Telric arose to the sound of drums in the early morn, the army camp quickly rising to action. Armor and weapons were readied, final preparations were made, and they braced themselves for the imminent conflict. In the distance, against the rising sun, the banners of their enemies slowly marched closer. Telric tried as best he could to steel himself. He couldn't show weakness, especially not in front of his enemies. But it was his first time on the front lines... Who wouldn't be scared? 

Scouts snuck back from the approaching force, far less than had been sent out, and reported grim tidings. The coalition between their two greatest foes had granted them an army that outnumbered theirs greatly, more than 3 men for each 1 here. Telric could hardly eat from his fear, but he tried to stay strong. He would not falter. He owed it to his country, his family, his fellow soldiers, all who depended on their victory... They would defeat their foes, or die trying! ...He kept telling himself that, hoping it would become true... 

Telric was far from the only one feeling terrified of the coming battle. Many of the other fresh recruits were just as nervous as he, and many even more. He took a weak sense of pride in the knowledge that he wasn't the most terrified in the camp by far. One of the newbies, one who had previously put on a face of aggressive bravado, was caught trying to sneak away and brought to the center of the camp, a large manacle around his neck. The veteran soldiers, however, regarded the imminent danger with stoicism and calmness. Some even seemed excited, a feeling Telric wondered if he would ever feel before a fight... His musings were interrupted as a horn sounded, and The General made her appearance. 

General Essa was quite slender and beautiful for an accomplished warrior. Her ornate black armor seemed far more flexible than most, and her long red hair snaked out through her helmet in a neat ponytail. There was an almost palpable admiration for her as she strided towards the center of camp, completely unfazed by the incoming army. Noticing the shackled newbie, she smirked and knelt before him. "Attempting to run, were we? I do not have deserters amongst my men. Perhaps a bit of... Persuasion is in order~" She waved her hand, and a small ball of fire appeared before the man. He tried to scream, but one of the lieutenants clapped a gauntleted hand over his mouth. The General slowly moved the fireball closer and closer to the man. "You're scared, aren't you? Scared of the battle, scared of our enemies, scared of my fire... Scared of Me~" She moved the fireball right before his eyes, slightly singing his eyebrows. "Fear is a weakness. Fear makes you vulnerable. Fear freezes you from the inside, making you brittle and useless." The man had stopped struggling by now, his eyes locked on the fireball swirling before him. 

"There is no place for fear inside my men. I require the fire of bravery instead.  But lacking that..." Her fireball grew brighter, and the man's eyes began to glaze over. "The ashes of a destroyed will are perfectly acceptable." She loudly snapped her fingers, and the fireball vanished in a swirl of flame. The man was released from his bonds but continued to lie there, his eyes unblinking and ashen gray. The general beckoned over another lieutenant. "Edgar, outfit this one with a firebomb and send him out immediately. Perhaps he will be useful for an opening strike." The lieutenant nodded and led along the mindless man, whose steps were stiff and lightless. Telric swallowed but stayed strong. That display had tripled his fear, and quadrupled his desire not to show it.

General Essa stood in the center of the camp, atop a raised dais, and surveyed her troops with a cunning gaze. "I regret being forced to give such a personal demonstration of my powers, but I trust it has impressed upon you the price of cowardice. We cannot suffer cowards, now more than ever. Our enemies march upon us in a desperate attempt to find weakness. And we shall not show them any! For all of it shall be purged..." She waved her arms, and a massive gout of flame spiraled around her. "Gaze upon the flame, my soldiers! Gaze deep into its spiraling depths, and feel the warmth of bravery fill you!" Telric forced himself to look, despite what he had just witnessed, but soon he could not look away.

The flame was beautiful, a great shimmering light swaying in the air above General Essa. It gave off a powerful, intense glow that lit up the morning skies like the sun was at its brightest. Telric found his eyes drawn deeper into the spiraling depths, and a soothing warmth began to fill him. "Let my magic stoke the fire of bravery inside you~ Feel it burn away every bit of fear, of cowardice, of hesitance from your mind~" Every inch of Telric's body felt like it was covered painlessly in fire, a strange warm tingle pulsing through his entire body. All that fear he had been feeling melted away, leaving nothing but a burning desire to fight. But the General was not done.

