Blood is All That Matters

[Joshua, the Wayne]

........
Dameus was in a bed patched as full as a man ever could. He could not speak. He could hardly think. He couldn't move. And he would be this way for a few days.
Scorn was faithfully by his side eating meat at almost all times.
And it would be this way for a few days. Dameus would take a long time to regain his strength from the battle he had just had.
*****

[Joshua, the Wayne]

Dameus's conscience was fading and growing at a slow rate. He could feel it growing ever so slightly, just the smallest bit more than the last time. Feeling he was nearing the edge of the barrier that held his mind, he pushed with all he co-
Aaaah!!
In a burst of light he was sprawling on a surface. Unable to tell what was up and down, left and right he kept feeling the sting of inmeasurable pain gnawing at his limbs and head.
[glow=black,2,300]You have failed me, Dameus Exavior! Your entire cause was for naught! I will NOT ACCEPT FAILURE!![/glow]
Dameus found with all that he had left to grasp in strength the power to speak.
He...cannot be beaten...by me...He has something...to push him...fo-
[glow=black,2,300]So in the thought of returning your love, you cannot grasp enough to defeat him?! I WILL MAKE SURE IT NEVER HAPPENS AGAIN!![/glow]
Dameus gawked suddenly. He could speak no more. He felt every last drop of stamina fade into nothingness. And, he felt fear. Breaking open his dark eye, he saw the sword of the emperor straight in his...
[glow=black,2,300]You will have one meal every three days. Our most rotten bread and our hottest water. Each day I expect you to train with Scorn against your father. You. Will. Not. Falter... Once...[/glow]
Dameus lay there in a heap. How?! How could he do any of that!! He felt nothing to use, nothing.
[glow=black,2,300]NOW!![/glow]
And with the fading footsteps of the Emperor, Dameus felt Scorn lightly nudge his shoulder. Limping in front of him, Dameus could see he was scarred in several places. He bled here and there, and his eyes shown with weakness as well.
Get up... Unless you want to die...

*****

[Joshua, the Wayne]

