Chioke struggled against the bonds that held her to the altar. She wanted to be back home, away from all of this. She didn't hear much from the wizards, but from what she did, she didn't like. Apparently, Innoruuk is planning to invade the Plane of Growth and kill Tunare. To do that, they need a sacrifice. Chioke didn't need to hear the rest to understand the plan; she was to die to start the invasion.
"There she is!" Nenam exclaimed as he spotted the altar. He saw Chioke, bound to a bloodstained altar. Several robed Dark Elves were around her, chanting, casting. There was a Shadowknight with them. A very very powerful one. So powerful, Nenam could feel his presence.
The Shadoknight stood near the altar. He was the norm for any male Dark Elf, 5 feet, blue skin, white hair, blood red eyes. He was clad in Legendary Darkforge armor, made from bones of ancient dragons. The pieces overlapped each other with large sharp edges, making a very defensive and deadly suit of armor. It was colored as black as night, and resonated with pure Hate.
"Th--tha----thats Lord Neriak..." Whizbang stuttered, "this...can't be good." Nenam was shaken by the mighty wizard's sudden breakdown of composure. "He's...he's not that bad...is he?" Nenam asked. "Its Lord Neriak! He founded the city of Neriak! He led the battle of Bloody Kithicor! He founded the alliance with the Orcs! He is Innoruuks right hand man! Yes, he is that bad!" Whizbang shouted at Nenam. "Ah. I see. Bad." Nenam stuttered.
Lord Neriak drew the sacrificial dagger. It was at least a foot long, with a curved and serrated blade. It was etched with the unholy runes of Innoruuk, and meant for a sacrifice of a caliber such as this. "It will be put to good use today," Neriak said to himself as he made his way to the altar.
"What is he doing? He's...he's going to sacrifice Chioke! He can't do that!" Nenam said as he cast his Scale of Wolf spell on himself and took off sprinting towards the altar. "No!" Whizbang shouted as he ran after Nenam, even though he had no chance of catching up.
Neriak saw the Elf approaching. He decided two sacrificies would do just as well today. As he put the dagger on the altar, he drew his personal sword. Innoruuk's Curse. In his hands, it was more powerful than any weapon imaginable. It was almost 4 feet long, a dull black, and pulsated with the same power of Hate that his armor did. He waited to recieve the charge.
Nenam drew his custom sword as he sprinted towards Neriak. He didn't care about tactics, about how he held the sword, all he cared about was Chioke. Even with the tiny jabbering, angry, and powerful Whizbang behind him, he didn't care about anything but his Chioke. Even with Innoruuk's Chosen standing in his way, he didn't care. Now, he would prove it. Nenam leapt into the air, sword raised to strike.
Neriak caught Nenam without even flinching. He sneered in the Ranger's face, "You're puny attack has failed! Prepare to be sacrificed to the Prince of Hate!" Then Chioke saw Nenam. Her eyes lit up, her spirits lifted. Words weren't needed to exchange how they felt towards each other. "You took her, and I've come to get her. You will give her back, and I will kill you. It is not your choice!" Nenam yelled as his body erputed with energy as he broke free of Neriak's grasp. Immediately Nenam began his attack, swinging at Neriak with all of his fury. Neriak parried and dodged every attack, countered and attacked with every chance. Suddenly, the ground shook violently as a creature opened a portal and stepped through it into the Plane. It was Innoruuk himself.
Whizbang skidded to a halt near Nenam and Neriak. He saw Innoruuk open the portal and leap at Nenam, intent on killing him. Whizbang was prepared for something like this, however, and let an ice bolt loose at the Prince of Hate. It landed squarely in the chest of the Prince, sending him flying into the Altar. "Chioke!" Nenam shouted as the altar burst into pieces and the wizards surrounding it were killed by their own god. After slamming into the stone altar, and several of his followers, Innoruuk leapt to his feet and literally flew at Whizbang, hands afire with the pure energy of Hate itself.
Nenam was in the fight of his life. He and Neriak were swinging with very mighty swings, cracking the very ground with their power. Suddenly, Neriak gained the upper hand, forcing Nenam back, losing ground with every swing.
Whizbang wasn't exactly as powerful as Innoruuk, but he was strong enough to put up a good fight. Innoruuk was dodging back and forth, making a spell stand-off impossible. Whizbang couldn't match the speed of the god, so he relied on Shadowstepping and casting his fasted ice bolt, stepping and casting, but not landing any attacks. Innoruuk could not keep up with the tiny Gnome, and could not get close enough to him to attack him.
Nenam and Neriak's swords clanged together between them. "You will not win, you know that!" Neriak sneered. "We'll see about that!" Nenam said as he parried the sword of Neriak and started an attack of his own. He swung ferociously, attacking with the power and wrath of nature. Neriak attempted to counted with an upward parry, but Nenam saw it coming, faked the attack, and drove his sword into Neriak's chest. Dark red blood began to run down his armor, staining the ground below. He gasped for a second, then fell over backwards onto the ground, Nenam's sword covered in blood.
"Chioke," Nenam said softly as he walked over to the remains of the altar. He saw her body, her flowing brown hair, her glistening blue eyes closed, and that smile was still on her face. He felt for a pulse. Nothing. She was gone. "N--no..." Nenam stuttered as he held Chioke close to him. A single tear ran down his face, pausing for a second on his chin, then dropping onto Chioke's face. Suddenly, Whizbang came skidding on his back past Nenam, sliding to a halt next to him.
