Herocraft Fan Fiction: Requiem of Heroes

[strongholdx]

Chapter 22: Raetac’s Discovery​

Raetac spoke slowly, and quietly, annunciating his words carefully as he told his tale, “It all started a few days back when I was on duty to fetch reports from the Oracle. I had just finished my mid day meal…”

* * * *​

Raetac stood up from the empty dinner table where he had just finished eating. Looking around, he wiped his hands on his pants and made his way over to the washing pot where he began to wash his dishes. He looked out the window at the bleak early morning rain that pattered and spat down on the tower.

He was on ‘Oracle Duty’, a task that all mayors and SICs must go through at one point or another. The Oracle was a machine that spat out reports on each and every individual person on the planet. It told what that person did, when they did it, for how long, and in what manner they did it. The machine itself was created by some of the most genius minds of Sanctum; they had been called together by Kainzo to develop something that could account for everything everyone did – an incredible task.

The point of Oracle Duty was to retrieve the reports that were spat out and deliver them to Sanctum in a timely manner. This job was only put in the hands of the most trusted people. Once his partner got back from bringing their stack of reports, Raetac would begin his journey to deliver the papers, and so on. While the Oracle was only located a mile or so from the capital city, the journey was dangerous nonetheless; many people would go through lots of trouble to get their hands on those reports.

For this reason, there was a railway that was being built between Sanctum and the tower that housed the Oracle. But for the time being, until the railway was done, those on duty would have to walk, like old times.

Once he had finished cleaning the dishes he used, Raetac began to climb the stairs of the colossal tower that the oracle was in. The tower itself was the most fortified location on the planet. It was designed to withstand a blast with a power of 50 gs and its doors were designed to hold back over fifteen tons of pressure; no battering ram could penetrate it. Raetac arrived in the room with the giant machine.

The Oracle was a masterpiece – a giant floating sphere made a glass like substance that glowed and shimmered, it gave the appearance of a ball of water. The giant machine was hooked up to countless redstone wires and cords that made it hum causing white noise to fill the room. Toward the bottom, it spat out pieces of paper with lines upon lines of printed writing on them. Raetac picked one up and began reading it, there was nothing special on it, he threw it in the pile and it was quickly consumed under the pile as the machine spat out paper after paper.

He heard the door several stories below open and close, his partner was back. Before he could turn around to greet him, Raetac spotted something within the pile of papers as they spat out from the Oracle. He reached in and brought it out before it was lost in the pile. He looked down at it, but before he could read it there was a colossal boom that shook the room, lightning had struck the tower and was coursing through the room. It struck the Oracle causing it to hum with even greater energy. The bolt struck out at Raetac and engulfed him in a sparkling beam of power where he was able to, however briefly, glimpse the future.

* * * *​

He was standing in the same room, in the same tower. The Oracle was gone, and there was a massive, gaping hole in the tower wall that let light filter into the otherwise dark room. Clutching the paper in both hands, Raetac crept toward the hole in the wall. The air was unearthly quiet; his footsteps seemed to echo in the room. Then he noticed something not quite as obvious, he felt, more real, more defined, than everything else. The other objects in the room, other than he and the paper he was holding seemed to have a dull, dark, grayscale effect that made them blend into one charcoal background.

When Raetac reached the hole, he gasped in horror, “Mother of god!”

He saw Sanctum under a blood red sky, some of its building were scorched, other were intact. Parts of the Obsidian walls were broken and there seemed to be a battle raging atop of Sanctum tower. He then looked at the paper he was holding, it was different from the others; it had black marks covering up names and locations, it also included a bunch or red warning labels on it. A must see, he had to get it to Kainzo as soon as possible.

A patrol of Deamons marched past the tower, causing him to take a step back – then he watched as a group of soldiers jumped out and with intense vigor, took the lives from the creatures on the road. Then, Raetac heard one of them remark, “Rane, son of a bitch, I hate that guy!”

Another said to him as he pulled his sword form the carcass at his feet “We don’t know that, no official details were –“

He was cut off by the first soldier “Bullshit, you saw what he-“

If there was any more to be said, Raetac did not hear it for the door within the tower opened causing him to spin and reach for his sword. Unlike the soldiers below, this man was not of the same grayscale background, he looked normal, real even. This made Raetac relax for whatever reason. It was a mistake.

The man at the door lunged, a concealed dagger sliding from his sleeve. He buried the gleaming metal blade inside Raetac’s right shoulder causing him to scream in pain. This time however he reacted. Sweeping his leg under the man he brought the legs out from underneath him, slamming his head into the tower wall.

There was a blinding flash and everything was back to normal, the gaping hole gone, the Oracle back, but the man was still in the room, dagger still in Raetac’s shoulder. He stumbled, the flashing causing him to lose his balance. This caused him to lose his advantage as the man jumped back to his feet; the face plant seemed to have no effect on him. He tackled Raetac with incredible force bringing the both to the ground. They then wrestled trying to make to other submit. The man broke away and punched Raetac square in the face.

Reeling, he rolled over to protect himself from another blow, he curled into the fetal position. Instead the man grabbed the necklace and yanked it from his neck. Raetac’s eyes widened and he swung his entire body as his assailant tried to leave the room. The sweeping motion brought his attacker to the ground. Removing the dagger from his shoulder, Raetac pummeled the man with the pommel, grabbed the necklace form his hands, and fled the tower.

* * * *​

The necklace was of no importance as far as Raetac knew. When Rane had been banished, his belongings were split up. Raetac had taken the liberty of assuming ownership of a key that was inside one of Rane’s dressers within his Sanctum house. It was a blue tint that seemed to glow, even in the light. It had several carvings etched into it – it made for a nice piece of jewelry, seeing as how no one could figure out what it opened. However, if his attacker wanted the key, it must have some sort of value!

* * * *​

Blood seeping from his shoulder, the weakened, terrified second in command ran for his life toward the capital city. Soon, he heard his attacker behind him running at a pace much faster than his own. He hit the obsidian walls but the gates were closed, a trap! Raetac whirled around as his attacker tried to burrow his shoulder into Raetac’s stomach; however the wounded man jumped out of the way causing his assailant to crash into the gates causing them to rattle.

Already on the move again, he set out east, key and paper in hand as the torrential downpour around them worsened. He took a charcoal piece from his sack, wrote ‘Kain’ on the paper and stuffed them both in his pocket as he ran with his pursuer not far behind.

It was not long before his vision began to swim and sway from side to side, causing him to stumble uncontrollably. Either blood loss or simply exhaustion he could not tell but he kept running. He had lost his pursuer in the rain, it reduced visibility to about two or three feet.’

After hours of running, the sun had set and the dark reduced visibility even more. Without warning he slammed into a structure. Thankfully he recognized the architecture, it was TheTXLibra’s villa. It gave him an idea, he moved around the house until he found the door and began slamming as hard as he could. After moments Libra opened the door.

“Raetac? You look horrible, what’s up?”

He jammed the note into Libra’s hand, whirled around, and kept on running. He heard Libra call for him, but did not turn back. His pursuer would have to choose what was more important, the key or the report. Raetac hoped for his life that it was the report.

* * * *​

It had been almost eighteen hours since he had started running. Raetac had hidden, resting when he could, but kept running, his assailant never far behind. Now he was hallucinating, seeing images that weren’t real and hearing voices that didn’t exist, all for reasons he could not explain. He was limping down a forest path when he heard the voices again, they caused him to cover his ears and stumble from the path where he ran into a tree, knocking him down. He heard a snap in his leg as pain shot through his body, his leg was now broken. He got back up with as much haste as he could muster and pathetically tried to continue jogging, but it was too late, his attacker was upon him! Standing not five feet from him was a man; he had jumped from a tree and was saying something.

“Stay away from me you…you son of…you’re gonna, no, you’re one of them…I don’t even. How are, who?” said Raetac, pulling out his sword, his strength failing

The man said something again; he was holding his hands out as if to protect himself, clearly a ploy

“No, you can’t trick me, you’re a…uh…NO, NO YOU’RE NOT!!” Raetac screamed with rage. He felt his eyes roll into the back of his head as he fainted…

* * * *​

Now, he sat in his bed puke stained in Sanctum tower, Doreagarde next to him listening to his every word, eyes wide as he listened to the tale. He had sat motionless, mouth slightly ajar as he listened. After a short moment he shook his head in disbelief.

“So you saw…what?”

“The future!”

“How do you know?”

“I don’t know for sure, but last time I checked there were not deamons running around Sanctum.”

“Valid point, we should tell Apherdite. Wait here while I get her, don’t move.”

The medic exited the room and jogged up the countless flights to Apherdite’s office. He knocked on the door several times and waited for a response. After a few moments he heard a sniffle and the queen beckon for him to enter. He opened the door and stepped through the threshold. Aph was sitting at her desk, working on some sort of report, she looked tired.

“What can I do for you Dore?” she asked rubbing her eyes

“You might want to come see Raetac, he’s awake!”

“Is he? I’ll come right away."

Dore led her down the flights of stairs down to the infirmary where Raetac was. They entered the room, and he began his tail again, this time so his queen could hear. When he finished there was another stunned silence.

“So…the key,” Said Aph, “Where is it now?”

“I don’t know, I must have dropped it, it’s not on me anymore.”

“Are you sure it was of any importance?” asked Dore

“Why would someone break into the Oracle tower to steal it?”

“Good point, we just don’t want to use resources needlessly.”

“So you don’t even have an inkling of a clue of where you dropped it?” asked the Queen

“No”

Aph swore, “We’ll find it, I’ll send out search parties between the Oracle tower, Libra’s villa, and where you were found.”

“What about the Kingdom parties, and the proctors, won’t we be short staffed?” asked Dore

“We’ll have to make due.” She replied as she whirled around and raced out the door.

Dore shrugged, he looked back at the man sitting in the bed, he was full of vomit and dried blood, “let’s get you cleaned up" he said.

 

[strongholdx]

Chapter 23: Assassins​

The door to the Waywunaut Inn creaked open and a cloaked figure stepped inside, his footsteps making no sound. The inn was dark, lit only by a few lanterns, and it had about fifteen patrons, most of who eyed up the newcomer with keen interest; the noise in the room died down to a low murmur and the shadowy figure made his way to the bar; He took a seat and leaned on the counter, he was clearly tired.

The Waywunaut was just outside of Artemis, it housed lonely travelers and some of the finest drinks in the nearby county. The inn had six rooms on the first floor, a main tavern, two store rooms, and nine rooms on the second floor which contained a balcony directly over the bar that overlooked the tavern. Down below, the cloaked man was ordering a drink.

The man of interest was GreekCrackShot, king of ORE, ruler of Artemis. He was stopping for a drink at the inn before getting back to send out the search parties – however, he now felt that there would be much more happening in the inn than just drinking. Two of the patrons had moved to the door blocking it almost as soon as he got to the bar, most all the patrons in the tavern were armed, there was one man upstairs who was clearly waiting for something, and almost everyone was looking at him despite the fact his face was hidden by his cloak.

The bartender came by with his drink and placed it before him, “This one is on the house,” he cocked an eyebrow, “You’ll need it.” Then he proceeded to lock himself in one of the storerooms.

Greek waited, sipping his drink and listening to the murmur behind him. At first there was nothing, just the blend of word that came with most background noise, however soon the words of those around him became audible as he listened closer. The words ‘king’, ‘kill’, ‘surround’, ’hide’, surprise’, and ‘fight’ were the most interesting, and the most concerning.

After a few more minutes of waiting, still sipping his drink, Greek heard from behind him the sound of a sword leaving its sheath. As if on cue, he slammed his glass down creating a loud bang that ceased all conversation in the tavern. The king spun around, face still shrouded in shadows as he readied two throwing knives out of sight, in his sleeves.

“Is there something wrong?” he asked to no one in particular

Nine men, spread across the room, rose from their tables, weapons drawn, two more were standing by the door, and Greek noted the one, out of sight, standing on the balcony above him. Sensing trouble, the remaining innocent patrons fled the tavern leaving Greek and the twelve men alone. There was a silence, almost as if each group was waiting for the other to move first, nothing happened.

“Something I can help you gentlemen with?” asked Greek

No one replied, instead, one man, slightly bigger than the rest nodded and there was the creak of a wooden board from above. For Greek, it was his reactions that saved him; the man on the balcony above had leaped off, dagger in hand, in attempt to (presumably) kill him. Both of Greek’s knives flew up into the leaping man ending his life as he hurtled to the ground. Galvanized into action as the other eleven men began to draw throwing knives of their own, Greek grabbed the falling man using the knives as hand holds and used the limp body as a shield.

The trick worked as knives of all sizes entered the dead man, protecting the ruler form harm. Throwing the body to the side, Greek threw himself to the ground and whisked another knife into the nearest man as another volley of knives flew overhead. Now, down to ten, the group drew their swords and began to advance on the king.

Naturally, in such a situation, Greek would assume that they were trying to play a game of catch with their fellow man. However, something told him that this was an assassination attempt. Pushing off the ground, he rose, drawing his sword and proceeded to parry a number of incoming blows. Knowing that staying inside the fray would only get him killed, he dove, sliding under tables and through chair legs. When he emerged he found himself face to face with the ugliest man he had ever seen, and unfortunately he was wildly swinging a dagger.

Dodging several wild swings, Greek ducked under the man’s arm, grabbed his leg, proceeded to break his ankle and flip him onto his backside using the man’s own dagger (which he had dropped) to gruesomely end his life. Greeks arm snapped back as he hurled the bloody knife through the air, but the man who it was directed at moved out of the way and into a table causing him to fall over.

A moment later there was another man upon Greek, he was using his fists in attempt to stun – but it was in vain. The king blocked each and every blow until he caught one of the man’s fists and used the momentum of the punch to send him flying into the point of a sword held by one of the group members advancing toward him. Knowing that the room was much too crowded to use a sword effectively, Greek picked up a chair and went to town. He smashed one man in the side, sending him reeling, and then he performed a blow to the top of another man’s head that broke the chair and sent them both to the ground.

