Chapters chapter one - a bumpy ride
Chapter 1: a bumpy ride.
“Yo Willem! Look over here! The stuff this guy has is amazing!”
I look over at my friend Jelle, he’s waving me over to the nth stand that he thinks is selling amazing stuff. But for once it is not a cheap knock-off stand.
The pointy-stabby-things that this guy is selling actually look really good.
This is my first American fantasy convention so I went all out. I spent a fortune on this Imperial Daedric armor form The Elder Scrolls online. It turns a few heads when you walk around anyplace really. Add to that that I’m nearly 7 feet tall and the result is intimidating.
I pick up the one sword that catches my eye and look it over.
It’s a double-edged sword that is wider at the tip with wicked points a quarter way down the blade. The guard has red paint on the edges that make it look truly menacing.
It’s surprisingly sharp and sturdy. I try the bend it, to the horror of my friend, but it does nothing. It sits well in my hand and it’s well balanced.
What is most surprising is the price tag. 60 bucks.
“Um, sir, are you sure the price is right on this sword?” I ask the merchant.
“Yes, that’s the right price all-right” He says in his creepy raspy voice.
I look at him for the first time. He’s wearing a long leather coat with a purple bandana in front of his mouth and nose.
I don’t care how creepy he is, this sword is amazing and I am buying it.
I immediately reach for my pouch to get the money and practically throw it at him.
I put the sword on my belt and look back at the merchant. I can’t see his face but I can practically hear him smiling at me.
“Glad to be of service.” He rasps.
The moment he says it I feel the ground vanish from under my feet, and as I fall in to blackness, I can hear him chuckle.
The first thing I notice when I wake up is that I am still falling.
They do slow me down quite a bit but I still tumble and bounce around the moment I make contact with the trees.
After my fair share of breaking branches and destroying bird nests, I smack face first in the dirt. My wings are gone now.
I just lay there for a bit, thinking. Because that was supposed to be a pants shitting experience but I don’t feel scared at all, no adrenalin, no pain, no nothing.
I sit up, and look at my hands but my left arm doesn’t move. I look at it, I can see why. There is a big piece of wood sticking out of it and it’s bleeding like hell.
How do I not feel that! There is a piece of wood sticking in my arm and I don’t feel it.
I pull it out and still nothing, no pain. This is getting scary, but I don’t panic. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or something to add to the WTF pile.
I’m still wearing my armor. It, for some reason, fits better than before. The sword is still there at my side. But my pouch is gone.
“Fuck, daar zat nog 340 dollar in.”
I get up to look around. From the height of the sun it’s somewhere around noon. I have to look thru the hole I made in the trees because it’s pretty much black everywhere else.
I just pick a direction and start walking. Leaving a blood trail as I go.
The moment is step into complete darkness the noises begin. Animal noises. Probably predators, which smelled my blood. I don’t care. I just keep walking. My left arm hanging limply at my side.
I walk for what feels like an hour, it’s hard to tell without the sun. But I’m starting to get drowsy, probably loosing too much blood. I know I should be worried but I’m not for some reason. The noises have been constant since they began. They’re biding their time. Getting ready for the opportune moment to pounce. It won’t be long now; I’m dragging my feet now.
“Sigh” I hate it when I’m right! A wolf is stalking from the bushes in front from me. Looking at me with yellow glowing eyes. It looks to be made out of wood. Strange.
I try to stay steady but it’s hard just to stand. So I lean on a nearby tree. There is more coming from the bushes all around me. I don’t feel scared, I just feel angry.
They start growling at me, I growl back. It’s a deep growl. The first one jumps at me and bits my injured arm trying to pull me down. I bring my right fist down on its head and with a satisfying crunch it falls dead on the ground.
One on my right jumps at my throat. I swing my head around head-butt it away from me.
I reach for my sword and hold it in front of me as turn to look at how many there are.
I count five more and one big one. It’s about a foot above the rest. This is the alpha. This one needs to die and I will win this fight.
I let out a beastly roar which causes my body to go transparent accept for my heart which starts to beat loudly in my ears. I can feel my strength returning to me I can move my left arm again. I don’t know what this is but it feels good.
Lifting my sword higher in the air, I charge at the alpha. It jumps away at the last moment as I bring my sword down on where I once was. I turn around to see it circling me so I mirror it. I hold my sword low, waiting for it to make a move.
It jumps at me and I bring my sword up in an uppercut. My sword cuts clean thru its chest and a pile of sticks bounces harmlessly of my armor.
The rest of them stop growling. I roar again and the scamper away. This battle is won. The transparent effect stops as well. I put my sword away and resume my walk.
Author's Note
Okay i'll clear somethings up right now:
I had fun with this first chapter and i hope you do too.
Chapter two: meanwhile
"I'm so bored," princess Cadance whined to the unfortunate guard posted by her side.
She had been laying about for an hour, waiting for her colt-friend to be done with his work.
"As I have said before, your majesty, with all the noise the griffons are making at the border Captain Shining Armor has to help preparing for the potential war," the guard said trying to remain as statue-like as possible.
Cadance looked at the guard huffing, "I know that-" she crossed her arms and pouted, "-but he said he would be done by 11, it's nearly noon. *Sigh* I think I'll just go for a walk through the gardens," she gets up and makes her way to the door.
The guard moves to follow her. "You don't need to come, I won't be long, just need some fresh air," she calls back.
He hesitates for a moment but turns back to his post.
Once in the gardens Cadance walks around for a bit but stops to look at some of the birds splash around in the bird bath. It's rather fun to look at them puffing up the feathers cleaning off the dirt from digging up worms and seeds.
The peace does not last though as a flash of blue fire drops a skull a few feed away from her, scaring the birds away and making her jump.
When she takes a closer look at the skull she sees there is something off about it. It's strangely blue-ish with small black horns like that of a goat of a sheep.
Picking it up to inspect it up close the eyes flash blue. With a startled squeak she drops it. Making it land hard on her toe.
After cursing the damn thing and jumping around for a bit she picks it up again, somehow drawn to it.
She doesn't know why but she walks over to the birdbath and empties it over the side, and placing the skull in the empty pedestal.
She stares at it, as if expecting something to happen, but after staring at it for a couple of minutes and nothing happening she reaches out to pick it back up. The moment her fingers touch the skull, it bursts into flame.
Quickly pulling her hands back to prevent them from getting burned.
She looks at it for a while and then 'poof', gone is the skull leaving only the blue flames on the pedestal.
Holding out her hand to the fire, trying to feel its warmth, but it's not there. It's just cold, like what you when you hold your hand in the wind.
"There you are Cadance, I was looking for- what are you looking at?" Cadance turns around to see Shining Armor standing behind her, still in full uniform.
