Martha descended to welcome her, but her heart crushed when she saw her face. Her pensive atmosphere emanated from her blank face. “Why are they doing this to grandpa?” she asked Martha, tears streaming down her face. Martha's heart was shattered. She could only wrap her arms around the helpless kid. Alicia pondered how to restore her damaged spirit while they stood there.Daito and Drom made their way up the stairwell to the quarters. The black sticky wine that had been thrown on his face had dried up, hardening the hair strands that hung over his brow. Drom took a step ahead of him.“It's all a ruse, isn't it?” Drom said. Daito came to a standstill.“The slave insignia is a hoax, and that insane narrative about Slejj abducting you is also a hoax...” Drom continued.“... Bringing us back here was a huge error on your part. You've placed the kingdom in jeopardy.”“ You're referring to your kingdom... You know, I've been wondering why you left all these years. I thought you were dead a
IN THE CASTLEIt felt like time had refrigerated. Alicia watched, in horror, as Drom plunged to the floor, Daito standing beside him with the blood-stained dagger still under his grasp. The quiet buzzing in her ear grew into a high-pitched noise, as the room erupted into chaos. The delegates approached the two intruders with the intent to kill. Lora also stood beside Alicia dazed in a similar trance. She looked on as her apparently dead little brother reaped his swords and whirled them, chopping off delegates arms and legs. At one point he arced his head and caught sight of her, but ventured on with his slaughter as if she wasn't even there, as if he had no clue who she was. Reene and the others tapped them out of their stupor as they pulled out their swords. Alicia began galloping straight towards Drom, and Lora headed for Deryleen. Before they could both reach their intended targets the rest of the faction popped up under the teleportation circle and dropped to the arena, jumping st
He approached the leaders and delegates of the crested families. He left the audience waiting for his next move by scanning their faces steadily. One of the delegates was seized by the neck and whisked about like a delicate flag the next thing they knew. Rowan Eelse hung in mid-air, his throat constricted and almost squished by the tyrant's firm grip. He kicked and flared his limbs as he tried to breathe.The ruler exclaimed, "Your soul is mine!"He reached out and laid his hand on Rowan's chest; a concentrated string of violet and black energy poured out of his chest and onto Tyndale's arm shortly after. And from distance, the audience could see the flicker of life in his eyes fade away, his legs stopped kicking, and his hands fell away from the tyrant's grip. He eventually collapsed to the ground, lifeless.“Do you really refuse to acknowledge me as your ruler?” He screamed again.The chants set off a chain reaction. The public hanging of one of their delegates frightened the shocke
“I may not know about your plans or intentions. I may not care what you do to me, break my bones, break my mind, break my spirit. Destroy my belongings… But if you lay a single finger on my family and my people… I will not rest until I have all your heads under my boot. And for the death of Hashi, his blood is solely on your hands. I will repay, a life for a life. I will hunt all of you to the ends of the earth, Anato Strider will be the first to fall under my sword, that is not a threat, it is a promise!”The figure turned towards him, “... Farewell my king, and understand. His death was for a greater cause, and there cannot be peace without war, just as there cannot be love without hate.” a bright flash of light swallowed him and he vanished. Drom felt a cold surge charge him up. His veins filled up with vengeful blood, cracking his skin in dark networks germinating all over his body. For the sake of his kingdom, he had to ravel the feral side he tucked away inside him. The animal c
“I have told you a thousand and one times I am not going to hurt her! She is part of my deal for the exchange of information, besides don’t you know where I’m from. I made a vow with my mistress never to hurt women.”“And after we bring her here what next?”“Then we can begin the deal. Have a little faith!”Alicia reluctantly nodded to Robert Townsdy, he stepped out and a few moments later he came back pushing Martha on a wheelchair. Once they entered the rest of the soldiers outside surrounded the house.“I will tell you what I know. About the plans of the Heads. The fact is, their plan is not over yet. The invasion was just the beginning of it.”“What are they planning to do?”“They seek to remove obstacles along their way. Obstacles are people who are strong enough to foil their plans. Either you join them, or they eliminate you. That is what they did to the two strongest people from this kingdom. The dark bender joined them, the king refused, and he was to be killed. They wanted t
She felt a warm embrace encompass her. She looked up and saw her mother, hugging her softly.“I understand now what the stranger meant.”She spoke in a cushioned tone. She raised her head and Alicia caught sight of her feint smile.“This miracle was never meant for me. I was just a vessel. To keep it for whoever needed it.”“Mother, what are you talking about?”The entire room was confused. Martha walked up to Reene’s bed and continued her speech.“When I conversed with the stranger, he told me he was about to do something he would not feel proud of, and in the end he would end up hurting himself and people he did not intend to. So he gave me this miracle. He told me that very soon someone would be in dire need of it. And he told me the decision to keep it to myself or help them rested on my shoulders. I now know why he chose me. He choose me because I would never forsake a life for the benefit of my interests. Daughter, I hope one day you will learn to do the same, and when that day
