Prologue:
I…I am failing. Failing to contain the beast within my self. I am Zarith Draconis. I was the commander of the 'Drakes of Light', a special protection unit for King Leonus during the 'Sin Trials'. That is, until, he fell to the dark, corruptive powers of Diablo, the 'Lord of Terror'. After that, the 'Drakes of Light' were banished from Taurusfeld and the land of Khanduran forever and eternity for our failure to protect the king. We were forced to wander the earth, never to set foot upon that desolate land again.
We set out to the east, searching the world for a purpose…a reason to live. We walked until we reached the twin seas. From there we sailed for days on end. We sailed for so long, it had felt that we would never see dry land again.
We finally reached the city of Curanst on the eighth week of our journey… It was there that we found our reason to live. A broken man named Delieus approached us and begged us to act as caravan to him to take him to the lost city of Inarius. He spoke of an ultimate treasure, the Archanos 'Gem of Aegis' that was buried in the catacombs deep beneath the city. He promised to pay us a 50/50 cut of the gold he would receive from selling the dark gem. The last shard of my sanity implored me not to undertake the quest, but my men were starving, and their morale was diminishing faster than a flame in a cloudburst. Foolishly, I agreed.
We set out with the dawn. A dark feeling crossed me, but the thought of the money pressed me on. We encountered many dark foes along the way, nothing that my men couldn't handle, yet out employer was growing impatient and edgy. Several times in the night, I would over hear him talking in his sleep… He was speaking forgotten languages, all of which had been dead since the 'Great War'. This was all I needed for a reason to leave… Why didn't I? I don't know.
The morning of our arrival to Inarius, Delieus told us to make camp, and then he plundered into the once great 'Temple of Aegis' of the Archanos high counsel. He never returned. We waited all day and into the night…and I began to worry. At some time around Midnight, I was rallying a scouting party to search for Delieus when we heard screams that could not have come from human vocal cords. We all charged into the temple expecting a fight. But all we found was Delieus kneeling…no…praying before the altar of Aegis. Suddenly, the earth began to shake, and the temple began to collapse. I called to Delieus, but he just knelt there, still praying. I ran to grab him, but was blown away by a mysterious force of magic.
Delieus rose as a pillar fell through the floor to reveal an ancient staircase. As he descended, he glanced at me…and to my everlasting fear… It was not Delieus. The skin of my employer had melted away to show a bleached white skull. Stricken with terror I froze, compelled to follow the skeletal being. The shaking stopped abruptly. I called to my men and dashed down into the catacombs. My men and I found the corpse of the poor soul, Delieus being consumed by a hellish beast. The beast stood to face us. It had the face of Diablo, but it had…four wings a-and the body of a centaur with scythe-like hands… It spoke to us.
"I, Draclose, Guardian of Dorleac, Forgotten brother of the three, shall not let thee pass. May the Archangel have mercy upon your tainted souls!
The great beast reeled to attack as my men drew their swords and ran toward their demise. His hands…his scythe hands flew from his arms and beheaded several of my men…such a foul beast. One after the other, my men fell to the beast without even laying a mark upon its wretched hide. It came down to me and the hell spawn that slew my brethren without remorse. I drew my sword and raced toward the beast. Like many times before, the beast flung its scythe toward my head. Expecting this move, I leaped onto one of the shields of my fallen comrades and slid right under the scythe. As I neared the beast I leapt to meet his head. I thrust my shimmering blade down into the brainless hulks skull. Black blood spurted out of the fatal wound and onto my armor. It ate through the hardened steel and began to feed upon my flesh. But I did not care; I had gained revenge for my slain brethren…vengeance was sweet. I began to leave, but before I got but three feet, I heard a loud, metallic thud…like when a hammer hits the tendered steel blade of a crafted sword. I turned to find a large black stone that slid out of the demons forehead. Driven by rage, I drew my sword and shattered the dark stone.
"No! Fool!" I was pushed up against the wall by a great entity.
"You do not realize the unspeakable evil you have just unleashed upon the world. You have just freed 'Dorleac the Forgotten', third brother of Diablo, 'Lord of Terror'"
Frozen with fear, I made no reply.
"You have shown great strength here, however. There are few who can defeat an Archon with an army, let alone by themselves… I only hope that you are powerful enough to contain this beast with in you. Prepare for the everlasting battle, Zarith of the 'Drakes'. You wanted a reason to live? Well here it is! Hold this beast at bay and head east until you reach the 'Temple of Light'. I, Gadriel, The 'Archangel' will await you!" with that the powerful being jammed the largest piece of the shattered stone into my forehead. A great searing pain shot through my body as I felt a dark presence enter my soul. I let out a hellish scream as the Archangel left me to die… Or so I thought.