Scrambling, he jumped back up with enough time to put the heel of his boot into the face of the man he had just hit. Using the force of the kick he brought it around into the gut of a rather large man who didn’t even flinch. He grabbed Greek’s foot and sent him flying across the room and over the counter. Crying out in pain, the cloaked ruler got back up, this time the bar separated him and the group of men. He grabbed two bottles from behind the bar and smashed them on the counter as part of the group rushed him again.

“Who wants some?” Yelled the king, wielding the broken bottles as the first man approached him

Greek dodged the first sword thrust; side stepped, and plunged the sharp glass edges into the man’s face. He screamed and dropped his sword giving Greek the opportunity to plant a kick into his chest sending him into another man, causing them both to collapse. He threw one of the bottles at a man approaching him to his right, and then he sacrificed the second one parrying another sword swing. He stepped around the man with the sword he had just blocked, grabbed his chin and broke his neck, and then he used the body to endure a nasty stab from a dagger that came from behind him.

Dropping the body, Greek engaged the man with the dagger in a deadly fist fight. A throwing knife slid from his sleeve, wielding it backhanded, Greek fought back, landing a few good slices into the man’s torso, but it wasn’t long before almost eight of the ten men were at the bar – soon there would be no hope of a fair fight so the ruler leaped back over the bar in a dive-roll. When he got back up he was able to put the throwing knife into another man’s neck bringing the number of assassins down to nine. One man, faster than the others, was upon him almost instantly. He was wielding two short swords, one in each hand, with deadly efficiency.

Diving out of the way of the first flurry, Greek picked up two of the legs of the chair he had broken previously and brought himself back to the man, using both chair legs as swords. This man was clearly very experienced, as he was able to effectively block every swing that Greek made. Knowing that he had to lower the number of men in the bar quickly or he would only tire faster, Greek made a snap decision. He tossed one of the legs at the man’s face, causing him to bat it away, however that gave Greek enough time to get close and stick a dagger in his heart. Pushing the man’s limp body aside he unsheathed his last two knives. He ducked under a haphazard, clumsy swing from one man and plunged his knives into his backside; bringing them back out of the man, now screaming, he used both of them to thrust forward into the groin of another man.

Both men fell to the ground, in pain but not dead. Greek used his heel to break the first mans windpipe as he stepped backwards from a flurry of sword thrusts. One of the knives shot like lightning into a man’s shoulder. Greek sheathed the last knife and picked up a dropped sword from the ground – a rapier.

The king feinted a thrust; the man in front of him bought it giving Greek the room to slash his neck with a wicked cut. Now, the numbers were halved, six living men in the tavern, six dead, and one king. However, Greek was exhausted – sweat was rolling down his face, still shrouded by his hood, and his bones ached. He swapped out his rapier for a longsword as three of the six men approached, this time carefully, clearly trying to move in formation. Greek had seen this kind of formation before but with the number of tables and chairs, and the fact that they were inside, he knew of only one way he could kill them.

He backed into a corner of the tavern and placed his sword tip at his feet putting himself into the Iron Gate position. This was a deadly position for both participants, for there was a good chance that they would all die. The three men came closer while the other two remained at the bar tending to the third with the bleeding groin.

The men approached the corner forcing them into a bottleneck formation, one by one. The first one lunged, but Greek simply raised his sword impaling him though the chest. With another flick, he was back into the Iron Gate position.

With their buddy dead, the other two approached more carefully. The second man made a sweep for the king’s feet but met a sword point to the face. The third was quick to react. Before Greek could move back into formation he swung with all his might. It was narrowly blocked as Greek attempted a parry. The move was sluggish and caused both men to be thrown off balance. Luckily, Greek was able to plant his foot on the man’s chest, and using the wall behind him, push off, sending him flying.

Within moment of hitting the ground, he was dead; via a kick to the face. This time for a change, Greek was on the offensive. He marched toward the remaining three with extreme perseverance. The two still standing were tending to their injured friend – they did not notice his approach.

The first man screamed as Greek gutted him. The second jumped up in surprise and leaped away to avoid a deadly sword stroke. He drew his own sword only to see Greek plunge his weapon into the fallen man. Now, one on one, the king turned to face the last assassin. Both swung and entered the bind. Greek, using his hands, pulled his opponent’s sword to the ground and ripped it from his hands. Then, dropping his own blade, he swept the assassin into a bear hug and began to hurtle to the nearest wall. They both slammed into the wood causing cracks to spider web through it. Finally, Greek threw the remaining man to the ground, and pinned him.

“Who sent you!?”

The assassin spat

“Goddamn it, who sent you!?” Greek hit the man

“Long live our king!” The assassin broke his hands free and put his hand to his mouth, then his eyes rolled back and he died.

Stunned, Greek grabbed the man’s hand and pulled off the ring he was wearing. It had a compartment, presumably filled with some sort of lethal toxin. Exhausted, he shuffled past broken tables and chairs until he reached the bar. He sat down on a stool.

“Bartender!” he yelled

The storeroom door cracked open a little, an eye peering through it.

“I need another drink…”

* * * *​

Gabizou hung over the side of the KRS flagship ‘Destiny’ as they approached Rens. He watched as the city grew larger as they neared the docking port. As they neared, warning sirens began to sound warning those on the docks that a ship was inbound. As they lined up with the port, docking clamps began to emerge from the docks.

“Clamps coming out for the Destiny! Stand clear!” yelled the harbor master as the massive airship docked.

Gangplanks shot out from the docks as Destiny completed its dock, and the crew began to leave to gather supplies in preparation for their next voyage. Akimoru, the king of KRS was waiting for Gabi as he made his way off the ship.

“Gabizou,” Said the stout man bowing, “Your trip was well?”

“It was, sensei,” Gabi bowed in return, “I’m afraid Rane has returned, we must send hunting parties to find him.”

Akimoru stood only about four feet tall, he had a sturdy stance, and rubbed his thin moustache with intent at the news, “No Gabizou, while you were gone, we had confirmation of Deamons. We must prepare for war.”

“What!?” Gabi asked, nearly yelling with surprise, “Deamons?”

“Yes,” Came a thought in his head, it was Neo_Exdeath, he appeared behind Akimoru, “We have been monitoring deamon activity in almost every region on the planet, the hunting parties have been withdrawn to their respective cities as they prepare for war.”

Gabizou swore, “Alright, how can I help?”

“What has our best defense always been?” asked his king rhetorically

“Right…the forest. I’ll get on it. Neo, why are you here anyway?”

“We, the Zai, have been assigned capitals to attend to, I will remain here as a guardian for the time being.”

“Glad to have you,” Gabi said as he jogged off toward the main gate.

Upon reaching the more populated parts of the city, he found that they were indeed preparing for war. Guards were stationed at every street corner, roadblocks had been erected in the streets, and most citizens were either inside, or being led to the Rens Keep, a giant castle capable of surviving many sieges.

Gabi reached the Main gate and began the climb to the top of the walls. After an exhausting assent, he was able to look upon the forest that surrounded the city. It was thick and dense preventing armies from effectively approaching the city unnoticed. Raising his hands, the magician felt power flow through him – at first nothing happened but then the forest began to rumble, trees began to get bigger, taller and thicker, paths to the city became covered and quickly after trees began to sprout. The forest began to grow with thickness, height, and radius.

Soon, after minutes of exhausting spell casting, Gabi admired his work. There was no conceivable way into the city from the ground. However, not wanting to take any chances, Gabi preformed one last enchantment. Roots and vies sprang from the ground wrapping the main gate in a tangle of foliage that made it almost impossible to open. Now, decided the SIC, there was only one way into the city. the air, and thankfully deamons did not make airships.

 

[strongholdx]

Chapter 24: Kristinza’s demise​

​

​

The sun was high in the sky by the time Ruethian got to the SAS Kristinza. It was a beautiful ship, a massive dragon head was carved into the bow off the ship which housed the three forward cannons that were particularly useful in chasing down other ships. Aside from good firepower, the ship was the fastest in the fleet of ten. Much small than the flag ship, it could maneuver with ease and fight well. It was the perfect scout.

He had already briefed the crew and was waiting for them to finish preparations. He stood on the docks inspecting the ship. Patsfan came up behind him.

“Going somewhere?”

“Newerth, we’ll be back in a few hours.”

“Alright, I’ll hold down the fort while you’re gone.”

They shook hands and parted ways, Patsfan down to the city, and Rue onto the ship. With a loud creaking noise, the docking clamps pushed the ship into open air and it began its journey across the Seagate Sea to Newerth.

The Kristinza’s engines hummed as they raced across the open water toward their destination. Ruethian, at the wheel hummed an old sailor’s song.

My father was the keeper of the Eddystone light​

And he slept with a mermaid one fine night​

Out of this union there came three​

A porpoise and a porgy and the other was me!​

Yo ho ho, the wind blows free,​

Oh for the life on the rolling sea..!​

“Cap’n!” saluted a sailor down on the deck, “While I fancy your singing, I think you may want to pay attention to the big black cloud.”

Sure enough, there was a huge cloud of smoke that they were heading right at. Steering hard starboard, Ruethian maneuvered the ship to narrowly avoid the cloud but thusly blocking any view of Newerth that they had had. Pushing the ship to full throttle, the engines roared as they guzzled coal and shot through the skies. However, no matter what, a giant cloud of thick, black, greasy smoke did not hold many good promises. Ruethian feared for the worst.

“Men!” he shouted, “Ready yourselves, we have no idea what we’ll find on the other side of this cloud, be ready for anything!”

After a few moments that he gave for the men to ready themselves, he plunged the ship into the smoke…and instantly regretted it. There was little to no oxygen causing him to cough and wheeze. Staying on course he continued through the skies now turned black.

After what seemed like forever, when he felt his lungs could hold no more, they broke through into the open air. Coughing and spitting, Rue sucked in huge mouthfuls of air to replenish what little he had gotten in the cloud. He noted that most of his crew members were having the same problem. The captain got back on his feet (he had fallen from lack of air) and grabbed hold of the wheel.

There was a loud screaming noise and a ‘smash’ that shook the ship. Then another, and another; they were under attack! Steering hard to port, he avoided another volley of what looked like cannon balls. He tried to locate their source, and when he did, he nearly shit himself.

The Gladimus hung over Newerth like omen as it spat a rain of cannon balls down on the city. There was clearly conflict aboard the ship and on the streets. Deamons were everywhere, fighting crewmembers in the air, throwing them off the railings and gutting them where they stood. Creatures of all shapes were on the ground massacring civilians in the streets. It was a picture of mass chaos!

“Battle stations!” Screamed Rue as he swerved the ship to avoid another deadly volley

By now, the Gladimus had taken notice to the small Seagate ship and was putting more firepower toward taking it down. A few deamons even took off, spreading their wings, and leaping into the air to take chase. Rue jammed the throttle into overdrive and pushed the nose of the ship upward and raced higher into the atmosphere. After a few moments the cannon fire stopped as they were too high to target, however they were still being perused by flyers.

“Ready rear cannons and fire at will!” the general screamed as the ship continued to shoot upward higher and higher above Newerth.

The Kristinza’s cannons began to expel shells but to no avail, the flyers just avoided them with ease as they closed in on the ship. Rue tried every maneuver he could think of but nothing worked, the deamons just got closer and closer. Soon the curve of the world could be seen as they climbed higher and higher. Reaching their maximum altitude and with nowhere to go, Rue shot the nose down making a bullet dive toward the ground, and back toward the burning city of Newerth.

But it was too late! The deamons had reached the ship and were beginning to board. The red monsters were beginning to tear holes in the ship’s hull and began to climb inside the hold. Rue, knowing that there was little he could do to fend off deamons with a crew of only eight sailors, locked the steering wheel and staggered toward the storage bay as the ship shot downward, motioning for the other men on deck to follow.

Upon entering the hold, he found a scene of terror. The deamons had already set part of the ship alight and were currently pulling the engine apart, piece by piece. Ignoring the monstrosities, Rue grabbed parachutes and began handing them out to his crew members. Once everyone had one they exited the hold back out onto the main deck.

Needing no bidding whatsoever, the sailors flung themselves off the side of the ship, parachutes strapped tightly to their backs. Even Rue jumped knowing that there was no hope. With no defense against their enemies save his sword, the only hope was to slam the ship into the largest group of deamons he could find while saving his own hide. So he did exactly that.

Feeling the safety of the ship’s deck leave his feet, Ruethian launched himself into the air as he fell alongside the now burning husk of the Kristinza. The ground rose up fast below him and he yanked the cord on the chute. The wide cloth shot out and deployed, considerably slowing his decent. He watched as the other men of his small crew pulled their cords too; unfortunately two of the parachutes did not deploy properly and sent their passengers shooting to their death. Rue winced at the loss of his men.

They watched as the Kristinza shot downward to Newerth gaining speed with every second. With an ear shattering boom the airship slammed into several buildings sending shrapnel and debris in every which direction. The screams of citizens and soldiers alike could be heard even from the ground as countless people ran from the shockwave that shot out from the epicenter and consumed nearly an eighth of the city.

Rue winced again, and signaled the rest of the crew as they shot toward the southern side of Newerth where the least amount of fighting was. Fortunately the massive ship was at the north end and paid them no notice. Unsheathing his sword, ready to fight, the general aimed his chute at the ground. As soon as he made contact, the pack was off and he was ready to fight.

The remaining crew of the Kristinza was in luck, there were no deamons in the wheat field that they had landed in. Without any words spoken, Rue broke into in a full sprint, toward the tree line to the south, the crew hard on his heels. Before they were more than half way there was a massive explosion from the city as the walls began to collapse shooting a massive dust cloud into the air in every direction. The sheer force of the explosion shot each crew member off their feet into the air causing them to crash into the ground.

Taking no time to search for wounds, Rue and the crew were already off into another run for the tree line. As they reached the forest, deamons of all sorts began to emerge, a savage hunger in their eyes. The crew turned hard on their heels and ran the opposite direction only to find a massive dust cloud shooting toward them. Stuck between a rock and a hard place the crew drew their swords and prepared to fight.

