The Arwain Chronicles: A week…
**A*Few*Months*Before**
Dan breathed hard taking quick shallow breathes as he regarded in quite an adversarial manner, the a hundred or so zombies that surrounded him. Under normal circumstances, this would have been a very easy win for him, but currently, Lord Arwain had taken control of all of them. They were now in a hive mind state. Which meant that they didn’t just act and attack as single entities, each trying to get at Dan and cause as much harm as they possibly could. No, as they were now, they were a force to reckon with. Especially given the mind that had taken them over and was now in control of them. Any attack that any single one of them or a group of the. Made was incredibly well coordinated and perfectly executed with near laser precision. A fact that made any mistakes on Dan’s part very costly in terms if the pain he would have to endure for it.
Though they practically shared the same mind and body, it was clear to see that Lord Arwain had no qualms with causing them pain even to excruciating levels. They were all regarding him with their cold, dead, soulless eyes in a way that caused his hair to rise up on their ends. The gleaming blades in their hands were in sharp contrast to the death and decay that marked each if them. Even with this fact however, Dan had no illusions about just how hard it would be to take any one of them down. Lord Arwain had imbued them with protective magic. Their rotting bones which would have under usual circumstances been brittle and easily breakable, were now like iron bars. Their strength was that of a bull and their speed like that of a race horse. Yeah, Arwain had absolutely no problems with subjecting them both to suffering, Dan thought as he burst alight…
*******
Dan’s jaws clenched his heart hammering as he watched the light that sporadically emanated from various points on the shield. It had been an hour since its suffered its first impact and now it seemed to be finally giving in. It wouldn’t be long. After the initial shock of it, Dan now felt a mix of dread and anticipation. Dread from the fact that if the dark phoenixes were waiting for him on the other side of the shields, then this might very well be it. It had all come to a head. He felt anticipation from the thought and largely hope, that he might get to see the others once again. Though he had missed them a lot, it was only dawning on him right now just how sorely he had. And how desperately he wished to see them again. His lips pressed hard together his resolve turning to steel as he watched the shield start to fade from visibility. Whatever stood on the other side of the shields, Dan had no intentions of letting it or them stand in the way of him seeing Elly Ember and the rest. The shield finally fully faded from visibility. Dan walked forward towards the entrance to the pocket realm allowing himself to burst aflame as he did. This was it, with a final deep breath, Dan stepped through the exit from his pocket realm…
*******
She was angry. Not just at him, but herself as well. He’d practically abandoned them… abandoned her! And yet here she was literally counting the seconds until the seconds until she could see him again. Even with the fact that it might not be ‘him’ per se that walked out from behind the shields. Her heart still ached to see him, to see his face, his eyes, his smile. Her jaws clenched in further disgust and anger at herself. He had caused her misery for the past eleven months, not in the sense of causing her any actual pain. No, he had instead done something much worse. He had robbed her not only of her happiness, but even the ability to feel it.
The shields went up and the bond between she and Dan faded as once again Lord Arwain most likely took over. Since then, she had tried all she could to be strong, to find at the very least, comfort in those close to her. But even that had proven impossible. Not for lack of trying on either side. She had seen how hard her family together with Rick, Loraine and most especially Carol had tried to reach her. She’d seen their pain and unhappiness at seeing her withdraw from them. And yet she had been unable to help it. It wasn’t hat her heart had turned to stone and become impervious to their attempts at reaching her. It was that all their kindness, all their attempts at reaching her, met a vacuum. She was unable to muster any kind of emotion let alone show it to anyone. Despite her desperate effort and desire to reconnect with her family and friends to fill the void left behind by her mate, all she felt was emptiness. Not joy, not pain, not anger, not grief, just a deep, all encompassing emptiness that seemed to reach deep into her core. In the end it had become easier to just withdraw completely, withdraw and let herself be lost in the emptiness. An emptiness that had turned her into a monster.
It wasn’t lost on Elly just what she had become. The case could have easily been made that the war had caused her to change in the ways that she had, even made it necessary. She however knew different. She hadn’t become the ruthless killer that she had turned into out of grief or remorse, or even in an attempt to fill the void within her as she knew the rest thought to be the case. The growing emptiness within would never be filled by anything or anyone else. She’d done it so she could forget. She had done all that she had done because when she fought, her primal side took over. And for a few cherished minutes, everything else faded into the background, even her emptiness. In those life and death situations, all that she knew was survival and taking down enemies. She had become extremely good at that… a bit too good.
Her gaze turned to Victor. “When are they getting here?” she asked hating the curt and cold tone her voice took but unable to help it. Her question broke the silence there had been. All of the werewolves, Ailin, Charles, Twenty one and Twenty two, Katelyn and Chris, now stood before the arch. Ember had designed them, the doorways. An easier much faster way of across the world travel. The arch doorways came in twin pairs. Carved into the arches were fine runes of such intricate complexity. Given the fact that they had to be created by hand and couldn’t simply be conjured, how Ember had managed to replicate them was beyond Elly. Each doorways had to be the exact replica of its twin otherwise they wouldn’t work. Ember had created four pairs, one that linked New York to London, another that connected London to Nairobi and another that connected Nairobi back to New York. The last and final doorway connected New York to the next nearest town to the one surrounded by Dan’s shields, the one in which Claire was currently situated. This was the one they were currently standing before, within that large hall in which all the four doorways in New York were found.
“Well, it’s definitely five minutes sooner than the last time you asked,” Victor finally replied his tone calm.
