Morning, Apollyons Castle….
Mercy wakes up abruptly with a loud sudden gasp. Her sudden wake caused a painful strain in her head. She instantly received her hangover headache hard and suddenly felt the need to throw up. She tossed herself off her bed and let out the vomit onto the floor of her room. She slowed her breathing to keep calm, looking over herself she saw she worn nothing but her underwear. She had no memory of anything last night, besides the confrontation between her and the other Peacekeeper. She held onto anything near her to keep her standing, looking around her room for her clothes and saw them on a table. She stumbled over to them, slowly regaining the knowledge to walk properly. Still having the pain of her hangover, she put a hand to her head to try and numb the pain. Alas, it did not help her in any way. She started to get dressed until a knock suddenly happened behind her. She turned quickly out of shock when she then heard her door open. Quickly covering herself with her own clothes, her fear turned to relief when she saw it was the Peacekeeper who entered.
The Peacekeeper that entered looked around the room to look for, what she thought was an unconscious Mercy, but saw she was awake and was shocked by her sudden entry. "Oh I'm sorry!" the Peacekeeper apologized by the sudden sight of a clothless Mercy. She quickly turned the other direction to give her some privacy.
"Next time wait for me to let you in?! What are you doing?! We're both girls!" Mercy said angrily at the Peacekeeper.
"I'm sorry!" the Peacekeeper whimpered.
Mercy then realized her mistake, it was her attitude. She groaned out of annoyance and from the pain in her head then said, "I'm sorry. I'm just having a fever right now."
"Oh. Should I get you something to drink or get a cold wet rag?" the Peacekeeper asked in an anxious manner.
Mercy, in the middle of strapping her pants back on, paused. She looked at the Peacekeeper, confused and asked, "Why are you being so nice to me all of a sudden? Even bothering to ask me if I need anything?"
"It's for last night." the Peacekeeper answered.
"Last night? The last thing I remember was us in a fight over your friend and then when we settled our differences our Warlord showed up. Then I- we- ahem then I k- kissed you." Mercy explained feeling a bit embarrassed.
"Yeah." the Peacekeeper said plainly.
"How did I get undressed in my room last night?" Mercy asked awkwardly.
The Peacekeeper pretended not to hear the question she was asked and began to fidget with her fingers. Until Mercy snapped at her and asked, "What happened last night?!"
"I helped you." the Peacekeeper mumbly answered, looking down at the floor.
"You?" Mercy asks for confirmation.
The Peacekeeper nodded her head.
"Why exactly?" Mercy asks.
"You spared me when Apollyon wanted us to kill each other. So I thought I would repay you with a little more." the Peacekeeper said to Mercy.
Mercy looked back at what happened that night and tried to think of what she meant. That is when it hit her, the kiss. She was stunned to think that her repayment would be more intimate. Mercy looked down at herself then back to the other Peacekeeper and asked in an awkward fashion, "Did… we at least enjoy ourselves?"
The Peacekeeper looked at mercy in utter shock by the question not understanding what she was asking. "What?!" she asks.
"You know. If we both had sex that night did we both at least have fun?" Mercy asks not feeling ashamed.
"Uh- I- I think you misunderstood me!" the Peacekeeper said nervously.
"Ah hell! You know I may have been drunk and all but you were the one to make the first move. I'm proud of you!" Mercy exclaimed proudly with only her pants on. She then approached the Peacekeeper with a wide smile and both hands on her waist. "I never thought I would have done it with anyone! But you?! Best choice ever I bet!" she exclaimed once more but then giving the Peacekeeper in front of her a hard slap on her ass.
The Peacekeeper yelped by the sudden slap on her rear and was confused to how it got to here at this moment. Sure she had planned on getting serious with Mercy but that was 'returning the favor' moment. She didn't pull through with it at all and now she was feeling nervous by Mercy being aggressive. While the Peacekeeper was deep in her own thoughts she didn't notice Mercy pull her closer to her.
"Hey. How about we go again this time while I'm not drunk? I got a few ways of- " Mercy suddenly was cut off by the Peacekeeper shoving her away.
"We didn't do anything!" the Peacekeeper shouted angrily. "I had snuck in your room late in the night, waiting for you, to thank you for sparing my life in that moment of choice!" she explained.
"Huh?" Mercy was confused.
"I just wanted to thank you, with my body, I wasn't planning on making this anything special." the Peacekeeper said sternly. She then walked over to the door of the room and was about to exit before Mercy stopped her.
"Wait! There is something I should tell you. I'm ok with nothing happening between us. You did not have to do that just to please me. I was drunk and clumsy, so even I wouldn't do it. But what I think you want to hear is I- " Mercy explained until she was cut off again by the Peacekeeper's hand covering her mouth.
"I already know. You're sorry for my loss," the Peacekeeper said blankly.
"How did you know?" Mercy asked when the hand was moved away from her mouth.