"Shining!" running up to him, hugging his head and giving him a kiss that sends a shiver down here spine.
"I was just looking at those flames, it's weird, it's not hot and it seems to burn on nothing," gesturing back to the blue burning birdbath.
"Where did it come from?" Shining says while walking over to see for himself. "There was this weird looking skull that appeared out of nowhere and when i put it on the bird bath it caught fire and the next moment it's gone. Poof," Cadance explained, at the word skull Shining immediately backs away from the cold fire.
Randomly appearing skulls that catch fire, that can't possibly mean anything good.
Walking back and pushing Cadance with him until they where a good twenty feet away from it.
"Cadance, don't you find it strange that there just happens to fall a spontaneously combusting skull right next to you?" Shining turns around, to look his filly-friend in the eyes.
"For some reason, no I don't think it's strange, which is of itself pretty strange, but I somehow get the feeling that it was meant for me, that I was the one who had to find it. Does that make any sense to you?" She asks.
Shining's eyelids drooped down a bit. "No, that makes no sense what so ever," Shining looks back over his shoulder at the fire finding it even creepier than it was before. “I don’t like it, Cadance,”- shaking his head- “there is something very wrong with that fire.”
"I’m keeping it." Cadance says defiantly. It’s hers damn it, and nopony, not even her lover, is taking it from her.
“Get some guards to move it to my room,” She commands.
“Cadance, sweetie, I don’t think that’s a good idea, I just-“ he looks back at the fire “- get at bad feeling from that fire, like it’s not natural, it’s not supposed to be here at all.”
“Just do it, Shining!” She glares at him for a while, and then walks back to the castle.
Casting one last look at the unnatural fire, he walks back to the castle as well to do as he’s told.
It’s evening now, the birdbath has been dug about an hour ago and moved to Cadance her room.
Cadance is laying on her bed staring at its captivating blue flame.
“Cadance, what are thou looking at?” standing in the doorway of her room is princess Luna.
“I was just looking at… this blue fire,” she says awkwardly.
“How did thou get it to burn blue, and prevent it from emitting smoke?” Luna asks intrigued by its strangely beautiful color, she has always liked the color blue; it’s a close second to black.
“I don’t actually know why it’s blue or why it has no smoke, I just placed this weird looking skull with horns on the pedestal and poof, fire,” she explains to Luna.
“Thou should look into what it is, things made from skulls usually mean something dark and dangerous, it may be best to move this fire to a more secure location, just to be sure,” Luna reasons.
“NO! It stays where it is, right here. It’s mine and I’m not letting anything or anypony take it from me!” She yells.
Luna stares in shock at her usually kind and calm niece, such an outburst is unbecoming of her.
After a few haphazard breaths Cadance calms down, her eyes go wide realizing what she just did, she yelled at the princess of the moon, her aunt.
Cadance puts her hands in front of her mouth, “I-I’m so sorry, aunty, I didn’t mean to yell, I don’t know what came over me, I-I just, I just…” Luna walks over and sits down next to her, and places her arm around Cadance shoulders, “shush now, it’s okay. Let’s just figure this out together okay, we’ll find out what it is and how it got here. But it’s getting late, thou should get some sleep,” squeezing her nieces shoulders a little she gets up makes for her to night court.
As princess Luna left, Cadance looks back the fire again, looking at it like it was a cute little doggy that just made an attempt to bite her.
She puts on her pink hearths PJ’s and goes to sleep feeling a little uneasy now.
Down the mountain at the edge of the Everfree forest stands a lone figure with demonic looking armor staring up at the city on the mountain.
That is his destination, that is where he needs to go, he doesn’t know why but there is something there, something important, something he needs to find.
Author's Note
second chapter, yay.
chapter three - site seeing
Chapter three – site seeing
I’m making a B line for the mountain.
It’s nice to have the dark forest traded out for rolling grassy hills.
I come across a stream, and in the moonlight I can see my reflection for the first time since my arrival.
The helmet covers most of my face but I can immediately see the change of my eyes.
Once they where a light hay-green, now they are a glowing pupil-less blue.
I stop walking to take a closer look, removing my helmet to see my whole face.
My skin has turned a dark grey; I still have hair but from the head now grow two black horns. There are some small hard stubs on my chin that look to be small horns as well.
I know creatures like this from somewhere. But I can’t put my finger on it. I believe it was some sort of mythical story or something.
It’s not important. What is important is that I get to that mountain.
I put my helmet back on; which for some reason, fits perfectly despite the horns.
After walking for a while, a small town comes into view.
There are only one or two people about. Most of the town already fast asleep.
As I make my way through town I walk into someone, literally.
“Oy! Wash were you goin’!” she yells at me from her position on the ground.
I stop to look at her. She looks vastly different from what I look like. She has dark purple fur covering her entire body; her face isn’t flat like mine but has a muzzle. She has pointed ears that are hanging down. Her hair is an even darker purple than her coat, and she has a tail matching her hair.
She wobbles a bit trying to get up.
“No, no, don’ help or anythin’” she says as she is almost standing.
I resume walking, so does she; when is finally able to stand sturdy enough to take a step.
There is an elevated platform a short distance ahead with a couple of people standing on it. A sharp whistle signals the people of the arrival of a train.
I follow the tracks with my eyes until I’m looking up the mountain again.
I follow the strange horse people boarding the train for the ride up the mountain.
I take a seat in a cart, which already has some people in it. They all look like that woman from earlier; only some of them have a horn on their forehead.
The moment I sit down everyone looks at me; either fearfully or just in awe.
“I’m going to a convention,” I say.
And with a collective “ooh” everybody goes back to his or her business.
The conductor didn’t show; he’s probably sleeping in the front.
The train ride takes a while, by the time it stops on the top of the mountain the sun is starting to peek over the horizon.
I get of the train and onto the sparkling marble platform and all I see is white and gold and purple everywhere. This city is a beautiful feat of architecture, but I couldn’t care less.
I make my way to trough the streets, in a B line to the castle.
I pass a few guards that get increasingly more nervous the closer I get.
The moment I pass the gate everyone of them has his of her spear raised or the their swords drown.
“Halt! What is you business here!” one of them yells as he steps in front of me.
I don’t stop; I just push him aside and march on.
Now they’re pissed, they all swarm me and point their weapons at me.
The first one to make a move is brave young guy with a spear.
He thrusts it at my face but I sidestep and grab it. I pull hard on his spear and the moment he comes in range is sidekick him in the chest. His armor caves in he is left gasping for air on the ground.
I immediately charge through the opening left by the careless guard and sprint to castle.
I can hear them giving chaise, some of them take to the air using feathered wings.
