Sitar sat quietly behind the angel in the grand church of Aden, her dark crystal robes moving slightly in the crosswinds that seemed everpresent in the church. Her Sword of Miracles lay propped up beside her, its wicked edge, glowing a dark blue, sharply contrasting against the bright red of her nightmare shield. She shifted her attention to the newly formed holes in her shield and winced as she recalled the pain she had felt from those arrows. It was nothing compared to what her friends had felt, however. She sat back against the Angel, feeling its cool surface with her neck, allowing its presence to calm her, and she begged Eisenhaad for forgiveness. She had failed. Her one job…and she had failed…..again. She closed her eyes slowly and remembered……
“Blauw, would you get out of sight! I really don’t feel like having to run today,” said Sitar
The Sword Muse looked back at the Cardinal and winked. “But I thought you loved a good fight, Sitar. Why is today different?” He glanced back at the 30 enemies that were within 200 yards of them.
“I like fights I can win, not fights that cause death to my friends,” Sitar replied angrily.
Naien glanced at the two of them with a disapproving stare that told both of them that she was nearing the edge of her patience with their foolishness, and waved her hands at the rest of the party ushering them to come close to her so she would begin to cast her blessings upon them. She neared the end of her buffs when the group’s lookout, Silver, noticed a slight change in formation of the enemy.
“They know we are here. We must move quickly or our mission will be a failure,” she whispered in her melodic elfish voice. Sitar eyed Silver and laughed at how frail her Elvin body looked, but knew that one hit from her deadly bow could wreak havoc on the most powerful enemies. Blauw and Erellond, quickly began their dances and songs that would help them immensely should they be forced to engage.
“Erellond throw up shadow; we must not be seen,” Sitar said quickly. As the dance fell over the group., they all immediately seemed to lose consistency and blend in with the background of stone and grass. As the enemy moved closer Sitar dared not even to breathe, as she knew the delicate Elvin ears of her enemies would be likely to hear it. Their numbers seemed impossible to imagine, as the entire enemy force emptied out of the hole in the castle wall that a siege golem had created. As the last enemy passed, they began their move towards the inside. Their job was to kill the life crystals of the castle at all costs, even their lives. They quickly moved inside and right into the courtyard of the castle and took up positions next to the first crystal, no one attacking until the word had been given. Seconds seemed to stretch into minutes as they waited to hear the sounds of battle. Finally the signal, the scream of the dying, reached their ears.
“GO NOW; KILL IT,” Sitar shouted, and the first life crystal was down in but a few seconds. They had no time to waste however; the enemy would know they were there now.
“Quickly!” shouted Naien. “We must get inside the inner rooms before the enemy finds us, else all is in vain.” Their group raced past the hole that they had come through and quickly began to beat a hole in one of the doors of the courtyard, but it did not seem to be budging.
“We can’t get through here, we need to find another place,” Sitar said.
Blauw, however, calmly walked up to the door and slammed his sword through it. He then twisted it back and forth creating a hole big enough for a slender Elvin arm. As he removed his sword, he stuck his hand through and removed the plank that had been blocking the door from opening.
“Sometimes brains are required in a siege, Sitar….” Blauw said in a condescending tone.
Sitar just grinned and ran in with the rest of the heroic group.
“Ok. Blauw, Naien, myself, and Silver will take the crystal to the right out. Ret, Vari, and Ere, you go left and go around to take out the other crystal. We will meet you on the top levels, to meet before we assault the final one. You have 5 minutes. Don’t disappoint.”
Sitar and company quickly disposed of their crystal and ran up to the top battlements to meet up with Erellond and his team. Looking down Sitar saw a terrifying site0: dozens of enemy soldiers looking up at her. She quickly melted back against the wall and began to pray to her god that her friends would escape this ****ed place alive. Erellond and his group appeared at the opposite end of the battlements and quickly made their way towards the others.
“Were you seen?” Erellond asked, his lips barely moving as the wind made the hair that covered his eyes shift lightly, revealing the red glow that seemed to outline the very irises. His bloodlust was high.
“Yes, we need to move quickly or we will be overrun,” Blauw responded.
The group ran inside quickly, their footsteps echoing on the hard stone as they made their way to the last and final crystal. It appeared to be deserted as they neared it.
“This is to easy...something is wrong…” Silver murmured, and then she came to a complete stop.
