Mandeleth Over Run
It was dusk was when the attack came. It was unforeseen, and had only been a week since Lance had left the palace of Mandeleth. A beast in the air swooped around a few times as shadows moved in ever so casually from the forest. At first, the home guard thought the shadows were seeking shelter from whatever was in the air and they opened the gates to bring them inside.
The lands had been peaceful for far too long and the men and women were not prepared for what came next. The guard that went to greet the people outside the gates suddenly smelled a horrible stench on the air, almost as if it was death itself walking toward them. Not walking anymore, but running. It only took them moments to realize that they were being attacked by none other than reanimated bodies. Bodies from the Mandeleth grave yards a little more then 200 yards up the path.
Someone or something had brought back the loved ones and comrads of the men and women of the city. They were going to use them to over run Mandeleth.
Skat was among the men and women of the undead army-- His staff glowing a purple haze in the air. Next to him was a dark figure. His movements were nearly as death-like as the men and women surrounding Skat. It was the spider gnomes creation, or better yet recreation. He had brought back Darksolace, the dragon slayer. In order to keep Darksolace animated until he was able to maintain his own life, Skat had to stand by his side. Trekkanon, however, was a different story. He had always been undead and just required motivation to attack. What better motivation than the chance of getting his masters life back?
The large green dragon swooped down, hurling what looked like regurgitation in the Mandeleth court. As the slop hit the ground and the few people it landed on, bodies seemed to show themselves. More of the undead bodies started to rise out of the acidic mess on the ground. The guard in disarray, it wasnt hard for Trekkanon to land in the court and start bashing on the palace doors. The dragon would break through shortly.
Darksolace made it to the gates of Mandeleth, and with the guards worrying about the dragon and the undead that had already made it inside the gates-- they failed to realize that the gates themselves had not been sealed properly. Darksolace reached up and grabbed the lower end of the gate. Since his body was not that of living flesh, the muscles themselves had no limit to their strength. He had no pain to stop him from lifting it up and sliding under the gates of Mandeleth. It was at that time that he had looked back at the gate falling down, leaving Skat on the other side. Darksolace could not venture far from the spider gnome, and he knew this.
He grumbled a bit as he found a soldier moving to make sure the gate was sealed properly. The home guard was on the scene now and the men were starting to get their bearing.
He reached up and snached the man by his throat. His other hand reaching to the man's chest. It was almost as if Darksolace had ripped something out of the soldier, because in just one second his body became more lively and the man fell limp. Darksolace's skin seemed to show a bit more color and livelyhood. You could start to see his features reanimate his face.
He turned to Skat and smiled with a nod of approval. "You have given me what I desire, Skat. You may return to your mistress."
Skat wasted no time in moving away from the gate and heading back into the forest. His mistress would have already found Lance Eugenio by now, and whatever her plan was he wanted to be there to protect her bar anything go wrong. He would watch from the shadows, of course, not wanting to place his mistress in any unwanted danger or any chance of messing up her plans.
Darksolace did not waste any time. He moved along the court making his way to the palace where Trekkanon would have beat the door down by now. The dragon could not fit inside the palace, but the dragon slayer could. Another guard decided to try and stand his ground against Darksolace. It was in that moment when the moonlight shown that you could see his reanimated features clearly. His beard had grown back, full and long. His hair had fallen past his shoulders, yet again. You could see the glint of a sword handle over his shoulder, as if the sword itself was radiating energy. But the dragon slayer didn't need the weapon. All he needed were his hands.
Darksolace made quick work of the man, removing what was left of his lifesource to feed his own. He tossed the body aside and moved to the door of the palace.
Nina Mediere, the queen of Mandeleth, was in the bedchambers tucking her sons in when the attack happened. She heard the men outside scurry around, and more men moving to refortify the posts. She patted Joseph, the oldest of the two boys, on the head and looked him in the eyes.
“ You keep yourself and Thomas locked inside here until mother returns, okay?”
Joseph nodded in response. The kid had a little bit of a dark demeaner about him, but he loved his mother dearly. He knew she was going to have another son or daughter, and he was scared that she would put herself in harm's way.
Even though he was only 7 years old, Joseph understood more than most children his age. He had never been one to play, or do anything that the other kids did. He found most of his time well spent observing and reading-- Doing things that would lead one to believe he would be a great strategist one day.
