Team Delta: In pursuit of Nautila
Diablo stumbled as the Boulder lurched to a halt.
"We must be here," the human said aloud. He made his way to the hangar and surely enough, the others were there waiting for him.
"What took you so long?" Samara teased. Diablo just rolled his eyes. He let the taunt roll off of him. He was too happy for Samara to shoot back.
Axos brought his hands together. "Are you all ready?" The others nodded. "Lead the way Samara
…
The group trekked through the woods in groups of two with about five meters of space between them. Chronos was positioned by himself at the back with Diablo and Samara in front, and Axos and Raden in the middle.
"You're in a good mood," Diablo observed. Samara nodded.
"It's been ten years! How could I not be?" A worried look crossed her face.
"What's wrong?"
"What if they don't recognize me?" Diablo patted her shoulder.
"How could they not recognize their own daughter?" Samara sighed and nodded.
"You're right. I should just—" Her eyes widened as they exited the forest, "relax." The scene before them was horrific. Scorched remains of buildings littered the ground around them, only the largest buildings still remarkably standing.
"Samara…" Diablo began to say. He looked to the dragoness and saw tears welling up in her eyes.
"EVERYONE!" Raden called. Diablo left Samara and ran to see what the problem was. Chronos and Raden were pulling a black feline out of the rubble. His left eye was swollen shut and there were cuts all over his face and bare arms.
"Is he breathing?" Axos asked. Raden set the cat down on the ground and nodded.
"It's a miracle that he survived." Diablo stood back up.
"I'm going to check on Samara." He turned and darted back to the dragoness and saw her sitting on her haunches, her head hung to the floor. He heard her sobbing before he saw her. He rushed up to her and placed his hand on her shoulder. She stared up at him with eyes that shone with tears. It broke his heart.
"Oh, Samara," he said, his voice breaking. He put his arms around the dragoness as she sobbed into his shoulder.
"Mother… Father… Ella…"
"Sad isn't it?" Diablo whirled around to the clunking of boots.
"You!" he growled. Armageddon held his arms out to the side.
"Me!" He chuckled. "I've heard many things about you, Diablo." Diablo's eyes widened.
"YOU BASTARD!" Diablo turned to see the black feline standing in the frames of one of the destroyed houses. His yellow eyes shone with fury. His garb was simple, giving him the appearance of a monk. He wore a dark green sleeveless tunic and simple brown pants.
"Oh, so my hunch was right. Someone did survive." Armageddon crossed his arms. "Well, might as well finish you off too. Nothing's worth starting unless you intend on finishing it."
"You will try Zaegyr," the feline said. A small orb of purple and orange energy appeared between Armageddon's fingers.
"Indeed I will!" He spun and flicked the orb at the feline. It struck him in the chest and blew him into the street as if he was hit by a train.
Diablo's sword materialized in his hand with a flash, crimson bolts of lightning leaping across the other.
"That's a neat trick!" Armageddon mocked. Diablo roared and charged. Armageddon raised his hand and a beam of energy struck Diablo in the chest, sending him crashing through a scorched wall. "Too bad mine is better!"
"I AM NOT THROUGH WITH YOU YET!" The black-furred feline had risen. His eyes were now a vibrant blue. He clenched his fists and widened his stance, ready for a fight.
"I believed I had wiped your order out centuries ago," Armageddon said.
"You may have destroyed our order, but not its knowledge."
"Then I will have to remedy that." Armageddon unleashed a storm of the ethereal energy on the feline.
An aura of blue flame suddenly enveloped the cat, which Diablo had just began labelling a Khajiit (Skyrim reference). Suddenly, a massive, ten-foot, blue avatar of a bipedal hawk covered in what resembled Roman centurion armor appeared in front of him, a sword that was about six feet long in hand. It raised the sword and split the beam down the middle.
"So, you've already unlocked your Archetype." The Khajiit smirked.
