In Harmony We Trust, Ryan Matthew Harker [rooftoppers .txt] 📗

go to his head and impair his judgment. Now if only he could wrap his brain around what the problem was with the disregard for security at the canon’s camp he would feel better about their chance of success.


By the time Queen Mega’N entered the throne room Zakeriah had surrounded himself with his war advisors. Nefarious and Lord Seuriius were there, as well as various consultants and advisors of the crown.
“What’s going on in here?” Mega’N demanded as she approached the throne.
“Ah, my Queen,” Zakeriah greeted and took her hand to help her to her seat. “I’m glad you could join us.” Ever since he had resigned himself to his present course of action his spirits had risen remarkably.
“Again, my Lord, what is it you think you’re doing?”
“My darling, I have decided that it is time to take this war to its source. I’m going to attack Harmony.”
“What!” the queen exclaimed.
“Don’t play dumb, dear. You heard me.”
“Heard you wrong I hope,” she said.
“No my love,” Zakeriah’s face went grim. “Not wrong.”
“Are you out of your mind?” Mega’N thundered. “There are millions of them out there!”
“I know,” Zakeriah stated calmly. “But if we do not act now there will be no one in here.” At that moment another blast impacted the shields and shook the walls around them, punctuating the king’s statement. He looked at the ceiling as bits of plaster shook loose as if to say, see what I mean?
The queen sighed in resignation. “You’re right, of course,” she admitted.
“Of course,” the king said gently. “And now if we can return to the discussion at hand, the clock is ticking.” He turned to one of his advisors. “How much time remains?”
“Approximately five hours and eleven minutes,” the man said.
“Five hours gentlemen,” Zakeriah steeped his fingers and looked over them. “Five hours and our shields fail. Harmony will either annihilate us with his arcane energy canon or, if he so chooses, with a bit more effort he can overwhelm us with sheer numbers. Now, what are we going to do to ensure that neither of these options comes to pass?”
“The odds against us are staggering Sire,” Nefarious spoke up. He had returned directly after summoning the queen. “As of this moment Harmony has an estimated six million troops camped outside our walls while our own fighting numbers are barely five hundred thousand.”
“With or without our arcane arsenal?” the king asked.
“Without, Sire,” Nefarious told him. “Our magicians are numbering about ten thousand with volunteers trickling in as we speak. I’ve had the call sent out and anyone with any kind of experience, magical or otherwise, offensive or defensive, is being drafted and briefed on the situation.”
“Very good,” Zakeriah said.
“And just what are you planning to do with so few people?” the queen asked.
Suddenly the king had an idea. “How many men do you think the other four lords having standing by?” he asked.
Lord Seuriius spoke up. “Your Highness, I believe that considering the size of each of the provinces in question that we can expect an average of another two hundred thousand between the four of them.”
“And what of Jeshux mercenaries?” the king asked.
One of his statisticians answered, “Last count Commander General Jeshux had only forty or so thousand men left, a little over half of which are currently stationed here.”
“And would it be possible, without exact coordinates for these forces, to teleport someone to their locations?” Zakeriah inquired.
Everyone was silent as Nefarious contemplated the king’s request for a moment before he said, “Yes I believe we may be able to do that with a fair amount of accuracy your Highness.”
“What does a fair amount of accuracy entail?’ Mega’N asked skeptically.
“I’d say at least an eighty-five percent chance of success my Queen,” Nefarious told her.
“Excellent,” Zakeriah said.
“But we have to lower the shields in order to do it, Sire,” Nefarious said.
“How much time do you need?” the king asked.
Nefarious did a quick mental calculation before replying, “Six to ten minutes, your Highness.”
Another blast shook the palace and everyone waited for the repercussion to subside before continuing.
“How far apart have those blasts been coming?” Zakeriah asked.
“Those last two were twelve minutes, thirteen seconds apart Sire,” and aid informed him. “But they’ve been averaging anywhere from seven to eleven minutes.”
“It would be close then,” the king mused.
“Perhaps too close,” the queen proposed.
“Perhaps my love,” Zakeriah conceded. “But what other choice do we have?”
The Queen’s silence was answer enough.
“It’s settled then,” the king stated with finality. “I want everything ready within the hour.” He turned to Nefarious. “See to it.”
“At once my Lord,” the magician said, rose from his seat and left.
“And as for you Seuriius,” Zakeriah said. “Go now and prepare your men for battle. I also want them ready within the hour.”
“It shall be done Sire.” The lord rose from his seat and left.
“I need my garrisons prepped and ready for war. City Guard stays to deal with domestic protocol; Royal and Imperial guards are on standby so they only need to be given the word that now is the time. I don’t think that fancy tactics are going to do us any good against the force that Harmony has assembled against us, so this is what I propose; once we’ve located our outside allies we’re going to send them the necessary aid to teleport to our assistance. We’ll bring them all to one area, somewhere on the other side of Harmony’s army, right before the moment of our attack. Once we launch our assault they can rush in as well and we will sandwich Harmony between us.”