"Let my magic burn away all your exhaustion and fatigue~ You must fight with every fiber of your being~ Even if your body begins to fail, you will never stop fighting~ You will feel no pain, for my magic will burn it all away~" Telric's body felt light and fuzzy, like he himself was becoming composed of fire. He felt like he had just had the best sleep of his life, like he had never been in better condition, and even the small twinges of pain within him faded away in a warm, comfortable blaze. He felt like he could take on the entire army by himself. But the General was still not done.

"As the fire swirls before you, let yourself fall under my spell~ The flame controls your mind, and I control the flame~ Stare deeper into it~ Deeper~ Deeper~" Telric started to feel lightheaded, as if the inside of his brain was slowly growing warmer. "My flame burns away all disloyalty towards me, your General, your Mistress, your God~ It burns away all doubts and regrets you have about our great kingdom, for I always know what is best~ And it burns away all your unnecessary thoughts~ Thoughts of loved ones, thoughts of sensation, thoughts of anything save for obeying your General's every command~ All burnt to ashes under my spell~ You are nothing more than an extension of my control over the battlefield, and nothing brings you joy other than obedience~" Telric stared at the fire, its eyes blazing a deep, mindless orange. It had no need for an identity anymore... It was merely an extension of Her magic... She grinned triumphantly. "Perfect~ Now..." She drew her blade. "We fight!" The General's army charged forth like a wildfire, ready to scorch their enemies to the bone.

The battle was all a fiery haze for the soldiers. Body after body fell around them, by blade, by arrows, by magic, even by tooth and nail. Under the spell of General Essa, her soldiers threw themselves into combat like living weapons, each one slaying many enemies by themselves. One of the soldiers found itself surrounded by foes, an arrow lodged in its shoulder. But it felt no fear, no pain, no restraint. Ripping the arrow from its shoulder, it impaled a foe's neck with it while brutally slashing through the bone of another. It suffered a terrible gash on its arm, but without pain it hardly noticed, and it grabbed the blade of the sword, wrenching it out of the foe's hands. Throwing its own blade into the head of an approaching enemy, it grabbed the sword blade on both ends and pushed it into its former wielder's neck as hard as possible. As the helmeted head wetly thudded to the ground, the soldier heard the crackling of General Essa's magic, and looked up to see her standing over the enemy generals.

The enemy generals lay wounded and beaten on the ground, throbbing with pain. General Essa stood above them, grinning sadistically with swirling flame in her hands. One of the spat up at her. "You'll never defeat us all, witch!" She laughed cruelly. "I already have~ Without your army, your kingdoms are as good as mine~ All I need to do is walk up to your pathetic little castles, and your rulers will be begging to be allowed to lick my boots~" The other growled, hardly able to move from the pain. "...Spare us the theatrics... Scour our flesh from our bones already...!" General Essa grinned mockingly. "Ah, but that would be such a waste~ Why do myself the disservice of depriving myself of such excellent fighters~?" Her flames began swirling faster and brighter. "Look into the flames~ Feel your minds burn away~ Feel your loyalty to all other than me become naught but ashes rattling around in the husks you will become~" Her enemies tried to avert their gaze, but the hypnotic light filled them regardless, slipping in through all the cracks left by her pain and humiliation. Their eyes swirled a deep, shimmering orange, and then faded into a pale, ashen gray. She grinned maliciously. "Perfect~ Now, some of your men still foolishly bear blade against us~ Perhaps they will change their tune once they see their generals brought low~" The generals rose like puppets from the ground and followed her, their minds burnt to ash...

Telric woke up sometime later in the infirmary, and his body ached. Even with divine magic knitting his wounds closed, he still felt a terrible ache in his shoulder, and as he looked at his hands, he saw a nasty scar running lengthwise across his palms. He tried to remember what happened, but all he could muster was a fiery blur. He looked up at one of the clerics. "Did... we win...?" The cleric nodded. "Of course we did, soldier. Our General's conquest of this land is ever closer to its completion." Telric felt... Happy about this, right? This was good, that she was taking over the land... Even if she did such terrible things to do it... And used him as a weapon... And- 

"You seem conflicted. Gaze into this lantern for a moment." The cleric began swinging a black lantern before Telric's eyes. "Whah... I... ..." His eyes locked onto it, and he felt that feeling of warmth filling him as he stared into the spiraling flame inside. The cleric started chanting softly. "General Essa knows best. General Essa knows best. General Essa knows best." Telric's eyes fluttered, and he felt the mantra worm its way into his mind. He began repeating it as well, his disloyalty burning away... "General Essa knows best... General Essa knows best... General Essa knows best..."