He jaws clenched her impatience growing with each passing second. The doorways had not only required great power to create, they also required a lot of power to operate. All the higher level magic users among Dan’s following however, weren’t with them. Chloe, Ember Valerie and Athena were all absent. Katelyn had once tried to use the doorway on her own. She’d only just barely managed to keep it open long enough for her to pass through, Had Ember not been close by on the other side to keep the doorway open, then Chris would have most likely been lost. No one knew where things that were still in the ‘middle’ went if the doorways closed without them coming out. But if a doorway closed completely without whatever was ‘in between’ coming out the other side, the it was forever lost. Even if the doorway was immediately opened right after its closing. As such, given the fact that none of them were willing to risk it, they were all stuck here until either Valerie, Ember Athena or Chloe arrived.
“Pacing isn’t going to get them here any faster Ell…” the last word of Carol’s statement to her best friend was cut off as two things happened at the exact same time. The runes to the doorway that led to Nairobi suddenly glowed. The wall behind the center of the arch, blurred as if the air in between the arch had turned to liquid yet it wasn’t quite a liquid as such. Someone was using the doorway. Athena stepped through the doorway seemingly materializing from the almost liquid like air, in the same moment as when Ember, Valerie, Two Chloe and Kurt appeared in a burst of flames.
“It seems the decision of whether or not Dan comes out at the right time, or when we want him to has been taken from us,” Elly spoke regarding them neutrally.
“Try not to sound too disappointed,” Ember returned in the same indifferent manner not even bothering to look at her.
Though she had given no outward indication of it whatsoever, Elly knew that Ember held it against her that the decision to release Dan had actually been a tie. For the fact that Elly had chosen to let Dan stay behind the shields. It wasn’t that the arguments against his coming out had persuaded her, she just wasn’t ready to see him yet. It wasn’t that seeing him wouldn’t bring her joy and offer her the happiness that she had so sorely missed for the past eleven month. It was in fact because it would, that she didn’t want him out. It wasn’t fair, after all the pain and grief that he had caused her, her wolf just wanted to roll over and forget it all. It wanted to act like she hadn’t slowly died on the inside for close to a year because of him! Well she couldn’t and more accurately, she wouldn’t.
Elly’s head, just as everyone else’s in the room, turned towards that doorway Athena had stepped through when they heard the sound of footsteps. And from the sound of it, not just one or two or ten or a hundred even. All gazes seemingly simultaneously turned to Athena. “You do not go to war without an army,” She said with the side of her lips tipping in a cocky smile.
“How many are coming?” Ember posed.
“Ten thousand,” Athena stated just as the first three of them stepped through the doorway simultaneously. They were all dressed uniformly in a simple black t shirt and black trousers made of elastic material seemingly to allow free movement. The boots on their feet made a chorus is steps as they moved in perfectly synchronized steps. They had no weapons on them, but from past experience in training simulations of war that they’d had with them, Elly knew that they’d been taught how to conjure weapons in combat. They each had a small talisman Athena had conjured then proliferated for them. They wore it either around their necks or around their wrists. This was where they drew the magical power necessary to do this. They must have been in a formation of threes as three more stepped out through the doorway behind them and more kept coming in threes.
“I hate to be the bearer of bad news,” Raymond spoke up. “But given the kind of power we felt coming from the portal to the other realm, ten thousand isn’t enough, not even close,” he stated.
Athena smiled at the wolf. “I know,” she offered simply.
“Wait, what?” Chloe spoke up for the first time. “So you are sending all these people out there to die?” she posed both ire and incredulous disbelief in her eyes.
“Yes,” Athena answered her the smile on her face not even twitching. “Humans die, it is in their nature, whether by disease, hunger, some great disaster or killing each other. Heck, give them enough time and they’ll just die without any outside cause. What I’m doing is giving their deaths purpose, meaning! “ Athena stated not the least bit affected by the necromancer’s glare.
“Do you even hear yourself?” Chloe posed the ire in her gaze clear to be heard in her voice too. “You are sending ten thousand souls to a battle you know they will not make it out of?” she stated through gritted teeth. “What are we even fighting for anymore? “ She posed now turning to everyone else. “Why not just kill everyone and be done with it!” She spat, disgust quickly saturating her gaze.
“And what would you rather have them do?” Elly’s head turned to Ember who’d posed the question. There was no ire or annoyance in the phoenix's voice as she posed the question. Instead, there was understanding, am accommodating tone that relayed that she understood the internal conflict the necromancer was having. “Would you rather have them sit and wait for Eldraen and the rest to come for them?” she queried. When the silence stretched out for a bit, it became clear that Ember expected an answer from Chloe. The necromancers jaws clenched as she realized the difficult decision she was faced with.
“Wait, why are you all speaking as if the rest of us won’t be fighting?” Kurt who’d all this while been silent, finally spoke.
“Because we won’t be,” Chloe was the one that answered him. This part at least, her mind had managed to put together, and as selfish and as selfish and hypocritical as it would be, it was the one thing she wasn’t objected to.
Kurt’s expression relayed his confusion before he could voice it. “Why? Isn’t this what all this mayhem has been for?” He asked.
“No, this isn’t it. This is just the first encounter, the war that is to come is what we went through all this trouble for,” she answered a bit enigmatically.
“Then why are we here to begin with?” Kurt queried unable to help the confusion in his tone.
“We are here because our one and only objective, is to get to Dan and get him out of the town safe,” Chloe answered him.