But then, like divine intervention there was a massive scream that came from the air that lifted the deamons from their feet and sent them flying leaving the path open! “Maar Brad! Bruniik Hin Mulaag Mahfaeraak!” was the scream in an unknown language.

Looking up, Rue could see DagothAgahnim shouting ancient words sending hundreds of deamons off their feet and knocking them from the air. His black wings were beating with insane power, the wind they were creating were even keeping some of the red monsters at bay. Ruethian took this as a blessing and kept running.

They entered the forest and changed course toward the sea. Their pace began to slow as they became exhausted until they were eventually at a slow jog. Rue signaled his men to stop and they caught their breath.

“Sir, what the hell were those?” asked a panting sailor

“Deamons, son, the bane of existence.”

“You mean like the Uprising?”

“Exactly, how they’re here, on Sanctum I mean, I don’t know. We need to get this to Seagate now. And then to Kainzo.”

“How?”

“Still working on that” Replied the general

“If Dagoth was up there, won’t Kain know?” asked another sailor

“Probably, or not, we don’t know. It’s our duty to let him know anyway.”

Rue signaled for the men to move on and they kept running leaving the screams and terrors of what was left of Newerth behind them…

* * * *​

​

​

Apherdite was a busy woman; like Kainzo, she always had something on her mind or was busy with one thing or another. For this reason, she was reluctant to help any needy individual if she was already preoccupied in fear that she would forget, or even worse, leave a job half finished.

As it happened to be, the Empress was talking to Brutal as he returned with Orange and Jmoney. They strolled through the halls while Orange brought the wounded proctor to the infirmary.

“Alright,” Aph was saying, “We need to prepare Sanctum’s defenses as soon as humanly possible, the Obsidian wall didn’t last too long last time.”

Brutal’s deep voice countered, “We should stop them where they stand, before they can gain any ground. Keep losses to a minimum.”

Aph was about to respond when she heard the patter of feet on the hallway floor. She turned to find a courier running toward her with a satchel strapped to his back. He stopped in front of her, panting.

“My empress, a message from the Cells of Banishment, second division.”

Both the Zos’ eyes widened. Aph was the first to speak, “What is it?”

“It’s Itzal, he’s escaped!”

“Fuck” was Brutal’s reply

Aph stomped her foot and swore, “This is not good, how did he get out?”

“No idea ma’am, He was just gone this morning.”

Brutal replied first, “We have bigger problems to deal with, we captured Itzal once, and we can do it again.”

“Unlikely, but you’re right.” Aph said, and then to the courier, “Go back, and get all personnel to report back here, we have to take care of the deamon menace first!”

The messenger ran off, back down the hallway to deliver his message. The two Zo stood where they had stopped, both deep in thought. Itzal was a god amongst Zo, but preferred to stay under the radar; hopefully he would stay hidden until Dagith was dealt with. If not, it could mean the end for more than just the deamons…

 

[strongholdx]

Chapter 25: Revelations​

​

The four stood in the tomb of the hero Lance as Chambers finished his tale. They were all quiet as they reflected on what they had heard. The first death of Dagith-Narr, Strongholdx’s demise, and the end of the Uprising were all encompassed into one expertly woven tale. Almost as if Chambers had knew what he was going to say before he said it.

For minutes they sat in silence, each one thinking their own thoughts. Finally, after a while, Chambers spoke, “You had all better head back down to the library and make yourself at home. We have some things to discuss when we get settled in.”

“Like?” asked Xatxil

“Like, ‘where do we go from here?’” Replied Steamed

Xatxil nodded and left the chamber, Carmeops following silently behind him. Steamed patted the big man on the back and said “Thanks,” and left the tomb leaving Chambers all alone. He shuffled to the wall next to the coffin and placed his hand against it sending dust shooting though the chamber. The runes inscribed in the tomb glowed blue with power as words of power we muttered in an alien language, they translated to something like this.

“My friend, I am close. I swore revenge, and I will have it, for I have not served my purpose. In the name of War, Strength, and Rage, I will not rest until you do.”

* * * *​

​

Xatxil hit the bottom of the stairs and slumped into the nearest chair, he was beat. And still glowing. Carmeops stood next to bookcase, examining its contents but touching nothing, it was rather unnerving with him being a thief and all. Steam entered the library shortly after, sat on the floor, and proceeded to curl into a ball.

Chambers made his way in about a minute later and placed himself in a high back chair at a study table that was filled with books, maps, and writings of all sorts. He looked around at the company he had gathered. They all looked unenthused, probably because they were tired, but they all held something in common that brought them together, they were all criminals.

Not knowing what to think of this, Chambers decided to ignore that fact for the time being. He was sure they all had intentions of their own, but what they were however he could not depict. Xatxil was bright and talented, difficult to see how he could be pursued for long, whereas Steamed was cold and to the point. Chambers could see him a killer but not as a criminal. Carmeops, however, Chambers did not need to meditate on. He knew very well what the thief was capable of and knew to keep track of his belongings. He began to examine one of the maps that Stronghold had left behind when he heard Xatxil exclaim “What the crap?”

Everyone’s eyes were upon him. He was sitting in the chair he had slumped down in not a minute earlier and was holding the blue, crystalline key that Raetec had dropped. His eyes were wide and he held it as if it were a dangerous or disgusting object. There was an odd silence as each member of the group sat frozen in their spot looking at the man and key. It was nearly a minute before anyone spoke.

“Where did you get that?” asked Steam

Xaxtil replied, still staring at the key, “Remember when Shen got taken from us? We were knocked unconscious?”

“Yeah?”

“That was the last time I saw they key, it seemed to be replaced by a dagger that I had stuffed in my belt. I just assumed I had acquired it while fighting whoever knocked us out.”

“So?” asked the sniper

“I was playing with it. And…it just turned into the key.”

“Just like that?” asked Chambers

“Yeah,” replied Xatxil, “it was really weird.”

There was another long pause before Chambers spoke, “I wonder…” then he stood up and disappeared amongst the shelves of the expansive library.

The other three could hear his voice from somewhere in the shelves “…perhaps Stronghold mentioned this key in his works, I doubt it but I vaguely remember reading about a key that he once acquired.”

Carmeops looked at Xatxil who looked at Steam who in turn looked back at Carm. They all shrugged as they listen to the big man talk, “Bloodline…bloodline…bloodline…ah! Here it is!”

Moments later he reappeared holding a dusty book with runes similar to the ones inscribed on the key. There was what looked like a translation below it. The book was entitled ‘Ruminations of the Bloodline war’ there was a subtext that read ‘ponderings of the after effects of one of them most destructive wars in human history. By Strongholdx’

Chambers slammed the book on a table and opened it, vigorously reading and rereading information from the old, dusty pages. He would read though a few paragraphs and then flip to a new page, then to a new one and read more. The pattern at which he read the information seemed random. After a few minutes he began to mumble things like ‘interesting’, and ‘fascinating’, and ‘I had always thought…’

After a while, Steam interrupted, “What exactly are you doing?”

“It says here,” was the reply, “That Stronghold once had in his possession, a key very much like this one, perhaps this very one, that he stole from Rane. It was, and I quote, ‘the key to absolute power, or so said by Rane’ end quote. He never found the use for it but he did however learn what the inscriptions meant, and that is was of great value to the Bloodline cult.”

“Well?” asked Xatxil, “What does it say?”

Chambers recited the translation, “He who holds this key has the potential to hold unlimited power. Power is corruption and corruption is crime. Thus the man who holds this key is a criminal – He will never be understood. The man who holds this key shall walk the valley of death alone for he cannot be understood. Make your choices wisely, for they cannot be undone!”

There was another pause, “That’s it?” asked Xatxil

“Yeah, that’s all it says here. Like I said, the use is unknown, but Bloodline seemed to think it was important. There is no mention of it being able to transform into anything like a dagger, or transform at all.”

“Well,” said Steamed, “I’d hang on to it. It may come in handy later. One to find and one to keep eh?”

Carmeops spoke up, “Perhaps…it is…ummm…maledicta…ah! Cursed. Perhaps it is cursed?”

Xatxil eyed the key with suspicion. Chambers flipped though the book again looking over the pages, “No, there is no mention of a curse of any sort here. I doubt it.”

Carm shrugged and went back to examining the bookshelf. It was Steam who spoke next, “Chambers, before, when we entered the library and Xatxil started glowing, you set something like ‘you found it!’ what did you mean by that?”

The big man brightened up. Once again he disappeared into the shelves looking for something. After a few moments he reappeared holding a massive book, it had to have nearly 1000 pages. It was titled He flipped it open to the table of contents.

“Raptor…Rodri…Xaverous…Zadrick…ah, here he is: Cecil Firedrake. He was a hero of old who had the unique ability to control fire. Instead of being buried, he was cremated. When the burning was done a red orb remained. It is said that it is his essence and anyone who might obtain it would…well, gain his powers. None have found it. Until now I presume.”

“So, we found the tomb of Cecil Firedrake back there?” asked Xatxil

“It would seem so” was the reply

“I really don’t feel any different”

“Well, according to this, you should be able to control fire. Let’s give it a try.” Chambers said, producing flint and steel from a drawer.

Gathering scratch paper, he laid it on the floor and set it ablaze. “Give it a try,” he said

Xatxil shrugged, “What do I do?”

Chambers shrugged in return, “No idea.”

The traveler held out his hand and closed his eyes. At first nothing happened, but then the fire began to grow and gain intensity. As if almost like magic, the fire rose into the air leaving the smoldering paper behind. The ball of flames began to orbit Xatxil until it came to a stop in front of his hand. Finally, in a spectacular climax the flames immersed itself ‘into’ Xatxil’s hand and the disappeared.

“Well, that worked!” Said steamed, awe evident in his voice

“Incredibili” Said Carmeops, eyes wide

“I’ll be damned,” Chambers said, “I didn’t actually think you had found it. That’s some cool stuff!”

“I don’t even know what to think.” Xatxil exclaimed

“This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship I think.” Said Chambers with a smile

* * * *​

​

Libra looked up as the door to Kainzo’s office opened, it was Apherdite.

“Libra? What the hell are you doing here? Where’s Kain?” she asked, clearly surprised

The veteran sighed, “Oh lass, I’m sorry. He was so brave…I…I don’t…”

“Libra! What happened? Where is he” she said moving up to the desk

“He…I think he’s still out there, but I have no idea where…”

“Libra!” she shouted, “Where is he!? What happened!?!”

“Oh…Ma’am.” Said Libra, face in his hands, “We went though that portal and wound up in the deamon realm. We found another and went though it after fighting wave upon wave of beasts. On the other side, we found ourselves outside of Otoh Gunga. We witnessed hundreds of deamons dropping their human forms and Rane tuning into Dagith-Narr himself. Lass, we’re in deep trouble.”

When he looked up, Aph was gone in a puff of smoke that caused Libra to cough and choke. Where she went was a mystery to him.

* * * *​

​

The air around Otoh Gunga crackled with energy as Apherdite, Queen of Sanctum arrived with a clap of deafening thunder. She appeared in a flash of blinding light, sending lightning shooting across the sky. Tornadoes formed from the sky and the sun was blotted out by clouds black as night. The Zo shot into the air, the Queen was angry.

She surveyed the area, a collapsed castle lay in ruins, deamon bodies were littered around a massive crater that held a meteorite. She knew that it was the Acrra-Maj but that was the least of her concern for a chunk of it had been mined out. While mining the meteor was an impressive feat, it proved a much more concerning problem. A sword could be forged from the metal within it.

A long time ago, when Brutal found the comet that was Vlauderung, he forged a sword from it that held godlike power. The sword allowed the wielder to be immune to bodily harm. The only thing that could best the wielder would be a sword forged from Acrra-Maj, which is, she presumed, was precisely what had happened here. Apherdite made a mental note to seek Brutal out after she found Kain.

The monarch shot higher into the atmosphere until there was scarcely enough air to breath. Still, there was no sign of Kain or Dagith or Rane or whoever they were fighting. However, she vowed not to rest until she had found them both. She let out a deafening shout that echoed around the planet – booming though the atmosphere it shook mountains and caused the wind to shift for the roar of the Zo had been heard.

 

[strongholdx]

Chapter 26: Return of the Dragon King​

All heard the shout, even Dagith-Narr. It was so powerful it caused him to halt his sword as he plunged it towards Kain’s exposed chest. This gave the emperor enough time to roll out of the way, bringing his legs around, sweeping Dagith off his feet. Kain had regained some strength after listening to the deamon king’s painfully long monologue.

Jumping up, Kainzo willed a sword into existence and clutched it tightly as Dagith rose back to his feet. There was a slight pause before his foe began to chuckle.

“It isn’t you who should be laughing Ravinos.”

The deamon kept laughing, “do you…hehe…know how screwe-ew…ahahahaa.” The king collected himself, “Do you know how annoying persistent you are? You have no hope of survival and yet you keep trying.”

“Do you even know what this place is?” asked Kain

“Undoubtedly some church long ago abandon by whoever created it.”

“That’s where you are wrong; this is the worst possible place you could have chosen to fight me.”

“I doubt it” the deamon smiled

“Lord Commissar!” Called Kain, “I call upon you in my time of need! Rain down your hellish furry upon my enemies – come forth from your slumber and fight with me! For this I pray!”

“What?” asked Dagith

There was an earth shattering roar and the ceiling overhead was torn clean off in a spectacular show of force. Above, several dragons were whirling in the sky shooting fire left and right, screaming as they shot here and there across the sky. Then, in a flash of fire the building that they were standing in was destroyed. The wood it was constructed with was incinerated in a matter of moments leaving them standing, facing each other in an open field.

Behind Kainzo was a massive black dragon that dwarfed the other dragons above in size. It let out a bellowing roar and spat a mystic purple flame that lash out at the deamon king causing him to scream in pain.

Upon the dragon was a rider donned in full armor wielding a massive broadsword. Once the flames came to an end he spoke, “Kainzo, I have heard your call! Dagith-Narr, I give you this one chance for your unconditional surrender before my dragons tear you to shreds!”

