We arrived early in the morning at Crosta, parking just outside the entrance to the temple. The training area outside was completely empty, and it was as if nobody was around. This peaked everyone's interest so we were all on guard.
The group travelled inside the temple, and I stopped in my tracks for a moment, smelling smoke. I could feel waves of energy hit me, but this time I wasn't afraid of it, I was prepared for whatever enemy was in our way.
"The town is burning!" Zach shouted. "Something is here!" I rushed through the temple towards Zach, and the glimpse of Crosta in flames broke me. This was where I had called home, and I was not about to just let it go to waste.
An army of skeleton-like creatures with the flesh still on their bones rampaged the lower city. The buildings were burning, the citizens were being slaughtered. Kayden was holding his own against the cliff-side.
I'm glad he's still able to fight. I thought, pulling both my weapons and clenching my muscles from the power that flowed with me. Everyone charged past me, using magic to propel themselves forwards. Everyone was accounted for and okay for now. Everyone except for Arin.
"Anna," he said, appearing next to me. "If I die-"
"Shut it!" I snapped back at him. "You won't die!"
"If I die-"
"I said shut up!" Frost expelled from me, surrounding me in a magical blue aura. "You won't die! Everyone's going to make it out alive! So just shut up!" I stared at him with deep conviction. "You can not die." I said, holding back tears. "You're all I have left."
"Says the one with the big mouth." Arin smiled, "Now come on, let's go kick some ass." He turned to me, his eyes struck mine, and he took off his hood again. He drew his blade from his back and put it in the ground.
"Come to me, Scorn of the earth. Bend to my will and appear before me!" Arin shouted. His chest glowed as he pulled out a long black cutlass from nowhere. The blade was thin black and looked as if it was completely shattered and held together by magic. He lunged into battle with a leap of flames, and I quickly followed suit.
"Duck!" Julie shouted. I ducked and immediately a sword from one of the skeletons swooped over my head. I turned my entire body around, tripping the skeleton in the process before taking Vortex and slamming it into his chest and pulling it up to it's skull killing it instantly. I immediately rushed to a second skeleton who was on top of Stephanie. I pull it up by it's head and cut its throat, slicing off it's head in the process.
"Thank you!" Stephanie shouted, casting a small healing spell on me to restore my magical energy before she rushed up to go help some more wounded folk.
I reached the town center where I was ambushed by two larger looking skeletons with more flesh on them. They wore black armor and held large two handed black swords. One of them slammed their sword downwards towards me and I was just barely able to get out of the way as its weapon smacked into the ground by the fountain, destroying part of it. Before I could even move I again had to dodge another attack from behind, dropping to the ground quickly. The skeletons were bigger but they were also faster. Using my arms, I pushed myself back on my feet and drew Eclipse just in time to parry an attack from the first blackguard. The other one was coming down for another overhead smash.
"FROSTBOLT!" I shouted, shooting four beams of energy into the skeletons face as it lifted its arms up for the attack. I then countered the other skeletons blade and immediately rushed in to the disoriented monster. I landed on the skeletons chest, using it's rib cage to keep myself balanced. Using both blades, I cut into the skull, tearing its head clean off. I backflipped off of the skeleton before the other one slammed its blade into his friend, completely obliterating him. I smiled.
"Just me and you now buddy." I taunted, before parrying another move with both my blades. Just then I saw his right hand move up into my blind spot. I tried to move but his weapon would hit me if I did. Slam. Direct hit. I flew backwards into the fountain.
"That was your last mistake." I said, activating my magical aura. The fountain water surrounded me before flying towards the skeleton and turning into large icicles that pierced it's flesh and bones. It fell dead quickly afterwards.
"MALPHAS!" It was Arin. I quickly rushed over to see what he was doing. I ran past two buildings before I came to a clearing at the other edge of town. A large red portal dug into the cliffside that lay on the opposite end of the temple. I came to a stop, seeing Arin surrounded in purple flames approaching a figure in the distance, staring out over the cliffside. He had teal streaks in his dark hair, and blue lightning surrounded him.
"Do I know you?" He turned around, facing an enraged Arin. I watched in horror as Arin's expression turned to complete disbelief. "Have we met? I'm sorry, I feel like I would remember a man with purple flames. Those are ... remarkable."
