Hordedoom

Janine once heard a sermon by a priest of the Planet in a recently pacified village guilty of human sacrifices. In it, the holy man had claimed that revenge could never satiate a person and that an eye for an eye would leave the world blind. Confused, the wolf hag had petitioned first Marty, then Terrific, and finally the pack's shaman for an explanation. The shaman had to visit the local church, and after a lengthy discussion with the shocked clergy, she had returned and explained to the curious Wolfkins that the statement was meant to be interpreted in a more metaphorical sense.

In the literal sense, the revenge filled her belly adequately.

The warlord climbed back onto the remains of the bridge, dragging the Taleteller, panting heavily and unable to find the strength to join her unexpected allies. Fractures covered her skull; the wounds threatened to drop her here; she breathed thanks to the barely functioning emergency life-support systems of her armor.

Caikhatu and his troops didn't seem to need her presence. She whisper-cried of her victory, failing to lift the weapon in triumph, but the battle lines shifted further to the west. Heika claimed the heads of four champions, while the newly appointed khan was busy accepting the fealty of others and directing his forces to help repel incoming reinforcements. Deserters still wearing the ragged uniforms of the Reclamation Army flocked to his banner, and Janine ignored it. Let the Investigation Bureau sort them out.

They had bigger problems. The Sky's Wrath approached, encircled by the elites preventing the Ice Fangs from getting close. Janine could see First dispatching dozens with his burning sword and engaging in a prolonged duel with a crimson hordeman. Even despite their sacrifices and the luring and murder of Brood Lord, the ice boys hadn't been able to complete their task.

Or maybe they are unwilling? A poisonous voice whispered in the back of her mind. One shot and most of the Wolf Tribe would be gone. If that was the goal of the Ice Fangs, then she lacked the means to prevent it.

Half limping, she stumbled over to her ruined helmet and picked it up.

"Anissa? Impatient One? Martyshkina? Dragena? Command? Maxence? Anyone?" No response.

A violent tremor ripped through the surface, but that wasn't the doomsday's shot. Echoes of the Blessed Mother and Mad Hatter's bout reached here, and on the horizon to the north, a pillar of black and orange spewed up, bright enough to be visible through the smoke.

"Warlord Janine. Attend me."

It took her a second to focus and figure out who was speaking. Daniel, the farmer or maybe a gangster lord, sat with his back to a broken tank, eyeless. A gaping hole replaced half of his chest, and even his hand could've covered it fully. The man was pale, not even sweating, but he spoke calmly, turning his face to hers. She was about to ask how he was still alive when her brain clicked.

Silvery claws scraped the armrests of the throne; the face mask was retracted enough to reveal the piercing wheat-colored eyes fixed on the officer delivering the report. His hand picked up the spiked morning star, and with a single gesture, he unleashed Outsider, Devourer, and Ravager upon the fools refusing the unification. He walked into the base in their wake, guarded by the elite bodyguards, and a burst of blue from his gauntlet reduced a slaver to ashes.

"My liege!" Janine dropped to one knee, baring her throat. Why is he here? Why are his eyes of different colors, and why couldn't I recognize him? "I apologize for the insults. Punish me in any way you want! I'll get you to the medics; please hold on, sire…"

"Stay calm, Janine," Dynast said, maintaining an assured and commanding tone. "There is no crime here, and others need medical attention far more than I. Don't distract them.

"You have been an unwilling participant in an experiment designed to learn how long it takes a New Breed mind to adapt to recognizing and resisting non-intrusive mental manipulation. The results are to my satisfaction." He coughed and pulled a strange device from his throat, crumpling it in his fist.

"No future Mincemeat or a wyrm will be able to overtake the Reclamation Army in secret," he continued. "Once safe, we shall implement the adaptation like a vaccine to every New Breed in a key role… It isn't relevant. Ignore my injuries; this body is a dud."

"A dud?" Janine asked, dumbfounded, sniffing at him. The Dynast! The same scars on his neck, a sign of eternal friendship left by the Blessed Mother. And scent marks! These atypical medals and assurances of loyalty adorned the man, adding to the confusion of how she could not recognize him. "But… how could it be? Are there several dynasts? Or are you a hive mind like Hive of the Oathtakers?"

"Nothing of the sort," he laughed, patting her on the shoulder. "There is only one Dynast, and that is me. I'll explain everything upon my arrival. You have become privy to confidential truth. The Dynast ever stands by his troops and servants, but they are not permitted to know of his weaknesses. As far as the public is concerned, I was never here. See that it continues to be so. That is an order."

"Should I also…" She moved a paw over her neck and slapped herself for stupidity. "Should I remove myself as a compromising element?"

"Warlord, are you kidding?" the Dynast asked. "I just told you that we will speak later. No, don't do that."

"Yes, sir!" Reinvigorated, Janine sprang to her feet and raised one foot. It was hardly a dignified method, but what the big guy wanted, the big guy got.