Dagith didn’t look as surprised as Kain would hope; he simply clapped his hands, and said “Impressive I must say. I will leave you for now but be warned, this is not the end Kainzo! You will give up this plane of existence sooner or later!” With that the deamon disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Up above, Lord Commissar raised his sword and all the dragons save the massive black one on which he rode all flew together and surrounded him, he then spoke an incantation in a strange language and they all began to fade until they were no more. Then the last dragon lowered its head to the ground for its rider to walk down. When he set foot on the ground he embraced Kian in a handshake.

“How are you old friend?” asked Commissar

“I’m fine, I didn’t think you’d come, but I’m glad you did.”

“I’ve been aware of the problems here for quite some time, I’m glad to help.”

Lord Commissar was an old friend of Kain’s who had built the ‘altar of the dragon’ within Sanctum. It was a huge statue of a green dragon that held the spirit of a dragon. There, he found enlightenment and ascended into the second plane of aether, the dragon realm. Since then, neither of them had seen each other. However, people began to worship the dragon, and build smaller churches like the one that stood where they were only moments ago. It was because of this temple that Kain was able to call his friend back to help.

“So my friend, where do we go from here?” asked Commissar

“I assumed you would go back to where you came.” Kainzo replied

“No, I am here to lend the full strength of my dragon army to you. I fear you’ll need it.”

“Really?” asked Kain, “I thought that-”

“Kainzo,” his friend interrupted, “I am acknowledged as ruler of dragon kind. I can do as I damn well please. Unless you’re refusing my assistance.”

“No, no, not at all. I guess I’ll stop talking. We need to get to Sanctum. Now.”

“I can do that” boomed a voice, it was the black dragon

“And who is this?” Asked Kain

“Kainzo, meet Erinyth, my long time companion.”

“It…is a pleasure.” Boomed the dragon

“Likewise.” Said Kain in a mixture of awe and excitement.

The dragon lowered its head again and allowed the two to climb on. Once they had situated themselves on his neck, Erinyth spread his wings, and with one mighty flap shot into the air in the direction of the capital city.

* * * *​

​

Apheridte watched as the black figure moved across the planet like a shadow. She shot down toward it with incredible speed. The air around here began to ignite as she broke thought the atmosphere toward her prey, a massive bird of sorts. It was the silhouette of her lover that caused her to divert course merely seconds before collision.

To her surprise and terror the bird was actually a dragon, and a big one at that. She slammed into the ground leaving a large crater that the dragon began to circle, roaring like thunder. It made a slow decent and placed its feet on the ground. In a climactic and terrifying show of power it let out a roar and shot fire spiraling into the sky as the beast spread its wings. Then it lowered its head and let its rider’s descend.

Kain was the first off. He ran down the crater and swept Apherdite into his arms and they embraced. Lord Commissar watched in minor amusement as the two began to kiss rather intensely. He politely waited for a few moments but the couple kept at it. The dragon king coughed politely, when nothing happened he coughed again, this time louder. Still nothing. Erinyth let out a bellowing roar that caused both the Zo to turn.

“Now that I have your attention…”

The two lovers looked slightly embarrassed, something rarely shown in beings of such power. However, Lord Commissar kept speaking, “We need to get back to Sanctum, I’m sure Dagith will mount an offensive rather soon. We should be prepared”

Kain and Commissar climbed aboard Erinyth and took off while Aph followed behind, eager to hear the tale of his disappearance.

* * * *​

​

A council of both Zo and Zai sat around the main meeting table in Kainzo’s private room. Brutal, DagothAgahnim, Neo_Exdeath, Buddahhopper, Libra, Raetac, and even Sheddi were there. Kain had called the meeting as soon as he had arrived back in the city.

The emperor was speaking, “Brutal, give me a situation report.”

“Well sir, it doesn’t look good.” Started the huge Zo, “The deamons took Newerth in a surprise attack not three hours ago; they’ve got legionaries roaming the countryside and have placed at least two cities under siege. There have also been reports of the NEON ship Gladimus firing on allies, I have made the assumption the ship has been compromised. Needless to say, they were very quick to respond once we discovered their existence, on a side note, I believe most of these attacks are premeditated if not practiced. Lastly, we lost contact with Skyforge about thirty minutes ago, I was about to go check it out when you called the meeting.”

‘Then, don’t let us keep you, find out what happened to Skyforge then get back here and organize a defense force, we’re not going to sit by idle while our cities get pillaged.” Said Kainzo

Brutal nodded and got up to leave, but Commissar interrupted him, “Brutal, your vanguard is waiting in the courtyard.”

“Vanguard? I don’t need escorts.”

“You’ll be please to find that they’re much more than escorts.” Commissar replied as Brutal left the room

* * * *​

​

Brutal entered the courtyard and nearly jumped out of his skin. There were two midsized dragons lying near the central tower, they eyed him up as he approached.

One of them spoke, a red dragon slightly bigger than its companion, “Greetings Zo, I am Vameer, this is Drrahkos, we will be accompanying you to the place you call ‘Skyforge’.”

Brutal, pleasantly surprised replied, “Pleased to meet you, shall we be off?”

“Let’s” replied Vameer spreading his wings and shooting into the sky. Brutal matched his speed and shot up alongside him, Drrahkos following slightly behind.

“I must warn you Zo,” Said the red one, “Drrahkos does not speak, he has forgone his ability to speak to increase his mental and physical states, if you must ask him a question, or speak to him, I will reply in his stead.”

“How can you tell what he is thinking?”

“Hmmmm, how to I put this in terms of human understanding? We can, speak with our minds to and from one dragon to another.”

“Like telekinesis?”

“Not at all. We have words for things you humans do not, it is very difficult to describe. For now, think of it as mental, non verbal communication.”

“Alright,” replied Brutal nonchalantly, as they shot though the air towards Skyforge, “How do you guys fit into this whole thing? I mean, how are you related to Commissar?”

“In the dragon realm” Said Vameer, “there are seven tribes of dragons, Black, Blue, White, Red, Gold, Green, and Brown, or elder. One from each tribe represents the king in a council, I am the representative of the red hunters of the sands, Drrahkos is the representative of the wise yet powerful green dragons, and my lifelong friend.”

Drrahkos let out a low rumble that sounded like something between appreciation and satisfaction. It fascinated Brutal that there seemed to be a strong bond of brotherhood between the two, even though the green one couldn’t speak. They flew in unison, their wings beating as one, eyes scanning the land below them. After a few moments, Drrahkos made another noise.

“Zo, he says that there is something on the horizon, we must be careful.”

“Alright. You can call me Brutal by the way.”

“The word ‘brutal’ means many things in our language, none of which are names. I shall call you what you are, Zo. With respect of course.”

“Doesn’t bother me anyway, I actually-“ He was cut off by Drrahkos who made noise, this time is was aggravated, almost a snarl.

“There is a big ship on the horizon,” Said Vameer, “Bigger than I have ever seen, we must proceed with caution.”

“How can you guys see way out there anyway? I can’t see a damn thing,” Brutal questioned, straining his eyes.

“Dragons have better eyesight than most, especially humans, in fact, we are known as the eyes, ears and wings of the dragon king.”

“Fun stuff” said Brutal as a small black dot appeared on the horizon, surely the ship Vameer had spoken of. As they drew closer, the ship grew in size, at first it looked no bigger than a midsized trading vessel, then a small warship, but it kept growing as they neared it, soon it was even bigger than a KoE battle cruiser. Brutal needed not the name on the side of the ship to tell that is was the NEON ship Gladimus.

“Drrahkos, what’s on that ship?” asked Brutal

“Deamons, many of them,” replied Vameer, “They have not seen us yet, but they soon will.”

“Can you see Skyforge?”

“I see a huge platform of sorts, and many smaller ships but no houses or buildings. I have never been to this ‘Skyforge’ so I could not tell you if this is it.”

“Oh, that’s it alright” said Brutal as they neared the rings that encompassed the city.

Most of the city’s houses, built like airships, had either flown away or fallen to the ground. Some that were capable of weapons fire were fighting the Gladimus, which was raining hell on the floating city. Houses, bodies, and ships were scattered around the area in flames, threatening to consume the city’s central staircase. Any ships that were still docked as houses were in flames and soldiers and deamons fought in the streets, all of them armed to the teeth.

“We have to get in there!” Brutal yelled as he shot toward the city, the two dragons just behind him.

Soon, the Gladimus had spotted them and began to focus some of its fire on the dragons. Vameer yelled out to Brutal, “We must do battle with this ship, we will do what we can to help you!” and then shot away towards the huge battleship.

As the Zo approached Skyforge he watched in amazement as Drrahkos and vameer whirled around the ship smashing the hull and setting fire to crew members. Most incredible of all, the dragons kept moving at unbelievable speeds so that the ships cannons could not focus on them, let alone lead them enough to hit them.

Brutal hit one of the glass streets of Skyforge knocking several deamons off the side sending them to their doom. Then, he went to town using water magic to suppress the beasts. Brutal knew a lot of the alignment of creatures, for example deamons were more aligned with fire, meaning water was the most deadly substance to use on them.

The Zo pushed back hundreds of deamons as the dragons pushed the Gladimus from the offense to the defense. Red beasts fell from the city, some catching themselves with their wings, others not so lucky. However, even with the arrival of the two dragons and Brutal, Skyforge almost could not be saved, they had arrived too late.

“Zo! Another ship approaches!” yelled Vameer as he spun and dove to avoid a salvo of cannon fire. Sure enough, a large ship was on the horizon heading at them with incredible speed. Brutal recognized the design as the Kigdom of Edolas flagship The Claymore.

“It’s a friendly! There may be hope for us yet!” Brutal yelled back as he sent another group of baddies to their death.

He watched as the steel giant that was the Claymore approached the city. The KoE flagship was one of the most renowned ships ever made. It was the only ship ever to be fully made of steel, and was always considered the most powerful ship in the entire world. Now, as it looked, it was before a powerful contender.

“Zo! Look out! Above you!” Shouted Vameer as the giant centerpiece of Skyforge, known as the Chandelier began to collapse from repeated volleys of fire from the Gladimus.

Brutal was frozen as he watched the world begin to collapse upon him. Drrahkos sprang into action, disengaging himself from fighting the Gladimus, he swept down and plucked Brutal from the ground with his massive talons, narrowly avoiding being crushed himself. Thanking the green dragon, the Zo leapt out of his claws and back into the air. He watched at The Claymore drew close with every second, its massive steel hull shining in the afternoon sunlight.

Vameer, Drrahkos, and Brutal all made a wide arcing circle around the Gladimus as the Chandelier slammed into the ground sending a massive dust cloud above it, and hundreds of deamons and humans alike to their death. Then, in a surprising change of pace, the massive deamon controlled ship turned and poured on the coals, speeding away from Skyforge and the Claymore leaving the Zo and his dragon escort in the dust.

“It is a good thing that the ship left; I could do little more against it. It is very well built, and a formidable foe.” Said Vameer, with a hint of relief in his voice, “Should we meet up with the metal giant?”

“Yes, let’s” said Brutal turning in the direction of the Claymore. Hopefully the captain would have answers.

 

[strongholdx]

Chapter 27: Growing Pains​

​

Rue’s hand slammed against the wooden docks that made up the streets of Seagate. He pulled himself up onto dry land and flopped onto the ground, breathing heavily. Several more crew members swam up to the docks and in time all flopped down next to their captain, totally exhausted.

After the Kristinza was destroyed, Rue jumped into the water and began swimming back to Seagate. It was only a few miles, and Newerth stuck out on a small peninsula bring it even closer. Seeing no real way to get back to Seagate, Ruethian had decided that it was the best option to swim. As they made their way across the sea, he noted that the Gladimus left Newerth in the direction of KoE. Leaving nothing but the sound of roaring deamons and yelling soldiers.

Now, back in Seagate’s industrial district, the crew lay there exhausted, unable to move. Thankfully it wasn’t long before someone spotted them and brought back a medical team who began checking over each member of the Kristinza’s crew. Later, Matt followed them.

“Where’s the ship?” He asked Rue

“Gone” Replied the General

“Where?”

“Destroyed.”

“What on earth for?” asked the mayor

“Deamons, attacking Newerth…destroyed it.”

Matt swore and ran off, calling for the captain of the guard. Rue just coughed and spat water as one of the doctors began to look him over. Once he had been given a clean bill of health, the tired yet hardy general stumbled back onto his feet and made his way to the town hall. He found his way to Matt’s meeting room and let himself in. Matt and the town guard were having a discussion.

The mayor was speaking, “…Get all those marines back down here and fortify the city, use the Skyport only for refueling. Otherwise I’m putting a temporary ban on transports leaving or entering the port for any reason. Military ships, our military ships, may come and go as they please.”

The guard captain made a smart salute and breezed out the door. Noticing the Navy commander, Matt offered Rue a chair, who gratefully took it. The two sat in silence, Rue staring somewhere between Matt’s face and his own feet. Matt examined the old general, he was getting old and the color had drained from his face from the long swim, he was shivering, and still soaking wet.

It was a while before anyone spoke, but Matt interjected, “What happened out there?”

Rue’s eyes moved but his head was still in the same position. The told the story without so much as blinking; the arrival at Newerth, the deamon attack, the Gladimus, and the destruction of the Kristinza. He was clearly exhausted, almost as if the wind had been knocked out of him and wasn’t returning.

Once he was done, Matt rubbed his chin, “Take the next few days off, Patsfan will handle it from here.”

“With all due respect sir, I don’t need to take any time off.”

“Yeah?” asked the mayor, “When was the last time you actually did take a day off?”

Rue blinked

“That’s what I thought, you can’t remember and neither can I. Take a few days off, that’s an order.”

