Well here it is: The final part to Chapter 1. We introduced the Antagonist: Corvak, Dark Lord of Serotria. What will happen now that he has entered the fray? What of the spell mina is casting? With time running out, will she able to save herself and Dorin in time? Well, now you will find out. Chapter 1: A Ray of Hope: Part 3 Dorin’s whole body began to shake, and he found himself falling onto one knee. Was it the fear taking a hold of him? Was this because he knew that what stood before him was his certain and inevitable death? No, that couldn’t be it. He has faced death many times in his life, and nothing has ever made him feel so weak before. Then he heard the faint drip of his blood hitting the floor and realized the truth. He was poisoned. The blade that the assassin used must have been coated with it. A mere cut would have had the same affect, but clearly the assassin took more enjoyment out of pure suffering. He felt his body shake more feverishly, and his muscles weakening. The sword in his hand slowly became too heavy and it slammed onto the floor with a metal thud. “Quite a fascinating displays of Vetalian skills my loyal assassin.” Corvak stated nodding to his companion. His voice shook the room lightly causing several crystals to clank into each other. “You paralyzed him, but did not kill him.” Corvak moved closer to Dorin, and as he did, the frozen knight felt his heartbeat quicken. Just being around this man this…monster was enough to fill him with pure fear. Corvak reached out with a claw tipped gauntlet and all that Dorin could think about was that this was how he would die. Not fighting gallantly on the battlefield protecting his homeland alongside his fellow knights, but paralyzed and filled with fear like a frightened child. But instead of killing him, Corvak lifted Dorins head up and locked their eyes together. His eyes stared right at Dorin looking over the knight whose face contorted in the numbing pain. Dorins breath became haggard as sweat dripped off his nose and matted his hair to his scalp. He stared right back at the killer of so many, and found nothing in those eyes but hate and death. “You are going to die little knight, but not before you watch us kill your beloved priestess. Not until you hear her screams of agony, and watch as I slowly rip the life out of her and mangle her carcass. You will watch as you fail to uphold your oath as her guardian to protect her. You will watch as she cries and screams and begs for her inevitable death. You will watch all this and when I take her head and toss it into your lap, and her dead eyes stare up at you, and you go mad with grief; Then, and only then small knight, will I kill you.” Weather it was the fear of failing his oath, fear of dying in such a pathetic manner… or just the fear of losing Mina; but whatever it was, it triggered something deep within him. Ignoring the shaking and the weakness, Dorin grasped his sword and swung upwards. The attack caught Corvak by surprise as the blade carved through Corvaks insidious faceplate and drew a line from his chin to his eye and A stream of black blood spewed out of the gash before Corvak could cover it with his hands, and as he arched his head back, he let loose a pain filled howl which shook the entire building to its core. Taking advantage of the moment, Dorin mustered what strength he had and charged full force at the wounded lord. He placed both hand around the hilt of his blade and aimed it to pierce directly into the giants black heart. A flash of metal parried the thrust, and brought the sword clenched between two black blades. Blocking the fatal blow for his master, the assassin brought his right leg up and kicked Dorin directly in his wounded side sending him flying into the wall. Dorin looked up at the two and saw that Corvaks one good eye was now filled with mad rage and was coming right at Dorin. With a roar of rage, Corvak leaped in the air landing overtop Dorin. With a snarl, he grabbed the wounded solder by the neck with his left hand and lifted him over head until his feet were dangling from the floor. Wracked from the pain and gasping for air, Dorin desperately tried to pry himself loose from Corvaks iron grip with no avail. “How dare you, you filth! You will die for this! I will carve a hole into your chest and devour your heart! I will rip out your spine and drain the marrow for your bones! I will have my necromancers resurrect your corpse so that I can continue to kill you a thousand times over! By the time I am done with you, you will wish your bastard of a father never laid with your whore of a mother! You pathetic weak insignificant-“ Whatever Corvak wanted to say next was cut short, for from the center of the room came a light so bright that the mighty lords good eye winced in pain. Dropping Dorin, Corvak turned around and was left aghast at what he saw. There in the center of the room stood Mina. Her entire body was radiating the bright white light and the gem in the statues hand matched her radiance. They pulsated in sync and the swirling pillar of light was spinning faster and faster. Dorin smiled, and knew that he gave Mina the time she needed. The ritual would be complete. Eye going from Mina to the gem and back to the bundle, Corvak let out a roar of frustration. ¨No! You cannot take what is rightfully mine! You wont! as his rage intensified, Corvaks body began to emanate a dark aura. It coated his entire frame until he appeared a silhouette void within the light. The darkness expanded and became broader and, to Dorins dismay, Corvaks own body grew as well. In mere moments, the chaos lord was a giant looking down upon the puny and pathetic creatures that attempted to usurp his power. Holding up his hand, the dark aura slowly rippled from his frame. It collected into the palm of his hand as a sphere. Corvak closed his fist around the swirling chaotic energy sending it jutting out of his hand in a horizontal beam. The energy quickly materialized into a dark metal longsword adorned with skull tipped hilt and red runes. It the Blade of Discord; Corvaks