A Union of Hearts: Mercy & Justice: Chapter 3 – Honor Through Violence

*Concept art for Caleb and Kyla’s combined dragon, the Judgment of the Absolute.

Chapter 3 – Honor Through Violence

“Caleb, are you falling asleep again?” Kyla asks me.

“I’m trying not to,” I say.

Kyla and I took a nap and ate a bit at an inn before heading back out to check on my parents who are supposed to be investigating a city that’s under the influence of Absalom. The short downtime has reminded me that we didn’t learn anything useful about him when we met him. Sure, we didn’t know he could empower his allies with his specters, but that’s not enough. We don’t know the full extent of his power. What’s obvious to me is that the vainglory are influencing him and we may have to deal with a demonic threat that’s worse than the sorrowful wrath of a man who’s been brought down by the tragedies of his life and the reality of this world.

From what we’ve heard from travelers at the inn, there’s an eerie red fog where the city we’re headed to is supposed to be, and those that dare head in the direction of the city are never heard from again. Not even our parents have come out nor any soldier or person with a Heart Absolute ability that can do anything. The neighboring towns and cities in the area have been careful in who they sent their messages to so that no one else will find themselves lost in the fog. This is clearly the work of Absalom and his ally must be the one responsible for the fog. When I heard of the fog, part of it reminded me of someone in the city, but I didn’t know who so I kept quiet about it. Now, I think I remember.

“I think I know what’s in the red fog,” I say.

“What is it? Is it like the man who could put people in dreams?” Kyla asks.

“Sort of. It’s similar to Absalom’s power except it’s more limited. I remember it being called the fog of war because it put individuals or groups of people into nonlethal battle scenarios for training.”

“That’s probably what we’re going to be dealing with. How do you think we should approach it?”

“Head on.”

“Seriously?”

“There’s nothing we can do from the outside. What? Do you want to try to dispel fog with our flames or shoot fireballs into the city until we hit the user of the ability?”

“Fine. We’ll go with your plan.”

I’d honestly like to hear something better from Kyla, but since we’re dealing with something mostly unknown, then we can only guess what to do. We continue traveling until we find the red fog that covers a large portion of the land. Heading in, we’re surprised that we don’t find any buildings around us. Instead, we find a forest as if a city was never built here. I look up and see that the red fog that we passed through is gone, which probably means that we’re trapped in here until we can figure out what to do.

“This place is beautiful, isn’t it,” Absalom says as he appears from behind a tree.

Instantly, my dragon breathes its fire on him, however, only the trees around him are burned and catch fire.

“Why do you got to be so predictable? Why don’t you face us in person?” I ask.

“Why do you have you resort to violence before I say anything?”

“Because you deserve it.”

“I think it’s because you were raised that way. Your side of the kingdom has always been prone to violence and kept on a short leash by the other side of it. Do you know of the time when both kingdoms were separate and had distinct names?”

“I remember from my history lessons. My side was called Vindicta and the other side was called Miserationem. They’re both still called that by few people sometimes, but the distinction doesn’t matter anymore since we’re one people.”

“I must admit that you’re right on that part. Even the merciful side is prone to violence now. The kingdom of Simbiosi is one of the Church’s peacekeepers and seemingly the biggest out of them and therefore guilty of the most bloodshed.”

“We fight for those we love and bring justice to the wicked. What point are you trying to make? Get to it so I can fight you already and get to my parents.”

“My point is to remind you that your kingdom, the Church, and the powers that be are one of the reasons the world is in a constant state of war and tragedy. Why don’t you see that it needs to end sooner rather than later? With my solution rather than yours?” Scenes of some of the most intense battles and struggles pass us by. “Look at it all! Doesn’t it sicken you? Don’t you think about the many children that are orphaned, the people that are enslaved, and those that die horrible deaths for nothing?”

“I do think about it. How can I not when my entire life revolves around fighting? I think about the worth of every fight I get into and what may come of it as a result. I'm fighting against you because I know you're wrong and the people who have convinced me of my reasons to fight and live a life of war against evil are right.”

“Don't you ever consider that they're wrong?”