Reluctantly the general stood up and sauntered off to his home, the Guardian Tower. He took off his soaked jacket and hung it to dry, he changed out of his wet clothes into a new pair. Then, he moved over to his fire place and lit a fire. Finally he sat down in his favorite chair and picked up a book. It wasn’t more than a few minutes before he was sound asleep, book in his lap, and the fire burning away. Outside the sun began to set as the Seagate navy took up defensive positions around the city, tension filled the air, but none made it past the door of Ruethian’s home where he slept better than he had for the first time in many years.

* * * *​

​

Bearcat made his ay though the crowded halls of Sanctum tower with as much haste as the stout man could muster. Being as short as he was, it made him difficult to spot, so he was accustom to pushing and shoving people out of his way. In fact, his favorite saying when in a crowd was ‘use your elbows!”.

The architect got to the nearest flight of stairs and went up to the thirty-seventh floor, the top. Once on the floor reserved mostly for Zo and Zai, he found the meeting room door and pushed it open without knocking.

Everyone inside stopped talking as he entered. Kain spoke, “Bearcat, we’re incredibly busy right now, come back later.”

“It can’t wait sir.” He replied

“Yes it can.”

“No, it can’t. It’s the Nexus.”

The Zo looked surprised, “What?”

“Someone messed with the portals and made them one way. People are coming in but not going out, it’s getting over crowded and people are beginning to panic.”

“What?!” asked Kain, slightly infuriated

“Furthermore,” continued the smith, “I’ve got engineers working on the thing right now; they’ve told me that most of the controls are shot. The emergency landing protocols have been totally deleted, and more and more people are arriving every second.”

Kain swore, “Commissar, can you use any of your dragons to help shuttle people off the Nexus?”

“Each dragon could only hold four or five people; I’d guess seven at a maximum, they’re not troop transports.” Replied the dragon king

“I’ve tried to contact every navy I can think of but none of their airships are available. Most likely protecting their cities I presume.” Bearcat exclaimed

Kainzo swore again, “Get that thing fixed, if bad goes to worse, come get me, I’ll handle it. And contact every city, tell them to shut down their Herogates!”

Bearcat was already backing out the door and on his way to the ground floor before the mighty Zo had finished his sentence; there was no time to lose.

* * * *​

​

A wind began to stir on the planet of Sanctum. It began far to the southwest and traveled far to the northeast as it blanketed the world. The wind rattled the window pane of a tower that overlooked the sea, its only inhabitant waking just as it left, the wind continued onward sweeping though the mountains where a lonely killer watched the night sky, shivering from the cold, it kept its course, down into the planes where a ravaged city lie in ruins, its lingering embers summoned back into mighty flames, but still the wind did not stop.

The gust continued to a mountain peak where a being of immense power overlooked the world, ready to leave, yet it caused him to shiver. However the wind stopped for no one, it breezed into the planes where a lone warrior walking the path of justice drew his weapon when he felt it. It continues past the spiraled tower and through city streets, it swept to a mountain of lava where two workers paused from their job and shuttered at what it could be. The wind spun and swirled as it traveled across the land, across oceans, over mountains, though valleys, and into caves.

The draft made its way down ravines into the annals of the world where creatures of all sorts shivered with fear. It shot down streams, into cabins, houses, and homes. It found warriors, wanderers, and the weary, it saved no man woman or child, for all felt its arctic touch. It rang clear in the night as it sped across the endless sea where peoples and monsters of the likes no one had ever imagines cried for war. Yet the wind did not stop.

It carried itself across the yellow desert where a tracker hunting its prey stopped his hunt momentarily. It crossed mountain chains where massive crystalline cities sprawled from one horizon to the next. The wind swept across a sunken landmass where eyes of mighty beasts watched, in anticipation and fear. It swirled to where the land met the sky, where a monster, the last of its kind lay, waiting to die.

Wherever the destination of the wind was, no one could know, for it twirled about, flowing here and there, between cliffs, cities, and canyons. The breeze brushed its way across frozen fields of ice, and craggy volcanic badlands, it came to island, ocean, and archipelago alike, discriminating none –leaving no one without its touch.

Once the world was covered, and all were aware of its presence, it vanished into the night sky leaving one lingering thought. It was known to all but grasped by few, and of all those who were able to grasp its concept, only three or four understood it, and of those yet, only one wanted to believed it: Sanctum was dying…

 

[strongholdx]

Chapter 28: Flight​

​

Steam swung his legs back and forth in the cool night air. He was sitting outside of Lance’s tomb as the wind brushed his hair as it swept across the lands. He couldn’t sleep – he had tossed and turned in the bed Chambers had provided him, but he wasn’t tired. He had forged more bullets for his rifle and was just biding his time, waiting until he finally did get tired, he let thoughts pass him by like the howling wind from high on the mountain top of Stronghold’s Library.

He got back up from the cliff’s edge that he had been sitting on and moved back down to the Library. Chambers has left a lute out on one of the tables, Steamed grabbed it and walked back outside and began to sing a lullaby that he had heard long ago from his father. He remembered it perfectly, for it was the first and last time he had seen him. The song echoed soothingly though the cliff side.

In the quiet of the shadow…​

In the corner of a room…​

Darkness moves upon you…​

Like a cloud across the moon…​

​

You're a-wearing all the silence​

Of a constant that will turn...​

Like the windmill left deserted…​

Or the sun forever burn…​

​

So…don't forget to breathe​

don’t forget to breathe…​

Your whole life is here​

No eleventh hour reprieve​

so…don't forget to breathe…​

​

Keep your head above water​

But don't forget to breathe…​

​

And all the suffering that you've witnessed…​

And the hand prints on the wall…​

They remind you how it's endless…​

How endlessly you fall…​

​

And the answer that you're seeking…​

For the question that you found…​

Drives you further to confusion…​

As you lose your sense of ground…​

​

So…don't forget to breathe​

Don't forget to breathe…​

Your whole life is here​

No eleventh hour reprieve​

So don't forget to breathe​

​

Keep your head above water​

But don't forget to breathe…​

​

Breathe....​

​

The last note lingered in the air like a specter as he finished the song. He plucked a few more notes on the lute and hummed along with it before he set it down, taking a deep breath as he did. Closing his eyes, the sniper felt the cold wrap around him like a cloak, he inhaled letting it sweep through his body, then exhaled, relaxing himself. His muscles loosened, his breathing slowed, heartbeat slowed, and he felt more tired than he had in months.

Steamed opened his eyes, ready to return to sleep, but noticed something he had not before. In the distance, in the direction of Newerth, there was a soft, blood red glow. It was not the sunset red the sun made, and not the light made by lanterns, only an uncontained fire made that glow, only something sinister and deadly made such a light.

Without warning, Steamed began to notice things of concern. The wind had stopped suddenly, there was a rhythmic white noise that could be faintly heard in the distance like wings beating, shadows moved in the night sky, and there were no animals about. The loons had stopped singing and the wolves no longer howled – an ill omen was upon him.

Springing from the cliff edge, Steamed ran back inside, slamming shut the iron door that led into the library. Inside, Chambers was waiting for him, he had a deep look of concern on his face, and Steamed approached him.

“What’s wrong?” he asked

“Deamons, many of them, headed this way.” He replied, almost before the question was finished

“How do you know THAT?”

“Tell me, while you were inside, did you notice anything odd?”

“Yeah, that’s why I came in” said the sniper

“Exactly, I had thought I had felt their presence nearby, but I thought I was mistaken”

“Feel their what?”

“There is no time to explain” Said Chambers, slightly rushed, “Your friends are packing their things, and I suggest you do the same – we leave in ten minutes.”

“Wha - why?” asked Steam, now very worried

“Because even though this place is built like a fortress, I don’t have the supplies to feed all of you for an extended period of time. We may be in here for a while if there are deamon flying around out there.”

“So, let me understand what you’re saying,” Said the sniper “We could stay nice and cozy in here, or go die out there. Right?”

“Starve in here or die fighting out there. Pick one.”

Steam threw up his hands and ran down the hall to the room he had slept in. He grabbed his rifle, his only possession, and moved to Xatxil’s room, he and Carmeops were gathering a collection of weapons that Chambers had left around. They both looked up as he entered.

“The big guy has hundreds of these things just lying around” Said Xat, pointing to the pile of swords, “Pick one, we might need them.”

Steam shook his head, “Two things, one, there are not hundred of weapons here –“

Carmeops interrupted him, “I possess thirty-seven”

Xat chuckled as Steams kept talking “And two, when did everyone wake up? I was in here like four minutes ago.”

“Must have been four minutes ago, Chambers got us up, said deamons were near and told us to grab a weapon and get our shit. Seems odd I think, but hey, I trust him.”

Shrugging, the sniper grabbed a longsword and attached it to his belt, he sheathed a dagger and pocketed a few throwing knives. He slipped four into the hidden pocket in his pants, he played by the rule “One to find, One to keep”. Once everyone was packed they made their way back to the main library. Chambers was waiting for them, puzzling over a map.

“What’s the plan? And how do you know deamons are out there?” asked Xatxil

“Long story short, I can sense their presence, I will explain later. For now, we make tracks for Tarantia, I know people there.”

Carmeops laughed, “How I say? We are criminal!”

“Exactly,” Said Steamed, “We’re all wanted fugitives, except you. Tarantia is only a few miles from the tower; we can’t get that close and expect to stay free!”

“Hide where they least expect to find you right?”

“He brings up a good point” Replied Xatxil

Steam threw up his hands again, “Alright, whatever, let’s get going”

Chambers went about the library and extinguished all but one torch. Then he used it to guide the group to the exit (Thankfully Xatxil’s glowing had ceased). He extinguished the final torch and muscled the entrance open.

The cool night air produced from Sanctum’s unique climate swirled around them as they entered back out onto the narrow passage into the mountain range that they had come from the night earlier. Sure enough, dim figures could be seen by the light of the full moon. Most of them flew low in the sky, wings beating softly giving the sound of a distant drumbeat.

Chambers crouched down pointing to several of them “See?” he whispered

Silently the four companions moved toward the cover of a rock outcropping that would shield them from above. The progress was painstakingly slow under the light of the moon; Xatxil felt like the outcrop was moving further away and felt as if he were exposed as there was no cover to either side of him. Taking care to not even make the gravel beneath their feet crunch they moved along as the drumbeat of wings continued.

The outcropping was only a few meters away when an earsplitting roar broke the rhythmic silence that they had been accustoming to. Chambers dropped all hopes of steal and made an all out dive for the rocks, the other three following suit. A huge dark shape shot overhead snapping a few deamons out of the air. Instantly the winged beasts began to attack the larger one.

Taking the opportunity, Chambers said to his friends, “This is our chance, let’s get the fuck out of here!”

The four made a break, running further into the mountains as the battle overhead commenced. Suddenly, the larger beast, a silhouette in the sky, began to spew fire from its mouth incinerating several of its opponents. Chambers’s eyes widened as he realized that the being above him was a dragon. Whatever had happened in the short time he had been away from civilization, it wasn’t good.

Now further into the mountains, the Xatxil and friends stopped to catch their breath as the battle far behind them continued in the dragon’s favor.

“Was that…a….Dragon?” asked Xatxil

“Yeah, from what I know, it matched the description perfectly.” Replied Chambers

Steam flopped down next to a rock, “All of this because I killed a guy in Sanctum. I hate my life!”

“This… most interesting it is. I have not been seen any of things like this before” Carmeops muttered as he caught his breath

The dragon roared again as it tore another deamon to pieces in the distance. Now, of the nearly thirty that had attacked it, only seven or eight remained. As the four watched the battle wage, there was the sound of beating wings nearby. They spun around to find a large red monster with a goat’s head and ram horns lumbering toward them. Its skin rippled with muscles and its claws looked to be razor sharp.

Xatxil sprang into action, putting his newfound powers to use. He sent a column of fire spiraling toward their foe. It yelled in pain and charged them, aiming for Chambers who braced himself and sent himself flying at it. They met in the middle with a sickening thud, both of them landing blows on each other, fist against claw. When they broke apart Xatxil sent a few more fireballs in the direction the deamon as Steam let a shot lose that caused the deamon to stager.

As the beast reeled Carmeops took the chance to fling a wall of sharp steel in its direction using a short sword he cut deep into the red skin of his foe who screamed. It spread its wings and leaped into the air, but it was too late. A combination of Xatxil’s fireballs and another shot from Steam brought the monster back to the ground.

“Holy shit, I don’t know why I can shoot fire from my hands, but this kicks ass!” exclaimed Xatxil

Chambers brushed himself off, “Cecil Firedrake, when he died, produced a glowing red orb that hid somewhere on Sanctum. That orb was said to grant powers similar to his. Looks like the legends were true, and looks like you found it.”

“Does it wear off?” asked Steam, reloading his rifle

“No idea, I would assume so, after all, the glowing stopped didn’t it?”

“I’ll take care to not get over confident, don’t want to pick a fight with a guy and find I can’t shoot fire anymore.” Said the traveler

Carmeops gasped causing the other three to turn and look. Two more demaons were heading down the narrow path though the mountains at them. There was no where to go but forward, they would have to fight. The four readied their weapons as they eyed up the on comers. One deamon was almost an exact copy of the one before but it had antlers. The second one was a grotesque mass of tentacles that swept to and fro. IT appeared to have only one eye and no mouth.

As they neared, something began to feel odd, none of the four could quite tell what it was, but something had changed. The deamons were almost upon them when Carmeops figured it out. He threw himself at the ground and yelled one word: dragon.

Sure enough the massive winged beast swept over them, mere feet away. It picked up the larger one and ripped in two with its massive talons. It banked left dropping the wriggling remains into the cliffs. Then it swung back toward the four travelers. It landed putting the deamon between itself and the four.

A massive searing flame emerged from the dragon’s mouth as it burnt the second deamon to a crisp. The winged beast stepped over the charred remains of its foe toward Chambers’s group who readied themselves for a fight that would probably end very fast. But instead of fight, the dragon spoke.

“Humans…I…hmmmmm” the dragon started, almost as if it were deep in thought, “I admire your courage. But I mean no harm. I am Alakus”

“Y-you can t-talk?” asked the sniper, still looking down the scope of his rifle.