"A drunken fool I assisted told me." the Peacekeeper said sarcastically.
Mercy heard the sarcasm in her voice and was a bit hurt by it as it was about her.
"Look, I thought that this would have been good enough as a thank you but it seems I was an imbecile for not thinking straight." the peacekeeper said with a blank expression.
"You're not an imbecile. You were just thinking it was a way to thank me." Mercy said sitting on her bed. "Go. Let's just pretend this didn't even happen." Mercy said before picking up the rest of her armor.
The Peacekeeper was standing at the door with it open, but something kept from leaving. She didn't know what but it felt strange. It moved on quickly though and she walked out to continue on with her day.
Apollyon's Throne….
Apollyon sat in her royal stone chair in a large, open hall. A red carpet ran its way up to her and back to the front door. Officers stood guard on either side of her as she sat upright patiently. She tapped her metal clawed fingers on her chairs stone arm, thinking over her plans of conquest and domination. While she was thinking over her plans a sudden familiar chill ran up her spine. She tried to ignore it like before but the chill got worse anytime she tried to. Colder and colder it got she began to tense up from the feeling. To the point, the feeling felt deafening and exhausting on her, that is when one of the guards beside her noticed she was tensing up and tried to get her attention. When the guard went to touch her hand which clenched down on the chairs stone, that appeared to be crushed in her grasp, she flipped out and out of the release of her tension she, accidentally by reflex, reached for her sword and point it at her guard's chest.
Her two guards stood frozen in fear, not knowing what to do, as they both watched her closely waiting for her to do something. She then came to her senses and yielded her sword from the guard. Silently she stood up from her throne and walked down her red carpet to the front door. Her guards began to trail her as they are employed to do, but before even catching up to their Warlord she put a hand towards them, ordering them to not follow anymore. By her command, they listened and stood guard at her chair as she left them.
As Apollyon exited her throne hall and out into the open square area, she felt the cold feeling wash away and felt the presence of the ghostly blue flaming skull somewhere with her but unseen. "What is it now?" she asks annoyed from the scene she had caused. Whispers once again came to her. She listened carefully as one whisper that came to her clear as day.
The war you want will be fought on all sides.
"Of course it will be. This is what I plan." Apollyon said as she thought she knew this until another whisper had stopped her.
Allies turned enemies, enemies turned allies.
"What is that supposed to mean? Stop speaking in riddles and tell me." Apollyon demanded. Unfortunately, she wasn't given anything else to work off of. She was beginning to question the usefulness of the skull she had in her possession. If it was really useful or just stating the obvious. Those thoughts faded fast when Stone ran over to her.
"Master, he- Bonifaas- " Stone was immediately ignored by his Warlord when she heard the name.
She sped walk right past him and headed to the top of her front gates wall. This drew the attention of all her chosen to the gates out of curiosity. At the top of her castle wall, archers stood ready to fire down on them by command. As they gave her room to overlook the area outside the wall she looked down to see not one but two Lawbringers, standing side to side. One Lawbringer, Balendin, wore his own black iron armor that he personally made. The other Lawbringer, Bonifaas, wore something similar to Balendin's armor. The shoulder plates were slim with an outward reach to give extra mobility through his arms in combat, they had three separated curved sharp blades. The chest piece was also slim in design, nothing jagged or seemed to built from separate pieces, it was a smooth layered chest piece with gold strips trailing downwards. The shoes became less pointed and more fitting for the wearer. To top it all, his helmet was punched in with holes all over the front, between small and large, giving him view in his entire surroundings. Balendin wielded his Artegal poleaxe, while Bonifaas now wielded a slim golden poleaxe, with jewels and engravings covering the entire shaft. The spike had a angel on it and the spike itself was a curved blade. To top of its flair, it came with a black cape with golden outlines.
"Welcome back, Bonifaas." Apollyon greeted Balendin, accidentally not knowing who's who.
"I'm right here Apollyon," Bonifaas said stepping forward from Balendin.
"Oh, my bad. Then who is your friend here wearing your armor?" Apollyon toyingly asked.
"I think you know who it already is," Bonifaas answered then stepping aside for Balendin.
"So, Apollyon is the name you go by now?" Balendin asked in a harsh manner.
"It means, war," Apollyon answered.
"What happened to you all those years ago? What happened to the girl that lived such a peaceful life? A life that had meaning. You were such an innocent child, now look at what you have become." Balendin said firmly.
"Open the gates," Apollyon commanded in a stern voice.
"Shall we assist you, Master?" Holden asked.
"No! I will handle this myself." Apollyon snapped. She walked away from the ledge to head down but before she continued, an idea popped in her head when she saw the Peacekeeper from the other night rush up the stairs to see the commotion. Instead of letting her go she grabbed her shoulder and stopped her from going any further. "Come to see the show have you?" she asks in a devilish tone.
