Welcome to chapter two of my little attempts at writing a cohesive story. In this chapter we meet the noble but shunned Necromancer. His goal this time is to destroy the evil Countess. Will the Dark Arts help him prevail? Or is our dark knight doomed? Thanks for reading and reviewing!
II. Darkness Rises
"I'm sorry, but you must leave" said the stern faced man to the Necromancer standing before him. "There is no place for your kind here!"
Tracus sighed and turned to leave without a single word. Too many times had this played out for him to feel anything other than utter despair. When the thorned hulks threatened or the sand scarabs came out of their dens, the denizens of Sanctuary were pleased to see the dark knight stride the land and purge the evil fiends, but when the threat was over, they all turned on the Necromancers and drove them away. Nothing could convince them not to fear the Dark Arts and all who practiced them.
"A priest of Rathma deserves better" Tracus uttered to himself as he trudged away from the village. He turned west, feeling the pull of darkness strongest from that direction. Before he had been unceremoniously booted from town he had heard stories of a troubled encampment far to the west that he expected could use his help. While they might all turn on him in the end, it was his sacred duty to restore the balance of good and evil, and nothing would take him from that task.
A few days travel and several skirmishes later put him in the gateway of a small camp defended by a handful of Sisters of the Sightless Eye. He introduced himself around, and all welcomed him warmly enough, save for the merchant known as Gheed, who had flat out refused to serve him. It was acceptable to Tracus however, for it was clear Gheed was a scam artist preying on the gold of the foolish warriors that happened to pass through.
Finally Tracus came to a wizened old man who seemed instantly glad to see him though they had never met. "Stay awhile and listen!" the elderly man called out. Tracus decided to oblige the man's request, and learned this man was none other than Deckard Cain, last known Horadrim, a name known even to the priests of Rathma. As the old man rattled on about the tragedies that had befallen him, Tracus decided to attempt to bring the fellow into focus. "Why are you here, Sir Cain?"
"I'm here to gain allies for the fight against Baal" the old man said with a fire in his eyes.
"Baal! A Prime Evil yet walks this earth!?" Tracus was taken aback. "I had heard rumors of the fall of the Prime Evils to a pair of warriors."
"That is correct, partially. Luther the paladin and a sorceress named Frost felled both Mephisto and Diablo" Cain explained with a hint of sadness in his voice.
"Spendid! Where are they? Let us employ them in our struggle against Baal!" Tracus was already seeing visions of a victorious party emerging from battle against the tyrant demon.
"Alas this cannot be, for they both met their end in Diablo's Sanctuary" Cain shook his head slowly.
Tracus felt his heart sink. "Oh" he sighed before gathering himself back up, "No mind, I shall defeat Baal in their stead!" Tracus felt triumphant already.
"I pray this so, but first you must grow in strength. Baal is not to be taken lightly."
"I must protest Sir Cain, we have but just met, and I am powerful already!" Tracus called forth the power of darkness and held his arms out, a pale, mournful blue glow encasing his head and shoulders, a wailing howl filling the air.
"Parlor tricks are of no avail against a Prime Evil, dark knight" Cain was not impressed. "Search out the Countess in the cellar of her ruined tower in the Black Marsh. Only by gaining experience in battle will you become powerful enough to defeat Baal."
"Very well, I shall do as you ask" Tracus trudged away.
The trip to the Black Marsh was arduous but not impossible for one such as Tracus. His power in the Dark Arts allowed him to animate a section of the ground and turn the dirt into a living creature, a golem of earth and stone that, while slow, packed a terrible wallop. This golem trailed behind Tracus until an enemy was detected, then it lumbered forward and did all it could to keep the foe's attention, allowing Tracus to cast his dark magic or even just wait the battle out in safety.
Many corrupted archers and goatmen fell on the way to the ruined tower in the Black Marsh. Tracus entered the structure's first cellar level and was nearly taken clean from his feet by the stench of evil and decay. His head felt dizzy for a moment as the radiating aura of evil washed over him. He knew his festering target lay not far off, and he was determined to finish the vile woman and be done with the affair.
The first several levels gave no sign of his target, though when he had entered the fifth floor that all changed. She, this so-called Countess, was surely close by, Tracus could feel it in his very soul. All Necromancers could detect evil at short ranges, a gift imparted through one's studies with the cult of Rathma. Now evil was detected, and it was going to be exterminated.
Tracus carefully made his was forward, allowing his golem to cut through the nasty little red demon creatures that infested the level. They were cruel, wicked little beings with scimitars nearly as big as themselves. They were easy work for the golem however, and Tracus only had to resort to his dagger a few times. Soon the main room was clear, and Tracus began around the corner, seeking his prey.
The Countess wasn't alone. She was surrounded by corrupted rogues who were on the golem in a flash. Tracus knew there was a danger of being overrun if he did not act fast, so he quickly chanted a small prayer and a wall of bone began orbiting around him, serving as a barrier against some damage. He then turned his focus to the nearest rogue, who was battering his golem with a wicked looking sword. The terrible woman was ate with hatred and evil, and cared for nothing but causing harm to those of the Light. Tracus called on the Dark Arts and caused several tooth-like projections to fly out from his hands and rip through the fallen rogue.
The woman fell, and Tracus began to move to the next target when suddenly pain shot up through his feet and legs as flames leapt up from the floor. The Countess, standing aback from her minions, cackled an awful laugh. Tracus leapt away, and fired a few of those bone teeth in her direction. The Countess just absorbed the damage as though it was nothing. Ages of rage and hatred had corrupted and twisted her mind, a process that was amplified when the Dark Wanderer had passed nearby on his trek for Diablo's Sanctuary.
While her mind had deteriorated into that of a demon's, she still held enough mentality to cast her fire walls and be a formidable foe in combat. Tracus blew a few bone teeth at the last standing minion and leapt at the Countess with his dagger. He swiped at the furious woman, landing a few blows between her vicious retaliations with her wicked axe. The terrible weapon bounced off his bone armor more than once, setting Tracus to worry it would fail at a crucial moment. He shook off this fear and pressed on in his attacks, halting only to momentarily chant a short phrase, calling the Dark Arts to curse the Countess to take increased damage. His attacks weren't doing much good, and Tracus was beginning to question how powerful he really was.
Just as those thoughts drifted through the young Necromancer's head, his golem finished with the final minion and turned his attention to the Countess. It only took a few solid, earth-backed blows before the Countess shifted her attention away from Tracus and onto the massive golem. This was just the opening Tracus needed. He retrieved a small vial from his belt and quickly uncorked it. Pouring the vile green liquid down the length of his dagger, he choked as the fumes from the foul smelling poison reached his nostrils. Soon his entire dagger blade was coated with the deadly concoction.
The Countess was still engaged with the golem and was paying Tracus no heed whatsoever. Taking advantage of this, Tracus circled around behind the corrupted woman and sank the blade deep into her flesh between her shoulder blades. The poison began to act almost instantly. The Countess screamed an unholy scream and clawed at her back. She danced about, trying vainly to remove the poison from her body somehow, and failing miserably. Within moments death took her and the Countess was no more.
In the room beyond her now festering corpse was a chest full of hundreds of gold pieces, a pair of magical boots and a couple of small rune rocks emanating magical power. Tracus gathered the loot and began the trip back to the encampment. It was easy going, with all the monsters dead.
As Tracus made his way through the Cold Plains he discovered an angel carrying a bow. She was blonde, clad in leather armor, and Tracus knew the moment he saw her that he loved her.