Despair
#3 of Tales of Ethorian: Legends of Alchemy
As the suns light faded over the distant horizon, a soft wind blew through Meronna, carrying the sickly stench of smoke, blood and burning flesh. The once beautiful city now stood marred by the strike of siege weapons, heavy ballista bolts protruding from the streets and even a few through what once had been houses.
The cries of the wounded and dying could be heard like a soft dirge sung for the already dead who's corpses littered the empty streets and amidst all the chaos, a towering fox stood, two bastard swords gripped tight in his large paws, dripping with reptilian blood. What soldiers which had once stood beside the towering fox now cowered in the shelter of a nearby forge, protected by it's thick walls of mortar and stone.
"Stay in the forge," the fox said, his voice taking an unusually calm tone, "Defend the children with your lives." he said as he started towards the western gates, the soft bass of his voice carrying just enough to be heard.
As the soldiers watched the man who for so long had been their protector and king set off to face certain death, one of them - a slender otter - turned to look at the children who's lives they were to safeguard. How many of them - He wondered - would survive to see the dawn?
Within moments of reaching the western gate, an arrow cut past the fox's face, drawing a thin line of wet crimson in his already fire-red fur. The fresh wound burned like fire from the Blackrose Oil; a deadly poison which had coated the arrowhead.
"Marcus Ashwood!" called a reptilian voice from off in the distance, "Surrender and your people will be shown mercy!"
"The Empire knows nothing of mercy!" snapped the large fox, rage ebbing his voice as his grip on the hilt of his bastard swords tightening. Silence filled the air for a moment but only for a moment, giving the fox just enough time to crack a thin smile before the sound of rushing feet and clattering armor came rushing against the first part of the bridge.
The full force of the Imperial Legion seemed to be filing across the thick wooden bridge, rushing towards Marcus with blades of all kinds held ready. Without hesitation, the massive fox met their challenge, suddenly sprinting forward to meet the first of their forces head on. His blades impaled two unlucky soldiers, running through the armor with ease before being jerked out to the sides, spilling their steaming entrails over the bridge as they fell from it into the ravine below.
Thick strings of blood coated the foxes arms as with the same fluid motion as he had used to fell the first two, he cleaved a third in half,ramming through the corpse as he continued to cut them down, one by one. Marcus was caught in the flow of battle and as each new foe fell it only pushed him further into his trance. He hardly noticed anymore, the smell of blood or the white-hot pain beginning to surge through his veins as the poison began to take it's toll.
By the dozens now the imperial soldiers fell - cut asunder by the warrior king - their mutilated bodies falling into blood-soaked heaps against the bridge or into the ravine below. Marcus' blades continued to whirl through them - cleaving flesh and scale from bone - as he waded through the dead, pushing towards their commander who stood just beyond the edge of the bridge.
* * *
Desperation and rage welled up inside Alex, driving him through a seemingly endless sprint through the forest, traversing yards in the span of moments. Never more than a yard behind him, Vael struggled to keep pace, despite the stifling weight and design of his robes. As his violet eyes scanned the swiftly passing surroundings however, he suddenly cried out, "Slow down!"
Without even a glance Alex snapped, "No!" back, keeping his pace even as he managed to add, "My people need me!"
"Please!" Pleaded Vael through his shaky panting, "Something isn't right! Please, slow down!"
Before he could respond, Alex felt the fletching of an arrow streak past, heard the sharp sound it made soon stifled by a sudden wet thump of metal piercing flesh as the arrow buried itself into Vael's chest. The pained cry pulled his gaze immediately to Vael, just in time to see that pleading, terrified look in his eyes as he fell to the ground.
"No!!" Alex screamed, tearing his swords from their scabbards as he spun, cutting another arrow out of the air. Before he could make a move to charge however, a bearded axe flew through the air, cleaving an archer's head in half with ease.