Innoruuk walked over to Nenam. He laughed with unholy power. "I hope that is not your best effort, Fier'Dal. I was hoping for a fight. Now, you will just die!" With those last words, Innoruuk backed off, with skeletons rising in his place. There were a few at first, then alot, then hundreds of them. Then with a roar coming from all of them at once, they charged Nenam. He was attacking instantly, cutting down the skeletons with the speed of a man backed by nature. The bones were starting to pile up, making the ground difficult to stand on. Nenam tripped on one of the bones, and left himself open for the attack of one of the skeletons, who had his sword raised to kill. As he plunged his sword downward...
The staff smashed into the side of the skeleton's head, cracking its skull and sending it flying. Nenam was surprised, who would have helped him? It was Chioke, alive and well, with the fire in her eyes of a woman driven by love. With a single look between the two, the fighting continued. The skeletons began to drop rapidly, with the duo of Elves winning by a wide margin.
WIth a slice, the last skeleton fell. Instantly, Nenam dropped his sword and hugged Chioke, who gladly hugged him back. "You came for me, why?" Chioked asked Nenam. "Well, I did it because..." Nenam started. "Because...why?" Chioke interrupted. With a smile, and gazing into Chioke's eyes, he said "Because, Chioke, I love you." With a broad smile, and on the verge of crying, Chioke said back, "Nenam, I love you too."
A blood-curdling scream shattered the moment, spinning Nenam around towards the source. It was Neriak, sprinting at them, Innoruuk's Curse pointed at them, ready to kill 2 more people. With a natural instinct, Nenam pushed Chioke away from him as Neriak neared. The massive two-handed sword plunged into the front of Nenam's chest, exiting out his back. Weakened by the loss of blood, Neriak collapsed after the attack, leaving Nenam to fall backwards with the sword embedded in his chest. Chioke was at his side immediatley. "Nenam...why?" Nenam chuckled slightly, smiled, and said "Because I love you." With those words, Nenam Macharius closed his eyes as his body went limp.
"What a waste of energy." Innoruuk said as he walked over to Chioke. His hand closed around her throat and lifted her off the ground. "Now you will join him, prepare to die!' Whizbang's Ice Bolt slammed into Innoruuk's head after that statement, sending him reeling from the blast. "Another one?" Innoruuk boomed as he turned towards Whizbang, Chioke still in his grip. "You all are starting to get annoying!" he raged. Whizbang summoned all of the mana he had, and focused it into one enormous attack. With a booming roar from the plucky little Gnome, he loosed his attack. Innoruuk knocked the attack aside like it was a child's playtoy. As Innoruuk readied his attack, he raised his arm to deliver the spell to finish Whizbang.
With a flash of light, that arm became separated from Innoruuk's body. Then the other arm, the one holding Chioke, was separated. Then another flash of light, and there was a sword embedded in Innoruuk's chest. It was Nenam's sword. Standing in front of Innoruuk was Nenam with Neriak's sword still in him. Innoruuk looked at the sword in his chest, then fell over backwards. "Whizbang, get Chioke out of here. Now." Nenam said with a grim look on his face, starting at Innoruuk's unmoving body. "What about you? What are you going to do?" Whizbang said as he picked Chioke up off of the ground.
"I'm not coming. Innoruuk is going to regenerate, and I have to stop him when he does."
"How do you plan to do that?" Whizbang asked. Nenam looked back at his now friend, and said; "Get her out of here. Fast." With that said, Nenam turned back towards Innoruuk's body. The air about Nenam began to resonate with energy. Whizbang knew what Nenam was doing, and sprinted away from him, towards the evacuation point.
Chioke awoke on the shoulder on Whizbang. "Wh---where's Nenam?" She asked groggily. "Back there." Whizbang said, indicating the direction of the two. She saw Nenam standing over Innoruuk's body. He looked extremely different, the air was waving about him, the mana was overflowing from Nenam, flowing about him. "What is he doing?" Chioke asked. "Well," Whizbang began to explain, "you know about mana, right? Well, people can control how much mana they have due to many things. Usually, it is with experience. WIth others, it is enchanting items. But a few, a very few can use their feelings to dictate their mana. Nenam is one of those. He is tapping into his love for you and converting that into mana. The overflowing mana is harmless, however, if Nenam converts that mana into pure energy, his body won't handle it. He'll detonate."
"He can't! No!" Chioke began to scream and hit Whizbang. "We have to stop him!" "We can't. We are leaving." Whizbang stopped outside of the ward covering the island and began to cast his evacuation spell. With one final look, Chioke gazed at Nenam. "No..." she muttered as the portal took her.
Nenam felt the portal from and fade away. He could finish his job now. Innoruuk's body had regenerated, and he was beginning to stir when Nenam was almost done. When Innoruuk stood up, Nenam was behind him, taking him into a submissive hold. "Chioke...for you." Then, Nenam converted a tiny ammount of mana into energy, which set off the reaction. With a blinding light, the Higher Plane of Air was obliterated, Innoruuk was killed, and Nenam gave his life for the girl he loved.