"I can't attack my own friends, even if they aren't what they used to be!" Celos cried. The ground was still shaking, and the air was beginning to grow hot.
"Celos, they are not what they used to be. They are no longer your friends, and to them you are merely another ant running from them. They can and will kill you if they see you, and they won't hesitate to destroy anything else in their way either." Daleth was very morbid in his thoughts, and he held no hope in his speech.
He turned back around to Celos and continued: "We have no chance of killing them, much less saving them. We are powerless against their newfound strength, and there is no hope that You, Kidria and I will ever meet them face-to-face and survive."
Kidria remained silent for a moment, then stood up and looked at the other two. A smile slowly spread across her mouth as she spoke. "You're right. You are absolutely right. That's why we're gonna have them fight themselves!"
The other two looked at her like she was insane, but Kidria continued smiling and started pacing the bookshelves looking for something. As she continued to search, Daleth noticed the power of the shaking in the ground was beginning to intensify. "I remember it in school, when we studied the history of Vanadeil and the Beastman wars, which occurred twenty years ago." She found what she was looking for, ripped it off the shelf, and threw it towards Celos and Daleth.
"What is this?" Daleth looked both ecstatic and utterly confused at the same time. The book was brown with lacing, but it held neither title nor author, and the pages were yellowed with age.
Kidria nearly fell over from a particular large tremor, but grabbed a nearby railing. "It's a diary of one of the War Warlocks of Windurst who fought in the Beastman wars. It's highly revered as a great history of the war firsthand, but it also holds information on the great amounts of secrets discovered in the war. Look at the entry of Vanadeil date 12/02/99, and read it."
Celos ripped the book from Daleth's hands, quickly flipped the pages until she found the correct date, and read aloud.
Vanadeil year 994, Second day of the last month of the year.
They call them Echoes.
No one is entirely sure what exactly they are made of or where they are from, but the mirror they use for the procedure was discovered in a cave near Castle Zvhal. The mirror itself looks entirely normal; a dark green framing that entails a few nondescript runes, and a small little red jewel atop the frame, which changes color to a pale blue in the moonlight. It was brought back to Sandoria, and studied by scholars, whom hoped that it might be some secret weapon or such of the Shadowlord's. After deeming it useless, it was forgotten and given to some noble who thought it would make a nice furnishing.
It was entirely an accident how it was discovered. Apparently this noble was killed in an invasion by the orcs, and in fact, much of the fighting of the invasion occurred in his very mansion. A few soldiers managed to barricade themselves in the room where the mirror was housed, as they stood no chance against the orc's incredible numbers. Many of the soldiers were wounded, and when the orcs finally tore the door to shreds and barged in, the soldiers fell very quickly. Their leader, a Galka by the name of Iron Forge, took out many orcs while at the same time protecting his men as he fought, but he was soon felled. Ironically, his death occurred right in front of the mirror which had been deemed useless, and the moment Iron Forge fell, the mirror started to glow and shimmer.
Both the orcs and the soldiers stopped for a moment to watch the mirror, which began to pulsate and ripple. Eventually, it stopped moving entirely, until a very large flash filled the room and blinded everyone inside.
When everyone had regained their senses and looked back at the mirror, they found Iron Forge standing in front of it, unharmed and ready for battle. Yet, he wasn't a fully opaque form. He still looked the same with the same armor, hair, and demeanor, but he was also slightly transparent, almost like a ghost. The soldiers also noticed, to their horror that their original leader still lay dead on the floor, yet standing in front of them as well.
Shortly afterward, the new, ghost-like Iron Forge attacked the orcs in a wild frenzy; in the same manner he had done moments before, just before he died. The soldiers followed, and every time another man fell, the mirror resurrected him, once again in a ghostly form. Although the orcs did not stop killing, the men continued to pop out of the mirror, and in a few short moments the army of ghosts had torn the orcish army to shreds. Their was only one man who was left alive, and he watched as the others put down their weapons, close their eyes, and disappear into nothingness, with only their psychical corpses left behind.
Half crying, half cheering, and with the mirror in tow, the lone soldier returned to his superiors and told them what had happened. Soon after the superiors had heard the whole tale, they deemed the soldier a traitor who had run and merely made the story up. Shortly after, a messenger entered the room and screamed that they were under attack. The lone soldier grabbed the mirror and ran to the battle, where several men, including their leader, an Elvaan by the name of Declaurde, had already been killed. The soldier placed the mirror in front of the dead men, and told his officers to watch. Once again, the mirror began to glow, shimmer, and ripple; then gave off a large flash and created the ghost like echoes of Declaurde and his men. In anger, an orc charged the soldier who had brought the mirror and impaled him upon his spear, and so it was never learned what the man's name was. He took it to his grave.