“Wait, so we are planning storm the nest of the most evil beings in existence, where might I add, the four most powerful beings also are! And all in an effort to try and get back an already powerful being? You do realize that the chances of executing that plan without meeting any harm, or even death for that matter, are infinitesimally small?” Kurt rhetorically questioned, his incredulity clear to be seen.
Chloe ran mentally through all his words before simply answering. “Yes, that’s exactly what we hope to do. And yes, we do realize we might all die.” The words came out in a fashion that made it clear that she was perfectly aware of all the things that could go wrong. It also in the same breath made it clear, that she had no intention of backing down from it.
“But don’t worry kid,” Athena spoke directly to Kurt. He didn’t seem to appreciate being called kid by someone who by all appearances, looked younger than him. “We’ll have cover,” she informed him.
“What kind of cover, Chloe posed surprise in her voice as she turned to the demon.
“The kind that’s standing behind you,” Athena answered an indifferent smile playing in her lips.
Chloe’s jaws clenched her eyes narrowing. “They are not cover, they are canon fodder you sadistic bitch,” she ground out through gritted teeth. “At the very least have the decency to own up to what you intend to do,” she spat.
“Cover… canon fodder,” Athena spoke raising both her hands as of she was weighing the two words. “It’s all semantics really ,” she at last said with a shrug. The look in her eyes and the tone of her voice making it clear that the acidity that had infected Chloe’s voice didn’t bother her in the least.
A sigh of defeat finally left Chloe as she regarded those still filling the hall as they stood in straight lines. “At least send in more people in, give them a fighting chance,” she at last pleaded.
“We don’t know what we are up against,” Athena spoke up, her tone losing all cordiality as she finally seemed to lose patience with the necromancer. “We know that there are four dark phoenixes, who as your buddy here points out, are enough to wipe out the whole of the human race on their own. But aside from them, we don’t know what else has stepped through that portal. We are using ten thousand to test the strength of our enemy, but I’m guessing you would prefer we use a hundred thousand possibly even a hundred thousand?” The demon questioned directing a hard gaze at Chloe.
Once again the necromancer found herself in a tight corner as she found herself unable to answer the question. “Do they know that you are sending them to their deaths?” Chloe posed though there was no way the soldiers hadn’t heard their exchange.
Instead of answering her, Athena turned to the soldiers who were now forming straight ranks within the hall. “You!” she called out pointing a taloned finger at one of the men standing in the front line. “Come here,” she ordered. The man immediately moved to stand before Athena. “You will die today, at the hands of the possibly the most terrible beasts to ever exist,” the demon quite callously informed him.
“Not before I take ten of them with me,” the man undauntedly replied with a fierce coldness that Elly had only ever seen in the eyes of the demon herself.
“Step back,” Athena ordered, by all the looks of it, not even in the least bit concerned that she had just told a man that he would die. “You, come here!” she said point to one of the few women within the ranks. The woman stepped forward in much the same fashion as the man before her had. “Would you rather fight and die, or would you rather be back in Europe with your family? “ The demon asked.
“I would rather fight and die,” the woman answered without any hesitation whatsoever. “So that my family doesn’t have to fight and die,” she went in to add.
“Step back,” Athena once again callously ordered, turning her gaze to the whole group of soldiers before them. “Who here,” the demon spoke in a voice loud enough to be heard by all within the hall which was now fast filling to capacity. “Expects to be alive by the end of this day?” She questioned. “Raise your hand,” she instructed.
Elly did not miss how Chloe’s jaws clenched as she regarded the whole crowd. Not a single one of them even stirred. “War is death Chloe,” Ember once again spoke up in the same caring tone she’d had the first time around. “It’s part of why war is such a horrific thing that we all seek to avoid. But once you are faced with war, death is inevitable. The challenge is to ensure you side doesn’t die out before your opponent’s side does,” she explained. “A hard fact to swallow, but that is just the way it is,” She added.
The necromancer said nothing in return instead she turned her gaze sadly but resolutely to the doorway to the town nearest to the one Dan was in. Ember turned to Athena. “You won’t be able to hold that doorway open long enough for all ten thousand to pass all on your own,” she stated.
“That is why dear Valerie here, will help me keep this door open ,” Athena answered. “Whilst you and Chloe keep the doorway to Claire’s town open,” she went on to add.
“Well then what are we waiting for?” Chloe muttered stepping forward towards the doorway. Elly didn’t miss the note of resignation in her voice even as the runes on the doorway glowed open and the necromancer stepped through. Elly stepped through after her….
*******
Claire had been walking towards Jim’s room when it happened. She had been looking to mend fences with Jim over the misunderstanding they’d had in the training area. While it may have not been optimal for either one of them, they would have to work together in future. At some point, her life could possibly depend on him, and his life on her. It would all be so much the better, if they didn’t have to any unnecessary friction between them.
It would have been just as easy for her to send any one of the many hunters that were stationed at various points to go and fetch him. She was now after all, the leader of all hunters. Both Athena and Ember had been instrumental in her ascension to power. A lot of blood had been spilled in the process as they essentially killed any and everyone that stood in their way, right up to and including Ronald himself. What bothered Claire was ironically, the fact that non of it bothered her at all. She wasn’t even slightly remorseful or even in the least bit disturbed by all the unnecessary loss of life that had taken place.
It would have been easy to attribute it all to the fact that they deserved it. They had made her life a miserable existence. It was their way of life that had robbed her of her childhood and practically most of her life. She had been their slave, forced to take lives at their behest. It would have been oh so easy to simply claim that every single one of them deserved what came to them. And yet she knew that this wasn’t it. This wasn’t the reason for her apathy. The true and actual reason was a much harder pill for her to swallow.
