"By his dead smile I knew we knew we stood in Hell."

- Wilfrid Owen, "Strange Meeting"

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Soundtrack of the chapter: Legions of Doom by Audiomachine ( do play it!)

Media: Legions of Doom aka Army of the Undead ( exactly as how I picture them!)

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Chapter Thirty-Four: Legions of Doom

"They're here!"

Someone shouted from one of the battlements. Eli leaped to his feet, snatched a pair of binoculars from a nearby Oracle and went forward. His eyes adjusted to the magnifying lenses at once.

The thing he feared most had happened, Jasper had indeed brought war.

He lowered the binoculars. He recognized the first rider at once. His hood was thrown back, dark eyes drilling into the distance-Jasper Silverbird. His attention shifted and landed on the infantry and the banner bearing figures. His jaw dropped. Eli had assumed that the Iambicum Trimetrum would call up corpses, corpses with flesh and a consciousness. But the army that marched toward him was nothing but puppets, stripped bare to their gleaming bones clad in old armor.

What the Oracles had prepared was defense against the living, not an army of skeletons.

Eli handed the binoculars back to the grim-looking Oracle. Everyone in the battlements must have shared his thoughts. What luck did their small group of a few hundred Oracles, mostly militia had against a tide of undead?

I will not show them weakness. He whispered something into the Oracle's ears. "Go and send a dove to Firaun Strauss. Tell him we are in need of more reinforcement troops, and in mass numbers."

Firaun had replied a day ago, telling him that he would dispatch a small army from the Hall of Games. They had arrived this morning, all glittering swords and armor, joking with Eli that there would be no possible force to take down the Hall of Spirits, having won the Great War in the past. One of the Hall of Games' best Tinkers had located the Mandrakes using some advanced equipment Eli had never set eyes on before. The army's captain-Captain Morghan told Eli that the Hall was in no potential danger, not since the Mandrakes were found and subdued. But now, shock filled the eyes of the mother Hall's soldiers. Even the Warriors gripped their weapons tight, lips drawn tight.

A looming mass of cavalry followed the infantry, skeletons on ghostly horses, all with manes of white mists and eyes of swirling shadows. Howls and guttural shrieks filled the night sky, the unmistakable sounds of Decanates. Eli's blood ran cold.

Jasper must have called up all the dead in the Hall of Shadows, both dead Walkers and Oracles, as well as the dead from Erilou.

Eli cast a prayer up to the Stars, to Taurus especially, the Star of war and victory. He nodded at the Oracles at the gatehouse. The heavy portcullises fell down with resonating clangs. The heavy metal doors folded inward, sealing off the Hall from the undead army. A team of archers stood ready at the gatehouses, poised to strike. Another row of archers lined the battlements, backed up by cannons and Oracles with massive stones.

Jasper lifted a hand. His army halted, the skeletons tugging the reins of their ghostly steeds. The steady rhythm of bone against earth stopped, filling the air with nothing but his light breathing.

He lifted his head, dark curls wild in the angry breeze. "Oracles," he said, the wind somehow amplifying his voice, bringing it over to the Hall yard where it echoed. "You have prepared an army to fight me. But let me tell you something, you will not win. I bring with me the wrath of the Hall of Shadows. Every single warrior that stands behind me is thirsty for justice and revenge."

Eli curled his fists as Jasper continued.

"I am merciful. I will not repeat what the bastard Raphine had done to us. I give you till dawn. Surrender the Hall, and I will leave your homes untouched. I know each and every single Oracle towns across this area. I have the power to trample every man, woman and child. I will kill everyone in my way. However, this can be avoided if you surrender."

Eli inhaled sharply. "What have we done to offend you? You are one of us, yet you turn your back on your very kind."

His words comb the air, clear and crisp. He locked gaze with Jasper. The other boy smiled, a smile so sinister, it sent chills creeping up his spine. His gaze lacked emotion and faith, as if someone had sunk a knife deep into him when he was a child and cut out everything that made him Starlet, made him human.

"I am not one of you," he said. "I am what you despise the most, the last of my kind."

A hiss of Walker slew the air, followed by impossible and astonished gasps.

Jasper laughed, a cold, edge cutting sound. "Yes, I am the last Walker. I survived the horrors you Oracle did to my homeland. I saw my family, my friends vanish under your swords. Now, I bring them with me, to avenge and to annihilate. I have the relic that you fear the most, would you like to see it?"

Without waiting for an answer, Jasper reached into his robes and pulled out a dark object ending in silver.

The Iambicum Trimetrum rose to its full glory, basking in the moonlight, singing its malicious song to everyone in the vicinity. The Oracles stared at it, lost for words. No one had seen a Relic of the Founders in hundreds of years, for they were scattered throughout the lands for protection, lest they fall into the wrong hands.

Smug, Jasper slid it back into the folds of his robes.