Shortly after, Windurst, Sandoria, and Bastok began to squabble for control of the mirror, claiming they needed it the most. They eventually came to an agreement that these "Echoes" would only be used in emergencies, and only on heroes of the war. Since this mirror would be a dangerous tool in the hands of the enemy, they agreed it was only to be used in a matter of life or death.
The echoes themselves have been studied in battle, and seem more able to take damage than their psychical counterparts before they fall. A few claim to have heard the Echoes speak, but not enough remain to prove it to be true. Furthermore, the mirror ONLY works on people who fall dead in front of it, and the echoes always disappear after their task is done. I myself believe them to be ghosts or souls, and I hope that I do not end up fighting an enemy echo on the battlefield.
Celos snapped the book shut and looked up at Kidria, who had her fist on her chin as she talked. "It was a pity. The man who wrote this diary died later on in the war, in defending Windurst. He was a hero to the people, so he was called back by the mirror when it was brought into the battle, and he too disappeared after the enemy was destroyed. The mirror is still around today, and hangs in the Duke's hall, but it is under heavy guard, and I doubt they would let us have it." She sighed, took her hand off her chin, and grinned.
"So, we'll just have to steal it!"
It was difficult running and trying not to topple over at the same time, as the shaking had only gotten worse. However, whatever was causing these tremors proved advantageous to Kidria, Celos, and Daleth, because when they arrived at the Duke's doors they found the area utterly devoid of life. There were no guards or bystanders; apparently Jueno had been evacuated and the Duke and his men were trying to fight off the attacker. It didn't take them long to find the mirror in his mansion, and soon they were all rushing outside, down for lower Jueno, where they would meet whomever was there face to face.
What they actually found was destruction and death.
Apparently, the Duke had indeed given orders for everyone to evacuate, but no one had managed to make it outside, they had been caught by the attacker and tossed like dolls around the streets. Soldiers, women, and children were scattered on the street, clad in their own blood, and sometimes in their own pieces. The duke and his highest guards were nowhere in sight, and the thing which had massacred the street was gone as well. Despite this, the ground was still shaking, and it was only getting stronger.
Daleth put down the mirror and walked forward in horror, staring at the buildings as he went. Many had etchings of claws in them, and a few others had been neatly cut into pieces by some sort of blade.
But worst of all, they were covered in silver.
He turned back to Celos. "You must leave. You, by far, are in the greatest danger here. I do not expect you to understand, nor do I want you to. Kidria is no better off than you are, so take her along as well."
Kidria started to protest, but was stopped by Daleth's glare. Celos simply refused to be shot down so easily, and charged forward and grabbed Daleth by the collar.
"I don't care about any danger here to myself, I care about what happens to my friends. I will not sit idly by as the ground shakes and I hang back wondering what is going on. I don't want my friends to get hurt!" Tears began to fall from her eyes.
"That is why you must remain back. Despite its reason to believe so, this evil is still imperfect, and that is why you must remain behind. You...are its kin. Its family."
Before she could reply, Daleth grabbed her by the arm and shoved her back into the alcove that separated upper from lower Jueno. With a stern look in his eyes, he gave her a final look of sorrow, and kicked the weakened support holding up the ceiling. Celos tried to dive forward, but the rocks were too quick. Dust choked the air, and soon nothing was left of the path between the two parts of Jueno. Kidria and Celos were kept apart from Daleth by a solid wall of broken rock.
Daleth closed his eyes and turned away from the destroyed alcove. "She doesn't understand, and I do not have time to explain it to her. I am sorry, Celos."
Sensing a ripple in the air, Daleth turned around and pulled out his Lance, only to find that the street was clear. All the bodies were gone. The streets were clean. The walls and buildings looked unblemished. Everything that had been wrecked just a moment before was now totally perfect.
"What the hell?" Daleth slowly bent over and picked up the mirror, and walked out into the open. "This isn't right. What the hell is going on!?" Daleth began to panic, and then he heard voices. Human voices. Soon enough, people started walking out of the buildings, including Celos, Kidria, Taea, Fxeni, Marzinquan, Seryaa, and everyone else. Takmir was the only one who didn't seem to be present.
Daleth was flustered with amazement and confusion, but he knew something wasn't right. Celos soon walked up to him, and gave him a smile.
"It's all right Daleth. The others are fine. The evil is gone. And everyone is happy." Her voice was slightly monotonous, which only furthered Daleth's caution.
"I'm sure they are." Daleth was acting sarcastic, but Celos didn't seem to notice. "What happened to the bodies? What happened to the wrecked buildings? And how did you get down here? I just blocked off the entrance!"