One of the flying ones pulls up next to me lifting his sword; the moment he brings it down I catch his hand with one of mine and use the other hand to punch him in the side of his head.
His helmet is warped from the force. Sending him crashing to the ground.
I pass through the grand doors of the palace and charge up some stairs and down a hallway that feels like the right direction.
Two more winged ones catch up and try to block my path. I jump-kick the left one and she goes flying head over heels and ends up face down somewhere down the hall.
The one on the right turns around to stab me with his sword while I’m on the ground. I try to roll away but I’m not fast enough and he sticks his sword in my shoulder.
Thank what ever is out there for proper armor; he barely leaves a dent.
I get up and draw my own sword and swing him, but he’s to fast.
He steps back down the hall where we came from still facing me. Does he think I’m going to fight it out or something?
I turn back and continue to my destination.
“Hey! Come back and fight me you coward!” he yells.
I don’t care I have somewhere to be.
I can hear more guards pulling up behind me, but I’m getting closer.
A couple of halls down I turn to a door that feels right; what ever is drawing me here is behind this door, it’s locked.
I take a step back to kick the door down. I’m smiling like a mad man.
With a roar of triumph kick as hard as I can and the door flies open.
There in the middle of the room is a beautiful brazier burning bright blue flames.
I put my sword away and slowly walk towards it. I lift my hand to touch it. I can almost feel it.
Then everything turns pink. I’m trapped in bright pink shield dome.
“No, I’m so close!” I scream as I bash the shield with my fists.
“Who do you think you are, breaking into the palace like this? Breaking into a princess’ room like this!?” someone says from behind me.
I turn around slowly. Behind me stands a man, one of the horned variety. He is taller than the others but not by much. His armor is different it’s purple with gold lining instead of full gold; he’s probably an officer of sorts. His coat looks to be white and his hair blue, it’s hard to tell through this damned shield.
“I came for something of mine” I say calmly.
“Is that so?” the officer says.
Then with a loud bang the shield vanishes and I’m forced to the ground.
There is someone on my back, I struggle and the one holding me down is losing ground.
“Hold still!” a woman yells in my ear and with bright flash everything goes dark.
Author's Note
Third chapter, i'm on a role.
Chapter four - reasonable talk
Chapter four – reasonable talk
“That fire is not staying here!” Shining yells.
He is standing nose-to-nose with his fillyfriend, each trying to stare the other down.
“And I said, no!” Cadance screams right back at him.
This has been going on for quite a while now. Ever since that thing had been locked away, Shining has been trying to get the blue fire away from Cadance. And at the same time she has been insisting it stays with her.
At the same time princess Luna sits on Cadance’ bed looking at the couple.
If they go one more circle of this meaning less banter I might go mad . She thinks to herself.
“That fire of yours has drawn some sort of demon to it, it’s dangerous! It needs to go somewhere safe!” This was the twelfth time Shining made that argument.
“He has been captured, there is no need to worry anymore!” argues Cadance for the twelfth time.
“Enough! The both of you! This yelling competition of yours has gone on for long enough! If you two can’t work it out now then lets come back to it when all the excitement has died down a bit! In the mean time we can talk to our guest, if he’s awake,” Luna said, successfully breaking up the argument. But if the looks being exchanged by the couple were any indication, this is far from over.
“Princess Luna, have discovered anything from the fire?” Cadance asks while the three of them make their way to the dungeons.
“Yes, actually. The fire seems to be magically linked to thine magic signature, the link goes quite deep which might explain why thou are so possessive of it,” Luna explained.
Cadance frowns and crosses her arms, “I’m not that possessive,” she mumbles.
*Snort.
The princesses look back at Shining Armor, who quickly looks away.
“There was something off about it though,” Luna continues, “the magic it uses is nothing like we’re used to here, it’s like its not from this world, and the only thing keeping it here is you.”
“But what would this demon need with it, if it’s directly linked to me then what could it use it for?” Cadance asks.
“I don’t know, but lets find out shall we.” Luna looks to be a little too happy about this.
They walk up the cell where ‘he’ is being hold, keeping a safe distance from the bars.
He sits in the middle of the cell, with his legs crossed and eyes closed. His arms are chained to the back wall, with long chains that allow for a little bit of walking around. His armor is gone, safely stored in Shining’s office.
“Hello, um, demon. What is your name?” Luna asks.
No reaction.
“You were asked something, prisoner!” Shining spat at him.
No reaction.
They stand around for a couple of seconds.
Slowly Cadance walks over the bars.
“Cadance. What are you doing?” Shining asks nervously.
Cadance just gestures him to be quiet.
She kneels down at the bars.
“Hello,” she says quietly.
The demon immediately opens his eyes.
She gasps. His eyes glow a bright cold blue, like the fire.
Cadance looks back at Shining, he looks really nervous; he has his hand on the hilt of his sword and his horn is glowing in preparation of spell, should things go south.
Luna looks more intrigued, her arms are crossed and she keeps a close eye on ‘him’. Seeing Cadance looking at her she nods for her to go on.
Cadance turns back to ‘him’.
“Who are you?” she asks.
“I do not remember my name,” he says, his voice is strange but for some reason it’s strangely comforting.
Cadance looks back again; apparently it didn’t have the same effect on her companions. Shining has widened his stance and Luna is frowning.
Turning back to him. “I will just call you Dem then, is that okay with you?” she askes.
No reaction
“Okay, um, why are here?” she asks.
“I came here because there is something of mine in this castle, it called me here.” Dem answers.
“Was it that blue fire?” Cadance asks.
“Yes,” Dem answers.
“What are you?” Luna suddenly asks, making Cadance jump.
Dem gives no reaction.
Luna sighs and nods to Cadance.
“Um, what are you?” Cadance asks for Luna.
Dem remains quite for a while, but just when Cadance wants to ask another question. He answers.
“I’m not sure what I am now, but I do know that I wasn’t always this. I know that I, at one point, had regular none glowing green eyes, pale pink skin and brown hair, no horns. I know that I could feel pain and fear, but not anymore,” his voice didn’t waver. He didn’t look away. He just said his thing.
“Do you where you came from,” Cadance felt somewhat sad by the story, and she wants to know more about this odd being.
“Just fragments, I believe it’s a place called Zundert, it’s small town but that’s about it,” Dem said.
“Memory loss can be treated, maybe we can find something for you,” Cadance says trying to be comforting.
“If you think it necessary, go ahead,” Dem says as he closes his eyes again. He is done talking.
“Well that guys seems nice,” Shining said sarcastically. “And what was that about trying to help him. He broke into the castle hospitalized three of my guards one of them might not make it! I don’t see why we should waste resources on this thing!” he exclaimed at they turned to leave.