"Surprised?" Armageddon chuckled.
"Pleasantly." Armageddon formed a larger orb of energy in his hand. "It will make little difference." He fired another blast at the feline.
"ALGOL!" The massive avatar came to life at that word. The sword blurred again and sliced the beam apart again. The Khajiit advanced, its glowing avatar deflecting bolt after bolt of energy. Once close enough, the hawk brought its sword down at Armageddon. His black figure blurred, and he dashed backwards, leaving skid marks in the dirt road.
"Good!" he taunted. "Next you can make some playing cards disappear!" In a flash of crimson, Diablo was in front of him.
"Abracadabra!" He fired a crimson bolt that caught the eight-foot warrior in the chest. Armageddon roared and a massive metal fist slammed across the human's face. Diablo tasted blood as he slammed into the ground. Armageddon growled.
"You are not worth my time." A ring of black flames began to surrounded him. "I will find you when I deem you all ready." And with that, he disappeared.
The feline let out a grunt and dropped to one knee. Diablo rushed over and helped him stand.
"Never seen a cheetah like you before," he commented.
"I'm a panther, genius." The panther winced.
"Easy there, partner." He released the feline once he was close to Samara, who was still crying, although remaining silent as tears rolled down her face. Her eyes widened when she saw the panther.
"Dekker?" The cat squinted at her.
"Do I know you?"
"It… It's me." His eyes widened. He knew those eyes, that voice.
"Little Sam?" More tears rolled down the dragoness' face and she nodded. The panther laughed and threw his arms around her. "I'm so sorry." His shoulders shook as he began to sob.
"Sorry for what?" Dekker looked at her. His eyes had changed back to yellow.
"I… I couldn't save them. Ella, your mother and father, any of them." Samara pulled him back into a hug.
"It wasn't your fault. You did your best." It seemed to calm Dekker, but the sad look in his eyes still lingered. He pulled away and stood.
"You've grown." Samara managed a weak chuckle.
"You too."
"Did you do something with your horns?" That got a full laugh out of both Diablo and Samara.
"I see your humor's matured more than the rest of you has." Dekker mocked shock.
"You wound me, Samara." The dragoness giggled, but quickly gained her sad complexion again.
"How… How long ago did it happen?" Dekker sighed.
"Four weeks ago. A group of apes came in and said that we needed to surrender any able-bodied males for labor-intensive purposes and all valuables immediately. We obeyed, only submitting willing males and making the rest seem injured."
"Then?" Dekker clenched his fists and looked at the ground.
"Then they demanded able-bodied females," he growled. He looked up at Samara. "And your sister was their first pick." Samara's eyes widened.
"What did they do to her?"
"They didn't lay a hand on her. Your father put himself between them and they… they killed him. They cut him down before our very eyes." Samara began to cry again, and Diablo placed a hand on her shoulder.
"What about Mother?"
"She attacked the apes out of sheer rage. She told me to take Ella and get her to safety. Watching your father get cut down threw the whole village into a frenzy. They fought with the ferocity of cornered animals. I took your sister and we managed to escape into the woods."
"What happened after that?"
"We hid in the woods for a while before venturing back to the village. When we arrived, we saw a lone figure roaming the remains. We got closer and asked if he needed anything, and her responded with, 'her.'" Samara's eyes widened. Tears began to flow down Dekker's face. "He… He grabbed her… and… he crushed her. He shattered her spine with one hand and beat me within an inch of my life with the other."
Samara broke at that. She threw herself into Diablo's arms and sobbed, soaking the human's robes.
"I'm sorry Samara. I was too weak."
"It's okay Dekker. It wasn't your fault" Samara stood and walked away. "I just… need some time alone."
Dekker turned back to Diablo once the black dragoness was out of earshot.
"You a friend of hers?" Diablo nodded and extended a hand.
"Name's Diablo." Dekker returned the handshake and smiled weakly.
"Dekker."
