Diablo
The Awakening of Chaos
Prologue
A Promise of Vengeance
Kalia swung low with her katana and parried the dark warrior's blow. She twisted her wrist and spun her opponent's sword off of hers and lashed out in a flurry of slashes, but each strike was parried. This isn't good, she thought as she looked off at her brother Rua, who was trying to free himself from the fallen wall that was collapsed by Ziatoch's powerful spell. She swung upward again with her blade and blocked Ziatoch's dark sword.
"Wrong move," he whispered as he locked blades and slammed her against the wall of the ruins. She managed to push him off and finally got a look at the warrior that the Angels and Archangels had begun to call the Master of Darkness. Black and purple armor covered his entire body. On the cuirass, two dark blue gems sided a large demons' skull, and strange symbols were etched into the pauldrons. The gold trim of the armor was laced in runes. On his circular shield was a pointed red cross with its arms raised upward, and his long, pale white hair was covered by a horned helm with a four horns on the sides, two of them curving upwards and two behind them jutting out, a large triangular blue gem in the forehead and a dark purple plume running down the back.
But it was the sword that scared her. It was Kasra, the Soul Crusher. Its three-foot black blade shone with an eerie purple light, the crossguard was a dark gray and shaped like a pair of thick demon wings, linked with a demon skull. Its hilt was ten inches and wrapped in black leather, and the pommel was a purple arrowhead diamond. This unholy demonblade had destroyed the many souls it had taken from the bodies of its victims.
"It's been a long time, Kalia. I will enjoy destroying you," Ziatoch said. Kalia brushed her long, brown hair back from her face, her green eyes glaring fiercely at the Master of Darkness. Normally the Dragonheart family glare would make the bravest warriors tremble and cower in fear. But the Master of Darkness was truly afraid of nothing, not even the Archangel Tyrael. Kalia lifted her sword and charged her opponent again, knowing that she could not survive this fight.
Kalia swung low and her katana clashed against the Master of Darkness' sword. Ziatoch quickly knocked her sword upward and slashed at her stomach, but she parried the attack. She thrust her blade at his chest but the dark warrior's shield blocked it. Ziatoch's sword came screaming down at Kalia, but she managed to jump out of the way. Her swordblade burst into fire with her Enchant spell and she quickly slashed him, and her katana managed to bite through the dark armor and into his flesh. Ziatoch grunted in pain and slammed her in the chest with his shield, knocking her back. On and on their blades crashed, neither of them letting up and neither letting the other gain ground. They continued to fight, but Kalia was losing strength. She wished she had her own sword, but she had Tyrael hide the powerful weapon so Rua could have it when he'd have enough experience to wield it, were she to fail her task. I can't lose this fight, too much is riding on this... she thought. Her mind's eye quickly flashed an old memory.
She stood there in a magnificent room. There was a strange device in the center, and the legendary Archangel Tyrael floated next to it.
"You must stop Ziatoch from reaching that dark prison," said Tyrael.
"Why? What's imprisoned there?" Kalia asked the enigmatic Archangel.
"Inside is a dreaded creature, one more powerful than the Three combined. It once ravaged your world, and it killed the few brave warriors who stood against it, but not before they imprisoned it," he responded, "I watched as it decimated the grand cities built in that time, powerless to stop it. I tried to defeat it, but not even my powers could harm it."
Kalia stared in disbelief as the strange object flickered and projected an image of the chaotic power of the Karognis. The dark creature was standing in the middle of a grand city that was ablaze. Its eyes flashed, and a group of warriors burst in flames. It opened its maw and a massive beam of black energy shot forward, creating explosions from the buildings it cut through. People of an extinct race ran terrified. One swipe of a claw removed a large portion of a gigantic tower, causing it to topple to the ground. It reared its head up and loosed a deafening roar as destruction ravaged the city and its doomed citizens.
In the next second, she was back to reality. She shot Ziatoch the family glare again.
"You won't win, demon master," Kalia said, "I won't let you. I will take you down."
Ziatoch smirked at his opponent. "By all means, come and try to take me down," he laughed.
Kalia screamed in anger and thrust her blade at Ziatoch, which suddenly burst into magical flame. But Ziatoch was expecting such an attack, and he knocked it away and slashed her in the arm. Kalia winced in pain, but jumped up and kicked Ziatoch across the head. He shook it off and knocked her down. She was about to get up but ended up being stared down by the Master as the Soul Crusher was pointed at her face. He lifted up Kasra, preparing to deliver the final blow when he was suddenly knocked to the ground as Rua slammed into him.
"Hurry up, Sis!" he said as he helped her up. Blood streamed down the right side of his face from two cuts in the form of a cross, and another cut just under his left eye. He readied his own longsword, but the black spheres of the Binding Darkness spell appeared around him and wrapped around him before flinging him into the wall.
"Stupid brat," Ziatoch sneered, "This grows old, Kalia. Enough of these games. It is time to end this." Ziatoch sheathed Kasra and raised his black-gloved hand, pointing it at Kalia. She already knew it was over for her. A red bolt of lightning lanced out at Kalia, striking her through her chest. She screamed in agony, and her lifeless body fell. She was dead before she hit the ground.
Ziatoch merely laughed and began to walk off, forgetting about young Rua. The boy walked up, weary, to his sister's body. He fell to his knees as he held her close to him.
"Sis... I'll get him. I'll defeat Ziatoch. I promise," he said.
He flung his head back and screamed his anger into the night sky.