Silver Stars, Ch 17: Age of Silver Scales (Patreon)

The four Judges of Emerald were powerful warriors who stood at the peak of their race. 

Their positions were based on victory and personal strength. Every five years there was a ceremonial challenge to confirm them.

But they were not Oathsworn.

And they were facing the commanders of the Silver Army. 

Sleset and the others had the strength, regeneration, and enhanced scales that came with their oath, the best equipment they could use, and the Blessing of Silver Stars.

The other three Judges were entangled quickly, their battles drawing attention as they separated to different areas, but Sam focused most of his attention on his old friend.

Sleset’s opponent was Level 525 and wielded a long-bladed spear. The first blow threw Sleset back as it sliced across his chest, but he only flew a few dozen feet. 

The Judge rained a flurry of crashing blows toward him, throwing him back farther with each one, his rage obvious. 

But as the blows landed, Sleset’s scales were barely marked by a thin white line. As he flew back, he slid among the attacks, dodging by inches as he returned them with his own.

After a few moments, it was clear that Sleset’s Strength wasn’t quite as high as the Judge, who was a spear-focused class, but his Agility and Constitution were better. 

He weathered the attacks easily.

As the First Fang, his class was a hybrid warrior strong in both melee and magic. As they continued to fight, it became obvious what exactly that meant.

Sleset took the Judge’s blows without flinching, his scales strong and shining. His return attacks sliced away the Judge’s abilities, leaving dark green runes and curses in their place.

Venomous green lines painted the Judge, staining his scales until he glowed.

Sleset’s background as an Ensigiled Sorcerer was still there, merged into his current fighting style, as were his elemental abilities as an Oathsworn.

Waves of Earth energy slammed against the Judge, locking him down in bands of stone that the Judge struggled to break. Sleset hammered him with stone spikes while he was distracted and added more curses. 

Regeneration and strengthening spells surrounded Sleset, augmenting his attacks, and as the runes drained energy from the judge, the energy flowed to Sleset, bolstering him and increasing his speed.

He was fighting up a full Evolution, but he wasn’t struggling.

His attributes were strong and balanced, and with his spells mitigating the Judge’s strengths, there was no doubt about who would win.

A smile creased Sam’s face as he watched.

Sleset had been exiled for hundreds of years based on the nagas’ laws. One of the ways for an exile to return to their homeworld was this exact method.

Defeat the Judge who cast you out. 

Now, he finally had the opportunity.

The nagas’ society was based on strength and victory determined who was right. After this battle, he would no longer be an exile.

The same went for the rest of the Silver Nagas. They were all part of this conquering army and by the laws of their homeworld, they would have the right to rule, including punishing those who opposed them.

For all that they were a fierce people, the nagas’ didn’t usually kill their criminals. That was reserved for the most reprehensible crimes. 

They only exiled them.

If Sleset wanted to exile this Judge as punishment afterwards, Sam had no intention of stopping him.

The battle stretched out as it slowly turned in Sleset’s favor. The Judge was strong, but Sleset was more enduring and slowly took the advantage.

It wasn’t long before the Judge was battered and bleeding, his scales cracked from the force of blows he’d taken.

Eventually, he crashed to the earth, his body limp as Sleset stood above him, hissing in victory.

Shortly after, the battles against the other three Judges ended the same way, as one after the other was slammed into the earth.

They joined the rest of the nagas who had fallen and were suppressed by Sam’s aura.

The Silver Army commanders were battered, but none of them dangerously.

Their victory hisses were long and proud. Even as they landed, their scales were already regenerating from the Blessing of Silver Stars.

Ajoa had taken more serious wounds than Sleset and his scales were shattered across half his body, but it made him look fierce and his hiss was triumphant. 

Juai and Tesera had an easier time of it with Judges that were around Level 510, and their scales were only lightly marked with blood.

When the four Judges were all locked down, Sleset hissed at them with superiority and turned to the horde, which had stopped to watch the battle. The Silver Army had also paused their advance, leaving the field frozen.

“By Right of Conquest,” Sleset said, his voice spreading out across the throng of nagas, “I declare this world belongs to the Lord of Silver Stars and Lord of Emerald.” 

He raised his hand, pointing up at Sam in the sky, and his voice boomed.

“Now all...bow!”

As he spoke, Sleset turned and saluted Sam with his blades, and then he bowed, leading the way. 

The rest of the Silver Army followed, saluting Sam and then bowing.

The Emerald nagas hesitated, their gazes fixed on the judges and their suppressed comrades.

“The Judges have fallen.” The whisper was clear from one hiss after another. 

“The victor rules now.”

