Jezebeth * Iron Forged - The Rise of a Banite

[leviticus]

I couldn’t tell how long I had been standing there. It could have been hours. It could have been days.

Time almost felt inappropriate in this place.

But then I saw movement nearby out of the corner of my eye.

One single column had halted, and they stopped because of…

… me?

Another came right behind it and stopped as well.

I frowned.

At least a thousand metal helmets turned with the discipline of a single body to me. Without any command or visible signal given.

Yet rank after rank looked directly at me, as though they had expected my arrival in that spot.

They just stood there without word or saluting. Like they simply acknowledged my existence.

Then, a single warrior broke formation and stopped not far from me. He motioned at the fortress and somehow I understood I had to follow him.

As I did, I caught myself smiling.


The road towards the fortress gradually changed and the material used to built it became almost obsidian-like. Smooth. Polished.

Behind me the sound of armies began to fade, and made way for steel striking steel. The new sound had a certain rhythm to it. Something that told me it was all about perfection.

As we rounded another bastion I finally saw them.

Warriors… no… dark champions.

At least a dozen pairs, each fighting simultaneously.

I noticed there weren’t instructors or spectators about.

Every duel looked lethal, every moment terrifying as well as beautiful at the same time.

The black armor they wore was unlike anything I have seen before in my life. Some wielded impossible weapons, while others cast powerful magic in between sword strokes.

One duel I watched merely lasted seconds before one combatant fell.

… only to stand again moments later.

No applause, no celebration. They just started another round.

And it’s then… in that moment when I shifted my gaze to the next pair… that I saw him.

My heart even stopped before my eyes understood why.

He is there… no, he is -here-. Fighting, bleeding, winning…

Only this time he stopped. Like he sensed me much earlier than all the previous times.

Slowly he turned to me and our eyes met.

Yes… he saw me… not a shadow or a vision this time.

Me.

And for the first time in all these encounters he smiled.

With one mighty blow he dropped his opponent before he started walking in my direction.

And without thinking, so did I…

… walking willingly towards the deepest desire of my heart.


As other champions continued their deadly duels around us, he came without haste. I watched only his eyes while blades rang against blades and shields splintered beneath impossible force.

None of it mattered. My eyes never left him.

Step by step, heartbeat after heartbeat, every vision that had haunted me dissolved into memory. All those times I had caught only fragments, his figure vanishing before I ever managed to reach him.

Not today. Today I was here, and he was here.

The distance diminished.

Fifteen paces… ten…

He looked exactly like how I remembered him, with only a single new scar adorning his left cheek.

The armor looked heavy upon him, and the exhaustion in his eyes was unmistakably real. Yet none of it diminished him. And that made him seem even more worthy of a place built for gods.

We stopped before each other.

Words suddenly seemed like remarkable weak instruments.

Slowly he reached to me, and the briefest moment my discipline returned.

Should I…?

Maybe this was another test?

Maybe he would disappear again if we touched each other?

After being this close? That would be the biggest mistake in my life.

Then his gauntlet raked my cheek.

The touch was real, somewhat warm.

All doubt collapsed instantly, and I closed that final gap myself…


...and I kissed him.


For the first time in a long time nothing within me questioned anything. Every ambition, every sacrifice, every lonely night, every order I had obeyed… suddenly aligned into a coherent entirety.

His arms locked around me with surprising certainty. As if they had remembered my exact shape.

The embrace felt… familiar.

Everything else around us ceased to exist, and there was only us, only him.

His forehead rested against mine.

“I knew you would make it here…” he whispered.

Those words struck deeper than any blade could have reached.

He drew back just enough so our eyes could meet once more.

Then, our lips met again, and the world around us answered.

One after another the duels ceased. Steel fell silent as an enormous bell rang. Hundreds of warriors turned to us, and the champions lowered their weapons. It was like a ripple spreading across an ocean of steel. A single fist struck a breastplate. Then, hundreds followed. The sound became like thunder.

I felt this welcome pouring over me stronger than any blessing I had ever received before.

Finally…

Every humiliation, every dangerous mission, every forced march, every drop of blood and every death… had all led to this moment.

To him.

Finally I had reached the place my soul had been trying to remember.

… where I belonged.

[leviticus]

We turned together, without exchange or discussion on where we headed. Simply because there was only one direction worth walking. His hand found mine as together we ascended the broad black road toward the highest terraces.