She had wanted to believe herself different from them. She had fought her father’s spell up to the very last minute. For this, she wanted to believe that she was better than them. Yet it was now becoming clear that she wasn’t, far from it. She had at first denied it to herself, but it the truth of it could no longer be ignored or hidden. Her time as a slave to her father’s will had affected her more than she was ready to admit. What her father had failed to do through force pain and torture, time had succeeded at without much effort. She had killed so many, young, old, big small, good and evil. She had bathed in the blood of hundreds, maybe even thousands. And though every bit of her didn’t want it to be so, it had changed her. She had been broken, without her actually knowing it. Slowly her soul had been twisted from the person she had been to the one she now was. A brutal, cold and heartless murderer. In the end, she was no better than them.
The hunters in her command, were the last on the planet. They had all been offered a choice, submit or die. The ones still breathing had made the wiser choice. Claire had of course known that given the way she had risen to power, there would be dissenters and traitors that would make an attempt at her life. What surprised her however, was how few of the hunters that came under her leadership, actually tried to harm her. She had so far boiled it down to a number of reasons. The first being that, magic had essentially won. The balance and order they’d been fighting so hard to maintain had been gone down the drain the moment they attacked the white house. They were now without purpose. They had fought for so long to keep magic at bay and now magic threatened to destroy the world while at the same time being the only hope of saving it. In fighting magic, they would essentially be ensuring the death of that which they had sworn to protect, humanity.
The other reason was that she, Ember and Athena had killed each and every single last hunter that stood against her. They weren’t kind about it either. The hunters that refused to open their eyes to the new reality and still believed it their duty to eliminate all magic had met a brutal end at their hands. Torrent and torrent of them had come at her but with every defeat and massacre of hunters, it became more and more clear that it was a losing battle to come up against her. The more they lost the more of the remaining hunters chose to give in and side with her. In the end except for a few hunters who’d chosen to be on their own and not align with anyone, all the hunters had come to fight for her.
The last reason was simply that in the end, they needed a leader. Hunters were very hierarchical in their organization, there in their end, needed to be a leader. She was the strongest of those that remained owing to her ties to Dan and his following. It could have easily been argued that for this exact same reason, she wasn’t powerful in and of herself and unfit to be leader the hunters. But then magic was the new reality, there was no denying or fighting it. Instead the ones that could command most of it were the ones that were indeed the most powerful. In that direction, there was none who was more powerful than she.
Claire had wanted to personally offer her apologies to Jim for what had happened earlier instead of sending some impersonal message via one of the hunters. Her hand had been about to bring her hand down and knock on the door to his room when she felt the first impact. The ground beneath her feet literally shook with the sheer force of it. In the two seconds it took her to stabilize herself, her mind had already connected what was going on. Her gaze turned towards the window at the end of the hall as she looked out at the shields. They were coming down.
Her gaze turned to Jim as his was suddenly pulled open. Taking from the look on his face, he too had had put together in his mind what was going on. “Come on,” even without conscious thought to it, Claire slipped into her role as leader as she turned back down the hall moving in a fast paced stride towards the exit. “Have every hunter ready within five minutes,” she shouted to Trent who’d been running towards her from the other end of the hall. Trent nodded once stopping in his tracks and running back the other way. She had appointed him her second in command. She hadn’t been sure about the decision at first, given the fact that it was she that had killed Agatha, his mother. But as the months that followed proved, he hadn’t been too attached to the woman that had enslaved him most of his life. He’d served loyally and faithfully, and even protected her from a number of attempts on her life, one of which would have ended it had he not been around.
Claire pushed open the doors to the hall where it was, just as the runes on the arch glowed an ambient blue. The doorway was opening. She stepped into the hall with Jim at her side just as Chloe moved through the door. She would have smiled at the necromancer except she saw the expression on Chloe’s face. Claire didn’t know why, but she felt envious of how averse to all the carnage and killing Chloe was. Unlike she who’d grown to be accepting, indifferent even, to it all. Part of her wished that she had enough of a conscience left to feel all what the necromancer felt. “You would have chosen this path anyway,” Were Claire’s first words to the necromancer even as others came in through the doorway.
“What?” Chloe queried arching an eyebrow at her.
“Even if the shields hadn’t begun coming down, you would have chosen to go after Dan either way. This path we are on is inevitable,” Claire explained.
A sigh escaped Chloe, her jaws clenching. “I did choose to go after Dan,” she quietly admitted her eyes unable to keen Claire’s. “Thousands of people would have died because of my impatience,” Chloe stated guilt in her voice. The look in her eyes relayed that it was now dawning on her just what exactly the consequences of her decision would have been.
“Thousands would have and will die regardless,” Claire said almost cringing at the indifference in her voice. “The only thing we can do, is make sure that they do not die in vain.” As cliché as the words sounded to her own ears, they seemed to do the trick. She watched as the resolve in Chloe’s face hardened her jaws clenching as she looked up at the hunter and nodded. Claire’s head turned towards the doorway as the sound of numerous but well synchronized footsteps were heard. “Our army?” She rhetorically posed turning back to Chloe.
“No,” the necromancer replied. “The deaths we have to give meaning to,” she offered instead…
*******
The darkness that met him outside of his pocket realm caught him a bit off guard. It had taken a few seconds for his eyes to adjust, the flames that now covered his whole body aiding in that. It took only a few seconds longer for him to see her. “Karra,” he called out regarding the were who was standing a distance off regarding him warily. She was fully naked and seemingly not the least bit perturbed by the fact.
