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| Whisper of a Demon's Shadow | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| By Richard LeBlanc | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| An army shall rise and fall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The end of an old era shall begin | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A dawn of a new age will come | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| When an endless night fades... | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ...The Prophecy | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chapter Nineteen: The Waking Soul | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In a cave a fair distance away from the chaos that had happened in near and by the volcano, the band of questing heroes were recovering from their ordeal under the volcano. All of them were bruised - battered and covered with dust and smoke stains. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "I still don't know how we got out of that in one piece," Louie remarked as he leaned against the cave wall behind him. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "I'd like to know what made that old dragon lose it. I have seen a great deal of things in my day - but never would I have imagined seeing a look of terror like I saw - in the eyes of that powerful beast," Gnar stated calmly. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "The dragon knew that it couldn't stop me. Nothing can. Rubius and his age of darkness is coming to an end," Thomas retorted as he looked at the small jewel that was on the back of a gauntlet. How it ended up in his possession he had no clue - but he knew that it was the last piece of the puzzle. He knew what he was looking at was the Waking Soul. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Where did you pick that thing up?" Gailin asked - bandaging up a wound on his own arm. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Must have fallen into my possession when we were running through those hills of treasure. You saw how things were falling left and right," Thomas stated as he put the gauntlet slowly on his left hand. The others watched as an eerie greenish glow surrounded him. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Is that what I think it is?" Louie asked. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "You all are looking at the Waking Soul," Thomas stated - displaying his find. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Wow - talk about a lucky break," Louie remarked. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "What are you getting at?" Thomas suspiciously asked. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Everything is falling around left right and center. Fire and molten rock is shooting up from under and around us. Out of all the treasure that is falling all over the place - you just happen onto the one artifact in that entire trove that we are seeking," Louie remarked. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "It is all part of the prophecy - my destiny. Call it luck if you must - but we now have what we need to end this black plague that Rubius has sown," Thomas remarked grimly. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "I think the thief might have a point - so does the dwarf. There is something - unsettling about all of this. Like there is some piece of the puzzle that we are overlooking - something big," Gailin stated calmly. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Where would we be had I not retrieved this? No closer than we were before," Thomas stated defensively. Gailin raised his hands and backed away. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "I am not your enemy. I am just stating that there might be more going on than we are aware. We must be cautious - now more than ever," the monk pointed out. Thomas sighed and closed his eyes. He knew they were right - everything in spite of the hardships seemed to be falling their way in one form or another. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "I know - but nothing has changed since we started. Rubius is still the enemy - and the prophecy is almost - almost at hand. Do we stop now because something is amiss - after all that has been lost and sacrificed?" he asked. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Never said that," Gnar stated. Louie slowly forced himself up to his feet and walked almost in a trace to the front of the dusty cave. The dwarf looked over and could see the thief turn pale. "Something wrong thief?" he hesitantly asked. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "We have a situation," Louie stated. The others slowly got up and made their way to the front of the cave. There they saw the entire armies of Rubius assembling at the base of the mountains. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Thousands of them," Gailin remarked. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "We have to go through them if we want to get to Rubius," Gailin remarked. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "If we try to run from them into the mountains - they will fall and surround us like a cloud of locusts," Louie stated. Thomas glared at the army that was still forming at the base of the mountain. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "We aren't running," Thomas stated firmly. The others looked over at him with a look of disbelief. "I haven't turned away from him once since this wretched quest began - I will be damned if I start now," he added. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "This isn't a vampire - a troll or any of the other beast things we met - this is an army," Louie pointed out. Thomas slowly looked over Louie. The thief backed away from the look that was glaring back. It was a look that seemed to be far older than time. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "They will not stop me - they haven't the power," Thomas stated as he slowly hovered up. The others watched as Thomas flew down towards the army of thousands. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "The boy has lost his mind," Gnar muttered as he raced down after Thomas. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "We had best make sure that nothing happens to either of those headstrong boys," Gailin remarked as he and Louie made their way after their friends. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In the sky above the army - the soldiers looked up and saw Thomas flying their way like an angel of death. Some soldiers began to panic - the general quickly took charge. