March of the Thousands

I

"SINGLE FORMATION!" shouted a company commander, the whistle was blown.

The spearhead soldiers pointed their spears forward and started walking in tight formation. The company commanders blew their whistles again in a rhythm, ordering the soldiers they led to stop marching.

Thousands of soldiers who were half and completely drunk came out of the barracks. They could not stand up straight, some fell from their stance. Those people ran while shouting loudly at the wall of spear from the spearhead army. The sorcerer's army had no proper leadership, leaving the sorcerers army to fight in an undisciplined manner. A great battle took place in the Keln mines. Hundreds of spearhead warriors against thousands of violent drunks.

The spearhead army led by Tabot commanded from the top of the hill which gave a full picture of what was going on down there. Beside the scientist there was a soldier holding a trumpet which became a signal giver for those down in the heat of battle. Each of the Tabot's orders would be echoed through the trumpet, allowing soldiers far below to hear his orders.

Bodies meet spearheads, like waves crashing against a giant rock on the beach. The battle continued fiercely, and bodies of corpses began to pile up. The spearhead soldiers pushed the sorcerer soldiers back towards the mining descent. With bodies filling the battlefield, the spearhead soldier had to be forced to step on the body of the sorcerer's soldier lying on the ground.

The spearhead army boots stepped on the bodies of the sorcerer soldiers. Bones cracked, the dying soldiers were not strong enough to scream and could only groan in pain. Bodies fell into the mine that was hundreds of meters deep. The spearhead army clashed their spears against the sorcerer's mercenaries.

From the top of the hill, Tabot stood tall. Watching his soldiers wipe out hundreds of lives in a short period of time.

As the men fought, Nazeir circled the battlefield and sneaked into the mining area himself. He descended the quarry and met several soldiers who tried to block him, but they met the same death as the previous man Nazeir fought.

He cleaned the bloody sword on the body of the corpse he had just killed. When the inquisitor saw that his sword was completely clean, he continued walking down the mining slopes looking for the people he had been looking for.

"Which tunnel, Aida?" he spoke to himself,

The inquisitor went through several tunnels. He searched for a specific tunnel where the wizard was sitting. One by one he checked, looking for a feeling for the sorcerer's magic. The inquisitor started walking towards the mining area which was in the middle of the bottom and the top. He could feel the hair on his neck starting to rise, he was starting to get close to where the people were. Every tunnel he passed he just needed to see it because he knew where the prey resided.

Nazeir stopped at a tunnel that was wide and deep, unlike the others. Torch fire shone the stone wall of the quarry supported by wood to keep it from collapsing. Nazeir looked into the dark place, and he didn't hear any breath coming from inside. However, he could taste magic from within.

He stepped into the tunnel, walking on the fire-lit path. He still followed his feelings, looking for where the sorcerers were. The inquisitor stopped and looked at the sand, he squatted down and found a ragged trail of shoes leading to the deeper part of the tunnel.

Nazeir drew on the ground, then suddenly he stared into the darkness of the tunnel quickly, as if something was moving. The inquisitor erased the image with his hand, and walked back into the interior.

As he started to walk deeper, Nazeir could find two excavated rooms on either side of him. And from all those places, he could feel magic coming from within.

"You came to the wrong place, soldier."

A sorcerer came out of the room to his right.

"Brindorum shouldn't interfere with what's going on in the north."

Five sorcerers came out of each room, bringing the total to ten. They dress like wealthy people, worthy of being a king and queen. Nazeir could feel magic emanating from everyone's bodies, without a doubt they were all sorcerers. However, he could sense something more mystical. Not from them, but from what is behind it.

"Brother Hefastus. I hope you can wipe out one less creature from the earth," the man is clearly mocking the Inquisitor.

"Anytime, brother Harkon."

The sorcerer with the thick beard faced the wall of the dead end. All the sorcerers followed him, except for one person who was standing on the spot facing the inquisitor. A spell was uttered from the man's mouth, and the dead end opened a large and bright portal. Mixing black and cool blue, forming like a cat eyeball.

Nazeir couldn't see what was behind the portal when all the sorcerers walked into the dark portal.