It’s only then I truly noticed the other warriors around us.

All duels had ceased, shields settled against legs, and swords pointed towards the sky over our heads.

Helmets turned.

As we were met by this endless honour guard, we strode in silence. The kind of silence disciplined warriors reserved for someone they highly respected.

The broad avenue climbed steadily between immense walls adorned with banners darker than any night sky. Their fabric barely stirred, though I could sense a mild breeze on my face.

Every terrace we graced revealed another behind it, and I understood this place had abandoned earthly proportions a long time ago.

No kingdom could have built this, no empire could have funded it. It simply existed with Bane’s will, and with endless wars shaping stone into architecture.

The farther we climbed, the stranger the guard of honour became.

Disciplined warriors clad in black steel made way for giants whose armor resembled entire buildings of wrought iron, followed by winged creatures whose feathers reminded me of polished obsidian.

In front of these platoons stood horned champions whose presence alone radiated enough authority to command armies. Now and then I perceived dark shimmering figures wrapped in black cloaks that concealed everything, save for two crimson lights where eyes ought to have been.

Every one of them watched us pass, without challenging or questioning our presence.

Some… slightly inclined their heads, and others struck a mailed fist against their breastplate once.

I felt…

… as someone expected.

Every step I took erased another month of doubt. Every salute buried another memory of being undervalued. Here, I no longer was an expendable piece. I was seen for myself.

My chest felt lighter with every step.

No… not lighter…

Higher… exalted… Chosen…

Ambition had looked like a mountain without a summit, but finally I understood the summit had always existed. I only had to reach it.

I lifted my eyes toward the colossal fortress above us, in the center of everything.

I knew this place, and it was not from any book or map I had seen.

This...

… was the place I had spent my entire life trying to earn.

A place where Bane rewarded those who never surrendered.

A subtle pressure settled upon my shoulders. Like the weight of an unseen hand resting upon me, heavy with authority. Something spread through my spine like liquid iron. Tiny shivers crawled beneath my armor. Lesser men would have mistaken them for fear.

Every vision had carried only an echo of this feeling.

This… was the source.


And I merely felt my heart beating towards its final destination.

[leviticus]

Strange…

Why are they saluting?

A thought that had slowly surfaced I quickly brushed aside.

I earned this.

Yes…

… but, earned what?

I started to feel uncomfortable as we graced another terrace of honour guards. The higher we ascended, the fewer sounds reached us from the endless battlefields below. Soon only our footsteps remained, measured and deliberate against the polished black stone.

Yet something just… lingered.

Something that felt… incomplete.

I couldn’t name the sensation immediately. So, once more I dismissed it.

Likely it was just my mortal mind simply struggling to comprehend such perfection and such reward.

I nodded once at another formation lowering their weapons as we approached.

We received another salute, and another silent welcome.


Strange…

My pace slowed almost imperceptibly.

My lover noticed though, and glanced at me with quiet concern. “Something the matter?”

“Nothing,” I answered. Rather quickly.

Something…

I looked back along the avenue we had climbed.

Hundreds, no… thousands, and not one had barred our way. Not one had challenged me for a duel. There had only been recognition... and acceptance of my ascent.

My eyes drifted toward one of the towering champions standing motionless beside the road.

His presence alone radiated enough authority to command kingdoms. How come I had walked past him unquestioned? What had I proven... to him?

Did I have the right?

The questions irritated me. Perhaps because every lesson Lord Vacran had ever forced upon me insisted that rank was never granted freely. Perhaps because every promotion demanded proof, and every privilege demanded sacrifice.

I looked around.

Every ascent demanded victory… so why…?


I stopped.

Only for a heartbeat.

Then I continued walking as I avoided my lover’s gaze.

Perhaps… my trials had already taken place. Everything before this had been the climb. Not every trial required a blade.

Yes… that thought settled comfortably.

But then another line of impossible warriors made way for us.

I frowned to myself.

If this truly was Bane's dominion... then somewhere ahead… eventually… someone should be waiting to stop me. Someone more strong, more worthy, and someone I would have to defeat on my own in their game. Because… out here, conquest was the spoken language. But so far every gate had opened before I reached it.

Something was… off…


I shook my head.

That be absurd.

Then again, this… procedure felt odd to say the least.

Another massive black doors simply parted, revealing yet another ascending avenue beyond.