"How do you know her?" Dekker sighed.
"We grew up together. Both of my parents died when I was young, so her family helped with the rest of the village to raise me."
"I hope you don't mind me asking, but what was that thing?"
"What was what thing?" Diablo gestured around wildly.
"That big glowing bird!"
"It's called an Archetype." Diablo crossed his arms.
"I've seen my fair share of magics, but that is not one of them." Dekker nodded.
"I wouldn't expect it to be. Archetypes were used by an ancient order of mages hundreds of years ago." Diablo scratched his chin.
"Armageddon mentioned something about an order." Dekker cocked a brow.
"Armageddon?"
"Tall, dark, and sadistic?"
"Oh." Dekker nodded. "He exterminated the order centuries ago. I just came across some old tomes and spell books when we were hiding away in the woods."
Diablo looked over in the direction Samara went with a sad look in his eyes. Dekker didn't see it under the human's hood, however. He shook his head and gritted his teeth. He expected to feel sad for her, but red-hot anger coursed through his veins.
"She didn't deserve this." Dekker crossed his arms and nodded. "SHE DESERVE TO SEE HER FAMILY AGAIN!" The human spun and fired a crimson bolt of lightning. It struck a tree, burning it to cinders in an instant. He dropped to his knees.
"There was nothing you could do Diablo," Dekker said, placing a hand on the human's shoulder.
"But there was!" Diablo pounded the ground. "I could've gotten her out of there sooner, I could've gotten her away from him!"
"Him?" Diablo nodded.
"You didn't recognize her, right?" Dekker nodded.
"Her scales…"
"Yeah. She was taken by Malefor." Dekker's eyes widened.
"That explains why she was missing. Her parents were miserable, and Ella was too young to even remember her." Diablo took a deep breath.
"You should go talk to her." Dekker shook his head.
"I think that is your job, friend."
Team Alpha: In pursuit of Wintrius
Axius thrashed in his tent. His vision had become a flashing array of colors. He was being flipped end-over-end in a never-ending freefall. Suddenly, he felt his boots strike solid ground. He opened his eyes and looked up. He was standing on the surface of an infinite ocean, three suns: one blue, one black, and one purple, illuminating the horizon, turning the sky a deep purple.
"This is new," the Paladin Elementum said to himself.
"Good, it worked." Axius spun around to see a rather odd sight. It was a being wearing armor like his own, except his was blue on black. A royal blue cape flowed behind the figure as he strode forward, his boots making ripples in the water with each step he took.
"Who are you?" The figure held up an armored hand.
"You are asking questions you already know the answers to, cor'val." That word got Axius' attention. Cor'val meant "friend," but was only used for those who were almost like family.
"Do I know you?" The figure chuckled.
"I was never one to repeat myself." Axius clenched his fists. These questions were getting nowhere. "You may call me Triastrus, for now."
"Are you going to stop being cryptic or will I have to beat the answers out of you?" The figure chuckled again.
"You believe what you are experiencing is anger, but it is not." He said it so confidently it made Axius falter.
"Come again?" Triastrus was suddenly behind Axius, facing the horizon. His hands folded behind his back.
"You are not angry, you are scared."
"Scared?" Axius asked incredulously. Triastrus turned back to him and nodded.
"You fear not Armageddon, nor his lackeys, nor for your own life." He got closer to the Paladin Elementum with each word until his concealed face was an inch away from Axius'. "You fear what will happen to Polaris."
If Axius could pale, he would have. How did he know?
"Furthermore," Triastrus continued, "you have never felt fear before, and as a result, are searching for a way to redirect it." He backed away and looked back over the horizon.
"What do you want?" Axius asked with an edge in his voice. Triastrus didn't look back.
"To help you." This only made Axius more confused.
"Help me?" Triastrus nodded. A piece of parchment and a quill appeared in front of Axius.
"I advise you get comfortable and take notes, Axius. This is going to take a while."
