Legend of Parocaav: The Quest for Redemption (First Draft)

Chapter XXI: The Reaper

Grimm spins his legendary scythe around, filling the air with a black gas. Covering their mouths, Drayk and Roku hold their breaths. Not wanting to breath in any of the fumes, Roku swirls her left hand. A dust devil appears and sucks in the black gas. Once it has all been absorbed, the dust devil vanishes.

"Crito has taught you well. I never did like you Windfolk!" Grimm shouts sarcastically.

Grimm then creates doppelgangers of himself. Mulitplying all around, dozens of hooded figures are scattered around the Bringers of Hope. Drayk stands forth, shielding Roku behind him. The valley turns grey all around them. For the first time in centuries, the land of Wind is calm and still. Storm clouds form overhead. The sound of thunder rumbles in the sky. Lightning shoots down from up above, striking at the doppelgangers where they stand. Grimm reflects a bolt from hitting him with his scythe.

"You will have to do better than that kid!" Grimm yells out in laughter, vanishing into thin air.

Laughter can still be heard, but Grimm is no where in sight. The sound of clothes tearing rips loudly. A slash mark torn into Drayk's chest and black t-shirt. He lets out a shriek in pain, blood dripping down his torso. Another tearing sound is heard and Roku drops to her knees. Her sheathes fall off her back, the straps cut cleanly. A giant scratch nearly tears the entirety of her shirt in the back. Only the collar and bottom seems in tact. She screams out. Tears run down her face.

Laughter still echoes all around. Drayk closes his eyes and concentrates. He can feel the presence of the Reaper of Life. It is bouncing all around, not staying in one place. The feeling gets real strong behind Drayk and he spins around, drawing his sword. Before the weapon even has a chance to be completely removed from its sheath, it clashes with the scythe of Grimm. Red sparks fly on contact. Eyes still closed, Drayk finishes pulling his blade out. As he does, the tip of his sword slices through Grimm's hood. The blade pushes the scythe blade to the ground. Drayk spins swiftly in a tight little circle. The momentum has built up and Drayk elbows Grimm in the face.

Stumbling backwards, Grimm regains his balance. His hood falls back in the process. His skeleton face can now be seen. The sockets in his skull glow red with anger. Grimm cracks his knuckles and picks up his dropped weapon. If he had skin on his face, the look of surprise would have been all over it. This is the first time could counter this attack of his. And he had his closed the entire time!

"Impressive Drayk," Grimm laughed, "Leon has taught you well."

Not saying anything, Drayk lunges himself at Grimm. His blade catches the robes of the Reaper, tearing them slightly. He is completely a skeleton. No meat, no blood. Drayk realizes his sword wouldn't be able to kill him. He wondered if Grimm would be able to move if he was completely cut into little bony pieces. Drayk slashes over and over at the Reaper, not giving him a chance to attack. Grimm can do nothing but block and parry Drayk's blows. Drayk's broadsword slices through the arm holding the scythe, and Drayk kicks Grimm away from the scythe. His hand falls the ground, still clutching the scythe in hand.

"I plan on destroying you Grimm!" Drayk threatens him.

"I'm terrified kid," Grimm says in the most sarcastic tone, "You haven't won yet!"

Rising up into the air, the hand starts swinging the scythe at Drayk. It catches him so much by surprise, he gets cut a long the right side of his face from his cheek bone to the ear. Drayk blocks strike after strike. Grimm standing a few yards away, howls in evil laugher. His eyes focusing on Roku since Drayk is more than a little busy. She looks up at Grimm, healing herself. The wound on her back goes away, but she shirt is still torn and soaked in her own blood.

"Nice little trick you got there Grimm," Roku tells him, "Now it's my turn!"

