Into The Storm

46

Rosalis and Uliraf arrived at a mountain and proceeded to ascend it. They stepped into a cave and went down the naturally formed corridor. They stopped. In front of them, stood a cave wall. There was no way forward. Uliraf stepped over to the wall and proceeded to feel around it.

"What are you looking for?"

"It should be here." Uliraf replied, still searching for something. "The demigod was imprisoned inside this very mountain."

"It is just a wall."

"It can't be. There has to be some sort of a way through."

Rosalis looked around and it was then, that something caught her eye. An incredibly small shimmering, just at the corner of the wall. She walked over to it, gently pushing Uliraf out of the way. He looked at her. Rosalis took hold of the shimmering and pulled it away. Suddenly, a flash of silver travelled across the wall and disappeared almost instantly. The wall scraped against stone as it began to sink into the ground. Ahead of them both, was a long, barrierless bridge with a platform at the end of it. They walked down it and stood at the platform. The titanic demigod looked down at them. It sat in a giant throne of stone, five hundred feet tall, a three hundred foot steel sword in its hand. It was chained to the throne, which itself was chained to the cliff face. The demigod was clad in rusted armour and had long, white hair and a long matching beard. It looked down at them with its wrinkled face.

"Who is it that enters my domain?" It asked them.

"My name is Uliraf Ulai and this is my queen, Rosalis Ventris." He called out. "The witches told us that you have a message for us."

"So the prophecy be true."

"What is this prophecy?"

"Bow down and swear allegiance to me as your god. Then I shall tell you."

"No." Uliraf refused. The demigod took its sword and crushed Uliraf underneath the point of it, killing him instantly. Rosalis screamed in horror and collapsed next to his corpse. The demigod raised its sword and put it back into its original position.

"Bring him back!" She yelled at it.

"Give me one good reason to."

"He is the commander of the Wolfholde army!"

The demigod was not fazed one bit by the news. "That is not my concern."

"I need his support in the coming war. He can't die!"

"He is already dead." It pointed out. "He refused my offer and paid the price for it."

Fury suddenly took a hold of Rosalis. "Bring him back!"

The demigod said nothing more. Rosalis buried her head into Uliraf's corpse and sobbed uncontrollably. "So it is true."

Rosalis looked up at it, stifling her sobs. "What is?"

"That your love for Uliraf is stronger than your love for your own people."

"Even if I fail, I will still have one kingdom, but I need Uliraf by my side."

The demigod's eyes suddenly flashed white once and Uliraf's giant wound healed up, bones, organs and skin regrowing, stitching themselves back together. His armour repaired itself and looked brand new. Uliraf suddenly gasped awake. He looked around, frantically, trembling in shock. His wild eyes then caught sight of Rosalis.

"What happened?" He asked her. "The last thing that I remember is a sword coming down onto me."

"You're alright, you're alive." She reassured him. Uliraf stood up, sighing heavily. Rosalis looked up at the demigod. "What is this prophecy?"

"One day, there shall be a battle between two kingdoms so fierce, it shall shake the very foundations of the Earth. Tens of thousands will lose their lives. It also states that a maiden will betray her kingdom and fight for her enemy. It seems that one of these things has already come to pass."

"Are we victorious?"

"The result is ambiguous, it is always changing to me as a result of whatever you decide to do with your path."

"What do you see now?"

The demigod sat motionless, not saying anything for the longest time. "You shall both fail at the cost of your own lives."

Uliraf composed himself, getting over the shock and looked up at the demigod. "What should we do?"

"Kill the regent, change the course of history, and you will save yourselves from eternal darkness. Frinnor and Wolfholde will be saved from destruction and will co-exist peacefully side by side." The demigod reached out a finger to Rosalis. She climbed onto it and it lifted her to eye level, staring at her in a small wonder. "You are such a measly thing over one kingdom." It told the speck of dust. "You are to blame for everything that is happening. If only you had protected your companions, then none of this would have happened. All you had to do was assassinate one man."

"And I was successful." She told it.

"At the cost of tens of thousands of lives, including one queen and two loyal kings. One of which ruled for barely three days. There might still be hope for you, but I doubt it very much."

"I will carry on until the regent is dead and the throne is mine once more."

"And if not?"

"I still have Wolfholde."

It chuckled, seeming amused and put her down, but a moment later, its smile disappeared.

"Tell me," Uliraf said to it. "Is there a way to break your curse, if we could somehow free you from the mountain?"

"There is not. I can do nothing to help you directly, you can only follow my advice. Kill the regent, change your ways, and the future ahead will be bright. If not, then you shall both plunge into darkness." The demigod suddenly smiled at them.