The Peacekeeper didn't respond, out of fear, nor look directly at her Master. Apollyon forced her to turn around and they both headed back down the stairs. When they both arrived at the gate it slowly began to open. She had a firm grip on the Peacekeeper to keep her from running back. Little did she know she had struck the fear of God in her. They both marched outside the gates to approach the two Lawbringers. This drew one's attention, Mercy, she watched as her Master dragged out the person she chose to spare in a strange fashion. She did not know why and now began to worry for her safety.
"Bringing someone to fight your battles for you?" Bonifaas asked.
"Bonifaas," Apollyon said in an ashamed tone, "If I wanted, I would kill you both here and now. But recently I've been noticing a bit lack of loyalty and heresy. Wouldn't you believe it?!"
"Heresy?" Bonifaas asked.
"Oh yes. You see, she happened to engage in unruly relations amongst one of my chosen. A particular favored of mine. I will not kill her unless she proves that her choices were just a misunderstanding, by killing you two… alone." Apollyon explained trailing her hands across the assassin's shoulders.
"That is just an execution done by another and not yourself," Balendin said angrily.
"Exactly. If you kill her then you'll get your fight and I'll have an open space for another chosen. If she kills you, then I know I misjudged someone capable." Apollyon said then shoving the Peacekeeper out to them.
The Peacekeeper lagged a bit in understanding the situation but then unleashed her blade and dagger. As Apollyon backed off and watched safely from a distance, the Peacekeeper barely peaked behind her to see if she had gone. Mercy watched intensely as she was about to witness her new friend fight for her life.
"Let's get this over with then," Balendin said as he put up his guard and slowly approached the Peacekeeper.
"Balendin!" Bonifaas cried out.
"This is our chance Bonifaas. We'll both get what we want." Balendin said then charging the assassin.
Balendin used the tip of his poleaxe to try and impale the assassin. The Peacekeeper dodged safely out of harm's way. She used this opening to strike back and she did by stabbing Balendin with one strike of her blade and dagger. Balendin quickly changed the way he was facing back to the assassin and block her incoming heavies and lights. Bonifaas though was like a statue, standing in one place and one posture watching the fight go on. He then decided to join in, even though afterward he will feel guilty for it.
The Peacekeeper saw Bonifaas coming in with a heavy while she just parried Balendins light attack. When Balendin was thrown back by the parry she turned to Bonifaas and dodged right into his attack, deflecting his attack with a deep stab with her blade. She now had them together in view, which was what she wanted. She kept her guard low and open to be ready just in case of another attack. Bonifaas and Balendin knew they were too close together so they went opposite directions to give each other spacing. Doing the exact opposite of what the Peacekeeper wanted, she began to look both sides of her, revealing her troublesome situation. Like mind reading Bonifaas and Balendin knew what they were to do at this moment. They nodded to each other as if it was a signal. Balendin moved closer and went in for a heavy. The Peacekeeper saw this at the last moment and went to parry, unfortunately, the heavy fainted and her parry was blocked. In return, Bonifaas from behind bashed her back with his poleaxe. Knocking her off footing and towards Balendin, she was met with another bash but this time to the head.
She was knock down but didn't give up she tried getting up again until she was guard broke and tossed back down, out of stamina. Bonifaas held her down with the weight of his body into his foot. He held his poleaxe to her face and stood frozen, clueless of what to do.
"Kill her Bonifaas," Balendin said eagerly.
Bonifaas tightened his grip on his poleaxe but couldn't do it. Something to him just felt wrong for doing it. "I can't," he said gritting his teeth.
Balendin impatiently shoved him out of the way and went for the kill. He raised his poleaxe to the assassin to kill her. He raised it over his head, and when he was about to let out his anger into the Peacekeeper they had trapped beneath their boots they then heard, "Noooo!"
Running out from the gates, Mercy, dashed out to save the Peacekeeper. Her anger may have given her away to a surprise but what Balendin wasn't ready for was Mercy's dagger being thrown straight into his chest. It is stuck in his chest, the force of the impact knocked him back off the Peacekeeper. While she was able to crawl away free, Mercy ran past her and straight at Balendin. She jumped up and put her feet towards his chest, landing on top of him and rolling over his body, while pulling out her dagger. She stopped a few feet away from him and stood back on her feet. She now got the attention of both Bonifaas and Balendin.
"Mercy?!" Bonifaas called out in question.
She looked at Bonifaas without her helmet and he saw the anger in her eyes. "You will not hurt her!" Mercy exclaimed angrily.
"Mercy?" called the other Peacekeeper struggling back up.
"Can you fight?" Mercy asks.
"Yes." the Peacekeeper answered as she managed to stand back up and regain her weapons.
"Just as I thought," Apollyon said to herself as she ran a finger across the chin of her helmet.