Celos continued to smile. "It's all right Daleth. Just relax."
Then Daleth saw the mirror starting to glow.
He looked into its reflection to see the original street, with the dead bodies, the blood, and the demolished rubble. He looked back up from the reflection to see Celos still smiling at him, yet despite his eyes telling him that Celos was standing right in front of him, the mirror simply showed no one there at all.
Daleth drew his lance, and despite his conscience, his senses, and his mind screaming at him not to do so, he did what was in his heart: He shoved the lance through Celos in a piercing thrust.
And then it was gone. The street was again littered with bodies, blood, rubble, and wreckage. He eyed a silver flash in the sky, and soon a wyvern flew down and landed in front of Daleth's feet.
"Cerulean." Daleth said.
The wyvern gazed up at his former master, and without moving its mouth, spoke directly into Daleth's mind.
"We do not appreciate your ungratefulness. We offered you exactly what you pictured in your mind, and yet you threw it away like a child's plaything, all for some pathetic ideal of loyalty?" It sneered at him. "In retribution, we will take your life, much like we took the others."
The wyvern started to flap his wings, and soon was in the air soaring high over Daleth. As he watched, the wyvern perched atop a wall on the eastern side of the area, and screeched. As if he was called, a large Galka suddenly jumped atop the battlement and kneeled next to Cerulean. It gestured to the wyvern for a moment, then hopped down to the ground and drew its sword in front of Daleth. Its skin was white, and he wore black armor, and although he looked different, Daleth recognized him immediately.
"Takmir." Daleth had a grim look on his face.
The white Galka seemed to register a slight hint of recognition for a moment, but it was so brief Daleth was not sure he had really seen it. Daleth hoped for the best, and threw the mirror in front of him, holding it like a shield to hold off the offending former friend. He felt it pulsate and heat up as it worked, and then in horror, realized he wasn't reflecting his friend's dead body. He was not really alive per se, but he was most definitely not dead. So, what could possibly come out of the mirror...?
As soon as he saw the flash and the mirror cool down, Daleth threw it aside to see a second, slightly shimmering, slightly transparent Galka standing in front of him. Although Daleth could not get a very good view of this new ally, it was most definitely not Takmir. The echo turned around to Daleth, took a good measure of the Elvaan holding the mirror, and spoke.
"My name is Katmir." It said.
"Celos, they are not what they used to be. They are no longer your friends, and to them you are merely another ant running from them. They can and will kill you if they see you, and they won't hesitate to destroy anything else in their way either." Daleth was very morbid in his thoughts, and he held no hope in his speech.
He turned back around to Celos and continued: "We have no chance of killing them, much less saving them. We are powerless against their newfound strength, and there is no hope that You, Kidria and I will ever meet them face-to-face and survive."
Kidria remained silent for a moment, then stood up and looked at the other two. A smile slowly spread across her mouth as she spoke. "You're right. You are absolutely right. That's why we're gonna have them fight themselves!"
The other two looked at her like she was insane, but Kidria continued smiling and started pacing the bookshelves looking for something. As she continued to search, Daleth noticed the power of the shaking in the ground was beginning to intensify. "I remember it in school, when we studied the history of Vanadeil and the Beastman wars, which occurred twenty years ago." She found what she was looking for, ripped it off the shelf, and threw it towards Celos and Daleth.
"What is this?" Daleth looked both ecstatic and utterly confused at the same time. The book was brown with lacing, but it held neither title nor author, and the pages were yellowed with age.
Kidria nearly fell over from a particular large tremor, but grabbed a nearby railing. "It's a diary of one of the War Warlocks of Windurst who fought in the Beastman wars. It's highly revered as a great history of the war firsthand, but it also holds information on the great amounts of secrets discovered in the war. Look at the entry of Vanadeil date 12/02/99, and read it."
Celos ripped the book from Daleth's hands, quickly flipped the pages until she found the correct date, and read aloud.
Vanadeil year 994, Second day of the last month of the year.
They call them Echoes.
No one is entirely sure what exactly they are made of or where they are from, but the mirror they use for the procedure was discovered in a cave near Castle Zvhal. The mirror itself looks entirely normal; a dark green framing that entails a few nondescript runes, and a small little red jewel atop the frame, which changes color to a pale blue in the moonlight. It was brought back to Sandoria, and studied by scholars, whom hoped that it might be some secret weapon or such of the Shadowlord's. After deeming it useless, it was forgotten and given to some noble who thought it would make a nice furnishing.
