Uega Ren Vakir

I use italics in my story too. Except it's very long. I have, like, ten paragraphs in italics, implying that it happened in the past or didn't really happen. It's pwnage.

This doesn't belong on page 2... *bump*

Ladies and gentleman, today is your chance to get back at me if I have ever been annoying to you.

I'm sure you'll notice that I haven't been updating. I've had writers block in addition to personal matters to attend to.

But no more. I'm going to post a chapter soon. You see, I want you to be BRUTALLY honest with me. Point out anything wrong with the chapter. Anything. At all. If I've ever pointed out something insignificant to you, now you can return the favor. Point out typos and make suggestions. If it is too long, boring, or descriptive, please let me know.

Please note that it doesn't necessarily mean I will agree with any and all suggestions. I'm just making sure I haven't gotten rusty.

Without further ado:

Chapter 3: New Order

Since my purification, the world had been in a constant state of chaos. Power had shifted to Maziel Vorte, the destined lord of darkness. Under his rule over the dark species of the Jauvi, war had reached new levels of danger.
Towns rarely had names anymore as they were invaded too often to keep under control. Shifting back and forth between the Jauvi and the human armies, towns were simply outposts of war.
There were still residential towns, but not as such that everyone has established territory. The armies of humanity defended these residential towns when they could be catching the Jauvi off guard, giving them a disadvantage in battle. Jauvi were born for the sheer purpose of harm. They need no sleep and therefore needed no homes.
Nonetheless, residential towns were defended. Only the lucky had their own homes to keep and live in by themselves. The rest lived in their town together, thankful to have someone to share their sorrows with. If too many people gathered in one home, it would become a target so citizens were forced to spread across the areas they lived. If their city was invaded, each citizen was alive for themselves and had to make their own decision: fight, flee, or perish.
The living conditions for the soldiers and warriors were even more dramatic. We had to move with the tides of battle, finding places to rest and regain strength. But if we slept for too long, our hideouts might be destroyed.
On the other hand, I took a similar approach in battle as the Jauvi did. Having trained in the dark arts, I could go for days at a time without rest. I would fight and fight, searching through areas for any sign of Ekio?s presence. He would move with me until he needed rest (his purification had been interrupted, and therefore he lost more of his power than I did). When he found a suitable place to rest, usually a cave of some sort, he would leave some signal implying his presence. When I found such a symbol, I would rest with him until he was ready to push forward.
But this was a slightly different time. The war still raged on, but not as rapidly. Residential towns, for the most part, could sleep at night without too much worry. Only the out post towns were heavily invaded. It was the rough equivalent of peace talks. There were still battles and so it should go without saying that there was still death. But it wasn?t so blunt, so up front. There were even a few minor cities which were convinced that the war was over. The major difference from peace talks is that, in this case, neither side had pure intentions.
The human leaders only used this time as a sort of calm. In this way, the war would settle down slightly while our armies regrouped for future strikes. Now, I couldn?t be certain about the Jauvi, but I secretly thought they were trying to gain a strangle hold on humanity through negotiation.
Needless to say, I was not accepted by either side of the war. As far as I knew, Ekio was the only one who knew my intentions to be for the best. The humans hated anyone who could wield black magic, and I was included in that classification. And the Jauvi hated me for meeting against them in battle. I fought from the shadows and sidelines at any opportunity I could, but I could rarely have much contact with anyone other than Ekio.
And this lifestyle didn?t bother me, regularly. I had been a sort of loner since long before adulthood, keeping only one or two close friends. The main thing that bothered me about the war, though, was its origin. When I had found out the details of my child, I had allied with Maziel and had laid waste to my home town? destroyed the innocence from when I came. I regretted it very much with each passing day, but it had been with that attack that the second war of the Jauvi had begun.
And my home town of Dalanaren had been an almost constant battlefield ever since. The tides of war often brought me back there and forced me to witness first hand what I had inadvertently started. I didn?t mind getting hurt; all that truly bothered me was that I couldn?t fight in full force and just attack openly. If I made my presence obvious, it was likely that I would be caught in the crossfire between my allies and my enemies. The resistance could be a much less daunting task if humanity was willing to trust me.
I had lost so much to the Jauvi over the years, even my connections to my own species. I hated them as a collective whole even more than I hated Maziel himself.
Other than Dalanaren, my current destination was one of the most coveted strongholds in the war. Both sides fought tirelessly to retain a grip on the forests. Over all other battle grounds, the jungles and forests provided the most shelter and cover, and it was easy to hide for sneak attacks. It also made my task of remaining nearly invisible a much easier goal. I had been taught many techniques to confuse an enemy using black magic, including one to make me unseen. But most of these techniques were useless under the ominous storms that were constantly fueled by Maziel?s hatred.
And, most unfortunately, transportation was limited. Before the storms, a Jauvi or I could transmit their physical being from shadow to shadow and avoid the eyes of his enemy. But under these storms, with most everything shrouded in darkness, it was much too difficult to pinpoint your destination. Certain risks, such as ending up in a wall somewhere far from your desired location, prevented this transmission from being done.
Of course, with the darkness being such an invariable part of the average day, everyone had adjusted. Very few people stumbled about in the night, because not even the days were at their normal brightness. An eerie grey was cast over the land in the brightest of afternoons, and darkness blinded the most moonlit nights. Now, in the middle of the morning, I could see the edge of the forest in a sepia tone of grey. It was a particularly clear and bright day compared to most, but black in comparison with a day before the storms had begun.