The queen stood tall and walked to the doorway. Her blue hair laid about mid-back, complimented by her eyes which were an even deeper blue. Looking Nina in the eyes, you would feel you could see the beauty of the ocean. The deep blue in all her features-- It was almost as if something had magicaly altered her. It was true, for the most part. Nina didn't know if it was the magic of the relic she had worn since birth that made her hair and eyes this way, but the magic and the color were radiating from her. Some of which could be seen in the eyes of her sons as well. She was slinder, and you could tell by her walk that she was agile. Possibly, the most agile in all the lands of Greystone. However, she was bearing child, and being 3 moons along, it was starting to take its toll on her body a little.
Just with every pregnancy, this one was no different. The child was taking the nutrience it needed for its growth, and leaving the mothers body what was left. Nina found herself tired more times than not, and when she slept she woke nauseous and sick. That, however, was not going to stop her from protecting her family and her boys.
Tallen Mediere was already at the front line. His long coat on, his sword flaring to life. He laid body down after body, but they seemed to just continue to move. Even creatures that had been sliced in half would get back up. He was starting to see people he recognized. First, it had been the few people from the home guard that had protected him in the first years of his kingship. Some where guards that had been parts of his kingdom before he was even born. But why were they all here? Tallen shifted his stance as he noticed the dragon trying to force its way into the palace. The sweat dropped from his bow, and the blue fire on the sword dissipated as he calmed himself and looked around. The queen was inside, and if Trekkanon was here--so was Darksolace. The dragon slayer would not go after him first like he had 7 years ago. Darksolace had been destroyed by the magic inside Nina and the relic she had worn around her wrist-- A talisman of unspeakable power. The relic had only ever come to life once, and it had transferred what was left of Darksolace's life force into Tallen's body, bringing him back from what would have been his grave.
The king gritted his teeth as he saw the doors buckle on the palace. His eyes shifted, and he saw the ledge above the palace door and the wall next to him. Tallen jumped up on the wall and made his way down the path to the balcony above, cutting an undead guard down along the way.
Movements sleek and quick, he sprung up over the balcony rail and used the Brother Blade to cut through the bars on the window. They melted like butter and he slammed his way through the painted glass window, rolling and landing on the ground infront of the undead Trekkanon. The dragon hissed and reared its head back, barely fitting its way into the palace doors. It lunged forward with a shrill, and glops of saliva and acidic liquid hit the walls and ground inside the palace doors. The dragon then reared itself out, almost as if it had not been interested in Tallen at all, and moved on to a different entrance.
The gloop on the ground seemed to start to materialize. Although Tallen had been quick enough to make it out of the way of the initial attack, he did, however, seem to pick up a few unwanted guests in his palace. These undead creatures were a bit stronger than just your every day run-of-the-mill zombies. They were quicker, faster, and all seemed to possess superhuman strength. Almost as if they were demons possessing the bodys of his former friends and allies. Even the men dying in the court yard were coming back as the undead monsters.
A solitary tear seemed to fall down the cheek of the king as he lunged himself into the fray. The sword blazing with hot blue fire, whipping around, turning the creatures to husks of ash and cinders. The fire was actually burning the bodies to the point of non-reanimation, and this time they were not coming back to attack him again. It was then that Tallen saw the solitary figure slip by. It was quicker than he had imagined it could be and was gone in a flash.
“Nina..," he muttered under his breath as he feined back to avoid an attack from a former guard. He swung his sword with a fit of rage, and the fire erupted around the living corpse. He then turned to face the direction of the figure that had gotten past him.
Tallen found himself outnumbered--surrounded-- and nearly helpless to get beyond the mass of these things. How had they gotten so quickly into the palace walls? How had they been able to bring his men down so quickly? And, on top of that, how had they managed to sneak around him when he was trying to fend off the opening Trekkanon had made? Those were questions that would have to wait until later. The main question he was going to have to ask now, though-- How was he going to get past them in order to save Nina?
The shadow of the figure worked its way up the stairs and was met by an arrow whizzing in his direction. Darksolace caught it in his chest and quickly reached up, breaking it off and throwing the arrow down. As he looked up to see where the shot was fired, two more buried in his chest almost as quick as the first one had fired. He did, however, manage to see the blue hue of Nina's hair in a silhouette of the shadows. The bow thudded with another shot, and Darksolace couldn't help but retreat back, brushing the attacks off and breaking the other two arrows off. If he had been living, these shots would have ended him. But now he was something more-- Something darker and more sinister. He couldn't help but laugh.
“ I'm immortal now, woman,” he spoke out, hoping for a response.
The queen was smarter than that. She moved beyond one pillar to the next, her steps so quiet they would never have been heard, even by the trained ear. Nina pulled the bow back again, and an arrow appeared between the string and the shaft. Her front hand, the index finger pointing to where she needed to fire, and her back elbow straight in line with it. Her breathing steady and faint. She could almost hold this pose all day-- If she had been 100%. But, she wasn't, and the pregnancy would take its toll on her soon.
