Chapter Five
"Ok, going by what Gwen has told me about the Central Transfer Chamber," said Nightmare as he pointed at the map laid out on the table. So long as it looks like we are at a disadvantage, we actually have the advantage."
"It's all down to the entrance to the cave where the Great Destroyer resided," explained Gwen. "That is the only place that hasn't been touched by the lava. We can stay there while the Undead Lich sends whatever he wants at us. In that area, numbers count for nothing."
"Well, not in our case, we can easily fit eight into that area maybe more, while judging by the size of a Titan, they can only go in one, maybe two at a time," Nightmare added.
"Wait a minute," said one of the Vanguard soldiers. "How are we meant to lure them into that area? I don't see the Titans lining up to be killed."
"Though I hate to say it, this is where Pyre Fierceshot comes in," said Gwen. "He and his warband have been itching to get their claws into their former "Gods". And what better way to use the rage they have, then use it against the Titans."
"My warband will lure the Titans to the group that we will be joining into the battle," said Pyre. Gwen wasn't comfortable with the idea of the Charr joining them, but Nightmare managed to get her to finally admit defeat and allow Pyre and his warband to join them.
"Our theory is that if we kill the Undead Lich, then we can pick off the Titans the same way the dwarves are doing with the Destroyers: kill the head and the body is lifeless," said Nightmare. He had tried to think of a way to describe what they were hoping to do, and that was the best way he could come up with.
"We leave in ten minutes. Be ready by then, or don't bother coming at all." said Gwen. That gave her just enough time to see how I Evil Arrow I was doing.
Ogden had still yet to leave his side, he was in the middle of a healing spell when Gwen walked in. If Ogden had noticed her, then he didn't bother to acknowledge her. I Evil Arrow I was asleep. Gwen bent down to his ear to whisper something.
"Wish me luck in what I am about to do," she whispered into his ear. With that she left Ogden in peace to continue his healing.
The heat hit them as soon as the entered the cave. They weren't sure if the Undead Lich had heard their arrival, they waited a minute or two before signalling to Pyre and his warband to do some luring. Pyre nodded to his warband and they headed as far as they dared without setting foot onto the lava. From what they could see, there was 4 Armageddon Lords, and of course the Undead Lich.
"Ah," said the Undead Lich. "Have some of the Charr saw the path once more and wish to worship their true Gods?"
Pyre smiled. "They are no Gods of ours," he said. "The Charr have no Gods!" Pyre shot out a arrow at the nearest Armageddon Lord. The Armageddon Lord took the bait and went after the Charr warband. The Undead Lich yelled something at the Armageddon Lord, but it wasn't listening, it had a one track mind, and right now it's target was the warband.
"Attack!" shouted Nightmare as he began casting curse after curse onto the Armageddon Lord. He didn't know how long it would be before the next Armageddon Lord appeared, so he wanted to get this one down and out a.s.a.p.
"When we take it down to it's final stage, everyone attack only one of the Hand or Fist of the Titans!" shouted Gwen over the onslaught. The Armageddon Lord was already down to a Risen Ashen Hulk when she finished shouting. It wouldn't be long before it hit the final stage.
"Another Titan has appeared!" someone shouted over the sounds of battle.
"Keep on this one until it is well and truly dead!" Nightmare shouted back.
The Titan they were attacking reached it's final stage: two smaller, but by no means less powerful Titans appeared from the ashes of the fallen Risen Ashen Hulk. Pyre kept a close eye on the Armageddon Lord, and did his best to interrupt it as much as he could. He was lucky enough to manage a few interrupts, but not enough to keep it from doing some damage. He could see the humans were nearly through the final form of the first Titan, so he gave the order to his warband to attack the same target as him. He could see Gwen shooting him a look, but he didn't care. He had waited a long time to fight against the Titans, and he wasn't going to waste it. And he wanted his warband to enjoy it as well.
The dispatched the next Armageddon Lord with the same ruthless tenacity. They waited for the next one to appear, they were on a roll, and none of them wanted to waste it. A few of them almost jumped when they saw the final two Armageddon Lords appear together, clearly the Lich Lord was worried if he used that tactic.
"Everyone, attack the nearest one first, never mind the other one. Pretend it doesn't exist!" shouted Gwen.
