Part 2:
"So let me get this straight, she called you a 'Kidemonas'?" Elora asks, recognizing the word.
"Yes, after that I did not want to let her down, I worked twice as hard to protect her."
The sun beat down on the desert, mirages rose and fell as we travelled over it, Aadil Al'am had invited me to come and watch a gladiatorial duel in the arena. I figured it would be rude to not accept his invitation, the arena was a 3 hour walk from Al-Kharid, I elected to make the journey on foot. I never realized how much the sun beat down in the desert, my white cloak helped deflect some of it, but even just 10 minutes out of the city I was soaked in sweat.
"Would you like a ride?" Doom said, pulling me from the sand.
"W…wa…water…" I say weakly.
Doom slaps me, "I'll give you a ride, but this water is mine."
"Deal." I say, climbing onto his horse, the horse immediately buckled slight under the weight of my armour.
"Take off you armour, you'll find it easier to move around." Doom says, gesturing for me to get off the horse.
"But I have nowhere to store it." I reply.
"Then make a pocket dimension, it should be easy for you." He says, making a few quick gestures with his hand and opening a portal, then reaching in and producing a white robe, and various other things that would be useful in the desert.
I make the same gestures, a portal opens up in front of me, startled I take a step back.
"See, now wasn't that easy?" Doom says handing me the desert outfit.
"Thanks, I honestly never thought of that." I say, beginning to undress to change into the desert robe.
"No problem, friends stick together." He says, turning away as I change into the desert outfit.
"How do I look?" I say after I finish changing.
"Like a proper Al-Kharidian." He says mounting his horse, I climb on behind him, and we get to the arena fairly quick.
When we arrive, the crowd is already cheering, men wearing equipment from all across Gielinor stand, all of them looking ready to fight.
"Seems like this arena is pretty well known." I say, dismounting the horse and stretching.
"Makes you want to register and fight doesn't it?" Doom says, tying the horse to a post.
"Not even in the slightest." I say, remembering an incident in a wilderness gladiatorial tournament.
"You should try it, you can't be killed so you've got nothing to worry about!" Doom says, putting one hand on my should, and gesturing to the registration booth with the other.
"Why don't you go register to fight?" I counter.
"It wouldn't be a fair fight." Doom says, "I'll get you a case of Karamjan rum if you fight today."
I freeze, I hadn't had a bottle of Karamjan rum in ages, and being a recovering alcoholic, I needed some badly.
"I'll do it." I answer, moving towards the registration table.
After the registration is done, they put in the arena immediately, I enter to see several bodies on the ground and a massive man walking around with a set of vicious looking swords. I step over the lifeless body of a spearman, the man in the center of the arena is wearing a helmet shaped like a skull, a wolf belt draped over his shoulders, his gauntlets made of black iron. He takes a step forward, then roars at me, he stamps the ground a few times for effect, then assumes a fighting stance.
"You're big." I say while putting on my helmet, "But I've fought worse."
I lunge at him, sword drawn, shield at the ready, surprised by my sudden burst of movement, my opponent barely managed to block. He counters my attack, I easily block his strike with my shield, sparks fly as the metal connects, he follows up with a series of quick strikes, all of which bounce harmlessly off my shield. I get under his defense and gash the side of his exposed chest, he jumps back and assumes a defensive stance. Smiling under my helmet, I let loose a bit with my power, to him I would've vanished and reappeared behind him, I slash his back, he roars in pain, and whips around his swords striking my left side. Un-phased by his strike, I quickly reaffirm my stance, and raise my shield, my opponent roars has he lunges at me.
He's obviously angry, his attacks are reckless and his defense is falling apart, I land a couple of quick strikes under his guard before sidestepping and allowing him to fly to the ground. He stands then pulls something from a pouch on his belt, my eyes widen as he pulls it out, it looks black, but glows red, an evil aura surrounds it. What he is holding is a demon stone, they were used by Corbinith marines in the war, I recognize it from the confiscated good we took off POWs. I attempt to knock it out of his hand, but not before he crushes it and allows the unholy energy to take hold of him. His body contorts as the mutations begin, he happens quicker then I expect, and he knocks me back with his sword.
"You fool!" I yell at him, as he stands and prepares to fight me.
"That voice…" The man says, his voice that of a demon, "Oryxace of the Archers…"
"How do you know who I am?" I yell assuming a defensive stance.
"Do you really not recognize me?" The man says as he prepares to remove his helmet.
When he removes it, my heart skips a beat, standing before me is Claw Harbringer, a man who 200 years prior, was a member of my final clan.
"You're supposed to be dead!" I scream, feeling the sorrow of my past rising.