I slowed once more, then told myself : No! Not now! Just let me have this!

Why was my own mind even trying to steal this from me??

I lowered my gaze and ordered myself to think about something else.

Anything.

The architecture, the banners, my companion at my side.

Really anything!

Anything… but…

Another salute echoed next to me as metal struck metal. And again, and again until it didn’t sound ceremonial to me anymore.

It sounded… what? Rehearsed?

My stomach tightened.

How many even? How many had saluted me by now??

Not a single face had shown surprise, or had had envy in their eyes.


Because they expected me!!


But how then? Nobody out here knew me. None has ever fought at my side. Never have I earned their loyalty.

So why… why did they all behave like I belonged here?

For some reason I now squeezed my lover’s hand. He smiled, but the smile he gave me should have calmed me, and instead…

… it unsettled me.

It was always the same smile.

That had to be my imagination.

Just once… just once I wished I could be satisfied.

Believe it then you are!! Accept it!! Quit asking stupid questions!!


And for the first time in my life I feared what the answer on my next question might cost.

Was… any of this even real?

[leviticus]

I studied my lover’s face as I completely stopped walking. And he did as well, in perfect sync.

He looked patient at me, calm, without confusion or irritation on his face.

Like… he had always known I would stop right here.

“What’s your name,” I blurted before I realized.

He smiled that same smile. “You know it,” he said.

“Do I now…” I frowned and then asked. “What is mine then, Alzabar?”

He didn’t even correct me on the false name. When he didn’t answer, I loosened my grip on his hand. Only slightly.

I sensed how his grip lessened as well, and matched with mine. Again that flawless harmony, and not even a heartbeat later.

I forced a smile instead.

“You’ve been waiting for me a long time now.”

“I have.”

I searched his eyes. “How long?”

He smiled, “As long as I needed to.”

That should have sounded like a perfect answer to me. But instead… it rather felt like an answer designed for me.

Discomfort started to settle beneath my breastplate.

“What was the first thing you ever said to me?” I asked, remembering the time where he tracked me down in a dark cave after a sickening manhunt.

His eyes remained fixed on mine.

“That you are the most amazing woman I have ever seen.”

Yeah, I wouldn’t have minded hearing that, but that was -not- the answer.

I looked around. The honour guard remained motionless, watching and waiting for us.

I detected no whispers, no sideglances, just these thousands of warriors perfectly still, disciplined.

The way I liked it.

A chill crawled up my spine.

And for the first time since entering this… place, I looked less at what -I- desired, and -more- at what was observing me.

I looked over at the highest fortress again. And… it never seemed closer, or bigger. It remained exactly where it was, at the same distance.

Like an unfinished promise.


-They sat down and never left-.

An old thought returned to my mind. About giants, and a forest, and… skeletons…

I glanced back at the fortress in the distance.

What if there was never meant to be a summit in this place? Well, it most certainly wasn't rewarding ambition. It was feeding on it.

What if it all was…

Bait!


‘Congratulations.’

I froze.

Then I looked around at the voice. Not a booming voice, and it lacked echo. It sounded like it had come from nowhere and everywhere.

I realized that word hadn’t reached my ears. It simply… existed in my thoughts.

“Who are you?” I said.

‘Names have no meaning here.’

“Avoiding the question already. Again actually.”

A sensation almost resembling amusement brushed against my mind.

Then I asked the obvious. “What is all this?”

‘A path.’

“Oh? To where then?”

‘Where you wished to go.’

“Yeah? I tell you what. That fortress? It doesn’t exist. It was just my imagination.”

A pause before the reaction arrived.

‘It exists.’

I frowned at that.

“Perhaps. But you clearly wanted me to stay.”

‘We merely invited you. The rest you did yourself.’

“Where are the others?” I asked.

‘Several continue their path.’

“Until…?”

A pause.

‘Until they stop want anything else.’

That explained our discovery in the forest.

No one had killed those people.

They died because… “...They failed.”

And I didn’t.

‘No you didn’t.’

I blinked. They can hear my thoughts?

“Why did you congratulate me?”

‘Because you picked truth over desire. Almost nobody does.’

-Almost- nobody.

I looked around. “What are you?”

Silence.

Eventually after a longer time…

‘Gardeners.’

I frowned.

“Gardeners?”

‘Ambition grows wild. And we merely cultivate it.’

I put my hand on my hip.

“You harvest.”