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Archers - form ready! Shoot that fool from the sky!" he shouted out. Hundreds of bowmen lined up aimed and let loose their deadly volley. Thomas stopped in mid flight and raised his gauntlet-clad hand. A wave rippled through the air and knocked the arrows aside as a giant might knock mere bugs away. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "I will not be stopped," Thomas echoed as soared down at the assembled ranks. His companions reached the grounds before the mountain and watched as Thomas seemingly vanished and reappeared - attacking soldiers from every direction at once. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "He is using the artifacts as though he has been one with them all his life," Gailin remarked as they all slowly made their way forward. They heard dozens of echoing cries of soldiers being savagely cut down. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "They fight - yet they know they stand no chance," Gailin remarked. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Their fear of Rubius must outweigh their fear of him," Gnar muttered. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "It is more than that - they fear something far greater than Rubius - but what - I can not see," Louie stated as they waded through the bloodied battlefield towards where living bodies still battled on. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "How many do you wager have fallen in the past few minutes alone?" Gailin asked as he looked at the savage strokes that had killed some of the soldiers - blows that cleaved effortlessly through mesh and plated armor like cloth. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "In the high hundreds," Louie muttered. They looked further ahead and saw the rest of the army attempting to swarm Thomas. The effort failed as he flew up - hovered above the mob and then disappeared. More screams followed. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| They watched as bodies in the mob were tossed about like toys before his rampage. As the party waded through the sea of broken bodies - ebbing closer to the fray and their friend - they saw the number of soldiers dropping like dying insects. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Louie looked up at the sky and then at the carnage around them. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "This - all of this - has been done in the span of minutes?" he asked in disbelief. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "If it goes on - there will be nothing left of them," Gnar muttered - putting his axe away. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "If they weren't Rubius' men - I would almost feel sorry for them," Louie remarked. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| They pressed on forward to where the ever-dwindling soldiers continued to fight - hoping beyond hope that they could stop the impassioned warrior. But all of their hopes would go unanswered. For in the span of seconds - fifty soldiers - the last fifty of an army of thousands - fell dead at Thomas's feet. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The hero came to a screeching halt. He panted and gasped as he looked around - expecting more soldiers to try to attack him. But all that greeted him was silence and the stares of his friends. Within moments Thomas closed his eyes. His rage spent - he dropped to one knee gasping. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "You alright?" Gailin asked as he and the others hurried over. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "They got me a few times - let my temper get the better of me," he muttered as he looked at some cuts on his arms and legs. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Remind me not to get on your bad side," Louie remarked. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Feels like I have been fighting for hours," he began. When he saw the looks on their faces he knew something was amiss. "How long have I been fighting - and where did the rest of them go?" he asked. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "A handful of minutes - and none - got away," Gailin replied seriously. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "But there were thousands of them - I only remember attacking a dozen or so," Thomas remarked. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Look around," Louie stated. Thomas took a deep breath and looked around the bloodied plain. Surrounding them were the bodies of thousands - all of them brutally cut down. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "I see why Rubius is scared," Thomas stated as he collapsed. Louie caught him. Gailin hurried over to see if he was hurting wounded or what have you. After a quick once over he sighed and nodded. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Just exhaustion. After seeing what he just did - can you blame him?" Gailin remarked. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Where too from here?" Louie asked. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "There is a village not far from here - it used to be a welcoming place - but that was along time ago. The castle is not far from there," Gailin suggested. Louie looked over at Thomas who was a complete dead weight. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Doesn't matter to me where we go so long as can get our hero here a place to rest up," Louie stated as they all made their way south from the mountains. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In the shadows - behind a pile of corpses - the two cloaked figures stepped out from hiding and watched as the questing band headed towards their next destination. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Still think I am exaggerating?" he asked. The woman looked around at the death that surrounded them. If there was any doubt in her - it was gone now. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "I can barely believe that he alone did all this," she said in mild shock. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "He is not alone - that is the problem," he pointed out. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Be that as it may - I still do not like what you are suggesting," she stated. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Question me or my intent if you will. I deserve no less after how I treated you. But open your eyes woman. He will herald the end of all that is," he stated. The woman slowly turned and faced him and slowly lowered her hood. Tia glared at the man with eyes black as night! | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "If what you are saying is true - and I still - have reason to question that - I will deal with him," she stated seriously. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| To be continued... | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||