A week ago, I was at the fort, able to control the entire place at a whim. If I wanted to, I could have killed every single man there. Hells, I fought a man an entire level above me and came out relatively unscathed. (Well, if you can call almost being frozen into a statue of ice relatively unscathed.)
Today, I am stuck on the ground, not able to move an inch. I am cycling all of my mana. I can feel the mana strengthening my body to dangerous levels. (Let's just say that I won't be coming out of this without suffering quite a bit.) Still, it feels like I have the hexmountain on top of me. My sword is just a few inches from me. It had slipped out of my hand when this had begun. If I could reach it, maybe I could do something. Yet I have not been able to do even that.
The sword is useless. The few inches of distance might as well have been a few kilometers. Anyway, even if I could hold it, I don't know what to do with it. My present situation has occurred due to the mere presence of two people facing each other above me.
Their very presence has been enough to crush us all to the ground. That includes me right now. The most infuriating thing is that they are not even focusing on us. They are looking at each other, studying each other for an opportunity to attack each other.
One of the men is quite familiar to me. I don't know how he got here, though. The commander arrived at our position almost as quickly as the other man appeared. We are still almost three days from the frozen peak, to give you information. He did, though, and he appeared not one moment late. Any later, the other man would have crushed us to death. He wouldn't even need to move a muscle to attack us. He would just need to look at us.
I guess that I should speak about the other man. The only issue is I don't know what to speak about the man. I guess I could speak about how he just popped up among our caravans. A single look of his led to my present situation. I did not even have another second to look at him as the world around me faded.
No, calling it faded is wrong. My brain has judged the world to be useless information. I have never managed focus like this, even when I was working on the formation. Even then I couldn't even notice the man's steps as he suddenly appeared above us.
The moment I noticed him in the air was the exact moment we all fell to the ground. We just collapsed to the ground, feeling as if somebody put the hexmountain on top of us. The ironic thing is that all this is happening just due to the man's presence. I don't think the man is even actively looking to attack us.
I can feel my breath being forced out of me as if I were a fish pulled out of water. If the commander had appeared a moment later than he did. I might have been dead before I could start the log.
The appearance of the commander a few seconds later greatly reduced this "pressure" on me. I still can't move at all, but I at least don't feel like a mountain has been placed over me.
Right now, I am doing the only thing that I can do, which is to enhance my senses with mana to study the fucker attacking us. The other man is bulky, almost thrice the size of the old man and is built like a bull. He is covered in the pelt of what I have to assume is a massive wolf as a cloak. The mouth of the beast acts as a hood for the man, though he is not wearing it at the moment. It lies loosely behind him.
The man's face is almost ordinary, but there is something about it. A kind of confidence, I think, that tells me that this is not a man to be trifled with. The fact that I can't move is another indicator of his power.
The two men continue their staring contest for a few seconds. (It could just as easily have been a few years, mind you.) I honestly can't tell at the moment. Finally, the commander speaks.
"Lord, you are not welcome in these lands. Your presence will break our treaty." " He speaks, his voice is not loud, but is heard like the wind itself does not dare to stop the man's word. They are projecting their voices for some reason. Almost as if they want somebody to listen to all of this.
"My old friend, I do not like to come to this place myself. Every time I come here, it feels like I am sitting in the middle of a fire.", the second man speaks. "I sometimes wonder why you people don't just melt away. It would certainly reduce quite a few of our problems."
"I am no friend to you, lord. If you do not leave right now, I will be forced to use my sword on you.", the commander speaks, giving me a moment of hope.
"Well, you could remove your sword, I could get serious. I honestly want to know who among us two would win. I wonder whether the first blow will kill the kid or the second. He is oddly durable for his level, so I say that it will be the second strike. Kind of pointless to kill your men for a fight with me. We can fight some other time. Anyway, I have come to bargain.", the second man speaks, disappearing. "Your treaty allows for it, doesn't it?"
I begin to panic, as I feel the world disappear around me. Even as I regain my senses, I feel my senses heave as if I am suddenly on a boat. The first thing I hear is the second man speaking.
