King of Ashes

King of Ashes is a part of Tales of Arkain.

## Synopsis

The story was focused on Haran'tel-kazor and his futile resistance against the Undead Nexus.

## Story

"Another wave!" the guard shouted. Quickly, the other warriors got on their feet and hurried to their position. It was the fifth wave today. The Ejara slavers were losing their patience, yet their attacks remained feeble. Their long inactivity must have slowed their brain capacities. That was good. It meant that the Nerubians had more time to breed their hatchlings. They were little more than brainless animals, corrupted by dark magic in order to increase their birth rate, but they were still a vital part of the nerubian defense. The cost had been high. Many queens died due to having been exposed to the magic that allowed them to breed countless of these little beings. The price was high, but there had been no other way. Without the hatchlings to serve as their meat shield, the Nerubians would never have come so far.

It had been many years since Haran'tel-kazor, the only living Overlord of his race, had started a rebellion against the undead masters of his race. Many followed him while others, having lost themselves to lethargy, had continued to accept their fate. The time to strike had been perfect. The number of undead overseers had declined over the years, before Haran, as his friends called him, was even born. They did not know why, but their undead masters seemed to have forgotten they even existed, moving more and more forces away from the prisons and breeding chambers and into their own inner chambers instead. Haran neither knew nor cared for the reason, when the number of guards was low enough, he and his followers escaped the breeding chambers. These chambers... Haran could feel the anger filling him when only thinking about them. The Undead made them breed like they were lesser animals! They were treated like cattle! They, a proud and intelligent race! They had to fight, no matter the cost. Haran's mate, a queen, was lost due to exposure to the dark magic they used. He missed her, but he knew that there had been no other way. This fight was for all Nerubians, not for him personally or those close to him. Generations that'd come after them should be able to live FREE, not as slaves of undead tyrants!

Haran watched silently as the undead forces surged against the defenses he had set up. Their numbers grew. Something had changed. He did not tell his underlings, the experienced ones probably noticed themselves. He did not want them to lose hope. The attacks grew in power. The Ejara Nexus wanted its 'property' back. The Ejara Nexus. The source of all that his people had to suffer. The slavers of the Watcher. The breeders. The butchers. Haran knew only little of the other nexus, the Ejara Nexus was in charge of all breeding and slaver operations. They were the hated masters of the Nerubians - and if the Undead ever decided to enslave other races, the Ejara surely were going to be the ones to take control of them as well. For a long time, their attacks had been rather weak. Enough to keep the Nerubians on their toes, yes, but not dangerous enough to actually wipe them out - because the Nerubians resorted to these new methods of breeding, enhanced with dark magic. Of course also normal nerubians were coming to life.
Coming to think of it, Haran realized how strong his race had become. Their numbers had grown immensely and there were still many eggs waiting to be hatched. Maybe this was why the Ejara increased the strength of their attacks, because they knew that the Nerubians were growing stronger. Yes, that sounded right.

"Overlord, the attack has been repelled." Haran's lieutenant reported. Haran nodded. "How many have we lost?" he asked. His lieutenant hesitated. "No losses apart from the hatchlings. But... we have lost all of them." he finally said. Haran looked at him, surprised and shocked. "A- all of them? How is this possible? There were-" "The Undead were rising the dead hatchlings to fight the living ones. They.... were unable to realize which ones were alive and which ones were not while the undead ones were commanded by their masters. And the other Undead were more... coordinated than usual. Their attacks are not only growing in power, they are starting to use actual strategies against us." his lieutenant reported. Haran looked at his defenses. The lieutenant was not lying: All hatchlings were dead. And from the looks of it, several of his soldiers were wounded - alive, but wounded. "This is... unexpected." Haran said. Then he turned back to his lieutenant. "I want all queens to lay as many eggs as possible. Hatchlings, full-grown nerubians, it matters not. Use as much of the dark magic as neccessary. The Dead have a plan and we will now allow them to succeed." he commanded. His lieutenant looked over his shoulder. Several soldiers stood nearby, looking at Haran. "Overlord, with all due respect. We have lost many lives to this dark magic. Too many queens have died already. We trust your command, but ever since we have started using this magic, we have lost our identity. We are sacrificing our own, turn our brood into mindless animals... Are we better than the Undead if we keep-" "This magic is the only thing that has kept our race alive for many years! Without it, we'd long be dead or back in the breeding chambers. Is this what you want? Going back there?" Haran interrupted him. His lieutenant hesitated. Then he sighed and shook his head. "No, overlord. We... we will comply." he said and left. The other soldiers still stood there for a while until they finally returned to their position. There was no other attack on that day.

Nor on the next day. Or the day after that. The Undead had ceased all attacks. Haran did not mind at all. It gave the queens more time to lay eggs. And so, on the fourth day after the last attack of the Undead, countless eggs lay in waiting. Many of them were for the mindless hatchlings, but about half of them were ordinary, uncorrupted nerubians. Haran had never seen so many eggs before, not in the breeding chambers, not during the rebellion. With this army, once hatched... Maybe they could actually start a counter attack and strike at the breeding chambers? They could free the rest of their race once all the eggs were hatched! On that day, the Undead came back. Haran stood at his usual spot where he could watch the battle from afar and coordinate the defenses. Then, as he saw them approaching, he saw him. The Watcher of Arkain himself. He led this attack. And he was accompanied by a strange looking skeleton with a bow. It was Krom the Immortal. This was no weak Ejara slave wave, it was a combined attack from elite Ejara Nexus slavers and the Splecir Nexus - the personal army of the Watcher. Haran could do nothing but watch as his forces were torn apart by these attackers. The Watcher himself unleashed death upon the Nerubians. Haran's soldiers and the brainless hatchlings fought valiantly, but they stood no chance. Finally, when the Watcher confronted Haran, he understood. He had been nothing but a tool. The Watcher himself had planned for the Nerubians to start this uprising, expecting them to lay more eggs than they ever did in the breeding chambers - and they did. He also understood that the Ejara Nexus had never attacked them with any real strength. The Ejara slavers had only sent the weak remains of Nerubians who had lived long enough to die of old age their way. Now they sent heavily armored skeletons with massive warhammers that could easily crush the skull of a grown Nerubian with a good hit. The dark magic itself had been a secret gift of the Watcher. It had been a trap. Everything. And now, Haran had the attention of the Watcher. Haran was considered to be the champion of his people. And then, an arrow hit Haran right between his many eyes. The hubris of the Nerubian Overlord had been his downfall. He was a fool to think he could stand against the Watcher.

A skeleton opened the door and entered. The room was dark, the torches were not lit. The skeleton hissed and looked around. It wore heavy, battle-worn armor. Its eyes were glowing red in the dark as it continued to look around until it found what it had been looking for. "We have captured them." it said and the door was opened once more. This time, a group of nerubians entered, surrounded by more skeletons and other undead creatures. "We have found them trying to hide in the darkness of an old, unused breeding chamber. What shall we do with them?" the skeleton asked, his eyes still glowing red. A heavy breath could be heard from the other side of room, from the direction where the skeleton was looking at. Slowly, a large creature stepped forward. The Nerubians could not help it, they had to look, even though it terrified them so much that they could not even move or say a word. "Kill the males." the creature commanded. The skeleton nodded, drawing its weapon, a heavy warhammer, and crushed the skull of the nerubian that stood first in line. One single hit. An effective hit. The other undead killed the other males. Then the skeleton leader looked back at the creature. "What of the females?" he asked. "They tried to hide in a breeding chamber that is no longer used. Use them to reactivate it. This is the will of Haran'tel-kazor."