After the first war of the Jauvi, when my father had been lost, the use of firearms had been limited to the armies of the vast nations. Since the start of the newer war, however, the weapons had gone back into mass production. Citizens were allowed to bare them freely in case of Jauvain invasion. So it was no surprise to me when my ears rung with the sound of gunfire as I approached the outskirts of the forest.
It didn?t slow my pace. Nor did I hesitate when the death cry of a human soldier echoed through the trees. Even when a small cluster of trees collapsed with a flash of arcane darkness, I continued.
The ground was soaked all over from the storms, and it was hard to tell if I were stepping in water or in the blood of the fallen. Even if it were not for the sights and sounds which haunted the forest, I could tell by the stench that the battle had began early. That or I had arrived late...
?Salisate!?
The shout came from nearby, followed by the sounds of scattering footsteps. One of the green skinned creatures ran by me as I stepped behind a tree, and he dove into the air as a human weapon exploded behind him and sent him flying through the air.
Even the grenadiers started without me.
?Seydu Tondre,? I muttered calmly, generating a pulse of black electricity in my palm. As the Jauvi tried to stand, the pulse blasted from my hand and drove him back into the ground.
Templars. When will Maziel learn?
Templars were extremely adept Jauvain soldiers, and their presence in battle was unnerving to many humans. But to me they were simple. Offensively they could be tough in groups, slashing at you with their wrist blades. But if they didn?t know you were there, they were sitting ducks. They had the potential to become much more powerful, and it always baffled me that Vorte still had spare Templars on the front lines.
And as I turned back toward the depths of the trees, I saw the more evolved version. In the distance I could see the majestic grey glow of an Avatar. Fueled by the direct energy offered to them by the lord of darkness, the enormous skeletal humanoids still gave me the chills from time to time.
I had long since decided to avoid Avatars when possible. It took marginally more effort to destroy one, and I could accomplish a lot more if I focused on the less resilient Jauvi. So I reluctantly moved on and left him to his rampage, not watching as he poured streaks of dark energy into nearby foes.
The soldiers weren?t the only casualties, of course. The forest itself was scarred from all the battles it was forced to endure. Charred limbs and chipped bark littered the singed soil, and most of the grass had been burnt away.
I painfully regretted having chosen to tell Ekio about Jexen right before this invasion because it had made me late, given Maziel a head start on me. I wasn?t sure how much a difference I could make with all of the Avatars dispersing through the wilderness and adding to the devastation.
Holding my sword carefully at the ready, I stepped into the battlefield unnoticed and sliced at the nearest Jauvi. In these types of battle, the ones which determined who controlled the coveted outposts, I didn?t need to worry about being so discreet; absolutely everyone was either fighting or preparing to fight. So the unsuspecting Jauvi fell limply with the gaping wound in his back, and I moved on.
I couldn?t afford to hesitate if I was going to save any lives. The grenades assured me that I had arrived late, and that meant I couldn?t dawdle, and the slight light outside only added to the problem.
I ran about trying not to draw attention to myself, slicing at soldiers who faced away from me and simply stabbing those who caught a glimpse.
Before long, the bottoms of my pant legs were dripping with the blood of the fallen. It happened frequently, but feeling the stained cloth smacking against my legs as I walked? it still sickened me. But my nausea was stifled by the growl that resounded from somewhere behind me.
?Maeyu!?
It wasn?t often that I got caught off guard, but it happened. Frozen in my tracks, I slowly spun around and found a small group of Templars marching through the crimson battlefield toward me. I had been expecting a more serious threat, so I couldn?t help but sigh in relief before reacting.
?Alright, alright... you caught me?? I muttered with false sincerity, fighting off a grin. I began to raise my arms in front of me as if surrendering.
?Stand still? was the rough translation of what they shouted.
?Seydu Ultima!?
A blur of darkness ripped from my palms and rocketed into the ground at the feet of my enemies, exploding and engulfing them in a dome of black light.
All too easy.
As the dome dissipated in a swirl of smoke, there was nothing left where the group had stood only moments before. Satisfied, I turned and continued on my path. But I proceeded more cautiously; not all Jauvi would be so easy to fool, and I couldn?t risk being captured.
As I hiked through the forest, it was clear that I was getting closer to the main battlefield. The amount of gunfire and dark energy was greatly increasing with each step and the number of corpses littering the area had noticeably grown.
But soon the amount of gunfire was diminishing. The dark streaks still darkened the already eerie forest, but the gunfire was slowly being replaced by calls for retreat. We were losing.
It was almost expected that the human troops would retreat more often than not. I?d rather they left then stay to fight and end up losing each and every soldier. The reason it was bad news was that it meant my chances had passed. If there was no gunfire, all death would be attributed to my hands, and they?d easily find me. I couldn?t fight the entire Jauvain army alone, and the closest things I had to allies were fleeing.
Wrapping my arms around the base on the nearest tree, I slowly scaled into its low hanging branches as the sound of marching footsteps grew nearer. From my higher vantage point, I could see the last of the human soldiers being driven away by a few remaining streaks of black light. All gunfire had stopped, and it appeared that most of the remaining Jauvi were marching through the forest to check for ? and exterminate ? survivors. Occasionally I could see a few stray flashes and I presumed it was the finishing of the wounded.
As the front of the march came into view, I found it was a quite unfamiliar sight. Normally it?d be Maziel Vorte floating along above the ground and in front of his army. Now, however, I couldn?t see Maziel anywhere. I could feel his energy, his constantly fluctuating mass of power, but I couldn?t find his robed shape.
