Empire of Blood, page 32
part #2 of Armageddon Series
Both Vulduin and Aryl were in the middle of a discussion while sitting at the table with a map between them just as Silver barged inside their room. “I have something to say!” he announced. Silver was expecting Vulduin to object to what he was about to do, but Vulduin was surprisingly quiet. “I’m leaving to go and find Selena. Before you say anything, I’m telling you this because I can’t just stay here any longer and expect her to return! You’ve held me back long enough, and I’ve had it! I don’t care what you think anymore! You will not stop me from going after her!”
“Then I won’t.” Vulduin was calm.
This was not the response that Silver was expecting. “Pardon me? Did you just say what I think you said?”
“Indeed. My wife and I were just planning on how we were going to get our daughter back and then you just waltzed in here to declare your intentions. I couldn’t have planned that better myself.”
Silver straightened his shoulders and nodded. “Very good!”
“In the meantime, you should meet with Kain Vanguard.” Vulduin turned to Aryl. “I believe that you’ll be safe with the Shadow Templars for now at their hidden fort, Dark Blood Hold.”
“You’re not going?” Aryl asked quietly.
“Not yet. I have some unfinished business to take care of. I promise you that I will join you as soon as I can. I’ll make sure that General Araneus will get you there safely. He’ll have a map to their hiding place.” Vulduin leaned in and kissed her on the forehead. He then pulled out a rolled piece of parchment and immediately headed downstairs to deliver the news.
“Do you know where he’s going?” the Empress asked.
“I wish I knew, but sometimes he doesn’t like to tell me anything!” Silver sang.
“When you find my daughter, please meet us at the fort.”
“I swear it, my Lady.” Silver bowed, but Aryl shook her head.
“I’m not the Empress anymore. I was never the Empress since Vidar took control of the Council. Vulduin and I had a long talk about this. Even if we somehow take the Empire back, I don’t think I should continue to hold the throne, and Vulduin doesn’t want it either. We want to live a normal life.”
“The General said the same thing and he blames himself for what happened.”
“He didn’t know and there was no way to prepare or plan for the Council’s betrayal. What could we have done? They had the power. They controlled the Empire. I don’t think Vulduin and I were ever prepared for this. We tried.”
“We can still take the Empire back!” Silver exclaimed and held up a fist like he was ready to fight. “Once we all meet at the fort, we can plan for a counter attack and stop the Lich once and for all!”
“Do you think we can do that before the Day of Eternal Darkness?”
“We’ll have to try.”
She sighed and turned away. “Vulduin isn’t coming back, is he?”
“I… I don’t know. I need to leave as soon as possible, however. May you have a safe journey to Dark Blood Hold.” After saying their farewells, Silver excused himself from Aryl’s presence. He made his way out of the inn and rushed to find Araneus preparing Aracania for travel once more, and Vulduin strutting away with haste and purpose. “Hey, where do you think you’re going?” Silver called out.
“Just for a walk.” Vulduin’s voice was quiet and hoarse, like he was about to cry or scream.
“Will you be back?”
Vulduin stopped and abruptly turned around to face him. The two stood in an uncomfortable silence. “If I go out walking and I don’t come back, it means that I haven’t finished my walk.”
Silver’s face became inflamed. “You just came back into your wife’s life! I don’t know what she will say if you leave again.” Vulduin ignored him and began walking away once more. “I think you’re making a huge mistake! You’re mad!” When Vulduin made it clear that he was not going to respond back, Silver sighed and said: “May the Divines watch over you, my friend.” He transformed into a dragon and began his long flight to Snowhaven.
*****
The smell of sulfur and rotting flesh laden the air.
Vulduin walked through what was left of Alfheim. The sky was painted blood red by the fires that raged in the background. The once beautiful streets were littered with debris and dead bodies. Only Rune Citadel and the Council’s headquarters remained unscathed.
He looked up to see some of the dragon creatures circling overhead. Vulduin clinched his fists and prepared himself for a fight, but the monsters ignored him entirely. They flew over and perched on the remains of the Pyre.