“Because, if we know what he is and where he came from we can prepare to stop it from happening in the future, and because I want to know more about him.” Cadance says.
Luna trails behind deep in thought. She stops after a couple of paces to get a quick magic scan of Dem. She is going to figure out what he is and why he was so drawn to that fire that he broke into the palace for it.
“Shining, are you alright?” Cadance asks softly as she walks into Shining’s office.
He sighs, “no, I was just looking at the medical reports of the guards that were injured during Its little break in,” he says, not looking up from the papers in front of him.
“Is it bad,” Cadance asks as she walks over and pulls up a chair next to Shining.
“It’s pretty bad. The first one got kicked in his chest. His chest plate was bent so far that it prevented him from breathing. The medical examination says that he has eleven broken ribs the rest are all bruised, and a collapsed lung, he can make a full recovery but it will take time.
“The second one got punched in the side of his head, he has a broken jaw, and a large fracture in his skull, his left eye got destroyed, he will be partially blind. I’ll have to honourably discharge him.
“The last one got jump kicked in the chest hard enough to send her flying sixty feet down the hall into a wall. She has thirteen broken ribs the rest of them bruised, a cervical fracture, a fractured skull, and a spinal fracture in her lower back, and an externally fractured wing. If she even makes she will never fly or walk again.”
Cadance wiped a tear from her eyes; she is on the brink of crying.
“That guy is dangerous, that fire drew him here and this happened. Do you really want it to be in your room, the next time something comes for it, it might not go like this. The next time ponies could really die.” Shining said looking worriedly at his fillyfriend.
Cadance nodded, “Okay, move it somewhere safe, somewhere where we can study it away form other ponies,”
“Still want to know more about it, about that thing in the dungeon?” Shining asked.
“Yes, if this happens again I want to know more about it, about what we can do stop it,” she says, resting her head on Shining’s shoulder.
Shining goes back to his paper work, writing apology letters to the families of his injured guards.
In the dungeon, Dem is thinking.
Now he doesn’t just need to get to that fire, now he also needs to get his armor back.
He can feel the pull of both of them.
He takes a deep breath, feeling the magic in his body flare up, letting it out sends hot air and embers down to the floor of his cell.
He opens he eyes and smiles.
Chapter five - warm by the fire
Chapter five – warm by the fire
I take a breath and push the power out in an armor of magma and stone.
The heat of my armor melts my chains .
I inhale and unleash my fiery breath upon my cell door melting the lock and half the door away.
Guards storm at me through the narrow corridor or the dungeons, swords raised and shouting orders.
I summon a length of lava in my hand and whip it at the one in the front. My whip melts his armor and burns him to the bone, after an agenizing scream he expires on the floor.
The rest is not so lucky.
With a simple gesture a cloud of hot volcanic ash erupts all around them.
They cough and scream as they choke on the ash and their fur and skin catch fire from the heat.
I move on leaving nothing but charred corpses.
There aren’t a lot of guards. They probably don’t use is much.
When I reach the stairs up I look back. I suppose I should feel bad for hurting them, I should feel scared of these powers I got.
I feel no such things. I feel excited, happy. This feels good.
They must have sent someone to sound the alarm, because the moment I reach the top of the stairs I am surrounded about six guards stand in a half circle around me, all of them have horns.
“Fire!” one of the yells and immediately I am pelted with spells and bright lights.
One of them might not do much, but with all of them firing at me repeatedly they’re chipping away my molten armor.
In a bout of rage I sprout wings and jump at them.
I land on one of the middle ones, pinning him down.
The rest is send flying from the impact.
I unleash my fire breath on the guy underneath me, burning his face of.
The rest is getting up again.
I swing my whip around catching one in the throat.
He grabs his charred neck, gaging at his own blood.
Four more left.
They run like scared little children.
Using my other hand I throw a ball of lava at the nearest guard.
He is knocked down, showered in little bits of lava.
I leave him screaming in pain as the lava slowly melts through his armor.
I let the last three go, to let them spread the word.
I make my way to the closed of my two objectives, my armor.
There are remarkably few guards in the halls. They must have run off or something.
I reach a door. It’s a nice door, it has nice engravings in the dark wood along with a nameplate: Captain S. Armor.
I blast his door down.
He is not there, but with the papers thrown about the desk I think he left in a hurry.
My armor is in a locked chest to the side.
I try blasting it open but it doesn’t work.
I hit the lock, with the same result.
Picking up the chest I throw it out the door into the wall on the other side of the hall.
Still not open.
“Godverdomme, kut zooi!”
“God damn it, cunt stuff!” I scream in frustration.
Taking a breath to calm down, I focus on my palm; creating a small extremely hot flame.
Using my makeshift blowtorch I melt the lock slowly and steadily.
This works.
Finally with the chest open I can get my armor.
It takes a while to put it on. But everything is there, including his sword.
*Sigh*
This feels good, being in my armor again.
Now on too the second objective: the fire.
Trying to get a feel on where it is is hard for some reason.
I take a breath and focus.
It’s… still close but… moving.
They’re moving it somewhere.
“Come on! If he broke free he will come for this! We need it to be as far away as possible!” Shining shouted at his subordinates.
The moment he heard that ‘Dem’ had escaped he ordered his guards to stay clear away from him and make sure nopony was around to run into him by chance.
They’re moving the fire by cart, away from Canterlot.
The Pegasus guards pulling the cart took to the air.
Shining watches them go for a while, until they are outside of city limits.
With a sigh of relief he turns around to go look for Dem.
He doesn’t have to look very far.
Behind him, on the threshold of the palace, stands the demon.
Dem looks at him with his cold blue eyes.
Taking a step back Shining draws his sword and holds is with both hands.
It’s not a standard sword. It’s longer with a bigger guard and the pommel is engraved with his cutymark.
Dem draws his own sword.
He walks over until they are about ten feet away from each other.
“What happened to the guards in dungeons?” Shining asks, already knowing the answer.
“They’re dead, and you will soon join them,” Dem states as if he is talking about something funny.
Grinding his teeth Shining lunges at Dem trying to stab him.
Dem uses the back of his hand bat his sword away swings his own blade.
It bounces of a small shield that Shining summoned.
He has no skill in swordplay, but he makes up for it in strength durability. But if I can just keep using my shields I’ll be fine, Shining thinks.
Shining makes an upward swing with his sword quickly followed with a thrust at his opponent’s belly.
With the satisfying feeling of his sword slipping between armor plates and into Dem’s flash he allows a smile on he muzzle.
Only to have it wiped off when he’s hit in the face.