Darksolace couldn't help but speak again. He was hoping to draw her out, wanting to get rid of her before he dealt with Tallen. He would have to do so quickly, otherwise the king would make his way up to protect her. “ Your magic is the reason I am going to rip you apart before your husband gets here...”
He was creeping up the stairs ever so slightly. His eyes fixated on the darkness that was the corridor in the upstairs chambers. He heard the thud of another bowstring released and caught the arrow with his hand. He jumped up over the rail quickly and headed in the direction of the bow, and he caught two more arrows in the chest as he made it to the pillar and reached for her.
Nina planted one foot on the pillar and sprung to the side, firing another arrow. She put another foot on the next pillar, bouncing off of it, flipping over the dragon slayer, and fired two more shots in a cartwheel motion several feet above. The arrows penetrated his skin and the other two had jammed into his shoulders, preventing his arms from moving. She knew now she couldn't kill whatever it was that was after her now, she was just buying time-- Slowing him down until help came. Or, at least, trying to.
The two shots had not slowed Darksolace any and he almost reached out and snagged her. It was apparent the dragonslayer was getting a bit frustrated with her when he pulled the weapon from his shoulder. You could hear the sparks and the sound of lightning as he pulled it free. The booming thunder from the weapon rattled Nina a little.
She held her ground, however. She feinted left and released an arrow. It pierced the foot of the undead creature, but he jerked free almost instantly, leaving a bit of dried husk and undead flesh on the ground. When he reached for her, she fired at his hands and slapped him with the end of the bow. Nina used the end of the bow again to slap the sword away, rolling backwards, and firing upward. An arrow pierced his chin and went through his skull. The attack still had no effect.
Darksolace began to laugh hysterically as he brought the sword down on her. It moved almost as if lightning had struck. Nina managed to roll to the side, but the thunderous sound of the weapon was almost as devastating as the strike. She knew the weapon. It was Soulfury. The dark elf, Kainen, had weilded it when Tallen had battled him, and the weapon had nearly destroyed the king. Darksolace had nearly destroyed the king, himself, when he was alive. And although he was a bit slower and less agile than she remembered, he was way more resiliant to her attacks. She retreated again, trying to find escape in the shadows of the dark corridors. Her breathing getting heavier as the lack of energy was waning on her. Her stomach was also getting queezy, almost as if she was about to hurl. Perhaps the stench from the husks of bodies and what not were getting to her now. Either way, it slowed her movements, and Darksolace was able to close the gap again, this time with what seemed like would be a fatal blow. Her legs couldn't move her fast enough to get away.
The window behind her shattered, and a rather large figure came snarling through it. The eyes of the beast were glowing red, and you could see the faint glint of silver in it's hair. Darksolace's weapon pierced its skin and cut deep, but at the same time it almost seemed as if the creature did not slow. It was when Nina caught her bearings that she realized it was a man. Dark and familiar, almost as if she had seen him before.
Darksolace reared back as he noticed the sword penetrate the skin with no damage. He then feinted to one side and struck again. The man almost seemed as if he was not defending against the attacks. It was as if the body was healing faster than he was doing the damage.
“ Who the fuck are you?!,” Darksolace screamed in dismay as the clawed hand reached up to snach him up. As the large figure did so, Darksolace reached up with his own hand and grabbed ahold of its wrist. The death that was part of Darksolace's body began to spread from his hand onto his new opponant. There was an audible hiss from the darkness as the red in the man's eyes glinted, and a foot hammered hard into Darksolace's chest. He flew back, slamming hard into a pillar, breaking rock and mortar, and had flung like a ragdoll to the side of it.
Torian Payne-- Nina now realized who it was. It was the vampire who had protected Tallen 7 years ago. The one who had decided to take on Sypher, while Tallen dealt with Kainen and the dark elves.
Torian was neither a man nor a demon, he was something of a flux in between. His body had the undead capabilities of a vampire, but with none of the weaknesses. Some said to believe he lived in a life of flux between the living and the dead. Something about him being here made her even more weary. The vampire never got involved unless something important was afoot. It was during this thought that she noticed him glance at her over his shoulder, and then back to the dragon slayer.
“ You should leave here. Go get your boys, and leave Mandeleth!”
Her eyes filled with tears. Leave her home? How could she do so? Everyone she knew was here, everyone she cared about. The people of Mandeleth needed her. She stood up and drew her bow again.