“There you are. I was wondering when you would show yourself again.”
Vidar’s voice made him want to vomit.
“Where is the Lich?” Vulduin asked coolly.
Vidar casually walked out of the temple with the rest of the Council following close.
“I’m afraid you just missed him, Vulduin. He had important matters to deal with in Snowhaven.” Vidar hissed, purposefully putting emphasis on the city’s name.
“I want my daughter back! Where is she?”
“Does it really matter? She’s still very much alive for now.” Vidar taunted. Vulduin gritted his teeth and, without thinking, flickered his wrists towards Vidar and thousands of steel chains shot out from his jacket’s sleeves. He focused the bladed tips to aim straight for Vidar’s heart. Instead of dodging, Vidar and the rest of the Council kept their positions. Just as the chains were about to strike him down, they instead struck an invisible barrier. “We were expecting this, Vulduin.” Vulduin swore to himself. Only the Lich knew the proper wards that blocked his attacks. He retracted his chains, and Vidar continued to mock him. “What’s the matter? You can’t break through? The Lich has shared some of his magic secrets with us for being so loyal.”
Vulduin backed away a bit, but he quickly became surrounded. “Damn you all to Oblivion,” he spat.
“You’ve been running from us for over two hundred years. There’s nowhere else for you to turn. Surrender, and we’ll let you live for now. Or, you can fight and die here. It’s your choice, but make it quick. I’m rather busy at the moment.” Vidar yawned; he acted like he was bored.
Vulduin lowered his hands and hung his head in defeat.
“If I go quietly, will you leave my family alone?” he requested.
“We just want you.” Vidar pointed at him. “We’ll leave your family alone.”
Vulduin slowly nodded and held out his hands in surrender. Vidar ordered the two members who stood closest to him to arrest Vulduin.
Vulduin didn’t hesitate or flinch when the chains were cuffed around his wrists and ankles. He didn’t fight back when one of the dragon creatures carrying a small vessel swooped down on Vidar’s command, nor did he falter when he was pushed and locked inside to be carried away to the Willow Creek Institution. Even as he was led down the dreaded corridors and into his dilapidated cell, Vulduin didn’t waver.
*****
Azrael acted as Selena’s support. She leaned on him as she worked on standing for the first time since she was dragged away.
“You can do it. Keep trying! Don’t worry about me, put all your weight into my shoulder if you have to.”
Selena nodded and focused on her efforts. Despite her whole body wanting to give way, she did not give up. Her muscles still ached, but she was standing again.
“Thank you.”
“You can thank me once we get out. And here.” Azrael circled his hands and summoned drops of water that wrapped around his fingers. When he cupped his hand, the water pooled into his palm. He offered her a drink. “It’s not much, but you’ll need it. I placed a spell in it to help you get some of your strength back.”
Selena nodded and sipped it without hesitation. In an instant, she felt rejuvenated; it was like a power of the sun fueled inside her. The pain washed away, and she felt almost like herself again.
“I feel amazing!” she exclaimed and started walking around again with joy in her heart.
“Glad to hear it. Here, let me get those bindings off.” Azrael bent over her feet and grabbed her chains. His fingers crushed through the metal with ease.
Together, they quickly and quietly made their way back to Rahim’s and Kiba’s cell. By the time they returned, the tunnel was just about finished. It was large enough for them to walk through. It went down at an incline and then it straightened out for a few meters.
Rahim and Kiba looked up from behind their pile of dirt and the two exclaimed together: “Selena!” They ran over and hugged her tightly.
“You two are alive!” Selena hugged them back and started crying happy tears. Azrael, however, broke up their reunion.
“We’ll have time for that later.”
Kiba nodded. “Right. I stopped here because I think we’re close to your dragons’ tower.”
Azrael walked into their tunnel and placed his hands on the wall where the digging ceased. He closed his eyes and muttered words in what Selena assumed to be a demonic language. A moment later, Azrael opened his eyes again and dusted his hands off.
