The Land Of Rohan

End Of The Line - Omens Over The Horizon

The End Chapter - IV

- Birthplace of Purity, Ignis: Ground Zero of the Dragonspite Incident -

Suddenly, the march was silent. The fog of battle lifted, and revealed inch after inch of the gargantuan army that came from the north. All heads turned towards them: the escaping Guild, the regrouping Resistance, the imposing Gods, the bewildered Servitors. And the Great Dragon Krieger, whose undistinguishing rage was quelled in time by the Flamechild’s spontaneous cage.

The Giants bore weapons as great as they were, hafts stretching from toe to forehead, with blades equally impressive. Those in front were heavily armoured, behind them were what appeared to be the mystics of the tribes, adorned totems and amulets visibly.

Flox smiled.

“Toys for our pets, Sister!” With no hesitation he waved his austere staff, and Marea joined him in motion. From thin air and their machined chants came forth an ancient vast double-door encrusted in patina. For a moment, it just stood there in mid-air, garnering as much attention as the act before it. Then a loud thump from behind the door.

“Care to do the honours, Marea?”

Flox’s bosom sibling smiled back, with her coy lips and honeyed grin. “Come, pretties!” welcomed Marea. “Let us dance under the pale blood moon.”

She gingerly shook to and fro, swaying her hips to an unheard tempo, and gently let out her siren song. The doors creaked deafeningly against each other and from the space between came a dark miasma. Marea reached her violent crescendo, as the doors opened fully. A cadre of demons, avatars of the Five twisted beyond reason, came flowing through. A horrific sight to behold by all but the most hardened warriors. They stood poised to flood all of Rohan in the murk of corruption, with the twin mad Gods in the fore.

While the war-weary participants of the days before cringed at the thought of fighting with their energy depleted, their vitality all but drained, the fresh visitors welcomed the incoming onslaught with a resounding “Hooah!”. The collective battle cry by the horde of Giants took both the Guild and the Resistance by surprise, shaking even the very foundations of Montt. They rushed headlong into the fray, meeting demonhide straight on with swinging polearms and blazing staves. Numerous but still outnumbered by the steady stream of demons from the portal, and outnumbered by two Gods to none, the Giants seemed to defy rational thinking by their mad dash into the conflict.

The denizens of Rohan were lifted by a second wind; induced, forced, or inspired by the sudden turns in the battle. They returned to the fight in hopes of ending it, hoping whilst the visitors act as somewhat allies against the large odds against them.

- o -

“Flox!,” called out Garrick. “What is it you want with the city of your brood? Haven’t you your own palace to despoil?!” It appeared ostensibly that the remaining magnate forces on the field would eventually find each other out. Garrick, trailed by Wahrsager on his left and Rache on his right, called out to the Twin Gods.

“Why, you unsightly excuse for a Human? Have you not gleaned our purpose yet? You even brought my poor, poor, Flamechild; why don’t you ask her?” Flox allowed himself a bellowing laugh. “This world is ours for the taking. Roha and the others can rot above us for all we care. They’ve lost themselves in their useless quest for Father. I echoed their sentiments for a time – championed it even, with a grossly immature obsession – but, ha, you of all people should know. Things change. Marea and I did.”

“Isn’t that truly the best, brother?” Flox’s sister floated lazily towards him, and planted a light kiss upon his cheek, taking on her lips the drops of blood on Flox’s face. “Mother couldn’t agree more. We could make this our age. The Dragons are no more, and the races of Rohan were all bred to be snivelling packs of rats scrabbling for sustenance without direction. It was bound to be! Like a gift, you see!”

Bolts rang through the air in a blinking of an eye, bouncing of a barrier Flox probably had around him at the ready. Wahrsager had shot a clutch at the Gods, snatching the vain prince’s ire.

“You dare attempt to soil my wonder? You’re a pretty young thing yourself, half-breed, and I’d enslave you for myself and Sister once this world is taken, but if you do that again I will vacuum your bowels out from your nose.”

“Nobody calls me half-breed!”

To Garrick’s dismay, Wahrsager ran recklessly for the pair. “Forester, no!” Steeling himself, he readied his weapon and jumped right with his comrade. “Flamechild, right flank! You take the Goddess.”

Rache’s eyes sizzled once more with a malicious fire, the first time ever since her discovery of her beloved Teacher’s betrayal.

“Gladly,” she replied with lust, as she sped in mid-air towards Marea.

- o -

“Great Dragon…” An ancient voice reverberated ‘neath the invisible shell that enclosed Krieger.

“Who are you,” he answered raspy. “What do you want. I’m busy.”

“You are inside of this cage, and yet you speak such fervent arrogance.” Krieger recognized the voice.

“Akk’arna!”

“Your place is not here. We were so close.”

“I haven’t failed yet. In moments, this barrier will break, and all I see outside of it, I will devour. We will feast lavishly.”

“That we will, Great Dragon. But have lost sight of our own goal, have you?”

“No, my Beast. I smell her blood too. Before this day is done, her life will be yours, and this world will be broken. Dragons will fly once more.”

“Another one of the Five has moved. The Giants will oppose you.”

“The rabble from the north are no threat to me. You will taste their blood.”

“What of your men? Those whom you’ve passed on your power to? They have doubts.”

Krieger replied with no qualms. “Should they contest my true aim, they too shall feel the wrath of the Beast.”

Akk’arna reverberated against the barrier that held it and its wielder. “Good. Now then. The shell is almost fragile. Release your anger, Krieger!”

- o -

Raserei could not help but follow her supposed sister towards the Birthplace of Purity. She felt that she owed her life to Rache, and that she could still sway her into running away with her to hiding. It is not our war, she thought. We could weather this storm, and nobody will ever have to find us. Not that murderous old Dragon. Not the deceitful Teacher and his deranged Twin. We can survive.

She could already feel the darkness seeping through to the ground beneath her feet. They are near. She was taken aback when she crested another hill, and laid eyes on the site of the gruesome affair that she knew Rache had ran into. Where are you Rache?

Hordes of demons and assassins in combat with the Giants and the Resistance tumbled around in the sea of battle. Two leviathans above the surface called forth fire and lightning from the crazed heavens, being accosted by three sharks, smaller, but frenzied warriors. There! Sister!

She ran towards the epicentre. Little did she know, that that scene she saw was going to be her last, and she was running to her death.