In his place, there were five soldiers at the front. Four of them looked almost identical, clad in completely black armor from the neck down. Their green skin was exposed across their bald heads and they walked with a purpose, each of them having an unconscious human draped over their shoulders and none of them slowed by the extra weight.
These four marched ahead of the massive remainder of the invasion army. And in front of them stood a single man clad in even more black. He wore, from what I could see from the tree, tight black pants, black gloves, and a black trench coat. He appeared to have his abdomen and ribs wrapped in black tape. His pale skin was only visible on his face and chest, and he had very long silvery-grey hair, flapping in the gentle breeze as he walked.
I didn?t recognize the man. While there was something familiar about the way he walked, I was sure I had never seen him before. Even if he wore robes, the long hair would surely have spilled of the hood. The only thing I could be sure of was that he wasn?t a Jauvi, which only confused me more. But his skin was far too pale. If it weren?t for the confidence in his walk, the pale tint would have tricked me into guessing that he was on the verge of passing out.
I shifted in the tree as silently as possible as the figure passed me and the rest of the army continued along with him. When he was closest me, I couldn?t restrain the chill that crossed my spine. The darkness coming from him was extraordinary. Crouching, I crossed my arms at my chest in a defensive stance and continued to study the man, building traces of energy in my palms cautiously.
?Stop,? the man breathed suddenly, his casual voice somehow resounding across the entire army and bringing all of them to an instantaneous halt. ?This will do.?
It was all I do not to call out to the man. He appeared to lead the invasion force with plenty of authority, yet he didn?t speak their language. I had never seen a large group of Jauvi yield to a word spoken in English. It was also somewhat surprising to hear the words coming out of a man who was practically dripping with shadowy might.
?Lay their bodies here,? the man continued in his confident voice, not even turning around to face the Jauvi.
The four armored soldiers behind him stepped forward and knelt down, allowing the human bodies to fall into their arms before gently placing them on the ground.
Only now did the apparent leader turn around, and the four Jauvi instantly stood and resumed their positions at the front of the army.
The leader raised his arm and allowed a strange black fog to emanate from his palm, sinking in around the unconscious soldiers and considerably darkening the surroundings. As the fog cleared, all four of the unconscious figures sat up simultaneously, as if some pain had forced them. They groaned for a few moments before looking up and seeing the powerful figure.
The man quickly drew a thin sword from the inside of the trench coat and plunged it into the chest of one of the humans, pulling it out just as swiftly and allowing the soldiers to fall to the charred grass.
?I?d advise that none of you try to escape. I plan on letting two of you live, and I?d hate to have to obliterate you all.?
Could?ve fooled me.
?Would anyone like to test me??
Even from above them, I could feel the icy stare resting on each of the soldiers. One of them tried to scramble to their feet and was instantly surrounded by black light. The man pointed his sword at the victim, who was slowly raised into the air.
?Seydu Tondre.?
An intense and thick bolt of dark electricity shot from the tip of the blade and surrounded the unfortunate human, holding him in midair as the heat burnt his skin and the voltage flooded through him. After a few moments of the torture that caused me and the other human soldiers to look away in disgust, the energy dissipated, allowing the crisp corpse to drop to the ground with a sickening thud.
?If you value your own lives, you will flee,? the man continued as a wicked grin spread across his face, relaxing his arms.
His voice and composure in committing such actions confused and appalled the soldiers. But what astounded me was his power. The intensity of the electricity had nearly reduced its target to ash.
?Go back and rejoin your pathetic armies, and tell them of what you have witnessed today. Spread the fear if you value your species, for I can assure you that all who stand in my way will be disposed of.?
What the hell?
The two remaining soldiers appeared to have very similar reactions to my own, for they remained completely still, sensing a trap of some sort.
?Go!? the dark figure hissed in such a cold and powerful voice that all reluctance was scraped from the insides of the soldiers. Without a second thought, they scrambled to their feet and ran off through the trees, not looking over their shoulders.
There was silence for what felt like minutes, followed by a faint murmur among the Jauvain army.
?All will be explained in due time?? the leader said calmly, bringing silences to the Jauvi. ?Needless to say, certain changes are being made. You will ask no questions. Fifty Templars will remain in this forest as my Avatars, and they will not allow it to fall out of our control.?
The way he said this made me shiver. ?My Avatars?? it was simple fact that only the lord of darkness could produce an Avatar from the shell of a Templar. Yet that would imply that this powerful figure was Maziel Vorte?
?You will come to the palace in three days time, and you will bring enough soldiers from our surplus forces to make up for those who were lost today. The time before then is yours to spend, and I trust it will not go to waste.?
Without another word, more of the strange black fog drifted from his palms and sunk into the closest Templars. They immediately began the mutation into the enormous skeletal Avatars of which this lord of darkness had spoken. Before anyone could question him, he was gone a puff of black smoke.
As the Jauvi beneath me slowly began to disperse about their forest, obviously somewhat confused by their orders, only four things were clears to me. I didn?t know for sure if this man was indeed Maziel, but I was sure that it was the lord of darkness. I also knew that it was far more powerful than Maziel had been in our last encounter, but I still couldn?t be sure that it wasn?t him. The third thing I knew was that this new leader was not to be taken lightly in any way. And while I didn?t know how I could access the palace of darkness without having to fight off dozens of enemies, one thing was clear to me above all else: I had to be at that assembly.


