-Existence 1 of 3-
When she awoke, the Gwyn found herself tied and gagged in a dungeon. There were manacles on the walls supporting disfigured skeletons with rotten flesh and moldy clothes. Biting her lip, she resisted the urge to puke and attempted to sit up, ignoring the harsh smells emitted around her. At that moment, the creaky door slid open and a huge being was shoved into the room, his grunts of resistance ringing through the air as several guards threw their weight into getting him inside the room.
Gwyn snapped her eyes shut and pressed her cheek against the rough, cold stonework in the floor, trying to ignore the scene around her. Finally, the sound of a slamming door reverberating off the walls brought her back to her senses and slowly she opened her eyes. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw the orc, sitting against the wall, his breathing heavily laboured. He was wearing little but a pair of trousers that fit him snugly and a belt.
Feeling the baby move in her stomach, she brought her knees up as far as they would come and curled into the fetal position. She heard the orc as he snorted and lumbered to his feet. Looking up, she came eye to two with his foot and shied away in surprise.
"Calm down," He whispered, dropping to his knees and reaching over her gently, "I'm going to untie you." Gwyn stilled completely as log-like fingers undid her bindings and helped her sit up. She looked into the face of an orc, a smirk at his lips. Silvery hair was knotted and twisted around his had and a wirey beard sprouted from his chin.
"Thank you, greatly," She murmured.
"It was nothing, I assure you. I am Lothron, head of the Aurinave clan south of the Illithiad Swamps. It is a pleasure to meet you, though the circumstances stand bleak yet." Lothron laughed, a deep growl-like rumble building in his stomach and spilling richly out of his mouth.
"Yes. I am Gwynsestras Zhoomerstah. I live just north of the Swamps. It seems a shame I have never heard of Aurinave." Gwyn replied shyly, her tone soft and low.
"Yes, well, my clan keeps to itself. We are your more docile race of orcish kind, we stay out of fights unless they involve us."
"That sounds like a wonderful place to be leader of. I've always thought all orcish people were barbaric. But please excuse that stereotype, I've never met one like you." Lothron laughed again.
"It's quite alright. I get that type of attitude often. Ignore my prodding, but what is someone like you doing here? Surely you have done nothing to upset the sorcerer?" He asked, moving to rest against the wall again.
"I…I really don't know. I had no idea he even existed. My husband is always protective about me when I'm in pregnancy, but he would never keep something of this magnitude from me. I had heard of the attacks around our town of Jonain, but I'd never even begun to guess who it was. I fear this may be the murderer."
Gwyn began to tremble and the baby shifted in her stomach, giving her the urge to vomit, but she held it back. Tears welled up in her eyes and she closed them, hoping to blot the tears and the dank image around her. Lothron wrapped his hand around her like she was a doll and brought her next to him, his touch gentle around her stomach.
"I do not mean to alarm you, but it is indeed him. I myself was on the way to Jonain to discuss matters with the Elder's Council about numerous fires and murders about my own home when I was taken captive by his magick. How many months are you?" Lothron asked, setting her down next to him. Gwyn felt oddly comforted and at peace as she leaned against his giant thigh, which rose above her petit frame. She noted for the first time, with amazement, how high the ceiling of the dungeon seemed to go.
"Any time now, actually…Oh, I pray it's not here…anywhere but here." The orc grunted.
"Sleep now, Gwyn. You need rest, as you are so close to your expectant date."
"You sound like my husband," She grumbled, but moved up against Lothron and the wall, curling into a ball in the corner it created. Sleep came blissfully as she closed her eyes.
-Existence 2 of 3-
A young girl, hardly older than eleven sat on a stone in the marsh, using a whetstone on her sword, sharpening the edges to a lethal point. It glinted in the morning sun's rays. All around her there was murky water, yellow in tint. Water bugs skated across the surface and mosquitoes whined around her ears, but she just swatted at them irritably.