“You’re right. I think we’re right below them.” Azrael cracked his knuckles in preparation to break through.
“Let me help you,” Selena said.
“All right,” Azrael clapped his hands together, “after we get through, we’ll meet with our dragons. After we free them, Thor and Doragon can break down their prison and we’ll leave as soon as we can.”
“But then Medusa and the others will know we’ve escaped, and they’ll start chasing after us.”
“Yes, but we’ll be long gone by the time they’re about to give chase. We’ll find a place to hide for a while before meeting up with your father and the others.”
Rahim and Kiba nodded. Selena still wasn’t too sure, but she agreed as well. “Let's do it,” she said.
Both Selena and Azrael got into position to use earth magic. Selena felt the energy rise within her body. She imagined the earth moving, and everything else with it. They caused an explosion and created a large hole above their heads.
Azrael climbed up first, and reached down to help Selena, then Rahim, then Kiba. Selena looked up at the black sky and was thrilled to breathe the fresh air again.
Inside were stairs twisting upward, damp from the moisture filled air. Lined up along one side of the spiral tower were a few marble caves that were big enough to house a dragon.
The tower rumbled from the two trapped dragons’ roars.
Thor and Doragon began thrashing about in their chains as soon as they saw Selena and the rest of her group. Despite seeing that wretched enchanted neck piece, Selena desperately tried to talk to Thor once more out of reflex. She staggered back in shock when she saw the two dragons tied up like animals. Aside from scale chaffing, Selena was relieved to see that they didn’t have any marks or wounds. Luckily, all of their belongings were still where they left them.
Azrael held out his hands to quiet them down as they ran up the stairs to greet their titans. He reached up, grabbed their necklaces, and ripped them off with ease; he did the same for their chains.
“I wish I helped us escape sooner, but I couldn’t get through Medusa’s blasted curse.” Azrael swore.
“Don’t get sentimental on us right now. We need to move!” Selena announced; Kiba and Rahim exchanged glances, and smiled. Selena was back to being herself again.
Thor stretched out his wings and galloped out his cave to wrap himself around his handler. Doragon did the same with Azrael.
I’m so glad to see you again! What happened to you? You’re hurt! Thor gnashed his fangs and dug his claws into the ground.
I’m fine, thanks to Azrael! I’m so glad to see you again too! I’m so sorry for everything! All of this was my fault.
No. It’s not. Stop blaming yourself! I’m just so glad to see that you’re alive!
You’re right, and I’m glad to see you are as well! We need to move!
“Everyone climb aboard! We’re busting out of this Divine forsaken place!” Azrael shouted. As if they were waiting for his order, both Kiba and Rahim scuttled to get into the saddle.
“I won’t lie, I actually miss being here.” Kiba sprawled on her back and moved her hands around to get familiar with the touch of the saddle again. “I still hate flying, but it’s definitely loads better than being stuck in prison.”
Both Thor and Doragon stood back on their hind legs and, with a light flutter of their wings, they hovered. Selena could feel her dragon calling forth the essence of stone and living nature. The ground trembled as massive boulders began raining from the sky. Although they were protected from the attack, the tower did not stand a chance. By the time the dragons exhausted their energy and the onslaught stopped, their prison lay in ruins.
Kiba’s eyes widened and she whistled. “I’ve never been able to do that before.” She was impressed.
“Now that was some serious earth magic!” exclaimed Rahim.
How did you do that? I’ve never seen that before!
Panting, Thor shook his head.
After seeing what happened to you, I almost panicked. From that trauma, I was able to channel my emotions into what I was able to just do. That really weakened me.
The two dragons were just about to fly away, but a black hole materialized behind them. Hands made of shadow emerged forth and stretched out to grab Thor and Doragon’s legs.
“Oh no, not again!” Selena cried out. The dragons were too slow. The shadow hands snatched them and held them down in place.
Cursing under his breath, Azrael jumped off Doragon and waved his hands. A thick ice wall formed around him to act as a barrier from oncoming ranged attacks.