« Last edited by Seos san Nekros on Oct 23rd 2006 »

I love it. It may be a bit to long, but the length is relevant. It's really good. Keep it up.

Yay, new ubernemesis. You'll be disappointed to hear that I didn't find any typos, nor grammatical ****-ups. In short, 'tis awezome. Keep it up.

I found a typo! "If I've ever pointedo ut something insignificant..." Ok, so it's not in the story, but meh. Great chapter!

Cloud: Alright, cool. Thanks for reading it.
Pan: Thanks. And yeah, I'm so dissappointed that you couldn't find any typos...
Sotek: *Kicks you* Thanks for the comments.

Bumpified.

1 Me likey. Comments about 'new leader' saved for later.

2 Two typos.

'I blur of darkness ripped from my palms and rocketed into the ground at the feet of my enemies, exploding and engulfing them in a dome of black light.'

A blur of darkness, maybe?

'The third thing I new was that this new leader was not to be taken lightly in any way.'

I would've used 'knew'...

Found lots of mistakes (I'm surprised you missed them, Panda), but you already know about them through the power of MSG. So, I like it, I love it, I want some more of it... And what happened to Maziel, I wonder?

Cipher: Thanks for pointing them out. incidentally, John also pointed out a couple of them over MSN, but only after I had already edited them in the document.

John: If you're honestly asking me, you should know me better than to think I might actually answer. If you're just wondering to yourself, go ahead and keep wondering. In the mean time, I think I'll post a new chapter.

Everyone: Just so you know, what I said last time still applies. Brutal honesty is welcome if you're willing to offer it, I could always use feedback. Even if it's negative. Anyway...


