The Armageddon Incantation

By C.L. Armerding

About the Book
If you had the power to kill trillions of lives with three words, why would you do it? For one cursed soul, her motive was revenge.
On a planet called Kador, there existed a planet-wide empire called Alonava. It was home to many talented wizards who wielded magic by drawing words represented by arcane symbols. However, the people of Alonava were in grave danger at the hands of a powerful necromancer called the Lich Queen. She sought the deadliest spell of all time, the Armageddon Incantation. To cast the spell, all she needed were three words sequestered in the most unreachable of places.
An audacious and kindhearted wizard named Talia and a sensible scholar named Suki uncovered the Lich Queen’s plan, but their superiors refused to help them. With the fate of the world at stake, these two women must unlock the secrets of the past and uncover the Armageddon Incantation. If the Lich Queen got the spell first, then all hope will be lost... or maybe not.
The Armageddon Incantation tells the story of a world where magic comes from the power of words. Revenge and Anger can cause destruction and pain, Incuriosity can cause forgetfulness and loss, and Apathy can cause inaction. However, as Talia and Suki will learn, there is only one word more powerful than them all.

About the Author
C.L. Armerding eagerly presents his second book after Path of the Whiptails. Inspired by archaeology and calligraphy, he wrote another tale to excite and inspire.

• Language: English
• Publisher: RoseDog Books
• Release date: Aug 3, 2023
• ISBN: 9798889257226

Book preview

Armerding_Title_Page.eps

The contents of this work including, but not limited to, the accuracy of events, people, and places depicted; opinions expressed; permission to use previously published materials included; and any advice given or actions advocated are solely the responsibility of the author, who assumes all liability for said work and indemnifies the publisher against any claims stemming from publication of the work.

All Rights Reserved

Copyright © 2023 by C.L. Armerding

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted, downloaded, distributed, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, including photocopying and recording, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented without permission in writing from the publisher.

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Chapter 1

Talia wasn’t expecting to be a part of an all-out war that day, but she wouldn’t have had it any other way. She relished the smell of burning flesh as her fire spells incinerated the walking dead. The unnatural monsters mindlessly charged into her magic on a relentless march to eradicate humanity. The skies were gray with smoke. The human soldiers held strong against the invaders. Explosions and spells echoed throughout the land as the battle raged on.

All soldiers are ordered to fall back, shouted the magically enhanced voice of the captain echoing across the battlefield.

While the other wizards backed off, Talia remained behind. She was not formally a part of the military but was instead a freelance mercenary hired as a backup. She charged through the smoke from her enchanted fires. More zombies headed toward her like a wave of decaying flesh. Each zombie was armed with weapons of all types, from freshly sharpened broadswords to sticks and rocks, and their armor was equally eclectic. All of them were fearlessly marching toward the city of Argomin while a smaller group of them were starting to circle around Talia.

Oh good, said Talia with a smile underneath her green cloth mask. I have more monsters I can play with.

To many people, such a challenge would be overcome with explosives. To a powerful wizard like Talia, all she needed was a clipboard, paper, and pencils. One page was covered from top to bottom in rows upon rows of archaic symbols. What were once part of the writing system of a long extinct culture, the symbols are now the tools of wizards. Amongst the uninitiated and outsider linguists, these symbols may be referred to as hieroglyphs, pictograms, or characters. However, amongst historians and especially wizards, the symbols are commonly called by the simpler word of logograms.

Amongst the spells written out on her clipboard, Talia’s most frequently transcribed spell used the logograms for Fireball and Area drawn side by side. When one group of zombies got close, she put her index and middle fingers together, and twice swiped both fingers above the logograms. In seconds, the spell magically vanished from the paper, a sign that it was successfully cast. She then pointed her fingers forward, and a fireball was conjured from them. It exploded into the chest of one of the zombies, knocking it and others off their feet and sending fleshy cinders everywhere. The smell of burning skin wafted into the air while the zombies were set aflame.

Unafraid, the burning zombies were getting up, and continued their march like a walking pillar of fire. After only taking two or three steps, they would collapse as the muscles that held them up were reduced to ash in seconds.

That’s it, you bastards, taunted Talia. I want to see you burn at my feet. She once again swiped her fingers over another fireball spell, shooting the spell upon another group of zombies getting too close.

Normally, Talia was good at fending off multiple undead, but there seemed to be no end to the invaders. Her cocky smile of glee soon melted into a frown of frustration as the zombies kept coming. She was so focused on the fight, she didn’t even notice the human armies were being pushed back further into Argomin. It was not until she heard a cacophonous roar of falling stone coming down that she finally turned around and saw one of the buildings collapsing. All the oldest buildings of Argomin were made from whatever flotsam and jetsam were left behind by sailors of old and held together by magic. Some of the zombies had dispelling logograms drawn on their bodies, and when they touched a building, the magic was unleashed, erasing the magic, and the building would collapse.