“Everyone STOP now. Don’t even breathe,” Silver said to the group. A look of concentration came upon her face as she focused her hearing around them, trying to find any possible threats that would be near them. The next time her eyes opened they showed nothing but fear.
“RUN NOW; JUST RUN!” she shouted, and, but a second later, no less than 5 arrows silenced her forever as they all found her throat. Sitar stared at her body for but a second, before he began to cast spells of healing on her friends, the live ones at least. Enemies seemed to appear all around them, all of them having been hidden in the shadows by a Spectral Dancer. Blauw and Erellond began calling out targets to the group, attempting to take out the weaker targets first, hoping beyond hope that there was some way to stem the amount of deadly arrows and magical bursts coming at them. One, two mages fell before the Draconic bows of the heroic archers. Sitar saw Erellond pick up the body of his fallen friend Silver and place it upon his back, as he began to make his way towards the final crystal.
“We can NOT forget our duty; we must finish this, now or never,” he said sharply.
Sitar nodded and shouted at the rest of the group to follow her. They must kill the crystal…..
Erellond swung his two swords in a beautiful dance of death as he rounded the last corner to the final crystal of Aden. An enemy human knight attempted to disorient him by slamming his shield into his face but Erellond sidestepped the blow, turning his right-handed sword over in his palm at the same time and slamming the blade down hard on the skull of the enemy panther that was with the knight. Ripping it out quickly, he focused all his attention on the knight, looking for weaknesses in his armor -- anything at all to give him a chance against this opponent.
The Hell Knight gave him no chance for thought as he charged in, his Forgotten Blade already crusted with blood from the fight outside the castle. Erellond quickly jumped into the air and attempted to strike at the neck of the taller enemy but a sharp *ding* of his sword hitting a large dynasty shield was the only satisfaction he received. The knight pinned Erellond’s Tallum blade to his shield and fiercely twisted his arms, tearing the sword from Erellond’s grip and throwing him to the wall at the same time. With only his Dark Legion’s edge left, he began to fear for his life. The knight grinned as he kicked the sword back to Erellond.
“Pick it up, scum, so we may have a battle that may entertain me slightly,” the Hell knight said, his eyes glowing a dark red.
Erellond quickly picked up his blade and began to formulate a possible plan. If his masters had taught him one thing, it was patience. He began with a simple back and forth technique, trying to keep the knight following him as be backed towards the other corridor where his friends were still fighting. He stepped carefully over his dearest friend Silver’s cold body as he neared the corner connecting the two hallways. He stepped into the other hall quickly out of sight of the knight for a moment of time. Erellond tossed his Tallum blade tightly around the corner, making it look as if he were attempting to swing from cover. The Hell Knight batted the sword away to find nothing attached to it. The next thing he felt was cold steel in the back of his neck. Then he saw the blade protruding from his Adam’s apple.
“Are you entertained, my Knight?” he whispered, as he extracted the blade from him. Picking up his Tallum blade, he glanced down the hall to see the progress of his friends, and immediately cried out.
“Chapan! Chapan! Chapan!” shouted Sitar over and over as she cast spells of healing over her friends. Her mana reserves were running low.
“EVERYONE COME TO ME NOW,” shouted Erellond. He could tell that this battle would go from bad to worse very soon. More and more enemies continued to pour through the doorways and their small strike team would not last much longer. The remaining members attempted to dash to safety near Erellond and almost all of them made it. Ret however paused to take one last shot at a mage that had come to close. The arrow took the mage right through the chest, killing him instantly. It was the last he would ever shoot. A dagger hidden in stealth appeared behind him, shoving his dagger into a seam in Ret’s Majestic armor, quickly retracting it and dashing away. Ret fell to her knees and offered one final look to her friends before closing her eyes forever.
The remaining five knew that it was now or never.
“Quickly dispose of this ****ed thing,” Blauw said as they all began to **** and shoot away at it.
Finally the crystal exploded outward, the shockwave of the explosion throwing them all against the wall.
“Let us be rid of this place,” Sitar said, as she looked around at their group. She noticed Erellond with his back flat against one section of the wall.
“Ere, what is the matter? We need to go, and quickly,” Naien asked. “I will not be going anywhere today, or any other day,” Erellond said quietly. The group gathered around Ere as they took in his horrendous injuries. A shard of the destroyed crystal was sticking at least a foot out of his stomach and pinning him to the wall.