personal weapon, that has slain thousands of warriors; mowing down armies and -if the words of what few survivors of his assaults said had any truth- absorbed the souls of each slaughtered victim to fuel its power. Two strides brought Corvak close enough to Mina to strike. He swung his sword expecting to cleave the priestess head from her body, but found his sword deflected by the wall of light. The contact created a flash of white light that blinded him and caused him pain. Frustrated and desperate, Corvak swung again and again, each attack had the same painful result. Dorin looked on with amazement at Corvaks feral attacks. Not because he flailed like a wild animal, but because of the effect it was having on his body. With every flash of light, the darkness around Corvak grew dim. His body began to shrink, and his blows seemed to be weaker. A weak smile crept on his lips which resulted in a jaw-aching blow from the assassin. It didnt matter though. Corvak would wear himself out and -if the gods were merciful and willing- will kill himself in the process. Unfortunately, today was a day of many false hopes. Just as it seemed that Corvak would fall, the dark aura erupted from his body like a blazing fire. It rippled throughout his body and the sword turning him into a living penumbra. With a final ear splitting roar, Corvak drew back his blade and trusted it straight at Mina. The radiant wall of light absorbed the blow for a mere second, and then shattered like glass. Mina had only enough time to turn her head to try and recognize what was happening behind her. Then she felt something pierce her back and come out of her chest. She looked down to see a black sword protruding from her stomach. Weakly, she placed her hands on the sword and tried to push herself off of it, but the world was going black, and it was becoming harder and harder to breath. A stream of blood came out of her mouth. Her hands fell to her side as the darkness took her. Placing his hand on her shoulder, Corvak pulled the sword from the fresh corpse. As he held it in his hand, the blood bubbled and evaporated from the black flames. A wicked triumphant laughter came out of his mouth. He could feel Dorins anguish. He could feel his suffering and pain, and he drank it in. He feed upon his misery and sorrow. Savoring the moment, Corvak slowly turned his attention to the gem. “At last….I have found you.” He whispered in a hiss reaching up for the gem. Just as his fingers were about to slip around it, the gem burst into a flash of white light. Corvaks hand began to burn, and with a hiss, he reeled it away from the glowing artifact. The gem burst into a brilliant ball of light, and then shot downward piercing the burlap bag on the floor and coating it with a white aura. Seething with anger and building up his aura once more, Corvak brought his sword up over the bag. “I will not be denied my prize!” he roared before bringing the sword down to split the bag in two. Just as the sword connected with the bag, the white aura halted the strike. It enveloped the sword and slowly moved its way up towards Corvak forcing his own dark aura to retreat. Corvak tried to move away, but the aura kept him in place. He growled and struggled as the aura enveloped his dark body. Then the bag let out a burst of light that lit up the whole room and left Corvak screaming in pain. The light got bigger and bigger enveloping bag and warlord alike. As soon as they both disappeared behind the sphere of energy, it exploded outward. The force of the explosion pinned Dorin to the wall. Even if he was able to move, he doubt that he could. He felt the energy blast across his face, and saw as pillars and crystals flew everywhere shattering against the wall. Then the walls themselves began to shake, and crumble and blow outward. Stone, rock, and dirt flew everywhere, and Dorin found himself lost in the blinding light before darkness took him. Then he awoke on his back staring up at the blue sky. He felt the gentle breeze course through his hair and across his face, and heard the running of water from the nearby river. Slowly Dorin got up, and looked around. The entire dome building was gone. It was destroyed in the explosion as well as anything that was separating it from the outside world. He sat upright in the center of a giant crater wondering what had happened. He looked down at his wound only to find a hole covered in dry blood. The wound had disappeared as if it was never there. He got up and faced the center of the room to find that the once beautiful statue of the woman was now in pieces all around the floor. The bag and Corvak were now gone, and there was no sign of his assassin save for a broken blade a few inches from where Dorin stood. And there in the center was Mina, lying in a pool of her own blood. Dorin rushed to her side and knelt down to pick her up. Her face was quite peaceful, and for a moment, he could have sworn that she was just unconscious. That whatever healed him may have saved her as well. But when he brought his hand to her face and felt her skin, he realized that she was cold, and she was far too pale. Tears welled up in his eyes and flow down his cheeks. He felt the trembling of his body, and the pang of his heart. He leaned in and gave her a kiss on the forehead, and then buried his face into her neck. Between the sobs of grief he was able to sputter out a few words “I’m sorry…..I failed you….” It took almost an hour before several soldiers from 17th squadron found him in the hole holding her lifeless body. They offered to escort him back to base and carry her. He sternly refused to both, and gently scooped her broken body into his arms. Tears still streaming down his cheeks, he held his head high, and began to march with them out of the crater. During the entire walk, all Dorin could think about is what Mina told him. He could hear her voice in his head, telling him how they had to stop Corvak, no matter the cost. But to him, the cost was too high.
Posted on: Mon, 23 Jun 2014 23:43:48 +0000
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