I doubt I will find someone like him in any lifetime. Finally, I sense the guardians making another patrol. I am not quite ready to leave, but I must. I gather myself and slip away, following the tag I left earlier. I use my magic to pull on the tag, and it transports me to a battlefield. However, nothing from this time is present. There are no robots, no tanks, no guns. Instead, there are men wielding swords and axes. I spot him among many others arranged on the field of battle, fighting and re-fighting an ancient war that no longer holds significance.
At most, this battle’s outcome is a footnote in a dusty book lurking on a back shelf of a half-forgotten library somewhere. Why are all these people trapped here? Yet, every dawn, these men are forced back here to fight again. This is no destiny for my iron lord. It’s a travesty, an injustice, an abomination. If I can free him from it, I will. I cloak myself in magic and slip among them unseen, trying to identify which one of them is forcing all these men into this nightmare.
If I can release that one, the others can go. I think he can still sense me because he casts a curious glance in my direction as I slip past him. I have made myself small to go unnoticed more easily. A quick flick of my wrist reveals the glowing lines that connect them, like a spider’s web, to each other, but there's no knot here to untangle. If it’s not one of them, it’s either someone who isn’t here or it’s all of them. If it’s all of them, it’s some event before this that binds them to this hell.
Another flick of my wrist, and many of the bindings start to sever, coming undone. As the bindings vanish, men from both sides begin to disappear from the field, released from this repetitive, hateful war. It is the best kindness I can offer them: releasing them to their afterlife or rebirth, as the gods command. No one deserves to be trapped in this endless cycle of misery. Soon, only a few remain on either side. Sadly, this includes my iron lord.
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The opposing Commander shouts, “What fell magic is this? Where are my men?”
I decide it’s time to show myself. “I released them from this ancient, pointless conflict.”
He screams in rage and charges at me, sword drawn. I laugh and wrap myself again, readying for my own attack. His remaining men follow him a few steps before collapsing where they stand. Their slumped bodies remain, as I wasn’t able to free them through unbinding. They’re still trapped in this endless war, and they’ll be back by tomorrow’s sunrise. Their banishment is only temporary.
The Commander looks around uncertainly. “It’s not supposed to be like this,” he bellows, “We won this.”
My magic pierces him. “If you won this, why are you still fighting?”
I’m not inclined to be gentle right now because I believe he’s the nexus. Yet, when I read through his thoughts and memories, it’s clear he has no idea why they must come here each dawn. Hmmm… Maybe the losing side has the answers I need.
I return to my iron lord and whisper urgently, “Was there anyone else missing from the battlefield?”
Tentatively, I wrap a tendril around his wrist, and I can sense him thinking furiously. “I think I was the last from our side, but I don’t know their side well enough to say. What are you doing here? This is a battle. Don’t you know it’s dangerous?”
I snort. “I intend to end this madness. I’m far more dangerous than they are when I want to be.”
Slightly startled by my vehemence, he looks at me anew, and a smile slowly spreads across his face.
I can sense pride and… love, so I ask him why they’re here. “What led you here?”
He tells me about a desperate war, and this was their last stand against an invasion meant to burn their kingdom to ash. “Did you mean what you said about wedding me?”
Without hesitation, he agrees. My magic flows out and reshapes a bit of ancient history. To fully unbind all this and free my iron lord, I need to know what happened. My spell unfurls, and I’m transported.
What do you think:
- Is she making the right call, or is this the start of a bigger mistake?
- If you were her advisor, what would you tell her right now?
Is Víl? right to attempt the unbinding?