Going to be a bit hard, not hard to miss something as big as that, Nightmare thought to himself. He would have to be a bit more cagey with his spell casting now. He didn't want any of his curses to hurt the other Titan… yet. He laid off his stronger curses, in favour of the ones that weren't as strong, but still packed one hell of a punch. He chose to go for the curses that weakened his target, at least if the other Titan got hexed with it, it's attacks wouldn't be as strong.
"Keep it up!" Gwen shouted. She knew they were on the verge of winning this battle, but the battle against the Undead Lich had still to come. And the only one in this group who had any knowledge of how strong the Undead Lich was, was Nightmare Venom, the Necromancer. She wondered if she could trust him not to rejoin the Undead Lich and attack them. As the final Titan entered it's last stage, she knew she was about to get her answer.
"We have killed everyone you have thrown at us!" shouted Pyre. "Surrender now, and we will make your death quick and painless."
"You do realise that he isn't going to surrender?" Nightmare whispered.
Pyre didn't answer, he kept his entire body and mind focused on the one area where the Titans came from. Soon the Undead Lich appeared, and he didn't seem all that shocked when he saw the group that Pyre and his warband were with.
"The offer still stands," said Pyre. "Surrender and your death will be quick and painless, you have my word."
The Undead Lich didn't say a thing, he stood there staring at the group of Charr and Humans. For a minute, it was a stand off, who would make the first move? The Undead Lich was the first, he began saying something, which Nightmare knew somehow, was a spell. He gave the order to attack the Undead Lich. Shouting at Pyre to do whatever it took to interrupt him, they both knew it would be difficult, but the best Pyre could do was try.
At first the fight itself was evenly matched, but without the need of killing the Undead Lich on a Bloodstone, there was nothing stopping any of those attacking the Undead Lich at their full strength. The battle slowly went in their favour, but rather than try and run away, the Undead Lich stayed where he was.
The Undead Lich was soon down to one knee, he was exhausted. He delved into his reserve tanks as much as he could, but they were almost depleted. Try as he might, he couldn't score a hit needed to weaken his attackers.
"Pyre," said the girl. "I think we should let you and the warband score the final hit against him."
The Charr known as Pyre looked at the girl, and smiled. "It will be our pleasure." The Undead Lich's sight was soon covered by a mass of fur, and then darkness.
Gwen was the first to enter the Eye of the North, their was a huge crowd of Humans, Dwarves, Norn, Charr and even Asura. All waiting for wait Gwen had to say.
"Thanks to help from Pyre and his warband, the Undead Lich is dead." said Gwen. A huge cheer came from out of nowhere. They knew they had just scored a much needed victory against Abaddon and his followers.
"Tonight, we forget about Abaddon, for one night we are going to party and drink. To hell with the consequences!" Nightmare managed to shout over the cheers.
"I take it you have heard the news? Varesh asked Shiro as he entered Gandara.
"Why do you think I am here?" Shiro answered back.
Varesh didn't bother replying to Shiro, she made her way over to the alter and said a prayer to Abaddon. A portrait of him soon appeared within the flames.
"My Lord, as I am sure you are aware, the Undead Lich has been killed," said Varesh.
"I know this already," said Abaddon. "It is of no matter."
"My Lord?" asked Varesh.
"The Undead Lich served his purpose. His apprentice shall take over controlling the Titans."
"Apprentice?" Shiro asked.
"I decided to keep him a secret from both you and Varesh when the Undead Lich showed him to me. He was one of the few that embraced my power when he was touched by it. He is one that I see great power in," explained Abaddon. "I have kept him within the Realm of Torment so he could perfect his power until the time was right, and that time is now."
A portal appeared beside the shrine, after a few seconds, the outline of a figure appeared in the portal. The figure stepped outside the portal, and knelt before the shrine before rising and looking at both Shiro and Varesh. The portal disappeared as quick as it appeared. Judging by what was being worn, he was an Elementalist.
"My name is I Thunderstorm I," he said. "Praise be to Lord Abaddon."
X Authors Note X: I don't normally say this but this was my favourite chapter to do so far. When I thought up the ending for this chapter, I thought it was a great idea, and something you don't see coming.
Also, the characters that I am using: Nightmare Venom, Spirits Of Evil, I Evil Arrow I and I Thunderstorm I. They are the names of my characters in Guild Wars. So if you ever see me online there, feel free to drop me a pm.
I hope you are enjoying the story so far, because I am having a lot of fun writing it.