Angels of the Lich
OneRise of the Lich
Kratos looked out into space; he could barely make out the worlds of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla. For five years he had watched over Derris-Kharlan in solitude, and for five years he had hoped that Lloyd, his son was OK. Despite the conflicts that had taken place five years earlier, Kratos had developed a deep caring for Lloyd, and hated that he had no knowledge on if the boy was safe, or even if he was still alive.
Kratos sighed and unsheathed his sword, sharpening it on a stone he had found amongst the ruins of the world Mithos had sought to create. The warrior looked up from his work, and noticed something approaching. At first it appeared to be nothing more than a speck of light, almost as far away as the twin worlds. As Kratos squinted he saw that it was in fact a comet… heading straight towards Derris-Kharlan. Kratos jumped up and ran to the edge of the world. The comet was approaching fast, and although it was still thousands of miles away, some force pushed Kratos back from the edge of the world. The man gripped his sword tightly and knew for a fact that this comet was not natural. In an instant the fiery ball seemed to be upon him and Kratos barely had time to jump out of the way before it collided into Derris-Kharlan, and even then he was knocked off his feet.
For what seemed like an eternity, Kratos' world was all smoke and fire. He closed his eyes and coughed relentlessly, but through it all he gripped his sword until his knuckles had turned white. When at last the smoke faded, Kratos froze. There standing was the most evil creature his eyes had ever beheld. In his luck, Kratos had been flung behind a wall with only a small hole through which he could gaze upon the thing.
It was a skeleton, but stringy, moss green substances hung from his skull like a beard. He stank of rotting flesh, and his eyes were dark except for two purple stars that glowed maliciously. Two great, curled horns rose from his head and mist fell from his mouth. Chains hung from his bony, clawed hands and he wore a long black skirt that disappeared into darkness. At his waist was a purple and gold belt that had a skull for the buckle. "At last, I have found the Floating World," the thing hissed. Its voice was icy and chilled Kratos to the bone. "Excellent, that fool Mithos did not discover the hidden seed that I planted in history all those millennia ago, and after five thousand years, I the Great Lich Hethzera, am free to fulfill what was prophesized since the first birth of Martel. Now Derris-Kharlan and all its hidden powers are mine, and Mithos has left everything as I have wished. I thought that perhaps after five thousand years of searching in that imprisonment Martel put around me I might find that Mithos had discovered the seed and disposed of it, but my fears were not met," he paused and his next words chilled Kratos' very being. "But do you think, angel, that I say these things to myself?" And in an instant, Kratos was facing the creature. His heart froze as he stared into those fathomless, dark eyes, and he felt sure that death was near.
"Aah, the sweet smell of fear," Hethzera hissed. "And you must be… Kratos, the angel and father of Lloyd, the angel. You are the guardian of Derris-Kharlan, are you not?"
Kratos got up and despite his height the Lich was at least two feet taller. "What do you want with Derris-Kharlan?" the angel demanded.
"Derris-Kharlan is mine!" Hethzera roared. "Long ago, when the prophecies were first written, I planted the Seed of Derris into history, and used Mithos as my pawn!"
"Mithos is dead. He is dead by the hands of my son and his friends," Kratos said firmly.
"Aye, and it is a good thing, too," Hethzera jeered. "Mithos was meant merely to create Derris-Kharlan for me, but he decided to use it to benefit himself, and almost ruined everything. Luckily, he did not discover the seed I planted when the floating planet was first made, for if he did, all would have been lost. Mithos' mistake, however, has turned to my benefit. I have found Derris-Kharlan and spared myself thousands of miles of travel, and I have come to see nothing more than a pathetic angel guarding my world!" Hethzera laughed a bone-chilling laugh. "And now, even better, I will catch your son and his friends off guard, and kill them all, for you see…" the Lich trailed off and Kratos gasped as a clone of himself stood before him where the Lich had once been. "They will think it is dear old Kratos, returning home."
"No…" Kratos whispered fearfully.
Then Mithos stood before him "Or perhaps Mithos will rise and when they least expect it…"
"No!" Kratos cried as Lloyd looked straight at him.
"They will find that their precious Lloyd betrayed them," the Lich laughed as he again took his form.
"What do you plan to do?" Kratos asked hatefully.
"Why should I tell you?" the Lich taunted. "Why should I tell you when you're going to die right now!"
Kratos had been anticipating this and as soon as the words left the Lich's mouth the angel thrust his blade forward… but he struck thin air, for the Lich had disappeared.
The icy voice said from behind him, "Oh, you're tricky, Kratos, very tricky…"
Kratos turned around to see the Lich pointing his bony fingers at him. "Gravity Well!" Kratos had heard the words invoking that spell said many times, but never with such great malice saturating them. He gasped for air as the ground seemed to give way beneath him and the gray magic of Gravity Well encased him. He had to fight… he just had to. Fighting the crushing power of the Lich's spell, Kratos unsheathed his blade and slashed through it. The runes on his blade glowed and cut through the spell, making it dissipate. Kratos was exhausted from the effort however.
There was only one thing he could do. He knew that there was a central warp circle that led back to Sylvarant, though where he did not know. He would have to find the closest warp circle and get there as soon as he could… anywhere was better than facing the horrid undead beast.
Slowly Kratos backed away, his hand gripping his sword.
"Oh, Kratos, you see you can't survive… because if you survive my plans might leak out," the Lich sneered.
"I barely know what you're talking about," Kratos shot. He froze as he saw the Lich disappear, and he knew that Hethzera had reappeared behind him. He felt the ice cold grip of the fiend's hand take hold of his neck with incredible strength.
"But you know too much," Hethzera whispered evilly.
Kratos had had enough, and he thrust his foot back into Hethzera. The shock of the impact gave him enough time to flip out of the Lich's grip and run. He leapt into the nearest warp circle he saw… and found himself in on the other side of a bridge from where the Lich was. He had to find that warp circle, and he ran and ran until a sharp pain broke his side open. Then he saw it, the huge warp circle that led to Sylvarant. He was almost reached it, and then dismay filled him.
The Lich appeared before him, a horrible sneer upon his face. "Fool Kratos, do you think that I would let you live? Now you will die, now you will die just like the rest of your world is going to!" And suddenly, Kratos could not take his eyes off of the Lich's. Hethzera's burned in red fire, and excruciating pain speared through Kratos like a thousand knives. His vomit spewed onto the ground and he saw with horror blood fall from his ears, nose and mouth. He felt the life leaving him, just as it had left Mithos. He felt his spirit drifting away from his angelic body.
No… I have to fight… I have to warn… Lloyd, he thought. Lloyd… my son.
Rage burned in Kratos and he fought the immeasurably powerful spell of Hethzera, and finally, as sweat, blood and tears dripped from his face and body, Kratos shattered the spell of the Lich. The magic bond was broken and Hethzera was shoved backwards by the recoil of the spell.
With his last ounce of energy, Kratos picked up his blade and jumped into the warp circle. He found himself flying through a white tunnel, and he knew that he was flying past space and time in a matter of seconds. There was a thud as he was thrown out of the warp circle and onto hard, tiled ground. He sighed in relief and exhaustion to find himself on Sylvarant in the ruins of the former Iselia Human Ranch. As darkness overcame Kratos he saw a figure come over him and a single word: "Dad…?"