Soldiers marched through the thick Songrivan forests, dressed from head-to-toe in crimson armor with golden trimming – the banner colors of the Songrivan national military. Their destination? Another port town ravaged by Enthedrillan invaders. This war had gone on too long. Too many Songrivan lives were lost at the hands of these conquerors, these invaders that sought what wasn’t theirs.

  Much too many lives.

  But this day would be different. While the buildings were destroyed, homes were reduced to rubble, and walls were built to fortify the town into an enemy base, its citizens still lived on. They were forced into slave-labor, reduced to sub-elves under fascist control of the mighty empire. But in Kudaj’s mind, they were a tyranny he was destined to take part in stopping.

  His helmet disassembled and packed itself away into his armor, granting him full view of his troops with his own violet eyes. His jet-black locks were slicked back, and his face was patched with stubble. He hadn’t shaved in quite some time. Around him were his scarlet warriors, dressed for combat against an enemy that was unfamiliar with their enchanted woods. At their hips were standard-issue swords, and held across their chest were their rifles. They carried everything they needed on their backs, and with each stride they carried the pride of the Sovereignty. He couldn’t have been more proud to stand alongside such vicious warriors. And he too would aid them.

  Him…

  Kudaj…

  The son of the Sovereign, marching into battle with two Korokian blades at his hips, and a lifetime of honing his potent divine logic. The empire wouldn’t know what hit them. It would take all of the empire’s navy and army to put him down. He had the power to back his confidence. His ego was not out of place.

  Then, the smell of heated metal and burning wood filled his nose. We’re close enough, he thought to himself. “Ready, men!” He barked. The soldiers lifted their rifles in unison and halted in their position. At the ready stood a battalion of nearly five thousand soldiers anticipating the rush of violent adrenaline. Their senses were all heightened, and their victory was already so close, they could taste it. They would push the enemy back, and Kudaj would taste the first droppings of revenge for their theft of his dear sister’s life…

  “CHARGE!!!” He screamed with ferocious volume. The men rushed passed him with those in the front activating their holoshields. It would be like no other charge that was ever led before this moment. He’d studied under the finest of Songriveii’s tacticians, and now that his father had unleashed him with the full fury of the Sovereignty upon their invaders, he would turn the tide of this war – he was certain of it.

  Finally, he drew his seemingly dull swords from their scabbards, and with a small flex of divine logic – so slight that it took no effort – violet beams of energy traced the edges of the bleached blades. His Korokian blades were activated, and the full might of the ancient Yglsora would be unleashed upon those that defied him.

  Then he dashed forward with his men. Blades and shields alit, they were a picture of terror for the empire. It was evident, too; many of their soldiers panicked as they scrambled about atop the gates of their erected walls, rushing and clambering to get weapons and defend themselves. Kudaj’s soldiers wore armor that enhanced their movement, though, and they were nearly upon them when the empire opened fire. Many of the bullets disintegrated upon contact with the shields, but some of them went through and ricoched off their armor. Only a few fell upon the initial assault.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  When they arrived at the gate, Kudaj reached out with his hands and drew upon his reserves of magical ability. He then tore an opening through their gates with telekinetic prowess. His soldiers poured through the wound, and he performed a twirling leap. When he landed, he slammed his hand onto the ground and sent a rolling wave through the earth beneath, as if it were the surface of the ocean that reached to the horizon past the fort. When the wave reached the encampment, it burst forth from and sent imperial soldiers flying through the air. His Songrivan warriors knew better than to proceed forward when an attack like that was approaching, and Kudaj made sure that it didn’t affect them in any way aside from the strange visuals it produced. They remembered the battle plan he’d gone over with them before departing on their campaign.

  Seeing the success of their attack, he smirked and took a deep breath. There was shouting and gunfire filling his eardrums, but he tuned it all out in a moment of intense focus. He was the revival of the Yglsora, and they would fear him. With an exhale, he roiled all tension and anxiety, and was hyper aware of every sensation gliding across his body; from the sweat that dampened the cloth underneath his armor, to the cool breeze offered by the gods of the skies as they watched over his battle.

  Then he gripped his swords tightly – they’d never left his hands even as he sent the wave through the ground – and let out his battle cry as he charged forward with bravado and terrifying rage. The empire would recognize his name on that day.

  The first soldier was there, and he was upon him in an instant; driving the glowing blades of his swords effortlessly into the enemy’s chest. The life quickly faded from his eyes, and Kudaj ripped his weapons from the carcass before rehearsing his most favored maneuvers from his training. Enemies fell before him as he effortlessly cut, stabbed, and swung at everyone that wasn’t a conquered citizen or Songrivan warrior.

  As his emotions heightened, he unleashed his magical prowess, and to any other ordinary person it would have looked as though he’d just appeared out of thin air in front of his next target. His movements were blindingly fast, but not fast enough. Bullets certainly hit his armor, but after one pierced through the joint at his knee, it sank deep into his flesh and bone and incapacitated him for a brief moment. He fell onto his good knee and breathed as the initial flashes of heated, searing pain passed, then he stood to his feet once more.

  Every movement was filled with unimaginable pain. Every step he took, every swing at an Enthedrillan soldier, every pivot and turn – everything was filled with a memory of pain like he hadn’t experienced. His resolve, though… His resolve was mighty. He absolutely and utterly refused to submit to his wound. The smell of gun smoke and rotting flesh was enough to churn the guts of any average reman that day, but he ignored it as he set his sights on his final target.

  Suddenly, the sounds of metal clanging and gunfire became dull, and his body went numb from furiously pumping adrenaline. Emerging from the flame-engulfed tents and encampments was the commander of this occupying force; Commander Chuzok, the dark warrior of Enthedrill’s navy.

  There he stood as Kudaj’s equal, dressed in his nation’s military orange and slate colors painted on his armor. Like the son of the Sovereign, he wore two swords resting in scabbards at his hips, and his helmet was removed to reveal sandy-blonde hair tied into a tight bun behind his head, and a dark, braided beard draping from his chin. Bullets would fly in his direction, but in a similar fashin to when they would zip around Kudaj’s head, they would change direction and pass him by if they were directed at Chuzok’s…

  He recognized the presence of another divine logician like himself…

  But this one…

  This one was different somehow.

  The time for hesitation had passed, though. Now was the time for action, and if the empire had gotten their hands on a divine logician like himself, it was imperative that he put an end to the power within their grasp. He clenched his swords tighter, and roared with ferocity as his foe drew black blades like his own, edges lit with cyan beams. Then, as they drew within proximity, they raised their swords and swung with might, and their blades clashed with the loudest of an explosive sound, one that forced all others around them dropped their weapons and clenched their ears. All attention was now on them, and they would witness a modern fight between ancient orders…

  …The Yglsora and the Towl?lites.