"How?!" Arin spat. "How could you not remember me? You- You-" He was appalled, speechless. "You took everything from me, all those years ago." Arin held out his left hand, tearing off his cape as it blew past me from the sheer power of his energy. He pulled out a duplicate of his sword, made of pure purple magic energy. I'd never truly seen Arin fight, but right now he was about to.
"I've killed plenty of people before." Malphas spat. "Why should I recall one insignificant brat?" He laughed. "They probably had that infuriating plague. It didn't matter who they were. They were going to die from it anyways." Arin's power dissipated. He stood slouching, gripping both blades at once.
"You.. don't remember the scared young man you hunted down for years." He said, his voice grit against the sound of flames. He started walking closer towards Malphas. "You don't remember the fight we had. The one man, who was actually able to cut you." Arin pointed at Malphas with his blade, and as Malphas walked up to inspect Arin I noticed a red scar on his left cheek.
"You don't remember the man whose life you stole! The dreams you ended! The hearts you broke!" Arin shouted.
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"Why should I care!" Malphas spat back. "Arin is it?! You need to understand that there is a danger bigger than this out there right now! Bigger than some quarrel! Bigger than some lover I killed!" He was getting heated as well, but quickly calmed himself down.
"You shouldn't care about the crimes you committed..." Arin said softly. "You should care about taking the primrose path!" He shouted, and his scream filled the air. "You should care about who you break."
"I am Arkonin Scrain! The Last son of Kjul'nhar! The Archon!" Arin shouted, introducing himself as his dark grey hair became snow white and black horns curled out of his head. His flames heated up and became a red color.
"An archon you say?" Malphas just laughed. "That's impossible, they were wiped out ages ago, isn't that right ... Trine." As he spoke, another creature came out through the red portal. A large mass of bright blue soul energy poured out of the portal. It didn't even look human. It wasn't that tall, but it was a swirling mass of energy. White faces would appear and disappear out of it's skin.
"Go on Trine, devour them all." Malphas said as his pet creature roared and began to move. Blue arms and legs jutted out from the bottom of him in all directions as I got a look at his face. A metal helmet seared onto its large main head and melted straight into its blue skin. The creature crawled it's way into the city, feasting on dead things around it before beginning to cast a spell.
Shit! I thought, getting to my feet. I turned towards Arin, watching as magic energy erupted around him as he started to lose himself. I'd never seen him like this before. His footsteps burnt the grass in his wake as Malphas drew his long curved blade.
"Why should I even bother with you?" Malphas laughed.
"You..." Arin said. "You killed Skylar!" My eyes widened, Skylar ... That was the girl he said he loved. The girl from his past.
It all makes sense now, why Arin was so emotional. I thought to myself. Why he went after Malphas, why he almost threw his life away. Malphas killed her. I remember Arin saying to help avenge his lost love, but I wasn't positive that Malphas was truly her killer.
Arin rushed Malphas, flames and magical energy exploded around both of them as their magical power collided. Malphas underestimated Arin, and his energy shot malphas back into the portal, Arin followed.
I immediately jumped in to help him but before I got to the portal I was interrupted by a scream. Kayden? I thought, turning around to see him being crushed in the hand of Trine.
This is Arin's fight. I said to myself. I have to trust him here. I have to trust that he can kill Malphas. Hesitantly, I made my way back over to town, activating my magical aura I ran in to help Kayden.
Jumping up onto Trine's massive body, I pulled out vortex which turned into its sword form. I threw it with all my might directly at his arm before pulling out my dagger to deflect a hand that had grown from Trine's body. The creature's arm fell to the ground and so did Kayden.
"Return!" I shouted, gripping my sword by the magical chain and chucking it into Trine's eye. "Kayden!" I shouted, lunging off of the massive body and catching him mid-air. I landed atop a roof, and Eric, Zach, and Julie both appeared on the ground below me. I took Kayden and lay him next to the group.
"What's our plan?" Eric asked.
"Keep him busy, I'll think of something." Zach said looking towards us. "Don't any of you fucking die." He spat, before taking his sword spear off of his back and lunging into battle, not holding anything back as lightning cracked from the sky scorching Trine's blue magical body. Eric and Julie lunged off in multiple directions to attack the beast. I stared back down at Kayden.