So she stomped on her liege, hearing his body snap. The warlord nearly passed out from shame, disgust, and exhaustion, but she continued her gruesome task until there was nothing left but mush splashing in the remains of the exoskeleton. Janine sat, too exhausted to do anything, and watched the cannon preparing to fire, wondering if there would even be a future for her to learn about the Dynast's secret.

****

Dalantai's heart pounded. He clutched at his chest to quell the panic. There was no death in his future; he overcame it! The priest glanced around, standing tall above the street in search of a target to vent his frustration. He needed a calm mind to advise the ascended Mad Hatter after her inevitable victory. There was much danger for them to solve, that strange flaming man and…

Blinding light covered him, and he turned to the north to see the broad, round appendages of pure white moving through the air, holding up a figure in the dark cloak, holding a small child to its chest. The constructs of light spread out from the dark figure, forming a base that resembled legs and wings. The newcomer appeared as a head atop this structure, intensifying the priest's dread tenfold and causing him to break into a cold sweat.

The bird from his visions. It had found him.

"Impossible! I overcame… I surpassed you!" He screamed, extending the distance between himself and that horror, trying to trap it in the inescapable time loop. Had he misread the signs? "No, no, I refuse! I deny you! Get away from me!"

His eyes narrowed as the figure stopped. Fine, if he had to prove himself to fate again, he'd do it, but this will be the last time. Then his constructed cage evaporated, sending a shockwave above the city, and the light engulfed him, dissolving his arms and legs and jumping onto his body. Distance and ages no longer mattered. Nothing could stand up to this unknown source that was hungrily devouring him.

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Dalantai addressed the time-stream, drawing his past selves into the present, and realized with horror that there was no longer any future for him. Others existed in it, but not him. And his past burned, disappearing into nothingness as the white consumed every last shred of his being.

As the otherworldly energy coursed through him, it reached the farthest corners of the land, bursting the bubbles holding prisoners Dalantai had made an example of and destroying the eternal gifts his power had fashioned. He shrieked and uttered a plea for mercy when another wash of oblivion disintegrated him completely.

****

It was too late. The Sky's Wrath's main cannon fired, sending a wide ripple of the shockwave through the air, tossing up entire squads, flattening the New Breeds and Normies, and sending the battle vehicles flying. But that was the least of its terrible potential, as the projectile, carrying more than enough potency to doom Houstad and the Third, streaked across the sky, preparing to reduce the efforts to terraform the region to nothing.

Janine decided that she had a decent life. Not the best one. She would want nothing more than to have family and friends by her side. She calmly traced the projectile, trying to focus on it and keep it in her vision, wondering if she would see her loved ones on the other side or if the Spirits would see fit to punish her first. Probably the latter. She had sinned aplenty, and while she hoped she did become a better person, the punishment still waited.

Suddenly, the Blessed Mother, looking more like a chewed and sliced doll, jumped into view, holding the severed upper part of Mad Hatter in her paw. Covered in wounds, her organs exposed, Ravager tried to stop the projectile and detonate it here, sparing the complex. As promised, she arrived in their hour of need.

Her sacrifice did not come as the light closed around the flying death, locking it in place. Janine gulped as she watched it explode, but not even a glimmer of destruction left the orb, and Ravager landed below, holding the still-alive khatun by a single arm. Covered in a corona of white, Outsider appeared above the battlements, hand outstretched.

The explosion happened. A bright dot was born within the white aura, pushing its prison in an attempt to break free. The compressed destruction that wiped out an entire town was stuck in a single point, trapped by the commander, and he refused to let it go, closing in the vise and absorbing the impact completely. Nothing, not a sound, not a gust of wind, escaped, and the orange ball soon changed to a tear of pale white that disappeared afterwards.

Outsider arrogantly flapped his cloak, conjuring a spear overhead, but the Ice Fangs already broke inside the Sky's Wrath as its force field and the defensive batteries briefly went silent. Without halting, they cut themselves a path through the behemoth's bowels and emerged on the other side to Ravager's celebratory howl. Fire erupted from inside the superweapon, melting its mountain-sized hull and detonating the ammunition in its many turrets. Janine thought she heard a girl's cheer coming from Outsider.

Why is he squealing like a little girl? She wondered, losing consciousness to the waiting embrace of a healing coma.

****

"You did it!" Halina yelled, trying to stand up. "You saved the city!"

"We did," Outsider corrected her, banishing the spear. He pointed at the soldiers below. "My power is vast, but what is its true value?" A 'knock' accompanied his every sentence, giving him a funny-sounding speech.

"Well…" Halina thought about the question and blurted out. "This means you don't need anyone!"

"Those who have been hurt or are short-sighted often grow enamored with such an idea." Outsider nodded. "To never have a need to rely on anything, to be able to do whatever you want… What nihilistic nonsense. A smart or strong man doesn't stand alone; he lifts others up. It is impossible to be everywhere when you are alone. And today it was their bravery and sacrifices that held the onslaught long enough for me to arrive."

