Recap: Aedan's line of thought was stopped as he saw smoke rising from the horizon... in the direction of the Clan's camp. He didn't really hear anyone shouting. Not Merrill's questions about what was going on. Not the grumbles and chattering of the other elves. Not Lyna's scolding of Tamlen who was trying to get back on his feet. He didn't even hear Marethari's shout for him to stop running as he sped away towards the smoke. It wasn't the fact that there was fire and smoke at the camp that made him rush in such a hurry.
It was the fact that he could feel two dark and twisted magic signatures right at the camp.
Now... with Reaper and his group two days before the events of the last chapter.
All things considered, everything was almost in place for their plan to start. He and his students had finally acquired their demons, Aedan Hellathen was dead, and the Landsmeet would happen soon. All that they needed now was to practice and hone their skills. And so it was for next few weeks that Reaper and his Sins trained with their demons. Having taught them all on the blood magic he knew, Reaper set them to train on their areas where they thrived in.
As all of them trained, the Sins found that they had one or two elements that they were naturally attuned to due to their demons.
Sloth, whose elements were both frost and stone trained in his Entropy, Arcane Mastery and Attunement while mastering the Winter school of magic. He could find that one weakness, that one chink in a person's armor and use it against them with the knowledge of entropy he had.
Rage, like Sloth, focused on his Arcane Mastery and Attunement. Unlike his brother however, his element was fire and so he mastered the Inferno school. With his brute-force approach, any enemy of his would wind up as ashes at best... and a burnt shadow at worst.
Hunger concentrated on his entire Arcane and Spirit schools. Though his demon didn't have an element that it could use, it did have an affinity for spirit magic. With its power, Hunger had mastered the Spirit school in its entirety. His barriers were stronger than most of the others. He could now feed on death itself. Harm his enemies by turning their bodies into bombs and can even give his other siblings a real fight. He could even get stronger by absorbing magical attacks.
Desire, who was ever studious, focused on the creation school as a whole, including some spirit training which could match Hunger in terms of barriers. She also studied up on her elemental abilities which were fire and ice. She had little interest in the arcane school, seeing only fit to use the Mastery part of it. Also, she had been one of the first to start using her demon's abilities. A frightening thing to be sure.
Pride had followed Desire in terms of using his own inner demon first. He could use fire, lightning, and poison due to his demon being an alpha. He even had a very minor ice affinity, though he didn't pay too much attention to it. Instead he chose to focus on mastering the Storm school which he took to like a fish to water. The Storm school wasn't the only school of magic he mastered. The arcane also came into his arsenal with not just Mastery or Attunement, but also Field. His Force magic had improved as well to the point that he could redirect the gravity in an area to slow down multiple enemies in a wide area. Even his spirit magic, while not as extensive as Hunger's, was nothing to scoff at since he too could cause bodies to explode.
Envy had managed to fully develop her Necromancy and master the Arcane school to match Pride's level. She also managed to learn more protective aspects of the Spirit school since she did not have a large of arsenal of destructive spells. And if he barriers would ever fail she could rely on her new abilities from her demon, Shapeshifting.
As for Reaper himself, he set to work on using his Fear demon at its fullest while training in the magic that he knew which was basically all that his students knew and more.
Not that there were not any side effects from binding the demons, of course. Each demon fed on a particular emotion which gave them power. The more their host felt that emotion, the more power their demon had. The more power their demon had, the more power they had and the more of that emotion they felt. A vicious cycle. Unfortunately, the side effects included more than feelings. It led to actions.
Hunger almost couldn't stop eating, even though he gained no weight and had in fact lost whatever fat he had. It became so bad that Reaper had caught him eating one of the bandits at one point.
Rage was much more easier to anger now. No one, not even Reaper, seemed capable of calming him down, save for Sloth who was actually his younger brother.
Speaking of Sloth, his lethargic tendencies seemed to rub off on others nearby. Which helped a great deal in calming Rage down.
Envy seemed to be far more envious of people to the point that she took things from them right in front of them and when they tried to take those things back, she would snap at them violently. Reaper had to break up a couple of fights between her and the others.
Desire's side effects were of a similar nature to Envy's. However, she seemed to be able to charm just about anyone, though she wasn't able to charm the other Sins since Rage's temper overtook whatever lust he had. Same with Sloth. Hunger couldn't even be bothered to focus on her for more than a few seconds before moving on to his next meal. And Pride...
Pride was overtly arrogant. He believed himself better than anyone around him. Even getting to the point where he fought Reaper himself. It did not end well for him. Reaper had beaten him bloody. No matter what he tried to do, Reaper had predicted his every move, how to counter it, and follow up with another attack.
Reaper had more control of himself. More control over his fear. However his demon was giving him more trouble than he'd thought. He was beginning to hear voices in the back of his mind. Voices of past fears and current ones that were not even his own.
They had generally stayed in one of the more remote parts of the Bannorn, near the Drakon River. There were some people who came concerned with all the noise that they would make, having mistaken it for something else, but they were quickly turned away by blood magic or a harmless spell. It would do them no good to kill hapless villagers which could cause them trouble in the form of armed men searching for their missing persons. Within three weeks they were ready to start their plans.
Reaper had everything he needed to take power in Ferelden:
He had his magic and the knowledge of the Tome, one part in particular.
He had his students.
They all had their demons, bound and ready to be used.
And they had their bandit army, numbering in a few hundred.
At an old elven ruin a distance away from the Imperial Highway, the seven of them convened with all of their bandits in tow. They were going over their plan to take full control. To do so they were going to have to deal with several key figures in Ferelden all at once while making sure any possible resistance was either removed or weakened considerably. They needed to take control of multiple figures for a seamless transition if they wanted things to go smoothly. Either bribery, blackmail, or blood magic could cow a large portion of the Banns into their favor. After all they used them before. Or at least used their bandits. Arl Rendon Howe wasn't the only noble in Ferelden that hungered for more power and influence.
Cause problems for a rival Bann here. Kidnap someone there.
Destroy a couple farms. Remove an opposing bandit force. Or at least 'recruit' them.
It didn't matter really.
Now they had to deal with the main figures of Ferelden: King Cailan Theirin and his wife, Anora. The King's good-father, Loghain Mac Tir, Teyrn of Gwaren, the Hero of River Dane and the General of Ferelden's armies. Bryce Cousland, Teyrn of Highever, one who had the loyalty and love of both nobles and commoners in his Teyrnir. Grand Cleric Elemena, Grand Cleric of the Chantry in Ferelden.