“No! I will not lea--” she was cut short by a large snarl, and Torian slamming his hand into a nearby pillar.
“This palace and the kingdom of Mandeleth will fall tonight! But its not lost. If you stay here, your friends and allies will suffer fatal blows and not be able to return from undeath. Understood?!”
Darksolace was starting to stir, and Nina could feel the gravity of what the vampire was saying. Torian glanced back over his shoulder at her one final time.
“ The one in your womb holds the key to Mandeleth's return. She must not forget the family in which she is born to.”
The attack almost came as instantly as Torian turned. Darksolace slammed into the vampire with his shoulder, as if he were just trying to get the behemoth out of the way so that he could deliver a fatal blow to the queen. There would be no future for her if he had anything to do with it.
The attack was delivered too slow and nina rolled away with ease. She fired a few arrows and made her way to her boys rooms.
“ Joseph, unlock the door!!!” she screamed and almost instantly the hatches came undone and the door swung open behind her.
Darksolace slung his sword heavily in her direction but it slammed into the door sending splinters and wood in all directions. The weapon spun about and landed strangely in the room next to the two boys. The dragonslayer reached up almost as if he expected the weapon to return to him but the spark went out of the blade. It did not reactivate. Shocked for an instant, the undead creature took a heavy punch from the vampire knocking him back into the palace wall. He then was hammered in the chest by a shoulder which sent both of them through the wall. Rocks and mortar seemed to fall slowly with the two as they headed down from the 2nd story of the palace, to the ground in the court yard. Both landed hard and even though neither could die, the fall took its toll.
It was at this time that Trekkanon was making another pass. He swooped down and with a sinister screech, spiting acid all over the vampire. Instantly, Torian could feel it seeping into his skin, but his body would fight it. However, for the moment he could feel his body moving on its own. It was as if he was being controlled by the substance. In his mind, he screamed NO. But he was not in control, and the word never became audible. He moved back through the entrance of the palace and found the king.
Tallen was fighting off the creatures of the undead still. Thousands of husks lay on the ground and he was moving past them up the stairs. He caught up with the door that had been shattered and found Nina and the boys.
“ Let's get out of here,” he said to them as he turned to see Torian moving up the stairs at a fast pace. His skin was a different color than he remembered it. His skin was that of the people in the court. The men and comrads he had been forced to slay.
It was at that moment that the weapon became active again. Soul Fury. A powerful sword that was known as one of the three swords of power. The weilder of the weapon could do feats of greatness if they were what the weapon chose for its master. The other two swords were named Darkblade and SolarFlair. Darkblade was the sword of complete darkness, and SolarFlair was a weapon of holy might. Soul Fury was a weapon that chose its master based on the strength of their soul. And only a powerful soul could weild it. It was a weapon of balance, neither good nor evil. A weapon which could only be weilded by pure balance.
Joseph had been the intended weilder. It stood on end infront of him, sparking and calling for him to reach out to it. The boy could feel it and responded in the only way he knew how-- he grabbed the blade. He was only 7 years old, and still a child by any means, but the sword did not care. It needed a master and it needed someone who was a balance in nature.
As soon as he grabbed it, lightning struck and engulfed the whole family. Joseph, Thomas, Nina, and Tallen found themselves clear across the Rainbow lake. They were halfway up the hillside, in sight of Mandeleth, and could see the smoke and reminents of the last battle.
It took them a few moments to realize what had happened. Tallen glanced down at Joseph, who was clutching Soul Fury like it was a lifeline.
“ Joseph, where did you get that?” he said almost angrily. He knew the blade was a bad omen, and brought trouble to whoever weilded it.
Joseph paused and looked up at his father. His response had to be collected and well placed.
“ The weapon came to me, father... and it saved us.”
Joseph looked up over the forest top to see the smoke and devastation that was once Mandeleth. The city could be rebuilt, but its people were lost to them for now. Tallen and his family had been forced to leave their home and their friends behind.
Nina reached up and grabbed Tallen's hand. He was still worried about the weapon Joseph had aquired, and wondered what it would take to get the boy to release it. Her touch snapped him out of it, and he reached up and carressed her face ever so slightly. Pulling Nina close to him, he kissed her on the forehead and then wrapped his arm around her, his eyes welling with tears. He had lost his friends and his kingdom. But he had managed to survive with his family. Someday he would return to bring a cure to whatever Trekkanon had spread and bring his peaceful kingdom back to prosperity. It was a silent vow.
It was almost as if Nina had read his mind when she spoke. “ We'll return and take it back.”
Tallen nodded. “ First, we have to find a few answers.”
