(C) Copywritten 2001
"You are no longer my brother.� Forgive me, Maziel, but the suffering that you have brought to all these people must end."
The city continued to burn.� The bodies of dozens of Muun high guards lay scattered throughout the street.� I had been so sure that nothing could have stopped me. I suppose it didn't matter. My victory would still be assured.� "Fool.� You cannot kill me.
"Bastard! By my sword, my brother, you shall be destroyed."� I...am...the Dragon Lord..."
I managed to smile, before my last breath, and whisper "I...think...not..."
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����������� I ran at him, sword ready to strike.� My swing would have killed him instantly, but he somehow managed to avoid it.� "What?" I shouted in amazement.
"Have you forgotten, Maziel?� I taught you how to fight!� I know all your tactics."� He suddenly spun around and jabbed his blade forward.
The edge of the sword caught my right arm along the front.� I wailed in pain.� He would pay for that.� I would make his death slow and most painful. Again I attacked, but again he defended himself.� With each move I executed, he avoided it and dealt me another strike.
"Maziel, you must come to your senses! You cannot win!"� He was taunting me.� He would pay!� I was going to make him pay!
"I'll have your head before this night is over, coward!� You shall never see the sun again!"
"Maziel, please!" But before he could utter another insulting word, my blade flew forward again.� With a clash, my sword was deflected.
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���������� "You cannot fight me! We are brothers.� We swore to father that we would always watch out for each other, and try to help others," said the young solider. He became more and more stupefied as he spoke.
"Ha! You couldn't help anyone, weakling" I yelled at him.
"Damn it, Maziel!� What has Tyra done to you?� You should not have gone to fight him alone."
"Tyra is dead.� He was no match for me.� He doesn't deserve such an honorable title as Lord of the Dragons.� From now on, I shall be know as the Dragon Lord, as well as the Lord of Muun."
Anger began to fill the young man's face.� "You are mad, Maziel! I won't let you do this again!" He drew his blade and stood ready.
"You wish to die as well?"I laughed at him� "Very well.� I shall grant your wish."� I ran at him, sword ready to strike.
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"You shall all die tonight.� This much I promise you."� I shouted above the roaring of the flames around me.� One soldier charged me.� "Die, murderer!" he screamed.
With a quick movement, his attack was evaded and I cleaved his backside, which split open violently and sprayed blood.� "Pathetic" I commented as he fell lifeless.
One by one the remaining men attacked.� The fear in their hearts was the edge I needed.� They all fell, and I avoided every strike.� Within minutes, only the one man bearing the familiar armor stood.
"Maziel.� What has happened to you?" he said.� This man had no idea who he was talking to.� At least not anymore.
"I have changed much since I came here, boy.� There is no saving me, or anyone else from what I have become." I said.� "Now, are you ready to join the others in the bowels of hell?"
"You cannot fight me!� We are brothers!"
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Not one person was able to escape my wrath.� Those who ran, I hunted down and took their heads.� Those who stood and fought were cut down where they stood.� The entire town was glorious sight of death and mighty destruction.� My heated soul could feel the energy of countless souls as they all passed from their corporeal bodies into the realm of the dead.
Satisfied that the city was devastated, I made my way to the entrance of the town.� I set more houses ablaze as I moved through the town.� More and more survivors attacked, however their fates were the same as that of their fellow townsfolk. Before long, I arrived at the large wooden gates.� They were sealed tight, and before them was the last regiment of soldiers.� Among them, I noticed one that stood in armor not unlike my own.� His expression was that of disbelief.� "It can't be! Maziel! What has happened?"
I knew not who this man was, but he would fall like the others.� "You shall all die tonight.� This much I promise you."
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����������� Before long, the citizens of the city were at their windows, hurling cries of support to the members of the guards that were each falling to my massive swordsmanship.� "You peons are far too disgusting to be real warriors.� You will pay the price for being so very weak."
I retrieved a torch from the corpse of a fallen fighter, and tossed it onto a nearby building. The flames soon engulfed the wooden building in a brilliant flash of heat.� I could hear the screams of torment as the people inside fell victim to the merciless inferno.
"Your entire city shall burn, Muun!"� I screamed into the night.� "Pathetic creatures like you all deserve to perish."� Not one person was able to escape my wrath.
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����������� The men had all marched into the room with a weapon ready for battle.� Each soldier fought with all the glory of the Muun army in his heart, and each one died along with that glory.� The sight of countless men dying before me by the sword in my hand was divine.� The room had become a tomb, where the corpses of brave men were everywhere, blood running like a river from each of their fresh wounds.� Their Lord, the so very mighty Oath, also lay slain on his throne.
"I'd forgotten how pathetic you people really are."� I said as I sheathed my sword.� Feeling there was no need to remain, I left the castle.� The quiet streets of Muun where now encased with darkness.