"You killed Sleek, I searched for many years to find a way to fight you, and finally I found it in the wilderness, stones of the devil." He says, reach into the same pouch and producing several of the unholy stones.
The crowd begins chanting 'fight, fight, fight', I look around, the arena seems to be filled with bloodlust, I feel my hands shaking.
"Scared?" Claw asks, approaching me.
"Not even in the slightest." I reply, raising my sword.
"You should be." Claw says,
His next movement I do not see but I feel his strike, and the blood from the wound, I collapse to the ground. I feel tear welling up in my eyes, Claw and I had once been the best of friends, but all that had been destroyed when I was forced to kill a fellow clan mate corrupted by a greater demon. The clan mate had been Sleek, he was a skilled all around fighter, with experience in all types of combat, he was a valuable member of the Archers. Claw was also good friends with him, when I killed him, claw couldn't see Sleek, all he saw was my blood soaked armour. When he got to us, Sleek's body had returned to normal, the demon no longer had a body to possess so it returned to hell, as s result Claw only saw Sleek's dead body, freed of the corruption.
Because of this he swore revenge on me.
"Those stones should've killed you a long time ago." I say, trying to stand, Claw strikes my back causing me to sink back to the ground.
"Should've, instead they've made me immortal." Claw says, grabbing my neck and lifting me off the ground.
"And this is what you're using it for?" I say, not struggling against his grip.
"I've been using it to search for you, I fight here today because my current employer needed a distraction, the lord of Al-Kharid quite enjoys a good fight, his daughter on the other hand–"
"You're working with those bandits?" I say, awareness jolting back into my body.
"I'm surprised you know of them, I'd heard you've been out of it for a while."
"Not anymore." I say, slicing his arm clean in half.
He screams as I land my feet back on the ground, he drops his sword and tries to stop the bleeding, his blood has a murky black quality to it. Just at that moment I hear a scream, I immediately distinguish it from the crowd, because it belongs to A'ata. I use the eye of Saradomin to locate her, before I can do anything else, Claw slams his fist into my helmet sending me flying into the side of the arena. I use the opportunity to teleport to A'ata, I arrive only to become stuck with several swords, then a spear, blood drips from the wounds. I try to move but then I realize, the weapons are enchanted, they're designed to immobilize holy creatures, because of my eye I fall under that category.
"Feeling a bit skewered?" A voice says from behind me, unable to turn I struggle against the weapons between the gaps in my armour.
"Why are you doing this?" I manage.
"Because a women cannot lead Al-Kharid." The man answers tapping on my helmet.
As he comes into my field of vision, he looks slightly like Aadil, minus the mustache, and plus a few vicious looking scars, he's dressed in the robes of the royal family of Al-Kharid.
"Who… are… you…" I say, beginning to lose consciousness.
"I do not have to tell you, you are after all my prisoner now." The man says, removing my helmet, "The legendary Oryxace, wielder of the eye of Saradomin, and the man who ended the third age by completely destroying Gielinor, and now, you are my prisoner."
"You're… going… to… pay… for… this…" I manage as the world fades to black.
When I regain consciousness, my hands and feet are pulled tight by chains in opposing directions, my body is strung up like an 'X'. There are large knifes through my major muscle groups, and a metal band has been welded over my right eye. Looking around with my good eye, I appear to be far underground, in a cell looking out on a large chamber, I couldn't see much beyond my cell, but based on the echoes the cavern was huge.
"Well." A voice says from the cell next to mine, "This is a fine mess we've gotten ourselves into now isn't it Ory?"
"They went after you too Doom?" I say, trying to think of a way out.
"They tried to amputate my arm." He replies, "When they couldn't, they stuck so many knifes into it, any ordinary person would've died from the pain."
"They welded a piece of metal over my eye."
"Damn you got lucky." Doom says sarcastically.
"Come on, we need to figure a way out of here."
"We can't even move, much less escape, we'll be lucky if they let us eat, since we don't need to." Doom responds.
"We can't lose hope, we need to get out of here."
"Oh you still have hope do you?" A voice says approaching our cells.
"Yes, yes I do, and you can't take it from me Altair." I reply, glaring at the figure standing in front of my cell.
"Oh? You figured out my name, I suppose I should expect nothing less from the destroyer." Altair replies.
"Let us go, and our friends won't have to hurt you."
"What friends, any capable warriors you once had under your command died long ago." Altair says unlocking my cell's door, "And if by some miracle they are still alive, they sure as hell, would not be in suitable health to rescue you."
Altair approaches me, then slaps me across the face.
"I can do anything I want to you, and you can't do a damn thing about it, those daggers neutralize your powers." Altair says, his smile more malicious than a Hyena going in for the kill.
