Erelmach's Prime

It had all happened so suddenly, like something out of your worst nightmares. 3 had been listening to the reports the messengers had been bringing from various corners of the empire. Cities and settlements falling under attack by mysterious forces - never leaving more than a few survivors to tell the tale. Every time they went out to investigate the remains they found the same things: utter destruction, and no bodies. It wasn't until their fifth survivor of such an attack brought them a valuable piece of intel that they began to understand the severity of what was occurring. The bodies of those who fell in the attacks were distorted, and drained of almost all color - leaving a mere whisper of the features they had when they were alive. The rich mahogany and olive tones of the desert dwelling Sethis were reduced to ashen grey, and their various hair colors washed to near white - a pale imitation of their previously bright exuberant color. The most disconcerting part of this change though, was what happened after they had died.

1 had been sent out with a detachment of soldiers to investigate the most recent area that fell under such an assault - being disturbingly near to the capital. That was a month ago, and as a fighting force rivaling the size of the Imperial army now battered at the city gates, 3 began to fully understand the gravity of the situation. From the battlements he had looked out at a sea of grey misshapen bodies, former loyal citizens of Seth now a frothing mob fighting frantically to breach the city and continue their bloody rampage. It appeared - thankfully - that the mob did not possess any siege weaponry, and did not possess the power necessary to breach the city gates. "Go now and make sure Kassim is secured, I will be along momentarily." 3 commanded. He had grown comfortable issuing orders to the soldiers after almost a decade training with them, and the trust he had built with them was implicit. As he turned to head in the direction of the palace, a hoarse whisper somehow carried out over the battlefield.

"Go now 1, open the door for our friends."

3 snapped around and saw the impossible. His oldest brother had always been much larger than him, standing almost a foot taller and hundreds of pounds heavier due to his hulking metal frame. What he saw when he looked out as the grey mass parted had him momentarily frozen in horror. Lumbering down the pathway they had made for him, was none other than Erelmach's first son standing at about twice his normal height, his glowing blue eyes now a deep purple and his core seemingly replaced with a small swirling darkness punctuated with bright lights, like a miniature galaxy brimming with stars. As he reached the gate, he reeled his fist back and struck a blow that set the entire city wall shaking.

"Brother please, what are you doing?" 3 called to him. 1 did not respond. He simply pulled back his hand and sent it crashing back into the gate, this time the impact was following by a great cracking sound that echoed across the field.

"Brother stop, this isn't you!" he called again. No response.

*CRASH* a third blow accompanied by even more creaks and cracks from the gate. Preparing to call out a final time, 3 immediately realized something - he is almost through the gates. Abandoning his attempts to reason, he turned and sprinted down the stairs aiming to get away from the battlements to make sure he got to the prince.

"Forward my Harvested!" the hoarse voice called out as a sound like thunder exploded from behind 3. He didn't need to turn and look as fragments of wood flew past him, his brother had destroyed the gates - they had made it into the city. 3 unslung his shield from his back without slowing, continuing to run hard for the palace. It was not long before he could feel hands grabbing and reaching for him, but he could not slow down - he would NOT stop. He was able to shake most of their hands off before they could find any purchase - using his shield to bash and batter foes that tried to block his path, right up until they began to grab at his legs. He pitched forward and crashed into the ground as the press of bodies surged on top of him. Without thinking, his hand found the haft of his hammer, but before he could use it the crush of enemies had him pinned to the ground. 3 could count on one hand the number of times he had felt panic in his life, but as he was completely immobilized by the mob that was now scratching and scrabbling and pounding at his prone body - he felt something rising in him that he hadn't felt since the attempt on his prince's life years ago. As he imagined the carnage that would await him, if he even managed to survive this, he began to feel afraid.

As time around him seemed to slow, he became aware of a bright light that had begun to shine somewhere nearby. It was beautiful, warm and calming like the sun on an early spring morning. As he reached out for it, he felt his hand clasp the grip of his hammer. He felt energy surging through his body, and knew that he could use it.

"Apologies citizens, but I'm afraid I must insist you get out of my way." 3 said calmly, with a resonance giving weight to his voice. He pushed himself up onto his hands and knees as the weight above him seemed to lessen, and in one fluid motion he swung his hammer in an upward arc. Like insects caught in a hurricane, the light suffusing 3's hammer exploded on impact and sent at least ten of the invaders soaring away. Holding onto that power, being careful not to waste it, he carved a swathe through the mob that had surrounded him - each swing the deafening gong of a church bell as enemies flew away from him in either direction. As he cleared himself of the bulk of their forces, he looked back and saw the mob was regrouping. He didn't know how much longer he could hold on to this power that was pushing him forward, so he did the only thing he could think of. As he turned and swung his hammer at the base of a nearby spire where guards would normally sit on a watch shift. His hammer exploded through the stones, and the tower began to tip like a tree being taken down by a lumberjack. 3 looked only long enough to see that the tower was falling into the invaders' path in the hopes that it would slow them down, before turning to sprint back in the direction of the palace.

Finally crossing into the inner courtyards of the palace grounds, 3 was confident that he had made it in time. As he approached the doorway to the west wing of the palace, he heard a familiar voice - speaking in an unfamiliar tongue. In the split second he took to place who the voice belonged to, a small red orb flew past his shoulder. As it impacted the ground in front of him, it exploded in a fiery blast - 3 barely had the time to put his shield between himself and the blast. The last of the power that had suffused him back in the city square seemed to shield him from the worst of the damage, but the force of the explosion still threw him back as he landed hard on the ground. Drifting gently but quickly down through the air, a new nightmare stepped into view. With the same purple eyes and spinning galaxy core, 2 placed himself between 3 and the doorway. Streaks of some kind of purple energy seemed to crackle through his joints as he readied another spell.

