Oathbreaker

V: The Oathbreaker and his God

Sibin clutched the body of his dead daughter in his arms and began to sob uncontrollably. The tears that fell from his eyes evaporated as soon as they hit the hot floorboards of the Paladin's Longhouse, which was slowly being engulfed in flames. Sibin felt the heat begin to rise within the building, and knew he had to get moving. He slowly set his daughter down on the floor, wiped his face and took a deep, painful breath. He laid his hand on her chest, taking in the details of her face. He looked down to where she wore a belt over her linen dress, which hung from it the sheath for the dagger she'd used to kill the goblin that lay on the floor a few feet away. Sibin reached down, unbuckled the belt and pulled it out from under her.

"I'm sorry, my love." Sibin choked. He rose to his feet, walked to the dead goblin that lay on the floor and pulled the dagger from the creature's abdomen. He wiped the blood soaked blade on his trousers, the sheathed it in the scabbard on the belt. He wrapped the belt around his bicep and buckled it, feeling a slight sense of comfort from it.

A thunderous sound rang through the wooden and stone walls of the Paladin's Longhouse. Another building nearby had collapsed due to the roaring inferno. Sibin ran to the next room over, where the mantle stood that held the Zelik Oath Hammer. The hammer glistened and shined in the light of the fire that was taking hold of the longhouse. Sibin grabbed the hilt of the hammer and winced in pain, the leather that bound the metal handle was incredibly hot to the touch. He lifted the hammer from the hooks it sat upon and let its massive head rest on the floor. It had been a decade and a half since the last time Sibin held the hammer. Over the years, the weapon saw less and less action as it aged. The amount of times it had been repaired had taken their toll on the weapon, and now it stood more as a symbol of the oath sworn by the Paladin, rather than the actual weapon wielded by the Paladin of Coreth. Sibin, in his grief, expected the hammer to crumble in his hands. He expected to watch it completely melt away into the floorboards of the longhouse, an apt symbol of the current state of the Zelik Oath. But the hammer, despite its red hot touch, sat just as heavy and strong in Sibin's hands as it did the first time he held it when he first swore his oath to Coreth. Just then, Sibin felt a strange feeling like he'd never felt before. It felt as if something was calling out to him from the forest, becoming him to find something. He thought back to his training, and knew exactly what that feeling was. He slung the hammer over his shoulder and took off from the longhouse toward the forest.

After running for what felt like an eternity through a partially burnt forest, Sibin finally found what was calling him into the forest. A giant stone effigy of Coreth stood amongst the trees, covered in vines and stained after years of standing exposed to the elements. At the base of the statue sat a huge, ornate stone slab. It was strange to Sibin. The slab that lay on the ground of front of the statue was clean, almost like it'd freshly cleaned that day. As Sibin approached the statue and slab, a distinct whisper began to pulse through his mind. He couldn't make out any words, but the whisper instilled a deep fear within Sibin's body. Sibin's training taught him to come here. This is where an Oathbreaker would commune with Coreth, in order to restore the oath, if that were possible. Sibin knelt in front of the slab, bowed his head and began to pray. Throughout his life, every time he would pray to Coreth, he could feel the deity being present, listening to the Paladin's prayer. This time, however, Sibin had never felt more alone. The words flowed from his lips, yet they only met his ears.

He stopped his prayer, stood up and pulled the hammer from his shoulder. With a mighty yell, Sibin lifted the hammer above his head and swung it downward, slamming the head of the hammer down onto the stone slab. Small cracks webbed across the face of the slab from the spot the hammer face hit. He raised the hammer above his head again and brought it down on the slab face again. The cracks splintered farther across the slab, a faint green glow began to shine from the cracks. Sibin lifted the hammer once again, and with one final swing, the slab shattered. The ball of green energy exploded from the destroyed slab and lit the area up as bright as daylight, collecting in a mass and levitating just above the shattered stone . Inky black and green tendrils sprung from the mass and wrapped themselves around Sibin's arms and legs. They writhed and climbed up his limbs, then buried themselves into his skin. Sibin screamed in pain as he felt the tips of the tendrils dig through his flesh and begin to wrap around his bones. Agonizing heat flashed through his entire body, he could see the veins in his arms protrude from the skin and turn a deep black color. The tendrils began to lift him from the ground until he was eye level with the glowing energy mass that sat suspended above the shattered stone slab. A thick green smoke leeched from the mass that smelt of death and stung Sibin's eyes.