Chapter 4: Scars

By mid afternoon, I still had come up with no possible method for getting into the Jauvain palace. It seemed very unlikely that this new leader of theirs would allow me inside. I was even a little bit surprised that he hadn?t sense me in the forest, considering his marginal advantage in power to anything I had felt recently.
Not only was I lost for ideas, but I had also found no indication of Ekio?s hideout. No symbols, no traces of his energy. I could only assume he was still on the move in search of a makeshift dwelling place for the evening, which meant that I couldn?t rely on him to help me figure out a way into the palace. But I didn?t want to remain stationary for too long with this new leader of the Jauvi presumably planning something, so I walked somewhat aimlessly in search of Jauvi or any sign of Ekio.
At this point, I had guessed that the man I had seen was some form of transformation. I had sensed Maziel?s energy in the forest, but not seen him at any point. It seemed reasonable that his increase in power had caused him to undergo some changes, and I had made up my mind that it was indeed him who had led the invasion. But it still didn?t explain where the power increase came from in the first place. Or the change in attitude. I had never seem him allow a human to live for any reason before that day.
My wandering soon led me near Dalanaren, where I swayed in my path. I knew it would be hard for me to be caught in the veil of grey that was still cast over the land, but Dalanaren was currently controlled by the Jauvi, and I didn?t want to risk being seen.
So I went with an underlying instinct I had developed many years before, and I began to circle around the fallen city limits of the once innocent town. I curved, subconsciously, toward the epicenter of all that had happened since I had met Divino Ravola. The site where he had manipulated me into learning the ways of darkness? his own temple.
I often found myself stopping by there when I was near my home city. While I had been purified, I was still very ashamed of my past, and that allowed some of Divino?s evil to linger within me. Going to his temple always reminded me that I had never been given much of a choice, that this life had been forced on me. It relieved some of the blame from me, and somehow comforted me.
The torches that used to flicker always hadn?t been lit in many years. Many things had changed since the reign of Maziel Vorte had begun. Divino had always been harsh, of course. He was the lord of darkness, after all. But he had respected his own species. Maziel had never cared about anything that he couldn?t manipulate or control. He had stood idly by when my fury had erupted and I ended the life of Divino Ravola, Maziel?s own master. He had shed no tears and rarely even spoke of his predecessor.
Ravola had always been bloodthirsty, and he was an unnerving presence. Intimidating beyond all explanation. And his power seemed limitless. But his attitude for accomplishing it was not so blunt. He could intimidate you by looking at you. Vorte had to resort to invasions and impressive acts of violence to gain any reputation for his reign. In simplest terms, his recklessness was his biggest flaw, and his master had never been reckless about anything.
And while the Temple of Ravola had been revered as a holy place to the Jauvi before, it was now treated like any other hill. The once plush grass surrounding it was now charred and left in no better condition than Dalanaren itself.
As I approached the hill which concealed the temple, everything appeared to be as it always was. I was always cautious in approaching it, just in case Maziel or any other Jauvi had decided to reside inside. I calmly circled around the hill toward the entrance to the staircase. I casually passed the unlit torches on either side of the pathway and descended into the comforting darkness.
I could sense something was out of place immediately, even before my first step onto the marble floor. Stepping into the cavernous domain so many times since Maziel had come to power, I had grown very accustomed to stepping inside. It was like it was my own lair of solitude from the war, if only momentary. It always felt like something of a home. I didn?t want to ally myself with the Jauvi, but they had abandoned this location, so I hardly considered it their territory.
But the lair had changed. I couldn?t see what was different through the pitch darkness, but I found myself gathering dark energy in my right hand as a precaution.
?Hello?? I asked softly.
But the only reply was the echo of my own voice.
?Hello?? I repeated, louder this time. ?Is anyone here??
Still no answer.
?E lan edlis?? I asked. It was Jauvain for ?Am I alone?? and I only used the language to ensure that I was not in the company of an enemy.
When there was still no reply, I was sufficiently convinced that I was indeed alone, and I allowed the dark energy to sink back into my hand. But I was still sure that someone had been there quite recently, and that they had made some change in the temple.
Very carefully, I allowed a trace of white light to glimmer from the tips of my fingers. It was only a portion of the light which had been installed in me when I was purified, but it was enough to shed a little light on my surroundings. It would draw too much attention to me to use the technique in the outside world, but in the temple it seemed safe enough.