Dan reacted on instinct rather than any actual forethought as to what his next moves would be. Before either he or Karra could say anything further, he suddenly ducked missing the claws of a bat-like creature. It was however larger than your average bat, much larger. By Dan’s estimates, the things was probably large enough to pick up a bull with ease. Instead of scales however, it was covered with white fur and didn’t hung upside down when it perched on a tree a distance off. It had deep black eyes with no white part in them, only red cat like slits at the center of each.
“Don’t let it scratch you, its claws have a toxin that paralyzes your whole body almost instantly, I’ve seen it,” Dan heard Karra warn the were too also going on full alert as she went into half morph. It was the first time Dan had seen her in half morph. Her body was largely covered in white fur, except from her wrists going forward and her ankles down, though she did have an increased amount of hair on the back of her hands. She had black stripes running across her body creating a uniquely beautiful almost majestic pattern. Her irises turned a deep dark red, her teeth elongating even as her ears became pointed like a cat’s. The nails on both her hands and feet elongated into pointed claws. Her voice became largely filled with a growl as she spoke.
“It’s a good thing you told me otherwise I would have just let that thing rip me to shreds,” Dan replied unable to help the sarcasm. He was a bit thrown off by the fact that she was trying to help him instead of attack him. Still he didn’t lower his guard as far as she was concerned even as he turned towards the beast which had just launched off its perch. It did not get far before it was engulfed it in flames. A shrill cry left the beast as it soared over Dan. It was seemingly blinded or distracted by the flames as it kept smashing into walls and the floor trying to put out the flames.
Dan’s head turned towards her when a growl rose from Karra. She was now running fast towards him a murderous look in her eye. She was moving on all fours and even despite the fact that she was still in half morph, she was surprisingly fluid in her motions. Dan’s jaws clenched his eyes narrowing at her. If this was how she wanted to go out, then he would happily oblige. His had extended out throwing a blast of phoenix fire at her. She however seemed to have already anticipated this and jumped to the side effectively evading the attack. Dan shot another ball of flames at her, then another and another and another. She however managed to evade them all, as she fast closed the distance between them. No matter how hard he tried to pin her with his fire attacks, the cat was just too quick and nimble for him. When she was only about a meter away from him, she pounced.
Dan had unconsciously raised his shields around himself when it became clear that she was within reach of him. It soon became clear however, that the shield had been unnecessary. He watched as Karra sailed over him, fully taking on her tiger form, a deep growl rumbling from her chest, both claws and teeth barred. The tigers jaws closed around the neck of a creature that looked something close to a griffin except that instead of an eagle head and wings, it had a reptilian head and bat-like wings. Dan winced in spite of himself when the creature’s neck audibly snapped under Kara’s powerful jaws. She landed on its back causing it to fall to the floor. It’s neck made a sharp ninety degree turn right before the point where it disappeared into Kara’s mouth. The were did not let go of the creature till it stopped kicking, it’s eyes going blank.
Karra rose off it once again taking on her half morph form. The animal’s blood now coloured her chin and a bit of the fur around her neck. “You should have warned me,” Dan said now feeling a mix if both guilt and anger. “I could have killed you,” he added. He wasn’t sure why the thought bothered him so much given the fact that she had betrayed him.
“If you wanted to kill me, I’d be dead by now Dan,” Karra returned in a matter of fact tone. “You are a powerful mix of all the magic there is in existence, plus I know for a fact that your aim is not that bad. That attack wasn’t meant to hurt me let alone kill me, you were trying to scare me off,” she astutely pointed out. Dan’s jaws clenched, even with the fact that he was loathe to admit it, he knew she was right. There was a part of him that didn’t ant the were dead. A part of him that was still hoping she would come back to his side. “You’re holding back Dan,” The were said with a critical gaze. “That’s the kind of thing that gets you killed within these walls,” she said turning and starting off. “Follow me,” She called out over her shoulder.
“How do I know I can trust you?”
Dan felt dumb immediately that question left his lips. Though for what reason he didn’t know. She had betrayed him and chosen to side with his enemies, so the self suggesting answer was a resounding no! But then again, she’d just warned him of an attack by the first flying creature and killed the second one that was coming at him, which seemed to suggest that it was obvious that he should indeed trust her. But while both answers seemed to be self suggesting, he wasn’t sure which of the two was the more correct assessment of the situation.
“You can’t,” Karra calmly replied as she kept moving.
Dan stood still his lips presiding into one another as he looked around into the shadows. If anyone knew these place well, it was Karra, so she was his best bet of getting out of the place as quick as possible. In the same breath however, she could be using that knowledge to lead him into some kind of trap. An annoyed sigh left him as his indecisiveness gave way to grudging acquiescence. He quickly moved to catch up to her, extinguishing the flames that covered him. “Why are you helping me?” Dan posed not bothering to hide his suspicion of her.
“Would you rather I fought you to the death?” She posed in return not answering his question.
“No,” Dan answered.
“Then take it for what it is and just leave it at that,” Karra offered in a tone that made it clear that she had no intention of divulging anything further. He wasn’t sure why, but Dan got the impression that she wanted to tell him something but for whatever reason, couldn’t. That line of thought came to a screeching halt as Dan came to a sudden stop. Karra had too as they both felt it, the earth beneath their feet was shaking as if something heavy was being repeatedly pounded against it. “Get ready, big ugly is coming,” Karra warned.