It was entirely an accident how it was discovered. Apparently this noble was killed in an invasion by the orcs, and in fact, much of the fighting of the invasion occurred in his very mansion. A few soldiers managed to barricade themselves in the room where the mirror was housed, as they stood no chance against the orc's incredible numbers. Many of the soldiers were wounded, and when the orcs finally tore the door to shreds and barged in, the soldiers fell very quickly. Their leader, a Galka by the name of Iron Forge, took out many orcs while at the same time protecting his men as he fought, but he was soon felled. Ironically, his death occurred right in front of the mirror which had been deemed useless, and the moment Iron Forge fell, the mirror started to glow and shimmer.
Both the orcs and the soldiers stopped for a moment to watch the mirror, which began to pulsate and ripple. Eventually, it stopped moving entirely, until a very large flash filled the room and blinded everyone inside.
When everyone had regained their senses and looked back at the mirror, they found Iron Forge standing in front of it, unharmed and ready for battle. Yet, he wasn't a fully opaque form. He still looked the same with the same armor, hair, and demeanor, but he was also slightly transparent, almost like a ghost. The soldiers also noticed, to their horror that their original leader still lay dead on the floor, yet standing in front of them as well.
Shortly afterward, the new, ghost-like Iron Forge attacked the orcs in a wild frenzy; in the same manner he had done moments before, just before he died. The soldiers followed, and every time another man fell, the mirror resurrected him, once again in a ghostly form. Although the orcs did not stop killing, the men continued to pop out of the mirror, and in a few short moments the army of ghosts had torn the orcish army to shreds. Their was only one man who was left alive, and he watched as the others put down their weapons, close their eyes, and disappear into nothingness, with only their psychical corpses left behind.
Half crying, half cheering, and with the mirror in tow, the lone soldier returned to his superiors and told them what had happened. Soon after the superiors had heard the whole tale, they deemed the soldier a traitor who had run and merely made the story up. Shortly after, a messenger entered the room and screamed that they were under attack. The lone soldier grabbed the mirror and ran to the battle, where several men, including their leader, an Elvaan by the name of Declaurde, had already been killed. The soldier placed the mirror in front of the dead men, and told his officers to watch. Once again, the mirror began to glow, shimmer, and ripple; then gave off a large flash and created the ghost like echoes of Declaurde and his men. In anger, an orc charged the soldier who had brought the mirror and impaled him upon his spear, and so it was never learned what the man's name was. He took it to his grave.
Shortly after, Windurst, Sandoria, and Bastok began to squabble for control of the mirror, claiming they needed it the most. They eventually came to an agreement that these "Echoes" would only be used in emergencies, and only on heroes of the war. Since this mirror would be a dangerous tool in the hands of the enemy, they agreed it was only to be used in a matter of life or death.
The echoes themselves have been studied in battle, and seem more able to take damage than their psychical counterparts before they fall. A few claim to have heard the Echoes speak, but not enough remain to prove it to be true. Furthermore, the mirror ONLY works on people who fall dead in front of it, and the echoes always disappear after their task is done. I myself believe them to be ghosts or souls, and I hope that I do not end up fighting an enemy echo on the battlefield.
Celos snapped the book shut and looked up at Kidria, who had her fist on her chin as she talked. "It was a pity. The man who wrote this diary died later on in the war, in defending Windurst. He was a hero to the people, so he was called back by the mirror when it was brought into the battle, and he too disappeared after the enemy was destroyed. The mirror is still around today, and hangs in the Duke's hall, but it is under heavy guard, and I doubt they would let us have it." She sighed, took her hand off her chin, and grinned.
"So, we'll just have to steal it!"
It was difficult running and trying not to topple over at the same time, as the shaking had only gotten worse. However, whatever was causing these tremors proved advantageous to Kidria, Celos, and Daleth, because when they arrived at the Duke's doors they found the area utterly devoid of life. There were no guards or bystanders; apparently Jueno had been evacuated and the Duke and his men were trying to fight off the attacker. It didn't take them long to find the mirror in his mansion, and soon they were all rushing outside, down for lower Jueno, where they would meet whomever was there face to face.
What they actually found was destruction and death.
Apparently, the Duke had indeed given orders for everyone to evacuate, but no one had managed to make it outside, they had been caught by the attacker and tossed like dolls around the streets. Soldiers, women, and children were scattered on the street, clad in their own blood, and sometimes in their own pieces. The duke and his highest guards were nowhere in sight, and the thing which had massacred the street was gone as well. Despite this, the ground was still shaking, and it was only getting stronger.
Daleth put down the mirror and walked forward in horror, staring at the buildings as he went. Many had etchings of claws in them, and a few others had been neatly cut into pieces by some sort of blade.