“They wield his power...I can see traces of it in their aura. They must be Oathsworn.”

“But how? Is it truly possible for a great being’s blood to work the same way as a Great Coiling Serpent? It’s only been a legend.”

“There are only a few races in the galaxy who might work for it...and none have ever come to Emerald like this.”

“He broke the world...and his followers broke the Judges.”

“Even if they are not Oathsworn...who are we to oppose them? They have become the Four Judges. They are the new law of Emerald.”

It started as a ripple at the edge of the horde and then it became a wave of emerald scales shining in the sun. It was slow at first, but it built momentum until it was a tide in an emerald sea.

One by one, the nagas bowed their heads and saluted Sam.

Then they stayed like that, frozen in place.

There was no clearer evidence than this. His Oathsworn had defeated their champions. 

By right of conquest, Emerald was his.

Sleset hissed in approval as he saw the millions of nagas bowing to his lord. 

Pride radiated from him.

Long ago, he’d made a gamble on Sam, partly to save his life, but also because he hoped that the legend of great races whose blood could grant an Oath was true. 

He’d been proven right.

And now he was vindicated.

The sun was high in the sky, nearly concealed by the raging flames of Sam’s aura, as Sleset’s words echoed across the plains. 

“I declare this day to be the first day of the first year of the Age of Silver Scales. Today marks the beginning of the Year of the Silver Lord. From this moment on, our people will be forever changed.” 

His voice was proud and fierce.

“You have heard my lord’s offer of battle and protection. If you wish to become Oathsworn, you only need to step forward. Our people will no longer have to bow their heads to anyone else! No foreign army will step foot on Emerald! Together, we rise!

“Now get up!”

The sea of emerald heads rose sharply and millions of nagas fixed their gazes on Sam. There was a new light in their eyes, one of hope.

Sam looked out at them and nodded. He was still weaving spells across the world as runes burned in his aura, creating twining shapes like scrolls that stretched across the sky, but it only took part of his attention.

“This once, because there are so many of you, I will do this a special way,” Sam said. “Those who do not wish to follow me, depart now. Those who wish to become Oathsworn, stand still and look up.”

A few nagas fled from the field as he spoke, but it was barely a handful. 

The rest stayed, looking up with doubt and wonder.

Those who’d been defeated found that they were able to move and that their wounds were healed. One by one, they surged to their feet, standing with the others as they stared at the sky.

Perhaps because they were the most daring, none of them left.

Sam raised his hand and a line of golden light cut across his palm. Droplets of silver blood appeared and he flung them into the sky, where they hung like molten silver stars.

More droplets flew from his hand in a shining river. A flicker of will drew on his essence and his blood regenerated in an endless source. 

It was good that his body was more an elemental force than flesh, since otherwise it wouldn’t have been possible, but as it was, it wasn’t that difficult.

Before long, the sky was filled with dense quicksilver streams that swirled together and covered the entire area. Streams of astral energy crackled through the tumult, making it look like a molten thunderstorm.

Then it began to rain.

Heavy silver droplets fell from the sky above the Emerald Nagas, one directly toward each of them. Then they struck, all at once.

For forty million nagas.

It was a silver rain meeting an emerald sea. The nagas shook as the blood sank into their scales, sending waves breaking across the horde. 

They collapsed to the ground, shaking as their bodies broke down. Arcs of silver energy crackled across their scales and emerald designs shattered. 

Scales disintegrated and new ones grew.

The ocean of nagas thrashed and hissed, but it was a victorious hiss. 

As soon as the blood touched their scales, they knew the truth.

An Oathlord had returned.

The ocean shook and reformed as it became something greater. There were so many of them that the wave of astral energy changing each of them began to leap from one to another, like sparks in a cloud, and lightning bolts surged across the field.

Sleset and the Silver Army stood in the sky as they hissed in acknowledgement, the silver lightning bolts marking their own scales blazing in a reflection of what was happening below.

Sam had never known why those designs appeared on their scales before, but seeing it now in front of him, there were enough nagas that the patterns of the oath became clear.

The lightning bolts were the vitality of their race as it was catalyzed by his blood. Their unique energy was transformative. It just needed a sufficiently powerful force to make it appear.

The pattern of that change was linked to his blood, so like Sleset and the others before them, their emerald scales turned silver and the lightning bolts extended across their cheeks and tails.

Silver half-crown Honor Marks appeared on their heads.

Their abilities advanced at the same time. They gained elemental powers, enhanced strength and regeneration, elemental resistances, and more.

The Blessing of Silver Stars swelled at the same time, pouring out across the field as it touched each of the nagas and recognized them.

