The Wielder of Death Magic

In the late hours of December the 14th, the Cobalt Unit’s army broke through the defensive border of Elendor. Consider this, the border used to have been a split of 50-50, and for the majority of the time, the battle was allowed to be a 75-25 split in Phantom’s favor. No decisive battle was ever fought, Phantom had orders to defend, not invade, the people of Melinda, King Juvey’s province’s name, had suffered much, their world revolved around battle and starvation. While Phantom maintained the advantage, it was easy to keep the battle confined and limit casualties, in a way, they fought to better both continents regardless of outside orders. Who’d even care to battle the strongest group at the time, they were beyond the rest of the world’s reach; winning meant nothing. This is where the morality of such a troop came under fire and scrutiny, the brazen mindset of walking into battle expecting to win without a finger lifted eventually drove the soldiers to insanity. They inflicted much pain, war crimes were hidden to ensure each side’s integrity. Money flowed; Phantom controlled both party’s weaponry – the enemy needed to buy from them to keep a level playing field. The blood money tremendously filled Phantom’s coffers, and with it, they expanded their influence into many sectors, prominently; import and export.

Add another factor, the evolution of weaponry through battles. The Cobalt Unit wasn’t silent in the last few years, no, rather, they had a contract with the King of Melinda to test their weapons and sell any information, weaponry, or whatnot Phantom bore their insignia on, they reverse-engineered and crafted arms equal in strength to the original. Their army was trained in arduous conditions to fight against odds. The rise of the Cobalt Unit’s PMC was displayed for the world to see on said night. The split which had been 75-25 two years back, crumbled into 50-50 in the past year and said night, fell to 25-75. Phantom was annihilated, no second way around the matter, it was a complete defeat.

Location – a castle town named Endrona cupped at the edge of the river Stas, a convenient natural barrier for each province. Elendor’s main district laid to the west, whilst the breeched border laid to the east. The abundance of forest hampered mobility.

A single option remained, snaps and thunder-like burst cried yonder at the forest. The town’s folk of Endrona, mainly farmers and villagers from the neighboring settlements were often required to bring their food and supplies to the fighters. Phantom’s hold over the town meant more trade for the poor village, the profits outweighed the risks, and in a way, their name alone spoke of strength beyond imagination, the illusion shattered, an alarm rang, a gathering of visitors rose from their slumber and urged into the frantic hardened-dirt path. Many were in their sleeping wear, especially the children and women, “-evacuate,” cried men in black-uniforms, “-hurry along,” they said. The loud rattling of helicopters tore over the town sank their hearts – explosions and the snaps thundered. Fighters perched at the wall’s fired, the noise deafened many.

“EVACUATE,” the unit split, a quarter remained whilst the rest took the residents out the eastern exit. *snap, snap,* “-GO ON AHEAD!” cried a lady in uniform, she pulled her rifle and fired towards the vague shots, the bystanders were led in line to multiple armored trucks.

“Enemy sighted,” said the radio, the night flashed, the menacing sound of jets passed, horror sank on their faces, the nameless faces of people who tried their best living. A massive shell hit one of the advanced vehicles, instant devastation, the follow-up driver wiped hard, nearly tipped the truck in evasion, “-A TANK!” screamed through the intercoms, “-THEY’VE CIRCLED AROUND THE TOWN!”

.....

“Units five and six, abandon the castle and commence the retreat,” more shells rained, some missed into immense fireballs; bullets whistled and snapped, “-MOTHER!” cried a child, a lady dropped, “-MOVE!” cried the leader.

An attack helicopter passed overhead and destroyed the tank, it fired without prejudice, “-unit 05 and 06 reporting, retreat isn’t an option, the enemies’ already inside the castle town. We’ve shut the gate,” a makeshift barricade laid to stop their attacks, they hurried inside without care – more troops rooted around the castle, target, the escapees. “-Unit 06’s made their way outside the walls and are fighting a losing battle. May the goddess of war shine upon us, Captain, we request an airstrike, have the squadron hit these coordinates.”

“Understood,” the fist clenched. The frequency of the shells and snap eased as they drove deeper into a jungle. Distant rumbles marked the end of an era, an airstrike razed the town indiscriminately, the helicopters utterly destroyed the tanks, the jets made rounds. The price for their retreat was half of Phantom’s forces and two helicopters shot down in a rescue operation, the casualties reached into the hundreds.

Morning shone across the alleys of castle town Ehe, a secondary base for Phantom directly to the east of the previous town. Buildings cast shadowed onto the moist path, battered and wounded fighters limped inside, there were more body bags than people, a quarter remained of Phantom’s forces, the field commander, Captain Ernie Odle, waited against a deserted tavern. Familiar lifeless faces were dragged inside, medics painfully helped the injured, “-Captain Ernie, we have a message from Lieutenant General Ostha of the Elendorian army,” reported a bloody-faced fighter.

“Understood,” he said.

“Captain Ernie Odle,” said a mustached man sat in the company of other highly decorated individuals, “-your actions last night were atrocious,” he gritted, “-we lost an influential pillar of Elendor’s defense. Razing the town with airstrike – if you were a soldier of my army, you’d have been killed already. Phantom will release their control of the area to us, the Elendorian army,” he boasted, “-I’ll show those monkeys how a war is fought. Phantom’s remaining forces will stay put till further orders. The evacuees are to be returned to their homes, we can’t afford to sully the town’s reputation; henceforth, Captain Ernie Odle is to relinquish his claim over Ehe.”