....Want this outsider.", he says. "Anyway, I seem to have heard that one of them got pissed and wrecked one of your ancestors' graves. Seems to be quite the affront. Why do you protect a person who has harmed your honor?"
As I steel my stomach, I feel my heart drop. The other man is now next to me, though I honestly don't know how he got here. I guess that my fear should have intensified, but this is already beyond my capacity for fear if I am honest.
"We are honor-bound to protect him, you bastard.", the commander speaks. He is also by my side, his sword at the man's throat. The weird thing is that the sword is still sheathed. "It would be an affront to my ancestors if I were to break a promise taken on their names."
"Stop pretending to be like your masters, alveron. You know you are bad at acting. You would dig all your ancestors' graves and personally piss on their bones if it meant you got more power. Anyway, if you wanted to honor your ancestors, you would have killed the kid." he speaks, his voice taking on a growling tone that seemed to echo in my mind. I can't think of anything else except his words. "Such paper-thin honor you people have. Sometimes I wonder why your masters don't just attack everything in sight."
"Don't go beyond your limits, you fucking half breed.", the commander shouts as if he were angry. I am not sure he is, though, as there is no difference in the man's body language.
"Well, I must say that you have improved at acting. I almost believed it for a second. Practice on and your masters might just reward you.", the man speaks, laughing.
"That is the hope, you bastard. They are getting particularly sensitive nowadays. Offending them now would mean getting court-martialed tomorrow. That is not an option right now. It would harm my plans too much." the commander spoke, irritation finally entering his tone as he began to tease the other man. "I am sure you would like that. It would make your work easier, you bastard. Pick the kid up, I am sure you want to."
"There is no need to get so testy with me, you geezer. You will attack me the moment that I pick the kid up", the other man spoke, his voice finally losing that growling tone. "And I will be forced to defend myself. I will be injured, but the kid will explode like a pimple. Are you sure your empire can afford to do something like that? The legion has a long memory and an even longer reach."
"Well, if I were to let one of the snow tribes pick a kid of the legion, do you think they won't remember that? Leave the legion, do you think my masters will care? They will parcel me up like a gift and gift me to the legion the next day." the commander spoke, finally removing his sword.
"Well, I will satisfy both your masters and the legion. How about that?" the other man speaks. "For your masters, I will call back all the snowlords that are attacking your fort right now. I am sure they would appreciate that. As for the legion, I am taking the kid away to save him. The council has found the kid's identity, and the spear tribe has already begun to move. I will take him to the council and save the kid. The legion will not harm you for saving the kid. Unless you think you can hold against the combined might of the council.
"That is quite a bit you promise, you bastard. To promise so much for the child of a legion. What are you trying to pull?" the commander speaks. "Your hatred for his kind is legendary. Both the legion and the sages."
"This is nothing but a business deal and quite an attractive one at that. His master has paid quite a bit to ensure his safety." the other man spoke, his voice finally becoming a bit flustered. "Otherwise, do you think I would be here? I have no desire to offend the council without reason."
"Well, I shall agree to your deal. I will need guarantees, though. If the kid does die, I want detailed records on it. The exact way in which he was sentenced to death. The identity of the people who did the execution. The exact votes of the tribes at the council. Provide me with enough information that the Legion will be satisfied if I were to give it to them. Those crazy bastards might still kill me for this even after I give them this. I want to offend them even less than my masters. I would at least survive the nobles' ire."
"Well, always covering your ass, aren't you Alveron." the other man replies. "Fine, I agree, though I also will need to point out that I am doing you a favor, you bastard. This is a matter for all tribes, especially the Spear tribe. They were already sharpening their spears to mount an attack. I wonder how your masters would have felt under the attack of an entire tribe of the council."
As he spoke, the commander had dropped his sword.
"I am sure that you are recording this, kid." The other man speaks to me now, or through me more accurately. "Well, tell your legion that this is a peace offering from my side. The kid is safe under my protection. He shall be tried safely under the law of the council. There is no reason for you to come here. There is no reason for us to go to war yet."
As soon as the man completes speaking this, I can feel the crushing pressure return. As the breath is crushed out of me, I swear the world around me is becoming blacker. I can feel the blood rushing to my eyes. I can feel my ears.....