Darklord's Story
Chapter 6
The day had finally come. The two armies were face to face, about to do battle. As Christien looked at his enemy, he realized his army was out numbered 10 to 1. These odds were not good, and he knew this battle was lost. And so, to save his friends, he ordered a retreat and they ran. But Zoreal's army chased them down and killed many of them. Some were captured as prisoners, but most were killed.
As Christien ran, he knew he couldn't hide from them. He was their target and so he stopped, turned and stood his ground. His friends seen this and stood with him. Together they fought like warriors, ready to die for their world. But they were soon defeated and captured. Christien had lost.
Their hands were shackled and collars were put around their necks. From each collar, was a chain, linking them to each other. All 20 prisoners were forced to walk back and those who couldn't make it would be skinned alive or dragged by horses until they died.
It took days to reach the palace, but they had finally made it. As they approached the gates, Christien noticed the remains of the body on the gate and in front was a pole with the remains of another. All that was left were bones with flesh and meat hanging off them. The one on the pole had a few peices of shredded clothing hanging on it. On one of the pieces, Christien recognized the crest of The Order. It was Sir Dracius. And the remains on the gate, he realized was Ms Violet. He fell to his knees, tears running down his face, enraged at what he saw. His family were all dead. Hatred swelled in him. He clutched his fists so hard, his nails dug in and blood started to run down his hand. And with this, he swore revenge. He was pulled back onto his feet and they continued through the gates to the palace.
The palace had been built into the side of the mountain. It was tall and dark. The face of it formed into a skull. Along the walkway were poles with skulls on the ends. Black ash covered the landscape for miles around. Decaying bodies hanging on poles could be seen for acres around the palace.
As they approached the palace entrance, heat from the lava under the volcano could be felt. Screams of death filled the air. This was a place of nightmares, a place of darkness and a place of pure evil. Inside, the smell of burning flesh, decaying bodies and sulphur filled the air. It stung the eyes and nostrils.
They crossed the hall and entered the main chambers. Inside, were stone pillars, reaching from the ceiling to the ground. They were black with a sculpture of a snake coiling around them. To the left was an opening in the floor, a deep pit that had lava running through the bottom. At the front of the chambers was a throne and sitting on this throne was Zoreal. He wore black leather armour. A black cape hung down his back to his feet. His muscles and skull bones could be seen as he had no flesh. His eyes were blood red. On the center of his chest was a silver skull. At his side was a tall staff with a claw holding a blood red ball.
"So, you are the one who is supposed to destroy me. Why, you're nothing but a little boy" said Zoreal, and he nodded toward his guards. All 15 prisoners were knocked to their knees.
"Before I kill you, I'll allow you to watch your puny friends die. Guards, throw them into the pit" said Zoreal. One by one, the prisoners were thrown into the pit. When there were 2 left, Zoreal ordered his guards to stop. Silverblade and Aziel, the Dwarf who had been with Christien since he left Duplium forest.
Zoreal looked at Silverblade. "So, you must be the famous warrior I've heard about. I guess you're the one who trained this boy. Well, you too will die."
"Today is a good day to die" replied Silverblade and then he spit on the floor towards Zoreal. The guard standing behind him knocked him down and was about to beat him, but Zoreal raised his hand stopping him.
"Well, today may be a good day to die. So, I will not kill you. No my friend, I'll do far worse. Guard take them to the torture room." And with that, the prisoners were hauled to the torture chamber. There they were chained and their clothes were stripped off.
The guards were ordered to start with the Dwarf, Aziel. They started by removing his teeth so he could not bite them. They then sewed his mouth closed so he could not scream. They chained him to the 2 poles in the middle of the room and started to whip him. All four guards took their time whipping him, and with each lash, his body would get weak and it collapsed and he hung by his hands still chained. They then took him down and chained him to a circular rack that spun around. His feet and hands were tied to small posts attached to the top of the rack. 4 bigger posts stood beside the rack, in all four corners. They proceded to spin the rack clockwise and as his feet and hands hit the 4 posts, they continued to push until finally his ankles and wrists broke and bent side ways. As Aziel screamed, he ripped the stitches from his mouth. Each guard then put on a cast iron glove and proceeded taken turns punching him in the torso, effectively breaking his ribs so badly, one started to pierce his skin. Zoreal then ordered them to take his body outside and tie him to a pole and leave him to die. They also put small cuts all over his body and then left him chained to a pole out in the courtyard to die.