He glanced at Joseph and Thomas. Then to his wife. “ I need you to take them to Bulgard and stay with David.” He looked her in the eyes. “ I'm going to go find Lance.”
The lands had been peaceful for far too long and the men and women were not prepared for what came next. The guard that went to greet the people outside the gates suddenly smelled a horrible stench on the air, almost as if it was death itself walking toward them. Not walking anymore, but running. It only took them moments to realize that they were being attacked by none other than reanimated bodies. Bodies from the Mandeleth grave yards a little more then 200 yards up the path.
Someone or something had brought back the loved ones and comrads of the men and women of the city. They were going to use them to over run Mandeleth.
Skat was among the men and women of the undead army-- His staff glowing a purple haze in the air. Next to him was a dark figure. His movements were nearly as death-like as the men and women surrounding Skat. It was the spider gnomes creation, or better yet recreation. He had brought back Darksolace, the dragon slayer. In order to keep Darksolace animated until he was able to maintain his own life, Skat had to stand by his side. Trekkanon, however, was a different story. He had always been undead and just required motivation to attack. What better motivation than the chance of getting his masters life back?
The large green dragon swooped down, hurling what looked like regurgitation in the Mandeleth court. As the slop hit the ground and the few people it landed on, bodies seemed to show themselves. More of the undead bodies started to rise out of the acidic mess on the ground. The guard in disarray, it wasnt hard for Trekkanon to land in the court and start bashing on the palace doors. The dragon would break through shortly.
Darksolace made it to the gates of Mandeleth, and with the guards worrying about the dragon and the undead that had already made it inside the gates-- they failed to realize that the gates themselves had not been sealed properly. Darksolace reached up and grabbed the lower end of the gate. Since his body was not that of living flesh, the muscles themselves had no limit to their strength. He had no pain to stop him from lifting it up and sliding under the gates of Mandeleth. It was at that time that he had looked back at the gate falling down, leaving Skat on the other side. Darksolace could not venture far from the spider gnome, and he knew this.
He grumbled a bit as he found a soldier moving to make sure the gate was sealed properly. The home guard was on the scene now and the men were starting to get their bearing.
He reached up and snached the man by his throat. His other hand reaching to the man's chest. It was almost as if Darksolace had ripped something out of the soldier, because in just one second his body became more lively and the man fell limp. Darksolace's skin seemed to show a bit more color and livelyhood. You could start to see his features reanimate his face.
He turned to Skat and smiled with a nod of approval. "You have given me what I desire, Skat. You may return to your mistress."
Skat wasted no time in moving away from the gate and heading back into the forest. His mistress would have already found Lance Eugenio by now, and whatever her plan was he wanted to be there to protect her bar anything go wrong. He would watch from the shadows, of course, not wanting to place his mistress in any unwanted danger or any chance of messing up her plans.
Darksolace did not waste any time. He moved along the court making his way to the palace where Trekkanon would have beat the door down by now. The dragon could not fit inside the palace, but the dragon slayer could. Another guard decided to try and stand his ground against Darksolace. It was in that moment when the moonlight shown that you could see his reanimated features clearly. His beard had grown back, full and long. His hair had fallen past his shoulders, yet again. You could see the glint of a sword handle over his shoulder, as if the sword itself was radiating energy. But the dragon slayer didn't need the weapon. All he needed were his hands.
Darksolace made quick work of the man, removing what was left of his lifesource to feed his own. He tossed the body aside and moved to the door of the palace.
Nina Mediere, the queen of Mandeleth, was in the bedchambers tucking her sons in when the attack happened. She heard the men outside scurry around, and more men moving to refortify the posts. She patted Joseph, the oldest of the two boys, on the head and looked him in the eyes.
“ You keep yourself and Thomas locked inside here until mother returns, okay?”
Joseph nodded in response. The kid had a little bit of a dark demeaner about him, but he loved his mother dearly. He knew she was going to have another son or daughter, and he was scared that she would put herself in harm's way.
Even though he was only 7 years old, Joseph understood more than most children his age. He had never been one to play, or do anything that the other kids did. He found most of his time well spent observing and reading-- Doing things that would lead one to believe he would be a great strategist one day.
The queen stood tall and walked to the doorway. Her blue hair laid about mid-back, complimented by her eyes which were an even deeper blue. Looking Nina in the eyes, you would feel you could see the beauty of the ocean. The deep blue in all her features-- It was almost as if something had magicaly altered her. It was true, for the most part. Nina didn't know if it was the magic of the relic she had worn since birth that made her hair and eyes this way, but the magic and the color were radiating from her. Some of which could be seen in the eyes of her sons as well. She was slinder, and you could tell by her walk that she was agile. Possibly, the most agile in all the lands of Greystone. However, she was bearing child, and being 3 moons along, it was starting to take its toll on her body a little.