The brawl continued on as the two assassins go toe to toe with the Lawbringers. A tornado of blades overwhelmed the two Lawbringers as they were too quick to calculate together in a fight. They managed to block some of their heavies but almost none of their light's. Bonifaas fought against Mercy in the mix of the two and he saw no chance of landing a hit on her at the speed she was going at him with. Until her partner ran out of stamina and was shoved away from everyone else by Balendin. Mercy saw her friend once again about to die by the hands of Balendin and she was preoccupied with Bonifaas.
Bonifaas parried one of her attacks and were locked in place. "Mercy! It's me, Bonifaas. I'm your ally here. And I see that you care about her," he said nudging his head in the direction of her friend.
"Shut up!" Mercy shouted.
"Mercy, I am not the enemy here," Bonifaas said.
"Then why are you ok with killing one of your own?!" Mercy asked angrily.
"I never said I was," Bonifaas said as he knocked back Mercy. He then turned to Balendin and saw he had the Peacekeeper by the ropes.
She used her blade to hold back the large poleaxe spike while pinned to the ground. As Balendin got closer and closer to her neck he was suddenly pushed off. He looked over to see Bonifaas stand over him.
"Don't you see?! She wants us to be distracted and do her dirty work." Bonifaas said.
Balendin laid on the ground speechless and saw what he was speaking of. She was using this as a means to gain something. "You're right," he said looking over to Apollyon.
Bonifaas faced Apollyon and said, "This is how you treat your chosen?! Throw them in the lion's pit and see how long they last?! Nothing more than a coward. Face us and prove that you can fight without a drop of sweat!"
Balendin looked up to Bonifaas. He knew there was something special about him, yet he couldn't figure what it was that he saw in him. He didn't see a man seeking vengeance or a Veteran winning a war. He saw himself, a man who saw better than to just fight for survival. The man he used to be, until being reminded who he was and became to be. Looking at Bonifaas, he realized they were about to fight an old friend who had time on their side to take on anything thrown at her.
"Bonifaas?" Balendin called in a gentle swift manner.
"Hm?" Bonifaas looked down at his side in curiosity.
"I... never mind," Balendin said getting up from the ground.
Bonifaas noted that down in his head for later. Now they needed to focus on their main mission, Apollyon. They stood by each other, guard up and ready to fight. Then she remembered the Northern girl broken out of the cells from Bonifaas earlier attempt.
"Wonderful motivation speech Bonifaas. Have to say I couldn't have done it better myself. Though let us not forget why YOU came here. The Northern girl right? You came here for her, to free her." Apollyon said taking pride in her words.
"Why do you care?" Bonifaas asked sternly.
"Why not? You came back here not for me but for her. She's been on your mind hasn't she Bonifaas? When you broke her out I'm certain that you saw the damage I've done." Apollyon says looking over her armored hand with blood stains.
"I know what you did. She doesn't deserve to be treated like this." Bonifaas said as he remembered the horrific sight of what she did.
"Of course you do, but I must know Bonifaas. Why does she matter so much to you? If I'm not mistaken you were murdered by this savage, right? So what makes her so special that I'm not allowed to… avenge you?" Apollyon asked while pacing slowly left to right.
Bonifaas thought for a minute about what to say. Nothing he wanted to say would change her mind. But he attempted and said, "Look at Mercy and her friend here. You accuse her of committing heresy. Forced her out here to fight for her 'redemption?' And here is Mercy, helping fight us off because of you."
"Your point?" Apollyon impatiently demanded.
"What I'm trying to say is that… she is my friend. That savage? She isn't what you all think she is. She's been used, abused, became an outcast to her own people. Like Mercy's friend here, becoming an outcast that can be left for dead unless she does something she is forced to do. Die like an outcast or fight and win to kill yourself." Bonifaas explained as he glanced back at Mercy and her friend behind him. He added, "We may live differently, speak differently, ACT differently but they both just want one thing. To be seen equally. She has done nothing wrong but won fair and square in our duel in The Pit."
Apollyon felt grief come over her. She remembered the days when her village was still around, the time she met Balendin. He WAS her friend at the time. She remembered him not treating her like a child with ill reasoning, he saw her as a friend and as an ally. She looked down with her sword in hand. She had lost all she held dear and lost her friend in the process.
Balendin saw her reaction and jumped in the conversation, "Apollyon- " He stopped himself as saying that name was not her real name. He continued, "Annah."
Apollyon reacted to hearing that name from his voice as he revealed her true name.
"Remember who you are. Think about your family. Would your father really be proud of this?" Balendin asked taking one step forward.
Bonifaas noticed and tried to stop him but Balendin looked to him, giving him a pat on the shoulder and a nod. "Remember the traveling we did together? When You and I traveled around the land to the North, then to the East? We made allies- friends to aid us in our conquest for revenge against that bastard Artegal." Balendin explained as he got closer.
Annah kept her eyes on her sword as she listened to every word Balendin spoke. She felt herself slowly to break into tears but tried to keep them back. "I… I killed them." she hesitantly said.
"Yes you did but it is ok. I forgive you." Balendin said passionately.
