Blade(Part 3): Dusk

Chapter 38: Marcus

Marcus was the first to fly through Xyhra's portal as soon as she opened it. Noglidas was a battleground, with the Colonial League and Skaola's army tearing each other to pieces under a torrential thunderstorm. Marcus didn't feel any nervousness at flying through it, though. Noglidas must have been reinforced with extra thousands of soldiers and more monsters since the last time Marcus was here. Through the visor of his helmet, he could see the heat signatures of minotaurs, cyclopses, and gryffons, all enthralled by dark Skaolan magic, and turned into slaves of their will. One gryffon took notice of Marcus, looking straight at him through red, glowing eyes.

"Come on," Marcus challenged. He was red-hot with anger at the demon that killed Alexius, but his anger would also serve to fuel his strength as he fought against these ones. The gryffon that spotted him soared towards him, and he sped forward with his plasma wings. As the demon opened its beak, Marcus sent forth a ball of fire from his spearhead, right into the gryffon's mouth. The projectile went down its throat and exploded, and the demon's body fell from the sky.

"Marcus," Ametrasa suddenly said. She wasn't in the air with him, but he heard her voice echoing inside his mind.

"Yes?" asked Marcus. "Where are you?"

"I have entered you," Ametrasa answered. "I shall guide you in this fight."

"So, what should I do?" Marcus wondered.

"The only way your rebel friends will have a chance of taking the city is if the monsters are slain," said Ametrasa. "Minotaurs, cyclopses, gryffons."

"I see them," Marcus assured. "There are dozens of them."

"You have proven to be more than capable of slaying monsters even more terrifying than them," Ametrasa reminded. "Now, go, Winged One." Marcus dived straight at the first minotaur he saw, which was charging at a battalion of League Hoplites. They would all die if they clashed with a monster such as a minotaur, so Marcus ran his spearhead right into the top of its head, sinking it into its skull before it could reach the soldiers. The next monster he went after was a cyclops stomping between the buildings one road over. He flew up to its single eye with his plasma wings and sank his spearhead into its eye socket. Marcus then flew into the air as the cyclops collapsed, only to find himself in the grasp of a gryffon's talons. He felt himself being squeezed by the demon's tight grip, and stabbed at its leg with his spear. The gryffon wouldn't let go of him, even after he landed a dozen stabs to its leg.

"Shit," Marcus cursed. He set his spearhead to the storm enchantment, then hurled the shaft at the gryffon's head. It went right into its neck, and a dying screech came from the demon's beak. The gryffon then fell from the sky, with Marcus unable to pry himself free from the grasp of its talons. They both crashed into a large house. Marcus felt a dozen pieces of rubble hit his armor, and his helmet split in half as they finally stopped.

"Marcus!" Ametrasa gasped. She appeared beside him and began to lift bricks and beams of wood off of him. Marcus could barely see her through the rubble that he was buried under, trying to reach him as fast as he could. He could feel pain throbbing throughout his entire body, and his vision was blurred from the force of the impact of the ground. He eventually felt both of the sun goddess' hands on his face.

"Stay with me," she begged, wrapping her arms around his chest, and dragging him from under the rubble. Her entire body then began to glow white, and Marcus felt the pain that throbbed all throughout him disappear. He then took a giant breath of air into his lungs.

"I have to get back up there," he said.

"I could not completely heal you," Ametrasa warned. "You still have injuries bad enough to kill you if you fight any more."

"So, what do I do?" Marcus growled.

"Allow me to heal you," Ametrasa hissed. "Your wings still work, but you will die if you go out there." Marcus wanted nothing more than to fly into the battlefield and kill every last monster that was stomping through the streets of Noglidas, but if he would only die if he did, it would make no difference. It became harder and harder to do that as he heard the sounds of battle, the dying screams of soldiers, and the roars of the Skaolans' monsters, right outside.

"Stay down," Ametrasa urged, as he hands began to glow gold. "Don't move. You're bleeding." She put both of her hands on both of Marcus' shoulders, and he didn't move an inch while she healed him.

"Marcus, listen," the goddess sighed. "I am sorry about Alexius. He was a good man."

"Thank you," said Marcus, reaching to her hand and wrapping his fingers around it. He felt Ametrasa's healing hand grasp his own hand, and felt tears in his eyes.

"His entire life was hell," he sobbed. "Not nearly as much as a lot of other people's, probably, but more than he should have had to suffer through."

"What do you mean?" Ametrasa wondered.

"He was nephalem," Marcus enlightened. "And even after he was born, there would always be someone outside our house throwing rocks and scolding our mother for giving birth to him."

"Really?" Ametrasa gasped. "How bad did it get?"

"Very bad," said Marcus. "The worst it got was when all of Savona was right outside, demanding for Alexius to die. He was just ten. There was even a priest, saying that the gods would curse the entire village if he lived for any longer."

"What?" Ametrasa hissed. "My brethren would do no such thing."

"The other gods?" asked Marcus.

"All but one of us can agree that there is a place for everyone in this world," Ametrasa promised. "No one has any say in how they're born. The choices we make are what define us, whether they be good or bad. No one may tell you otherwise."

"You really think so?" asked Marcus.

"I know, Marcus," said Ametrasa. "And to be honest, everything bad that has happened to this world is not some sign from us."

"Well, I knew that," Marcus assured.

"Every war has been caused by the people who live in it, including Aziz," Ametrasa continued. "It was his choice to sail north and conquer your colonies, his choice to kill thousands of innocent people, and his choice to travel to Spark, and now, Ember, to attempt to kill every last person in this world. And you, Marcus, it is your choice to do everything in your power to stop him."