“My knowledge of your ‘lakour’…language… is limited but yes, most dragons speak. Again, I shall do no harm”

Chamber lowered his sword slightly, “Well, uh, thanks for the assist.”

Alakus nodded his massive head, “I shall…cover your travels as long as I can. If my king calls for me… I will leave.”

“Your king?” asked Xatxil

“You have exhausted my knowledge of your lakour. I must fly!” The dragon shot into the air becoming a shadow in the night sky circling far above them.

“Well,” Chambers exhaled, “That was… interesting to say the least.”

“Yes” was Carmeops’s reply.

Once again the four set off into the darkness toward Tarantia where destinies lie and fates awaited them.

* * * *​

​

Kainzo stepped away from the meeting room where he had been for several hours. He stood in the hallway of the Sanctum tower embracing the quiet. It was now dark outside and the defense preparations were not even close to being done. He had been awake for more than a day now and even as a superhuman zo, he was tired. Apherdite came up behind him.

“You look awful, you should get some rest.”

“I’ve been thinking about it, I’ve got stuff to do though. So many things.”

His lover comforted him, “The world can wait a few hours while you nap, go, I’ll handle it from here until you get back.”

“Ok” Kainzo replied, moving down the hallway. Once she had re-entered the room, he willed himself away.

The zo was standing in a cramped space, barely big enough to stand in. It was filled with pipes dripping water, letting off steam, and making all sorts of noises. From all around him, pipelines fed into a greater body outside of his field of vision. Nearby, down the corridor was a man wearing a thick welding mask, he was currently tightening a leaky pipe.

“Neo” Said Kain

Neotetro jumped nearly a foot into the air, “Mother of all things holy! Make some noise next time you scary son of a bitch!”

“Sorry, I seem to have a habit of that.”

“Habit? More like addiction! Let me get my heart out of my throat and we can talk. What do you need?”

“When will this thing be able to fly?” asked Kain

“Well that’s a new one,” Neo replied sarcastically as he went back to tightening the pipe, “I’d say six or seven months and she’ll be in top working condition.”

“What about bare essentials, to make the trip one way? How fast could you do that?”

“Kainzo, buddy,” Neotetro exclaimed, “I’m not a miracle worker; Vault 101 has already invested almost a year into this project. To get this thing to make a one way trip, we could do it in a few weeks.”

“We…may need it sooner than that.” Replied the zo

“Problems on the surface?”

“Yes, the deamons have returned. Lord Commissar has come back to help us but I don’t know if It’ll be enough.”

Neo’s eyes widened, “I go underground for a week! One freaking week and you pull deamons and dragons out of your hat? Wow!”

Kain chuckled, “Get back to work, I’ll check on you later” and once again he was gone

Neo shrugged and continued to work amongst the pipes and wires. Nothing good would come of this war he knew, but it wasn’t his problem. He’d just work and do as he was told and hopefully, somehow get out alive.

 

[strongholdx]

Chapter 29: New Hope, Best Hope, Last Hope, No Hope​

​

Draskuul hung in the air in a ghostly trance. His head was tilted backwards while his legs hung limp, his arms were positioned as if he were holding a basketball. His hands curved to the shape of a sphere as he hung in mid air. A small purple light emitted from his hands, a ball of dark energy hung in the balance of power as it glowed and rippled.

The room around him was unimpressive; it was cylindrical, taller than it was wide. The contents consisted of a door, a rug, a waist high pedestal, and a window. The mayor of New Hope, at the moment was however totally unaware of his surroundings. He was locked in a place between life and death, existence and nonexistence where he once played with power like a child’s toy. Now, he was putting the power to good use.

The room he was in was part of a tower that held hundreds of rooms, but not a soul. The tower was part of an even larger entity, a castle that also was nearly deserted. The castle however was the center complex of the not so deserted city of New Hope, but as Drask saw it, there was no hope.

Only days ago, deamons had been spotted in the lowlands by scouts, the city’s defenses were barely ready when an army of massive size put New Hope under siege. They had fought and waged war outside of the once impressive city. The planes lay littered with hundreds of bodies, soldiers and deamon alike, but no one side had prevailed. Yet.

As mayor, Drask had a responsibility to keep his people safe, but there was no way out of the city. Surrounded on all sides there was no hope of salvation or victory. His tacticians, or what was left of them, suggested that the deamons outnumbered them in a 4.5:1 ratio. And there was an agreement on all side that the best hope of victory was to fight and hope for the best. Well, some good that was doing them. Not hours ago, the city walls had been toppled, gates bashed in, and streets flooded with the red skinned monsters. It was of no use trying to fight, citizens were being slaughtered in the streets, soldiers were trying to defend the town hall, but to no avail, the army had broken though.

In what seemed like a last ditch effort to survive, the survivors had barricaded themselves in the town hall. There, Draskuul appeared to them and said he would find salvation within the hour. What was left of New Hope cheered with a new found sense of victory, but there was a darker side to the story.

Salvation was not victory

For years, in secret, the mayor had practiced as a necromancer and had gotten good at it. What was entailed in necromancer usually involved pain and death; fortunately that part had already happened for there was a city of death right outside. His first thought was to raise the dead to his command and fight the battle with the undead, but that would take a wizard of immense power, perhaps even that greater than of a zo.

Draskuul was not a zo, and could not muster a force of the undead large enough to hope for victory. He knew that if there was any hope of victory for the rest of Sanctum, which was also no doubt under siege, not everyone could survive. Victory required sacrifice. So he entered the Multiverse.

The Multiverse was a place bound by nothing where souls wandered lost within the void that was nothing. The void was far greater and more expansive than one man could comprehend for it would drive him truly insane to even try to unearth its secrets. But the necromancer was not in search of secrets, he wanted salvation.

Using all of his might, the necrotic mayor opened a rift the allowed travel between Sanctum and the void. The souls of the dead that hung around New Hope were drawn to this rift entering to where they first came. The void is like a magnet, drawing all things that came from it to it. This is no different with souls, even if they wanted to stay (they did not) they could not.

Whilst the souls entered the rift, they cause backwash, bits of nonexistence began to spill over into Sanctum. Normally such a displacement would destroy even the biggest planets, but Draskuul erected a containment shield of sorts that held back too much from exiting the rift.

Once the souls were through and the volume of the shield was full, the Mayor used what was left of his might to compress the nonexistent power into a piece of crystal so small that is could not be seen by the human eye and so fragile that the slightest touch would release its immense power.

The crystal hung in the air like a specter of death preying on a helpless victim. Then Draskuul conjured a glass sphere from thin air and placed magical restrains supporting the crystal so it would not break. Finally, with the rift still open, he grasped the sphere as he descended to the ground. With little strength left, he collapsed, taking care not to smash the sphere too soon.

Below him he could hear the doors of the castle being broken down and deamons flooding area killing the last of his people. But he knew their sacrifice would not be in vain. He staggered back to his feet and looked outside the window. Homes burned, walls crumbled, and building collapsed under the bright sunlight of a cloudless summer morning.

This city had been built on the foundation of one principal, one ideal, the one thing that it apparently lacked: hope. And with no hope of survival, Draskuul sank back to the ground as the footsteps of deamons climbing the tower grew louder and louder. There was a grunt as the door blew open from the force of a massive battleaxe. A mighty foe stood before the mayor, hefting its axe it stepped forward.

His eyes moved slowly upwards as the lumbering monster approached him, and Draskull uttered one word “Catch”

With all his might, he whipped sphere at the face of the deamon, who, as he predicted, didn’t react. The sphere smashed which in turn broke the crystal and released power on a scale never before seen by the mortal world.

Dark energy forged from nonexistence itself sprang forth ravaging all in its path. Hundreds of deamons and one man all fell as victims to its power. From the outside, a giant ball of dark purple light exploded from the central tower of the New Hope keep. The sphere moved across the city at astonishing speeds until it reached its apex. At nearly three miles in diameter, the entire city and part of the surrounding countryside was completely enveloped by the dark ball.

Inside, an even more marvelous spectacle was occurring. The power of nonexistence was so powerful that it could expand to consume the universe it was contained in. it would eventually wipe all from being and return to an equilibrium. However, the rift Draskuul had opened was still intact, and, acting like a magnet it began to swallow the dark power back in on itself.

The sphere began to shrink, slowly at first but then progressing more rapidly as it got smaller. Once the sphere had collapsed back into the rift, it closed with a colossal bang that sent a shockwave across the lands so powerful that it leveled nearby forests. Now, where there had once been something, there was nothing.

The city was gone; a giant half sphere had been carved into the dirt and stone below them. Nothing of New Hope remained. All was gone, every last life, every last home, up to the last stone, all gone.
Three miles in diameter, a massive hole lies there as a symbol, a story to the untold story of New Hope’s last hope.

 

[strongholdx]

Chapter 30: Kings and Queens​

​

​

​

“Hold off” yelled Brutal as they sped toward the Claymore, the KOE flagship.

Vameer and Drrahkos whirled around, heading away from the massive ship while the Zo moved towards it. Brutal landed aboard the massive steel giant, opened an entrance hatch and jumped in. On the inside he was greeted by two soldiers who led him to the bridge, at the helm was Domitius himself, king of KOE.

“Dom, the dragons are here to help.”

“Alright,” Said the king, not taking his eyes off the window he was gazing out of as he clutched the ship’s wheel, “Fill me in on the situation, what happened since we were gone?”

Brutal shrugged, “No idea, we just showed up. The Gladimus was here, it caused the entire city to collapse. I have no idea how many died.”

“Not many thankfully.” Replied Dom, “Most of the ships got away safely, all stationed in Fiore. Damn ORE bastards trying to give us flybys. They’ll think twice next time.”

“What’s ORE got to do with this?”

“Before this whole deamon situation, ORE was on Fiore’s ass. No idea why.”

“Well this is no time for war; we need to cooperate if we’re going to get through this.” Brutal commented smoothly.

“Yeah, yeah, I get it. I’m sending Hell jumpers to look for survivors and then I’m turning this thing around.” There was a slight whooshing noise and the ship shook from the hell jumper pods ejecting.

“Alright, I’ll go tell Drrahkos and Vameer to return to Commissar, I think we’re done with them. For now.”

“Who and who?” puzzled Dom

“The dragons.”

“Oh. Yeah, get them out of here, they get on my nerves.”

“Dragons do?”

“Yes”

Brutal reached out with his mind, hoping that somehow Vameer would be able to respond, he sent out thoughts, “Vameer, can you hear me?”

“Telepathy, you Zo are more powerful than I first imagined” was the reply

“Heh, get back to Commissar, we’re done here”

“As you wish” Vameer thought back, “Simply call me again if needed, and we will come as quickly as possible”

Brutal turned back to the king, “So what happened to Skyforge?”

“Gladimus showed up, dropped off a bunch of baddies and shot a bunch of ships to shit. The end.”

“Yikes, where are we headed now?”

“Back to Fiore, We’re ready for a frontal assault against their main army, which we predict is holed up in old Otoh Gunga or Newerth.”

“What if you’re wrong? What if they’re not there?”

“We’ll keep looking” Dom’s voice was full of determination.

Brutal, seeing the move as reckless tried to reason with him, “Are you sure you shouldn’t wait for KRS, ORE or Neverast?”

“Nothing doing buddy,” was the reply, “I want to put an end to this, and now!”

“Whatever you say Dom, I’ll be back in a bit.” With that Brutal teleported with a pop

* * * *​

​

​

The other side of the teleport was Neverast, home of the old KoP base. The city like always was deserted. Brutal ran down the steps into the underground portion of the city. The sight that greeted him was gruesome. Twelve men lay slain, scattered around the Neverast main hall, they all had deep lacerations on their bodies, usually killed by a lethal blow somewhere.
Applelove was standing in the center of the room, cleaning her blade, “Assassins” she said coldly, “Word has it that Greek almost got offed in Artemis, I figured I was next. And I was right.”

“Damn,” was the Zo’s startled reply, “Think the other kings and queens are in danger?”

“Probably, can’t know for sure. They can all handle themselves in a fight, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they were taken over in sheer numbers.”

“Any idea who sent them?” Brutal asked

“No, my best bet is Dagith. An attempt to throw each kingdom into chaos, otherwise I have neither leads nor suspicion as to who it could be.” Was the Queen’s frank answer.

“Can you handle yourself from here? I’ve got to check up on the others!”

“Go” she said.

Before her mouth was closed, he was gone.

* * * *​

​

​

When Brutal appeared in Rens, Akimoru was already engaged in combat. They were in Castle Rens’s main throne room. There were already three assassins dead or dying on the floor of the room, seven more circled the king who stood still, his head bowed, hands together waiting for another strike.

One assassin swung his blade with lightning speed which was caught by Akimoru between his outstretched hands. He then bent his hands to the left snapping the blade from the hilt. Then the king flew toward his assailant, grabbing him by the waist and threw him into the assassin directly behind them, in mid swing. Using the force of the push Akimoru swung around to the outside of the circle where there was an opening, grabbed the nearest mans neck and broke it.

The other men were galvanized into action, all attacking the ruler of KRS at once. Using the clutter to his advantage, Akimoru raised a leg over his head to deflect a sword strike and landed a destructive punch into the jaw of one of the larger men who clutched it in pain.
Dropping to the floor two more men crashed into each other. The king acted almost faster than the human eye could see, punching one man in the groin and breaking the others ankle. He jumped back to his feet and threw a roundhouse kick into another assassin’s face. Deflecting a punch, Akimoru broke one man’s wrist, and using the man’s momentum to his advantage, used him as a shield, impaling him onto another assassin’s sword.

The king, sidestepping from a powerful sword swing stepped on the windpipe of the man with the broken ankle who was on the floor withering in pain. The numbers were now four to one. Without warning Akimoru performed a back flip, launching himself over the head of one of his assailants. Upon landing he shoved him forward into another assassin causing them both to fall.