Alicia rode at the front of the pack. Alicia felt betrayed; she had no idea why she wasn't a member of the make-up family, but she was upset about how things had turned out.Lisa had been awakened by the uproar and had remained silent ever since; she was riding in the back of one of the State Guards' horses, Carrs Armani to be precise. Reene and the twins rode alongside the captives' carriage, getting dangerously close to it at points, waiting for the horses hauling it to walk over some rocks, jostle the carriage, and swing the curtains apart so he could catch a glimpse of the dark bender. He was dying for a full-fledged chat with Daito, but he wouldn't be so eager if he knew how 'talkative' Daito was.Albert decided to break the silence by asking, "So, Alicia Iko, I'm guessing you know who I am."Alicia took some time to bottle up her raging emotions and to be sure traces of them were not to be left on her speech."Yes, that's me. I do know you.""A very promising State Guard. I appo
ou are a traitor."Slejj leaned back in his chair and burst out laughing, as if Alicia had said a terrible joke and he was teasing her. It lasted about as long as uncomfortable laughs could last. He went on to say,"You call me a liar all the time, but do you really know what I did, or were you just told?"The skepticism that began to crawl into her mind grew exponentially, mocking her convictions and what she had grown up believing. In the one hand, she was persuading herself that Slejj was nothing more than a traitor who was lying to her, but she still felt she needed to know his side of the story. She could tell which side was going to win.Slejj undid the buttons on his shirt, revealing a deep scar on his chest. A network of black veins sprouted from the mutation at the middle of the dark scar, stretching through his whole chest. The veins weren't normal; they were totally dark, and they swallowed any ray of light that came close to them, making it seem as though there was none th
They rushed into the palace, two awls trailing behind them, holding a huge wooden box. When they were climbing the flight of stairs, one of the awls relaxed his grasp on the case's side handle and it slid off, falling to the ground. The case's housing broke open and objects spewed out, including several scrolls, a large book with a lock restricting the pages, and a fairly long dagger. "Wait, I'm familiar with both the book and the sword. They are normally at my father's place. He's been devoting a lot of time lately to reading that book." "And what is the purpose of the blade?" "It's for, yeah, I read about it in my father's library a long time ago, it's used for the rite when when...no!" Daito's eyes abruptly opened as he realized what the intention of the visit could be. He made a hasty descent down the trunk, losing his balance and slipping off several times. Drom pursued him blindly. "Hey! Dai, what is it tell me!" "Come on Drom! We have to hurry before it's too late." They
Needle-like pain reverberated across her skull. She lost her orientation, the world began spinning. As she tried to straighten to her feet another powerful blow landed across her frame, knocking the air out of her lungs, sending her spinning and spiraling across the floor. She collided with the wall, breaking her momentum. Jrue swung his twin blades with malicious intent. Though it wasn’t him succumbing to all those terrifying blows they were so brutal that he felt the impact of his raw strength. Before his blades could gain momentum he was rudely picked off the ground with an inhumane tackle. He was driven to the wall, the impact so violent it pushed the bricks out of position. Once he was pinned to the wall a flurry of punches started coming his way. The iron-like knuckles dug into his face, he felt like a hammer pounding his cheeks. His mouth filled with blood. The relentless attacks were halted by a deafening sound of a metal bar striking Tyndale’s skull. It seemed to have less
“A paralytic Poison. I see I taught you well my son…” “Don’t you ever dare call me that again!” He picked up his right arm and slit his wrist across, doing the same to his left hand. Jrue wanted him to suffer. He wanted him to bleed to death knowing that he was powerless, unable to do anything about it and save himself. He left him outside and limped back into the house. All the soldiers guarding the house had evacuated, deployed to handle the uprising of the slaves in the mines, giving the two siblings all the time they needed to execute duties assigned to them by Anato Strider as part of their escape plan. He managed to reach the room where the fight had begun. He shook her sister to wake. “Lora, Lora! Wake up, it is done!” All Lora felt was an unrealistically powerful force driving her to the ground. She landed with a thud, her head bouncing off the moldy floor. Needle-like pain reverberated across her skull. She lost her orientation, the world began spinning. As she tried to s
