The Girl Who Loved Fairies, Part 3

It was never quite established how the ruinous force that was known to most as the Gash Ken'Nigh Legions began. The most popular story was that two kingdoms had heirs of an unfortunate mental bent come to power and originally were going to make war on each other. Somehow, the two had discovered that the other was delightfully mad as the other, and had decided to merge forces and go after the world instead. There were other stories, but considering they consisted of such tales as 'a demon bled into a river and every drop became a Gash Kne'Nigh soldier' and 'a witch stole all the hairs from every bear in a forest and due to the curse of the bears, the bare bears (heh), they all became soldiers and decided to go cause trouble', most gave credit to the two kingdoms theory.

In truth, the Gash Ken'Nigh has begun through the efforts of three brothers, Naaran, Batar, and Setseg, uniting their horse-based warrior tribes and overthrowing the kingdom of Colao, later known as Sylphlaw (perhaps the grounds were cursed). The king of Colao had dabbled in the arcane, but the three brothers, in looking the kingdom, discovered they were far better hands at it, using the spells to twist men's wills to theirs and turn their already fearsome army into a semi-assimilating mass. Despite this boon, it would not keep Naaran and Setseg from falling prey to assassination attempts, leaving just Batar, and shortly thereafter, his son Gerel, as the sole leaders of their legions. From his loss, Batar learned the importance of appearing unimportant, and he and his son changed their commanding strategies to blend in among their troops, issuing them orders on the sly. If they hadn't had dark magic at their side, such a tactic may not have worked...but they did. And it did.

The end result was by the time the Gash Kne'Nigh came to the empire of Ilachi, no one knew who directed him, and that only added to the terror they brought, an overwhelming crushing mass of men and weapons and death that turned loyal soldiers into slaves and who had been said to best sieges by pulling down castles brick by brick with the bare hands of their men. By that time, Batar had died of illness, and only Gerel led, one face among many, his lone goal conquest and destruction until he no longer had the taste for it. What was truth and what was myth was sometimes hard to tell, but it was clear that whatever stood against the legions, the empire of Ilachi would not be what broke them. It had armies too...half the size of the Gash Kne'Nigh.

If King Eliseo had any regrets, it was that he'd had to execute a few of his closest advisers over what he had chosen to do. He hadn't wanted to, but he could brook no opposition to what he had chosen to do, and they had made it clear they wouldn't come around to his viewpoint. Such a choice he had made required a united front, and there could be no dissent. None. Not with what was bearing down on them. Not what was firing rocks and giant flaming spears at his kingdom, as he, a few guards, and who he had come to to save his people stood on top of the highest tower in his kingdom.

"Tell me again what you want." The woman said.

Eliseo had expected many things when he had finally found this woman. Her stories were even more distorted, and twisted, than the stories of the Gash Kne'Nigh, and he had expected a certain presentation, a certain visage. For the most part, she had not 'disappointed'. Her skin, her eyes, her way of dress, all of it spoke of what she was...

Save the wings. The wings had been what had thrown him (not that he had shown it). Well, that, and she had accepted his offer. Haruspex were supposed to be butchers in the shadows; this one was...more open, to say the least. Eliseo had wanted to bring her in as a assassin, but she had insisted on seeing the whole battlefield, as thousand upon thousands of men fought and died.

"...Stop them!" Eliseo said.

"What price will you pay?"

"...anything you want. Just...stop them!" Eliseo said. The advisers he had executed had told him that trusting a woman, a creature like this, was a fool's errand. They just did not grasp what Eliseo had been forced to. There was no way his people could oppose the Gash Kne'Nigh. They would cut down his troops (if they didn't convert them), and then sack his empire, kill every last man woman and child, and leave nothing behind but ruin and violation. The advisers had wanted to stand; there WAS no standing. There was only horrible death, and worse...and then there were deals like this.

Eliseo hoped history would understand. It would not, as his name would not be marked upon its pages.

"...why do you want me to stop them?"

"...to protect my family. And my people." Eliseo said. It was the truth, as far as he was concerned.

"...So be it then."

The woman raised her hand...and his city SCREAMED.

Eliseo had neither the training nor the mindset to grasp what Canaught had done, what she had pulled from who-knew how many people below as she broke it down for fuel. The sheer horror of it, despite this lack of understanding, washed over him and drove him to his knees, even as a thousand dark glimmers began swirling around the tall tower...

Canaught turned. She made a fist, and the darkness spawned above the clashing armies, clouds as black as pitch...clouds that surged out, forming taloned hands that also formed a fist...

Gerel never knew what hit him. He was one of the many, many first dead as the mountain-sized fist smashed down into the ranks of the clashing arms, smashing and tearing and rending them apart like they were insects caught in a hurricane, a tide of force and bodies and much worse erupting outwards from the impact, men dying in droves at a speed beyond comprehension. Gerel had his own magicians, but none of them even had a chance to raise a counter-spell before Canaught's doom came down upon them.

Them and Eliseo's own men. She had smashed her mighty hand directly into the middle of the battlefield, and he screamed at this realization, even as the darkness swirled around the tower...

He'd been wrong. There was no good choice here. Only a choice of horrors...but one Eliseo had been ready for. You do not put your fate in someone else's hands and not prepare other hands to snatch it away. As strong as this freakish, monstrous Haruspex was, her spells all came from a certain bent. Eliseo had his own resources, and he'd had his two guards prepared by them. Covered with protective runes, they would stave off her power long enough for them to cut her down, for behind all that terrible strength was just a normal woman...

...But he was wrong there too. Canaught turned around, and for the first time, there was something in her eyes. Even as they glowed crimson.

Image/Avatars courtesy of Vertigo Comics.

The soldiers turned to ash even before they finished falling. Eliseo could only watch in helpless, mortal fear as his ace in the hole crapped out.

Then all he could watch was the Haruspex.

Ditto.

The darkness she commanded lifted him up. Brought him close.

"They felt nothing, those I just slew. But those you just turned on me? They felt that. And so will every other soul I cut down today. As per your command. Your family. Your people. The latter is far more numerous, and hence they can afford to die. As per your command."

"...But..."

"It's true I could not touch them with what I learned. But I am more than that. More than a Word. That, they had no defense against."

"...Monster."

"I did as you said. It is your folly that you had to turn to me to do it." Canaught said. "Had you given me more specific commands, I would have obeyed. But you did not. Now you will reap the consequences."

King Eliseo was released, all strength leaving him.

"I am coming to a conclusion..." Canught said. "When the world was made, my material was set aside first. And the world was made with what was left."

"...hateful...SHADE."

"Call me what you will. I am what I am. You will never forget this day."

Canught turned and flew off the tower, the consuming darkness engulfing her, turning her into another gigantic clawing hand. When it was all said and done, there were few survivors on either side, as the cloud of darkness and death she had become swept across the battlefield until there was no more war.

The darkness never left Colao. In time, it crumbled to dust.

Canught walked on when it was done. To her...a brief respite had been achieved.

She suspected there would not be much left in this world to wring the ennui that had gripped her ever since she had been pulled from the river.

On that day, maybe...she'd have something worthwhile to do.