“It sounds like you’ve been thinking about this for quite a while, my liege,” one of the council members interjected.
“Not really,” Zakeriah admitted. “It’s all just come to me in a flash of desperation.”
There were smirks from the men gathered around; often in war did despair breed the best of strategies.
The queen however, was not amused.
The king went on, “The way I figure it, if we can bring together our forces which are scattered throughout the countryside then we will have brought Jeshux mercenaries and he will have the Chosen Ones with him. At that point everything will depend on fate. If the prophecy is correct then this is the time it comes to pass.”
“Ought that fate to be tempted?” Mega’N mused. “It might not do well to force a meeting between Harmony and the Chosen Ones before it is time.”
There were murmurs of agreement from the assembly and the king held up his hand for silence.
“Are we forcing anything?” he asked. “I don’t think we can. After all, if we decide to go into battle and this is the path we choose to lead us to this battle, it is fate. Is it not?” Zakeriah looked around at the men before him.
There was no arguing the king’s logic. Everyone rose to their feet and there was a collective cry of, “Aye!”
Zakeriah looked upon the men before him with the love that only a king could feel for his people and smiled.
“It’s settled,” he said. “All of you know your duties in preparing for this undertaking. I expect you all ready within the hour, dismissed!”
All of them gave him the salute of fidelity to the crown, which he returned, and then they all hurried from the room eager to go about their business.
“Bravely said, my Lord,” Mega’N spoke from the seat next to him. “But none of those men are philosophers. You didn’t really expect them to argue with you, did you?”
“No, my love,” Zakeriah smiled and took her hand in his.
“And do you believe it?” she asked.
“What do you mean?” he countered.
“What of your dream?” Mega’N inquired. “Surely if you believe it to be a premonition of your victory then it can’t be fated for the Chosen Ones to defeat Harmony, in which case the prophecy would be wrong. Wouldn’t it?”
Zakeriah frowned. “What are you driving at?”
“I’m just trying to make certain where your beliefs sit my love,” the queen squeezed his hand. “Nothing more.”
“The prophecy speaks of the Chosen Ones delivering us from a great evil and ending a war,” he reminded her. “It does not specify that they are to be the death of Harmony only that it will be they who usher in a golden era in the history of AnEerth.”
“Yes, my love. I know the prophecy as well as you,” Mega’N chided. “I just want you to think about what you are doing.”
Zakeriah removed his hand from hers and gave her a hard look. “I have thought about it. I’ve been thinking about it for years. It’s all I’ve been able to think about all week and finally, on this day, I have been shown the path I am to follow, the road of salvation for our people, our planet. This is what I have to do to save us all”
“Do you hear yourself?” Mega’N asked as she returned his look exactly. “You’re not the one destined to save us. Candlelite and Absinthe are. How can you have convinced yourself that it can be otherwise?”
“I have not,” he denied. “But all the same I have a role to play in all of this and as ruler of this planet I have a responsibility to the people who live on it. I must do something. I have to do everything in my power to keep them safe.”
“Yes Zakeriah, you do. Just don’t forget your place in all of this. Don’t believe it’s something it’s not.”
“I have not,” he repeated. “I will not.”
“Good,” she said firmly and rose from her seat. “Then I shall leave you as I’m sure you’ve much to do before your battle and I have preparations of my own to attend to.”
“What kind of preparations?” the king asked suspiciously.
“I must ready myself to ride with you,” she told him.
“No!” he shouted. “I forbid it!”
“You forbid nothing,” she retorted calmly. “My place is by your side. It always has been and it always will be.”
“Mega’N,” Zakeriah pleaded. “Please, no.”
“Yes,” was the only word the queen said and then she left the room.
The king stared after her and for some time after her departure sat in silence. It was some time later before he finally realized that the walls had not shaken for quite some time.


It came to the Lord Quazetkic while he sat on his horse with the other lords before they left for their assault on the arcane energy canon.
“A force field!” he suddenly shouted.
“What?” Turinoc asked, startled by the other lord’s outburst.
“A force field,” Quazetkic repeated. “That is why the guards at the canon seemed so unconcerned about security. There must be a force field around the area.”
Lord Keriee nodded his approval at Quazetkic’s suggestion. It made sense.
“A force field,” Havershom mused. He took a long pull from a cigarette. “Damn.” His enthusiasm dropped a few notches.
“This is the reason,” Quazetkic said. “I am sure of it.”
“That would explain it,” Turinoc rumbled. “But if there’s a force field around the canon, then how do they fire the thing?”
“They would have to lower it temporarily before every shot,” Keriee answered stroking his mustache thoughtfully.
“Precisely,” Quazetkic agreed. “Which means that it can be infiltrated.”
“Aye,” Havershom’s excitement was again on the rise. “Whew! Y’ had m’ worried fer a minute there, boyo.”
“It must go down for only a moment,” Turinoc said. “How are we going to turn it off long enough for us to get in and overwhelm the camp?”
“I’m not sure yet,” Quazetkic said.