If Reaper could get the King and Queen, he'd have control of most of Ferelden and its people. However, that could be jeopardized if the other three are not in line. Teyrns Loghain and Cousland could rally a force to fight back should they notice their King and Queen acting differently. Whatever force they raised wouldn't be as much of a problem if the Grand Cleric were under his spell. With the Grand Cleric under his control, along with the King and Queen, it would ensure his near-complete and total control over the Ferelden masses, not to mention it would severely restrain the Templars.
The Templars would be the only real militant force that could both resist and have a chance of success. That's why he needed to take the Grand Cleric quickly, preferably around the same time as the ruling monarchs. Though there were other figures that posed a threat to his plans that would not be in Denerim. Specifically two that would be in the same place. In Ferelden's own Circle of Magi.
While not as high on the list as the Monarchs and Grand Cleric, or even the Teyrns, First Enchanter Irving and Knight-Commander Greagoir had the potential to be the most dangerous due to the fact that each has considerable influence in their own organizations. Greagoir was a respected Templar all over Ferelden, easily capable of calling a sizable force of Templars, not to mention that a multitude of them would be from the Circle itself, having experience in dealing with magic. Irving, on the other hand, leads the Circle of Ferelden which if turned against them could spell even bigger trouble since they could interfere with their magic at a much larger range.
"Master? Is there something wrong?" Desire asked bringing Reaper out of his thoughts. Reaper focused back on the meeting to see his students looking at him curiously.
"No, Desire. Just thinking about how to proceed with the plan." He replied evenly. It wasn't the total truth though. Over the last few weeks, he had felt... something out at the Brecilian Forest. It was very subtle, so much to the point that Reaper thought he had been imagining it at first. He didn't know what it was. Whether it was a demon, spirit, or something else he needed to make sure that it was investigated. He would do it himself if he had the time, but between mastering his own demon and the fact that the Landsmeet was starting any day now, he couldn't afford to change his current course. However...
"Rage, Sloth. I want you two to head towards the Brecilian Forest. Leave your bandits here. You will not need them." All of the Sins looked at him in stunned confusion. He could understand their perplexed expressions. Why would he split them up when they were so close to their deadline?
"Master-" Sloth began to say before Reaper cut him off.
"I want you both to investigate the Fade Rift we created. I want you to find out how the area has been affected by the continuous Fade magic and report back to me in Denerim." He turned to Hunger, "Hunger you are to go to Kinloch Hold, alone. Eradicate the Templars there. Either win the mages over to our side or keep them locked up. They'll either join us or stay out of our way."
"Master shouldn't we-" Hunger started before Reaper cut him off too.
"No. We can ill afford to take power in one place while another threat looms within the country. If we are to are to be successful we must make sure there is no one who may be able to oppose us."
"Master, I realize why Hunger must go to the Circle, but why send both Rage and Sloth to a remote location?" Pride asked this time. Reaper looked at him for a moment, then at the others, contemplating what to say.
"I have been sensing something over in that direction," This got their attention as they each straightened up, "I do not know what it is exactly but for me to feel it from this distance is concerning. It could possibly be dangerous or fortuitous for our cause. I merely want you two to find it, and either bring it to me or eliminate it."
"Hunger," said maleficar straightened up even further, "when you arrive at the Circle, there are two targets in particular that must be killed at all costs."
"Who, Master?"
"Knight-Commnader Greagoir, head of the Templars stationed there," Hunger gulped, "and First Enchanter Irving. Don't even try to take control of them. Kill them and the Circle will be left with no leadership." Hunger hesitated for a moment before speaking again.
"Master, I will require assistance if I'm to do that." At Reaper's raised eyebrow, Hunger hurried on, "What I mean is that I will be facing not only those two, but also Circle Mages and Templars. Even with my new and improved powers, I would still be hard-pressed to succeed." Reaper looked him over thinking on what he said.
True. Fighting either the First Enchanter or Knight-Commander would be somewhat challenging for one of them. Both? Definitely a challenge. However, Reaper had, for a moment, forgotten that the Circle and its Templars wouldn't stand idly by while their leaders are in a death-match against a maleficar turned abomination. Even with Hunger's magical prowess he would lose to the overall might of the Circle.
"Very well. Envy, is it ready?" Envy nodded before walking into the depths of the ruin.
"Is what ready, Master?" Desire asked as she watched Envy's form disappear.
"I realized that there is still a chance of some Fereldan military force rebelling against our rule. Even though we have a large amount of bandits making a small army it still wouldn't be enough. Sure, we have numbers but bandits even with our control are largely disorganized and outmatched by any real military force. So we need to either get more numbers or..." Envy came out of the shadows holding a flask which contained crimson almost black liquid. "make our current forces far stronger."
"And what exactly is that?" Hunger asked before covering his nose with the sleeve of his robes looking repulsed by the liquid in the flask. Pride and Desire were right there with him too. The liquid smelled foul as if what ever was inside it had rotted utterly before being boiled with something equally disgusting. Not to mention the liquid seemed to glow with an incredibly faint light.
"A very revolting potion Envy and I mixed together using blood magic, mostly her's for its malleability. This will make our bandits the most deadly force this world has seen!" The other Sin's looked at him in even more confusion.
"How?" Pride finally asked making Reaper smirk. At long last he could now show it. He didn't say anything at first, merely beckoning one bandit to come over to them. He was one of the generic kind of bandits: dumb, brutish and overall easily manipulated. He wore a rough set of leather armor equipped with an iron longsword and a small wooden buckler for a shield. Reaper took the potion flask from Envy and brought it to the bandit's mouth. The bandit took only a mere sip before Reaper brought it away from him, taking a step back.
He turned to Envy and nodded who nodded back. She raised her hand towards the bandit. Her eyes as well as her hand glowed for a moment with dark purple energy before stopping, lowering her hand. At first nothing happened as silence filled the room. Then the silence was broken as the bandit started to cough and wheeze. His hands went to his throat as that cough became a choke for air. The bandit fell to his knees as he continued to choke. He looked up at them causing the Sin's move back a little at the sight of his face.
His skin had become pale, sickly and blotchy. His eyes were now red and the iris white. The blood in his veins had turned black and could now be seen through his skin clearly. His leather cap came off with his hair starting to fall out revealing boils and sores. He suddenly bent over holding his stomach and making gagging sounds. Black blood spewed out of his mouth onto the stone floor, pooling around him. Looking back up, they could see he had blackened blood coming out of his nose, his condition worsening as his skin started to rot. The bandit's eyes dulled before he fell forward into the black blood he vomited. The silence resumed, more deafening than the first time.
