Blackheart

Field of Dreams

Andric cleaved through yet another beast, the fallen creature collapsing in a crumpled heap.

Fianna watched as the man calmly stepped over the corpse and continued walking, marching ahead towards their destination.

The paladin had made the corruption much more bearable, but still it festered within her. She could feel it beginning to come back, the dark temptations threatening to compromise her once again.

She didn't know how long she could keep this up. Resisting it on its own was bad enough, and even though Andric had made it better...he was making it worse, too.

The corruption twisted her thoughts, desires and morals, making once unacceptable actions very appealing to her.

Andric, with his back turned, presented a unique opportunity; Strike him while his guard is down. Turn the holy warrior, the only one keeping the darkness here at bay, into a mutilated corpse. Send a signal to all that is good and righteous that there is no hope, and that the darkness will reign supreme.

Fianna couldn't believe she was thinking these things...and yet...her eyes were transfixed on his back. She poured over every detail of his armor, eying every single gap and soft spot, her mind presenting her with all the best possible methods of attack.

Despite weakening the corruption in her...Andric was bringing it back with his mere presence as well.

It would be so easy...he trusts me...

Still she resented it. Still she could hardly believe her inner thoughts, and yet they grew darker, betraying her and working to make her give into the corruption. She desired to give up her higher thinking, to join the demons, to bask in feral bloodlust and dance with madness.

The longer they walked, the more appealing it became. The longer she held on, the more her memories started to warp into justifications for giving in.

That time father was unreasonable. That time her friend talked about her behind her back. That time someone stole from her.

They didn't DESERVE her kindness. She should make them pay. They deserve to suffer.

She slapped at herself. Had she really just thought that?!

She was slipping back into the corruption, and so quickly, too...

Was her will lacking? Or was it just that powerful?

More and more, her mind raced with scenarios where she could quickly kill the paladin before he had a chance to retaliate. Her thoughts grew incoherent and alien.

The pair continued their walk through the city, occasionally cutting down corrupted as they came at them..

Every time though, every encounter, Fianna longed more and more to leap on the paladin's back, and help the others take him down, feeling remorse as she stood by and watched them all die.

It terrified her, how quickly the darkness sprang back.

Andric, for the moment, was too preoccupied checking every corner for more corrupted beasts to notice the sorry state Fianna was in. The constant attacks made any meaningful interaction dangerous, and so they simply moved on, continuing to run into and battle beasts.

It was after much of this that Andric suddenly came to a stop.

Fianna nearly bumped into the man, stumbling back and staring at him.

Before the pair was a large, tall metal gate. Its fence stretched out far, across the horizon.

Past the gate, the rows and rows of houses and streets ended. Instead, the koutu spotted something she hadn't seen for quite a while.