Thrusted into the midst of war, it was exactly as Anak had seen in the vision. The earth was rumbling with the charging of men, the air lay thick with the night's fog, not even a gentle breeze could be felt in the woods they found themselves in. Anak felt the weight of the vision, he was determined to not let it come true.
"Men! Fear not, we will win! Fear will only lead to our own demise!" Anak shouted out.
It was the same speech he made in the vision, however this time it didn't fall onto deaf ears, his men rallied behind his call. Silhouettes began to form from behind the mist and arrows of fire began glowing from above the tree line. The small army of the undead began charging into the fog, their rusted weapons at the ready. The clanking of their tarnished armor sounded hollow and far away. The sight of this small, pathetic looking army charging into the fog to take on the massive, well equipped army waiting for them with fire and steel almost made their attempt look foolish and futile at best. However, though it looked as though they could be easily taken, they were some of the best trained soldiers in Jack's kingdom.
The pages in Anak's grimoire began to flip rapidly and words began to appear in a language long forgotten. Long forgotten to mostly everyone, except Anak, the former elf was all too familiar with it. Upon reading the words it roughly translated to 'Heat of the sun'.
"Praetorridus Exortus Lucorbem"
When Anak spoke the words, his hands lit up and his instincts took control. He jumped into the air and started to hurl large balls of fire at the enemy. They pressed forward, undeterred by the cheap shots that were being hurled at them. The enemy army closed in on them, large flaming arrows began raining down from the foggy sky.
"Ballistae!" Anak shouted.
"This must be how my army was easily wiped out last time." Anak thought to himself.
Dropping to the ground, he tried to remember the correct enchantment for a spell he had long forgotten. Anak wasn't given a warm welcome as he landed near a few enemy soldiers. Three soldiers surrounded him, each smiling wider than the one before him. They were certain they'd be able to handle Anak and were eager to claim the bragging rights of taking out the opposition's leader. After all, they had scouting reports of Jack's army and what his generals were capable of, this bag of bones would be too easy for them.
"Sorry zombie, but it's time to put you back into the coffin." one of the men said.
Particularly irked by this comment, Anak did not speak back as he felt it unnecessary to play with his food. As soon as the men were in position, they pounced. Having an exceptional aptitude for dark and wind magic, Anak could easily cast any basic to intermediate spell without uttering a word. Instantly he summoned up the dark magic needed and sent out an energy slash hurling towards them with no notice. The swirling black force sliced right through them and dissipated as its victims fell to the ground.
Turning his attention back to the ballistae, Anak drew a magic circle and began to utter words in his native tongue.
"Sikónomai lykos apó fotiá tou kólasi"
Sparks of red began to arise from the ground zapping the area around them.
"Animarum emporikés synallagés aeternum kataraménos"
The forest began to echo with the sound of lightning, many soldiers on both sides became confused and began to glance up during the battle wondering if a storm shall greet them on the battlefield. The random zaps of red energy began to target each of the men around Anak. Their bodies began disappearing one by one. Out from the ground rose three black wolf creatures.
"Arise, Hellhounds!" Anak shouted out.
Forbidden magic in his lifetime was now magic meant to be conquered. This was dark summoning magic. At the cost of a soul, you could make one Hellhound to use at your disposal, and now Anak had three.
"Go, take out those ballistae!" Anak commanded.
Swiftly, they darted away through the fog leaving small holes that momentarily marked where they shot through towards their targets. Anak, ready to begin helping again, turned as he heard clapping from a treetop nearby.
"Congratulations! You must think you've won." a man said from the shadows.
Instantly Anak's body reacted, and a surge of wind flew from every hole between the threading in his robes. The man was mere inches away from Anak with a small dagger, before being spun away in the blast.
"This may be more entertaining than I thought." mused the man whose camouflage in darkness was aided as he was dressed in all black tights.
Anak instantly began firing balls of fire at him. The man who was obviously an assassin was easily dodging the fireballs.
"That can't be all you have now, come on!" the assassin began taunting, still dodging the fireballs with ease.
Suddenly the fireballs ceased. "Gave up already?" the man said laughing.
"This is over!" Anak replied.
Just then a gust of wind began flying through them, swirling around and around. Confused and not sensing any immediate danger, the man just watched Anak's movements. Before he knew it, he was surrounded with fire.
"I see you thought you could trap me with you. Unfortunately, it's you who is now trapped from me." the assassin said before once again leaping right at Anak.
Chains shot out from Anak's sleeves gripping the assassin tightly just as they had the night before. The assassin was much weaker than the paranormal beast he fought then, there was no chance he'd break free.
"Just as you live in the shadows, I shall let the dark devour you." Anak said.
A dark circle appeared under the man from where he was hanging from the chains. Slowly being dragged under, the man began to yell, cursing at Anak.
"Do you have any idea who my master is? You'll regret this!" as he faded into the darkness that swallowed everything.
Howling filled the air. Anak turned towards the sound and noticed that there were a lot fewer giant arrows flying through the air. Anak assumed the Hellhounds must've gotten their prey. The enemies numbers seemed to be dwindling from what Anak could tell as he rejoined the fight. Every enemy he came across, he obliterated with ease using just the fireball spell.
As dawn broke, the clashing of steel became more and more quiet. It wasn't long after the first rays of the sun touched the forest's dense fog that it began to clear. As the fog lifted, it became clear that both sides lost a great many soldiers that night, but there was a clear winner, Anak.
"Men you fought gallantly and masterfully, but there is still work to be done. We march for the fortress now!" Anak shouted at his men. The men rallied to fight, shouts and the banging of iron filled the air, howling rang throughout their battle cry like a melody.