“Rahim, Kiba! Stay in the saddle! Azrael and I can handle this.” Selena announced.
“No way, I can help!” Kiba barked and jumped out. “Are you joining us, Rahim?”
Without a word, Rahim quickly pulled out his Winclock revolver that was packed away with their luggage and joined Kiba.
Medusa’s undead soldiers charged in with their weapons at the ready. Selena and the others darted from their dragon’s saddle to help ward off their attacks. Thor roared and knocked them back with a swing of his tail. He then opened his mouth and unleashed a powerful fire breath at another group that decided to take on the dragon. However, they remained unaffected from his breath attacks and continued rushing in.
Doragon followed Thor’s example and focused on the enemies around him by means of using his head to melee them. He used a tail whip to counter two. However, from behind the golden dragon, six more soldiers appeared. Out of instinct, Doragon turned around to face them and used his fire breath to force them back.
Fireballs rained from the sky from the catapults that were lined up along the high walls of the castle. From behind both Thor and Doragon came more of the soldiers from the castle gates. They surrounded the dragons. Thor was still weakened from earlier, but Doragon summoned a wall of fire. Their hides became encased in flames that damaged the undead any time they drew close.
Selena looked over at the water and deeply concentrated. Deep down, she knew that the powers of ice and water moved through her. She had to embrace a steely resolve within herself.
With a huge breath, she held out an open hand and moved her fingers in a way to where it looked like she was plucking the stars from the sky. The ocean’s water bubbled and streams shot up and danced in the air. With a swift movement, the strands followed.
When she moved her fingers around, the water strands grew larger and snapped at the soldiers like a whip. Selena made them attack from every angle. Her water turned to ice at the tips and they ripped through their enemies’ armor and flesh. However, to her disappointment, their wounds healed as quickly as she attacked.
“Regeneration?” Selena asked with a horrified and confused look.
Azrael created an ice tornado that circled around him. He was launched into the air and his ice vortex carried him across the wasteland. He encased himself inside a frost sphere and giant ice spikes grew on its surface. It circled around him and then it exploded.
Selena acted fast and waved her hands to summon giant walls of ice to block the jagged missiles from hitting her and the others. Many of those that surrounded Azrael were impaled from his attack and collapsed into the snow. Azrael landed on the ground and moved his hands upward, creating spears from the ice that impaled more of his enemies and launching them at more soldiers.
Kiba and Rahim, meanwhile, quickly became surrounded by the undead soldiers. With a determined expression, Rahim worked on shooting down the attackers. One of them flung throwing knives at them. Rahim moved out the way, but Kiba summoned a slab of cold stone that surrounded the pair and blocked the projectiles. Grinning, she then kicked her earth wall down. It crumbled and was sent flying over at the soldiers.
Thor turned around and unleashed a beam of light from his mouth, pulsating with energy. He aimed his attack towards the demonic forces and swept it across the ground. As soon as the light touched the soldiers, they immediately disintegrated into ash. However, in spite of their efforts, more of Medusa’s troops swarmed around them. There was no end to them. Thor's beam disappeared as he grew weak from holding his attack.
“What are we going to do?” Selena asked.
The soldiers stopped attacking and held their position as if they were waiting. Azrael and Selena did as well. A moment later, a voice rang through the air. It was such a shrill sound that it made her spine crawl.
“I’ve expected this treachery, but I thought you would have done all this weeks ago.” Medusa parted her way through the soldiers and ran her fingers through her hair. “Sad to say, I’m actually disappointed in you, Azrael. Have you truly grown this weak to where you couldn’t get through a simple spell?”
“Oh, to Oblivion with you!”
She ignored him. Instead, she walked over to Selena, swaying her hips with every step.
“And you. I thought I broke you. You were so fired up right until I captured you. You lost all hope. I saw it in your eyes, and it seems that I failed to keep you that way.”
Selena gritted her teeth. “You will never take away my hope! I thought you did too, but now I realize what my purpose is. It’s my destiny to stop you, and the Lich!”