"Hey! You're going to be okay!" I panicked, tears fell down my face. My heart broke as Kayden didn't open his eyes. His bones were broken and blood fell down his face. "Kayden!" I shouted.
"Ty?" he managed. "Am I ... finally home?" His breath faded, and I felt his heartbeat stop. I gasped for air, and shook him.
"Hey! Wake up! You'll be okay!" I shouted, holding him. My tears turned to rage, and I set him down against the wall.
"Why does everyone have to die?!" I shouted, lunging towards Trine. "Ever since I got here, all I did was watch all my friends die! It's all my fault!" I lunged off of the ground, propelling myself with magic before landing on top of Trine's helmet covered face.
"You are the one to blame!" I shouted, my vocal chords churning as my voice broke the silence with a deeper sensation and strength. I took Vortex with both hands and slammed my blade right inside of Trine's right eye. "Now fuck off!" I shouted, pushing the blade in deeper. He flailed in pain wildly, causing me to fall off but I casted a chain onto my blade swinging down to his chest and I cut a slice horizontally through the creatures abdomen as I cut straight through him and blood covered me. I pulled my sword out of it's eye. I miscalculated. His hand came crashing down on top of me throwing me into the side of one of the houses.
Zach rushed in after my attack, sending multiple lightning bolts into his injured eye before performing a large overhead smash upon Trine's body. Eric also jumped it, slicing off one of Trine's arms with his large two handed axe. Julie came into the battle as well, and I watched as all three of these powerful heroes tore this monster apart. I got to my feet.
"Return!" I shouted as my magical aura erupted around me. "FROSTBOLT!" I shouted as a large mystical spike of blue ice surrounded the area in front of me. I screamed as the large piece of ice shot out from my hands and pierced Trine.
"Now! Everyone attacks all at once while he's stunned!" Zach shouted, and I casted blue chains that took Trine's remaining two arms and stuck him to the ground. Zach threw his sword spear surrounded by lightning at Trine, who roared out in pain as the many souls he was made up of started to escape. Julie casted a dark magic sphere and Eric summoned a large sword of light to crash down onto him from the sky.
"FROSTBOLT!" My voice pierced the air again as all of my magical energy condensed into a single magical energy spell that exploded outwards from my body sending everything I had straight into the monster's face. It roared and cried out and attempted to flail at us but we got the better of it. As my frostbolt hit, the creature exploded into a slime that covered the center of town and lay dead before us.
My knees were shaking and my arms were numb. I fell to my knees, breathing heavily. We finally did it. We were able to kill a lord of Terror. Zach and Eric started to celebrate, and Stephanie appeared to congratulate us. I ran up to hug her.
"Stephanie where have you-" I was cut off as a spear was sliced straight through Stephanie's stomach. Blood poured from her mouth as she fell over into my arms. Lilitha was standing just behind her.
"Stupid bitch." she scowled. "How dare any of you touch my pet Trine. I'll kill all of you." I barely held onto my sanity as I shouted for someone to help.
Come on. A voice said. Give in. Kill her. You need me. The abyss was talking straight to me, taunting me. I shook my head, ignoring it. I couldn't see anything but the bruised and broken body of Stephanie in my arms. Blood poured from the wound as I held onto her, and simultaneously my own sanity.
"Get away from her!" Zach shouted. I turned to look at him and he leapt from the ground with yellow lightning surrounding him. His magic energy exploded as he tore his swordspear forwards, attacking Lilitha.
I turned away from Zach, and back towards Stephanie. Tears fell down my face and my body shook. Stephanie looked up at me, the life fading from her eyes. I tried to freeze her wound closed, but I knew it wouldn't work.
"I-it's okay," Stephanie said, giving me a smile.
"No!" I shouted at her, "No it's not! It's not! You can't just die! W-we were winning!"
"B-be kind..." Stephanie fell limb in my arms as life faded from her. I shouted, my cries piercing the heavens. I clenched both my fists before hitting myself in the head.
No more blood will be shed today. I thought to myself. My runeblade was on the ground, I reached my hand out and it instinctively came towards me, transforming into the elongated sword once more. I won't let anybody else die today.