Dropping his sword spitting out the loose tooth he looks up at Dem, summoning a shield to prevent himself from being decapitated by this monster.
“What are you?” he askes.
“I have no idea,” Dem answers.
Dem lifts his hand brings it down on his shield.
Shining can feel the impact through magic feedback into his brain.
It’s just a simple shield, hastily cast; it isn’t as strong as he’s like it to be.
Bringing his fist down again and again, Dem hammers away at it.
Until Shining can’t take it anymore and he looses consciousness.
The captain lays at my feet, unconscious and vulnerable. But I can feel the fire getting away from me.
I need to hurry if I want to catch up with it.
It’s moving fast, high up in the air.
I focus my magic on my back trying to summon my wings again.
It takes a while and a lot of energy but I did it.
Now I just need to figure out how to use these things.
My first attempt ends with my face in the dirt. The second is not any better.
The third I actually land on my feet.
This is getting frustrating.
I try again and this time I actually stay in the air.
With some effort I face the way I need to go and start flapping.
My wings are quite big, and I gain a lot of speed pretty quickly.
But a side wind blows me of course. Correcting with wings this big is hard, I can barely turn at all.
After what feels like forever I finally see them in the distance.
They have noticed me too and pick up the pace, but with the cart behind them they don’t go fast enough to out fly me.
I’m getting closer. I can almost feel it.
Then the cart drops like a stone; the guards have gone in a nosedive.
I over shoot over and try to correct and dive after them.
I catch up again and am slowly getting closer.
So is the ground.
I reach out with my hand and summon a chain to pull the cart closer.
The moment I get a hold of them they level out and I am pulled along like a kite.
The sudden weight throws them of balance and the crash on the ground.
I’m lying on the ground. I try to get up but I have broken my leg.
The cart is about twenty feet away.
I crawl over to the cart, the guards are lying next to it and they appear to be dead.
The fire somehow came loose and stands little bit away from the crash.
Crawling over, I stick my hand into the fire.
I’m lifted of the ground as the fire flows into my chest.
Cadance is sitting with Luna in Luna’s study.
Suddenly Cadance grabs her own head, closing her eyes.
“Cadance, are thou feeling alright?” Luna asks.
It feels like something is forcing its way into her brain.
With a spine-chilling scream she falls to her knees.
Clenching her eyes shut, tears streaming down her face and shaking.
Then as suddenly as it began it is over.
She opens her eyes and she gasps.
“Cadance, are you alright?” Luna asks worriedly.
“I don’t know,” she says, “Luna, where am I?”
“What do you mean? Your still here, with me, in my study,” Luna says.
“What no, no that’s not right. I-I’m outside, in a field,” Cadance says.
Suddenly she looks down, but not of her own accord.
“AAAAAAAAAAH” Cadance screams, what she sees is not her own body, what she sees is black demonic looking armor, and her leg is bent the wrong way.
“No nononononono, this is can’t be happening!” she yells.
She closes her eyes again and presses her hands over her eyes.
“Cadance, Cadance, your fine, you’re here with me, in the castle,” Luna says sitting next to her niece and holding her, gently rocking her back and forth.
“Cadance just open your eyes and look at me. Cadance look at me.”
Luna grabs her face and points it at her.
“Open your eyes Cadance,” Luna commands.
Opening her eyes slowly her vision fills with Luna’s face. She launches forward hugging her aunt.
“Cadance, what happened, what did you see?” Luna asks.
“I-I was him, I was Dem. I could the fire, it was in a field and my leg was broken. I was wearing the armor and and the guards, they were dead,” Cadance says while sobbing in Luna shoulder.
Author's Note
Chapter five yay.
Chapter six - An intimate relationship
Chapter six – An intimate relationship
-During the escape-
“Before we left I took a quick scan of Dem, as thou called him, his magic is very similar to that of the fire, but he lacked parts, it was incomplete. I think he is drawn to the fire because he needs it to ‘fill’ that part of him,” Luna explained. “But I don’t know what that would do to thou since that fire of yours has a part of thine magic.”
“Okay so, I am magically linked to blue demonic fire that a demon wants to desperately get his hands on. Should I be worried?” Cadance asks.
“No, I wouldn’t worry to much. Dem is locked up and the fire is being moved to a secure location by Shining Armor as we speak,” Luna pronounces confidently, “What could go wrong?”
I sit in the field, I look around and I have no clue what to do.
Since I came here I had this feeling of that I needed to get somewhere, I needed get something.
That’s gone now. I feel whole now, but I have nothing to do, nowhere to be.
“I don’t know,” a voice says, I freeze. I know this voice it’s of the pink one that talked to me, the one that gave me my name, Dem “Luna, where am I? ” That’s not the name she gave me what’s she talking about.
“What no, no that’s not right. I-I’m outside, in a field,” She says, she’s in a field. But she was in that city on a mountain, there are no fields there.
I look down, thinking of where she could be.
“AAAAAAAAAAH!” She screams. I look around. What the heck is going on, I look around look at the guards they not moving and there is no one else there. Why is she screaming like that?
“No nononononono, this can’t be happening!” She yells. Am I going insane? What’s happening, what’s going on?
I hear a noise and turn around. The guards aren’t quite dead yet and they’re beginning to stir.
I look at my leg. I can’t fight like this.
I take a hold of my leg and bend it strait. There are some worrying sounds.
Thinking back to the forest, to that feeling and focusing my powers on it.
After a couple of seconds I feel the familiar thumping of my hearth in my ears. My leg is healed and I can stand again.
The voice has been quiet for a while.
I walk over to the guards.
The left one is in bad shape, his face is messed up and he has a piece of wood in his leg, it’s bleeding nicely. I don’t have to do anything for him; he’ll bleed out on his own.
The right one is doing a lot better. He’s getting up pushing rubble away. His arm is broken but it’s nothing serious.
Walking over, I look down on him.
I point my sword at his throat.
“P-Please, don’t. I have a wife and a son. Please, please,” he begs while holding up his hands.
I bring my sword closer to his throat.
“Plea-hea-hease, let me go,” he cries.
I lean forward stab him through the throat.
“Stop, don’t kill him!” the voice shouts in my head.
It’s back, ‘verdomme, why?’ I think. I was this close. 'damn it'
“Because it’s another pony, and you don’t kill others!” She says.
She hears my thoughts, really?
‘I’ve done it before, why not now?’ I think back ‘It’s really easy, just poke him here-‘ I push my sword in his throat drawing blood ‘-and he dies. Just like that.’
“No, no don’t, just bring them back alive and we’ll patch them up here,” she orders.
‘That doesn’t matter, the other one is bleeding out, he’ll be dead before we’re halfway there,’ I tell her.