The sorcerer who stood before Nazeir, emitted a light and an electric spark. When the electric lightning struck the ground, a small explosion occurred and caused the rock to crack and some to shatter.

"I hope you carry something deadlier than a sword in your arms, southerner." The sorcerer laughed to himself. "Oh I forgot, you don't understand the language I speak, do you?"

Nazeir immediately threw his dagger, the person cast his magic and made the dagger bounce away. He grumbled and charged at Nazeir with a powerful electric spark. Nazeir stepped aside and the person continued to throw electric sparks. Nazeir's heart began to beat rapidly with adrenaline, suddenly the inquisitor's movements became faster.

However, a trajectory of the sorcerer's magical electricity jumped into the inquisitor's body. Nazeir launched against the stone wall hard. He fell to the ground, this time he needed a new approach. He moved his body, but he felt his body speeding up. Holding his heart, it was beating so fast that he couldn't believe he was still alive. He looked at the sorcerer's hand, the electricity flowing.

Nazeir stood up straight, slamming one foot into the ground causing a tremor in the tunnel. The sorcerer raised his eyebrows, interested in what Nazeir was doing. He smiled a little and cast all the magic he had. When the electricity was about to hit Nazeir, the man shouted loudly, awakening his sense of readiness to die. The electricity hit Nazeir, this time the inquisitor was ready. Nazeir didn't launch, this time he was electrocuted to an extreme level while standing still. The sorcerer wondered why Nazeir had not been burned or died by the shock. The inquisitor absorbed the electricity, generating adrenaline until his muscles took him to the next level.

The sorcerer could see the monster he saw was changing. His muscles grew, until the armor he was wearing could barely hold Nazeir's body which had turned bigger. The shocked sorcerer stopped electrocuting the inquisitor , he knew what had happened.

The inquisitor's nose was bleeding, he felt a slight pain in his left chest, and his body movements felt as light as a feather.

The sorcerer panicked when he saw Nazeir who immediately ran towards him with supernatural speed, then the inquisitor pushed the person mentally. The sorcerer landed on his two feet, now he started looking for a way out to defeat the man.

Before he could find a way out, Nazeir threw a glass bottle at him. The person who is angered immediately broke the bottle before it hit him with his magic. The glass shattered when the lightning struck. Thick smoke shot out of the bottle, blinding the sorcerer.

The person was coughing and had difficulty breathing. His eyes squinted with the dust of smoke, then a painful feeling ran through his body. The sorcerer fell and lay on the ground breathing in distress. He started holding his sore throat, and started coughing loudly. Saliva started to come out of his mouth.

"My chest," he coughed.

"Phosgene gas, and more concentrated," said Nazeir walking in the smoke. "You inhale it, you die. First you will feel a pain in your throat, like a burning sensation. Your eyes sting, you can't see properly. After a while you will start vomiting, the skin that is exposed to the gas will have rashes."

The person was lying under Nazeir, the inquisitor saw that the person was starting to feel the pain intensify.

"And in the next few hours, you start to be unable to breathe, your blood pressure drops, and your heart stops beating. Without flowing blood means you're leaving the world, dead." The inquisitor took out a leather water bottle from his waist. "However, I can help you. If you do something for me."

The sorcerer reached for the bottle that Nazeir was holding, begging the man to give it to him. However the inquisitor was not very friendly with him, he stepped on the man's chest and he started coughing harder.

"Where did your friends go?"

The sorcerer just stared at Nazeir, really asking for the pain all over her body to go away. He who was lying on the ground, pointing his head towards the dead end while coughing. He stretched out his hand and cast a spell, opening a large portal.

Nazeir faced the portal and started walking closer. Suddenly, the inquisitor's leg was grabbed by the sorcerer. The inquisitor saw the man pleading with him. In the end, Nazeir gave the man the bottle of wine. Nazeir dropped it, and the man gasped in shock. Glass and water were scattered about, and the person was still trying to drink the water even though the soil had absorbed it. When he accidentally swallowed the glass along with the water, he held his sore throat. The pain just got worse.