“Run,” he said to the group. “Run and flee this terrible place. I will do what I can to stop delay them.” Sitar had to turn away in disgust as Ere went about the duty of extracting himself from the crystal. As she turned to give what little magic she had left to him, he quickly stopped her.
“Nothing can heal something like this, Sitar, not even your god. Save it for one that can be saved. Now go; leave me. I have some strength for a fight left in me.” With these words he took up his swords and stood out into the hall where the enemy was also recovering from the shockwave of the crystal destruction. He noticed a shadow behind him.
“Vari, you should be running,” Ere whispered quietly.
All Vari did was smile and notch and arrow to his bow. “No more running for me today, my friend.”
And the enemy charged.
Erellond quickly danced, ignoring the excruciating pain in his stomach, as he knew the enemy was closing in. His dual swords, glowing slightly by his side, seemed to have a mind of their own as they went back and forth in Ere's nervous hands. Vari secured his Angelslayer to his side, knowing that his bow would only last him so long. Four foes seemed to be willing to take up the challenge of fighting the pair, the others considering them a lesser problem then the three whom had escaped. Ere looked over the approaching party with despair. He saw a monstrous Titan and three dark elven assassins.
“Kill the elder first, and make it quick. I fear we shall not last long,” Vari whispered to Ere.
Ere looked back at the approaching enemy and glanced once more at Vari. “It has been an honor my friend; lets make this one for them to remember!”
His true friend nodded and notched an arrow to his bow and let it fly.
Blauw knew not what to do. He could see the exit to the outer courtyard of the castle, a mere 20 meters away, but in the way stood a full party of enemies. Far too many for himself, Naien, and Sitar. He turned back to them with a grim face. “We cannot hope to get past them unnoticed. We have to create a diversion. Somehow.”
Sitar quickly glanced around the corner and had an idea form in her head.
“I can create a blast of wind powerful enough to put out all the candles in the hallway, We may perhaps be able to quickly get by them in the darkness.”
Blauw and Naien looked at each other, their hands tightly grasped, and nodded at Sitar. It was their best chance. Sitar nodded and quickly stepped around the corner throwing as many windstrikes as possible, quickly eliminating all light.
“It's now or never,” Sitar said.
The group ran towards the door when they heard an elvish voice casting a spell. Naien immediately recognized the spell, but it was too late. A Mystic Muse had opened a Vortex to the dimension of light, filling the room with brightness and clearly exposing the trio as they moved towards the door.
“RUN FOR IT!” shouted Blauw as they dashed to the door, only to find it locked from the outside.
“Sitar, Naien, get the door open. I’ll hold them off for as long as I can,” Blauw said to them quickly.
He turned towards the rushing foes and jumped into their midst, shoving his Dark Legion’s edge through the chest of the Mystic Muse before she could react. Naien was using all her magic attacks on the door, forcing it open little by little against its will, as Sitar cast what healing magic she could on Blauw. A Ghost hunter appeared behind Blauw, ready to thrust his dagger through to Blauw's heart, when suddenly a bubble appeared around Blauw, significantly slowing the attack of the dagger in time for him to turn and block it with his shield and slash the hunter’s throat as he completed his spin.
“This defense won’t last long; you must get through that door to safety, NOW!” He shouted at the pair, as he dealt with the onslaught of 2 gladiators.
With one last magical burst, Naien opened the door, bright sunshine pouring through and showering the room with golden rays. Sitar quickly grabbed Naien’s hand and shouted behind her, “Blauw, the door his open MOVE NOW!”
Sitar dashed out the door, dragging Naien along in her wake as they ran towards the open castle gates. Halfway there Naien glanced back to make sure Blauw was with them: He was no where to be seen.
The first arrows struck an assassin in the shoulder as he had passed in front of the Elder, and it glanced off his armor. Vari was forced to focus his attention on him, as he was the one closing the distance gap the quickest. One, two more arrows fired at the assassin missed. The third finally stuck home, striking him in center in the chest and bringing him down to the ground. One of the other assassins was engaged with Ere to his front left, and the other was too close for arrows. With no time to draw an arrow, Vari slammed his bow into the face of the oncoming assassin, stunning him, then quickly slammed him into the wall and placed his face between the fangs on his bow. He smiled once, drew the bow back, and fired.