"Hey you!"� A voice screamed at me from a shadowed corner.� "It's the murderer!� Seize him!"� Guards began to pour out of the streets, torches in hand, rushing towards me.� Their screams of anger echoed down the log city streets.� I drew my sword once again and prepared myself.� Before long, the citizens of the city were at their windows, hurling cries of support to the members of the guards that were each falling to my massive swordsmanship.
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"I have a request, my Lord."
����������� The little man smiled.� "You may have anything."
����������� "If that is so, then it is your crown and your kingdom that I desire.� You will hand them over to me now!"
The humor in his face faded.� "Master Maziel.� We are grateful for your help, but the rights of the throne are the decision of the gods, not of men.� I cannot grant this request."
I had been through too much this day to settle for nothing as payment for my so-called deeds.� This pathetic little man would not stand in the way of what was rightfully mine.� "You will give up your reign, or you will die!"� I shouted, drawing my sword.� I dashed forward and plunged my blade into the man's chest.
"Arrg!!!" screamed the lord as his life was taken from him.� His cry of agony seasoned my thirst for blood and before long his royal guards had rushed to his aid.
The tip of my blade emerged from the dead man's torso, and I turned to my new foes.� "Come, fools.� Avenge your lord if you dare!" I shouted.� The men had all marched into the room with a weapon ready for battle.
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The halls of the castle were a grand structure of white marble, decorated in full with the finest red carpeting and tapestries.� The way to the audience chamber was directed to me by several of the guards, whom had all discovered why I had returned.
Before too long, I found myself standing before Lord Oath himself.� He was a frightful little man. Age had withered away whatever amount of strength and credibility as a lord he had sustained in his life on the throne of Muun.
"Master Maziel.� You come before me again.� Am I to assume that you were triumphant?"
"My Lord, the terror your people had endeared for so long is at an end."
He sat quietly in his golden chair.� He closed his eyes to keep the tears from streaming down his face.� "By the gods, I thank you Master Swordsman.� You shall be remembered forever for this deed you have done for us."
I had other plans.� "I have a request, my Lord."
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���������� By the time I had reached the edge of the city, the moon was high in the air, and the passion for slaughter that boiled in me was reaching its peak.
I entered the city gates, and made my way to the castle doors.� The guard that met me seemed somewhat relieved to see me.� "Master Maziel?� Is that really you?"
"Yes, I have returned."
"You were victorious then?�� Is the curse of Tyra really over?� Are we free?"
I smiled.� "You are free of the curse of Tyra."
"Oh but this is so very wonderful."� The little man could hardly think.� "You must see Lord Oath and report this immediately."� He opened the gate and beckoned me to enter, assuring me that the Lord of Muun would be as excited as he was about what I had to report. The halls of the castle were a grand structure of white marble, decorated in full with the finest red carpeting and tapestries.
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As I awoke, I sensed that my skills had once again allowed me to sustain myself.� The shell of my former existence laid before me in a slashed up mess.� "It was good while it lasted, I suppose" I said out loud.� I couldn't help laughing at myself.� I now was truly what was known throughout Muun as the greatest warrior ever.� I was Maziel.
It didn't take me long to find my way out of the cave I had spent so long in.� The twilight of the moon of Edgar was truly a sight to behold.� However, I found it much more pleasurable to conduct my deeds under the stars, when the people of the neighboring city would be far weaker and off their guard.
���������� By the time I had reached the edge of the city, the moon was high in the air, and the passion for slaughter that boiled in me was reaching its peak.
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���������� This was by far the greatest of deeds he had ever accomplished in his life.� The dread dragon Tyra, who had been tormenting the people of Munn for years, was defeated.�� Now, as it lay destroyed at his feet, an odd sense of emptiness began to creep over him as the darkness of night swept over daylight.� He had done what he had promised to do, but something was not right.
Suddenly, Maziel dropped his bloodied sword to the ground and gasped for air.� He discovered he couldn't breathe.�� There was some unknown force that was constricting his ability to draw air into his body.
With no source of energy, his body fell to the ground, the chains of his armor rattling as they hit the dirt below his feet.� His head was pounding against the helmet he wore, and visions of absolute terror and fear began to invade his thoughts.
Throughout the chaos erupting in his soul, he heard a voice.� It was that of the beast he had just slain.� "Foolish mortal.� Your pitiful attempts are useless.� Since you would dare to challenge I, Tyra, Lord of the Dragons, you shall now inherit my spirit.� Of course, your puny soul will be crushed; however your body will serve as a perfect vessel for my reign of destruction."� With that, Maziel could feel his flesh igniting in a cataclysmic charge.� Agony ripped through his entire body, and he could sense that he was transforming.� Before long, Tyra was once again among the world of man.