The armies that protected Argomin were driven away, allowing the undead to swarm the city like a river flowing from a broken damn. The bright glow of magic flung everywhere from both humans and monsters alike. Although the city had been evacuated long before the zombies arrived, the people would have no home to go to once the fighting was done.

From the corner of her eye, Talia could see a putrid green cadaver, its rotted teeth grinning as it raised its club. She dodged out of the way, keeping her distance from the zombie, but with more crowding around her, there was nowhere left to run.

That’s it! shouted Talia. I’m going to use my secret weapon. Without another word of explanation, Talia flipped through the pages of her clipboard, and found the one spell she was looking for. At the bottom of a page was a spell that used the three logograms that translate as Tornado, Self, and Dragon Length. Like before, she swiped her fingers twice over the logograms, and the writing on the paper immediately vanished.

Talia felt her skin prickle as magical energy built up around her. With a triumphant shout, she released her coup de grâce; a tornado twirled into being with Talia at the eye. Her energy built up as the air spun around her, tossing monsters away and smashing them to the ground. However, her spell was only wide enough to protect herself. It did nothing to keep the undead from getting into Argomin.

Inevitably, her spell’s duration ran down as the wind speeds slowly curtailed.

Shit! I need to get out of here.

She pulled out her pen and began drawing on a blank sheet of paper. Her pen ran along the page, expertly transcribing the detailed lines and curves that make up the logograms for Teleport and Self. However, in order to travel far enough out of danger, she needed a third logogram as the designated location. She chose the closest location, an ancient shrine outside of Argomin. As the winds were dying down, she quickly finished the details of her Teleport/Self/Yecon Shrine spell. She swiped her fingers over the spell and teleported away in a flash of light just as the zombies pushed through the now still winds.

Talia reappeared a mile outside of Argomin. In front of her, she could see the Yecon Shrine. It was eroded and covered in weeds to the point where none knew what the shrine was originally supposed to look like.

Swelteringly underneath her long robes, Talia ripped off her mask and her hood, revealing her copper-colored face and her short black hair, all dripping with sweat. She slammed her fist against the tree trunk, letting out a cry of anger and anguish.

I did not lose, said Talia to herself. I will not accept failure.

She rubbed her sore hand while she looked around for something, anything she could use to get the upper hand over the undead.

Miss, are you a wizard?

Talia turned around to see three men wearing hard hats and dressed in dirty construction clothes.

What? asked Talia, surprised to see people in this abandoned place.

Are you a wizard? repeated one of the men.

I’m not wearing these wizard robes as part of a cosplay, said Talia, sarcastically. Of course, I’m a wizard.

Can you help us?

No, I have more important concerns right now.

But we saw the Lich Queen, said another man.

What? Talia was stunned. Where is she?

She’s in a nearby cave.

Show me the way.

Talia was led down the path, which was also overgrown and uncared for. She turned a corner to see the entrance to a cave. She had passed by this cave a few times in her life, but every time, the cave was blocked by a wooden barrier magically held in place, and it had signs warning people not to enter. However, the barrier was now in pieces, and strewn everywhere on the ground. Inside the cave, she could see a distant light in the blackness. Talia got out her pen and transcribed the Ignite/Light Orb spell. She cast the spell, and a single glowing orb hovered in front of her. She cautiously moved into the cave, the orb lighting her way as she went. The three men followed behind, keeping a safe distance.

As she ventured deeper into the caves, she could hear someone speaking a language she did not recognize. Talia held her clipboard close to her chest, fearing that a spell caster was in the darkness. The walls were covered in graffiti left behind by countless people who invaded the caves before they were deemed vulnerable to collapse.

She turned a corner, and that was when she saw a lone figure standing in front of an ancient tablet. The tablet was huge, standing over two meters tall and extending from the floor to the ceiling. The figure was a woman dressed in green and purple wizard robes made of a soft silk, identical to the robes Talia wore except the stranger’s clothes were noticeably tattered and old. A light orb hovered around her, raising and lowering with her head as she read the tablet, giving her the most optimal lighting no matter where she looked. She was reading the logograms chiseled into the tablet, stopping only when she reached the final logogram at the bottom. She got out a piece of paper and pressed it over the logogram.

Moh’jza!

Upon saying the command word, the logogram burned through the paper, coming out on the other side as a clear imprint.

Talia still had several Fireball/Area spells on her clipboard. She swiped her fingers over one of them, and with the same hand, directed the flames toward the mysterious figure.

Moh’jza!

The fireball immediately evaporated into smoke before hitting its target. The woman let out an inhuman cackle.

Who are you? shouted Talia. If you are the Lich Queen, then you should know that I’m a powerful wizard, and I will vaporize you if you don’t surrender.

The woman just laughed some more. You are a terrible liar.

Talia hesitated. She had already used up her most powerful spells during the battle. She could write down more spells, but she needed time.

I’m not lying, shouted Talia. That fireball spell was just to scare you. My magic could turn you inside out, launch you into space, or...or turn you into stone.

"Stone? Ha! The joke is on you. My heart is already as solid as stone