Sorenan stood in the center of the arena. His sandy colored hair was bound back in a braid that snaked over his shoulders as he turned his head to watch his opponent. He bore the Sword of Ashur. He was one of the two sword-bearers. Where the Emperor wore his Sword as a ceremonial thing, Sorenan carried his openly. Bearing the god-weapon was a heavy duty but it marked him as the third of the prophecy. It showed the people of the Dacian Empire that he was the third star in the constellation associated with the union of Ashur and Julara, the holy gods of the Empire. No one knew for sure what the star meant, this was lost in the library and the head librarian gone to the North of the Empire as a newly minted priestess, none could find it or read it.
Sorenan's opponent was a sub-general who insisted that the Empress had broken faith with Julara and was no longer deserving of the honors of being high priestess of the faith or to be recognized as her living daughter upon the face of the world. The sub-general was a decorated military man. When General Zalaz learned that this man had spoken blasphemy that was being rumored in the North, the general despaired that he would have to report it to the Emperor. Zalaz came into the hall of the Emperor's council and found Marcos and Sorenan discussing the problem of the ongoing fighting in the South. Temna remained a major threat and the sub-general's blasphemy suggested that an internal threat was gaining strength. Marcos looked over at Zalaz and saw the general's look of dismay.
When he explained what happened and how he had taken the sub-general into custody, Marcos nodded. The Emperor looked over at the mercenary at his side. While the customary punishment for blasphemy was slitting the tongue and banishing the offended, he couldn't help but feel that an example had to be made of the sub-general. "Death by combat," Marcos said, his tone questioning. Sorenan nodded in agreement. "Tomorrow then," the Emperor of Dacia said. Zalaz let out a breath that he had been holding. "Let it be known through out the city that the Sword of Ashur metes out justice tomorrow at noontide." Zalaz nodded and looked sharply at a scribe. The scribe practically ran out of the room.
So it happened that Sorenan stood in the place that Emperors had stood in the past. The sub-general was a wiry man like Sorenan. The desert man did not wear the heavy armor of the guard. His armor was burnished brass that shone brightly in the brilliant sun, nearly blinding Sorenan with its gleam. The sub-general paced about the mercenary turned military advisor to the Emperor. As he took his measure of the man, Sorenan noted that he had a slight limp in his left leg. Like Sorenan, the sub-general bore a sword.
Deciding that he wasn't going to wait longer, as soon as the sub-general passed on his left, Sorenan attacked. In his black leather armor of the mountain people, the man was sweating heavily. He ignored the discomfort as he charged the sub-general, not even bothering for to reach for his sword. Sorenan slammed into the sub-general hard enough to knock him off his feet. They rolled across the ground, grappling with each other for a long moment.
Sorenan found his way to the top and delivered a mighty punch to the sub-general's right jaw. He could feel heat burning its way down through his arm as he threw that punch. It was just like when Ashur took over on the battlefield. That was his only warning that the world was about to slide sideways. Thrown out of his body by the angered god, Sorenan stood beside himself watching as his possessed body beat the sub-general with such force that his helmet was dented.
The sub-general somehow manage by some quirk of fate, or perhaps Ashur's desire to deliver yet more misery upon the one who had spoken blasphemy against the high priestess of his wife, to remain conscious. Ashur-Sorenan stood and kicked the sub-general in the ribs. The man rolled across the ground and got up onto his hands and knees. As the sub-general stood, there was the sound of birds calling in the air. He looked up and realized that eagles were circling above. Ashur-Sorenan drew the sword and it made a noise like metal tearing as it came free of the scabbard.
The leaf shaped sword shone with light and the sub-general raised his hand to shield his eyes. Ashur-Sorenan strode towards the sub-general who saw that Sorenan's typically leonine eyes had turned eagle gold and shone with light from within. The sub-general drew his sword and cast it away before he turned to flee. Ashur-Sorenan bellowed, "Stand, heretic!" It echoed like a thunder clap through the stadium. Where the city residents had been murmuring or chattering in anticipation of the gladitorial combat to begin in earnest, stunned silence filled the space. Compelled by the deity, the sub-general turned to face his doom.
"Observe the fate of all who profane the name of Julara's Daughter," Ashur-Sorenan boomed with that thunderous voice. The sub-general's eyes streamed with tears as he realized the extend of his folly. The sword swept through the air as the sub-general screamed. His tongue was slashed in half and a sharp line was cut across his face. As the burning sword moved away, the sky darkened to the point where Ashur-Sorenan seemed to glow on the red sand of the stadium floor despite the dark armor. Then the eagles descended. Screams of horror came as thousands of birds swooped and ripped the man apart, their talons ripping through his armor as if it were merely linen. The man was lifted and dropped several times through the cacophony of eagle cries and their efforts. Ashur-Sorenan lifted his right arm and an eagle covered in blood landed on his wrist as the others flew off to what ever strange place they had come from.
Laying on the ground before him was the barely living ruins of the sub-general. His eyes had been pecked out. His face had been shredded by talon and beak, as had the rest of him. He seemed a quivering lump of meat. The cries of horror in the crowd had dropped down to whimpering and weeping as Ashur-Sorenan walked up to what had once been a man. The burning sword came down and Sorenan found himself back within his body. Beside him, though none but him could see him, stood Ashur.
"Go North," Ashur said, "Quell the uprising. The Lady of the North has opened the way.:
