Again it was night, camp set up. Fires smoldering, the wind whipping, and the stars watching. Dameus arose from his seat, walking out of the camp.
Scorn,Yes?I'm ready, I'm heading off to you. I left the note for Aaron about some sudden "urgency", are you ready my friend?I've BEEN ready you! laughed the dragon as Dameus ran off into the black horizon.
*****
"Mm.... G'mornin... Generul.... Mmngh..."
Aaron woke groggily, hair a mess, face pale and neutral.
That was until he saw a note on the table.
Picking it up, he read blood red ink in Dameus' handwriting,
Aaron,
I've left on urgent business sent by the Emperor. Do understand I have no choice but to do as he asked, and that I bid you best of luck on the last of the journey. I hope your men may all make it to Raoro safe.
With all due respect,
~ Dameus Exavior
Valter sighed and understood what the Emperor asked of him must be that urgent.
Tossing it to the side he saw another note which was under the last one.
PS: I have taken a few bags of tea, Gods thanks. I also discovered the makeup of the tea is actually a form of blast powder! Magnificent, is it not? How useful tea actually may be in times of war.
With all due thanks,
~ Dameus Exavior
Aaron raised his voice and called out to the men in the camp,
"Ready your horses men! Twoday journey and we near the sister temple! Come!!"
*****
Scorn and Dameus were high in the sky, it was near the end of the third day. Near the end of the day Aaron and his men should arrive Dameus thought as he and his dragon flew far towards the fort. He knew what Aaron would meet, he knew that all of Raoro's people fled towards their largest fort, Blackwall. And now Dameus had his mission ready for action.
He was to destroy the entire fort and who lived there. The Emperor wanted no opposing forces to turn war towards him. So, it was Dameus' task to make sure they were to dead to try against Balthazun. Too easy a task, he thought.
So Scorn, how has it been lately?So, so. I've been thinking of things.Not again!! Whenever you do that you make me look bad. Dameus laughed.
Well, I can't stop thinking of them.Dameus sighed and lightened up his tension.
May I ask what your thoughts are, then?...I don't think it best to tell you, my best intensions.Dameus sighed again and leaned against Scorn's neck. This would be a long ride.
Tell me.You're different.What do you mean 'different'?I'm not sure, you're just... different now.I'm sorry then, but I can't exactly help it if I'm ordered to slaughter over and over by an Emperor.It's not that. You're different. this time Scorn emphasized the word 'different'.
Dameus groaned
Alright then. I'm different. Anything else?You're angry.By what means??You know.Scorn, I'm trying my best to think through everything. It's tough.You may be, but I -being your dragon- feel you aren't entirely sure if you're right. I'm trying my best to watch out for you, Dameus. You are the one who cared for me when I was small.Dameus turned to the side and stared at the clouds.
I didn't tell you how you came to be, have I?No....Is there something you're going to tell me?Some other day, we've got to think of how to attack Blackwall.You're the expert.And you're the partner. Dameus laughed.
Alright then, how close are we to the fort? Ten minutes.It was midnight, and fort Blackwall was not far off.
There would be armsmen out, guarding it's walls. Within a few minutes notice they should catch glimps of the enormous black blot in the sky, especially as flame was breathed from Scorn as warning.
The men should be sending their wyverns and wyvern riders out, not too long and they'd be dead.
Dameus thought he could even see some of their small puny animals in the distance. They called those fierce?...
Alright Scorn, when you're re-Scorn let out his mightiest roar Dameus had ever heard. It rang past the clouds and shook the air, trembled the ground, and slightly parted the clouds. Dameus now grinned.
This would be entertaining.
*****
"Valter!" one of Aaron's men called out.
"Yes soldier?"
"The temple is now in sight!!"
"Grand! Great job men!"
night was beginning to fall, sun's light darkening and beginning to hide under the horizon.
Moments passed as all men-- on foot and on horseback-- trekked the last bit of the journey to temple Raoro.
Valter grinned and chuckled. This was so random, he didn't even know why they were at Raoro.
...
He... didn't know why...
...
And just what were they supposed to do once they reached it's walls??
Turn around and walk all the way back??
'Hey Balthazun! We walked to Raoro and back, just like you wanted!!'
...
This would not be an ideally good journey back.
What could Dameus be doi-"Valter!!"
One of the soldiers cried out grimly.
"Yes, soldier?"
"There is no one at the entrance..."
"What do you mean? Do they not have eyes to see such a vast army??"
Valter than remembered...
Why... Did Balthazun send the entire army?...
Something didn't seen right.
"We're sending a scout, general."
"Good, soldier."
Valter raised his hand and commanded all of the troops to stop in march, waiting for the scout to return.
...
"AAH!"
Valter's eyes widened at the scream and raised his head high.
"What happened soldier??"
"Attack!! Atta-AAH!!"
Valter grabbed the hilt of his katana, ready for whatever was in store.
"Shadows!! They're coming from the sh-..."
Valter's men were going down one by one.
"Attack!!" Valter commanded, and men hesitated, but knowing their duty reached for their weapons and readied their shields for a fight.
"Hraah!!" Valter charged into battle.
*****
Dameus grabbed the long, long three thousand yard long spiked chain which connected him to his Dragon. It was this that kept him linked to his Dragon whenever they needed to part, but not be entirely seperated.
They were mere moments from arising the mark of battle.
Moments...
Seconds...
...
There was one. One of their pathetic wyvern riders. Grabbing the lance Dameus had set aside on Scorn's back, he readied his stance and leapt from the dragon, the chain connected to his belt. Falling, falling, and ah...
They were right under him, directly in his path.
Hah!
A clean land on the wyvern as it stuttered, screeching as it realised the pain from the lance in it's side.
The two men riding it gasped, eyes wide, and were no more as Dameus kicked them off, whipping out his crossbow and piercing the wyvern in the head with a shower of quivers. Now to head back to Scorn's back.
Gripping the chain on his belt, he sent some of his mana into it and there he went, flying into the scy at a blazing speed to the back of his Dragon. There.
This is too easy, Scorn.Not surprising! he laughed back.
Readying himself again, Dameus spotted another, one of the men readying an arrow and aiming as best he could, a mage behind him speaking runes to a spell.
How amusing, thought Dameus.
Another great leap and Dameus was flying towards them, their eyes now wide with fear.
The sniper screamed!! How funny!!
On his landing, the ranger was immediately felled, Dameus on top of him with his bootspike slipping out of the poor warrior's chest.
Turning towards the mage, he recognized how scared men can get.
Especially when he grabbed the mage by the neck and raised him over the wyvern's side, shrugging and letting the mage drop. No waste in using his blades on the pitiful warriors. And now for the wyvern, too easy.
It screeched, as all the others, and with another yank and pulse of energy through the chain Dameus was sent flying towards Scorn.
Do you see any other wyvern riders?I don't believe so.Good. They get too amusing.Dameus turned his gaze to the fort now. Time to slaughter all of those unsuspecting men.
Alright scorn, ready yourself.Dameus stanced and dashed up the long neck of his friend. A hundred yards later, as he reached the end of Scorn's nose, he bent his legs as Scorn lowered his head. In one swift motion of energy, Dameus leapt off at the exact moment Scorn threw up his head. Off he went, through the air, the moon bright in the sky. Closer and closer to the wall he got, and finally... Hah!
Greetings fellow warriors!The men all screamed, their eyes wide as they saw the fierce armored man, his armor resembling that of a dragon... And his blaring flaming eyes... They were fire behind his visionguard.
Dameus reached for the hilt of his blade, his hands spidering with sharp pieces of metal curling off his fingertips, gripping the hilt of Ragnarok.
He slowly pulled out the blood crimson blade and the men's eyes gazed with wonder and suspensed fear...
This is Ragnarok, blade of darkness. Savor it's glare, that's all you have left to see.The men stepped back. This was their end, according to Dameus.
Dameus chuckled and lifted Ragnarok above his head.
Come at me then!!Men hesitated and readied their lances, charging at the knight.
Twirling his blade, knocking all others to the side, thrice it spun above his head. Raising it slowly to stare straight into the sky, it glowed with sudden fire...
The men stared, unsure if they could beat this man.
Especially as he spun it in his hand, blade now facing down, and plunged it with the sound of thunder into the stone.
The men were sent sprawling off the sides of the wall, into the air, blown to bits, or blinded.
Whichever one suited them best as Dameus raised his hand above his left shoulder, flames now engulfing the stone, and from behind him in the sky the drums of wings felled all hope.
Here came his dragon.
'Ready!'
'Hra!'
'Aim!'
'Ho!'
'Release!'
'Ha!'
All of the men at the base of the fort released arrows and bolts from their bows, a shower shadowing the knight and his dragon. Dameus couldn't help but utter a laugh.
They thought
arrows could fell a fully armored knight and a dragon the size of a kingdom.
That is funny.
Dameus grabbed the chain on his belt and flew through the air, up to Scorn's neck. Scorn knew immediately what to do. Dameus felt the rumble within his friend, the tremor quaking from within his chest... Scorn's eyes grew bright and he opened his mouth wide, an inferno blazing forth, all of the missiles burning in mere seconds. And from the flames emerged the head of a dragon and his knight.
Dameus once again ran up Scorn's neck and onto his nose, readying stance and soaring through the air, deep into the fort's center square. Landing, he readied to fight several hundreds of men. Ragnarok was raised above his head, crimson light shining over him and those closest to him. Right on time.
Here came the rain. Scorn was on the other side of the temple, casually blowing flame for the fun of it. Dameus guessed all of the men would be dead in... twenty minutes? One man after another ran up. Dameus first sideswiped through one, cutting him near in half, then spun and twirled his sword around his head twice, slashing the man behind him in half as well. As his blade hit the ground, he spiraled in a wide circle, a circular arial slash cutting through the air straight into their chests from the sheer power of the blow. Snapping his fingers, the rain on the ground (except for that of it around him) froze, all of the men's legs now glued to the ground by thick ice. Perfect for a kill now, Dameus bragged in his mind. He snapped his finger again, and from his hand a blast of flame webbed out around him, burning the men in their places as they struggled to be freed from their cold shackles. Scorn was having fun all the while, eating here and there, smoldering the rest, making sure none survived in his path, crushing them under his paws, felling them with a brush of his tail, those usual draconic things. Well, Dameus on the other hand decided to have some fun and reached to his back, grabbing his shield and throwing it to the ground, stepping onto it in two specific areas with his feet and as a click sounded the shield lifted him.
((WORLD'S FIRST AIRBOARD ROFFLURD))
Now was some real fun. He leaned forward and sped through the streets, his swords out as he slashed side to side through men who didn't even know what was coming. Oh? More archers.
Dandy.
He raised his hand and formed a ward, arrows rebounding off of it as it shimmered with bright iridescent light. Keeping it up around him, Dameus saw through the edge of the fort more Wyvern riders coming out.
Fun fun fun!
Dameus knew how easy this would be as he reached towards his back and withdrew from his shoulderbelt a short metal rod. Clicking a small button on it, from both sides of the pole sprouted long spiky and slim lanceblades. Dameus twirled it around a few times, as big a showoff as he was, and then drew it back behind him, his stance ready as he flew towards them. Arrows were shot, useless as they met with his ward. Dameus, as fast as he was, came straight next to one of the wyverns and stretched his lance out in front of it, slicing through the center as it flew past him... falling in half, the man on it's back screaming and meeting the same fate. Now for the next one. It came close... closer... and ha! Dameus pierced it through the chest then spun around on his shield, stabbing the rider in the chest as well. ...
Riders.
Dameus spotted scorn, sitting on the ground, toying with the remains, bored as he had ever known. Dameus chuckled and turned back to the wyverns. One man jumped at him, his sword out and his face bold. Dameus cut his blade in two and brought it back around, stabbing him through the forehead and throwing the man behind his back. Now for the wyvern. Dameus stanced and spun around, throwing it straight across-- perfect hit. Down fell the small wyvern. Puny. Weak. Hopeless. Helpless.
Dameus gazed at the rest of the men and outstretched his hand. From it an energy pulsed and fireballs were wrought forth. Blasting into the men, heating their armors, making their blades turn into flimsy snakes of metal. Fifty dead in the course of five seconds. Hmm...
How many were left now?... A hundred and fifty? Two hundred?
The more the better. Dameus drifted downward on his shield... staring around... What was left?
A few men filing women and children there... Crying, actually.
He didn't care. What did it matter now? ...
Dameus recalled what Scorn had said,
You're different,...
Dameus threw the thought out, but sensed Scorn's slight nudge of his mind, acknowledging it and encouraging thought. Dameus pushed away the second thought and slowly moved forward, his cape flying madly like a dragon's wings behind him.
The last of Raoro was staring at him, eyes stabbed with fear and tears falling from their cheeks instead of sweat.
Dameus inched forward, unsure what to do... Kill them?
Gah!! What was he doing?
Asking himself what to do, YES he was supposed to kill them!!
I must. Do understand... he pleaded as gingerly in his mind to the last of Raoro as he could. Scorn lowered his head.
Dameus reached towards his belt and grabbed his crossbow.
Raising it in front of himself, the children now screaming, the men with all of their courage and honor guarding them, knowing what fate they would meet...
but knowing they protected the innocent.
Why could Dameus never do that?
Are you beginning to realise, Dameus?Shutup. I need no second thoughts, Scorn....As you wish.And as the women hugged their husbands, their sons, their fathers... Dameus winced and pulled the trigger of his crossbow.
Again.
Again... Again and again, tele-loading it, the arrows in his quiver appearing in the bow without his touch.
Again and again, people of Raoro died.
Dameus pitied the sight now. What was it that was happening??
If only Scorn hadn't said that to him earlier!! He would have killed these people sooner... Could have gotten an earlier start towards home again...
Could get another mission to kill... again....
HRAAA!! SCORN!! YOU FINISH THIS!! YOUR WORDS ARE BLINDING ME, KILL THEM!Scorn, not saying a word, stood on his legs and walked forward, glaring Dameus in the eye as he walked passed and did his work.
As you wish...*****
Valter was uttering tears. So much pain!! One after another... One bloody shadow after another he took down, gasping for breath as his brow stained with blistering sweat. His katana was rusting, it was dull, it was beginning to split... And more were coming... More...
He slashed through one, slashed to his back, twisted in a full circle and cut through those around him. Three of his m-
Two of his men were left...
Aaron plunged his katana into the heart of one of the twilit creatures, his face wincing with the fatigue and pain of battle. Cuts were among him, bleeding blots tickling his back as it stung with sweat in the pulsing heat...
It was winter...
Snow was falling... No... It was rain. Rain fell upon him, oozing his pain, but shadows still came... What more... What more to face that he could handle?...
...What more...
*****
Only one more to kill. The royalty. Dameus stepped through the regal halls and walked into the darkness, snapping his finger and emitting from them a flame to torch his way into the top.
Minutes passed by, large halls he would pass through, paintings he saw that seemed familiar... Several things he saw.
He couldn't recall what they meant, what they were, or how he remembered them, but he did remember one thing. That painting right there--
The painting of the fabled races, the god races... All in a circle, forming a symbol of unity and friendship. Whatever that junk was for, Dameus could not recall as he walked stair after stair, hall after hall. Nearing the top, he saw through an enormous window the outside. It was beautiful, rain... Storms and tempests, he loved them for some reason. They were so calming...
Aah...
Lightning, his favorite. The soft rumble of drums, the sound of beautiful lightning.
...
The last stair. Up he went, into a large room he entered.
And there he saw in the chair a girl, robed and very calm. No lights were lit in the room. As were non through the entire castle.
...Oh? It was a young lady. About twenty or so.
But that wasn't what shocked Dameus, making him regret his entire life.
There in the seat was his sister.
This was his family's castle.
His very own home...
Holding back tears, he walked towards her. She turned to stare at him, her face blank.
"Why did you kill my people?"
Dameus hesitated.
It was my orders."Shame you. Shame your existance. Dishonor to your family and blasphemy cursed upon you, blackheart."
Dameus spoke nothing more as he stared at Molly. Her face suddenly grew aware of what was next, a tear falling from the side of her face.
"I never will find him, then... Dameus is lost forever.
Do your worst, devil of a dragon."
Tears flooded Dameus' face, he couldn't see her hardly.
He raised his blade above his head.
I, being Dameus, will not write the next part of this for it is a thing I do not feel like explaining, how it is to kill your own sister without her even knowing it was you...
Dameus exited the castle. Scorn asking him questions, but no answers. The rain, the sound of Scorn's voice, the stepping of his feet into a puddle of water. All muffled. Scorn kneeled and Dameus walked onto his back, crouching into a small ball, staring out into the night.
Scorn took off, flying towards Aaron's site, making sure all of them were gone.
Dameus broke into silent tears, grasping all that he had witnessed in the past hour, Scorn's voice comforting him along the way into the black rain.
*****
Aaron was all that was left. He had killed them all... All of the shadows.. And now, he knew he himself would die.
Scorn flew from the distance and landed, Dameus turning his head forward. Aaron did not believe his eyes. Dameus had come back. But Dameus said nothing. As he moved, he seemed neutral. Void of anything. but he picked Aaron up and threw him onto the back of an enormous black and red dragon, Dameus following after. Dameus nodded towards him and they flew off into the rainy distance.
"Thank you..."
))