Anak and what was left of his army quickly marched up to the massive front gates that towered three stories above them. Upon entering, they were greeted by civilians.
"Get out of here, you no-good undead scum!" The people began to shout at them.
Anak removed the cloak from his face and looked at the citizens from the fortress; they were in awe. "We were told they were undead." Citizens could be heard murmuring together as they took steps backwards in shock. "That's an elf!" Another shouted after noticing Anak's pointed ears that slowly broke free from his flowing long golden hair. His eyes were as blue as the sky itself, his skin radiated smooth perfection, his appearance seemed so out of place in contrast to his war-torn attire.
"Please let us in, we must speak with the lord of this fortress." Anak said.
"I'm sorry, we were told by the lord himself that we could not let you in under any circumstances." a man shouted back.
Unamused, Anak launched into the air until he was so high up he was nothing more than a speck of sand. He then used his portal magic to get inside the other side of the gate. Everyone's attention to the sky, Anak grabbed the lever and opened the gate. Almost in unison, their heads snapped back to Anak who was now standing beside them. Panic surged through as the crowd began screaming and Anak's army began marching in. Most of the citizens ran home but some stayed out to watch as they felt no hostile energy coming from them.
As they neared the main hall where the lord resided, Anak called out to him. The lord, still in his bed robes, walked out to a balcony over the main courtyard. Each thread shined in the brilliance of the early morning sun as the warm purple silk waved in the breeze.
"What's all the noise for?" the lord said, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. When he opened them, he was surprised to see an army of elves gathered together in his courtyard.
His voice trembled a bit. "Can I be of service to you, master..?"
"Anak. You can step down, or be forced to step down." Anak commanded with such authority in his voice that the trembling left the man's windpipes and entered his legs.
"Of course!" the lord said.
Confused with how easy that was, Anak waved his army off; they were free to get a feel of the massive fortress. Anak walked into the massive hall in which the lord stayed. In amazement, Anak began to stare at every detail. Everything was made with the finest material money could buy. The curtains were gem encrusted, not a single tile of the marble flooring looked out of place. The massive chandelier that hung from the vaulted ceiling was golden, encrusted with diamonds that laced around it, and fitted with white candles whose light danced with the diamonds and sent showers of sparkles and illuminating light all around the room.
"Beautiful isn't it?" the lord said walking down the stairs behind a throne, his hand gliding down the pearl studded golden hand rail.
"Quite." Anak replied, hiding his true feelings.
"So, let's get down to business, shall we?" he asked. Anak nodded in agreement.
"How much will it cost to have you leave?" he carried on in a pleasant tone.
"That cannot happen, I'm sorry." Anak replied in a monotone voice.
"What a shame... Unfortunately, I'm not quite ready to die. There are things I still must do." the lord said. "So, what do you want?"
"I'm here to cut down the ties of this city with the empire." Anak said.
The lord's eyes quickly widened with his smile, "Are you serious?" he nearly shouted with excitement.
"This may be the stroke of luck I've been hoping for." Anak thought to himself.
"Well, it's a deal!" the lord shouted out, reaching his hand out for a handshake with Anak.
"Wait, what?" Anak thought as he just stood looking at the lord. Confusion marked his otherwise stoic face.
Realizing this, the lord began to explain.
"Oh right, you see I'm not just any lord. I'm actually lord Matthew, the second born to the king and queen to the throne of the empire." he said.
Still confused, "Wouldn't that make him less likely to just give in." Anak thought. The prince continued his talk with Anak for hours. Anak discovered that the prince had been banished from the Capitol. Matthew had been too kind to the people, which inadvertently planted seeds of hope that he'd someday be king. But the capitol wanted to run the kingdom through fearful obedience so there'd be no uprising if ever there were no good king or queen to sit on the throne. He also explained how he was aware that a wicked corruption sunk into the minds of the king and queen and now, even his sister. They banished him here under the guise of being the second born child to their family so he could make a name for himself on this continent. They gave him a handful of untrained royal guards and shipped him out. Yet, he wanted so badly to return home and help his family regain their senses.
"They told me that I'm doomed to be a nobody lord in this life, simply because I was second born. I want them to know one's destiny is not written simply by being born at the wrong time." Prince Matthew said.
Matthew sparkled with life and excitement at his chance to win over this one elf with the chance to free his family from whatever curse lay upon them. His bright blue eyes were shot with joy underneath his short messy crimson hair. Still in his bed robes, he shot up after Anak agreed to let him speak with Jack.
"I'll be right back!" He shouted running back up the stairs.
He came back down dressed in the finest dark blue robes Anak had ever seen. Posing, he planted both feet firmly on the ground, both his hands in a fist attached to his hip, he turned his head slightly to the side and looked up. He waited for praise from Anak with the widest grin Anak had ever seen. Behind him, a staff laid strapped to his back was the most finely carved wood this continent had to offer. Realizing no compliment would come from Anak, he swiftly started asking when they'd leave.
"Tonight." Anak said.
"Okay, can I ask for one more favor?" The prince asked.
"Sure." Anak said, nodding his head.
"Don't call me a prince until I help restore the kingdom." Matthew said.
"What shall we call you then?" Anak asked.
"I'm just Matthew the wizard, born in the icy plains." Matthew said, beaming with excitement.
"Sure." Anak said walking away.
Many of Anak's men were assigned to stay behind to help protect the fortress city and make the citizens feel safe, only a few began the long journey back to the great, dark tower in Libast.