Eric ran for his life from the massive beasts that roamed the forest. To think earlier this day that all had been well. He'd left his home in the mountains to visit the town of Grenor for supplies and attend a ritual of adulthood for teens like himself.
The ritual in question was performed by an ancient Sorceress named Amelda Caverus. She was an immortal legend who fought every known Dark lord who ever lived. It is her sacred duty to travel the land with her magic and find the heroes reincarnation.
It's said that when the chosen Hero was present during her ritual that a tower of light would surround him or her.
Eric never imagined the hero would be himself. He was just a farm boy and a frail one at that. The Dark lord had grown in power recently beyond what the powers that be had suspected. The small contingent of knights and Amelda could not hold the Devern back.
The Devern are beastly corruptions of plants and animals fused together and they were far more hideous than he had ever imagined : Eight to ten foot tall amalgamations of a beast and a tree that oozes black tar.
The beasts were there for him and Eric couldn't risk leading them home. So he ran in the direction Amelda pointed for him to go. She would meet him eventually, she was immortal after all.
The Sorceress was at least 3000 years old and looked to be around twenty years old. She never aged and it was known in many battles she had been mortally wounded but never died. Eric was confident she'd show herself when she was able.
No sooner had Eric thought this as he stopped to catch his breath than lightning struck the earth before him.
"BANG!" Sounded the bolt as earth ruptured into the air.
A gorgeous woman with black hair and purple eyes looked at him from withing the crater.
"Are you going to just stand there?" Questioned Amelda.
"I..." Eric stammered.
" Let's go! We don't have much time," the witch exclaimed leading the way.
"Where are we going?" Eric asked.
"To get aid from the only one who can give it. The Dark lord Ethos has grown too powerful to stop with the forces of mankind. Even with the help of gifted such as yourself and I," Amelda explained.
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" Then who could possibly help us? What ally do you ask for aid?" Eric nervously muttered.
"... Not an Ally or friend... An enemy," Amelda stuttered before a feigned cough.
"An enemy... Are YOU MAD?" Eric demanded.
"You must understand that he won't want Ethos to succeed as much as we do and honestly Calvin wasn't that bad," Amelda stated.
"Calvin?" Eric scratched his head.
*Sigh*
Amelda replied," You know him as NecroLord the first Dark lord".
*Gasp*
A few breaths later," wait! Isn't he dead? The story is that you and my first incarnation killed him".
" Yes that is true but Calvin is the incarnation of undeath magic. He is a being of magic like myself and cannot be permanently slain," Amelda lectured.
"Then what was the point in fighting him in the first place if he can't be stopped?"
"Oh, he can be stopped. His form can be broken and dispelled. It takes him thousands of years to reform. Not that Calvin desired anything truly horrible in the first place. He just wanted to be allowed to exist without being hunted at first. He was reborn after death as the first perfect undead. An undeath elemental! Overtime as he was forced to fight for his very existence and he eventually decided to take over the world and remake the rules." Amelda said.
"Wait, your telling me that the first Dark lord wasn't such a bad guy even though he's an immortal undead. Then why were we so determined to defeat him?" Eric questioned.
"We were afraid of his power at the time. It was all new and I was weaker than I am now," Amelda further explained.
"I heard my former self rose to defeat him in an epic battle due to his horrific actions against civilians. That he'd slaughtered children and bathed his undead in their blood to empower his spells," Eric frowned.
"Lies, we destroyed his corporeal form while he slept during a parley about a peace treaty," Amelda stated embarrassed.
"Your saying we betrayed his trust and murdered him? And now you want to ask him for help?" Eric complained.
"Well, he was always straight forward in how he did things. If Calvin asked you to dine at his table you could be sure it was not poisoned and the most delicious meal you could find," Amelda smiled.
"Not my point! Your betting my life on the grudge of a dark lord. Why would he help us after we stabbed him in the back during a treaty?"
" Because if he doesn't appear then the Devern will rip me apart too and I know he can't bear to watch that inspite of what I've done," Amelda said gesturing around us.
As the talked the hero and witch had been surrounded by Devern. The Slow hulking beasts approached and Amelda made no attempt to stop them.
"What are you doing mage, attack!" Eric demanded.
"No, I think I won't," Amelda ignored Eric's pleas.
Just as the beasts drew near, skeletal hands burst from the ground grappling the Deverns legs. The dead arose and pulled the Devern into their crypts. It would have been horrific had it been a person being pulled under.
Then Amelda turned around to a tall man dressed in a casual suit. He looked like a lesser noble but the suit was old and out of fashion. The man was around six foot tall and had dirty blond hair. His eyes were darker than obsidian.
"Hello my love," Amelda said.
"It's NecroLord to you Harlot," frowned the dark lord.
Amelda face contorted in genuine pain. Something Eric and many others would never imagine was possible. Did she just say my love? Why would he insult her? What had happened 1000 years ago?