He pulls a knife out of his robe, then gouges out my other eye, my eye instantly heals, but the pain makes me grit my teeth.
"You see, I can hurt you all I want."
"Perhaps you should rethink your plan." A voice says form behind Altair.
"Oh? And who are you?" Altair says, turning around while licking his knife.
Standing at the entrance of the cell is Aadil, his body bruised and bloody.
"Brother! How wonderful you are here, come let us cause this man pain for interfering in the affairs of our country!" Altair says gesturing at me with his knife.
"I knew you couldn't be trusted!" Aadil yells, "I knew I should've had you imprisoned when I had the chance!"
"Oh come on brother, don't you think that if I was going to threaten your power, I would've already killed you?" Altair says, his contorting into a disturbing visage, a high pitch chuckle escaping his lips.
"It is not me who is threatened by you, it is my daughter, A'ata!" Aadil screams.
Altair's face twists into a look of absolute disgust.
"That little bitch has no claim to the throne!" He yells, pointing his knife at Aadil, "Only a man pure as the desert may lead the empire of Al-Kharid!"
"You're outdated believes disgust me Altair." Aadil says leveling his scimitar.
"Try me brother, but that little Asgarnian love child will never have a rightful claim to the throne!" Altair yells as he thrusts himself toward Aadil.
Aadil tries to counter, but Altair moves around his scimitar, and digs his knife into Aadil's chest the air is forced from Aadil's lungs. His body tenses, Altair twists the knife in the wound laughing like a lunatic, then he pushes Aadil to the ground, leaving the knife in his chest. He walks out of the cell, leaving the quivering body of his brother on the ground, he locks the cell door.
"I'll let him rot a little while before I remove his corpse!" Altair yells, his voice sending chills down my spine, as he walks away.
"Or… Oryx… please save… A'ata…" Aadil manages as he body goes limp.
I feel my muscles go tense, anger swells inside of me.
"Oryx?" Doom says, "Oryx, do you want to get out of here?"
"I have to, Doom, I must rescue A'ata."
"Might I suggest a home teleport?" Doom says.
"I can't make the grounding circle right now." I reply.
"You don't need to, that's are just a safety precaution, you can use the teleport without it, but its risky."
"Thanks Doom." I say, begin to recite the words of the home teleport.
"Tell me if it works." He says, as magical energies begin to envelope me.
The teleport activates, the world becomes fluid, unfortunately the knifes stuck into my come too, I feel my body become weightless. The world becomes the Teleportation rift, something most people pass through too quickly to notice. I direct the teleport to home, or more specifically, my first home, as the teleport will most reliably deliver me there. I feel my body move through the rift, the knives are ripped from my body because of the energy in the rift, the pain makes me lose focus, the teleport destabilizes, then completely breaks down. I wake up in the desert, sand has my body half buried, a single knife is still stuck in my arm, I manage to pry it lose, then using it, I rip the metal preventing my eye form fully activating.
Standing, I realize that I've been launched deep into the desert, the sun is harsh, sand flies around the air stinging my eyes. I use the eye of Saradomin to generate a general map of the area in my head, to my surprise I haven't travelled far from my previous location, more precisely I've been thrust upward, to the surface. I try to use my eye to teleport back into the cavern, but a flash of pain strikes the right side of my head, painfully, I close my eye. Almost immediately the pain subsides, seems like the eye has reached its limit, I think to myself, at least I know where to go to get into the cavern. I spend the next hour finding the entrance, by the time I reach, my body it sweating, and I'm genuinely feeling dehydrated, despite the eyes assistance to keep me going.
I enter the enormous cavern, only to hear the creepy laughter of Altair, I hasten my pace, inside the cavern seems to be the remains of an ancient city. I descend into it, at the bottom of the enormous cavern there's a pool of water, cells line the walls, catwalks made of 'rusted' rune connect them.
"What is this place?" I says aloud without realizing it.
"The ruins of an ancient prison." A voice says from behind, I recognize it has A'ata's.
"A'ata!" I half yell whirling around to see her in a cell, deep gashes covering her body.
"Oryx… get me out of here." She says, her face is covered in grime, her eyes are red from crying.
"I will." I say, blowing the lock off the cell door with my eye.
Just as I enter to help A'ata, a scimitar protrudes from my stomach.
"Stomach wounds are the worst." Altair says putting his face right up next to mine.
"I will not fall to you again!" I yell as I elbow him in the stomach, and whirl around, slashing him with the point of his scimitar still stuck in my body.
"A'ata." I say through gritted teeth, "Pull the scimitar out of my back."
"But that will kill you!" She says.