Standing, she shifted in the light armour she wore. A full, but light, breastplate that fit against her chest with an intricate gold design on it and a white cape attached to the back, white shin plates, and a white helmet that had a grille across her eyes and leaving the other half of her face unprotected gave her an impressive look, despite her young appearance. A bunch of silky unicorn mane strands flowed from the helmet as she placed it on her head.
Looking around, she saw miles of murky waters and small, muddy islands like the one she stood upon. A few scraggly trees and bushes spotted the landscape, but most seemed near the brink of death. Shaking her head, she watched, slightly amused, as the wind toyed with the unicorn strands.
A sudden gust blew from the opposite direction, and she turned around and saw a red dragon hovering above the swampy waters. She seemed hardly a hundred years old as he landed clumsily on an island nearby her own. Cocking her head, she snorted a billow of smoke before speaking in her own tongue to the girl, the words sliding out of her mouth, smooth as grease.
"Solazen," She murmured, "It is high time we made progress out of these swamps. I grow weary of traveling back and forth for you, however nice your company is. Why is it we must slow down at this point?" Solazen looked to the horizon, at the sun's warming rays.
"We are waiting," Solazen replied to the beast in its tongue. She stumbled slightly over the words.
"But for what?" The dragon had switched to the common tongue, "What are we waiting for? The evil mage is almost upon us and still we have gained no more distance! We will be no more if we wait any more!" Solazen seemed to ponder that for a moment.
"Perhaps you are right, Leona. Now may be the time to give up on it," She sighed lightly and ran her hands through the silky unicorn hair strands and turned to her friend.
"Yes. I think it is now that we shall leave."
"Climb upon my back and we'll go, Solazen." Leona reached her ten foot tail over the water to Solazen's small island and waited for her to grasp it before recoiling it and setting her down near her fire-warmed body. In an instant, Solazen was settled in front of Leona's wings and bracing herself for the abrupt take-off that was to come.
"Ready?" Leona breathed. Solazen nodded and squeezed her eyes shut as Leona jumped from the ground and spread her wings, the filmy membranes stretching out to catch the wind. After falling a few harmless feet, Leona gained control of her body and flapped her wings, pulling them ever higher into the sky.
A half hour later, Leona banked her wings and the pair plummeted to the ground, Solazen attempting to keep her eyes open to watch as they fell.
As the ground neared, Leona curtly unrolled her wings and landed neatly on her hind legs before dropping to all fours. Solazen clambered off her back and stood next to her, readjusting the golden scabbard at her hip.
Leona cocked her head so the glare from the nearly-risen morning sun was out of her eyes and surveyed her surroundings. Huge cliffs rose and leered down at them, the rock black and forbidding on two sides of them, a pathway cut naturally through the rock. Off in the nearby distance stood a row of giant mountains. Solazen and Leona felt humbled and insignificant at their majestic might.
"We can walk a bit further, if you wish, Solazen." Leona said, again in her tongue.
"Yes. We need to make up for lost time I spent foolishly waiting. We are headed towards that valley," She pointed to the dip between the two highest mountains in the range in front of them, "And to the lake that lies there."
"And why…why would you want to do that?" A voice seeped from the air around Solazen and she glanced wildly around, searching for its source, but finding no one. Her hand went immediately to her sword and Leona growled long and deep, the smoke coming from her nostrils in thick waves.
"Show yourself, sorcerer! I've no time for your useless games!" Solazen yelled, hearing her voice reverberate back to her, echoing a thousand fold. It sounded scared and reckless. But what frightened her the most was that it sounded undeniably young and vulnerable.
"My, my, what an impatient little girl you remain. But, my dear, you've come too close, and you must be eliminated." A wheezy chuckle followed the oily voice and a shadow slid on its own next to Leona, who noticed it all too late. With a roar of surprise, she inhaled, throwing her head back, prepared to use her fire breath, but was blown backwards by some intangible force. With a great crash, the young dragon was propelled into the face of a cliff and broken rocks tumbled upon her.