"Let me handle this," came a calm voice as a familiar wolf dropped from, his high perch in a nearby tree, the force of his descent burying his other axe into a now charging imperial soldiers shoulder, forcing the blade through scale, flesh and bone all with ease. "You take care of him." Lyran added as a handful of imperial soldiers rushed out of their hiding places.
With a hesitant nod, Alex's blades slid quickly back into their scabbards as he spun and rushed to Vael's side, dropping too his knees at the white fox's side. Quickly he leaned in and - feeling Vael's subtle breath against his cheek - managed a simple, "Don't you dare die on me." as he gripped the robes and tore them down the front, ripping away enough to see the extent of the wound.
With more than six enemies rushing him now, Lyran dove into a roll, avoiding the first strike of a large halberd, retrieving his first axe in the process. A quick swing as he rose cleaved another soldiers arm off at the shoulder and as the wounded soldier screamed, the wolf's other axe came across, catching him in the mouth and cleaving the top of his head off with a wet cracking noise.
With grace surpassing that of even the most skilled of assassins, Lyran lept another blow from the halberd, diving past it's wielder and slamming the blunt of his axe into the soldiers back, sending him sprawling forward and as the soldier frantically scrambled to get to his feet, he felt his own halberd sink through his back, forcing an agonized scream from his lungs as the last remnants of life poured out of him in a thick gush of crimson.
"Three down," mused the now blood-soaked Lyran, his lips parting into a wicked grin as he eyed the soldiers still standing. As the large wolf lunged, one of the soldiers met his strike, hurling himself at the beast with swords ready but his efforts were in vain. Lyran swiftly hurled his axes both at the oncoming foe, sending him flying backwards in segments, cut into thirds to let his blood and entrails splatter over one of his comrades.
The newly bloodied soldier could barely react before he felt wolven claws shred through his windpipe, spilling blood inward. In his last moments of agony he could vaguely see the last of his men fall, pinned by the vicious Lyran, flailing wildly and screaming in a mixture of horror and agony as the beast bit into his chest, crunching through bone and scale again and again until he finally felt the wet pop of a reptilian heart between his jaws.
As Alex worked to free the arrow from Vael's chest, he could feel the white vulpine's heart slowing. "Come on, stay with me," he pleaded, but as he freed the arrow itself, a gush of blood spat forth from the wound and Vael went limp, his last breath spilling out in a soft sigh. "No!" cried Alex, "No, You can't die!"
As his vulpine friend held his dead lover tight, Lyran found he could say nothing. He knew well enough the pain of losing the ones you love and knew no simple words would bring his friend solace. Instead, he wiped the blood from his muzzle, murmuring, "We'll nearby for tonight. You need some rest." as he began clearing a spot to build a fire.
* * *
Standing among the dead, the towering form of Lord Marcus Ashwood stood drenched in the blood of his enemies, his blades dripping with the crimson fluid. He had dispatched more than a one hundred men alone and now stood waiting, his eyes locked on the reptilian commander just beyond the edge of the bridge.
"Too afraid to even fight a dying man?" the massive fox taunted, a thin smirk drawn over his lips. "You should run home like a good dog, tell your master you've failed."
The commander simply stared, his fire and ice gaze never leaving his vulpine enemy as his lips curled through the complexity of an incantation. After a moment, all the scaled soldier could do is grin as his eyes rolled back and his life drained from him. For a moment, it seemed that the imperial force had been defeated.
With a long sigh, Marcus let his sword-tips rest on the bridge beneath him, his head lowering as his gaze grew distant. For a moment the lord was lost in the serenity, basking in the warmth of yet another victory, but then he heard it. From behind, the sound of something crackling loud like the fires of the underworld and as he turned to look, his two swords snapped up just in time to deflect a sword wreathed in magical flames.
"Sigfried," Marcus said, his tone carrying unmistakable hatred for the name as much as the ferret mage who owned it. "I should have known you were behind this." Without second thought, Marcus lurched forward, one sword coming from below as the other swung in a high arch, threatening to cleave the man in two. The strike however was a simple one - a predictable one - and as his own sword blocked the low-swinging blade, Sigfried's free paw - coated in thick black stone - caught the other.