No reaction came.


Instead…

I noticed the salutes around me had stopped. Banners that were held lost their wind. The black stone beneath my feet turned into earth. And the warmth of my lover’s hand faded.

Instinctively I tightened my grip, but it was like there was nothing to grasp. His fingers became mist between mine before the rest of him started to dissolve. His face was the last thing remaining.

He didn’t look frightened, or angry. Or upset. He was just…

… like I remembered him.

Then his face disappeared.

No… No!!


And just before I opened my eyes I sensed cold air. Birdsong sounded from above. In the distance I heard a river. Slowly I became aware of the smell of wet moss and my own breathing.

The armies, the black citadel… it was all gone. Just the edge of a forest.

And right at the point where we had started!

When I looked around I couldn’t see any of my party members.

No hard guess on their whereabouts.

But I made it out.

I turned on my heels towards the forest.

I succeeded, and they had failed. Why?

Why had I escaped a trap designed to ensnare ambition itself?


Because…

…because my trust and faith in Bane is beyond everything.

[leviticus]

I looked down.

My own tracks led out of the forest.

And behind them… the earth was already forgetting they had ever existed.

I had escaped, but the anomaly remained. Ready for the next party.

I stood there for a long while before I turned over and headed back to the shore.



The commander sat in his chair when I entered his office. This time it was the real one.

Behind me the door closed and I stood in silence before he finally looked up.

“Jezebeth,“ he nodded, “How many returned?”

That was his first question to me?

“One, sir.”

Silence.

“You.”

Typical. Red Knight fans always loved to establish the cost as one of the first things. His next questions however would become increasingly precise.

“Did you accomplish the mission?”

I shook my head. “No, sir.”

“Oh? Why is that?”

I clasped my hands behind my back. “Because the objective changed, sir.”

“Explain.”

Before I answered I considered what would be strategically disastrous. If I would explain everything I had experienced, I’d practically be handing this man a psychological profile of myself. I know Lord Vacran would love that information.

But I knew better…

“Within the forest we have encountered something I would call an anomaly that presents individualized incentives designed to retain its subjects. Or victims if you will.”

That was basically what happened.

“What incentives?” He asked me.

“Irrelevant.”

“Irrelevant? Explain.”

I looked him in the eyes. "Because mine will differ from yours."

I thought that was an excellent intelligence answer. I also saw the commander was starting to get interested now.

“How did you escape this… anomaly?”

“I genuinely don’t know, but based on evidence I would guess it’s because I identified inconsistencies, sir.”

“Explain.”

"The anomaly reacted to expectation rather than reality."

“So it’s linked to desire,” he nodded.

“I think so, sir. Though it failed under investigation. From my observations, sir.”

“What actions did you take to address this… threat?”

I answered immediately, “I killed the tracker, sir.”

The room became very quiet.

“Why?”

Without hesitation I said, “Experiment, sir.”

“Explain.”

“I believed he was a possible vector, affecting the party’s path.”

“And you were wrong.”

“Affirmative, sir.”

The commander leaned back.

“Was it worth it?”

“I don’t know, sir.”

“Would you do it again?”

I thought this over before I nodded.

“With the same information… I would, sir.”

I was aware the commander now had learned something about myself, but it was exactly one of those things I liked people to know about me.

“Mission outcome?”

I didn’t answer right away.

“Partial success, sir. I mapped a mechanism, identified an anomaly, I have confirmation on what happened with any previous missions, and I discovered a way of individualized psychological manipulation. Sir.”

The commander got up, walked around his table and then leaned on his desk right in front of me.

Quietly he said : “Maybe you didn’t escape.”

I blinked. “Sir?”

“You came back, yes, and exactly that is a whole other thing.”

Where was this Red Knight devout going?

“There is a chance something in that forest wanted us exactly to have this report."

“Sir…?”

“Dismissed.”

I saluted. But as I made my way to the door…

“Oh, and Jezebeth? Don’t go out too far.”

I looked over my shoulder.

“You’re placed under observation.”

“Sir.”


A chill ran down my spine as I made my way out.

Was surviving itself the intended outcome? Was I… spreading information ‘they’ wanted me to spread?

Well… one thing was for sure. Nothing of what I had witnessed was real.

That black citadel with all its terraces… it couldn’t have been Bane’s after all.

It simply wasn’t high enough.


Perfection has no ceiling.