"I killed you too," Annah said her voice breaking up.
"It's ok Annah," Balendin said as he carefully wrapped his arms over her shoulders. Trying to comfort her.
"I blamed you for the death of my home. My family." Annah choked as she sobbed a bit under her helmet.
"I'm sorry for things too, Annah. I shouldn't have pushed you away. I shouldn't have left you." Balendin said happily.
"I must thank you though," Annah said breaking apart the hug and looking up to Balendin.
"For what?" Balendin asked calmly looking down at Annah.
"Thank you for making this easier," she said quickly lifting her sword up with the handle hitting Balendin on his bottom jaw. She then shoved him back to get room to lift her sword up.
Everyone who watched was caught off guard by her swiftness. She swung her sword up, hitting Balendin vertically up his chest. A huge rip in his armor could be seen, her attack cut through everything down the bare skin. Balendin fell back from her attack onto the ground. His weapon fell back a foot away from him. Bonifaas rushed in to help but unfortunately, she swung at him with the blunt handle end of her sword. Bonifaas was knocked back and down like Balendin except without the severe wound but an aching headache.
"W-Why Annah?!" Balendin asked coughing up blood.
Annah used one hand to forcefully remove his helmet to look him in the eyes. Everyone who didn't know who he was now known by his appearance and realize who he was.
"My name," Apollyon stabbed Balendin in the shoulder, "is Apollyon and I. Am. War."
"You are Annah. My friend from all those years ago. Please think about what you are doing!" Balendin said choking a bit on his blood pouring from his mouth.
"Someone wants to say Hi." Apollyon deviously said bringing his face close with hers and then her face suddenly changed to the blue flaming skull.
Balendin was not scared or surprised by this. He also remembers it, as it was a part of him too. His breathing was choppy as he felt the blade pierce his body, damaging every organ it touched. Worst he was still alive to feel it all. Then the blue flaming skull used some kind of power it had and took every soul, along with his power away.
Bonifaas maneuvered around on the ground to see what was happening. Did his eyes deceive him or did he just witness a power similar to that Balendin had? He saw the life basically sucked out of his friend. Bonifaas felt ill when he saw Apollyon murder his friend and he was too disoriented to stop her. He tried his best to crawl over to what he thought was one of their poleaxe's that they lost. He tried as fast as he can to reach it and hopefully stop this.
When he reached out to the poleaxe he was now able to clearly see as Balendin's his hand was met with a boot stomping down on it. He looked up to see Apollyon staring down at him. She laughed watching him struggle. Then she kicked him onto his back. He was still too weak to get up and do something.
"It would seem that your old friend finally ran out of lives. Such a shame. He would've been great for my conquest." Apollyon said as she walked around Bonifaas.
Bonifaas stumbled around with his hands and knees keeping him steady. He was out of breath and felt the armor weighing him down. He was then forced to look at Apollyon when she put the tip of her sword under his chin.
"I'm ashamed in you Bonifaas. You were a strong warrior that had the potential to be like me. Now, look at you. You went down a path that has made you weak. All for one foreign girl. Pathetic." Apollyon said. She then looked over to Mercy and her friend who stood still in fear. "You two. Back inside. But we are far from finished," she commanded and they immediately sped off. "Before I kill you, I'm going to tell you what will exactly happen to that precious foreign rat you are so fond of," she said in her raspy tone. "I will not kill her, yet. I will storm the gates of every Viking home and force her to watch as her people are murdered. I will use her to even kill every man, woman, and child not swiftly but slowly so they can feel the pain. Their screams will haunt her in the nights. I will beat her- break her down till she becomes a loyal pet and pleases my warriors until she becomes their whore! Then lastly use my own hands to tear her apart." she stated in a hateful manner towards Bonifaas.
Bonifaas shook his head in denial when he was forced to hear everything she said she would do. "No no no no no no no," he whimpered.
"Goodbye, Bonifaas. I hope this time you stay dead." Apollyon softly said to him as she raised her sword to her side. With one heavy swing, she cut open the front of his neck. Blood had shot out for a split second before turning into a small waterfall of blood. Bonifaas felt the short painful strike of her sword then slowly going numb. He felt weaker than ever as his life began to slip away from him. He dropped onto the ground with his hands still holding him up. He wanted to fight but in his mind, he was defeated. He used whatever strength he had to keep himself up and turn his head over to look at Balendins dead body staring back at him.
He was beginning to lose his strength to keep him up as he noticed he was beginning to shake in his arms. He watched Apollyon's feet walk away from him. He couldn't prevent whatever will happen next to the Shaman. He began to hear voices, voices of his past.
You are my son strong and brave. You make us proud.
"Dad?" Bonifaas called recognizing the voice.
I thought you were strong and courageous, not a coward who gives up!
The littlest things in life will push you down and you have to decide if you want to get back up! So are you going to stay down or are you going to get up and fight?!