With lightning quick reflexes, he ducked under a swing performed by a third attacker. Twisting his body, the king stood up and punched the man square in the nose, probably breaking it. Throwing the wounded man into the two others who were trying to get back up caused them to fall again. With one man still standing both the fighters engage in a fast paced martial art fight, neither one prevailing, but Akimorou pushing the other man backwards.

As they moved back, they passed by Brutal who was observing the fight. The Zo stuck out his foot causing the man to trip. Instantly the king was upon him, breaking his neck faster than Brutal could have thought possible. Spinning around, Akimoru leapt toward the men recovering from their fall. He punched the assassin with the broken nose, again throwing him to the floor.

With one assassin on either side of him he made a timely duck as they both made the classic blunder, impaling each other on their ally’s sword. Still crouched, he broke off into a sprint toward the last assassin, whose back was turned. With a mighty jump he planted his foot on the back of the remaining man’s head and slammed it into the ground causing it to make a sickening ‘thud’ and spatter brains all over the floor.

The king made a religious sign, and then turned to Brutal, “It is disrespectful to send so few assassins against a feeble old man as myself. It tells me that my enemies believe I am weak. This means they are overconfident, and overconfidence leads to their demise. What can I do for you almighty Zo?” Akimoru said as he bowed in a customary greeting of the KRS.
Bowing back in custom the Zo replied, “I was too late I see. I feared you would be attacked by assassins. I came to warn you.”

“I thank you for your concern; however our spies knew they would come. They warned me days ago, and I was ready. Let us walk.” The short man led the way, toward the doors of the main hall, which was deserted.

“Where is everyone?” asked Brutal, sensing few sources of life around
“On the fields of battle. The deamons are persistent. Our great forest cannot hold them back forever. They are beasts of fire, the thing our defense fears most. They have pressured us under siege for some time now.”

Brutal rubbed his chin, KOE was on the move, hunting the deamon armies, KRS was apparently under siege, NRoA had all but been abandoned, Neverast in ruins. Things were not looking good. NEO was trashed, its capital gone, and the status of ORE was unknown.

They exited the castle and moved through the streets of Rens. There were no men to be seen, however housewives and children worked diligently through an uneasy silence. Brutal knew some of the husbands would never come back. Soon they came to the wall that overlooked the forest. A black wall of smoke hung in the air above it as parts burnt to the ground. Battalions of soldiers fought to the death on the plains beyond the forest.
“Akimoru, things look bleak don’t they?” asked the Zo.

“Certainly.” was the reply

“The other kingdoms don’t look much better. Without the combined might of every army and every fleet, we’re too spread thin to do much damage. I have to run it by Kain, but should bad come to worse, would you be willing to send your army into the deamon realm to hit them where they live?”

“That is a tall order.”

“Request” Brutal corrected him

“Hmmm, I shall think. For now we can hold out own. But hear me now Zo: Should there be no solution soon, we will not be able to win. Their armies will be too powerful.”

“I had gathered that”

“May I make a suggestion Zo?”

“Sure”

“Take off the head of the snake.” The king said in a tone that could only be described as wise.
“What?”

“Kill Dagith-Narr, and you have killed their leader. Deamons have morale too, and they will feel the pain if he were to die.”

“The bastard has a habit of not staying dead.” Was Brutal’s frank and muttered reply.

“There are ways to kill one who cannot die.”

“How so?”

“Let me show you…”

 

[strongholdx]

Chapter 31: For Whom the Bell Tolls​

​

Kainzo bent his neck, feeling the bones crack. He had gotten almost five hours of sleep, a rare occurrence for him. Even in a slumber Kainzo was aware of his surroundings, aware of the going-ons in the world, he called it the curse of the Zo. So, he simply opted not to sleep, seeing as how he technically didn’t need it. However, the occasional nap felt good, just as this one had.

Standing up from where he was lying, the Zo examined the area around him. He was far beyond any land known to the inhabitants of Sanctum, a place so exotic and different, he spent what little free time he had, relaxing there. The jungle he stood in was full of life unlike the habited areas of the world, creatures ran about, birds sang, and the trees flowered. For a moment it almost seemed peaceful.

The peace didn’t last. Kainzo had to return, so he willed himself back to Sanctum, and instantly wished he hadn’t. People ran down the streets in a mass panic, some of them almost pushing him over. Warning bells rang out in a panicked frenzy in the city towers. Knowing that danger was imminent, the almighty Zo shot into the air, higher than the central tower, and was greeted to a sight he didn’t care to see.

Outside of the city, on the plains surrounding the capital was the gigantic form of the largest deamon he had ever seen. It stood almost 30 stories tall with wings that had to cover almost 300 feet from tip to tip. Muscles bulged from every space in its body, and two gleaming horns shot out from its head completing the demonic visage of death.

Before Kain could accurately assess the situation, a gigantic ball of light began to grow in the mouth of the beast. After a few moments of growing larger and larger, it shot out from the mouth into the ground, directly on the spot of a small hamlet. Once the dust settled, the small village was gone and only a crater was left. But that wasn’t the end, as the monster trudged toward Sanctum; it destroyed two more villages faster than he had the first.

Glowing with godlike power, Kain shot out across the plains, fist raised, ready to smash the creature of hell back to where it came. A smile crept across the deamon’s face as Kain shot toward him. The same ball of energy grew in its mouth and shot out toward the Zo smashing into him. Kain summoned a shield of energy to protect him blocking the blast from continuing onward to the city, now miles behind him.

As the beam enveloped him, he found himself moving backward rather than forward. The blast ended and the Zo found himself with his back to Sanctum Tower, only the shield blocking the tower from destruction. Again he shot into the air, this time higher and hurtled toward the hulk of red mass on the plains. The second attempt was to no avail. The same blast of energy shot out, this time shooting Kain into the upper atmosphere of the planet. Never before had he encountered an enemy as powerful as this.

Willing himself back to obsidian walls of sanctum, he was joined by Brutal and Apherdite.

“This is bad,” said Aph with great concern

“No shit,” Brutal said, shouldering Vlauderung, the brother sword to Accra-Maj.

“I can’t even get close to that thing; he’s going to tear the city to shreds!” Kainzo exclaimed.

“Not if I have anything to say about it” was Brutalacerate’s reply

“Right, aph, you in?” asked Kain

“Wherever you need me.”

“Wherever you need me” mocked a sinister voice from above.

Looking up, to their dismay, Dagith-Narr hovered above them with a wicked smile on his face.

“Meet Gra, my feared General of the Deamon armies. He’s the most powerful creature of our realm to have ever lived, and he is totally loyal to me. I thought I’d give him to you as a going away present.”

“Where are you going?” asked Brutal sarcastically

“Not me, but you” cackled the crazed king.

“Bastard!” shouted Aph

“Don’t worry beautiful,” replied the deamon, causing Apherdite to shiver, “I’ll keep you alive. And as for you” he pointed to Kainzo, “When you look up under the crumbling sky, you will know it’ll be your doom!”

Before Kain could speak, the madman disappeared, and a bolt of energy grazed Sanctum tower doing no serious damage but sending chunks of debris flying down toward them. As the pieces smashed to the ground, a voice shouted out from the streets. Commissar was running toward them shouting something that was lost in the commotion of falling debris, while the ringing of emergency bells and screaming of citizens added to the fever pitch.

As he reached the walls, a roar from Gra, now considerably closer to the city, echoed across the land. The Dragon Lord pointed to the massive statue of the Green Dragon on the West side of the city. It was glowing with light and beginning to crumble, reveling something far more impressive.

“Just watch!” Shouted Commissar

The statue was breaking apart to reveal a living dragon, much larger than that of any dragon any of the Zo had seen before; it was even larger than Erinyth, the massive Black Dragon they had first encountered. The Green Dragon let out a roar to match the deamon’s as it broke free from its stone prison. Spreading its wings, it broke free from the rest of the stone and shot into the air.

Another of Gra’s bolts of energy lashed out toward the green dragon but was countered by the dragon’s own attack. A red beam shot from its mouth, colliding with the opposing beam causing a colossal explosion where they met, out on the plains. Shooting higher into the air, the dragon shot out toward the deamon general, smashing into him with a colossal head butt, knocking him over. Letting out a roar, the deamon sprang into the air using his massive wings, but the dragon had already whirled around and smashed into him a second time.

Back in Sanctum, a soldier came running to the walls where the Zo stood, he saluted, “Sir!”

Kainzo turned to him, “Give the order to evacuate all non military personnel!”

“Already done sir, we’re moving people out via railroad as we speak” was the soldiers reply, “There is a man in the tower who needs to speak with you, and he said it’s urgent.”

“Tell him I’m a little busy!” Shouted Kain over the ringing bells and pointing to the battle taking place on the plains.

“Sir!” The soldier saluted again and ran off

A shadow passed over the city, looking up, it was evident that the clouds were beginning to block out the sun, and the wind was starting to blow. With a storm brewing and the clash of the titans out on the planes, things were not looking good. More shots of energy lashed out near the city as the deamon was knocked over again, dragging its foe with it.

“Aph, Brutal, help with the evac, Commissar, you’re with me.”

As the Zos ran off, the Dragon Lord approached Kain, “What do you need?”

“Give me the numbers on our enemy.”

“We’ve had reports of hundreds of bands roaming the different kingdoms. Unfortunately the numbers are purely a guess, but it looks like we’re dealing with a hundred thousand different deamons running amok and a standing army of around a million. They’re the ones that took Newerth and Skyforge.”

“We can easily double that right?”

“Defiantly, but the numbers that I’ve got from the last war puts the deamon army that escaped at some five and a half million, meaning that this is just fraction of their full strength. Even with my dragons we’re going to need some surefire way of killing all of them.

“What do our numbers look like?”

“Combined, the Kingdoms bring a three and a quarter million to the table, and independents bring another million, and I’ve got five hundred thousand dragons at the ready, bringing us to a four million and seventy hundred fifty thousand.”

“So we’re three quarters of a million short?” Was the Zo’s reply

“Not at all. It can take up to three men to kill a single deamon. We’re going to need some twelve million soldiers at the ready to even hope at winning this thing. That includes the assumption that each dragon can kill about thirty or forty deamons.”

“That, is not going to happen. There’s –“ Kain was cut off by a bellowing roar.

Out on the field of battle, the massive green dragon had succeeded in ripping off one of Gra’s wings. The General was now howling in pain as blood gushed from the wound. Winding up, he punched the dragon in the neck and let another bolt of energy fly into the side of its body.

Struggling to gain advantage over the other, the opponents viciously clawed at each other causing the grassy area below them to stain red. Kain, seeing the need to help lifted a massive chunk from the earth and sent it shooting at the deamon who toppled over at the collision.

The dragon regained its composure and leapt into the air. Roaring and shooting flames from its mouth. It its talons were the remains of the wing it had torn from the deamon. To Kain’s surprise, Gra’s healing abilities were astounding. The wound had begun to clot, and a stump was already beginning to form. It looked as though this monster had super regenerative properties. As the two titans fought on the field, the missing wing began to sprout back in a matter of no more than ten minutes.

With blood seeping from wounds on both creatures they continued to deal blows, shooting blasts of energy, trading head butts and gouges. For the entire match, the victory of one over the other was uncertain. The Zo and Dragon Lord watched from the walls, ringing of the bells echoing in their ears as what seemed to be the impossible happened.

The deamon general Gra let out a bellowing cry and in a purple flare was gone. That left the massive Green dragon circling the spot on the grasslands, now soaked crimson. Roaring in victory, the massive beast flew out of sight, flames spewing from its mouth.

* * * *​

Three hours later Sanctum was fully militarized. All civilian presence had been evacuated and the Proctors and a few smaller militias had set up camp in and around the city. The Dragon had flown off in search of other deamons, and Gra hadn’t been sighted since but it seemed reasonable to assume that it was not the last they had seen of Dagith’s pet.

Kainzo marched through the halls of Sanctum tower, Commissar behind him rattling off the intel on the deamons they had so far. “…they’re classified into six classes. Gra makes a seventh that we’ve never seen before. Two classes are listed under flyers, but the third, ramheads, can glide short distances. We’ve got reports of deamons avoiding water; I suggest looking into the Newerth reports on the collapse of Lake Andy. There’s –“

Commissar was cut off by a man, dressed in full battle armor; he held his helmate in his hand, “Kainzo!”

“Can I help you sir?” asked the Zo, signaling the Dragon Lord to wait.

“I’ve got an offer you can’t refuse. I’m Roguemind of the Hellfire Crusaders.” The man said, his face was unremarkable except a red scar on his cheek.

“Never heard of you.”

“We’re an established mercenary force of some one point eight million soldiers.”

‘That’s a lot.”

“I’m willing to commit my remaining men to the defense of Sanctum, free of charge.”

“Sounds good” was the Zo’s emotionless reply

“Most of us have been contracted to fight for some of the Kingdoms but I can have a quarter million stationed in the walls by this time in two days. But there’s also another matter that needs your attention.”

“Like?”

“Ever heard of John Creed?” asked Roguemind

“Former proctor if I remember correctly. Something about reckless endangerment?”

“Sounds about right, he wants to talk to you. He runs the faction of our force called The Dogs of War.”

“Also never heard of them.”

“He’d like to meet with you in person” said the Mercenary, “He’s got a base camp set up about six miles west of Artemis. It’s in a cave down near a small lake.”

“What does this ‘creed’ have to offer?”

“Some of the best men we have. However he has a buying price.”

Kain thought for a moment. “Get your men in the walls as soon as possible and check in with Brutal after that. I’ll go see what this guy wants.”

With a puff of smoke he was gone leaving Roguemind alone with Commissar who was already on his way to attend to other matters.

* * * *​

Kainzo appeared near the base described to him by Roguemind. There was a man waiting outside the cave.

“Kainzo I presume?” he asked

The Zo gave no reply

“John Creed, leader of the Dogs of War.” He stuck out a hand

Kain did not shake; he simply looked the man over. He was larger than most, lean but strong looking. His wispy black hair made him look much younger than he actually was.

Putting down his hand, Creed gestured to go into the cave, “Come on in.”