The little light cast from my hands did not reveal anything alarming, so I forced more of into my palms and cast light on most of the den. It was enough to illuminate the ceiling and walls with a faint glow, which revealed the numerous symbols etched into the temple. Many symbols of Divino Ravola and the Jauvi from long before my purification, some of which I had engraved myself as a part of my training in dark magic. These symbols were nothing out of the ordinary either.
But I could not avoid seeing the obvious changes. Across the slightly domed ceiling, all over the walls, even across the stone statue of Ravola? green symbols. The Jauvain symbols were still legible, but there were strange swirls and shapes and writings in some language I had never seen. Not carved, but painted on by what appeared to be some fluorescent green brush. As if some sort of sand had been spread across the temple and pasted to the walls.
I couldn?t make out much of it. Some of it seemed to extend on the Jauvain symbols. Very little of it was repeated, implying that it was some sort of message.
But there was one symbol that was repeatedly shown in many different places. It wasn?t so much a symbol as it was a drawing. It depicted a large, muscular, gorilla-like creature. There were no details, only an outline. But the creature was drawn in several areas, including the robes of the statue of Ravola.
All of the newly added green markings glowed brightly when reflecting the pure light from my hands, adding an eerie tint to the rest of the temple.
A chill shot up my spine as my gaze fell on the only familiar writing I could find in the fluorescent writing. In between two drawings of the gorilla-like creature, the single word ?Amarth? was written in easily legible writing.
And the temple instantly lost its place in my heart. It no longer felt like a home, but like the home of another in which I was unwelcome. The light in my hands immediately dissipated as I turned toward the staircase which would lead me away, and I didn?t hesitate as I approached it. I didn?t know much about Jexen or Amarth or the ancient deity, and I didn?t trust any of them until I was more educated. I ascended quickly, bounding up two steps at a time and quickly emerging in the faint grey of the outside air. I had never welcomed this air before, but the falling rain made it clean and it was plenty good enough for my lungs right now. I took several deep breathes before turning back and glancing down into the cave.
I didn?t know what had stunned me so much about the writing, but the concept that my lair had been, for lack of a better word, attacked? it made me jumpy. It was as if the green sands on the inside had somehow affected me by their mere presence. I felt light headed; the air was being pushed from me.
Grabbing onto one of the torches mounted to the ground I pulled myself to the side of the hill and collapsed against the cold wet grass.
My first instinct was to try and fall to sleep, but that instinct failed me. I could not even begin to force myself away from consciousness. It was as if my strength was sapped from me and used to prevent me from passing out. I could hardly move, but my eyes wouldn?t stay closed. I continued to slowly draw breath as the rain slashed down around me and stung at my hands.
It felt like hours that I laid there, my strength very slowly returning to me then ebbing away again and again and again. Every time I tried to stand back up, my legs would give out again and I?d return to the grass.
Finally, after many attempts, I managed to regain and hold my footing. Leaning against the hill for support, I turned and began to force myself away from the temple, one small step at a time. My guess that it had been hours proved to be correct, as the tone of grey was no longer visible; night had fallen.
With each step I took, a little of my energy returned to me. The further I got from the temple the easier it became to draw breath, and eventually my strength had returned enough for me to break into a run. I didn?t know what had winded me so badly, but I had no intention of returning to figure it out.
Despite the fact that I had no idea where I should be going, I covered a lot of ground in my sprint before slowing down at all. Even then I probably would have continued to run were it not for the faint sound of approaching footsteps.
?Virey ren sefen kaluj!?
The voice came from the same direction as the footsteps, and I instinctively slowed to a halt and spun to my left. Five of the Jauvi which must have been granted free time by the new lord of darkness. Four weren?t even Templars. Simple soldiers. But the fifth was a particularly massive Avatar.
Before I could make a move, the skeletal monstrosity raised its arm and flung a chunk of its spirit toward me in the form of a pulsating orb of black light.
?Shadow Prism!? I yelled, immediately followed by the voices of the Jauvain grunts who repeated the incantation. Their blasts collided with mine in a small explosion of shadows. The Avatar?s attack burst through the dissipating energy and struck me in the chest, knocking me backward several feet.
The attack was stunningly painful, but I gritted my teeth and forced myself back to my feet as quickly as possible.
?Seydu Fiore!? I hissed, raising my arms without hesitation.
