Chapter Two: Dark times
The thunder ceased and an eerie calm fell across the land.
A cloaked man in black stood at the top of a hill overlooking a small village in the continent known as "Midgard".
He did not come here to just observe the scenery, and the people who lived there knew this as well. He almost grinned as he watched the meagre forces of this village gather. At this he casually raised his hand; as if in a gesture of invitation, and muttered a string of words that obliterated those that defied his coming.
His army surged foreword.
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There was a deafening explosion from outside. The smell of smoke filled the air.
The battle for this little village had begun; with the cries of combat and death that would have given Odin himself have nightmares. With the Sakshuro family prepared themselves for what was to come.
"Haide! Daioo!" Sakura cried out as she put on her old combat outfit, "Stay in here no matter what!"
"Mom! Where are you going?" whimpered Daioo, "Don't leave us!"
"Listen to your mother Dai," Kisho said dryly, as he too suited up, "Haide…I want you to promise something"
Holding back tears, Haide murmured, "wha…what."
"I want you to stay with your sister all the time, do not leave her, alright?"
"Alright," Haide said, now fully crying, "I don't want you to go!"
"I know you don't, but this is something we have to do"
Hugging each daughter for the last time, both parents stepped outside to meet their fate, and hopefully give their daughters a life.
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Survivors of the initial blast made their stand in the village itself in a vain attempt to hold of the Hellish army of men and Orc of the Dark Wizard. Watching over the slaughter, a pair of defenders caught his attention. One, the male dressed in clothes more suited to an arms smith, was wielding a magnificent axe that appeared self-made. The other, a female, wore closer fitting leather armour, and was wielding a dagger in each hand as unique as the axe. Both were slaying everything that came near them. The Wizard watched them slaughter his troops before growing weary, decided to end this himself and entered the village. Wherever he past, a trail of corpses lay behind him, some did not even know they died; most were barely classifiable as corpses. One in particular was a female warrior of amazing strength. Around her lay the bodies of at least 30 of his troops, each brutally dismembered by nothing but her hands. He had but to will her life from existence with an energy blast and identified her now unrecognizable corpse as "Akami" by the Master Fighters armband. Pity she didn't join his army, this "Akami", would have made a fine addition.
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It wasn't so much a battle, but a slaughter for the Sakshuro couple. Wave upon wave of men and orcs and other humanoids unidentifiable were mercilessly terminated by Kisho's axe and by Sakura's blades. They did it not for the sake of defending the village…that was an impossible fact they realized the instance the Dark One's shadow cast upon the land, but to give their children a chance at survival.
Barely parrying a bone-shattering blow from what could only be defined as an "ogre" and disembowelling it with one flick of his wrist, Kisho was glad he made his own armour and weapons; they were just so much more dependable. Sakura on the other hand, was gracefully dodging and landing killing blows so fast even Kisho himself thought that his wife was in two places at once. Soon after this thought, he noticed that the enemy forces stopped coming their way and Kisho felt the hairs on his neck raise from what he saw walking their way.
"Honey, we have company…" Kisho whispered to his wife.
"I see him dear." She responded, almost realizing that it was time.
They readied their weapons…
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The Dark Wizard approached the couple with an unnerving look of pleasure. It was far too uncommon to find someone who would arouse his interest. More often then not his hellish army took all the fun from him, forcing him to but watch the carnage. As he moved, he casually observed the bodies of his troops as if they were nothing more then decoration. The Dark One stopped a good dozen metres from the pair of warriors that he so eagerly wished to annihilate, and he let it show by how lax his stance was. At first, it was a stand off with neither side making a move. Then with a flash the man lunged toward Him axe in hand. With a simple spell, the Wizard erected a shield of energy that shattered the arrogant mans axe into a million tiny fragments and with a sudden grab at this fool hardy souls neck, lifted him up in the air with ease…
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"Kisho!!" screamed Sakura as she ran with murderous intent towards the fiend holding her husband. Even if she knew that her husband was about to cease living, yelling his name was going to endanger her children's lives; for it worried Haide enough for her to peek through a crack in the cellar door. To her horror, Haide saw what she had been dreaming taking place right before her eyes. Only now, instead of a shadowy figure in the grip of the hooded man, she saw her own father clear as daylight...
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The Dark Wizard had had enough toiling, and ended this puny beings life by forcing mystic energies through his hand and into this weakling's head, ever so violently eradicating him. At that moment, the woman struck faster then the Sorcerer could anticipate, and a horrifying gash along his face became the result. As he spun around casting a ball of pure energy, he caught a glimpse of light to his left and just narrowly dodged another strike from his attacker…or so he thought. A wave of pain shot through his body as he noticed he was now missing a fairly large chunk of what was once his left arm. Out of pure rage the Wizard waved his unharmed arm and muttered inaudibly. In that very instance a wall of fire was created in the direct path of the lightning fast women…having smashed into the ether real flame…she was sent backward through a cellar door, where the Dark One never had to deal with her again.
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With a loud crash Sakura flew through the cellar door, nearly landing on top of her very daughters. Although her body broken, and her life energy quickly evaporating, Sakura managed to somewhat remain conscious. In so much pain, She was unaware of her daughters' cries of terror.
Sakura proceeded to painfully crawl through the cellar and to a seemingly blank wall, leaving a trail of blood in the process. Gently tapping 3 oddly shaped bricks in a specific order, the wall split in half revealing two old beat up chests. Both Haide and Daioo stood dazed, not sure what to do.
"Daioo…" Sakura said to her youngest daughter, obviously in pain, "This chest is for you…Haide this one is yours…I'm…so…sorry…"
With that, the woman the girls knew as their mother died, and knowing they were now completely alone, cried silently into the night.