The black blood suddenly moved as if it were alive, flowing over and ensnaring the bandit's whole corpse. Black vapors were coming off the body before it twitched. They couldn't see what had happened to the body itself as it was still covered by the black blood. The corpse stood up, shambling at first before its movements became more fluid, refined. As if it hadn't been a corpse at all. Then the body grew, becoming taller and more muscular. The black blood seemed move around the body, melding with whatever was on it before seeping back in to the skin. The corpse stood before them, revealed to have changed drastically. It no longer looked human.
Gone were the dull cow eyes, replaced by crimson red orbs that promised nothing but death. Its skin was no longer diseased, but decrepit and rotted. Lips were no longer on its mouth. In their place were sharpened teeth. The armor, once in poor condition, now changed into ebony metal. The cap was now a helm with dark wings, the longsword turned into a black greatsword. The shield had been enlarged 3 times its size. Its breathing was deep and menacing. Gone was the dull bandit. In his place was a dark entity that would make any seasoned veteran of any war tremble with fear.
The bandit had been turned into a Dark Revenant.
Reaper's smirk turned into a small smile as he turned to his students each one having been disgusted by the process. Even Envy who had helped create the potion seemed somewhat disturbed by its effectiveness.
"H-H-How did you create such a potion?" Desire finally asked. She looked shaken to the point that she was grabbing Pride who didn't look much better.
"I theorized about what makes a Revenant a Revenant. Was it the demon? Was it the type of the corpse? Or was it the power infused into the corpse? It is a little of all three actually. All throughout history we've read corpses rise by the work of demons and mages. When a powerful demon such as one of pride or desire takes hold of the corpse of a non-mage, it becomes a Revenant. If such a thing were to happen to the corpse of a mage, it would become an Arcane Horror. However, we have also read about corpses and even skeletons being possessed by weaker demons. All of which have certain abilities."
"And the reason it is a Revenant?" Reaper looked somewhat disappointed that she hadn't noticed.
"It's not just any Revenant, Desire, but a Dark Revenant." This statement made all of their eyes widen. They knew how dangerous the undead were. How skeletons and corpses were difficult to kill. How Revenants and Arcane Horrors required whole units of Templars to exterminate them, but a Dark Revenant was near mythical. Where a single Revenant would kill an entire Templar unit before the second unit killed it, the Dark Revenant would require near double the amount. Dark Revenants were said to be able use more spells as well as more skills with its blade and shield.
"What did you use besides blood magic to make such a-a ghastly potion, Master?" Pride asked having gotten over it somewhat. Reaper didn't answer at first since he knew if he told them they might become sick and reluctant about using.
"Multiple hearts of Revenants, Arcane Horrors, and corpses. The galls of those corpses, demonic ichor, and pure spirit essence along with some wisp essence. And last but not least, Envy's own blood and small smidgeon of my power."
"Why Envy's?" Hunger asked confused. Why not all of theirs?
"Because Envy's power is necromancy. Once they all change they will become tied to her. Better to have her who can hide in plain sight than you who like to show your powers off." He had of course meant when each of them bragged about their prowess to one another, save Envy. She never bragged about her abilities for some reason. The other Sins didn't say anything, but merely nodded in acceptance, discreetly throwing in a glare or two and Envy.
"Now, Hunger." Hunger's focus was on Reaper again. "Do you think this will be enough?"
Hunger's smile was all Reaper needed to know the answer to that question.
"Good. Rage, Sloth. Find out what's causing the disturbance."
Rage and Sloth nodded before they turned toward the entrance and left, Rage picking up his staff on the way out. Reaper watched as the two left before looking at the others once more.
"Good, now we have work to do."
Now with Aedan in the Present Day
Aedan sped towards the camp after casting Haste on himself. He had long lost Marethari, Lyna and the rest. He ran so quickly it almost seemed that the trees were moving out of his way instead of him running past them. As he got closer and closer, he could hear screaming and shouting. The magical signatures that he felt were steadily growing stronger and what's more was that he was having feelings and emotions evoked from them. One made him feel warm almost hot while the other made him feel a chill. And then the emotions came with those feelings. A strange mixture of rage and lethargy. His stomach felt as if it were tied into a knot upon realizing what those feelings meant.
It had to be the Sins. There was no other explanation for him sensing it like this! Aedan unconsciously sped up almost flying through the forest. Getting ever so closer Aedan felt doubt accompany the emotions swirling within. Would he be able to do this? The only one of the Sins that he had gone up against was Pride and while that was a couple of years ago he had managed to win that fight. He had spent the next two years training and when finally going up against Reaper, who had been more powerful than Pride, he had thought he had won.
Then Reaper became an abomination and crushed that belief under his heel.
Reaper had broken Aedan. His body. His spirit. His powers.
Would the other Sins be just as powerful?
Would he be able to win or even drive them away?
Each doubt that gnawed at him made slow down with every step. And with those doubts came fear.
Fear of failing again.
Fear of dying.
Shouldn't he just give up?
Then something new emanated from within. Something made the doubt ebb away until it was completely gone. Faith. Faith drove the doubt from him. He started to believe in himself more now. It felt as if the Spirit of Faith was giving him an encouraging nudge from within his heart. The fear that had a hold on him loosened, and Courage arose, weakening it's hold further. Yes, that was right. Reaper and his Sins may have the backing of demons now...
But they weren't the only ones with friends from Fade. And he had just as many as they did.
Regaining his belief in himself, Aedan shook off the remaining vestiges of fear and sped back up. He would not lose this fight. Or any of the other fights to come! Smoke was starting to cloud his vision now. He was getting closer to the camp. Aedan came to a hill that overlooked the camp to see that one of the aravels had been completely destroyed. It was nothing more than broken wood and fire, the flames licking at it and the ground. Looking at it further Aedan realized that it wasn't just any aravel either. It was Master Ilen's! The craftsman's goods were scattered around it, what little remained anyway. He felt the two dark presences nearby towards the left of the camp. His eyes scoured the camp to find them on the other side.
Rage and Sloth, if he remembered correctly. Both of them were standing side by side wearing the robes that were of Tevinter design. Rage was tall and muscular from what Aedan could tell. He had black hair and his hands were holding a fireball each. Sloth was mousy blonde almost silver haired. In comparison to his taller companion, he was on the small side. Over his robes was the familiar spell of rock armor which covered most of his body. Aedan couldn't help but notice that the ground he was standing on was covered in frost despite the time of year and close proximity to the fire-wielding one. Something moved in front of the two which drew Aedan's eyes to it. Or more specifically them.