"Soldiers are important." Halina nodded.

"It is more than that, child," Outsider said. "Without civilians, who will forge weapons and armor for the troops? Without doctors, who will heal the sick? Your own contribution ended up helping save the day. That is no small thing."

"But people got hurt because of me." Halina sourly clenched her fist. "If I had just listened to what I was told and obeyed Jay and T, they would've never been in danger, and Mark and her friends would not be hurt."

"No person can constantly be in their top shape. We all make mistakes. If I had not spotted you, I would have headed straight to Ravager and might not have returned in time to stop the explosion. My and her speeds are different. Should we attribute today's outcome solely to you?"

"No," Halina said stubbornly. "What I did was wrong. And selfish. I don't deserve any praise for that."

"What about those who were supposed to watch over you? Are they guilty, too?"

"No! There was chaos and too many heads to watch for…"

"Now you are getting it. Many factors played a role in your decision, but it wasn't an inherently evil or selfish thing, I think. Stop the self-blame and listen. Even something as trivial as a delivery done on time can brighten the mood of a weary nurse and prevent her hand from slipping during surgery. Farmers grow crops so that everyone can eat. No profession or role is unimportant. Just imagine what Houstad would be like without janitors to keep it clean. Every person and job matters. No deed is too small. Alone, we can't create a world worth living in." He took her steadier, placing a hand over her eyes to hide the corpses. "Enough pontificating. Let's let Ravager sort things out and go find your friends so we can talk."

"Will you show us your face?" Halina asked and added, peering curiously under his cowl. "Sir. It's just… there are rumors about…"

"No," Outsider sighed. "Don't even dream of it."

"Why? Are you ugly?"

"Do you consider Insectones ugly?"

"Dunno," Halina said honestly. "I've never seen one up close, and those on TV… They are more peculiar than ugly."

"Well, then I am also a peculiar individual."

****

Ravager dropped Mad Hatter on the glazed ground, pinning the woman with a foot. Even after losing an arm, the lower torso, and legs, she could still murder people with propelled air if she wanted to. Bleeding profusely, the khatun made no effort to protect herself as the claw stopped above her heart.

"Last chance," Ravager said.

"Not interested," Mad Hatter answered and closed her eyes, smiling. "He's no longer whispering in my ears. I can sleep again."

"Enjoy it to the full," Ravager said, stepping off her. Mad Hatter could have survived. She could potentially even escape, but she doubted that the prideful fool would do that. She let the woman snore her way into eternal slumber and walked upon the battlefield on all fours.

Bodies littered the place, flattened, burned, fallen into the crevices, trampled by their comrades, shot, perforated… too many outcomes to name. Metal fused with flesh; occasional moans pierced the silence as hundreds of buried soldiers from both sides tried to claw their way to freedom. A single twitch of her head sent the Third's reconnaissance teams, aided by the scouts, to the task of locating and rescuing the entombed people. If the hordemen would not resist, they'd survive.

Tens of thousands, not even the full host of the Gilded Horde, stood in even lines, awaiting the decision. Their leaders, a portly man and woman marked by both Ashbringer's and Janine's scent, set fire to the banner of the teeth devouring the world and raised the Reclamation Army's symbol. Heads bowed in a gesture of silent obedience.

Her body convulsed, her legs stretching to the gasps of the avian shamans. The sliced skin flapped over the torso, gluing itself in a process of regeneration. Bones hardened, and she let out a snort as fresh ribs encircled her ribs, fusing into a solid surface. The process of evolution swayed Ravager left and right, muscles bulging and fangs rattling. A need for violence colored everything red, calling her to murder the invaders to the last, and she bit her own arm to resist.

"Well?" she asked. Veins pulsed tantalizingly on the exposed body parts. Their smell of fear was intoxicating and divine in its purity. The sweetness of their flesh made Ravager shiver. She wanted to forget her pain and sorrow in a wondrous banquet of carnage. "What will it be?"

"We submit," their leader answered and lowered on his knees. "The Reclamation Army has won. The Gilded Horde is broken."

Goddammit. Ravager closed in and bit the man lightly. The throbbing agony in her brain returned, threatening to topple her over and robbing her of clarity of thought.

"Surrender accepted," she told him, barely restraining the claws from shredding the man into tatters. "Order your troops to join the rescue efforts. Those unable to stand are to be brought to the medics, ours or yours. Stay clear from the cracks and assist in putting out the fires. There will be no mercy killings today… expect her," she added hastily, pointing at the dying Mad Hatter.

"Should we hand over our weapons and armor?" the hordeman asked.

"No, why?" Ravager shrugged. "Try betraying us and I'll slaughter you all. Is that incentive enough for you to behave?" The nervous head nodded. She smiled and clapped her paws together. "Good, then we have an accord. On it, people, we have lives to rescue!"