One by one, they stood up, their eyes blazing as they stared at Sam. A few hisses and commands from Sleset got all of them aligned into perfect ranks.

Then the Silver Army took their place at the front.

As one, the nagas pounded their hands against their scaled chests and slammed their tails into the ground, creating a beat so powerful it shook the earth and sent the waves of an earthquake out for hundreds of miles.

The earth shook and the sky thundered.

“All hail, the Lord of Silver Stars, our Lord of Silver Oaths!” Sleset’s voice rose above the army.

It was followed by a massive shout as all the nagas took up the cry, their voices shaking the world.

“Welcome to my Silver Army,” Sam said. His words were vast and powerful as they echoed across the ranks. “Together, we’ll reforge the galaxy.”

***

Some time later, as Sleset and the Silver Army worked to organize the new nagas, Sam looked across their ranks. 

Nearly all of the adult nagas on the world, over 99%, had sworn to him. The vast majority were below Level 200, but there were still hundreds of thousands in the Second Evolution and tens of thousands at the Third and Fourth.

The Four Judges had also taken the oath and would be new commanders for the army, but below the original Silver Nagas.

The nagas’ tradition of age as the determining factor made it easy for them to accept the original Silver Army as their elders. They had many years of being Oathsworn to rely on.

He spoke briefly with Sleset about how best to organize the army, but then he left him to it as he returned to his work on Emerald.

This type of magic that could affect an entire planet had been called a Grand Work by the Titans, which was as good a name as any.

It wouldn’t take too much longer to set the initial spells. Then they could continue to grow on their own. They would come into their full strength as the elements of the world powered them.

He continued adding enchantments to protect the world and balance its elements, which took the better part of the next couple of days, but before long, he was done.

Although his avatars had a soft cap at 30, the remaining mental divisions from Intelligence were still a part of his mind, which let him do many things at once.

Avatars were like bringing those divisions to life with extra hands, but the mental processing ability was still there either way, whether he wanted to use it to work on four projects at the same time or focus them all on one.

As soon as he finished his work, he sent a message to Sleset to form up the army, and then he teleported back to the same plain where the nagas had sworn to him.

They were calling it the Plain of Oaths now and treating it with even more solemnity than they had Sacred Blood Mountain.

They had also taken quickly to Sleset’s idea of renaming their calendar. It was now Day 3 of the Year of the Silver Lord in the Age of Silver Scales.

There were serious debates on whether they should rename Emerald after him, but given that the nature of their race was still to be born with emerald scales, he told them to leave it alone.

Before long, more than ten million warriors arrived on the plain in front of him, all of them equipped for battle.

It was a quarter of the total force, but the rest needed to stay and defend their world, and more importantly raise their children and keep their economy running.

They all wanted to come, but taking even this many was a lot.

It was fortunate that most of Emerald’s economy ran on mercenary labor. They’d always had a large number of warriors ready to leave the world.

All of the nagas here were above Level 100, which was his minimum requirement. He would have made it even higher, but there were plenty of Outsider forces in the World Seal that were also at the First Evolution.

With some of their stronger leaders to look after them, not to mention the Blessing of Silver Stars to enhance their attributes, they would do well enough. It would also let them level up quickly.

The Four Judges were at the head of the army, each of them commanding one quarter of the forces. 

The original Silver Army remained as a single cohesive unit except that ten had been appointed to accompany each of the Judges to look after them and teach them the rules of the trade.

“This is the Dawn of the Silver Lord,” Sleset hissed proudly as he spoke to the ranks in front of him. Barely contained excitement radiated from him, just as it did from all of the nagas. 

There was so much unused energy on the plain that it seemed like it was about to vibrate free of the world. The nagas’ muscles were tense and their eyes fastened on Sam without blinking. 

They were ready to explode at the slightest command.

Sleset hissed at them in approval. Then he turned and bowed to Sam, followed by all the rest. 

“Oathlord, we await your command.”

“Follow me,” Sam said. He raised his hand, sending a wave of astral energy out to surround the forces, and then he began to walk up through the sky. 

The army walked behind him, pulled along by his aura.

Within moments, they were in the Void above Emerald.

“Look down at your home world,” Sam said, “and remember it well. It may be years before we return. But we will return.”

The nagas hissed in acknowledgement, slamming their hands against their chests. They let out a low rumble of respect and nostalgia. 

Then as one they turned to look at him, waiting.

“Let us return to Aster Fall,” Sam agreed. “War awaits inside the World Seal, including enemies from beyond this galaxy.”

With that, he began to walk, pulling the forces behind him as he moved onto an astral thread.

A brilliant silver line of light flashed across the stars of Emerald, and then it was gone, heading into the dark.