Watching his friend tortured in such a manner enraged Christien. He was building his powers, waiting for his moment to strike. He looked at Zoreal with such hatred, such loathing, he saw nothing else.
The guards now chained Silverblade to the poles in the middle of the room. There they removed his teeth and sewed his mouth shut. They proceeded by shaving his fur off with a rusty blade. Then all 4 guards proceeded to whip him, one by one. However, he would not let them see him fall and so he stood. Zoreal stopped his guards after 50 lashes and he pointed downwards towards Silverblades midregion.. And so one of the guards pulled down an axe from the wall, while another guard moved a wooden block between Silverblades legs. And with a quick swing of the axe, they removed his genitals. The pain shot through Silverblades body with such force, he almost passed out. His knees buckled and he collasped, hanging only by his arms. Another guard then pulled a club off the wall and proceeded to smash Silverblades legs. He started at the ankles, then the knee and finally the hips, effectivly shattering the bones. Zoreal ordered them to remove his flesh and as they did so, Zoreal used his powers to keep Silverblade alive while it happend and so he was skinned alive.
Zoreal circled him, stopped and looked into his eyes. Laughing he told his guards, "Take him out to the yard, leave him there to rot." Two of the guards pulled him down and took him out. Zoreal ordered the remaining 2 guards to leave.
They were now alone. "So, what do I do with you. You see, I can't just kill you, thats not fun at all. And torturing you here is no good either. I need to make an example of you, so that people will know not to oppose me." He pulled the amulet off Christien's neck and crushed it in his hands. "This thing, this order is no more. You are the last of a weak people and just like them, you too will die."
As Zoreal turned and started to walk away, Christien cried out "Zoreal! Today is a good day to die," and with that he broke free of his chains. He stared at Zoreal, his eyes glowing red, the power within him growing, he was now driven soley by anger, revenge and hatred. The ground started to shake, dust falling from the ceiling. Weapons, torture devices started falling off the walls, landing on the ground with a bang or clink.
Zoreal turned around, "You are no match for me" and he pointed his staff at Christien, channeling his powers through it towards Christien. Christien proceeded to fire his own powers, channeling them through his eyes. The 2 beams of power hit each other half way. As Christien's power was building inside him, his anger getting to him, he started to push towards Zoreal.
Zoreal tried to push back, but was unable and he was blown backwards off his feet, hitting the wall. Christien walked over to him, grabbed him by his neck and picked him up off the floor. Holding him against the wall, he looked into Zoreal's eyes, and he channeled his powers through his own, shooting it into Zoreal. A pain shot through Zoreal, something he had never felt before. He tried to fight it, but was unable. Finally, he was able to lift his hand and he smashed his fist through Christiens chest and pulled out his heart. Christien dropped Zoreal, looked down at his chest. He swung his head backwards, and started to scream, his powers shooting through his eyes and mouth, they bore through the ceiling, the floors above, all the way through the top of the mountain towards the sky. His power started to envelop his body until it could not be seen and with a flash, he was gone. Zoreal started to laugh, still holding Christien's heart. "I have won, HAHAHAHAHAHAH."
"Think again" came a voice, and as Zoreal turned around, a force so powerful slammed into Zoreals chest, into his body with such force, that Zoreal stumbled back. Christien's soul was in Zoreal, trying to take over. Zoreal tried to fight back, but was starting to lose, until finally, his body was torn apart. Now, in the middle of the room were two powerful souls. One pure evil, the other pure good. They wrapped around each other, fighting. As they did, the mountain started to shake apart. Stone was falling around them and outside. The lava below started to churn, smoke started to come out of the volcano. The rooms were getting hotter and some of the demons and people inside ran for the doors, but as the lava started to move up, it was so hot, most of them burned to death. The palace was now on fire. The 2 beings, still enveloped around each other, fighting, smashed through the top of the volcano with such force, the top was blown off. The evil soul started to win and was able to pull them back down, through the volcano, smashing through the planets crust, effectivly pushing the molten lava upwards through the volcano and it erupted. Ash and smoke and lava exploded through the top spreading everywhere.
Below the mountain, the 2 beings fought, each trying to take over. Until, finally Christien realized he could not beat the evil, but instead, he needed to embrace it, become one with it, and then destroy it from the inside. And so he started to meld with it. As Zoreal realized what was happening, he tried to do the same, but it was too late for him to take over. With a final blast that span out around the globe, the 2 halfs were melded and vanished.
Chapter 5 | Chapter 7
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