“I have, but I trust the Absolute to guide my heart to make the right decisions and the Absolute is never wrong, and may the Absolute have mercy on me if I'm guided by my own foolish mind.”

“What about your life of war? Do you really want to fight all of your life?”

“I'd rather not honestly. I want to make the world peaceful for those that I love and this includes getting rid of conceited people like you that will ruin it if you get your way.”

“Kyla, are you going to let your husband do this? Don't you prefer mercy over violence?”

“I do, but mercy comes in the form of violence in this case. We will use it to punish you and your allies for your actions. Hopefully, your defeat will open your eyes and make you repent,” Kyla says while taking out her hammers.

I take out my weapons as well and prepare to fight.

“I see. If you won't change your mind, then I have no choice but to defend myself and kill you and your supporters. You have your loved ones to fight and die for and so do I. When you lie dying in the dirt, remember that I gave you a chance to peacefully work this out.”

The entire forest around us starts to burn around us as Absalom turns into a specter and then disappears. In the distance, we see two armies approaching on both sides. Both of these armies consist of Absalom’s specters and his conceited allies, but one of them is led by a conceited man in armor and wielding a halberd. His armor is decorated with skulls and bones, and I’m sure he’s the one controlling this since I know that the man with the ability to create war scenarios wears armor decorated with skulls and bones.

“Kill the warmongers!” the man in the armor says to his troops that scream in response.

Our dragons thin out the armies around us, however, some manage to get through unscathed somehow. Kyla and I fight on for a while until we realize that we may soon be overwhelmed. The man decorated with bones is down but not out as more specters continue to go into his body to replenish his strength.

“We’re going to have to use our combined power to get through this,” I say.

“I think so too. Are you ready?” Kyla says.

“Ready!”

Kyla and I hold each other’s hands while our dragons scream out and keep us safe.

“The two become one flesh. Let the Judgment of the Absolute fall upon all of us!” we say together.

Our hearts, minds, and dragons are now one for the time being as long as our strength holds out. The dragons of mercy and justice are now one dragon called the Judgment of the Absolute that has aspects of the dragons that comprise it such as the shield-like wings of the dragon of mercy and the horns and thorny crown of the dragon of justice. Are you ready to finish this, Kyla? I'm ready, Caleb.

“Let the flames of mercy and justice come!” we say together.

In a gust of wind, our dragon flies into the air and sprays blue and red fire all around us that begins to clear the scenery around us that exposes the red fog and making it disappear. Soon enough, the red fog is gone. The city that is supposed to be here is revealed and everyone in it is freed. Sometimes, I wish more cities in the kingdom looked like this, Kyla. I prefer the ones that look like the city I'm from, Caleb. The whole spiky tops of the buildings and their dark colors of them give this oppressive feel to them. But they look so cool and give them so much personality that reflects our culture. I'm not saying they don't. We should look for your parents. They won't be too hard to look for. Look in the sky!

Above us, we see my parents flying around checking on everyone and probably looking for us. They have a similar Heart Absolute ability to your parents, Kyla. Yeah, except your parents manifest aspects of the dragon of justice instead of the dragon of mercy. Looks like they found us. They're coming down to us right now.

“Caleb! Kyla! We knew you had the power to break that spell,” Caleb's father says while landing and the aspects of the dragon of justice disappear from him and his mother's body.

“We're sorry we couldn't break it ourselves,” Caleb's mother says.

“There's no need to be sorry. We're glad to see that you're still alive and well,” Caleb says.

“It's a good thing too because I sense an incoming battle.”

“I sense it too. Are you two ready?”

“Yes, we are,” we say together.

“Where's the enemy coming from?” Kyla asks.

“...all around us.”

Caleb's parents and I fly up in the air with the aid of our dragon to see that the trees are coming to life. No, wait. The ones that are coming to life are specters of Absalom that were pretending to be trees. There are also conceited among them that were hiding in the surrounding forest. All of them are coming at us in full force so we must act quickly.

“Listen to me, people of Simbiosi!” Caleb’s mother says in a voice that echoes throughout the entire city, “The conceited and vainglory are at our walls! Take up your arms! Defend your homes! Defend your loved ones! Fight for truth and love and all that is the Absolute!”