Just with every pregnancy, this one was no different. The child was taking the nutrience it needed for its growth, and leaving the mothers body what was left. Nina found herself tired more times than not, and when she slept she woke nauseous and sick. That, however, was not going to stop her from protecting her family and her boys.
Tallen Mediere was already at the front line. His long coat on, his sword flaring to life. He laid body down after body, but they seemed to just continue to move. Even creatures that had been sliced in half would get back up. He was starting to see people he recognized. First, it had been the few people from the home guard that had protected him in the first years of his kingship. Some where guards that had been parts of his kingdom before he was even born. But why were they all here? Tallen shifted his stance as he noticed the dragon trying to force its way into the palace. The sweat dropped from his bow, and the blue fire on the sword dissipated as he calmed himself and looked around. The queen was inside, and if Trekkanon was here--so was Darksolace. The dragon slayer would not go after him first like he had 7 years ago. Darksolace had been destroyed by the magic inside Nina and the relic she had worn around her wrist-- A talisman of unspeakable power. The relic had only ever come to life once, and it had transferred what was left of Darksolace's life force into Tallen's body, bringing him back from what would have been his grave.
The king gritted his teeth as he saw the doors buckle on the palace. His eyes shifted, and he saw the ledge above the palace door and the wall next to him. Tallen jumped up on the wall and made his way down the path to the balcony above, cutting an undead guard down along the way.
Movements sleek and quick, he sprung up over the balcony rail and used the Brother Blade to cut through the bars on the window. They melted like butter and he slammed his way through the painted glass window, rolling and landing on the ground infront of the undead Trekkanon. The dragon hissed and reared its head back, barely fitting its way into the palace doors. It lunged forward with a shrill, and glops of saliva and acidic liquid hit the walls and ground inside the palace doors. The dragon then reared itself out, almost as if it had not been interested in Tallen at all, and moved on to a different entrance.
The gloop on the ground seemed to start to materialize. Although Tallen had been quick enough to make it out of the way of the initial attack, he did, however, seem to pick up a few unwanted guests in his palace. These undead creatures were a bit stronger than just your every day run-of-the-mill zombies. They were quicker, faster, and all seemed to possess superhuman strength. Almost as if they were demons possessing the bodys of his former friends and allies. Even the men dying in the court yard were coming back as the undead monsters.
A solitary tear seemed to fall down the cheek of the king as he lunged himself into the fray. The sword blazing with hot blue fire, whipping around, turning the creatures to husks of ash and cinders. The fire was actually burning the bodies to the point of non-reanimation, and this time they were not coming back to attack him again. It was then that Tallen saw the solitary figure slip by. It was quicker than he had imagined it could be and was gone in a flash.
“Nina..," he muttered under his breath as he feined back to avoid an attack from a former guard. He swung his sword with a fit of rage, and the fire erupted around the living corpse. He then turned to face the direction of the figure that had gotten past him.
Tallen found himself outnumbered--surrounded-- and nearly helpless to get beyond the mass of these things. How had they gotten so quickly into the palace walls? How had they been able to bring his men down so quickly? And, on top of that, how had they managed to sneak around him when he was trying to fend off the opening Trekkanon had made? Those were questions that would have to wait until later. The main question he was going to have to ask now, though-- How was he going to get past them in order to save Nina?
The shadow of the figure worked its way up the stairs and was met by an arrow whizzing in his direction. Darksolace caught it in his chest and quickly reached up, breaking it off and throwing the arrow down. As he looked up to see where the shot was fired, two more buried in his chest almost as quick as the first one had fired. He did, however, manage to see the blue hue of Nina's hair in a silhouette of the shadows. The bow thudded with another shot, and Darksolace couldn't help but retreat back, brushing the attacks off and breaking the other two arrows off. If he had been living, these shots would have ended him. But now he was something more-- Something darker and more sinister. He couldn't help but laugh.
“ I'm immortal now, woman,” he spoke out, hoping for a response.
The queen was smarter than that. She moved beyond one pillar to the next, her steps so quiet they would never have been heard, even by the trained ear. Nina pulled the bow back again, and an arrow appeared between the string and the shaft. Her front hand, the index finger pointing to where she needed to fire, and her back elbow straight in line with it. Her breathing steady and faint. She could almost hold this pose all day-- If she had been 100%. But, she wasn't, and the pregnancy would take its toll on her soon.