I awoke the next morning at dawn. Remembering the previous night, I reluctantly felt my forehead… It felt…normal. Yet I still felt that dark presence…slipping through my mind. Recalling the angel's words I set out for the east. I only hoped I would reach the 'Temple of Light' in time!
El Diablo
Rise of Evil
Chapter 1: The Beast
Ever since that battle at Inarius I haven't been able to sleep very well. Whenever I would close my eyes…I would see things…evil things. These dark visions, I concluded, were the memories of the dark creature that a carried inside of me, for they we nothing that I could have experienced.
One of the most disturbing images that I had seen took place in Hell. Fire burning all around…evil minions torturing the souls of the damned…harsh, blood curdling screams, but four huge, hulking beasts overshadowed all of that. Three of them I could identify, for I had met them in battle many a time, Diablo the 'Lord of Terror', Baal the 'Lord of Destruction', and Mephisto the 'Lord of Hatred'. The fourth I had never seen or heard of before. The three brothers spoke to the fourth beast.
"You have betrayed us brother!" Diablo screamed, "You have betrayed us far beyond the wake of forgiveness!"
"Please brother, you must understand… It was for your own good! I have foreseen the future! I have seen the lesser evils overthrow our great empire and banish us to the wretched 'Middle Realm'!" the unknown beast told the three in a pleading manner, "I was trying to protect you in the soul stones… Not imprison you! Please…I implore you, do not do this! I am terribly sorry for all the confusion. I know how this all looks…but its not what you think!"
"It is too late for apologies, Dorleac!" Mephisto howled, "We have already made our decision! You are to be preserved in the very soul stone that you wished to imprison us in and banished to the 'Middle Realm'! There, you will be Heavens problem. We are sick of dealing with your lies and treachery!"
"NOOO!" Dorleac cried.
"Do not worry my deceitful brother…" Baal screeched, "…For if we are to be banished to the 'Middle Realm' we will find you, free you, and begin domination of that despicable place!"
"No! You do not understand!" Dorleac protested, "You will also be sealed into a sou-."
"Silence!" Diablo yelled, "You have chosen your fate, now live with it!" with that the three brothers joined hands and seemed to concentrate their energies into a black crystal on the charred floor. It began to radiate dark energy as it levitated off the ground.
"NOOOOO!" Dorleac screamed as his essence was sucked into the floating gem.
That was all I ever saw of the horrid memory… I always woke up after that, but it was enough for me.
I continued east. I had been wandering the desert for two weeks now, and I was beginning to feel my soul weaken to the beast within me. I could feel him clawing at the bottom of my spirit, lurking around my tainted soul. There were times that I fell to the demons power for maybe a moment or so… I would be sent to a horrible place of evil and it felt like torture…it felt as an eternity before I would wake up on the desert floor only seconds later. It was draining all of my strength not to succumb to the evil temptations of the dark lord.
My water reserves were running low and I had not eaten for three days. If I did not find civilization soon…I would have to let the beast defeat me just to survive…Ha! …How ironic.
…
"Gadriel, do you really think that a mere human, even the incarnate, can contain the 'Lord of Death' within himself! The willpower of a man is as easy to manipulate as the will of a flea! What makes you think that this one will be any different?" the archangel, Gadriel, stood before the 'High Council' of gods.
"This one is powerful, more powerful than you can imagine! He single handedly slew one of our Archon champions! Also, he has stood against the three dark lords many times, there is nothing he does not know about contending with the forces of evil! Master Darius you must understand, I had no choice! It was either trap Dorleac within Zarith or set him loose upon the earth… I am sure you would have done the same!" Gadriel retorted.
"That very well may be, but the past has proven that humans can not be trusted! You said the same about Lazarus and Leonus! You said they would be powerful enough to resist the temptations of evil, and now look where they are! Fighting along side the very evil that they so vowed to destroy!" one of the lesser Angels stated.
"That's not entirely true! Leonus fell in battle against Diablo's army, and the dark Mephisto consumed Lazarus' soul, there was nothing we could do to stop either event!" Gadriel exclaimed!
"Nevertheless…" the head angel, Darius, interjected, "…We cannot loose control over this situation. Gadriel, you are to watch this closely! Protect the human with your life! We cannot allow the 'Lord of Death' to be set loose upon the earth… Dismissed."
…
I mounted what could have been the thousandth sand dune since I had left Inarius. A slab of stone sitting in the middle of the desert floor was the site I chose for camp. Almost as if ritual, I slammed my sword deep in the sand to mark the site. I set my back to the stone and, on instinct; I peered out from the boulder. My fear had come true. A small encampment of Carvers lay at the bottom of the hill.
