The Story Of Xerxes, Axe Of Glory

The big halls of the jungle city complex were almost empty. But we saw some of the natives, hiding, cowering. Their civilisation seemed to be only a husk of its former glory. Their elite caste still visibly distinct from the rest of the fold, but even they were looking at us fearfully, barely returning our gaze.

Granted, it was impressive they were able to build such a huge and bizarre metropolis in the middle of this hostile, poisonous jungle in the Land Of Unknown. Everything here was so different than what we knew from the Lands Of People, our home. Only the recent invention of steam powered submarines enabled bold explorers like me to pass through (or rather underneath) the Unforgiving Storm Wall and discover this bizarre world.

First we had to cut our way through the thick green nets of plants we never seen, meeting creatures we never could have imagined.

In few days and many perils, we reached the Metropolis and remained in awe. A big, weirdly unnatural crater formed the skeleton of the city. Oddly shaped structures formed the flesh, countless round tunnels were veins and big oval halls - organs. The complex itself resembled a giant ant colony more than a human city.

We were sure it wasn’t build by ants, but our imagination was running wild because ants were everywhere - big, fat and violet. When disturbed they squirted a weird substance which exploded in an acidic cloud. It could hurt eyes, skin and flesh and even corrode steel armor. Coordinated attack of hundreds of these creatures could make the air in vicinity unbreathable, as some of my soldiers learned to their own peril.

It was no coincidence that natives - weirdly pale, skinny and tall humanoids with bald heads - were worshipping ants. Luckily ant worshippers didn’t share aggressive nature of their little insect gods.

When we arrived and set up a camp near their city they didn’t try to put up any resistance. They simply ran and hid in their ant labyrinth, which seemed too big for such a small number of people.

Shortly Alatar - our red wizard - was able to telepathically connect with one of their shaman priests. We telecommunicated following message to him:

“We are men from beyond the Storm Wall and Great Blue. We are lead by Xerxes the Axe Of Glory, General Of His Majesty’s 3rd army and Admiral of 3rd Royal Submarine fleet. We are here to conquer these lands and turn them into a prospering province of Lands Of People. We bring progress, truth and light. Submit to our rule and you will not be harmed.”

The priests answer was a most unusual one:

“We submit to you. We are peaceful CREATURES. Our QUEEN will meet your QUEEN outside of MAHTZECHEEZMARRAN”

Of course we knew this could be a trap, but meeting outside of their weirdly named city posed a little risk to us. We had six thousand well armed elite troops and good strategic position outside the city. We overlooked the odd mention of Queen. Maybe they live in a matriarchal society and expect us to be the same.

We didn’t have to wait for long. The delegation of ant worshippers appeared, meekly walking towards us, faces down, necks bent in a permanent bow. Like servants. Only richly decorated robes and violet face paint hinted towards them being of higher caste.

Their leader was a tall, elderly man with violet decorations and diadem with weird antlers. He was also the only one carrying an item - a translucent capsule full of violet glow. Perhaps another symbol of his status? He approached me and lied down in front of my feet, lifting the capsule up in the air, from up close I noticed it contains few of the ants. It was hard to see this gesture as anything but a signal of submission. 



Alatar translated to us his telecommunication:

“We are peaceful. I am the QUEEN. I submit. We will bring gifts and treasures, the best of our land to you. Let’s enter MAHTZECHEEZMARRAN together. I remain as your hostage, so you feel safe. If you feel unsafe, you can kill me. I tell the truth."

With this reassurance I dispatched with Alatar and half of my force into the city, of course with utmost caution. Last thing I wanted was to lead my men into a trap. But my goal here is to explore, to conquer and to extend his Majesty’s will. If these people are really submitting willingly, I can’t refuse. The best battle is the one which is avoided.

And thus, leading my comrades, donned in full plate armor, holding up my Axe and Holy Shield, I am walking through tunnels and halls of this “alien" civilization.

More of the ant worshippers welcomed us inside the big and well lit oval hall. They laid countless gifts in front of our feet. Cages with exotic animals, glowing gemstones and even weird organic flasks of liquid Alatar said emanate some form of healing magic. We feasted on the food they brought us, delicious spices made the weird soft meat of jungle creatures edible and fruit nectars were otherworldly.

Never once did we feel threatened. Their meek faces, respectful bows and calm and subservient demeanor put us at ease. After few days we started to gain basic understanding of their language and religion. Their culture was indeed centred around these violet ants, every item they produced had some resemblance of an ant or ant egg.

The ants themselves were everywhere in the city, and ant worshippers avoided them with care. In fact the only sort of discomfort these people shown was when one of my men crushed a violet ant under his boot. They did not do anything, but they were visibly disturbed and sad.