There was Hahren Paivel crouched over some of the elvish children in a vain attempt at shielding them from the attackers. Aedan wondered where the other members of the clan were. They hadn't brought all of their defenders with them in the forest. The smoke began to clear up and revealed what he had missed. All the other elves from man and woman to children were laying on the ground. At first Aedan had thought them dead. Murdered by the abominations. But he had seen the steady rise and fall of some of their chests indicating sleep instead. Relief washed over before turning his attention back. He quickly took in his surroundings before forming a plan and walking down to the camp.
"I will ask you again, Hahren. Where is it?!" Rage asked as the flames in his hand flared.
"I'd answer it him, Hahren. My brother has a tendency to lash out when he's this mad." Sloth added.
"I don't know what you're talking about!" Paivel responded desperately as he and the children he shielded trembled with fear.
"There is something in this forest that our master has sensed. He has sent us to search for it. Now tell me! Or I'll-" Rage began to roar as he stepped threateningly toward the cowering elves before...
"Or you'll what?" The two turned towards the voice in surprise before their eyes widened in shock. Before them was the seth'lin that their master had dealt with! But how?
"It cannot be." Sloth whispered breathlessly.
"There's no way!" Rage added in surprise before snarling at Aedan, "How are you alive? Our Master said he killed you!"
Aedan smirked at the statement. That had been true to a degree, but Reaper should have stayed a little longer. "He almost did. I'll be sure pay him back when we next meet."
"Oh? That confident are you?" Sloth spoke, analyzing Aedan. He could tell something was different about him. The seth'lin in front of them had changed somehow. When he was first introduced a few weeks back, while obviously having a powerful magical presence, there was nothing more about him. But now... he felt... brighter? Similar to his Master but almost the opposite. More powerful than before. Now that Aedan was standing before him he could finally sense it, but why hadn't he been able to before? Why had Aedan Hellathen's presence been hidden until now? That was when it clicked. Hellathen was the presence Reaper had sensed earlier!
"Answer the question! HOW ARE YOU STILL ALIVE?!" Rage shouted as the elves ran away from the three having seen their chance to escape. Aedan noticed this and acted calmly to buy for a little more time.
"Hmmm," Aedan pretended thinking while looking up, "Perhaps Reaper didn't kill me... or perhaps I wanted Reaper to think he killed me... or maybe, just maybe, I did die. And instead of staying dead I made some friends on the other side who helped me back onto this side." The expressions of Rage and Sloth were a mixture of bewilderment and anger. Finally, Sloth spoke.
"Rage," his brother looked at him, "I do believe we have found what our Master has sent us to find." Rage then turned back towards Aedan.
"So it would seem." Rage readied his staff. Flames sparked to life at the end of it and Aedan suddenly felt as if he was burning up. Sloth's hands started to permeate with frost magic. He quickly casted rock armor. Aedan noticed that the rock armor seemed to freeze on top of itself. That will make it a little more harder to break it. Aedan in response took out his two daggers casting the arcane spell Elemental Mastery. It would be his best chance to deal any damage against the two.
A tense moment of silence followed. The only sounds were of the flames on Rage's staff and the wind rustling the leaves of the trees. And then the duo charged at Aedan. Sloth had suddenly turned into waves of frost magic. A cold wind blew over Aedan chilling him to the bone. A Frost Step spell. There was no other like it. Just as he thought, Sloth reappeared behind him. Another winter spell was charging in his hand ready to be cast. Aedan retaliated by casting a Paralyzing Crushing Prison upon Sloth. Aedan turned to Rage, hoping that his spell will weaken Sloth's armor, just in time raise an Arcane Shield to block a Flashfire spell. If it were not for the Fade Shield aspect of his shield Aedan was sure he would be in blistering pain from the amount of heat that came off it. It even left a blazing trail of flames leading from him to the tip of Rage's staff.
Rage looked to be firing up another a spell. A much bigger one. Aedan noticed his Crushing Spell was going to run out not to mention the heat from Rage's attack had melted off the Ice Armor that Sloth had placed on top of his Rock Armor. An idea formed in Aedan's mind which prompted him to reach into one of the pouches he kept at his back. It housed all of his roguish dirty tricks. He pulled out a small vial containing a dark purple liquid. His Crushing Prison finally wore off as he sucked in a breath and threw the vial onto the ground. On making contact, it shattered and the liquid vaporized into a a dark purple gaseous cloud encompassing both Aedan and Sloth. Rage ran into and swiped where Aedan was only to find him no longer their. Rage was suddenly struck by a Stonefist sending him on his back. He scrambled to get up and see who had cast it only to find out it was his own brother, Sloth!
"Brother, what-?" He said before Sloth swiped his arm to the side and ice spikes shot from the ground almost skewering Rage. It was only through years of training that Rage raised a wall of fire to protect himself from the sudden attack. Even then the ice spikes had come close. Sloth suddenly leapt through the flames not minding any pain or burns he may have acquired from them. He lunged toward Rage and grabbed ahold of his staff. Rage's staff began to freeze, its flames nearly dying out. It was then that Rage got a real good look into his brother's eyes. They did not hold the usual layback attitude that had shown Sloth's nature, but they were those of a madman. Fear and a anger swam in them. The kind that can make a man turn on anyone.
"Sloth! Get a hold of yourself!" Rage called out. Sloth merely snarled at him. Rage began to feel weaker. Slower. He swiped at Sloth in attempt to drive him back but his strike had been sloppy. Disorientation clouded his mind and he knew the cause for his sudden fatigue. Sloth had started using his Entropy spells. But how? Even if it were Sloth casting it he should have been immune to any Entropic spells unless... A glance down told him everything. Down under his feet was the glyph indicating a Vulnerability Hex had been placed on him. If he was not mistaken, Sloth had also radiated an aura of Miasma. Huh. Only Sloth could use three Entropic Spells so closely together. Rage stiffened as he suddenly felt his own life force drain from him. Sloth was attempting to-
Rage groaned in pain as his body felt the effects of Improved Drain as a blackish red energy emerged from him and then get absorbed by Sloth. Rage fell to one knee panting. If this kept up any longer he and his brother would be playing right into Hellathen's hands. He had realized what Aedan was up to. Drop an airborne toxin near Sloth which would madden him and cause him to attack the nearest person before scurrying away. Hellathen was more likely then not hiding somewhere watching. Waiting for one of them to finish the other while being weakened at the end. The coward. But a clever coward none the less. Too bad he didn't think that Rage would see through it!
"ENOUGH!" Rage bellowed before firing a low-level Fireball from the end of his staff at Sloth. It held enough force to crack his rock armor and knock him on to the ground with minor burst of flames. Sloth landing on the ground hard his rock armor cracked and broken in some places. He didn't move for a moment before he groaned in pain.