A jet of pitch black fire flew from my outstretched palms ignited my assailants. The grunts quickly collapsed in a collective heap seared flesh. But as the fire wrapped around the Avatar, it seemed only enraged; the flames appeared to be absorbed.
?What the hell?? I muttered under my breath.
It caught me in the stomach with a stream of blackness, pushing me through the air for a few seconds before dissipating and allowing me to skid into the muddy soil. I got back to my feet again, but with much more difficulty this time.
This is surreal?
I had to gasp to regain my breath, and I didn?t have much time. The skeletal figure was bounding through the air toward me and quickly drawing closer.
I hadn?t noticed it before, but there was something different about this Avatar. The creatures were normally surrounded by an aura of dark grey, this being the energy offered to them by the dark lord. But this creature?s aura was black; it was hard to tell where blackened skeleton ended and pure energy began.
The new guy is more powerful than I thought?
Trying to stifle the pain I felt, I gathered as much pure light in my hands as I could muster, throwing it out in front of me in the form of a white disk.
The razor-like stream of light rammed into the charging demon, but had very little noticeable effect at first. The creature was dangerously close to me when my attack began to hinder him. The aura surrounding him slowly faded and he landed on his feet with a loud thud. But he resumed his course, simply walking toward me.
This cannot be good?
An Avatar that could continue to live without its aura was unheard of until now. Its massive figure loomed barely three feet away from me, close to striking distance. I reached into my jacket for my sword, but my adversary was amazingly quick for its size. It took another step and shoved me backward with its abomination of a hand. Normally it wouldn?t have hurt me much, but after the previous attacks, the pressure was torture. I could only hope it had something to do with what I had encountered at the temple. The alternative was that the new warlord had enough spare energy to create such a destructive creature.
?What the hell are you?? I asked, hoping I sounded demanding despite the fact that I was backing away. The creature?s blunt reply was to roar at me and continue to advance.
?Don?t take that tone with me?? I muttered weakly, realizing it probably didn?t even understand English.
If there any doubt in my mind telling me that the creature couldn?t use energy anymore, the doubt was quickly destroyed. It wasn?t nearly as impressive as before, but it fired another orb, this time straight into my shoulder.
Instantly, I collapsed to my knees. Searing pain flooded through me from the mark that lingered on the back of the shoulder. It was blinding, it was agonizing, and it was the first time I had felt it in years. It was the birthmark that had associated me with Divino Ravola, and it ached when it felt the energy of pure darkness.
I cried out once, but refused to give the creature the satisfaction of seeing me like that. Gritting my teeth and clenching my fists, I pushed myself back up one more time.
The creature had stopped walking toward me and now just stood silently staring at me through cold and hollow eyes. I wasn?t sure what was keeping it from attacking me, but I wasn?t about to ask it. This was a welcome chance to regain myself.
Still, something caught my eye. Not the creature itself, but its surroundings. The area to either side of its massive skull seemed somehow blurry, as if I were looking at it through a magnifying glass. Squinting, I saw that the distortion was taking shape. The shape of blades, one on either side of his head.
Before my expression could reflect this, the strange outlines sliced in a scissors motion at the neck of my assailant and swiftly dissipated. The air around him returned to normal, but he still remained completely motionless and silent.
I gazed back into his eyes, unwilling to turn my back on him.
Could?ve been an illusion. A trap to catch me off guard and deliver a finishing blow.
So I just stood there, taking part in a staring contest with a demon sent to kill me. To my bewilderment, the massive skeleton slowly began to fall. First it swayed for a moment, and then it simply collapsed onto its stomach at my feet, its head literally bouncing off of his neck and rolling between my feet.
?What the??? I asked out loud, stepping backward quickly. My eyes were set and I couldn?t bring myself to look away. Somewhere between horror and relief, I just stood there, mere feet from the mammoth of a corpse.
I thought I had an explanation, but it just didn?t seem possible. It?d be great news if it was true, but I wouldn?t get my hopes up over something so unlikely. I racked my brain for any trace of something similar to this, remembering brief summaries of many techniques I had learned about, and all in a matter of a few seconds. No matter how hard I thought, I could find no other explanation. The only thing I had ever heard of that was even remotely similar to this was from Ekio. He called it Zaven Da Erweb, the strength of the soul. The art of enforcing the particles in air with energy and manipulating them as a solid. But according to him, only one man had ever been capable of using this ability as a weapon? my heart was throbbing, but I couldn?t help but grin.
?Dad??


