coat of a molting reptile, revealing spots of smooth regenerated dermis beneath. “I’ve changed my mind,” he snarled furiously, “I’ll rend you limb from limb before sunset!”

Laura’s eyes widened with surprise, “That was an original stanza from the Witch’s Symphonies. How did he shrug off a divine scale attack?” The princess retreated quickly as she attempted to gain some space to reassess the situation. But the lion roared and surged forward with inhuman speed, and slashed down with his glowing blade.

“Second movement, adagio. Witch’s Time!” Laura panted desperately. In that single moment, all his consciousness, all his strength, and all his Talent was suppressed to nothingness. And the wolf snatched Xerxes’ blade from his flaccid hand and ran him through the heart with his own weapon.

But the lion shrugged off the magic and ripped his sword from his chest before stabbing with blinding speed at the increasingly harried wolf. Laura twisted desperately as she expended a multitude of talismans, just to remain a single breath ahead in the deadly dance of death. And she fled hurriedly back to the gore specked wasteland and brandished another blood red talisman.

“Scherzando with trio. Neutron Sun Tango!” Laura cried out hoarsely. An incredible gravity hammered into the mighty emperor and crushed him to the ground like an insect. His bones were shattered, his ligaments were shredded, and his plasma solidified. And the witch conjured a great bloody blade and swung it towards her crippled enemy, intending to cleave him in two.

The lion rolled agilely to the side and avoided her deadly blow. Then he snatched at her weapon with his bare hands and hauled her towards him with a single mighty heave. The unprepared princess was thrown forward, and Xerxes’ staff connected against her undefended hip before she managed to dispel her weapon and hop away. The two opponents glared savagely at each other, the witch held a healing charm against her shattered pelvis, as the swiftly recovering emperor rose to his feet.

The wolf slashed open her wrist and scattered her blood into the soil around her before the lion could raise his staff again, “Allegro finale. Limitless Infinity!” Laura croaked as she poured the fizzling remains of her Talent into the concluding movement. Two dozen hazy blood doubles rose from the ground and struck repeatedly at her foe with a blinding combination of magic and blades that shook the earth.

But Xerxes shrugged off the onslaught of the clones. His staff twirled while his mithril blade blurred continuously like a striking cobra, and the copies were crushed one by one. He leered as he turned to face the pale weakened princess, “Is that all you have? Because it won’t be enough to stop me.”

“Impossible,” the princess wheezed, “my execution wasn’t perfect, but I sang through an entire Witch’s Symphony! That ancient class magic is supposed to be effective, even against the immortal divine!”

The lion flickered forward faster than the eye could follow, his hand chocked around her neck as he pinned her effortlessly to the ground, and he staked his staff through her gut and ground her remains deep into the blackened dirt beneath her. “You might have fared better if you had the Talent to utilize all four enchantments simultaneously. But you have already run out of magic, and I’m just getting started,” he mocked. The staff hummed menacingly as Xerxes chanted, “High gods of Saadian! Answer my…!”

“A witch never runs out of power!” Laura howled defiantly as she reached out and tore herself through the length of the scepter and pressed her slim body tightly against the startled emperor, “I am magic!” She spat out the pooling blood in her mouth and blinded him as she thrust her shaky palms against his chest, “Second Symphony, opening grave. Blood Funeral!” she commanded as Talent overflowed from her wounds.

All of Xerxes’ blood was vaporized, and all the blood the wolf had shed surged into the vacuum in his veins before bursting out like a countless forest of porcupine quills from every pore and orifice in his body. The emperor staggered backwards and fell. But the tattoos on his body glowed yet again, and the bloody quills hissed as they were forcibly ejected from his flesh. And the Lion of Saadian’s opened his bottomless green eyes and rose gracefully to his feet.

“You aren’t human!” Laura groaned in dismay as she crawled away in feeble retreat, “Even a high god wouldn’t have emerged unscathed from all that punishment!”

“I am Xerxes. The Immortal Emperor of Saadian. I have transcended humanity and I cannot be defeated.” He replied stoically as he flexed and shrugged off the remnants of her spell before tearing his staff from her broken body. “Die,” he commanded as he impaled his mithril blade through the princess’ beating heart.

“Second movement, andante. Soul Coffin!” Laura’s blood surged out from her ruptured organ and tore Xerxes’ soul from his flesh before entombing it within a red crystal prison. Then she fell weakly to her knees as she tagged her gaping chest hurriedly with a talisman to stem the damage to her mangled body.

“You aren’t human either,” Xerxes guffawed. “This will be very entertaining, I’ve never had the chance to really go all out!” The princess threw herself swiftly to the side as he struck with increasing velocity, but his blade scored a glancing blow and dug a deep gash across her arm.

“Allegretto with trio. Mind Madness!” Laura’s spraying blood seeped into his brain and ripped out his will. But his runes flared furiously in response and the emperor smiled and strode forward unharmed.

“A little insanity never hurt me,” Xerxes chuckled as he grabbed her by the hem of her blouse before she could twist away and slugged her powerfully in the face.

“Presto finale. Trinity Oblivion!” The blood-soaked girl howled as she bit Xerxes viciously on the shoulder and poured her Talent into his being. “Ignite!” she screamed. Her magic dismantled his body at an atomic level, her blood tore apart his soul and flung the shattered pieces across the continent, and her power vaporized his consciousness and hurled it high into the heavens. But Xerxes’ lone surviving fist clenched tighter against the trembling princess’ blood soaked, threadbare clothing, as he immediately began regenerating from the damage.

“You can even recover from divine trinity eradication!?” Laura complained as she struggled away and her ruined dress was ripped from her shoulders. Then she staggered backward in retreat while fighting to remain on her feet.

“Laura!” Aryan yelled in anger as he whipped his frothing steed and galloped towards the disheveled half-naked princess stumbling through the ashen wasteland, “You stupid witch! You deceived me again!” His furious shout boomed across the plain.

Laura wiped hastily at the blood staining her face and straightened her broken nose with magic, “You shoved me away and enjoyed yourself with Mirror all night long. I was kinda super jealous, so I decided to get a little better acquainted with the Saadian emperor?” She evaded hopefully as she folded her arms across her naked chest with false bashfulness, in a vain attempt to obscure the partially restored hole over her heart. “You should not have come…” she sighed.

“I’ll deal with you, after we have defeated that Saadian dog.” The prince brandished his lance and glanced around the blackened bloody plains, “Where is he?” he snapped.

“There…” the princess trembled as she pointed at a jerking smoking mass of bone and muscle, fifty meters away.

“You defeated him!” Aryan gasped in disbelief, “all by yourself?”

“No…” Laura replied feebly as the skeletal figure lurched to its feet, “he’s already recovering.” She raised her hands weakly and grabbed at the sole of his boot, “Please don’t go!” She begged, “He’ll kill you. You don’t stand a chance! Only I can…”

“Restrain her, and imprison her in the camp stockade.” Aryan growled to the nearest pair of knights that had finally caught up, then he hefted his lance and goaded his stallion into a reckless charge, “For Dagon and for Vaishya!” he roared.