"Uhhh," He looked up to see Rage who was more than a little tired, "Brother, what happened? Where is Hellathen?"
"The fucking bastard poisoned you with some kind of toxin that made you attack me. You seemed maddened with anger." Rage said as he stood back up. Sloth did too, groaning like an old man with every move he made. As he stood up to full height Rage could see that his Fireball had blown off a small chunk of Sloth's Rock Armor at the chest. Not much but still noticeable. Certainly not enough to get a blade through.
"Brother, I apologize." Rage was about to wave it off before-
*THWACK*
An arrow had lodged itself into his brother's chest. Right in the hole that Rage's spell had blown out. What's more was that the arrow came from right over Rage's shoulder. He turned quickly to see Aedan Hellathen roughly 30 yards away with bow nocked right at them. Rage growled infuriated by Hellathen's petty attacks.
"You should've shot me in the head. You hitting one of us in the chest won't do anything as we are now. Hellathen didn't seem convinced. Then Rage heard something that made even his fiery fury run cold.
"Ron..." A feeble voice whimpered out from behind. His original name. The only one who knew that was-! He turned back to Sloth and his eyes widened. His brother's rock armor was gone and his magic was dwindling to almost nothing. Sloth looked sick which, given their abomination status, shouldn't be possible. His brother suddenly spat up blood and fell. Rage dropped his staff to the ground as he ran to his falling brother catching him just before he hit the ground. He turned him over and ripped the arrow out of his chest. Blood spurted out of the wound at an alarming rate. Rage realized that the arrow had struck Sloth's heart. But how could it have...? Upon closer investigation Rage saw that it was an elf-flight arrow and from the amount of gunk on it that it had been coated with some kind of poison. A hateful glance towards Hellathen revealed what poison-or specifically poisons-had been used. Three vials sat at his feet. One filled a liquid that didn't reflect any light, one that looked foul even from this distance, and that recognized as Concentrated Magebane.
That alone would have simply brought his brother's mana to zero, but those others what were they? Weak fingers stroked his cheek bringing his attention back his brother.
"Ron." Sloth's face was just like the one he had all those years ago. When those animals came into their home and murdered their parents. The same look he held when he thought they were going to do die.
"Sam. Same look at me!" Rage said as he saw Sloth's eyes start to lose focus. Ron and Sam. Those were the names their parents gave them. The names they cast off when Reaper found them... save for the times either felt vulnerable and needed that old comfort again. He could hear Hellathen dropping the bow and drawing his daggers before walking towards them.
"All... I... wanted..." Sloth spoke out his voice getting weaker and weaker, "Was... to... make... our world." Tears began to well up in Sloth's eyes. Rage's own eyes betrayed him and reflected those of his brother's.
"I know. I know. We'll make it, still. Together. I promise." Rage said. Sloth's shallow breaths quieted down until finally stopping. Rage held his brother's hand. His left hand which held his ring and inner demon. Rage had kept his own ring on his right as a means of reflecting one another. A secret that the two brothers only knew. And now it was just one...
A grappling chain wrapped around him though he paid it little heed. Sloth's corpse suddenly turned into Fade energy before moving around the ring. 'My brother's body is now gone.'
"I'm sorry it has come to this." Hellathen spoke from behind as the chain tightened around him. 'Sam's voice was gone.'
"He was my little brother." Rage's voice was so quiet, but one could hear it trembling with hate. 'But...'
"I wish things could be different. Believe me, I do." Aedan Hellathen said not noticing Sloth's ring move onto a finger Rage's let hand like it had a mind of its own. 'His power is still here.'
"I do too. But he's dead... AND SO ARE YOU!" A column of flames burst from underneath Rage and surrounded him. It rose and rose blocking Rage from Aedan's sight. Aedan let go of the chain leaping back a distance away. Just time as the chain became red hot from the heat. He made sure his daggers were ready with their earlier enhancement of Elemental Mastery. He also cast a Valiant Heroic Aura on himself and was silently glad that he casted Haste on himself earlier before reaching the camp. Valiant Heroic Aura was a spell which incorporated all three heroic enchainments into one sustainable spell. Combined with Haste makes a deadly spell combination for any person under its effect. There was a loud snap signaling that the chain had been broken. The red hot links flew out of the flames catching fire to the grass they landed on.
"WWWRRRRAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Rage's roar was so loud and inhuman that Aedan felt the sound itself bore through his body. A shadowed figure could be seen from the flames but it was different from what Rage had looked like. It was bigger, taller, bulky, and looked as if it were armored. The flames had doused themselves to reveal Rage's shocking transformation. Gone was the flesh, hair and robes of the maleficar abomination. In his place was a demonic looking stone golem with veins of lava all over it. Instead of looking like a carved statue it instead looked as if it were a mix-mash of rocks fused together. On its shoulders and legs were spikes of ice that were constantly steaming. Its face was contorted in mask of pure hate and fury.
"AEDAN HELLATHEN! YOU'RE GOING TO DIE FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE!" The golem roared. Rage's voice had changed to more deep, grinding, guttural one to conform with his new image. Rage raised his stone arms into the air and began chanting the incantation of an Inferno. Seeing that the golem was about to throw an obviously dangerous spell Aedan charged with his daggers intent on a Twin Strike in an effort to stop it from torching the area. This proved to be a grave mistake. Faster than he thought a golem's body capable of, Rage dropped his arms and caught Aedan's attack! Even with his enchantments Aedan nearly buckled from the burning his hands were feeling. Aedan could just barely see through the pain that his daggers had pierced each hand respectively but only a little. The tips of the daggers where they exited were glowing red. The heat from Rage's burning palms were too much and Aedan had to let go of his daggers lest he lose his hands. He created some distance as he grit his teeth in pain.
He looked at his hands. They were red and black with second degree burns all over. He supposed he should be grateful that he had cast those enchantments before otherwise he'd have two burned stumps instead. He looked at Rage. The golem-abomination spreads his arms wide showing Aedan's daggers still lodged in its palms. It turned its hands downwards.
"YOU WON'T BE NEEDING THESE ANYMORE." Rage growled out. Aedan had been confused until his daggers slipped out of Rage's palms, melted down completely. Aedan's eyes widened. Those daggers had been mad of volcanic aurum. After being forged they weren't likely to be melted down ever again unless... they trapped in lava. Great. Aedan was mentally kicking himself for his stupidity. Of course his daggers wouldn't be able to withstand Rage as is now! He had lost his best, and only, melee weapons to his own damn foolishness!