AAAH!!
A clang of blades from two men who looked exactly alike, fully encased in black blood red armor, shed sparks. One was thrown back twenty feet from a blow so hard the rocks underneath him slightly cracked.
Dameus was now sprawled on a falling piece of the crumbling tower of the Infinite realm ((Yes it takes THAT LONG for it to get about 1/4 of the way crumbled. I'm probably the only one who realises how MASSIVE IT IS considering that about 2 months here is 6 months there, and after that much time if its only crumbled about 1/4 of its entire mass and its been 6 months thats taken it to do that...That says...A LOT...))Scorn begged him to get up during the battle. For some reason Dameus could not beat him this time...Something... Something...
Scorn, do you realise I can hardly mov-
Just get up!
Dameus scowled and as he slightly rose off of his knees, readying his bl-
Once again he was thrown--
Straight into a wall. Every limb in his body could be heard slightly moving as he hit the stone with pure intensity. Scorn roared and flew straight towards the opposing man in red armor--
To be thrown straight towards Dameus
As Dameus opened his eyes to peek at this, they nearly doubled in size and he pressed with his legs out of the small indentation he made. Falling forward for a few seconds, he stuck out his blade and it caught on the wall. Using it as what he called "a spinner" back when he was around twenty, he "spun" himself back up into the air, and with a great turn and push of his legs on the wall, was flying back towards the knight. Both swords readied, they met with brute force. A small gust of wind circled around them, blowing a few of the crystallized stones off of their current courses. A flash of light broke loose as their blades met again, both burning with bright fire. The two identical knights stared at eachother through the holes in their helmets. Instantaneously, they both drew out second blades and with another flash of light were holding a dual blade catch. Breaking the contact, Dameus leapt in a backwards circle perfectly and landed on Scorn's horizontally placed tail. Scorn turned fiercely and sent Dameus headed straight back at the Knight. Scorn Leapt up above them and let dancing flame pour from his mouth on the ground. Dameus had told Scorn a small plan that might work--
Every few attacks Dameus could sneakily drop handfuls of his many oil bombs on the crystal floor. After a while, they would be surrounding the opposing knight, and once Scorn thought it was enough he would pour flame around the knight, soon catching on one of the bombs and setting his entire background in a blazing barrier of fire.
Lingering off of that thought, Dameus turned back to the battle. Now that each of the knights had dual blades drawn, the fight would grow even fiercer than one could imagine. Dameus began the fight by performing a leaping sweep. Of course the knight countered with horizontal bladework and they began attacking in a precisely specific order--
Vertical slice, horizontal parry, Diagnol thrust Vertical slice, dual sweep, vertical block and push, side leaping swipe, downward smash, consecutive stab, stab parry, blade spin left, blade spin right, ducking thrust, leaping backward slice, double leap forwardslash, blade catch vertical on horizontal, Forwar-
with a loud BOOM the bombs were ignited by Scorn's flame. The knight hesitated and turned his sword above him, spinning thrice in a circle so the flames would spiral upward. Finally catching it in a fine hand, he drew it backward. During the same moments, Dameus spun both blades to the sides, quickly moving them forward to form an X. Dameus then twisted his left hand so his blade pointed diagnolly at the ground and he lifted it up above his head, beggining to twirl his body to parry the attack from the knight. As before, their blades met in a burst of bright sparks and flame.
*Many, many hours later*
Dameus was exhausted beyond comprehension, but no matter what the knight would not falter once. Why?? Dameus winced as he once again performed the vortex blitz. It was a difficult move, especially when you were matched against one of higher power. Scorn was completely exhausted, and so Dameus told him to go find a casually safe resting spot on one of the not yet broken pieces of the castle. Scorn thankfully left Dameus, wishing him best of luck, and was asleep now. Unsure how long this battle would linger, Dameus thought as quick and as hard as possible, trying to predict the moves of the knight.
But to no avail. How...How was it once, he could beat him, but now he was nearly... unbeatable? How?!
Dameus drew back his blade and let out a bellow of his rage, charging furiously towards the knight. Their blades met just as they had innumerable times. The knight parried him with vigorous intensity and Dameus thought of a plan.
A hopeful plan, at the least. He ran towards one of the walls and jumped upon it, making sure to catch his balance as he was now horizontally sticking out from the side. As he guessed, the knight sprinted forwards and their blades were locked in combat. Dameus parried and threw blows as hard as he could, making sure that his stepping was precisely correct. A little here... Some more this direction...It was falling into place as he had hoped. Five more blows and he would attempt it. Four, now... Three more... Two left... Dameus threw his weight down on the knight, making sure his blades were perfectly alligned. The knight as he guessed blocked him with both blades curving with 180› angles. Dameus used this as a spring pad, launching himself into the air and past many boulders that hid him from sight. The knight stared at this for a few moments, realising what he had just done. He had given Dameus the opportunity of stealth. This was lethal to anyone if used ina precise way. Dameus, hidden from view, sliced a boulder in four pieces and kicked each piece in positions that formed a + around the position of the knight. Dameus kicked off of another boulder and flew at another. He slowly cut it with precision, making sure it was perfectly cut in half--or at least as close to half-- as possible. Both piece seperated and fell at opposing angles. Dameus used this as a spot he could use as a step. Thinking of the knight's position, he slightly pushed a rock in front of him and let it spin forward. With a powerful strike he hit it with the flat of his blade downward. Now he and the knight were seperated by an enormous piece of wall that could cover three houses and just a tad more. Dameus drew all the power he could muster from his veins and pushed into the pommel of his blade, letting the sword slightly charge with his mana. A few moments later, it was bright red with mana. He charged another heavy stream and it now sparked and flashed with flaming energy that made the sword appear to double in size. Raising it above his head, He leapt off the sliced rocks and performed a downwa-
Dameus was sent flying into the wall. He heard the slight clink of metal and felt a sword pressed straight in his right shoulder.
Dameus gawked in pain as he turned his head to stare at the knight. Silently their capes flapped as the castle fell. Silence crept from their mouths under their helmets...And Dameus couldn't hardly speak once again.
Until he noticed the smallest detail on the knight's helm.
He recognized it...So very, very well... His mouth gritted into a bright flare of white teeth under his helmet, his eyes burning with fury so uncontainable, he bellowed a cry of fury so powerful that it echoed within the entire area.
It was the sign of the last remaining survivor of the Skul'Kerath...
The sign only bore now by Dameus's counter part...
Skul'Kera...The Skeleton Rider.
*****
"Sir Aaron! The troops...You must keep surveilance over them for a few days. Pack up your things and ready yourself to leave, we need our most vigilant and gallant Templar to do this job... Heard?"
Aaron nodded with smirking eyes. "Don't worry. Ready Thelmiscis and I will depart as soon as the gods declare possible. You are dismissed."
With a wave of his hand and the running footsteps of the soldier, Valter turned and walked towards his small armor case. There they were, his most valuable belongings.
The trident he had won from some man claiming to have found it in some "realm of eaternity". He had hever seen such a fine trident... It was unmeasurably beautiful. Next to it lay his great set of armor. It was his leather strewn body with mail of the strongest steel smelted and smithed by the Emperor's men. Enchanted, he was told, to give him unmeasurable stamina and flexibility. His armshield, perfectly made with silver trim and golden plating. The symbol of the royal family bore upon it with shimmering runes and markings that's shine would never falter. His chainmail set that easily covered him in fast easy moving protection. It was also greased with a special concoction made by their mage royals. The concoction allowed it to easily bend and twist without any creaks, scratches, hesitations or barbed arrows. His legplates were as flexible as anything and also bore the royal crest. he wore no helmet, but something close to it. It was a circlet that had a small thin peice of metal bend over his nose. It had nothing to cover his hair and easily bent and pulled on his chin and neck. But it also was greased, allowing him to move easily.
And last their was the smalest vial of something he could never quite comprehend or understand. He was merely given it by a black cloaked figure who he couldn't tell any features of. The only thing he can remember slightly was the marking on his hood. He was given this small crystalline flax with teal...liquid in it, told it was something he would have to keep in order to show that he was a fully known templar of the royal family. Unsure of what to do with it, he kept it in a small box, waiting for the day he would ever learn or use it.
But there was one thing he thought he gathered from it. Every so often when he went to sleep, he heard this voice quietely whisper an ooing noise. Almost as if it called him, something else, or someone else. At first he never understood the oo's... But overtime he thought he made out a few syllables. "D...m...us..."