The inquisitor who entered the portal tricked him.

"Nazer?" call a feminime voice.

II

Nazeir landed in a place in the form of a wide plain. He could only see a few trees and a plain of grass. And in front of the inquisitor was a large noble house. Being heavily guarded by soldiers patrolling outside the building

"There could be hundreds of people there," Nazeir muttered. "Where are you, sorcerer."

When Nazeir saw the building in the distance, he heard the sound of a wagon going by. The inquisitor turned around and saw a wagon riding towards him. The inquisitor stood still in the middle of the dirt road, waiting for the coachman to arrive.

Before long, the coachman came closer. He was accompanied by three other people sitting on the side. Nazeir took a closer look, he saw the man waving at the inquisitor.

The wagon stopped right in front of the inquisitor. He looked around at Nazeir, and his three companions got off their wagon. Nazeir was shocked, everyone was shocked. Met in the middle of nowhere by accident. The inquisitor met an old man and his three brothers.

"Aldi?" he ask.

"Oh my god, Nazeir! What the-" he laughed in surprise at this accidental arrival. All the brothers looked equally confused.

"Nice to meet you again, Nazeir," said Abim.

"What are you doing here?" Aldi got off his cart.

"I could ask the same as you."

"We've found work now."

"Good for you, Aldi," he clears his throat. "What exactly is this job?"

All the brothers gathered at Nazeir.

"We deliver mining goods," said Ade.

"The pay is not too big," Aldi explained. "But it can keep us going."

Nazeir glanced behind the wagon, he saw something different.

"What did you dig up?"

"Wanna see?" Aldi raised his hand, allowing the inquisitor to take a look. "I don't know what this thing is. Abim who was a blacksmith in the Uthgaardian army didn't know what this is."

"Aldi's right. I don't understand what can be used from this thing either."

Nazeir climbed behind the wagon. A wide black cloth covered the pile of stones. The inquisitor threw the cloth, revealing what was hidden behind it.

Green crystals piled up behind their wagon. Nazeir was shocked, he finally found the object. He held his hair, and looked at the smiling old man.

"How long have you guys been doing this?"

"This is the second time. The first was only the removal of mining goods such as iron and other stones. The second time, this time... we were ordered to deliver these items to this place." Aldi took out a paper describing the location of the delivery. "If we look, it's likely we're here. And that means, the place we're dropping off is up there." Aldi pointed at a luxurious stone building in the distance. "That's the place."

"Good... good... How long does it take you guys to get here from the quarry?"

"Half-day."

"Incredible, now turn this wagon and we'll go there. We're not safe here," said Nazeir. The four brothers were silent.

"Go? Why?" ask Aldi.

"Listen, mate. I can keep my family safe. It's a decent job we have lived on the streets for years. Now we have food, a roof to cover us from the rain. All of this is guaranteed for those of us who work," said Abim.

"I don't think you all understand. This thing," Nazier pointed at the pile of green crystals angrily. "This thing can kill people if it is held by the wrong person. The sorcerers is on the side of the northerners." Nazeir approached Aldi who was surprised to hear the inquisitor's words. "If they get this thing. Then the entire southern world will probably be destroyed. Those sorcerers will pull out their barbaric tricks. And you," Nazeir pointed at Abim, pressing the man's chest with his index finger. "You will be one of the people to help them do so. Your name will be an insult to the south, and the pet to the north. The blood will be on your hands."

Everyone looked at each other, not knowing what to do.

"Then, what are we going to do? We can't escape, they will find us easily. We are in the territory of the sorcerers," Ade looked around him, namely the realm of the northern world.

"Take this wagon to Keln quarry. We'll get there quickly. Meet a man named Tabot, he'll clean up all these stones."

The four of them looked at each other not depressed when they heard Nazeir's words.

"I think we should just go, brother," said Ade.

Abim looked at Nazeir.

"You know i trust you. You've been helpful, even in our short encounters. Please don't let my family return back to the wasted way of life," he whispers, Nazeir acknowledged.

Aldi immediately got on his horse, Nazeir jumped behind. The five of them immediately turned the cart around and returned to the battle at Keln.