Darksolace couldn't help but speak again. He was hoping to draw her out, wanting to get rid of her before he dealt with Tallen. He would have to do so quickly, otherwise the king would make his way up to protect her. “ Your magic is the reason I am going to rip you apart before your husband gets here...”
He was creeping up the stairs ever so slightly. His eyes fixated on the darkness that was the corridor in the upstairs chambers. He heard the thud of another bowstring released and caught the arrow with his hand. He jumped up over the rail quickly and headed in the direction of the bow, and he caught two more arrows in the chest as he made it to the pillar and reached for her.
Nina planted one foot on the pillar and sprung to the side, firing another arrow. She put another foot on the next pillar, bouncing off of it, flipping over the dragon slayer, and fired two more shots in a cartwheel motion several feet above. The arrows penetrated his skin and the other two had jammed into his shoulders, preventing his arms from moving. She knew now she couldn't kill whatever it was that was after her now, she was just buying time-- Slowing him down until help came. Or, at least, trying to.
The two shots had not slowed Darksolace any and he almost reached out and snagged her. It was apparent the dragonslayer was getting a bit frustrated with her when he pulled the weapon from his shoulder. You could hear the sparks and the sound of lightning as he pulled it free. The booming thunder from the weapon rattled Nina a little.
She held her ground, however. She feinted left and released an arrow. It pierced the foot of the undead creature, but he jerked free almost instantly, leaving a bit of dried husk and undead flesh on the ground. When he reached for her, she fired at his hands and slapped him with the end of the bow. Nina used the end of the bow again to slap the sword away, rolling backwards, and firing upward. An arrow pierced his chin and went through his skull. The attack still had no effect.
Darksolace began to laugh hysterically as he brought the sword down on her. It moved almost as if lightning had struck. Nina managed to roll to the side, but the thunderous sound of the weapon was almost as devastating as the strike. She knew the weapon. It was Soulfury. The dark elf, Kainen, had weilded it when Tallen had battled him, and the weapon had nearly destroyed the king. Darksolace had nearly destroyed the king, himself, when he was alive. And although he was a bit slower and less agile than she remembered, he was way more resiliant to her attacks. She retreated again, trying to find escape in the shadows of the dark corridors. Her breathing getting heavier as the lack of energy was waning on her. Her stomach was also getting queezy, almost as if she was about to hurl. Perhaps the stench from the husks of bodies and what not were getting to her now. Either way, it slowed her movements, and Darksolace was able to close the gap again, this time with what seemed like would be a fatal blow. Her legs couldn't move her fast enough to get away.
The window behind her shattered, and a rather large figure came snarling through it. The eyes of the beast were glowing red, and you could see the faint glint of silver in it's hair. Darksolace's weapon pierced its skin and cut deep, but at the same time it almost seemed as if the creature did not slow. It was when Nina caught her bearings that she realized it was a man. Dark and familiar, almost as if she had seen him before.
Darksolace reared back as he noticed the sword penetrate the skin with no damage. He then feinted to one side and struck again. The man almost seemed as if he was not defending against the attacks. It was as if the body was healing faster than he was doing the damage.
“ Who the fuck are you?!,” Darksolace screamed in dismay as the clawed hand reached up to snach him up. As the large figure did so, Darksolace reached up with his own hand and grabbed ahold of its wrist. The death that was part of Darksolace's body began to spread from his hand onto his new opponant. There was an audible hiss from the darkness as the red in the man's eyes glinted, and a foot hammered hard into Darksolace's chest. He flew back, slamming hard into a pillar, breaking rock and mortar, and had flung like a ragdoll to the side of it.
Torian Payne-- Nina now realized who it was. It was the vampire who had protected Tallen 7 years ago. The one who had decided to take on Sypher, while Tallen dealt with Kainen and the dark elves.
Torian was neither a man nor a demon, he was something of a flux in between. His body had the undead capabilities of a vampire, but with none of the weaknesses. Some said to believe he lived in a life of flux between the living and the dead. Something about him being here made her even more weary. The vampire never got involved unless something important was afoot. It was during this thought that she noticed him glance at her over his shoulder, and then back to the dragon slayer.
“ You should leave here. Go get your boys, and leave Mandeleth!”
Her eyes filled with tears. Leave her home? How could she do so? Everyone she knew was here, everyone she cared about. The people of Mandeleth needed her. She stood up and drew her bow again.
“No! I will not lea--” she was cut short by a large snarl, and Torian slamming his hand into a nearby pillar.