They entered the cave where nearly seventy men were waiting. Some were playing cards, others were sleeping, some were sharpening weapons, others were sparing. The thing that unnerved Kain however was that he recognized all of them.

“Ex-Proctors, all of us” said Creed, “We’re the best of the best that Hellfire Crusaders has to offer.”

“I see.” Were Kain’s first words to the man.

“Undoubtedly you’re current proctors are spread thin. We’re willing to reinforce those lines at a cost.”

Seeing the benefit of having seventy more proctors at the disposal, even if they had been kicked out for a reason, Kain bit “What’s the catch?”

“We do whatever you say, and you get us onto Underdeep.”

“What’s so important about Underdeep?”

“Don’t lie to me Kainzo. I’m not a fool. Underdeep isn’t as fortified as well as it is for no reason. I know what it can do and so do these men. We want a way off just like the rest of you.”

“Still no idea what you’re talking about” was the Zo’s faked reply

Creed just cocked his head and gave him a look.

Not wanting to pass up the chance to reinforce the proctor’s ranks, Kainzo gave in, “Fine” he said as a pamphlet appeared in his hands. He handed the sheet to Creed and said “Give this to the gate keeper when you need to use it.”

“Good, now where do you need us?”

“Get with Brutal; he’ll have a job for you.”

“What about that Steamed fellow,” asked the mercenary, “Something about the Cells of banishment?”

“Ah yes, send some men to get him. Dead or alive, I can’t be worrying about fugitives while we’re at war.” With that, Kainzo was gone.

John Creed turned and called out across the cave, “Veer, I need you and your best men. I have a job for you!”

​

[DOUBLEPOST=1347408730,1347408559][/DOUBLEPOST]

Chapter 32: Dogs of War​

Authors note: This chapter will be mostly spoken in a different language. To eliminate the need for translation, all text in italics is not being spoken in English.

The four travelers moved across the landscape at brisk pace toward Tarantia. Making no effort to hide themselves, they moved onward. The wilderness wasn’t a place actively patrolled by police forces however, with the recent deamon sightings, anything could pop up. While everything seemed peaceful, there was defiantly something wrong. Not all with nature seemed right, fewer birds flew, the wind did not blow as cold or as often, the trees didn’t rustle like they did in this time of year, and the local fauna seemed to have fled from something. Something was amiss.

Unseen eyes watched the travelers as they moved across a golden wheat field. The eyes had waited patiently, and now that its prey had been sighted, the mouth that belonged to the eyes began to water. As the four approached a nonchalant tree near the center of the field, the eyes set its trap in motion. Using a small redstone switch, the net hanging next to the dark figure gave off a strange hum as it pulsed with electricity. As the four travelers walked under the tree, things went horribly wrong for both parties.

As the electrified net dropped, the smallest of the four dove out of the way with lightning speed. Similarly, the largest of the four was only partially covered and was able to break free of the net’s horrific embrace, luckily he seemed to be momentarily immobile.. Fortunately for the figure in the tree, the other two were caught in the net and shocked to unconsciousness. The dark figure jumped form the tree landing in the meadow, a smile on its face.

“Oh shit” Said Carmeops in his native tongue

“Little man, are you alright?” Yelled Chambers, still unable to get up due to the shock

“I am fine” was the thief’s reply

“A pair of foreigners?” asked the man who had jumped form the tree, his face still hidden in the shadow

Chambers swore as he started to get up, “I’d know that voice anywhere”

Two more men rose up from the field, weapons in hand. They were both dressed in black. Carmeops drew a dirk from his boot and held it backhand, ready for a fight.

“What a surprise. Chambers! It’s good to see you’ve made friends after all these years of your pathetic existence.”

“Veer, you useless parasite, crawl back into whatever hole you came out of.” Was the big man’s response as he regained his composure and readied himself for a fight.

Carmeops and Chambers drew close to each other, “Who’s that?” Asked the thief

Before Chambers could reply the man from the tree interrupted, “Oh chambers, you didn’t tell your friends about me? I’m insulted”

“Carmeops, meet Veer, the largest excuse for a piece of shit that’s ever had the misfortune of existing.” Said the large unarmed man.

“Chambers is angry because his appetite for genocide wasn’t filled so long ago.” Was Veer’s response

“I don’t understand.” Carmeops said

The two men who had been lying in the field began to move, they were converging on Veer as if almost to back him up. There was a long silence before anyone spoke, it was Chambers.

“Veer here is what some people would call the ‘Bloodless Vanguard’ which is funny because he’s full of it.”

Veer smiled “And you’ve been trying to rid me of it for longer than I care to remember.” A pair of fangs pooped out from Veer’s mouth “If you thought Vampires were just stories to keep children in their beds, you are sadly mistaken”

Carmeops’s eyes grew, he had never heard of anyone ever seeing a vampire, he had always dismissed them as fake.

Chambers continued, “A long time ago, I was contracted to kill the remaining vampires left in the world, a harder task than you might believe.”

“Enough talking, I’m hungry!” snarled Veer as he stepped toward the pair, the two men following behind him

As the vampire stepped into the sunlight, Chamber muttered out of tongue “Fucking day walkers”

Veer was a scary looking man, his eyes were hollow and empty, they glowed with a furious red tint, and his skin was pale and white. His stringy black hair made him look like something right of an asylum. He was smiling too, fangs gleaming in the sun.

“Shouldn’t he be dead? I mean with the sunlight and all?” Asked the thief

“He’s a day walker, one of the few that can survive in the sun.”

As the three assailants advanced on the two travelers, Carmeops whispered to Chambers, “Do you need a weapon?”

“No” was the big man’s reply, as he cracked his neck and closed his eyes. When they reopened, they were blood red, and Chambers began to breathe heavily. He had entered the Bloodrage.

With a bellowing roar, the now bezerk man made a headlong charge into the three on comers, taking them entirely by surprise. Throwing the two black clad men to the side, Chambers grabbed Veer and smashed him into the tree, and in return the vampire sunk his fangs into his attacker’s arm. Screaming in what could be only be described as ‘an animal like fashion’ Chambers responded by throwing Veer almost three hundred feet, across the field.

Meanwhile, the other two men had gotten up and were making an advance toward carmeops. The thief landed his dirk in the eye socket of one of the men and was reading another dirk when Chambers, still enraged came from behind and ripped the man’s left arm off with seemingly no effort.

What Carmeops saw next haunted him for the rest of his life. Chambers, using the man’s arm beat him to death. Screaming like a maniac the huge bezerker broke bone after bone in the man’s body. After only a few moments, Chambers had reduced the once human assassin into a mangled, bloody, mess.

The thief watched in horror as the crazed giant turned his attention back to the vampire who was now running across the field at them. Chambers charged off into the field to pummel his opponent. The vampire leaped with superhuman speed and sank his fangs into Chambers’ neck. The bite, assumingly enough to put a regular human in his place barely made Chambers flinch. He tore Veer, with a piece of human skin in his mouth, from his side and once again sent him flying, but this time into the tree. The force of the throw visibly broke Veer’s spine, but the vampire just shuddered and stood back up, his back fully healed.

Snarling, the two opponents circled each other, blood red eye staring into a matching set. They made a few more bouts, usually ending in Chambers doing great bodily harm to Veer and the vampire simply healing within a matter of seconds. This entire time, Carmeops had stood, watching, jaw slightly ajar at the sight he was witnessing.

Chamber, for about the seventh time, sent Veer careening across the meadow. This time however the giant man broke off an entire tree branch and moved toward his opponent. Veer didn’t have much going for him. As he got up, Chambers used the pointier end of the branch to impale the vampire. Blood seeping from his wound, Veer’s mouth opened and closed a few times, then his eyes shut and he stopped breathing.

Carmeops shook his head, breaking him from the trance he had been in. Chamber stood several hundred feet away still holding the branch in the air, vampire still attached. The thief crept forward as silently as he could, being carful not to started the man. The last thing he wanted was to end up impaled on the other end of the branch. Without warning, Chamber dropped the branch and fell over backward, nearly crushing Carmeops.

Looking down, Carm saw that the eyes of the giant man were no longer blood red but had returned back to their normal color.

“Are you alright” asked the thief

“Did I win?” asked Chamber, in a daze

“If winning includes literally tearing a man to pieces and then breaking nearly every bone in another man’s body, then impaling him on a tree branch, then yes, you won.” Was the reply

“I guess…that I…have some explaining to do, don’t I?”

“Yes”

Chamber rose slowly and hobbled over to the tree. He took the net off Steamed and Xatxil, who were both out cold. Sitting down against the tree, the mountain of a man spread his legs and closed his eyes. Carmeops sat down next to him and listened to his tale

* * * *​

“I was created nearly two hundred and thirty years ago at a device called the binding stone. The binding stone is a device that works only for Heroes of Old. Where it is located, I do not know, but I do however know what it does. It takes two heroes who have become sick of living, sick of being unable to die. It combines the Heroes and created an entirely new Hero, one with all the skills, power, intelligence of the two that were combined, but left without the memories.”

“This Hero is given a new chance, an endless world to explore with unlimited possibilities. The stone creates one life while ending two others. Long ago, three Heroes became sick of living on this earth and decided to give life to an ultimate Hero, one of unlimited power, one who could literally not die under any circumstance. It’s not exactly how it worked, but they came close.”

“The Heroes of War, Strength, and Rage came together and used the binding stone together. This, binding three Heroes, was a feat never before attempted. The product was me. That was the day I came into existence. From Rorik, the Hero of Strength, I was gifted with incredible power and tireless energy. From Regulus I was given the power of Bloodrage, the ability to go bezerk and increase my power by nearly tenfold. And lastly from the man only known by ‘The Old Knight’ I was gifted with a type of invulnerability, I can not be ailed by sickness, I cannot fall to hunger, poisons have no effect on me, and I cannot succumb to weariness. While I can get tired, hungry, and sometimes get the occasional cold, these things do not bother me. As you probably saw, when Veer bit me, I didn’t turn like a normal man would have.”

There was a long pause, and Chambers continued “For many a year I went about the world, exploring here, working there, and to this day I haven’t stopped. I met many of the Heroes of Old; one of my best friends was Lance, the Hero in the tomb above the library…” Chambers trailed off, remembering times past

During the pause, Carmeops spoke up, “So you’re a Hero, I had my suspicions. Few but the most knowledgeable speak my language. I am curious though, were does this ‘Veer’ fit into all this?”

Chambers cracked his neck and continued to speak, “Vampires are creatures of myth and legend. Used as bedtime storied to keep children in their beds. Few know that they exist. Many years ago I was contracted to ‘Kill a wanted man’. From the start it was clearly not a bounty hunter mission, an entire legion of soldiers, I, and other various warriors marched into the hideout of this ‘wanted man’. We found more than one man; we found an entire race of beings, Vampires living in caverns beneath us. We were ordered to slaughter them all. Vampire and solder alike fell around us; there were thousands of Vampires and few of us, so we took more creative measures.”

“Together myself and some vagabonds broke the supports of the nearby tunnel system collapsing their entire living space. I was the only human who made it out alive. Unfortunately more than one vampire made it. Nearly one hundred of them.”

“So this Veer”Carmeops asked, “He survived?”

“I’m getting to that. Anyway, I returned to my contractors at the city of Metoria to find that my employers had no record that I was neither contracted, nor did they have any record that any number of soldiers had ever been sent on this mission. I was dismissed as a crazy fool begging for money. At this time, I figured all the vampires were dead. Boy was I in for a surprise.”

“I went off to work for the Order of the Livid Prince, a small monk organization accepting volunteers. I was actually cleaning the temple after service when I was attacked for the first time.”

“Attacked? Who’s attacked? I’m not attacked are we?” muttered Steamed, regaining consciousness. His speech was slurred and his eyes were barely open.

“Shhhh, little man, go back to sleep” Was Chambers’ reply

“Ok mom” Was his reply, and he fell back into unconsciousness.

“hmmm, where was I?”

“Attack” Replied the small thief

“Ah yes, there isn’t much to tell, he just came out of nowhere, biting and punching, I freaked out. It was a regular vampire, not Veer. I was kicked out of the order after that, as it was a nonviolent one. I didn’t mind, I had an eternity to live.

Carmeops spoke up “Didn’t you question why the man attacked you?”

“I couldn’t, I killed him. Since I figured it was a random attack, there was no reason to expect someone was out to kill me. Again, I was in for a shock. Over the next year I was attacked seven more times, twice by Veer. He was the only one that attacked me twice, all the others I killed, stake to the heart, all that good stuff. From then on, it was just Veer, I think he’s the last of the day walkers.”

“So you’ve had this vampire stalking you for how long?” Asked Carpeops

“Eighty years”

“And how do you know over a hundred survived?”

“He told me”

“He just…told you?”

“For some reason, I can’t ever seem to kill that bastard, when you fight someone like that, eventually you say something to them…and sooner or later they say something back”

“But you just killed him now, how does that –“

Chambers interrupted him, “I can put him out of commission for a while, but sometime between now and when we leave this place, that body will reanimate and he’ll seek me out again.”

“Can’t you… burn it or something? Submerge him in lava?”

“Believe me, I’ve tried. Nothing seems to work…”

“And what of those men he had with him?”

“Probably conjurations of sorts, he has them with him from time to time, usually as fodder for when I go into Bloodrage”

“You are an interesting man Chambers, Hero of Old.” Said Carmeops, matter of factly

“How did you come to learn the language of heroes Carm?”

“My father spoke it”

“And who was he?”

“Jeoul, son of the wind, Hero of the Northern breeze.”

“So you’re the prodigal son…” Replied Chambers, eyes wide

“That I am…Hero in skill, unfortunately not in blood.” The thief answered

“It’s not as great as it sounds.”

“Right big man, keep telling me that.”

The two sat under the tree without another word. It wasn’t until the sun began to set that Xatxil and Steamed woke up. Chambers explained that they had been attacked, but nothing more. With a long time enmy put at bay, and his secret safe, Chambers and company set back out, onto the unbeaten path to destiny.




( @Alator I don't like it but I suppose I'll have to deal with it)