Steam shoots up all around Grimm, consuming him. Suddenly, the steam ignites into an explosion. The blast throws Grimm back several yards. He lands on his spine, making a cracking sound. Enraged, he launches back onto his feet. The anger Grimm felt could be seen in his eyes. Bright red orbs of light filled his sockets. He waves his remaining arm in her direction. A wind shoots her way, exploding on impact in a green smoke cloud. A poisonous gas no doubt. Roku uses a breeze of Wind to blow it away before it could reach her face. Grimm seems to only know Death Magic. Makes sense, seeing as he is the Reaper of Life. On the other hand, this makes him weak. Roku can use this to her advantage. Earth spikes shoot up through the ground at Grimm, making him jump about, trying not to get impaled by any of them.

The hand lets go if the scythe and flies over to reattach itself to Grimm. The scythe still slashing at Drayk. He is fighting against an enchanted weapon. Just his luck, he finds himself preoccupied while Roku is left to herself to fight the Reaper. What kind of weakness could a scythe have?

Roku shoots fireballs at Grimm, but he absorbs them into his hands. Throwing them back, they change from red to black flames. Roku calls forth a veil of water to block against her returned fire. Roku moves her hands around one another, just a few inches apart, palms facing each other. A plasma ball forms between her hands. The veil of water splashes onto the ground as Roku releases the plasma towards Grimm. He puts out his hands to try and absorb that as well. It fails. The plasma ball hits his hands and explodes into an electrical explosion. Grimm is thrown back by the blast. He lands on his feet a few yards away, electricity sparking around his skull.

The water at Roku's feet freezes instantly, making her lose her balance. Grimm rushes in at her as she tries to stabilize herself. Grabbing her by the neck, Grimm lifts her off the ground. The touch from his hands turning her white shirt black. Roku starts to become limp, not able to breath. Drayk looks over at her, knowing he has to help. He uses alchemy to make the metal of sword liquifies into molten metal. Still holding its shape, Drayk slashes at the unmanned scythe. It melts straight through the blade of Grimm's weapon, cutting it in half. He takes another swing, slicing the pole like handle in clean in half. The three pieces drop the ground, motionless.

The blade solidifies back to metal as Drayk slides his sword back into the sheath. He raises his arms up in front of him, then lowers then back down. The ground beneath Grimm's feet turn to quicksand. Once Grimm reaches knee level in the ground, it hardens once again. Now, even lifted, Roku can touch the ground again. She knees Grimm in the face making him let go of her. Stumbling back, Roku jogs over to Drayk, taking cover behind him.

Drayk glows with a blue and white aura, rising a few inches off the ground. Grimm's jaw drops open. He is about to unleash Ultimate Magic on him! Grimm twists and turns and wiggles. He just cannot get himself free! He can't even break his feet off, he's up to knees. Looking down, the Reaper begins to feel panic. There's just no way to get free. His scythe is in pieces, now worthless to him.

Drayk opens his eyes, they are glowing golden yellow. The Bringer of Hope about to unleash his fury. He lowers himself to the ground, casting his arms forward.

"Please don't do this!!" Grimm begs, still trying to free his legs from the ground.

Grimm is unable to budge from this spot in the dirt. For some reason, he cannot even turn into a shadow and free himself that way. Trapped, staring his own death in the face. Visions of his eternal past flashing before his eyes. A hole in the sky tears open. A black hole now above Grimm a couple miles above him. A meteor the size of a two story house hurdles out of the tear in the sky. Grimm looks straight up to watch the rock plummeting toward him. The meteor plows right into the earth, right where Grimm finds himself entrapped in the dirt. A massive explosion of cosmic energy blasts away at the earth, leaving a massive crater. Shockwaves shoot from the explosion. Roku generates a field of plasma to protect them.

The scythe disintegrates into metallic dust and blows away in the wind. The hole closes up in the sky. Grimm is no where to be found. Completely vanquished by the power bestowed to the Bringers of Hope. The immortal Reaper of Life is now gone. A piece of the balance has been lost once again. First came Parocaav, which started this whole quest, broke the balance of light. This allowed more souls to be corrupted. Now, the death of Grimm will break the balance as well. Soon, the world's inhabitants won't be able to find their way to Shangri-La. They will be stuck on earth. There is no turning back now. They must go all the way and bring back the fallen Goddess.