"Damn…this is all I need." I said to myself as I kneeled to think. I peered out from the rock again and saw something of great interest. A wagon carrying water barrels rolled to the gate of the camp. Suddenly, a strange wave of sickness rushed over me and I felt as if I was going to pass out.
"No… Not now! I…I need to think strait…" the creature inside of me was fighting to gain control again. He had been doing it more frequently every day. I took it as a sign that I was getting closer to my destination, but this time it felt different…strange.
"Ugh… What are you up to?" I said aloud… I regained my stamina and quickly shook the feeling. I began to move down the hill to see if the water barrels were genuine. I found a small boulder and dashed behind it. Even though the Carvers were speaking in their language, I could understand them.
"Halt. What is your business here?" The guard questioned the Wagoner.
"I have the water supply for the next season here," answered the Wagoner; "Master Shamius requested it by today."
"Right, carry on through then" and he let the wagon pass.
I had to think fast. I reached for my blade but all I found was a sheath. I had left it at the campsite.
"Damn! This is going to cost me some time" as I was leaving to return to my campsite, a flash of metal in the sand caught my eye.
"Great fortune!" I exclaimed as I drew a sturdy blade from the sand. It was a broad sword…and a well crafted one at that. It was etched with ancient Archanos symbols, I thought, and at the hilt, it was encrusted with stones of various colors all the way around.
"This should suffice for now." I consoled myself as I charged to attack the carver camp.
I dashed out from behind a rock and caught sight of my first opponent.
"Who go-… Were being attacked!" he screamed as he ran to meet me, sword drawn. My blade found a warm home deep within the belly of the foul beast. Another guard ran from a shack and rallied with a group of shock troops. I picked up the blade from my former enemy and grinded it against my blade.
"C'mon, you smelly fiends!" I hollered as four of the Carvers leapt from a tower and landed all around me. They charged with swords pointed inward. I spun deflecting all of the steel shards and forced my blade through the yellow flesh of my attackers. By this time the main force of the creatures had gathered in the center of the camp preparing to attack. In the center of the group, a rather large Yeti-like Carver stood, barking orders to the troops, it could have only been the shaman.
"We must defend the camp until Lordmaster Atharian arrives! Charge!" with that, the group advanced in great numbers towards me. There must have been fifty of them, brainless creatures marching toward their death. I blocked every attack and struck down every parry, crushing skull after skull. I could have handled the group, but they had a little surprise waiting for me.
"Now!" commanded the shaman. Out of every tower a volley of arrows came down on me. I leapt onto a wagon, blocking swords, deflecting arrows. I was a seasoned warrior, and I was never so careless in battle as I was that day. My mind kept drifting back to the words of the archangel… That was my biggest mistake. A stray arrow flew from a doorway and nestled itself in my shoulder.
"Ahhhhhrrggh!" Nooo!" I let go…right then I let go of my hold I had upon the beast within me. I was sent to a dark place… Oh…it hurt so. Then suddenly, there before me, stood the creature I must have been fighting these last weeks. I was the same creature I saw in my dream… He looked just like Diablo…only he was red, while this one was black.
"Aha Ha Ha Ha! You foolish human! You have succumbed to my will! I now control this vessel! Hmm…you are powerful indeed… Difficult to overcome you, it was, but I found your weak point! You have fallen to me like many before and many still to come! Well, since you showed that you are a force to be reckoned with, I will not send you to your sanctuary in the abysmal Heaven, no…instead I will damn thee to a world of eternal pain and suffering! Aha Ha Ha Ha!" the beast bellowed from its hellish mouth.
"Like hell you will" I hollered, and with every ounce of strength I had, I forced the dark one deep down into the bowels of my soul. I returned to my world of battle and let loose a horrid scream of pain. Dark force erupted within me as I felt my body weaken. I looked at my hands as my skin began to change colors. I fell to my knees, fighting this curse with everything I had… But it wasn't enough.
"Hiiiyaaargh!" I bellowed another painful cry as I felt my world slipping away! Just then I heard a familiar voice…
"Let go…" merely a whisper, but I could hear it as clear as day… It was Gadriel telling me to let this dark power flow, and without hesitation I gave up and did as he said. I felt my power growing, not weakening. My body felt as if it was being charged… Then the pain came. I began to feel the flesh at my back tear as I …sprouted wings. The skin at my forehead, chin and temples split as great horns formed. The top of my wrists felt as if they were to explode as huge shards of bone erupted from them. My skin, or what was left of it, began to harden and turn to scales. Then it all stopped. I opened my eyes and, as if driven by God himself I screamed…
"I am the dragon of Archanima!" my dark voice echoed through out the desert canyon as shockwaves of black energies pulsed from my hellish body, shattering the skeletons of all who opposed me. My greatest fear had come to pass…I had joined the army of Diablo.