Ere knew he must end his fight quickly; he could feel his strength going with every swing of the sword, every blocked attack. The dagger was fast, too fast. He couldn't hit him.
“Stop MOVING,” Ere shouted at the dagger, quickly casting an arrest spell on him. The Ghost Hunter looked down in curiosity to see why his feet were no longer moving, and looked up in time to see the point of a sword drive through his skull. He heard an Orc laughing and he turned to see how he could help his friend.
Vari dropped his bow and drew out his dagger, turning to face the Orc and charging in at him. He stepped back as the Orc swung his massive sword, watching as it hit the wall and took out a large chunk of rock. He made a mental note to not get hit by it. He charged in, trying to get too close for the Titan to effectively swing his sword with much power, but this Orc was no fool to battle. He took two quicksteps back and swung his sword again, forcing Vari to dive to the floor. The debris from the wall showered Vari, filling his eyes with dust and rock. He knew he had to run and clear his vision or all would be lost. He listed towards Erellond and heard him engaged with the other assassin; he was on his own. He stumbled to his feet, trying to use the wall as a way to backtrack in a straight line, all the while attempting to clear his eyes of dust. With one eye cleared, Vari looked straight ahead for the Orc, but he was nowhere to be seen.
“Hello, pitiful human,” said a deep voice behind him.
Vari turned slowly, knowing his fate was at hand. The Titan grinned. The Titan swung his sword. Vari felt nothing. Had the Orc missed? His good fortune had returned. He started to take a step forward when he realized he could not. The Orc stood there, laughing at him. Vari felt confused: What had happened; he had not been hit? He felt a strange sensation. As he looked down he realized what had happened. Vari tried to scream. Vari fell into pieces.
Blauw saw his friends flee out the door but he knew he could not follow. He would hold them off as long as he could and hope against hope that Naien would escape. His shield went left, right, left again, blocking the four swords swung at him by the gladiators. He slashed out at one, forcing him back and gaining slight ground. He noticed the fighter on the left was much less experienced then the other, and focused his attention on him, trying to kill him quickly before the combined force of them would overwhelm him. He swung his Legion blade at the Glad's left sword, forcing it out wide, and spun around using his shield to force out the other sword. He slammed his forehead into the unfortunate warrior’s nose, breaking it and stunning him for a moment. A moment is all it took for Blauw to plunge his sword into the young one’s heart. He turned back to the other Glad, blocked both his swords with his shield and swinging them to the outside, cutting his sword to the inside quickly, hoping to end it. The Gladiator’s strong armor repelled the point however, and both fighters fell back to a more neutral position.
Blauw noticed a Hawkeye trying to get position on the ramp above him and made a mental note to stay out of his pathway. He stepped in towards his enemy, throwing his shield out, hoping to stun the enemy long enough to get a kill, but his shield was repelled by both of the Glads’ powerful blades, knocking himself off balance. Falling to his side, Blauw quickly slashed his sword in front of him trying to delay the Glad long enough to regain his posture, but to no avail. The Glad came in hard and fast, knocking Blauw’s shield from his hands and plunging his sword straight through Blauw’s Majestic armor. He felt no pain. He saw only the Glad’s exposed neck, and his sword still strong in his grip. Quickly slashing across, he was rewarded with a spray of blood as he slit the Gladiators throat. His vision dimming, he looked towards the door, and all he saw was Naien, outlined in sunshine. And then it all went black.
Ere watched his friend fall into a shapeless heap and felt a rage unlike any other he had experienced in his long lifetime. His pain, his fatigue, his wound all seemed to flow to the back of his mind. One clear thought remained. The Orc must die.
Charging in, Erellond swung one of his swords low, making the Orc jump to avoid it, while at the same time bringing the other one high, slashing deep into the Titan’s chest. A shout of pain echoed through the halls, but the Orc was not done yet. The Titan stepped back and let his fury take over him. His very muscles seemed to burst with new life, his wound seeming as insignificant as a small cut. His very height seemed to increase. Ere could only stand back and watch in awe as the Titan finished his transformation. Grinning with a mouth full of broken teeth, the insane Titan ran at Ere screaming to his God. Stumbling back out of the way of the fearsome beast, Ere looked for an possible form of attack, but he saw none. Continually running backwards, Erellond saw the wall fall apart as the Titan continually slammed his massive sword into it. A sudden possibility occurred to Erellond. He quickly did his dance of shadows, seeming to blend in with his surroundings.