"Honestly Marcus, did you think I'd give up this opportunity?" asked the ferret, his crimson eyes beginning to glow with an arcane light.
"Damned vulture, I'll tear you apart like I did your father!" snapped Marcus, his foot suddenly slamming into Sigfried's chest, sending him skidding backwards several feet and within moments was on top of him again, both swords swinging away wildly, putting the ferret onto the defensive, blocking and parrying blow after blow with either his sword or his stone-encased arm.
With a grin, the ferret took the beating, matching every strike with ease as he taunted the fox. "You must be getting old, Marcus," he said with a grin as his sword came up between the lord's blows, the blunt of his weapon connecting with Marcus' jaw and sending him staggering backwards a few steps. "Or perhaps it's the poison, hmm? Either way, I'll enjoy watching you die."
At that moment, the scales tipped and as Sigfried launched another strike, sending his stone-encased fist across Marcus' jaw, all the lord could do is try to block the strikes. His attempts however were in vein as one after another, staggering blows from the ferrets fist or the blunt of his sword slammed across his head and chest, forcing him back step by step, little by little to the edge of the bridge.
One last strike at the back of his head sent the warrior king to his knees, his blades jammed into the bridge on both sides of himself as he spat a thick string of blood and barked, "Finish it." his tone dripping with rage.
"Oh I will, you can be certain I will, but I want your death to have meaning." mused Sigfried as he stepped close, observing the bloody and vaguely burnt form before him. "But I want your death to have meaning. So when that worthless brat of yours sees your mangled husk he'll know his place."
Seeing the anger in Marcus' eyes, Sigfried raised his blade, inverting it in one paw as his lips twisted upwards into a wicked smile. "Goodbye, Marcus." he said softly before plunging the blade down, the weapon piercing flesh and bone, descending through his skull and ribs to slam into the wood below and pin the kneeling lord to the bridge, locking him in position and freezing his last, agonized expression on his face.
* * *
It was like opening his eyes for the first time, blinded by an unspeakable light, the world around him blurred by a sort of shimmering haze. As the world around him slowly became more clear around him Vael began to notice the signs of a war long past. The smell of the earth defiled by the blood of millions, the inherent gloom brought on by the despair of so many.
As his violet eyes searched across the vast emptiness before him, he couldn't help but wonder where he was. So lost in his contemplation was he that he hardly noticed the massive form rising to it's feet behind him,
The sound of popping bones and a feral yawn prompted the slender white fox to whirl around however, his hands bursting into flames, ready to hurl the fire at his target. As he looked on however, the flames vanished and he stared in awe at the massive wolf in front of him, her feral body standing over twenty feet tall on all fours, coated from nose to tail-tip in fur as soft and white as newly fallen snow.
As the massive thing stood to her full height, Vael couldn't help but let his jaw gape. To his knowledge nothing like what he was seeing now existed in the heavens nor earth, what more could he do?
Vael's stare however was shifted however when a soft laugh slipped from the beasts maw and from somewhere between it's barely twitching lips came a voice as soft as the skies and more beautiful than all his worlds music.
"We've been expecting you," came the voice as the massive wolf stared into Vael's eyes, her own violet orbs casting their gaze softly.
"Who are you? Why have you brought me here?" Vael demanded, finding his fire from somewhere once more.
"Don't mistake my generosity child, it was an assassins arrow that brought you here. I simply brought you back." explained the massive wolf as she turned to take a step.
"Why am I here?!" Vael's voice caused the massive wolf to stop mid-stride.
"Because we need your help." explained the wolf with a sigh as she started off again, "Come, I'll explain everything."
As Vael stared at the massive wolf a moment, weighing his options, he gave a soft sigh and shook his head, "I'll find you again Alex, I wont let you do this on your own." he muttered, then started after the massive beast, having to jog to keep up.