Alicia felt her hand being yanked by Lisa's small hands once more. "Come on over here," said the little girl. She pulled her back to the tents and began reciting an invocation while closing her eyes. The air above them got thicker all of a sudden, making Alicia feel hazy. Trees seemed to curve out of nature as distortions rippled through the air, blurring the vision. It was as though the air had turned to glass. The distortions lasted a few minutes before the air slowly cooled down. Alicia noticed a difference in her surroundings; they weren't the same as before. She looked as though she'd been imprisoned in a jar. "I've set up an air shield, so don't worry. Vurhan will be unable to get any closer. Is everything okay with you?" Alicia's breathing had become uncontrollable. She was having a nervous breakdown. Her trachea sounded as though it were closing in on itself. In an attempt to calm her down, Lisa dashed over to her and wrapped her fickle hands around her. Alicia began to r
“Sisters, be by my side as we walk into battle!” lady Melo addressed the eight warriors next to her. They all chanted back in unison, all in agreement to follow their mistress to the gates of death. As the last of the vurhans left behind their trail of puke and dust the vurhanil king, Dakario, Lady Melo and her band of female assassins made their way down the hill. To the south Kanchi Asobi, Ladzgery Tyndale and Jrue Deryleen also begun their descent, all heading for the gates of Royal Republic. BACK IN THE CASTLE “Are you sure about this Dai?” “Look, I don't want this responsibility, I've never wanted it since the day I was born. This is my chance to get rid of all this crap and move on with my life. I'll be a normal human being, and you can have your precious kingdom to rule for your entire life without having to die by my hands. It's a win for us all!” Drom looked back at those fiery eyes, finally, a chance to challenge fate and emerge victoriously. "You understand that if you
"But honestly guys I cannot believe that after so long, and after all that has happened we are all still here." Carrs said."Well at least most of us are. Here, I mean." Salron said. They went silent momentarily.Carrs added on, " Oh yeah. How is she?""Well, compared to how you left, worse." Salron said."She's... She's lost in her mind. Even now, she might be planning of other ways to get over the wall. And I'm pretty sure she is forgotten my name." He added on."To be honest she hated your guts since day one." They took time to laugh again but not as intense as the outbursts from before."But now... Now it's like, the only things existent in her world is her and the wall, and the only thing that brings meaning to her is crossing over to the other side." "We have to do something, I mean at this point she will forget that we are not safe, and that there is a tyrant trapped inside this world with us, and that he could attack at any moment if he wanted to." Valmon said."But knowing h
“And where does my mother fit into all of this?”“For this…”Like a snake she rapidly slithered her way past the state guards and knocked Robert off his feet, taking control of the wheelchair Martha was sitting on. She pulled out a dagger and placed it over Martha’s neck.Alicia charged a shot and pointed her hands towards her but she used Martha as a shield. The rest of the state guards pulled out their weapons. She pulled her off the wheelchair and walked with her towards the door.“This entire house is surrounded Tulip. If you do anything foolish you won’t make it out of here alive!”“Don’t worry Alicia. I'm not going to hurt your mother. This is just a precautionary measure to ensure my escape. I have one last thing I was told to tell you Alicia. The person who was sent to extract the spies. He told me the eight Heads have chosen you to be worthy of seeing the truth! You must follow the path to find the great link. He has all the answers!”“Let my mother go and we can have a civil
Their hearts were set ablaze with the fire of freedom. the longing to be an autonomous state once more, to walk their iwn streets without the fear of oppresion from their slavers.Their shouts echoed throughout the city. Lights flickered on as the residents were awoken by the terrifying howls. At the gates, the soldiers grew ill at ease and commenced an attack towards the army of undead Knights."Alright everybody hurdle up, it's about time we joined in on the fun," Anato said to the others.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 o
Jericho spat out the cloth and leaped towards the tyrant, its mouth wide open showcasing razor-sharp teeth. As he neared the Tyrant, a hard circular object stuck into its mouth, its teeth tore deep into the object’s metallic surface and got stuck. As Jericho looked down he noticed a shield sticking out of its mouth. Tyndale had managed to pick up one lying close to him and pushed it into its mouth. Unaware, Jericho was caught off guard with a boot to the face. 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 s
Their furious stomps echoed throughout the forest, sounding like a huge landslide. Their shrieks shook leaves off their branches and their feet dug out the solid underneath them as they ran. Further south a blaring yell of a battle horn sounded. The three turned their attention towards the sound and saw the army of undead knights trampling over the miniature hill, from afar they looked like dolls, but their torches flickered like fireflies and the fumes of burning oil reached the three from the other side. “Sisters, be by my side as we walk into battle!” lady Melo addressed the eight warriors next to her. They all chanted back in unison, all in agreement to follow their mistress to the gates of death. As the last of the vurhans left behind their trail of puke and dust the vurhanil king, Dakario, Lady Melo and her band of female assassins made their way down the hill. To the south Kanchi Asobi, Ladzgery Tyndale and Jrue Deryleen also begun their descent, all heading for the gates of R
Tyndale felt a severe force push his right shoulder, blue blinding light whisked past his ear, after a while, a sharp pain accompanied the disturbance. He looked to his right and noticed the burning flesh searing off his shoulder. Daito stood behind him pointing his palm towards his direction. He promptly fired another shot when he saw the tyrant charge towards him. Skillfully evading the attempt, Tyndale slid across the mud, taking out Daito’s feet. On his descent, Daito was met with a stiffing blast of heat that choked the air out of his lungs. The blast shot him up the air. Tyndale aimed another blast at him, but before he could gather his stance he was tackled to the ground and both their bodies glided across the mud turning them brown. “Why you annoying piece of…” Its broken teeth sunk deep into Tyndale's torso, puncturing his stomach that triggered gushes of blood shooting out of the fresh wounds. Daito tried to gracefully land on his feet like a feline, but the slippery mud
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