[Joshua, the Wayne]

*****
Dameus was lying on the ground, horribly wounded by Skeleton Rider.
You see? I truly can beat you, Dameus. It was a mere test when we last fought.
In a quick outburst of motion Dameus was flying straight for the Rider, his blades outstretched.
A test?! Why don't you test this, then!
unexpectedly Dameus was thrown back and once again sprawled on the ground.
*to be continued, still workin on post*

[Joshua, the Wayne]

HrrrrrrrraaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAA-
*****
Dameus woke up on the ground... He immediately knew where he was and bolted up, throwing his sword straight into the wall with a blast of curses.
Skul'Kera!! He had escaped death by mere seconds... Turning to his side he saw Scorn puffing madly. He felt the same rage Dameus had after Dameus had told him the stories of Elasia.
He had escaped... He had ESCAPED...
Whipping around, the furious man began pacing back and forth. Grunts and hushed bellows escaped his mouth, unable to hold back the recurring curses.
The door slammed open as Dameus made rude words, his hand by instinct reaching to his dagger and plunging forward to reach the neck of-
... The emperor...
Dameus, by his knowledge thus far, unclenched his grip on the dagger and kneeled before him. Scorn followed, bowing lower than Dameus as a sign of lesser heirarchy.
Your friend has been sent on a task.
Dameus's face contorted into a scowl and he huffed a growling breath towards the emperor, the words "I was going to kill him" roughly formed.
Kill him? He was about to kill you. Did you not see the position his blade was held within? Insolence... T'will not be tolerated, Dameus...
Dameus sighed a stiff breath and reluctant to accept a possible defeat nodded, not speaking anymore.
I will leave you on another task as well...
Have you heard of the towers?
Dameus, still lingering on the earlier words the emperor spoke, tried his best to think of "the towers". Entering the part of his mind entitled "Sean Fearon", he recalled... Guardians? Yes, yes... Sean had defeated them... (with help, of course) but there were things he had read and...
...
Linck, Karion, Zerith, and Notlimach...
...They had mentioned them.
I believe I remember hearing of them, yes.
Well, then I must let you linger on their thought for now. At the moment, I command you to go and lead Sir Aaron and his troops into our sister temple within the city of Raoro. Now.
Without any other words, Dameus and Scorn rose. Waiting for the emperor to pass, they walked out to the chambers of Sir Aaron.

[Aeric Ecrai]

As Dameus left the room, he looked back. In the seemingly emtpy room stood a figure robed in silvers of the stars in the sky and blues of the coming dusk. Damues blinked, not beleiving what he saw..and the figure was gone.
Probably the Emporer trying to make me flinch and look weak before him. Hrah!
At the thought, Dameus stormed away, angrier than ever.