Bonifaas tried to push himself up on to his feet but could not.
You gave up! You let her win!
You would let the Northern girl die at the hands of Apollyon?!
You let us die.
He began to hear more and more things in his head. Calling him weak, blamed him for his families death. All these things that began to taunt him fueled something else. Something within him. Bonifaas then began to regain his strength. Apollyon was almost at the gate until she heard movement behind her. She turned around to see something incredible, Bonifaas standing back up.
"Impossible," Apollyon said staring in awe. "You should be dead!" she exclaimed.
"YOU. WILLl. NOT. HURT. HER!" Bonifaas shouted with the full extent of his lungs.
Apollyon charged at him sword first. Bonifaas charged at her too. Bonifaas didn't have a weapon and in his head, he told himself he didn't need it. When the two collided Bonifaas gained the upper hand by slightly moving out of the way of her sword faster than she could change directions. He wrapped an arm around her neck and began to strangle her. Apollyon fought back against the grip, trying to claw her way out. That wasn't working so she used her sword to backward impale him. Bonifaas used his other free hand to stop this just in time.
"How?! How are you still alive?!" Apollyon asked while struggling with Bonifaas.
He said nothing and easily took away her sword, tossing it away from them. He then with both hands lifted her above his head and threw her down. She certainly felt that one. Apollyon struggled to get up, now the tables have turned. Bonifaas with some sudden unimaginable strength kicked her right back at the castle gate. The impact was hard and you could tell by the small crater hole he made with her body. Apollyon fell out of the gates crater and landed flat on her front side. Struggled to get up again, she looked at Bonifaas.
"This sudden strength. How are you able to do that?!" Apollyon asked shocked by it all.
Bonifaas said nothing still and began to approach her menacingly slow. Apollyon quickly put herself against the gate fell from and tried to comprehend what was happening. "You shouldn't be able to have this kind of power unless- " Apollyon at the last second realized how he would be able to have this power and it terrified her.
The peaceful Lawbringer, Bonifaas, had now turned into some kind of unstoppable force not to be reckoned with. Apollyon watched as he approached her but what confirmed everything that she was worried about came to life but not as in what she expected. Bonifaas head took the form of a black dragons head with glowing yellow eyes. Just as he was being quiet, the black dragons head released a terrifying roar. Its roar spewed out black smoke and yellow sparks. Everyone above watched in terror and didn't know what to do. As Bonifaas got closer, Apollyon felt trapped.
"T- This power?! It's...incredible!" Apollyon shouted in awe.
Seeing the dark Warden terrified for her life was something definitely new but he did not care. "You'll get no mercy from me," Bonifaas said with his new head and power his voice sounded incredibly deep. "Did you show mercy when your old friend begged for his before you took it?!" he asked furiously beyond belief.
"Ahhh!" Apollyon screamed in terror before she was picked up and punched through her castle gate.
Bonifaas sent her flying through the gate and into the stone wall of her castle. Bonifaas then pushed the gate doors open. Minions and officers rushed over to defend their leader and base but one by one they were beaten out of the way. It seemed like no one stood a chance. After it seemed like countless of minions rushing at him and they get beaten they cease their attack. The heroes of the Blackstone legion carefully got a closer look below the wall as Bonifaas goes on a rampage.
Apollyon was fighting against something that she thought was way out of her league until that cold feeling returned. But why of all times? She was immediately given a whisper of information that would help in this situation.
"Bonifaas! I'm giving you this one chance to leave, take it or you'll regret it." Apollyon warned.
"Threats? You can't threaten me!" Bonifaas said as he stomped on Apollyon's head, knocking her out.
At that moment the blue flaming skull flew out of Apollyon and went into Bonifaas. It didn't hurt him or try to kill him but instead share some mental images of a small child sitting amongst corpses and crying with blood on its hands. But he was especially given an extra image, a man and woman were the ones laying dead and then a small sight of a short sword with blood dripping on it popped in for a sec. Then the mental images were finished. Then blue flaming skull and Bonifaas dragon head stared eye to eye intensely. The skull zoomed back to Apollyon and that was that. Bonifaas was confused with the image he was given and had no clue to what it meant. He backed off of Apollyon and faced the crowd he attracted. The chosen of Blackstone Legion were grouped together watching the epic showdown.
Bonifaas slowly looked around amongst the crowd and saw a bunch of terrified faces.
Holden standing in the center of the chosen watched in fear as an old ally became this unstoppable monster. Bonifaas with the dragon head took one good look around at the crowd then let out a terrifying roar to show as a warning to not test him. The two assassins joined the rest of the chosen. Now all were together to watch the horrific sight of Bonifaas picking up Apollyon by the head. He dangled her before everyone to see. Then one body shattering punch to her stomach awoken her. She coughed intensely, feeling every bit of the pain.
"Agh! S- So you finally got what you wanted! Now let me go." Apollyon demanded weakly.