"Leona! No!" Solazen began to run toward her friend, but a man lumbered over and blocked her way, the skin rotting from the very bone. His teeth were yellowed with age and decay and the bone peeped out in some places where the skin had completely come off. He was completely naked, and Solazen grimaced at the Pelor-awful sight before tightening her features again.
"A zombie! Alright by me!" Solazen yelled, pulling out her sword and sweeping a long arc over her head and splitting the zombie's skull. Still, it persisted, skull fragments falling towards the ground taking labored steps towards her. Solazen took a step back and rushed at the zombie, turning full circle at the last moment, swinging her sword behind her, throwing all her weight into the blow. The zombie, split in half at the waist, fell to the ground, put to rest at last.
Panting, Solazen blessed the corpse.
"May Pelor grant thee entrance, and an everlasting life in His arms." Solazen quickly drew the sign of Pelor over him and turned towards the sorcerer, only to discover he'd disappeared. Growling in rage, she scanned the area, hoping to catch some glimpse of him. She saw nothing, but suddenly began to feel the earth pulse.
A skeleton's hand burst from the ground and clutched Solazen's ankle, but she swung her sword at it and crushed it using the flat side of the metal. It relinquished her ankle, and suddenly, the whole ravine began to roll. Struggling to keep her balance, Solazen rushed over to Leona, who had been uncovered by the sudden violent movement of earth. Shaking her head, the dragon slipped out of the rocks, nearly losing her balance and falling, but she remained upright.
"Are you alright?" Solazen yelled over the now-deafening roar of breaking earth, but she received no answer, for suddenly, skeletal appendages began breaking free of the earth's crust. Grimacing, Solazen stepped back against the cliff face. Skeletons, all different sizes and shapes pulled themselves from the ground. All of their beady red eyes were locked on her and Leona.
Leona leaped into flight and inhaled deeply, trying again to use her dragon breath. A huge arrow of black energies flew out of nowhere and pierced Leona's chest. With a roar of pain, Leona plummeted to the ground far below and hit it with an ear-shattering boom. She didn't move again.
Solazen stood, shocked, at the scene as time seemed to slow. Before she knew it, she had drawn her sword and rushed into the melee, swinging the broadside every which way, not caring what she hit as long as it fell to the ground and didn't move again. Fighting, she made it to Leona's side. Clutching her throat, Solazen cried over the dragon's body. She threw her head back and cried out in full rage at the sorcerer, cursing him for what he'd done.
Without warning, a blinding light erupted from the sky above her, spreading into a huge orb around the ravine, making her shield her eyes against the luminosity. A few seconds later, it receded, and Solazen saw the area with shock: every undead being around her had vanished. The earth had come back together and an angry sorcerer in white robes peered at her over the cliff face, his silvery hair swimming in the breeze.
"You…I will dispose of you later." And he melted into shadows and slunk away.
-Existence 3 of 3-
'Where…am I?' Dorrn asked himself, waking up to blue skies. A man stood above him, scowling. Letting his eyes adjust, Dorrn realized that the man standing over him was…him!
"What the…" He -er, the man above him- slapped a hand over his mouth.
"Shutup, Dorrn. It's Killa!" The scowl deepened further.
"Killa? What are you talking about? You're me! So who am I? No! I am me, and you're an imposter! Ugh! This is too confusing!" he yelled, sitting up, realizing they were in a yellowing field. The man –imposter, copy, whatever!- reached into Dorrn's hip pocket and drew out a mirror.
'Funny…I don't remember having that!' Dorrn's copy held he mirror up to his face.
"Someone switched us." The man said. Dorrn stopped breathing and screamed. In the mirror was Killa's face!
He was in Killa's body!
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I finished another chapter O.o I'm working quickly…wow. Anywho, I think the chapters are getting worse as we go, so I may do some revisions on the other chapters, unless you guys just really like them -.-' The review me and tell me how I did! I love reading what you people thought!
READ THIS! READ THIS! READ THIS!: This last scene will be explained later, okay? So don't freak out or anything!
Ja everybody!