DEATH VALLEYThe blast left an indelible trace, and the dry and fragile scales that were burned up by the blast began to fall off its limbs one by one. The vurhan charged for another blast with a barbequed hand. Slejj leapt in front of the girls and Daito, throwing his hands in the air, conjuring up yet another distortion in their path. It spewed specks into the air, forming a massive barrier.Daito had a hard time opening his eyes. Blood clots beneath his eyelids made it painful, and his eyelids rolled up, snapping and dropping the dried blood to the ground. Uncontrollable dizziness resulted from the pulsing pain coursing through his brain.When he glanced up, he saw the two young ladies. A stream of blood poured into his mouth as he turned his head, covering the tip of his tongue. He was enraged; he had killed the most powerful vurhans on the world, and all it took was a lump of dirt to put him to sleep. He licked th
"Sweet mother of Mercy!!!" Exclaimed Salron with a mouth stuff with roasted meat. He watched in disbelief as Reene walked over with the most feared person living amongst them. His twin brother was lost for words as well, all day long he thought Reene was joking about bringing her to the festival. As the two got closer, the others' disbelief grew." How are you doing guys?" Reene asked. Nobody gathered up the courage to respond, Robert, courageous out of all the others stepped forward and extended his hand to greet his commander."How are you finding the festival commander? ""I already told you Robert, there's no need for formalities. You can just call me Alicia, and the festival is very fun. Thank you for asking." She turned to Armani, " Hello, Carrs, I haven't seen you in a long time.""Commander, uhm... Sorry I mean Alicia, nice to see you too. I'm glad you are enjoying the festival. I just came by to celebrate with you."" Welcome... Will you be staying for long? ""No actually I'
“Where is the rest of the army?”“They are trailing our tracks, if we move now we might reach them in under twenty minutes. Rally the escapees and tell them we have to move now.”Thomas, Xermia, and Sigrid joined in on the conversation soon after. They listened in on the narration for a while, recalling how Albert had vanished days before the coupe.“Now please, we have to get moving now!”Thomas and the rest turned to the crowd. Others were awake, they had seen Robert and his unit’s arrival and announced it to others. Others were deep in slumber, enjoying their afternoon nap. Thomas turned to the crowd and began his speech.“Everyone! Listen, the army has arrived, let us pack our things and get a move on now!”A commotion ensued, as people walked from tent to tent awakening their sleeping neighbors. Others were bringing down their tents and stuffing them inside whatever they engineered as their bags. Others moved forward, ready to begin their journey.As the ruckus continued, the old
"but I don't get it. The wall is like ten of thousands of feet tall, and like a mile wide. And it has no gate, not to mention the poisonous miasma surrounding the gate, the furthest you can get to it is a few kilometers away, any closer and the miasma will melt your insides, how did you and your mother manage to get in?""I don't even know how I got in, I just found myself here. At first, it wasn't only my mother and me. We were a big group. There was a smuggler who promised to get us into the walls but for a heavy price, but halfway through the whole thing we were drugged before we could get close to the gate.When we woke up we realized it was just a trick and that the smuggler was working for the Vurhanil king. We were being sent off to free state to be used as food for the vurhans... by that time we had already crossed the wall, so we escaped, there were sixty of us who escaped from the rest of the group. We started running into the woods...at that point we didn't even know we wer
His words sparked a new uproar, the delegates drew their weapons ready to attack him, throwing insults towards him. In all the commotion Daito appeared from the staircase, walking over to Drom. His pitch-black mordant eyes fixated on Drom. At the same exact time, Alicia and the others walked in or rather sprinted in. Daito was inches away from Drom when Drom caught sight of him. As soon as he saw his black eyes he knew something wasn't straight.The blade ran through his chest, actuating his ribs out of the way as it made its path to his heart, shredding his flesh. For a moment he had his guard down and he could not save himself, and with all the confusion he didn't notice Daito until it was too late. With the entire room as witnesses, Drom sank to the floor.OUTSIDE THE WALLS"Okay it's done, the king is down. Dakario does your thing." Anato said.Dakario locked his eyes once more, summoning his inner voice that the vurhans listen to. Immediately he surmised his brief meditation the
Felista's juvenile gesture drew Alicia's attention. She had never known how people fall in love, owing to the fact that she had never experienced it herself. The manliest of men and the most stubborn of women were overgrown toddlers as a result of this passion.When she was younger, she witnessed her mother and father behaving differently when they were together and when they were apart and she thought it was due to some kind of spell. She never understood love as a child. She was absolutely stunning. Her days at the Noble school proved that to her when she received love letters enshrouded in her bag on a regular basis, and the brave ones approached her and asked her out on a date, only to be rudely turned down.During her school years, she must have maimed the souls of half of her class, which was a significant number. She was also dubbed "Iron Heart" by her peers. But it wasn't her fault; she had never cared much for someone who had asked her out. Her heart was frozen solid, and not
“Do neither of you wish to acknowledge me?” . When he yelled at the terrified people, they backed away from the podium, others tripping on the ground. Tyndale exhaled steadily, letting go of the frustration that was causing him to lose his cool. He was determined to assert his superiority, and he knew exactly how to do so. He'd done it several times before, and that day would be no different.“Well, I think your leaders will suffer as a result of your indecisiveness,” he said.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
************************************ALLIANCE HEADQUARTERS************************************“The chances of failure far outweigh the chances of success, and even if we succeed the victory will be bitter sweet, you know that. You know one of us is going to end up really hurt, or worse.”Lora walked closer to him and rested her hand on his shoulder. He was still watching the fold of slaves working their lives away. “This is my plan Jrue, if it fails I'm ready to face the consequences on my own. Trust me on this.” “What about the other prisoners?” “Leave them to me. I will find a way to convince them. All you need to worry about is setting up the stage, do things right on your side and I’ll do things right on mine and I promise there's nothing that will go wrong, promise!”“Okay. On the next moon, Ladzgery Tyndale will not be able to use his soul magic. That is the day we begin the coup d'etat.” SALS VILLAGE IN DISTRICT DARK Alicia tried hard to keep her gaze locked on the convolu
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