"And let you wage war a pointless war on the Northern people over one girl? I rather tear you apart slowly." Bonifaas threatened.
"Hehe, Bonifaas, trying to be the hero you never were? Killing is what we do best." Apollyon joked as she lightly chuckled.
"What you do best! Do not compare me to you! I will never ever be your tool again!" Bonifaas exclaimed.
He threw her down on the dirt ground before her remaining troops and her chosen. He places his foot roughly on her back forcing her to stay down. "If you care about your leader you will do as I say." Bonifaas snarled at the small crowd.
No one said anything to respond to him. Seeing that no one seemed to care to listen Apollyon said, "Haha, No one here will listen to you even if you are an unkillable monster."
Bonifaas, annoyed by her nonstop chatter, he took her right arm, pulled it back as far as he could then used his foot to invert it. Apollyon had no worries as she knew she wouldn't feel the pain. However, she did, and the pain shocked her entire body sending the unnerving waves of pain through her arm. She screamed to no end. Now people will know that the warlord feels pain.
"Who is second in charge?!" Bonifaas shouted over the screams of the warlord.
Holden looked over to Stone who, surprisingly, shy away at the summon of a commander. So Holden took his place as the commander. "I am!" Holden responded in the back of the minions and began to break through them all.
"Holden?!" Mercy called out in confusion as she watched him walk to Bonifaas.
"I am the second command here. Make your demands, demon spawn." Holden said firmly trying to keep calm.
Bonifaas was angered by the comment Holden made. He stomped over to him, getting off of Apollyon, then tightly choked his neck. "I am no demon! I was one of you, Holden!" Bonifaas angrily said.
"Y- You e- ex- pect me to be- lieve that horse shit?" Holden pushed out his words.
"Hrrrgh!" Apollyon cried out as she tried to crawl away from everyone.
"Don't try to run, Apollyon!" Bonifaas said without looking back.
Apollyon then froze in fear. He knew exactly what she was doing right before he looked back. She decided to no longer move but instead try to work on fixing her arm back in place.
"Now, Holden, you will free the northern girl and bring her to me," Bonifaas demanded.
Holden thought for a quick sec of what of he should do and decided to say, "Mercy!"
Mercy heard her name be called. She was worried about leaving her friend but listened regardless of the matter. "Yes?!" she asked nervously.
"Fetch the Northern scum in the cells and bring her here. Quickly! Take these." Holden demanded as he held out the jail keys to Mercy.
She took them and rushed down into the lower area of the castle where the line up of cells was. In a flash, she was already down at the Shamans cell. Unlocking it, she rushed in grasping the girl's arm and tugged her out into the hall. The Shaman resisted, wanting to return to her cell, in fear that Apollyon would harm her more. While they both struggled for power over one another in the mix Mercy did not notice that the jail keys fell off her person. The keys fell in front of the cell, where the Orochi sat meditating quietly. He heard the jingle of the keys, thinking his cell was going to be open but when he looked up he saw no one but the unguarded pair of keys laying on the floor just outside his cell.
Quickly thinking, he crawled over to the front of his cell and reached out for the key ring. Only to find out they were barely just in reach. He put himself up against the cell bars far in as he could go and extend his reach. His index finger barely skimmed the top of the key ring. Until it scooched the keys closer where he was then able to pull it in.
Back up top, Mercy returned with the struggling Shaman. Who only seemed to be more pissed off and squirmed around in Mercy's arms like a wild animal. The Shaman's continuous squirming had one of her arms to punch Mercy in the face, forcing her to release her. In that moment the Shaman spun back to her and took away her tiny dagger. Holding it towards her threateningly, as in to tell everyone to stay back. Then she turned toward to Holden who held out his larger weapon to her chest. Turning their attention away from Mercy.
Mercy grasped at her nose as she felt it bleed a little. She was angered and wanted to dart for the Shaman but before she could even try, her mouth was covered by a mysterious hand from behind and she was pulled back into the shadows of the stairs she appeared from. Her muffled screams could not be heard. Her attempts at alerting her allies were silence by the sudden presence of the Orochi who was the one holding her.
"How in the hell did you escape?!" she asked forcing the Orochi's hand away from her mouth.
The Orochi seemed to understand what she was saying and held out the keys before her eyes. Mercy kept quiet after realizing her mistake until she was returned with a question formed into one word she understood.
"Weapons?" the Orochi asked quietly to make sure no one would notice.
Mercy did not understand but attempted at one answer that hopefully would satisfy their prisoner. She reached down for her rather larger blade she carries on her up to the Orochi.
"Throw." the Orochi said awkwardly.
Mercy was confused but obeyed. However, that appeared to be not what he wanted as he punched Mercy in the side of her head then spun around over her back, pushing her back after he landed on his feet. He dove for her weapon and pointed toward Mercy as she almost made it to him. She froze and succumb to the samurai keeping her back. They gave each other strange looks as if waiting for one to say something or do something. The Orochi tilting his head while squinting his eyes like he saw something on her, he then tossed the sword to her and immediately ran up the stairs to escape.