“This palace and the kingdom of Mandeleth will fall tonight! But its not lost. If you stay here, your friends and allies will suffer fatal blows and not be able to return from undeath. Understood?!”
Darksolace was starting to stir, and Nina could feel the gravity of what the vampire was saying. Torian glanced back over his shoulder at her one final time.
“ The one in your womb holds the key to Mandeleth's return. She must not forget the family in which she is born to.”
The attack almost came as instantly as Torian turned. Darksolace slammed into the vampire with his shoulder, as if he were just trying to get the behemoth out of the way so that he could deliver a fatal blow to the queen. There would be no future for her if he had anything to do with it.
The attack was delivered too slow and nina rolled away with ease. She fired a few arrows and made her way to her boys rooms.
“ Joseph, unlock the door!!!” she screamed and almost instantly the hatches came undone and the door swung open behind her.
Darksolace slung his sword heavily in her direction but it slammed into the door sending splinters and wood in all directions. The weapon spun about and landed strangely in the room next to the two boys. The dragonslayer reached up almost as if he expected the weapon to return to him but the spark went out of the blade. It did not reactivate. Shocked for an instant, the undead creature took a heavy punch from the vampire knocking him back into the palace wall. He then was hammered in the chest by a shoulder which sent both of them through the wall. Rocks and mortar seemed to fall slowly with the two as they headed down from the 2nd story of the palace, to the ground in the court yard. Both landed hard and even though neither could die, the fall took its toll.
It was at this time that Trekkanon was making another pass. He swooped down and with a sinister screech, spiting acid all over the vampire. Instantly, Torian could feel it seeping into his skin, but his body would fight it. However, for the moment he could feel his body moving on its own. It was as if he was being controlled by the substance. In his mind, he screamed NO. But he was not in control, and the word never became audible. He moved back through the entrance of the palace and found the king.
Tallen was fighting off the creatures of the undead still. Thousands of husks lay on the ground and he was moving past them up the stairs. He caught up with the door that had been shattered and found Nina and the boys.
“ Let's get out of here,” he said to them as he turned to see Torian moving up the stairs at a fast pace. His skin was a different color than he remembered it. His skin was that of the people in the court. The men and comrads he had been forced to slay.
It was at that moment that the weapon became active again. Soul Fury. A powerful sword that was known as one of the three swords of power. The weilder of the weapon could do feats of greatness if they were what the weapon chose for its master. The other two swords were named Darkblade and SolarFlair. Darkblade was the sword of complete darkness, and SolarFlair was a weapon of holy might. Soul Fury was a weapon that chose its master based on the strength of their soul. And only a powerful soul could weild it. It was a weapon of balance, neither good nor evil. A weapon which could only be weilded by pure balance.
Joseph had been the intended weilder. It stood on end infront of him, sparking and calling for him to reach out to it. The boy could feel it and responded in the only way he knew how-- he grabbed the blade. He was only 7 years old, and still a child by any means, but the sword did not care. It needed a master and it needed someone who was a balance in nature.
As soon as he grabbed it, lightning struck and engulfed the whole family. Joseph, Thomas, Nina, and Tallen found themselves clear across the Rainbow lake. They were halfway up the hillside, in sight of Mandeleth, and could see the smoke and reminents of the last battle.
It took them a few moments to realize what had happened. Tallen glanced down at Joseph, who was clutching Soul Fury like it was a lifeline.
“ Joseph, where did you get that?” he said almost angrily. He knew the blade was a bad omen, and brought trouble to whoever weilded it.
Joseph paused and looked up at his father. His response had to be collected and well placed.
“ The weapon came to me, father... and it saved us.”
Joseph looked up over the forest top to see the smoke and devastation that was once Mandeleth. The city could be rebuilt, but its people were lost to them for now. Tallen and his family had been forced to leave their home and their friends behind.
Nina reached up and grabbed Tallen's hand. He was still worried about the weapon Joseph had aquired, and wondered what it would take to get the boy to release it. Her touch snapped him out of it, and he reached up and carressed her face ever so slightly. Pulling Nina close to him, he kissed her on the forehead and then wrapped his arm around her, his eyes welling with tears. He had lost his friends and his kingdom. But he had managed to survive with his family. Someday he would return to bring a cure to whatever Trekkanon had spread and bring his peaceful kingdom back to prosperity. It was a silent vow.
It was almost as if Nina had read his mind when she spoke. “ We'll return and take it back.”
Tallen nodded. “ First, we have to find a few answers.”
He glanced at Joseph and Thomas. Then to his wife. “ I need you to take them to Bulgard and stay with David.” He looked her in the eyes. “ I'm going to go find Lance.”
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