« Last edited by Seos san Nekros on Oct 23rd 2006 »

WOAH! Amazing! Dad's reaching across the veil and saving his son so he can save the human race? I love Auren's dad. Well, you know, not like THAT, but...hehe...

Very nice. I liked that one quite a bit. A few typos but nothing major.

Now is not the time to come out of the closet, John.

Yay, uberAvatar. And teh Auren's father are returned... well, kinda. You already know about the typo, so I'll just wait for the next chapter.

Closet? What closet? I don't see a closet... *turns on light* Oh. That closet. *grabs out Auren's sword and hacks away at the closet*

Lol. Some chavs graffitied the temple XD

Voila. New chapter. It's shorter than many of my others, but I like it. Hopefully you'll agree, but I'll take any feedback you can give.


Chapter 5: Rising

Where is he? He has to be here? but he can?t be? can he? Who else could?ve done that? Ekio said my dad was the only one known to be able to use the technique so well?
My mind was racing. Though there was no reply and I didn?t really expect there to be one, I couldn?t convince myself of what was going on. My mind was split between the part of me that desperately wanted to meet my father and the part that realized he couldn?t be there. The latter seemed more logical?
Please be here, dad?
?Dad?? I called again, louder this time. ?Where are you??
When there was still no reply, I forced myself to allow the hope of his being alive to escape me. But the situation still made no sense. An enormous Avatar, more powerful than any other such creature I had ever seen, had fallen. After I had tried in vain to stop it and had been winded by its attack, it was destroyed by some invisible forces. I thought it might?ve been my subconscious self protecting me again as it had once done in creating a barrier in front of me. But it didn?t seem possible that, in my weakened state, I could?ve generated such focus.
The only reasonable solution was my father, and that seemed less possible than any other options.
I let myself ponder the situation as I began to leave the area. I didn?t want to stay in one place for too long, especially not in the area where the Avatar had fallen. And by now I was beginning to sense traces of Ekio?s signal that he had found a place to stay.
It wasn?t until that moment that I realized how much pain I was in. My entire body ached. I had been exhausted enough after the strange happenings in the temple, but withstanding the attacks of the dark Avatar had been nearly too much for me. It was the first time in a long time that I felt truly tired.
I dragged myself along one slow step at a time in the direction of Ekio?s signal which was, in this case, a small fluctuation of light energy. Most modern Jauvi had been trained enough to sense the use of dark energy, but it was next to impossible for them to feel light. Ekio and I both could feel when it was used because we had been purified, so it worked as a useful signal.
For several minutes, though I hadn?t covered much ground, I was still arguing with myself about what had killed the Avatar. But I was stopped in my tracks when the small flicker of light energy faded into the calm of the night. Altering the signal only meant one of two things. Sometimes it meant that he had to abandon the current hideout, but he usually indicated this by sending a sort of flare into the air from wherever he was. When he just let the signal fade, it meant, more often than not, that he was warning me.
And I could soon see why he?d want to warn me. Ignoring the pain that shot up my spine, I quietly jumped into the safety of a nearby charred bush. I spun around to find two familiar figures, one with a torch in hand. They were clearly visible in its dancing light, but I had to rub my eyes to ensure myself that I wasn?t hallucinating. They were still a good distance from me and I didn?t know if they had seen me, but I had no doubt in my mind that I saw them clearly. The one holding the torch was one of the four I had seen in the forest who were clad in black armor from the neck down. He stood to the left of the one who had led the army past me, the one who I assumed to be the new warlord of the Jauvi.
?He was here,? the man hissed.
He and his Jauvain bodyguard immediately stopped in their places, still not very close to me. I wasn?t sure how far I had come in my weakened condition, but I could only assume they had stopped over the fallen corpses of the grunts and Avatar.
Get him? If I can?t kill him now, I?ll never be able to when he has his armies with him?
I was almost ready to go with my instinct, but something in my gut shot a twinge of pain through my body, reminding me that I was already weakened from the encounter at the temple. Reluctantly, I stayed put.
?It appears you may have underestimated his willpower, master?? the armored figure said meekly.
?An amusing turn of events,? the warlord said slyly. ?I doubt if he could have destroyed my Avatar on his own, however. It would seem there is someone else who has not yet abandoned him.?
?They are a fool to oppose you, master.?
?Indeed they are? but we?ll let them have their fun. The Avatar is no longer of use to me, the white warrior made sure of that.?
As if by some silent command, the armored figured held out his arms and blasted at the skeletal corpse. I couldn?t see the result, but there didn?t appear to be anything left of the body.
?But these four? yes, they might be of use to me,? the warlord said, a hint a demented glee in his voice.
What?
I waited for my thoughts to be answered, staring in confusion as the warlord held his arms out in front of him.
Impossible. I completely toasted those bodies?what does he want with corpses?
I inched forward in my hiding place, just enough so that I could vaguely see the fallen bodies of my assailants. The Avatar had been scattered by the armored figure?s attack, but the four grunts were slowly being surrounded by a thin ring of black light.
Nothing changed for several moments. The master stood silently with his arms outstretched. Soon enough, the ring of blackness faded and the warlord let his arms fall at his sides.
?Rise,? he barked.
Nothing happened.
?Perhaps you did not hear me? Rise!?
Still, there was no reaction.
?My lord, perhaps they cannot be used?? the Jauvain servant asked nervously.
?Nonsense,? the warlord hissed confidently with a glance at his companion, before focusing on the fallen bodies once again. ?I am your master, and I command you to rise!?
As I looked on from my hiding place in absolute shock, the four creatures began to stir.
?Wash away the decay of your deaths and rise!? the warlord continued, visibly pleased.
I couldn?t refrain from gasping as the grunts rolled over onto their stomachs and began to climb back to their feet.
?The forces of the night are your essence, and you? will rise.?
It seemed as if the servant was not the least bit surprised as the creatures gathered their strength and turned to face their master. I, on the other hand, could not believe my eyes.
?Come,? the warlord said simply, turning the leave the area and immediately being followed by his servants. ?We have much to attend to before the night is through.?
I waited until I was sure they were out of hearing distance and stood up from my crouching position, immediately swelling with dizziness as my mind tried to wrap itself around what had just occurred.
They were dead? I killed them myself?
There was a twinge in my shoulder as the small flicker of light returned, reminding me of my destination. My body forced itself to walk towards the signal, but my mind wandered. I had seen many things that day that inspired confusion, none more than this new leader of the Jauvi. Before too long I stumbled into the cave where Ekio was waiting for me and, before he even had a chance to greet me, the pain that throbbed in my aching frame overwhelmed me. I collapsed in the darkness of the small cave and was asleep before my body hit the hard stone floor.

Yay for necromancy. No complaints about this one, and the length suits me just fine. Keep it up.

Well, it was kinda short... And I didn't see any typos. :o Great stuff, anyway. Can't wait for the next chapter.

Pan: Thanks.

John: I know, I was just as amazed as you are. No typos = amazing.

Everyone: Any favorite parts as of yet?

Always. But I especially like that they can sense where Auren has been, if not where he is.