Mercy did not chase after him but slowly reached down for her weapon while watching the Orochi run away. She was mentally stuck with the look she was given by the Orochi wondering why he returned her weapon instead of using it to fight. Mercy had always believed that the Samurai were honorable people and never ran from a fight, but this one did?
Back up top, Holden had the Shaman held back and at his mercy while she still wielded the dagger. Then out comes running the Orochi past them all. Holden watches the Samurai run up the steps to the wall for some odd reason. The walls archers missed their shots with the arrows and resorted to using their back up swords. The Orochi easily dodged their swings and used them against the archers.
"Stop him!" Apollyon shouted from behind Bonifaas.
The other Peacekeeper felt it would be in her best interest to try and attempt to stop the Orochi so she may gain a chance at mercy from Apollyon. She rushes up the steps to catch up to the Japanese warrior. When she did he had already killed the last archer preventing him a path. He felt the presence of the knight behind him, so he cautiously turned to face her. Without a face of fear, he stood a low and defensive stance towards the knight. His hands up and open in front of him to use for any means in this fight he was about to be in.
While they stared each other down, Bonifaas and Holden started to converse about the Shamans release.
"Open the gates Holden and let her go," Bonifaas demanded menacingly.
"Why?! So you can have us chase both of them down? I'd rather save my stamina, thank you." Holden responded, pushing the Shaman lightly a little bit.
The Shaman growled while angrily staring down at him.
"Holden!" Bonifaas called for him loudly. Getting his attention, Bonifaas had his weapon pinned against Apollyon's neck as a threat.
"What? You kill her, this one dies too. So I'd put that weapon down, son." Holden said not in any way feel threatened.
Bonifaas was agitated and without any idea to try. While he was intensely thinking over a way to free the Shaman, Apollyon saw a chance to try and fight back. She quickly took hold of the spike at her neck and pulled it aside from her. Bonifaas felt this and reacted by pushing down his weapon, only to look back to see Apollyon up and recovered from her inverted arm. She then threw out all her strength into one punch at Bonifaas. He wasn't ready for it and was thrown back by the force of her attack. While he stumbled backward, his dragon head disappeared and his helmet fell off too. Also, Apollyon, in the midst of this situation, got ahold of his weapon completely.
Holden was drawn to the commotion and the Shaman took his distracted focus to run the opposite direction, mostly towards the Orochi and the peacekeeper. Holden looked back to see the Shaman gone then saw her running up the steps.
Bonifaas put a hand to his head, he was dizzy from the impact of her punch.
"You are helpless Bonifaas. Using an old friend to try and sway me back to something that I left a long time ago." Apollyon said as she had the poleaxe leaning against her shoulder.
"Using? I ask him to do no such thing. What he did was something he decided to try himself." He spat out some blood and looked up to her as he continued, "He was your friend. He wanted to try and help you. But your bloodshed and war seeking path got him killed."
"He broke our friendship long ago. What we had was indeed something special, but everything was HIS FAULT! He never told you the truth did he? How he decided to leave my home unguarded- LET MY ONLY FAMILY MEMBER ALIVE TO DIE! I used to be the hard working daughter of a broken family. My father slaughtered, then my mother murdered by the Northern people. I used to be an ignorant and aggressive child but look at me now. I am a Warlord and have control of every region. I will bring war everywhere I go and everywhere I lead my army. I will show you all what you are." Apollyon explained as she clenched her fist tightly towards Bonifaas.
"What we are? We are nothing but men and women… trying to survive in this world. What are we to you?" Bonifaas asked as he got on his knees and looked at Apollyon to his side.
Apollyon gestured as if she was going to say something instead held it back and said, "Well… you'll just have to find out. Be seeing you." After her final words she used both of her hands to unleash a huge zone swing that easily decapitated Bonifaas. She then dropped his weapon, leading to a loud bang when it hit.
The sound of the weapon hitting the ground drew the Shamans attention. She looked over to see the rolling head of the mysterious black knight. When she focused on it more she saw it was the Lawbringer she had dragged across the snowy forest, into The Pit to fight for sport, and then instead she killed him in the last moments when he held her captive. Shock drew across her face but at the same time confusion. He should be dead still, or was this someone else that looked identical like the one she had killed? No time to worry or think. All that mattered was for her to escape. The Orochi followed as he ran from behind her. They being chased by the other peacekeeper. She got closer and closer to be able to strike at either of them. But suddenly just when she got close enough to attack and was mid air of her attack she was suddenly struck in the head. Knocking her out cold, the two escapees alt to look back at what happened.
They both see the same thing, A grappling hook dragging back from where it came from and hooking on to the castle wall. The two look over the wall to see the kind of people they did not expect. The Shamans people… the Vikings.