From that point we refrained from hurting the ants deliberately, but sometimes their bite could be quite painful and their acid explosions dangerous. So I ordered Alatar to clear out all the ant nests around our camp with magical fire. Of course we made sure there were no ant worshippers around to see it and mourn.

After a month of getting familiar with our new subjects and their city I decided to leave. Alatar with half of my men stayed behind to build a permanent fortress on a small hill near MAHTZECHEEZMARRAN. Me and the rest returned to our submarines and traveled back, under the Big Blue and Storm Wall to bring our treasure and news of our spoils back home.

The Leader of Ant Worshippers insisted we bring back the violet capsule with ants as a gift of utmost respect and importance. I felt the gravity of this gesture. The capsule was probably a symbol of their ruler. It also contained living ants and ant worshippers wouldn’t just give them away as toys.

I also insisted to bring home few of the ant worshippers to take care of the ants (and of course to show off these strange people at home). They reluctantly agreed to send two young females but assured us that ants in the capsule do not need any care and should not be disturbed.

The journey back home was quiet and I spend most of the time going over Alatar’s notes, checking the items we are bringing. One thing that kept captivating my attention was the ant capsule. It seemed like the ants appeared and disappeared from it at will, sometimes there were no more than dozen inside, sometimes there were hundreds of them. The view through the translucent organic membrane was kind of distorted but it seemed they were building some pulsating violet blob inside. Alatar assured me earlier that the blob doesn’t posses any magical properties, but I was curious if there are forms of otherworldy magic he is not familiar with.

His Majesty greeted me lavishly. All of his courtiers gathered to marvel at the treasure we brought and stories we told. He even took one of the Ant Worshipper girls to his private rooms. I myself didn’t feel particularly attracted to their bald heads, pale and skinny bodies but his Majesty is a man of his own renown.

That night changed everything. I was about to return to Navy Barracks to debrief the rest of my men and reward them for their contribution. When the overwhelming bright light filled everything around me and soon after the roaring sound, from the Royal Palace. I looked back, half blind and I saw a huge violet mushroom cloud towering over the city. Royal Palace was already covered by thick acidic smoke. I immediately recognized the violet ant explosion, just millions of times bigger than what we saw in the jungles of Land Of Unknown.

At the same time sharp and painful thought pierced my mind.

“TRAP! ANTS - REAL MASTERS! DESTROY CAPSULE!”.

These were not my thoughts, but Alatar's. I can only imagine how much energy he had to expend to telecommunicate with me over such distance and through Storm Wall. He probably put himself in serious health risk doing this. But it was too late. Capsule already done its job and the acidic cloud was consuming the city. I ran as fast as I could straight to submarine docks. I was able to catch almost full submarine crew inside the first submarine, still unloading some cargo from the journey and cleaning the interior. 



“Code red, we are submerging immediately, all hands on board!"

I couldn’t even hear my own voice, that’s how in shock I was, but the crew heard…and saw the apocalypse happening in the city. We submerged and remained under water swimming north against the wind, hoping the acidic cloud will not spread this way. After three days we were forced to go to the surface to replenish air. When I looked at the shore through periscope the sky was faint violet and sun was nowhere to be seen despite the fact it was noon. Air was breathable but had a faint nauseating stench. We decided to turn back to the City.

Almost everyone was dead, houses burned. Few people that survived seemed to be mindlessly wandering the streets, looking high on something. They were all pointing in one direction - Royal Palace and didn’t answer our questions. We made our way towards it until we saw the Palace is no more. In its stead a giant crater was gaping at us. Violet light was stronger here and the nauseating scent was more palpable.

Then we saw them - few small hills in the crater, bustling with millions of little fat violet insect bodies. A sharp thought pierced my mind again. Altough these were not Alatar's thoughts. They were not human at all.

“We are ANT PEOPLE from beyond the Storm Wall and Great Blue. We are lead by QUEEN. We are here to conquer these lands and turn them into a prospering province of ANT REALM. We bring BALANCE. Submit to our rule and you will not be harmed.”

The scent in the air started to turn heavier. Few of my men got a blank stare in their eyes and dropped their weapons, pointing towards their crater. I ordered everyone to cover their mouths and noses with a piece of cloth and run back to our submarine. Few more didn’t make it, couldn’t resist the calling of the Violet Terror.

Now, as I am writing these words, I am certain our mighty Land Of People is doomed. I know not what will become of me. I let the sea currents take my submarine whenever they wish, as we do not have enough fuel for engines anymore. I used to conquer, now I submit. I am no longer Xerxes Axe of Glory.

I am Xerxes Sorrow of Glory.

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