“YOU CAN NOT HIDE FROM ME ELF. I WILL FIND YOU,” Screamed the enraged Titan. Berserk with rage, the Orc began swinging his sword wildly, destroying anything in his path as he ran everywhere, searching for the hidden Erellond. Getting close to him would not be easy, Ere knew. A single hit from that blade and he knew his life would be over. Gradually closing the distance, he noticed the Orc seemed to be losing some of his gusto, his swings came slower, and his breath came harder. The Titan finally stopped, his strength gone. Stepping out of the shadows behind the Orc, Ere whispered to him, “Hello, pitiful Orc”. The Titan screamed in rage, bringing his sword over his head in a powerful down hand chop, when he suddenly realized he could not move, could not breathe. Sand flew around Erellond as he completed his Dance of Medusa, encasing the Titan in stone. Stepping up to the Orc, Ere knew it was now or never; he could feel his strength draining by the second.
“For Silver and for Vari,” he said to the encased Titan, striking hard at the Orc's head, severing it in one swing. The Titan's head fell to the ground, his body immediately released from Ere's spell. Unable to step out of the way the Orc's body fell heavily on top of him, trapping him below its massive physique. Without the strength to move the body, Ere accepted his fate. He lay there, praying to his goddess Shilen. He closed his eyes, and thought of Heine and drew his breathe.
Naien was speechless as she viewed Blauw, his slight elven figure mangled. She ran over to him, cradling his head in her lap, tears running profusely from her light blue elven eyes.
“No, Blauw, you cant go yet. Not yet please......” she whispered to dead ears. “Come back to me, Blauw; you have to. Remember the Mothertree, Blauw? Remember the ship ride in Heine, our times together in the garden of our Goddess? You can’t go yet.....” she cried, her voice barely audible.
Sitar glanced at the couple, not knowing what to say.
“Naien...we have to go. Others will be here soon....... He wanted you to live,” Sitar said.
A sudden noise from above was the only warning Sitar had before an arrow slammed into her Shield, piercing it, once, twice, three times. Two arrows had been stopped but the third traveled all the way through, lodging itself in Sitar’s thigh.
Naien stood and looked at the Hawkeye, as he prepared to fire another shot.
“No,” she said, as she cast a spell of water so powerful that it seemed to crush the very life out of the Archer in one blast.
“Heal yourself, Sitar, and run. Run from this place. Live,” she said coldly, her blue eyes seeming to turn to steel.
“No, Naien; we both go,” Sitar tried to say, but Naien turned on her in fury.
“You will FLEE THIS PLACE now, Sitar. Remember Heine, Sitar; you are the last one left. Remember what we did there. Don't let that die. Go now; I will not tell you again,” she said.
“I am not the last one, Naien, you are alive as well,” Sitar said pleadingly.
“I'm already dead,” she responded, glancing down at Blauw. She smiled once at Sitar, and quickly ran off down the hall, leaving Sitar alone to run.
Naien turned the corner and saw two mages discussing something that she had no interest in. She opened a Vortex of Ice next to one, tearing him apart. The other turned to her and began to cast a spell but it was far too late. Naien was already deep into her second spell and shot a large crystal of ice deep into the chest of the unfortunate mage. Running past the fallen two, she emerged into the throne room of the castle and saw a Shilen elder in deep meditation, which was interrupted by a jet of water tearing her apart, limb from limb. She saw two Treasure Hunters dashing towards her, and killed one quickly with a blast of lightning, and killed the other with two water jets. Running into the crest room, Naien knew saw 30 of her foes surrounding the leader of her hated enemy. All her focus on him, she opened another Vortex of Light, momentarily blinding the enemies. A few seconds was all she needed. She focused her mind, her body, and her soul into her one, last spell. A block of ice, bigger than any she had ever created, was summoned above the clan leader, crushing him and four others under its weight. It would be her last. Eight archers found her as the light dimmed, eight archers drew their bows back, and fired. And Naien was happy.
Sitar limped through the main gate of Aden, making her way to the church. She fell in front of the image of her God, praying, healing herself in the process. “Remember Heine,” Sitar whispered. She found her way to her resting place behind her God and sat, resting, and remembering.