“What!? Okay calm down, calm down. Just find a piece of rope or something and tie of his limb, he’ll be fine,” she says.
*Sigh. ‘Of course my lord,’ I don’t know why but I feel compelled to do as she says.
“I’m a woman,” she says with a huff. It’s weird to have someone huff in head.
‘Of course, my lord,’ I repeat, she is the lord, whether she likes it or not.
I take a piece of the rope from the cart that was holding down the fire.
I walk over to the guard and wrap the robe around his leg. He mumbles something, “Please, please wait, don-“. I smirk and before he can finish his sentence in pull the rope tight.
With a yelp he shuts up, tears start rolling down his face.
I look over at the other guy. He’s just scared and still shaking.
“Get up!” I yell at him, with no words of protest removes the last of the rubble and stands, holding his broken arm.
“Can you fly?” I ask him.
“Y-Yes sir,” the guard says. “Then fly back, go!” I order him.
He does not need to be told twice, he quickly jump in the air and flies away, back to that city.
I pick up the other guy over my shoulder and summon my wings.
I almost fall from the sky myself with the extra weight and imbalance.
The crash site quickly vanishes in the distance as I follow the first guard, leaving the fire all but forgotten.
Once I get back to Canterlot I am surrounded by guards, to many to count.
I lay down the guard I carried back, he groans in pain. Even with his leg tide off he’s still lost a lot of blood.
Shining isn’t among them but the blue one walk forward. She was at my cell too.
“Why did thou save our stallions?” she asks, he voice is commanding, I would be scared, if could feel fear, that is.
“Because I was told to,” I answer.
“Told to? By whom?” she asks, the guards haven’t moved yet, but they’re getting nervous.
“By the pink one. I don’t know her name, but she commands me,” I tell her. She raises her eyebrow and looks back at the guards. With a simple nod the make way for the pink one. She just stands there awkwardly, looking left and right and then finally at me. She walks forward.
“Why me?” She asks, the blue one has her arms crossed, observing.
“The fire, is it yours?” I ask, the crosses her arms and frowns. “Yes it is, why, what’s that got to do with anything?” she says.
I lean forward and whisper, “Everything.”
“Fine be mysterious, give me your sword,” she commands.
I take my sword of my middle and give to her. My sword is as big as her leg, she’s taller than most stallions I see around us, but I still tower over her, at most she reaches my chest.
She turns around I follow her. Behind us a pair of medics rush over to the injured soldier.
As I make my way through the ranks of guards I can see that each and every one of them is shaking like a leaf.
“Hm, some soldiers,” I mumble to myself.
Author's Note
chapter six
Chapter seven - offered help
Chapter seven – offered help
“Where is the fire now?” my lord asks, she has keeps telling me that she is a lady.
“Back at the crash site, I couldn’t take it and the guard with me,” I tell her.
“*Sigh, fine. You there-“ she stops and points at the closed one of the guard that followed us “-send a couple of Pegasus guards to bring it back, now,” she orders him.
“Yes ma’am,” he salutes and flies of.
She slows down to walk at my side so she can look at me. “I still want to know more about you, so you are going to get you memories fixed by a doctor, are you okay with that?” she asks at a much calmer tone.
I keep looking on ahead, “if you deem it necessary,” I tell her.
With a sigh she focuses on getting to this doctor.
I’m lying on the bed now, with my helmet off. The doctor is walking around, putting glowing gems in some sort of arc that goes around my head.
“Is going to hurt doctor?” my lord asks, I still don’t have her name, not that it matters, I call her my lord anyway.
“It could, but that depends on the amount of memories we’re recovering,” the doctor says.
“I don’t feel pain, my lord,” I tell them.
“Everypony feels pain, that’s just a fact,” the doctor says.
“He’s not exactly a pony though,” my lord says.
The doctor huffs, “That’s preposterous, he may not be a pony but surely he feels pain.”
With the last of gems in place, the doctor gets in position beside me.
He flares up his horn and the gems follow his example.
“Now just hold still,” he says.
At first nothing happens, but then one by one shapes and sounds come forth.
Voices, places, things and faces.
A lot them, at first I don’t know what to make of it, but then, after a while I start to put names to the faces, and faces to the voices.
It’s not a complete picture for a lot of them, some have faces and names but no voices and some have voices and names but no faces.
My own name comes by, but it’s just half my name, just my surname: Lowenthal.
After what feels like ages, I remember most of my friends and family.
It’s like a video with a lot of white noise.
I can feel my anger rise as more and more people join the first few.
Only a few have faces and even less have actual names.
I clench my fist on the bed, these are friends and family, they had at one point been very important to me but I feel no remorse, no sadness like I should. I feel angry because that is one of few things I can feel.
I don’t miss them, I should.
I think hard on what I am; I know I have seen things like that before.
Than I see it. What I am now, where they came from, and how I ended up here.
“A Daedra,” I say to clenched teeth.
“What, what did say?” my lord asks me.
“That’s what I am, a Daedra. A demon made to serve a lord as an immortal soldier, made to kill, to destroy,” I say.
It’s quiet for a while.
“Um…” the doctor says.
With a flash of light the window breaks, glass flies everywhere.
Something brown with wings forces the doctor to the ground.
Two more try to force my lord to the ground and tie her up.
Their torso is covered in leather armor and feathers, and their heads are those of eagles or something.
With a manic grin I jump of the bed and grab the closed one by the and smash it’s face in the floor and again and again until a nice red pool of blood starts form under it, I’m just glad to have something to focus my anger at.
The second is done tying up my lord and it tries to take her out the window.
I grab its wing and pull my lord from its grasp.
It claws at me with skinny light brown arms tipped with black claws.
I grab it wing with both hands and twist.
With a satisfying crack it breaks. It let’s out animalistic cry, it sounds like a chicken.
I walk to the window and throw it out. It flies like one too.
The last one is still pushing down the struggling doctor.
“Don’t move, I kill him!” it screams at me, I don’t stop walking.
This one is younger, inexperienced.
He starts shaking, “I’m warning you!” I reach him and he still doesn’t make a move to harm the doctor.
I grab his neck and lift him of the ground, with a hard squeeze I snap his neck and he drops dead to the floor.
I turn around to untie my lord.
When she is free she looks in my eyes.
“I need to get to Shining, he’s still unconscious,” she says, she gets up and moves to the door.
I take my helmet and put it back on.
The hall is in complete chaos, nurses and other ‘ponies’, apparently they are ponies, run screaming down the hall.
We go the opposite direction, to Shining’s room.
Along the way we run into more bird people, they look down the hall searching for something.
Apparently that something is my lord.
They charge us. They don’t get far.