“Understood, sir,” he said, “-what of my wounded men?”

“No idea, and frankly, we don’t care,” the collective room closed their guards and smirked, “-Phantom’s isn’t strong anymore, leave the battle to us, the competent, damned pretenders. You’re dismissed,” the great doors echoed shut in great humiliation. ‘My men died for them...’ the pace quickened, ‘-ungrateful bastards, we held the fortress for so many years and this is how they repay, war is unforgiving,’ the scenery swapped for a desolate base-of-operation, “-listen, men, we’re pulling from the Elendorian conflict.”

“We’re going home?”

“Yes, we are,” he said, “-I’ve received orders from headquarters, éclairs granted me full-authority in how we move forward. Reinforcement won’t be here anytime soon; our air force has already departed for Hidros.” The early hours of December the 15th, same to when the sun shone upon a populated town filled with life, it shone upon a desolate land of the horrific display. Total carnage, scorched earth, burnt corpses, a body-filled road marking the late-night escape. Innocent people led on the floor, left for animals to prowl and feast upon, the remains of tanks and evac-helicopters, the pillars of smoke and ambers quietly muffled, ‘-defeat’.

“I can’t believe we’re going home,” said a worried fighter.

“Me neither,” they stood far from the town, on a deserted field, waiting for their evacuation.

“Captain Ernie,” said a younger boy, “-pardon the intrusion,” he’d snuck into a makeshift camp where an imposing figure hunched over a map, “-I feel like this isn’t the greatest of ideas.”

“Why not?” the posture straightened, “-are you worried about something?”

“Yes,” he replied, “-I’m worried this might be a trap.”

“I don’t think so,” returned the officer, “-we were given orders from the top...”

“And, was it verified?”

*Snap, snap, snap,* the atmosphere shifted, “-CAPTAIN, WE’RE UNDER ATTACK!”

“What the fuc-” they dropped to a crouch, bullets nonchalantly pierced the tent, “-grab onto a gun,” he said, the messenger dropped from a wound to the head, “-we’ll exit out back.”

“No,” said the boy, “-they’ve covered our exit,” he panted, terrified at the onslaught.

“Any bright ideas?”

“We dig a hole,” he gulped, “-a hole,” the fingers pointed down, “-I can use Earth Magic,” a square soon freed, “-we have to hide.”

Armored trucks rushed into the scene, the awaiting troops were shot without a chance to return the favor, the medical tent was hit by a shell, two figures stood a kilometer away, “-per the agreement, we serve Phantom’s forces on a platter.”

“Pleasure doing business,” said a suited man, “-and per our side of the deal, the army agrees to have the battlefield split into 50-50, the non-aggression pact will last six months.”

“Right,” said the man happily, “-Phantom’s outstayed their welcome,” he left, the attack spawned from the uniform of King Juvey’s army. A tank bearing their insignia fired shell after shell, death, and destruction followed.

“We’ve been had.”

“Captain?”

“We were played for fools,” he gritted, “-I was a fool, how did I not see this coming!”

“Can you explain?”

“It’s obviously now,” the forehead crinkled, “-forced into the open, given the order to evacuate – Elendor must have had a deal with Melinda, those bastards wanted us out of the fight.”

“Phantom is strong... right?”

“No, we’re not,” he headbutted the dirt, “-the Cobalt Unit’s chipped at my men since the start of the year, we’ve lost so many people, I can’t even remember their faces, it’s in the thousand, I-I-I...”

“We’ll make it home,” firmed the boy, “-they need to know what’s transpired.”

“We don’t have proof.”

“Yes, we have,” asserted the boy, “-they’ll believe us, I know they will, Phantom isn’t a company to leave their workers behind, I’m sure, 120% sure!”

Igna rose to a sweaty visage, ‘-a dream?’ he gasped barely able to keep his breathing, ‘-or a flashback,’ the gaze, blurry against the sweat, landed on trembling palms, ‘-Elendor working with Juvey, I must have dreamt it,’ he shuffled to the washroom, there, the mirror showed a face of complete horror, any hue of color turned damp and pale, ‘-I know not to ignore my dreams,’ the lens toggled, *-Contact – éclair.*

“Good morning master.”

“There’s nothing good,” he gritted, the pupils were crystal white, “-have we lost the battle in Elendor?”

“How did you know?” he paused, “-master?”

“Our forces, were they scheduled to retreat?”

“I suppose so, I did give them the order, they said they’d retreat.”

“Have they contacted anyone since?”

“No, I don’t think... master, is everything alright?”

“Can you hack into Elendor’s military servers, focus on Lieutenant General Ostha of the Elendorian army. Also, have a few scouts investigate unusual faces, I want a full report on Castle Town Endrona.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” interjected the butler, “-too fast, take steady breaths and focus. Master, what’s happened?”

“I had a dream... no, it was more like part of myself was transferred to another person, I saw him and what happened around him, it felt too real to be true, we need to confirm. If what happened turns to be true, Phantom’s been betrayed,” the tone couldn’t have gotten sterner.

“I understand,” he said quietly, “-I’ll have undercover agents investigate the town.”

“Right, thank you, éclair.”

“No, there’s more to do,” he said, “-the lawsuit, have thee forgotten?”

“I remember,” he stared in the mirror, “-I remember.”