"Brother please, what is happening?" 3 asked before 3 beams of scorching fire whisked out from 2's outstretched hand. He had trained with 2 numerous times in order to understand the different strategies for dealing with spellcasters, having seen this spell a number of times he threw himself sideways into a roll and by the time he had found his feet each of the beams had struck a spot on the ground behind him.

"Do not be afraid 3, soon you will join us too. After all, we're fam-" 2 was cutoff as a loud bang interrupted him. A bright golden projectile crashed into his chest and threw his body back with the impact, leaving a glowing spot where his chest had been dented. Looking back over his shoulder, 3 saw a bloodied and soot covered Erelmach, holding his pistol out stretched. "Father, what is happ-"3 began.

"I'm afraid there's no time my boy, follow me!" Erelmach called out.

"But father, I have to get to Kassim. He is my ward." he replied.

"Kassim is safe! You have my word, now you MUST come quickly!" he urged. 3 turned as he heard 2 begin incanting another spell and three more shots from Erelmach's pistol rang out and knocked him to the ground. Not wasting another second he turned and ran after his father, it took only seconds to realize they were running towards the workshop. As they got inside, 3 saw his father immediately reloading the chamber of his pistol and grabbing what appeared to be a few belts loaded up with various explosives. Finally he moved over to his latest work, none of his siblings knew of this project apart from 5 who was sworn to reveal nothing of it's construction. Whatever it was, it was tall and mostly cylindrical from what 3 could tell, but it was always covered by a heavy tarp. The mystery immediately abated when Erelmach grabbed a corner of the tarp and ripped it away, revealing some type of small chamber. It had all manner of runic symbols carved into it - as well as various tubes connecting to it at the base and the top. "Come now my boy, climb on up." he said as he threw a switch. With a loud hiss and the lid swung open, as some type of gas or steam issued forth from the inside. "Quickly now! There's not much time!"

"Father, I don't understand, what is it we are hoping to accomplish with this?" 3 asked, growing more worried by the minute.

"I will explain it as best I can, your brothers have fallen to some sort of corruption, it has taken their minds and their hearts. This foe we face is too great to be defeated now, and I cannot risk them taking you too! Now please son, I'm begging you to step into the chamber." Erelmach pleaded.

3 did as he was bid, climbing the small step and pulling himself up into the large metal tube. His father threw the switch immediately, wasting no time as the lid slid home and sealed shut. For the first time, 3 saw Erelmach visibly relax. There was a slouch to his shoulders that hadn't been their previously, and a slow deliberate pace to his breathing.

"Father, how long must I remain in here? I must get back to Kassim as soon as I can." 3 pleaded.

"I am so sorry my boy, I'm not sure how long you will remain in this chamber. I can promise you that it will be the blink of an eye for you though, fear not." Erelmach said as he placed a hand on the glass door.

"And when everything is over, you'll let me back out? You'll all still be here?" 3 said feeling the panic rising in him yet again.

"Of course my boy, I'll be right here when you wake up." his father said with a slow smile spreading across his face. 3 looked into his father's eyes and a nagging feeling began to grow in the back of his mind. As a tear formed at the corner of Erelmach's eye and slid down the side of his face, the nagging feeling became a grim certainty - he's lying.

"Father let me out, I can help - I must get to the prince. I can keep you all safe!" 3 cried out as he began pushing against the lid of the container. "I can fix this! I can protect you! Please let me out!" his voice raised to a shout for the first time in his life. He began to feel energy surging into his body again, and as he pushed against the lid a single crack began to spider through the glass. A look of panic flashed in Erelmach's face, followed by a deep sadness.

"I love you son." He said as he threw another lever that was attached to the screen. The machine hummed to life, and 3 began to push harder against the glass, as air was filtered out of the chamber and the inside began to glow with a soft blue light, he could no longer hear what was going on outside the chamber. The sounds and sights around him began to fade, as his father's words echoed in his head a final time, before the darkness came.

"What the hell is this thing?" a gruff voice asked, as 3's sight flickered back to him.

"I'm not sure, we should probably proceed with caution." a smaller, smoother voice replied. As he lifted his head he took in the sights around him. He was in some kind of shack, clearly overgrown by foliage. None of these were plant life native to Seth, considering Seth was a desert. As he leaned forward to step out of the chamber he fell forward, and his leg darted forward to catch him at the last second. The impact of his weight hitting the floor shattered the wooden floorboards of the house he was in.

"Holy shit, it's made of metal. Some kind of golem maybe?" the gruff voice spoke again. As 3 looked in the direction of the sound he saw what appeared to be a young half-elf and a large hairy bugbear.

"Hello, my name is 3. I am not a golem, I am a person." he said calmly, "and who, may I ask, are the two of you?"

The large one spoke first, "The names Buddy, Buddy Fleetfoot! And this here's Gamar Wa- Gamar Wis- ah hell what's your last name again?" he said hooking a thumb at the half-elf.

"Just Gamar is fine, nice to meet you 3. We've been asked to escort you out of the forest, would you mind awfully coming with us?" He asked politely.

Realizing that he had no way of knowing where he was, or how to find his family or Kassim, he made the only choice he could. "I think that would be a good idea, it's nice to meet you both."

The End