“Who the hell is big ug…” the word ugly faded from Dan’s lips as a beast that looked like a warthog appeared from among some of the trees. Instead of two tusks however, the thing had six thick but wickedly sharp looking tusks coming out of either side of its mouth. The rest of its teeth were also equally razor sharp rows of canines telling Dan that while this beast may have taken the form of a warthog, it was very much a carnivore. It had small eyes that by Dan’s estimate couldn’t possibly see all that much. But given the way it kept turning its head from side to side and fervently sniffing the air, Dan had a nagging suspicion that it’s sense of hearing and smell more than made up for its visual limitations. The beast was about the size of two fully grown elephants put together and from the look of it, it was all muscle. It had short but sturdy hoofed legs which Dan suspected were the reason the ground beneath his feet had been shaking.
It’s nose seemed to lock onto them as it turned it’s head towards them. Without warning, the beast sprang forward in a full on charge towards them. “Get out of the way!” Karra shouted as she shit off in a sprint to one side. Dan’s eyes closed ready to teleport. When his eyes opened once more, they widened in horror as he found himself still standing in the same spot he had been. The beast that had been charging at them not only two meters off, right in front of him. A grunt left Dan as Karra ran full speed into him knocking them both clear out of the path of the beast only a second before it charged right through exactly where Dan had been standing only a moment before. “Are you crazy?”
Dan was confused at both the ire and concern she heard in Kara’s voice. “I tried to teleport, but I couldn’t,” Dan found himself saying by way of explanation. “What do you care anyway?” He posed his confusion at her reaction unhidden.
Karra rolled her eyes. “Do you honestly believe that Eldraen and the rest would make it that easy for you? You can’t teleport within this floor, otherwise what would have stopped you from teleporting out of this castle and back to the others in your following the moment you stepped out from behind those shields?” She asked sarcasm saturating her voice even as she ignored his latter question.
“You betrayed me Karra,” Dan spoke in a hard tone of voice. “I gave you a choice and you chose my enemies instead of me. So why help me now?” he insisted.
Karra rose up off him her gaze turning to the beast which had turned back towards them. “You might have missed it, but this is neither the time nor the place for that conversation,” she said still not answering the question. “You might wanna move,” she added once again sprinting off. While she was a predator, and a damn good one at that, it was clear to see that this beast was a tad too big and strong, even for her.
Dan rose to his feet his jaws clenching as he turned to regard the beast which was once again charging at him. For a second time, Dan didn’t move. Only this time, he had his eyes open as he regarded the close to ten tons of muscle come at him. Planting his feet, Dan threw his hands up before him. He was pushed a whole three meters back when the beast ran full tilt into the shields he’d just erected. How his hands managed not to break under the force of the impact as he maintained the shields, was beyond him. Before the now slightly disoriented beast could regain its bearings, Dan modified the shields. It felt like trying to keep a mountain from falling. Dan had modified the shields so that they were like second skin to it, trapping it inside the cast formed by its shields. Keeping it within the shields was required a herculean effort. Dan only just barely managed to so even as his mind went to work. A sound of agony left the beast as its efforts to free itself became more frantic. Dan was doing the very same thing Lord Arwain had done with him. Only he wasn’t just trying to gain control of the beast, he was literally tearing its mind to shreds. While the beast itself was huge, its mind was still very primitive. So it didn’t take Dan long too long to rid it of any conscious self will and leave it like a zombie under his control. With its last massive heave, the beast managed to break through the shields Dan finally unable to contain it any longer. It however, was a moment too late as Dan stripped it of all conscious self will or awareness. The beast now existed to live and serve however Dan pleased.
“Good going,” He heard from Karra who been observing him from a distance. “Now, we really need to get moving,” she said moving closer to him once again.
“No,” Dan said quietly his eyes not leaving the beast whose mind he had just crushed. He wasn’t exactly sure how he felt about it. Given its hostility towards them, he hadn’t exactly had too many options. The only other viable option would have been to kill it, he wasn’t sure that it was the worse fate of the two. To die or to be an eternal slave against your will.
“What do you mean no?” Karra asked the response from Dan clearly unexpected.
Dan remained quiet his gaze still on the beast. His in no rushed manner walked up to it, his hand reaching out to touch its forehead. Apart from letting out hot air in a snort, it didn’t do much else other than remain still. He would have to make peace with what he’d just done. Given what he knew lied ahead, there would be a lot more like it. His eyes studies the body of the beast, His eyes studied body of the beast’s body. Though they were largely covered in mammoth like fur, Dan had felt first hand the kind of strength possessed in the beasts muscles. Armor started to form around the beast, starting from right where Dan was touching it on the fore head. A steel helmet formed around its head, covering most of it except for its eyes and nostrils. While it clearly did not have the best vision, Dan didn’t think it would be wise to deprive it of whatever little vision it did have. Its body was covered with steel plated armor. Although it fit perfectly, the armor was not so tightly fitted so as to impede mobility while offering protection. Dan regarded the armor for a second before he thought of a final modification. Wickedly sharp spikes rose off at the length of a foot from the steel plates from with they originated. They rose in every direction except for the saddle Dan had made on top of it, had it been any rounder, the beast would have looked like a spiked canon ball.
”Dan, what do you mean no?” Karra reiterated her question.