Albert was unconcerned about her feelings. He spread the crinkled letter out on the table and began reading it aloud. "The official report. On the second day of the third week of the sixth moon of the year, the commander of the independent states arrived at Defectors State headquarters, where honorary State guard, Lora Deryleen, provided information on the whereabouts of the fugitive, ex-commander, and traitor to the States, Slejj. In the evening, the commander gathered an army to go over to make a stand. "What are you babbling about, is it a fantasy scenario you've been dreaming about?" "Come on...you of all people should know the report never lies," "You seriously can't be considering something this low Albert!," "I made a deal with fugitives Lora, fugitives you wanted to protect. now it seems like their crimes have caught up to them, and there is no way I can delay the inevitable," "You're not going to be able to accomplish it, Albert. We struck a deal!" "Lora...dear Lora, I
The kick was aimed at the shield. Tyndale pushed out the shield with his kick so violently that it broke the teeth submerged into the metal. As the shield rolled on the mud with the teeth sticking out of it, Jericho shrieked in pain. Daito finally came to, getting to his feet just in time before the blast shot the Vurhan's entire face off. He charged forward with a blast of his own. Tyndale reverted his attention towards him which left him exposed to the mercy of the beast. Another swipe of the claws ripped up a shred of his skin, allowing blood to run over his chest. His muscular arms pushed Daito back onto the ground once more. He kicked the vurhan and took out its left knee with a blast of energy, rendering it immobile, momentarily. As the vurhan stumbled to the ground he grabbed its arm and pulled it back up, directing its head towards his punch. The two targets collided, leaving a bloody green stain on the Vurhan's face as it slid across the mud. Tyndale felt a severe force pus
"I made a deal with fugitives Lora, fugitives you wanted to protect. now it seems like their crimes have caught up to them, and there is no way I can delay the inevitable," "You're not going to be able to accomplish it, Albert. We struck a deal!" "Lora...dear Lora, I mean, come on, you knew what you were up to. We all knew this make-believe family you built wasn't going to last." "Albert, you're a jerk!" "Let's not talk about that princess. I'm aware of your darkest secrets!" "Wait... What secret?" He moved closer to her face, leaning in. Her stomach turned at the smell of his alcoholic breath. "You think I don't know about your little secret, Deryleen... you're not from around here, are you?" "You're not selling it Albert...get out of here." Lora bumped shoulders with him as she walked into her quarters. "Get out of my quarters now!!!" "... According to the second official report, Lora Deryleen and Alicia Iko captured the previous commander of the independent nations and we
Alicia dazed in a similar trance. She looked on as her apparently dead little brother reaped his swords and whirled them, chopping off delegates arms and legs. At one point he arced his head and caught sight of her, but ventured on with his slaughter as if she wasn't even there, as if he had no clue who she was. Reene and the others tapped them out of their stupor as they pulled out their swords. Alicia began galloping straight towards Drom, and Lora headed for Deryleen. Before they could both reach their intended targets the rest of the faction popped up under the teleportation circle and dropped to the arena, jumping straight into the action. Outside the castle, the intense battle raged on. The army of undead knights fought relentlessly like they had nothing to lose, mostly because they didn't. They overpowered the knights trying to secure the castle and fell to their blades, most of them cowardly retreating. The vurhans continued their orchestra, by then the whole city had awoken
"You know the truth is I was never your brother you simpleton! I was never your brother!" "... Wha... What did I ever do to you brother?" "NOTHING! And that is why I despise you. You never did anything for anyone, only cared about yourself. Using others to get what you wanted... Using me to become the commander!" Slejj coughed up a couple of times before speaking. "What in the hell are you talking about?" "I do not need to explain myself to you! Have you ever heard of Enkai, the forest deity who supposedly guarded the gates against crossers? Protected the Independent States from the world outside, especially vurhans." Slejj stared back in discomfort as a response. "Well, do you remember the day we were on the battlefield, fighting off the hoards of vurhans? I was the one who called on to him. I corrupted him with the help of some new friends I made. Using the power I made it turn against us... It killed and devoured those soldiers, and it was also to devour you! But I didn't pla
Fear was creeping in and Jrue was re-evaluating his options. A retreat would seem reasonable at that point. Lora had been completely taken out of the equation. “Well! I am Waiting!” Tyndale barked, his voice full of excitement. Jrue charged towards him. He wasn’t that good of a fighter in tight spaces but give him an open field and he would perform his acrobatic stunts that surprisingly packed a punch. He sought to tilt the odds to his advantage by taking him to an open field, and there was only one way he saw how. Running full steam ahead he tackled Tyndale and they both burst through the window, shattering the glass and falling three from a height three stories high. There was no object below to cushion their landing, so they sprawled to the hard ground. Jrue landed on his chest, breaking a bone or two. Tyndale landed on the shards of glass. They dug into his back, yet he seemed not to feel irritated by the pain. Before he could get up Jrue rushed over to him and impaled his leg w