Rage charged at Aedan this time full intent on trampling him to death. Each of his footsteps left the ground burning with small fires as he closed the distance. In desperation Aedan casted poetry on the golem in an effort to stop him. It just barely worked as the golem stopped but the stone that had entombed its legs had cracked from the sheer force from its charge. He took the time heal his hands. The burns faded away quickly enough and just in time as Rage broke out of his stone prison. The lava covered golem appeared righting front of him with its fist pulled back. Aedan casted another spell to counter the attack.
"DIE!" Rage bellowed as his fist came closer. Aedan saw the fist get real close to his face before smirking. When the fist struck an explosion happened surrounding the two. Rage pulled his arm away taking a step back. The fire and smoke hid Hellathen for a moment before clearing revealing him to be unharmed safely behind a telekinetic Force Field. Rage shouted and roared at having been denied his kill. He reached into the ground pulling a chunk of the earth itself from it and throwing it at him only for it to break against the barrier. Rage roared again, this time raising his hand and a chilling array of brittle glyph Ice Mines all around Aedan. They exploded making ice just all around him and yet none pierced his Force Field. Aedan merely smirked.
"KEEP SMIRKING! WE BOTH KNOW THAT WILL RUN OUT EVENTUALLY AND WHEN IT DOES, YOU'RE DEAD!" Came the threat upon seeing said smirk.
Aedan's smirk disappeared at those words. It was true. He only had a few seconds left on it before Rage could attack him again. When that happened he was fucked. He needed a plan of attack against Rage. Most of his usual melee attacks were null against his current form even if he still had his weapons. So that meant he had to rely on his magic, wit and whatever he had in his pouches. He reached back into them to check on what he had. On the back of his belt were three large pouches. All three of them were magical designed to hold a number much larger than a pouch should. While not as heavily enchanted as his backpack, they still held an array of things that he could use. One was for herbal remedies which held his poultices, potions, injury kits, balms, salves, elixirs, and even incense. These would be of little use against Rage. Next was his second pouch which was for his traps. Nothing that would slow Rage down, unfortunately for he only had some caltrops, lures, and some elemental traps. He then checked his third and final pouch which held the things he crafted with his poison-making skills.
He had already use his Concentrated Magebane, Quiet Death, and Dispel Coating to kill Sloth, but they were too far away to use now. Inside he found a lot of his poisons, none of which would be able to affect Rage without being injected into his blood first. He felt around and found his grenades. Aedan had to resist smiling. Those could work. He grabbed one and waited for the Force Field to end. 10 seconds later it did with Rage ready to attack again. Aedan quickly threw the bomb at Rage nothing it had been filled with a murky green liquid. A Soulrot bomb. The rounded flask struck Rage in the face and shattered filling the area with a green fog that encompassed the golem-abomination. Aedan swiftly got away from it knowing it could harm him too if he were close enough. Rage was shouting in pain from the spirit energy attacking him. A soulrot bomb wasn't like the others which either burned, froze, electrocuted, or melted flesh. This bomb was made to damage the mind and spirit. Even Rage's fortress-like form had to yield to that.
The fog dispersed revealing Rage on one knee clutching his head. The flames on his stone flesh had gone down considerably and the ice spikes on his legs and shoulders had been reduced to half their size. Aedan followed up with a Spirit Strike. The bolt of ethereal energy surged from his open palm to the disoriented Golem's form making the creature fall on its back in pain. Its stone flesh cracked in multiple paces with more lava flowing out of them. Aedan was about throw in a Lightning Bolt to finish him but Rage beat him to it.
"ENOUGH!" With an echoing roar, a Waves of Flames shot to life between the two and was steadily moving toward Aedan forcing in to back away by about 15 meters. Once Aedan had gotten a safe enough distance he inscribed a Glyph of Neutralization at the flames. The Wall of Fire extinguished itself but it was already too late. It had given Rage enough time to get back up and renew his body. Just before he threw a Golem's Fist at Aedan which scored him in the chest. The elf-blood was now the one on his own back gasping for breath which had been literally punched out of him. He could just barely see Rage walking up to him, his flames regaining their strength on his body and the ice spikes growing back to their original size.
"IT'S OVER FOR YO-" Roots suddenly shot from the ground, wrapping around the golem and trying to impale him. A second set of roots rose from the ground further incased the struggling abomination.
"Aedan! Get out of there! NOW!" He heard someone shout. He looked to the left to see that the party he had been with had finally arrived. Right in front of them was Keeper Marethari and Merrill, both of whom had casted the same spell, Nature's Vengeance. The other elves, including Lyna who was supporting an injured Tamlen, readied their arrows and fired. The arrows did nothing but bounce off the golem's stone skin who still struggled to be free, its flames burning through the roots already. Aedan got up and moved further away now at the edge of the camp. Rage merely roared more at seeing Aedan getting further from him. His anger renewed his strength and his right arm finally broke free.
"DON'T INTERFERE!"
He raised his arm flames gathering in the palm of his statue like hand. Aedan horrifiedly realized that Rage was about to cast Immolate on them. And with his power now, Aedan could bet the it would be like a Consuming Wildfire now. Their armor wouldn't stand a chance against it. He reached back into his poison's pouch, to take out another grenade. Looking at the one he'd chosen, he knew this was going to have consequences. It was a round flask just like the earlier one, but the liquid inside was clear and reflected no light at all. A dispel grenade. He threw it at the golem-abomination and started backing away. The flask shattered upon meeting the roots and Rage's face. An almost invisible smoke formed over him and the roots receded back into the ground, his flames dousing as if choked of air.
"Come and get me, Rage!" Aedan shouted before running back into the forest. Rage gave chase not caring that he had shown his back to the elves who continued to fire arrows. Their efforts were pointless, however, as they broke and bounced off Rage's hide. The abomination didn't even seem to notice them as he barreled through the trees. The elves ran to their camp some almost ran in pursuit, but Marethari stopped them.
"Wait! We need to make sure everyone is alright." She shouted having noticed multiple clan members on the ground. The warriors, some looking reluctant, acquiesced and began checking. Marethari herself could not believe the creature they had seen. When Aedan had ran she had called out for him to stop shocked that he would run after his secret had been partially exposed. However she understood why he had when she sensed the two dark auras coming from her camp. As soon as her party was able, they followed Aedan's trail at much slower pace. By the time they were halfway there she had felt one of the signatures disappear meaning whoever what it was had been killed. Then the other signature grew in power. It was fiercer, darker. Hateful. That was why she had decided to take them around as means of surprising the enemy in order to aid their elf-blooded ally. She had expected to find a cross between a golem of the Durgen'len and an abomination. She had seen what it was preparing to do to them had Aedan not thrown that grenade. And by leading the creature away from the camp he had brought them a brief respite.