“I mean no, I’m not coming with you,” he said. “You’ve betrayed me once Karra, I’ll be damned if I let it happen again,” he explained taking a step forward. The beast, now under his control, lowered its head at the same time as Dan was taking the step forward, so that Dan’s foot landed on its tusk. The beast suddenly lifted its head launching Dan through the air. Karra watched as her former master turned fluidly in mid air and landed perfectly on the saddle. “I have no quarrel with you Karra ,” He said as reins magically formed from his hands extending around the beast’s neck to the its nose and mouth. “You only seek to survive, I cannot fault you for that. All I ask is that you stay out of my way!” he informed. Though he held on to the reins, he didn’t really need them. Using his mind, he turned the animal around and started off.
Dan didn’t get far before it happened. Someone appeared in a burst of flames a few meters ahead. Before Dan could do much else, a wall of fire appeared almost instantaneously fast racing towards him….
*******
They all stood silently, a nervous tension in the air. They watched as random flashes of light appeared and disappeared on different points on the shields that surrounded the town about a hundred meters from where they currently stood. It had taken close to an hour to let the whole army through the two doorways to the town where Claire was, far more time than they’d thought they had. It was now thirty minutes after they’d all crossed to this side and formed ranks l around the town. There were a hundred groups of a hundred fighters each stationed at a certain point around the town, each waiting to meet death. And the rest of those that had been in Dan’s following now stood exactly where it was that Dan had sent them to when he ejected them from the town eleven months before! Though they were slightly hidden by the trees of the forest around the town, none of them was actually counting on them as cover.
Ailin could feel the dread and trepidation in everyone including herself as with one final flash of bright red light, the shields finally gave in. It was like the shield was being unzipped from the ground up, as it opened up in a triangle that grew larger the higher it went. While none of them had had any idea what to be behind the shields, the gargantuan skyscraper of a castle that was revealed, had been no where on the list of what they could have thought up as likely. Their heads almost in perfect unison rose towards the sky as they traced the height of the castle.
“What. The. Fuck,” Ailin heard the words muttered almost unconsciously under Claire’s breath.
The walls of the castle looked like they had been covered in black tar. However they all knew that whatever it was, it sure as hell wasn’t tar. It was almost as if the evil that infested the castle had taken form and was now seeping right through every part it. From the look of it, the only windows on it were found starting a slight distance above the mid way point of the castle’s height.
“How the fuck are we supposed to get through that?” Carol posed her eyes regarding the castle warily.
“We can’t,” Ember spoke in a grave tone of voice. “My brother and the other dark phoenixes are most likely the ones that built it. Not even I have the power to break through whatever protective spells they are sure have put on it,” she said. Ailin could hear the fear and worry that the phoenix was trying hard to keep at bay.
“So what do we do?” Athena questioned turning to Ember.
“There is nothing we can do,” Ember replied in a tone that reflected her displeasure at this fact.
“Meaning what?” Claire posed her worry unhidden as she regarded the phoenix.
“Meaning that unless they open up the castle to attack us. If, they choose to attack us,” she stated ominously in a tone that offered no comfort. “Dan is on his own,” she informed them forgetting to hide the fear in her tone…
*******
Dan’s shields came up just in time surrounding both he and the animal below him. Only a moment later, they were all engulfed in fire. The shape of Dan’s shield morphed to a roughly diamond shaped one when three more walls of fire came at him from the remaining three other sides. The streams of phoenix fire were split into two on meeting with his shields, deflecting them in two directions. Dan’s eyes were resolutely focused unseeingly ahead of him as he held out his hands to the sides as he single mindedly focused on maintaining the shields. His jaws clenched with strain, he could literally feel the push back against the shields even as he tried keep them from imploding on him.
Dan wasn’t struggling to keep the shields up out of any fear of what they flames would do to him. He was a phoenix after all, phoenix fire wouldn’t do much to him except for leave him naked. His struggle was mainly for two reasons. The lesser of the two was the beast below him. He had already stripped the creature of all conscious self awareness and control. He didn’t want it to further suffer a tortured death by phoenix fire. Plus if used in the right way, it could prove to be a deadly weapon in battle. The main reason for his having his shield up however, was actually the fact that he himself was a phoenix. This was a fact that was so far unknown to the dark phoenixes and Dan meant to keep it that way. It was an ace up his sleeve that could prove to be a crucial advantage to him. While they still didn’t know that he was a phoenix, they weren’t aware of the full scope of his power and abilities. And as such they’d underestimate him right from the start. A fatal mistake in any battle.
Dan hadn’t been aware that he’d held his breath until he finally let it go when the onslaught of fire against his shields ceased. Dan stopped himself from panting from the exertion instead forcing himself to breath in deep and controlled inhales and exhales even as her regarded those around him. Dan let the shields fall even as his hands went back to the reins. The four of them stood eyeing him with an abundance of malevolence in the or gaze. One stood before him and one behind him. Two stood on either side of him. The one that stood before him was the tallest of them all, his gaze severer than the rest. The evil that burned within his gaze was palpable in the air around him. He had an average build, not too muscular while in the same breath not lacking completely in muscle mass. He could easily pass for a twenty five old man. The one to Dan’s right was a bit shorter than the first and had a bit more if a muscular build to him He was largely similar to the first in all other aspects except for the fact that his head was shaven clean. Dan’s head turned in the direction of the one to his left. He was by all looks, the shortest one of the four and had the most muscle build to his form. The one behind him had no exceptional features to him except that he had the longest hair of them all. He had it tied up in a ponytail behind him.