If Raphine was here, he would hiss out the words in the Old Tongue--Milasi, abomination. Your kind deserved whatever that landed on you, for you have brought this misfortune upon yourselves. He bit down, shaking away his grandfather from his mind. This wasn't the Great War. This was something entirely new, a battle that could be evicted.

"You have till dawn. The moment the sun breaks through the mountains and you have not surrendered, I will attack."

Jasper yanked the reins of his horse. It snorted, spitting flames and retreated back to the shadows. The army of skeletons didn't move. They remained standing, unmoving, flags and torn cloaks flapping, waiting for their next command. Just like that, the entire army waited outside the portcullis, just as the Oracles inside the Hall waited for dawn.

Eli slammed a fist onto the stone walls. Dammit.

If he surrendered now, there was no guarantee Jasper wouldn't just line up the Oracles and behead every single one of them. Worse, tie them up to stakes and burn them alive, just like how Oracles did to rogue Walkers in the past. If he didn't surrender, Jasper would burn the Hall down to crisps, which wasn't a fun alternative either.

The letter to the High Priest of the Hall of Games was already on its way. He must find a way to drag on time, prolong Jasper as much as he could. With his small army of Oracles, winning was impossible. However, with the force of both the Hall of Games and the Hall of Warriors, they could wipe out the undead army.

Nejen came forward. "Your Honor, what do we do now?"

Eli's eyes never left the black and silver flags dancing in the night. "We wait."

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Jasper is here.

Cady lunged for the door, but Zoroth blocked her, unfurling his wings.

"Get out of the way!" she snarled, clawing at the entrance.

"No." Zoroth pinned Cady against the wall with his strong arms. She struggled, useless against his strength.

"How dare you Zoroth! You're my Consort, and now you're in my way?"

"I am stopping you from rushing out there to a thousand spears pointing directly at you!" he shouted back. "He's a Walker, but that doesn't change the fact that he is about to blow the Hall into smithereens."

Cady didn't even hear him. Jasper, Jasper, Jasper. His name was a scream in her mind. Her blood sang hungrily, eager to be near one of its own. Jasper.

"Cady!" Zoroth roared. "Snap back to your senses!"

He shook her so hard her teeth chattered.

More tears streamed down her face. She wanted to rush into Jasper's arms, to run her fingers across his chest, his beautiful face, before she gave him a hard slap.

Why didn't you tell me?

Why did you help me?

Why are you attacking the Hall?

Do you even love me?

Her screams of frustration ricocheted off the walls. She wanted comfort so badly. It wasn't something Zoroth could give her. He was her Consort, and he loved her like how a Consort would-a brother. Jasper was an entirely different story. He was a flame, burning in the darkness, guiding her out of her shell, teaching her to accept her real identity. When that flame guttered out, it left her stranded in a pit of darkness, flailing, struggling to get out but to fail in vain.

Shadows rose. They snaked out of the corners, gushing from behind beds and laps, coalescing into creatures of pure darkness. Jasper had warned her before of her powers. You could be more powerful than you can ever imagine. Zoroth tightened his grip on Cady's shoulders.

Jasper, why did you betray me? Did you really love me, or you used me to get within the Hall of Spirits?

Loss, hurt and betrayal. It rolled into a mass of writhing tentacles, rising above the Celeslights. There was this darkness within her heart, born from the hate the people had shown her and her kind, fueled by the mockery she received from the Oracles. Jasper once filled in that gaping hole, but he was no longer there for her. All her emotions, her fury, it lashes out. Cady tried to reel them back, but they were too strong, even for her.

The windows exploded. The shadows screeched madly, zooming about the chamber, wreaking havoc. Zoroth folded his wings over Cady, shielding her from any flying debris. In the drowning darkness, she could see a little gold light, pulsating in the far distance. It was weak, but still there nonetheless-Zoroth. She held out a hand, embracing the light. Zoroth was her tether to sanity, to light, especially after the crippling moments of betrayal, from Tucana and Jasper.

"I'm here, Cady," he whispered. "I'm forever here for you."

Cady clung onto her Consort, weeping till her tears ran dry, until she had no more energy to even cry. Zoroth carried her back to the ruined bed, sweeping out the shards of glass and debris from the sheets. Carefully, he tucked her in, like how a mother would tuck in a child. Something prickled against Cady's mind, Zoroth was about to return to her body.

She grabbed his wrist. "No," she said. "Hug me."

His eyes glittered, a crossover of sadness and love. He got into bed next to Cady. She felt the familiar pull of their bond, a string forever attached between their hearts. 

She never really believed in the Stars. But yet, she prayed.

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A/N

Loving your feedback for the last chapter! ;) Jasper's legions of doom have had siege around the Hall of Spirits. Eli wouldn't give in, he can't. The entire Hall depended on him. Cady is having trouble pulling herself together, poor thing. 

But the siege can't last forever, can it? Something is bound to happen, and very soon.

Smoked fish,

Stef