I inhale and when I exhale the entire hallway is filled with fire. They scream as their feathers and skin are burned of their bodies.
We move past the charred bodies of the soldiers, some are still alive but all they do is whimper and groan.
We don’t run into many more but those we do run into die pretty easily.
The door to Shining’s room is blow of its hinges. My lord runs over to look but the room is empty, not even a corpse in the bed.
“No, where is he?” My lord asks as the goes to sit next to the bed.
I look out the window, it’s wide open and in the distance I can see three bird-men carrying somebody, somebody white with a blue tail.
“Out there, their taking him,” I say.
Immediately my lord steps in front of the window to look.
“Well, what are you waiting for, go get him!” She yells at me.
I jump out the window and spread my wings, I’m getting pretty good with these, and give chaise.
I don’t even come close before I’m tackled to the side by more bird-men.
I don’t have my sword, my lord took it, and so I just swing my fist at their face.
Beaks break, wings are ripped of bodies and one by one they plummet to the ground.
But am not unharmed, bit by bit my wings get torn apart and with one last lucky strike one of them cuts a hole big enough in the skin to send me spiraling down.
I land face first on the road, and then everything goes black.
Chapter eight - off we go
Ever experienced weightlessness? No? It's weird. Add to that the fact that I'm surrounded by complete darkness, and it's very surreal.
I just float here for a while. I know I died, and I remember how, but what happened after? I don't know.
Then a light appeared, a blue light. It's right in front of my face. I flashes and grows in to a flame, growing and spreading on and on, until it fills my entire field of view, turning brighter and brighter then I feel my knees land on nice hard ground.
Me, my guard and aunty Luna stand in front of the fire. Two Pegasus guards just brought it back.
A tear rolls down my cheek, Shining is taken, and Dem died.
I wipe away the tears that are rolling down my face, closing my eyes as i do so.
When I open them again the fire flares up, shouting 25 feet in the air, swirling around in giant orb.
From the orb falls a creature I have never seen before, it is massive. It's horns grow from the side of its head and point forward and backward. It's wings are big enough to shroud all of us in shadow. It's tail is bladed with what looks like an ax.
But it's body is still on fire with the blue flames as it lands on hands and knees with it's head down.
The fire doesn't die down, it grows. And as it burns it shrinks and shrinks, until Dem is sitting there on hands and knees, reborn from the fire that binds him to me.
As the fire dies down, he stands.
"You, giant imbecile! You scared me to death! Dying on me like that!" I yell at him as i walk over and hit him, and hit him, until my hand hurt from bashing my hand against his armor.
"I told you, a Dremora is an eternal soldier, pretty bad eternal soldier I would be if I could die on you, now wouldn't I." Dem says, is he being smug with me? That's new, must be his returned memories or something, but i rather like it.
"What was that giant beast thou where before? It looked pretty impressive." Luna says as she walks over, "I do believe several of the guards wet themselves upon seeing it."
Looking back i can indeed see several quaking knees and wet stained pants.
"Anyway lets get inside, I need to discuss something with you," I say, turning around to head to my room.
After following my lord to her room, she lies on her bed and stares up to the ceiling.
"I need you to go to the Griffon-empire, find out where they are hiding Shining Armor and bring him back. Alive. If you in the mean time come across anyone that tries to stop you or anything, kill them, kill them all. I want them dead! I want the one that took Shining Armor dead! The one that gave the order to invade, to take the one I love! Kill the one that tried to ruin my life DIES!" she screams, it fills me with joy to hear that order, I know killing used to be bad, it used to be something I couldn't even think off, even in game out rite killing someone was hard, now not anymore, now I like it.
My lord whips her head to look at me, "Go, now!"
She didn't notice, I almost didn't notice, her eyes where glowing very softly, a cold blue.
I open my eyes. I’m chained to the floor of a cold cell. There is straw on the ground, but that’s it. I can feel a metal ring around my horn, blocking my magic.
The walls of my cell are covert in moss and mushrooms. There is one other occupant in the cell, but won’t tell me anything. He’s long dead.
Suddenly the door to my cell is thrown open and a big griffon wearing a hood unlocks the chains at from the ground.
“Get up!” he yells in my face.
I look him in the eyes; some of my blue mane gets in my face.
With a glare stand strait and proud, refusing to behave like a mere criminal.
He turns and leads me trough a couple of hallways before shoving me in small metal chamber with only a chair in it.
“Sit,” says a polite voice. The voice belongs to shorter Griffon male, he is grey with the feathers on his head combed back.
I sit on the chair. He walks over and locks the end of my chain to the wall behind me.
“So, captain Armor. I think you can guess why you are here, so I’ll skip the pleasantries,” He places a map of Equestria and Canterlot on the ground and holds a piece of charcoal out to me. “What are Equestria’s defences, how are they positioned and how is Canterlot fortified after an attack?” he askes.
I sit up strait and look at him. I’m not going to say anything. Not a word.
Sigh “We can do this the easy way or the painful way, it’s your choice,” I don’t make a move.
“As you wish,” he stands and walks over to the door.
“Gunther, if you please?” he tells to the big guy on the other side.
The griffon named Gunther walks in and stands in front of me. He pulls out a small knife from his pocket and grabs my hair.
He slowly moves the knife to my forehead underneath my horn and carves a line down my forehead.
It hurts but as much I thought would, but then he pulls out a small bag from his other pocket and takes a snuff of white powder from it.
He moves it to my head and rubs in the cut. Immediately the wound starts burning.
He’s literally rubbing salt in my wound.
I grunt and try to grab him by the throat but the chains hold me back just barely and inch away from him.
The grey one walks bag into view.
“I would like my answer. If not, I will have Gunther here turn you pretty face into an art project. So, tell me about Equestria,” he says as he kneels down by the maps again.
For the first time here I say something.
“Screw you.”
At that moment Gunther walks in front of me again and place the point of the knife of the end of the first cut and moves down.
I refuse to scream as he cuts up my face, I refuse to scream as he rubs more salt in my forehead.
I stand at the border of Equestria, and look over to the land of Griffons.
There is nothing here to indicate that just a couple of paces ahead you enter a different country.
I take of at a brisk pace making my way strait to the capital.
It’ll take me a couple of days to get there and after my defeat in the air I won’t risk flying again.
As a run through the across the land my lords words of good bye repeat in my head: ‘My aunty has asked me to give you a second assignment, after you have rescued Shining, kill their king and high ranking military officials. Just remember Shining first, King killing second.’
I can hardly wait.
Author's Note
Chapter eight
This took a little longer because i was away with family for easter, sorry.
The creature i discribed during the resurection was a Titan from the game .