"Keeper!" Merrill shouted bringing her attention back to reality. All the clan members who had been unconscious were starting to awaken. It appeared that their worst injuries so far were nothing more than scrapes and bruises.
'Thank the Gods.' Marethari thought in relief. They hadn't lost anyone this time. An explosion echoing out of the forest seemed to disagree with her hopeful thoughts. The other elves were taken out of the groggy states by the sound looking up in alarm.
"Keeper Marethari!" Ilen said as he came walking up to her.
"Master Ilen, are you alright?" The craftsman nodded.
"Yes, Keeper. Two of those Seth'lin that were with Din'an came here. The slow one had placed some sort hex on all of us. We started dropping like flies." He then turned to one of the destroyed aravels and cursed.
"Dread Wolf take them! They destroyed my aravel!" Marethari frowned. The loss of one normal aravel would be a small problem to the clan as a whole, but the loss of the Master Craftsman's aravel was a very bad blow to the clan. As the Keeper's own aravel which houses all of the clan's magical knowledge and artifacts is required for their leadership-both physical and spiritual- so to was the Master Craftsman's aravel needed for their survival. It was he who crafted their weapons and armor. It was he who bartered with human merchants from time to get supplies that couldn't be found in the wild, supplies that were brought to him for safe keeping. And it was all stashed in his aravel from which he worked and slept in.
Without it they could be right back where they started when Reaper and his disciples came. With very little supplies at best.
Another explosion echoed this time further from the camp.
"What was that?" One of the children asked fearfully. Hahren Paivel, who had just come out of the forest with several others answered.
"That would be one of those things that attacked us. Hellathen has drawn it away for the time being." All of the children around Paivel were shaking. They must gotten away just far enough to be hidden and watched.
"What happened exactly?" Marethari wanted to know what had occurred when Aedan had arrived. Paivel relayed what he had seen with the children around him piping in from time to time.
"Can we even such a creature?" One of the Solis warriors asked in fear. One that was shared among the rest. Even Marethari would be lying if she said their chances were good. She had never seen a creature such as this before. Not in her many years.
"We have to try!" Merrill nearly cried out. Her First as right. But how could they kill it? Nothing they had could pierce its body!
A strange hum filled the air around them. Everyone was looking around in alarm. Had the creature finished Aedan and come back for them?! There was no heat or flames exploding around them. That's when she saw it. A blue glow shining out from under the rubble of Master Ilen's aravel. No one dared approach it before a burst of energy sent pieces flying away. Everyone covered there faces to shield from airborne splinters and the like. When the dust settled there it was.
The broken Sword of Shartan levitating off the ground and covered in melted gold with blue lines of lyrium peaking out at them. The gold was moving over the broken pieces united them once again into one. The burgundy yielded to the gold which ghosted over it. The gold completely covered the blade and handle before hardened and compressed in on itself until...
The sword had been remade and whole once more.
And then the sword pointed blade-first down the way Aedan and the golem ran through and flew.
With Aedan at that moment.
Aedan's stamina was running out. He had to dodge Fireballs, Ice Mines and even a Petrify spell. Rage had nearly got him with a direct him after hurling a boulder at him. He had just barely gotten out of the way when the boulder stuck and exploded in a shower of rocks and dirt. Aedan was sent off his feet and landed on his side. With pain radiating from his shoulder he turned to see Rage's form towering over him menacingly. And so here he was, tired and in trouble.
"AT LAST." Rage raised stone fist with fire gathering on it ready to Slam it into Aedan. "THE TIME HAS COME. CAN YOU SEE IT, BROTHER? YOU WILL BE AVENGED. NOW!" The fist came hurdling at him. On instinct, Aedan used another spell, a Stunning Mind Blast.
The telekinetic energy burst forth from Aedan and collided with Rage's fist pushing it, and the golem, back a couple of meters. Rage snarled at being denied of his moment of vengeance once more.
"NO, NO, NO, NO. I'VE HAD IT! I WILL NOT BE DENIED MY DUE! DO YOU HEAR ME, BOY! MY VENGEANCE WILL NOT BE PROLONGED ANY FURTHER!" With a roar Rage gathered fire magic in his hands as he raised them up. Aedan knew what was to come. A large scale Apocalyptic Firestorm. And then Rage began chanting again.
'Mixed with an Inferno spell too. There's no walking away from this.' He knew he couldn't move away quick enough. He was so tired he could barely lift his arms. Then a curious sound reached his ears. It was a whistle. It was small at first but it got more and more louder almost as if it were coming toward them before a loud scraping noise resounded out just behind Rage who had suddenly stopped chanting. Aedan had become confused when he looked up at Rage's face.
Even distorted and transformed, he could clearly see the shock and... pain in it? Then Rage started yowling and howling something fierce.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH! GET IT OUT! GET IT OUT!" Yeah like that.
Wait.
What?
Aedan looked on bewildered as the menacing creature cried out more, waving his hands around and try to reach something behind... his... back...
Oh, someone got him! Aedan tried to see who it was but saw no one. Then Rage turned around trying to reach whatever had hurt him again and this Aedan saw what had done it. A very familiar grip of a sword was sticking out his back. The blade had dug real deep into Rage, burying itself all the way to the hilt. Aedan knew that Shartan's blade, if it was still alive wouldn't be able to withstand the heat from inside Rage's body even if it was made out of dragonbone.
He struggled to get finding that he could scarcely move. Aedan looked back on his training for two years and dug deep within. He found his deep reserves of vigor finally catching his Second Wind. With renewed energy, he stood up, grabbed onto Shartan's exposed hilt and heaved. The hilt had already been heated up from the burning from that he felt. But he didn't let go. Rage had noticed what he was trying to do and took a swing at him. It missed as he followed Rage's movements keeping behind his back. Aedan then yanked real hard putting his foot on Rage's back. The blade finally came out with some lava spurting out.
"AAAGGGHHH!" Rage groaned out. Aedan looked at the blade find it was okay. There was a lot of heat coming off of it but it wasn't even red. Instead it was gold. But why was it-? Then he remembered. Rage had been standing on the ruin aravel of Master Ilen! Shartan's blade pieces must've still been. And when he melted Aedan enchanted daggers which were made of volcanic aurum and folded with lyrium they must've fallen onto the sword! The lyrium would have awakened the spirit inside right?
'Shartan? Are you still in there?' There was no response. At least no vocal response. All he got was some type of happy feeling. Like he was relieved and seeing an old friend at the same time. So that was it? Shartan and lost the ability to speak?
Another feeling came over him. Curiosity. Did Shartan lose anything else?