Standing beside the last of them, was Karra. All the care and concern that he’d seen in in her eyes, gone. It had all been a ruse, she didn’t actually care about him. She had probably been trying to get him to get him to let his guard down all the while leading him right to this ambush. Though anger sparked in his eyes, the rest of his face remained an expressionless mask. “I’m gonna take a wild guess and say that you are the rejects that Eldrid and the other phoenixes killed,” He at last broke the silence.
“You would,” The one to Dan’s left first spoke up in a corrosively malevolent tone.
“Yes, you would do well,” The one behind Dan picked up his voice even darker and colder.
“You would do well to watch your tongue,” The one to Dan’s right warned in a malevolent growl.
“You would do well to watch your tongue before I rip it out and feed it to you,” The one before Dan threatened. His tone easily out matched all the rest in venomous malevolence that saturated it. As soon as he spoke, Dan recognized him. It was the same voice he’d heard speaking through the old man, whom Dan was presuming was probably dead. Even his gaze now looked familiar as he remembered the cold crimson eyes that had regarded him through the old man’s eyes. This was Eldraen, Ember’s brother.
Dan scoffed. “You are quite confident when there are four of you,” he spoke directing his gaze at Eldraen. “Why don’t you each fight me one on one and we’ll see how long each of you lasts,” he offered the look he was sending Eldraen making it clear what he had intended to do to each and every single one of them.
Form the scornful laugh that escaped them, Dan knew they had no intention of indulging his request.
“Honor,” The first one began in a derisive tone.
“Yes, Honor is the demise,” The second continued with a n equally scornful and derisive tone of voice.
“Honor is the demise of fools,” The third one spat as if the very word ‘honor' left a stale taste in his mouth.
“Honor is the demise of fools like you,” Eldraen finished of his voice dripping with venom.
“You know, you guys should really think about joining a choir,” Dan spoke up in a tone equally derisive as theirs. “I hear back up singers are a thing now,” he added.
A growl of rage escaped all of them except for Eldraen but even in him, the rage was clear to be seen in his eyes. They all burst alight, and going by look in their eyes, Dan knew that this was it, things had come to a head.
“Pathetic,” The one word was heard. Dan’s head turned to her as she finally spoke up a fraction if a second before everything exploded. “Don’t tell me you don’t see what he’s doing?” She spoke her eyes on Eldraen, whose gaze had turned to her. “You’re giving him exactly what he wants,” Karra went on. “He’s a coward, a weak spineless coward, yet not a dumb coward. You see, he knows that if he dies here without anyone around to see he will die a hero, an icon of rebellion, a symbol of resistance. He’s baiting you, trying to get you to spare him the shame of being killed before those that stood by him against you,” Karra stated as she stepped forward moving towards Eldraen. “Kill him now and you will have spared him having get on his knees and beg for mercy before Eldrid and every other being that thought that they could rise up against you and live to tell tale of it!” Karra declared as he came to a stop two paces away from Eldraen.
“I mean, you could kill him now, I’m not disputing that,” Karra conceded, the tone of her voice relaying that it really didn’t matter to her. “End his miserable existence here, in some dark dingy floor of this castle. Where no one will see his demise, no one will be see him falling to hi knees before you knowing that he has met his better and has been defeated. You could end him here if you wish, with only a brain dead warthog as the witness,” she offered he voice exhibiting how supremely unimpressive that she was laying out would be. “Or you could let him go and have him prepare. Have him put together whatever army he can muster, let him watch as you destroy it right before his very own eyes. Let him die knowing that he’s a failure. Besides, what is the rush? I mean, we all know how this will end, don’t we Dan?” Karra posed turning to him a sadistic smile that caused bile to rise in Dan, playing on her lips. “Do you really believe, that whatever miserable army you can muster will be able to stand against us and win?” she questioned.
Her silence forced Dan to reply. “I can take on any one of them, you included,” he spoke in an icy tone, directing a murderous glare at her.
His threat however, barely even made a dent on the were's calm exterior. “It’s already been established that you won’t be fighting any one of them alone Dan. So quit trying to use wordplay and answer the question as it is,” she shot back at him. “Do you honestly believe that you and your army will win this war?” she posed.
Dan remained silent communicating his hate to the were through his gaze. He knew the answer. He had felt a fraction of their power when they’d come at him with phoenix fire, and from it he had known all he needed to. The battle ahead of them was lost. He wouldn’t be able to fight the phoenixes on their own, let alone with every other creature that came from the portal, and win. Corrosive, vitriolic hate burned at Dan’s insides as he watch a satisfied smile creep onto Karra’s lips. Dan could have of course lied to her, he wasn’t sure however that he could do the same with the phoenixes. Using his magic, the lie could go undetected by the were, the phoenixes however were a different story altogether. He hated his silence, but he knew to be caught in a lie would be all the more humiliating.
“A week,” the pronunciation came from the one who stood to Dan’s left. His tone still as malevolent as ever.
“Yes, a week is enough,” The second one picked up in the same sinister voice.
“A week is enough for you to prepare,” The third one continued with a dark anticipation in his voice.
“A week is enough for you to prepare for your demise,” Eldraen finished off his tone infected with malevolent pleasure.
“Make good use of it kiddo,” Karra called out mockingly. “At least get your cherry popped by then,” she added with a laugh.
Five bursts of light later, Dan found himself alone on the beast his eyes fixed on where Karra had been only a second before…
*******
This is probably the shortest chapter in the whole Arwain series. Still, if you enjoyed it, please vote and comment.
Next chapter comes on 31 March