Should i put Luna in the character tags? She sticks around quite a bit.
Chapter nine - get out of my way
Chapter nine - get out of my way
Chapter nine – Get out of my way~
First contact with the griffons was boring. One patrol made of three griffons. They didn’t even have the time to lift their swords. Perhaps if they saw it coming, but they didn’t, so they died.
The first village I encountered was small, just a small town of lumberjacks.
I thought they could swing an axe properly, but no. The guards there also didn’t count for much.
After about an hour there is nothing left of the small town but burning rubble and smoking corpses.
And so I continue to cut and burn my way to the capital.
I now stand in front the city gates of the capital, securely shut to keep me and other threats out.
Night fell as soon I saw this city. It will make the fire stand out all the better as I burn it down.
The thick wooden gate would take to long to bash open by myself of burn through, and this probably isn’t the only one.
I look up and see only a couple of sentries on the wall.
Focussing my magic on the nearest one, I pull him down with the chain. As soon as he’s within arms reach I break his neck.
I use my wings to get up to the wall where the sentry used to stand.
In seconds the other guards are onto me. About three or four of them are charging me with spears and halberds.
Taking a deep breath, I prepare fore when all of them are close enough.
As soon as the last one is within range I unleash my fire breath. All of them scream in agony, as they are burned alive. One jumps down to on the roof of a near by building setting its straw roof on fire.
I turn to look at the city. It’s a big place, circular with the palace and other important buildings in the middle. There is a main road leading up to the palace.
After a minute of looking out over the city, bells start to ring. Signalling the people there is something amiss.
Griffons look out of their houses to see what’s going. People who live close to the house that’s on fire start to throw water on the fire; some are smart enough to push a raincloud over it.
I jump down, and summon my whip. These are not soldiers but they’ll have to do for now.
They don’t even fight back; they just take it as I cut down men and women all the way to the main road, setting buildings on fire as I go.
Looking back at the destruction I breathe in the scent of smoke and death. It puts a smile on my face.
The clatter of armor draws my attention back to the task at hand.
A big group of guards, around twenty in total come running my way.
With my sword in one hand and my whip in the other in meet the head on.
I’m back in my cell. My face still burns from all the cuts and the salt from yesterday.
My cell door opens and Gunther removes the chains from the wall again to take me for another round of torture.
I follow him again as he leads me to the torture chamber.
I look at the chain that goes from my cuffs to Gunther’s hand.
With I quickly whip the chain around Gunther’s head and pull it tight around his throat.
He tries to call for help, but to do that you need air going past you vocal cords.
He walks back and pushes me against the wall. He starts bashing me into the stone in hope of getting me off.
After a while the bashing grows weaker until it stops entirely.
I let go and search his pockets for the key to my cuffs.
He has several keys but no cuff keys.
I take his knife and move further down the narrow hallways.
“Gunther?! What’s taking you so long?” the grey-one shouts from within the chamber.
I quickly stand next to the door and wait.
“Gunther?” he asks as he opens the door.
As soon as he sticks his head outside I stick the knife in his eye. He squawks and falls back I sit on his chest and stab his other eye, and now I push it as far in as I can.
I hold him there until he too stops moving.
I search him; he also doesn’t have the cuff keys.
I groan but it makes sense to keep the cuff keys away from the one who you are torturing.
I look back in the hallway but nothing has changed.
I try to pry of the magic inhibitor, but it’s on to tight.
I walk through the dungeons trying to find a way out.
I find a stairwell and a small spark of hope lights in my mind.
Walking to the top I spot a griffon sleeping in a chair with a crossbow next to him. He’s alone.
I walk in front of him and use the knife to slice his throat.
He gurgles in an attempt to call for help. He grabs his throat as blood spews between his fingers.
He looks at me with fear clear in his eyes.
I have to close my eyes and look away. I know I have to do this but that doesn’t make it easier, or make me like it.
After a while the sounds stop, and I look him over to see if he has the keys.
Finally, he has the keys I get these cursed cuffs of and try put the small key into the hole of the inhibitor. I can’t find it.
I look for a mirror or something reflective.
I find a discarded metal plate with some food residue on it.
As I look in my reflection for the keyhole I get the first look at my face as well.
My face is scared to Tartarus.
There are three lines coming down from my forehead. The middle goes strait until the halfway down my muzzle where it splits in two to go down ether side of my muzzle.
The left one goes down and forms a square spiral under my eye
The right one goes almost all the way down and goes back up over my eye and makes a zigzag pattern in my forehead.
I look like a foals attempt at making modern art.
All the wounds are still red and my face is covert in dried blood.
Only when alarm bells start ringing do I focus back at the task at hand.
I look at the inhibitor and remove it with the keys.
I take the downed guard’s crossbow and combat knife and make my way outside.
As I walk through the river of blood that I made with bleeding corpses of those who stand in my way, I walk towards the palace.
Every now and then I set a building on fire.
I like to watch the griffons try and escape, only to be met with more death on the streets of their once proud city.
Guards come in a steady stream down from the palace, and every time I cut them down.
Usually it’s the whip that gets them, but every once in a while one gets close enough to land a blow only to be decapitated by my sword.
Decapitated, it’s such a funny word. I rather like it.
When I enter the palace courtyard I see someone already standing there.
He is a griffon, but she wears a more extravagant armor, with more gold and red.
“You come here, slaughter my soldiers and you think that I wouldn’t stop you?” she yells at me.
This will be interesting. “Yes, I really like your soldiers. They manage to entertain me quiet well. Although they aren’t very skilled at combat, they die to easily. Perhaps you are better,” I say as I move towards her.
She pulls a crossbow from her back and fires and bolt at me as she takes to the air.
The bolt pierces the armor at my shoulder but doesn’t do too much damage.
She reloads mid air and line up her crossbow for another shot.
I call forth a cloud of ash to shroud me from her site.
She looks for me but can’t get close enough the ash without being burned.
Just as she lowers her crossbow to take a better look, I ram her as I take flight myself.
I keep pushing her until we meet the wall of the palace.
I can feel her armor warp and bent, I back of and with a surge of magic pound her deeper into the wall with a ball of lava.
She doesn’t get up and I land again.
“Disappointing,” I say as walk into the palace.
I walk outside expecting several squads of guards. But only find a burning city instead.
A crash further away in the courtyard alerts me of fighting.
As I make my way over I see Dem walking to the palace.
As soon as he is gone a figure falls down.
A female griffon in what used to be fancy armor groans as she lies there.
I walk over to see if she is a threat.
She sees me, and rasps; “Protect the royal family, he’ll kill them all-“ and with that she goes still.
I look up at the door Dem went into and follow him.
Author's Note
Chapter nine