"No. It. Won't."
Reluctantly she pulls it out of my back.
"Use that scimitar to defend yourself." I say as I move over Altair.
"You wouldn't kill an unarmed man would you?!" Altair screams as I tower over him, a look of anger across my face.
"Your right I wouldn't, however, I'm not against leaving them hanging." I say picking up Altair by the neck.
"DON't KILL HIM!" A'ata screams from behind me.
Surprised by her statement, I don't notice Altair pull a knife from his boot and dig it into my right eye, the eye of Saradomin. As soon as the knife touches my eye, an explosion of energy erupts from it, the world fades away, and me and Altair become enclosed in a dimension of blue. He drops to his feet, and backs away from me with his knife pointed at me, blood drips down my face, Altair smiles his face something out of a nightmare.
"Do you really want to do this?" I ask him.
"Death is the only option!" He yells, foaming at the mouth.
"Very well." I reply.
In the next instant, I use the long knife that went with me through the teleport to cut his body in two, his face doesn't lose its twisted smile. The world of blue, being a defensive mechanism of the eye fades back to reality, Altair's body goes flying into the pool at the bottom of the cavern. A'ata screams, and drops the scimitar I had handed her, I look down at the pool, now stained with the blood of Altair.
"I'm sorry, A'ata." I say finally after a long moment.
"Why must so many people die?" A'ata says, tears rolling down her face.
"Your kindness betrays you." I answer, turning around to face her.
"Kindness is all I have that I am certain of. " She replies, tears continuing to roll down her face.
In the next moment I so something absolutely insane, I kiss her, she struggles, then embraces it, we separate a moment later.
"That night when I came to your room, you called me a Kidemonas, why?" I ask her.
"There is a legend within my family, about a warrior in sparkling blue armour, who watches over all, as a guardian, as a Kidemonas, the legend comes from my Asgarnian mother, she says it was passed down through her family since the days of the Reapers." She answers.
"The Reapers…" I say surprised to hear the name, "Do you want to know more about that legend?"
"Y-yes…"
"Two hundred and thirty six years ago, I joined an ancient clan called the Reapers, they were a remnant clan from the time of the god wars trying to reform in the new age. I joined because I wanted to do good by the people of Gielinor after everything I had done in the years prior, I swore that I would never allow my comrades to come to harm. After a few years of serving them, I earned the nickname 'Kidemonas' which means guardian in ancient Asgarnian. I earned this name because I put myself between harm's way and my allies, taking wounds that would kill any other warrior, I maintained this name until the Reapers dissolved, the legend stayed with the members who barely knew me. I haven't been called by that name in many years, and I do not deserve it." I say, looking A'ata in the eyes.
"You have never stopped being a Kidemonas, you fought to protect me, and you did what had to be done to protect your comrades."
"But you were hurt, you came to harm." I say, tears welling up in my eyes, "And I still killed Altair even after you told me not to."
"I can forgive you for what you have done." She says, embracing me, "You have fought for too long, stop and be at peace."
I don't know what possesses me at that moment, but I break down in tears embracing her, as I cry, the eye of Saradomin deactivates, I slump over unconscious, a smile on my face.
"So let me get this straight," Elora says holding up her right hand, "She told you not to kill her psycho uncle?"
"Yes, unfortunately he activated the failsafe defensive mechanism on the eye of Saradomin, after which I was forced to kill him in order to deactivate the failsafe." I answer.
"Then you deactivated the eye?"
"The eye deactivated on its own, it was the first time, and only time I ever encountered a limit with it."
"Interesting, so what happened afterward? Did you get married? Have a family?" Elora asks.
"Yes, after my body recovered back to full without the eye's help, I was quite happy for a while, but eventually A'ata died of old age, and so did our children, while I lived on. Eventually the wind called me back to the west, and I left in the night, the legends of my existence persist in Al-Kharid to this day." I answer.
"Why didn't you just pull the eye out like you did now?"
"Because something told me it was not time, I had a feeling it would be needed in the future, but don't get me wrong I thought about it many times." I reply, "So you're not even angry that I raised a family with another women?"
"Saradomin explained a lot of things to me when he brought to this time, most prominently the fact that you moved on, but never forgot, he told me that you had another lover, he told me you raised other kids, at first I was angry, but you're not the unfaithful type, for all you knew I was dead, and had never known you in the first place." She says, getting a serious look on her face, "Besides it kinda interesting knowing I had half children in the Al-Kharidian royal family."
"I'm glad you're not going to kill me over this." I say, smiling.
"Oh don't get me wrong, I'm about to strangle you, but in the long run all is forgiven."
Not knowing what else to say, I just smiled.
THE END