'Shartan what do you remember?' The response was silent until his mind was blasted with images. Shartan being snapped in half, and then pain, followed by a warmth which gave way to distress as if something was missing. Another image revealed flying through the forest and seeing... Rage over Aedan? Then the images stopped. Aedan felt depressed now. Sure a shard of Shartan's spirit was still within the blade. Whats more was that it remembered him enough to come to his aid. But that was it. No more advice. No more conversation. The sword seemed to share depression from what emanated from it.
'It's fine. I should be grateful you're still around and I am.' Aedan's comforting thoughts were replied in kind. He was broken out of his reverie by a howl of anger. He looked up to see a fist flying his way. Aedan dodged faster to the side than he had before. The spirits within him were giving him more power from Beyond the Veil. He was covered in a cloak of white mystical energy. His sword's blade became coated in the same energy.
"YOUR NEW BLADE WON'T SAVE YOU FROM ME!" Rage said as he punched again. This time to Aedan, it was slow. He dodged once more raising his palm towards Rage. White fire combusted all around him going over everything. It didn't burn the grass. Or the trees. Or even himself. But it did burn Rage terribly. The white flames licked at him like it was possessed, eating away his own flames and ice. It dug into the cracks and crevices of his stone skin. It is to be expected after all. Any abomination would be harmed by a Righteous Holy Smite.
"TH-TH-THAT'S-" Rage fell to his knees in pain as the white flames started to extinguish.
"A Templar technique. I know."
"H-HOW?"
"I had a friend teach me." White fire coated his blade as he prepared his final strike. Rage looked at him. The golem-abomination had no more moves and was utterly spent. With a Righteous Strike, Aedan delivered a Deadly Blow straight to Rage's heart. The blade went completely into him all the way to the hilt.
Silence pervaded afterward for a few long moments.
Rage lost what little remained of his power and began to turn back into his human form.
And then Aedan was assaulted by more images. Images that were neither his nor Shartan's. The images showed a younger Rage and Sloth, or Ron and Sam as they were before. Two children in poverty but they were happy with their parents. Their father, an elven man, bore a resemblance to Ron while strangely enough their human mother and Sam looked very much alike. And then the memories turned sour. Horrible. Just horrible. They had faced bigotry before but this was just wrong. Men had entered their home. Drunk and foul. They ganged up and murdered their father before turning their attentions towards their mother.
What they did to her... Aedan couldn't stomach the mere thought of it. And then they had beaten Sam so badly that he couldn't move without wincing in pain.
Aedan honestly didn't blame Ron for unleashing his magic and burning those men to death. Hell, they deserved worse.
The images flashed forward through the years showing Ron and Sam growing up alone until Reaper found them. He saw how Reaper taught them, feed them, clothed them. Gave them something to live for. A world where no child; elven, human, or something in-between could suffer like they suffered.
Then he saw their last meeting with Reaper and was aghast to see what Reaper had concocted. To turn someone into a Dark Revenant. Reaper has crossed many lines from what he'd seen before but this was a new low. The terrible part was that he was going to do it to so many. 400 at most! 400 hundred Dark Revenants could very well match an army of thousands! And Reaper wasn't going to lay siege to Denerim, but he was obviously going to sneak in and quietly take control.
Now that he knew what Reaper had planned Aedan was going to have do something he'd do so soon: Return to Kinloch Hold. If to simply kill Hunger.
'But first...'
He was back in the present now with his blade through Rage's heart. The maleficar now fully returned to normal. Aedan looked into the eyes of his opponent who stared back.
"I truly wish things had been different." Rage merely kept his stare up before going limp.
"I truly do." Aedan said to the corpse as he pulled his blade from him. He placed Ra-No, Ron's body on the ground gently. After seeing everything that shaped him Aedan couldn't hold any hate or resentment towards him or Sam. "Go find your family on the other side," He closed Ron's eyes as he knelt down. He stood back up and lit the body aflame.
"And rest in peace, at long last." Aedan walked away leaving Ron's body to burn in silence. A peaceful end he thought. Unknown to him, however, Ron's body burst into Fade energy that coalesced into his personal ring. The ring levitated off the ground. Sam's ring rose with it before the two flew through the at top speed to the north.
On the Imperial Highway. Just outside of Lothering on the road to Redcliffe.
Two cloaked figures walked further away from Lothering, a nice little hamlet full of good, hardworking people. The tall one did not do much talking while the shorter did all the talking. Everyone could tell the big one was a warrior by the menacing sword and large shield he had. The shorter one was skinny man who seemed a bit peaky and malnourished. He had taken their offerings of food and thanked them for their concern of his health. He had even met a nice little trio of siblings. An older brother and two twins, a boy and a girl. He could tell the girl had magic by her aura, and by how her brothers seemed to stick near her as if protecting her from any outside threats. It was so cute! But he digressed.
About a mile out he encountered an annoyance in the form three bandits.
Huh, must've missed some. Oh well. They didn't need any more for their army.
"All your valuables on the ground now before we gut you like a big!" The one in middle shouted with dagger pointed at him.
'Damn fool.' His stomach growled loudly causing him to place his hand on it. It was nearly twisted in hunger. 'It is never enough is it?'
"I SAID-"
"Lunch." The three bandits looked at him confused at his sudden interruption.
"Wha-?!" The three were suddenly pulled towards the two by an invisible force, one being impaled upon the big one's sword. The other stared up in fear looking at their friend with a blade sticking right through him. The tall one looked at them making them shiver in fear. At this angle from the ground they could see under its hood just enough to see two soulless red eyes staring back at them. With a single swing to the right, their friends body was flung off the blade and into a tree with sick crunch. The monster then pointed its blade toward them and stabbed down killing the nearest one. The last one backed away frantically trying to get away from it. He backed into the small man's boots. He turned to look up at them before getting on his knees.
"Please, Sir, please have mercy. I have nothing. I'll leave you and never trouble you again. I swear to the Maker and Andraste!" He pleaded. The man in turn grabbed him by the shoulders and lifted him up to his feet. He tried to get away but the man kept a firm grip on him with strength that couldn't be his.
"I believe me, I wish I could. It's just I'm... so hungry." The last bandit watched in terror as the man's eyes glowed crimson, his teeth sharpened and his jaw elongated to an unnatural length.
"Heeeee NNNNOOO-uuuuuhghghgughguhg." A sick wet crunching replaced the scream of terror in the forest. The only thing that would found the next day would be blood and bones.
Oh. My. God!
I've finally updated this story. After so many months. For those of you waiting for ME2 don't worry that is my next project! Please I've hoped you've enjoyed this chapter. Please leave a review either as a guest or as yourself.