The entire city screams a battle roar as everyone who can take up arms does and since everyone who is from this side of the kingdom is given training in weapons, most if not everyone is ready to fight. They take weapons handed out to them by the blacksmiths, guards, and armies or take weapons from their homes and are then organized by Caleb’s father who tells them where to go from the air. As for us, we hold hands again as our dragon breathes fire into the air to create a large ball of blue and red flames.

“O, loving and terrifying judgment of the Absolute, deliver your verdict!” we say as the fireball is complete.

The large ball of fire hangs in the air like the sun before one fireball of black and gold flames breaks it apart and spread it over the lands as far as the eye can see. We then join the fighting below and defeat the enemy army thanks to the help of Caleb’s parents and the people of the city. After the fight, hardly anyone from the city is injured since the fire has been reported to heal them and turn to ash a majority of our enemies. In addition, the fire has also strangely not affected the forest. Instead, it has healed the wounds of battle inflicted on it and has seemingly made it more beautiful. Few of the conceited have survived and are sentenced without trial to a life of servitude and penance per the orders of Caleb’s father. Our people celebrate this victory immediately when returning back to the city.

Caleb, we should join them and separate our dragons. I’m starting to get really tired of keeping it together. Me too, Kyla. It was fun and epic fighting like this together again. We’ll probably have to do it again when fighting Absalom. Yeah, so let’s rest as much as we can.

As we separate, our dragons separate too, and return to their original forms. A weight is also taken off my shoulders that was feeling a bit too much to bear, but I still feel my heart’s connection to Kyla even though our minds aren’t one. To be honest, I’ve felt this connection ever since we met as if our hearts were always meant to be one, which they were since the Absolute made us for each other. Anyways, we go down and celebrate with our people and then rest for the night before we begin to head out. My mother flies at me to hug me as we are making our way to them.

“You can’t leave without giving your mother and father goodbye hugs and kisses,” she says.

“We were coming to you to do just that, mother. Why do you always have to act like we don’t?” I ask.

“Because I love embarrassing you in front of your wife.”

“Come on, honey. Let them go,” my father says.

“Fine.”

“I’m sure I don’t need to say this but be careful with Absalom and the vainglory that gives him his powers.”

“You already know that he is being aided by the vainglory?” I ask.

“What else could boost his conceited powers besides demonic powers? His allies also seemed possessed and not themselves when his specters merged with their bodies. Absalom spoke of peace, but his allies were quick to violence after an exchange of few words.”

“Figures. We'll do our best, mother and father.”

“We already know you will, but you should reassure our citizens that you will obtain victory for them and bring justice to Absalom.”

“We don't have time for speeches. Absalom could be mobilizing his forces right now.”

“Well, it's a good thing that we already have people gathering in the main hall.”

“What? How did you-nevermind. I guess I have no choice now.”

“That's right,” my mother says.

I almost forgot that mother can echo her voice throughout the city and father can give commands to people through his thoughts. What am I even going to say? Going to the main hall, I see what must be hundreds of people trying to squeeze in with lots more people outside. Looking behind me, I see Kyla and my parents smiling at me. They must be silently cheering and praying for me in their minds. I feel an empowering force emanate from them, so I nod and smile back before facing the crowd. Well, here goes nothing.

“Faithful citizens of Simbiosi, justice for the conceited Absalom is at hand. Soon, you will no longer have to worry about him, his influence, and the vainglory that manifests through his powers. Princess Kyla and I will have his head or him on his knees begging for mercy from the Absolute. Remember that even when this is over, the constant battle of life doesn't end and we still have more enemies to bring to justice, so stay vigilant, stay strong, and keep fighting for truth and love!”

Everyone cheers and claps for me despite my simple speech. I was never good at giving speeches, which is why I let Kyla do all the talking during political discussions and times when we need to say speeches. Regardless, I’m glad that what I said was appreciated by everyone. Kyla and I say our goodbyes to my parents before leaving to finally face Absalom in person. Justice will finally be coming to him, the idiotic pitiable sinner. He’ll get what’s coming to him for what he’s done to everyone I love.