But worst of all, they were covered in silver.
He turned back to Celos. "You must leave. You, by far, are in the greatest danger here. I do not expect you to understand, nor do I want you to. Kidria is no better off than you are, so take her along as well."
Kidria started to protest, but was stopped by Daleth's glare. Celos simply refused to be shot down so easily, and charged forward and grabbed Daleth by the collar.
"I don't care about any danger here to myself, I care about what happens to my friends. I will not sit idly by as the ground shakes and I hang back wondering what is going on. I don't want my friends to get hurt!" Tears began to fall from her eyes.
"That is why you must remain back. Despite its reason to believe so, this evil is still imperfect, and that is why you must remain behind. You...are its kin. Its family."
Before she could reply, Daleth grabbed her by the arm and shoved her back into the alcove that separated upper from lower Jueno. With a stern look in his eyes, he gave her a final look of sorrow, and kicked the weakened support holding up the ceiling. Celos tried to dive forward, but the rocks were too quick. Dust choked the air, and soon nothing was left of the path between the two parts of Jueno. Kidria and Celos were kept apart from Daleth by a solid wall of broken rock.
Daleth closed his eyes and turned away from the destroyed alcove. "She doesn't understand, and I do not have time to explain it to her. I am sorry, Celos."
Sensing a ripple in the air, Daleth turned around and pulled out his Lance, only to find that the street was clear. All the bodies were gone. The streets were clean. The walls and buildings looked unblemished. Everything that had been wrecked just a moment before was now totally perfect.
"What the hell?" Daleth slowly bent over and picked up the mirror, and walked out into the open. "This isn't right. What the hell is going on!?" Daleth began to panic, and then he heard voices. Human voices. Soon enough, people started walking out of the buildings, including Celos, Kidria, Taea, Fxeni, Marzinquan, Seryaa, and everyone else. Takmir was the only one who didn't seem to be present.
Daleth was flustered with amazement and confusion, but he knew something wasn't right. Celos soon walked up to him, and gave him a smile.
"It's all right Daleth. The others are fine. The evil is gone. And everyone is happy." Her voice was slightly monotonous, which only furthered Daleth's caution.
"I'm sure they are." Daleth was acting sarcastic, but Celos didn't seem to notice. "What happened to the bodies? What happened to the wrecked buildings? And how did you get down here? I just blocked off the entrance!"
Celos continued to smile. "It's all right Daleth. Just relax."
Then Daleth saw the mirror starting to glow.
He looked into its reflection to see the original street, with the dead bodies, the blood, and the demolished rubble. He looked back up from the reflection to see Celos still smiling at him, yet despite his eyes telling him that Celos was standing right in front of him, the mirror simply showed no one there at all.
Daleth drew his lance, and despite his conscience, his senses, and his mind screaming at him not to do so, he did what was in his heart: He shoved the lance through Celos in a piercing thrust.
And then it was gone. The street was again littered with bodies, blood, rubble, and wreckage. He eyed a silver flash in the sky, and soon a wyvern flew down and landed in front of Daleth's feet.
"Cerulean." Daleth said.
The wyvern gazed up at his former master, and without moving its mouth, spoke directly into Daleth's mind.
"We do not appreciate your ungratefulness. We offered you exactly what you pictured in your mind, and yet you threw it away like a child's plaything, all for some pathetic ideal of loyalty?" It sneered at him. "In retribution, we will take your life, much like we took the others."
The wyvern started to flap his wings, and soon was in the air soaring high over Daleth. As he watched, the wyvern perched atop a wall on the eastern side of the area, and screeched. As if he was called, a large Galka suddenly jumped atop the battlement and kneeled next to Cerulean. It gestured to the wyvern for a moment, then hopped down to the ground and drew its sword in front of Daleth. Its skin was white, and he wore black armor, and although he looked different, Daleth recognized him immediately.
"Takmir." Daleth had a grim look on his face.
The white Galka seemed to register a slight hint of recognition for a moment, but it was so brief Daleth was not sure he had really seen it. Daleth hoped for the best, and threw the mirror in front of him, holding it like a shield to hold off the offending former friend. He felt it pulsate and heat up as it worked, and then in horror, realized he wasn't reflecting his friend's dead body. He was not really alive per se, but he was most definitely not dead. So, what could possibly come out of the mirror...?
As soon as he saw the flash and the mirror cool down, Daleth threw it aside to see a second, slightly shimmering, slightly transparent Galka standing in front of him. Although Daleth could not get a very good view of this new ally, it was most definitely not Takmir. The echo turned around to Daleth, took a good measure of the Elvaan holding the mirror, and spoke.
"My name is Katmir." It said.